Anima mundi is the soul of the world, a pure ethereal spirit, which was proclaimed by some ancient philosophers to be diffused throughout all nature.

...Therefore, we may consequently state that: this world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence ... a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related. Plato, Timaeus, 29/30; 4th century B.C.

The idea is said to have originated with Plato but the concept has been discovered to be of more ancient origin, and prevailed in systems of certain eastern philosophers. The Stoics believed it to be the only vital force in the universe.

Similar concepts were held by hermetic philosophers like Paracelsus, and later by Friedrich Schelling (1775-1854).

External link

• Themystica (http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/a/anima_mundi.html)