Soul

[da]

What's the word "soul" mean to you? What associations does it bring up? Is the word fraught with baggage... smelling partly of brimstone? Does it have deep connection for you? Is it ineffable and abstract? Is it like a Platonic ideal of a thing, not to be pinned down? Is it boring? Is it a handy fiction?

I'd love to have a conversation about that, to the extent we can in an online journal. Anonymous comments are fine. My hope is to have common referents to continue in another post.

I invite you to make your first comment here, that is to say without reading the previous comments before-hand. Of course feel free to read other comments too, and discuss with others, but after your first comment. :) Thanks!

[Edit to add:

I can say: the breadth of peoples' responses is pretty darn cool.

So, I suggested a dialogue. What now?

It would be one thing if we were in the same room, and could look at each other and be clear that we're going to treat this with the respect it deserved. In that situation, I would say we could just ask each other open, honest questions; questions that don't try to convince the other of our own understanding; but help the other person to articulate their truth for us. And take it from there.

We could try something like that. I'd participate. Why don't we try that?

It might go without saying, but I'll say it anyway: you're welcome to not reply to someone's question, or to reply telling them you won't reply (and that's final; challenges are not OK).

]

Comments

[songquake.livejournal.com]

Here from peaceofpie's LJ.

I'd say that when I'm speaking of "soul," it starts with the idea of "breath" -- which connects it to "spiritus" (breath) in Latin, and "atman" (breath or soul, or the universal spirit) in Hindi. (I'd also note how cool it was for me when I was learning to speak German to see that the word for breath there is "atmen"; very nifty to see how directly it's derived from earlier Indo-European stuff!)

The soul comes alive when one breathes, during meditative concentration on breath, during song or exercise, speech or laughter or sobs. I feel my own soul most alive when I'm singing. Or dancing. Or painting. Or throwing mud.

That the soul lives through breath means that we can use it to reach out to the Divine Mystery, as well as to other creatures. It's pretty damn cool. When I am good at doing that, I feel a certain unity of spirit with the divine and with those around me.

Unlike many who believe in souls, though, I don't think they are immortal. I think that when we die, we're dead. We're no longer pushing the breath in and out, although that explanation came after the thought that the soul dies when its host does. I just can't find it plausible that the "energy"/"activity" can exist without the biology sustaining it.

[dpolicar]

There's a similar lexical thing in Hebrew. Most famously, the beginning of Genesis talks about "ruach adonoi," which is varyingly translated as "the spirit of god" and "the breath of god"; more generally, "ruach" has both of these meanings.

[songquake.livejournal.com]

Right! I'd totally forgotten about that!

Pretty embarrassing, since I took Hebrew when in seminary; all I can say for myself is that I was more concerned with language than theology for that course. Then again, the bit with the Latin stuck because of Allen Ginsberg (I write poetry because the word inspiration comes from spiritus, breath, I want to breathe freely).

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

Checking in, a day later, to say: Welcome to the conversation!

I have, at times, had exactly the same belief about mortality/immortality of souls. In the end, I don't have the experiential justification to say souls are immortal, so I live with the uncertainty. Or I suppose I can say "Mystery", can't I. :)