Spirit spouse
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The spirit spouse is a widespread element of
shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
, distributed through all continents and at all cultural levels. Often, these spirit husbands/wives are seen as the primary helping spirits of the shaman, who assist them in their work, and help them gain power in the world of spirit. The relationships shamans have with their spirit spouses may be expressed in romantic, sexual, or purely symbolic ways, and may include gender transformation as a part of correctly pairing with their "spouse". Shamans report engaging with their spirit spouses through dreams, trance, and other ritual elements. In some cultures, gaining a spirit spouse is a necessary and expected part of initiation into becoming a shaman. Examples of spirit spouses may be seen in non-shamanic cultures as well, including dreams about
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
by nuns, who are considered to be "brides of Christ".


Particular instances


Africa

Ewe of
Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
: variant in Haiti ( Vodou)"Wedding ceremonies between Vodou divinities and their devotees take place ... It is also believed that there is sexuality between the conjugal pair, by way of dreams." Baule of
Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...
: "Baule statuary is dominated by elaborate figures carved to symbolize "spirit spouses". Baule mythology dictates that every adult, male or female, has such a spouse, manifested through dreams." Each woman has a ''blolo bian'' ("spirit-husband"), and each man has a ''blolo bla'' ("spirit-wife"): these may be encountered in dreams; "Every Baule man and woman living in the world has in the ''blɔlɔ'' a "spirit spouse". Women have a ''blɔlɔ bian'' ... and men have a ''blɔlɔ bla'' ... This dream partner is always described as very beautiful". These spirit spouses are said to be in opposition to every man or woman's terrestrial husband or wife. The term that a man's wife would use to describe her relationship to his spirit spouse would translate into other languages as rival. The spirit spouses of the Baule can appear to their wife or husband in dreams and can take many forms but are never the form of their terrestrial spouse. Figurines representing them can be made for particular reasons, for example infertility or another crisis of a sexual nature . The blolo is able to give "good luck" however if the spirit spouse does not help with the problems of the natural world then the character of the spirit may be called into question and the figure of them may be discarded. Among the varied tribes of eastern
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
such as the
Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
and the
Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...
, ''Spirit Spouses of the Sea'' are common features of life due to the geographical closeness of their cultures to the Atlantic Ocean, though attitudes to their supposed existence depend largely on the religious inclinations of the individuals concerned. For example, a Yoruba
traditionalist Traditionalism is the adherence to traditional beliefs or practices. It may also refer to: Religion * Traditional religion, a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group * Traditionalism (19th-century Catholicism), a 19th–cen ...
might look at a conjugal visit from a dream-based lover in much the same way as the aforementioned Ewe and Baule do, whereas a
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
or
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
tribesman in the same situation would most likely look at it as a grave misfortune and seek the mystic aid of a spiritual counsellor to rectify what he would see as a probably dangerous connection to an otherworldly ''demon''.


Asia

Yakshini ''Yakshinis'' or ''yakshis'' (यक्षिणी sa, yakṣiṇī or ''yakṣī''; pi, yakkhiṇī or ''yakkhī'') are a class of female nature spirits in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religious mythologies that are different from devas and ...
of India. China"King Xiang (Hsiang; third century BCE) is said to have dreamt of a tryst with a goddess on Wu Shan (Witch's Mountain), with the goddess seizing the initiative." In another translation, "Witch's Mountain" is "Shamanka Mountain". This goddess of Wu Shan "transformed into the fungus-like yaocao 媱草", the "edible mushroom" being a metaphor in courtship for marriage.
Goldi The Nanai people are a Tungusic people of East Asia who have traditionally lived along Heilongjiang (Amur), Songhuajiang (Sunggari) and Wusuli River on the Middle Amur Basin. The ancestors of the Nanai were the Jurchens of northernmost Manchur ...
of Siberia, along Sea of Japan: A male shaman may have in dreams a divine wife as ''ayami'' ("spirit-helper").
Yukaghir The Yukaghirs, or Yukagirs ( (), russian: юкаги́ры) are a Siberian ethnic group people in the Russian Far East, living in the basin of the Kolyma River. Geographic distribution The Tundra Yukaghirs live in the Lower Kolyma region ...
of Siberia, along upper Kolyma River: The goddess of hunting is "a lustful young woman whom hunters must persuade to provide them with prey animals by seducing her in their dreams." Yakut of Siberia: The daughters of the abassy ("deities"), "in appearing to the shaman in his dream, ... enter into sexual intercourse with him." Thereby she imparts to him "luck". Nganasan of Siberia: A woman in a shamanist family married the smallpox-spirit: she "became a wife of the Smallpox in her dream." Buryat of Siberia: In shamanic dreams, "The soul of a Buryat novice travels to the center of the world, where it meets, in an amorous encounter, the nine wives of Tekha, the god of ... dance. Eventually, the soul meets there his future celestial spouse." Akkad: "Hemerologies reveal that the ''ardat lilī''-demoness could pick a man as mate (''hâru'')" The "''ardat lilī''-demoness (associated with Lilith of Jewish mythology)" appeared to men in dreams.


Europe

In Christian literature, there are demons called incubus and succubus, who are also called types of spirit spouses. They are specifically referred to as spirit husband and spirit wife, respectively. In the work of St. Augustine it was stated that "many have verified it by their own experience and trustworthy persons have corroborated the experiences others told, that sylvans and fauns, commonly called incubi, have often wicked assaults upon women." These creatures are considered as spirit spouses, who only exist in dreams having intercourse with the dreamer. Some sources state that they are acquired through sexual promiscuity and are prominently connected with witchcraft spells, love potions, and lust. In France, there is a belief that "during the night, in dreams, which he contrives to excite, he takes care to be the principal object of her ideas...'tis her sylph that causes her those pleasing reveries". "Humans long to mate with sylphs, according to the Comte de Gabalis, because they want to live forever".


Neopaganism

The controversial, self-proclaimed traditional witch Robin Artisson includes a variation of the Norse
fetch Fetch may refer to: Books * ''Fetch'', a 2012 book by Alan MacDonald and David Roberts * ''The Fetch'', a 2006 book by Chris Humphreys * ''The Fetch'', a 2009 book by Laura Whitcomb * ''The Fetch'', a 1991 book by Robert Holdstock * ''Fazbear Fr ...
concept in his book ''The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill''. He supports this with the thesis that the questing/rescuing heroes in myths, legends, and fairy tales can be seen as the soul, and rescued maidens as the fetch bride. However, he does not make it clear if this occurs in dreams, shamanic journeys in a
trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...
state, or both—though trance work is an important part of his theology and recommended practice. Some other Neopagan authors from very different traditions have also hinted at the possibility spiritual-sexual union of some sort with divine or spirit being.


Oceania

Sandwich Islands" ʼaumakua could ... have sex with living persons during the night. These spirit mates ... could be of help". Kaluli on the northern slope of Mt. Bosavi in Papua"Mediums are men who have married spirit women in a dream". "The medium is always a man who is married (in a dream) to a woman of the invisible world. When he has a child by her, he is able to go to sleep, leave his body, and walk about in the ''mama'' world." Kodi of Sumba Island in southern IndonesiaA man "dreamed that he had an encounter with two wild spirits who lived in the forest ... The wild spirit takes the form of a seductive woman, asking for ... sexual favors in return for the magical powers she controls." A generation later, this man's son "was seduced by the wild spirit woman he saw and entered into a "spirit marriage" (''ole marapu'')" with her, she becoming "his "spirit wife" (''ariwyei marapu'')".


South America

In South America, the shaman is a dominant figure. The type of shamanism practiced in this region has similarities with those of ethnic groups residing in Siberia and these include the process of initiation. In both of these societies, the process included marriage to a spirit spouse. For instance, Barbara Tedlock's anthropological fieldwork with the
K'iche' K'iche', K'ichee', or Quiché may refer to: *K'iche' people of Guatemala, a subgroup of the Maya *K'iche' language, a Maya language spoken by the K'iche' people **Classical K'iche' language, the 16th century form of the K'iche' language *Kʼicheʼ ...
diviners in
Momostenango Momostenango is a town and municipality in the Totonicapán department of Guatemala. The municipality is situated in the North-West of Totonicapán, in the Western highlands of Guatemala. Population Momostenango's population is predominantly of M ...
, Guatemala revealed they "are recruited in a classical shamanic fashion, including divine election—through ... dreams—and the process involves a marriage to a spirit spouse." In addition, the "male elders who decide on community leadership roles all possess female personal icons (''bara'') which commonly manifest themselves in dreams as women." "Quichés openly talk about the bara as a spouse". "Quichés are open and expressive in talking about and playing with their ''bara'', or metaphoric 'spouses,' kissing, fondling, opening, and caressing them". Events that highlight the role of the spirit spouse include the Andean people's Tinku Festival, held in the first week of May. This Andean religious event celebrates
Pachamama Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology she is an " Earth Mother" type goddess, Dransart, Penny. (1992) "Pachamama: The Inka Earth Mother of the Long Sweeping Garment." ''Dress and Gender: Making ...
, a goddess considered to be the Mother Earth. The festivity includes a ceremonial ritual, wherein participants shed blood as sacrifice and offering to the goddess in order to acquire blessing and guarantee a plentiful harvest. Shamans troop to the Tinku Festival to search for their spirit spouse. In
Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...
, in Chile"human-like wekufe include Punkure and Punfüta, nocturnal ... spouses ... in their dreams".


Contrast against opposite-gender spirit-mediumship

The practice of dream-based spirit-marriage would appear to exclude and be excluded by (i.e., not be practiced by the same practitioners, nor perhaps even ever known in the same ethnic culture, as) the practice of opposite-gender spirit-possession mediumship. The latter practice (of opposite-gender spirit-possession mediumship) is attested in, e.g., Okinawa, Siam, and Burma, in each of which areas it would appear to be mainly (if not entirely) based on non-remembered (putatively non-conscious) trance. The practice of dream-based spirit-marriage would appear likewise to exclude and be excluded by shallower trances involving some partial degree of control (but permanently and continuously, instead of merely intermittently as was the case in non-remembered trance) of the practitioner by a spirit-entity of opposite gender from that of the practitioner; which is attested not only among the
berdache Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-variant) ...
in tribes of the Great Plains of North America, but also among the manang in Borneo, and perhaps also among numerous other persons and geographic regions (including European practitioners of homosexual magic, etc.).


Asia

ThaiFor a male spirit-medium, "female spirits possess the medium on Saturdays"; for which occasions the male medium is attired in feminine garments—these are events of spirit-possession by the medium's "losing consciousness". However, dreaming is not significant for T'ai spirit-mediumship. (There is, nevertheless, some degree of similarity between this practice of becoming possessed by an opposite-gender spirit regularly on a particular day of the week; and the custom in Haitian spirit-marriage of regularly devoting a particular day of the week to one's marital duty to that spirit.)"Once the ceremony is complete, the spouse will abstain from sexual relations on his or her Lwa's day of the week, reserving that time for visits from his or her divine mate.
Lilith Dorsey: ''Voodoo and Afro-Caribbean Paganism''. Citadel Press, New York, 2005. p. 46
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See also

* Divine marriage *
Incubus An incubus is a demon in male form in folklore that seeks to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. In medieval Europe, union with an incubus was supposed by some to result in t ...
*
Mystical marriage __NOTOC__ Within the Christianity, Christian tradition, bridal theology, also referred to as mystical marriage, is the New Testament portrayal of communion with Jesus as a marriage, and God's reign as a wedding banquet. This tradition in turn trac ...
*
Sex magic Sex magic (sometimes spelled sex magick) is any type of sexual activity used in magical, ritualistic or otherwise religious and spiritual pursuits. One practice of sex magic is using sexual arousal or orgasm with visualization of a desired resu ...
*
Succubus A succubus is a demon or supernatural entity in folklore, in female form, that appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. According to religious tradition, a succubus needs male semen to survive; repeated sexual activity ...
*
Posthumous marriage Posthumous marriage (or necrogamy) is a marriage in which at least one of the participating members is deceased. By country China In China there is a rare tradition called ''minghun'' or a spirit marriage. This can be performed between two decea ...


Notes


Bibliography

*
Barbara Tedlock Barbara Helen Tedlock (born September 9, 1942) is an American cultural anthropologist and Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the State University of New York, Buffalo. Her work explores cross-cultural understanding and communication of d ...
(ed.): ''Dreaming: Anthropological and Psychological Interpretations''. Cambridge University Press, 1987. * Rosalind C. Morris: ''In the Place of Origins: Modernity and Its Mediums in Northern Thailand''. Duke University Press, Durham (NC), 2000. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spirit Spouse Sexuality and religion Shamanism Spouses Dream