Allan Kardec-THE Spirit's Book_ The Principles of Spiritist Doctrine (1989)

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THE SPIRITS’ BOOK
from it. Organic life may vitalise a body without a soul, but the soul cannot inhabit a body
deprived of organic life."
- What would our body be if it had no soul?'
"A mass of flesh without intelligence; anything you choose to call it, excepting a man."
137. Can the same spirit incarnate itself in two different bodies at the same time?'
"No; the spirit is indivisible, and cannot simultaneously animate two different beings." (Vide,
in The Medium's Book, the chapter on Bi-corporeality and Transfiguration.)
138. What is to be thought of the opinion of those who regard the soul as being the principle
of material life?'
"That is a question of definition; we attach but slight importance to mere words. You should
begin by agreeing among yourselves as to the exact meaning of the expressions you employ."
139. Certain spirits, and certain philosophers before them, have defined the soul as "An
animated spark that has emanated from the Great Whole"; why this contradiction?'
"There is nothing contradictory in such a definition. Everything depends on the meaning you
attribute to the words you use. Why have you not a word for each thing?"
The word soul is employed to express very different things. Sometimes It is used to designate the principle
of life and in this sense it is correct to say, figuratively, that the soul is an animated spark that has
emanated from the Great Whole. These latter words designate the universal source of the vital principle,
of which each being absorbs a portion, that returns to the general mass after its death. This Idea does not
exclude that of a moral being, a distinct personality. independent of matter, and preserving Its own
individuality It is this being which. at other times, is called the soul, and it is in this sense that we speak of
the soul as an incarnate spirit. In giving different definitions of soul, the spirits who have given them have
spoken according to their various ways of applyng that word, and also according to the terrestrial ideas
with which they are more or less imbued. This apparent confusion results from the insufficiency of human
language, which does not possess a specific word for each idea an insufficiency that gives rise to a vast
number of misapprehensions and discussions. It is for this reason that the higher spirits tell us to begin by
distinctly defining the meaning of the words we employ.¹
140. What is to be thought of the theory according to which the soul is subdivided into as
many parts as there are muscles in the body, and thus presides over each of the bodily
functions?'
"That, again, depends on the meaning attached to the word soul. If by soul is meant the vital
fluid, that theory is right; if
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¹ Vide, in the Introduction, the explanation of the word soul, sec. ii.