Word and traditions
The English "soul" descends from the Old English sawol, glossed as the spiritual and emotional part of a person. In Kabbalah, that spiritual and emotional dimension is mapped onto specific sephirot — the emotional aspect to Hod, the mind to Netzach, the will (described here as the human soul) to Tiphereth, and consciousness (described as the divine soul) to Geburah. In Hinduism and Buddhism, the closest counterpart is usually the Sanskrit term atman, "self" — though Buddhist teaching specifically denies that any permanent, unchanging soul-like element exists beyond the body.
A specific esoteric teaching
One esoteric tradition — associated with the twentieth-century Gnostic teacher Samael Aun Weor rather than with Santo Daime — holds that most people do not yet possess a fully formed soul, only its seed, which must be developed through what this teaching calls a "second birth." This view distinguishes "soul" from "spirit," treating spirit as a higher aspect of a person's innermost nature. It is presented here as belonging to that specific esoteric lineage, not as a claim of Santo Daime doctrine.