Soul Age Detection
I haven't had a Michael reading yet but compared to the role and overleaves, is soul age easier to detect or harder?
Thank you.
I would say it's considerably harder to detect and more subtle than the overleaves.
Yes, stereotypical examples of soul age can be found in society, but as Shepherd often says, it's the most overrated aspect of the Michael teachings. Too much importance is placed on it.
In the community we've tried to avoid the negative hierarchy that can result from soul age stereotyping, but I think there's a natural human tendency to categorize people into class divisions. In this view, older souls are deemed better, or more spiritually evolved than younger souls. That's nonsense, of course. Experience is not analogous to wisdom. It all depends on the individual. Soul age is just a measure of age, not insight. We all know of elderly people who are clearly unenlightened, despite their experience. And we have also met young people that were wise beyond their years. Thus, the measure of Soul age is just age.
The only distinction comes in the perspective that the lessons of each soul age can teach us. But even that is dicey, since we can manifest soul age differently in various areas of our lives. Someone in a competitive field, for example, could be an old soul but manifest at young soul in order to keep up with the demands of their job. And an old soul could also manifest at mature regarding relationships. There's quite a dichotomy at play here and it's all very subtle. In other words, it's nearly impossible, I think, to look at the surface of someones life and determine their soul age. We've all tried to do this with the people around us -- especially after learning about soul age -- but such acts often lead to petty judgments and false personality. It's a path that leads nowhere, in my opinion.
Much of what I'm saying has already been said better by Shepherd in his work. There's an article at the MT site you could read:
http://www.michaelteachings.com/older_not_better.html
It's an interesting topic for discussion, however. Further thoughts, anyone?
Best,
Dave
Like a lot of things, soul age is more meaningful in the aggregate than individually, as long as you keep in mind that any real society has a distribution of soul ages, and that it's the distribution that explains may facets of that society, not a single number like the average.
John Roth
To the newbie that posted, John wrote a fascinating piece about soul ages that examines some of the lessons I hinted at. You can find it here:
http://www.michaelteachings.com/j-roth_mature_soul.html
Best,
Dave
Daniel: As I understand it, there can't be an old soul that has not learned from his or her experience as according to his level -- for it's the lessons that are counted, not the time spent on the physical plane.
An old man, then, is not the same as an old soul.
I think you're taking my comparison much too literarily. My interest here is to get people to lighten up about soul age. I just don't see soul age as a merit badge or an indicator of enlightenment. I got so fed up with this insistence to romanticize old souls that I changed the soul age in all of my profiles to infant one. I'm now proud to be an infant soul. The world looks so exciting and new. ;-)
If you do the work required to move beyond a soul age level, you progress forward. That's agreed. On the other hand, if doing that work somehow assured an additional degree of enlightenment, then all old souls at that level would radiate the same amount of wisdom, but obviously that's not true. 12th grade students graduate from high school every year, yet none of them are uniform in their assimilation of the lessons they learned. All we can say is they did enough work to pass their courses, with some passing at an average level and others graduating at the top of their class. All is choice even in the degree that we choose to assimilate our life lessons.
Even the speed which we progress through our lessons is a choice. Some souls cycle off in just a hundred lifetimes, while others require four to five hundred. As Shepherd once said (or channeled) some souls opt for the survey course, while others want a more in depth education. Once again, all is choice.
Shepherd, for instance, channeled that I've had 922 past lives. He even doubled checked the number, thinking it was mistake. I, of course, instantly assumed that I must have been a real dunce and made a ton of mistakes. Michael (through Shepherd) later added that on a soul level I'm simply very cosmopolitan and spent many lifetimes incarnating into just about all of the major cultures that existed during my incarnational time span (40,000 years, I think). It was another choice.
Daniel wrote: Getting confuesed by this is, perhaps, one of the reasons why the personlaities of old souls generally suffer from self-depretiation. An old soul has to own his soul age -- not as an old man in the physical plane, but as cohesive aggregate of all the previous soul ages and their lessons. As far I have read of John Dalmas's life, he never acted like and old man
As mentioned earlier, the comparison of the old soul to an elderly man was to point out that an accumulation of years (or lessons) is not necessarily uniform in its manifestation in every soul. The mileage will vary and it's ultimately a choice. I'm hesitant to believe that anyone has to "own" anything in this natural progression. I'm not discounting what you believe, since I think you're right on one level, but I'm suggesting there's more flexibility than many are acknowledging.
Best,
Dave
A few things about soul age.
Hierarchy is such politically loaded termm, yet it's real: in nature, and, I assume, everywhere. The key to not get angry at it, I have found, is to see it inside a circle.
Dave, you said: "Experience is not analogous to wisdom. It all depends on the individual. Soul age is just a measure of age, not insight."
Old soul age has to include and trancend all previous soul age levels. It's more a measure of lessons than experience. Some learn faster. The measure of soul age is not just age, it's worthwhile experience.
Also, you said: "We all know of elderly people who are clearly unenlightened, despite their experience. And we have also met young people that were wise beyond their years. Thus, the measure of Soul age is just age."
Yes, access to essence (which is often translated to spirituality) is possible at all levels. However, our understanding of spirituality -- they way it manifests as it's filtered through our soul age (which is a physical plane overleave) -- will vary according to our soul age. The breath of old soul age spiritualiy includes more.
I agree with you in the dangers of the hierarchy of soul age. There are people of other soul ages whose active spirituality, work on themselves, outlook, or just the lives they have lead and the decisions they have made, make them more of an example on how to e.g: acces our higher centers more frequently, get closer to true personality, or just live a more fulfilling life than old souls.
Nevertheless, old souls, do have more experience (not just an accumulation of years). I wish people would approach them more often. Daniel Hi, A few things about soul age. Hierarchy is such politically loaded term, yet it's real: in nature, and, I assume, everywhere. The key to not get angry at it, I have found, is to see it inside a circle. Dave, you said: "Experience is not analogous to wisdom. It all depends on the individual. Soul age is just a measure of age, not insight." Daniel replied: Old soul age has to include and trancend all previous soul age levels. It's more a measure of lessons than experience. Some learn faster. The measure of soul age is not just age, it's worthwhile experience. <<<
Dave again: You're adding a fine line to this, and that's ok. I was playing the devil's advocate around the whole topic in order to move away from the generalizations we often see in the community regarding soul age. I think we all understand the basic nuts and bolts of soul age, and most of us could recite the stereotypes of the various levels in our sleep. Unfortunately, soul age is occasionally used against others in negative ways, and that's my real bone of contention. I've watched this happen for years now and it can be a major source of ego and chief feature activity. It's frequently the first thing you hear among students who first discover the teachings. They begin to scan their friends and family, deducing that so-and-so is a mature soul, or that their narrow-minded, bible-thumping aunt must be a baby soul, etc.
We often arrive at such conclusions because we do only focus on the common stereotypes of each soul age: young souls are materialistic; mature souls are dramatic and emotional. Take Beethoven, for example. He was about as stormy as you can get, yet Yarbro channeled him as a 3rd old soul. The stereotypes are really absurd at times. I often wonder if the mature soul stereotype is more about the dramatic choice of overleaves the mature soul tends to choose? But I'm not asking for a review of those things here. Please, no. This list is far more advanced than that.
Regarding your comment, I agree, progressing through each soul age level requires finishing the internal monads in the positive pole. That certainly involves worthwhile experiences, but once again, it's not a feat that's analogous to wisdom. It's really about showing up and doing the work. You can technically cycle off after 7th level old and not necessarily be enlightened. You've just completed the course work, so to speak.
Spiritual growth is not something that can nor should be measured by soul age. I think that's where the stereotypes of soul age have hurt us. That's why I'm saying soul age is a measure of age, not insight. Sure, many old souls have indeed learned from their experiences and do fit the mold of the generalities. But there are many old souls who have not, and as long as they do the work they'll graduate like the rest of us.
I think we often forget that personality is not essence. Students make snap judgments about others based on their behavior, but behavior is not necessarily a measure of soul age, either. It's a product of the personality, which may or may not be manifesting in the positive poles. I know old souls who are rude and obnoxious, and young souls who are kind and compassionate. In fact, we've had a couple young souls join this list, and when it was discovered they were channeled as young, the usual comment was that something must be wrong, that they were too "nice" to be a young soul -- surely their chart must have been mischanneled. ;-)
The truth of the matter is that there are young souls who are more spiritually advanced than some old souls, just as there are elderly people who have enjoyed a variety of life experiences but have learned nothing from it. I think there's a mythology about old souls that needs to be let go. The rewards of spiritual growth are available to anyone, no matter what their individual soul age. It's all a matter of choice. Sure, the lessons at the old soul level may be better suited for getting the bigger picture, but that doesn't mean all old souls will get it -- many won't.
The real value of soul age is in how it explains the trends we see in different cultures. The conflict in the middle east, the new kids on the block in China, the young/mature clash of perspectives in our own country, are all fascinating aspects of soul age that can be observed and measured. But using soul age as a means of judging character or spirituality? That's a gray area. Perhaps Shepherd will weigh in on this. He can speak more knowledgeably about this subject than I can, and much of what I know about the teachings has come from him trying to knock some sense into my pea-sized brain. I'm just stirring up ideas for discussion. But did I get anyone to move beyond the generalities and think about this just a little differently? A smidgeon, even? ;-)
Best, Dave
Dave, thanks for the spirited perspective. Lots of good points.
Recalling something from Shepard's Journey of the Soul, it said the purpose of
the teaching wasn't to know soul age, role and overleaves, it was to find new
territory for love to enter. For that reason I'm not very concerned about
assessing someone at the "wrong" soul age. If it seems to fit at the moment,
fine with me since I'm happy to experience the person again and see something
different. Sure some get hung up on the older is better idea. I'm not sure
that anything needs to be done about it other than note it. Reminds me of my
scientology days where the goal was to increase one's spiritual awareness
through completing levels. OT8 is the highest level available and there was a
lot of specialness attributed to these people who attained it. From outside the
scientology belief matrix those same people look and act just like regular
people.
You made a good point about looking at the world political picture through the
lens of soul age.
~~~~Max
NEWBIE:
Is soul age easier to detect or harder?
SHEPHERD:
I find it harder. For one thing, you have to discount factors like a scholar's neutrality, a priest's innate spiritual orientation, or an artisan's high frequency, all of which tend to read older to the untrained eye. Warriors and kings tend to read younger than they are, since they are earthier. (More below.)
When we jump to conclusions about
someone's soul age based on current negative behavior, how do we know whether
we're seeing the full extent of that person's soul development, or just human
immaturity? If you had met John or me in our youth on a bad day, what would you
have assumed? Were you seeing true soul age, or pieces of ego not yet processed
under the light of day, such as negative poles of role and overleaves, chief
obstacle/feature, or imprinting? Any behavior has a number of possible causes.
Would you have been able to conceive the John then blossoming into the John now?
The reverse is also true: is someone whose light shines brightly necessarily an
older soul?
Is relationship drama indicative of a mature soul, or a sage drama queen at any
age? Doesn't *everyone* have some relationship drama? Soul age is strictly a
matter of what the central life focus is for the soul, and it may not be obvious
from the personality's behavior. It is fair to say that the older the soul age,
the greater the possible expansiveness, but it's all relative; the point is to
be happy and comfortable at wherever point we are. Later on, we'll each be part
of a causal entity, which is certainly more expansive than being physical, but
that's just a different experience; each step is needed to fill in the blanks.
Baby souls do not possess a monopoly on narrow-mindedness. Yes, there is a
tendency toward rigidity in them, but it can be subtle. My two brothers are baby
souls. I observe rigidity in some ways, but not in others. We are each complex,
multi-faceted human beings. My baby king step-mother was more obvious in that
regard. For example, she had the germ phobia that Yarbro mentioned, but my
brothers do not. Well, one brother, who is mildly retarded, had a brief period
in which he was taking several showers a day, but most of his life, he's gone to
the other extreme, so maybe he was temporarily playing with that issue. My older
brother tends to be cut-and-dried, but then, he's a king with all king
overleaves, so there's a lot of "no excuses, pull yourself up by your
bootstraps, just do it" mentality. With so many influences, it's hard to say
where a particular behavior comes from. He has zero interest in metaphysics and
avoids the topic, but also avoids religion (we weren't raised to be religious).
However, my younger brother, a scholar, has asked me a couple questions about
the other side.
I have a friend who is a SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy). He's done a lot of work
on himself, is very spiritual, and would seem to perfectly fit the stereotype of
old soul. I was surprised to get him as a second-mature artisan, but he agreed
with it when I talked about the foci of the mature vs. old ages. I had confused
the softness of a server-cast five-input artisan with old-soul airiness.
I know some hippie types who are young souls. It's a mistake to assume that
every pothead is old, dude. I'm old and I'm allergic to smoke. I am a total
failure as a pothead. I can't even tolerate the brownies. Plus, I cut off all my
hair. Man!
So how *do* you validate someone's soul age, if not by jumping to conclusions
based on superficial evidence? That would be a great question for Michael during
the chats. But, for starters, I'd say that you have a better shot at it with
someone who seems to be more in his/her true personality/positive poles. If, for
example, someone is living from his trauma or mental illness, you tend to see
the trauma or illness rather than the true personality. Obsessive-compulsive
disorder could, on the surface, resemble the baby soul phase, but any soul age
can suffer from it. Someone who was heavily imprinted to be different from her
true self and has not thrown that off will likewise be hard to read. By
definition, false personality means that the essence is not in evidence, and
soul age is an essence trait.
So starting with someone who seems to be mostly in his true personality, look
for the basic life lessons. John Roth has, in many posts, discussed how infant,
young, and old souls are more individualistic, whereas baby and mature souls are
more community oriented, so start there: Does the person put greater emphasis on
community or societal issues, or is she more marching to her own drumbeat? After
sorting that out, ask if the person is more outwardly focused (infant, baby, and
young) or more internally focused (mature and old). You might then get the soul
age by process of elimination.
People think of older souls (defined in Yarbro as third-mature and older) as
being more spiritual, and it's true that there can begin to be more focus on
spiritual things, but I think it's really more that older souls focus
increasingly on the inner self and personal growth. There are many older souls
who are not spiritual as a new ager would define it, and many younger souls who
heavily pursue spirituality, especially priests and servers, and especially in
cultures that value it more, such as India. A surprising number of gurus were
channeled by Yarbro channels as young and even baby. However, what we see as
spirituality there is also the local religions. We view the yogic traditions as
spiritual in part because we may have to go out of our way to pursue them, but
some people are raised in them, just as we may have been raised Catholic or
whatever. Any religion becomes spiritual when a participant transcends the dogma
and makes a direct, living connection with spirit. And any spiritual practice or
teaching can quickly descend into dogma, including the Michael teachings or
following a guru.
One's culture of origin has an impact on everyone, whether it's accepted,
rejected, or somewhere in between. Even an old soul raised in a fundamentalist
home (of any religion) may find that religion acceptable if religion is not a
central interest for that person. It may be seen as an adequate vehicle for
maintaining family and friends while other goals are pursued. It may not seem to
cost much to profess beliefs that please those around one.
Furthermore, only a small minority of people, even among old souls, are seeking
to consciously awaken. Soul age does not equal spiritual awakening. Yarbro says
that 11% of humans are old, and 24% are mature. Clearly, 35% of humans are not
consciously awakening. As Dave pointed out, a soul can complete the physical
plane without ever being spiritually conscious, just as one can complete college
without being smart. Soul age is just one factor in the motivation a person
might have to awaken. Another is past-life history. And sensitive people of any
age may seek spiritually simply because they're unhappy and think they might
find answers that offer insight and relief--that was certainly part of it for
me.
A big problem with the descriptions of the soul ages in the Michael books is
that they tend to rely on the most negative and extreme examples. That's
understandable, since it is easier to spot negative pole behaviors--positive
poles are harmonious and don't stick out as much. Still, we need to avoid over-
generalizations. Stereotypes often have some truth in them, but none of them
always hold true. They become bigotry when spun negatively and people aren't
seen as individuals.
A Michael teachings stereotype may hold true 40-60% of the time, and may help a
beginner get a feel for the traits, but you have to really learn the teachings
well to get beyond that percentage of accuracy. For example, if you can't
recognize a sage who isn't loud-mouthed or a scholar who is, you don't know the
teachings well, and its usefulness is limited to you.
Incidentally, it's trickier to discern someone at the first and second levels of
a soul age because s/he may not be fully immersed in it. You're likely to see
some residual qualities of the previous age.
I took a stab at channeling the poles of the soul ages. I'm sure there are
better words, but this is what I got, along with their foci and how Yarbro
describes the way they perceive the world:
SOUL AGE * FOCUS * PERCEPTION
INFANT: Survival/Existing - Me, not me
+ innocent openness
– terrified aversion
BABY: Structure/Organizing, Arranging - Me, other me's
+ formation and structuring
– rigidity
YOUNG: Success/Doing - Me, you
+ worthwhile accomplishment
– self-centeredness
MATURE: Relationships/Perceiving - You, as you perceive yourself
+ resonant perception
– subjective perception
OLD: Context/Being - You, as part of something greater
+ inclusiveness
– undirectedness
TRANSCENDENTAL: Social revolution - Synthesis
INFINITE: Spiritual revolution - Tao
I sense different energies with different soul ages, but it is hard to put them
into words. It's a little like saying, "This second-mature sage has an amusing
bouquet that's a combination of French oak and rotting squirrels. OR Here is a
clever king that's young but has an elegant nose and a long, satisfying finish."
But I'll take a stab at it anyway:
INFANT SOULS:
The number one soul age builds a foundation, just as servers, the number one
role, are the foundational role.
I have virtually no personal experience with infant souls, but from what I've
heard, their lives, while probably not easy, are uncomplicated. The feeling:
simplicity.
BABY SOULS:
The number two age, like the number two role, artisan, wants to build a
structure on the foundation. It is rudimentary, not yet fleshed out.
Baby souls are less simple than infant souls, but are still relatively simple.
They place a high importance on their community structures, whatever they are.
It would be unusual to find a baby soul willing to disrupt the status quo very
much, whereas an infant soul might, simply out of not knowing better. The
feeling: basic.
YOUNG SOULS:
The number three age correlates with the role of warrior; both are hard-working
and are about outer form. A young warrior, especially third-level young, is
quintessential. Unfortunately, the only celebrity example I'm able to come up
with at the moment is Hitler. Sorry, warriors! If it makes you feel any better,
Dane Cook is a sage.
I have a few clients who are late young. I don't recall any who are younger,
although I've done charts for a few who have shown mild interest. Among the
clients, those who have come to me out of their own interest (not because
someone else pushed them) have done equally as well as those I've gotten as
being older, both in terms of understanding/grokking the material and responding
to the energy work. So I don't think that soul age limits capability as much as
interest. An analogy is young people, even children, who are masterful
musicians--it's unusual, but completely possible.
The young soul cycle is a time of individuation, the point at which the soul
most experiences self as separate, furthest from a sense of oneness with the
whole. The soul must get to know itself without outside influences before it can
rejoin the whole with self-knowledge. You might think of youngsters whose cry is
"Let me do it myself!"
All chart elements work together. Priests and servers, being inspirational, are
always about connection, so they manifest young less extremely than, say,
warriors and kings, who highly value self-sufficiency (although they balance
that with a strong emphasis on loyalty).
Young souls have a hard determination, not unlike the steely resolve of a
warrior. In extreme cases, there is ruthlessness, like the corporate mogul who
will do anything to succeed. However, most are more benign. Like young people,
young souls are characterized by high vitality, allowing them to pursue outward
success. However, that doesn't exclude also pursing a rich spiritual life if
desired. The feeling: coolness. Even in warm-hearted young artisans and servers
I know, there is a certain cool flavor there reminiscent of the warrior.
In heavily young-soul cultures, like Hollywood and the corporate world, this
quality is exaggerated.
MATURE SOULS:
The number four age correlates with the role of scholar. The stereotype has
mature souls being emotional and dramatic, which is at odds with the stereotype
of scholars being neutral and detached, but they share in common the internal
processing of assimilation. And there are many mature souls who are not overtly
dramatic. The majority of my clients are mature. The feeling: newly plowed
earth, friction, texture, and heat.
Mature-soul cultures, such as those typified on television dramas and soap
operas, exaggerate that heat.
OLD SOULS:
The number five age correlates with the role of sage, and also the higher
intellectual center. Old souls seek an overarching philosophy to explain it all.
To do so, they must detach somewhat from the physical plane. In the positive
pole, old souls are refined and light. In general, the feeling: breezy.
I find mature and old souls to be much more alike than different. Both have an
inward focus, as opposed to younger souls, who have a more outward focus. The
main difference between mature and old souls is that mature souls go deep, and
old souls go high.
Everyone has relationships; consistent with mature souls going deep, their
relationships are two-pronged, in the sense of trying to grok the deeper meaning
of "you and me." Old soul relationships are three-pronged, seeking to understand
"you, me, and context," as if viewing them from above. Younger souls may value
their relationships just as much, but they are taken more for granted in order
to focus on the outer world; relationships come into the spotlight at the mature
level, rather than being means to an end.
Even the oldest souls, being human, have issues to work on. There is no end to
the available lessons of the physical plane. It's like what they say about
writing: you never finish--you just stop. There are no perfect people; there is
a spectrum from less conscious to more conscious, although we may be conscious
in some areas and not in others, so it's complicated, and it's not primarily a
matter of soul age. One of the most conscious people I know is fifth-mature.
There's a simple test to determine whether you still have issues: Look down. If
you see a body, you still have issues. If you don't see a body, you *really*
have issues, and need to go find your body!
28.07.2011. 18:23
Old Soul Description -- Helpful?
JEN: I thought this, from my Psychic Dictionary, would be of interest here. Of course this describes someone who is _manifesting_ the old soul age... Jen
--- OLD SOUL - one who has been incarnated innumerable times or who has learned a great deal during each incarnation; acts more mature than the majority of people of his or her time; an expression used as a reasonable or possible assumption why an individual has one or more of the following characteristics: an extremely high IQ, excels in creativity that is not always understood by the masses (but this does not hinder his or her interest or activity in the research), possesses hard-to-come-by personality traits; is free from unnecessary worry both inside and outside; shows mature characteristics at a very early age; acts from a different time frame, consequently people do not easily understand this individual; people are drawn to this soul's magnetic personality rather than to what he or she stands for; is free from poor health in spite of defying many rules of good health; leads a good righteous life; feels material things are insignificant to the point that it bothers his or her close friends and relatives.
ANNH: I have to disagree. There appears to be a number of Old Souls who have health problems. What does "mature" mean in this context? I know some pretty immature-acting Old Souls. But they're fun! High IQ? Maybe there's wisdom, if tapped, and probably for a number of Old Scholars, but high IQ (if we're talking about the common definition) can be found in all soul ages and has never been an aspect of Old Souls in the Michael Teachings.
Creativity...hmmm. In MFM (I think), it's said that eventually older souls turn to the arts.
What's righteous life? 7th level Old kings "ride the rails." Is that righteous? If righteous means " you do it your way, I'll do it my way," then that makes sense. Also, it could mean a desire not to incur karma with others. But "righteous"? Ugh.
There are wealthy Old Souls. Now whether they care if they're wealthy or not is another thing.
Although you mention "manifesting old soul" level, Old Souls still have issues. This description seems pretty pie-in-the-sky and cook-book-like. My feeling is that it's much more subtle.
ED: I wonder if that is from the International Psychic Dictionary, by June Bletzer, paperback with a blue cover? I used to have a copy of that and it is one of the absolute finest works of pure scholarness in metaphysics I've ever seen. (Do you have one, Don R.?) And the definition below is accurate for the meaning of "old soul" outside of the specific Michael context.
JEN: Yes, that's the one! I've had it for 20 years now and it's been invaluable.
CATHEANN:
This is an interesting description of an old soul with many of the
characteristics that I have shown this lifetime, channeled to be 7th level old
and manifesting same, however with poor health (weak joints, diabetes) and bad
eyesight, one must consider that the old soul can be making up from poor karma
and/or in re-evalution as I am this lifetime.
Everyone who is actually an old soul manifesting same will note that their
mileage may vary. DAVE: That definition is hierarchical and pretentious, in my opinion. It's a
puffed-up, unrealistic description of the old soul that's more idealistic than
true.
So many of these descriptions portray old souls as somehow above it all. I find
that amusing. Look at the mature soul, for example. They really have
relationships mastered, don't they? And old souls...true pillars of wisdom,
right? ;-)
When it comes to soul age it's about the journey, not the destination. Being a
particular soul age doesn't mean you've necessarily arrived at your station. In
fact, there are far more departures than arrivals: Mature souls keep busy
struggling with relationships and old souls strain their necks trying to see the
big picture.
Too many descriptions of soul age are static and depict what almost seems like a
still-life. But, once again, it's all about the journey. The arrivals come
later.
This reminds me of a poem that Jane Hirshfield often mentions.
Although the wind
Using Buddhist symbolism where the moonlight suggests enlightenment, the poem
says that although you've defended your psyche against the cold winds of life,
such as anger, grief, etc, you have also blocked out the luminous moonlight and
the enlightenment it brings. In other words, like any mortal, old souls do best
when they allow themselves to experience the full spectrum of life.
Best,
Dave
Comments (0) 05.03.2011. 19:49 In the 80's, Yarbro published this distribution of soul ages. Her data might
have shifted since then. Again, this is just for the record--I'm not saying
that the numbers John posted are wrong. This is another piece of information
that can't be proven one way or another.
10% INFANT
23% BABY
32% YOUNG
24% MATURE
11% OLD
I'm also including Yarbro's breakdown of roles, which she says is consistent
on every ensouled planet:
25% SERVERS
22% ARTISANS
17% WARRIORS
14% SCHOLARS
10% SAGES
8% PRIESTS
4% KINGS
Ed pointed out something elegant and fascinating about this breakdown (which
is in order from most ordinal to most cardinal):
25% SERVERS = 7/28
22% ARTISANS = 6/28
17% WARRIORS = 5/28
14% SCHOLARS = 4/28
10% SAGES = 3/28
8% PRIESTS = 2/28
4% KINGS = 1/28
ALL = 28/28
This distribution doesn't speak to the percentages that may have chosen to
incarnate in a particular location at a particular time.
Best,
Shepherd
Oddly enough, both of these are, in principle, verifiable. The differences
between soul ages are rather easy to spot if you just talk to someone, so any of
the polling organizations could undoubtedly tell you without too much research.
There's a huge amount of demographic research out there that could be put to use
on this one.
Unlike energy rings, for instance...
John Roth
Twice I have gotten the distribution of soul ages in the US.
First was in a private session with Shepherd in 1988:
3% Infant
18% Baby
38% Young
32% Mature
10% Old (total adds to 101% I assume by rounding?)
Michael added that there was a considerable skew towards younger people being
older souled. They said that children born in "the last few years" were at
least 56% Mature and Old. I imagine that children born since then are even
more likely to be older souls. It is important to understand that there are
large generational differences in soul age and that a huge wave of older
souled children and youth are barely having an impact politically, but this
will certainly change.
In 1992 just after the election I asked Michael channeled by Kay Kamala in
one of her weekly groups, and this was the result:
2% Infant
17% Baby
34/35% Young (one of Y/M was 34, the other was 35, don't recall which)
34/35% Mature
12% Old (and the total then did add to 99%)
I did not mention anything about the earlier result from SH. Since the two
answers from Michael given four years apart by different channels were quite
close I would figure both were pretty accurate.
Ed
Comments (0) 05.03.2011. 04:33 ** Humans were NEVER hive souls. Humans are fragments. Atlantis existed in the time of the Earth being an average Infant soul planet (by Edgar
> Cayce's reckoning, and averaging how long it would take for the
> planetary soul age to move). Which goes to show fragments can be smart
> and still fear-driven. **
I have to disagree here. Atlantis may or may not have been
average of infant soul age, but the leadership would have been young. The
hallmark of Atlantis was a young-soul abusing of their creative powers with a
lack of enough older soul influence to keep them in check. This is a theme
which has been recapitulated in the US especially in the time since WW II
broke out.
Any idea of how long it takes for average planetary soul age to move is pure
speculation, as is the idea that there is a predictability to it that we can
measure and be scientific about. I'm sure there are ET and discarnate beings
out there who do have a scientific understanding of such things, but the best
we can do is channel them and be very skeptical of the results -- which in
any case don't matter down Here and Now.
The biggest hole in the Michael teachings, and I would invite you to apply
your very fine mind to it, is the lack of explanation for how X billion
current fragments here could have had 50X or 100X or more billions of past
infant and baby soul lives on this planet. It seems to me that part of the
total may be accounted for by lives on other planets, but the great bulk seem
to have to be in a lot of sparsely populated parallel universe Earths that
have been merging together into this heavily overpopulated one.
All the best, Ed
My understanding is that earth's average soul age has cycled from infant to
old and back again several times over the course of sentience. Atlantis was
settled for 60,000+ years, so it no doubt experienced that cycle many times.
It was probably a young soul society when it was aggressively imperialistic,
as it was at the time of its final downfall 12,000 years ago, even if much
of the rest of the world was infant-souled at the time.
Best, Shepherd
Comments (0) 05.03.2011. 04:21 Ideas Associated with Each Soul Age Dear John -- I forgot your question about "quickening", which I was going to answer.
Art Bell has a book out by that title and he's been talking about it as long as I've been aware of his show, maybe three years. I don't know where the term originally came from, but it refers to an acceleration of everything that seems to be happening. All the knowledge, technology, communications, awareness are speeding up at an exponential rate, and part of it seems to be that people are collectively creating the belief that whether it is the millennium or the end of the Mayan calendar or something else, we're running out of time as we know it before the world ends or changes drastically to something we can't conceive of in our present reality. The process stimulates fear in some people (especially baby souls) and anticipation for some people, those with more optimistic outlooks.
In regards to the karma-chanic thread and the ideas on all this stuff: One of the very useful Michael ideas to me was (I think it's in one of Stevens's books but I can't find it) the types of ideas that different soul ages use. It isn't a matter of attitude , which is a different thing.
Young souls like to master increasing complexity, just like children learning games. Young souls love to believe that the answers can be found with computer programs with 10 million lines of code, or by figuring out the human genome, or the incredible complexity of the math in economic theory or physics.
Mature souls are drawn to "serious" publications or art of all sorts. They are the ones who will read the really heavy texts and commentaries on eastern practices, psychoanalysis, Jung, or the meaning of literature. These texts always are written in formal language with long paragraphs and big words. There is a reaction against the young soul style that has more of a short attention span, glossy paper, expensive printing and need to keep you interested. Mature souls want to feel above the need for anything young-soulish.
Old souls are drawn to the power of simple, radical truths. They like to use their accumulated wisdom and competence to see right through all the complexity to the roots of things. The transcendental and infinite teachers have shown us that all the complicated word games are unnecessary illusions that confuse and hide the simplicities.
Young and mature souls tend to feel threatened or put down by what they see as too-simple explanations. Young souls want their billions for medical research and mathematical analysis of everything; mature souls are committed to their reality that the spiritual path is long and arduous and when they feel it dragging, they go back to the heavy books. This is just a stereotype, of course; many mature souls spend a lot more time with real drama, TV and film drama or pop psychology, but if they get into serious intellectual study, they want the heavy books.
All the best, Ed
Comments (0) 05.03.2011. 04:07
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roofplanks
of this ruined house.
Distribution of Soul Ages
Soul Age of Atlantis
Ideas Associated With Each Soul Age
Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 13:59:58 -0400