The myth of the soul

[Dragon]

There are such wide ranging views as to what the soul is,( examples may include: we are souls, have a soul or more than one, we have no soul but share in a world or Nature soul...) so how do Druids conceive of the soul?
Do you subscribe to a particular soul-myth? Do you have a personal unique view? If you dont have a soul thats OK too, let me know.
Thanks.

[DaRC]

Hmmm the meso Druidic view is based upon the Circle of Abred,
although this is druidry and you will have as many views as there are druids

In the Norse / Germanic / Heathen cosmology there are a number of concepts related to the soul. Some folklorists (Viktor Rydberg) have suggested that our modern concept of the stork bringing babies is related to the god Hoenir / Hana / Vili, who has the stork or heron associated with him, taking souls that are the fruit of the world-tree, Yggdrasil, and delivering these to the mother.
The sacred breath is deep within the concepts too - Odin breathes life into people and a father used to ritually breath life into his new-born child.
There are guardian spirits, the Disir, who are associated with protecting families too. If you upset them they will desert you, usually leading to fatal consequences.

[Dragon]

Thank you DaRK but tell me...what is YOUR view? what is the soul? Do you feel you have one? Or are you solely (! ) myth based and if so what makes you adopt the myth as true for you?
Don't be shy all you other Druids viewing I won't bite...honestly...

[Zylah]

My personal view tends to be that the physical realm reflects the spiritual. Regarding the soul specifically, I think that what we know about reproduction is a parable of sorts; what it says to me at this stage of my journey is that both universal and individual theories of 'soul' are valid; we have individual souls that spring from one source, the Creatrix/Creator. We are on a journey that both isolates us and teaches us community; weaving our own path with that of others so that we learn fellowship as well as tolerance; unity in diversity.

Thereby we have both continuity and discontinuity, which is reflected in cyclical patterns of minutiae as well as the big picture type stuff.

As with anything spiritual, I can't prove it empirically. I also reserve the right to change my mind at any time, since I'm constantly learning new things! However, at this moment these words express as well as it is in my power to express what I feel to be true. I'm satisfied with it, but not remotely dogmatic.

[Twig]

Yeah. What Zylah said!

That is a tough question to answer in 25 words or less. I find myself confusing soul & spirit sometimes, although I couldn't tell you why. I do believe that the soul is that component of ourselves which continues its life after the physical body is gone. It's the part of us which incarnates to learn, and our personality is the part through which it acts. So, what is our spirit?

And, yes. I, too, invoke a disclaimer to not believe the same thing tomorrow!

[DaRC]

Firstly I do believe we have a spirit or soul - yes I fundamentally believe that there is some vital spark that makes each individual unique. I ought to I wrote a 12 page essay on my concept of Northern Soul!
Personally I think that my spirit and body certainly do live on - my spirit is in the memories of my family and loved ones which will echo down the generations, physically the atoms that I am comprised of are eternal as well.

Hmm is there a difference between what is spirit and what is soul? This would be related to the transmigration of souls or reincarnation. Whether we have an eternal soul that can return to the world soul and then choose to transmigrate / reincarnate is the great mystery...

The Dictionary suggests this for Spirit:
1. the principle of conscious life; the vital principle in humans, animating the body or mediating between body and soul.
2. the incorporeal part of humans: present in spirit though absent in body.
3. the soul regarded as separating from the body at death.

and this for Soul:
1. the principle of life, feeling, thought, and action in humans, regarded as a distinct entity separate from the body, and commonly held to be separable in existence from the body; the spiritual part of humans as distinct from the physical part.
2. the spiritual part of humans regarded in its moral aspect, or as believed to survive death and be subject to happiness or misery in a life to come: arguing the immortality of the soul.
3. the disembodied spirit of a deceased person: He feared the soul of the deceased would haunt him.

Looking at point 1 in both dictionary references it would suggest that the the body, spirit and soul are separate but related and that it is the spirit that connects the body with the soul. This is rooted in Christian thought but also in ancient Germanic thought, so it may be a rooted in our earliest human concepts that have since diverged into the different religions. In Germanic thinking the World Tree would be the home of the World Soul and it's fruit the individual souls.

So can my soul transmigrate? I like to believe it can but also accept that it may well not, in this respect my mind is still open.
Death will be the great revealer... or not.

[Nicholaas]

Being a naturalist to the end, I see no reason to think there is an ethereal, non-physical aspect that survives after death. I will wither, die, decompose, and my matter will be recycled back into the earth. That is the only manner in which I will "live on", so to speak.

[Twig]

DaRC -- I like the idea that Spirit is the "cosmic glue" holding body & soul together. I am wondering when the body is gone if Spirit & soul stick together...

[wyeuro]

i believe that the material universe is like a single page of a book with infinite pages, and our bodies occupy it and are confined to it by the limitations of our perceptions. the body is continuum with all materiality, but because atoms are living, responsive beings, our molecular, material body is not a dead, empty thing that a living soul animates for a while, but a sensitive, wise, emotive being as beautiful and responsive to meaning and love as the soul. it derives a full array of human characteristics, virtues, strengths, and sense of purpose and direction initially from the parents and ancestors, and continues the evolutionary process specific to the body. but the body is configured to bond with and co-evolve for a while with a soul personality not bound to the thin sliver of matter-mediated experience that binds our body; a soul being that derives its characteristics from prior incarnations and other experiences. the bond forms a union that is greater than its parts and the exchange between the psyche and the body is usually mutually beneficial, although sometimes one dominates the other to the disadvantage of the one dominated.

sometimes more than one soul competes for the privilege of bonding in this way, and very often many souls form a collectivity that makes the whole person. for example, when my mother died, not only did i see her as an ethereal angel-like being with her own face radiant with that lovely light that angels have, but she also often appears to me as a fairy, about two feet high, and very pretty and full of joy. i know i have several optional forms, parts of my soul that are evolving towards an array of delightful afterlives. and i believe that when my atoms have dispersed, they will retain the imprint they got of my life and bear its spirit through every other form it conjoins with, just as i am daily enriched by the spiritual load and experiential imprint of every atom that passes through me. whew, just as well our senses and reasoning are so limiting.
wy