In brief: in Ostad Elahi’s model of the self, the human soul results from the combination of two parts of different origin: the celestial soul and the terrestrial soul. Our celestial soul is the part of our soul that constitutes our core identity. It is the source of all the faculties—such as reason—that are specifically human, as opposed to the animal faculties borne by the terrestrial soul.

We are bi-dimensional beings, composed of a terrestrial part (or terrestrial soul, the id with its extension into the imperious self) and a celestial part, which is also called the celestial soul. The distinction is not one between mind and body, but rather a demonstration of the bipolarity resulting from the existence of two parts—terrestrial and celestial—within our soul.

While we are living on Earth, the celestial soul and the terrestrial soul, which have come together as one, form a single entity that constitutes our psyche. However, if we look more closely at the different flows passing through the psyche, we can, to a certain degree, make out the influences from both components. For example, everything related to the love of material things comes from the terrestrial part. On the other hand, everything related to reason, to moral conscience, faith, our sense of dignity, to bettering ourselves, to the love of truth and justice, comes from the celestial soul.

The best indication of the presence of the celestial soul in us is that the most perfect material happiness, the greatest social, professional, or personal success, will never be enough to stamp out our fundamental feeling of dissatisfaction. Indeed, this perpetual dissatisfaction results precisely from our bipolar nature: “Because of our dual origins—celestial and terrestrial—the spiritual body of human beings is beset with a functional imbalance from birth. This functional imbalance is translated in our consciousness as a feeling of an internal tug-of-war between good and evil, causing a deep-rooted sense of anxiety. This deep-rooted anxiety is a necessary stimulus pushing human beings to action; and thanks to their transcendental reasoning, humans acquire knowledge from their mistakes.” (Medicine of the Soul, pp. 23-34).

There is something reassuring in this excerpt of Medicine of the Soul, for no human being can reach perfect happiness on Earth, other than at certain specific, ephemeral moments. We need only look at our lives and those of others to see that this is true. It is, nonetheless, perfectly natural. The permanent dissatisfaction we live with, the “deep-rooted anxiety” that sets us apart from other living beings, the more or less generalized malaise to which we have become accustomed to the point of not noticing it anymore, is all perfectly natural, even necessary to our advancement. It is what prevents us from dedicating our lives to the mere fulfillment of our basic biological and psychological needs.

The celestial soul is the disruptive element that makes us fundamentally inept at enjoying this sort of happiness. The greatest joys and pleasures of this kind eventually fade away and lose their savor, for they only meet the needs of the terrestrial soul, leaving the celestial soul unsatisfied. Indeed, our celestial part requires appropriate nourishment just like our body and our terrestrial part, which includes a sufficient supply of appropriate ethical and divine principles to enable it to grow and develop.

Characteristics of the Celestial Soul

• The celestial soul is the core of our identity. It is the consciousness that produces the sense of self and survives after the death of the physical body. Despite the importance of the body and the terrestrial soul to our identity during our life on Earth, we are essentially our celestial soul.
• At the beginning, the conscience is angelic, ignorant, and immature. In order to evolve, it needs its other half—the terrestrial soul. By coming together with the terrestrial soul, it temporarily becomes rooted in a body-environment, enabling it to obtain the nutrients necessary for it to develop and mature.
• This means that it must confront the naturally overwhelming impulses of the terrestrial soul (anger, lust, guile, etc.) and gradually learn to control immoderation. It must absorb the terrestrial elements in proper doses, without being overpowered by them. This will enable it to come out of the angelic state and acquire consciousness.
• The celestial soul is both an instinctual and rational component of our psyche. It is the source of reason, but also the source of our ethical and transcendental impulses (devotion to others, sense of justice and equity, love of truth, etc.) that stand in opposition to the impulses of the terrestrial soul. According to Bahram Elahi, the three essential components of the celestial soul are the ego, super-ego, and super-id.

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