3 Types of People & Levels of Soul
Nefesh (basic life force) Ruach (spirit or breath) Neshamah (higher spiritual essence) The highest part of the soul is called the Chia
Hylic Psychic Pneumatic Gnostic
The four elements represent psychological/spiritual states - Earth = hylics (obsessed with physical senses, 80-85% of humanity); Water = psychics (mastering emotions); Air = pneumatics (developing intellect through Seven Liberal Arts); Fire = achieving gnosis/illumination. …..
“Yet, the Gnostic believed, as a fundamental aspect of his faith, that he was himself from the Fullness. The Gnostics regarded most humans as beyond saving from the Wheel of Fate, but they believed themselves to be essentially different. The Gnostics represented an elite minority of humans who each possessed a spark of Light from the Fullness.” - Aaron Leitch, https://kheph777.tripod.com/art_HGA.html
Building on Kabbalah's conception of the soul, Abraham Abulafia's meditations included the "inner illumination of" the human form79 The Kabbalah posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh, ru'ach, and neshamah. The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but can be developed over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually.
A common way of explaining the three parts of the soul is as follows: Nefesh (נֶפֶשׁ): the lower part, or "animal part", of the soul. It is linked to instincts and bodily cravings. This part of the soul is provided at birth. Further information: Nephesh Ruach (רוּחַ): the middle soul, the "spirit". It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Further information: Holy Spirit in Judaism Neshamah (נְשָׁמָה): the higher soul, or "super-soul". This separates man from all other life-forms. It is related to the intellect and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. It allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God. Chayyah (חיה): The part of the soul that allows one to have an awareness of the divine life force itself. Yehidah (יחידה): The highest plane of the soul, in which one can achieve as full a union with God as is possible.
Divine Spark (Neshamah)
The Three Souls:
- Nefesh (basic life force)
- Ruach (spirit or breath)
- Neshamah (higher spiritual essence),
“The psychic pneuma, which the happy people also call the ‘pneumatic soul’, may become a god, a daimon (of any kind) and a phantom. It is in this that the soul pays its penalties. The oracles speak with one voice on this, likening the existence of the soul in the other world to the imaginings of dreams, and philosophy agrees that our first lives are a preparation for our second, since the best state of the soul makes the pneuma light, and the worse rubs its own stain off upon it.” - Synesius of Cyrene (d. 414 CE) - On Dreams