Disembodiment – On the relationship between mind and body in world religions

Thematic field of the exhibition "Body. Cult. Religion."

Body and soul or spirit are understood as a unit, but can also be separated. The soul or spirit can leave the body, at the latest at death. However, people can also disembody themselves during their lifetime through religious practices and attain a different consciousness. Every person experiences one form of disembodiment: dreaming. They therefore experience a difference between their physical existence and their phenomenal consciousness.

Practices such as asceticism (abstaining from food), meditation, ecstasy or the use of intoxicants can not only help to minimise the needs of the body in order to concentrate fully on the mind, but often also lead to a trance-like state. This state is often used to make contact with deities or superhuman beings. In many cases, the human body is seen as an obstacle and restriction for the soul. For this reason, the rituals can also lead to death in extreme forms (e.g. complete abstinence from food in Indian Jainism).

Death is often seen as the liberation of the soul. In many cultures and religions, there is a strong belief that the soul lives on outside the human body, which is why burial offerings are often used to give the soul after death a (transitional) life as comfortable as possible. In traditional China, the so-called ceremony of recalling the soul was performed after death, and only then did the actual burial ceremonies begin. While one part of the soul remained with the body and thus in the grave, it was imagined that another part would embark on a journey to the world beyond.

Selected exhibits

The following texts are based on the exhibition catalogue:

Erhardt, S.; Graefe, J.; Lichtenberger, A.; Lohwasser, A.; Nieswandt, H.-H.; Strutwolf, H. (eds.): Body. Cult. Religion. Perspectives from Antiquity to the Present. Münster 2024. (only available in german)

• Painted wooden figure of an ancient Egyptian Ba-bird with a human head (Cat. no. 175)

  The Egyptian Ba-bird is the visualisation of an actually invisible and disembodied concept – the so-called Ba soul. In the imagination of the Ancient Egyptians, this was part of the body and personality of every human being. Even after death, the Ba-soul could move freely and even return to the dead body. The Ba was depicted as a bird with a human head.

  The statuette of such a Ba bird presented here is made of wood and painted in bright colours. It is an attachment figure that was probably originally mounted on a coffin. (exc/fbu)

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  Ensemble of Mevlevi dervishes (Cat. no. 190)

  In the ‘Disembodiment’ exhibition area, the contemporary group of plaster figures from Turkey shows members of the Islamic Mevlevi order from 14th-century Anatolia. They are performing a sema, which is a mystical ceremony combining music and dance. One of them is playing the ney reed flute and another, the kudum double drum. The man without an instrument is the master of ceremonies leading the ritual; he might be the head of the order (pir). The fourth man is dancing in the style that has made the Mevlevi famous under the name of Whirling Dervishes (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage) and a well-known tourist attraction. One hand is raised to receive God’s blessing, while the other points downwards to pass this blessing on to the world. During the sema, the dancers rotate around their own axis while at the same time circling the centre of the dance floor like planets around the sun. (exc/pie)

• Pietà (Cat. no. 188)

  

  A pietà (‘domina nostra de pietate’ – ‘our lady of compassion’) is a depiction of Mary as ‘Mater Dolorosa’, as she is shown sitting and weeping over Jesus’ body in her lap. This scene is not described in the Gospels, but is dated between Jesus’ removal from the cross and his entombment. In the past, pietàs were provided for private devotions, but more recent research suggests that they were used as cult images on the altar, too. Extant since the 14th century, the motif originated in the German-speaking area and quickly spread to the French-speaking area. One of the most famous depictions of a pietà is by Michelangelo and dates from 1499 in St. Peter’s Basilica. (exc/tst)

• Ancient Egyptian mummy bandage (Cat. no. 176)

  

  Ancient Egyptian beliefs assigned an important role to protecting both the dead in their afterlife form and their dead bodies. Various measures were taken to ensure that they could move and be active in the afterlife, such as protective spells. For, even in the afterlife, the deceased had to be provided with food, clothing and air, and protected against the many dangers of the underworld, such as crocodiles and snakes. The mummy bandage presented here is inscribed with a protective spell. The text comes from the so-called Book of the Dead, a collection of spells that were, for example, attached to tomb and temple walls or burial objects. The visual depiction of the mummy bandage from Vienna shows the deceased in her afterlife form, standing before the Egyptian sun god Ra’s barque and asking for his protection. (exc/tst)

• Illustration from Nizami’s Khamsa (Quintet) (Cat. no. 191)

  

  This 17th-century illustration depicts one of the most famous pairs of lovers in Arabic and Persian literature, by the poet Nizami (1141–1209): Layla and Majnun, who are shown here – shortly before the end of the story – meeting (without permission) for the very last time. The man is already so emaciated from the love that has driven him to bodily renunciation that he is considered ‘crazy’ (majnun). What is actually a secular story, the tale of Layla and Majnun soon became a symbol of the human relationship with God. The love of Majnun (the madman) symbolizes the self-denial and self-sacrifice of Islamic mystics on their path to union with the divine. The mystics developed various ascetic practices to help them achieve their goal – including the dissolution of corporeality, the loss of self (fanāʾ). (exc/pie)