Theology and the Wheel of Time

[Myyrth]

I've been thinking about the WoT in a sort of metaltheological way.  What are these Souls that are woven into the pattern, what is the mechanism of their rebirth.  I also sort of saw it in a Buddhist way, like the cycle of reincarnation for them.

 

Do these souls remain individuals in a sense, to character traits one portrays in life carry through to the next?  If you are greedy man this life will you be prone to greed in your next?  It seems that Humans at least always remain human, they aren't reborn into the forms of animals or spirits.  Yet they don't seem entirely static.  For example, is the maligned and twisted soul of a Trolloc still at it's core a Human soul?  What about a Draghkar.

 

Or are souls drawn from sort of a great pool of energy, perhaps manifested from the True Source itself.  We know the Creator designed the Wheel then created the True Source as the sort of dualistic water mill to provide the force to turn it.  In other words, does the form of our soul arise out of the formless yet infinite pool of energy that is the True Source?  Tabula Rasa one might say.

 

On the other hand we must allow that some Souls would not do that, instead like Artur Hawking or Shivan the Hunter your Souls are for their heroism (sort of an Arhat or enlightened figure) kept from merging with the True Source and live and are reincarnated to serve the Wheel and protect it.)

[Nightstrike]

What are these Souls that are woven into the pattern, what is the mechanism of their rebirth.

Interesting question. Maybe the person is soul+experiences? Mechanism of rebirth is probably the Wheel. The thing that is "the most advanced computer you can imagine".

 

Do these souls remain individuals in a sense, to character traits one portrays in life carry through to the next?

My imagining is that some basic personality traits will have a great probability of reoccuring. Depending on soul and upbringing.

 

If you are greedy man this life will you be prone to greed in your next?

I imagine there would be a high probability of that. That's just how I imagine it. So, I don't know.  :-\

 

For example, is the maligned and twisted soul of a Trolloc still at it's core a Human soul?  What about a Draghkar.

Nym and Trollocs both have souls, and either could be reborn, but since Nym were a pure construct (i.e. each of them was individually made, like hand-crafting) a Nym would not be reborn as a Nym. You might say that a Nym's soul was borrowed temporarily from the supply of souls awaiting rebirth. A Trolloc, however, bears a twisted, or corrupted soul, and would be reborn as a Trolloc. Though frankly, a Trolloc's soul is such a pitiful thing, it hardly seems worth calling a soul.