Philosopher: But tell me then why the Soul was put in such a stete of suffering?

Sophie: In finding itself the mistress over the magic possibility of being, the Soul wanted to use the possibility for itself. It wanted to be for itself, to create and govern its world like the Divine Spirit and, becoming equal to that Spirit, to unite itself with it and to know it directly. The Soul found itself doubly bound by the ideal world, which gave it the absolute in image alone, and which, on the other hand, gave it obligatory rules and norms, necessary to govern the finite world. It wants to rid itself of this double bond, it wants to be for itself, and arouses in itself the spontaneous possibility of being and of action (which is will). But the Soul, being only a secondary unity, a unity that is brought into being, possesses this possibility only insofar as it is subordinate to the Spirit and to Divine Mind, insofar as it is their organ. It has power only insofar as it, itself, is in a state of possibility, and insofar as it does not assert itself, but serves as the transparent means for divine power and thoughts. As soon as it departs from that state, as soon as it affirms itself, it becomes impenetrable to divine action, it loses all its power and, instead of possessing, it, itself, is possessed.

Philosopher: I see great moral portent in that transcendental event, in that fall of the Soul. Every separate being has possibility and happiness only in self-negation, in the passive of potential state. it cannot give itself that which it does not have; being separate, it cannot give itself by itself, cannot create an absolute being for itself. In affirming itself, it affirms only its separate and bounded being. But to be separate means to be determined by another, and to be determined by another means to suffer. When it affirms itself, it excludes, it negates all that is other, but it cannot destroy the other, for it is determined by it. It wants to be absolute, but is determind. This determination is the opposite of its will and is an external necessity; it is suffering. But, when the separate being renounces itself and submits itself as a member of the whole, it loses its separate and exclusive being. It enjoys the life of the whole, and its determination as a member of the whole, being in accord with its will, is not an external necessity for it. It is free; it does not suffer. Freedom and happiness for the separate being consists in its voluntary submission to the universal being.

Sophie: Submission to the universal Being is the primitive or natural state of the Soul; as such it is not voluntary, it is not free. For that, submission and self-negation must be produced by the Soul itself; it must submit itself to the universal Being. In order to submit itself, however, it must raise itself up. Produced or free affirmation is the result of the negation of negation. In order to resign oneself to the exclusive antidivine existence, one must recognize it and, since one can know an existence only empirically, one must submit to it.

The Soul possesses the possibility of being withing itself. This possibility is will, will that is not yet desire, will as possibility and not as action. The Soul, not wanting being, not affirming it (always being separate and exclusive), possesses it in possibility. When it does not affirm being, it is still free to affirm it or not affirm it; however, once it has decided and does affirm it, the Soul is no longer the master of being. It cannot affirm being and not affirm it at the same time. That is to say, it does not lose this possibility absolutely, which would contradict the great principle, but it loses it in actuality.

It can still not affirm being, but not in its actual state, since in that state it already affirms it. Here begins the fatal separation of the potential and actual state. In its normal state, the Soul was possibility — it was possibility in actuality — it did not have two separate states. Now it has them, it is divided in itself; it maintains its unity and its power over being only potentially. In actuality, it is divided and enslaved.

The affirmation of the Soul is the affirmation of a separate being, it is the exclusive affirmation of each of the elements of the Being; it is their mutual negation, it is their egoism. It is clear that egoism comes before hatred and struggle and leads them behind it. Thus, it is a fight to the death between all the elements, instead of their unity and mutual love. It is the bellum omnium contra omnes [Latin: war of all against all]; it is chaos.

The Soul is a principle of unity and love insofar as it is passive and submits to the ideal and spiritual world. But in rising up against them and in separating itself out, in becoming egotistical, it becomes the principle of separate and exclusive being, of division, of hatred and struggle. In actuality as well as in possibility (in potentia), it preserves its divine origin.

The Soul as a principle of division, of egoism, of hatred and struggle, in a word, as principle (or prince) of this world, or of this age, is Satan, the devil. The Soul is Satan — here is Wisdom. It is the principle of cosmic existence and the principle of our own partial and egotistical existence; it is our actual soul:
   Nos habitat non tartara sed nec sidera coeli
   Spiritus in nobis qui viget illa fecit.
   [Latin: It lives in us and not in Tartarus, not in distant constellations;
   Spirit, having power in us, created them.]

The Soul — anima — is passive, feminine by nature, and thus it remains in its normal state; in becoming active, that is to say, masculine, it is no longer Soul. It becomes Spirit-spiritus, but a spirit of shadows, of evil. In general, the Spirit is the principle of true, that is to say, universal unity; as a principle of totality, it is the Divine Spirit; as a principle of false, exclusive unity, or egoism, it is the Satanic Spirit, the Spirit of Evil.