Beyond Mind– Body Dualism: Pluralistic Concepts of the Soul in Mongolian Shamanistic Traditions
Journal of Consciousness Studies June 1, 2023 Ede Frecska, Ágnes Birtalan, Michael Winkelman
Belief in multiple souls is common across human cultures, especially in pre-modern traditions. This essay examines how a three-fold soul structure appears in Mongolian shamanistic traditions. Accounts of the three souls among various Mongolian ethnic groups diverge, particularly in consciousness-related attributes, likely due to cultural bias of data collectors, inconsistencies between informants, and evolution of concepts from historical events, socio-economic changes, and external influences. Despite these confounding effects, Mongolian shamanism's pluralistic soul concept resembles beliefs in many other cultures. Mongolian Indigenous concepts reveal key elements of consciousness and, though evoking spiritual interpretations, reflect an innately-disposed mindset that extends conceptualizations of consciousness beyond mind-body dualism.