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More than 2000 years ago the philosopher Plato believed we each have an assigned star that guides us throughout our time on Earth. Then after we die we return to our companion star to watch the universe unfold from the heavens, or atmosphere above Earth where the Gods dwell. He called it ether, or aether.
This enchanted worldview has been the guide for my own astrology practice and philosophical studies. The word desire inspired my entire thesis research as it evolved from Greek and Latin that could be originally translated as "await what the stars will bring." To me our every desire comes from our companion star as it whispers to us from the etheric realms above, the original birth place of our soul and cosmic journey.
My greatest nourishment comes from contact with my own soul. An aspect of Self that feels intangible and yet intimate at the same time. I don't know how to describe my soul but I realize without feeling it with myself or others I don't feel connected. The soul makes contact when we move towards slowing down, grounding, Earth, ritual, mystery, wildness, intuition, creativity, authenticity, genuine friends, good food, memories, and depth. We also find it when we look up and find our connection to the whole. It is the meeting place between individual and collective, Earth and Ether, and above and below.
Something that doesn't always come through with others is my soulfulness, my desire for my soul and helping others connect to theirs. To be a philosopher to me means to seek soul at all costs. To wonder about the bigger questions of being human and how to find enchantment in a world of disconnection. Life forces moves through us with ease when we move closer to the ineffable and quiet parts of the soul. It pulls us forward into evolution and yet also contacts us with the present. The soul animates our body and is the part of us the remains beyond personality and over lifetimes...the continuity of self.
One of my favorite philosophers Sri Aurobindo believed the soul resides in a secret cave in the heart, and I feel it there. Greek philosophers such as Plato--in the lineage of Socrates--thought there were three parts to the soul:
Logos: associated with the head and related to reason
Thymos: located in chest--I see it as heart--related to spirit
Eros: related to stomach and desires (my favorite)
The soul somehow can recognize the true, good, and beautiful or Platonic Ideals and mediates the conscious and unconscious. I see the downward motion of soul and modern consciousness through depth psychology. Particularly C.G. Jung who created his own Map of the Soul, though his version of the soul is more of a downward motion and connected to the shadow.
I tend to see each area of soul having its own version of desire that often compete with each other. To define the soul seems counterintuitive...and I can't put words to it, but here are some of my favorite sayings and quotes and soul in case you are craving more of your own:
"My soul is the bridge between spirit and body and, as such, is a uniter of opposites. Without soul at center, I would either transcend into spirit or become mired in matter."-Marion Woodman
“The sun warmed body, but the moon warmed her soul.” - C. Churchill
"If we fail to nourish our souls, they wither, and without soul, life ceases to have meaning.... The creative process shrivels in the absence of continual dialogue with the soul. And creativity is what makes life worth living."-Marion Woodman
“The secret of a soul-based life
is to allow someone
or something
other than the usual self (ego)
to be in charge.”
― Thomas Moore
"The soul has its own source of unfolding." - Heraclitus
“It is only through mystery and madness that the soul is revealed” ― Thomas Moore
"The soul came to being at the same time as the sky."-Plato
“The soul faithfully comes to our aid through dreams, deep emotion, love, the quiet voice of guidance, synchronicities, revelations, hunches, and visions, and at times through illness, nightmares, and terrors.” ― Bill Plotkin
“Psychology ideally means giving soul to language and finding language for soul.” ― James Hillman
“William Blake says the body is 'that portion of soul discerned by the five senses” -Marion Woodman
"A lover has to be chosen from soul-craving. To choose just because something mouthwatering stands before you will never satisfy the hunger of the soul-self. And that is what the intuition is for; it is the direct messenger of the soul.” ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
"Soul is revealed in attachment, love, and community, as well as in retreat on behalf of inner communing and intimacy. "- Thomas Moore
“The psyches and souls of women also have their own cycles and seasons of doing and solitude, running and staying, being involved and being removed, questing and resting, creating and incubating, being of the world and returning to the soul-place.” ― Clarissa Pinkola Estés
“There is nothing neutral about the soul. It is the seat and the source of life. Either we respond to what the soul presents in its fantasies and desires, or we suffer from this neglect of ourselves. The power of the soul can hurl a person into ecstasy or into depression. It can be creative or destructive, gentle or aggressive. Power incubates within the soul and then makes its influential move into life as the expression of soul. If there is no soulfulness, then there is no true power, and if there is no power, then there can be no true soulfulness. Sadomasochism” ― Thomas Moore
"An addiction is anything we do to avoid hearing the messages that body and soul are trying to send us." -Marion Woodman
"...soul lies midway between understanding and unconscious, and that is instrument is neither the mind nor the body, but imagination."-Thomas Moore
"'Soul' is not a thing, but a quality or a dimension of experience life and ourselves. It has to do with depth, value, relatedness, heart, and personal substance"-Thomas Moore
“The soul exists partly in eternity and partly in time.” ― Marsilio Ficino
"The Soul of each one of us is sent, that the universe may be complete."-Plotinus
"Fulfilling work, rewarding relationships, personal power, and relief from symptoms are all gifts of the soul."-Thomas Moore