Soul of the World

What is Soul?

"the spiritual or immaterial part of a human being or animal, regarded as immortal."

In some philosophical and religious belief systems, a spiritual principle having the same relation to the physical world as the human soul does to the body. The soul is self, the "I" that occupies the human body and acts through it. Without the soul, the body is like a light bulb without electricity, mobile without camera. Soul gives our body the ability to see, hear, think, talk, emotions, will power, desire, personality and identity.
The soul is eternal. It has always existed! It existed long before your birth as a physical human, and will exist forever after your physical death. A physical lifetime is just a blink of the eye; a temporary "soul growth experience". In reality, not only the human beings but every little thing possesses a soul, as do plants and even inanimate objects; every leaf on branches has a soul, and so does every grain of sand. Soul doesn’t only keep us alive but it supports our existence as well. Soul gives meaning and purpose to our existence. God created every soul in a different way, no soul resembles to one another, soul is an 'inner identity'.
As you age, your body gets older, weak, tired, but spiritually you don't feel it. You hear people say, " I don't feel 50 years old!" That's because you are feeling your soul. Your soul never ages, get sick, or dies.

The 'soul of the world' is according to various systems of thoughts, an essential connection between all living things on the planet. 'Soul of the world' is related to our world in much the same way as the soul is connected to human body.

According to “Alchemist”

In "The Alchemist", Santiago goes on a journey for his own personal treasure. He comes to know about this treasure by soul of the world.

"The Soul of the World is nourished by people’s happiness. And also by unhappiness, envy and jealousy. (p. 22)"

Santiago learns that soul of the world is a principle concept in alchemy. It allows us to understand anything on the face of the earth because it was the language in which all things communicated. The soul of the world is also the Soul of the God, which is also port of our own soul.

In "Alchemist" novel, the Soul of the world represents spiritual unity which binds together all of the nature, from human beings to desert sand. This idea of spiritual unity, we see in the novel between the alchemist purifying metal into gold and Santiago purifying himself into someone capable of achieving his personal treasure. According to the novel, to accomplish its personal treasure, each thing must learn to enter into the soul of the world, which purifies it. The continuation of purification ultimately leads to perfection.

“…whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it's because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It's your mission on earth."

This statement is said by Melchizedek to Santiago on their first meeting. This very statement forms the foundation of the philosophy of 'The Alchemist'. The meaning of this statement was that dreams are not silly or selfish desires that should be ignored. Instead, they serve as a force of life which makes people to get in touch with a force which connects everything in the universe. He sets Santiago on his journey of spiritual discovery. The quote explains to the idea that a person’s purpose in life centres on fulfilling one’s desires, an idea that also becomes important in the form of the Personal Treasure.

“What you still need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one ‘dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.’

The alchemist says these last words to Santiago before both of them goes on to different path in the end of the novel. The alchemist's statement implies that the important part of pursuing one's Personal treasure consists not just in reaching the final goal, whether that be turning metal into gold or finding a treasure near the pyramids, but also in learning through action.
Earlier in the novel, the alchemist explains this concept to Santiago but using alchemists as an example. He says the alchemists became too focused on the gold and lost the focus on living out their Personal treasure. As a result, they lost the ability to perform alchemy.

Santiago does not really understand alchemy or the purpose of the Personal treasure. He goes along with it since the Englishman seems to know what he is talking about. Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination; the treasure turns out to be in his hometown all along.