Belief of soul-stealing through photo-taking

[Owledge]

Open discussion. I'm really interested in analyzing the rationale ( if there is any ) of this native american(?) belief. I have very mixed and vague thoughts about it, thus I'd like to hear your thoughts/knowledge first.

[freesun]

Open discussion. I'm really interested in analyzing the rationale ( if there is any ) of this native american(?) belief. I have very mixed and vague thoughts about it, thus I'd like to hear your thoughts/knowledge first.

 

I think it steals the photons bouncing of your body.

[Owledge]

Many things do that; It's an natural process.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

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Edited July 7, 2010 by TheWhiteRabbit

[Wayfarer64]

I think it steals the photons bouncing of your body.

 

Thank you for that lightening up! The fact remains that hooey has legs! If any one's soul could be stolen through mechanical devices the cosmos would be pretty freaking dangerous indeed!

[Eric23]

I believe it has to do with capturing a person's image and then reproducing it. They believe that when you take the photo you are not only gathering the image of the subject but all of the subject including soul. As a professional photographer I know that what we are really capturing is light that is reflected/absorbed by the subject and then re-transmitted. However I have the advantage (?) of a modern education that included some physics.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

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Edited July 7, 2010 by TheWhiteRabbit

[solxyz]

I dont know what any native americans were thinking on this subject. I know that in a lot of other cultures where people dont like having their picture taken, it is believed that the picture can then be used to work spells on them, like a kind of voodoo doll. For myself I think there is a deeper meaning to the soul-stealing of photography. Photo taking has an inherently desacralizing effect. If youre in church you wouldnt go snapping photos during the eucharist. If you do, you are incredibly insensitive and you are not present in the communion at all. Relatedly, cameras offer a mechanistic perspective on the world. By having these mechanistic representations of myself created - representations in which no person needed to discover and express the way that I am in the world - I feel that people are increasingly conceiving of me in a materialistic way. That sounds very strong and overstated; I dont go around worrying about this all day, but having my picture taken feels like an imposition, like the other person wants to take a peice of me away, and to do that they are willing to break off our relationship for a little while.

 

That said, I love looking at pictures of my friends. Its fascinating to me.

[Sunya]

a while ago in China people thought the same thing

[Mokona]

It is easier to find the vibe of someone you haven't met through a photo. Makes it easier for healing. Then, obviously - to connect to that person for any reason.

[Aetherous]

So the real (possible) way that a photo "steals someone's soul" is when someone else views the photo and connects to the vibe of the person, rather than the actual photograph taking itself? Interesting!

[Owledge]

So the real (possible) way that a photo "steals someone's soul" is when someone else views the photo and connects to the vibe of the person, rather than the actual photograph taking itself? Interesting!

I don't think it is the mere connecting that equals the alleged soul-stealing.

 

Maybe it's just the ancient way of complaining about a violation of privacy.

[Aetherous]

Haha, true.

[Mak_Tin_Si]

In the past, cameras in china are called "SIP WUN GEI" 攝魂機 meaning the machine that suck in the souls (wun/hun). Yes it does do the job alot of the time, but not ALOT of it, just enough for some evil wizard to cast a magic on you. But digital cameras nowadays do not take in as much souls fragments as the very ancient huge machine. So it is safer.

 

But there is also a way to seal up the camera to avoid the camera sucking in any soul fragment or connect the pictures to anything. This then make your camera very safe and secure to use!!!

[Owledge]

But there is also a way to seal up the camera to avoid the camera sucking in any soul fragment or connect the pictures to anything. This then make your camera very safe and secure to use!!!

I'd love to know the details about this sealing (a kind of optical filter?), because it would totally explain the whole thing.

[Mak_Tin_Si]

you heard of the sealing FU from me yet?

[Owledge]

Nope!

If you already described it at the Tao Bums, just say so, then I'll use the search function.

 

 

There's a FU for everything, isn't it? Well, considering that the power of the Tao is behind it, and the Tao is everything, i guess that would make perfect sense.

[Mak_Tin_Si]

Yes there is a FU for everything because everything is in tao, the nature. Once one can connect to nature, they can get a FU for anything in nature. or the universe.

 

 

For sealing FU, it is to seal up the object or things by burning the FU in front and giving the object a permanent seal and a shield of protection which allow itself to repel from negatives stuff. such as ghosts, black magic, or evil beings.

[Owledge]

How much influence by the camera owner is needed for this procedure to work? Because I'm thinking that somehow it must be ensured that the effect is really applied to the camera, and all of it. I don't know how to say it different, but how does one correctly aim the 'magic' of the FU? What happens when testing this to the extreme ... say ... putting it in front of two cameras or the camera at some distance to the FU? Is it directed by the intent of the user? How flexible is the effect?

[DalTheJigsaw123]

That is a good, very good question. It might, do we have any evidence? I think it's like anything else, past from generations to generations... In a sense of beliefs.

[Yoda]

I got a Sealing Fu for my computer monitor and haven't been zapped since by anything gnarly. Eventually, I want to get a Sealing Fu for our radio too.