Dr. Michael Newton's Journey of
Souls Research
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When
Dr. Michael Newton,
www.spiritualregression.org, a certified
Master Hypnotherapist, began regressing his
clients back in time to access their memories of
former lives, he stumbled onto a discovery of
enormous proportions: that it is possible to
see into the spirit world through the mind's eye
of subjects who are in a hypnotized or
superconscious state; and that clients in this
altered state were able to tell him what their
soul was doing between lives on Earth. His book,
Journey of Souls,
presents ten years of his research and insights
to help people understand the purpose behind
their life choices, and how and why our
soul - and the souls of those we love - lives
eternally. His follow-up book,
Destiny of Souls,
is highly recommended as well. Also, you can
check out
Michael Newton's
touring schedule.
In May of 2004, Dr. Newton's new book entitled
Life Between Lives:
Hypnotherapy for Spiritual Regression
was released. Dr. Newton is also the founder of
The Society for
Spiritual Regression.
The following is an excerpt from Journey of
Souls describing the nature of the afterlife.
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Table of Contents |
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1. The Transition After Death |
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There are souls who
have been so severely damaged they are detached
from the mainstream of souls going back to a
spiritual home base after death. Compared to all
returning entities, the number of these abnormal
souls is not large.
There are two types
of displaced souls: those who do not accept the
fact their physical body is dead and fight
returning to the spirit world for reasons of
personal anguish, and those souls who have been
subverted by, or had complicity with, criminal
abnormalities in a human body. The first type we
call ghosts. These spirits refuse to go home
after physical death and often have unpleasant
influences on those of us who would like to
finish out our human lives in peace. These
displaced souls are sometimes falsely
called demonic spirits because they are accused
of invading the minds of people with harmful
intent.
Those subverted by
criminal abnormalities do undergo separation in
the spirit world, and this happens at the time
of their orientation with guides. They are not
activated along the same travel routes as other
souls and will go into seclusion upon reentering
the spirit world. These souls don't appear to
mix with other entities in the conventional
manner for quite a while.
Because wrong-doing
takes so many forms on Earth, spiritual
instruction and the type of isolation used is
varied for each soul. The nature of these
variations apparently is evaluated during
orientation at the end of each life. The
relative time of seclusion and reindoctrination
is not consistent either. For instance, I have
had reports about maladjusted spirits who have
returned back to Earth directly after a period
of seclusion in order to expunge themselves as
soon as possible by a good incarnated
performance.
All souls, regardless
of experience, eventually arrive at a central
port in the spirit world which I call the
staging area. Once past the orientation station
there seems to be no further travel detours for
anyone entering this space of the spirit world.
Apparently, large numbers of returning souls are
conveyed in a spiritual form of mass transit.
Spirits are brought in, collected, and then
projected out to their proper final destinations
similar to a central terminal of a metropolitan
airport that has the capacity to fly people out
in any direction. The most outstanding
characteristic of this world is a continuous
feeling of a powerful mental force directing
everything in uncanny harmony. People say this
is a place of pure thought.
After souls arrive
back into their soul groups, they are summoned
to appear before a Council of Elders. While the
Council is not prosecutorial, they do engage in
direct examination of a soul's activities before
returning them to their groups.
Group placement is
determined by soul level. After physical death,
a soul's journey back home ends with debarkation
into the space reserved for their own colony, as
long as they are not a very young soul or
isolated for other reasons. The souls
represented in these cluster groups are intimate
old friends who have the same awareness level.
Members of the same cluster group are closely
united for all eternity. These tightly-knit
clusters are often composed of like-minded souls
with common objectives which they continually
work out with each other. Usually they choose
lives together as relatives and close friends
during their incarnations on Earth.
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2. The Levels of Soul Groupings |
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a. The Beginner Soul |
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There are two types
of beginner souls: souls who are truly young in
terms of exposure to an existence out of the
spirit world, and souls who have been
reincarnating on Earth for a long period of
relative time, but still remain immature.
I believe almost
three-quarters of all souls who inhabit human
bodies on Earth today are still in the early
stages of development. Souls end their
incarnation on Earth when they reach full
maturity.
The beginner soul may
live a number of lives in a state of confusion
and ineffectiveness, influenced by an Earth
curriculum which is different from the coherence
and supportive harmony of the spirit world. Less
developed souls are inclined to surrender their
will to the controlling aspects of human
society, with a socio-economic structure which
causes a large proportion of people to be
subordinate to others. The inexperienced soul
tends to be stifled by a lack of independent
thinking. They also lean towards being
self-centered and don't easily accept others for
who they are. Every soul was once a beginner.
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b. The Intermediate Soul |
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Once our souls
advance into the intermediate ranges of
development, group cluster activity is
considerably reduced. This does not mean we
return to the kind of isolation that occurs with
novice souls. Souls evolving into the middle
development level have less association with
primary groups because they have acquired the
maturity and experience for operating more
independently. These souls are also reducing the
number of their incarnations.
These souls are at
last ready for more serious responsibilities.
The relationship we have with our guides now
changes from teacher-student to one of
colleagues working together. Since our old
guides have acquired new student groups, it is
now our turn to develop teaching skills which
will eventually qualify us for the
responsibilities of being a guide to someone
else.
This is a significant
stage for souls in their development because now
they are given increased responsibilities for
younger souls. The status of a guide is not
given to us all at once, however.
As with many other
aspects of soul life, we are carefully tested.
The intermediate levels are trial periods for
potential teachers. Our mentors assign us a soul
to look after, and then evaluate our leadership
performance both in and out of physical
incarnations.
Only if this
preliminary training is successful are we
allowed to function even at the level of a
junior guide. Not everyone is suited for
teaching, but this does not keep us from
becoming an advanced soul. Guides, like everyone
else, have different abilities and talents, as
well as shortcomings. By the time we reach the
advanced level, our soul aptitudes are well
known in the spirit world. We are given
occupational duties commensurate with our
abilities. Different avenues of approach to
learning eventually bring all of us to the same
end in acquiring spiritual wholeness.
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c. The Advanced Soul |
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I believe that people
on Earth who possess souls which are both old
and highly advanced are scarce. A person whose
maturity is this high doesn't seek out a
regression therapist to resolve life-plan
conflicts. In most cases, they are here as
incarnated guides. Having mastered the
fundamental issues most of us wrestle with
daily, the advanced soul is more interested in
making small refinements toward specific tasks.
We may recognize them
when they appear as public figures, such as
Mother Teresa; however, it is more usual for the
advanced soul to go about their good works in a
quiet, unassuming manner. Without displaying
self-indulgence, their fulfillment comes from
improving the lives of other people. They focus
less on institutional matters and more on
enhancing individual human values.
The mark of an
advanced spirit is one who has patience with
society and shows extraordinary coping skills.
Most prominent is their exceptional insight.
This is not to say life has no karmic pitfalls
for them, otherwise they probably wouldn't be
here at all. They may be found in all walks of
life, but are frequently in the helping
professions or combating social injustice in
some fashion. The advanced soul radiates
composure, kindness, and understanding toward
others. Not being motivated by self-interest,
they may disregard their own physical needs and
live in reduced circumstances.
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3. Returning to the Physical |
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There comes that time
when the soul must once again leave the
sanctuary of the spirit world for another trip
to Earth. This decision is not an easy one.
Souls must prepare to leave a world of total
wisdom, where they exist in a blissful state of
freedom, for the physical and mental demands of
a physical body. Once back in the spirit world,
souls have misgivings about even temporarily
leaving a world of self-understanding,
comradeship, and compassion to go to a planetary
environment of uncertainty and fear brought
about by aggressive, competing humans. Despite
having family and friends on Earth, many
incarnated souls feel lonely and anonymous among
large impersonal populations.
The rejuvenation of
our energy and personal assessment of one's self
takes longer for some souls than others, but
eventually the soul is motivated to start the
process of incarnation. While our spiritual
environment is hard to leave, as souls we also
remember the physical pleasures of life on Earth
with fondness and even nostalgia. When the
wounds of a past life are healed and we are
again totally at one with ourselves, we feel the
pull of having a physical expression for our
identity. Training sessions with our counselors
and peer groups have provided a collaborative
spiritual effort to prepare us for the next
life. Our karma of past deeds towards humanity
and our mistakes and achievements have all been
evaluated with an eye toward the best course of
future endeavors. The souls must now assimilate
all this information and take purposeful action
based upon three primary decisions:
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(1) |
Am I ready for a new physical life? |
(2) |
What
specific lessons do I want to
undertake to advance my learning and
development?
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(3) |
Where should
I go, and who shall I be in my next
life for the best opportunity to
work on my goals?
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Once a soul has
decided to incarnate again, the next stage in
the return process is to be directed to the
place of life selection. Souls consider when and
where they want to go on Earth before making a
decision on who they will be in their new life.
While some spiritual locales for life selection
are difficult for my subjects to describe, they
use remarkably similar descriptions. He is told
it resembles a movie theater which allows souls
to see themselves in the future, playing
different roles in various settings.
In this place of life
selection, our souls preview the life span of
more than one human being within the same time
cycle. When we leave this area, most souls are
inclined toward one leading candidate presented
to us for soul occupation. However, our
spiritual advisors give us ample opportunity to
reflect upon all we have seen in the future
before making a final decision.
After souls have
completed their consultations with guides and
peers about the many physical and psychological
ramifications of a new life and body choice, the
decision to incarnate is made. It would be
logical to assume that they would then go
immediately to Earth. This doesn't happen before
a significant element of preparation occurs. The
space souls go to for this in the spirit world
is commonly called the place of recognition, or
recognition class. I am told the activity here
is like cramming for a final exam.
One of the last
requirements before embarkation for many souls
is to go before the Council of Elders for the
second time. The spirit world is an environment
personified by order and the Elders want to
reinforce the significance of a soul's goals for
the next life. Some return to their spirit group
after this meeting to say goodbye while others
say they leave immediately for reincarnation.
Those souls getting ready for embarkation to
Earth are like battle-hardened veterans girding
themselves for combat. This is the last chance
for souls to enjoy the omniscience of knowing
just who they are before they must adapt to a
new body.
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"Each soul enters
with a mission. We all have a mission to
perform."
-
Edgar Cayce
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Reincarnation
Index |
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Copyright 2017 Near-Death
Experiences and the Afterlife
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