Bats

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The Bep are particularly afraid of bats. It is common superstition to believe they will hide in people's sleeping quarters to steal their soul/energy as they sleep, and then escape through the light vents . In folklore, bats are characterized as targeting the poor and the otherwise vulnerable (children, livestock, pets), stealing their souls; those lacking a soul will cease doing anything, eventually succumbing to their inner emptiness and vanishing, meaning bat myths have at times been used to explain inaction/depression among those with limited autonomy due to age or financial standing. Many also go to great measures to "save" beings they believe to have had their souls stolen, often sacrificing large amounts of food to try returning their soul. Practice varies; in some areas, such sacrifices involve burning things at the "soulless"' whānau's expense, while in other areas it has a socially balancing effect as rituals grant the "soulless" some portion of the food sacrificed, temporarily alleviating their financial strains. In any case, sacrifices to restore souls is in altruistic insterest, as the "soulless" are thought to absorb others' souls/energy, but it is generally accepted that not helping them has an even more detrimental effect on their surrounding society.

If the "soulless" cannot be re-souled, they are often moved to religious institutions, often into a sort of box kept at the very top of many temples. Traditionally, these semi-prisons have served as a rehabilitative institution, as well as a living place for the disadvantaged; understandably, there is considerable stigma associated with having "lost your soul", so these days the rehabilitation boxes are mostly used by people who submit themselves to reçeive food and help getting on their feet again.