16. The soul of a samurai...

I'm reading Shogun at the moment which is billed as a blistering page-turner. Which it is, but with 1243 pages, it has to be. Clavell states that the soul of a samurai is his sword, and implies that for a samurai not to have his sword is punishable by seppuku (self-imposed death).

Although Clavell is simply using the word soul as characterisation (he is not launching into the mind-body problem (a philosophical holy grail) nor entering a religious debate on the existence of God), it did make me reflect on my soul in this context.

The axe!

Axe as wood-chopper, in light of my current obsession with trees and treework. But also, axe as an ice-tool.

In fact I have just sharpened my ice-axes, in readiness for our January roadside ice-climbing trip to La Grave.

Kinder Downfall, 2010
So, the axe in one guise or another is my soul.

What is your soul?

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