Dictionary of Meaning

<<Back
Please select a letter:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0-9

SPIRIT

*** Shopping-Tip: SPIRIT
{{otheruses}} {{Portalpar|Spirituality|EndlessKnot03d.png}} The English word "'''spirit'''" comes from the Latin ''spiritus'', meaning breath (''see also'' Prana). In religion and spirituality, the Respiration (physiology) 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'' has thus evolved to denote that which separates a living body from a corpse. The term is also used metaphorically with several related meanings: school spirit, for example, meaning the social history of the institution and its collective essence or esprit de corps, as a synonym for 'vivacity' as in "She performed the piece with spirit." or "She put up a spirited defence.", and as a term for alcoholic beverages stemming from medieval superstitions that explained the effects of alcohol as demonic activity. In other languages, the word for spirit is often closely related, if not synonymous with mind. Examples include the German, 'Geist' (related to the English word ghost) or the French, 'l'espirit'. Hence, as well as denoting the presence of life, spirit implies intelligence, consciousness and sentience. 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 soul 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 with the concept of the pre-existing or eternal soul because a belief in the soul concept is quite rare among traditional peoples. # A Daemon (mythology) daemon sprite (creature) 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. # Spirits are often visualized as being interconnected to all others and the experience of such a connection can be a primary basis for spiritual belief. The '''Spirit''' (singular capitalization capitalized) refers to the theories of 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 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 Plotinus's "One" and Friedrich Schelling Friedrich Schelling's "Absolute." # 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. According to the pan(en)theistic aspect, Spirit is the essence that can manifest itself. The manifestation we know of is - mind/soul. It manifests (itself) through any level in pantheistic hierarchy/holarchy, either a mind/soul of a single cell (with very primitive, elemental consciousness), 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. ''See'' soul ''and'' ghost ''for related discussions.''

Etymology
As mentioned in the introduction, the English word "'''spirit'''" comes from the Latin ''spiritus'', meaning breath. Similar concepts in other languages include Greek ''pneuma'' and Sanskrit ''akasha.'' In the Bible, the word "ruach" (×¨×•×—; "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 Kabbalah 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 language Danish and the Chinese language uses the term "breath" to refer to the spirit.

See also
* Angel * Atman * Brahman * Cryptid * Cryptozoology * Daemon (mythology) * Deva (deity) * Ghost * Legendary creature * Soul * Spirit Searchers * Spiritism * Monster * List of fictional species * List of legendary creatures * Legendary creatures of the Argentine Northwest region * Book of Imaginary Beings

External links

- Spirit Searchers - The UK's leading paranormal investigators
- The Spirit's Book by Allan Kardec; with you want to download the same book in the PDF file format (use the software Adobe Reader) then [http://www.allankardec.com/Allan_Kardec/Le_livre_des_esprits/lesp_us.pdf click here]
- Ghost Finders Scotland *Legendary creature Encyclopedia Mythica's Bestiary Category:Spirituality Category:Philosophical terminology es:EspÃritu pt:EspÃrito nl:Geest de:Geist pl:Duch (filozofia) ru:Ð”ÑƒÑ… simple:Spirit fi:Henki zh:é?ˆ see Spirit (Belgium)

*** Shopping-Tip: SPIRIT