soul family
Receiving Spiritual Guidance From Your Ancestors
The ancient tradition of ancestor worship is a powerful, yet often misunderstood spiritual practice. It is typically viewed as a form of idolatry, mainly because of the inaccurate use of the term ‘worship.’
In truth most cultures practicing such rites do not refer to it as ‘ancestor worship.’ The more appropriate terms to use is ‘ancestor reverence’ or ‘ancestor veneration,’ because it is about living descendants paying respect to and seeking the guidance of their loved ones in spirit.
It is a common practice among indigenous people and an integral component of most shamanic traditions. It is not the same as the worship of gods or deities.
In fact, as a spiritual practice it is not much different from looking at old pictures of departed loved ones and rememembering them fondly. We might even tell them how we miss them or share our problems with them. Some of us have even asked them to help us find solutions to problems, or pull a few strings on our behalf from the Other Side.
Although I cannot say I have any special reverence for my ancestors, I do respect them for all the trials and tribulations they experienced while they were in this life. In my ancestral lineage there were courageous prisoner-of-war experiences, the conquering of grievous setbacks and material harships, and even suicides, to mention but a few. Several of my predecessors had truly unique, and even exceptional life stories that still dwell in my cellular memories.
The ancestral technique I use in my spiritual practice is similar to that of the Yoruba people of West Africa. My greatest connection is with my father, and he is the one I communicate with daily in the Yoruba fashion. You can create an altar or sacred space in your home for this purpose.
Soul Circle Family Ties
Children choose their parents and families before they arrive in this world. In spiritual terms there is therefore no difference between a biological child and an adopted child. All souls belong to a soul group or soul circle, no matter what their chosen physical incarnation and human family structure may be.
The soul of an adopted child is just as much part of her family’s original soul circle as that of her sister, who chose instead to be physically born into the same family. They have both been part of their soul circle for eternity, and always will be.
Parents of adopted children, who also have biological children, will tell you that they feel the same spiritual and emotional bond with all their kids. They experience the same levels of attachment, connection, and love with each child. Spiritually aware parents often also report that they feel they have known the souls of both their adopted and biological children in previous lifetimes, or that there was an instant soul recognition the moment they first saw each child.
We choose our earth families, parents, and physical bodies before we are born. Our soul knows before birth the physical traits, capacities, and disabilities our body will have in this lifetime, as well as the talents, gifts, shortcomings, and limitations we will have in our chosen incarnation.
We also decide how we wish to join our chosen human families, including by birth, surrogacy, adoption, and even the blending of families. These choices our souls make are determined by our chosen soul purpose and life path. There are many karmic reasons why soul circle members may prefer adoption, instead of biological birth.
The Karmic Lessons Of Soulmate Relationships
What really happens when we meet someone whom we instantly feel a deep connection with? There is an intense ‘spark,’ or the other person somehow feels very familiar as if we have always known them. We just feel very drawn to them, or it feels like it is ‘meant to be.’ But is it truly fate or destiny, or is it just free will?
Well, it is both. Such a person usually comes into our life bearing the gift of a karmic lesson! This is related to fate, and soul contracts. Certain people are ‘fated’ to come into our lives, but whether we choose to let them walk beside us, and in what capacity, is almost always ruled by free will and influenced by which lessons we are currently working on integrating. With these people we typically share what is known as a soul contract or soul agreement, and often they are part of our soul family or soul group.
So, it is indeed ‘meant to be’ with these people…but, with a big but. We must be very careful what we wish for and remember that we also have free will, as do they. Just because something is ‘fated’ or ‘meant to be,’ doesn’t mean it’s something either of you want.
While the idea of us having a predetermined fate or predestined life path can seem like a comforting, convenient and safe concept, ‘meant to be’ does not always equate to ‘easy,’ ‘fun,’ or ‘pleasant.’ It is about the experiences we signed up for in coming here, and some of us have chosen some very challenging karmic lessons for this lifetime. Beware, karmic lessons are often difficult and really challenging!
What we learn from these people can transform our lives and boost our soul growth in profound ways, but just because something is destined or ‘meant to be,’ doesn’t mean it will necessarily be a pleasant or easy experience.
Honor Your True Self Without The Drama
Many of people spend a good portion of their lives trying to be who they think others expect them to be. Although it is important for our own safety and peace of mind to conform and abide by society’s customs and codes of conduct, it is also imperative that we feel free to authentically express ourselves – as long as it is not detrimental to the well-being of others.
These days it can be treacherous to speak your mind or express your true feelings in just about any context, but the most troublesome of places to do this is on social media platforms, where faceless strangers often attack each other mercilessly, and at times for no apparent reason.
Instead of exposing oneself publicly to the vitriol and ill-conceived opinions of random strangers, it is best to be true to ourselves within our personal circle of influence. Being yourself and living and authentic life does not require us to announce our true thoughts and innermost feelings to the entire world.
Of course, expressing your truth to those closest to us can be equally difficult. One key to successfully communicating is to truly listen with respect and consideration to the views of others. Often, we do not really hear what is being said, because we are frantically thinking of our own response to what we assume they are saying.
Actively listening to someone explaining their position can be a real test of patience sometimes, but it usually pays off in the end by way of mutual understanding, conflict resolution, or compromise.
Disagreeing without hostility and aggression is an art in itself. The world we currently live in can be a tinder box at times, with people overreacting to even the smallest perceived slight. We cannot control the beliefs, words and actions of others, but we can certainly manage our own.
Is Your Partner Your Soulmate?
Many of my clients want to know if a person they are interested in, or currently in a relationship with, is their soulmate. While on the surface this seems to be a simple, straightforward question, I find the typical answer more complex and nuanced in such readings.
Many people believe they have a soulmate who they are meant to be with – that one, true, perfect love that will last a lifetime. However, in readings I am finding instead that this notion is not exactly spiritually viable in many cases.
Spirit says more and more souls have incarnated at this time in human history to live multiple lifetimes within one physical lifespan. It’s an ingenious way of fast-tracking one’s soul growth and spiritual evolution, but it can also cause confusion when it comes to living in 3D-reality.
How do you know if you’re one of these souls? A good starting point is to take a retrospective look back on your life. Have you had experiences in this current life that seem like it occurred ‘a lifetime’ ago? When you recall significant events or times in your past, does it feel like memories from an entirely different life, or even a past life? Well, this is probably because energetically speaking it literally was ‘another life’.
So, what does this mean for our romantic lives? Because we have come here for a crash course in soul expansion and spiritual growth, we have lined up several soul agreements with other incarnated souls before we were born. The purpose of these soul contracts is to experience many different life lessons and growth opportunities, and all the souls you have established these strategic alliances with are therefore all your ‘soulmates.’
The Sacred Energy Cord Of Everlasting Love
There is one power far greater than any power in the universe and that is the power of love. No one can break that cord between you and that someone special. Once a love that deep is established, no matter what happens in life, there will always be those feelings tugging at your heart strings and you will always and forever be connected to that person.
We all experience many incarnations, but we don’t keep reincarnating into the same world. We go to different worlds to perfect our Love. It cannot be accomplished in just one lifetime.
When we gravitate to a certain individual it is because we have a sacred energy cord connecting us to that person. It’s like the poles of two magnets – we either repel each other, or we attract each other instantly.
The people that we do not feel a connection with are those that really cannot do much for us by way of our soul growth. They may be great for someone else, but if we do not feel that connection the odds are they will probably waste our time, drain our energy, and even break our heart.
You will not always understand why this happens, but after reading this I hope that clarifies why we have a lack of interest or get negative feelings around certain people. It doesn’t mean they are negative people. They are just not going to help you evolve spiritually. They may be on a lower or a higher frequency than what you need to be around.
Love is the ultimate goal and through perfect, unconditional love between two individuals we experience a true connection with the Light. Through that we can ultimately achieve greatness.
What Happens Between Lifetimes?
We are so much more than this physical body we currently inhabit, and for most of us this is not our first lifetime on this planet. Using past life regression therapy and past life psychic readings we can learn much about who we were and what we did before we were born into this current life.
Past-life regression is mostly done with hypnosis, but it can also be accomplished with deep meditation. I do recommend hypnotherapy, because it is safer to be guided by a professional hypnotherapist while going through these experiences. During these sessions we can learn about our soul, which is the true self, and how our soul is progressing through its many different learning experiences. Sometimes fascinating information about our life between lives comes to the surface during these regressions.
When we cross over at the end of our life we meet familiar spirits or our special spirit guides who accompany and guide us during our crossing. Then we meet very special Angelic beings who are full of Love for us. They join us for help and support.
We are next brought before a Council of Elders, a panel of highly evolved spiritual beings, to discuss the life we have just left behind. They also explain to us what we can do to progress in our future lives. A life review is a phenomenon often reported by people who have experienced near-death.
If a person passes from a really extreme or difficult physical life, there usually follows a healing period on the other side. There are Master Beings of Light who help us to heal from all our earthly suffering. We learn during this healing retreat how to deal with certain traumatic incidences we may have experiences in the mind and body.
