lélek

lélek, in Finno-Ugric religion, the vital principle of the human body. Despite its literal meaning, the term does not designate the immortal essence of individual personality, as soul does in many Western (and some non-Western) religions. In its earliest uses, lélek was associated with both breath and the life principle, the latter manifested in the form of vapour. The lélek belongs to a family of souls in Finno-Ugric belief that are not detachable from the body as a living entity; thus, the death of the body means the death of the lélek. The etymology of the term can be traced to about 2500 bce, when the ancestors of the Finno-Ugric peoples still lived in central Russia. Cognates can be found in other Finno-Ugric languages, including Finnish (löyly: “vapour of the sauna”), Estonian (leil: “breath” or “life”), Votyak (lul: “breath” or “soul”), and Vogul and Ostyak (lil: “breath” or “soul”).