The soul and what it is or is not has been a personal study for decades. To say IT, the soul, is what it is, nothing lends itself to what the soul is; kill the question We are told that the soul is the essence of what makes us human. Even the Christian Bible is not very clear about the soul. I wonder if it is possible to arrive at a working definition of soul without the involvement of religion. I think such a definition is possible.

The soul that a human body has, at its simplest level, is energy. Even at the moment of conception, there is energy. The soul is that energy that permeates everything. And going one step further, science reveals that energy cannot be destroyed; therefore, the soul survives the death of its body. However, my title suggests soul loss. Does that contradict the Second Law of Thermodynamics? Frankly, no!

Soul loss comes to us from ancient shamanic practices. In days gone by, the healer described the malaise suffered by an individual as the loss of the soul, or a part of the soul being snatched, stolen, or held by a loved one. Our ancient ancestors believed that a soul could be lost and because it had trouble finding its way back, the individual would become ill. Also, an evil entity could steal a part of the soul; thus creating the disease. A father, especially a mother, may keep a part of her child’s soul out of love when that child marries or leaves and unknowingly creates a disease. The healer would travel to another realm to locate the wandering soul or a part of it and return it to the client. This was done by blowing directly into the customer’s mouth.

The spirit and the soul are often interchanged. From my point of view, they are not the same. Unlike the soul, the spirit is not omnipresent. It is totally individualized, that is, it refers to specific individuals. It is, of course, not physical. For some, the spirit is the place of emotions that help define character. Any time an individual experiences physical or emotional trauma, he or she may experience loss of spirit. A parent who loses a child may experience loss of spirit. Depression, whatever its cause, indicates loss of spirit just like anxiety. To help remedy this, the healer will offer certain herbs, suggest specific crystals, and perhaps a bag of ground-up plant leaves to wear around the neck.