Throughout human history, one of the most frequently asked questions has been: “What is the soul?” Sometimes we searched for an answer by looking at the stars in the sky, and sometimes by turning inward to the deepest folds of the heart. In ancient myths, when Orpheus descended into the underworld to seek the soul of his beloved, he actually symbolized humanity’s longing search for itself. The inscription “Know thyself” on the gate of the Temple of Delphi echoed as a call throughout the centuries.
The sages of the East asked the same question in a different language: for Buddha, the soul was a constantly changing stream of consciousness; in Taoist thought, it was a breath flowing with the rhythm of the universe. In the Islamic world, Rumi described the soul as “a bird longing to ascend to the sky,” while Al-Ghazali sought it in the most hidden mirror of the heart.
The journey of the soul is as old as humanity itself. In ancient Greece, Hippocrates sought the soul in the balance of four humors: the lively flow of blood symbolized a ‘cheerful temperament,’ while the heaviness of black bile symbolized ‘melancholy.’ For him, the soul was not independent of the body, but a balance that worked together with it.
In Turkish thought as well, the soul was not merely an individual phenomenon, but a reflection of society, culture, and historical heritage. An invisible bridge can be drawn between these ancient teachings and modern psychology. The parallels between mindfulness and meditation practices and the awareness and breathing exercises in Sufi rituals provide both a scientific and cultural link. This allows us to understand the soul not only in an individual sense but also in a social and historical context.
Today, modern psychology asks the same question again within the folds of the brain, in the complex order of neural networks. On its long journey from myths to laboratories, the soul still preserves its mystery. Perhaps the true answer is hidden in the common mirror of all these ages: as humans strive to know themselves, they follow the traces of their soul.
From the Middle Ages to Modernity
The Middle Ages were a period in which the understanding of the soul deepened around religion and philosophy. In the West, Christian thinkers regarded the soul as an essence oriented toward God. According to Saint Augustine, the soul was the reflection of divine light on earth; as humans turned to God, they could recognize their own essence (Augustine, 1998). In the Islamic world, however, discussions about the soul spread across a much wider spectrum. Al-Farabi and Avicenna linked the soul to reason, while Al-Ghazali emphasized that it was a secret hidden in the heart (Al-Ghazali, 2001). This approach opened the door not only to religious but also to philosophical inquiry.
As history moved toward modernity, the soul was gradually carried into the shared field of philosophy and science. In the liberating atmosphere of the Renaissance, humanity was once again placed at the center, and even works of art sought to reflect the depths of the soul. Then came Descartes’ famous words: “Cogito, ergo sum” – “I think, therefore I am.” This marked the beginning of treating the soul not only in a religious context but also as a mental and philosophical reality (Descartes, 1998).
With the rise of modern science, the soul ceased to be a mystical secret and became a phenomenon to be studied. This shift laid the groundwork for psychology to eventually become an independent scientific discipline.
The Quest for the Soul in Modern Psychology
By the late 19th century, it became possible to study the soul as a scientific object. Sigmund Freud, in discovering the unconscious, defined the soul not only as a mystery but also as a dynamic system (Freud, 1917). Dreams, repressed desires, and childhood experiences became keys that unlocked the inner world of the human being.
Carl Jung, following Freud’s path, associated the soul not only with the individual unconscious but also with the collective unconscious. Archetypes, myths, and symbols emerged as traces resonating in the shared memory of humanity (Jung, 1964). The soul was still asking the same question, but now seeking answers in a new language.
By the mid-20th century, behaviorism and cognitive psychology began to study the soul in more observable and measurable dimensions. Human behaviors, brain processes, and attention mechanisms could now be understood through experiments and laboratories (Skinner, 1953; Neisser, 1967).
Today, neuropsychology and consciousness research attempt to understand the soul along with its biological foundations. Brain activity, neurological connections, and the effects of meditation on the brain have begun to scientifically validate the intuitive knowledge of ancient teachings. Practices such as mindfulness, inspired by Buddhist meditation techniques, have become part of modern psychology (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).
The soul still preserves its mystery; but now, through laboratories, clinics, and theories, it is studied in a more concrete light along a journey from the ancient to the contemporary.
The Common Soul and Its Cultural Reflections
The common soul is where myths, Sufism, and modern psychology converge. This concept reminds us that the human soul is not only an individual journey but also a reflection of humanity’s shared story. Communities, civilizations, and humanity as a whole possess a collective memory. Carl Jung called this the collective unconscious; the recurring figures in myths, tales, and symbols are voices rising from humanity’s common soul (Jung, 1964).
In Turkish literature and Sufi tradition, this common soul is expressed through the understanding of ‘vahdet,’ or unity. Yunus Emre’s verse, “There is a self within me, deeper than myself,” reflects that the individual soul is in fact part of a collective truth (Yunus Emre, 2002). Rumi, in his Masnavi, likened humans to a ‘drop in the ocean’; though the drop seems separate, it is actually one with the whole (Rumi, 2011).
Today, modern psychology seeks to explain this ‘common soul’ in a different language, working on social consciousness, cultural transmission, and collective traumas. The traumas experienced by societies through war, migration, or disasters are also imprinted on the souls of individuals. Thus, the connection between the individual soul and the social soul becomes more visible (Volkan, 2004). Consequently, the unique souls of societies appear as a field worthy of study.
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The Turkish Soul: In the Orkhon Inscriptions, Bilge Kagan’s words, “For the Turkish nation I did not sleep at night, I did not rest by day” (Kül Tigin Inscription, 8th century), transcended individual fatigue and became a sense of collective duty. This was an early example of the common soul. In Yunus Emre’s poetry, ‘love’ is the shared foundation; he established a language of salvation that was not individual but communal.
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The Colonized Soul: Fanon (1961) stated that colonialism wounded the souls of societies, forcing individuals to construct their identities through foreign eyes. This created a fractured common soul; a ‘we-ness’ shaped under foreign domination.
The Common Soul in the Digital Age
The common soul is no longer visible only in historical texts, literary works, or religious symbols; it also reveals itself in the everyday exchanges of social media. Writing comments such as “This is me” or “Totally us” under a video is one of the most contemporary ways of sharing individual experiences with one’s community.
Although these short expressions seem simple, they are in fact reflections of the ancient consciousness of ‘us’ in the digital age. Just as sitting at the same table, listening to the same poem, or sharing the same epic once created a common soul, today these small digital interactions serve the same function.
Modern psychology explains this phenomenon through the concepts of ‘shared identity’ and ‘sense of belonging.’ A joke, a tragedy, or a joy shared on social media transforms an individual experience into a collective feeling. Thus, in the digitalized world, a new ‘modern common soul’ is emerging: a form of partnership that transcends both individual and social boundaries, global and fast in nature.
References
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Al-Ghazali. (2001). The Incoherence of the Philosophers. Brigham Young University Press.
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Augustine, S. (1998). Confessions. Oxford University Press.
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Descartes, R. (1998). Meditations on First Philosophy. Cambridge University Press.
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Fanon, F. (1961). The Wretched of the Earth. Versus Kitap.
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Freud, S. (1917). Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis.
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Jung, C. G. (1964). Man and His Symbols.
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Kabat-Zinn, J. (1990). Full Catastrophe Living. Delacorte Press.
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Rumi, Jalaluddin. (2011). Masnavi (Trans. A. Gölpınarlı). Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
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Plato. (2019). Symposium (Trans. T. Aksoy). Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
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Rahula, W. (2001). What the Buddha Taught. Grove Press.
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Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and Human Behavior. Macmillan.
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Volkan, V. D. (2004). Blind Trust: Large Groups and Their Leaders in Times of Crisis and Terror. Everest Publishing.