THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

1.1 Double, Double, Toil and Trouble The Avatar in PanamaShadows, Souls, and Sinister SilhouettesThe origins of this marvellous device are undeniably steeped insuperstition and folklore, mythology and legends from all corners of theglobe. These four elements form the basis for a primitive theory of thesoul and the theory of narcissism both of which are central to the beliefin the concept of the double. At the most basic level, phenomena suchas shadows, mirror images and reflections have been linked by diverseraces of primitive people to the existence of a person’s soul since thebeginning of time. This ultimately formed the conception of an immortalsoul. Later these phenomena came to include physical objects such assculptures, statues, portraiture and photographs, dolls, robots, waxenimages and other effigies. 1Popular thought made much of the symbols and images ofhuman shadows and reflections being extensions of the soul. JamesGeorge Frazer in his widely cited The Golden Bough states that thepresence of this soul, which often took the form of a ‘mannikin’ (sic) ofexact resemblance and who functioned inside the man himself, was thereason for man’s physical activity. 2 Sleep was explained by a temporaryabsence of the ‘wandering soul’ which would perform the acts aboutwhich the dreamer dreamed. Logically, death was therefore seen as itspermanent absence. The soul was thought of as a physical replica ofman and so the fact that it was able to be ‘seen’, indicated its absencefrom the body. This encounter with the soul-double would presage, inone way or another, death or the potential for death. Consequently, theappearance of the double invoked, without fail, feelings of dread andfear in all who saw it. 3Frazer reports that on occasions the soul may not leave thebody of its own volition but be induced “from the body against its will byghosts, demons, or sorcerers”. 4 This view is particularly relevant when1 Other types of belief also arose from superstition. A. E. Crawley mentions astralbodies as potential doubles and the European concept of the guardian angel asanother example of a double eternal counterpart although it is rarely visiblyrepresented. Crawley documents the sanctity of the number two cross-culturally asbeing connected with duplication and multiplication. Correlations are made betweenthe magical qualities of eating double stemmed fruits with the birth of twins, and thedouble faces of idols in Latin American processions have been traced back to thedeity Janus. See “Doubles” Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. ed. JamesHastings. vol. 4. (New York: Scribner’s, n.d.) 853.2 James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, abridgeded., Vol. 1 (London: MacMillan, 1957) 235. Crawley also sees the soul-double asbeing represented by a ‘miniature duplicate’. Crawley 856.3This spiritual double, wraith, or visible counterpart, was also seen before, during orjust after death. Crawley 855.4 Frazer 244.13