Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

A little over a year ago, I fell down some stairs and hit the top of my neck. It’s been a long path to healing, but when I realized that I could consciously relax this area, the level of chronic pain became much more bearable. What hasn’t really helped was the information given to me by a healer who said that the reason I hurt my neck was because in a past life I was tortured and killed by a “dark energy cult” who did something gruesome to my neck. It’s not like I find this unbelievable or even particularly frightening; I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it. I’ve experienced plenty of things in this life to explain why I remain inert in the face of approaching danger or why I walk carelessly down a wet spiral staircase. To what extent are we defined by our past lives? I find it difficult to imagine why I would recreate a shadow experience of something terrible. Are we even supposed to know what happened in past lives? I ask this because I have never found self-awareness to be a major impetus for behavioral/physical change.
– Karla

Dear Karla:

I think this question is really about the power of conscious awareness. Whether the experiences affecting us at a subconscious level stem from our past in this life or another life, if we are unaware of why we are doing what we are doing, then those experiences are controlling our behavior. When we become conscious of why we do what we do, then we gain the power to make a conscious choice to do something else.

Here’s a simple, classic example that is sadly all too common: Let’s say that when Sandy was little, she was molested by her father. She may have a vague recollection of this, or have totally repressed her memories of it. It doesn’t really matter, so long as she is not conscious of how those early experiences are affecting her today.

Fast forward twenty or thirty years, and now Sandy has a hard time getting close to men. As soon as a man begins to get too close, she finds fault with him or starts acting “crazy” and pushing him away.

She may come to me for a reading, asking, “Why can’t I find the right guy?” Or, if she has some self-awareness, she might ask, “Why do I sabotage these relationships? Why do I always treat the nicest guys like dirt?”

Well, Sandy learned at an early age that it is the men you should be able to trust the most – the ones who are supposed to protect you and take care of you – that you have to watch out for. When a man says he loves you, beware. Thus as soon as a guy seems to care too much, she feels panicked and starts to flail around to get out of the relationship.

If she can get conscious about why she is doing what she is doing, then she can work through the irrational, self-defeating aspects of her belief system, and choose a more empowering and fulfilling approach to relationships.

I know this works myself. When I was a teenager, like many girls that age, all I wanted was to be pretty and popular. I put a lot of effort into being skinny, attractive, etc. Then I was stalked and raped by a man who saw me as so “desirable” that he had to have me for himself.

In the wake of that experience, I blamed myself. I said things to myself like, “Well, you wanted to be irresistible! That’s what you get!” I then started gaining weight and wearing huge clothes. I stopped wearing makeup. I stopped getting a lot of male attention. I wasn’t happy being out of shape and unattractive, but I felt safer.

I woke up one day and realized WHY I was overeating, not exercising, and dressing in baggy clothes. I then decided to “empower” myself by getting very strong and fit. I started eating right, lifting weights, running, and training in karate. I became obsessed with being fit and strong.

To this day, I still work out a lot. There are some healthy, positive reasons for this, but there is also a bit of that desire to be able to protect myself too. Maybe that’s unhealthy, or maybe it’s just wise given the nature of the world. I do know that becoming conscious of why I was doing what I was doing freed me to find the healthiest way to deal with it. I’m happy feeling strong and fit. I feel empowered.

Our past lives often do continue to affect us. The more intense/traumatic an experience in our past was, the greater its potential power over us will be. Since we don’t usually remember our past life experiences, they tend to influence us in unconscious ways.

When a big past life trauma is swept under the rug of our conscious awareness, it forms a lump in our lives that we can’t really see. We then trip over that lump again and again until we make a connection between walking in that area and getting hurt. Then we may be able to walk around it to avoid it, but of course, the hazard is still there. If we aren’t “paying attention,” we could trip over it again. If we consciously address that lump – if we lift up the rug and drag it out into the light and clean it out of there, we won’t have that vulnerability anymore.

Just because something happened in a past life, however, that doesn’t mean that we’re doomed to experience it again. While I won’t comment on the accuracy of the unusual reading you received, I find it rather strange to be seeking the reason for an accident in a past life in the first place. Accidents happen; they don’t always have some deep or higher meaning. We can have an accident if we simply fail to consciously manifest well-being. If we’re not grounded, not paying attention, not fully in our bodies, then accidents happen, and we’re snapped back to reality. If we keep finding ourselves in the same sort of pattern of experience, however, then it may be helpful to seek the metaphysical reasons why.

You asked if we’re even supposed to know about past life experiences. I found that a most interesting question. Why indeed would we generally not remember them unless there was a good reason?

I asked Spirit, and it was explained to me that we gain access to power and information as we become ready for it. Thus the more evolved we are spiritually, the more spiritual abilities we’ll gain, and the more awareness we’ll have of things like our past lives, the deeper meaning behind our experiences, etc. Spiritual evolution is a journey of ever expanding conscious awareness. We can trust that if we are made aware of something, it is natural and right for us now.

I feel that this fall sparked a big surge forward spiritually for you. Often accidents release a surge in kundalini. If you look back, you will see how this fall launched you into a period of deep spiritual questioning. That may not have been its “purpose,” but it was the result. Take it for what it is, and make the most of it. Instead of looking back and asking “Why?” look forward and ask, “Where do I want to go from here?”

We are not doomed to repeat past life experiences. In fact, the whole point of accessing past life information is to become more aware of any unconscious programs that are driving self-defeating habits so we can create what we want instead. Regardless of what happened in the past, we have the power to choose what we will create in our lives now.

We’ve all had hard times and dark experiences in this and in other lives. Becoming conscious of the deep fears we carry as a result of these experiences can empower us to release them. As all great spiritual teachers have taught, the path to realization is one of self-awareness. The more we know ourselves, the more empowered we are to consciously work with natural spiritual law.

– Soul Arcanum

« »