According to many spiritual teachers, all human beings are, in reality, spiritual beings on a human journey. We reincarnate as human beings in order to evolve as souls.
Our ultimate aim is to become fully conscious and capable as unique individual expressions of All That Is. It is a long journey, but that’s okay because the soul is eternal.
Contents
Soul Evolution
The soul’s journey is really a process of evolving. This means growing in consciousness, steadily progressing through different levels or stages of consciousness. How do we grow in consciousness? Through taking on challenging experiences in physical form. These cause us to make important, “soul-searching” choices and call upon us to discover our inner resources. But why in physical form? Why would a perfectly happy spiritual being decide to inhabit the physical realm with all of its limitations and difficulties? It is precisely so that we can experience the state of what feels like total separation from others and from the rest of reality. Only by going into this physically separated human form can we know ourselves as beings in our own right, and not just as … well … undifferentiated blobs of energy. Being physical throws our experiences and choices into extremely sharp relief in a way that is not possible otherwise. This is how we learn who we are and how to become all that we are. In other words:
Choice and the ramifications of choice provide the essential lessons of life. In a very real sense, you choose to be here in order to make choices.
Messages from Michael
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
The 35 Steps
We are here to know ourselves and be all we can be, step by step. And according to the teachings of the entity known as Michael, there are 35 steps to the reincarnational process. The body and personality you have now are merely the vehicles you have chosen for this latest step in your journey.
But why 35 steps? Why not 36 steps? Or 10? Or 100?
It is simply because, according to Michael, we go through five major stages of evolution through reincarnation. And, within each stage there are seven increments or levels to be completed. (Yes, it is rather like a computer game.) 5 x 7 = 35. 
Each single step requires a whole lifetime to complete. In fact, each step usually requires more than one lifetime. Typically, the entire journey of 35 steps takes well over a hundred lifetimes. So let’s look at the journey in more detail. We’ll start with the five major stages of soul evolution through reincarnation.
The Five Stages
The Michael teachings describe a sequence of five “cycles” or stages of soul evolution. They are named after the stages of human development:
- Stage 1: The INFANT Soul
- Stage 2: The BABY Soul [also known as CHILD Soul]
- Stage 3: The YOUNG Soul
- Stage 4: The MATURE Soul
- Stage 5: The OLD Soul
Each of these five corresponds to a specific level of development in capability and self-awareness within the individual soul. As the soul goes through each stage, the focus changes, more experience is gained, and consciousness expands. 
Incidentally, the same pattern of soul evolution has been identified by the hypnotherapist Michael Newton (right). His groundbreaking research was published in the best-selling book Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives (Llewellyn, 1994). The books by Newton and his students draw upon thousands of transcripts of people who, under hypnotic regression, have re-experienced being between lives. From the higher perspective of their soul they are able to explain what happens after death and before birth. This includes information about the levels of consciousness through which reincarnating souls evolve. What Newton and others have discovered is that souls between lives exist in light-form, and that each soul emanates a particular colour of the spectrum which indicates its current level of consciousness. The spectrum begins at white (all colours) but then goes through red, yellow, green, blue, to deep purple and violet. From low frequency to high frequency. The least evolved souls — the “newbies” — have a pinkish hue. The oldest souls — those nearing the end of the whole reincarnational cycle — have a blueish hue. Although the spectrum is a continuum, Dr. Newton has found that it can be divided into five distinct stages or levels of evolvement, from Level I to Level V. These can be mapped onto the five stages given in the Michael teachings, from Infant soul to Old soul.
So, for example, souls in the middle (or third) stage of reincarnation are referred to as “Young souls” in the Michael teachings and they are at what Newton would call “Level III”. They will have a yellowish or golden hue. (As an aside, both Newton and the Michael entity also identify higher levels of soul evolution which do not involve reincarnation.) The stages of reincarnation (or soul age) can also be likened to the stages of metamorphosis we see in nature, such as egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. In reincarnation, though, what changes is not the physical form but the mode of consciousness, especially the form of self-awareness and — as a result — the way of relating to others.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Soul age characteristics
Soul age affects how an individual lives, thinks, acts, and comes across to others. 
Stage 1 — Infant Souls
Infant souls focus on immediate survival needs. They flourish in simple environments close to nature, such as remote tribes or rural, pastoral settings.
In the context of modern society, however, they can come across as uncivilised simpletons or yokels, and may even be deemed to be psychopathic or have some sort of developmental disorder.
Psychologically, infant souls are naive, impulsive and “pre-conventional”, acting on impulse or habit with little or no thought for consequences.
Because they lack both social understanding and self-inhibition, they are capable of committing antisocial or immoral acts without any sense of wrongdoing. As such, they do not fit well within modern society and may end up in prison or in psychiatric units.
While they may lack the moral principles, social graces and cultural understanding of older souls, Infant souls are in a sense completely innocent, being without pretense or agenda.
Stage 2 — Baby Souls
In contrast to Infant souls, Baby souls think a great deal about the rights and wrongs of their actions. Their lives are about safety, security, structure and order — rigidly so. They like to live in communities that are highly principled and “civilized” (think of the Amish).
Baby souls come across to older souls as rather “square” – strictly conventional and conformist. Both their beliefs and their actions are largely rule-bound, so they are often ultra-conservative, traditionalist, orthodox, upright, moralistic, religiously devout, and mindful of law and order.
That said, they will occasionally give in to temptation, or temper tantrum, and break the rules themselves — but then might find themselves tortured with guilt and shame.
They are acutely aware of the rights and wrongs of people’s actions, including their own, though they have little insight into the motives behind them. Bad behaviour is sinful, and that’s that.
Stage 3 — Young Souls 
Young souls tend to be extravert, outward-bound, worldly, frenetically energetic, brash, competitive, political, ambitious and individualistic. Life at this stage is about thinking for oneself and asserting oneself as an individual.
Young souls are more ego-driven than others, keen to make their mark in the world. They are generally attracted to some form of worldly success — fame, fortune, power, glory. In fact, they are more fearful of death than souls at other stages, and those who aren’t sure about life after death may be anxious to make a big impact on the world stage, to create some kind of symbolic immortality for themselves.
Young souls cling to their own opinions, with a certainty that their own perspective is the right perspective, and their way ahead is by far the best way. They are very aware of their own agenda but do not really question it.
Stage 4 Mature souls 
Mature souls tend to be more reflective than younger souls, with a growing understanding of self, growing empathy for others, and a desire for authenticity in both. Life is less about proving oneself, and more about exploring “right relationship”.
Mature soul consciousness is no longer egocentric, in the sense of being limited to one’s own perspective and agenda, but is capable of accommodating multiple perspectives and different agendas. In fact, there is now a tension between “what I want” and “appreciating what you want,” or between the personal and the interpersonal.
This makes life much more complicated — sometimes overwhelmingly so. On the one hand, mature souls reject narrow-minded values. Yet on the other hand, they are able to empathise with whoever holds those same values. Fixed opinions are replaced by a sense of ever-shifting perspectives — “It all depends on how you look at it”.
This disappearance of solid ground can be hugely stressful, but it kicks off a search for deeper meaning and self-understanding, whether through art, psychology, philosophy or spirituality.
Mature souls tend to question everything, including their own motives, and are prone to do a lot of soul-searching (literally).
Stage 5 — Old Souls 
Old souls tend to exude some degree of depth, gravitas or wisdom that is quite obvious. In children, it can be most striking (think: old head on young shoulders) For having moved beyond the stresses and conflicts of the Mature soul, Old souls have a growing sense of inner peace and freedom — the freedom to enjoy being very much in the world, but not of it.
Compared to younger souls they are relatively calm, measured, untroubled and stable, unattached to social structures and cultural expectations, being sure of their own existence and inner strengths and their compassion for others.
On the other hand, finding themselves in a world that is so conflicted, chaotic, frantic, and superficial can be utterly depressing.
For Old souls, the aim of life is to find true self-expression and fulfillment. As such, they tend to go their own unique way in life, letting go and letting be, in a detached way that may seem very weird and eccentric to younger souls.
Late-stage old souls find themselves consciously participating in the evolution of all-that-is, and often focus on teaching spiritual wisdom with great compassion.
Note: These descriptions emphasise the differences between stages. In reality, though, there is a gradual blend from one stage to the next. A person at the start of the Mature stage, for example, will act mostly like a Young soul but with elements of Mature soul nature beginning to emerge.
The lessons of each stage
Here are the five stages of soul evolution through human reincarnation, together with the typical learning experiences associated with each stage:
So we begin reincarnating as Infant souls, complete novices at physical existence. At this first stage we are largely in a state of incompetence and terror, frankly. But through experiences and choices we learn and grow. We steadily progress from being Infant souls to Baby souls to Young souls to Mature souls. Finally, we enter the fifth stage as accomplished Old souls, the experts of human existence.
As infant souls we learned about choices having to do with survival, as baby souls choices having to do with moral codes and ethics, as young souls choices having to do with mastery of achievement, as mature souls choices having to do with relationships, and as old souls choices having to do with the nature of oneness with the Tao. An infant soul would therefore not understand the choices of an old soul although an older soul would likely have more understanding of the nature of younger soul choice having had them.
Michael, via Victoria Marina
To look at each stage in more detail see:
Stage 1. The Infant Soul
Stage 2. The Baby Soul
Stage 3. The Young Soul
Stage 4. The Mature Soul
Stage 5. The Old Soul
Soul levels in the human population
The six or seven billion people on the planet span the whole range of stages, but the average is said to be somewhere just past the mid-point of stage 3 (see chart below). In other words, this world is currently dominated by Young souls whose primary focus is competitive self-advancement.
The seven steps within each stage
Within each stage there are seven discrete steps to go through. In the Michael teachings, they are called “levels”, so in each stage we proceed from 1st level to 7th level. Calling these “levels” can be a bit confusing (since Newton refers to the five major stages as “levels”), so I sometimes prefer to call them “steps”. So each stage of reincarnation has seven distinct learning steps. For example, we begin the whole journey at step 1 as Infant souls, learn that lesson, then undertake step 2 as Infant souls, and so on. On completing the 7th step of the Infant stage, we then begin the 1st step of the Baby stage.
The early steps in any stage are about experiencing life at this new stage of evolution, learning the essential lessons through appropriate experiences. The later steps are about expressing those lessons, demonstrating this level of consciousness in action. For example, in the Young soul stage, the first three steps — from 1st level Young soul to 3rd level Young soul — are about discovering the meaning of free will and self-determination; the last three steps — 5th level Young soul to 7th level Young soul — are about demonstrating the meaning of free will and self-determination in action. (The middle step — 4th level Young soul — is about consolidating the lessons learned.) The first step or level of any stage is like putting a toe in the water; the final step is like teaching others how to swim:
| 1st Level | Initiation into the new stage. “Toe in the water.” First glimpses of the new consciousness. We come to recognise that there is a whole new way of being ahead of us, and we respond to the call, even though as yet it is beyond our comprehension. |
| 2nd Level | Building foundations. Wading in and out. Comparing and contrasting the old and new consciousness. We come to understand what is essential and different about this higher level, though it still remains ‘ahead’ of us, not quite within us. |
| 3rd Level | Rising to the challenge. Taking the plunge. We determinedly commit ourselves to actively embrace and explore the new consciousness. |
| 4th Level | Integration. Relaxing into it, “enjoying the water.” We now identify ourselves with this way of understanding self, life and others – this is our truth. We fully incorporate and consolidate the new consciousness into our own being. |
| 5th Level | Expression. Splashing about – “Look at me!” We openly share and communicate our new, true sense of self and of life’s meaning. We feel drawn to broadcast our truth, to “go public” with it. |
| 6th Level | Demonstration. Giving value and benefit to others. “Being a life guard.” Our new consciousness is put to the test. We also burn off any outstanding karma incurred in the earlier steps of this stage. |
| 7th Level | Mastery. Peak performance. We have complete understanding and control of our awareness at this level. We know exactly what we are doing. We may feel like a role model. Hmm… What’s next? |
This sequence of seven steps is repeated through each stage, making 35 steps in all from the beginning of reincarnation to the end. In case you’re wondering, I’m at the 5th level of the Mature soul stage. My current life’s lesson is about outwardly expressing my Mature soul consciousness.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Many lives
So, we start our evolutionary journey at level 1 of stage I (as “1st Level Infant souls”) and end it at level 7 of stage 5 (as “7th Level Old souls”). There are 35 steps in all. And each single step requires at least one lifetime to complete. A single step can be done in one lifetime but often that’s too big a stretch, so an initial life may undertaken as a taster, followed by one or two more which really go for it. Sometimes a life is interrupted, and the soul will just have to start over in the next life. Also, some lives are undertaken for reasons other than the specific intent to develop. For example, one lifetime might be undertaken primarily to assist another soul in their development. And some lives are taken on primarily for the death experience, for karmic reasons. These can be very short, of the order of days, weeks or months. Taking into account all the gaps spent in the non-physical state between lives, a single step is typically accomplished in about 100-300 years of Earth time. The whole journey of 35 steps usually takes well over 100 lifetimes. Hence, the whole journey is likely to take of the order of 7,000-8,000 years, but possibly a lot more if the population is low and opportunities to incarnate are few.
Questions and Answers
Coming back again and again sounds dreadful. Why don’t we just give up and be done with it? Can’t I just decide that this is my last time?
You cannot skip any of the steps, nor would you want to (from the soul’s perspective). You wouldn’t rent a movie but then skip to the final credits just to avoid the whole process of sitting through the movie. In fact, it’s more like a computer game. You are playing the game because you want to, and at some level you actually love it. And you know perfectly well that you need to master one level before you can move on to the next level. That’s what the game is all about.
Who says?
There’s no tyrannical deity controlling the game, forcing you to keep at it, deciding who gets to “graduate” and who doesn’t. It’s just the natural dynamic of life and the evolution of consciousness. A tadpole cannot suddenly transform into a full-grown frog. A baby human cannot suddenly take on a professional career or family responsibilities. There’s a natural, inevitable sequence to go through. And we’ve all signed up for it.
But why? What’s it all about?
Well, at the level of spirit or essence, all is one, all is love, all is joy. This is all very nice, but consciousness longs to experience more and more of what there is to experience, the utter richness and fullness of life.
How does it do that?
By fragmenting into zillions of conscious entities, each of whom has its own experiences and perspective, and each of whom can make its own choices about what to experience. Any soul can choose to continue being submerged in all-that-is, albeit with little sense of self. Alternatively, any soul can choose to undergo the experience of life in a separate physical form, interacting with other souls in their own physical forms. This is the ultimate way to experience oneself as a self.
And that’s why we are here?
We have all made this choice: to use the human form as a vehicle to help us become more conscious of ourselves as the amazing beings we are. The aim is to experience every possible experience that enables us to emerge more and more consciously and fearlessly as ourselves. We begin as helpless infants for whom the experience of separate existence is quite terrifying. But we end as autonomous, self-realised beings for whom human existence is the most amazing way of being, feeling joyful and free and sharing love with the whole of life.
More frequently asked questions
- What happens to our souls after our last reincarnation?
- How can I speed up / skip levels / stop reincarnating?
- How can I know my soul age level, etc?
More on Soul Evolution
Books
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The Michael Handbook by José Stevens and Simon Warwick-Smith [Amazon] |
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Sojourn: Karma, Reincarnation, and the Evolution of the Soul by Gina Lake [Amazon] |
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Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton [Amazon] |
I would love to have a bookonthis subjects really beenhelpfil And a blessing tbthankyou
Yes, I think that’s a project I should work on very soon. 🙂
Wow, really loved the article. It may seem odd but feel like a door to a different way of thinking has been opened to me recently. I keep randomly coming across articals like yours that just seem to resonate with me? If that’s the correct way of putting it? Thank you for perspective any how! 🙂
One question though….. What’s the surname of the Barry on the 5th level stage of mature souls with the smiley face after??? I found that at bit odd?!? Just before I saw it I was was just reading through imagining where I may fit in and then saw my name! Haha! Coincidence I’m sure but would still like to know the surname? 🙂
That’s me – I’m not broadcasting my full name as a courtesy to my employers.
Essentially there is no reason to doubt this article since we are all energy, and if you can cast your mind back as far as your schooldays you will remember being told that energy cannot be destroyed. The form can alter but the core will remain. So, if our energy remains or blends with the energy of the Universe it’s reasonable to assume that there are various stages of expression.
Since there are so many Barry’s on this site I am adding my surname, that way my views wont get mixed up with anyone elses. As to the lower case barry with the smiley face at the 5th level of Mature Souls, I too am puzzeled by this. I don’t see how it could have been added by a contributor because the site is looked against such intrusion.
Cheers Barry
– barry 🙂
(5th level Mature Scholar)
Could you give another example of an old soul? Since BO is the anti-Christ!
See https://personalityspirituality.net/articles/the-michael-teachings/reincarnation-the-35-steps/stage-5-the-old-soul/ for more info about old souls.
PS – do you mean Barack Obama? He’s a Mature soul.
I did intend to write ‘mature soul’. I also finished the article and found more info. And since your willing to reply and of an obvious liberal bent, I’d like to ask you about a theory I have. I think the liberal and conservative polarity that currently exists in our nation is two sides of the same coin. I actually think these view points are being fostered by self serving news agencies (on both sides). In other words, we all want a better society, we all love our Grandma, we all hope for a better future. I’m theorizing that it is possibly personality differences (MBTI, brain wiring if you will) that give people their perspective. Of course there are socio-cultural influences but my point is, in large part, most people are good people and want good things, we just differ on the path to that end because we of our personality modalities. I tried to be brief so I hope this makes sense.
Yes, I certainly agree that – apart from psychopaths and other wilfully antisocial types – no one sets out to be a bad person. As a rule, people do what they think is best. Only, their sense of what is “best” and how it can be achieved will vary according to personality. Other factors will also undoubtedly come into play, such as social background and the prevailing mood of the country/world.
Take the Attitudes, for example. At the risk of over-generalising, one can imagine that Idealists will tend to be attracted to liberalism (“Let’s make a better future for everyone”) and Realists to conservatism (“We already know what works”). But then again, it can always go the other way – an Idealist might see a brighter future for all in the “conservative” ideals of individualism and opportunity, while a Realist might figure that what is already proven to work best is liberal democracy.
Skeptics and Cynics will no doubt tend to question/dismiss whichever party is in power at the time, even if it is their own.
As for the Modes, I suspect we are attracted to politicians who appear to share our own Mode. If you have Mode of Passion, for example, you might be drawn to whichever leader seems the most passionate. Likewise for Aggression, Caution, etc…
Another factor in the mix of course is the level of awareness, or what is referred to here as soul age.
Baby souls are conservative by nature, and will want to uphold traditional values and law & order. But then a Baby soul who happens to have been brought up to be a “good liberal” in a family of committed liberals will feel a need to uphold that family tradition.
Young souls are attracted to the polarity itself – one side vs another – and like to be on the winning side. They will actively champion whichever they personally figure out to be the “right” one. They could be drawn either to the more gung-ho competitive style of the Right or to the angry revolutionary style of the Left, depending on their social background and way of thinking.
Mature souls are liberal by nature in that they feel it makes sense to be all-inclusive, though that can also manifest as simply voting for whichever party is not in power, to give the “outsiders” a fair crack of the whip. They can also be perversely drawn to whichever party or politician is most likely to create emotional conflicts and dramas, as a way to bring unexplored issues to the surface.
Old souls become less and less interested in polarised debates; they come to sense the deeper synthesis behind any apparent polarity. If they go into politics, it will probably be as a personal challenge to manifest wisdom and compassion, rather than just a case of taking sides or trying to prove a point.
So yes, I would say that each of us chooses the best we can – the best, that is, according to our current perceptions and personal orientation to life.
I Happen to agree with this assessment which is also echoed in “Conversations with God”. Most people do their best from their perspective. Sometimes it is hard for me because one of my weaknesses is judgment and I can get easily into an”us vs then” mentality. Its a very human proclivity and very pronounced here in America. Part of the reason,, beyond the :usual suspects” (Media, etc) comes from what a psychic once told me years ago. She said most souls born in America came here at this time to inspect and experience power in all its facets, America being the world’s most powerful nation.
A good friend of mine also echoed that the polarities of “progressive or liberal” impulse vs conservative energy tend to act as balancing factors for one another.
From the Soul Development theory, its clear that most of America and the world are filled with baby and young souls. Fundamentalism, which is usually associated with the right, but by no means exclusive to it, is a baby soul phenomenon. In this theory, baby soul’s “detest” mature souls, who tend to be more liberal, because of the presence of ambiguity and the ability to empathize with the view of the “other”. This is anathema to the baby soul.
Young Souls care less about the rigid lines of baby souls and center more around their own self, and ambition. From my view, Romney is a young soul who got caught in a baby soul game. Romney was a young soul. It was all about him, always. As is Clinton. Neither were highly ideological, such as a Ryan. I don’t think there are that many leftist baby souls around anymore, I think they were far more prevalent in the 30’s, perhaps the 60’s (not the anti war movement which was young-mature soul based) but those who became overly zealous.
I think a hallmark, unfortunately of “baby souldom” is irrationality. Te Inquisition for example combined a great deal of baby soul rigidness with young soul ambition. No mature soul energy present.
Recently I got a download that from a higher vantage point, humanity is where “God-Source-whatever” expects it to be. Why would one think a kindergartner should act like a seventh grader. The impression I got was humanity is still rather young and growing, therefore to still expect behavior that is appropriate to its collective age.
One thing. I agree there should be respect that most people come from a point of view that how they see the world is correct and that they are sincere. That does not make the world view in the best interest of everyone. Hitler also believed he was right in his world view.
The paradox, as I have come to understand it, is that what ever our own view of what is “best” and the subsequent amount of much of our angst, and clash with one another over much of this is wasted energy. Ultimately the collective desire and manifestation from Source will determine the day as to how things evolve. It is impossible to fight the torrent of the current of history.
I recommend watching “The American Experience” three part series on the Abolitionists. I have learned a great deal from what they went through about how historical process works, and to accept certain things about the nature of America that were present then, and still present today.
It is a great lesson in learning to “Love What Is”.
And yes we all do our best. I believe culture, brain wiring, etc are all secondary to the demand of the soul as it creates the incarnation.
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I just lost my very special tabi cat. To the point it seems weird to call her just a cat. Everyone who knew her could tell she was special. Deep, loving, connected, selfless. I called her Dohjo (dojo) because she felt like the place I would go to find my chi, right from birth. The other names I’d considered were Buda and He. Not really knowing why. I am spiritual not religious. All my “knowing” comes from what I feel not what I’ve been told. The loss of such a magical being and soul mate is astronomical to me. I keep feeling this nagging concern because as of yet, I don’t feel her around? I’m catching myself worry that she is now out there, possibly in another physical form already and I can’t protect her. Whether a human or animal, she may get hurt now. Has anyone thought of this and I know I need to accept it but she deserves so much more than the average life. Lets say she was at the final stage, then what?
Hi Christi
I really get your love and concern. I personally don’t know what has become of the consciousness and life force of the being who lived with you as your cat, but a couple of things come to mind. One is that you were probably meant to have that relationship, in that you chose to have it in your life plan — probably also with the knowing that, like all things in the world of form, it would not last. Perhaps her mission in life is to bless human lives with love in the same way as she did with you, and perhaps she is already lining up to be with her next beneficiary. It is also possible that “she” is now embarking on the human journey, if that is her choice. Either way, her safety and well-being are no longer your responsibility. The soul knows what it is doing.
It is actually pretty unlikely she would have returned to form already, and though it is impossible for me to guess where, when or in what form the next incarnation might be, I think I can safely predict that when your time comes to return Home she will be there to greet you.
Christi,
There is a special section in Robert Schwartz’s second book on Soul Contracts, “Your Soul’s Gift” that focuses exclusively on animals and pets. In addition at my “New Age Church” we have an extraordinary animal communicator. The consensus I have found is animals (and higher plants) have souls and contracts and cross over to the other side. It may be that lower animal forms such as insects have group souls.
Animals that choose to live with humans as pets do so as part a contract and desire to be with us. Most likely they have been with us before. They have their specific soul needs as well as relationship needs with us. Usually a loving pet is here to help us in our journey as well as to experience the love that is there also.
Whether your cat is going on to human form is up for discussion as I have heard many theories about transmigration. In Your Soul’s Gift the information was animals aren’t too keen on human incarnation as the extremes of emotion and duality are rather unpleasant for them. But who really knows?
I agree with Barry it is probably a little soon for your cat to come back. Often they come back to us in another animal form (another cat perhaps) with eerily similar qualities. Your cat is probably around but your emotion may be blocking her out. They visit quite a bit. If they don’t incarnate with us again before we die, they meet us on the other side.
I wouldn’t worry about your cat being unprotected. Her soul and Source energy knows exactly what she needs.
Sorry for your loss. My beloved cat of 14 years he was 17) died three years ago and I grieved more for him than both parents combined. I can feel him occasionally. He was present in this communication.
This is complicated because I am replying to a reply from my namesake, so I shall mark the distinction by saying I am Barry W or Barry Waterfield.
I found Barry’s reply most interesting and I have to say that it largely harmonises with my own views
Essentially we are all energy and that energy has to go somewhere. I don’t think anybody knows for sure what happens in the next world, there is an old saying,to the effect ” there are more things in heaven and earth Horatio”’and that I believe to be true. I also believe in helper souls and I think these can appear in any form. In the same way I think there people that are born to serve one major purpose. I myself feel pretty certain that I was not intended to live beyond fifteen, the age at which I caught a fatal illness. Somehow I survived but there has been little left for me to do since that time. I seem to have been provided for but not included if that makes sense. I’m pretty sure my purpose was to bring my parents a particular learning experience which I did but I also think I should have died at that point. That was the end of my task if you like.However medical science saved me, leaving me feeling like an actor with no script and no part to play, and I have felt this way since that time. I should be interested to hear other views.
Well, that makes sense to me. In my own lifetime I have come up to two or three “exit opportunities” which I’m pretty sure were laid out in my plan before I was born. By that I mean that I have faced death, and could have gone with it, but have chosen to live.
One was when my wife and I were expecting our child. I developed a “mystery illness” which could have killed me – it was preventing me from breathing, slowly choking me to death. I got that at some level it had to do with fearing that I would be an incompetent parent. I remember spending many sleepless nights on the brink, knowing that i could succumb if I wanted to, but choosing to live.
It sounds like in your case you planned primarily to reach one exit point and then exit. But choice always overrides pre-planning – or as they say in the army, no plan survives contact with the enemy. So here you are … possibly with an unplanned life ahead. The question is, what will you choose to do with it? (And there is no right or wrong answer.)
Barry,
My experience is twofold: that it is sometimes not in our best interest to presume we know completely our purpose here (our contract), and second, I do think we now know much more of what happens when we pass on. There are too many congruences between thousands of NDE, mystical fusions with Universal Consciousness and LBL hypnotherapy regression sessions as recorded in books such a Journey of Souls. Although I would agree that language is a very poor substitute for experience, these accounts give us a good sense of a composite as to what happens when we die. So for example the idea of “soul”. We tend to think in terms of individualized identity as we have it here, but what it is (as Barry alluded to as a collective) may be vaster. But it seems to me the preponderance of evidence suggests some form of eternal individuated continuation, up to a point, where such individuation is not necessary.
But even that is not certain. I read in Sedona magazine once a channeling from a “Goddess” energy that said “why did you feel it necessary to pull me out of Nirvana after thousands of years”?’ Most interesting. The idea that merging into singularity yet retaining potentiality of individuation is fascinating. However, this is at really high levels. From almost all mediumship, survival in some form of identity appears pretty inviolable. my own medium experiences tell me that when people die, they merge back into their essence of love, even at “lower realm” soul levels. Even abusers lose their earthly abusive identity and come across as extremely loving and aware.
As to your life. I agree with the potentiality that you may have fulfilled a primary contract. My suggestion, however, is the Universe is not random. My sense is that things run on probability lines, like the physics uncertainty principle, and if one probability does not manifest, others will surface.
If you are still here, my sense is on some level you are meant to be here. If, and this is a very big if, you fulfilled a primary contract, then you are being given a great gift. That gift is what I see as the prime directive for advanced souls, and many others, at this time, the opportunity to advance your union with essence or source. This is no small thing. Times like these are rare. If indeed you are free to pursue your relationship with source energy, take it. And if you have other “contractual” reasons for staying here, in the end its for the same. All sub contracts (personal stuff), imo, are subservient to the prime contract, elevation of consciousness, awakening.
Either way its a win win because the answers are inside of you and the chance to go deeper is there no matter what. The connection in the physical to the love of the Cosmos at deep levels is, as I suggested, no small thing.
Often we lose sight of the bigger picture. I know I do, and have to be reminded of this golden opportunity.
Hello Ken
I was most interested to read your reply. I take it you are gifted with the power of mediumship. I am actually getting quite old now, I am sixty six, and I have had a happy if uneventful life where I feel there are signs that I have been ”looked after”. I have taken my time up with music, at first performing it and now teaching it.I hope that I responded constructively. Tell me what is your opinion on multi dimensional existence. As one friend put it to me, we may have shared energy in other dimensions. She pondered whether one could die in one dimension yet recover in another. Rather as if the Titanic survived in other dimensions yet sank in ours.
Barry Waterfield
Barry,
I try not to comment on things I have nor personally experienced. i am well aware of parallel or “multiverse” theory. I can’t rule it out. The closest I ever came to some experience of it was a time I totaled a car by swerving and bashing in the front end. A day later I had a very uncanny feeling I had died in another reality.
I know there are people who have written on this and others who may have had first hand encounters with it. Certainly infinity is big enough to contain playing out all probabilities.
However, its kind of a credo of mine not to comment on things, as I said, I don’t have first hand knowledge of. That would be in the belief section of things based on the theories. etc of others. Therefore I prefer to be honest as to where my limitations are (when I can see them.)
For example I am a dream specialist assisting others in interpreting their dreams. But I have no real experience with lucid dreaming. So it would be false of me to expound on it and I don’t deal with it. That would be for someone else with true expertise with the subject..
Ken,
I am fascinated with your responses and have learned much. To read that you interpret dreams feels very synchronistic for me. I had a reikie level 1 attunement last night and then was woken up twice due to the sound of bells in my dream. But I do not remember anything else in my dreams. And my usual vivid dreams have been on hiatus since my dog passed a few days ago. Any interpretation would be wonderful as I feel the bells are important for some reason. Thank you!
Could I renegotiate my willingness to spend the last half of my life alone!
You can do whatever you want.
It’s *your* willingness, so why not?! 🙂
I would appreciate if the author of this site corrected the part that says Adolf Hitler was a baby soul he is not he is and old soul, I beleave you are misinformed because you do not know the truth
Kindly explain what you mean and how you came by this information.
The quicker self realization starts to kick in, the quicker the process of knowing what level you are on? I suppose..
I am only 18 but all this moves me and connects to several questions unanswered. I guess they will be answered as time progresses. Good information though; food for my soul.
Thanks for an interesting insight. I thought about this today regarding somebody who frustrates me…and wondered how many births they’d have to take. I guess this answered some of questions. I asked and I got.
I did get a little competitive with this chart…and that would make me mature soul wavering with some young soul in me. :)) And that is okay.
Part of me feels very grateful for all those lovely things that come my way and make me contented…so, hopefully, when I near my end there will be no aching, craving, yearning or unhealthy attachments. Just happiness, joy, love and gratitude. Even our fluctuations might be a form of karmic testing and growth. But I too have ways to go! I am learning patience…
Thank you for your work. What an amazing contribution you are making to society. I wish you well.
I am also proud to see so many in their 20s and 30s so mature. Far more mature than what I was at that age. Good for you all! The world will go forward well…I am optimistic.
Love to all of you…
Thanks Meera
B
In this theory of reincarnation where most major events (including rapes and murders) are supposedly preplaned, isnt there a danger that most of the commoners who understand these concepts mostly on theorotical grounds would start assuming and justifying that if they were involved in a rape, murder etc its all okay, as afterall it was well planned even before they were born. Are we looking at a general acquital, if not atleast empathy even on most dreadful crimes if this theory were to be believed in common day to day world. wont people take it for granted raping a woman or killing a person assuming they are just gettting driven by their souls instincts towards its plan. What happenes to the flavor and fabric of worlds social structure?
Good question. I think the answer is straightforward though: if one has planned to commit a karmic/criminal act, then one has also understood and accepted the almost inevitable legal consequences of such an act – detection, capture and punishment (imprisonment or execution).
Anyone can TRY to “justify” an act on the grounds that it was pre-planned at a soul level with the victim’s agreement, but in the eyes of the law that’s just the same as trying to justify an act on the grounds that “God told me to do it.” The spiritual level of understanding doesn’t really connect with the level of human society, law, and court proceedings. It isn’t meant to. Human laws aren’t designed to incorporate spiritual insight, but to contain and deal with our anti-social impulses and so make society a generally stable and fair place to live. It’s a different focus entirely.
We are all free to rape and kill as much or as little as we like. We are not free, however, to ignore the justice systems that are in place in the society at the time, and the consequences that follow a criminal act. As souls, we understand this.
Good question. To piggyback on Barry’s answer there are other levels at work here, The contract, agreement or intention is made at the Soul level. But the power, force, and intensity of events, relationships, illnesses, etc are meant to be fully felt at the human level. Even for fairly evolved people, issues such as loss or difficulty are not easy, nor are they meant to be. So there is a tension or balance between the human response and the multidimensional understanding. In “Home with God” by Neale Donald Walsch, “God” says, “Never mourn someone’s death, for they are OK. However mourn your loss”.
It is fairly easy to see Soul dynamics from a distance. I saw a news article about a young man who was the sports hero and the absolute center of the town’s focus somewhere in the Midwest. He collapsed and died of a heart attack on the basketball court after winning a playoff game enroute to the state championship tournament. The town was in complete shock and grief. For me, having distance, I could see clearly the contract at work, that the residents had some karmic lesson to learn about value of life and he volunteered to help teach it.
There are other events that trigger me and I am not so distant, such as the murder of the Gay Mayoral black candidate in the South.
Contracts are set up expressly for the purpose of growth and ultimately expansion of the heart and deepening of Soul. If one is blase about it, that means one is divorced from an extent from feeling. The Universe, being however a pretty intensely just place does not allow one to maintain that kind of attitude for long.
The issue of separation, which involves most people in ignorance about these things, at this time invokes strong emotion in general.
There are religions and people who institutionalize such attitudes as you expressed. Hinduism in particular in its shadow aspect encourages lack of social justice or concern by claiming, “Its just their karma”. Again, life has a way over time of letting the person who feels superior feel the painful end of the stick.
Enlightened attitudes allow us to see we are responsible for our destiny, to accept our power of creation, and to graciously acknowledge the gift in these self created situations.
However being human at any level is not easy. Usually we feel these things in hindsight. When we go through them, they most often are pretty unpleasant (to say the least.) Human experience, as I said, is meant to be felt very deeply. There’s no getting around it.
So whoever holds a belief that is cavalier in this respect doesn’t get to hold it for long. And if they get away with it for a few lives, their guides will make sure it doesn’t continue.
I’m sure, with all his wisdom. the Dalai Lama grieved for Tibet.
Nice insight….but I still have a question……In the end the purpose of entire evolutionary process is to understand that its “not good” to rape or murder as it is against the evolutionary principle of “universal unconditional love”. The end message is that how can you rape and murder when you are practicing unconditional love. The lessons planned for rapes and murder can be to realize this basic concept. Rest even if souls are aware of the legal consequences there are several instances when these crimes never get caught. What happens then…..where’s the pay out….where’s the un-entanglement factor…
The traditional Karmic laws define positive and negative karmas….as per various religious texts. And they don’t define being raped and being murder as a result of previous karmas…though they define the act of raping and murdering as negative karma and hence a consequence (imprisonment or death sentence).
My question is…lets assume I raped a woman and then killed her but never got caught……now should I feel free that it was all pre-planed and I bear no burden of it….or should I wait as per traditional karma theory (as well mentioned in Hinduism and subtly in all the religions) for the consequences of my karma be it getting caught sometime later or having a bad time in life in general as per the conversion factor of traditional karmic theory that makes more sense?
You ask a number of questions
1) In the end the purpose of entire evolutionary process is to understand that its “not good” to rape or murder as it is against the evolutionary principle of “universal unconditional love”.
I would not state it this way. The evolutionary process is not a mental construct, a belief, or a conceptualization. These are human logical mind terms and thoughts. The evolutionary process is a long journey into separation. and reunion and awakening to a very deep level beyond the mind as to the true nature of self, that which what one always was. The process expands and illuminates the individuated part and the whole in a manner that was not possible before the journey began.
2) Rest even if souls are aware of the legal consequences there are several instances when these crimes never get caught. What happens then…..where’s the pay out….where’s the un-entanglement factor…
Karma is the distributive justice in the Universe which no one can
escape. It is the continual balancing factor that enables souls to grow because in some fashion the consequences of our actions must be faced. There are no exceptions. If someone appears to “escape” in this life, most likely it was ordained. But they will not escape in the future. This insures that the Universe is just. But from the highest perspective it is not punitive, it is all for love. Divine Consciousness is exploring the height, depth and width of the human experience. It has to, Therefore there is no judgment. But growth necessitates karmic consequence.
3) And they don’t define being raped and being murder as a result of previous karmas.
They do and they don’t and I would rely less on ancient texts and more on present technological models of consciousness such as “Journey of Souls” by Michael Newton. The back story of issues like this is complex. Sometimes souls are “paying off a debt”. Sometimes they want to experience what it is like., (Really) There are many interfaces as to how situations and events come together. Its not simple and linear as we would like to think.
4) My question is…lets assume I raped a woman and then killed her but never got caught……now should I feel free that it was all pre-planed and I bear no burden of it….or should I wait as per traditional karma theory (as well mentioned in Hinduism and subtly in all the religions) for the consequences of my karma be it getting caught sometime later or having a bad time in life in general as per the conversion factor of traditional karmic theory that makes more sense?
The likelihood that you would rape and murder someone and be awakened enough to really be in tune with these principles would be the most extreme of rarities and most unlikely. Again these are not just mental constructs. The more one advances, the more one is in tune with and in alignment with one’s essence, which is love. Therefore, the propensity or inclination for such acts would not be part of one’s makeup. Acts like rape and murder are usually the province of more immature souls who still are enamored and contained within the constructs of intense ego based needs, thoughts, and desires. Such people do not believe in these types of systems such as contracts and karma. And if they believe they are laughing at karma to its face, they are sadly mistaken. The power of distributive justice can wake the soul up jarringly. Ouch. I won’t do that again.
An unusual exception would be like Krishna’s admonition to Arjuna in the Gita to rise and do his duty dispassionately, even though it is a war and he must kill.
Again, people at this level don’t think in these terms, and if by chance they do, they know in some manner there is no escaping the consequences of their actions, however that manifests.
How many people do you know who have had lots of extremely difficult circumstances in their lives and curse God for abandoning them or that life is unfair? Where do you think those circumstances originated from? Isn’t fun or easy, is it? Karma’s a bitch , as the saying goes, if it fits.
Don’t think I can add anything to Ken’s great answer, except a small footnote. In these Michael teachings, several types of negative karma are identified: murder, rape, dismemberment, incarceration, deliberate neglect, and ‘mind-fuck’ (psychological manipulation). A karmic act is one that alters another’s life without their prior agreement, in a negative way in the case of negative karma, ie deliberately violating their wellbeing or freedom. Positive karma is any unplanned act that enhances another’s wellbeing or freedom.
Nice…..I am sobered by the replies…. 🙂
My next question is on the age old battle of vegetarianism and non vegetarianism…..Do we incur karma by killing and eating animals….? Is it right to kill animals for food….?
To deliberately kill an animal for the pleasure of watching it suffer might be karmic. But as far as I can gather it’s neither right nor wrong to kill animals for food; it’s just how the physical plane works, how matter and energy get recycled from one body to another. The spirit working through animals knows this.
We always have choice in eating or not eating meat, as we do with any other kind of action, and if we do eat meat then we also have choice in how we – individually or as a society – obtain our meat: ethically and humanely, or ruthlessly and inhumanely. As we evolve over lifetimes, we gradually come to consider the integrity of everything we do, and ensure that our choices and actions are consistent with our evolving principles, values and insights.
I can only give the answer to which I have had experience. My Guru channeled through a friend after he died once a month for 6 years. The experience was off the charts. In life, he advised us to be vegetarian for our own growth reasons, not for karmic violation. In the channeled state he said it was not a karmic violation and vegetarianism was not a prerequisite for spiritual growth. He did say it helps to thank the animal or fish for sustaining us before we eat it.
This is a predator -prey planet. I think animals understand when they incarnate the situation here. My only issue, and I violate my own beliefs, is about factory farming which is terrible to animals. We all have our contradictions.
I have had most channels confirm my Guru’s channeled message. At this time there appears to be no major karmic debt from meat eating.
I’m not 100% sure of anything when it comes to the afterlife, and am open-minded to many beliefs. I am open to the idea of reincarnation, and have researched a bit. I think that many people who find themselves here are mature souls because they’re the ones who reflect on these matters and are in a constant search to find themselves. Even though I’ve been called an old soul since I was 12, (I’m 27 now), I myself fit well in the description of a mature soul, probably somewhere between the creative and expressive step, and the step where I will teach those who have the ears for it.
After reading all this here, my mind keeps going back to one thing, but l have to explain a bit more about myself before I explain what my hangup is:
There’s a couple things I believe very strongly in, the main one being that Love is, for lack of a better phrase, the most important thing in the universe, and another is that everyone and everything is connected. My capacity for love is (so-far) unmatched in my experiences with others. At certain times I feel my soul beam out of my chest, like rays of light shooting out from within me, and energy come out the tips of my fingers, like lightening, that makes me feel like I am touching a tree from 30 feet away, and my forehead can feel like I can send anyone I have a close bond with a message from miles away. When you describe the souls as they are in-between lives, with their soul groups, as blobs of energy connected to all and love in all, I feel like I can fully fathom it. I haven’t had any lessons in spirituality and haven’t done any meditation or yoga, I’m just capable, I don’t know why I am either. My goal in life, what I’m striving for, is to experience the highest level of pure love I am capable of.
So this is my hangup: If the purpose of my soul is to be in physical form to evolve as an individual, then why in my lifetime has my path been in finding out how connected we are and how big pure love really is and what it feels like? Aren’t I defeating the purpose of living this life if my souls goal is to experience individual and separated experiences and I’m here trying to feel the love and connection to the highest of my ability and capacity? Furthermore, wouldn’t ‘knowing’ what my souls intentions are for this lifetime also get in the way of the learning process, since therefore many experiences will be experienced in a more detached or apathetic way? Like it turns your life into a movie, (best analogy I can think of).
Your thoughts?
Hi Gina
Great to hear from you. What a fantastic capacity for love!
First, you might want to see if you resonate with the Goal of Acceptance (one of the seven possible life goals) https://personalityspirituality.net/articles/the-michael-teachings/goal/acceptance/. Those with this goal come into life with the aim of giving and receiving love – however they understand love to be, according to their level of evolution. A baby soul with the goal of Acceptance, for example, will probably be wanting to feel accepted (assimilated) into the community, and – being in terror of community rejection – may become rather ingratiating. A young soul, on the other hand, will want to enjoy individual recognition, approval, and acknowledgement, and might do so through maximising their personal attractiveness. With mature souls, and their emerging awareness that self and other are equivalent, the giving starts to become at least as important as the receiving, so they will be seeking opportunities to express as well as experience acceptance in the form of sincere mutual understanding and support. With old souls the emphasis is heading towards unconditional love and compassion.
So to answer one of your questions, expressing your soul’s innate capacity for love isn’t a contradiction of the purpose of incarnation; one of the reasons why we are here is precisely to discover and convey love *through* the illusion of separateness. Or as it says in Emmanuel’s Book, “to bring love into a place where love seems not to be,” despite our soul’s knowledge that separation is indeed an illusion and that in truth love is all there is. It’s about turning a universal truth into a personal fact, an individual realisation.
At 27 you are, from the soul perspective, still “in training” for your life task which presumably will kick off in the next 10 or 15 years. My guess is that your life task may be about being an inspiration to others (might you be a Priest soul?). It’s possible that you are discovering all about love and connectedness now so that you can teach it with the wisdom of direct experience later on.
Is it “cheating” to know your soul’s purpose and life plan? No, it just means that you are wising up to the game of life, and are now at a level at which you can treat your life situations and experiences with a bit more detachment, and approach the whole thing a bit more consciously. And after all, the learning of this spiritual knowledge at a certain point in your life was presumably part of your life plan!
There is no reason why having such insight should lead one to go into a state of apathetic withdrawal. If anything, it makes the game even more interesting. You can experiment with making things happen consciously (manifestation), rather than just waiting to see what your life plan has in store. And again, this won’t be a contradiction of your life plan – it will be factored in.
To use the movie analogy: as children, we think that all the characters and events in a story are real – when Bambi’s mother gets killed, we feel upset. As adults, we know that a story is just a story, yet that doesn’t stop us from wanting to watch movies. Instead, we become more selective about what movies we watch; we develop preferences for certain genres or directors; we might even get into making movies. The whole movie experience is still worthwhile. We just enjoy it in a much more sophisticated way – and we can still cry when Bambi’s mother dies!
Similarly in human life, knowing that it’s a “setup” doesn’t mean that we watch everything remotely without any involvement. For example, if your best friend is killed in a hit-and-run, the emotions you feel will be perfectly real and appropriate. If the understanding that it was “meant to happen” as part of some life plan reduces the emotional impact and makes the loss spiritually meaningful and easier to accept, then fine. If it doesn’t, then so be it. We are where we are, and wherever we happen to be is perfect.
I am so grateful to you for such a quick reply!
You’ve surely dulled any thoughts I was having about ‘knowing’ your soul path, thank you. You’ve also shown me how being here with Love as a goal isn’t contradictory but a challenge. “It’s about turning a universal truth into a personal fact, an individual realisation.” I Love that, among other things you said and quoted.
Ok, I’ve spent the entire day on this site now haha and I’m a bit lost when it comes to pinpointing where I fit, as would be expected as I’m just diving in on the subject of reincarnation.
Although, I should say, I have been pondering the “What Am I” question for about a year now. I had a beautiful, euphoric, epiphany when I was 22, after researching some things, throwing out what society has told me I should be and should want, and really looking within and asking myself, at the very core of me, “Who Am I”, and “What Do I Want”. Answers came. I can tell you I’ve been so much more happy since then. I had been suffering from such inner-conflict about the Feminist attitudes I had been brainwashed with and came to the conclusion that being feminine and submissive to my man is who I truly am, that I seek to be submissive to a man I love, that I feel most fulfilled and happiest when I feel the yin-yang of dominance-submission, masculine-feminine energy flowing in a figure-8 around my man and I, filling us with love, joy, connectedness, wholeness. Not in an inferior way either. The man I choose to submit to is not superior to me, we are “equal”, just in different ways. Competition replaced with complimenting each other. What happened is I accepted myself, embraced my femininity, and truly came to love myself and see how I wanted to show/give my love, and saw how that is what I wanted most out of life, forgoing my many other talents, gifts, and skills that was leading to great things in the career path.
Based on that, it would seem my Soul Goal is “Submission”, yet I feel that my goal is traveling an infinite road of Love, and Submission is merely the vehicle that drives me. Submission brings me to a place of selfless euphoria drenching my Dom in my love.
After reading the Soul Goal “Acceptance”, although much of it did resonate with me, none of the negative sides of it are things I struggle with, ever. It seemed there was much emphasis on accepting other people in order to get to “unconditional love” whereas I feel I’ve always had that capability within me and reach beyond. And I wish to take someone with me. That’s the hard part. I can see the limitations long-term boyfriends in the past have when it comes to love. To them, they love me at their absolute fullest, they simply lack the capacity or skills to love me any more purely so. This doesn’t make me feel rejected, or unloved, it makes me feel like showing them the way by words and example, even if I know they won’t get all the way to the level I am currently capable of, I see them grow a level or two up over time, and it’s beautiful. The type of negative feelings I get on the subject is feeling ‘alone’, saddened I haven’t met anyone else like me to share such a bond with… which usually consists of me sobbing in extreme emotional pain, because I have so much to give and no one who is capable of receiving it all, which leads me to go on a walk so that my self-pity turns into pondering, ‘why, why am I so much more able, why was I given such a beautiful gift that I can’t give fully to others? Which is what leads me to ‘What Am I?’ and now I’m here.
Out of the seven soul types, I resonate with all but 1, King. I feel very strongly that I have nearly all of the other traits listed, short of a few. Second least being Warrior, since I only relate to Loyalty and Dedication and not the other traits listed for Warrior. Artisan seems to be the one the most, on quiz and facial features, which makes sense, but it seems like the old me not who I am today. Before my epiphany at 22, I had originally intended on being a singer. Though not for the fame – My dream was to help others by giving them songs they could relate to; Write a song, giving them the words they couldn’t find themselves, and sing it with such compassion that it reached their soul and relieved them. I sacrificed this dream for my new dream. Career, Fame, paparazzi, none of that fit into my old dream and certainly not my new dream. I can’t give myself body and soul to my future husband and dedicate my time and energy into teaching and nurturing my future children with a career. That said, I resonate with each trait listed for Artisan.
But it doesn’t go unnoticed that I also resonate with every trait listed for Server, Sage, and Priest as well! With facial features matching! For Scholar I’m only one trait short of matching them all, that trait being “neutral”. I am researching something nearly every day, and have quite the thirst for knowledge, math, science, philosophy, etc. I suppose after reading this here, it’s no wonder why people say I look so different from picture to picture of me. I understand people can have secondary soul types, and maybe even 3, but 5 to 6 out of 7? What am I?!
I feel I got some questions answered yet more popped up. I feel a little more lost than when I came here, perhaps because I was so hopeful there’d be something here to describe what I am, but then I found myself fitting into such a wide variety, it makes me feel like I’m something else altogether, like there simply isn’t a category for me here. There’s still much more time before I reach my What Am I epiphany, and oh what a glorious time that will be.
Gina,
I want to piggy back on Barry’s excellent rely. First, if you think you’re “cooked”, you aren’t. If there wasn’t experiences to be had, lessons to learn, you wouldn’t be here.My perspective is you are pretty advanced, few people display at a young age the kinds of abilities you share. So I think there are two over riding Soul purposes for you. Like many of us, you came to serve humanity, the Earth, the Source. But in order to do that there is some growing to do. My sense is that for you integration of the transcendent part with the Earthly, human part in balance is a big one. There is an expansion happening that is both individual and collective. Profound integration of energies is a huge part of it.
Second, I’m going yo advise you to not be quite as concerned intellectually with “where you are” in this scheme. Its useful but its also mind stuff. My experience, and I teach this, is that we create Soul contracts and agreements before we came in. So you already have set for yourself your agenda and you have ac team of guides all around you. They probably led you to this site.
I think the only thing you really need to know is you are pretty developed and how you deepen your connection to your center authentically at this point is the real crux of things. At 27 you may think you know a great deal about yourself, but in ten years you will look back and say “who was that person”.
Once things are set in motion, there is a flow that you are a part of. As long as you sincerely attend and enhance your ability to hear, feel the inner guidance and learn to discern and be receptive, things develop of their own accord.
You ask , “Who am i”. Beyond all identity, you are everything, disguised in this life as Gina. The real you, your Soul-Spirit which is one with all that is has an agenda and is the true doer. This does not negate individuation, it enhances it as Barry suggested. Once you anchor even more the truth f your being, the role you assigned yourself in this life will become clearer and easier.
So don’t get caught in the mind’s spider web of all these levels, etc. The ego loves that stuff and beyond getting a sense of where you’re at and playing with it a little (I love the celebrities who embody different phases and it helps to understand the political and cultural landscape better so as to not get as enmeshed), it can get confusing.
You’re moving along quite well. You as God I think have things well in hand. Enjoy.
Sorry for the typos. I need to proof read more.
Thanks Ken. I should explain a little further… I know who I am and what I want now, those questions were answered in my epiphany at 22. The question of “What” am I, has to do with, (how do I explain something I am still confused about lol) what I am in relation to the universe and everyone around me. As I’ve said, I strongly believe we are all connected, and I’m trying to figure out what I’m meant to bring to it or do for it. A physical symptom brings more urgency and seriousness to it, which I’ll get to later.
I’m not perfect, but I am very blessed. The biggest and best of it all is being blessed with my large capacity for, and understanding of, Love. I’ve already described all that.
Please, I’m not telling you in a conceited way, it’s just a clear observation, which has caused inner conflict and wonder:
1. I’m very talented, intelligent, compassionate, beautiful, this list goes on and on, I am SO blessed I lack direction because I am good at mostly anything I try. I was hung up on the traits thing because it’s been noticeable for some time now that I have a heck of a lot more traits than the average bear, I’m much more complex, to the point of setting me apart. This makes me wonder if my journey here is more special or more purposeful if I was made this way. So, not that I am special, but that this journey, this life experience, is special. Perhaps every soul gets this special journey, I don’t know, I have no idea, it’s just apparent I’m apart. Not apart in my connection to everyone and everything, apart as in, not the regular life experience, like, I may feel apart from other individuals when I think about this stuff, but actually feel more connected to the universe in the same moment. Like, being the only sober person in a room full of drunk people. It’s like I can see how they aren’t connected, (hard to explain and I’m starting to get off topic so I’ll leave it at that, do you get it?).
After pondering this thought for a while, and seeing how I affect people, sometimes I conclude that maybe I’m here to help everyone else, and that this life isn’t actually meant to help me grow as much as it is meant to assist in others growth. But I really know nothing as truth, and my mind can change from one context to the next. My thoughts are really just combining feelings and experiences and looking for a pattern to make sense of it all. Maybe I’m this 7th stage I’ve seen spoken of here, “a re-integrated collective consciousness, a ‘causal body’, comprising all souls from our larger grouping of origin, or what Michael calls ‘entity’.”
2. My luck is out of this world, literally, it’s like the universe touches me. I wonder how I can give back. Yes there have been bad experiences and people taking advantage of me or being cruel, but overall I feel so blessed. I feel like I wouldn’t be given all this if there wasn’t a reason, a way in which I am to give back. Why am I set up so amazingly, not just the qualities within myself, but also the physical things of this world? I am in this very blessed position where I am fully provided for by those who love me, without asking, and only work when either someone needs my help or I think it will be fun, because I don’t really need money. It really just turned out that way for me, luck is what people say. (The same fortunes aren’t even true for my own siblings). I’m not living off the land or anything, I live like an average american in terms of how big my home is or how many things I have, but I’m not very materialistic, things are just given to me without even wanting or asking. I rarely have money and rarely need money. Kind of like how a housewife without children is provided for and has a lot of time on her hands, but I’m not a housewife.
Most of my time and energies go into relationships; serving my man and developing our relationship, helping family and friends, helping strangers – but I guess with strangers it’s more about helping than the actual relationship with them – and then creativity and research. To your average housewife that’d be more than enough to feel productive without holding a job. It’s not to me though. I’m not doing enough. Getting a 9-5 job won’t fix it either.
The point of telling you all of this is to show you why I feel the need to know what I am because I feel like I’m supposed to be doing something that I’m not already doing. It’s like the stage has been set. I think it starts with figuring out What I am. The rush or pressure is due to coming down with hives 6 months ago. Hives are an allergic reaction, yet I have no allergies (I’ve been seen by multiple doctors including an allergist). They won’t go away and are tamed by daily meds, the doctors have no answers or solutions.
I think I may be doing something wrong, on the wrong path maybe, or perhaps my hands have been idle or ‘absent better purpose’ for too long. I feel the hives is most likely a spiritual problem and therefore only corrected spiritually. This is why I came off overly concerned and like I’m rushing things that should come more naturally.
It is “mind stuff” as you say, and it can make me feel self-absorbed when I spend too much time thinking about it, but it’s hard to ignore when a physical symptom is right there and won’t leave. The hives make me think something’s not right about what I’ve been doing when I have thought and still feel the path I’ve been on is the right one. So I guess I have a lot more to learn, and would prefer it to be sooner rather than later, hives suck lol.
Maybe I’m wrong and these hives have absolutely nothing to do with spirituality or anything psychological at all. I’m just going on a feeling here, and it’s not like the doctors have answers.
I’ve noticed how a lot of times a physical illness has to show up in order for the spiritual problem to be acknowledged and addressed. Just think of all those NDE stories, a link on this site brought me to.
Which was very interesting to watch by the way. This is just a side based on my post about Love – I found that, for whatever reason, I already instinctually know what these people were only able to learn through a near death experience. I keep asking myself Why I already know what the NDEers say they learned, and don’t know the answer. It’s wrapped into the “what am I” question.
Well, thanks for listening, ugh I went off in so many directions, I have too much to explain and too much to learn, I’ll give my mind a rest now. This would be so much easier talking in person. Any thoughts are welcome. A retreat seems to be the answer.
Gina,
Its late. A few things. There is no luck, EVERYTHING is related to essence to spirituality. As Abraham says it all begins with vibration. Then resonates out. Your hives could be for a number of reasons. Louise Hat says they are about fretting over small things. Your body could be struggling with being compatible with your energy. My sense is there is some significant irritation in your soul, the mirror of “what am I”.
Metaphors are valuable. Hives are a form of a rash. “What is itching at me?” “Where is the itch I can’t scratch?”
One exercise I would suggest is view your hives in a “Gestalt” manner. Journal and let them speak, as if it were a dream. Let the wisdom of your body guide you.
Hives are often connected to the nervous system and anxiety. I feel sometimes your impatience, the desire to “figure it out, NOW.”
Barry had a good point. You’re only 27. I didn’t start coming into myself until I was 42. So I always say, as Abraham does, look to alignment with center first. Or as Jesus said.”Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven, all these others will be added unto you.”
Your destiny awaits you on the road. You don’t have to pus the river. Perhaps this is part of the soul lesson you signed up for.
You say it all looks perfect. Maybe, maybe not. The way things evolve may look different than the mind conceives.
The God part of you is far more in control than you think. Try to sink into that. Immerse yourself, as Barry suggested, in Source energy. This allows intuition to further develop and guides to lead more easily. Things get clearer. Patience. Then the hives will go as they have served their purpose.
Thanks for caring enough to listen and respond, I greatly appreciate your efforts to help and teach me. You seem very confident in your beliefs and very wise, so I’m grateful to have your guidance.
I’m kind of laughing about the “Luck” thing lol. I use the word luck because there’s no other word to explain what Looks like luck. To me, it feels like the universe is touching me, like I can feel this live presence all around, like a large crowd, but not human, and they all know each other, and I’m a part of it, except I’m grounded to the earth and they’re not, and there’s no word for that. It’s funny because people who don’t believe in luck, completely change their mind after spending a lot of time with me. They perceive it as luck anyway. I’m not sure what you mean by “essence to spirituality”. I kinda get the vibrations thing, maybe. I remember watching a video about it and looking into it. I can’t remember it all but it said there were different ways to raise your frequency or vibration and a couple of them were: laughing, singing, dancing, and eating might have been one. I remember thinking about how I do a lot of those pretty regularly. Is this what you were talking about here?
I want to do everything you said, and don’t know how. I’ve looked into spirit guides and meditation from time to time, and I think I’ll dive back in it now due to your suggestions.
I have pondered a lot about the hives. I’ve done as you said, asked myself lots of questions including, ‘what’s itching me’ and lots of others. I’ll do things ‘close’ to meditation, like, put in earplugs, focus on breathing, relax my whole body, and try to let answers come. I really try to get to the root of it. I’ll ask ‘them’ to show me in my dreams before I go to sleep at night.
I was trying to avoid writing about this because I didn’t intend for my posts to turn into relationship stuff that often times people don’t want to get into, but I keep going back to this one idea that I think is the reason for the onset of the hives, so if you want to listen, here it is: there was a metaphorical slap in the face and complete disrespect for Love itself committed by my boyfriend unto me. His actions and feelings went against everything I stand for, everything I’m striving for. To put it briefly, we had a bad fight. It broke me. I had no money, no phone, no car, and I was 5 hours from home. I considered going to a woman’s shelter. I thought, ‘How could I let myself devote myself to and trust another when this is what can happen? How could I put myself in a position where one minute I have everything and the next minute I have nothing? How could I have chosen to put all my time and energies into a relationship that just ended and therefore wasted? How can I be a sub to a dom and still protect myself?’ He ended up finding me and we talked for a long time and we went home together. I was so upset about it I escaped through video games for a couple days to give my mind a rest, which is when the hives started. I don’t think the answer is to break up with him, because it would be better to help him, help him learn how to love, give our love for each other another chance, and that’s what I chose to do. So why else would the hives still be here? How could it be wrong to make that choice, when the choice is pro-Love and Love is what I’m all about? Unless my path of love isn’t my right path? But how couldn’t it be when it feels so right?
Your body may be wiser than your ego-mind. It sounds like you experienced a trauma and suppressed it. How you deal with your relationship is your choice but I am concerned about a few things. The “sub-dom” issue makes me very uncomfortable. As is your desire to “help him learn to love”. Healthy relationships are equal partnerships and dominance and control are not major players. Plus in good relationships, one doesn’t abuse the other, which it looks like he did.
In courageously sharing this you may be revealing part of your personal karma, which is reclamation of your power and balancing this out. He may be a teacher for you in this.
You can’t command your body. It feels to me like the hives are a PTSD reaction. You don’t feel safe.
It looks like the Universe is asking you to look deeply within on this. I think its fairly serious business on the human level and we can’t get out of these things easily. Deep lessons are tough.
Well, Gina, it sounds like you could do with another epiphany! Enough with all this talk of traits – go for directly experiencing the absolute essence of your being.
And to that end I would recommend – if this is possible for you geographically – taking a 3-day Enlightenment Intensive, or several, and then maybe a longer 2-week Enlightenment Intensive as well. It’s a group retreat process in which you spend the whole time contemplating a question like Who am I? or What am I?, and also expressing whatever you experience to others in the group. The communication aspect accelerates the inner changes that would otherwise take months or years if you we’re sitting alone in a cave, making an epiphany – Kensho, Satori, Enlightenment, the direct experience of absoluteTruth – more possible in a fairly short period. The longer the process, the deeper the experiences go.
You can read about the process and some of my experiences here:
https://personalityspirituality.net/articles/enlightenment-intensives/
https://personalityspirituality.net/articles/2009/04/28/my-first-enlightenment-intensive/
There are some other articles here:
http://lawrencenoyes.com/html/articles.html
There are several people running them in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia and India. My wife and I run them in the UK:
http://www.enlightenment-intensives.info/
(… this isn’t a sales pitch by the way!)
Our lives have been totally transformed – not just by our own self-realisation experiences but also by the process itself, which is a huge lesson in authentic being and relating. For one thing, I learned through the process how to both give and receive love profoundly and purely, without even words or physical contact coming into it.
Thanks for the links. I loved reading about your journey and your bite of lettuce epiphany (haha). I think you’re exactly right. A retreat sounds like the perfect idea for me right now. I’ve been talking with my boyfriend about all this and suggested the retreat to him. We’re planning on saving money and researching to see which one we’ll want to do. He feels he’s on the edge of an epiphany as well. He says it’s due to me, very flattering. He’s also turning 35 this year, so perfect timing for him. He apparently used to be very closed and cold before me, a side I haven’t seen of him.
You said, “I learned through the process how to both give and receive love profoundly and purely, without even words or physical contact coming into it.” When I read that last bit, “without even words or physical contact coming into it” I kinda chuckled, (not AT you btw) it was just funny to me you ever thought words or physical contact was necessary to begin with. This, what you learned, happens to be what my boyfriend is trying to learn. I’ve been trying to teach him, I say things like, “To kick you would be to kick myself”, something you probably understand now. For a long time it was in one ear and out the other, like he knew what I was saying was right and could see where I was coming from, but couldn’t feel the feeling. But he’s starting to realize the meaning behind the words now, to actually feel it, and he’s ecstatic about it! It would make me all warm and fuzzy inside to see him grow like you did in this way, and he’s already halfway there, so I think a retreat would benefit him in this way. I’d just be so happy for him, because it’s a great feeling to have and I’d love him to feel it, too.
My journey would be a different one, but I’d love to share the experience together with my man. I’m not even sure what exactly my journey would be, other than going with the goal of answering the “What am I” question. I may know more than most about love, but I don’t know everything, and there is much to learn. Thanks for the idea.
Man, I sympathize with your approach, and you may happen to be right, but do you really know what you’re talking about?
*shrug*
An analogy. You study physics all your life. You begin in school. You go to graduate school. You get a Phd. You begin to work and collaborate with the best minds in the field. You break new ground. You attend myriad conferences where your theories and experiences are put to rigorous examination. You rise to a place where your perception of the arena is one of great expertise born of immense labor, depth of experience, and accumulation of wisdom and knowledge.
Then a guy who has no knowledge of any of this comes up and says, “Man, I sympathize with your approach, and you may happen to be right, but do you really know what you’re talking about?”
That’s about where your question is at.
Remember, a whole slew of scientists thought that Boson-Higgs was nonsense. Who a the last word now?
@ bary: as you said in an earlier reply about animal killing for food:
” To deliberately kill an animal for the pleasure of watching it suffer might be karmic. ” In this scenario how does the karmic entaglement work, how are the dynamics like?
The issue is not the animal per se. It is the propensity for cruelty that is in play. This propensity will kick in some karmic consequence. How that looks could be in a tremendous variety of scenarios as the Soul seeks to balance out that tendency and move itself into more alignment with its essence. it could take many lifetimes depending om how embedded the enjoyment of cruelty is, which most likely did not just show up with the animal but was present in many other relationships and situations.
Can we have a bit more of elaboration on this, perhaps with the help of a few examples.
Examples of what? About karmic retribution for cruelty to animals? If you want books that have examples of karmic cases look on the web, get “Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation”, get “Journey of Souls”, Look for “Many Lives, Many Masters,m etc.)
I don’t think there are lots of examples that deal specifically with animal cruelty but the principle is the same. Karma is “action-reaction” but in a complex way. Therefore it deals with vibration and frequency, that which you are putting out. The Universe is interested in energy, not content. If you hate and are violent for peace, all the Universe knows is the energy of hate and vlolence and the results will return accordingly.
Thus is you express sadism toward any being, which is out of alignment with love, the results will reflect that.
There is a difference between people who work in a slaughterhouse as a job vs someone who trolls the neighborhood torturing dogs and cats.
Both the replies sound a bit theoritical, can we have some practicle examples on how the reactions to the actions of lets say cruelty to animals manifests itself in human life. I torture and kill an animal lets say in a bull fight for sadistic pleasure how does it roll back to me on a realistic level.
There are just not that many case histories in most of the books I have read or online to point out a specific example of what a karmic balancing would look like. Most deal with human situations such as “Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation” which has dozens of examples. I’m not sure why you’re so focused on this issue. If you can’t grasp the basic concept that the Universe responds to the basic energy you put out, I don’t know what more can be said.
Cruelty is cruelty, no matter how its directed. If someone is sadistic, then some lifetime balancing will follow. If they are carrying, as a younger soul, a sadistic tendency, then most likely it played out with humans and other creatures.The person may be abused themselves, lose loved ones, die a difficult death. How it plays out with animals in particular I can’t say. Its not like an animal abuser has to be torn apart by wolves for karmic retribution. (But they could) The Universe has genius and is extremely dexterous in these matters.
For example, a deeply materialistic person who has little regard for nature in development will have to deal with the consequences of the greed, mot necessarily the object of the greed. Or it may be later on as they are a little more developed themselves, a sacred spot they adore will be lost to them. Similarly, an animal abuser might, when they’re ready, lose beloved pets or become an advocate for animal rights and feel the pain of what happens to them. It gets quite complex.
I would suggest looking more on your own rather than relying on us to provide every answer for you if this intrigues you so much.
P.S. The soul and guides know precise ways each soul needs to deepen around each issue. Thus in “Journey of Souls” a man who was a ruler of indigenous people who killed his mother for feeding the poor by raiding his stores of grain waited 4000 years (about an hour on the other side) and his mother approached him and said “It is time the debt must be fully repaid”. I suspect that cruelty , in any form, would be dealt with appropriately.
Interesting concept. Not sure where I fit in but it’s a bit of a wory 🙂
It’s 1 AM here and I’m on night shift – next time round I’ll be smarter 🙂
Better you deal with it now. Your present circumstances reflect past choices and future potential. Wait and the same s–t comes round again.
@ I’m not sure why you’re so focused on this issue. If you can’t grasp the basic concept that the Universe responds to the basic energy you put out, I don’t know what more can be said.
The reason being that I am always more into details as I belive we tend to lose focus on details when we are over driven by the bigger picture. We lose out majorly in life as we focus too much on the overall path and miss out on detailing. I would want to get down to the T on this as on everything else. But I assume u dont have answers to this one so just a generic hulla buloo answer. thats okay with me, I ll get my answers as the time comes….
I just got my answer by the way….as per an ancient book on reincarnation from the east its not impossible for a soul (mark I didnt say human souls as there is no such term) to take birth back as an animal to undo a karmic imbalance that it had done against the animal species. For the soul its just another expirence just like one in a human body. Though the transmigration is quicker back to human realm as compared to animals in progression as the soul already has the human experience. Its just like someone getting demoted at job and then getting a quick promotion due to previous experience. Getting transmigrated into an animal realm under exceptional situations is not an impossibility. Prove me otherwise with any chanelling data. The channeling data is still to catch up with the information we already have over last several thousand years. Now that I fianlly have my answer I am contented.
I’m glad you were provided with the answer that served you. We have been through the transmigration issue and are not clear on it. I do lean that way but have heard other views. IN the end intellectualizing doesn’t help me deal with here and now. For me.
The unmentioned item I notice here is that the human condition – and I’m referring to a single lifetime from birth to death as a sept or octogenarian – is that most of us go through every one of these 5 stages. So then the question is when during one’s life is the the judgement made as to which of the stages is being experienced at that time. If the author can name famous people in their stages… I can guarantee you that 90% of them started as started out ‘focused on survival needs, based their lives around safety, security, structure and order, became outwardly bound and went in search of fame and fortune, moved into reflective and sincere, and eventually, as we age toward our 50’s, 60, and up (if we make it that far…) we show the behavior noted as ‘freedom to enjoy being very much in the world, but not of it’, true self expressionism and go our own ways in life – letting go…
Hi Steve
In several places throughout the website, mostly in my responses to comments, I have often explained the concept of soul age manifestation. To summarise:
No matter what our soul age/level, we come into each new life as helpless infants with no memory, no beliefs, no explicit knowledge. As physical beings, it’s as if we have to re-create ourselves from scratch, starting off as Infant souls and gradually working our way up the “ladder of consciousness” until we plateau out at our actual soul level. This plateau is usually around, or some time after, the age of 35. In other words, the first half of one’s life is about finding our feet as, say, a Mature soul in this new body, and the second half of life is about doing what we specifically came here to do in this life while “acting our age.”
In may case, for example, I am without any doubt a 5th level Mature soul, and I have been really “acting my age” since I was about 40. But if I had tried to assess my soul level at the age of 20, I would have assumed that I was very much a Young soul, as I was so focused on worldly success and ego gratification.
Now one could argue, as I think you are, that these “soul ages” are nothing but a misreading of what simply happens in the course of ordinary human development. However, the developmental studies of psychologists such as Jane Loevinger and Susan Cook-Greuter show that people do indeed plateau out at very different levels (they identify 10 rather than 5, but the correlations are obvious. I will write an article on this soon). It is certainly not the case that everyone goes through all five, as you suggest. Some, for instance, plateau out at the impulsive and “pre-conventional” levels, which equate to what are here called Infant soul characteristics.
I should add that the famous examples compiled here are not my judgements but are readings that have been channelled by numerous Michael channels. I always suggest the caveat that none of them can be “proven”, and there may well be inaccuracies or inconsistencies in some of the channelling. See, for example, my review of channelled readings of Barack Obama: https://personalityspirituality.net/2009/09/07/the-soul-of-barack-obama/
:-). Barry
I agree with most of the assessment of Obama. Definitely pragmatist-idealist, observing-cautious. To me 4th stage. I would question Tony Blair as mature. Anyone who believed in the Iraq War and sold it with deception to me is not mature, or maybe very beginning mature.
I doubt Obama was Douglass. Douglass was way too fiery, passionate and progressive to be the cautious, centrist, overly pragmatic Obama. Ironically those are more Lincoln’s traits.
My understanding is basic core nature-development at higher levels comes with life to life. Obama does not have the true progressive soul as Douglass did. Its more abstract for him.
Douglass would never put up with or cave into the Conservative interests Obama has.
Just one man’s opinion.
Hello Barry,
Nope, no arguments, just realized that the definitions hit most people throughout the course of a single lifetime here and wondered when it would be worthwhile to discern the true age.
Understood , basically 35+.
Okay Thanks Ken, I’m going to think on this.
I do and don’t believe it takes that long to grow. To be honest we grow at our own pace. Yolo so if you waste this life /chance/opportunity to grow and just die then you are reincarnated and that’s when it takes so long. Dont you see how people can’t understand some of the simplest things. You call it stupidity but I say there side tracked.
Despite the fact that you cite Michael Newton’s work in this article, what you’ve written does not actually support Newton’s work. A 7,000 – 8,000 year time frame to complete one’s incarnations is a significant underestimation compared to what Newton has found. I’ve read his books multiple times, and he mentioned that some of his cases have been incarnating for 30,000 – 40,000 years, yet are still only in the first two levels of development. (Yikes!) The fifth-level client he described in Journey of Souls, by the same token, had taken ~ 150,000 years to reach that level.
He also describes the levels of incarnating souls differently than you do, and believes that most of the population is still in the first two stages, NOT the third and fourth stages, as you are claiming (and your bell curve suggests). He describes the stages as follows:
1. First-level beginner (Beginning Soul) appearing white
2. Second-level beginner (Advancing Soul) appearing reddish white
3. Lower-level intermediate (Teacher) appearing yellow
4. Upper-level intermediate (Healer) appearing greenish yellow
5. Advanced (Master) appearing sky blue
Sorry to be nit-picky, but I don’t like the contradictory information and lack of consistency presented by multiple spiritual perspectives who use Michael Newton’s work to support their views. If you cite Newton’s work, at least present information that *agrees* with his work. There’s a huge difference between your claim that most of us are third and fourth-level souls and Newton’s claim that most of us are first and second-level souls. And, honestly? I believe Newton has the correct estimate. If most of us were at the third and fourth levels, of intermediate status, there’s no way we’d see the amount of warfare and corruption that the world is experiencing today. Especially the last hundred years.
I also think you do third level (lower intermediate) souls a disservice by calling them “young souls” and lumping them in with the first two level (beginner) souls. I disagree with your claim that we are all basically beginners until we’ve reached level four (upper intermediate). That is not what Michael Newton has found at all. In the spirit world, we start forming new independent studies groups, training for our future vocations, and even studying to become spiritual guides when we reach level three. After seeing errors like this, I can’t help but question the credibility of the rest of your material.
Hi Cate
This article isn’t an account of Newton’s work; it is a synopsis of certain channelled teachings on reincarnation and soul evolution. My primary source, as the article states, is the teachings of an entity known as “Michael” (no relation), teachings which multiple individuals around the world have been receiving over the last 30-40 years with impressive consistency. I have drawn a couple of obvious and rather fascinating parallels with Newton’s discoveries. The fact that he has had clients who say they have been incarnating over many more centuries than the average figures suggested here doesn’t necessarily imply a contradiction – just a long-tailed distribution.
Oh, I dont know. It think it takes a significantly evolved and organised population to start not one but two world wars. But Newton is certainly not alone in believing that most on the planet today are in the earlier stages. Perhaps that bell-shaped curve is more representative of the “WEIRD” population than the world at large. Given that the world population has quadrupled between 1900-today, it is also possible that there may have been a huge influx of beginner/younger souls, so perhaps the peak has swung more to the left in recent decades. I recently did a blog post discussing this very issue: https://personalityspirituality.net/2012/02/29/reincarnation-and-world-population-do-the-numbers-add-up/
I do not see how it is doing third-stage souls a “disservice” to use the label “Young”. None of these terms have any perjorative intent (though of course it is always possible for someone to read a perjorative meaning into any word). The terms are simply analogies to human development – infancy, toddler/childhood, youth, maturity, seniority. A “Young Soul” is equivalent to a youth or young adult – busy, energetic, active, ambitious. That’s not the same as being a “beginner”. So I’m also not sure in what sense you think Young Souls have been “lumped in” with the two earlier stages. There is a clear distinction.
I would probably disagree with me too if I had made such a claim.
On a positive note, however, I think an article looking into any discrepancies between the Michael teachings and the Michael Newton books might be worth thinking about one day.
B
If Incarnations as humans is referential to this planet, then averages of 150,000 years or more would be impossible. Humans in present form did not evolve until about 50,000 years ago. On the other hand, 8,000 years feels a little short to me. If we average 100 years between incarnations (and I i understand things are speeding up), then 80-100 incarnations feels like not enough time to go through the stages. Perhaps there is combination of other planetary human development and this one. Whatever the exact number I think is not the issue, the process itself which both this source and Newton agree upon to me is the pertinent thought before us.
Newton himself is not necessarily the last word. He insists humans do not incarnate as animals yet regression studies from the East demonstrate memories of animal lives. This is all in its infancy so I don’t think we can state wit certainty what’s going on completely.
As per young souls. I agree with both of you. I agree with Barry that language may project a pejorative “aspect” to young souls but I think Barry cleared that up quite well.
I do however agree with Cate that the preponderance of younger souls (baby, young) is now on the planet. One need only look at the influence of the “baby soul;” ethos of the right in American politics to see the huge numbers of such. This is not taking into account baby soul energy in other places such as Middle East , Africa, etc.
Hitler was a baby soul yet was quite adept at organizing a war.
However, I do believe the world is maturing and moving into a more “intermediate” (young) and “intermediate-advanced” (mature) phase. MY understanding is one advanced mature soul can balance thousands of younger ones and one old soul can balance-influence millions.
We can argue technicalities all day long. I can’t comment on things I haven’t had some personal experience with. As a medium, for example, I believe in Soul Contracts because deceased souls comment on them extensively.
What I find useful about this site is the specificity of the lens which compliments Newton’s work. I don’t find that much disparity to create problems (for me). Exact details will emerge in more clear form as we go along. Right now the essence of the philosophy is where i find value.
I would like to add a correlation to the current Soul Age on the planet to Neale Donald Walsch and his books, including “Conversations With God” and “The New Revelations”. His conversations, whether you believe he is speaking to God (his inner self) or not, mention in several different accounts that the planet is still in it’s ‘adolescence stage’ as a whole. His books are extremely insightful for anyone that is willing to read them.
As far as the ‘Young Soul’ label, I personally find it to be accurate, as many people I come across possess many of the traits that are laid out in this particular level. Only until you move beyond the ego and start to turn inward do you start to become truly mature. Most of the Young Souls I observe are selfish and concerned with outward appearances, a common trait amongst adolescents. Traits that also are the source for many of our world issues, including poverty and war.
The more the planet evolves, the more we will be connecting to the common grounds that exist among us. The illusion that we are separate will start to fade. When that happens, you know more souls are moving into the more mature levels. Right now, Young Soul ideals still dominate, but that is slowly changing, at least in my observation.
Thanks, Mike.
Nicely put. Jeshua says the same thing in his channelings ar Jeshua.net
How come that I’m so lost in this life?
Hi Sylvia. Not knowing anything about you personally, I can only offer a general perspective.
Most people in most of their lives find themselves in some kind of “dark place” – whether it is anxiety, grief, confusion, self-doubt, existential terror…whatever. It could last for a few days here and there or it could dominate every waking moment.
This is not a mistake. We come into dark places in life in order to find light within ourselves. The specific troubles we find ourselves dealing with at any point in life are usually the challenges we (as souls) have set for ourselves, knowing that it would be tough and seem impossible at times, but also knowing full well that we have within us the resources to transform the darkness into peace, joy, love, wisdom. And that is precisely why we often find ourselves in difficult circumstances – to prompt us to tap into something within us which we haven’t tapped into before, at least not to the same extent.
In a way, every soul — every one of us — has two missions. One is to explore and experience all that human life allows, including the most negative things that we do to ourselves and others out of our ignorance, fear, and lack of consciousness. The other is for each of us to find our own way to greater awareness, to overcome such negatives and manifest our most positive potential. So we keep swinging between these two sides of life — first creating or (seemingly) stumbling into some kind of bad life experience, and then finding our own way out of it, creating a better experience. (The definitions of good, bad, better, and so on are very subjective and individual.) The bad experiences are usually the perfectly-tailored stimulus, or motivation, to get us to seek better experiences, at least until we are sufficiently awake to seek our potential more consciously.
So, I could offer you the thought that perhaps you feel so lost because, on a higher level, you know you have within you the means to feel certain of your way. Perhaps it will cause you to study spiritual philosophies; perhaps it will cause you to seek therapy; perhaps it will cause you to want to help other who feel similarly lost — I don’t know, but that’s a perspective that might help make some sense of it all.
I am curious to learn more about an animals soul journey. My dog just passed away and I felt such a strong conection with her. Are dogs more advanced on the soul spectrum than humans?
I would say: Less advanced in consciousness, but more pure in love.
Thank you for your fast response. I am in love with your website and it really found me at the right time along my spiritual journey. Do animals ever evolve and be given the option of being a human? For example, do we all start out as a bug and then slowly work our way up?
You should scroll up. We had a long discussion on this. No one is sure. Eastern tradition says souls “climb the ladder”. In Robert Schwartz’s “Your Soul’s Gift” there s an extended channeled piece that indicates there is not that much cross animal-human incarnation. They said animals don’t like the extremes of human emotion and duality. However humans will incarnate as animals to be with loved ones and animals will do the same.
“Up the ladder” implies a hierarchy of advancement, which can be demeaning to animal purpose. Conversely it would make sense if souls explored all potentialities of physical life.
Speaking for myself, the issue is unresolved.
But in the end, being here now is what’s most important. I think however you reach human dharma and karma, you’ve got to deal with it.
Lately however, I have had much more respect for animal consciousness and less “human centric” thinking.
Thank you for responding. After I wrote that I did end up reading all previous comments. Very interesting information. I am so thankful I found this website 🙂
My current understanding is that spirit evolves in different directions. One of those is the path of individuation, towards greater self-awareness as individual conscious beings, which is what we are doing here in human bodies having these complex relationships. (It is said that whales and dolphins are also the same.) Another evolutionary direction is towards ever greater expression of love, which I suspect a lot of other animals are doing. Different species could be serving different specific purposes for spirit as a whole.
A friend of mine was at a channeling and the consciousness said the dog was the most evolved being in the room.
I’m glad to have come across this page. I want to learn more. Thank you for posting this. I feel a connection to these ideas. I will keep reading and searching.
I wonder that when everything is in multiples of 7 (7 levels at each stage of evolution, 7 colors in rainbow, 7 music notes, 7 planes of existence, 7 essences in each cadence, and so on), how come there are 5 stages of evolution (infant to old) and not 7?
Actually there are 7, it’s just that reincarnation applies to 1-5 only. There are 2 higher cycles of evolution beyond reincarnation.
I thought that Soul evolution was limitless, unless there is complete merger. Can you talk or direct us to what the Michael teachings say about the two beyond the physical?
Hi Ken – sorry I didn’t spot the question for a while!
According to these teachings, beyond the physical plane lie several higher planes – the ‘astral’, the ‘causal’, the ‘mental’. These aren’t geographically different places, of course, just different depths of consciousness. Each has its own lower, middle and upper levels. Generally, there is fragmentation/differentiation in the lower levels of any given plane and integration at the upper levels.
The lower astral is where we transit through after death, processing the life just lived and dropping the human personality. The mid-astral is our home where we reside between lives, as astral (or light) bodies. The upper astral is home to those souls who have completed reincarnation, have integrated all the lessons, and are now serving as ‘elders’ or ‘ascended masters’ before moving into the 6th cycle (see below).
As an aside: While the physical plane is ‘solid’, the astral plane is more ‘fluid’ – it has a subjective and pliable quality. On the physical plane, our thoughts and feelings are private and subjective, but the physical world out there is public and objective. On the astral plane, we take a step deeper into the root of consciousness – now thoughts and feelings are perceived ‘out there’ as objective phenomena.
The 6th stage/cycle of evolution is the coming-together of soul mates who have completed reincarnation. The causal plane is where these soul mates (entity fragments) merge perspectives with one another to develop a much greater consciousness, one complete/whole being, a ‘causal body’. The Michael entity, consisting of over 1,000 Warrior and King soul-mates, resides on the mid-causal level; as yet they are not quite fully reunited as one ‘body’. Their teaching through channelling is their current method of evolution towards greater integration. Again, compared to the astral, the causal represents another step deeper into the root of consciousness.
The mental plane is where whole entities begin to coalesce with the Tao itself. At the upper mental level there is no longer any sense of separation between self and other, or subject and object. (We can all experience this in moments of enlightenment, but to permanently be in that state as a natural way of being is a different kettle of fish.)
Those on the causal and mental planes do not usually seek, or require, reincarnation for their evolution: those lessons have already been learned. However, it sometimes happens that an integrated being on the causal or mental plane will be ‘called’ to enter the physical to inspire a mass spiritual or philosophical change. In these case, they do not inhabit the body from birth. Rather, an individual soul will volunteer to incarnate, and then when the time is right they will step aside and allow the full blast of the integrated being to come through and manifest in human form. A manifestation like this from the causal plane is referred to as a “transcendental soul”. Examples are said to include Socrates and Gandhi. A manifestation from the mental plane is known as “the infinite soul”, and is essentially an avatar. For example, upon his great enlightenment, Siddartha was able to step aside and allow the infinite soul to manifest as the Buddha. In his final period on Earth, Jesus stepped aside to allow the infinite soul to manifest as The Christ.
But according to the teachings, these human manifestations are exceptional events, and incarnation is not required for evolution through the sixth and seventh stages.
Thanks Barry. I was kind of aware of this type of process, just not the fine tuning. I think this process takes perhaps eons as souls ascend and reintegrate with their source essence. Much of this is beyond human comprehension. I like the idea of the greater soul entity and its fragments. This is also somewhat beyond us as we think so much in terms of individual identity.
Abraham, Alexander others, these are collected soul consciousnesses channeling information also. Lots of support from the other side. They benefit, we benefit.
P.S. Ultimately there is no “we” or “they”. “They” are “us”. Its all one.
Thank you for your answer, Barry (30 apr) I appreciate. Sylvia.
Im not sure if this is true (soul age & reincarnation) but then again what is truth but awareness and its content? Truth is eternal and thus there is no difference between an old soul and an infant soul. This is just another belief system, no more true or false than any other belief system. I have had the experience of being able to see all of my past lives though after eating a heavy dose of mushrooms. Teachers like Krishnamurti and Sri nisargadatta Maharaj have been my most loved inspirations during my life. Why create another hierarchy?
Hi Nicholas
Thanks for your view. I would say, however, that you are confusing different levels of perception. The ultimate truth is absolute and eternal – it is pure non-dual being. That’s it basically. But these teachings are not a description of ultimate truth; rather, they give a framework to a particular level of relative truth. To say that there is no difference between an old soul and an infant soul is certainly true in terms of ultimate Truth. But so is saying that there is no difference between, say, a potato and a bicycle. And yet it is useful to us, deliberately immersed in our relative perceptions of reality, to know how a potato is different from a bicycle. And similarly, some people at some point in their growing awareness of truth find it useful to know how, say, an old soul differs from an infant soul. To say that this is just another belief system is correct, but you say that disparagingly, as though belief systems were of no value when compared to enlightenment. I do agree that enlightenment – the direct knowing and expression of eternal Truth – is infinitely more valid and more satisfying than any belief system. But that doesn’t mean that belief systems have no value.
There is no hierarchy in this framework that I am aware of.
Barry
You saw all your lives. That’s a great blessing. But you’re still here. Which implies you have work/experience still to do. What might that say about the framework contained here? (Which as you say, is a lens of perception, one among many.) There are many things in duality that are considered useful which are unnecessary when one is fully awake. Devotion is one of them. When one fully realizes “Thou Art That”, what is there to be devoted to? Because all separation is erased.
Lens’ or “beliefs” are preferences. We pick and choose what is useful. Even your beloved teachers are embodied “beliefs” aren’t they? What draws you to them is that something resonates to aid your awakening. For each of us its like that. There are no external “teachings”. That’s illusion. Ultimately. Its all happening within.
I got one big question here. I consider myself an old soul; I have seen many of my incarnations, which go back long time ago and seem to follow the course of history (gradually less harmony in the world – as known from the Hindu theory of “yugas”). So back in sat yuga there was a lot of purity in the atmosphere and I had some very auspicious, priestly incarnations, then different kinds of things, Egypt, Rome, Medieval ages, Jewish, Russian, etc. It seems like my soul accumulated a lot of karma and got hurt a lot by people too.
I am confused though because I have seen myself as a Nazi soldier (Waffen-SS, and I found historical records of his name and course of events that I saw!), and I have trouble believing it because if I am supposed to be an old soul, I would not be joining the Nazis.
I DO see why he did that, and all about the body he got, as a karmic thing it was meant to happen (both good and bad ) and what the lessons were, and how it had made me a very spiritual person this time, after being on the front.
But I have been thinking according to this if I am an old soul it would not be possible to have any “bad” incarnations. Any insight on this?
Hi Demi. Really interesting to hear from you and your many lives !
To answer your question, … well, I don’t really know *the* answer to your soul’s choice there, but I would say that thinking of it as a “bad life” is probably too limiting. Fair enough, the Nazis most clearly represent the very worst in humanity. But they were not a faceless mass of evil; they were individuals swept up by various forces, including fear, and making various choices. I often wonder if I would have had the foresight and the courage to decide not to join up with all my friends and neighbours when it seemed to so many to be the “right” thing to do at the time.
Certainly, it would have seemed “right” primarily to Baby souls, and “exciting” to a lot of Young souls, so any Mature and Old souls, one imagines, must have had particular reasons for joining in. Albert Speer, “Hitler’s architect”, is said to have been one of many Mature souls at the time working through the classic Mature soul challenge or task – that of “honourably serving a corrupt master”.
So not all Nazis, necessarily, were in the party because of a lust for revenge, blood and glory. For some, privately, perhaps unconsciously, it was a context to work through issues and face inner challenges.
Bear in mind that this was at a time when most nations still routinely went to war and committed atrocities – the norm in most societies for thousands of years. (Presumably in a world dominated by younger souls, it must have long been difficult for an older soul to incarnate in a country that wasn’t hell-bent on conquest and oppression.)
Also bear in mind that most if not all who tried to assassinate Hitler were themselves party members.
The Nazi party came to power with a popular vote by promising to attack the things that seemed to be running ordinary Germans down, such as big business. You can imagine a lot of people feeling that it was time for a change for the better, and this party seemed to offer it – except that it was actually run by a Baby Priest with ugly fantasies.
In a sense, we now loudly condemn and – at least try to – prevent genocide, racism, and skape goating, precisely because the Nazis and their victims showed us, universally, loud and clear, how appallingly wrong it all is. We must have needed showing.
Barry
Demi,
I think there is some confusion in language. A soul that has been around a lot is not necessarily an “old soul” in this schemata of things. “Old Soul” refers to level of maturity. “Ancient Soul” would be more apt for one with many lives.
I had a fiend, very spiritual, who realized she was a Catholic priest who supported the Nazi’s in WWII. She is a mature soul. I think she committed suicide in that life.
If your assessment is true, I don’t know at this moment why you would choose that incarnation. There may have been left over karma where you needed to experience the horrors of abusiveness, of letting yourself go to causes that inflicted harm, and ti understand more fully the consequences of such actions.
We don’t really know. What we do know is apparently you have built up enough good karma and maturation that you are here and interested in these things. Therefore what ever happened in the “past” is past.
I had a very rough early life and I believe I paid off a huge karmic debt. Yet here I am.
In the end, this is what matters.
All ultimately are innocent in God’s eyes. After all, God set up the game.
Hi Barry and Ken. Thanks for your insights. The description of “old soul” fits best how I feel about things. I fit into what can be described as an ‘indigo kid’, talking with angels, spiritual insights, seeing my own Self in a bird, talking with dead people… I like nature and quiet (big city stress is a killer), I put spiritual practice and healing above all other goals in my life. I am talking well with old people but not ‘fitting in” with people my age, (I am early thirties and it’s getting better), feeling weary of being on this planet wanting the “circus” to end, tendency to get really depressed, sensitive, finding most people shallow and materialistic who are not seeing the true depth of life.
Don’t know if this fits into the “old soul” category, as I don’t really like being put into a category. I see parts myself in the other categories too. I probably mostly resonate with the “priest” archetype, having a concern for well-being of society, but at least 4 other types resonate with me as well. This could be due to having experienced a lot in past life times, perhaps.
I am in contact with others who had past lives in the Nazi era, and especially resonate with a very spiritual group who appears to be “old souls”, so I do think it’s possible. it would possibly be a different learning experience and challenge for an older being. A karmic situation whose details I am working out finding out.
I had many visions of my life back then, living conditions as poor that I thought it was Russia (but saw a documentary later, this is how Germany looked after WW1) He had an abusive father (I talked with people who experienced abusive childhoods, they could explain his ways to deal with feelings that I had seen in him but not understood fully)
The desire to improve society really appealed to him (makes sense if he was also “priest’ like me), he was very young then, and the Nazis and SS were seen as “the ‘in’ crowd”, they were regarded as the “good knights” which were going to save the country…. He seems to had been having a need to belong.
The war itself was a big disappointment, when he got out there and saw what was going on… yes, as someone obsessed with WW2 and Holocaust history, I know that the nationality has not much to do with kind of person.. there were good and bad people everywhere. it was also an intensely stressed atmosphere, circumstances one cannot even imagine being in a peaceful place now.
I can relate to my own life here; I always felt I had come back to fix something bad that happened to society which I was responsible for. I was this very sensitive child but I experienced severe bullying and abuse in school and other places, no one could help me, I remember being 14 I wore a homemade SS uniform to school, NOT because sympathizing with the philosophy, more so because I felt a kind of strength and protection from the bullies, a spiritual thing about it. And I joined in with other kids in the same situations. I wanna say we were well behaved and all, did not feel we were Nazis,(parents thought more so). (we did lot of WW2 re-enacting too) I just feel like I understand my past life guy and where he came from!
As a teenager, I wanted be in the military and it was the only career option I could think of (it felt familiar to me) but when I joined something started shifting for me. I felt like military was not the way to protect society, one had to develop spiritual ways. And so I became very devoted to spiritual practice. At this moment, military seems light years away for me! I still like reading soldier’s stories, but other than that, it feels like something long time ago and a bit far from what I feel now.
So this is my story, Thanks for sitting through.
All the best
Demi
Thanks Demi. Mature or possibly early Old Priest sounds likely to me.
Cheers
I agree with Barry. This sounds like mature. The Nazi incarnation becomes more clear. It appears there was a need to differentiate boundaries. This could have been carried over,. There was a genuine desire to serve but a lack of recognition of the energy behind the movement. Having the experience enabled you to develop more caution and discernment around motives.
The military urge was still wit you earlier in life but you are moving away from it now to perhaps more advanced forms of service. The lesson of deeper discernment will most likely stay with you.
I say mature not old because my sense is old souls are past these lessons. I have had my share of strong karma too. I am definitely not an old soul.
I have been reading through the ‘mature soul’ description and it seems to fit well. Learning about relationships and empathy and how that stuff works seems to be a theme recently… And finding out that people are the same on the inside no matter how they look on the outside. And all the different perspectives. Truly, this stage seems to be confusing at times.
When thinking about my past life, I often go between guilt trip (OMG! squared) and denial (it must be something my brain made up) and sometimes in the gap between these two, I hear HIM talking to me: “Yes, it’s bad how it all went down, but life was simpler then… there was black and white, the good guys and bad guys (now perception of the truth changes every 5 minutes, nothing and all being valid!) I was close to my comrades they were like me (now I’m an outsider) There was a purpose in life (now there is confusion) It was simpler, now it’s complicated…
Then I come right back on him: Yeah, really, and because of that “simplicity” most of Europe burned down to the ground, not to mention the other “special features”! If that is the deal, I prefer complexity, even if I have to live in a cave the rest of my life, or whatever!
And sometimes I wake up in the morning, having been dreaming about him. And first thing I think: OMG what order-following sheep! Cannot even think by himself! Totally not me, I am the biggest rebel in town, I take no orders, just go ask anyone!
Then I see, he was about not to follow the orders but begins thinking that he should out of loyalty to the others and the “cause”, and if someone finds out he is gonna get in trouble, and the enemy is gonna win the war because of his negligence… etc… so he goes thinking a WHOLE lot. And it’s these, basically good values in him, but the cause is wrong. So as you guys said. He is on some other stage of evolution, doing his best from there.
As much as I hate this, as curious I am to learn everything about him and other Level 2’s and 3’s, AGAIN this is a level 4 trait, to understand the “others!” including all the different levels.
And whatever wisdom we have… it is earned!
SO everyone has to go through all the levels, correct? Can we quit the game before? I mean, can we become enlightened at any level, or does it take all 5 before enlightenment? Maybe people on level 5 just accept things and do not care whether they are enlightened or not.
But level 5 sounds interesting tho!
All the best
Demi
” Can we quit the game before? I mean, can we become enlightened at any level, or does it take all 5 before enlightenment?”
No. Rules are ironclad. You want to graduate college, have to go through grades 1-12. But there is wiggle room according to probabilities. Some souls really accelerate. But in general if there is feeling of “I’d like to quit, you’re not ready”.
This is really easy for me to say but
1) You have given a beautiful explication of the thoughts and dilemmas of your self in the previous incarnation.
2) Try to remember “through all things is love revealed”. There is a purpose for everything, we have a very, very limited view of the entire story, and there is no judgment in the Universe. Roles/lives are played out for profound reasons.
This is SOOOO cool, I think I am a Mature Soul 3rd level
Impressively precise !
I am going to make this complicated, although I don’t intend to– nor do I intend to share a life story. I just really don’t know what soul stage I could possibly be in.
I’m currently 21. When I was younger, I was often very repelled by spiritual things, which I have speculated to be the case for a number of reasons. Mostly, I think that it was easier to deny my spiritual nature than acknowledge it– I basically need spirituality to live. I also think much of it was to protect myself because there is a lot of crap out there.
Anyway, I “started” my spiritual journey at 18. It was only half-hearted because I was afraid of my spiritual nature– I started my journey because of bad physical pain and what has always been severe depression.
I’ve always come off as somewhat rigid and conservative, unless I’m in a more honest state. (When I’m completely honest with myself with the form of Kundalini yoga practice that brings me solace– the only thing that does– I can often become rigid again, but moreso in the sense that I know what universal truths are and aren’t). I’ve also always struggled quite a bit with contempt and jealousy towards others, but I now realize that a big part of this is because I struggle with relating to others, and I feel angry that I am so different. I feel like I can’t do anything spiritually wrong or it affects me. (This can range from being friends with someone, to flirting with someone, to watching most TV shows). I literally feel everything.
And I have an immense amount of trouble with relationships. I’ve surrendered the idea of anyone understanding me, but anytime I get close to someone, I start feeling depressed and awkward in a subtle sense, and it never lasts. I feel so indigent in relationships of any kind.
With all this being said, I am very introspective, definitely intuitive and sensitive to the utmost degree, and at the bottom of my heart am very innocent and have good intentions. I read this and I just don’t where the heck I fit in.
Hi Don
Thanks for getting in touch. I don’t know if I can tell you where you fit in, exactly, but I can reflect on what you have told me and maybe my thoughts will help bring a little clarity, with luck.
Like you, I had an aversion to spiritual matters in my youth. I seriously thought that not believing in anything showed that I was a lot smarter than all those people who believed in something, especially something that couldn’t be proven. I felt rather smug about my superior logic. It wasn’t until my mid twenties that I realised I had become pretty narrow minded, and I finally began to take spirituality seriously in my late twenties.
I no longer see any of that as “wrong”, by the way. There is always a bigger picture to be seen, and looking back on my youth I can see that I was developing a commitment to truth, even if my ego tried to turn it to its own advantage.
The fact that you “feel everything” suggests that you are probably Emotionally Centered (as am I). This simply means that the main organising component of your psyche is your emotional channel. Or in other words, you tend to process your moment-by-moment experiences of life using your acute sensitivity to sensations and feelings. (Some people, by the way, are Intellectually Centered, processing life through verbal thoughts and communications, while others are Physical/Moving Centered, processing life through movement and action.)
Being Emotionally Centered probably accounts for your intuitive sense, but it also means that you (like me) can be overly sensitive at times, easily feeling overwhelmed by too much uncontrolled stimulation. For example, do you feel stressed in noisy, crowded situations? Being Emotionally Centered is no better or worse than any other kind of Centering. It does mean, though, that you may be silent for long periods as you process all the things you can feel. This can be particularly awkward in conversations, especially when someone asks you “How are you?” or “What are you thinking?”, and you have to introspect for a while to translate your feelings into words. (It drives my wife nuts when I do that – she’s Intellectually Centered.)
“Rigid” is a word most often associated with Baby souls, whose concepts of life tend to be solid, static, and absolutely black-and-white. Your statement that “I feel like I can’t do anything spiritually wrong or it affects me” might also fit with a Baby soul worldview. However, Baby souls don’t usually identify themselves as being on a “spiritual journey”. The concept of spirituality that is typical of Baby souls amounts to doing whatever it takes to show allegiance to the Almighty, such as obeying rules and performing rituals. It’s not an inner process of self-discovery as it is for, say, Mature souls, but a commitment to self-discipline in one’s behaviour. So while at first glance it might be tempting to assume that your rigidity comes from being a Baby soul, some of the things you say seem to make that unlikely.
Another possibility is that you are an older soul (Young/Mature/Old) who has been raised in a rigid and conservative setting. If so, you may have internalised those patterns of rigidity, so that outwardly you are “manifesting” consciousness at a Baby soul level, even though internally you are (at a guess) a Mature soul. And at 21 you are also feeling the pull to assert your independence and enjoy a freedom of spirit. It’s just pretty awkward and stressful to “be yourself” when you don’t have the experience and know-how.
Another possibility that occurs to me is that what you are referring to as rigidity is in fact what is known in this framework as a chief feature (or dominant negative pattern) of Stubbornness. The pattern of Stubbornness is driven by a deep-seated overwhelming fear of change, and an irrational sense that any change is bad, resulting in a “need” to keep everything exactly as it is and always was. For those with Stubbornness, the worst thing that can happen is a life-changing experience, even if it is for the better. For example, someone who wins the lottery might lose it all fairly quickly so as to return to their familiar way of life as soon as possible. Someone who is used to being ill might refuse any kind of treatment that threatens to make them well.
I understand something about contempt and jealousy in relation to others. Whenever I have a critical or hostile reaction to others, especially for “no apparent reason”, it is invariably because below the surface I feel uncomfortable with the contact, and my unconscious has dreamt up some reason to avoid them. As an example, I now recognise times in which I start feeling critical of my wife as a sign that I just want to avoid intimate contact with her – not because there is anything wrong with intimacy (or with my wife!), but because I am avoiding my own feelings about something, and if I were to have heart-to-heart contact then I would have to open up to those feeling in me. If in fact you do have a pattern of Stubbornness, then it’s possible that at some level you fear that establishing new relationships is too much of a change for you to cope with.
Well, it’s getting late and I don’t know if I’ve said much of use to you, Don, but I will have to stop for now.
Cheers,
Barry
Don.
Baby or young souls don’t engage in the depth of inquiry you show here. So you can rule them out imo. Its is quite often the case that mature souls will create the type of emotional challenges you face. You are very young but very self aware. These challenges are set up by us to force us to go deeper into the expression of who we really are and to “unfold” to a greater degree. Like the sand in the Oyster.
As Barry has said in earlier responses, qualities like seeming rigidity and distance from spirituality while young are not essentially who we are or reflective of our true stage but are often karmic residue and environmentally induced.
I understand you challenges, I have dealt with some of them all my life. My spirituality, my relationship to my higher self (“God”) inj various forms beckons me to freedom and joy.
“All things are possible”. Its why we created the difficulties to begin with, so growth, revealing of self, and expansion can occur.
My bet is you are mature. What stage yet you will know later in life.probably 3-5.
I fully agree with Mr.Michel teachings. He has clearly, deeply, accurately analyzed the evolvement of Sou from the five stages of life. There are very highly evolved souls by birth we see like many Saints and Avatars of God Almighty who at a very ‘baby level’ create miracles and become spiritual masters for the rudderless people. In their word, it simply means that they bring many sheep to the divine path and somewhere in Bible I have read that Lord Jesus saying about bringing so many “sheep” (means non-spiritualised persons) to the divine path whereas the materialist Christians interpreted actual Sheep and ironically started eating them. Whatever it may be, but Hindu Vedic philosophy clearly teaches the evolution of soul, way of living free from “karmic actions “(universal law of action-cause-effect). There is lot of truth in Michel teachings but we need to study slowly, understand by applying teachings of Self-realised Saints etc., who can come to earth in human form at WILL, or say in 500-600 earthly years.// r m agadi//
Dear
I am Heaven.
I write this message by borrowing Mitsuki’s hands.
We gods of Heaven have started project to save soul of humankind from 2012..
God who guides you is central member of this project.
Project needs to inform humankind widely.
So we gods of Heaven ordered Mitsuki to make H.P. of our project.
http://auwa.sakura.ne.jp/forum/god/asc.html
There are no idea of Mitsuki.
All contents are from gods of Heaven.
Please read our message.
Do your mission.
Dear Heaven
Please check your calendar
Why wait so long? Why 2012?
Hi there
Thanks for your contributions to the evolution in consciousness of this planet. A site like this helps to provide immense clarity to many souls who at times may feel lost in the dense material world we are living in. After reading through the website and comments I would just like to add 2 comments/concerns:
1) I’ve noticed many people on here displaying contradictory soul qualities indicative of both baby and mature soul qualities. Is this not due to the fact that we are omitting the importance of being aware of the mind/ego conditioning? I think it is very possible to be a highly evolved soul growing up in a very egotistic setting and being conditioned by very egotistic ideas. I personally come from such a background and growing up I couldn’t explain it except that something inside me didnt feel attracted to the customs or religious rituals that I had to follow. Similarly, there may be many souls who have lost track of their true nature and thus feel lost or confused in their soul journey.
2) Why is everyone here trying so hard to figure out where they are on this journey. We have to remember that the ego is constantly looking for a sense of identity in labels of some sort and people could spend a lifetime trying to figure out which label fits them. I would rather be more concerned whether I am in tune with my soul purpose – regardless of what stage or level I am at. Again it is easy to be more lost in the ego and mind delusions and lose track of our true essence which at the end of the day is the same in all of us regardless of where we are in the evolution process. My view is that even a baby soul like hitler can attain a sense of belonging and create structure and rigidity in a soulful way rather than a destructive way. It is the mind or egoic impulse that drove Hitler to such atrocities. Like Hitler, there are many baby souls seeking to belong and have a sense of rigidity to make them feel safe – if the God in all of us acknowledges this and makes them feel connected to the whole we can prevent such souls to act out as is the case in the high school shootings, or teenage suicides or terrorist acts.
Thanks again for this site – this in itself will be a huge awareness in catalyzing the consciousness of humanity.
Mo
Hi Mo
Thanks for your kind words. To address those two points:-
1) All souls, in a sense, lose track of their true nature the moment they are born into a new life. This is all part of the plan. The challenge for a soul in any life, particularly if it has the goal of Growth, is to gradually manifest more of its true self through the vehicles of body, mind, ego and personality, despite the amnesia that comes with incarnation.
As I have explained elsewhere, in each life we “recapitulate” our previous levels of evolution. Even if we are Mature on the inside, we will initially think and act more like Infant souls, then Baby souls, and so on. For example, a Mature soul who is, say, six weeks old in their latest human form is only barely present, and in any case lacks the means to express their Mature soul depths, complexities and sensitivities. They will simply babble, eat, poo and sleep, gradually adjusting to the needs and limits of the physical form.
Later, as a self-conscious child, they might sense some of their true Mature-soul depth on the inside, but outwardly they will naturally think and act so as to fit in, just like Baby souls. Later in adolescence they will feel compelled to stand out as individuals in control of their own lives, like Young souls. Only as they approach the mid-life transition (35-ish) will they manifest more and more of their Mature soul nature.
So, there is no surprise in a Mature soul having some tendencies that are more associated with earlier levels. It would be far more surprising if a Mature soul came into human form and acted purely like a Mature soul from day one.
If all goes well, full manifestation (or what Jung referred to as individuation) can be accomplished by age 40-ish. Before then, and also after, many people display mixed and even contradictory qualities. Certainly, those who are suffering (or causing suffering) as a result of such confusion would benefit from some external input – personal growth, seminars, teachings, books, this website…
2) The ego is an internal frame of reference, a model of the self and how it relates to the world. Like anything else, it can be positive or negative. A healthy ego is transparent and realistic. An unhealthy ego is a fake image of oneself that tries to get its own way, driven by fear. I hope the concepts I share here enable people to develop a healthy ego if that’s what they need to be more true to themselves, or to go more deeply into their spiritual search if they are already there.
As far as I can tell, most (though not all) who are attracted to this information are at a point in life where they are confused and curious as to who they really are, and this categorisation framework not only helps them to understand “why I am the way I am”, but also – just as importantly – why everyone else is the way they are. It explains human differences in a way that makes great sense (unless one is unwilling to believe in reincarnation). It has certainly helped me enormously in that respect. For example, I used to imagine that to be “really evolved” I had to become just like this friend of mine who is very self-assured, decisive and charismatic — yet it felt very awkward and stressful for me to act that way, even a little bit. What a revelation, then, to discover that he is a King and I am a Scholar. He isn’t more evolved than me, he’s just doing what comes naturally to him as a King, and being a Scholar is what comes naturally to me. For me, that is the value of knowing the categories. I used to think I was an ugly duckling, now I see myself as a Scholarly swan.
Every person on the planet has some combination of the soul and personality labels given here — a Role in Essence (with casting positions), a level of Soul Age, a life Goal, Mode and Attitude, a negative Chief Feature, a Center of consciousness. Our personality can change from one life to the next, so that we get to experience life from every angle. Our soul level gradually increases as we learn through our many lives. Our role and casting remain constant. The specific combination a person has explains just about everything that makes them tick, along with their upbringing and so on. And every possible combination is valid and potentially positive as well as negative. There are no “wrong” types, stages, or overleaves. Every single one of us occupies a position somewhere on this grand map of personality and spirituality, and no position is wrong.
Some readers are also drawn to this site because they want to discover their true purpose in life. Mostly, these people are facing the mid-life transition (individuation) where we typically feel an inner prompting to ditch those habits and beliefs that don’t fit our true nature, and we then set about finding some sort of true purpose in this life. Or, less consciously, we long to do whatever feels good and right to us, rather than just doing what we have always done. Either way, we generally pre-plan each life with the aim of carrying out a specific task in the second half of life. This is known as the Life Task, or True Work. Mine, for example, is to share my Scholarly knowledge in a way that uplifts others. The question of true purpose will occur naturally to a person when the time is right, but I don’t see it as more important than clarifying who / what one is, or how to improve one’s character.
Cheers,
Barry
With respect to all ideas, i have a question and would appreciate to openly direct me please? Are reptilian alien effect us in our process of soul evolution or not?
No, but something strange is affecting David Icke.
Barry,
I have a question. We are considering Soul Evolution from a “linear” point of view (one life follows, builds upon the next.) But in reality most say there is no time and all lives are happening at once. How do the teachings, if at all, integrate the two perspectives? Thanks.
Hi Ken
As I understand it, time is a “game rule” or inevitable constraint that applies inside the domain of physical events. If you are in a body, you perceive yourself to be locked into a moment in time, with the future ahead of you and the past behind you, as though you are slowly moving along a vast tunnel. So long as we are operating in a body and interacting with other bodies, time is inescapable. It is a “world truth” of the physical plane.
A different set of truths apply to the astral, however. If you leave your body (i.e. die), you can see the entire tunnel all at once. But that’s not the same as experiencing the whole of cosmic history as one’s own present moment. i think we have to be at a still higher level of consciousness to *experience* the whole of eternity at once.
As far as i can gather, the average evolving soul perceives the time-bound Earth plane as something separate from self. It’s like looking at a map of the train network, watching the trains go to and fro, and deciding that when a certain train arrives at a certain station then we are going to hop on and spend another “ride” with the linear perspective of humans.
So I suspect there is a grey area between the entirely linear experience of humans and the entirely “now” experience of higher beings. Between lives, we are above the liner time perspective but not yet getting the full “God’s eye view” of being everything all at once. We can perceive the eternity of spiritual life more than the impermanence of physical life. And yet, we are still progressing along a linear path in terms of soul evolution, i.e. the expansion of consciousness. The absence of physical time between lives does not eliminate the fact that we are progressing from one level of being to another.
So there is a linearity in evolution, and it “correlates” with the passage of time on the physical plane. As history moves along the path of time on the physical plane, the soul expands into ever greater consciousness on the astral plane. Two types of “linear” change, but only one is time-bound.
I keep coming back to the analogy of online gaming. Incarnating is like joining a massive multiplayer game with a particular historical setting (say World War 2). I might join the game at a particular point (say, just after the attack on Pearl Harbor), but then get killed in a few minutes. A short while later I rejoin the game, but now I’m fighting Rommel in North Africa. The game evolves in its own fixed timeframe, while I evolve (as a player) at my own pace.
No idea if any of that makes sense, but that’s how it fits for me right now!
Barry
I like the WWII analogy. Having trouble replying. Site says comment submitted but doesn’t post it. Mew Firefox may be messing with things.
Yes. It’s all a bit glitchy at the moment. I’ve just upgraded to self-hosting, but the main result so far is that all comments (including mine!) are treated as spam until I un-spam them…
This is an Amazing article! The information is truly precious! I will be using it as a great reference in my healing work…
Simply amazing, thank You so much for posting it!
Love and light!
Recommended it on Twitter. You have a truly wonderful enlightening resource!
I found this site a few months ago, and have been frequenting it ever since, as it is an amazing resource, and from all the sites studying spirituality and the journey of soul, I resonate with this one the most. What I’ve found here somehow confirms the ideas and concepts I was contemplating on prior to finding this site, but was not entirely sure about everything. Barry, you have done an amazing job gathering all this information and putting it together, thank you so much for that.
I have a past life experience I have never really spoken about with anyone (the fact that she was famous has made me very reluctant about speaking about it, especially using real names), but for some reason, I really wanted to share it here.
She came to me when I was 10 years old, in the form of a song in a radio. Incidentally, that is the only period in my life when I actively listened to the radio, maybe I was unconsciously keeping the channel open for her? I remember it like yesterday. I wasn’t really paying attention to what was on, but when she started to sing, it was as if the whole world stood still, and I had an overwhelming sensation no words can describe. I had a cassette in the deck, and without directing any thought to what was on the cassette, I hit the rec button. I played it to my dad, and as he had been actively following the music scene when he was younger, he knew who had sung the song. I would listen to that song over and over, up until my dad got me a compilation CD. She became my obsession. Back then there was still no Internet, and my dad knew only that she had died, but he didn’t know how. He said the drugs, maybe, as it is a common cause of death among musicians. But somehow I always knew it wasn’t the drugs. I went deeper and deeper, experiencing an unexplainable personal connection with her, with emotions painfully intense, but I couldn’t name them. Many years later I accessed the Internet for the first time in my life, and the more I found out about her life and death, the more I suffered from strong and sudden attacks of desperation, depression, and a terrible longing I could never put my finger on. It was as if I was now experiencing the feelings, which she struggled with during the last years of her life. At 15, I was put into a juvenile ward, because of “nervous breakdown”. I was medicated, then they increased the dosage, changed the medicine, changed the diagnose, again and again. A bit before I was released from the ward (I stayed there for nearly two years), a nurse I became very close with told me that in the end, none of the doctors had any idea what’s really wrong with me.
I was told that I could never live a normal life without the medication. So I ate the pills, she disappeared, but so did all the sense of direction in my life. It changed only after 12 years of two pills every single morning and one in the evening; I quit taking them. I thought that I’m miserable anyway, how much worse can it get? At that point I felt like a stranger in my own body. When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t recognize myself anymore. Even though on short occasions I’ve wondered what I’d be like today, had I never been medicated, behind the conscious thought there is a strong confidence that everything has went exactly as it was supposed to. I’m fairly sure that if I hadn’t been given that “timeout” at 15, I would’ve probably fried my brain… A little after that, I left my home country, more due to circumstances than out of free will. I’m still on this journey, and it has given me much.
It was a year’s process to get to know myself again. There were countless moments of teary joy; “This is what I was like, I remember it know” The last time I went to see a doctor (It was something akin of a “look, I’m better now. You were wrong” – meeting) In a nutshell he told me that I am a statistical anomaly, it is impossible that a person with my history to recover like this. But he couldn’t deny that I had.
The reason for my breakdown all those years ago came to me last summer. I was recovering from a particularly stressful experience, and for the first time in years, I put her music playing on my earphones, because in the midst of all the unfamiliarity I had been thrown into, her voice felt like the only thing able to help my physical and emotional homesickness. I remember absently thinking in the sleep-deprived state: “I wonder why it still feels as if it was me singing, even though we don’t sound that much alike”
And then it came to me, clear and simple, as if she was speaking to me behind the recording; “because the soul behind the two voices is the same”
I burst into tears, because somehow everything up until then made sense. And even though the logical and rational part of me has questioned it many times since, somewhere deep down, the clarity has always remained. I have cleared lot of the fears and regrets left behind by that life since then, and it seems that nearly all of them so far have been released through the heart chakra. I suffered from unexplainable heart problems for some time after the revelation, up to the point where I was sure it would give out because the pain was so intense and it felt as if it was trying to bounce out from my chest. On some days, I could barely feel my pulse. I haven’t had that for a long time now, all that remains is the occasional faint burning-like sensation, but I think it’s because there is still something left for her to release. She died of heart failure. There’s something very symbolic in it all, but I don’t think I still understand it fully.
When I look back to everything that’s happened to me so far (I’m 28 now) it’s fairly easy to see the cause and consequence behind every action and reaction that has led me to be the person I am today, and frankly, there’s no’ one or nothing I’d rather be. I have a feeling that everything is as it is supposed to be, though I don’t completely understand all of it. But that’s just part of the fun, isn’t it? The storm of personal discovery that lasted for two years left me feeling at peace with myself and the world; connected to everything in existence in an unexplainable way. Of course, there are moments when I feel disoriented, impatient and scared, but nowadays it’s mostly connected to my financial situation. On the other hand I’m grateful that during this time of abundance of material distractions, I’ve been forced to live a rather ascetic life (at least compared to what I was used to) but sometimes the material me still gets the best of me.
I do not know what soul stage or level I am on, nor could I really name my goal, because both me myself and my life have been changing at such a rapid pace during the past two years; it’s difficult to make any generalizations about my life or personality. But I do know that I am an Artisan soul, and my biggest dream is to someday go home, even though I’m not entirely sure what it means anymore. If I could make a wish about my soul mission, it would be to help others see how beautiful this world is, in all its diversity, ups and downs, sorrows and joys, preferably through music because that’s what I’ve always done best. But time will tell.
Thanks so much for sharing this Heather. I am naturally curious as to who the singer was but respect your privacy/sensitivity. I presume she was quite troubled when she died – you seem to have carried over quite a lot of the emotional disturbance, which is not uncommon. Perhaps recognising who you were will enable you to more fully be who you now are. I think there is healing to be had both in revisiting the unresolved past and in eventually letting it go. Perhaps it would be helpful for you to write the full story at some point?
Best wishes
Barry
Barry,
Thank you so much for your sweet reply. To be honest, at first I was sketching a long reply with a lot of reflecting, but the more I wrote, the more I realized that everything I wrote was just circling around the biggest issue; coming out of the closet, so to speak (you said it yourself – recognizing who I were… in the current mindset, the first part of it is fully admitting it, which brings me to the next big issue). The tiny little detail of me not wanting to write the name out in the open led me to the key, I realized it as I was trying to explain why I didn’t; they all sounded like excuses to me. She suffered from very low self-esteem, which I now realize has been my biggest problem as well. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Deep down, I was never able to fully admit it to myself, because she was so amazing and I’m.. well, just me. So there’s no way it could have been me who was loved and respected to the degree she was. But I still knew it was me, that’s why I gathered my courage to post the story here, even though I was not brave enough to name her. I think her biggest life lesson may have been about learning to respect herself. She died before she did, so the lesson followed her to the next life. Understanding that, I realize now that I still have a long way to go…but as writing about it has helped me to organize my own thoughts this much, I’m sensing a lot of “writing it open to myself” to be looking forward to in the future 🙂
My name was Karen Carpenter. She died on February 1983, and I was born again on November 1984. There… It’s a start.
Thank you so much, Barry. Since you’re an expert with soul travel, I think you know how much you helped me. If my case can in any way help your research at some point, you will be always welcome to contact me about this matter. You can view my email address since you’re the administrator, right?
Again… thank you.
Hi Heather. I appreciate your courage for ‘coming out’ and giving the name.
So, Karen C… She suffered chronic anorexia, which suggests a self-destructive tendency based on a fear of having no control over her own life. Possibly also some kind of guilt or other conflict around being successful. In her case, it seems to me that she never quite experienced having ‘graduated’ to the state of independent adulthood, which most of us normally go through in late teens, early twenties.
I notice that you were hospitalised in your teens, and told that you could not expect to live a normal life. Perhaps the challenge you set yourself in your youth was to “prove them wrong” by finally finding, or rather choosing, independence as an adult. And if that is the case then, well done!
On a personal note, I was affected by Karen’s singing when I was a teenager. There was something about her unusual clarity of diction, as opposed to the usual pop-singer “drawl”, that made me realise for the first time that some singers are actually trying to communicate something of meaning.
While I remember, you might find a lot to relate to in the story of Jewelle St James, who has reluctantly come out twice. See
https://personalityspirituality.net/2009/07/13/all-you-need-is-love-book-review/
https://personalityspirituality.net/2009/07/10/john-lennon-the-reincarnation-of-branwell-bronte/
https://personalityspirituality.net/2011/12/18/soul-mates-the-reincarnation-of-emily-bronte/
Hmm.. Not for the first time, I feel like a midwife!
Thanks again,
Barry
It also hows that everything is not just related to one issue. Karen Carpenter’s death raised the visibility of Anorexia immensely so there are many layers involved in Soul choices. Perhaps your more direct spiritual “pipeline” in this life is a karmic reward for service to others, the flip side of the karmic difficulties early on.
Heather,
Thank you for your frankness and incredible authenticity. Your story is a beautiful case study of how a more mature soul would transition into the next life carrying the unresolved stuff from the last one. I think in far less evolved souls it isn’t so direct.
The self esteem issue is right on. Karen Carpenter died from complications of Anorexia nervosa at a young age. All the early stress, medical issues and confusion would account for the karmic early battles and what I call “Soul Intention/Contract” to deal with the challenge of coming to a higher level of healing and wholeness. In the process, there seems to be a spiritual advancement of who you are since you and she are the same. You (who was she) are now apparently more advanced on the journey.
Congratulations on overcoming a most difficult challenge, one you could not do in the past.
My impression is you have to be a mature soul. You wouldn’t be attracted to this site if you weren’t.
BTW, I have a friend who insists she was Anne Frank. She went to visit her house and could not even deal with being on the street it freaked her out so much. She makes a strong case.
She too is very spiritual, a foot reflexologist.
Grace is the foundation of life. Be well.
Heather,
P.S
Given the quickness of turnaround, you, as your Soul, may have planned the first challenge with fame and complications, then gave room to see how well you confronted this, then had a fast plan B to fall back on. Sometimes Souls do this. I have been told I died in the Concentration camps but was quickly reborn in 1947 in America.
Its well known that many souls followed this pattern.
Barry and Ken,
Truly, thank you. Ever since I read your encouraging and insightful replies, I’ve been on a emotional rollercoaster, practically pulling my hair. Even though I’ve been psychologically okay without the pills for many years now, I still had this nagging feeling that there was something she wanted to tell me, since I was unable to move on.
After I’ve gone through every single emotion imaginable during these past few days, thinking that the answer is right in front of my face, I know it is, but still couldn’t figure it out… I asked her to help me, and she did.
https://soundcloud.com/anielkamusic
It’s all in there, the unresolved past. How she felt about the fame (track 11 – Dollhouse) the terribly unhappy marriage (track 13 – Human Heart, I honestly thought that I made up the whole story in that one!) I never fully understood most of the lyrics at the time of writing them – and especially with Human Heart I most certainly am not singing from personal experience! There’s more, I know, I need to give it time to understand everything. Personal Nightmare is the biggest mystery, with the concept of “the Queen”. I always thought I knew what I was singing about, but not anymore.
That album is pretty much the reason why me and my husband (He was the one who helped me to quit the medication and get my head back together) left our home country (Which is Finland, by the way. I don’t really care anymore if someone can track me using that link or whatever) Making that album got us practically bankrupt, as unimaginably bad luck prevented every attempt in getting it released.
I don’t believe in luck, be it good or bad. I felt that there was something on my way. Now I’m pretty sure (correct if I’m wrong) that there was a some kind of a safety mechanism on, to prevent me from facing her fate. In short, I could not pursue a music career until I’d understand what she went through.
Do you think this makes any sense?
So perhaps in this life, Heather, you have not wanted to get your fingers burnt in the music scene/industry until you have resolved something in yourself.
Thanks for the soundcloud link, by the way. I really hope things work out for you on all levels!
Hello…
Although I have not extensively studied the theory of reincarnation, I have always had a firm belief in it. I have based that belief on my own personal experiences in this life. People I have felt strong connections to, and the experience of many “epiphanies” that I believed to be messages from some form of spirit guide, as a few examples. Lately, with all the horror stories in the news (and throughout our history), I have been pondering the possible explanations for why certain people choose to perpetrate such heinous acts on others. I came to the assumption that they must be new souls, or “newbies” as I myself called them, in physical form for the very first time. I came to this assumption without actually studying up on the theory, but just believing it and trusting my intuition. I wanted some form of confirmation of this though, so I googled that idea, and came upon your website and this article. No coincidences there…
My question today is in reference to that “in between” time, in the astral “waiting room,” so to speak, after death and before a new life begins. I want to know about the theories on whether we are able to meet up with loved ones that we have shared that life with. Are we able to see them again before we reincarnate into another life?
Christine,
I teach on this stuff. There is far more than a “:waiting room” on the other side. That idea presupposes supremacy of physical life with the non physical being kind of temporary status. In fact it is the other way around. The “other side is the permanent abode, the physical is the transitory combination “school-restaurant-amusement park” (to use analogy). In other words this is a vast experiential learning experience of eternal beings.
Both realms are extremely complex. Not only do we meet and “see” loved ones after physical death. We interact with them as much or more as we do here and we engaged in great depth in the process of pre life planning, often called “Soul Contracts” (Your life you plan before birth) and “Soul agreements” (the manner in which others interact with that planning to be part of the physical life). Souls travel and evolve in groups so we keep switching roles with the most intimate members close to us.
Some of the best works to read on the subject
Journey of Souls, Destiny of Souls- Michael Newton (read Journey first)
Yours Soul’s Plan, Your Soul’s gift- Robert Schwartz
Evidence of the Afterlife- Jeffrey Long and his website-
http://www.nderf.org/
This is the beginning. They will clarify greatly for you the process and interface between the two. Be assured relationships at the Soul level are eternal, ongoing and quite involved.
Others may chime in with information they know that has helped them understand all this more greatly also.
Ken,
Thank you so much for your reply. Although as I said I have pretty much always believed in reincarnation, I did have some questions as to the exact “workings” or particulars of it.
This question I asked has been bothering me for some time now, since the death of my husband 5 years ago. He was the person I had the strongest connection to in my life. We were musical collaborators and friends first, then finally married after 10 years. I knew him 23 years when he died, and his death has really taken a toll on me. My faith in an afterlife has sustained me, as have the myriad of messages my son and I have received from him since he died. So I have always believed that he is there, somewhere, and that I would see him again one day. My only concern has been if he reincarnates, then how would our souls meet there when I die? So your answer really helps me more than you would imagine. Thank you for the suggested reading as well. I will have to look those up and do some more research on this topic.
Thanks again,
Christine
Hi Christine
I’m just back from a hospital operation (a regular thing for me) so just catching up with comments. I can’t add to anything said by Ken and Mike really. The place we go to after death is generally described as “Home”, and it is essentially a state of boundless love, peace, joy, awareness, wisdom and compassion, rather than a waiting room in the clouds. That same state is within us at all times, by the way, just buried under our human layers of unconsciousness, fear, and outer distraction. The love we experience for specific others on Earth is never lost – they will be there to greet us when we return Home.
As for books, I would also recommend Carol Bowman’s two – Children’s Past Lives and Return From Heaven.
Cheers
Carol Bowman lives near me. We have talked. Return from Heaven is about those instances where souls reincarnate into families who knew them while they were alive in this life. Its generally rare but not that rare and my sense is it will be increasing as souls need less time on the other side. Thus your grandfather comes back as your son. Your brother who died young comes back as your sister’s child. Mother’s come back as children to their children.
I have met some of these people. At lunch on Sunday, the fonder of my church talked about how in her family the experience was quite prevalent. A common refrain among children is “remember when I was big and you were little”. Sometimes a young child will talk from the perspective of the previous life.
I did a reading for a friend and her departed mother indicated she was coming back soon into the family.
All according to plan and necessity and sometime desire.
I would also recommend Sylvia Browne, Raymond Moody, Ian Stevenson, Barbara Pomar, Dolores Cannon, Neale Donald Walsch, Brian Weiss, Dannion Brinkley, Eben Alexander, Paul Perry, Richard Martini, Sandra Anne Taylor…There is plenty to discover out there!
Its a good list but I wold be very wary of Sylvia Browne. I think at this point she is so ego tainted she is toxic. I read her ‘Afterlife of the Famous” and stuff like Belushi not coming back after an addictive life just didn’t ring true. She has been massively wrong so often and treats people so badly I don’t think I could trust anything she says.
The idea of souls who are “bad” and recycle immediately is reuplsive to me.
Ken –
I included Sylvia because she was the first real important discovery for me into the realm of the supernatural and paranormal. I agree that her more recent work is not all that great (I haven’t read the book you mentioned, no real interest) and her predictions have been spotty, but there isn’t a psychic out there that gets it all right – this is because the future is not set in stone, we are constantly creating it. Psychics can see the most likely scenario, but ultimately its up to us. Her ‘Journey Of The Soul’ series is good and correlates well with many of the other teachers and researchers I have come across since reading it. And when I discovered Michael Newton, I had the same feeling of ‘truth’ to it.
As far as the ‘recycled’ souls idea, I don’t see it quite that way, as ultimately it is the choice of that soul whether to advance spiritually. Living in a physical body in a realm of relativity is going to generate those souls that are not going to do any ‘good’. They have turned away from anything decent by their own choice. So when they do pass over, they have no interest in the karmic balance anyway. The physical realm is their domain and they could care less about anyone else. If you’ve ever come across these type of people, the you know what I mean, as you can see it in their eyes and feel it in their auras. You have to step back and look at it objectively, they are still part of the cosmic experience plan – as we are all one feeding back every gray corner of experience into the source of knowledge that we call ‘God’ for the on-going evolution process.
As with anything you come across, you have to be critical of it and take what your intuition tells you as the ‘truth’ and leave what doesn’t work for you alone. The more evolved your soul is, the more natural this becomes. Entertain an idea, but if it doesn’t make sense, then move on. You don’t have to agree with my truth, and that is OK.
By the way, what and where do you teach. Do you have any books or websites? I’ve in process of putting together a website myself, but its been a slow process….full time job and 2 young girls and a family…:)
Cheers!
Mike,
I agree with you that Sylvia at one time was very influential in making “Psychics” rather known in society. Some of her books are OK. But whether she was tainted with massive ego from the beginning or it crept in over time, I would be concerned about anyone now referring to her work. This is a column from a journalist who spent a cruise with her. Its very chilling as to the type of person she is, much less her atrocious record.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/27/usa.jonronson
Take it for what you will.
As far as the “recycled soul” issue is concerned. I have never come across such an idea anywhere else. Newton does not mention such a thing in the context of Browne’s assertion, but if so, my guess it would be extremely rare. I have never heard any medium, other psychic, or spiritual person make this claim. My own sense is free will is “fee” to only an extent. Because in true reality individuation is an illusion. As a medium I have contacted several souls who were very abusive in “life” but are highly contrite and loving on the other side.
If a soul has resistance to growth, it is my understanding that God though Guides has great power of influence om eventually moving someone along. The fact that Browne used Madalyn Murray O’Hair as her example sets off warning bells for me.
Yes there are souls who are greatly addicted to physicality but the idea that there are “negative souls” that constantly recycle quickly over and over with no time on the other side not only is disconcerting but given Browne’s own somewhat toxic nature and horrific track record, I am strongly suspect. Newton gives much space to how guides move “reluctant” souls along.
I have expertise in this area. I am not an “expert” so things outside my range are possible and I am open but I am suspicious when the vast majority is not aligned with the claims of one.
I think as I said at one time Browne was useful. I think that time has passed and I would not personally recommend her work to anyone as I believe ego has almost completely taken over.
Perhaps she works for some and I express this with some trepidation as this site is not meant to be a forum for negative assaults on anyone, but I felt for all concerned my thoughts had to be put forth.
Perhaps Barry can comment on this concept of “recycled souls”.
Well, looking at her I guess she is a Young soul, as are many/most of the self-styled “TV’s Top Psychics.”
That’s not to say she has no genuine ability or sincere intent; I really believe there are psychically gifted people at all stages of soul age. But the psychic’s agenda and perspective will be different according to their soul age.
For a Young Soul, it’s typically a case of success at any cost, and “I’m right no matter what anyone says.” They are motivated more by top billing, book sales and TV exposure than, say, a Mature Soul, who would be more likely run workshops trying to facilitate the same psychic faculties in others (i.e. “there’s nothing special about me.”). So a Young Soul is more vulnerable to corruption and pretence, trying to keep up their image, trying to stay ahead of the competition, and often falling on their face with false predictions.
An Old Soul with a psychic gift for mediumship or whatever, I guess, would incorporate it as a mere tool for his/her broader teaching-message to the world rather than focus on the psychic stuff per se, as there’s a risk of the pure message being obscured by the medium (no pun intended!)
Recycled souls……….? Well, I can draw on two things from the Michael teachings. One is the idea that we all come from a “wave” of essence (spirit, consciousness) that has fragmented into zillions of souls who go through the long process of reintegration through reincarnation and collectively assimilating the lessons learned. There have been several or many such waves making up the population of souls incarnating as human beings – something like a new wave every 100-1,000 years? (I’m struggling to remember.) The first waves would all be finished off by now; the last new waves would have been in recent centuries. The other idea is that once a wave has completed the whole journey, from fragmentation to reincarnation to reintegration to union with the One, it can choose to do the whole damn thing again, just for the fun of it. So some Michael channels, when they give you are reading, they might add something like “This is your 11th Grand Cycle”, which means the 11th time you’ve repeated the whole journey. However, I don’t quite get how individuality applies. (Are souls able to join different “waves” for a new trip or are they forever part of their “home wave”?)
What that has to do with Sylvia Browne’s notion of recycling, I’ve no idea. But it sounds like some good questions to put to channels themselves.
B
God. Go through all this again? No thanks. I like your idea of 14 more stages beyond the physical. However the Bodhisattva idea appeals to me. To be continually illumined and to go around Universes constantly helping sounds like a great idea.
I agree with both of you an the assessment of Sylvia Browne, I haven’t really followed her much recently, it seems like she lost her connection due to her ego, like Ken stated. I do believe she has abilities, but for the rate that she charges a reading (something like $700) it looks like she does operate a little too much above her head. The article Ken linked certainly confirms that.
As for what I have taken from her books, there are thing that I do resonate well with, including how we choose to reincarnate, the concept of karma being a balance of experience, Mother God and her repression in the last several thousand years, and the influence of extraterrestrial beings on our planet in ancient times (another subject that is of great interest to me). So there is some value to what she teaches, which correlates with other well known experts. As with anything I come across, I only take what intuitively feels right and I go from there.
Back to the ‘recycled souls’ idea. I can offer a reason why mediums and regressionists to do not get these negative souls – because these types of souls are not going to seek out a medium of hypnotist for any spiritual therapy. I do agree that these types of souls are not common, but I do feel that they exist. With all the billions of souls on this planet and the zillions out there on other planets and universes, there is bound to be some very extreme negative energy beings that will not be influenced by anyone. And with Earth being one of the toughest places to incarnate, there are plenty of them here. I do agree that our guides and angels nudge us along and have great influence on the vast majority of us, but it is still ultimately up to us to make the choices. I am aware that there are ‘lower level’ planes that exist (negative energy), which makes sense since thoughts are energy and manifest into creation somewhere, so there are bound to be entities that will choose to reside there as well. It would be interesting to see what Michael channels have to say about the whole thing. If the ‘recycled’ idea turns out to not be what is given by Sylvia, then so be it, but there at least has to be something to the lower planes, at least as a temporary residing place for some souls who choose not to move on right away. It would also be interesting to see what they would have to say about extraterrestrial influence, similar to the work that Dolores Cannon has put forth. The cosmic influence on this planet is greater than most people realize.
I agree with Ken’s assertion of doing the whole cycle over again…no thanks! Even though once you get towards the end you understand the value of being in a physical body, but it’s heavy and sluggish at times…you prefer being light energy…and traveling to other universes sounds wonderful…but to each his own…
Mike,
I agree with your assessment that we all must take what resonates for us and leave the rest, that Sylvia has had much in common with other intuitiives.
I’ve heard several theories of ET influence including one channeled by Jesus by Pamela Kribbe at
http://www.jeshua.net/ (really good site).
I think there probably is something to all that.
About recycled or “dark energy souls”. I agree there can be “lower planes” although given the severity of this planet I’m not sure you need lower planes to deal with real dark stuff. There’s plenty here if you want it.
I’m just throwing out all I learned. I do think intuitives and mediums would pick up on dark energy. I had a medium tell me once that a friend who committed suicide was still stuck in lower levels and his mother who had passed was trying to help him. He was not a “dark soul” as Sylvia tells it, just wounded and lost but they were aware of his predicament.
I think its important to remember that in the end there is only one of us, that this is all God, which is ourselves, playing out a massive exploration and investigation of separation and physicality. Therefore although free will seems built into this, I believe at the highest levels it doesn’t exist. I have a friend who is a gifted channel and he says there are only two great injunctions
1) Go forth
2) Return
All must return, one cannot resist the pull of the Cosmic current. And the deepest energy in manifestation is Love. And I believe in the end Love prevails.
Therefore I personally have nothing to worry about because its all me, even the “greys” and “reptilians”, etc, etc, etc.
I’ve come to think in terms of gigantic collective decision making and agreement, so no decision is “wrong”. Its just another arena to explore. I have a friend, VERY sensitive to nature who believes we made a massive mistake with the onset of industrialization going back to ancient times. We argue about this because I don’t think he gets the piece that there are collective decisions at very high levels and nothing is out of place.
There is a Buddhist saying, “No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place”. There is a supreme perfection to all of this that takes very deep vision to see.
The Afterlife of Billy Fingers by Anne Kagan is a great read as to how things are not what they seem.
As to this grand cycle, who knows? From the Soul’s perspective a billion years is a snap of the fingers. Many people love to go to the amusement park over and over. Losing oneself, then finding oneself again for some/many could be a great game.
As my channel friend said, “best sandbox ever”.
From my human perspective now, probably not. But who really knows? Billy’s joy after a rough life was extraordinary. He plunged into it with great gusto. Who would think it? It was an tremendous adventure for him.
You might check out Bill HIcks “Its just a ride”
Take care.
You’re welcome. Two things.
He hasn’t gone anywhere except departed the physical. Your relationship demonstrates to me a powerful soul connection of many, many lives. Souls close to us tend to be round quite a bit. He probably helped guide you to this conversation. You might want to check out Theresa Caputo, the “Long Island Medium” on You Tube or TV. She deals with loss a lot and in her readings departed loved ones convey that they are very close often. You might also seek out a Medium reading to contact him. I do that but don’t know how appropriate it is to offer the service. So Barry would have to mediate.
Point two. The issue of someone reincarnating and “missing them” came up when I spent time with James Van Praagh and other mediums at Omega. Spirit (God-Angels-etc) sent an answer. The Soul is much vaster than our human perception and language of it. We define it in terms we can understand. So
a) A “sliver” incarnates so there’s plenty left to meet “over there.”
b) One of the foundations of this Universe is love. Source has no intention of ripping anyone off. All moves in accordance with plan and highest good. Heartache is not in the cards in terms of this higher technology.
I definitely feel your husband’s presence and that he has had a strong hand in alleviating some of your pain. His love for you is very present and very great. he watches out for you. My initial sense is he had to go because there were some lessons you needed to get on your own.
Ken,
I was very moved by your comments about my husband, and what you are sensing about us, and from him. I appreciate them more than I can express. As much as I have faith that he and I will meet again, and that he is watching over me and our son, I still miss him terribly…
I was just talking about this recently with a friend, and said exactly what you said about how this experience must be necessary for me in this life. Everything happens for a reason, and I know his death is going to teach some valuable lessons necessary for further spiritual growth.
Thanks again for you replies… They have helped me immensely.
~Christine
Thank you. We all help each other. Be blessed.