PART 4. DISORDERS CAUSED BY EXTERNAL BEINGS 



EXOGENOUS DISORDERS 



This part of the report is devoted to a discussion of psychiatric 

 and psychosomatic ilhiesses that, according to the Mohave, are caused 

 by the impact of ego-alien and external beings possessed of various 

 supernatural powers, to wit : 



(c) An insane deity appearing in dream 



(&) Supernatural snakes 



(c) Aliens and alien ghosts 



{d) Mohave ghosts who cause psychosomatic illness 



(c) Mohave ghosts who cause depressions 



(/) Funeral paraphernalia and rituals 



(g) Witches 



( h ) Magic substances and narcotics 



An Appendix briefly discusses alcohol, drug addiction, and trance 

 states (the latter being related to "power") that, if one tries to think 

 along Mohave lines, appear to be related to exogenous psychic dis- 

 orders, as the Mohave conceive of them. 



INSANITY DUE TO DREAMING OF AN INSANE DEITY 



According to Kroeber (1948) "People who dream of Mastamho 

 after he became a bald eagle know nothing and are crazy (yamomk) 

 like him" (cf. pt. 2, pp. 50-54) . 



While Kroeber's data impress one as reliable, it is likely that tliis 

 belief is not a key concept of Mohave psychiatric thought. Indeed — 

 in reply to a direct question, illustrated by an account of the Indo- 

 chinese Sedang Moi (Devereux, MS., 1933-34) belief that a person who 

 dies insane turns into the "ghost of insanity," which seeks to make 

 others insane — the Mohave denied that they had similar beliefs. 

 Furthermore, since Kroeber recorded the actual text that describes 

 Mastamho's insanity — which means that his (apparently sane) in- 

 formant had (theoretically at least) dreamed this portion of the myth 

 without going insane — this raises questions concerning the rigorous- 

 ness of Mohave belief in this assertion. What Kroeber's informant 

 probably meant was that anyone who dreams of Mastamho only as a 

 fish eagle, and perhaps not necessarily in connection with this myth, 

 may become insane. This view would be compatible with modern 

 psychoanalytic insight. Indeed, the onset of a psychosis is often 

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