On Selling One’s Soul to Humans
I’m a big Monkees fan. I own most of their albums on CD and long to own the DVD collection of their TV show. My favorite episode is the one where Peter sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for the ability to play the harp. Mickey, Mike and Davy save his soul by proving that Peter had the ability to play the harp all along and that the transaction was void.
I bring this up because yesterday I read a story where a man in Jiaxing, near Shanghai, tried to auction his soul on Taobao, China’s equivalent to eBay. 58 people bid on his soul before the auction was pulled by Taobao.
“We reviewed Taobao’s policies and realized we had no specific policy on the selling of souls,” said Porter Erisman, a spokesman for Taobao’s parent, Yahoo-backed Alibaba.com. “After some discussion, we decided that we will allow the member to sell his soul on Taobao, but only if he can provide written permission from a ‘higher authority’.”
This story intrigued me, so I did some research. Turns out he’s not the first. At least three other people have tried to sell their soul on eBay!
In February of 2000, a Canadian man put his soul on the auction block and got a highest bit of $20.50. eBay objected to the auction, and sent him a list of reasons why: “If the soul does not exist, eBay could not allow the auctioning of the soul because there would be nothing to sell. However, if the soul does exist then, in accordance with eBay’s policy on human parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls.”
In January of 2005, a Hamilton County, Indiana, man tried to recoup money he lost in a car-sale scam by auctioning his soul on eBay. The auction site balked, again, so he updated the listing to selling his “autograph,” which just happened to be on a bill of sale for his soul.
In January of 2006, a British man auctioned his soul on eBay, along with a signed certificate and license of authenticity. But this sale came with restrictions and rules:
The owner would have permission to contact the seller in the afterlife for benign or malign purpose.
Ownership would expire 1000 years after date of purchase, and could be sold or passed on from person to person until the duration of this period was up.
The buyer could “be human, extra terrestrial, a celestial being or even Satan himself.”
If the seller should cease to exist in anything other than natural circumstances then this would void purchase and ownership, and “would most certainly cause wrath to be inflicted upon said purchaser, using methods such as haunting and poltergeist activities.”
The buyer has the right to try to contact “said soul whilst still bound to human host. This however is only permissible whilst host is sleeping, as per license agreement.”
After five days, this soul had just one bid for £10.99.
All this made me wonder, “Why?”
First, it is my personal belief that one’s soul is priceless and that no human being could ever come up with a sum of money equal to its worth. Second, it gives me the willies just thinking about selling your soul to anyone. Then again, I’m rather territorial and wouldn’t dream of giving up something so valuable.
But then again, maybe there are people who don’t believe in the value of the human soul, or possibly even its existence. Again, this just gives me the willies. What do you think?
