ruach and nephesh (Magian dualism):

In the Old Testament we find a distinction between soul & spirit.   Ruach, a Hebrew noun, refers to "breath", "wind", or some invisible moving force ("spirit"); examples referring to God's "spirit".  It is an external agency acting ON humanity.

Nephesh, also a Hebrew word (found in the Hebrew Bible); when linked with another word it details aspects related to the part of mankind that is immaterial, like one's mind, emotions, will, intellect, personality, and conscience (as in Job 7:11).  It is an self-awareness or consciousness, internal to the individual.

 

pneuma and psyche, (Magian dualism):

Gnosticism & early Christianity display a dualism with regard to the soul & spirit.  In Gnosticism the pneumatics ("spiritual") were the highest order of humans, the other 2 orders being psychics and hylics ("matter").  Within the Gnostic sects, the "pneumatici" were spiritual men who have attained the perfect knowledge of God & have been initiated into these mysteries; ordinary Christians are branded as "psychici."  In the New Testament a contrast is made between the psychikoi and the pneumatikoi.  With the psychikoi the mere animal soul predominates, whereas the pneumatikoi exhibit the working of a higher spiritual nature.

 

Ormuzd (Persians):

aka Ahura Mazda, creator & highest deity of Zoroastrianism;  the first & most frequently invoked spirit in the Yasna (principal act of worship of Zoroastrianism). The literal meaning of the word Ahura is "lord", and that of Mazda is "wisdom"; it first appeared in the Achaemenid period ( 550-330 BC) under Darius I's Behistun Inscription.

 

Ahriman (Persians):

aka Angra Mainyu  is the Avestan-language name of Zoroastrianism's hypostasis of the "destructive spirit/mentality" and the main adversary in Zoroastrianism of the Spenta Mainyu, the "holy/creative spirits/mentality", or directly of Ahura Mazda, the highest deity of Zoroastrianism. It was an original conception of Zoroaster's.  In the oldest texts (attributed to Zoroaster), angra mainyu is not yet a proper name. Where the 2 words appear together, the concept refers to “mind", "spirit" or otherwise an abstract energy  that is destructive, chaotic, disorderly, inhibitive, malign. In the single use of the combined words it is declared that angra mainyu is the absolute antithesis of spenta mainyu, the "bounteous spirit" with which Ahura Mazda conceived creation.

 

Yahwe (Jews):

national god of the kingdoms of Israel (Samaria) & Judah;  roots in the early Iron Age & Late Bronze;  in the oldest biblical literature he is a storm-and-warrior deity, who leads the heavenly army against Israel's enemies.  The Israelites worshipped Yahweh alongside a variety of Canaanite gods and goddesses, including El, Asherah & Baal, but eventually Yahweh absorbed the names & role of the other gods.

 

Beelzebub (Jews):

name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron & adopted by some Abrahamic religions as a major demon.  He is associated with the Canaanite god Baal. The name is found in the Books of Kings (2 Kings 1:2–3, 6, 16), written Ba'al Zəbûb, referring to a deity worshipped by the Philistines. The Hebrews called him Prince of Demons (Matthew 12:24: Luke 11:15).

 

Allah (Mohammedans):

Arabic word for God in Abrahamic religions; in English, the word generally refers to God in Islam; it is a contraction from al-ilāh, which means "the god", and is related to El and Elah, the Hebrew and Aramaic words for God.

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Eblis (Mohammedans):
a figure frequently occurring in the Quran.  Commanded to prostrate himself before Allah he refused & was cast out of heaven. For many classical scholars, he was an angel but regarded as a jinn in most contemporary scholarship. Due to his fall from God's grace, he is often compared to Satan in Christian traditions. In Islamic tradition, Iblis is often identified with Al-Shaitan ("the Devil").

 

intellectus:

Latin, understanding

 

voluntas:

Latin, will

 

pantheism:

belief that reality is identical with divinity, that all-things compose an all-encompassing, transcendent god; it does not recognize a distinct personal god, anthropomorphic or otherwise, and instead characterises a broad range of doctrines differing in forms of relationships between reality and divinity.  Such concepts date back thousands of years, and pantheistic elements have been identified in various religious traditions. One of the first known pantheists was the 16th century philosopher & cosmologist Giordano Bruno (1548-1600).  It was popularized  as a theology & philosophy by Spinoza (1632-1677) & his book Ethics (published 1677).  The term  “pantheism” was coined by mathematician Joseph Raphson in 1697.

 

pleonasm:

the use of more words or parts of words than necessary for clear expression (e.g. black darkness or burning fire).  This redundancy (by traditional rhetorical criteria) might be considered a stylistic flaw.

 

gods ( of Homer):

in Greek religion & mythology, the 12 Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, being Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes & Hestia or Dionysus.  They resided on Mount Olympus.

 

primus inter pares:

Latin, meaning first among equals; used as an honorary title for someone formally equal to other members of their group, but accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority.