The Soul of the World (in Greek Ψυχὴ Κόσμου, Psychè Kósmou, also known in Latin as Anima Mundi) is a philosophical concept used by the Platonists to indicate the vitality of nature in its totality, assimilated to a single living organism. It is the unifying principle from which individual organisms take shape, each articulating and differentiating according to its own individual peculiarities, yet bound together by such a common Universal Soul. The Renaissance, under the impetus of ancient mystery and initiatory schools that had survived centuries of Church persecution, sought to reconnect humanity with such a Universal Soul.