Katra The katra , or living spirit , was the essence of the Vulcan mind and could be transferred to another person moments before death . The existence of the " katra " was controversial ; many Vulcans thought it was nothing more than a myth , but a small group of Vulcans named the Syrrannite s believed in it . In 2154 , an event took place which brought the existence of the " katra " to the attention of the Vulcan people and its leaders , the Vulcan High Command . Legend has it that ancient Vulcans used katric ark s to store " katras " . Some of those arks were discovered at the P ' Jem monastery centuries earlier . Although they were analyzed by Vulcan scientist s ( one of them even tried to meld with an ark ) , they were not found to contain a " katra " . A highly notable surviving " katra " was the one of Surak , Vulcan ' s founder and father of Vulcan philosophy . Although Surak died in the 4th century , his " katra " survived to the year 2154 , when it was briefly held by a Human , Captain Jonathan Archer , before its transferal to a Vulcan priest . The reappearance of Surak ' s " katra " was instrumental in the rise of T ' Pau ' s influence and the following reorganization of Vulcan government and society . When a " katra " was transferred to someone , he or she would benefit from the experiences of the person the " katra " had come from . Because the " katra " could resist its transfer , the procedure was not without risk and must be performed according to a specific ritual . Non - Vulcans might experience side effects , like a form of multiple personality disorder . Human s were especially vulnerable because of the severe shock a transfer could give to their nervous system . Restoring a " katra " to a Vulcan was preferably done by a Vulcan priest with enough experience with " katras " . ( ) Vulcans could initiate a transfer of their " katra " by placing one of their hands on the head of the recipient and to position their fingers on specific points . Via a mind meld , a Vulcan was able to tell if someone had received a " katra " . The " katra " could be restored after a person had died and his " katra " had been transferred to someone , if the family of that person wanted to have the " katra " restored . This ritual is called " fal - tor - pan " , which literally means " the refusion " . The ritual was performed very rarely . The last time was in 2285 , when Spock ' s regenerated body was found on and returned to Mount Seleya , where his " katra " was transferred from Doctor McCoy into his own body . The transfer of someone ' s " katra " was not regularly practiced and was only done in special circumstances . When a Human received a " katra " , the effects of the merge could be counteracted by lexorin , but this was only for a short period of time . The " katra " must eventually be transferred to someone else . Around 2369 , the existence of the " katra " was common knowledge within most medical establishments . ( ; ; ) It was possible for a portion of a person ' s " katra " to reside in the mind of another , following a mind meld . This allowed the two connected individuals to communicate across interstellar distances . When Michael Burnham was a child , a bombing at the Vulcan Learning Center resulted in her holding a portion of Sarek ' s " katra " ; Sarek then used this ability to communicate with her aboard the during the Battle of the Binary Stars . ( ) When Tuvok had been brainwashed by the , he accused them of " stealing " his " katra " . ( ) When the Deep Space 9 crew encountered criminal scientist Rao Vantika , it was revealed that he had developed an artificial means of transferring his synaptic patterns into another body , compared by Doctor Julian Bashir to the Vulcan method of transferring their synaptic patterns to another . ( ) A similar transfer process was used by Tieran , an Ilari dictator , but he was born in the Delta Quadrant and thus would have had no experience of Vulcans to inspire his research . ( ) Appendices . Apocrypha . In the " " series of novels , the Vulcan science officer T ' Prynn is a " val ' reth " ; she holds the " katra " of another , her would - be mate Sten , who she challenged for her freedom in the " kal - if - fee " , against her will , as Sten transferred his " katra " into her mind as he died and refuses to leave T ' Prynn ' s mind until she submits to his will . It is , however , unclear whether the term " " val ' reth " " refers to T ' Prynn having been given the " katra " without her consent ( in which case , Archer and McCoy could also be referred to as " " val ' reths " " , considering that neither of them consented to receiving a " katra " ) or whether it refers to the fact that Sten ' s " katra " would not allow itself to be removed from T ' Prynn ' s mind . The novel " The Lost Years " deals extensively with the concept of " katras " and " katra " transfers . The novel speaks of an ancient warrior named Zakal , who died the day before the Romulan s left Vulcan during the Time of Awakening , and his " katra " was stored for over two thousand years . When he was revived in the 23rd century , Zakal ' s first comment was that the Vulcans apparently hadn ' t run out of " S - names " for their male population . The novel " Beneath the Raptor ' s Wing " had the " katra " of Surak surviving in various Vulcan priests after it was transferred from Captain Archer . One priest carrying the " katra " was killed by a Romulan assassin and the " katra " was lost , with Archer feeling this loss due to the time he spent carrying the " katra " despite being several light year s away . According to the novel " " – book two of the " Vulcan ' s Soul " trilogy – there was a womb of fire where " katras " were reborn , and " katras " could dissolve .