The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul: The Findings of Natural Science Reduced to Practical Studies in PsychologyBuck, J. D. (Jirah Dewey)
Religion
The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul: The Findings of Natural Science Reduced to Practical Studies in Psychology
Buck, J. D. (Jirah Dewey)
Psychology and religion; Soul
It was the belief of the ancient Peruvians that the soul leaves the body
during sleep, and that the soul itself cannot sleep, but that dreams are
what the soul sees in the world while the body sleeps. Waitz says they
believed in the transmigration of human souls into the bodies of animals.
In the case of the Arabians the primitive belief, which was Sabianism, has
been altered far less by Mohammedan invasion than most persons suppose.
Burton says Mohammed and his followers conquered only the more civilized
Bedouins, and Baker says that the Arabs are unchanged, and that the
theological opinions which they now hold are the same as those which
prevailed in remote ages, and of this belief the soul and its immortality
formed a part.
In general the Hill Tribes of India share in the universal belief in the
soul, in spirits, gods, and devils, though of many of these tribes little
is really known in modern times.
Nearly all our North American Indians (I can find no exceptions) bury
objects with their dead, such as food implements, jewelry, etc., and kill
the horses of the deceased that he may ride in the Happy Hunting Ground.
With the Carib's death his wife and captives were killed, and food
utensils, etc., were buried with him.
A curious custom prevailed with some Brazilian tribes. After burying food,
utensils, arms, etc., with the body, a month after death the body was
disinterred, put in a pan over a fire, the volatile substances driven off,
the black residue reduced to powder and mixed with water and drunk by the
company.
The Patagonians bury all the possessions of the deceased with the body.
With the Hottentots, widows lose one joint of a finger as an offering to
the deceased husband every time they re-marry.
With the Kaffirs, the hut and utensils of the deceased are burnt. The East
Africans offer prayer to the dead.
The Congo people bury ornaments, utensils, arms, etc., and embalm the body
after one or two years. The body of the chief must be carried in a
straight line from the hut to place of burial, and if trees or huts impede
the passage, they are cut down.
The Coast Negroes bury property with the body and have a ceremony like an
Irish wake, as do also the Abyssinians.
With the Ashantis, gold dust and utensils are buried and human sacrifices
occur.
The wives of the Fijians are strangled that they may attend their lords in
the new country.
The people of Malagasy bury in vaults 10x12, and 7 feet high, and put in a
large quantity of property.
With the ancient Mexicans, wives, slaves, concubines, and chaplains were
slaughtered to attend the deceased.
The Arabs fasten the camels to the grave of their master.
The Todas cremate the dead and slaughter the whole herd of buffalo
belonging to him, in order to secure them to him in the after life.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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