science

Perispirit

Perispirit is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Perispirit rather than just read about it. In short: In Spiritism, perispirit or perisprit is the subtle body that is used by the spirit to connect with the perceptions created by the brain. The term is found among the extensive terminology originally devised by Allan Kardec in his books about Spiritism.

Key takeaways

Perispirit belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Perispirit to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Perispirit from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In Spiritism, perispirit or perisprit is the subtle body that is used by the spirit to connect with the perceptions created by the brain. The term is found among the extensive terminology originally devised by Allan Kardec in his books about Spiritism. Its first use was in a commentary (by Kardec) to the answer given by the spirits to the 93rd question of The Spirits Book:

Is the spirit, properly so called, without a covering, or is it, as some declare, surrounded by a substance of some kind? "The spirit is enveloped in a substance which would appear to you as mere vapor, but which, nevertheless, appears very gross to us, thought it is sufficiently vaporous to allow the spirit to float in the atmosphere, and to transport himself through space at pleasure." As the germ of a fruit is surrounded by the perisperm so the spirit, properly so called, is surrounded by an envelope which, by analogy, may be designated as the perispirit. Kardec was compelled to develop further the notion, especially by given "scientific" fundamentation to his theory. He studied the properties of what was then called "fluids" (electricity, magnetism, heat) and broadened the research towards those he termed "psychic" or "spiritual fluids". Both terms, especially the previous have stuck and are still used (or abused) up to now.

Properties In Kardec's later conception, found in The Book on Mediums, he described the perispirit (then assumed as "technical term") in terms of a "fluidic body" with the following properties:

It is made of the "Universal Cosmic Fluid", which in different densities and states, is the source of all matter; It enclosed the spirit proper; It gave the spirit an appearance drawn from his previous life and his current state, serving as a shape by which spirits saw each other; It sends forth "fluidic" emanations that can affect those around; Being "subtle" and semi-material, it was able to act as a bond between the physical body (material) and the spirit (immaterial); It allowed the spirit to act over matter other than that of its body, to some extent; It is constantly under change, as the spirit progresses and may eventually be harmed, even destroyed. It won't be necessary any more when all spirits attain perfection.

Importance for mediumship The perispirit plays a key role in the phenomenon of mediumship, which actually involves the interaction of the perispirit of the medium and that of a disembodied spirit. When invited to our plane of existence by a medium, "spirits who inhabit worlds of higher degree than ours ... are obliged to clothe themselves with" a garment composed of perispirit. "The most elevated spirits, when they come to visit us, assume a terrestrial perispirit, which they retain during their stay among us". "According to Kardec, it is through the perispirit that disincarnate spirits ... can move objects." (Thus, the perispirit is responsible for poltergeist manifestations.)

New-Age conception

Due to syncretism, some variations of spiritism accept the perispirit as an actual "body" possessing power centres, defined more or less in the same way that Theosophy and Yoga define the Chakras, thus making the concept of perispirit similar to that of an astral body, a concept that was unknown to Kardec. According to this orientalizing view, the perispirit had the function of modelling the physical body ("soma" [in Greek; "deha" in Sanskrit]) after the design determined by the karma, with each chakra linking itself to a gland and to the nervous system. This perispirit would use the chakras to command the body and to receive sensorial impressions from it.

Garment of soul in Gnosticism In Mandaic soteriology, the soul of the dead, upon entering the House of Life, "receives a garment and a wreath." (Here, the "garment" = perispirit; and the "wreath" = halo.) The "metaphor of soul as garment" is a commonplace in Russian mysticism.

Notes

References Allan Kardec (translated by Anna Blackwell): The Spirits' Book. Carlos S. Alvarado : "Human Radiations". Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. Vol. 70.3; No. 884. http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies/publicationslinks/alvarado-human-radiations-jspr-2006.pdf

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Perispirit

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Perispirit claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Perispirit before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Perispirit ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Perispirit

In research: Perispirit appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Perispirit in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Perispirit is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Kardecist spiritism, Vitalism, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Perispirit outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Perispirit in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Perispirit means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Perispirit out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Perispirit in simple terms?

Why does Perispirit matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Perispirit?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Perispirit.