Note 16 — The Cycle of Life

These close ties between the infant and the after-birth are easily comprehended by a people who also believe in the close relationship between a person and any object recently handled by him (cf. p. 305). In general it is thought that the after-birth soon disappears and no longer influences the child; yet certain of the folk-tales reflect a firm conviction that a group of spirits, known as alan, sometimes take the placenta, and transform it into a real child, who is then more powerful than ordinary mortals.16