Whole peas will take longer to cook than split peas, but they won't ruin the soup. Split peas will also break apart more to thicken the soup, while whole peas will remain mostly intact. If you want a similar effect, you could use a stick blender to partially liquefy the soup after it's cooked.
This doesn't answer your question directly, but spices are only a small part of the picture. Below are some techniques to get more flavor in your soup.
Longer Cooking
Depending on the type of soup you're making, you may just need more time. Some flavors just need more time to get out. This is especially true of meat and bones. It's possible to make a ham and pea soup in an hour, but simmer that ham for 3 hours and it's night and day.
Rest overnight
Many stews, chili, etc. seem taste "better" the next day. Give an overnight rest in the fridge a shot and see if the flavor improves.
Add volatile flavors later
There is a caveat to go along with longer cooking. Some items work over long cooking times, while others lose flavor. In addition to meat/bones, garlic, onion, bay leaves (and others) benefit. Many fresh herbs, pepper, vanilla, saffron (and others) lose their flavor from the heat. If you are cooking for a while, you might try adding some more volatile flavors later in the process.
Add salt early
Salt helps to extract flavors, so add it early on in the process. Do be judicious with it, however. Long cooking tends to concentrate flavors, so you can easily make it too salty.
Sweat vegetables / brown meat
Before getting any water involved, sweat your onions, celery, peppers, mushrooms, or whatever vegetables or playing in this game.
Likewise, brown your meat. The maillard reaction is necessary for developing great flavor from the meat.
Best Answer
This is not a defect but a characteristic of pea-soup. In Holland, the pea-soup is considered good when a wooden spoon can be put upright in the pot. I've never eating it that thick myself, though.
The starches and the gelatin will form a mesh when cooling, so the consistency of the pea-soup will always be thick when cold. On heating, do what Mien advised: add some water or broth to the soup to the consistency that you want.
You will have to heat slowly because otherwise the soup will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
Don't forget to thoroughly heat the soup and let is simmer for at least 10' to kill any unwanted visitors (germs) before serving.