Notes on Spiritual Division

 Additional notes on spiritual entities, re: the spiritual framework touched on in the last post,

specifically the non-atomic nature of the soul, and the circumstances which result from its subdivision.

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Spirit-cleaving

 - post mortem, a once continuous soul may differentiate into separate parts. The positive aspects of a spirit may ascend to an afterlife, and/or mythic reverence, while a primitive portion may remain bound to physical associations. A barrow-wight is a portion of a strong spirit, burried with their belongings, or at a place of personal significance. The mythic portion may stay associated with the remains for a time, but certain types of burial lend themselves to dissociation from the departed, such as forest overgrowth, or simply being forgotten after a great deal of time. The mythic portion may be revered elsewhere, while the primitive animate identity remains bound to treasures. If enough of the will remains in the ghost, it's strong connection to a particular place or items may allow it to animate it's bones and manipulate the living.

 - this can, under rare circumstances, occur to the soul of a living individual. If, for instance, one endures a particularly traumatic event, if that new self-aspect cannot cohabitate with the rest of the identity, it may split off from the soul, effectively removing from that person's identity it's influence, remaining as a fragment of that identity haunting, typically, the location of the trauma.

 - various types of spiritual entity form this way. A poltergeist is typically the embodiment of childish playfulness cleaved away from the soul of a child, particularly during a trauma that robs the child of their innocence, and life, though again, not always the case.

 - the degree of danger posed by a phantom tends to be proportional to however much agency remains in the fragment. Agency may or may not fade with time. This spans the spectrum from a barely sentient will'o'wisp with little agency, to a well defined poltergeist, that may be persuaded or communicated with as one would an actual child.

 - it is uncommon that the fragments of a soul may be reunited after differentiation. Even after a short time, the fragments will have developed their own separate associations that further the divide.