I've always wondered what exactly happens in the process of soul trapping and enchanting. Is the soul processed into raw energy which is infused in the item or do you release the soul which releases energy which is infused in the item?

In short is a wolf's soul destroyed or released in the process?

The way I USED to understand it...
In Redguard, the players sister was trapped in a Soul Gem, which was put in a sword. From that and the connotations associated with the name, I was of the belief that the Spell cut the soul from the body, and that Soul Gems act as magnets to wayward souls, which in turn encased the Soul, and it's energy could then be used as a battery of sorts. Once the Soul Gem was used, I used to believe that the spirit trapped in the gem, would then take possession of the item it was imbued with.

However, now with the Soul Cairn, I'm not so sure.
I think the Soul Cairn is where souls go after a Soul Gem is used, and it's spectral energies used up.

I don't believe it is either of those. the soul is trapped into the gem and then whatever item you enchant it with. The item's enchantment is running off the soul. It's really kind of morbid if you think about it.

Yeah, I've been to soul cairn and I already despised trapping human souls and that just made me more convinced but do creatures end up in the soul cairn? The only one i can think of is arvak and he was trapped with his master.

Animals are the most typical type trapped in Soul Gems. You require a Black Soul Gem to trap humanoids. The Soul Cairn might be for those trapped by Black Soul Gems maybe. It's really vague.

Yeah, that really vague background when it comes to soul gems is why i came here, thanks though.

There's a reason why soul trapping a human is considered a crime. The soul isn't set free when used.
At least that's how I look at things.

To get a proper answer, this thread should probably be in the "lore" section of the forum, not the Skyrim section. I'll request it to be moved, so that the proper answer might be found.

From what I understand, when you used a filled soul gem to create an enchantment, whatever soul is used is fused into the weapon. This is seen in Redguard, with the Prince's soul being put into a soul gem, so that it could be placed in his dead body (though things happen, and ).
In addition too, there is mention that Potemna's amulet is powered by the soul of a werewolf, and if one were to peer into it, one could see a werewolf running around, though this just may be gossip. Also, in Morrowind, whomever you stuffed inside a soul gem is named in the soul gem. So, if you stuffed Eno Hlaalu in a soul gem, the soul gem would say "Grand Soul Gem (Eno Hlaalu). And then there's the Daggerfall mechanic that when an enchanted item breaks, whatever you stuffed into that item is released and is really pissed. So far, this seems to be in-lore still, and is largely unchanged

NOW! For recharging enchanted weapons, this was fuzzy until Dawnguard. Now it seems that when a filled soul gem is used to recharge an enchanted item, the soul is then sent to the Soul Carin.

As for the mechanics of soul trapping, it's a spell that makes it so that a soul doesn't go right to the Dreamsleeve, or whatever the person bound themselves to, and heads right into the soul gem. If I had to say, it's creating a path of least resistance of the soul and binding it to the soul gem. From there, the soul is stuck in the soul gem (seen in Azura's quest in Skyrim, and the named Soul Gem mechanic in Morrowind), until used.