Hedgecraft
What is the soul?
First, I must ask, what is life?
Well, I believe life is when molecules and particles come together to form a body, or in a sense, a machine that can metaphorically open its eyes.
When I look at plants I know they are alive by the way they react. They feel the vibration of my voice, the stroke of my hand along their leaves, or even the bustling fellow life around them, and react to it. That is what I describe as life. No matter how rudimentary or “simple” it may be in comparison to us or life forms more complex than us, it is in fact life.
Life can not purely exist as one thing, for example one particle. That particle needs to combine with other particles to create an atom, which then creates matter and energy which combine into let’s say a heart. That heart needs blood and veins and nerves to operate. Once it reaches that full state, where all the pieces come together, it can fully open its eyes.
Our entire universe is made of systems
Atoms are formed by a mixing of multiple particles or rather specks. Matter is formed by a system of multiple atoms. Our bodies are made of organs. Earth's ecosystem is made up of life, and the galaxy is a system formed by all the planets spinning around our sun. Our sun being the nucleus, being the heart, being the oxygen that keeps our system going. If you were to kill the heart, you would kill the whole system. By killing it, you would remove the vital essence from the system. The vital essence or soul must be part of a system to operate just as everything in this world. I believe this vital essence is a part of the system of our body, just like the heart and the organs, only on a different plane of existence.
Now, look at the mind, emotions, and sensations. The mind-meaning our thoughts and conscience rather than the brain, is still a very mystical and metaphysical idea. Yet, just like dark matter and the electromagnetic field, it is something we know exists but do not know how it works. It must exist, as a collective experience we all know as thinking and feeling. Even other animals who do not speak our languages have been able to communicate emotion, the reaction of thought. Hell, even plants have exhibited reactions to stimuli similar to emotion, showing they may have minds as well. The mind is simply not controlled by the brain itself but is rather something affected by the whole reality and the whole body of a system. Something that reacts to stimuli and expresses emotion as a result. All thoughts have a root in emotion, and all emotions have a root in thought.
If thought and our own ability to identify ourselves is our soul then the mind would be the soul. But then where is the mind? It is not something we can physically touch or interact with but it is influenced by our physical existence. We can picture ourselves in our mind but we can't identify where we are when picturing ourselves there. We simply see the world through our eyes and input that information into the mind where we remember it and transform it into something new. The brain is the mind but the mind is not the brain. The mind takes the information from the brain and asks who am I? Who is this body I occupy and where are my thoughts when I am thinking? What is the emotion that floods through me and influences my everyday life? Is it simply neurons firing in my brain or is it something more metaphysical?
So, how about the electric current running throughout an organism's body? That could be described as the vital force, the soul.
Let's begin with a human. Human bodies have an electric current which runs through our entire body, stemming from the heart or more specifically the Sinus node.
The Sinus node is a small bit of mass located in the upper right chamber (or atria) of the heart. It generates an electrical stimulus about 60-100 times per minute, this activates the atria and travels through the conduction pathways. This electrical stimulus is made up of electrically charged particles. This electrical current generates the electromagnetic field surrounding our bodies.
One explanation for what the soul could be is it is this vital energy in the sinus node. In this explanation, when we die this energy escapes our bodies and our soul leaves with it. Since energy cannot be created or destroyed it is decomposes when we die and is eaten by bacteria, similar to our flesh and organs. Assuming the body was buried or died on the ground and stayed there post mortem. If the body is burned or cremated, the energy will be used to generate heat, sound, kinetic energy, light, and chemical byproducts in the surrounding area.
Regardless, our electrical current will be spread apart in different states of existence rather than in the form of one system. This may be evidence in favor of the idea that we all came from one source and have been splitting ever since into separate sources. Much like how the familial tree of all our human ancestors and non-human ancestors came to be. This does lack a certain individuality of the soul, though, and also does not account for the mind state, which produces thought and emotion.
For this I look at the planes of existence. This is an incredibly confusing and difficult topic to research so most of this section will be based on my own UPG and belief system in traditional witchcraft based in Celtic, Greek and Egyptian folklore as well as animism and pagan folk witchcraft.
So, personally I believe in five planes of existence. The physical plane, the mental plane, the electric plane, the otherworld or underworld plane, and the astral plane.
The physical plane is anything we can physically touch and observe in our current state. The densest of the planes consisting mostly of matter.
Next is the mental plane where the mind lives. Where thoughts, emotions, dreams, and our sense of self are formed. This plane is completely subjective to the being who owns it and is their personal realm or existence. In other words, a person's mind palace. A place where we can escape to where anything can be real. It is not based in the material world but may be influenced by it in the form of thoughts and dreams. The brain is the hub of this existence and generates the mental plane from the moment of activation, forming a world for the being in which they can contemplate the world around them. It is not wholly physical through neurons but is the result of those neurons, hence why it isn't a universal plane anyone can join. It is only a place accessible by the system containing those neurons.
Then is the electric plane where electrons reside and influence the electromagnetic field. This is where the vital essence that creates life exists. It travels through electricity-or rather is electricity-to kickstart a heart and bring about a brain to gain consciousness. The reason the electric plane is not in the physical plane is because it is not visible or usually touchable. We can be shocked by electricity like in lighting, but we can't exactly see it or touch it in its plain state as electrons. Therefore, it exists on another plane or in another field, being the electromagnetic field.
.Next is the otherworld/underworld. The under/otherworld has been attested to in various different cultures in many different ways, most of which stemmed from the Ancient Egyptian and Ancient Mesopotamian religions through not only the blood of the people but the culture as well. This can be seen in indo-european, Greco-Roman, Indigenous North and South American, as well as various Asian cultures. Each one had their own path traveling from Africa to their home continents. The idea of the underworld being both underneath the earth, closer to the fire core and beneath the primordial ocean, but also in a somewhat different reality than ours where time goes much quicker and things which happen in that world can affect this world is present in many of the cultures I mentioned above. One of the best examples of this double world effect comes from pagan Irish legends of the fae realm. One would stumble upon a faerie circle and be transported to the otherworld to join in their partying. To them, it would feel as though it had only been hours, but when they escaped, it had been years. The fae realm is depicted as under the burial mounds and beneath the earth's crust, specifically when dealing with dead humans or animals who became faeries (in the sense of spirits). The god of the dead, depicted as Dis Pater by Caesar in his accounts of the Gauls, was also associated with the faeries. He was said to be the king of the other/underworld and dwell in the dark part of the forest as well as the primordial sea where one would go when death took them. He is often seen as the Horned god in more modern depictions. Various portals to the under/otherworld exist on the European continent with rich cultural mythology surrounding them. Most of these are caverns leading out to the ocean or into the darkness. This underworld is where the fae realm resides and all fae creatures, including more contemporary faeries, house spirits, Demons, genii, satyrs, kelpie etc. live
In these planes time and space work differently. Different systems and beings exist there. The umbrella term of otherworld describes the Fae realm in Irish mythology for example.
And finally the astral world, where dark matter resides. The black abyss we know as our universe is the ruler of this plane. The astral plane is both above us and below us, it is all around us. It is the dark matter in our bodies and the space in which our souls reside. The great source which travels through all of us is indeed this great blackness. It is the Chaos the universe was born from and will die in.
I believe that the soul cannot be defined as one thing. We are a system, a collection of forms across all of the planes. In every plane we can be a part of, we have a form. The soul is simply the metaphysical form of us we cannot see with our two eyes.
I like to view the soul like the Egyptians did. They too saw the soul as a system, various different parts all making one whole who a person is. The first soul was the physical body or the Khet, the second was the spiritual body or Sah, then the identity or Ren, the personality as Ba, the double as Ka, the heart as Ib, the shadow as Shuyet, and the power as Sekhem.
The entirety of the soul becomes the Akh, or more specifically the Ba and Ka combined becomes the Akh. It was seen as consciousness or mind, the more intellectual idea of the soul I mentioned at the beginning. The whole in one form who upon death descends into the Underworld.
This concept is pretty much the same in Egyptian mythology as the Khet. The body which we experience the physical plane through.
I identify the astral body with Shuyet and Sekhem.
The Shuyet or shadow is the absence of light or electricity. The neurons to our electrons. The dark matter inside and outside of us. Our internal darkness is reflected in the physical world in the form of the shadow. I feel this aspect of the soul is both in the physical plane and the Astral plane.
The Sekhem is the power of one's metaphysical soul, able to traverse all three worlds (the astral, mid, and underworlds). If the light life essence is Ib (which I will speak on later) than the dark life essence is Sekhem. It is the dark energy which affects the things visible in the light. The power formed by the chaos of the beginning of the world, the primordial darkness that exists within everything. It is am incredibly strong power that exists in us all but is only used by very strong magic users, those who work with the primordial darkness and chaos. It is strongest in the underworld once we have died yet through ritual we can connect with the underworld and our Sekhem.
In the ancient Egyptian belief the Sekhem was the shadow of a person in a spiritual sense. The double living the same life with the same Ka though in darkness rather than the light of the sun. Now where would one live in darkness? Under the earth where the light does not penetrate. The Other/Underworld. I believe that the Sekhem is the underworld version of the animal or their double in that separate realm. So, I identify the otherworld body with the Sekhem Sah and Ka.
The Ka is the part of us which I would identify with the classical soul, being the metaphysical essence which lives inside of us. The metaphysical body can be seperated into multiple different sections depending on the beleif system. I personally seperate them into the light and dark, the Sekhem and Ib. The metaphysical body is able to leave the physical body through projection, this is the essence of hedgecraft. The Sah may also be a descriptor term for what we would call a ghost, what comes back from death go haunt people. Meaning that the Sah and Ka would be one in the same but Sah would be the dead person when they came back to the world of the living. It's impossible to know due to these ideas changing over the thousands of years.
The Ka being the double or the body which co-exists in the otherworld or doubleworld. This is what we enter when we traverse through the under/otherworld in ritual. When we jump over the hedge as said in traditional witchcraft.
The electrical body or electrical current is Ib or the heart. As I said, the Sinus node inside the heart is what starts the electrical current through our bodies, creating our brain and other aspects needed for existence. Without this we simply wouldn't be able to exist in the physical world. It is both part of the physical plane and the electrical plane.
The ib like the physical body was incredibly important to the Egyptians as it was said to be judged in the afterlife. I believe this is because with energy we take actions, if the underworld gods do not agree with the actions you took in life they will simply not allow you into the Underworld or world of the dead. To the ancient Egyptians the person was then said to be eaten by Ammit, an underworld god, and be spread into multiple pieces like the physical body. The morality of this was mostly based around truth, though it changed depending on the era and became more like Egyptian law than anything. I believe in a more ancient form of this being the respect for every being on this earth. After all, if a being does not tell the truth and does not respect other animals and creatures or even the earth and abyss they are born from, why should the underworld gods allow them into their world to live until they return to the physical world? It's not that there is an innate morality to the world, one can do what they want when they want, but they have to take the consequences of that. Like for example the underworld gods of whomever you believe may not like you, and that definitely has consequences considering they rule over your own damn death.
The mental body to me is the Ba and the Ren.
The Ba being what makes us us. What makes us unique. I feel that this is formed in the mental plane but is influenced by the other planes as well, varying in degrees depending on the person and their connection to these planes. It is our philosophy and our interests, what others like in us and what we know as ourselves. It is also our reputation and what proceeds us after we die in the minds of the living.
The Ren is the name or identity of a person. It is what they claim as themselves through mental contemplation. This aspect is influenced by the Ba, being what we call ourselves based on who we are.
Every entitiy has their own mental plane in which they traverse to when unconcious or dreaming.
(images made before I truly understood Sekhem, hence why it isnt in the otherworld plane section.)
The Otherworldly Body
In Traditional Witchcraft this is known as The Fetch, in Ancient Egyptian Religion it's the Sekhem-Ka. Each tradition has it's own words and understanding of the otherworld body, they are all strikingly similar though. Let's begin with understanding the Trad Craft way of viewing this, the most easily accessable source of information unless one is initated into a shamanic tradition, as unlike those, Trad Craft does not require initiation. Hedgewitchery.com has some good writing on this: x
The Otherworld body reflects the reality of the creature it belongs to, if that creature is otherkin the otherworld body reflects that. This is not to say a non-otherkin is unable to embody another animal in spirit flight simply that the otherkin is unable to deny this aspect. Rather than a mask, a tool, it is the base form of the otherworld body.
"This had me thinking, if one is otherkin could their Sekhem possibly be that form? As a dragon the idea of the fae realm feels very close to home and many believe dragons originate from there.
Giant flying lizards are definitely possible looking at dinosaurs but perhaps dragons are similar animals just in a different realm where things work differently. That would mean that each dragon living in a human form would be living half in the underworld, their soul home, and the physical midworld.
If you compare hominids in the midworld to the smaller and different looking hominids in the otherworld, being brownies and the like, you can begin to make comparisons between the two worlds. It is a difference of dimension rather than one of species.
These dimensions do overlap though. At certain times of the year when the veil between worlds is thinnest the dead travel to the underworld and depending on what you believe live out their second life. In my personal belief system when one dies in the midworld they're reborn in a different dimension, being the underworld, the upper world (or astral plane), etc. The world tree map of dimensions in religions such as the pagan norse and celtic show various dimensions on each branch.
Multiple exist on the middle plane, the underworld plane and the upperworld plane. This makes sense with our current understanding of different dimensions in science as well as it has been proposed at least five separate dimensions exist, each slightly different to our own.
Perhaps in some way, death, travel, etc. Otherkin from different dimensions came to this one. For some this is an explanation of their past lives, for others like myself it is their soul travelling to another dimension and deciding to be reborn there for a few centuries.
Regardless, this interdimensional way of viewing otherkinity may explain Bilocation and Aura shifts.
When one shifts, it is them experiencing their past or true body and connecting to their home dimension. This can explain otherkin from different planets as well who possibly have their own world trees." - A ranty post on my tumblr.
More On The Otherworld
A map of the Otherwork: A Project
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