New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-01-22
THE BTTTERFLT SPIRIT

II is matter Of common knowledge that tho
Buldhsts deny the existence Of D Soul on spiritual
principle in man. That faculty which performs al
the actions referred by other religions 10 hc soul IS
by the Buddhist system placed 10 a si>th sense
called Nanaw, the heart OF faculty of knowing. All
this is Only explained TO the Burman. when
-, io,5t Httio nE.cnIo ',uJ ~
br any means easily 20 be .rasrcd. Accordingly
the Super-tit.Cls lun3u having got q COB fused lot
OF biz words into hi@ head, after letting them SIM
,ncr there for while evolved from hi, internal con-
sc0usHcs- he notion u the !.cEpD}a or bujtclhy
spirit The ciIor Of the unphllOsophlcdl Bunnan
long ago ha- grown into present national belief,
resides IN the Levphya and dis when ~ dsappears.
The man mo the point cf death ouens bis mouth and
the butterfly escapr~ from hi' body, but only to dle
ar bee same time. Many strange tAiug- are explained
by tins doctrine. For example. the Ielph'a Is tho
cause of dreams Il is not necessary thar the butter
fly should remain constantly IN the body.
death will not necessarily en>uo from the
se1aratou. When the man Is asleep, therefore, it
leaves the body and roaus about far and VIDE. But
in these y-anderu-s il can only 90 20 such places as
tho person t0 whom IL belong, has previously been
in 4 rGyiEg from known paths Wou'd cause eX-
IRENE dan -or to the sleeping body torlt might hap
peu that the butterfly would lose lis way and never
return. and then both would dlc-the body because
the auimatiHg principle was gone, the Lcyplya be-
cause il Lad no earthly tenement 20 1--WE m Tho
butterfly IS enabled 70 perform these journeys
through ry existence IS Ihway Sent, or soul of tho
blood. and il is the state OF this blood ~ heh makes
the Leypbya more n less inclined % roam, and
!
isl OIL excited i'm any way the butterfly necessarily
becomes restless aud wandcrs about more or less
raudy and INTO more or les, strange places accord
ing % the degree OF, IeFtuFo9tl"h' lDniofe
il Lappcus that the soul thus existing in Itself and
,trayiug or flying at random secs extremely strange
and fantastic visions on these voyages.
These night wIuderl g Of the butterfly spirit arc
not without their dangers. In addition 10 other hob
COLLINS and spectres, Burma is especially plagued
on -.e who lcV0ur men. If they VIII eat the cor
poratc man. there is small doubt what VIII happen
TO the fragile butterfly rpnt should II come across
such an Ogre Cases 10 happen WAeh ne LeYlby3
is gulpcd down. and then the man has cp; his last
slccp. More often, however II Is only case OF
Loypbva Ian: the soul Is scared, and ~ rs horror,
.ollet{ue, runs into w known regions, iIO'u which
il is unable 10 reuace its steps, "hen, OF course 1t
dies and with 1t the owner or II PUSHES
home To its bodily dwellingpaCe with such
precipitation that the whole system Is dlSor-
ganiiCI, ana sickness follows This butterfly theory,
therefore. offers a grand field tor quack doctors OF
whom there are q very large number IL burma.
When man falls i'll they dose him with ali the
drugs and ,imDies they have in their Ettlc bamboo
nhiai- II rc does moi get better then there can Be
only one opinion: the LoyPbya has had lis system
shaken by some hOuid sight; " perhaps It Is being
ken. in durauce-yIic by some IascLt. some demon
UH the sense 81 me 'iteh uaiAoi' or ~ conn,
wizard. IN this case no BODILY medicine can be or
any use, were 1t even that celebrated nostrum the
green powder, which contains 100 different In
gredIeDts. i witch doctor must BE- called ~, and
he resorts to the Lerpbya Hkaw Offerings
aye lad outside the house or perhaps
crfside III, VILLAGE at nigLt-heapS o. cooked
malpyoleut being, whether ghostly I3ScEt or ma
t.ra WITCH j. begged 10 eat this rice instead Of tho
butterfly spirit and TO let 1t tree. Few hardy
enough 10 watch and see what happens; but tho
few who have done agreed with ne IN the dis
cOvcrv that the demon appears in the shape of
n3rial dog which does not differ from other paiiah
dogs in spirit, in smGch rs Il Will run away Ii you
throw stones at it, Iaseht i greedy, eats offerings,
Leypbya and ALL and kills he man. Perhaps II is
appeased. Then the butterfly spirit returns safe to
its owner again aud convalescencc sets I'D. Bceocs
are never successfully negotiated with IN TIN, way;
tLcy are TOO NoraclOus. They occasionally appear
in broad daylight upou earth; but may always 10
recognized. since they have red eyes and cast no
shadow.
two Leypbyar that were intimately united in llfe
This /. especially the case when "a mother has died
leaving little infant. II the Leypbya Kwe Is not
rrS9rtcd TO- the butterfly of the little one viii fol-
low the mother and tle child VIII die. y wlse
woman il therefore called in. Size murMurs some
Mantras and then places a looking glass on the
floor near the corpse. Still mumuriug. but with
more and more rapid gesticulatlOI, size drops tlmy
shred of cotton down the face OF the mirror, and
with frenzed words entreats the dead mother not
10 retain tue infant soul, but let u come back TO
its earthly tenement. The tleecy down slowly de-
scends the mrror-face and falls Oft into he hand
kerchIef she holds below and i then gently placed
by Ter on the breast of the child. similar cere-
mony Is occasionally gone through when husband
or wife i more than usually overcome by the death
of the yOkc-Iellow.
The Leypbya idea is the cause Of the great IN
Willingness all Burmans have 10 wake a sleeping
man. Ii Is obvious from the above explanation OF
the character Of the LeypbNa th3t IL woU9 ne very
injurious to rouse q man suddenly from Lls SUM
bers. His butterfly might be wandering tar away
from the body and probably would not have time 70
hurry back To it, tenement. Then tie man would
certainly fall SICK, or at any rate would be Indls-
posed for a short time. Consequently, II y useless
10 tell Bumau servant 70 wake YOU AZ certain
hour. lie viii come IN at the appointed time and
look wistfully at yOu and wish solucthlng would
fall down and make a noise; but he himself VIII
tread As softly as a housebreaher, and viii not even
have the heart to Iastigate somebody outside 10
make nose
UOVFV As LL<TENERS