Ancient Wisdom Atlas

Motif

soul leaving the body in animal form

soul_leaving_the_body_in_animal_form

A motif of the External Soul and Life-Token family, within the sub-family Soul Departure, Recall, and Succession. Every row below is a tagged passage; each rests on a quote in its source text.

1 occurrences

1 traditions


comparative

  • The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2) CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF THE SOUL. / HEINE. / CHAPTER III. KILLING THE GOD. / FOOTNOTES; lines 10213-10347 confidence: high

    Footnote 415 states that the stories of Hermotimus and King Gunthram belong to the same class; King Gunthram’s soul comes out of his mouth as a small reptile; Aristeas’s soul issues from his mouth as a raven; an East Indian sleeper’s soul issues from his nose as a cricket; and a Swabian girl’s soul creeps out of her mouth as a white mouse.

    The passage groups several stories in which a soul exits the body through the mouth or nose and appears as an animal or small creature.

    read in the book