bunzel] religious life 481 



Man and the Universe 



THE SOUL 



According to Zuiii belief, man has a spiritual substance, a soul 

 (tse'niakwin, thoughts, from tse'ma, to think, ponder). This is asso- 

 ciated with the head, the heart, and the breath. The head is the 

 seat of sldll and intelligence, but the heart is the seat of the emotions 

 and of profound thought. "I shall take it to my heart" means I shall 

 ponder it carefully, and remember it long. The word for life is 

 tekohanan-e, literally daylight. The breath is the symbol of Ufe. 

 It also is the means by which spiritual substances communicate and 

 the seat of power or mana. Inhaling is an act of ritual blessing. One 

 inhales from all sacred objects to derive benefit from their mana. At 

 the end of any prayer or chant all present inhale; holding their folded 

 hand before their nostrils, in order to partake of the sacred essence of 

 prayer.^ The feather is the pictorial representation of the breath. 

 Death occurs when "the heart wears out." When a person is very 

 sick his heart is wearing out. "Medicine men can fix it up when they 

 come to cure, and it mil go for awhile, but sooner or later you will 

 have to get a new one." Getting a new heart is the first rite in 

 society initiations.* 



Dreams are believed to be of supernatural causation, and foretell 

 the future if one can properly interpret them. Certain persons in 

 particular are beUeved to "dream true." Dreams of the dead are 

 believed to be visitations of the dead, and are always portents of 

 death. Visual and auditory hallucinations are believed to be simi- 

 larly caused. "Bad dreams," a term which includes hallucinations, 

 is a disease of supernatm-al origin, as opposed to bodily disease, which 

 is caused by witchcraft. There are special rituals for curing "bad 

 dreams," to wliich we shall allude frequently in the following pages. 



In rare instances the soul can leave the body and return to it again. 

 This occurs during sickness and is a matter of great seriousness. A 

 friend has reported such an experience as follows: 



"When I was sick of the measles I was very sick. On the third 

 day I didn't know anytliing. Maybe I fainted or maybe I really 

 died ^ and came back. I never beUeved that could happen, but it 

 really did, because when I came back the room was going roimd and 

 romid and there was a little Ught coming through the window, 

 although there was a bright Ught in the room. ^Vhile I was dead I 

 dreamed I was going toward the west." The narrative goes on to 

 describe her encounter with her dead grandfather and unknown dead 

 women, her "aunts." 



3 See texts for symbolism of breath as the seat of sacred power. 



' Texts, p. 802. 



» The two words are the same in Zuni (aceks.) 



