I'll probably word this poorly, but, from the Satanist standpoint, what is the difference between the spirit and the soul? My understanding that they are one and the same, and both a construction of Judeo-Christians. But in my reading of the Satanic Bible and general interest in COS I've noticed that there is mention of the spirit.

Is that meant in more the terms of a person's drive, ambition and determination, such as the fighting spirit?

I thank you in advance for helping me answer this question.

As a matter of semantics, one could apply either of the words in a different capacity to that of the religious understanding of them.

For me, it is all about the will. Will is reality, here and now. "energy equals mass times the speed of light squared" might be helpful. ?

I do believe it was Magister D. Sass who wrote that mind, soul, and spirit are simply words humans use to describe our psychological and emotional lives.

I agree with his definition as far as Satanists are concerned.

If you are asking how the general public uses them, the nuances of the terms vary greatly. For example, "spirit" can be used to describe ambition and drive, but also nefarious demonic activity, depending on the context and/or the speaker's worldview.

Although, again from a Satanic worldview, ambition and drive ARE demonic!

Tier Instinct,

What does "energy equals mass times the speed of light squared" have to do with spirits and souls?

A spirit is distilled liquor and a soul is the Sooooooooooooul Train!

The word essence comes to mind, and I think it's a useful synonym of the words spirit or soul.

I remember watching a movie once where the guy who plays George Costanza on Seinfeld--don't remember his real name--plays a man who kills a Canadian boy in a hit-and-run in a low-budget film. All kinds of extradition crap complicates bringing him to trial, which eventually happens. Because of how all the laws worked, he got off on technicality.

The boy's father who spoke at the trial appealed that the man be found guilty based on the "spirit" of the law, rather than the letter of the law.

That's what comes to mind when I think of spirit or soul: essence, or "the point of [it]", "it" being to whatever you apply it.

Well, the formula demonstrates that without mass there can be no energy. This is why there are no ghosts, spirits or spooks. It is easy to understand if you just know what you are viewing. E=mc2

Just because something doesn't have an apparent mass (can go through walls, etc.) doesn't mean it can't exist. Neutrinos have a mass so small that it has not been accurately measured. They have no charge, and pretty much fly through everything without affecting it, given that 6.5x10^10 neutrinos from the sun pass through each square centimeter on earth every second. However, I still don't believe in ghosts.

The only correct answer is that any perceived 'spirit' of a person is an utterly physical phenomenon, mostly composed of neuronal connections, synaptic firing, and hormonal fluctuations. These things cannot be separated from the physical form of a living organism because they are themselves physical.

A good argument you have there, of course. Pretty much what I said but without so many words.

Personally, I could give two different uses of the words. In each, they would be synonyms. On one hand, neither exist. On the other, either could be used to express someone's aliveness, or spark. I think that really refers to intelligence, or enthusiasm. Satanists refer to this as the Black Flame.