spirit5

(The Soul, The Spirit and The Ego cont.....)

These are only a few of the vast number of questions which are raised when we endeavour to understand the soul. So many of us feel better if we can have a mystery explained to us, if we can put something neatly in a box with a smart white label on it. We feel so much better if we can put something in its correct place. Yet I feel unable to do this in my explanation of the soul. It is a mystery which remains only partially explained here.

I have a feeling there are many answers to each question asked � as many answers as there are levels to understanding the soul itself. I suspect that I have only touched the surface here and invite you to continue to question and expand your understanding, as I do. If I had been able to bring total understanding to you and myself, I would be feeling a little let down, it would be like an anticlimax. Perhaps I am copping out! However, I feel strangely excited at the thought that there is still more to learn about these things. As long as we journey, we learn and if the journey ever stops, then so too, does our learning and growth. May our journeys never end my friends!

The Spirit
The spirit seems to be linked to a state of being on an energy level. It seems to be like a go-between for the soul and the physical body (amongst other things) � perhaps it connects the two so that the soul can function successfully in the body during an incarnation much like the motor provides energy and drive for a car to engage in forward movement. That certainly would be one of the functions but not the only one that the spirit is responsible for.

I have heard the spirit described as an energy pack much like a battery. We speak about having a strong or weak spirit in relation to how we deal with lessons we encounter along the way � things that test and try our resolve � our metal so to speak. Some beliefs view the spirit being connected to the soul in such a way that if the spirit is strong and healthy, then the soul will be also � and vica versa in that if the spirit is in a weakened state, so will the soul be also in a vulnerable or weakened state.

This would indicate that the spirit has protective buffer-like qualities to shield the soul and keep it healthy. A strong spirit is able to withstand immense trauma, upheaval and testing and helps to keep the soul strongly within the light whilst battling negative influences or times of testing and lessons. A weak spirit means that trauma or negative influences can more easily affect us at soul level. When we talk about loss of soul, we say that we have � lost heart� about something, but I believe that it would be more accurate to say that our spirit is disheartened and in a weakened state, which places our soul in a vulnerable position.

This would lead me to ask what the soul would be in danger from? Can a soul be lost? Can it be ill? Can a soul die? I believe that you can have fragments of your soul that have been sent in different directions or dimensions for the purpose of gathering information and wisdom, but I believe that we are all connected to each other and the Divine Source. So this would suggest that a soul cannot be �lost� entirely �perhaps just a little of track. Another way to describe it would be to liken it to flying a kite. The kite may fly so high that it cannot be seen by the one holding the string.

As for our soul being ill � if we believe our spirit can be unwell, and we know our physical bodies can be ill, then can the soul be vulnerable to illness too? Not like an illness of the body, but an illness of the soul. To me, this would be not carrying as much light from the Divine Source as would be desirable or striven towards. We talk about straying from our path or moving away from the light, and this would seem to describe the type of state that we would equate with illness of the soul and the spirit.

If we remember that we are connected to each other as well as the Divine Source then how would this affect the �whole�? I believe the Divine Source to be nurturing and would provide opportunities to return home or rediscover the path, but it is up to the soul to strive towards this goal too.

I feel that the spirit includes the auric body and the chakras as well. Thus we can see that the chakras (energy centres) provide energy for the physical body as well as the auric or spiritual body.

In fact, as healers, we believe that illness in the physical body occurs when the flow of energy in the etheric or auric body is disturbed or halted all together. So illness of the physical body manifests after the flow in the auric body has been disturbed for some time. This would suggest that in order for both our spiritual and physical form to maintain balance and health, energy has to flow. If it ceases to flow, it creates imbalance and later on � illness and disease.

To maintain a healthy, balanced flow of energy we need to be balanced emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Trauma, stress, grief, loss and heartache all cause the natural flow of energy through our body to alter, falter or stop. Now, as we live in a stressful world, our energy flow both through our physical and etheric bodies, is often affected. How badly they are affected depends on how healthy the spirit is and how badly or how often we are traumatised.

When we remember that our spirit acts as an energy pack to both the soul and the physical body, we realise how important the proper functioning of the spirit can be. If the spirit is not functioning well, then we do not function well on this physical level or the soul level as the spirit is connected to both. Si it is a connector and protector of sorts!

This is also a two way street in that if something happens to the physical body such as a car accident or breaking a bone, the trauma affects us on the etheric level too and this level has to also be healed. It can be a vicious circle sometimes!

Taking this further, because our physical bodies can affect or place a strain/drain on our spirit, we have to make sure that we do our part to maintain it is balanced and healthy. That means we need to put healthy food into it, keep it in a fairly good state of fitness and be aware not to put it under any unnecessary stress. So we can see through exploring all this, just how intertwined and connected these three aspects of our being are.

continued.................