Do you know what a soul even is?
This is Professor Google’s definition: the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal
Not sure it does it justice.
The question of the soul is something I’ve begun to wonder about lately.
So I set out on a little quest – I grabbed a coffee, turned on the computer, and did some surfing – to find out as much as I could in one day. Obviously this makes it very much not a comprehensive guide to all things soul like but I think you’ll agree there is some interesting stuff.
So there is a concept that without a soul your body is just an empty bag. A meat sack. And that it’s the soul that makes you/it animate. Which would suggest that it must always remain within the body. If someone takes it from your meat sack you would be dead.
Seems logical right, at least until you consider the idea that your soul can be taken, or bargained.
Some think it is the soul that goes from body to body through reincarnations, as Socrates believed, and other that once it leaves the body it returns to Hades and remains there forever.
Some suggest it’s related to a specific part of the body – the heart, the brain – but others think it is something that fills the whole body down to the last molecule.
Some consider it simply conscious thought that can exist outside of us, without us, and move onto a new body when ours is done.
There are lots of rules and restrictions attached to soul, deep seated beliefs, and limited understanding. It’s a sense of something that is more than we physically are, more than our thoughts, more than just ourselves. And I think that sometimes we sense this more strongly than others. Particularly when feeling in tune with the universe or our direct surroundings. It’s a feeling of connection to something bigger than we are.
Perhaps this is a god of one kind or another, perhaps this is to the earth, perhaps to the universe, or to something else we haven’t yet encountered. The soul, whatever we consider it to be, holds mystery and familiarity. Perhaps some are more sensitive to it and maybe they are of different ages or skills.
But what if it’s possible to do something so bad that it would leave your physical body – or could be taken from it by another entity – and you could continue your life without it?
I’m not a theologian and nor am I particularly religious. If anything I believe in the old gods, that we are connected to the universe and have the ability to mould our own worlds. But what if I’m wrong?
What damages the soul…
can be found in many religions and most are very similar. Committing a sin, whatever is considered a sin in that religion, will send your soul somewhere bad.
A deadly sin, in Christianity, will immediately damn your soul to hell if you commit even one.
In Voodoo the ti bon ange or little guardian angel leaves the body during rituals and at this time can be harmed or stolen. This is only part of the soul though. They believe the soul is made up of two parts, the little guardian angel and the big guardian angel. And that when the person dies the soul returns to the pool of life force.
In some Native American Indian belief systems each person has multiple souls. A soul might flee the body and cause the individual to become sick. Not all tribes believed the same though and you can find more on this here.
Even science has tried to prove or disprove the presence of the soul.
But whether the soul can be damaged, injured or taken, or whether it simply exists with us (assuming that it exists at all), the loss or injury to the soul is a lingering concern for many.
And it’s this that I’m attempting to harness at the moment. The fear of losing the soul through your own actions. Whether you can bargain your soul, as has been suggested many times over the millennia, for something you want.
And whether when you first enter into that kind of contract you really consider your soul that important. If the soul does exist, what do you suppose would happen to you if it was taken from you, forcibly, because of a choice you made? What would you be without it?
Just something to think about – let me know your opinion in the comments below.
Kate xxx
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Horror and Fantasy Author – Also writing as K.T. McQueen. Love Western Horror, cowboy boots, my cactus Collin, & my Demon Cat.
Moths – I hate moths, the way they flutter at your face!
