5. Orientation
AFTER those entities who meet us during our homecoming have dispersed, we are ready to be taken to a space of healing. This will be followed by another stop involving the soul’s reorientation to a spiritual environment. In this place we are often examined by our guide.
I tend to call the cosmology of all spiritual locations as places, or spaces, simply for convenient identification because we are dealing with a non-physical universe. The similarity of descriptions among clients of what they do as souls at the next two combined stops is remarkable, although they do have different names for them. I hear such terms as: chambers, travel berths, and interspace stop over zones, but the most common is “the place of healing.”
I think of the healing station as a field hospital, or MASH unit, for damaged souls coming off Earth’s battlefields. I have selected a rather advanced male subject who has been through this revitalization process many times to describe the nature of this next stop.
Case 11
Dr. N: After you leave the friends who greeted you following your death, where does your soul go next in the spirit world?
S: I am alone for a while … moving through vast distances …
Dr. N: Then what happens to you?
S: I am being guided by a force I can’t see, into a more enclosed space-an opening into a place of pure energy.
Dr. N: What is this area like?
S: For me … it is the vessel of healing.
Dr. N: Give me as much detail as possible about what you experience here.
S: I’m propelled in and I see a bright warm beam. It reaches out to me as a stream of liquid energy. There is a … vapor-like … steam swirling around me at first … then gently touching my soul as if it were alive. Then it is absorbed into me as fire and I am bathed and cleansed from my hurts.
Dr. N: Is someone bathing you, or is this light beam enveloping you from out of nowhere?
S: I am alone, but it is directed. My essence is being bathed … restoring me after my exposure to Earth.
Dr. N: I have heard this place is similar to taking a refreshing shower after a hard day’s work.
S: (laughs) After a lifetime of work. It’s better and you don’t get wet, either.
Dr. N: You also don’t have a physical body anymore, so how can this energy shower heal a soul?
S: By reaching into … my being. I’m so tired from my last life and with the body I had.
Dr. N: Are you saying the ravages of the physical body and the human mind leaves an emotional mark on the soul after death?
S: God, yes’. My very expression-who I am as a being-was affected by the brain and body I occupied.
Dr. N: Even though you are now separated from that body forever?
S: Each body leaves … an imprint … on you, at least for a while. There are some bodies I have had that I can never get away from altogether. Even though you are free of them you keep some of the outstanding memories of your bodies in certain lives.
Dr. N: Okay, now I want you to finish with your shower of healing and tell me what you feel.
S: I am suspended in the light … it permeates through my soul … washing out most of the negative viruses. It allows me to let go of the bonds of my last life … bringing about my transformation so I can become whole again.
Dr. N: Does the shower have the same effect upon everyone?
S: (pause) When I was younger and less experienced, I came here more damaged- the energy here seemed less effective because I didn’t know how to use it to completely purge the negativity. I carried old wounds with me longer despite the healing energy.
Dr. N: I think I understand. So, what do you do now?
S: When I am restored, I leave here and go to a quiet place to talk to my guide.
This place I have come to call the shower of healing is only a prelude for the rehabilitation of returning souls. The orientation stage which immediately follows (especially with younger souls), involves a substantial counseling session with one’s guide. The newly refreshed soul arrives at this station to undergo a debriefing of the life just ended. Orientation is also designed as an intake interview to provide further emotional release and readjustment back into the spirit world.
People in hypnosis who discuss the type of counseling which goes on during orientation say their guides are gentle but probing. Imagine your favorite elementary school teacher and you have the idea. Think of a firm but concerned entity who knows all about your learning habits, your strong and weak points, and your fears, who is always ready to work with you as long as you continue to try.
When you don’t, everything remains stationary in your development. Nothing can be hidden by students from their Spiritual teachers. No subterfuge or deception exists in a telepathic world.
There are a multitude of differences in orientation scenes depending upon the souls’ individual makeup and their state of mind after the life just ended. Souls report their orientation often takes place in a room. The furnishings of these settings and the intensity of this first conference can vary after each life. The case below gives a brief example of an orientation scene which attests to the desire of higher forces to bring comfort to the returning soul.
Case 12
S: At the center of this place I found my bedroom where I was so happy as a child. I see my rose-covered wallpaper and four-poster bed with the squeaky springs under a thick, pink quilt made for me by my grandmother. My grandmother and I used to have heart-to-heart chats whenever I was troubled and she is here, too-just sitting on the edge of my bed with my favorite stuffed animals around her-waiting for me. Her wrinkled face is full of love, as always. After a while I see she is actually my guide Amephus. I talk to Amephus about the sad and happy times of the life I have finished. I know I made mistakes, but she is so kind to me. We laugh and cry together while I reminisce. Then we discuss all the things I didn’t do that I might have done with my life. But in the end it’s okay. She knows I must rest in this beautiful world. I’m going to relax. I don’t care if I ever go back to Earth again because my real home is here.
Apparently, the more advanced souls do not require any orientation at this stage. This does not mean the ten percent of my clients in this category just sail right by their guides with a wave upon their return from Earth. Everybody is held accountable for their past lives. Performance is judged upon how each individual interpreted and acted upon their life roles. Intake interviews for the advanced souls are conducted with master teachers later. The less experienced entities are usually given special attention by counselors because the abrupt transition from the physical to a spiritual form is more difficult for them.
The next case I have selected has a more in-depth therapeutic spiritual orientation. The exploration of attitudes and feelings with a view to reorienting future behavior is typical of guides. The client in Case 13 is a strong, imposing thirty-two-year-old woman of above-average height and weight. Dressed in jeans, boots, and a loose- fitting sweat shirt, Hester arrived at my office one day in a state of agitation.
Her presenting problems fell into three parts. She was dissatisfied with her life as a successful real estate broker as being too materialistic and unfulfilling. Hester also felt she lacked feminine sexuality. She mentioned having a closet full of beautiful clothes which were “hateful to wear.” This client then told me how she had easily manipulated men all her life because, “There is a male aggression about me which also makes me feel incomplete as a woman.” As a young girl, she avoided dolls and wearing dresses because she was more interested in competitive sports with boys.
Her masculine feelings had not changed with age, although she had found a man who became her husband because he accepted her dominance in their relationship. Hester said she enjoyed sex with him as long as she was in physical control and that he found this exciting. In addition, my client complained of headaches on the right side of her head above the ear which, after extensive medical examinations, doctors had attributed to stress.
During our session, I learned this subject had experienced a recent series of male lives, culminating with a short life as a prosecuting attorney called Ross Feldon in the state of Oklahoma during the 1 880s. As Ross, my client had committed suicide at age thirty-three in a hotel room by shooting himself in the head. Ross was in despair over the direction his life had taken as a courtroom prosecutor.
As the dialogue progresses, the reader will notice displays of intense emotion. Regression therapists call this “heightened response” being in a state of revivification (meaning to give new life) as opposed to the alternative trance state where subjects are observer-participants.
Case 13
Dr. N: Now that you have left the shower of healing, where are you going?
S: (apprehensively) To see my advisor.
Dr. N: And who is that?
S: (pause) … Dees … no … his name is Clodees.
Dr. N: Did you talk to Clodees when you entered the spirit world?
S: I wasn’t ready yet. I just wanted to see my parents.
Dr. N: Why are you going to see Clodees now?
S: I … am going to have to make some kind of … accounting … of myself. We go through this after all my lives, but this time I’m really in the soup.
Dr. N: Why?
S: Because I killed myself.
Dr. N: When a person kills himself on Earth does this mean they will receive some sort of punishment as a spirit?
S: No, no, there is no such thing here as punishment-that’s an Earth condition. Clodees will be disappointed that I bailed out early and didn’t have the courage to face my difficulties. By choosing to die as I did means I have to come back later and deal with the same thing all over again in a different life. I just wasted a lot of time by checking out early.
Dr. N: So, no one will condemn you for committing suicide?
S: (reflects for a moment) Well, my friends won’t give me any pats on the back either-I feel sadness at what I did.
Note: This is the usual spiritual attitude toward suicide, but I want to add that those who escape from chronic physical pain or almost total incapacity on Earth by killing themselves feel no remorse as souls. Their guides and friends also have a more accepting view toward this motivation for suicide.
Dr. N: All right, let’s proceed into your conference with Clodees. First describe your surroundings as you enter this space to see your advisor.
S: I go into a room-with walls … (laughs) Oh, it’s the Buckhorn!
Dr. N: What’s that?
S: A great cattleman’s bar in Oklahoma. I was happy as a patron there-friendly atmosphere-beautiful wood paneling-the stuffed leather chairs. (pause) I see Clodees is sitting at one of the tables waiting for me. Now we are going to talk.
Dr. N: How do you account for an Oklahoma bar in the spirit world?
S: It’s one of the nice things they do for you to ease your mind, but that’s where it ends. (then with a deep sigh) This talk is not going to be like a party at the bar.
Dr. N: You sound a little depressed at the prospect of an intimate conversation with your guide about your last life?
S: (defensively) Because I blew it! I have to see him to explain why things didn’t work out. Life is so hard! I try to do it right… but …
Dr. N: Do what right?
S: (with anguish) I had an agreement with Clodees to work on setting goals and then following through. He had expectations for me as Ross. Damn! Now I have to face him with this.
Dr. N: You don’t feel you met the contract you had with your advisor about lessons to be learned as Ross?
S: (impatiently) No, I was terrible. And, of course, I’ll have to do it all over again. We never seem to get it perfect. (pause) You know, if it weren’t for Earth’s beauty- the birds-flowers-trees-I would never go back. It’s too much trouble.
Dr. N: I can see you are upset, but don’t you think …
S: (breaks in with agitation) You can’t get away with a thing either. Everybody here knows you so well. There is nothing I can keep from Clodees.
Dr. N: I want you to take a deep breath and go further into the Buckhorn Bar and tell me what you do.
S: (subject gulps and squares her shoulders) I float in and sit down across from Clodees at a round table near the front of the bar.
Dr. N: Now that you are near Clodees, do you think he is as upset as you are over this past life?
S: No, I’m more upset with myself over what I did and didn’t do and he knows that. Advisors can be displeased but they don’t humiliate us, they are too superior for that.
The counseling input of a directive guide gives the healing process of our soul a boost during orientation, but that does not mean the defensive barriers to progress are completely removed. The painful emotional memories from our past do not die as easily as our bodies. Hester must see her negative past life script as Ross clearly, without distorted perceptions.
Recreating spiritual orientation scenes during hypnosis assists me as a therapist. I have found the techniques of psychodramatic role playing to be useful in exposing feelings and old beliefs related to current behavior. Case 13 had quite a long orientation which I have condensed. At this juncture of the case I shifted my questioning to involve the subject’s guide.
As the proceedings unfold with Ross Feldon’s life, I will take the roll of a third party intermediary between Ross and Clodees. Within this counseling mode I also want to initiate a role transference where Hester-Ross will speak the thoughts of Clodees. The integration of a subject with their guide is a means of eliciting assistance from these higher entities and bringing problems into sharper focus. I sometimes sense even my own guide is directing me in these sessions.
I am cautious about summoning up guides without good cause. Facilitating communication directly with a client’s guide always has an uncertain outcome. If my intrusion is clumsy or unnecessary, guides will block a subject’s response by silence or use metaphoric language which is obscure.
I have had guides speak through a subject’s vocal chords in raspy tones which are so discordant I can hardly understand the responses to questions. When subjects talk for their guides, rather than guides speaking for themselves through the subject, usually the cadence of speech is not as broken. In this case, Clodees comes through Hester-Ross easily and allows me some latitude in working with his client.
Dr. N: Ross, we both need to understand what is happening psychologically to you right from the start of your orientation with Clodees. I want you to assist me. Are you willing to do this?
S: Yes, I am.
Dr. N: Good, and now you are going to be able to do something unusual. On the count of three, you will have the ability to assume the dual roles of Clodees and yourself. This ability will enable you to speak to me about your thoughts and those of your guide as well. It will seem that you will actually become your guide when I question you. Are you ready?
S: (with hesitation) I … think so.
Dr. N: (rapidly) One-two-three! ( I place my palm on the subject’s forehead to stimulate the transference.) Now be Clodees speaking his thoughts through you. You are sitting at a table across from the soul of Ross Feldon. What do you say to him? Quickly! I want the subject to react without thinking critically about the difficulty of my command)
S: subject reacts slowly, speaking as his own guide) You know… you could have done better.
Dr. N: Quickly now-be Ross Feldon again. Move to the other side of the table and answer Clodees.
S: I… tried … but I fell short of the goal
Dr. N: Switch places again. Become the voice of Clodees’ thoughts and answer Ross. Quickly!
S: If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?
Dr. N: Respond as Ross.
S: Not to be … corrupted … by power and money.
Dr. N: Answer as Clodees.
S: Why did you let these things detract from your original commitment?
Dr. N: (I lower my voice) You are doing fine. Keep switching chairs back and forth at the table. Now answer your guide’s question.
S: I wanted to belong… to feel important in the community… to rise above others and be admired … for my strength.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: Especially by women. I observed you tried to dominate them sexually as well, making conquests without attachments.
Dr. N: Speak as Ross.
S: Yes … that’s true … (shakes head from side to side) I don’t have to explain-you know everything anyway.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: Oh, but you do. You must bring your self-awareness to bear on these matters.
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: (defiantly) If I hadn’t exerted power over these people they would have controlled me.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: This lacks merit and was unworthy of you. What you became is not how you started. We chose your parents carefully.
Note: The Feldon family were farmers of modest means who displayed honesty, forbearance, and sacrificed much so Ross could study law.
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: (in a rush) Yes-I know-they brought me up to be idealistic-to help the little guy, and I wanted this, too, but it didn’t work for me. You saw what happened. I was in debt when I began as a lawyer…ineffective … of no consequence. I didn’t want to be poor anymore, defending people who couldn’t pay me. I hated the farm-the pigs and the cows. I liked being around substantial people and when I joined the establishment as a prosecutor, I had the idea of reforming the system and helping farm people. It was the system that was wrong.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: Ah, you were corrupted by the system-explain this to me.
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: (hotly) People had to pay fines they couldn’t afford-others I sent to jail because of offenses they didn’t mean to commit – others I had hung! (voice breaks) I became a legal killer.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: Why did you feel responsible for prosecuting criminals who were guilty of hurting others?
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: Few of those … most were … just ordinary people like my parents who got caught up in the system … needing money to survive … and there were those who were … sick in the head
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: What about the victims of the people you prosecuted? Didn’t you choose a life of law to help society and to make the farms and the towns safer with justice?
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: (loudly) Don’t you see, it didn’t work for me-I was turned into a murderer by a primitive society!
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: And so you murdered yourself?
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: I got off track… I couldn’t go back to being a nobody… and I couldn’t go forward.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: Too easily you became a participant with those whose motivations were for personal gain and notoriety. This was not you. Why did you hide from yourself?
Dr. N: Answer as Ross.
S: (with anger) Why didn’t you help me more-when I started as a public defender?
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: What benefit do you get from thinking I should pick you up at every turn?
Dr. N: (I ask Hester to respond as Ross, but when she remains silent after the last question, I step in) Ross, if I may interrupt-I believe Clodees is inquiring into the payoff for you from both the pain you feel now and strokes you get from blaming him over your last life
S: (pause) Wanting sympathy … I guess.
Dr. N: Okay, respond as Clodees to this thought.
S: (very slowly) What more would you have me do? You didn’t reach far enough inside yourself. I placed thoughts in your mind of temperance, moderation, responsibility, original goals, your parents’ love-you ignored these thoughts and were stubborn to alternative action.
S: (Ross responds without my command) I know I missed the signs you set up … I wasted opportunities … I was afraid …
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees to your statement.
S: What do you value most about who you are?
Dr. N: Answer your guide.
S: That I had the desire to change things on Earth. I started with wanting to make a difference for the people of Earth.
Dr. N: Respond as Clodees.
S: You left that assignment early and now I see you missing opportunities again- being afraid to take risks-taking paths which dam-age you-trying to become someone who is not you and there is sadness again.
Recreating the orientation stage does produce abrupt transitions during my hypnosis sessions. While Case 13 is speaking as Clodees, notice how her responses take on a more lucid and decisive quality which is different from either my client Hester, or her former self as Ross. I am not always successful with my subjects translating their guides’ comments so insightful[y in former spiritual orientations. Nevertheless, past life memories often spill over into contemporary problems in whatever spiritual setting is selected.
Whether my subject or her guide actually directed the conversation in the Buckhorn Bar scene while I moved the time frame around does not matter to me. After all, Ross Feldon as a person is dead. But Hester is caught in the same quagmire, and I want to do what I can to break this destructive pattern of behavior. I spend a few minutes reviewing with this subject what her guide has indicated about lack of self- concept, alienation, and lost values. After asking Clodees for his continued assistance, I close the orientation scene and immediately take Hester to a later spiritual stage just before her rebirth today.
Dr. N: With all the knowledge of who you were as Ross, and having a greater understanding of your real spiritual identity after your stay in the spirit world, why did you choose your current body?
S: I chose to be a woman so people would not feel intimidated by me.
Dr. N: Really? Then why did you take the body of such a strong, forceful woman in the twentieth century?
S: They won’t see a prosecuting attorney dressed in black in a courtroom-this time I am a surprise package!
Dr. N: A surprise package? What does that mean?
S: As a woman, I knew I would be less intimidating to men. I can catch them off guard and scare them to death.
Dr. N: What kind of men?
S: The big guys-the power structure in society-catch then when they are lulled into a false sense of security because I’m a woman.
Dr. N: Catch them and do what?
S: (drives her right fist into the left palm) Nail them-to save the little guy from the sharks who want to eat up all the small fish in this world.
Dr. N: (I move my subject into the present while she remains in the superconscious state) Let me understand your reason for choosing to be a woman in this life. You wanted to help the same sort of people who you were unable to help as a man in your previous life-is this correct?
S: (sadly) Yeah, but it’s not the best way. It’s not working out for me like I thought. I’m still too strong and macho. Energy is pouring out of me in the wrong direction.
Dr. N: What wrong direction?
S: (wistfully) I’m doing it again. Misusing people. I chose the body of a woman who is intimidating to men and I don’t feel like a woman.
Dr. N: Give me an example?
S: Sexually and in business. I’m in the power game again … pushing aside principles … getting off track as before (as Ross). This time I manipulate real estate deals. I’m too interested in acquiring money. I want status.
Dr. N: And how does this hurt you, Hester?
S: The influence of money and position is a drug to me as it was in my last life. My being a woman now has done nothing to change my desire to control people. So … stupid …
Dr. N: Then do you think your motivations were wrong in choosing to be a female?
S: Yes, I do feel more natural living as a man. But I thought as a woman this time around I would be… more subtle. I wanted this chance to try again in a different sex and Clodees let me take it. (client slumps down in her chair) What a blunder.
Dr. N: Don’t you think you are being a little hard on yourself, Hester? I have the sense you also chose to be a woman because you wanted a woman’s insight and intuition to give you a different perspective to tackle your lessons. You can have masculine energy, if you want to call it that, and still be feminine.
Before finishing this case, I should touch on the issue of homosexuality. Most of my subjects select the bodies of one gender over another 75 percent of the time. This pattern is true of all but the advanced souls, who maintain more of a balance in choosing to be men and women. A gender preference by a majority of earthbound souls does not mean they are unhappy the other 25 percent of the time as males or females.
Hester is not necessarily gay or hi-sexual because of her body choice. Homosexuals may or may not be comfortable with their anatomy as humans. When I do have a client who is gay, they often ask if their homosexuality is the result of choosing to be “‘the wrong sex” in this life. When their sessions are over this inquiry is usually answered.
Regardless of the circumstances which lead souls to make gender choices, this decision was made before arriving on Earth. Sometimes I find that gay people have chosen in advance of their current lives to experiment with a sex that was seldom used in former lives.
Being gay carries a sexual stigma in our society which presents a more difficult road in life. When this road is chosen by one of my clients, it can usually be traced to a karmic need to accelerate personal understanding of the complex differences in gender identity as related to certain events in their past. Case 13 chose to be a woman in this life to try and get over the stumbling blocks experienced as Ross Feldon.
Would Hester have benefited from knowing about her past as Ross from birth rather than having to wait over thirty years and undergo hypnosis? Having no conscious memory of our former existences is called amnesia. This human condition is perplexing to people attracted to reincarnation. Why should we have to grope around in life trying to figure out who we are and what we are supposed to do and wondering if some spiritual divinity really cares about us? I closed my session with this woman by asking about her amnesia.
Dr. N: Why do you think you had no conscious memory about your life as Ross Feldon?
S: When we choose a body and make a plan before coming back to Earth, there is an agreement with our advisors.
Dr. N: An agreement about what?
S: We agree … not to remember … other lives.
Dr. N: Why?
S: Learning from a blank slate is better than knowing in advance what could happen to you because of what you did before.
Dr. N: But wouldn’t knowing about your past life mistakes be valuable in avoiding the same pitfalls in this life?
S: If people knew all about their past, many might pay too much attention to it rather than trying out new approaches to the same problem. The new life must be… taken seriously.
Dr. N: Are there any other reasons?
S: (pause) Without having old memories, our advisors say there is less preoccupation for … trying to … avenge the past … to get even for the wrongs done to you.
Dr. N: Well, it seems to me that so far this has been part of the motivation and conduct in your life as Hester.
S: (forcefully) That’s why I came to you.
Dr. N: And do you still think a total blackout of our eternal spiritual life on Earth is essential to progress?
S: Normally, yes, but it’s not a total blackout. We get flashes from dreams… during times of crisis… people have an inner knowing of what direction to take when it is necessary. And sometimes your friends can fudge a little …
Dr. N: By friends, you mean entities from the spirit world?
S: Uh-huh… they give you hints, by flashing ideas-I’ve done it.
Dr. N: Nevertheless, you had to come to me to unlock your conscious amnesia.
S: (pause) We have … the capacity to know when it is necessary. I was ready for change when I heard about you. Clodees allowed me to see the past with you because it was to my benefit.
Dr. N: Otherwise, your amnesia would have remained intact?
S: Yes, that would have meant I wasn’t supposed to know certain things yet.
In my opinion, when clients are unable to go into hypnosis at any given time, or if they have only sketchy memories in trance, there is a reason this blockage. This does not mean these people have no past memories, that they are not ready to have them exposed.
My client knew something was hindering her growth and wanted it revealed. The superconscious identity of the soul houses our continuous memory, including goals. When the time in our lives is appropriate, we must harmonize human material needs with our soul’s purpose for being ‘. I try to take a common sense approach in bringing past and present experiences into alignment.
Our eternal identity never leaves us alone in the bodies we choose, despite our current status. In reflection, meditation, or prayer, the memories of who we really are do filter down to us in selective thought each day. In small, intuitive ways- through the cloud of amnesia-we are given clues the justification of our being.
After desensitizing the source of her headaches, I completed my session with Hester by reinforcing her choice to be a woman for reasons other than intimidating men. I gave her permission to lower her defenses a little and be less aggressive. We discussed options for restructuring occupational goals toward the helping professions and the possibilities of volunteer service work. She was finally able to see her life today as a great opportunity for learning rather than a failure of gender choice.
After a case is completed, I never cease to admire the brutal honesty of souls. When a soul has lead a productive life beneficial to themselves and those around them, I notice they return to the spirit world with enthusiasm. However, when subjects like Case 13 report they wasted a past life, especially from early suicide, then they describe going back rather dejected.
When orientation is upsetting to a subject, I find an underlying reason is the abruptness with which a soul is once again in full possession of all knowledge. After physical death, unencumbered by a human body, the soul has a sudden influx of perception. The stupid things we did in life hit us hard in orientation. I see more relaxation and greater clarity of thought move my subjects further into the spirit world.
Souls are created in a positive matrix of such love and wisdom that when a soul starts to come to a planet like Earth and join the physical beings who have evolved from a primitive state, the violence is a shock. Humans have the raw, negative emotions of anger and hate as an outgrowth of their fear and pain connected with survival going back to the Stone Age.
Both positive and negative emotions are mixed between soul and host for their mutual benefit. If a soul only knew love and peace, it would gain no insight and never truly appreciate the value of these positive feelings. The test of reincarnation for a soul coming to Earth is the conquering of fear in a human body. A soul grows by trying to overcome all negative emotions connected to fear through perseverance in many lifetimes, often returning to the spirit world bruised or hurt, as Case 13 indicated. Some of this negativity can be retained, even in the spirit world, and may reappear in another life with a new body. On the other hand, there is a trade-off. It’s in joy and unabashed pleasure that the true nature of an individual soul is revealed on earth in the face of a happy human being.
Orientation conferences with our guides allow us to begin the long process of self- evaluation between lives. Soon we will have another conference, this time with more master beings in attendance. In the last chapter, I referred to the ancient Egyptian tradition of newly deceased souls being taken into a Hall of Judgement to account for their past life. In one form or another, the concept of a torturous courtroom trial awaiting us right after death has been part of the religious belief system of many cultures. Occasionally, a susceptible individual in a traumatic situation will say they had an out-of-body experience with nightmarish visions of being taken by frightening specters into an afterlife of darkness where they were sentenced in front of demonic judges. In these cases, I suspect a strong preconditioned belief system of hell.
In the quiet, relaxing state of hypnosis, with continuity on all mental levels, my subjects report that the initial orientation session with their guides prepares them to go before a panel of superior beings. However, the words courtroom and trial are not used to describe these proceedings. A number of my cases have called these wise beings, directors and even judges, but most refer to them as a Council of Masters or Elders. This board of review is generally composed of between three and seven members and since souls appear before them after arriving at their home base, I will go into this conference in more detail at the end of the next chapter.
All soul evaluation conferences, be they with our guides, peers, or a panel of masters have one thing in common. The feedback and past life analyses we receive in terms of judgement is based upon the original intent of our choices as much as the actions of a lifetime. Our motivations are questioned and criticized, but not condemned in such a way as to make us suffer. As I explained in Chapter Four, this does not mean souls are exonerated for their acts which harmed others simply because they are sorry. Karmic payment will come in a future life. I have been told that our spiritual masters constantly remind us that because the human brain does not have an innate moral sense of ethics, conscience is the soul’s responsibility. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming forgiveness in the spirit world. This world is ageless and so too are our learning tasks. We will be given other chances in our struggle for growth.
When the initial conference with our guide is over, we leave the place of orientation and join a coordinated flow of activity involving the transit of enormous numbers of other souls into a kind of central receiving station.
