Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-17
THE INDWELLING SPIRITS OF
MEN.

The Navajo believes that there are
three entities in man: % The cor
poreal man; (2) his soul, the vehicle
Of independent personal existence,
which, at the death Of the body.
survives and continues its career in
the land Of spirits; (3l his spiritual
body, which DIR. Matthews terms his
third element" The Tshi-speaking
negroes of the Gold Coast-that is,
the Ashantis, Fantis, Wassaws,
Gamans, and several other tribes
believe similarly in three entities:
~ The corporal man; t2) his soul,
or ghost; (3l the indwelling spirit Of
the living man, which they term
his krd. Now, though the IRA has
frequently been COMPOUNDED with the
soul or ghost, il is essentially dis
tinct- The soul or ghost only comes
into being when the corporal man
ceases to exist, and so may be con-
siderrd to be the latter deprived of
his material body; but the krd, the
Tshi-speaking negro believes, exist
ed independently before the birth
OF the man, and after his death will
continue to exist equally indepen-
IDENTIFY Of the soul or ghost. A Ira
may have, and almost always has.
been a Ira in the bodies OF other
men since deceased, and. at the
death Of the individual whose body
he is now tenanting, will seek TO
enter the body of some newborn
human being. Failing in this, it
~. ba.f II 4
If unable to enter the body either Of
human being OF Of an animal, 1t
becomes sisd, krd without n tene-
ment, and wanders about the earth.
causing sickness TO mankind. The
ghost or soul, which, 1T the death of
the corporal man, proceeds to
Dead-land, and there continues the
former vacations Of the man. aud
for whose service in Dead land
slaves and wives are sacrificed. and
arms, implements and clothing bur
led with the corpse, Is the vehicle
OF individual personal existence,
the true soul; and the Ira,
whose connection with the man
commences with the birth and
terminates at his death, is some-
thing quite different. The difference
between the krd and the soul is also
well shown by the different results
which ensue when they quit the
body. The Ira can and does quit the
body at will. Usually it does 50 only
during the sleep of the man, who is
unconscious Of its departure, and its
adventures are the occurrence of
which the man dreams. If IL should
leave while the man is awake, the
latter is only made conscious Of it, IL
at all, by a yawn,a sneeze, n shudder.
or some such slight CONFUSION,
which indicates to him that his IRA
Is going out. In any case, whether
sleeping or waking, he suffers no
pain, feels no Inconvenience, and is
subject to no apparent change con-
sequent on the departure Of his ara.
The absence Of the Ira Is, however.
dangerous, as il affords an opportu-
nifty for Sso, or IRA without n
tenement, TO enter the vacant body,
for which the fastsd are believed to DE
always on the lookout. The man is
not conscious Of the entry OF the
sisd, and nothing happens until the
Ara returns and attempts 10 eject
the intruder, when the effect of the
internal struggle is to throw the man
into Commissions. In this manner
the West African negroes seek to
account for epileptic and similar
se1Shres; they are what used to be |
termed cases OF possession, bu.
they are not directly attributable to |
Na.Wln -
When, however, the soul quits the |
body, the latter falls at once into a \
motionless and lifeless condition. |
Sometimes. though but rarely, the
soul returns. and then the man has
been In a swoon or trance; more fire.
quently 1t does not return, and then |