View source for Soul forces

Three basic '''soul forces''' or '''soul faculties''' that shape the [[soul life]] of modern [[man]] can be clearly distinguished: [[thinking]], [[feeling]] and [[willing]]. This threefold structure of the soul's life was first clearly described by [[w:Johannes Nikolaus Tetens|Johannes Nikolaus Tetens]] (1736-1807), who aimed for a ''"psychological analysis of the soul"'' according to the method of natural science. 

The separation of these three soul forces is not equally pronounced in all three [[soul members]]. In the [[sentient soul]], thinking, feeling and willing are still very strongly interwoven. In the [[intellectual or mind soul]], the will is already clearly set apart, while thinking and feeling are still closely connected with each other. Only with the [[consciousness soul]] does the complete separation of all three soul forces begin. A complete separation of the three soul forces is also achieved by a correspondingly advanced [[spiritual training]], which leads up to a splitting of the [[personality]]. However, one must not imagine this separation of the three soul forces as a schematic juxtaposition: 

{{GZ|We distinguish between these three soul faculties, thinking, feeling and willing, but in the unified life of the soul they are not strictly separated from each other. One should actually say: When we speak of thinking, of imagining, we are speaking of a soul faculty in which, for example, the will and also feeling are certainly inside, but it is mainly thinking that is inside. In the will, on the other hand, there are certainly thoughts inside, but it is mainly the will that is inside. Thus it is only the most prominent thing that is designated in the individual soul faculties, while everywhere under the surface, one may say, lie the other soul faculties also.|82|120f}}

In [[w:Germanic mythology|Germanic mythology]], the three powers of the soul are referred to by the gods [[Odin]], [[Vili]] and [[Vé]]. 

== Soul Forces and Essential Members ==

The soul forces unfold through the activity of the four fundamental [[members]] of [[man]]. [[Thinking]] weaves between the [[physical body]] and the [[etheric body]], [[feeling]] vibrates between the etheric body and the [[astral body]], and [[willing]] works between the [[I]] and the astral body.

{{GZ|There is first the physical body of man (see drawing, light); there is then the etheric body of man (red). Between the two is the weaving world of thought, in so far as it is integrated into our organism. Between the etheric body and the astral body (green) is the world of feeling, and between the astral body and the ego-shell (blue) is the world of will.|208|15}}

[[File:GA208 015.gif|center|500px|Drawing from GA 208, p. 15 (Plate 1)]]

== Literatur ==

* [[w:Johannes Nikolaus Tetens|Johannes Nikolaus Tetens]]: ''Philosophische Versuche über die menschliche Natur und ihre Entwicklung.'' 2 Bde. Weidmann, Leipzig 1777
** Band 1 {{DTAW|tetens_versuche01_1777}}, [http://books.google.com/books?id=dmIAAAAAMAAJ bei Google Books] 
** Band 2 {{DTAW|tetens_versuche02_1777}}, [http://books.google.com/books?id=PChonHVS5JEC bei Google Books]
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Anthroposophische Leitsätze'', [[GA 26]] (1998), ISBN 3-7274-0260-1 {{Lectures|026}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Damit der Mensch ganz Mensch werde'', [[GA 82]] (1994), ISBN 3-7274-0820-0 {{Lectures|082}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Grundelemente der Esoterik'', [[GA 93a]] (1987), ISBN 3-7274-0935-5 {{Lectures|093a}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Das Lukas-Evangelium'', [[GA 114]] (2001), ISBN 3-7274-1140-6 {{Lectures|114}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Die Mission einzelner Volksseelen im Zusammenhang mit der germanisch-nordischen Mythologie'', [[GA 121]] (1982), 5. Aufl., ISBN 3-7274-1210-0 {{Lectures|121}} ; 6. Aufl., stark bearbeitete und erweiterte Neuauflage 2017: ISBN 3727412119
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Anthroposophie als Kosmosophie – Zweiter Teil'', [[GA 208]] (1992), ISBN 3-7274-2080-4 {{Lectures|208}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Esoterische Unterweisungen für die erste Klasse der Freien Hochschule für Geisteswissenschaft am Goetheanum 1924'', [[GA 270/2]] (1999),  ISBN 3-7274-2700-0 {{Lectures|270b}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Geisteswissenschaftliche Erläuterungen zu Goethes «Faust»'', Band I: Faust, der strebende Mensch , [[GA 272]] (1981), ISBN 3-7274-2720-5 {{Lectures|272}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Allgemeine Menschenkunde als Grundlage der Pädagogik'', [[GA 293]] (1992), ISBN 3-7274-2930-5 {{Lectures|293}}
* [[Rudolf Steiner]]: ''Vorträge und Kurse über christlich-religiöses Wirken, II'', [[GA 343a]] (1993), ISBN 3-7274-3430-9 {{Lectures|343a}}

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[[Category:Mind]]
[[Category:Soul]]
[[Category:Spirit]]
[[de:Seelenkräfte]]