a strange query

R

reformedtopunk

got punk?
Registered Senior Member
this thread is based on a conversation i was having with a few of my friends. we're all pagan, but the question isn't limited to them.

The question that arose fromt his outing was such: what is the difference between a spirit and a soul?

my opinion was that a soul once inhabited a body, this is what christians see as living forever. whereas a spirit never inhabited a body. a free-forming collection of EK energy, such as a "spirit of a mountain" or "spirit of the sun" that many religions may speak of.

this might be totally off topic, but i figured i'd get christian bashing in the religion forum.
 
Spirit is the person you are when the body is alive. A soul is the esscence and the person you are when the body dies.
 
I guess it differs from peoples to peoples, so to speak. The native peoples of the America's, for instance, do not speak of souls, they speak of spirits.

In my humble opinion it is a solely christian thing, this soul. You are correct though, UberDragon, that the soul may be considered as being the essence of a person.

Most people speak of souls, it's gotten rather common to speak of such, ever since christianity has laid its claim on the peoples of Earth and indoctrinated into people's lives.

The true essence of the word soul, however, is it being immortal. Immortality in this sense is coming from christianity. Native Americans and native peoples in general, have immortality too, it is not spoken of as the soul though. They speak of spirit.

Spirit of the mountain and spirit of the sun are typical for people, who give nature the credit it should have. One of life, which deserves respect and honour, in every aspect. Even when it brings death and destruction, nature is considered as alive as humans are. Isn't nature the true "god" here?

After death, there are still spirits. Good and evil spirits, not good and evil souls, although it does not sound wrong. Makes me wonder why it is that nobody speaks of evil souls but only of evil spirits...
 
For me they are just two words for the same thing.
Christianity speak of spirits too, as in the "holy spirit".
I guess it's as you said Banshee, different people have different words for it. Like in swedish, the word for spirit "ande", is more a spirit of a physically dead person, and soul "själ" is the word for the spirit/soul/higher self/immortal existance..and all that. :)
 
Well the problem is that neither term really refers to anything. There are general vague simmilar concepts behind both, but since they are both nouns which don't relate to anything that acctualy IS, we can't have any hard concept of what a soul or a spirit is, like we can with something that does exist, like say a chair, or the sky, or pants. This leaves it quite open to indevidual interperatation, hence the many views on the subject, but of course, since just taking a personal stance on the matter doesn't ad substance to the matter, it can't really take much hold with others, and the debate goes on!
 
They do refer to something, maybe they are just vague to you. Just because you are unable to perceive it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
 
:p I know plenty of people who percieve spirits, but I urge them to stop using drugs.

So, you honestly want to debate that the terms are vague? I suppose that clear cut and defined terms are open to personal interpretation?

Like I said before, the problem is that there isn't anything we can relate to, to which these terms refer, essentialy just poorly defined makebeleive stuff, it's like if I were to ask what the difference between a snarulax, and a zoob zoob, what the hell ARE either of those? Nothin'!
 
If that's how you feel, then why are you posting here? Is it to get a laugh by reading what all the craaazzzyyy people say or do you feel the urge to save us from our delusions? Or is there a tiny bit of curiousity that can't help itself? :p
 
Because I find it to be VERY entertaining when logic breaks down and people start spewing any crazy shit that comes to mind as if it were somehow some sort of fact, or even in any way based in reality what so ever ^.^ Reminds me that some people have a long to go, and makes events when Crazies get violent at very least understandable (Well at least in the depths that they are able to fool themselves into beleiving nonsence)

Mostly just getting REALLY bumed about Christian fundamentalists, lay awake at night crying and all, it's spooky shit to know that someday I may have someone protesting my funeral. I come here to see that sometimes those who abandon logic in favor of senceless mysticism are sometimes only dangerous to themselves (like most of you sort, I don't see you hurting people over your astral visions and alien encounters) and that you should be amoung the spared when I finnaly snap under the pressure and go on a shooting rampage ^.^
 
Well thank you very much then.
May I ask what kind of special funeral you have in mind, that would upset the christians?
 
One where the mourners invoke the devil himself to inhabit my lifeles body and rule the earth for a thousand years! umm. . . no, not really.

Ummm, not too worried about the average mild Christian, or even the more creepy docile cattle like Christians, so much as the wacko off the deepend christian fundamentalists, say like those which can be found at http://www.godhatesfags.com

yeah, and guess that link sort of answers your question about the funeral :p Not like I'm terrably frightend of it ACCTUALY happening, guess the odds are pretty narow, but the Idea that it CAN and DOES happen angers me to no end.

I'll snap soon and raise an army to kill people like that, you're all welcome to join ^.^ *face turns very stern all of a sudden* But remember, you ARE going to have to kill ruthlessly. Other than that, we could have fun, though ^.^
 
Oooh, that was a scary site. Isn't that against the law? It would be here in Sweden anyway.
I can understand that you get frightened by that...

 
Mystech,just curious... Do you believe in theory of parallel Universes?(this query is connected to this thread btw folks,so just in case...)



bye!
 
Which theory in general would that one be? Just that there ARE parralell dipentions or universes, or whatever? No. . . can't say that I do, really, or if there are, there ain't nothing we can do about it :p I'd certainly contest any claim that one such "other universe" could have an effect on our own, or vise versa.

And on the subject of Godhatesfags.com nope, it's not illegal, not in America anyway, not unless they spacificaly state some sort of criminal intent on the page, like proposing to outright kill homosexuals, or at least rough 'em up a bit, or stalk 'em or something. The lack of a law preventing the censoring of these people nessesitates my Army of Secret Gay assasins Mmmmmmm *daydreams about the romantic possabilities* I should write a comic book or something. . . yeah, seems the apropriate medium for such a cheezy idea, heh.
 
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hmmmm.......

a soul belongs to the nonphysical state of a person/animal
a spirit belongs to the nonphysical state of something plantlike or nonliving (like a rock).
i had always thought of it this way, but then, i've never really given much thought to the difference between the two...... btw, wiccan here, if it makes a difference.
 
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