A matter of soul
The human soul is a complicated thing. In all conceptions of soul, we have the idea of something separate yet integrally a part of the whole. We recognize that the separateness of soul means that one can lose soul, that soul can effectively die within one’s self. Yet, as we navigate through life knowing that there is a personal soul, we generally have no clue about the nature of the soul, where it is located or where it goes when there is loss of soul.
Religion tries to answer of these concerns and questions about soul, but can only do so with words that defy human logic, words that have a magical quality, words that confuse even more, the muddy waters when one looks even deeper or when one experiences a crisis of soul without any succour from the container of religious belief.
In Jungian psychology, the soul is referred to as anima for men and animus for women. Since I am a man, my soul is the other half of my self, the feminine aspect. If I ignore my soul then like this old woman camped outside of a church in Mérida, the soul becomes impoversed.
She looks strangely serene to me, but then i can’t see her face, and she has dignity.
the saddest beggar I ever saw was walking along the Champs Elysee in Paris the night in June the White Party takes over. I was there working, and as me and my students gazed in windows of shops far beyond out pockets to even dare enter, a barefoot beggar with a beard worthy of Moses, and clothes in rags, walked slowly along, a sailor’s old kit bag slung over his shoulder. he didn’t look around at any of the decadent splendour of the shops or at the happy revellers or even at the tourists. he just walked slowly along, his feet filthy and gnarled.
It’s my most powerful memory of my first trip to Paris. Strange how that outshines all the rest.
viv66
24 Feb 09 at 9:05 AM
Do you think this woman’s soul is rich regardless of the poverty that has resorted to her begging, or do you think that through her poverty her soul has died and so she begs?
Brigit
http://hotmiddlescence.com
writeandcreate
26 Feb 09 at 3:52 AM
That’s an interesting thought, Brigit. Financial poverty is a relative thing. Here in England, people who live below the poverty line have riches beyond the imagining of people like the lady here.
And then there are monks and nuns of all faiths who take vows of poverty as well as the other ones.
Perhaps it’s the crushing effects of either poverty or wealth that damage the soul.
I keep thinking of the Paris beggar; he haunts me.
viv66
26 Feb 09 at 4:27 AM