I Did It to Myself…Again!: New Life-Between-Lives Case Studies Show How Your Soul's Contract Is Guiding Your Life

By Joanne DiMaggio

What does it feel like to die? What does the afterlife look like? Who are the Council of Elders and how do they assist in planning your next life? Who are members of your soul family and what role did they play in your past lives as well as in your current life? What are the karmic issues and attributes you brought into this life? Using past-life regression to identify a significant former life, followed by an exploration of the afterlife to experience the pre-life planning session for this life, this book answers the most commonly asked questions about death and rebirth. Follow the karmic journey of 25 volunteers as they come to understand their soul’s purpose and their role in designing their present life. In thinking about your life, you will discover that you did, indeed, do it to yourself for the greatest reason of all—your soul’s growth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Mar 13, 2020
• ISBN: 9781982243906

Joanne DiMaggio

Ask Joanne DiMaggio, MA, CHt, what is her soul’s purpose and she answers with a smile: “I am a reporter for the Universe.” Joanne says writing is part of her spiritual DNA and sees her soul’s mission in this life to observe, record and disseminate information about her particular area of expertise in esoteric studies: soul writing and past-life exploration.A professional writer and author of four books and hundreds of magazine articles for both mainstream and esoteric audiences, in 1987 she began devoting all of her time to her esoteric studies, specializing in past-life exploration, research and therapy. She eventually combined her passion for soul writing with her knowledge of reincarnation and today is considered a respected expert in both fields.Born and raised in Chicago, Joanne has been actively involved with Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) since 1987. In 1990, she became one of the founding members of the A.R.E. Heartland Region headquartered in Chicago. There she oversaw the region’s public relations, newsletter, and special event programming. She moved to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1995 and has been the Coordinator for the A.R.E. Charlottesville, VA team since August 2008.Joanne earned her Masters in Transpersonal Studies degree through Atlantic University. Her thesis on inspirational writing served as the basis of her first esoteric book: Soul Writing: Conversing with your Higher Self. She also earned her Spiritual Mentor certification through Atlantic University, where she was named Outstanding Graduate of the year. She later formed A.U.’s Alumni Association, which she served as president for two years.Joanne has given talks on the subject of past life exploration and soul writing to audiences throughout the Chicago, IL area; in Austin, TX; Milwaukee, WI; Durham, NC; DeGray Lake, AR; the Washington DC area; and throughout Virginia. She also has made many presentations at Unity churches. In addition, Joanne has been the guest on nearly 70 national and international radio programs, including Coast to Coast AM and the Shirley MacLaine Show.Joanne has been professionally pursuing past-life research and therapy for over 30 years. She is a graduate of the Eastern Institute of Hypnotherapy, completed additional training in hypnosis at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL and studied under Dr. Irene Hickman, a pioneer in the field of non-directive hypnotherapy. The years she spent as the head of her own past-life research center enabled her to interact with some of the leading past-life therapists, authors, and other renowned practitioners from across the country.Using inspirational writing, Joanne produced a small line of greeting cards called Spirit Song. The International Greeting Card Association cited one of those cards, What is Human is Immortal, for its creative excellence, choosing it as one of six worldwide finalists in the “Sympathy” category for its Annual LOUIE Awards.In addition to Soul Writing, her other esoteric books include Your Soul Remembers: Accessing Your Past Lives Through Soul Writing and Karma Can Be a Real Pain: Past Life Clues to Current Life Maladies. Her latest book, Edgar Cayce and the Unfulfilled Destiny of Thomas Jefferson Reborn is under contract and will be published shortly. All are available on Amazon. Joanne is a member of the National Association of Transpersonal Hypnotherapists, as well as the founder and director of the Unity Holistic Healing Center, a service of Unity of Charlottesville, where she conducts private past-life regressions and soul writing sessions.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Joanne DiMaggio.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-4389-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-4390-6 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 03/12/2020

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A research project is only as good as the depth of the information provided by those who participate in the study. I have been blessed to have twenty-five extraordinary men and women take part in this study. They, along with my other clients who step into the afterlife realm with me, have given me profound insights that have enabled the book to practically write itself. They were all extraordinary participants and I am thankful they were such willing subjects.

I would like to especially acknowledge Carole Louie for providing feedback and advice, not only from the standpoint of the average reader, but through the lens of her own studies in past-life and life-between-lives regression work. She helped with expanding the title to create the sub-title for this book. I felt as if she was my silent partner and vocal cheerleader through this process, for which I am truly grateful.

I also want to thank Carole for introducing me to my editor, Patricia Concodora, whose attention to detail, sense of humor, and incredible patience in formatting this book is appreciated more than words can say.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

What it Feels Like to Die

Last Thoughts

CHAPTER TWO

Welcome to the Afterlife

Spirit Home

The Gateway

Hello? Anybody There?

CHAPTER THREE

The Council of Elders

The Council Session

CHAPTER FOUR

The Soul’s Mission

CHAPTER FIVE

We’re Coming with You

Our Soul Family

CHAPTER SIX

Picking a Body

The Body Selection Room

CHAPTER SEVEN

Memory Triggers

Tying It All Together

ADDENDUM

Amy: Paying a Debt

Morgan: Things That I Do Won’t Make a Difference

Arah: Accountability Shapes My Worldview

Karen: Create More Beauty

CJ: I Let Myself Down

Diana: This Hard Knot of Fear

Claire: Putting Family First

Dori: We Could Try Again

Eleanor: Learning Compassion and Forgiveness

Elizabeth: Finding Peace in Challenging Situations

Grace: Why Am I By Myself?

Joy: Each Situation in Life is a Lesson to be Learned

Karol: I Didn’t Do Enough

Lee: I Feel Like the Watcher

Carter: A Life Well Lived

Louise: Disappearing Into The Light

Mark: An Acute Sense of Compassion

Meg: An Atlantean Lesson

Annie: Find Direction and Focus

Nancy: I Have to be Somebody I’m Not

Naomi: So Much Left To Do To Live a Full Life

Luke: Be True To Yourself

Sara: No Way Out

Winny: Let Me Move to the Next One

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PREFACE

Statistical Data on this Research Project

T o give you a sense of the depth and variety of experiences that arose during this life-between-lives research project, following is the statistical data compiled in each pertinent area.

Duration of Research

Twenty-five sessions conducted from August 25 to October 13, 2018.

Volunteer Composition

• Twenty-three women; two men

• Average Age: 62

• Professions: Social Worker; Art Educator; Registered Nurses; University Professor; Lawyer; Writers; Editors; Insurance Advisor; Personal Coach; Flight Attendant; Massage and Occupational Therapists; Healing Practitioners; Historian; Past-Life Therapist; Marketing/PR Professional; Higher Education Administrator; Sales; and Middle Management.

Regression Time Periods

Location of Past-Life

Process of Dying

Those who said they were able to move around freely after death (92 percent)

Afterlife

Those who saw a Gateway or Entry Portal (52 percent)

Those who were welcomed by a guide (88 percent)

Those who attended an Orientation Session (84 percent)

Those who had a conversation with their guide about the previous life (92 percent)

Those who spent time with their soul group before seeing the Elders (72 percent)

Those who attended the Preparation Class (68 percent)

Those who went into the Life Selection Room to choose a body (64 percent)

Council of Elders

Those escorted into the council chambers by their guides (56 percent)

Those who walked in alone (36 percent)

Average number of Elders: 10

Desire to Incarnate Again

Thumbnail Sketch of Each Volunteer

Through the book, you will read references to comments made by various research participants. I feel it would be easier for you to be introduced to them now so you’d have an idea of each person’s past life and the significant event that set the stage for the karmic issues and attributes they have brought into their current lives.

• Amy is a forty-two-year-old art educator who revisited a male lifetime in the 1940s in Germany. While in the military, her past-life aspect inadvertently caused an explosion in which many people died. Dealing with the guilt of that event is the significant event.

• Morgan is a sixty-year-old nurse who went to a lifetime as a pre-teen male who lived somewhere in the southern hemisphere in the fifth century. At the age of six, he witnessed his village destroyed and his mother and sisters either killed or taken hostage.

• Arah is a sixty-three-year-old nurse who went to a male lifetime in the Caribbean in the 1400s as a sailor on a slave ship. When the ship was damaged in a storm, he was ordered to kill the slaves by forcing them overboard. This is another life in which guilt plays the title role.

• Karen is a seventy-year-old past-life therapist who returned to her lifetime as a male in China in the 1800s. Here she valued her creativity.

• CJ is a fifty-seven-year-old occupational therapist who went to a Native American lifetime in 1817 in Colorado where she became a healer.

• Diana is a sixty-one-year-old healing practitioner who went to a male lifetime in Moscow in the late 1800s/early 1900s. He got caught up in a street mob and was arrested, put on a train to a work camp, and died shortly thereafter.

• Claire is a fifty-two-year-old social worker who witnessed a lifetime of heartache and sadness in Scotland in the 1500s. Caught up in a political marriage, she focused her attention on her daughter who would someday rule. The relationship with the daughter is the significant event.

• Dori is a sixty-two-year-old historian who went to a lifetime in Ireland in 1863 where her nine-year-old daughter was taken from her to work in a textile mill.

• Eleanor is a sixty-year-old nurse who went to a lifetime in England in the 1400s where she dealt with a cruel father and then had to contend with parenting issues of her own.

• Elizabeth is a sixty-one-year-old writer who went to a lifetime in Egypt sometime after the eighteenth dynasty. Her brother was a pharaoh who ordered her death because she knows something he did not want her to reveal.

• Grace is a sixty-old writer/editor who went to a lifetime as an indigenous female in the 1700s in the United States Pacific Northwest. At the age of eleven or twelve, she was beaten by members of her tribe and wandered into the forest where she died from her injuries and exposure to the cold.

• Joy is a sixty-four-year-old nurse who went to a lifetime in Egypt in 1142. Her family was in service in a large household. Her mother died when Joy was five-years-old and she continued to remain in servitude in that household.

• Karol is a seventy-three-year-old personal coach who went to a lifetime in England in 1929. After becoming a widow, she focused her energy on doing psychological studies about the subconscious.

• Lee is a sixty-six-year-old middle manager who went to a male lifetime in England in 1540. When he was seven, his house burned down and he lost his entire family. He was raised by his uncle and spent most of his time in the woods.

• Carter is a fifty-seven-year-old marketing/public relations professional who went to a life as a male in 1700s Scotland. He lived a solitary but magical life, desiring to make connections in a way people had never been connected before.

• Louise is a sixty-seven-year-old nurse who went to a male lifetime in the Alps in the 1800s. After he disrespected his father, he was sent away and after several years in captivity, he escaped to live out his life in a cave.

• Mark is a seventy-four-year-old attorney who was an African woman captured and enslaved on a Georgia plantation in the 1800s. She was sexually abused and when she fought off the advances of the plantation owner’s cruel son, he ordered her to be whipped to death in a party atmosphere.

• Rosemary is an eighty-two-year-old retiree who reports an NDE at the age of eight, past lives as a sea Captain and as an 18th Century Lady Aristocrat. She was unable to access a specific past life during our session, but was able to complete the life-between-lives portion of the session.

• Meg is a sixty-five-year-old retired flight attendant who returned to her life as a priestess during the time of Atlantis. She had been gifted with a beautiful voice but misused it for self-aggrandizing purposes rather than using it for serving those who came to her. She is now dealing with the resulting karma in this life.

• Annie is a forty-eight-year-old salesperson who had been sold into servitude as a teenager. She ran away after an attempted rape, then froze to death in the cabin in which she had taken refuge.

• Nancy is a sixty-two-year-old insurance advisor who went to a lifetime in the 1800s in Ireland. There she struggled to find happiness and freedom from society’s norms of how a woman was expected to behave.

• Naomi is a sixty-six-year-old retired higher education administrator who went to a lifetime as a male painter who died during the 1755 Great Lisbon Earthquake.

• Luke is a seventy-two-year-old retiree who went to a lifetime as a career soldier in Jerusalem in the second or third century. He is haunted by the deaths he caused.

• Sara is a fifty-one-year-old university professor who went to a lifetime in China in 863 A.D. where she was sexually abused. Her sexual life now continues to be impacted by that life.

• Winny is a sixty-year-old massage therapist who went to a lifetime in 1820 in Ireland and Scotland and had to deal with the ramifications of a lifetime of lies.

A more complete transcript of their past lives and key elements of their life-between-lives session are contained as an addendum in the back of the book. I encourage you to read those transcripts, as some of them are described in such vivid detail that their experiences will stay in your memory for a long time to come. More importantly, these transcripts will give you a more enlightened picture of how—like them—your past-life, life-between-lives, and your present life are masterfully tied together.

INTRODUCTION

I n April 1993, I was invited to the home of Anne Sorgatz, a past-life therapist I met while we both served on the Core Team of Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E.) Heartland Region in Chicago. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Cayce, he was a twentieth century psychic, renowned mystic, and medical clairvoyant who has been called The Sleeping Prophet and the Father of Holistic Medicine. Cayce gave over 14,000 readings while in an unconscious state, diagnosing illnesses and providing insights into past lives. The A.R.E. is the organization he founded in 1931 to help people transform their lives. I have been a part of the A.R.E. since 1987 and consider Edgar Cayce my greatest spiritual teacher.

I had been a client of Anne’s for months, so she knew quite a bit about my search for answers about a past life I believed I had experienced in Virginia. When she called, she casually dropped the name of a lesser-known historical figure that lived in the same time period I was exploring and wondered if I knew who that was. I said yes, I knew the name, and asked why she brought him up. She replied that he was now a she and was standing a few feet away from her and wanted to talk to me! Huh? This is insane. I was sure I did not hear what I thought I heard.

Anne went on to explain that this person, who I will refer to as Ashley, was an acquaintance of hers who was moving to Virginia in a few days and she had stopped in to say goodbye. When Anne asked her why she was moving to Virginia, Ashley said it had to do with a past life she had lived during the same time period I was exploring in my regressions. Anne quickly put two-and-two together and felt a sense of urgency for us to meet. She wanted to conduct a joint regression—something none of us had experienced before—to see if we knew each other from that lifetime.

I admit I had some trepidation about pursuing this, but my curiosity got the better of me, as I realized this might be the answer to my prayers. After all, my goal of working with Anne was to disavow this lifetime as a figment of my imagination. I knew that if we did a joint regression to the same place and time, if Ashley recognized me from that life, how could I continue to deny it? I consoled myself with the thought that a confirmation was highly improbable and I’d leave Anne’s home with some closure.

With that in mind, I reluctantly agreed to the session. Suffice to say our lives were never the same again. That regression not only confirmed that Ashley and I knew each other in that past life, but that realization created a bond between us that would impact the trajectory of both our lives for the next twenty years.

Ashley left for Virginia five days after we met, but we continued to stay in touch and would spend hours on the phone, several times a week, delving into memories of that lifetime. She would say something that would trigger a memory in me, and then I would say something that would do the same with her. My desire to return to Virginia and experience those places we both knew in a former life became all consuming.

So, it was in November of that year, I returned to Virginia after a nearly twenty-five-year absence (in this life) to visit her. It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least. During our time together, we decided to engage in a joint meditation and it was that meditation that gave me a first glimpse into my life-between-lives (LBL) planning session—the session that would map out my current life.

In that meditation, I felt Ashley holding my hand as we stood at the base of a tall flight of stairs leading up to the massive columned building that loomed before us. But it wasn’t Ashley’s hand I was holding. When I turned to look at her, she appeared in a translucent male body. It was then I realized we were in spirit, having chosen to manifest to each other in the bodies we had in our last incarnation. I later learned that reverting to the way we appeared in a past life is common during an LBL session. Ashley now took on the appearance of her past-life aspect, William, and urged me to ascend the steps with him. I resisted, as something about what was at the top of the stairs made me uncomfortable. William reassured me that all would be fine as long as we were together.

We approached what resembled a courthouse door and were confronted by a larger than life statue of Abraham Lincoln. As I began to question what this meant, I recognized our surroundings had materialized as present-day Washington, D.C. and we were standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial. William told me to concentrate on the figure of Lincoln. Just as he freed the slaves so, too, do you have the task of freeing souls, most especially your own, he whispered.

A bright light engulfed us and when it dimmed, we found ourselves standing before nine iridescent beings seated behind a long table. William, who had been an attorney in our prior life, skillfully addressed them, as if he were arguing a case before a jury. I wanted to leave and not be a part of this, especially when the dialogue became increasingly uncomfortable to hear. It was apparent that William was pleading my case and the terms he was negotiating were for a contract that was being drawn up for my next lifetime. He appeared to be vouching for me, giving his word that I would complete the agreement. The council members seemed unconvinced, conferring with each other. One said: She will not do it. She has too many fears. William assured them that was not the case.

It took a while but I finally figured out what my next assignment was going to be and when I realized the gravity of it, I balked. I tried to interject my opposition, but William silenced me, assuring me he would handle this. What I couldn’t understand was why he was going to so much trouble to convince this council that I would do something I had no intention of doing. I promised I would not reveal anything about my past lives and to keep secret what I knew from the previous incarnation. I suddenly flashed back to my previous pre-life sessions and remembered I had always handled those on my own, without a middleman to plead my case. Why had that changed now? Why didn’t anyone stop to ask my opinion about whether I was willing to face the consequences such a life would yield?

As I listened to the debate, I sensed the presence of another soul watching the proceedings. I turned and recognized him as the third soul in what I perceived to be an eternal triangle for our three souls. There he stood in the background, arms folded, saying nothing. I continued to stare at him until a member of the council addressed me by my soul name, Isha, and asked if I agreed to the terms William had negotiated. I confidently stepped forward to turn down the assignment, but became instantly intimidated by the intense stares of nine pairs of very old, wise eyes. The prospective life they were discussing did not appeal to me in the least. I had worse lifetimes, to be sure, but something about this one frightened me more than all the others combined. What was so fearful about telling the truth, I wondered?

The Elder sitting in the middle addressed me in a kind manner. The time has come for you to decide, he said. Much will need to be set in motion prior to your return. Thousands of souls will do their part to restore the areas where you once lived in order to enable your memory to be awakened totally and completely once you return to those places.

I protested, begging them not to do that as I considered it a waste of energy, but another council member said it was necessary. You will not enter that life remembering it all, he said. The task at hand is so important, so monumental to the advancement of your soul and in assisting humanity in their understanding that past life is a reality and has an enormous impact on the present, that it is necessary to go to this extreme to give you both the right atmosphere to be inspired to complete your mission.

At the word both I wondered if they were referring to the two souls who were there with me. Was this a life that we were planning together? It was—to a certain extent—but the council members impressed on me that this life was not about my two companions. It was about me.

It is your turn, they said.

My turn? I queried. To do what?

William reminded me that the three of us had always taken turns—one being the more pro-active soul while the other two took on a more supportive role. Now we had come full circle and it was my turn again to be the predominant player in this complex triangle we had created. I looked at my silent companion and he nodded in agreement. I asked if he could come with us, as I remembered that we had always been together in the past, a trinity of energies. I felt that if this task were so important, we would need each other for support and strength, especially if one of us faltered. I was told he would be close by, but he had another task to perform. We would have an opportunity to meet in the coming life, but that would depend on several factors, including free will and the level of awareness being crucial to the outcome of our encounter.

You may not all reach the same level simultaneously, an Elder said. Be prepared for that.

I walked over to my silent companion and expressed my concern about betraying a trust. He assured me it was all right; that he didn’t have a right to ask me to keep such a secret. He said, That is why I cannot be with you. I am concerned that unless you are free from the patterns set in motion from that last lifetime, I might try to suppress you again. In our last incarnation, I selfishly kept you from being all you could be. I held you back. Now I must let you go to realize the potential you had but that I suffocated for my own pleasures, my own desires. Go with him. I will be close at hand. You will feel my energy and my love, but we cannot be together, at least not until your work is well underway and even then I cannot guarantee we will be reunited, for who knows where my own path will lead me. You know as well as I that I would distract you from your purpose. Let your passions be directed in your work, not in us. Can you do that?

I looked at him and realized that if I refused, I might inadvertently create an obstacle for his soul’s growth. I could not do that to him so I accepted the challenge. I signed the soul contract where we would find each other again, and together bravely come forward with our truth, to share with others a story of the power of love and how it can transcend time and space. I asked William if he was sure I could do this and he said he was. I will be with you, supporting you, challenging you, reminding you of who you really are every step of the way.

That meditation happened twenty-five years ago and was my first glimpse into what happens between lives. I was already passionately dedicated to past-life work, but this added a new dimension to it. Over the years, I heard clients blame everyone and everything for the issues they were dealing with in their lives, but they seldom considered the possibility that this was what they put into motion in their life-between-lives session. My thought was—if they knew that whatever issue they were working on was something they had carefully planned to become a part of their karmic journey in this life, wouldn’t they approach it from an entirely different perspective?

I have come to see that past-life work—and it is work—is one of the greatest learning tools we have. I discourage clients who come to me, if it’s merely out of curiosity. The purpose of understanding reincarnation is not to see how many prestigious lives you’ve led, but rather as a transformational tool for your current life. The irony is that past-life work is not about the past. It’s about the here and now and what we are setting up for future incarnations.

Until recently, I did not think about pursuing the topic of life-between-lives in my regression research. I was aware that other notable researchers had done extensive research on that topic. However, being curious about how I could apply the life-between-life sessions to my own practice, I decided to familiarize myself with existing research to see if those findings concurred with those revealed in sessions with my clients. More importantly, I wanted to see if they paralleled with the Cayce teachings.

With those goals as my benchmark, I was surprised at how often I read a statement that was contrary to what I had experienced or had come to know through the Cayce readings. I often found myself writing NO! next to some paragraphs, which took me aback because it was uncharacteristically arrogant of me to do so. Who was I to challenge these renowned experts? And yet, I couldn’t deny there was an unmistakable disconnect between much of what I was reading with what I had experienced in my thirty years of studying the Cayce material as part of my ongoing past-life research.

In the books I read as background research, I found several statements that did not coincide with my experience or those of my clients. Of these, there were three that I found especially misleading.

First, the idea that souls are categorized into young, new, or beginner souls versus old and advanced souls.

The truth is, there is no such thing as an old soul. Cayce said all souls were created in the beginning and therefore at the same time. [Author’s Note: I would refer you to Cayce’s story of creation for more details on this fascinating topic]. Since all souls were created at the same time, in essence, we are all old souls because we’re all the same age—even though the concept of age or time doesn’t exist in spirit. New souls are not created on a spiritual assembly line. There is no distinction of one soul over the other, as all are equal in the eyes of the Creator. Therefore, privileges are not given to advanced souls while younger souls are relegated to having their etheric noses pressed against the window, hoping for a glimmer of recognition.

People use the phrase old soul to apply to someone who seems wise beyond their years. Children especially get targeted with this proclamation when they display skills or say things that give them the appearance of someone much older than their chronological age. They don’t seem to be on the same wavelength as the majority of other souls around them, but instead are elevated to a position of a great sage. Many of them appear as prodigies. Think of children who can play classical music at a very young age. While those souls are exceptional, they are not technically old souls just because they display that talent.

One LBL researcher stated that he believed almost three-quarters of all souls who inhabit human bodies on Earth today are still in the early stages of development. This is a sobering thought because it implies that over the entire course of human history, only a quarter of the humans have completed a sufficient number of classes to graduate to the next level.

The whole idea of an old soul emanates from how many incarnations we have had. Those souls who have returned to the Earth to explore life in a physical body and all that it entails, have gathered a significant amount of wisdom in various areas of existence. Their multiple lives on Earth have enabled them to acquire experiences that are not available in spirit. Through their various incarnations, they have dealt with issues surrounding good versus evil; love versus hatred; compassion versus apathy. They have been faced with relationship issues between lovers, family and friends. They have acquired skills, talents and abilities and followed multiple career paths. They have been exposed to intolerance in all areas of their life—religious, political, cultural. They have dealt with rejection and abandonment; power and weakness; kindness and selfishness. The list of Earthly lessons goes on and on and these souls who have been returning here for thousands of years have taken courses in all these areas of study—thus giving them the appearance of being exceedingly wise. Surely that’s more than a quarter of the human population from the beginning of time!

I agree that there are souls that are exceedingly wise when compared to souls who have chosen to incarnate only on an occasional basis. Some souls who don’t incarnate that often may be considered pre-schoolers while others who return on a regular basis are at the PhD level of life. But that doesn’t mean any soul is older than the others. They’re just more experienced in the ways of an Earthly existence.

I like to call old souls, slow learners, because they come back over and over again, often repeating the same exact lesson as before. I know this from the regression work I’ve been doing for the last thirty years. Patterns are repeated over the course of many lifetimes until we get it, graduate and move on, putting what we’ve learned in our karmic bank accounts for application in a future life.

Second, the idea that souls are not perfect.

In some material discussing various tiers of souls, some researchers refer to souls as impure and since they are not created perfect, their nature can be contaminated when in a physical body. Contaminated? Impure? What does that say about our Creator? Could perfection create anything less than perfection? This viewpoint pulls the soul away from its true esoteric definition and back into the self-serving teachings of religious institutions that tell us we are born evil and must be saved in order to enjoy the kingdom of heaven. The journey we are on as souls is to remember who we are—part of the oneness with each other that emanates from our Creator. The experiences of the soul when in a human body may give the impression that perfection is out of reach, but that is an illusion.

And third, the idea that souls who have committed heinous acts were not permitted to return.

Are souls who are involved with truly evil acts considered at a lower level of development? Are they destined to continue that destructive pattern lifetime after lifetime? To avoid that, are they sent into a place of spiritual isolation where they are under close supervision? That doesn’t make sense, especially when you consider that the evil perpetuated by a particular soul is the result of its karma from a prior lifetime. That soul has the right to balance its karma by designing a life in which that soul would reap what it had sewn. Isolating that soul and not allowing it to return does nothing to further that soul’s development. There aren’t spiritual purgatories or worse, spiritual hells. We aren’t sent to a penal colony on another planet to learn to be good little souls. We stay right here on Earth. Edgar Cayce said whatever is begun on the Earth has to be finished on the Earth. And so it is.

Challenges of This Research Study

In reviewing the work of other researchers, I found several areas that I knew would be difficult to integrate into my project. For instance, one researcher’s custom was to move subjects into their most immediate past life before entering spirit world. He considered death as a more natural way to go forward and enter spirit rather than the reverse of going from the mother’s womb back into spirit. For that reason, he used the