Spirit
The English word "
spirit" comes from the
Latin spiritus, meaning breath.
The English word "
spirit" comes from the
Latin spiritus, meaning "
breath" (compare
spiritus asper), but also "soul, courage, vigor", ultimately from a
PIE root
*(s)peis- ("to blow"). In the
Vulgate, the Latin word translates Greek (πνευμα),
pneuma (Hebrew (רוח)
ruah), as opposed to
anima, translating
psykhÄ". The word was loaned into
Middle English via
Old French espirit in the 13th century.
The distinction between
soul and
spirit became current in Judeo-Christian terminology (e.g. Greek.
psykhe vs.
pneuma, Latin
anima vs.
spiritus, Hebrew
ruach vs.
neshama or
nephesh; in Hebrew
neshama from the root
NSHM or breath.)
The word is used in two related contexts, one
metaphysical and the other
metaphorical.
Its
metaphysical context has attained a number of meanings:
# An
incorporeal but ubiquitous, non-quantifiable, substance or
energy present individually in all living things. Unlike the concept of human
souls, which is believed to be eternal and preexisting, a spirit develops and grows as an integral aspect of the living being. This concept of the individual spirit is common among traditional peoples. It is therefore important to note the distinction between this concept of spirit and that of the pre-existing or eternal soul because belief in souls is specific and far less common, particularly in traditional societies. # A
daemon sprite, or especially
ghost. A
ghost is usually conceived as a wandering spirit from a being no longer living, having survived the death of the body yet maintaining the
mind and
consciousness. # In
religion and
spirituality, the
respiration of the human being has for obvious reasons been strongly linked with the very occurrence of life. A similar significance has been attributed to human
blood.
Spirit in this sense denotes that which separates a living body from a corpse and usually implies
intelligence,
consciousness and
sentience.# Spirits are often visualized as being interconnected to all others and The
Spirit (singular
capitalized) refers to the theories of a unified spirituality, universal
conciousness and some concepts of
Deity. All "spirits" connected, form a greater unity, the
Spirit, which has both an identity separate from its elements plus a
consciousness and
intellect greater than its elements; an ultimate, unified, non-dual awareness or
force of
life combining or transcending all individual units of consciousness. The
experience of such a connection can be a primary basis for
spiritual belief. The term
spirit has been used in this sense by at least
Anthroposophy,
Aurobindo,
A Course In Miracles, Hegel, and
Ken Wilber. In this use, the term is conceptually identical to
Plotinus's "One" and
Friedrich Schelling's "Absolute." Similarly, according to the pan(en)theistic aspect, Spirit is the essence that can manifest itself as
mind/
soul through any level in pantheistic hierarchy/
holarchy, such as a mind/soul of a single cell (with very primitive, elemental consciousness), or a human or animal mind/soul (with
consciousness on a level of organic synergy of an individual human/animal), or a (superior) mind/soul with synergetically extremely complex/sophisticated consciousness of whole galaxies involving all sub-levels, all emanating (since it is non-dimensional, or trans-dimensional) from the one Spirit.# In Christian
theology, the Spirit is also used to describe
God, or aspects therof as in
Holy Spirit, referring to a
Triune God (
Trinity): "The result of God reaching to man by the
Father as the source,
the Son as the course ("
the Way"), and through the Spirit as the transmission."# Also in theological terms, the individual human "spirit" (singular lowercase) is a deeply situated aspect of the
soul subject to "spiritual" growth and change; the very seat of emotion and desire, and the transmitting organ by which human beings can contact
God. It is a central concept of
Pneumatology.# In
Christian Science, Spirit is one of the seven synonyms for
God. These are: "Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love" (
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by
Mary Baker Eddy, p. 587). # In
Harmonism, spirit is a term reserved for those which collectively control and influence an individual from the realm of the
mind.
The
metaphorical use of the term likewise has several related meanings:
# The loyalty and feeling of inclusion in the social history or collective essence of an institution or group, such as in school spirit or
esprit de corps# As a synonym for 'vivacity' as in "She performed the piece with spirit." or "She put up a spirited defense."# As a term for alcoholic beverages stemming from medieval superstitions that explained the effects of alcohol as demonic activity.
See soul and ghost for related discussions.Similar concepts in other languages include Greek
Pneuma and Sanskrit
akasha,
see also Prana. In some languages, the word for spirit is often closely related, if not synonymous to
mind. Examples include the German, 'Geist' (related to the English word ghost) or the French, 'l'espirit'. In the
Bible, the word "
ruach" (רוח; "wind") is most commonly translated as the spirit, whose essence is divine (see
Holy Spirit). Alternately the word
nephesh is commonly used. Nephesh, as referred to by
Kabbalists, is one of the three parts of the human
soul, where "nephesh" (
animal) refers to the physical being and its animal instincts. Similarly, both the
Danish and the
Chinese language uses the term "breath" to refer to the spirit.
*
Spirituality*
Spirituality Studies*
Angel*
Atman*
Brahman*
Cryptid*
Cryptozoology *
Daemon (mythology)*
Deva*
Ekam*
Ghost*
Legendary creature*
List of fictional species *
List of legendary creatures*
Monster *
Pneuma and
Pneumatology*
Qi*
Soul*
Spiritism*
Spiritual world
