Defining Spirit
As I mentioned in my previous post, for the next few months, I’ll be writing about spiritual healing. However, it’s very likely that what I write about spiritual healing is not what comes to your mind with the words “spiritual healing.” So that you can better understand what I write I’ll define my terms as I go. Let’s begin with “spirit.”
I do not use the word spirit to refer to anything metaphysical, religious, or psychological. I base my description of spirit on the Homeric word thumos and define it as “that which makes alive.” It is the difference between being alive or not. It is principle of life in all living things. Spirit is the same in all living things, not different in or unique in us humans.
Spirit, Mind, Soul
Spirit is not to be conflated or confused with soul or mind. Soul and mind are associated with having an ego, personality, and mentality. Ancient Greeks believed the human psyche (soul, mind) survived death and went to Hades, the underworld realm of the dead. Whether or not all living things have a soul or mind is beyond the scope of this blog. What is important here is the distinction between spirit and mind or soul.
Spirit is more primitive than soul and mind. It is simply that which makes alive, the difference between being alive or dead. For example, if an oak tree is alive rather than dead, it has spirit. Whether or not is has a soul or mind is a different matter. The same is true for all living things visible to us, from the very simple to the most complex. If there are goddesses and gods and other beings invisible to us, spirit is what makes them alive too.
Spirit: Quasi-physical, Natural
Spirit is quasi-physical, neither metaphysical nor psychological. It is associated with the wind, our breath, lungs, and heart.
We humans can feel it in the center of our chest, between our nipples, and behind our breast bone. Sometimes we feel it expand upward into our throat and downward into our solar plexus, genitals, and rectum. Sometimes our spirit is low and we feel tired or weak. At other times our spirit is high and we feel energized and strong.
We can sense it in others. Some have sweet spirits; some have mean spirits. Some we recognize as having great spirits: Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Catherine the Great. When some enter a room we feel their spirit fill the room. We even recognize that some children have their parent’s spirit: “She has her dad’s spirit.” “He has his mom’s spirit.”
That which makes us alive, spirit, is in and of this world rather than other-worldly. It is natural, not supernatural.
