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    What is a Soul?

    This is what I am thinking about today so I thought it might be interesting to see how others would answer these questions.

    Do you believe in the existence of a soul?

    If so, what is it? Where does it come from? Do animals and plants have a soul or is it human specific? What happens to it when we die? Is there a finite number of souls or are new ones continuously being created?

    I don't know my answers to any of these questions yet so will save my answers for a later day
    Last edited by shadow1982; 26 Sep 2011, 07:00. Reason: infinite changed to finite
    http://thefeministpagan.blogspot.co.uk/

    #2
    Re: What is a Soul?

    In Alchemy, the soul is a very real thing that can easily be worked with.

    The soul is the name given to the emotional response one has to things, or one recieves from things, as well as the emotions one feels in general.

    Everything you know of has a soul because you attach feelings to everything you encounter - by doing that, you give it a soul.

    (this is simplified, but it's the basic idea)

    When you die, your soul goes wherever things go when they stop existing in the material world. I don't know where that is - maybe nowhere.

    Souls are created constantly (because you constantly "feel" things), and, as far as I know, they are not recycled.
    Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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      #3
      Re: What is a Soul?

      I believe that a soul is a more highly evolved (in terms of consciousness) spirit which is found in all living things. Its the non-physical part of the Divine, which is given to all life, and which returns to its source at our deaths. I think that soul is found in other species--whales and dolphins, other great apes, some trees, etc.
      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
      sigpic

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        #4
        Re: What is a Soul?

        I believe in the existence of a soul, and I'm a dualist (I believe the soul and body can be separated) But I have no idea about my answers to any of the other questions yet :3
        "Otwarty świat; rany zamknięte."
        - Open world; Wounds closed.

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          #5
          Re: What is a Soul?

          I believe that souls are the manifestation of the Divine that each of us shares. We come from them, so we are part of them, and they are part of us. That includes animals, plants and other natural bodies including rocks and minerals. I believe that all natural bodies have different kinds of souls, however, and that humans are the only ones who reincarnate. All other animals live primarily or completely by instinct - they know what their roles are and what they're supposed to do. Humans, on the other hand, have evolved to a place where we have free will and have lost our instincts - essentially we have no flippin' idea what we're supposed to be doing, so reincarnation is a way for us to figure out what each of our personal "destinies," for lack of a better word, are. When we die our Divine sparks return to their source, and in the case of humans await a new body to be created.

          As for whether there is a finite number of souls, I don't know. I would assume not since the population grows everyday.
          Children love and want to be loved and they very much prefer the joy of accomplishment to the triumph of hateful failure. Do not mistake a child for his symptom.
          -Erik Erikson

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            #6
            Re: What is a Soul?

            The question I have is am I the soul animating this body and communicating through it, or am I the body and my soul is just alone for the ride?

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              #7
              Re: What is a Soul?

              Originally posted by Eryx_UK View Post
              The question I have is am I the soul animating this body and communicating through it, or am I the body and my soul is just alone for the ride?
              The answer is -

              Whichever you pick.
              Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                #8
                Re: What is a Soul?

                Originally posted by Eryx_UK View Post
                The question I have is am I the soul animating this body and communicating through it, or am I the body and my soul is just alone for the ride?
                I think its more of a symbiotic thing...so neither, and both.
                Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                sigpic

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                  #9
                  Re: What is a Soul?

                  Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                  I think its more of a symbiotic thing...so neither, and both.
                  If "symbiotic" is used to mean "a mutually dependent relationship in which each part provides a real benefit to the other," then yes, I'd also call it symbiotic.

                  In most people, though, one or the other (and I'd also toss the third member of the holy trinity - spirit, which in Alchemy is different from the soul - into the mix) tends to be dominant. The particular mix of strong & less strong, combined with the way things play out in life (environment) determines personality.

                  I don't think most people are aware of this, but it is possible to self adjust the mixture and create a different personality - but, in life, people do this all the time (i.e.: you aren't the same person at home with your family as you are when you go on a job interview). So from my particular perspective, it is a matter of choice.




                  Have you ever noticed how many "religious" practices are designed to beat the body into submission? When I was raised Catholic I was taught to admire as "spiritual heroes" people who destroyed their bodies "for the sake of their soul." Mortification of the flesh, martyrdom, abstinence... Crazy stuff...

                  This is supposed to be good for you?
                  Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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                    #10
                    Re: What is a Soul?

                    I believe that a being or object can only be said to have a soul if it is aware enough to question its own motives and actions and either continue along a specified course or change it.

                    I do not think that being alive instantly equals that one has a soul. To me to have a soul is to be self-aware, self-critical and have a motive higher than basic survival.

                    In contrast, I think that a spirit is the emotional energy of a being and therefore can exist in animals and can be passed on to objects. A strong spirit is a full of many emotions and when those emotions begin to thread together a personality is formed. When a being can question and adjust its spirit to suit certain situations, I believe that also shows that a soul is present.

                    I believe that any force which is intangible and immeasurable is by definition also infinite; in-so-much there is no set number of souls.

                    Reincarnation is possible I think, but I believe that it is based on the strength of a spirit more than the strength of a soul in and of itself. I believe that for a soul to reincarnate it must be bonded with a very strong spirit directed by an outside force or catalyst.
                    Last edited by sadodosah; 27 Sep 2011, 20:55. Reason: rewording
                    Giving is its own reward.

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                      #11
                      Re: What is a Soul?

                      It was actually an interest in reincarnation that got me thinking about souls to being with.

                      Thanks everyone for your responses. I think I believe in the existence of souls but am still trying to work out the details. You have all given me a lot to consider
                      http://thefeministpagan.blogspot.co.uk/

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                        #12
                        Re: What is a Soul?

                        Soul is the pure essence of you that lives inside. It is the invisible entity that drives your actions, that fills your lungs with oxygen, that causes your heart to pump. It is the core of life inside of you that cannot be created or destroyed, but shifted out of your earthly vessel and into the unknown.
                        No one tells the wind which way to blow.

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                          #13
                          Re: What is a Soul?

                          Based on my experiences I'd have to say that there is an energy to all things... rocks, trees, animals, and people.

                          Places have an energy all their own, so do ideas, objects, and dreams.

                          Whether this energy is a soul is debatable, it really depends on what you consider a soul to be.

                          To me, Seattle has a soul. A presense about it that is like nowhere else. But, Pike Place Market has a soul of its own, and so does Safeco Field and the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the Space Needle...

                          My point: Everything has its own essence unique to itself, but all things are connected.

                          We are, all of us, just aspects of a greater "soul." Whether this soul is GOD, or the EARTH, or the UNIVERSE, or WHATEVER I don't know and I don't much care.

                          We are as much individuals as we are a collective.
                          Last edited by Denarius; 19 Oct 2011, 19:21.
                          Trust is knowing someone or something well enough to have a good idea of their motivations and character, for good or for ill. People often say trust when they mean faith.

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                            #14
                            Re: What is a Soul?

                            In my experience a soul is the underlying essence that gives rise to the physical world we know, that seeks to experience from all possible perspectives at once, inside and outside of time. In this way I suppose there is only one soul, and many perspectives (ie. individual consciousness) arising from it. Everything in existence arises out of it and ultimately returns to it. I suppose I use the terms soul and spirit interchangeably as well.

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                              #15
                              Re: What is a Soul?

                              ^I use soul to refer to the essence of a being or object, and spirit to refer to essence that's a being in and of itself.

                              Like a ghost or something.
                              Trust is knowing someone or something well enough to have a good idea of their motivations and character, for good or for ill. People often say trust when they mean faith.

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