Souls ... !?

[RubyRose]

Um, what is the previce behind what a soul is. What does it mean to have a soul. Now I loosely know what it means to have a soul, at least in Christian terms, to not have one, would mean you end up in hell (I don't have that good a knowledge of the bible ... actually I've never read it)

Can somebody help me out with a better understanding of what a soul is? To me it signifies an essence, or life force within us ...

Thanks.

[DebLipp]

Darn, I had written a whole thing and lost my connection and my post. Trying again...

People often refer to the soul and the spirit as the same, but they aren't. Basically, your soul is you, and your spirit is eternal.

The spirit is the life force, the animating quality. It is the part of you that is sacred, eternal, and of the gods. Many believe that when you die the spirit returns to the infinite.

The soul is more or less you, but without the body. It's the part of you that is your essence and your nature. Unlike the spirit, the soul is affected by your life experience. When you die, it is the soul that, depending upon your theology, dies with you, or reincarnates, or goes to the next place (heaven, the Summerland, Maat's weighing station, whatever).

[RubyRose]

Darn, I had written a whole thing and lost my connection and my post. Trying again...

I had that happen to me earlier, 'cept I didn't loose my connection, the page just didn't reload properly after I pressed the "send" button.

People often refer to the soul and the spirit as the same, but they aren't. Basically, your soul is you, and your spirit is eternal.

The spirit is the life force, the animating quality. It is the part of you that is sacred, eternal, and of the gods. Many believe that when you die the spirit returns to the infinite.

The soul is more or less you, but without the body. It's the part of you that is your essence and your nature. Unlike the spirit, the soul is affected by your life experience. When you die, it is the soul that, depending upon your theology, dies with you, or reincarnates, or goes to the next place (heaven, the Summerland, Maat's weighing station, whatever).


Thanks, pretty much answered my question ... seems I got a bit mixed up, but was basically on the right track ... I'm all for reincarnation myself ... not that I know exactly if thats what happens, but it sounds plausable and relates to past lives (I think) and I definitely believe in that.

Jump in anytime if I am on the wrong track, won't you ... :lol:

[DebLipp]

Jump in anytime if I am on the wrong track, won't you ... :lol:
Ruby, you're the best! You think out detailed questions carefully and ask them persistently. You're a teacher's dream!

[tensen]

You can find lots of theological discussions on what the differences between spirit and soul are. In fact it is pointed out that the bible shows the soul as both mortal and immortal depending on which area you quote.

My view is that Spirit is the spark of the divine in everything...
while soul is well: thoughts, emotions, knowledge, memories, hopes, aspirations, loves, creativity, initiative, and instinct.

In that viewpoint... a soul-less person would be shallow... feel like they have no substance. But I'm not sure there is such a thing as a soul-less person. I think everyone has a soul. But a discuss I had resently was whether a soul followed the laws of energy.. and if so, as we add more people to this world, are we sharing souls? Is our soul-mate a piece of the puzzle that makes up a larger soul? And if so.. are there people that have less bits of soul out there, and they seem less real to us? Are are the geniuses, and extremely creative individuals, people with much larger portions of souls?

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

Um, what is the previce behind what a soul is. What does it mean to have a soul. Now I loosely know what it means to have a soul, at least in Christian terms, to not have one, would mean you end up in hell (I don't have that good a knowledge of the bible ... actually I've never read it)

Can somebody help me out with a better understanding of what a soul is? To me it signifies an essence, or life force within us ...

Thanks.

Another great question! I actually had to sit down and think about what I perceive the differences to be before I answered.

I view the soul as the animating principle behind all of life. The soul is the immortal essence that connects us and all natural objects to the Divine. It is that part of us that is Divine, as I believe that all natural objects contain some aspect of the Divine within. It is that part that continues with us in all our various incarnations, containing all our memories, thought forms, and accumulated knowledge through each life. Once you, you meaning the soul, have reached total enlightenment, you would then have the choice of merging with the collective Divine essence or continuing to incarnate on earth in order to help other souls on their path to enlightenment.

The spirit is that part belonging to the mortal realm. It is created anew with each life, or incarnation spent on earth, individual and seperate from the immortal soul. It is the part that is attatched to this world, and as such can be left behind when the body dies. If a spirit feels that it's life was taken away from it prematurely or is strongly attatched to a location or person, it might end up remaining behind until it either releases itself or is released by another. The spirit, unlike the soul, is not immortal, and though energy can not be destroyed it can be changed or redirected to another purpose when it is no longer needed for the purpose it is currently serving.

Looking at my answers, it seems I believe them to be just the opposite of what everyone else answered with, but hey, if we were all the same the world would be a pretty boring place.

~Saoirse Aiyana

[♪Hazel♪]

I have always thought of the "soul" as...me! My essence.. my centre.. my being.. what I am... As what's looking through these eyes and using these fingers to type. What falls in love, falls out of love.. and what just feels in general.
I believe everything living has a soul.
Something needs a soul to be alive.. to be thinking and feeling and making decisions..or even to just be existing and growing... yes!
... hope you understand what I mean!

[Erincelt]

Maat's weighing station
I really have nothing to add... everyone has basically answered the question many times over... but DebLipp... thanks for the giggle. I've never heard it described quite that way.

[TYRRHENUS]

The soul is a God/dess. Unfortunately, most do not worship theirs.
A person without a soul (yes there are some) does not go to hell.
Only souls go on to the Underworld. Hence, if a person doesn't have one, there isn't anything to go anywhere.

[DebLipp]

Another great question! I actually had to sit down and think about what I perceive the differences to be before I answered.

I view the soul as the animating principle behind all of life. The soul is the immortal essence that connects us and all natural objects to the Divine. It is that part of us that is Divine, as I believe that all natural objects contain some aspect of the Divine within. It is that part that continues with us in all our various incarnations, containing all our memories, thought forms, and accumulated knowledge through each life. Once you, you meaning the soul, have reached total enlightenment, you would then have the choice of merging with the collective Divine essence or continuing to incarnate on earth in order to help other souls on their path to enlightenment.

The spirit is that part belonging to the mortal realm. It is created anew with each life, or incarnation spent on earth, individual and seperate from the immortal soul. It is the part that is attatched to this world, and as such can be left behind when the body dies. If a spirit feels that it's life was taken away from it prematurely or is strongly attatched to a location or person, it might end up remaining behind until it either releases itself or is released by another. The spirit, unlike the soul, is not immortal, and though energy can not be destroyed it can be changed or redirected to another purpose when it is no longer needed for the purpose it is currently serving.

Looking at my answers, it seems I believe them to be just the opposite of what everyone else answered with, but hey, if we were all the same the world would be a pretty boring place.

~Saoirse Aiyana
Linguistically, I believe my answer is correct. That is, I believe the word origins support my version. Whatever -- they are so often interchanged that it is hard to determine which word goes in the "right" place. The main point is that we agree that there are these two separate concepts, each with a separate word.

[RubyRose]

Ruby, you're the best! You think out detailed questions carefully and ask them persistently. You're a teacher's dream!

Really!? Cool, you've just made my day so much better now. Thanks.

As for persistancy, yeah well when I don't understand something, I just have to ask questions or else I'm up all night pondering the answer.

The soul is a God/dess. Unfortunately, most do not worship theirs.
A person without a soul (yes there are some) does not go to hell.
Only souls go on to the Underworld. Hence, if a person doesn't have one, there isn't anything to go anywhere.

Ah okay, like I said, I've never actually read the Bible, so it was all an assumption on my part ... from listening and reading books ... and yes, I do realise everything that you see on television and read in books, is not always true ... but that was my only other understanding of what a soul is. Thanks

And to the rest of you, you haven't gone unnoticed. Thanks again for all the wonderful help ... I'm never going to leave, so prepared to get sick of the sight of me in the near future :lol:

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

I'm never going to leave, so prepared to get sick of the sight of me in the near future :lol:

What you mean you're still here!? :hehehehe:

~Saoirse Aiyana

[RubyRose]

What you mean you're still here!?

:lol: Yep, that I am.

[cloud]

guess i'm just too late for this discussion! haha.

:cheers:

[RubyRose]

guess i'm just too late for this discussion! haha.



Nah, never ... :lol:

[Kalika]

I agree that it is the life force within... without a soul, you would not be. "Old Souls" are those who have lived through many lifetimes.

I don't believe really in the lack of a soul so to speak, so I couldn't answer that. But I think that it is one of those things that you are what you make of it... it has good and bad aspects depending on the person.

Did that make sense?

[Kalika]

Darn, I had written a whole thing and lost my connection and my post. Trying again...

People often refer to the soul and the spirit as the same, but they aren't. Basically, your soul is you, and your spirit is eternal.

The spirit is the life force, the animating quality. It is the part of you that is sacred, eternal, and of the gods. Many believe that when you die the spirit returns to the infinite.

The soul is more or less you, but without the body. It's the part of you that is your essence and your nature. Unlike the spirit, the soul is affected by your life experience. When you die, it is the soul that, depending upon your theology, dies with you, or reincarnates, or goes to the next place (heaven, the Summerland, Maat's weighing station, whatever).

Ooh... that was great!!

[Mòrag Elasaid Ní Dhòmhnaill]

:lol: Yep, that I am.

Sheesh, and here I thought we'd get rid of you after this last question. :yikess:

~Saoirse Aiyana

[Ben Trismegistus]

The spirit is the life force, the animating quality. It is the part of you that is sacred, eternal, and of the gods. Many believe that when you die the spirit returns to the infinite.

The soul is more or less you, but without the body. It's the part of you that is your essence and your nature. Unlike the spirit, the soul is affected by your life experience. When you die, it is the soul that, depending upon your theology, dies with you, or reincarnates, or goes to the next place (heaven, the Summerland, Maat's weighing station, whatever).
So the spirit is the batteries, and the soul is the CPU?

[cloud]

So the spirit is the batteries, and the soul is the CPU?
that's a neat analogy.

[RubyRose]

So the spirit is the batteries, and the soul is the CPU?

Yes, very cool, indeed.