Relationship to Kabbalah

The word "soul" can be used in various ways. As long as we know the underlying idea we will not be confused. Kabbalah uses the word "soul" as a comprehensive term with degrees within it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah#Overview

The Kabbalah posits that the human soul has three elements, the nefesh, ru'ach, and neshamah. The nefesh is found in all humans, and enters the physical body at birth. It is the source of one's physical and psychological nature. The next two parts of the soul are not implanted at birth, but can be developed over time; their development depends on the actions and beliefs of the individual. They are said to only fully exist in people awakened spiritually. A common way of explaining the three parts of the soul is as follows:

• Nefesh (נפש): the lower part, or "animal part", of the soul. It is linked to instincts and bodily cravings.
• Ruach (רוח): the middle soul, the "spirit". It contains the moral virtues and the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
• Neshamah (נשמה): the higher soul, or "super-soul". This separates man from all other life-forms. It is related to the intellect, and allows man to enjoy and benefit from the afterlife. This part of the soul is provided at birth and allows one to have some awareness of the existence and presence of God.

Another Essential Distinction

There is another essential distinction which if it is not recognized can cause much confusion.
Underlying the physical body is the "template " upon which the body is formed. This template is of an electrical nature (electromagnetic) and can be photographed by Kirlian photography.
Unfortunately, in the course of history some people have referred to this as the "soul". Here is where the confusion can begin because the "soul" is an even higher body.
The soul (self) is completely invisible to the senses (and science) and always will be invisible to them. (But it can be internally experienced and it's reality known.)
The first level of subtle body beyond the physical (which I called "template") is called in some systems the etheric body (or etheric double, etherial body or life force) and can be seen by the senses.
It is essential to distinguish it from the soul.
We also have the words "astral body" and "sidereal body" as a further possible source of confusion. For now I will associate the words "astral body" with "soul" and not even use the words "sidereal body".
I conclude that Sheldrake's morphic fields are a combination of the etheric and astral bodies (he does not distinguish them).
Relevant link:
http://www.answers.com/topic/etheric-body
"Rudolf Steiner, considered the etheric reality or life principle as quite distinct from the physical material reality, being intermediate between the physical world and the astral or soul world. The etheric body can be characterised as the life force also present in the plant kingdom. It maintains the physical body's form until death. At that time, it separates from the physical body and the physical reverts to natural disintegration."
"Some clairvoyants and occultists have produced drawings and paintings that record their perceptions of the etheric body; see Leadbeater's Man Visible and Invisible for one example. The images produced by Kirlian photography bear obvious resemblances to these graphics, showing a spiky-looking energy field extending a few inches around the human body (as well as other biological specimens, like leaves, and objects like coins). The fact that Kirlian photography can capture the acupuncture points of the body links the technology with concepts of prana, qi, bioplasma, and related ideas and theories. For some believers in the etheric body, Kirlian photography provides important supporting evidence—though skeptics are generally not swayed." [Skeptics are never swayed. They have too much invested in being a skeptic.]

Rupert Sheldrake - Morphic Fields and Morphic Resonance

Here are some links to articles by Rupert Sheldrake. He poses mechanisms for understanding how levels of reality fit within each other and operate as an organic whole.

http://seekeraftertruth.com/2009/05/12/rupert-sheldrake-mind-memory-and-archetype-morphic-resonance-and-the-collective-unconscious/
"In this essay, I am going to discuss the concept of collective memory as a background for understanding Jung’s concept of the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious only makes sense in the context of some notion of collective memory."
"....... the universe is more like an organism than a machine. The Big Bang recalls the mythic stories of the hatching of the cosmic egg: it grows, and as it grows it undergoes an internal differentiation that is more like a gigantic cosmic embryo than the huge eternal machine of mechanistic theory. With this organic alternative, it might make sense to think of the laws of nature as more like habits; perhaps the laws of nature are habits of the universe, and perhaps the universe has an in-built memory."

http://seekeraftertruth.com/2009/05/12/rupert-sheldrake-prayer-a-challenge-for-science/
"Morphic fields are organized in nested hierarchies . For example, there are morphic fields surrounding the atoms in our bodies, which are within the higher level morphic fields of molecules, organelles, cells, organs and limbs, all of which exist within the morphic field associated with the entire body. The body field, in turn, would be within the field of relationships that constitute a family, within a larger social group. Societies, in turn, are embedded within ecosystems, and ecosystems within the planetary system, “Gaia”. And by extrapolation, we could extend the series of nested morphic fields until we reach out beyond planetary, solar system and galactic limits to encompass the entire universe."

http://www.intuition.org/txt/sheldra1.htm
"And you see, even if he could evoke memories by stimulating part of the brain, it doesn't prove they're stored there. For example, if I stimulate the tuning knob of your TV set and it tunes on to a different channel, it doesn't prove that all the programs on that other channel are stored inside the bit that I've stimulated, namely the tuning knob, and it could be that it's just simply part of the receiving or tuning system. I think the brain is like a tuning system, and that we tune in to our own memories by a process of morphic resonance, which I believe is a general process which happens throughout the whole of nature."

http://seekeraftertruth.com/2009/05/12/rupert-sheldrake-society-spirit-ritual/
"I want to explore some ideas about the social and cultural aspects of morphic fields and morphic resonance. A familiar comparison might be that of a hive of bees or a nest of termites: each is like a giant organism, and the insects within it are like cells in a superorganism. Although comprised of hundreds and hundreds of individual insect cells, the hive or nest functions and responds as a unified whole."

The World is Awakening

As we can see from the various quotes, articles and books that I have listed in this blog, there are a number of people and groups who are groping toward a new understanding. In their respective areas they are bumping up against the limits of their field of study and are dimly perceiving that there is more to the total of reality. This awareness often takes the form of paradoxes and oddities. These paradoxes stem from the dim realization that the questions which they have, cannot be answered by reference to just the level they have been considering.
For example the plenum is a recognition (albeit a dim one) of the fact that there is an invisible level of reality that permeates and influences (directs) the physical level.
Different people have given this different names, such as plenum (zero point field, quantum vacuum), akashic record (akashic field), astral plane, morphogenetic field, ether (etheric body), collective conscious, collective unconscious, holographic field, the Field, implicate order, subtle body etc.
So in various ways and in various areas there is an awakening.
To call it an "awakening" is both helpful and misleading. It is helpful in the sense that there is a growing realization that there is something more and that it is significant. It is misleading because it is not an actual awakening to the reality of it but a "knowing about" it from a distance.