A working typology
Traditions rarely use a single word for 'spirit'. Grouping them for comparison is convenient but should never overwrite local distinctions.
- Ancestors: bound by kinship, with claims on the living
- Masters or owners: guardians of species, rivers, forests and game
- Place powers: attached to a mountain, spring, pass or house
- Helping spirits: acquired through initiation and worked with over a career
- Affliction agents: intrusions, sent objects, hungry or offended presences
Relationship, not belief
In most ethnographic accounts, spirits are dealt with through obligation, feeding, negotiation and reciprocity. What matters is whether the relationship is in good order, not whether an individual privately assents to a proposition.