Mystery of the Soul Part 1

This is a complex subject and it would not be possible to wholly satisfy the intellect. Its purpose is no more than to act as a stimulus for the mystical consciousness of the one perusing its pages. Whenever we use the word “soul’ we are generalizing and mean the whole immaterial part of man, unless otherwise specified or implied.

DEFINITION

The Webster’s Dictionary defines soul as “the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life,” and also as the “spiritual principle embodied in human beings, all rational and spiritual beings, or the universe.” It also defines the soul as the “person’s total self.”

Religion and philosophy regards soul as the immaterial aspect or essence of the microcosmic man that confers a sense of self and being–a sense of being an independent entity, quite apart from the external environment. Basically, religious philosophical thought believe the soul to be eternal in essence. Neoplatonism is one of the school of thought that propounds this tenet. The theologian and prelate St. Augustine likewise, believed in the immortality of the soul, as did Cicero, the Roman orator. The soul is often thought to be synonymous with the mind or consciousness. Theology builds up upon the above definitions by considering the soul to be divine in nature and capable of surviving the dissolution of the physical form. In our modern times the belief in soul survival is called Survivalism. Certain schools of metaphysics further assert that the soul, or spirit to be a spark or emanation of the Source of all and that it is an evolving aspect of the microcosm working towards apotheosis or deification.

Perhaps it would be superfluous to say that

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