Soul is something entirely different than spirit. Soul is of manifested matter. Spirit is not. Spirit is not able to be caught and scientifically documented whereas soul is and will be in the future. Soul is the tiny spark of electrical energy that enters the body as the thought form. It is at the center of ethereal matter; it is a small "wisp of cloud" (the ethereal matter) that has an infinitesimal pinprick of electricity embedded in it.

This wisp of cloud, the soul, takes up residence in whatever chakra has been determined that the soul wants to work and express through in that life. It stays in the ethereal body in that chakra's energy until the combining of the soul and personality takes place. At that time it enters physical matter and is embedded in the physical organ that relates to the chakra that was chosen. This soul then permeates the brain with messages, sending them through the nervous system to the brain where they are then processed and used by the brain to determine action on the physical plane.

Ethereal matter is something that cannot be captured and held in the hand. It is made of ether which is atmosphere in a high energy field, a rarefied atmosphere, perhaps, would be a better way to put it. Your ethereal body surrounds your physical form. It displaces the solid atmosphere around your body with a thinner, finer substance of higher vibrations. These higher vibrations reflect the prismatic colors in a different way than ordinary atmosphere does. This is exactly the same thing as a rainbow. Perhaps this is the best description that could be given of ethereal matter, a rainbow. A rainbow is something you can see and are familiar with, but you know that you can never touch it and you also know that it is real because you can see it. Some people can see this field around matter such as the physical body. Know you then that this is what the mind is, the ethereal substance around the physical organ called the brain. The personality is built on top of the mind as an even lighter ethereal matter. The two become blended eventually but they are still ethereal matter. They never manifest in physical matter.

The soul is an ally, if you will, of the physical body, a bridging element between physical evolution and divine evolution or exoteric and esoteric evolution. Soul is the carry-over part of the original spark, the part that fires the engine, the tiny piece of nuclear energy sitting in the middle of the furnace that all has formed around. It is embedded in the emotional body.

The amount of influence the soul in incarnation has on the development of the personality depends on two factors. One is the genetic stock the physical form is from and the other is the spiritual evolution of the incarnating entity. Those in the higher planes have been experimenting with letting the more evolved souls enter a more highly refined physical form. They are now beginning to work with the idea that perhaps this is not the right approach and that the more highly evolved souls should enter the more animalistic forms. The souls that would take on an incarnation such as this would earn "extra credit" as far as their own growth.

This was what took place before Atlantis was destroyed. Some souls volunteered to enter leaving half of themselves out of incarnation to determine if more strictly male qualities in a male form and female qualities in a female form worked better than having asexual souls enter single-sexed bodies. It was found to work better and all of human creation was restructured. Those in the higher planes are trying to determine if we are at another such milestone in the ongoing evolutionary progress of humanity.

It depends on the combination of two factors. A highly refined physical form coupled with a highly evolved soul would have much influence over the day to day activities. An animalistic form would usually be entered by one less evolved and there would be very little control. The implications are quite obvious and perhaps you can see the basis for the thinking of those in the higher planes as to having the more evolved souls enter the more animalistic forms. In the beginning there were no controls over what piece of the divine spark entered what particular animal form. This changed at the time of Atlantis and the entering of bodies started being regulated. Now perhaps it is time for another more tightly controlled regulation to come into effect.

Your soul in incarnation has knowledge of the goals you set up for this life, which karma (guilt over past actions) you wanted to erase, and what lessons you wished to learn as far as attitudes or behavior. Your soul knows itself and knows what its shortcomings are and what its strengths are. These strengths are the knowledge you have gained in previous incarnations that you chose to bring into this lifetime to help with the lessons and goals of this life. The soul on the inner planes knows all this.

Both halves of the soul, the one in incarnation and the one remaining on the inner planes, have total complete knowledge of the path of progress that should be taken by souls in their spiritual quest. They have knowledge of how the akashic records work; they have knowledge of future stages of progress; they have knowledge of past evolutionary gains by all kingdoms. There is not much they do not know about the spiritual life. What they do not know are the lessons that need to be learned. These are how to combine physical matter with these spiritual truths and bring this knowledge back to the inner planes. This will help form a more highly evolved soul that will experience all that the Creator can experience on this planet before he moves on. You see, all sparks that fell must all evolve back up to be one with the Creator God before any can move on. Therefore one of the overlying goals for all is to help everyone else in their evolutionary growth so that everyone can move on together.