In recent blog posts and over on The Guided Collective Podcast, we’ve been exploring some of the technical differences between spiritual terms I often see used interchangeably.

In this article, I thought we would look at the difference between Higher Self and Soul. Often people confuse these two things as the same thing, but I believe there is a difference between your Higher Self and your Soul.

If you’ve felt confused about when to call on your Higher Self or Soul, whether in meditation or when journaling or with oracle cards, this article will help you feel clear and confident about which non-physical being you are connecting with and what they want you to know, meaning you’ll be clearer on the guidance you’re receiving and why.

Are your Soul and Higher Self the same?

The short answer is no, your Soul and Higher Self are not the same thing – although I have seen people use the term interchangeably. On a technicality, there is indeed a difference between your Higher Self and your Soul.

In the simplest of terms, the difference between your Soul and Higher Self is:

“Your Higher Self oversees your highest potential in this particular lifetime, while your Soul is the part of you growing and evolving lifetime after lifetime. Of course, your Soul’s experience in this lifetime is important, but there is a slight difference in the role of both the Higher Self and Soul. ”

Let’s take a closer look.

Who (or what) is your Higher Self?

I see your Higher Self as perhaps one of the members of your Spiritual Support Team or SST and as a source of higher guidance (you might also like this article on the difference between inner and higher guidance).

Here’s a slightly abridged excerpt from my first book, You Already Know, where I describe your Higher Self.

While your SST is a wonderful group of high vibrational counsellors and advisors, they are not the same as your Higher Self (in fact, your Higher Self is a member of your SST). Your SST are non-physical beings who are assigned to your Soul’s growth and development. Your Higher Self is quite different - it’s not assigned to oversee the growth and development of your Soul, but your highest potential in this particular lifetime. Your Higher Self is you, from this lifetime, but on a much higher dimension than this earthly plane. I think of my Higher Self as the highest, truest, purest energetic version of me, without the “baggage” of the earthly dimension.
Your Higher Self is not your physical, mental or emotional self nor is it your 'stories', your past, present or future. It is not defined by personality or experience in this lifetime. In fact, it is a higher part of you unrelated to the earthly, humanly 'stuff' of life. You can recognise your Higher Self as a pure, loving, non-judgmental and unlimited being, quite different to the personality or thinking self, but separate again from the members of your SST and your Soul.
Just as the Higher Selfdoesn’t have the “baggage” or heavier three-dimensional effects of the human self, it also doesn’t carry the karma of accumulated lifetimes, which your Soul does. So, there is also a distinction between your Higher Self and Soul. We can think of the Higher Self as an aspect or expression of the Soul, but not the Soul itself.

You can communicate directly with your Higher Self, when the time is right. And as you familiarise with your True Self, you’re really accessing your Higher Self.

Who (or what) is your Soul?

Again, the explanation I share below is taken from my first book, You Already Know.

The Soul is the aspect of us that has incarnated across an extended timeline of lifetimes, linking us to these multiple lifetimes, while our Higher Self is linked only to this lifetime. Our Soul is the part of us coming to Earth to explore, learn and grow in accordance with the blueprint. Thus, the Soul has accumulated lifetimes of experiences, lessons, relationships as well as gathered many gifts and talents. As the Soul incarnates, it chooses which of these will be brought forward into this particular lifetime.

Each of us was sent forth from the same source, or OverSoul. We are all born forth from this, yet separate in what we are sent forth to experience on behalf of the OverSoul.
Our Soul takes on human form, as my Soul chose me to be Helen Jacobs. As Helen, I have a Higher Self —me on a higher dimension, as well as my Soul, who has lived in lifetime after lifetime. I’ve clairvoyantly seen a number of these lifetimes, and the accumulation of the lessons and experiences, gifts and experiences that all feed into this particular lifetime, in various ways.

Our Spiritual Support Team, then, works to remind the Soul of its task this time around. We can work with our SST, our Soul and also our Higher Self to gather information to help us in this human form.

So, should you connect with your Soul or higher self?

That’s up to you, and perhaps will depend on the nature of the guidance you’re seeking. Both offer a form of higher guidance, but from different perspectives.

Work with your Higher Self (try my Meet Your Highest Self meditation) for insight into your human self in this lifetime. This is the highest version of you in this lifetime, and so is a little more practical, and geared towards your human pathway, talents, skills and interests in this lifetime. It may be more interested in the Soul’s expression in this lifetime.

Your Soul, though, is more interested in your Soul development, Soul blueprint, Soul mates etc. Because your Soul has led many previous lifetimes and will likely lead many more, it is interested at your development at the highest level. It isn’t always as interested in the miniature of human life. You can connect with your Soul through meditation, but may also understand its role through accessing the Akashic Records, your Soul’s Blueprint, or through past life regression (I can highly recommend past life regression with Rachel Crethar).