Generally speaking the basic senses in the body
are sight, taste, smell, touch and hearing. Together our senses help us
relate to the outside world. The ancients placed great importance to the
physical senses of man because they saw that through them we are all
influenced in our conduct and our decisions.
What follows is a brief excerpt from The Testaments
of the Twelve Patriarchs
The Twelve Sons of Israel
Written between 107 AD and 137 BC The author, an educated Pharisee.
The Spirit Of Man
Part 1
Seven spirits are appointed against man, and they
are the leaders in the works of youth and seven other spirits are given
to man at his creation that through them should be done every work of
man.
The first is the spirit of life, with which
the constitution of man is created.
The second is the sense of sight, with which arises desire.
The third is the sense of hearing, with which comes teaching.
The fourth is the sense of smell, with which tastes are given to
draw air and breath.
The fifth is the power of speech, with which comes knowledge.
The sixth is the sense of taste, with which comes the eating of
food and drink, and by it strength is produced, for in food is the
foundation of strength.
The seventh is the power of procreation and sexual intercourse,
with which through love of pleasure sins enter in. Wherefore it is the
last in order of creation, and the first in that of youth, because it is
filled with ignorance, and leads the youth as a blind man to a pit and
as a beast to a precipice.
Besides all these there is an eighth spirit of sleep, with which
is brought about the trance of nature and the image of death.
