Anthropologists have neglected a significant dimension to religion by ignoring the spiritual lives of a society's youngest members. In Cote d'lvoire, Beng infants are said to lead a profoundly spiritual existence. Indeed, until the age of five or so, Beng children are said to live at least part of the time in the spiritual other world (wrugbe) they inhabited before being reincarnated. Exploring both ideology and praxis, the author probes the consequences for the daily experiences and care of Bang babies, including umbilical cord care, enemas, crying, adornment, naming, personality development, and infant disease and death. The author concludes by considering the implications of a full‐blown treatment of infants for the practice of anthropology.
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Alma Gottlieb (1998) studied this question.
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