Souls
Common Beliefs
It is widely believed that most sentient creatures have souls, although different cultures view souls in different ways. Beliefs from across the world include:
- Souls are a vessel for a divine watcher, who is always judging your actions and determines the quality of your afterlife.
- Souls are the divine spark that creates sentience.
- Souls are recycled. Each soul has existed since the dawn of time and contains memories of past lives, which can occasionally be glimpsed.
- A person is his soul, and can be separated from his body.
- Souls are assigned at birth and determine a person's affinity for magic.
- Each soul is a fragment of a greater being who died to create us.
- A soul is a person's moral compass, and actively compels its host to do good. A soul can be corrupted, in which case it encourages evil.
- Tieflings have corrupted souls. Aasimar have blessed souls.
- Souls are gifts from one or more gods to be nurtured by a life of devotion.
Not all these beliefs are mutually exclusive.
In Academia
From an academic point of view, souls can be used to explain many phenomena, but it is unclear whether each phenomenon has its own explanatory "soul" or if all the souls are the same object.
- A person can only marginally improve their magical affinity (as measured by a special device) over their lifetime, suggesting that it is innate. One major problem with this hypothesis is that magical affinity is often hereditary.
- Reincarnation appears to be possible, according to studies by Juvela Cherny. Visions of past lives are the basis for the work of followers of Cherny.
- The technique of soulcasting involves transferring a portion of oneself to an item. In doing so, the item becomes magical. This is taken as evidence that magical affinity and personal identity are connected.