Soul Study Groups
In my first book, I devoted whole chapters to examining beginner, intermediate and advanced groups of souls and their guides. I also gave case examples of group energy training where souls learn to create and shape physical matter such as rocks, soil, plants and lower life forms. It is not my intention to repeat myself on these topics except when, by doing so, I can further the reader’s knowledge of other aspects of life in soul collectives.
In this section I am going to examine the relationships between learners within soul study groups as opposed to the structural aspects of schoolhouses and classrooms reviewed earlier in this chapter. Spiritual learning centers are not necessarily visualized by my clients as having a classroom or library atmosphere. Quite often these centers are described as simply “the space of our home.” Even so, the pictures of spiritual learning environments can change rapidly in the minds of clients discussing their instruction periods.
When my research into our life between lives was published, some people were critical of my analogies of human schoolhouses and classrooms as spiritual models for the instruction of souls. One Colorado couple wrote me to say, “We find your references to schools in the afterlife to be distasteful, and this is probably due to your own bias as a former educator.” Others have told me that for them, schools were a long series of bad experiences with bureaucracy, authoritarianism and personal humiliation at the hands of other students. They did not want to see anything resembling human classrooms on the other side.
I know there are readers who have had bitter memories of the time they spent in school. Sadly, schools on Earth, as with other institutions, contain shortcomings wrought by human beings. Teachers and students can be guilty of arrogance, petty tyranny and indifference to the sensitivities of others. Wherever learning takes place, there is scrutiny. Nevertheless, many of us remember having caring teachers who gave us essential information while we formed lifelong friendships with fellow students as well.
The functional aspects of acquiring spiritual knowledge are translated by the human mind into learning centers and I am sure our guides have a hand in creating visualizations of earthly edifices for souls who come to our planet. People in hypnosis talk about the similarities of form and structure to Earth in some respects but there are great differences in other aspects of their reports. My clients tell me about the overwhelming kindness, benevolence and infinite patience of everyone in ethereal study areas. Even the analysis of each soul’s performance by fellow students is conducted with total love, respect and a mutual commitment to make things better in the next incarnation.
Soul groups appreciate individualism. It is expected that you will stand out and make contributions. There are forceful souls and quiet souls but no one dominates, just as no one is obtrusive. Individualism is appreciated because each soul is unique, with strengths and weaknesses that complement others in the group. We are assigned to certain soul groups for our differences as well as similarities. These differences in character are honored because souls who share their lives bring a rich personal wisdom to every lifetime experience.
Souls love to tease and use humor in their groups but always they show respect for one another, even with those who have been in bodies that have hurt them in life. More than forgiveness, souls exercise tolerance. They know that most negative personality traits connected to the ego of the body of the person who brought them sadness and heartache were buried when that body died. At the top of the discarded list of negative emotions are anger and fear. Souls volunteer both to teach and learn certain lessons and karmic plans may not always work out in the way they were intended, given the variables of earthly environments.
I remember after one of my lectures, a psychiatrist raised his hand and said, “Your discussion about soul groups reminds me of tribalism.” I responded that soul groups do appear to be tribal in their intense loyalty and mutual support for each other in a spiritual community. However, soul groups are not tribal in their relationships toward other groups. Earth societies have a nasty habit of mistrusting one another at best and demonstrating bitterness and cruelty at worst. Societies in the spirit world are inclined to be rigorous, moderate, or compliant in their interpersonal relationships but I see no evidence of discrimination or alienation either within or between soul groups. Unlike human beings, all spiritual beings are bonded together. At the same time, souls strictly observe the sanctity of other groups.
When I was a part-time evening college teacher, I found that some of my students, including the adults in my classes, would confuse facts with their own value patterns. While struggling with conceptual problems, there were times when they argued from a false premise and even contradicted themselves. This, after all, is the nature of students. Eventually, they learned to extrapolate and synthesize ideas more effectively. From this background, my introduction to instruction in the spirit world gave me perspective.
During the early years of my hypnosis research, I was astounded by the total lack of self-deception in spiritual classrooms. I saw that teacher-guides seemed to be present everywhere, although not always in a manifested form. Our teachers come and go in spiritual study sessions but never interfere with self- discovery. Although souls themselves are not yet omniscient, by having infinite knowledge of all things, they have no doubts about karmic lessons and the part they played in past life events. An axiom of the spirit world is that souls are always hardest on themselves in terms of performance.
Within soul study groups there is a wondrous clarity of rational thought. Self- delusion does not exist but I must say that the motivation to work hard in every life is not uniform among all souls. I have had clients tell me, “I’m going to skate for a while.” This can mean slowing down their rate of incarnations, picking easy incarnations, or both. Although the soul’s teachers and council may not be happy with this decision, it is respected. Even within the spirit world, some students choose not to give their best at all times. I believe they are a distinct minority of earthbound souls.
To the Greeks the word “persona” was synonymous with “mask.” This is an appropriate term for the way in which the soul utilizes a host body for any life. When we reincarnate into a new body, the soul’s character is united with the temperament of its host to form one persona. The body is the outward manifestation of the soul but it is not the total embodiment of our soul Self. Souls who come to Earth think of themselves as becoming masked actors on a world stage. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the king prepares for death by telling us, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.” In some ways this famous line describes how souls feel about their lives on Earth, the difference being that once the play has begun most of us don’t know we are in a play until it’s over, due to a variety of amnesiac blocks.
Thus the analogy of a play, like that of a schoolroom, befits what my clients see in a deep hypnotic trance state. I have had clients tell me that when they return to their soul groups after a particularly hard life there is clapping and shouts of “Bravo!” from their friends. The applause is for a job well done at the end of the last act of the play of life. One subject said, “In my group the major cast members of our last play in life will go off in a corner to study the individual scenes we played after it has ended and before rehearsals begin for the next play to come.” I often hear my subjects laugh about being offered a certain part in the next play—which is their current life—and the debates that took place before final casting decisions were made as to who would play what part in the future.
Our guides become stage directors who go over past life scenes with us, frame by frame, of both good and bad times. Errors in judgment are presented in small bites. All possible outcomes are studied and compared by designing new scripts for these scenes with different sets of choices that could have been made in each circumstance. Behavioral patterns are minutely dissected with each player, followed by a review of all the roles in the script. Souls might then decide to switch roles with each other and replay key scenes all over again to test the results with a different actor from their group or by someone recruited from a nearby group. I encourage my subjects to tell me about these role substitutions. Souls gain perspective from being witnesses to their own past performance through other actors.
Recreations of past life alternatives present a psychodrama I find useful as a therapeutic tool in a soul’s current life. These stage analogies by soul groups do not trivialize what they go through on Earth as simple impersonations. They offer the soul an objective means of comprehension and foster a desire to improve. The system is ingenious. Souls never seem to get bored in these educational exercises which invite creativity, originality and a desire to triumph over adversity by acquiring wisdom from human relationships. Always, they want to do better next time. Whatever the format, spaces of learning provide a fascinating chessboard for souls when they go over all the possible moves for the best solutions after the game is over. Indeed, some of my subjects call the whole process of reincarnation “the Game.”
The outcome of one’s performance in the play may range from very satisfactory to acceptable to unsatisfactory. I realize some readers might conclude this sounds suspiciously like educational grading on Earth, but this is not an idea of my origination. I’m told that in soul groups, the evaluation of performance by our peers is not threatening; rather, it encourages motivation. Most souls appear to me to be driven by a desire to review the last game of life they have played in order to better preview the next one. Like champion athletes, they want to try and improve with each performance. Ultimately, they know at a certain level of development and proficiency this aspect of the game will end with the closing of the play and their physical incarnations. This is the goal of souls who come to Earth.
As I stated at the beginning of this section, instruction in learning centers is not limited to reviewing past lives. Besides all the other activities, energy manipulation is a major part of training. The acquiring of these skills takes many forms in classroom work. I have said before that humor is a hallmark of the spirit world. The student in the next case gives us a sense of the whimsical when she explains how one of her creation classes got a little out of hand:
Case 35
Dr. N: You have explained about how your group has gathered into an enclosure resembling a school classroom but I’m not sure what is going on here.
S: We have gathered for practice in creation training with our energy. My guide, Trinity, is standing at a chalkboard working on a drawing for us to study.
Dr. N: And what are you doing now?
S: Sitting at my desk with the others—watching Trinity.
Dr. N: Give me a picture of this. Are you lined up in a row with the others at a long desk, or what?
S: No, we have our individual desks—they have tops which open up.
Dr. N: Where are you sitting in relation to your friends?
S: I am off to the left. Ca-ell, the mischievous one (my subject’s brother in her current life), is next to me. Jac (subject’s current husband) is just in back of me.
Dr. N: What is the mood in this room right now?
S: Laid back—very relaxed—because this assignment is so easy it’s almost boring, watching Trinity drawing.
Dr. N: Oh, really? What is Trinity drawing?
S: He is drawing . . . ah, how to make a mouse quickly . . . from different energy parts.
Dr. N: Are you going to break up into groups to combine your energy with others for this assignment?
S: (with a wave of her hand) Oh, no. We are way past that. We will be tested individually.
Dr. N: Please explain the test.
S: We are to rapidly visualize a mouse in our minds . . . as to the necessary energy parts to create a whole mouse. There is an order of progression with how energy should be arranged in any creation.
Dr. N: So the test is the proper steps in creating a mouse?
S: Mmm . . . yes . . . but . . . actually, this is a test of speed. The secret of efficiency in creation training is rapid conceptualization— knowing which part of the animal to start with first. Then you tackle the amount of energy to be applied.
Dr. N: This sounds difficult?
S: (with a big grin) It’s easy. Trinity should have picked a more complex creature . . .
Dr. N: (doggedly) Well, it seems to me that Trinity knows what he is doing. I don’t see . . . (cuts me off with gales of laughter and I ask what is going on)
S: Ca-ell has just winked at me and opened his desktop and I see a white mouse scurrying out.
Dr. N: Meaning he is getting ahead of the assignment?
S: Yes, and showing off.
Dr. N: Is Trinity aware of all this?
S: (still laughing) Of course, he misses nothing. He just stops and says, “All right, let’s all do this quickly if you are so ready to begin.”
Dr. N: Then what happens?
S: There are mice running all over the room. (giggles) I put larger than normal ears on mine just for fun to liven things up even more.
I will close this section with a more serious case example of group energy usage. It represents a type of lesson I have not reported on before. Case 36 involves an inner circle of three companions who wish to help a fourth member who has just incarnated on Earth. Unlike the higher level of soul capability in the previous case, these souls are part of a learning group that has recently entered level II.
Case 36
Dr. N: As your mind visualizes all the meaningful activities going on in your study group, please take me to a significant exercise and explain what you are doing.
S: (long pause) Oh . . . you want that . . . well, my two friends and I are doing our best to help Kliday with positive energy after he entered the body of a baby. We want this to work because soon we are all going to follow him into life.
Dr. N: Let’s go slowly here. What exactly are the three of you doing at this moment?
S: (takes a deep breath) We are sitting together in a circle—our teacher is in back of us directing things. We are sending a united beam of energy down into the mind of Kliday’s child. He has just arrived and well . . . uh . . . I don’t want to violate confidences, but he is not having an easy time.
Dr. N: I see . . . well, perhaps talking about it might clarify things. Don’t you think it would be all right to discuss what you are doing a little further?
S: I . . . I guess so . . . I don’t see the harm . . .
Dr. N: (gently) Tell me what month after conception did Kliday join the baby?
S: In the fourth month. (pauses and then adds) But we started to help Kliday in his sixth month. It is such hard work to continue to the ninth month.
Dr. N: I can understand that—the necessary concentration and all. (pause) Tell me why Kliday needs help from the three of you.
S: We are trying to send him encouraging energy shaped in such a way to assist Kliday in making a better adjustment to the temperament of this child. When you join with a baby it should be like placing your hand into a glove which is the exact size for you and the child. Kliday’s glove is not fitting well this time.
Dr. N: Does this knowledge come as a surprise to you and your teacher?
S: Ah . . . not really. You see, Kliday is a quiet soul—peaceful—and this baby has a restless, aggressive mind and . . . the mesh is difficult for Kliday, even though he knew what to expect.
Dr. N: Are you saying he wanted a certain kind of challenge before this baby was chosen?
S: Yes, he knew he needed to learn to cope with this sort of body because he has had trouble before with not being able to control aggression.
Dr. N: Is this child going to be a hostile person? Perhaps one with few inhibitions . . . emotional conflicts and so forth?
S: (laughs) You got it—that’s my older brother.
Dr. N: In your current life, you mean?
S: Yes.
Dr. N: What roles will the other two souls you are working with at the moment assume in Kliday’s life, besides yourself?
S: Zinene is his wife and Monts, his best friend.
Dr. N: Sounds like a good support team. Can you explain a bit more why Kliday needs this sort of type A personality in a body?
S: Well, Kliday is very thoughtful. He ponders a lot and is tentative. He doesn’t jump into situations. It was felt this body would help him expand his capabilities and assist the child, too.
Dr. N: Was Kliday’s last life a problem?
S: (shrugs) Problems, problems . . . the same sort of body . . . he was caught up in obsessions and addictions . . . little control. He abused Zinene too.
Dr. N: Then why—?
S: (breaking in) We really studied that last life . . . reviewing everything over and over . . . Kliday wanted another chance in the same kind of body. He asked Zinene if she would be his wife again and she agreed. (subject begins laughing)
Dr. N: What amuses you?
S: Only this time I’m going along as his younger brother to help keep him in line with a very strong body.
Dr. N: Let’s finish with your current energy beam exercise. Explain how you and your two companions use your energy in helping Kliday.
S: (long pause) The alignments of Kliday’s energy and that of the baby are scattered.
Dr. N: The baby has scattered emotional energy and Kliday is having trouble melding with that?
S: Yes.
Dr. N: Does this involve the patterns of electrical impulses from the brain, or what?
S: (pause) Yes, the thought processes . . . from nerve endings (stops and then continues) we are trying to help Kliday in tracking this.
Dr. N: Is the baby resisting Kliday as an intruder?
S: Ah, no . . . I don’t think so . . . (laughs) but Kliday thinks he got another primitive brain in some respects.
Dr. N: Where in the baby’s body is your combined energy beam going?
S: We are being directed to work up from the base of the skull, starting at the back of the neck.
Dr. N: (I bring client into the past tense) Were you successful in this exercise?
S: I think we did help Kliday, especially in the beginning. (laughs again) But my brother is still a headstrong person in this life.
Additional illustrations of soul group interaction will be cited in later chapters. In chapter 9, under the section describing the body-soul partnership, I will go into more detail about the physiological aspects of our struggle with the primitive side of the human mind mentioned in the last case. The next chapter is devoted to the higher spiritual assistance we receive as an adjunct to soul study groups. The psychological ramifications of future life choices actually start with our first orientation upon returning to the spirit world. Ideas involving past performance and future expectations are brought into sharper focus with a soul’s first council meeting.
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