Souls

Almost everything that is alive has a soul. Large, advanced or intelligent beings tend to have souls of their own while lesser beings living in groups or flocks often share one soul. A few rare species are believed to share multiple souls within a hive or swarm.

Beings that don’t have souls at all are things that are too small, simple and lacking in intelligence. These include, but aren’t limited to, things like bacteria, mold, plankton and other such things.

Certain things that would not normally be considered living beings, such as mountains, music and forests may also have souls.

Fact and fiction
Very little is actually known about souls, but there are plenty of theories, some more plausible than others.

It is generally accepted as fact that the life of the soul is not tied to that of its host. Once the host dies the soul will remain, but what happens with it then is very much a matter of debate and will probably always be. Some of the main theories are.
 * The soul remains a while and then disappears or dissolves into the aether.
 * The soul remains indefinitely, tied to the location of its host or the demise of its host.
 * The soul remains indefinitely, free to roam the world.
 * The soul awaits or seeks out the birth or creation of a new host.
 * The soul gets eaten/absorbed/collected by a god.
 * All of the above, and then some...

The Soul of Music
It has long been known that music can have a soul. Not all music will have a soul though; it varies from composition to composition and from performance to performance.

A song played by a band in front of a crowd is much more likely to have a soul than the same song played over a stereo in someone’s living room. Similarly a song written by a lone troubadour about his life and hardships is a lot more likely to have a soul than a song created by a group of producers with the intent of producing a money making hit. This doesn’t mean that commercial music doesn’t have a soul, but it’s commonly only manifested when it’s performed in front of a larger crowd.

Spirit of Music
A common theory is that the soul of music is dependent on the soul of the performers and of the listeners. This implies that the soul of a piece of music is a composite one and would function in the way other composite souls do. Many shamans refer to the soul of music is a spirit of music.

This theory is supported by significant empirical evidence. It has been shown repeatedly that adding music to shamanistic rituals will increase the power of the ritual and improve its effect. A practical application of this is that many harvest time rituals now are supported by DJs and large-scale sound systems with thousands of dancers.

The idea of a Spirit of Music is still disputed though. It’s not unheard of for magicians to employ music played through headphones to assist them in weaving and channeling. This defies the notion of the soul of music being a composite soul as only the magician itself is exposed to the music.

What’s certain is that music can have a soul and that it can be employed as tool for use of magic. The exact nature of the soul of music is and will likely remain a mystery, just like the nature of souls in general.