A few months ago I had the pleasure of speaking to an interesting and intelligent woman at a convention in Las Vegas who is a speaker/advocate for domestic violence victims and childhood sexual abuse survivors. Talk about a tough job! I discovered that we had a shared interest in metaphysical spirituality and philosophy. I’m sure this is why I found her fascinating!

The topic of soul contracts or pre-life designs (as I sometimes refer to them) came up naturally in the course of our conversation about personal relationships. She brought up the idea of “karmic relationships.” I was surprised to hear her say that all forms of domestic violence and sexual abuse are the result of karmic soul contracts. I was alarmed that a woman of her influence would express this belief to me.

I have always supported the reincarnational cycle theory. Most of us reincarnate with at least one mission in mind for each of our many incarnations. There is usually something we seek to accomplish or a lesson we wish to learn in order to redefine ourselves or refine a particular aspect of our character. I see this as a means of improving ourselves. I call this process the “pursuit of perfection.”

The idea of soul contracts has been confirmed by many metaphysical authors, past-life regression therapists, astral explorers, psychic investigators, and some publicly recognized professionals. It makes sense to me that, soul contracts would be an essential component of one’s pre-life designs.

In order to accomplish our mission(s), we must enlist the aid of others. It’s difficult to make any significant change in our personality without involving other people. So it becomes obvious why forming contractual relationships is vital to our pre-life planning. We have all kinds of relationships in life. We hold relationships with people, places, objects, God, and even with our selves. They are all fundamental to our spiritual evolution.

Our relationships, especially our human ones, have a deep and lasting impression on inner souls. In that way, our relationships greatly affect our outward personality. That’s because personal relationships involve emotion. As we know (or should be aware of for our own good), emotions are one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Emotions always cause us to change, for better or for worse, whether we are aware of it or not. Sometimes these changes are quite subtle, but have a tremendous impact in creating our personal belief systems and our worldviews.

I have a good friend who believes that an individual should take total and complete responsibility for every single event that comes into his or her life. This is a healing philosophy that includes taking responsibility for any adverse or traumatic events that we experience as an adult or in childhood. In my friend’s mind, the individual creates dysfunctional relationships and situations. I suppose these situations come to life through some universal principle such as the Law of Attraction. This idea could possibly conflict with or complicate the karmic contract theory. By the way, my friend asserts that this philosophy has made him a better person. In that sense, I don’t doubt him.

I find this “total responsibility” idea to be a bit extreme. I do not think that a person should take responsibility for the bad behavior of another person. I feel we should accept our part in any relationship, but we should never take the blame for another person’s wrongdoings. In the case of children; they cannot take responsibility for anything that an adult does to them. So that argument makes no sense to me.

I can find nothing productive coming out of karmic soul contracts. A karmic contract, by its very nature, implies that a person voluntarily agrees to play the victim role as “part of the deal.” According to the karmic relationship theory, the victim agrees to domestic or sexual abuse, by contract, prior to entering into a personal relationship. This kind of attitude creates all kinds of negative feelings in us which can lead to low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence.

By accepting the karmic soul contract theory, we are inviting physical, mental, emotional, illness into our lives. This mentality can lead to severe depression and an assured future of failed relationships. Is this what we want for ourselves? It also gives the abuser justification for his or her bad behavior. In that way, it can give the person a sense of power. This leads to nothing good, as the abuser walks away learning very little, if anything, from the heartbreaking experience. In fact, if we validate the abuser in his or her role, it does nothing more than encourage the person to continue on with this hurtful behavior in future incarnations. I’ve always said a little short-term guilt is healthy.

I think that if two people entered into a soul contract with the intention of creating a “karmic relationship,” it is automatically telling one of the participants that he or she agrees to be subject to possible abuse by the other person. Why would anyone enter into a contract with the possibility of being abused? That is not logical. If this were the case, people would be forced to go into life with pre-existing animosity toward the soon to be abuser. A person might say, “Well we can both learn something from the experience.” Do we want to learn to hate the other person? I certainly wouldn’t want to learn to hate anyone, or for someone to hate me. Hate is an awfully strong word for a person to express. Hate is an all-consuming emotion, and it’s completely destructive. I can’t see that a soul contract of this nature would ever be created if the result would lead to hatred of the other person involved in the relationship. Such an outcome is beneficial to no one.

Let me say that it’s virtually impossible for either party of a soul contract to predict how a particular “play” or “drama” will unfold. A person’s life can go in any direction. Why would anyone ever want to enter into a contract with a person who abused them in a previous lifetime? If this relationship turns out to be as bad as the previous one, then did we learn anything from the experience? Will we continue on with this relationship in future lives? If so, how long does this relationship continue before we learn the ultimate lesson? Such behavior is a clear indication of insanity. We want to avoid instilling that kind of thinking in ourselves. It’s not healthy for us to indulge in such sadistic fantasies. I encourage comments and discussion on this issue.

As a fan of all kinds of music, I’ve seen a fair share of concerts ranging from the heaviest metal to the quietest folk to the funkiest jazz. I enjoy all kinds of concerts but there are always certain ones that stand out as extremely compelling and exciting. These concerts are the ones that involve a lot of improvisation. There is something significantly more exciting about a dynamic show that is ever changing than a show where you know the band probably played it nearly the same, note for note, the night before. I believe that without improvisation we’re missing the point of music; to be an expression of the soul.

What is Improvisation?

When you improvise in music, you’re basically making it up as you go, or writing music on the spot. Instead of following a preset structure or pattern of notes, you develop your own melody or counter melody on the spot while you’re playing the song.

You see improvisation in its purest form in jazz because jazz is based around various soloists each taking their turn to improvise something compelling. Classical has the least amount of leeway for improvisation because typically you are performing a piece of music as written. Still, by developing your own take on dynamics and expression you can still inject some new elements into the performance. In modern rock and roll, you typically see improvisation in the form of solos, or lead parts although not nearly as much these days as in the 1960s and 1970s.

No matter what kind of music, what you add to it and develop during the performance is what makes that performance alive, dynamic and more exciting.

Why music needs improvisation?

Music seems to be the most direct connection between the human soul and the “real world.” It crosses all boundaries by evoking emotions and communicating ideas without necessarily using words or language. Musicians can evoke and express any emotion they choose by playing the right notes with the right inflection.

In a live performance, by simply changing certain aspects of a song, certain inflections, a musician can take the same song and evoke a new emotion with every performance. These changes are a direct expression of the musician and a direct link to their soul. Improvisation allows the largest range of freedom of expression foe the musician, allowing them to express exactly what they want at any given moment.

Without improvisation, whether through the smallest changes in inflection, or large changes in chord progression or melody, a live performance is just a stale reproduction of what the composer intended and was written/recorded. Why go see a live performance when you could hear the same thing by listening to the recording? Music needs improvisation to allow the musicians to perform the piece as an expression of their soul and give dynamic and exciting performances.

Why should you develop improvisational skills?

As a musician it is important to develop and practice improvisation because it make music more enjoyable to play, allows for greater expression and increases your skill. Music lives in the soul and by adding a little improvisation to our music, we can take an ordinary song and make it an expression of our soul and what that song means to us.

Improvisation also makes performances that much more dynamic and unique. Anyone can practice a piece a million times and play it note perfect but it is only a regurgitation of what they learned, it doesn’t have any soul, excitement or feeling. True musicians take that piece and make it their own and then when they play it for an audience, that audience gets to see a glimpse of the musician’s soul and passion as the musician takes the song in whatever direction they see fit.

Improvisation is basically writing music off the cuff and so it can help with your songwriting or composition as well. It can help you learn your instrument better as you begin to recognize what effect certain techniques have on how the music sounds and what kind of emotions they seem to evoke. Then when you want to evoke those emotions to express how you’re feeling, you’ll know what techniques will be most effective.

How you can develop improvisational skills as a musician?

The easiest way to improve improvisation is to practice doing it. This can be as simple as taking a practice session and instead of rehearing a piece just playing whatever you feel. You can try to write a melody and then improvise upon it, start with an existing song and add your own touches, or simply begin from scratch and let your improvisation run free.

Make sure to either play with others or with a backing track of music. This helps to keep time and develop the skills to be able to express exactly what you want on command. It’s easy to improvise something effective when you have time to work on it, but to be able to that during a song when it is necessary takes practice.

Try and listen to all kinds of music as you might find little note progressions and improvisation techniques that you can develop, expand upon and use in your own playing. At the same time, don’t get too caught up in what others play. Each person is unique and so how they express themselves through an instrument will be unique. You don’t have to use a million notes, or any specific technique just because thats how your idol plays. It’s important to develop your own style.

Don’t be afraid to take risks with your playing and be adventurous. Those moments where we let loose, put it all on the line and take a risk with our playing are pure expressions of the soul.

It is important to have fun and play what you like, but also be open to new techniques as otherwise your musical advancement might stagnate.

Learning to improvise on any instrument takes time and an intimate knowledge of the instrument. It is not easy, but in time your instrument can become a direct link to your soul, so that when you want to express yourself, you can easily and freely.

Conclusions About Improvisation:

For me, music without improvisation isn’t really worth the effort. A robot or a machine could just as easily create the same effect. When a musician improvises though, that makes the performance dynamic, exciting and what makes me keep going to concerts year after year.

As a musician, I can attest to how difficult it can be to learn to improvise on any instrument, but the way it allows you to express yourself is worth it. There is no greater feeling than to be able to take a song in a new direction and add your own emotion and soul to it on the spot.

If you’re a musician, then I encourage you to further explore improvisation within your music and recognize it’s importance. If you’re not a musician, than maybe this has inspired you to become one, or just to recognize the important improvisation plays in creating powerful dynamic music.

Neo Soul is a Genre of modern soul which has elements of Soul from the 60’s and 70’s. It is known for being deeper and emotional then modern day R&B.

Neo soul tends to use a lot chords with emotion and tension. These chords generally came from the Jazz/Gospel background where chords are used both inside and outside of the technical scale.

Production wise, most chords will be in the 7th or 9th and Dominants chords to give that tension and fuller sound. It may sound complicated looking into the theory however, once your learn the chords within a given scale e.g. Db then it becomes easier to improvise.

Some of the earlier Neo Soul artists from the 90’s are D’Angelo, Erykah Badu and Angie Stone. They all have different styles but maintain that soul feeling. D’Angelo has a very live jazzy feel to his tracks, he also plays all the instruments in his productions. Erykah Badu and Angie Stone have more of the electronic produced soul flavour.

There are many Neo Soul Artists who do not like the title Neo Soul, they simply refer to it as “Soul”. They claim that modern R&B has taken a different direction. Modern R&B doesn’t really use the jazzy chord progression like traditional soul did. Rather it relies much more on an energetic feeling mainly for the dance floors. Many recent R&B tracks don’t even have chords or a melody, they simply just have a bassline and a drum pattern. The vocals over the top and the rhythm is what keeps it in the “Soul/R&B” category. Some recent R&B even has a 4×4 house/dance type of rhythm.

See more in the site below. Also check out my Soul music forum and other articles.

The term soul mate signifies many different things to many people. Some feel that soulmates are souls that you’ve experienced in past, parallel or future lifetimes. They can also be aspects of your soul experiencing at this time in a different body. We are all multidimensional beings, your soul having experiences, in many realities, at the same time. As we all develop from the same reference of consciousness creation, we could say that we really actually have less than six degrees of separation.

Soul mate is also a term sometimes used to denominate someone with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, friendship, love, intimacy, sexuality, and/or compatibility. Soul mates can have various types of relationships, which don’t always include romance or marriage. They can be close friends, colleagues, a teacher, anyone who influences your life one way or another. They play the emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental, games of third dimension with us. They can affect relationships in a positive or negative way contingent on the emotional issues of the people implicated.

Soul mates may come together to work out issues or play reverse roles than that of which they are experiencing elsewhere in another time or place.

Anyone who is in your biological family, or adopted family, or pseudo-family, is likely a soul mate to you. You may feel closer to certain souls, because you have pulled to them as they are on the same frequency as you or because you would like to work out past tense issues with the soul concerned. Karma can come into play and to responsibilities shared by soul mates.

Sometimes its thought that soul mates come together to bring another twin soul into the physical realms. A man and woman mate and produce one or more children, the karma thus completed ends. The couple separates and share whatever karma is linked to the child. This may explain divorce for some of us. Sometimes the karma in a family is between mother and child, so the child remains exclusively with the mother. Sometimes the karma is with the father and the mother leaves the child to the fathers care. Sometimes it is with both parents or with a sibling who’s entered the family before or after you.

As the soul seeks unity with its self, the journey home, (twin flame connections), it tends to think of a soul mate as The One (which is actually the source of creation) who is there for us and to make us feel complete. The other half of us so to speak. In truth, very few partnerships even very happy ones are a true soul mate connection of twin flames. When it is the case, you may simply ‘know it’ on a psychic level.

Soul mates can bring out the best and worst in each other, depending on their issues, and often no matter how hard someone tries to hang on to such a partnership, the lesson may be to let go.

Any god psychic will tell during a psychic love reading that in your life time, you will get the chance at many ‘soul mate’ type partnerships, so don’t disappear if a relationship folds, another chance at a ‘soul mate’ partnership is sure to be just around the corner.

Gospel music is a genre of music that is written particularly to express sentiments and ideas of Christian life. Gospel songs have been successful in gaining mainstream popularity although it has not lost its core, despite the fact that the creation, performance and significance of this kind of music differs from one society to the other. It is played for various purposes, for religious or ceremonial purposes, for aesthetic purposes as well as for mainstream entertainment. Despite the differences, a common theme, which is the worship and praise of God, Christ or the Holy Spirit, remains in all forms of gospel songs and is one of the reasons why gospel music inspires body & soul.

Gospel music inspires body & soul and is known as on the one of the most diverse forms of music present today. Various subgenres of this kind of music include urban contemporary music, Southern gospel, traditional gospel music and contemporary music. It is also distinct in that it utilizes with more frequency the chorus or the refrain technique.

How Gospel Music Inspires Body & Soul

Many people believe that one of the many benefits of gospel songs is that they provide inspiration to the body and soul. This kind of music stimulates the brain and helps the body relax so that one can enjoy the moment and forget about the day’s anxieties, even for just a moment. It can also stimulate the mind and emotions and help you unleash your creativity when you listen to certain kinds of gospel songs.

Gospel songs have two factors that make music beneficial to the psychology of humans. Like other types of music that have soothing melodies, helps the body muscles relax, and helps in sleeping. According to expert, listening to gospel songs gives you an inspiration sound bath that helps you focus on being calm and rested. This is perfect for those who live with high levels of stress every day.

However, this depends on the kind of music one is listening to. Stimulating Christian music, one with a strong tempo and a fast beat, can increase muscle tension and makes a person more awake, while music with a slow tempo tends to have a sedative effect and can make a person more sleepy. It has been shown that people who listened to music improved the length and quality of their sleep and this contributed to less dysfunction in the day. Slow and calming gospel songs help one regulate one’s breathing as well, which is an added health benefit because regular deep breathing promotes circulation all over the body.

Aside from inspiring the body and soul, gospel music has also been found to have therapeutic benefits for those with psychiatric disorders, physical handicaps, and people suffering from sensory impairments, developmental disabilities and substances abuse. Gospel music inspires body & soul because it carries within its lyrics messages of inspiration that one cannot find in other contemporary music. Because this kind of music comes with references to a Higher Power who can help in overcoming obstacles and conquering fears, this makes it a powerful inspirational tool for the mind and the body. Music in itself has a powerful influence over moods.

Themes for what I write usually come from my own life and what I am noticing around me. Over the last few years I have noticed so many people questioning their relationships and moving away from some that have previously been seen by outsiders as solid and stable. Our evolving genes are giving us heightened awareness allowing us to move out of the old wounded state, and into the new paradigm of being ourselves. Living as who we really are is an incredibly freeing concept. So many “therapies” are trying to teach us to be more than who we are, unlimited, or enlightened. When we live the truth of who we are that is all we need. Enlightenment comes naturally.

Human Design is a very important and timely part of this paradigm shift. In allowing us to be ourselves we do need to live and embody two simple notions. The first is not to take anything personally and the second is not to make judgments about others. The more we understand about our own and other people’s designs we learn that we have come in with gifts that make us who we are. We may be grateful for our own gifts and believe that other people should strive to have similar gifts – teachers who try to teach another their gift, for instance – but that may not be that person’s purpose on this planet.

So with some of these thoughts in mind I have been watching the way we negotiate with each other. I see school children compete with each other and it is not always friendly. They try to always be better than the other in what they say and do. “Is my picture better than his?” “Is my Lego model better?” “Is my writing better?” “Can I read better?” My answer is always, “They are all good, and this is not a competition.” School teaches people to compete. Schools themselves are constantly competing with other schools in order to maintain funding. This makes them accept children that are more likely to give them the exam results that will keep them in the league tables. What happens to those naturally talented children who are not classically academic? There were so many talented children in our home-educated group who would not have survived the wrath of a teacher or the pressure of homework.

I listened to a discussion on the radio about competition. The main argument to support it was that “This is a competitive world and children need to grow up being able to live in it.” My mission is to be part of a growing movement to make this world a loving and peaceful place to live in and that means setting one’s own goals and standards and not having to compete with others. Knowing our own personal gifts gives us our own direction and our own success without comparing ourselves with any other person.

In order to deal with competition we need to learn how to negotiate successfully. No relationship can succeed if there is no reasonable negotiation. Children learn from school that they have to be better, cleverer, more able; more talented; they have to win at all costs. They are not told what might happen if they lose but clearly it is not desirable in our society to be a ‘loser’. There is something much deeper that underlies our need to succeed and this is a survival instinct. It is something so deeply existential and probably so old. The cellular memory of it will give us cause to believe that we may die if we do not win.

More than 70% of us started life as a twin. We chose to come in with another soul. Along the way, usually at an early point in our gestation, one twin decides not to stay. It may be because there is not enough nourishment for two developing babies, or perhaps one soul made an agreement to help the other in, and not stay. Whatever the reason, the majority of births that start out as twin births do not end with a twin birth. This creates a range of different dynamics that both souls have chosen to deal with in this or another lifetime.

Double binds are one of the dynamics that come from a twin birth. If you were a twin that needed a soul mate to help you come here and that little soul departed, might you think it was your fault? Might you feel bereft without your twin and find it very hard to make a decision about anything in your life from then on. Having two choices – if I do this, I lose or if I do that, I lose – is called a double bind. Imagine a couple of foetuses in the same womb. If I die, then I lose, and if I am born and win, I lose my soul mate, my best friend, the other half of who I am. What would your choice be? People who have had to make this choice in the womb find they are making these kinds of choices throughout their life. I have also met people who are so afraid to lose that they will do anything to win. I have wondered if that is because perhaps they have been the ‘lost’ twin a few times and this lifetime they have decided to be the surviving twin at all costs. These people make negotiation impossible, their fight for survival is so strong and often the other party is at a loss to understand the logic of the winner’s strategy.

I have dealt with my own twin dynamics and now I see so many others dealing with this issue all the time. People searching for their soul mates are really searching for the person they thought they were meant to incarnate with. What we are doing is finding someone who has the same wound, who is also seeking their soul mate, so the initial attraction is very powerful. We believe we have found that lost twin, the soul that should have survived and will make this dilemma disappear. After the initial bliss period we find we have issues to deal with and the pattern of “there is no room for two in the same womb” repeats itself.

If we choose to work things through, explore and understand the dynamics, then the relationship can become a true partnership. Although perhaps less intense, the relationship is more real. Some people crave the intensity of that best friend, twin feeling, and move from one relationship or friendship to another. When you have had your eyes opened to this dynamic you can see it when you meet a new friend who thinks they have ‘found’ you and make an instant bond with you. They then want your complete loyalty and they want to be able to give that to you. Then when they see you are impartial and non-judgmental and do not go to their level of intensity, they feel betrayed. In the meantime, you have done nothing except not allow yourself to be drawn in. If you are a “twin type” and have not dealt with your own issues around this, the chances are you will be drawn into the neediness and intensity of this kind of relationship, be it friends or potential partners.

Betrayal is a typical pattern of the twin dynamic. People with this patters expect you to be totally loyal. You may recognize someone as your twin but they may not feel the same way. So you feel let down. This pattern will happen again and again until you do something to change it. Business and personal partners, friends and just acquaintances will always let you down.

Imagine these dynamics in over 70% of the world’s population; the need to win, the feelings of betrayal, the need for revenge, and to win at all costs. Aren’t these all recipes for war? Greed too, can also be seen as a twin dynamic. Perhaps there was only enough food for one foetus. Perhaps the foetus that departed repeated this pattern many times. The need for food is so great when that soul finally does survive a pregnancy all it can think of is getting enough. Greed is the driving force. Today we see greed in all the negative aspects of power-hungry leaders. Mass death is a by-product of their greed as wars make billions. So creating another war is just a profitable exercise. Perhaps the idea of perpetrating death is just a form of revenge – a place that many of them feel familiar with while they lost their own fight for survival. In this lifetime they are going to make sure that they will win at all costs.

So what can we do to overcome the negative playing out of this huge need to survive? Can we go out there and tell everyone that they need to deal with their twin dynamic? Certainly one way would be to deal with it ourselves and know that the reason this is coming up big time in our lifetime is that it is time to deal with it. By the law of the “hundredth monkey” it only takes some of us to change the whole world; so never think what you do is not enough. It all matters. We are all enough.

Another way is to understand and live our design. That way we are comfortable with the body we have, with ourselves. We know our purpose on this planet and there is no need to compete with others. We have nothing to prove. We don’t even need to mean what we say – it all just depends what mood we are in at that moment. We don’t need to feel pressure, mental or physical stress. Whenever we get into a difficult negotiation, a double bind, a win/lose situation or a betrayal we can be alerted to the fact that this is not who we are. This is a very old pattern; we survived back then and we will survive now and we no longer need to be in this dynamic. The secret of a double bind is that there is really nothing you can do but understand the pattern and name it. “This is a double bind….” Then you wait. Forgive yourself for being the surviving twin. Take notice of your own body, feeling grounded and centred in it. Perhaps you negated your own body because your lost twin was denied one. Perhaps you feel disconnected from your heart. If you weren’t, you couldn’t stand the pain of the loss. If you listen to that heart you will learn that the twin you miss so much chose to leave; you even made a pact that they would accompany you for a small part of the journey but you have forgotten that agreement. And are they are still with you in spirit, watching over you, guiding you?

Then when you do meet your soul mate and become entangled in the “twin dynamic” of the double bind, you will be able to find your own self and differentiate. You will start to see how suffocating it is to be so co-dependent on each other, and you will be grateful for the space that differentiating yourselves allows each of you. You are not afraid to be away from each other’s company; you no longer finish sentences for each other; you no longer feel betrayed by the other when they find someone else to “twin” with. You are free to see each other’s unique qualities instead.

Do nothing and wait for the miracle to happen. Be patient. I have used this strategy over and over again and it works. The miracle happens every time.

Phylipa Dinnen

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life and don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.” Steve Jobs

I love people- their eyes and what lies behind them; their melatonin; their philosophy; their creativity.

I believe intelligence is grossly misrepresented. Even stupid people ain’t stupid.

I don’t believe I know everything, I think we all do. I just want people to remind me what I’ve forgotten.

I hurt for the horrors that are happening every second, every other second, every other, other second. I hope, every few moments, the lessons of the horror have been learned.

I believe we all want to stop something about ourselves. Stop once we’ve grown to know better.

I believe stopping is a rebirth, each with a labor of its own time frame. Everything that you stop starts change. If change is accepted for what it must be and not what you want it to be, you may find it easier to stop and, perhaps, you will start something you never need or want to stop.

I believe most people ignore and suppress their soul, because they were never given truthful answers to their why’s or they were/are afraid to ask. Pain and bliss are part of the drama of life. The bliss is always worth the pain. I believe we cannot live fully until we are selfish for our souls. This means 100% of the time you must be willing to stop and change first.

Almost every person feels a longing for companionship. At times we may understand this desire as a directive toward union with God, and at other times, as a desire for union with another person.

Two ideas come together in the material from the Edgar Cayce readings concerning the choice of a companion-particularly a life partner. First is the principle that we are here in the earth for the purpose of growth and development in consciousness. What is more, associations with some individuals are more conducive to growth than associations with others; therefore, it is prudent to choose carefully our companions. This principle is probably easy for us to accept if we merely reflect on the types of influence various friends and acquaintances have had on us in the past. The impact is most powerful in a marriage relationship, and a good union should be founded upon a shared purpose in life and the capacity to help each other to grow.

The second principle relates to reincarnation: We as spiritual beings (or souls) experience our growth in consciousness through a series of lifetimes in physical human form. In other words, we have been in the earth many times before, and more specifically have had close personal relationships with particular souls. Attraction to another person and thoughts of marriage could very likely be related to memory patterns (even subconscious memories!) of having been with that soul in the distant past. In the readings, Cayce suggested that, often, we are attracted to a particular person for marriage in this lifetime because of such a relationship at least once before.

But if reincarnation is a fact, we might expect that we have been married to many souls in the course of other incarnations. Which one of these partnerships is the best one to build upon now, in this life? Does each person have exactly one other special soul that it is meant to be with whenever possible?

Many sources of psychic information and other metaphysical teachings have proposed concepts such as “soul mate” and “twin soul.” The Cayce readings, although simultaneously raising some provocative questions, do shed some light on this topic.

In the beginning, as was outlined, there was presented that that became as the Sons of God, in that male and female were as one… Reading 364-7

A fundamental issue is the very nature of the soul. Is it male or female? Both or neither? The readings propose that the soul itself does not have gender.

However, in order to learn and grow, a soul enters into the physical domain (which is characterized by such polarities as light/dark, positive/negative, thinking/feeling, etc.) and chooses to incarnate in a male or female expression. Likely, in the long-range growth of the soul over many incarnations, male and female experiences are needed. In selecting one gender over the other in a particular lifetime, a condition is usually created in which a balance or complement is needed, such as can be found in a marriage companion. This is not to say that important spiritual growth is impossible during a life without marriage; rather, the marriage relationship is one great avenue for development.

Perhaps this pattern of growth has not always been the usual way. Some readings suggest that in ancient prehistory, such as the times of Atlantis more than 12,000 years ago, a soul could incarnate in such a way that male and female qualities were manifested simultaneously. It is not clear what form the physical body took in these cases. One person was told in a reading about an Atlantean incarnation: “for then both male and female might be-desired so-in one.” (288-27)

What, then, is a soul mate? Is it the soul that one has married in the most incarnations? Frequency of marriage may be one factor because, according to Cayce, status as soul mates is built by shared physical experiences over a long period. However, a more precise understanding is this: A soul mate is a complement to oneself. One reading poetically describes it as “the tongue to the groove, the tenon to the mortise…” (1556-2) It is more than merely a physical attraction; it is a capacity to help each other at the physical, mental, and spiritual levels.

Another interpretation of the term “soul mates” was offered by Hugh Lynn Cayce, who was present for a number of the readings his father gave on this subject. He wrote: “The idea of soul mates and affinities is closely related to the theory of reincarnation as explained through the Edgar Cayce readings. Two souls may, in a number of incarnations, grow very close together in their pattern of spiritual evolution. These souls will need the help and assistance of each other as they evolve and hence, in any one incarnation, will be drawn closely together because of their many past associations and the intricate entwining of their respective personalities.”

Status as soul mates is also a matter of ideals. One important passage stated: “Such as have in an experience found an ideal may be said to be soul mates, and no marriages [are] made in heaven nor by the Father save as each do His biddings.” (275-38)

These criteria suggest that one could have more than a solitary soul mate, although such a fact is not explicitly spelled out in any Cayce reading. However, we should, no doubt, be cautious about leaving a current marriage partner merely because of an attraction to someone else. In all likelihood, the very same problems and “opportunities” we are currently facing would be the same regardless of which partner we have in our lives-in relationships we most often come to terms with those things we need to work on in ourselves, even though we might sometimes think of our partner as being the source of our frustration. Those who come across the idea of soul mates after having already married can still rest assured that their partner is, in fact, a “soul mate.”

For those who are single and who would like to find their soul mate, what do the Cayce readings have to offer?

First, they suggest choosing someone who will help you to a “more helpful, more sustaining, more the well-rounded life…” (364-7) In modern language, we might say that we are looking for someone who has the “right vibrations” for us. In fact, this is a phrase used in the readings in describing the kind of experience that might be felt between soul mates: “with the union of two that vibrate or respond to those vibrations in self…” (364-7) Together, the two would assist one another in finding a balanced life.

But even if we find someone who fits these criteria-someone who is perhaps a soul mate-this does not guarantee a good marriage. The two will still have to work together in order for the great potential of the relationship to flower. This is what the readings seemed to suggest in the following question-and-answer exchange. We might assume that the question, in effect, asked whether or not these two people were soul mates.

Q. Is this girl the type and quality of womanhood best suited to this man for a successful life? A. May be made so in each. No one is suited exactly in the beginning, unless it has been fore-ordained through the ages of the mating of each. (Reading 257-15)

The final statement is not clearly explained. We might understand “fore-ordained” to include a choice made by the two souls before being born this time, or it may relate to very strong bonds built over many lifetimes of being married (i.e., “the mating of each”).

A concept similar to that of soul mates is “twin souls.” When Cayce used this term in the readings, he did not mean to imply that two souls were identical. Instead, it is two souls sharing a common purpose or ideal. They would not necessarily have had previous marriage incarnations. In other words, the soul-mate condition is largely built in the material plane of experience (although, as previously mentioned, it has mental and spiritual components beyond just sexual attraction). However, the twin-soul condition evolves more from a commonality in the nonmaterial realm-at the idea or ideal level.

One example of twin souls, according to the Cayce readings, is Jesus and His mother, Mary. One reading states: “In the beginning Mary was the twin-soul of the Master in the entrance into the earth!” (5749-8)

Finally, we might ask ourselves, “Where does this subject of soul mates and twin souls lead us? Is our destiny to find and be reunited with some other special soul?” Such is not the point of view in the Cayce material. They refer to Jesus’ teaching that, in the heavenly kingdom, we are neither married nor given in marriage. As helpful as marriage relationships may be in the earth, beyond this material domain, it is our destiny to find wholeness within our own souls. If one must think in terms of being destined to ultimate union with some other soul, then think of that other soul as the Christ Soul. One reading made the point this way: “But know, the soul is rather the soul-mate of the universal consciousness than of an individual entity.” (2988-2)

The principle of soul mates and twin souls are, therefore, potentially both helpful and misleading. These concepts can help us understand some of the key factors in making a wise choice of a marriage partner and can remind us that some relationships are tremendous storehouses of love and helpfulness which can be reawakened. However, these concepts can be misleading if we forget that our ultimate companion is the Christ, or if we are tempted to leave the responsibilities of relationships to which we have already committed ourselves in this lifetime.

There are 7 rays of incarnation. Our soul incarnates into body on one of these 7 rays. They also influence our physical / etheric, emotional and mental bodies and our personality.

Each of the seven rays has a group of Ascended Masters connected to each of these rays. The Ascended Masters work on these 7 rays work with the attributes and principles attributed to each ray.

Here we look at the First Ray of incarnation.

The First Ray is the blue ray. If you are a blue ray soul then you have blue around your crown chakra. The first ray has the purpose of being the ray which manifests the Will and Power of God. The Chohan of the ray, a single Ascended Master focuses the Christ Consciousness of the ray. The Chohan of the blue ray is El Morya.

If you are a first ray soul then you will possess some of the positive and negative attributes of the ray.

Positive attributes are: a strong will, innate sense of inner power, a sense of purpose, focus, an initiator, a leader, detachment and courage. The negative attributes are pride, ego, a loner or self isolated, arrogance, wilfulness, extreme ambition, a destroyer, impatience, hardness and control issues.

There are many Ascended Masters working on the 1st ray – most of them are men. One of these Masters will be assigned to you to act as teacher and guide. Your Master can change through your life time. You can also be assigned to Masters working on other rays, for higher learning or if you are working on some aspect of your personality, or bodies, physical, emotional or mental.

Some of the First Ray Masters are, El Morya, Melchizedek, St John, the Baptist, Metatron, Krishna, Mahakala, Osiris, Thomas Merton and Moses (Lord Ling).

The Elohim of this ray are Hercules and Amazonia. The Archangels of this ray are Michael and Faith.

Dear Loved Ones,

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Don’t Judge A Soul By Its Cover

A Soul so Beautiful, so Enlightened, how can we judge a spark of God by its cover?

Don’t judge a Soul by its cover. What cover?

This cover showing itself as me, as you as all.

This form as is, as me, as you as all.

This presence as me, as you as all.

Can we see our Souls? Some can.

Can we hear our Souls? Some can.

Can we feel our Souls? Some can.

Now if some can, does this mean that we all can?

If one person as the child of God can do one thing does this mean that we all can? How about the fact that we all have our unique talents as to the way our Soul expresses itself in this life time. Our soul has chosen this specific play, show, route and journey to fulfill its light.

How are you living your life as your Soul?

Are you judging yourself and others by the cover your Soul has placed upon itself?

Are you Present with your Soul?

Are you Accepting of your Soul?

Are you Loving your Soul as one with you?

Are you One with your Soul?

Can you imagine the Unity of your Soul and this cover that it has placed upon itself? No more separation. No more suffering. No more judgment. No more lacks. No more limitations.

When we know ourselves as One with our Souls we know ourselves One with God, the Divine. We know ourselves One with our Source. Yes, One with our Source. Our source being inside and outside us at all time.

In this case there is no loneliness and separation; there is only Unity and Oneness. There is Wholeness. Wholeness within, wholeness without. Completion within, completion without. Perfect heath within, perfect health without.

Within and without as Love, as Joy, as Peace, as Abundance, as Vitality, as Wisdom, as Strength, and as Divine Light.

Can you imagine yourself today and everyday illuminating with this Divine Light inside and Out?

Do you want to be at cause?

You can cause this light within you to be present with you at all times as you let go of your judgment and accept yourself as you are.

Don’t judge a Soul by its cover. This Soul is God as you as others. Let yourself be present with the Oneness and reap the benefits of unconditional love towards yourself and others. Claim “I AM ONE WITH MY SOUL”.

And so it is. Bless you.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

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