The Spiritual Embryo

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The spiritual embryo of a human, unlike the physical embryo, is a post-natal state of a baby where he or she is in the process of self-constructing. As opposed to the pre-natal state of the physical embryo in animals, humans are the only one that has the spiritual embryo. Maria Montessori believes that this is the factor that distinguishes the species of Homo sapiens from all other animals. She must have taught that animals do not have spirit, while humans do. She calls this the ‘double embryonic life’, which has been built to a new design and has a new destiny in relation to all other creatures. Montessori believes that the human spirit and creative intelligence are the causes of a man’s work on earth. Therefore, she believes that they must be the essential elements of his existence. She describes this as the state of the ‘spiritual halo’ in which development of the whole man enfolds. She emphasizes that physical disturbances are often caused by psychological problems, thus indicating the uncontrolled human spirit. Montessori states that new born babies must be taken care of not only physically but also mentally so that his or her holistic development in the spiritual embryo will fully take place. This is the potential of the whole human development that lies in the spiritual embryo, which has been mentioned to be the rule of today. The difference between a child and an adult is the stage that he or she is in, which has been described as self-constructing and incarnating. The child is building the definition of himself or herself through fully absorbing while interacting with an environment. However, an adult uses his or her knowledge, skills and abilities to create changes in an environment. The ability and the sensitivity of the child to naturally and unconsciously memorize everything in an environment into his soul and spirit have been described as vital,
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