Geographies of the Spirit World

Abstract

Most human cultures possess spaces for spirits understood as person-like powers capable of human interaction. While this may sound paradoxical, since spirits are typically deemed not to occupy a ‘space’ as do living persons, it becomes more intelligible once we recognise that ‘life’ itself is a mysterious entity difficult to ‘place’ or restrict to a body. This chapter will show how different societies classify their world and account for this interplay between life forces and the material nature of things is reflected in the way they make spaces for spirits.