A person has something inexplicable. It is this something that is commonly called the soul, and leads to the fact that each person is a unique personality. The problem of the existence of the soul, which from time immemorial has excited the minds of people, remains relevant today. In our review, there are 10 ideas about the soul that existed at different times and among different peoples.
1. One of the oldest ideas about the soul
Archaeologists from the University of Chicago have discovered a stone memorial in the Turkish city of Sam'al, which confirms that people in this region believed in a soul almost 3,000 years ago. The memorial dates back to the 8th century BC. and was made for a man named Kuttamuva. The stele was supposed to be a tombstone over the grave of this person, and the inscription on it is a request to remember the life of Kuttamuva, whose soul now lives inside this memorial. This concept rather puzzled archaeologists, since it was generally believed that the local culture believed that the soul after death remains in the body, “attaching” to the bones.
2. World Soul
A similar idea existed in a number of religious theories, especially in the ancient world. Greek philosophers like Plato considered the world to be a spiritual substance, and their idea of the “world soul” was called Anima Mundi. Anima Mundi is a spiritual essence that envelops everything that exists in the world and all nature. Later, people developed the concept of sin and the division between the worldly and the divine, and "the world has lost its soul." During the Renaissance, the belief that the world has a soul reappeared. The world was often imagined as a black dot in the center of a circle, and it was called the embryo inside the "cosmic egg" (the dot is the center of everything, and the world soul consists of a subtle substance around).
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3. The search for the soul by alchemists
Alchemy is much more than just turning base metals into gold. Also, most alchemists assumed that the soul envelops everything and everyone in this world. Alchemy is essentially the science of transformation, as well as how the inner light of the world soul should transform the world. Since all people are associated with Anima Mundi, then each person has the potential to know the wisdom contained in the world soul. After the publication of the philosophical treatises of Carl Jung, alchemists began to consider the inner alchemy of man as a way to transform his own soul and change the world around him.
4. Death of the soul according to Homer
Any person will die sooner or later in Ancient Greece in the poems of Homer, and the ancient Greeks believed this. The soul is what makes a person alive. After a person dies, the soul also dies, but does not leave the body, but lives next to it and further, being a reflection of what the person was during his lifetime. A weak and pale shadow of a former person is sent to the afterlife. That is why Homer sang the idea of heroic self-sacrifice in battle in his poems.
5. Decapitation
According to the Bible, people were sentenced to beheading for the worst crimes. And all because such an execution allegedly deprives a person of the soul and posthumous existence. The Jews provided for four types of execution: stoning, beheading, strangulation, and burning. They were sentenced to beheading for murder and idolatry. According to the teachings of the Egyptians, the soul lives in the head, and decapitation completely destroys the soul.
6. Sneezing
According to one of the stories told in the Midrash (a group of teachings based on the Torah), at the dawn of mankind, people believed that when you sneeze, the soul leaves the body. This was until Jacob asked heaven so that the soul would not remain in the body after sneezing. Jacob was the first who was allowed to sneeze fearlessly, but people still say to the sneezer “Be healthy” in order to wish him to keep his soul in his body, and, accordingly, his life. However, according to Polynesian beliefs, sneezing can mean several different things. Sometimes, this is a sign that a person's soul does not leave, but on the contrary - returns to the body. Otherwise, it may be the culmination of a struggle between the person and the soul.
7.613 channels of the Jewish soul
Reincarnation is commonly associated with Buddhism, but Jewish theology also teaches that every soul goes through reincarnation. According to Kabbalah, there are 613 different channels in the soul, each of which is associated with limbs and vessels. When the soul is present in earthly form, mortal man is faced with a choice throughout his life. With the right choice from the moral point of view, a part of the soul is purified, with the wrong one - on the contrary. The soul can enter the Garden of Eden only when all 613 channels are cleansed.
8. Hunting for Heads and Soul Essence
Albert Kruyt is a Dutch missionary who lived and worked in Indonesia in the late 19th century. According to his works, the tribes hunted for the heads of their enemies, since they contained a certain substance of the soul. This substance could be passed from one person to another, which strengthened the entire community. The village became more prosperous, the harvest was better, and the pets grew better.
9. Zombie Soul
Countless horror films have taught people that zombies are soulless dummies. The word "zombie" itself is believed to have come from the Congolese word "nzambi" which means "soul." When a person dies, his body and soul are separated. An experienced voodoo sorcerer (boko) can intercept this soul, and begin to control it, as well as the body that was its receptacle. Boko lifts his body, which then follows all of his orders. The theoretical philosophical concept of zombies is almost indistinguishable from the common man.
10. Animal soul
It is generally accepted that only a person has a soul. But many religions, including Catholicism, claim that animals are capable of feeling, but will not receive divine remission of sins and eternal life.