BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER
At the end of a full life comes the time
of old age. Much that can be said about an Old soul is what would be
said about an old person. Usually old people have traveled to many
places and done many things. They are a storehouse of wisdom and
understanding because of this range of experience. But in spite of their
competence they do not usually accomplish very much. Because of the age
of the body, there is often a tiredness about them that prevents much
expenditure of effort. They are quieter than younger people, have a more
relaxed lifestyle, and are more subdued in their manner of expression.
They have mellowed out considerably compared to their younger days. The
energy and excitement of youth is mostly gone. It is very similar with
Old souls. They have access through the subconscious to a great wealth
of experience. Often they become teachers to pass this knowledge and
wisdom on, but to a limited number of students — there is little desire
or effort to release their understanding into the world in general. In
fact, in the last Levels, some Old souls can be so world-weary that they
are ready to just lay down and die. Like a person in the last decade of
life, the Old soul is "winding down" so to speak, or "in retirement",
preparing for death, settling the estate, and tying up loose ends. In
terms of the theory of reincarnation, the Old soul is clearing the way
for the final break with the physical plane.
Not unlike the Infant soul, but for different reasons, it is rare for an Old soul to make a great contribution to society or culture. The reason for this is that they have largely given up on the world. It just does not seem worth the trouble to spend a lot of energy for things that do not last. Material things just decay anyway, so why invest in that? The other problem is that they are advanced in their perceptions to such an extent that the genius of their contributions would go unappreciated by the great majority of people, the Establishment. Old souls know this and do not even try to get them to see it. Younger souls, who largely control the course of society, cannot understand Old souls, and regard them and their notions as eccentric. Old souls are perceived to be "far out", or "cranks", if they do make themselves noticed. Younger souls are often too busy to stop and really listen to the wisdom of Old souls anyway. For these reasons, Old souls are rarely the movers and shakers of culture. As it is with many young people and old people, the situation is that the younger are out doing their thing and do not have time to listen to the old folks anyway. So the old folks do not even try to communicate. Old souls often have difficulty with self-esteem because their perceptions and values are not shared by the rest of society.
In their social lives, Old souls are often loners. They go their own way, caring little for societal norms. They are a rare breed, comprising about eleven percent of the population. On the fringes of society, they obey the rules of their culture only as required to get by without causing trouble. They have very little attachment to encounters of a casual nature, such as coworkers and neighbors. Even their sense of connection to blood relatives is not very strong. They generally shun heavy entanglements with other people. When they do get involved, it is because there is a strong spiritual bond. By this is meant that either there is a karmic attachment (past-life association), or what Michael calls an "agreement" — a contract made between lifetimes to conduct a relationship. A specific case mentioned by Michael is that Old souls seek to be united with the other fragments of their Entity. When Old souls do seek companionship, they often do so in metaphysical groups — astrology and tarot classes, psychic endeavors, and so on. Here they will be most likely to meet those with whom they have spiritual connections. They seek out the few others who are like themselves, and form networks of people with similar interests. This is not usually for the purpose of business advancements like Young souls, or for psychological comfort like Mature souls, but just to share being with other Old souls. When Old souls "party", they usually sit around and just talk. In dating situations, they do not need to go anywhere (like to a movie) or do anything (like play games) as a means to developing social intimacy. If the basis for psychological intimacy is not quickly apparent to the Old soul, he will not put himself through much trouble to develop it. It is difficult for Old souls to weld unions with people that they have not been together with in numerous past lifetimes.
Old souls are individualistic — they believe that people should
basically do whatever they want to do, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone
else. The motto of the Old soul is, "You do what you want, and I'll do
what I want". They rarely campaign for anything. They do not want to
change the world — they just let it be. You might say they have the
ultimate "laissez faire" (leave it alone) attitude — let nature take its
course and don't interfere with the system. "Live and let live" is
another appropriate motto for the Old soul. They rarely organize into
social clubs which have a hierarchical structure of leaders and
followers, or join organizations which promote some cause. Rather, they
form loose networks of friends and associates having common interests.
Old souls are operating in a dimension of personality different from the previous Ages. The Child, Juvenile and Young soul ages are in Aspects of the Negative Processes. The Mature soul age is an Aspect of the Neutral Process. Old souls are in an Aspect of a Positive Process, Synthesis. This puts them in a class by themselves since the Transcendental and Infinite souls, also in Aspects of Positive Processes, only rarely manifest on the physical plane according to Michael (explained in the following section). And indeed, the Old soul is likely to sense his differentness. He may even think perhaps he does not belong on this planet. Old souls make up from 10 to 15 percent of the population.
As an Aspect of the Synthesis Process, an Old soul contains some of each of the Synthesis Traits in his personality. Like a person with the Acceptance Goal, the Mature soul is very tolerant of the differences in others and seeks to unify them. Like a person in the Power Mode, they are confident and assured of their abilities. Like a person in the Selfishness Feature, they are hedonistic in their desire to do what they want. Like Sages, they express wisdom to others. Like Idealists, they perceive the unity and beauty in the world. Like people in the Conceptual Center, they respond to situations by including them in their philosophical scheme.
The Old soul is in the process of removing himself from entanglement with the usual affairs of life. He does not have a strong sense of attachment or kinship with the world such as is possessed by younger souls. He wants to purge and purify himself of materialistic connections. His primary motivation becomes the pursuit of some specific life task, or perhaps spiritual refinement.
Like the Child soul, it is unusual for the Old soul to pursue a career
as such. That is, he may have a long-term occupation, but it is not his
main interest in life. Most often a job is taken which does not overly
tax or challenge the Old soul. This leaves him with enough spare energy
to pursue his real purposes, such as resolving karmic entanglements, and
pursuing truth and wisdom.
Old souls have very few psychological problems to deal with. Presumably, these have been worked through in previous lifetimes. Their subconscious access to depths of experience means that there is very little they do not understand about what is going on, both out in the world and within themselves. But Old souls do have one significant problem, and that is that they are subject to psychological depression. All the soul ages can be, to some extent, but especially the Old soul. The reason for this is that, to them, life seems heavy and boring — "life is a drag". They perceive that it is all a game, a contrived situation, and they no longer want to play the game. They feel like they have seen it all, so what is there left to live for? The material pursuits of Young souls seem quite futile to them, so what is there to get interested in? Even the Mature soul's excitement about newfound truth seems passé to Old souls. This ennui can severely limit an Old soul's happiness and well-being, and be a source of misunderstanding for younger souls who are enjoying life. Whether he understands it consciously or not in terms of reincarnation, the Old soul simply wants to graduate from the physical plane, and go on to new and better things in the higher planes.
But most Old souls do come around to the understanding of reincarnation at some time in their lives, even in countries where this is not taught as a dogma. It is possible for a person at any age and Level to have an appreciation of this metaphysical tenet, but to most Old souls it seems intuitively obvious. This is one of the perceptions that is inherent by reason of the depth of contact with the subconscious present in the Old soul.
Old souls are typically easy for other people to get along with. They are usually agreeable associates because they know how to be gracious. The worst that can be said about Old souls is that they are often detached and aloof, perhaps even uninvolved. Younger souls do not understand this, although they may admire the fact that an Old soul can remain so cool in situations that younger souls find upsetting. There is not much in an Old soul that can offend a younger soul, though there is much that can be misunderstood by him. To some it may seem that Old souls do not care. It is more accurate to say that they are nonattached. They do not make much investment in what is going on around them, and do not have strong expectations for any particular outcome. Whatever will be will be, so why fight reality? Old souls inherently perceive the broader perspective. They see that the world rolls on, day after day, year after year, millennium after millennium, with the same basic stories being told time after time with minor variations. Old souls know the big lesson of the whole Maturation cycle, and that is nonjudgmental acceptance of anything and everything. What little they cannot abide, Old souls simply avoid. Rarely do they seek to change things.
Old souls tend to follow the course of greatest efficiency. They seem to
glide effortlessly through life. They "go with the flow", and they
"follow the path of least resistance". Younger souls regard this as
sheer laziness — lack of drive and willpower. This trait has its
advantages and disadvantages. The good thing is that they are graceful
and gracious when it comes to dealing with other people. The
disadvantage is that they may lack the initiative to do what could be
done. They often come up with great and innovative ideas because of
their advanced and efficient perceptions, but they lack the energy to
bring them to completion.
It is not intended that the above comments be used by Old souls as excuses for laziness and indifference. Once an Old soul realizes the cause of his condition, he can then take steps to mitigate it or direct it wisely. He need not pursue the goals of younger souls or share their value systems, but he can take his legitimate place as a valuable member of society if he wants to. As with senior citizens, just because the Old soul is "retired" does not mean he is worthless and powerless. Indeed, an Old soul can bring considerable wisdom and competence to bear in fulfilling a significant life task.
Because of their advanced perceptions, Old souls are inherently ethical in behavior, feeling, and thought. They do not have to be taught right and wrong by parents or society. There is some socializing to be done when they are children of course, but the programming for decency, honesty, and integrity is inborn. It is as if they are grown-up even when they are children. They always feel like they are older than their chronological age. They are conscientious and responsible. They are not usually jealous, envious, possessive, or pushy — any one of a number of things which involve attachment to other people. When Old souls are dealing with these ethical issues, it is with their subtle aspects. They are gentle toward the faults of others. The harsh perceptions often present in younger souls are absent here. They rarely perceive actions as being truly evil. Rather, they regard things that cause suffering as foolish and primitive, and they seek to cure the cause of the problem by imparting mature knowledge and understanding.
Old souls try to maintain neutrality in time of war. It is part of their nonattachment. There are certain nations listed by Michael as being primarily populated by Old souls, such as Switzerland, Holland, and Iceland, who value their independence and neutrality in political issues. Switzerland plays host to the Young soul nations at the Geneva peace talks, but does not get involved in their Young soul do-it-my-way games. If Old souls care anything for politics, it is that they are pacifists. Most often they are simply apolitical — they do not get involved with it at all.
Old souls have a universal
perspective. They are not so much involved in family issues like Child
souls, or tribal issues like Juvenile souls, or national issues like
Young souls, or global issues like Mature souls. Old souls see the
cosmic picture. Old souls see themselves and others as parts of a larger
system — another Synthesis Process perception. Their attention is on
the workings of this system. They see how all parts of the system relate
to each other rather than getting lost in the petty details. The depth
of wisdom of Old souls shows in their eyes. They have a direct,
penetrating stare — it looks right through you, seeming to know.
Profound issues are their concern, not the trivial. In their efficiency,
they want to get right to the heart of the matter and skip all the
superficialities.
Old souls are casual and easygoing about everything. Nothing is any big deal to them. Almost never are they outrageous or outlandish. They are rarely concerned with outward appearances — external image or formal trappings. In extreme cases they can even appear sloppy in clothes or habitat. Rarely are they overly concerned with what other people think.
Old souls pursue education with the same casual attitude as they do everything else in life. Grades are of very little value to them. The learning itself isn't all that important unless it furthers a specific life task. Old souls tend to cut out the material pursuits that occupy so much of the time and energy of younger souls, and concentrate what little energy they have on spiritual integrity. By this is meant the need to understand the truth, and the reason for things. Old souls rarely participate in organized religion. They are often drawn rather to metaphysics, mysticism, philosophy, and the occult in their quest for understanding. It is difficult for them to synthesize their physical with their spiritual selves. They often seek unorthodox and holistic medicine rather than going to the medical establishment.
In some ways, it can be said that Old souls are in the most difficult age. In the first place, they do not fit in with the culture so they are often thought bizarre. They are definitely out of the mainstream of society and care little for its formal institutions. In the second place, they are often too world-weary to do what needs to be done to solve their own problems, let along anyone else's .Since they tend to follow the path of least resistance, unless they feel internal and external forces pushing them, they don't go anywhere or do anything. No matter how much they might need it for building Character, they will only tolerate just a certain amount of stress in any given situation. Then they will get depressed and just chuck it all and move on. In the third place, there is a certain arrogance in Old souls in that they often feel they cannot learn from younger souls. They are aware of their maturity, even if only subliminally, and regard younger souls as foolish. This is not truly wise. There is always much to learn, even from one's juniors. In the fourth place, there is very little left that Old souls want to experience in life. They feel like they have done it all — so why bother to do more? "There is nothing new under the sun" is another good motto for the Old soul.
Even sex is not highly prized by the Old soul. He is usually competent therein, but his lack of interest for it, and the lack of passion in it, can be disconcerting to younger souls who still prize sex highly. Old souls are often hedonistic and sensual, however, and can have a bawdy sense of humor. Old souls are often androgynous (having balanced masculine and feminine characteristics), and occasionally bisexuality is a part of their lifestyle. Gender identification is often weak in this Age because of subconscious contact with the whole psyche, which includes both masculine and feminine characteristics. What the Old soul seeks in romantic relationships is a "soul mate" — someone to whom he relates on a soul level. This might be someone else with whom he has spent many lifetimes, or another soul in his own Entity. The drive for this is so strong that it could be described as a compulsion.
Like an old person, the Old soul is
in the process of withdrawing from the physical plane. He does not want
to make an investment in something that he regards as ephemeral and
transitory. The motivation now is for spiritual purity. Most of the
Monads which it is established for the Old soul to complete have to do
with being, rather than doing (like the Young soul) or feeling (like the
Mature soul). The Old soul just is. He simply experiences life as it
passes through his consciousness. He is not unlike an Infant soul in
that he often leads a simple life. He does not want to complicate it
with intense relationship entanglements and severe challenges. In a
reincarnational sense, Old souls are paying off final karma, and they do
not want to incur any more, so they play it safe by remaining apart
from the heavy drama that entertains younger souls
The Mature Soul Age
BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER
After the years of youth and early adulthood comes the time of middle age. Much of what can be said about Mature souls is what would be said about people in middle age. They are at the peak of their lives: beyond the folly of youth, yet before the decay of old age. Like people in the fifth and sixth decades of life, much of their experience is behind them. That is, they have subconscious access to depths of experience not present in younger souls. Consequently, their perceptions are fairly advanced. Rather than look forward and outward like younger souls, they look backward and inward. They constantly evaluate whether their life goals are being achieved, and what they would do differently if they could start again. They have a strong tendency to be introspective. This incessant self-evaluation can lead to psychological difficulties. Mature souls are in the "mid-life crisis", so to speak, of the Maturation scale. Mature souls make a lot of adjustments along the way in their lives.
Mature souls seek to comprehend everything. There is very little that escapes their view or scrutiny. The place for Mature souls to seek this is in such places as libraries and colleges. Mature souls are great believers in education. They go to school for a different reason than Young souls. Whereas Young souls get educated to further their careers, most Mature souls seek knowledge for its own sake. They truly want to understand. It may not always be in a formal or institutional setting, since this can seem too structured and limiting (too Young-soulish) to them. They often pursue knowledge on their own, reading widely or taking night-school classes on whatever subject is of interest to them. This they often do rather than seeking a formal degree. The courses that Mature souls take are less likely to involve occupation, and more likely to be for personal improvement, than what you will see Young souls taking. Mature souls care more about what they are learning than about the grades they make in learning it.
Mature souls are in a searching mode all their lives. There is an itch to "find themselves" and "express themselves". Personal fulfillment is their constant quest. This they never quite achieve to their own satisfaction. The problem is that Mature souls are complex — the most complex of the entire cycle. There is so much going on in their psyches which other people cannot fathom, and they themselves do not understand. The Mature soul age is the most challenging of the Ages. Mature souls are agitated, sensitive, and touchy.
Because of their
psychological sensitivity and complexity, Mature souls often exhibits a
lot of confusion in their lives. For this reason they are often
considered neurotic. What psychological garbage they have they keep
churning their around in their heads. The Mature soul's Monad's
(necessary experiential units) largely concern feelings. They are
working through emotional blocks. They are the most likely of the ages
to need and seek psychological counseling for their emotional
difficulties. The majority of people who go to psychologists for
counseling are Mature souls, and the majority of psychologists are
themselves Mature souls — and they probably have a lot of psychological
churning that they themselves are working through. Many psychological
challenges come to the surface in the Mature soul Age which have to be
dealt with on a conscious level. If it cannot be dealt with, the person
may turn to alcoholism as an escape. This method of anesthesia is more
prevalent in this Age than any other. Mature souls will not often let
themselves do actual physical harm to other people, like younger souls
might, so they turn their frustrations concerning others upon
themselves.
Concepts and issues which younger souls would pass over as meaningless are very important to Mature souls. For instance, the Young soul is somewhat anti-psychological — he finds fulfillment in material things. He rarely questions his own motivations, or that of others. But the Mature soul looks for a larger meaning in life. He wants to understand the significance of everything, and the motivations for why people do things. More than a person of any other Age, the Mature soul cares — cares about the problems of the planet and wants to correct them, cares about other people and wants to help them, cares about his own well-being and wants to improve it. Mature souls are open to all experiences, and are prone to try pragmatic solutions to their difficulties, rather than using canned Establishment (Young soul) imperatives.
Since Mature souls are relatively evolved in their consciousness, their behavior is very ethical. They are working on the finer points of human relationships. They value the feelings and opinions of other people. It hurts them when others do not think well of them. While it is true they can be somewhat nonconformist and even a little bit rebellious in their natures, nevertheless Mature souls are not completely detached from a sense of social obligation.
Though relationships and knowledge and emotions are their primary concerns, Mature souls do work for a living, but it is not with the gusto of a Young soul. There is not the willingness to put everything into a career and rise to the top. When a Mature soul does become an employer, he tends to regard the well-being of the individual to be more important than the well-being of the company. He may have policies and programs within the company to foster the good of the employee, beyond the normal benefits.
There is a different type of awareness of the Mature soul compared to younger souls. The Mature soul is always interested in learning more. Knowledge is pursued by the Mature soul. Mature souls want to perceive themselves as informed individuals, and they revel in each newly acquired understanding. In the later Levels of the Mature Age, the person almost always seeks answers to the big questions of life in a way that few people in more primitive cycles do. This often means involvement in metaphysical endeavor, practice, or knowledge. By metaphysical is meant everything from psychology to religion to the psychic.
Like people with the Goal of Flow, Mature souls dislike disruption and disturbance of the natural rhythm of things. Like people in the Observation Mode, they are always on the lookout for information and knowledge. Like people with the Feature of Stubbornness, they regard themselves as bastions of solidarity that cannot be overthrown. Like Scholars, they value knowledge and information very highly. Like Pragmatists, they regard the world as a smoothly functioning machine. Like People in the Instinctive Center, they live by their impulses and whims.
Mature souls are psychologically attuned to other people enough that they empathetically experience other people as they experience themselves. This is not true of people in the younger Ages. As a result of this intuitive perception, Mature souls are touchy about who they deal with. They are easily upset by the "vibrations" of people that they are not in harmony with. If there are uncomfortable feelings with another, they will likely leave if they do not feel some obligation to stay. Mature souls need a sanctuary wherein to shield themselves in times of psychological stress. It might be a place that they withdraw to, or to the companionship and comfort of an intimate friend.
Mature souls are very relationship-oriented and they seek the camaraderie of like-minded companions. In contrast to Young souls who tend to regard their career as paramount, Mature souls often value their relationships as the most important thing in their lives. They build their lives around social contacts and friends who have similar interests. Family members, in the sense of blood relatives, which are very important to the three younger soul Ages, are not as important to Mature souls as good companions are. Mature souls seek mates not for status as Young souls often do, but for love. It is unusual for a person younger than Mature to experience true love for the mate. Mature souls want someone to whom they can relate meaningfully, rather than just someone to fulfill the stereotypical role of a mate ordained by Young-soul society. A good place for Mature souls to meet others for companionship or mating is in school or at the library. Second choice would be informal and loosely organized singles groups where they can get to know others as friends before they become lovers. The bar scene does not appeal to them. Mature souls want to mate for life.
Mature souls have a highly developed sense of humor and they laugh easily. The type of humor they prefer is "situation comedy" involving social relationships. They like to tease and joke with their friends. Their teasing is rarely hostile or denigrating like it can be with Young souls. The type of movies they prefer are the award-winners with depth, meaning, and originality, usually produced by Mature souls — not the shallow, action or adventure type produced by Young souls.
Mature souls are very much involved in the affairs of the world, but they have a great need for a quite refuge to which they can retreat in times of stress. They like to have a cabin in the woods or at the lake where they can take a vacation from the rat race. They do not seek material things or have a second home for status like a Young soul, but for an escape, a sanctuary. Mature souls seek less tangible things than material possessions.
In terms of
religion, if the Mature soul is so inclined, he prefers the liberal
churches rather than the mainstream churches. If he goes for organized
religion at all, it is the undogmatic and quiet faiths such as
Unitarianism and Unity. In their quest for truth, at the extreme, the
Mature soul may experiment with more unorthodox and offbeat brands or
New Age sects. Mature souls have a strong sense of morality and ethics,
but it is of the situational ethics and moral relativism variety. This
disgusts younger souls, particularly Juvenile souls.
In political philosophy, the Mature soul is liberal — "left-wing" — perhaps even to the point of being socialistic. The idealistic hippie era of the 1960's was a Mature soul phenomenon. Often they lived in communes or shared homes. Mature souls are reluctant to fight in wars because they regard all of humankind as their brethren. For this reason they also tend to be pacifistic — and not in a militant way like a Young soul might be. Even though they love freedom, they usually prefer to submit to domination rather than fight for that freedom. A clear example of this is that in Russia today, the Mature souls who form the majority of the populace submit to the domineering Young souls who control the government.
Mature souls are the avant-garde of society. It is they who make the genuinely novel contributions to the advancement of culture. They are the inspired visionaries. Whatever field of endeavor you might name — whether scientific, religious, political, technological, artistic, philosophical, humanitarian, or economic — it is the Mature souls who are in the forefront, at the leading edge, on the frontiers. Mature souls often campaign for reforms in society. They form the core of the environmentalist movement, the antinuclear energy movement, the ban-the-bomb movement, and other such improve-the-world endeavors. They are beyond the Young soul in perception of the value of the spiritual aspects of life, but they are nevertheless entangled with the affairs of the world to such an extent that they think the planet is worth the trouble of making it a better place. Old souls, on the other hand, have pretty much given up on the world in a material sense, as we shall see next.
Source
michaelteachings.com
Not unlike the Infant soul, but for different reasons, it is rare for an Old soul to make a great contribution to society or culture. The reason for this is that they have largely given up on the world. It just does not seem worth the trouble to spend a lot of energy for things that do not last. Material things just decay anyway, so why invest in that? The other problem is that they are advanced in their perceptions to such an extent that the genius of their contributions would go unappreciated by the great majority of people, the Establishment. Old souls know this and do not even try to get them to see it. Younger souls, who largely control the course of society, cannot understand Old souls, and regard them and their notions as eccentric. Old souls are perceived to be "far out", or "cranks", if they do make themselves noticed. Younger souls are often too busy to stop and really listen to the wisdom of Old souls anyway. For these reasons, Old souls are rarely the movers and shakers of culture. As it is with many young people and old people, the situation is that the younger are out doing their thing and do not have time to listen to the old folks anyway. So the old folks do not even try to communicate. Old souls often have difficulty with self-esteem because their perceptions and values are not shared by the rest of society.
In their social lives, Old souls are often loners. They go their own way, caring little for societal norms. They are a rare breed, comprising about eleven percent of the population. On the fringes of society, they obey the rules of their culture only as required to get by without causing trouble. They have very little attachment to encounters of a casual nature, such as coworkers and neighbors. Even their sense of connection to blood relatives is not very strong. They generally shun heavy entanglements with other people. When they do get involved, it is because there is a strong spiritual bond. By this is meant that either there is a karmic attachment (past-life association), or what Michael calls an "agreement" — a contract made between lifetimes to conduct a relationship. A specific case mentioned by Michael is that Old souls seek to be united with the other fragments of their Entity. When Old souls do seek companionship, they often do so in metaphysical groups — astrology and tarot classes, psychic endeavors, and so on. Here they will be most likely to meet those with whom they have spiritual connections. They seek out the few others who are like themselves, and form networks of people with similar interests. This is not usually for the purpose of business advancements like Young souls, or for psychological comfort like Mature souls, but just to share being with other Old souls. When Old souls "party", they usually sit around and just talk. In dating situations, they do not need to go anywhere (like to a movie) or do anything (like play games) as a means to developing social intimacy. If the basis for psychological intimacy is not quickly apparent to the Old soul, he will not put himself through much trouble to develop it. It is difficult for Old souls to weld unions with people that they have not been together with in numerous past lifetimes.
Old souls are operating in a dimension of personality different from the previous Ages. The Child, Juvenile and Young soul ages are in Aspects of the Negative Processes. The Mature soul age is an Aspect of the Neutral Process. Old souls are in an Aspect of a Positive Process, Synthesis. This puts them in a class by themselves since the Transcendental and Infinite souls, also in Aspects of Positive Processes, only rarely manifest on the physical plane according to Michael (explained in the following section). And indeed, the Old soul is likely to sense his differentness. He may even think perhaps he does not belong on this planet. Old souls make up from 10 to 15 percent of the population.
As an Aspect of the Synthesis Process, an Old soul contains some of each of the Synthesis Traits in his personality. Like a person with the Acceptance Goal, the Mature soul is very tolerant of the differences in others and seeks to unify them. Like a person in the Power Mode, they are confident and assured of their abilities. Like a person in the Selfishness Feature, they are hedonistic in their desire to do what they want. Like Sages, they express wisdom to others. Like Idealists, they perceive the unity and beauty in the world. Like people in the Conceptual Center, they respond to situations by including them in their philosophical scheme.
The Old soul is in the process of removing himself from entanglement with the usual affairs of life. He does not have a strong sense of attachment or kinship with the world such as is possessed by younger souls. He wants to purge and purify himself of materialistic connections. His primary motivation becomes the pursuit of some specific life task, or perhaps spiritual refinement.
Old souls have very few psychological problems to deal with. Presumably, these have been worked through in previous lifetimes. Their subconscious access to depths of experience means that there is very little they do not understand about what is going on, both out in the world and within themselves. But Old souls do have one significant problem, and that is that they are subject to psychological depression. All the soul ages can be, to some extent, but especially the Old soul. The reason for this is that, to them, life seems heavy and boring — "life is a drag". They perceive that it is all a game, a contrived situation, and they no longer want to play the game. They feel like they have seen it all, so what is there left to live for? The material pursuits of Young souls seem quite futile to them, so what is there to get interested in? Even the Mature soul's excitement about newfound truth seems passé to Old souls. This ennui can severely limit an Old soul's happiness and well-being, and be a source of misunderstanding for younger souls who are enjoying life. Whether he understands it consciously or not in terms of reincarnation, the Old soul simply wants to graduate from the physical plane, and go on to new and better things in the higher planes.
But most Old souls do come around to the understanding of reincarnation at some time in their lives, even in countries where this is not taught as a dogma. It is possible for a person at any age and Level to have an appreciation of this metaphysical tenet, but to most Old souls it seems intuitively obvious. This is one of the perceptions that is inherent by reason of the depth of contact with the subconscious present in the Old soul.
Old souls are typically easy for other people to get along with. They are usually agreeable associates because they know how to be gracious. The worst that can be said about Old souls is that they are often detached and aloof, perhaps even uninvolved. Younger souls do not understand this, although they may admire the fact that an Old soul can remain so cool in situations that younger souls find upsetting. There is not much in an Old soul that can offend a younger soul, though there is much that can be misunderstood by him. To some it may seem that Old souls do not care. It is more accurate to say that they are nonattached. They do not make much investment in what is going on around them, and do not have strong expectations for any particular outcome. Whatever will be will be, so why fight reality? Old souls inherently perceive the broader perspective. They see that the world rolls on, day after day, year after year, millennium after millennium, with the same basic stories being told time after time with minor variations. Old souls know the big lesson of the whole Maturation cycle, and that is nonjudgmental acceptance of anything and everything. What little they cannot abide, Old souls simply avoid. Rarely do they seek to change things.
It is not intended that the above comments be used by Old souls as excuses for laziness and indifference. Once an Old soul realizes the cause of his condition, he can then take steps to mitigate it or direct it wisely. He need not pursue the goals of younger souls or share their value systems, but he can take his legitimate place as a valuable member of society if he wants to. As with senior citizens, just because the Old soul is "retired" does not mean he is worthless and powerless. Indeed, an Old soul can bring considerable wisdom and competence to bear in fulfilling a significant life task.
Because of their advanced perceptions, Old souls are inherently ethical in behavior, feeling, and thought. They do not have to be taught right and wrong by parents or society. There is some socializing to be done when they are children of course, but the programming for decency, honesty, and integrity is inborn. It is as if they are grown-up even when they are children. They always feel like they are older than their chronological age. They are conscientious and responsible. They are not usually jealous, envious, possessive, or pushy — any one of a number of things which involve attachment to other people. When Old souls are dealing with these ethical issues, it is with their subtle aspects. They are gentle toward the faults of others. The harsh perceptions often present in younger souls are absent here. They rarely perceive actions as being truly evil. Rather, they regard things that cause suffering as foolish and primitive, and they seek to cure the cause of the problem by imparting mature knowledge and understanding.
Old souls try to maintain neutrality in time of war. It is part of their nonattachment. There are certain nations listed by Michael as being primarily populated by Old souls, such as Switzerland, Holland, and Iceland, who value their independence and neutrality in political issues. Switzerland plays host to the Young soul nations at the Geneva peace talks, but does not get involved in their Young soul do-it-my-way games. If Old souls care anything for politics, it is that they are pacifists. Most often they are simply apolitical — they do not get involved with it at all.
Old souls are casual and easygoing about everything. Nothing is any big deal to them. Almost never are they outrageous or outlandish. They are rarely concerned with outward appearances — external image or formal trappings. In extreme cases they can even appear sloppy in clothes or habitat. Rarely are they overly concerned with what other people think.
Old souls pursue education with the same casual attitude as they do everything else in life. Grades are of very little value to them. The learning itself isn't all that important unless it furthers a specific life task. Old souls tend to cut out the material pursuits that occupy so much of the time and energy of younger souls, and concentrate what little energy they have on spiritual integrity. By this is meant the need to understand the truth, and the reason for things. Old souls rarely participate in organized religion. They are often drawn rather to metaphysics, mysticism, philosophy, and the occult in their quest for understanding. It is difficult for them to synthesize their physical with their spiritual selves. They often seek unorthodox and holistic medicine rather than going to the medical establishment.
In some ways, it can be said that Old souls are in the most difficult age. In the first place, they do not fit in with the culture so they are often thought bizarre. They are definitely out of the mainstream of society and care little for its formal institutions. In the second place, they are often too world-weary to do what needs to be done to solve their own problems, let along anyone else's .Since they tend to follow the path of least resistance, unless they feel internal and external forces pushing them, they don't go anywhere or do anything. No matter how much they might need it for building Character, they will only tolerate just a certain amount of stress in any given situation. Then they will get depressed and just chuck it all and move on. In the third place, there is a certain arrogance in Old souls in that they often feel they cannot learn from younger souls. They are aware of their maturity, even if only subliminally, and regard younger souls as foolish. This is not truly wise. There is always much to learn, even from one's juniors. In the fourth place, there is very little left that Old souls want to experience in life. They feel like they have done it all — so why bother to do more? "There is nothing new under the sun" is another good motto for the Old soul.
Even sex is not highly prized by the Old soul. He is usually competent therein, but his lack of interest for it, and the lack of passion in it, can be disconcerting to younger souls who still prize sex highly. Old souls are often hedonistic and sensual, however, and can have a bawdy sense of humor. Old souls are often androgynous (having balanced masculine and feminine characteristics), and occasionally bisexuality is a part of their lifestyle. Gender identification is often weak in this Age because of subconscious contact with the whole psyche, which includes both masculine and feminine characteristics. What the Old soul seeks in romantic relationships is a "soul mate" — someone to whom he relates on a soul level. This might be someone else with whom he has spent many lifetimes, or another soul in his own Entity. The drive for this is so strong that it could be described as a compulsion.
The Mature Soul Age
BY PHILLIP WITTMEYER
After the years of youth and early adulthood comes the time of middle age. Much of what can be said about Mature souls is what would be said about people in middle age. They are at the peak of their lives: beyond the folly of youth, yet before the decay of old age. Like people in the fifth and sixth decades of life, much of their experience is behind them. That is, they have subconscious access to depths of experience not present in younger souls. Consequently, their perceptions are fairly advanced. Rather than look forward and outward like younger souls, they look backward and inward. They constantly evaluate whether their life goals are being achieved, and what they would do differently if they could start again. They have a strong tendency to be introspective. This incessant self-evaluation can lead to psychological difficulties. Mature souls are in the "mid-life crisis", so to speak, of the Maturation scale. Mature souls make a lot of adjustments along the way in their lives.
Mature souls seek to comprehend everything. There is very little that escapes their view or scrutiny. The place for Mature souls to seek this is in such places as libraries and colleges. Mature souls are great believers in education. They go to school for a different reason than Young souls. Whereas Young souls get educated to further their careers, most Mature souls seek knowledge for its own sake. They truly want to understand. It may not always be in a formal or institutional setting, since this can seem too structured and limiting (too Young-soulish) to them. They often pursue knowledge on their own, reading widely or taking night-school classes on whatever subject is of interest to them. This they often do rather than seeking a formal degree. The courses that Mature souls take are less likely to involve occupation, and more likely to be for personal improvement, than what you will see Young souls taking. Mature souls care more about what they are learning than about the grades they make in learning it.
Mature souls are in a searching mode all their lives. There is an itch to "find themselves" and "express themselves". Personal fulfillment is their constant quest. This they never quite achieve to their own satisfaction. The problem is that Mature souls are complex — the most complex of the entire cycle. There is so much going on in their psyches which other people cannot fathom, and they themselves do not understand. The Mature soul age is the most challenging of the Ages. Mature souls are agitated, sensitive, and touchy.
Concepts and issues which younger souls would pass over as meaningless are very important to Mature souls. For instance, the Young soul is somewhat anti-psychological — he finds fulfillment in material things. He rarely questions his own motivations, or that of others. But the Mature soul looks for a larger meaning in life. He wants to understand the significance of everything, and the motivations for why people do things. More than a person of any other Age, the Mature soul cares — cares about the problems of the planet and wants to correct them, cares about other people and wants to help them, cares about his own well-being and wants to improve it. Mature souls are open to all experiences, and are prone to try pragmatic solutions to their difficulties, rather than using canned Establishment (Young soul) imperatives.
Since Mature souls are relatively evolved in their consciousness, their behavior is very ethical. They are working on the finer points of human relationships. They value the feelings and opinions of other people. It hurts them when others do not think well of them. While it is true they can be somewhat nonconformist and even a little bit rebellious in their natures, nevertheless Mature souls are not completely detached from a sense of social obligation.
Though relationships and knowledge and emotions are their primary concerns, Mature souls do work for a living, but it is not with the gusto of a Young soul. There is not the willingness to put everything into a career and rise to the top. When a Mature soul does become an employer, he tends to regard the well-being of the individual to be more important than the well-being of the company. He may have policies and programs within the company to foster the good of the employee, beyond the normal benefits.
There is a different type of awareness of the Mature soul compared to younger souls. The Mature soul is always interested in learning more. Knowledge is pursued by the Mature soul. Mature souls want to perceive themselves as informed individuals, and they revel in each newly acquired understanding. In the later Levels of the Mature Age, the person almost always seeks answers to the big questions of life in a way that few people in more primitive cycles do. This often means involvement in metaphysical endeavor, practice, or knowledge. By metaphysical is meant everything from psychology to religion to the psychic.
Like people with the Goal of Flow, Mature souls dislike disruption and disturbance of the natural rhythm of things. Like people in the Observation Mode, they are always on the lookout for information and knowledge. Like people with the Feature of Stubbornness, they regard themselves as bastions of solidarity that cannot be overthrown. Like Scholars, they value knowledge and information very highly. Like Pragmatists, they regard the world as a smoothly functioning machine. Like People in the Instinctive Center, they live by their impulses and whims.
Mature souls are psychologically attuned to other people enough that they empathetically experience other people as they experience themselves. This is not true of people in the younger Ages. As a result of this intuitive perception, Mature souls are touchy about who they deal with. They are easily upset by the "vibrations" of people that they are not in harmony with. If there are uncomfortable feelings with another, they will likely leave if they do not feel some obligation to stay. Mature souls need a sanctuary wherein to shield themselves in times of psychological stress. It might be a place that they withdraw to, or to the companionship and comfort of an intimate friend.
Mature souls are very relationship-oriented and they seek the camaraderie of like-minded companions. In contrast to Young souls who tend to regard their career as paramount, Mature souls often value their relationships as the most important thing in their lives. They build their lives around social contacts and friends who have similar interests. Family members, in the sense of blood relatives, which are very important to the three younger soul Ages, are not as important to Mature souls as good companions are. Mature souls seek mates not for status as Young souls often do, but for love. It is unusual for a person younger than Mature to experience true love for the mate. Mature souls want someone to whom they can relate meaningfully, rather than just someone to fulfill the stereotypical role of a mate ordained by Young-soul society. A good place for Mature souls to meet others for companionship or mating is in school or at the library. Second choice would be informal and loosely organized singles groups where they can get to know others as friends before they become lovers. The bar scene does not appeal to them. Mature souls want to mate for life.
Mature souls have a highly developed sense of humor and they laugh easily. The type of humor they prefer is "situation comedy" involving social relationships. They like to tease and joke with their friends. Their teasing is rarely hostile or denigrating like it can be with Young souls. The type of movies they prefer are the award-winners with depth, meaning, and originality, usually produced by Mature souls — not the shallow, action or adventure type produced by Young souls.
Mature souls are very much involved in the affairs of the world, but they have a great need for a quite refuge to which they can retreat in times of stress. They like to have a cabin in the woods or at the lake where they can take a vacation from the rat race. They do not seek material things or have a second home for status like a Young soul, but for an escape, a sanctuary. Mature souls seek less tangible things than material possessions.
In political philosophy, the Mature soul is liberal — "left-wing" — perhaps even to the point of being socialistic. The idealistic hippie era of the 1960's was a Mature soul phenomenon. Often they lived in communes or shared homes. Mature souls are reluctant to fight in wars because they regard all of humankind as their brethren. For this reason they also tend to be pacifistic — and not in a militant way like a Young soul might be. Even though they love freedom, they usually prefer to submit to domination rather than fight for that freedom. A clear example of this is that in Russia today, the Mature souls who form the majority of the populace submit to the domineering Young souls who control the government.
Mature souls are the avant-garde of society. It is they who make the genuinely novel contributions to the advancement of culture. They are the inspired visionaries. Whatever field of endeavor you might name — whether scientific, religious, political, technological, artistic, philosophical, humanitarian, or economic — it is the Mature souls who are in the forefront, at the leading edge, on the frontiers. Mature souls often campaign for reforms in society. They form the core of the environmentalist movement, the antinuclear energy movement, the ban-the-bomb movement, and other such improve-the-world endeavors. They are beyond the Young soul in perception of the value of the spiritual aspects of life, but they are nevertheless entangled with the affairs of the world to such an extent that they think the planet is worth the trouble of making it a better place. Old souls, on the other hand, have pretty much given up on the world in a material sense, as we shall see next.
Source
EVENT On Earth
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EVENT On Earth
If you would like to have all of the information related to The Event at your fingertips during and after the time of The Event you may get a pdf book with all information related to the time before, during and after the Event
Here:
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