According to the understanding of spiritism teachings, we human beings are spirits who have temporarily incarnated in a fleshly body here on earth. This spirit, which we can also call an incarnated soul, is immortal and immaterial. Created as an imperfect diamond in the rough, we develop morally and intellectually with the goal of reaching perfection.

The spirit is the seat of our individuality and uniqueness in the universe. It is the source of our emotional intelligence, feelings, sensations, free will, creativity, judgement, wisdom, thoughts, etc. The spirit corresponds to our self, consciousness and subconsciousness.

The spirit has a perispirit (spiritual sheath or body), which becomes increasingly permeable and subtle as it develops. When spiritual beings show themselves to us, we see this perispirit.

As a human being incarnated on Earth, the spirit also has a body of flesh. So the holistic human being consists of all these components: Spirit, perispirit and body. They are strongly interdependent and influence each other.