Nalusa Chito (the great black being, the soul-eater)

Nalusa Chito, 'the great black being,' is among the most feared entities of Choctaw belief and is also known by the name Impa Shilup, the soul-eater. He is said to seek out people who surrender to evil thoughts, sorrow, or depression, creeping unseen into the person and consuming the shilup, the inner soul that would otherwise travel to the land of the dead. Because of the dread attached to him, many Choctaw people traditionally avoid speaking his name aloud. He belongs to the same family of shadow beings as the long black being of the woods, and reflects a moral teaching that guarding one's mind against despair is a form of spiritual protection.

Domains

• death and the soul
• despair and evil thought

Powers

• to creep inside a despairing person and devour the soul

Epithets

• Impa ShilupTom Mould, Choctaw Tales, University Press of Mississippi, 2004. (secondary)

Sources

• Nalusa Chito, also called Impa Shilup, is the Choctaw great black being or soul-eater who enters and consumes the souls of those overtaken by dark or despairing thoughts.: John R. Swanton, Source Material for the Social and Ceremonial Life of the Choctaw Indians, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 103, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., 1931. (secondary); Tom Mould, Choctaw Tales, University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, 2004. (secondary)