batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l3499-l3538
---
record_id: batch.motif.comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg-l3499-l3538
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER I. THE KING OF THE WOOD. / MACAULAY. / CHAPTER II. THE PERILS OF
THE SOUL. / HEINE.; lines 3499-3538
start: '3499'
end: '3538'
translation: 'The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion (Vol. 1 of 2)'
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: The passage compiles examples in which souls are caught, confined, harmed,
stolen, transferred, swallowed, searched for, or recovered in several traditions
cited by Frazer, including Hawaii, Canadian Indians, Amboina, Karen, and the Nass
River region of British Columbia.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: In the Hawaiian example, sorcerers catch souls of living people, shut them
in calabashes, and give them to others to eat.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: In the same Hawaiian example, squeezing a captured soul is said to reveal
where people had been secretly buried.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:3
text: In the Canadian Indian example, a wizard sends familiar spirits to bring a
victim’s soul in the shape of a stone or similar object, then strikes it with
a sword or axe until it bleeds, while the victim languishes and dies.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:4
text: In the Amboina example, a doctor who believes a patient’s soul is irrecoverably
carried away by a demon tries to replace it with a soul taken from another person.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:5
text: In the Amboina procedure, a person’s reply at night is believed to allow the
doctor to take up a clod of earth into which that person’s soul has passed.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:6
text: The Amboina doctor places the clod under the sick man’s pillow, performs ceremonies
to convey the stolen soul into the patient, and fires two shots to frighten the
soul from returning to its owner.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:7
text: In the Karen example, a wizard catches the wandering soul of a sleeper and
transfers it to the body of a dead man, so that the dead man lives and the sleeper
dies.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:8
text: In the Karen example, the sleeper’s friends may hire a wizard to steal another
sleeper’s soul, producing a supposed indefinite succession of deaths and resurrections.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:9
text: In the Nass River example, doctors think a doctor may mistakenly swallow a
patient’s soul and perform physical procedures on doctors to locate it.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:10
text: If the soul is not found in any doctor, the Nass River doctors conclude it
may be in the head-doctor’s box; they inspect the box and conduct a head-washing
procedure whose water is poured on the sick man’s head.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:11
text: The passage ends by referring to further examples of the recall and recovery
of souls elsewhere.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Hawaiian sorcerers
description: Sorcerers in Hawaii who catch and confine souls of living people.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Souls of living people
description: Souls caught, confined, eaten, squeezed, stolen, transferred, swallowed,
searched for, or recovered in the cited examples.
role_refs:
- role:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Canadian Indian wizard
description: A wizard who wishes to kill a man by obtaining and striking the victim’s
soul.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Familiar spirits
description: Spirits sent by the Canadian Indian wizard to bring the victim’s soul.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Canadian victim
description: The man whose soul is brought in the shape of a stone and struck, causing
him to languish and die.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Amboina doctor
description: A doctor who tries to supply a patient with a soul abstracted from
another person.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Amboina patient
description: A sick person whose original soul is believed to have been carried
away beyond recovery.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Demon
description: A demon believed to have carried away the patient’s soul beyond recovery.
role_refs:
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Amboina respondent or inmate
description: A person whose reply at night is believed to allow their soul to pass
into a clod of earth and be stolen.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Karen wizard
description: A wizard who catches the wandering soul of a sleeper and transfers
it to a dead man.
role_refs:
- role:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Karen sleeper
description: A sleeper whose wandering soul may be caught and transferred, causing
death.
role_refs:
- role:4
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: Dead man in Karen example
description: A dead man who comes to life when a sleeper’s soul is transferred to
his body.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Friends of the sleeper
description: The sleeper’s friends who engage another wizard to steal a soul and
revive the first sleeper.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: fig:14
name_or_label: Nass River doctors
description: Doctors who test whether a doctor has swallowed a patient’s soul and
attempt recovery procedures.
role_refs:
- role:5
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:15
name_or_label: Head-doctor
description: A head-doctor whose box is suspected of containing the patient’s soul
and who is subjected to a head-washing procedure.
role_refs:
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:16
name_or_label: Nass River patient
description: A sick person whose soul is thought possibly to have been swallowed
or stored in the head-doctor’s box.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: soul-capturer or soul-manipulator
assigned_to:
- fig:1
- fig:3
- fig:6
- fig:10
basis: These figures catch, obtain, abstract, strike, or transfer souls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: separable soul
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The passage treats souls as separable from living persons and capable of
being confined, shaped, moved, swallowed, or recovered.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
- id: role:3
label: spirit or demon carrier
assigned_to:
- fig:4
- fig:8
basis: Familiar spirits bring a victim’s soul, and a demon is believed to have carried
away a patient’s soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- id: role:4
label: soul donor or victim
assigned_to:
- fig:5
- fig:9
- fig:11
basis: These figures lose a soul or are harmed through the manipulation of their
soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: role:5
label: doctor or ritual specialist
assigned_to:
- fig:6
- fig:14
- fig:15
basis: These figures are explicitly called doctors or head-doctor and perform or
undergo soul-related procedures.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:5
- id: role:6
label: patient or recipient body
assigned_to:
- fig:7
- fig:12
- fig:16
basis: These figures receive, lack, or are treated in relation to a soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:7
label: rescuing or assisting party
assigned_to:
- fig:13
- fig:14
basis: The friends engage a wizard to restore the sleeper, and the doctors attempt
to recover the patient’s soul.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: calabash soul-container
literal_form: Calabashes in which souls of living people are shut.
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: sym:2
label: soul in stone form
literal_form: The victim’s soul in the shape of a stone or similar object.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:3
label: bleeding external soul
literal_form: A soul-object struck with a sword or axe until it bleeds.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: sym:4
label: clod containing stolen soul
literal_form: A clod of earth into which a respondent’s soul is believed to have
passed.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:6
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:5
label: pillow placement for soul transfer
literal_form: The clod laid under the sick man’s pillow during ceremonies.
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:6
label: gunshots that frighten the soul
literal_form: Two shots fired to prevent the stolen soul from returning to its owner.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:6
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:7
label: head-doctor’s box
literal_form: A box suspected of containing the patient’s soul.
associated_figures:
- fig:2
- fig:15
- fig:16
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: sym:8
label: ablution water
literal_form: Water remaining from washing the head-doctor’s head, poured on the
sick man’s head.
associated_figures:
- fig:14
- fig:15
- fig:16
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Hawaiian capture and confinement of souls
summary: Sorcerers catch living people’s souls, enclose them in calabashes, give
them to be eaten, and squeeze captured souls to discover burial places.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: scene:2
label: Canadian soul-stone killing
summary: A wizard has familiar spirits bring a victim’s soul as a stone-like object
and strikes it until it bleeds, after which the victim weakens and dies.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
- fig:5
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: scene:3
label: Amboina soul substitution cure
summary: A doctor replaces a patient’s irrecoverable soul with another person’s
soul by taking a clod from a doorway, placing it under the pillow, performing
ceremonies, and preventing the soul’s return.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: scene:4
label: Karen transfer between sleeper and dead man
summary: A wizard moves a sleeper’s wandering soul into a dead man, reviving the
dead man while the sleeper dies; friends may arrange another theft to reverse
the outcome, producing repeated deaths and resurrections.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:10
- fig:11
- fig:12
- fig:13
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: scene:5
label: Nass River search for swallowed or boxed soul
summary: Doctors physically test whether a doctor swallowed a patient’s soul, then
suspect the head-doctor’s box, inspect it, wash the head-doctor’s head, and pour
the remaining water on the sick man.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
- fig:14
- fig:15
- fig:16
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
- sym:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: scene:6
label: Reference to further soul recovery examples
summary: The passage notes that further examples of recalling and recovering souls
are referred to elsewhere.
figure_refs:
- fig:2
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: capture and confinement of the separable soul
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Hawaiian example presents souls of living people being caught and enclosed
in calabashes; other examples also treat souls as separable and movable.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: high
cautions: The passage reports Frazer’s comparative summaries rather than primary
narrative texts.
- id: motif:2
label: external soul harmed to kill its owner
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Canadian example describes a victim’s soul brought as a stone-like object
and struck until it bleeds, causing the man to languish and die.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
confidence: high
cautions: The only directly described instance of this exact pattern in the passage
is the Canadian example.
- id: motif:3
label: stolen soul used as substitute cure
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: In the Amboina example, a doctor tries to replace a patient’s lost soul with
the soul of another person, transferred through a clod and ceremonies.
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
confidence: high
cautions: The passage frames the act as healing for one person but lethal or harmful
theft from another is implied rather than fully narrated.
- id: motif:4
label: death and resurrection through soul transfer
taxonomy_refs:
- death_rebirth
- resurrection
basis: The Karen example explicitly states that the dead man comes to life as the
sleeper dies, and that a succession of deaths and resurrections may occur.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
confidence: high
cautions: The resurrection is achieved by soul transfer, not by bodily renewal independent
of another person’s death.
- id: motif:5
label: recall and recovery of lost soul
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The Nass River example concerns locating and recovering a patient’s soul,
and the passage explicitly refers to examples of recall and recovery of souls.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: The cited procedures vary significantly, and the passage does not present
a single standardized rite.
- id: motif:6
label: soul stored in object or container
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Souls are associated with calabashes, a stone-like form, a clod of earth,
and a head-doctor’s box.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: Some objects contain souls, while others represent a form taken by the
soul or a suspected location.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The passage groups examples from multiple traditions as functionally similar
cases in which the soul is treated as separable from the body and subject to capture,
transfer, injury, or recovery.
claim_level: same_function
target: cross-cultural pattern of separable-soul manipulation
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The comparison is Frazer’s compilation; the passage does not establish
historical contact, common inheritance, or identical ritual contexts.
- id: claim:2
claim: The Amboina and Karen examples share the function of moving a soul from one
person into another body, though one is framed as replacing a patient’s lost soul
and the other as reviving a dead man.
claim_level: same_function
target: soul transfer as cure or revival
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The immediate purposes and outcomes differ, and the passage does not
claim a shared origin.
- id: claim:3
claim: The Hawaiian, Canadian, Amboina, and Nass River examples all associate souls
with tangible containers or objects such as calabashes, stone-like forms, clods,
or boxes.
claim_level: visual_similarity
target: object-associated or container-associated soul
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: 'The objects have different functions: confinement, embodied form,
transfer medium, and suspected storage place.'
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 3499-3503
quote_or_summary: Hawaiian sorcerers catch souls of living people, shut them in
calabashes, give them to be eaten, and squeeze captured souls to discover secret
burial places.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted at length.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 3503-3509
quote_or_summary: Among Canadian Indians, a wizard sends familiar spirits for a
victim’s soul, which comes in the form of a stone or similar object; striking
it until it bleeds causes the person to languish and die.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted at length.
- id: ev:3
type: summary
locator: lines 3509-3522
quote_or_summary: In Amboina, a doctor whose patient’s soul is believed lost to
a demon takes another person’s soul through a clod of earth, places it under the
patient’s pillow, performs ceremonies, and fires shots to prevent its return.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted at length.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 3522-3529
quote_or_summary: A Karen wizard catches a sleeper’s wandering soul and transfers
it to a dead man, causing the dead man to live and the sleeper to die; further
thefts can create a succession of deaths and resurrections.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted at length.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 3530-3537
quote_or_summary: Nass River doctors may suspect that a doctor swallowed a patient’s
soul or that it is in the head-doctor’s box; they perform bodily procedures, inspect
the box, wash the head-doctor’s head, and pour the remaining water on the sick
man.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted at length.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: line 3538
quote_or_summary: The passage states that other examples of the recall and recovery
of souls are referred to elsewhere.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/comparative/project-gutenberg/golden-bough-volume-1-frazer.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summarized rather than quoted at length.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: Literal extraction is straightforward from the passage. Motif labels are
candidate analytical groupings and should be reviewed, especially because the
passage is a comparative scholarly compilation rather than a primary mythic narrative.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Used only the supplied passage and metadata. No historical-contact or common-inheritance claims are made.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:comparative-golden-bough-volume-1-frazer-gutenberg__l3499-l3538
passage_sha256=3374f1c82071e95b711300305c6b577ae57abf77b55bc7893bcca02391595121