It can be said that any essence or entity (including a soul) consists of the substance of which it is made together with the "light" or "spirit" with which that substance is imbued and which sustains that entity's existence. It is this light or spirit, for instance, that distinguishes between a living person and a corpse. A corpse, on the other hand, has its own existence and, depending on the level of its decay, has its own quality of light. This is similarly true of the dust to which it will eventually be reduced.

Besides its technical meaning in the hierarchy of the five levels, "soul" is also the generic term for the "inner part" or "light" or "heart" or "center of gravity" of any entity. This usage is particularly appropriate since the technical term "soul" (Neshama) is the middle one or the "heart" of the hierarchy we'll now examine.

There are many types of nomenclature for the five levels or aspects of "soul" depending on the context but the main one is:

5. Yechida (unity/individuality)*
4. Chaya (eternal life)*
3. Neshama (soul)
2. Ruach (spirit)
1. Nefesh (animus)*

Similarly, there are five levels or aspects of substance or receptacle to which these various levels of "souls" pertain. The principal nomenclature for our present context is:

1. Keter --- \
2. Chochma head
3. Bina ---- /
4. Ze'ir Anpin - torso
5. Malchut - lower limbs

The elucidation of these terms is beyond the scope of this essay but is not at all necessary to our purpose here. I will only say that they correspond to the human form. The key point to grasp (and this I cannot emphasize enough) is that the five "lights" or "souls," in the first list, are recited from bottom to top while the five substances or receptacles, in the second list, are recited from top to bottom (from head to toe). The sense of this is that the lights are meant to descend into the receptacles to which they correspond and, in their descent, the bottom lights first engage the top receptacles which are least compatible with them. Thus the numbers indicate the order of engagement.

If you wish to assimilate this more easily, I suggest you number the fingertips of your right hand, using a fine felt marker, starting with #5 on your right thumb and ending with #1 on your right pinky. Then mark #1 on your left thumb ending with #5 on your left pinky. Your right hand will now represent the "descending" lights and your left hand the "receiving" receptacles. Then, with palms facing you, hold your right hand above your left hand and allow your right pinky to descend to your left thumb and then to each of the other fingers, in turn, until both hands are aligned with thumbs opposite thumbs and pinkies opposite pinkies. The ideal correspondence representing cosmic perfection could thus be designated by,

1 - 5
2 - 4
3 - 3
4 - 2
5 - 1

--- 5
--- 4
1 - 3
2 - 2
3 - 1
4 -
5 -

Judaism is well aware of claims for higher states but considers these fanciful, misleading and counterproductive. The following designates my estimate of my own spiritual development:

--- 5
--- 4
--- 3
--- 2
1 - 1
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -

This illustration signifies the coarsest light inhabiting the finest receptacle. My spiritual center of gravity would thus have to be designated as merely "Nefesh" which is sometimes referred to as "Nefesh-Ruach" since some degree of spirit is present in all living humans. This suggests that the coarsest light - the light least adapted to true thought - has descended only to somewhere in my head. Yet it cannot be denied that I have some measure of the other functions (feeling, motor, instinctive, etc.) common to all humans.

The point to grasp is that these functions, to the extent that I am pure, are mere reflections of their true potential - veiled light - just as common desire is a pale reflection of true will. To the extent that I am impure, these functions will be distorted reflections just as willfulness is a distorted reflection of true will. Thus the "empty" aspects of a being are inhabited by restricted lights the nature and quality of which vary with his state at any given moment. The restriction of light is expressed through its being veiled or veiled and fragmented. Veiled light is an expression of our lack of development. Fragmented light is an expression of our impurity. Obscurity, confusion and suffering are the result.