The Soul..Death and Afterlife
Life and health are dependant on the condition of the soul ( samengat ). Some illnesses are attributed to the wandering of one of an Iban’s seven souls, and the shaman undertakes a magical flight to retrieve and return the patient’s soul. Boundaries between life and death are vague, and at death the soul must be informed by a shaman that it must move onto Sebayan. Crossing “The Bridge of Anxiety,” the soul is treated to all imaginable pleasures, many of which are proscribed for the living. After an undetermined period of revelry, the soul is transformed into spirit, then into dew, in which form it reenters the realm of the living by nourishing the growing rice. As rice is ingested, the cycle of the soul is completed by its return to human form. Gawai Antu, the Festival of the Dead, may be held from a few years to 50 years after the death of a member of the community. The main part of the festival occurs over a three-day period, but takes months or even years to plan. The primary purpose of the festival is to honor all the community’s dead, who are invited to join in the ritual acts. The festival dramatizes the dependence of the living and dead on one another.
Things to be considered when going for a night fishing
0 Night fishing can be very easy and a lot of fun, or it can be a perfectly miserable experience. The difference comes in how you prepare for the trip. First, pick a night when the weather forecast is good. It is tough enough moving and finding things in the dark – bad weather just [...]
List of tips that can make your life longer and healthier.
0 Eat plenty of fish: Fish is the recommended diet for a longer healthier life. Studies have found that those who regularly ate fish were up to one-third less likely to get heart diesease than those who ate it less than once a month. Try Tea: Tea is always good. Being a heavy tea-drinker can [...]
The Soul..Death and Afterlife
0 Life and health are dependant on the condition of the soul ( samengat ). Some illnesses are attributed to the wandering of one of an Iban’s seven souls, and the shaman undertakes a magical flight to retrieve and return the patient’s soul. Boundaries between life and death are vague, and at death the soul [...]
