The Belief in Multiple Souls

It’s a given in most, if not all religious world views that humans have “a” soul – a non-physical entity that accounts for our very existence. Death, according to these world views occurs when the soul departs the body. Belief in the existence of souls in both living and non-living things is broadly referred to as animism, a term coined by English anthropologist, Sir Edward B. Tylor. It is intriguing that the ethnological record hasn’t found an exception to this belief. However, what is far from universal is the conception that each human is endowed with a “single” soul. Put differently, the belief in the existence of one soul per person isn’t universally held. Remarkably, the ethnological record is replete with cultures that believe in the existence of multiple souls per individual.

Ancient Egyptians believed in the existence of two souls and the Jivaro of Ecuador postulate the existence of three souls. Among the Jivaro, each of the souls is imbued with a unique potential which, collectively give potency to the human person. Mekas is primordial because the body owes its animation to it. Arutam is not obtained automatically by dint of one’s birth – but rather, captured at a sacred site with the aid of hallucinatory plants. Arutam grants its bearer bravery and protects “him” in battle. It isn’t clear if women possess this second soul. Musiak, the last of the souls comes to maturity just before the warrior dies. Its primary task is to avenge the warrior’s death.

Looking at the Ecuadorian example, one may deduce and rightly so that not all individuals have three souls because only a certain proportion of Jivaro society become warriors or die in battle. In fact, there’s considerable evidence that the notion of multiple souls is gendered – in the sense that men and women are believed to have different numbers of souls. Among the Dahomey (of present-day Benin Republic), women were believed to have three souls while men had four. The additional soul, unique to men endowed them with the distinct privilege to exercise political power within their lineages.

Among the Talensi, studied by English anthropologist, Meyer Fortes, belief in the existence of three souls is widespread. Segr, nuor yin and yin-ancestors constitute a trinity of souls or agents that guide the existence of all members of Tale society. The primary soul, segr, is the life-determining agent, wielding influence over one’s life and death. Nuor yin as stated by Robin Horton is “a personification of the wishes expressed by the individual before his arrival on earth. The nuor yin appears specifically concerned with whether or not the individual has the personality traits necessary if he is to become an adequate member of Tale society” (Horton 1967:63). Nuor yin is believed to have a split personality – good and evil; whereby the former is responsible for the full socialization of the individual in Tale society while the latter accounts for such failed socialization. Yin ancestors on the other hand only associate themselves with individuals that have good nuor yin. The yin ancestors are preoccupied with advancing the good fortunes of its bearer.

If you thought the Dahomeans had just too many souls, then you haven’t heard about the Fang of Gabon who top the record of souls – seven. Amongst the souls possessed by both men and women are: “a sound in the brain, a heart soul, a name soul, a life force soul, a body soul, a shadow soul, and a ghost soul” (Harris, 1989:398).

I’m yet to find a convincing theory that explains the reason for belief in multiple souls. However, it is evident from the above overview that religious world views are cultural constructs – in the sense that they are made by humans which in turn become powerful sources for meaning and motivation.

One question that begs to be answered – particularly from the vantage point of adherents to religious views that postulate the existence of a single soul; is belief in more than one soul misconceived or delusional? An anthropological response would insist on the relativity of all beliefs and that when it comes to such notions, it isn’t our place to proffer ontological truths about the rightness or wrongness of any given world view. From the vantage point of believers in multiple-souls, it would seem bizarre and feeble-minded to insist on the existence of a single soul. Just as we are compelled to acknowledge the existence of different cuisines and languages, we must, by dint of this logic admit the existence of different world views without declaring them to be “false” or misguided. Each world view is truthful for its adherents, however delusional it may seem to those gazing from the margins or are outsiders to the given world view.

Thus, we have accomplished the task of showing that belief in the existence of souls is universal. However, societies differ significantly in their belief on how many souls any given individual may have, and this variation could be accounted for by gender, cultural notions of personhood – that is, the extent to which one has attained full membership in one’s society.

What may be the significance of taking the belief in multiple souls into account? For a start, it questions the orthodoxy in many world religions about the fate of one’s soul in the after-life. In addition, though trivial, it also upsets the convenient language around souls and soulmates. The last point pertains specifically to the realm of psychoanalysis. Robin Horton puts it thus: “… A study of West African soul theories, and of their allocation of particular desires and emotions to particular agencies of the mind, may well help the psycho-analyst to reformulate his theories in terms more appropriate to the local scene” (Horton, 1967:57). That is to say, the practice of psychoanalysis would only be productive insofar as it takes local beliefs into account.

Many of us would find it intriguing and perhaps, odd that there is belief in the existence of multiple souls around the world. Many would also be tempted to declare these beliefs “false” – in the sense that those who inhabit these religious world views simply have it wrong. This same proclamation would be made about the righteousness of one’s beliefs by those outside the belief system. As anthropologists, we exhort readers to listen and to seek understanding even when one isn’t expected to agree with world views radically different from one’s.

Cited sources:

Horton, Robin, 1967.  African Traditional Thought and Western Science. Part I. From Tradition to Science. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp.50-71.

Harris, Marvin, 1989. Our Kind. Harper Collins Publishers.