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| More on the soul-as-bird theme... I pulled out my copy of "Vogul Folklore" because it has an appendix called "Approaches to Mansi Mythology" by Mihaly Hoppal that illustrates Mansi mythology's relationship within the wider Eurasian scope (by Eurasian I'm referring to Uralic and Altaic speaking groups). (Note: Hoppal has done much study on Eurasian mythology and even has a book out in co-authorship with Kenin Lopsang Mongush on Tuvan shamanism: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shamanic-Internati.../dp/9630574012). I didn't have time to elaborate earlier with regards to the concept of soul amongst these peoples, which needs to somewhat be understood when talking about the soul-as-bird theme because it is quite different from a Judeo-Christian understanding of the soul. From the info in my book, a human basically has two souls, not one. For example a renmant of the dual-soul concept exists in Hungarian where there are two words for soul, lélek (related to breath) and iz (related with shadow). One stays with the body until death (breath) and the other (shadow) is able to wander and is pictured commonly like a bird. It is this wandering soul that shamans send out to the spirit world. The Komi word ört (shadow soul) means a man's soul in the shape of a bird. Further paraphrasing the book: "Souls of unborn children wait, sitting on the branches of an enormous tree, for the moment when they can move into the body of a new-born baby." "When the souls of the deceased leave the body, they take the shape of birds, and fly towards the north, where the realm of the dead is to be found...they make their journey along the 'Way of Birds' or 'Way of the Dead', that is on the Milky Way." Now these citations are in reference to mostly Uralic-speaking people's beliefs, specifically the Mansi. It is somewhat amazing to find almost the exact same wording regarding the souls of unborn children coming from an Evenk, Altaic-speaking people. Not sure if the Tuvans and other Turkic peoples have similar concepts. I guess maybe it is time to pick up a copy of the Mongush-Hoppal book... |