Hi Xanderman,
Looking at the Bible, the word used for the animating force is “soul” and stands for Greek:
ψυχή
psuchē - Soul
psoo-khay’
breath, that is, (by implication) spirit, abstractly or concretely (the animal sentient principle only; thus distinguished on the one hand from the rational and immortal soul; and on the other from mere vitality, even of plants.
And Hebrew:
נפשׁ
Nephesh - Soul
neh’-fesh
From naphash; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental): - any, appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, X dead (-ly), desire, X [dis-] contented, X fish, ghost, + greedy, he, heart (-y), (hath, X jeopardy of) life (X in jeopardy), lust, man, me, mind, mortality, one, own, person, pleasure, (her-, him-, my-, thy-) self, them (your) -selves, + slay, soul, + tablet, they, thing, (X she) will, X would have it.
The word “spirit” on the other hand stands for:
πνεῦμα
pneuma - Spirit
pnyoo’-mah
a current of air, that is, breath (blast) or a breeze; by analogy or figuratively a spirit, that is, (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, daemon, or (divine) God, Christ’s spirit, the Holy spirit: - ghost, life, spirit (-ual, -ually), mind.
רוּח
rûach - Spirit
roo’-akh
wind; by resemblance breath, that is, a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions): - air, anger, blast, breath, X cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit ([-ual]), tempest, X vain, ([whirl-]) wind (-y).
Spirit or “ruach” is the contact point to the “Holy or Sacred Spirit” (ruach ha kodesh) whereas the soul is in vitality you meant.
Shalom
Bob