Taking Photos or Stealing Souls? Part 2

Greetings folks,

My previous post Taking Photos or Stealing Souls? Part 1 received a lot of responses via comments and email regarding cultures around the world — Ancient Egyptian, Greek, some African and Caribbean — that believed photographs can steal a person's soul or lifeforce. 

For example, it turns out that there are no known photographs of Crazy Horse, the Lakota warrior and spiritual leader. He believed that having his picture taken would shorten his life and take a piece of his soul. He wouldn’t even allow his photo to be taken at his funeral.

It's fascinating to observe how various cultures draw from a common well of beliefs and traditions, despite their geographical and historical differences. The notion of photographs stealing souls or life force is a compelling example of this phenomenon, showing how diverse societies can share similar underlying beliefs about the power and impact of technology on spirituality and identity.

On that cheery note, let’s get back to the subject at hand.

Those of you who have been readings my posts know that my inner critic Freddy is smarter and more assertive than I am, with a more finely tuned moral compass and a fuller head of hair. But he’s also more neurotic, gets winded faster on long runs, and cannot eat more than three chili peppers without breaking a sweat.

An any case, Feddy is hellbent on making me take responsibility for the souls of those poor things who looked directly into my camera over the years and saw me press the shutter. And that includes not only those who are still with us, but also the ones who have crossed into the realm of the departed.

”A soul is immortal,” says Freddy, “so it’s not about here and now, but everywhere and always. Plus responsibility is a beautiful thing.”

I don’t argue with Freddy anymore. I’m tired of losing.

So here goes…

My dear friends, relatives, neighbors, strangers… here, there, everywhere… I’m forever responsible for you. Your pain is my pain, your joy is my joy, your financial debt is my… Okay, let’s stop here!

As for the rest of you, if you see a tired, broken man shuffling down the street, drooling on his shirt and yelling obscenities at pigeons, be kind to him. He’s got the weight of many souls on his shoulders.

As always, thanks for reading and for being a subscriber.

‘Til next time.

ak