[image: Portrait by Alessio Albi ]
Those undergoing the first stage of reincarnation are known as infant souls. They are the novices of physical existence, learning to get used to life in physical form.
Contents
Courageous Souls
Any soul that volunteers for the journey of reincarnation is courageous indeed. It is a journey of many steps, many difficult lives, many births and deaths — often traumatic. Yet those who are relatively new to the journey are still close to that cosmic urge to experience, learn and evolve. They have more enthusiasm for life than most of us.
Learning to survive
All stages of reincarnation confront the individual soul with certain choices. At this first stage the focus is very much on choices to do with moment-by-moment physical existence and survival.
Infant souls are learning to adapt to the human form and to the world around them. There is an emphasis on very basic life-skills, both individually (food, shelter and so on) and as a family or small community (protection and reproduction).
The major lessons for the soul are to do with experiencing oneself as a physical being with one’s own needs and limitations, as well as interacting with a separate physical environment and with other physical beings, both caring and threatening.
The simple life
Since the focus at this stage is to become acquainted with the nature of choice in a physical world, Infant souls prefer to live in small, closed, tightly-knit communities that are safe and nurturing. Left alone, separated from their own family or community, Infant-souled individuals are likely to become feral.
Because the first taste of physical life can be so unusual and terrifying, many will opt to have a series of early deaths until they “find their feet” as human beings. And if early death is a required option, there is likely to be some mortal danger conveniently near to their birth place.
Infant souls generally find modern, technology-driven society too complex and threatening, preferring the comforting simplicity of traditional lifestyles in natural or pastoral environments. Those who do live within a modern society will tend to live on the fringes. They almost never commit premeditated crimes, but because they lack the moral conscience and “civilised standards” of Baby souls, they can easily transgress accepted moral standards without a second thought, resorting to violent acts of incredible ferocity as a simple means of self-preservation. Hence they might come to be regarded as dangerous sub-humans, or psychopaths, or treated as the “village idiot”.
That said, there is in Infant souls a natural instinct to nurture and care for one’s family, and this is the first opportunity for a form of love to be expressed and experienced in the realm of human separateness. Tactile contact is particularly comforting and reassuring. The more we are willing to hold and care for one another, the more we find the terrifying sense of separateness and aloneness diminishes.
With this emphasis on the benefits of physical care, it is natural that Server souls adapt to the physical plane more readily than any other soul type.
Infant souls probably make up less that 10% of the world’s population.
Perceiving a world that isn’t me
The Infant soul’s perceptions derive primarily from the raw sensations of physical embodiment and encounters with a physical environment. The sense of self, others and life is at its most basic. Life is perceived in terms of “ME” versus “NOT-ME” — the body and its environment.
Early experience counts a lot for how the world (not-me) is perceived overall. Generally, the environment is found to be threatening and largely incomprehensible. Most Infant souls feel that they are in a strange and often hostile environment. Those who are so fearful that they try to withdraw as far as possible from contact with the world are nowadays identified as cases of severe autism.
[image: Face 4 by mp gollon ]
At the same time, however, the Infant soul is still close to the original state of oneness with all-that-is. Having little experience of physical separation as yet, the Infant soul retains an inward sense of cosmic connectedness.
The soul that is newly cast from the Tao retains some of that essential alliance with the Tao not unlike the human infant’s closeness to its mother, but the human infant is not aware that it is far from the goal and the newly cast soul is. The ladder must be climbed and the infant soul is aware of this.
Messages From Michael (pp. 43-44)
Because of their remnant closeness to Home, individuals at this stage also tend to have animistic perceptions. That is, they will readily attribute spirit (consciousness, mind, will) to anything and everything in the physical world — animals, plants, rocks, clouds, flames, etc. The environment is perceived as consisting of many different agencies who can be either helpful or, more likely, terrifyingly dangerous — tree spirits and so on. The Infant soul’s fundamental distrust in things “out there” in the world of separation means that hostile intent I projected onto anything and everything.
This sense of immersion in living consciousness, albeit a largely hostile one, is often expressed in tribal art and ritual. It is gradually lost during the Infant soul stage, and will not be regained until the fifth stage, thousands of years later, when the Old soul finally comes to perceive the same loving essence in all things.
____________________________________________________________________
The Five Stages of Reincarnation
Stage 1 |
Stage 2 |
Stage 3 |
Stage 4 |
Stage 5 |
| Infant Soul | Baby Soul | Young Soul | Mature Soul | Old Soul |
This could have been written for me, it feels so familiar.
Energy workers have also told me that I’m not earthed at all and
emit a strong message of not wanting to be here, not properly
incarnated, having just come from a perfect place and wanting only
to go back. I speak as someone living very much on the fringes of
western society, having never been accepted by other children,
laughed at for my naiveté and never having had a friend until
adulthood (and even then only a very few who can cope with my
childlike eccentricities. All three of my husbands fit the ‘Baby’
category pretty well, though I myself don’t go in for making moral
judgements or harbouring grudges and I find those things hard to
deal with in others, almost like speaking a different language.
Stop the world! I want to get off!
Lachlan (an old hippie who’s
still a hippie)
P.s. I’m impressed, nay awed, at the apparent
perfection of the English spelling and grammar on this site. As a
born proofreader/editor from a very literate family on both sides,
I find myself proofreading every site I visit automatically. I’ve
even found, contacted by e-mail and had acknowledged, mistakes on
the websites of both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and even
the Concise Oxford Dictionary. This site is practically unique with
respect to the quality of the language usage, and is a pleasure to
read, over and above the quality of its content, which I am not
qualified to comment upon. Hmmm… with my scholastic background and
passion for learning (at 45 I’m still studying Latin for pleasure,
having fallen in love with it at school), does this make me perhaps
an Infant Scholar? I don’t look like one as far as I can tell,
though I don’t spend much time looking in the mirror…
Oh dear, I’ve just spotted several grammatical faux pas in
my previous post; hoist by my own petard!
I’m so glad you like it Lachlan, and really appreciate the feedback. Yes, I do like to pay attention to spelling and grammar as well as visual layout, colour schemes, etc. 🙂
– barry
“Courageous Souls” – a very good headline! It requires extreme courage to incarnate as a man. So much suffering, loneliness, anxiety, confusion! So much has to be experienced, suffered, learned – already in the earliest lifes!
And if you decided to become man, there’s no turning back!
From the beginning it’s been a tough school! But what is maturing during thousands of years-amazing! What a potential lying dormant in us all and to what wonderful beauty it finally bloomed!
The third image really captures what you’ve described. Initially I saw the image of the black man under “raw” and “primitive” and I was about to be offended, but I see it in the eyes. Their eyes look like old-soul eyes. My grandfather resembles the first man, and he is so… delightful – wise and ridiculous at the same time. Isn’t that ironic? A mature soul in their mid-twenties with an eighty-something-year-old infant soul.
Yes, looking for illustrations for the Infant souls was tricky. I certainly don’t want to give the impression that all tribal peoples are Infant souls, as it is patently not the case. After all, the human race has spent 99.9% of its history in tribal “mode”, and many souls have presumably progressed from Infant to Old soul evolution quite happily through tribal incarnations. Any given tribe could contain the entire cross-section of soul ages. But then it is the case that in the modern world the best place to look for Infant souls is either in remote tribes, or rural rustic areas, or in psychiatric units.
“Wise and ridiculous at the same time” sounds very much like an Old soul to me. 🙂
I find peace in the thought that my former spouse of thirty years who is very high in psychopathic traits may really be an infant soul trying to adapt. Thank you, Barry!
I’m impressed you managed 30 years!
there are infant souls, but only those who are closer to nature are infant souls, those who get accustomed to complex life are infant souls
i am an infant soul and find it very hard to fit in with society. i have been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome and am very childish being obsessed with frivolous things like roller coasters, amusement parks, cats, fashion, fun, and going to the beach. i value playing and having fun. i find it difficult to keep a job and do complex things. i believe i am an infant soul and am sweet, fun, attractive, naive, silly and childlike but cant catch on or relate to ” worldly” people. people do not seem to understand me and i feel like i do not fit in. i wish i was more advanced. the world can be a scary and lonely place when you are in the minority 10 percent ” infant soul”.
So sweet, Donalee. Seek a lover that will protect, nurture and cherish you.
Do not go thru life alone, like so many infant souls do. There is no reason to become hermit-like or limiting your circle. Find someone willing to expand your horizons. Love will do you good. That person is likely already in your life. Accept the passion, Accept the intimacy. Accept the bridge to peace and happiness. There is nothing sadder than seeing an older woman sliding thru like all alone and stuck in routines, afraid to change. Fear the status quo, not the new and fresh.
While I don’t think that all infant souls are sociopaths, is it possible that all sociopaths are infant souls (or the vast majority)? Or do sociopaths exist in all soul ages? If so, which of the five soul ages do you think sociopaths would be most prevalent in? Or do you think such a characteristic is not soul-age dependent?
Hi again,
This is actually one of those questions I ask myself a lot.
I think the answer to some extent has to do with definitions. A person who is ‘officially’ classified as a psychopath or sociopath is someone who ticks a number of boxes, though not necessarily all of them – maybe just half. One of the questions is, does the person lack a conscience? If so, I would say Infant soul (or early Baby stage) for sure. The Baby stage is all about taking on the rules of right living. Older souls might break the rules, but they know why and they know there will be consequences; infant souls don’t comprehend the purpose of such rules, nor do they appreciate consequences.
I believe different personality disorders are characteristic of souls in different stages. For example, I doubt that Infant souls have the self-awareness to be Narcissistic, while Old souls have too much self-awareness. It’s more a You g soul thing.
I think some older souls who undergo major developmental stress in early childhood (eg, born into an abusive family) can become developmentally stunted or arrested. In later life, drugs or alcohol might tip them over the edge and you might see a severe mental disorder (e.g., Jack the Ripper is believed to have been an early Mature soul with major issues.) But that wouldn’t be psychopathy or sociopathy as we understand it; I would call it violent acting-out.
Hope this ramble makes sense!
Barry
Nah it makes great sense, thanks! The whole sociopathy subject makes me consider a couple of people whom I’ve met in the past whose behaviour I’d describe to be sociopathic. I would judge one to be at an infant or baby stage, while the other might be at a young soul stage (he was quite narcissistic too, and I think more advanced in his thinking patterns than other one). However, both were somehow blind to the obvious risk of others revealing their true colours, no matter how much they might try to hide their intentions (once I found out the truth, the infant sociopath became afraid of ME revealing who he was to any new person, thereby ironically and unwittingly giving me the upper hand). I would consider neither to be mature or old souls. Also once you fool someone once, most of the time you can’t fool them again (with exceptions), and the infant or baby one didn’t quite understand that concept.
This is odd, but ever since I came across the Michael Teachings I thought I was an old soul– Today I began entertaining the idea that I’m actually an infant soul. Now I’m pretty confused, but I suppose there are similarities between the two… yearning for the Tao at least. I’m also only 19 though, so I guess time will tell (if I am to figure it out at all!).
Hi Anna
I’m always intrigued by those who write in saying they think they may be Infant souls. The chances of an Infant soul reading this, resonating with it and wanting to respond to it are very remote. Put it this way – an Infant soul doesn’t yet get what civilisation is about. And by civilisation I include nice, intelligent discussions on the Internet.
Imagine a consciousness just becoming awake to its own existence as a living creature, but surrounded by a physical world it has little understanding of. Baby souls, in contrast, are immersed in rules and regulations that can make a community work as well as possible (think of the Amish, say, and the Ten Commandments), but Infant souls are literally unaware of any problem in killing, raping, stealing, lying, cheating and so on if it gets them what they need in that moment. (Well, the only problem is that if they get caught they could be imprisoned, which is inconvenient.)
They could be described as “selfish”, but they haven’t really chosen to be so in the way that hyper-ambitious Young souls can do. They are simply and naturally impulsive – that includes negative and positive impulses, eg both aggressive and maternal.
Long story short, Anna, I seriously doubt that you are an Infant soul and I expect things will become clearer over the next 20 years.
Hi Barry–Thanks for the reply! It helped clear things up, since I’m new to the teachings. I’m glad I found them though. Substantial information about the soul seems so lacking and/or overlooked in the world.
Just ran across this story, think the young mom involved might be an example of an Infant soul? I have been interested in trying to find examples of this soul type, and I wonder if some developmentally disabled persons (as they label her, whether or not that is the case) are really just manifestations of infant souls in more developed societies than they’re accustomed to. Furthermore, in Utah she is probably an infant soul in a sea of happily Mormon baby souls… http://goo.gl/96ATP1
Ah yes, Katie, I see exactly what you mean. The eyes are very telling. I might even use that mugshot here as an example.
I think left to their own devices, a lot of Infant souls can act in a way that epitomises evil as the rest of us perceive it, yet as they perceive it they are simply reacting to circumstances.
Well spotted – thanks!!
B
May have found another one http://news.yahoo.com/woman-found-mass-home-dead-bodies-may-mentally-161611651.html
Well, that’s interesting – she doesn’t immediately strike me as a typical Infant soul – nothing scared/scary in the eyes. (But then psychopaths can be superficially charming and attractive…) I heard a neighbour in one of the news videos say she came across as “a normal person, just like the rest of us.”
But these child-killing parents are certainly turning out to be a “mother lode” for potential Infant souls – no pun (or disrespect) intended.
See for example – https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=child+killer&tbm=isch
This woman looks like a Scholar to me:
https://encrypted.google.com/search?q=megan+huntsman&newwindow=1
cheers Katie
B
I met a rare to me, very young infant soul a few weeks ago. She was physically older than me by over a decade but she thought I was an very old woman. Maybe because her energy was so fresh and new.
I found her crying on the steps of the local hospital and stopped to comfort her while she told me her life story, such a hard one of too much pain. She is living on the fringes and just lost her last friend as she was waiting for her social worker back into rehab.
She was in chaos, her energy swirling around her like a tornado, never settling. All I could do was rub her back and let her howl out her emotions. It made me wonder why she is here in our isolated location of late mature to late old souls. Her energy was so raw and fresh. I do not get to pick for her obviously, but I left not understanding why she wasn’t in a supported environment. She possessed the neediest energy I had ever encountered.
Huh, maybe that’s the answer. She wants to gain some independence. I don’t know of course. I hope she is better than she was. I send her loving calming energy every few days. I thought about giving her my contact information but had a very strong tug that it was my place to stop and help her settle herself, but absolutely not to interfere further. So I gave her a hug and left. 🙁
Thanks for sharing this heartwarming story. It almost made me cry. I wish you both well.
Another thought. Perhaps the subject of this much-publicized case, Michael Brown, might be a later stage Infant soul? I see something very innocent in his look although in some of these photos he appears to “act tough” https://goo.gl/Tn7i0g
Darren Wilson is a typical, rigid-thinking, inflexible Baby Soul, methinks. Wouldn’t be the first armed cop to be so, sadly. That Baby Soul inflexibility with the Infant Soul rawness and innocence is a bad combination.
a lot of what you’ve described fits the traits of high functioning autism… in addition, the inability to understand social situations and to respond to them quickly seems like a trait of an infant soul who is new to this earth…any information on that?
Exactly so. According to some early Michael transcripts:
THESE CHILDREN ARE INFANT SOULS WHO HAVE PERCEIVED THE “NOT ME” AS HOSTILE AT AN EXTREMELY EARLY STAGE, SOMETIMES SHORTLY AFTER BIRTH, OR EVEN DURING ACTUAL BIRTH, AND HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY WITHDRAWN.
THE INFANT SOUL PERCEIVES ITSELF AND THE WORLD AROUND IT SIMPLY AS “ME” AND “NOT ME”. IF “NOT ME” IS PERCEIVED AS HOSTILE AND UNKIND EARLY IN LIFE, WITHDRAWAL OCCURS, AND AUTISM OFTEN RESULTS. IF “NOT ME” IS PERCEIVED AS HOSTILE LATER IN LIFE, THE INFANT SOUL MAY REACT WITH UNCHECKED VIOLENCE.
Greetings Barry, I am Gabriel, pleased to meet you.
First of all, I’d like to give my appreciation for your website. Especially for the content but the design as well! Simple, sober and beautiful…
So, I thought about sharing my confusion with you… earlier in the day, I identified myself as a mature soul. Now, after reading Michael’s description of the infant soul, I totally feel like one… or at least, I do share some of the characteristics. Because, first of all, I was diagnosed with social communication disorder when I was five years old, which is associated to autism. I improved a lot since then, of course, but this is a permanent condition… and I don’t hate it at all, to be sincere. 😛 hahaha!
SCD displays rigid behaviors (clinging to routines, difficulties to socially adapt, etc). Infant souls are described as guillible and naive, sometimes believing silly ideas… which totally sounds like me. 😛 I ENJOY spirituallity but became cautious of not believing too much. I find it hard to… “filter” valid or invalid ideas… it’s like each idea possesses its own reality, in my opinion.
I usually don’t ask this from people but… I’d deeply appreciate your guidance on this subject! ;P
Thank you very much and have a great day!
Gabriel
Well… Barry… I understood the statement “I know one thing : I know nothing”. I’m feeling so free right now, because my only real knowledge is free of the burden of doubt, now I only have to live and let live, it does not matter what my soul age is : I am what I am. 🙂
Much love to you!
Gabriel
The chances of you being an Infant soul seem fairly slim to me. You have a good deal of self-awareness. You don’t strike me as being driven by nothing but your immediate perceptions and terrified reactions.
This is just my opinion, but I think there is a tendency at the moment to pathologise various aspects of introversion and high sensitivity (if you’re not an outgoing extrovert, there must be something wrong with you… let’s call it Asperger’s).
I know one or two mature and old souls who could be “diagnosed” as having SCD or some other disorder – not because there is anything wrong with them but because they are highly sensitive Scholars — deeply introspective and thoughtful, deeply absorbed in narrow interests, and hence not really tuned into ordinary small talk.
The fact that you find it hard to filter ideas — I wonder if you might have the personality attitude (outlook or mindset) of Spiritualism, which tends to be wide-open to every possible concept, especially metaphysical concepts, without much discrimination. (The willingness to believe something profound is stronger than the unwillingness to believe something invalid.) This is not quite the same as the Infant soul who believes that wearing tin-foil will stop the CIA’s satellites from reading his mind.
I guess I am just reluctant to use newly-named syndromes in case it obscures what’s actually going on.
Any thoughts?
Barry
Thank you for your answer, it clarified certain points!
It’s true that I tend to display introverted behaviors. I do have a passionated extroverted side that bursts out when I’m in company of someone I have affinities with but… depth is everything to me.
Earlier in the day, I went to the forest and I felt one with everything. It was… a really simple perception. I like to call it “being part of the picture” (my field of vision).
I agree with the spiritualism part… because I seek the depths of everything, disagreeing with anything feels superficial in my mind… that’s why I have a hard time “filtering ideas”. I don’t think just because an idea doesn’t have any form in the physical word means it doesn’t exist… otherwise, how could we even talk about it? Truth has different degrees in mind. It’s not about being absolutely true or false.
I still have a long way to know who I am but… I like the road I’m walking on! ;P
Have a good day!
Gabriel
Correction : *physical world
This is terribly racist, please people do not read this article, while we’re at it, this blog, I don’t even know where to begin. African populations, and other natural people are very sophisticated even though not through the lense of the European, especially used as an excuse/weapon to exert greed after finding out gold and other rich resources.
WHILE WE’RE AT IT, infant souls are in every society, continent, bodies, etc, old souls likewise
ANOTHER fun point: African and natural people have been around longer than any other humans on the planet, meaning they know much more than we do, they’ve been seeing civilisations rise and fall, coming to conclusion that the closer you are to nature, the better you evolve, but from within *not with technology which should be the epitome of infant soul’s gadget*
And our civilisation is only a couple of thousands of years whereas theirs are from the dawn of times. When our time will end, these people will still be around and can’t be forgotten, because they stick to what is real.
Vision on this subject is very distorted because it’s written from a high technology society *let’s not forget*, that see the world only with one lense, completely unable to relate with others.
Which is again, what these people *society close to nature* have been seeing over and over again.
You and others similar to you are only basing your racist accusation in this article, buddy. If you look at the other soul age articles of other soul ages, it also non-white people, older souls included? Look at the Michael Teachings site, for example. It’s poor research to only base everything on this article, haha.
Also you are the one who is assuming infant souls are inferior to old souls here. You simply judge neutral traits of being more connected to nature and outside technological society as “primitive,” yourself. When did we say there was anything wrong with not being so dependent on the distractions of the internet and modern consumerist society? It has its own benefits. You sound like the racist one yourself, actually, bud.
* sigh *
To my relief there is change: The racist photos are gone, but do you know why it was racist, or was it to make you feel less guilty? We all experience this life to understand our Oneness, with the world and those around us: To your disappointment there is no such a thing, as an animal soul, blond soul, tree soul but only a soul experiencing the duality and many truths of this world, until we are old enough to understand we are One.
The choice of indigenous people to live this way for millenniums is one of many truths, ours are not better than theirs. By facing them you can abandon disdain, fear, hate, you can choose compassion, love, understanding, only that way you can get older and wiser as a soul, whose only business in this world is to do so, after failing one or many times by resorting in fear, incomprehension and hate facing the same situation.
Hopefully, it’s not just a switch of photos that happened but a switch of eye lenses, and to remember
the only threat to oneself from evolving is to let yourself trapped in your own prison of ignorance when you got the key
Well, I certainly didn’t alter the photos because you convinced me that I was being “racist”. Rather, you convinced me that some people will react to certain images, as they trigger their own assumptions and judgements. While I was bewildered by your reaction, I considered your perspective in order to understand it as I am keen to avoid any sort of misunderstanding or controversy obscuring the clarity of what I wish to share.
There are some people who will always find a way to be offended. I say let them be offended.
I am reading this blog for the first time, though I’ve read a couple of Michael books.
I just want to acknowledge your efforts to accomodate all comers, and I especially mean this for the one, Daise, who, though highly intelligent, just doesn’t get it where it comes to what you are actually saying.
Thank you, Barry , for this information; you seem to put your soul into sharing this for all our betterment. (Even for those who don’t appreciate it, and are not quite ready).
Thank you,
Dan
Thank you Dan. I really appreciate it.
I agree with Dan R. The information I read on your blog has been very enlightening…and I will continue reading and following it.
My question is have you had any experience in dealing with infant souls? Is there a way to increase their consciousness?? I know the question might sound strange but I have found it is very challenging to live with infant souls..they tend to be defensive and get angry easily, they don’t like to communicate and are not flexible nor do they adapt easily to changing circumstances. Do you have encouraging insights on the matter?
Hi
I dug up a couple of quotes that might be helpful:
— Michael Speaks
— Sojourn: Karma, Reincarnation, and the Evolution of the Soul
If you are indeed dealing with Infant souls then you’re not going to be able to raise their consciousness to the extent that they suddenly develop empathy or a conscience. What you can focus on is shaping their thoughts and behaviours to become more pro-social and less anti-social, e.g. social skills training. If they are able to think, then you might be able to educate them as to what is “acceptable” and “unacceptable”, and explain that there are consequences for socially unacceptable behaviour.
You’ve described their difficult traits well. I cannot of course give a “diagnosis” bit if I were you I would do research into the possible diagnostic labels that are currently used and what sort of treatments are recommended. For example, the particular traits you’ve mentioned might be labelled as paranoid and/or compulsive:
“People with paranoid personality disorder are untrusting, unforgiving, and often resort to angry or aggressive outbursts without justification because they see others as unfaithful, disloyal, or dishonest. Paranoid personalities are often jealous, guarded, secretive, and scheming, and may appear to be emotionally “cold” or excessively serious.”
“Compulsive personalities are conscientious, reliable, dependable, orderly, and methodical, but with an inflexibility that often makes them incapable of adapting to changing circumstances.”
— http://www.healthofchildren.com/P/Personality-Disorders.html
If paranoia is an element, for example, then ideally you could aim to reduce their overall sense of distrust by providing experiences of trustworthy relationships. (The snag is, the initial distrust is a hurdle to be overcome.)
Thank you Barry for your elaborate reply…but the character difficulties run deeper than that..If you are closely related to one of these souls you would sense that there is something radically different in the way they perceive the world…. they have no introspection nor any understanding of others’ motives so they tend to make the same mistake over and over again hurting those around them while having no premeditated intentions…It was through observing their behaviour that I realized there is no such thing as evil…
The problem is compounded by their inability to understand social cues and their immature social skills….
The fear of the outside world is apparent in their inability to maintain eye contact…and their aggressiveness to others who they perceive as “not me”….but their love and affection is very strong to that which they perceive as “me”…
They seem to come into this world literally unprepared….as their nervous systems function differently than ours, making them overly sensitive to outside stimuli…(many of them have strong senses so they are picky eaters, good musicians,..etc ). Psychometric testing reveals a slow processing speed and a weak short term memory…making both attention and concentration undermined…
It seems to me ‘unfair’ that they should go through their present life with such a limited ability to adapt to their society….and to find peace in their existence…
With so many technological and pharmaceutical advances (other than the so called ADHD drugs which have a load of undesirable side effects), is there nothing that can speed their progress and adaptation??? Are there any forms of alternative therapy that can enhance consciousness?
I do understand the radical difference in perceptions, attitudes and behaviours that you describe.
While there are things that can quickly enhance a person’s consciousness, namely consciousness-expanding drugs and related techniques (breathwork, meditation, etc), no Infant Soul is actually going to see any good reason to ‘expand their consciousness’ other than to increase control over their immediate environment and physical safety, so they are unlikely to go for such a thing voluntarily. Besides, lacking a ‘rational’ sense of reality as well as any deeper awareness of self and others beyond me vs not-me, they would probably be vulnerable to psychosis.
What DOES help an Infant Soul is to feel comfortable, protected, safe and secure, even to the extent of being able to feel like they are back in the womb when they want to. (I remember in the biopic of Temple Grandin how she invented a tight-fitting wooden “womb” to comfort herself.) The environment should be comfortable, reliable, predictable (no bad surprises), and soothing. In fact, I wonder if things like gentle music, soothing scents, soft cushions and so on might make a difference? (Keep it all subtly in the background, rather than an obvious and change to their surrpundings, which is potentially de-stabilising.)
From a broader perspective, it isn’t so much ‘unfair’ that they are so ill-equipped for (and poorly accommodated by) modern society, any more than it is unfair for a baby to be born without already knowing how to talk, walk, read, and write. Rather, this sort of ‘mismatch’ is the precisely sort of contrast that invites everyone involved — whatever their soul age — to find their own best way of responding.
That’s ‘best’ according to each individual’s own perception and judgement. What I consider to be my best may be nothing like what you consider to be your best, but both are equally valid according to our own life perspective and soul level. For an Infant soul, the ‘best’ response may be to fear the unknown. For a Mature soul, the ‘best’ response is often a case of making peace with the now — finding a personal meaning to embrace what seems like misfortune or injustice.
From a soul perspective, this is precisely why all such difficulties exist — to ‘bring out the best in us’. It is valid and appropriate for an Infant Soul to react to the world as though it were one big threat (or opportunity) — just as it is valid and appropriate for Baby Souls to respond from their stereotyped perceptions of ideas and people (and cultures) as good or bad, right or wrong. Infant souls lack the complexity of awareness to have anything much more than a blanket reaction.
Perhaps it will also help to bear in mind that you are not responsible for these Infant Souls’ growth.
Something else that might add a bit of helpful perspective:
It has been said many times that Mature souls often plan (pre-life) to become parents to children who are Infant souls. (Additionally, Old souls will sometimes opt to be the parents of Baby souls.) As well as this being a gift of love to the Infant souls they raise, it also serves as a major growth challenge for the Mature souled parents’ own development.
Mature souls automatically perceive others with empathy (which is NOT the same as sympathy — it just means that Mature souls will automatically get a sense of how others are perceiving things). When Mature souls are relating to other Mature souls, this becomes a shared assumption — “We can safely assume that you are I are doing our best to accommodate one another’s different perspectives”). When Mature souls are relating to Young souls, they are often aghast at the other’s unwilingness to do the same — their automatic assumption and insistence that their own perspective is THE right perspective, and their complete disinterest in seeing things from any other point of view.
If it’s a shock for Mature souls to find that some people in the world don’t automatically reciprocate with the same attempt at mutual understanding, it’s an even greater shock when it becomes apparent that their own child simply cannot conceive of it and probably never will.
Again, I think you ‘best response’ to the perceived unfairness is probably to find your own way to make peace with that — doing your best to make their life safe and secure in their eyes, but not taking on responsibility for their growth.
For Tarabithia, Why do you want to ‘accelerate’ their ‘adaptation’? Everyone is unique in this world, is it to make your life more at ease? This person is a relative, you have to let them at their own pace, the only thing you can do is support them when they need, and make them know they’re loved and supported… Nothing is wrong with your sibling /relative, some people are born with deficiencies, medical disabilities, physical or/and mental, did that ever occur to you that not only this person will have to learn from the world he is born in but the world has also to learn from them? The power of listening, compassion, love, could make your life and his life more at ease than looking at it like an outside, foreign, unrelatable situation. We relate to the world innately just for being, in this life if you learn to not block it, you get wiser/older.
Thank you Barry for your understanding and insight.
You describe it well when you say that it’s a shock for mature souls to perceive that someone so close to them lacks the ability which seems innate in them and others…the degree of ‘abnormality’ creeps up in everyday life to the degree that it sheds light on ‘the normal’ abilities which you never paid any attention to and took quite for granted.
The Michael excerpts which you have posted in your earlier reply are so spot on that they could have been describing a scene from my life… I had been so perplexed by the infant soul’s behavior that I could not find any satisfactory explanation…until I came across your post and I realized how their behaviors are due to the newness of their experience on earth, and being so unequipped to deal with it. Their insistence for things going their way combined with their lack of empathy and primitive response victimizes others (I now understand that there are no victims and that it is all in divine order but in the 3D mentality, your ability to accept and forgive gets stretched to its limit).
It has definitely been a major growth challenge for my development indeed; to the degree that it has kicked me out of this illusion into enlightenment….almost as if by force..
No one understands the challenges it presents until they have dealt with a close relative/sibling/or partner; and imagine when many of those come into your adult life….quite suddenly. The cognitive and psychological strain is immense. I know of some who have opted to take their own life rather than suffer. But I have learnt that our greatest challenge in life is our best gift… and I have witnessed first hand the healing power of love.
Blessings
Hi there! Just had a quick question. what exactly do you mean by the following statement? >> “The environment is perceived as consisting of many different agencies who can be either helpful or, more likely, terrifyingly dangerous —TREE SPIRITS and so on.” I am an old soul and find my self very interconnected with all that is and was. I am especially sensitive to my Mother Earth. To rejuvenate myself, i literally just walk outside and hug a tree. I believe there is Unity in Divinity… what i mean is that we are all different but all the same. One of Many & Many of One. Anyways, when you use the term TREE SPIRITS, in what context are you using it in? When you say, “more likely, terrifyingly dangerous-tree spirits and so on” do you mean this in a positive light? or negative? I guess i would say, personally, that you mean this in a positive way… that the tree spirits are a helpful agency..? Sorry, this may be a dumb question. Simply out of curiosity, i’m just wanting to know what this sentence means. Thank you and beautiful site by the way.
also, i just wanted to add that the reason i am curious is because i am always saying that i am no more important than a blade of grass, or a wise tree, or any other soul out there. Hence, the unity in divinity. I would say i am equal to the soil beneath me. Does this make sense? Moreso, your statement about tree spirits… i feel very connected to my mother earth so i would love to pick your brain about what you mean and how you feel about tree spirits.
Don’t worry, I don’t have anything against tree spirits! I do see the divine in all things, or at least I occasionally remember to allow myself to, in the eternal now.
The infant soul level of perception is far too rudimentary to conceive of tree spirits as an older soul might, i.e. as part of some beautiful and benign universal life force connecting all things, or whatever. Think of how small children assign good or bad intentions to inanimate objects on the basis of their own likes or dislikes. A favourite teddy bear is a trusted friend while a dark closet is a scary monster. So I f an infant soul falls out of a tree and hurts himself, he is likely to decide that’s a bad tree not to be trusted.
Old souls are the combination of the strengths of the previous soul ages before it. It is not an entirely different category, but simply the accumulation of the previous stages’ lessons. If you think the spirituality of the old soul means forgetting all the physical lessons, practical lessons and relationship lessons, then you might want to read about what spiritual bypassing means.
Ah, great explanation. Thank you so much for taking the time to get back to me.
I don’t think most people with Aspergers are infant souls. Most Aspies I’ve met seem like young souls; with a high focus on their own interests and pursuits. And there is a large handful of rigid-thinking baby soul Aspies too. I think possibly souls in all stages of development can have Aspergers. I could see many of those with low-functioning autism being infant souls, though.
I suspect goal of Retardation accounts for many cases of Aspergers (in any soul age).
I’m scared of being an infant soul. A lot of people have told me I’m an old soul, but I kind of feel like an infant soul. Especially because I’ve been labelled with aspergers and I have a long history of being treated like I have an infant soul. I’m trying my best to get rid of my aspergers symptoms. They make my life very miserable. I’ve always wanted a life of adventure and accomplishment, but my symptoms have stopped me from that. I have a really hard time functioning. I can force myself to, but I get exhausted easily. I’ve also always had problems with my physical appearance. I’ve always wanted to be taller and more intense looking. Instead I’m short and have a naive look about me.
I think I actually may be an infant soul. I’ve always been seen as “different” , “weird” or “crazy”. I often feel really incompetent and slow and as a unresponsible procrastinator, I often wonder how the hell I even got to college. I also have feeling that everyone looks down on me and have always been excluded from groups . All my life (i’m 22) I was accompanied by smothering grandparents, who try to arrange everything I should do by myself. On the one hand they’ve always been telling me how smart, intelligent i am, and on the other hand, they treat me like i’m incompetent or mentally disabled and they hate to let me go somewhere alone. Hell, if i didn’t got pissed off, grandmother would still accompany me to doctors, offices tec. ! When i was maybe 19, my father disclosed to me that when he pointed out that they treat me like a child and dont let me do things by myself, they told him that I’m still not mature enough to do so. Dear god…they don’t realize that when they keep treating me like that, I will never grow into mature, responsible and competent person. As young souls, they value success above everything and are snobish toward everyone that does’t have higher education and wage at least 700€.
Even though my values may be that of mature or old soul (i’ve always been disgusted by celebrity gossip, gossip in general, lack of empathy toward those in need and materialism) and I’m interested in art and philosophy (i’m even art student myself), when I’m reading for example some philosophical essays, I have difficulcity to grasp concepts and it’s pretty damn frustrating…
Hi Norma
It’s very clear that you have far too much self awareness to be an infant soul — more likely a mature soul. Your difficulty with certain philosophical concepts probably just means that you are not intellectually centred. Having intellectual centering is a personality trait that means the personality operates primarily at the level of mental analysis and verbal discourse (thinking and talking). Like me, you could be emotionally centered, i.e. operating primarily at the level of feelings and sensations. The emotional center is “mute” – it slowly digests information by getting a feel for it. It is much slower than the intellectual centre, but deeper and more intuitive. As a Mature Scholar, I find my emotional centering to be pretty damn frustrating too because I’d like to be an airy academic, but my thinking & talking skills let me down.
Hi Barry,
I ran across another news story featuring a potential Baby Soul–the suspect in this grisly murder. Scroll down to the video in which they are walking him out to the car. I can’t see his face that well but something about the gait, etc, and the rest of the reporting screams Baby Soul to me. Thought you would find it interesting: https://people.com/crime/person-of-interest-in-custody-for-murder-of-jogger-karina-vetrano-reports/
Karina herself was clearly a Young soul.
Ack–I meant Infant Soul in the above comment. Not sure why I said Baby!
Would also be interested in learning your opinion about this guy https://scontent.ford1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/16473721_10154185161131231_5103541104110671388_n.jpg?oh=72578533e7f23d0d4c5ef27225a12552&oe=5907636A
Um… a Sage … with a disability I presume! 🙂
Bit difficult to read soul age from a single pic like this, unless it’s strikingly obvious.
His father describes him as “humble” and he does look like a Server, which is unusual for a killer. He’s said to have had a strange hatred of women. Interesting
Do you think terrorists are infant souls? Maybe the leaders are baby souls…?
Infant souls don’t usually act with such an organised purpose. It’s more a baby soul and young soul thing.
Baby souls believe that what they do is righteous and justified because the world is full of infidels who defile all that is sacred. At the same time, they can be easily persuaded by an authority figure that not committing an act would be a shameful sin.
Young souls formulate their own fixed opinions and agendas, and will commit actions to loudly demonstrate to the world that they are “right”, and will justify atrocities on the grounds that the world needs to learn the hard way.
Hi.. This entire article has helped me to understand why I do the things I do and helped me to be more comfortable with myself and my current journey
Growing up, conversating with different people, I remember being called an old soul on multiple occasions by various people. However, more recently coming in contact with my guardian, i found my soul is as white as it comes. I always thought I was so sure of myself, never understood why my life has played out how it has, incapable of big social interaction. No real family connections, no friends. The only thing I’ve passionately come to know is my love for the family I can have and make, following my emotions (which are a rollercoaster and I keep doing idiotic things over these emotions, let me tell you), my love for my tiny town where I’m somewhat isolated and surrounded by my trees, and my enjoyment in being capable of just about anything I want in this life. And now I realize vanity has been a recurring theme in holding me back.
My biggest struggle right now is feeling like everyone needs pieces of me, needs something from me, but I am in the middle of focusing on me and building myself. I’ve been self conscious about this because Im terrified of being selfish. Growing up my mom constantly called me selfish and made me feel like a terrible person, so I’ve lived this life second guessing myself at every point. But I know i want to give to others and bring happiness to the world around me. I want to be a positive influence. I’m just not there yet. I’m really trying to make these changes though, and information like this is helping me tremendously. This resonates with me so thank you… idk if anyone has any advice, but I’d gladly take anything.
WOW, this is amazing site and especially this article. I guess I’m the Stage 1, Level 1 (or maybe 2, but I doubt that) Artisan (at least I believe so). This really helps to understand my acts and my… miserable? … life up until now and maybe till the day of my death. I can’t believe how this explanation exactly fits. I’ve been struggling in my life all the time, never knew how to live, what to do, how to be in a society, what to give to it and so on. No, I mean, I had finished secondary school, then got some jobs, been in the military, but all the time I was like totally dumb, didn’t fit in, so decided to keep distance from society as such. Yes, I rather feel much better walking around in forest, alone. Now, at age 37 still haven’t got the family and job issues solved. Tried to have a family, have a kid, but had to leave it, simply because didn’t know how to do things, how to live in a family and care for them. Right now also struggling with problems what to do now, what job to take, or simply… what to do in life. How to live it. Also true about a scaring experience, a lot of things frighten me, yes, even going outside in the dark. seems silly, but I’m afraid, I always imagine there are some monsters lurking in the dark. At age 37? Seriously?! YES, unfortunately it is so. And that’s only a small part of it. It’s a struggle through life, mostly, not knowing what to do exactly. It’s hard to explain what I mean by “what to do”, but what I’ve seen like other people are already smart and know what to do and how to live life, that’s what I mean. and then, I often wonder how can it be that I feel me, how is it possible that I see, hear, smell, taste. It’s very confusing and frightening at some point. So, I’m very happy I found this article, it gave a perfectly good explanation of what is going on and hope too, that in some next lives it might be better than now. And that I simply have to learn how to live for now.
Cheers Martin
Childish and immature. Sometimes I feel that way, though nobody told me about it. I also kinda having specific interests. Most of the time I’m not interested in doing new activity if it’s not meaningful… In my eyes at least, because people have different views on what’s meaningful or what’s not. In social situation, I do better on one on one communication than group communication.
I also fit in almost perfectly on several stereotypes: from astrology, MBTI, and “blood type horoscope”. Namely Sagittarius, ENFP, and blood type B. Those 3 stereotypes have childish and immature characteristics, but surprisingly deep at the same time. Now I’m kinda confused… Am I an Infant Soul or a Mature Soul?
Probably a mature artisan, but don’t quote me on that. It’s hard to nail it with just a little information to go on.
I thought i was a mature soul. Till i did a giant accurate test today that showed i’m infant soul. I recognize myself in the traits and always felt like this is my first human life. I sometimes subconciously act like an animal, especially a dog/wolf, then everybody looks at me like i’m an mentally crazy. I have syndrome of asperger.
I am not sure if i am really an infant soul, but i gives me chills that i am so far away from my higher self. I am highly interested in spirituality
Very interesting. Thank you Cassandra.
I remember animal past lives (goat, wolf) and a demon past life. I didn’t have a human life before
I would like to point out that Dr. Michael Newton’s research has uncovered the existence of ‘hybrid souls’, which are usually older souls who have spent much time incarnating on alien worlds. These souls often have limited experience with the human experience and thus may present as socially awkward. I suspect that many people diagnosed with Asperger’s or HFA (in the US) may be of hybrid origin. I would also like to point out that intense and/or sustained psychological trauma during childhood could also account for seeming infant soul traits in otherwise older souls. In my own case, I was psychologically abused as a teen AND I have been diagnosed with Asperger’s. I have also been channeled as a 2nd Old sage cast king in moving part of intellectual center with a dis-carnate scholar essence twin. I have impatience as a chief feature, which I have definitely self validated, as the ‘fear of missing out’ is definitely at the root of some irritability problems I have had.
Hi Wayne
Fascinating, thanks for that. I share your suspicions about Aspserger’s. I think in many cases it could be a case of an incarnating soul (of any age) being reluctant to commit to the transition either at birth (the 1st internal monad) or at the start of social interaction (2nd internal monad – acquisition of language and concepts). This could also be due to recent life/death traumatic experiences.
I am so happy I stumbled across your site! I was late night googling about old souls vs. new souls and found your gold mine of information. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
In the beginning of this article, there is a part that says “Any soul that volunteers for the journey of reincarnation is courageous indeed”. The statement made me think of the child’s prayer line “if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take”.
The following questions popped into my mind:
– If we give God our soul to take, can we still be reincarnated?
– Does “before I wake” mean literally while I am sleeping in bed or before I reach enlightenment?
What are your thoughts?
Yes, “before I wake” simply mean “while I’m asleep in bed”. It’s a simple bedtime prayer for kids – I’ve never thought of it as having any deeper meaning! According to Wikipedia, the earliest version of this prayer was “When I lay me down to sleep, I recommend my self to His care; when I awake, I give my self up to His direction.” So It’s a sort of affirmation of surrender to the divine. But over time it morphed into:
“Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep,
If I should die before I ‘wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
Giving God “our soul to take” just means “I sure hope God looks after me if I die tonight.”
Everyone who dies goes more or less directly to the same realm of infinite light and love, which many people call “heaven”, behind which is the universal creative power which many people call “God”. So in these terms, no matter who dies or when they die, God inevitably takes their soul into Heaven. What also happens, though I don’t think the Christian prayer is meant to imply this(!), is that God then shows them the lessons to be learned from the last life, and God finds them another life to be reincarnated into.
I always thought I was an old soul because I’m quick to see everyone’s point of view and I find my peace in simple spiritual truths. However, this description of the infant soul also resonates with me because I’m very introverted and am awkward and sometimes, overwhelmed in social situations. Still and I am 45 years old! I have two children and seem to be naturally inclined to nurture them and protect them. They love their mommy: me! But I have never found much success in a career, outside of the home. I also had a traumatic and abusive childhood so it was very important to me to expend my energies on raising my children with a lot of warmth and love. Yet still, as good as I am at mothering, I have not the faintest idea how to effectively communicate with other adults. I feel childlike at times. But, my soul feels a bit tired at times. So now, I am even more confused! If you had any insight, it might help me see things more clearly! Thanks.
This world is currently host to mostly young souls, there are fewer mature and baby souls, and there are fewer still old and infant souls. So unless it is born in a place that is dominated by old souls (Finland perhaps), an old soul is usually in a minority and surrounded by baby, mature, and especially young souls who they find very difficult to relate to.
That said, I notice that those who assume themselves to be infant souls tend to be (as far as I can tell) mature souls. Mature souls inevitably struggle with life more than others; they can appreciate multiple perspectives but then find it confusing and exhausting. And then think to themselves. “I guess I met be an infant soul.” An infant soul actually wouldn’t have the capacity to reach such a conclusion based on self-reflection.
The natural inclination to nurture suggests a Server soul type. The “need” for success in a worldly career is valid for young souls but for mature and old souls it’s more often a social or cultural demand/expectation rather than anything internal. By your own standards, it sounds like you have been a great success as a mother.
I am not sure about the difficulty with communication with other adults, except that I can definitely relate to it in my own way. In my case, I spent many years – decades – feeling like a “child” whenever interacting with anyone even slightly older than me. It took me a long time to spot this. My unconscious assumption was that even a slight age difference meant that I should defer to their authority, like a school kid who’s been sent to see the headmaster [principal]. I can see how my upbringing contributed to this in that I was never “trained” for adult life by either family or school, so I felt very unprepared as an adult. Hope this helps!
I am a infant soul from argentina, 21 years old with a terrible family, they are very individualistic and materialist, they hate me, i dont want to live anymore this life but i meet a Young soul that is Helping me a lot, i fully trust her, if that fails im done with this.
Hi Ignacio. I’m curious – how do you know you are infant soul?