# What's a "spiritual person"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040 "2011-07-14T18:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/1 "2011-07-14T18:53:50Z")
Overheard in office chatter…someone was describing a friend, saying “She’s a very spiritual person.” What does this mean to you? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/2 "2011-07-14T19:00:02Z")
Religious. Attends church regularly. Prays. ---
**Author:** ![JoThrive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@JoThrive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoThrive)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/3 "2011-07-14T19:04:00Z")
Studies their faith, practices their faith, lives their faith - ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/4 "2011-07-14T19:04:29Z")
I think Leaffan’s right. I’d consider it a misuse of the word, but yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/5 "2011-07-14T19:46:43Z")
I think the person is interested in spiritual beliefs/practices outside of mainstream Christianity. In my experience, a very religious person is a Christian and a very spiritual person is maybe an ecclectic or Wiccan or really into Tarot cards or whatever. But you can’t assume. It could mean practically anything. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/6 "2011-07-14T20:32:53Z")
When I hear spiritual, I think of a “Wiccan” or some hippy, Earth mother type of religion. Not the usual Baptist or Catholic types. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/7 "2011-07-14T20:39:52Z")
I consider myself a spiritual person, but I’m an atheist. Thinking about why I consider myself spiritual, I’m coming up with a big blank. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/8 "2011-07-14T20:43:46Z")
I think of a spiritual person as one who “feels” a lot. Feels vibes from others, feels the rhythm of the Universe, feels the life force coursing thru their veins. One who is guided more by sensations than facts. One heavily into metaphysics and Eastern mysticism. They are probably religious, but not necessarily Western mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/9 "2011-07-14T20:54:16Z")
[Previous thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526192&highlight=spiritual+religious) ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/10 "2011-07-14T20:55:43Z")
Woo-wooey, with reservations about organized or mainstream religion. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/11 "2011-07-14T21:04:48Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > [Previous thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=526192) Yeah, but that feels so ought-nine-ish. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/12 "2011-07-14T21:06:46Z")
When I hear “spiritual,” I think “flaky and pretentious.” ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/13 "2011-07-14T21:16:06Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I consider myself a spiritual person, but I’m an atheist. > > Thinking about why I consider myself spiritual, I’m coming up with a big blank. I was going to say the same thing. I don’t believe in the supernatural, but I would call myself spiritual. I guess I’ve always been interested in life’s meaning from the perspective of multiple philosophies and religions. I have been religious before, and it seems there’s always a part of me trying to explore different methods of constructing meaning. Even though the woo-woo stuff is now out, that core of me that always questions why we are here has never gone away. ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/14 "2011-07-14T21:27:26Z")
To say the same thing from the opposite direction, I’m a pretty religious person, but not particularly spiritual, which to me implies an emotional connection with… not the Divine, exactly, but with the nonphysical? I’m having trouble verbalizing this. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/15 "2011-07-14T21:35:36Z")
NO offense intended to anyone here, but when I hear “spiritual” I think “stupid.” I’m wrong sometimes, obviously, but generally I think woo, Oprah-watching, goofball. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/16 "2011-07-14T21:36:12Z")
Spiritual: someone who genuinely cares alot about their place in the universe and the meaning of their existence. Places emphasis on the intuitive, rather than the rational, in analyzing this. At least, that’s the positive meaning. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/17 "2011-07-15T13:10:42Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Spiritual: someone who genuinely cares alot about their place in the universe and the meaning of their existence. Places emphasis on the intuitive, rather than the rational, in analyzing this. > > At least, that’s the positive meaning. That is a very good definition of the positive meaning. The negative meaning can be summed up as Less Rules, More Woo. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/18 "2011-07-15T13:25:21Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > I was going to say the same thing. I don’t believe in the supernatural, but I would call myself spiritual. Of all the people on this board who might agree with me, you surprise me the least. It’s really hard to explain, but someone who cares about being present but doesn’t need a god to help them with that is someone I’d describe as a spiritual atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/19 "2011-07-15T13:48:52Z")
When I hear ‘spiritual’, I generally place it in contrast to ‘religious’. A religious person is interested in their relationship to the Divine, but looks to a human organization, such as a church, to give it meaning. A spiritual person is interested in their relationship to the Divine, but looks within. Thus a person can be spiritual, religious, or both. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040/20 "2011-07-15T13:51:03Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > That is a very good definition of the positive meaning. > > The negative meaning can be summed up as Less Rules, More Woo. Yup. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-spiritual-person/589040.md?page=2)