DS9 and Embodied Souls

     A lifelong Star Trek fan (but not a rabid Trekkie -- no Spock ears hidden in my closet, sorry), a character from the Deep Space Nine series came to mind when I was reading about souls in Journey of Souls (see previous posts about this book). 

     Do you remember the character of Jadzia Dax?  This was a young woman, Jadzia, who is a host body for another being, Dax, a member of a species that lives in the bodies of her race.  It is a symbiotic relationship, a perfect melding of the host body and the inhabiting alien.  The commander of the space station knew Dax in his previous incarnation in a male host's body.  As a man, Dax was quite the party animal, it seemed.  So, it was quite a difference for the commander to relate to this calm, intellectual woman as the Dax he knew.  Weird, but cool.

     Anyway, when Dr. Newton was describing how souls enter a fetus' body while it is in utero, he explained how the soul must learn the wiring of the brain and neurological system of the fetus.  It's almost like having to learn to drive a different car. 

    And this all makes me wonder -- when we incarnate as souls, how much of ourselves are our bodies and how much of us are our souls?  Is that the point of so many mystical traditions, which teach us to overcome the world of the senses (the body) and learn to know the Self? 

     I imagine this will give me food for thought for some time . . .