The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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135. Is a person made up of anything other than a soul and a body?
“The link that unites the soul and the body.”


a) What is the nature of this link?
“It is semi-material, it is the intermediary between the soul and the body. This is required for communication between the soul and the body. The spirit can act upon matter and vice versa through this link.”
Therefore, human beings are made up of three essential elements:
1) The body, or material being, similar to animals, and given life by the same vital principle;
2) The soul, or incarnated spirit, which is housed in the body;
3) The intermediary principle, or perispirit, which is a semi-material substance. It is the innermost envelope of the spirit and unites the soul with the body. This three-part nature is equivalent to that of a fruit, which includes the seed, the perisperm, and the rind or shell.

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