Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 2: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four PeriodsPlotinus
Philosophy
Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 2: In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods
Plotinus
Plotinus
9. Let us now examine how it happens that the soul descends into
the body, and in what manner this occurs; for it is sufficiently
astonishing and remarkable. For a soul, there are two kinds of entrance
into a body. The first occurs when the soul, already dwelling in a
body, undergoes a transmigration; that is, passes from an aerial or
igneous body into a terrestrial body. This is not usually called a
transmigration, because the condition from which the soul comes is not
visible. The other kind occurs when the soul passes from an incorporeal
condition into any kind of a body, and thus for the first time enters
into relations with a body.[116]
STUDY OF FIRST INCARNATION.
We must here examine what, in the latter case, is experienced by the
soul which, till then pure from all dealings with the body, for the
first time surrounds herself with that kind of a substance. Besides, it
is not only just but even necessary for us to begin by a consideration
of (this event in) the universal Soul. To say that the Soul enters
the body of the universe and comes to animate it, is no more than a
statement made to clarify our thoughts; for the succession in her
actions thus established is purely verbal. There never was a moment
when the universe was not animated, when its body existed without the
Soul, or when matter existed without form.[117] But these things can be
separated in thought and speech, since as soon as an object is formed,
it is always possible to analyse it by thought and speech. That is the
truth.
HOW THE UNIVERSE IS ANIMATED BY THE WORLD SOUL.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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