For Ancient Greeks spirit (thumos) was not a metaphysical or religious belief based on nothing but faith. It was not in any way a higher being. Their belief in spirit was rooted in their experience. For them spirit was quasi-physical.
In humans, spirit was located in the center of the chest and associated with the thymus gland, heart, lungs, and breath. Thumos, spirit, could be strengthen by self talk and the herb thyme. Fainting was a temporary loss of spirit. When thumos returned the one who fainted regained consciousness. Death occurred when thumos failed to return. When it failed to return it did not continue to exist but dissipated and returned to the wind.
In the view of Ancient Greeks, humans were not the only spirited beings. Oceans, rivers, springs, plants, animals, and the goddesses and gods had thumos. They were spirited beings. Thumos was what made every living being alive.
It is the Ancient Greek understanding of spirit that informs my work. It is the basis of the science of spirit I propose: thumology. It is the basis of the new therapeutic care of spirit that I am developing: thumotherapy. It is also the basis of what I call thumotic spirituality, a set of spirit-related theories and practices informed by both thumology and thumotherapy.
No comments:
Post a Comment