Energy is the core substance of everything in the universe. Without energy, there will be no life because life needs energy to fuel its existence. The energy that created our time matrix and universe has a unique ability that allows it to have infinite expression. This infinite expression is achieved through vibrational frequency.

Vibration, Frequency and HealthVibrational frequency plays an important role in the creation of our physical reality, because it allows energy to express itself into any form, including molecules, atoms, planets, stars, biological life and even diseases. To be more specific, every biological or non-biological thing has a unique energy signature that vibrates at certain frequencies. Understanding how energy frequency works is important for your well-being, because when your energy isn’t vibrating correctly, you are more vulnerable to diseases.

In 1992, Bruce Tainio of Tainio Technology, an independent division of Eastern State University in Cheny, Washington, built the first frequency monitor in the world. Tainio has determined that the average frequency of the human body during the daytime is 62-68 [M]Hz. A healthy body frequency is 62-72 [M]Hz. When the frequency drops, the immune system is compromised. Check out these very interesting findings:
Human Body:
Genius Brain Frequency 80-82 MHz
Brain Frequency Range 72-90 MHz
Normal Brain Frequency 72 MHz
Human Body 62-78 MHz
Human Body: from Neck up 72-78 MHz
Human Body: from Neck down 60-68 MHz
Thyroid and Parathyroid glands are 62-68 MHz
Thymus Gland is 65-68 MHz
Heart is 67-70 MHz
Lungs are 58-65 MHz
Liver is 55-60 MHz
Pancreas is 60-80 MHz
Colds and Flu start at: 57-60 MHz
Disease starts at: 58 MHz
Candida overgrowth starts at: 55 MHz
Receptive to Epstein Barr at: 52 MHz
Receptive to Cancer at: 42 MHz
Death begins at: 25 MHz

In theory, if you are able to keep your body’s frequency above 62 MHz, you should not have to worry about getting sick. To prevent your body’s frequency from dropping to lower levels, avoid eating junk food, canned food and processed food. Also, practice meditation on a regular basis because meditation increases the vibrational rate of your energy.

Original Article http://energyfanatics.com/2011/12/07/relationship-between-diseases-energy-frequency/ 

A biological research team at Bielefeld University has made a groundbreaking discovery showing that plants can draw an alternative source of energy from other plants. This finding could also have a major impact on the future of bioenergy eventually providing the evidence to show that people draw energy from others in much the same way.

Members of Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse’s biological research team have confirmed for the first time that a plant, the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, not only engages in photosynthesis, but also has an alternative source of energy: it can draw it from other plants. The research findings were released this week in the online journal Nature Communications published by the renowned journal Nature.

Flowers need water and light to grow and people are no different. Our physical bodies are like sponges, soaking up the environment. “This is exactly why there are certain people who feel uncomfortable in specific group settings where there is a mix of energy and emotions,” said psychologist and energy healer Dr. Olivia Bader-Lee.

Plants engage in the photosynthesis of carbon dioxide, water, and light. In a series of experiments, Professor Dr. Olaf Kruse and his team cultivated the microscopically small green alga species Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and observed that when faced with a shortage of energy, these single-cell plants can draw energy from neighbouring vegetable cellulose instead. The alga secretes enzymes (so-called cellulose enzymes) that ‘digest’ the cellulose, breaking it down into smaller sugar components. These are then transported into the cells and transformed into a source of energy: the alga can continue to grow.

‘This is the first time that such a behaviour has been confirmed in a vegetable organism’, says Professor Kruse. ‘That algae can digest cellulose contradicts every previous textbook. To a certain extent, what we are seeing is plants eating plants’. Currently, the scientists are studying whether this mechanism can also be found in other types of alga. Preliminary findings indicate that this is the case.

“When energy studies become more advanced in the coming years, we will eventually see this translated to human beings as well,” stated Bader-Lee. “The human organism is very much like a plant, it draws needed energy to feed emotional states and this can essentially energize cells or cause increases in cortisol and catabolize cells depending on the emotional trigger.”

Bader-Lee suggests that the field of bioenergy is now ever evolving and that studies on the plant and animal world will soon translate and demonstrate what energy metaphysicians have known all along — that humans can heal each other simply through energy transfer just as plants do. “Human can absorb and heal through other humans, animals, and any part of nature. That’s why being around nature is often uplifting and energizing for so many people,” she concluded.

Here are five energy tools to use to clear your space and prevent energy drains while releasing people’s energy:

Stay centered and grounded. If you are centered within your spiritual self (instead of your analyzer or ego) you will sense right away when something has moved into your space. If you are fully grounded, you can easily release other people’s energy and emotions down your grounding cord with your intention.

Be in a state of non-resistance. What we resists sticks. If you feel uncomfortable around a certain person or in a group, don’t go into resistance as a way to protect yourself as this will only keep foreign energy stuck in your space. Move into a state of non-resistance by imagining that your body is clear and translucent like clear glass or water. This way, if someone throws some invalidation at you, it will pass right through you.

Own your personal aura space. We each have an energetic aura surrounding our body. If we don’t own this personal space we are vulnerable to foreign energy entering it. Become aware of your aura boundaries (about an arms length away from your body all the way around, above and below) as a way to own your personal space.

Give yourself an energy cleanse. The color gold has a high vibration which is useful for clearing away foreign energy. Imagine a gold shower nozzle at the top of your aura (a few feet above your head) and turn it on, allowing clear gold energy to flow through your aura and body space and release down your grounding. You will immediately feel cleansed and refreshed.

Call back your energy. When we have our energy in our own space there is less room for other’s energy to enter. But as we focus on other people and projects we sometimes spread our energy around. Create an image of a clear gold sun several feet above your head and let it be a magnet, attracting all of your energy back into it (and purifying it in the gold energy). Then bring it down through the top of your aura and into your body space, releasing your energy back into your personal space.

Article from http://bodymindsoulspirit.com

Woundology is a term created by Caroline Myss and was birthed out of her experience working as a medical intuition in the late 1980’s. She began to see trends with people and the way in which they communicated their healing stories. Woundology refers to the tendency of people to use the wounds of their past to draw power from their world. More specifically,it describes how people use physical and psychological trauma from the past to get what they want or manipulate others.

Our Energy Bank Account
To fully understand the harmful effect of woundology we first need to understand the nature of energy and how it is responsible for nourishing our body and our world. Each one of us is plugged in to hundreds of energy circuits that penetrate us and enter us through our acupuncture meridians and chakras, energy that different cultures have named in different ways. Indians refer to this energy as “prana”, the Chinese refer to it as “chi”and Christians refer to it as “grace” or “the holy spirit”. You can think of this energy flowing into us from the universe, from God, from the Tao but as it flows into us it gives us the fuel we need to feed our physical bodies, our minds, and our emotions. Every action we make, every thought we have requires some of this energy. Our quest is to maximize the energy available to us to heal ourselves each day. Woundology is an obstacle, a negative pattern that will rob our bodies of this universal energy source. You can watch my video on the 5 Levels of Healing to learn where other obstacles can exist in our healing. We are not meant to stay wounded. Emotional pain is to be healed. There are many safe, effective spaces in which to explore this healing. Sometimes it is therapeutic for it to be talked about with family and friends, sometimes it is not. The next time you are sharing a traumatic event with someone take a moment and bring attention to how you are feeling bring attention to the motivation behind sharing that experience. Feel in yourself whether you are giving that experience unnecessary power are you blocking energy from flowing into and through you by inappropriately using your tragedy and emotional pain to get what you want or manipulate the situation in some way. This awareness will be the first step in letting go of this harmful reaction.

See this Healing PDF of why people don't heal.

We all have energy cords with the people around us. The moment we have a relationship with somebody an energy cord is created that runs from one person to the other. This is a real energetic flexible beam that connects the energy bodies of two people together. Some clairvoyants can see the cords, and some people who had out-of-the-body-experiences have also seen them. Usually they run from solar plexus to solar plexus, but the can start or end in any other place of the body. I have seen pictures of people were the cords connect to their head. That would suggest mental connection; mental manipulation if used for bad purposes, or inspiration if used for good purposes.

The more emotional a relationship is, or the longer it has existed, or the closer connection you have with somebody, the stronger this energy cord is going to be. This is a normal phenomenon, it is the way we connect with other people. The energy cord allows us to feel what the other person feels, even if he is thousands of miles away. More gifted people can even feel what the other person is doing or thinking.

In regards to just plain energy, some people are what I personally call "vacuum-cleaners". They live a life that is usually self-centered, which also implies that they tend to be rigid, dogmatic, controlling. Their way of life requires a lot of energy to keep their thus 'armored' energy structure (the body's energy matrix) the way it is. Life energy wants to flow freely, and these 'armored' people have made their energy (you can say their emotions and thinking) so rigid that they have blocked their own energy flow to a certain extent. It is like an artificial dam that blocks the flow of the river. The dam has to be maintained and that requires energy. These people become 'vacuum-cleaners', that is, they unconsciously suck the energy of the people around them. Have you ever felt drained and tired after a conversation with a person? This is the result of that person sucking energy from you through the energy cord during the conversation when you really connected with that person.

This is not unusual. People are so unaware of the energy body and the energy structures that lie at the basis of the physical world, unaware that we exchange energy all the time with our environment, and especially with other people. It is through energy cords that we all have with the people around us, and especially those who are close to us, that we manipulate our friends, our colleagues, or 'loved' ones; AND that we allows ourselves to be taken advantaged of too. We all have to exercise self-responsibility in our thinking, our emotions, our actions, but also in our energy. We can voluntarily give energy to others in order to help them, but giving too much will deplete our own energy reserves, and this will result in health problems. Health problems will also result when we are not consciously giving, but somebody is constantly draining our energy because they CAN. By this I mean, that because people are unaware of their energy body, they leave themselves wide open for energy predators. Do you leave your house wide open for thieves to come by? Your energy system creates your physical body. You don't leave the it open for other people to steal your energy, or manipulate you through the energy cords. So what do you do about it?

There are many techniques to 'close' your energy system. You are really closing it in the literal sense. Our energy systems are open ended systems that constantly connect with all other energy systems in our environment. If you would literally close off your energy stem, you would die. What needs to be done, is putting up a filter that allows only the good, beneficial energies to enter, and block all unwanted, harmful energies. In the first place comes intention. Your intention has to be very clear and precise. Determination is very important. A 'maybe it might work' is not good enough. You have to be clear, direct, strong, determined, a hundred percent warrior. You have to know clearly what you want and what you don't want. And don't allow for any security breaches in you energy body. Most important you have to maintain your filters, every day, until it has become part of your attitude.

An example of general protection of your energy body, is to visualize a cocoon of white energy around your body, allowing beneficial energy in, but reflecting all harmful energies. You can also imagine a mirror-like coating on the outside of this white cocoon that reflects the harmful energies away.

If somebody is sending you negative energy, you can program your energy body to send it back to the sender. Always send from a neutral point of view. You are doing this out of self-protection, don't allow yourself to get negative too. Don't be angry, don't be upset, don't do this out of revenge. This kind of attitude weakens you energy system, and you will become even more vulnerable.

If you want to keep your connection with a particular person, you could put a filter (like a camera or photo filter) in your energy cord.

Some people like to visualize a golden rain shower that washes away all negativity, but with energy cord problems, you want a permanent solution.

In case you want to sever 'ties' with somebody, because the relationship has become unhealthy, you need to cut the energy cord with that person. How do you do that? This has to be done correctly and not in a 'new agey' way. But first I have to tell you a Greek myth because it specifically tells about cutting energy cords, although in a symbolic way as all myths are.

The second (of twelve) labors of Hercules was to kill the Lernean Hydra. From the murky waters of the swamps near a place called Lerna, the hydra would rise up and terrorize the countryside. A monstrous serpent with nine heads, the hydra attacked with poisonous venom. Nor was this beast easy prey, for one of the nine heads was immortal and therefore indestructible. Hercules set off to hunt the nine-headed menace, but he did not go alone. His trusty nephew, Iolaus, was by his side. Iolaus, who shared many adventures with Hercules, accompanied him on many of the twelve labors. First, Hercules lured the creature from the safety of its den by shooting flaming arrows at it. Once the hydra emerged, Hercules seized it. The monster was not so easily overcome, though, for it wound one of its coils around Hercules' foot and made it impossible for the hero to escape. With his club, Hercules attacked the many heads of the hydra, but as soon as he smashed one head, two more would burst forth in its place! To make matters worse, the hydra had a friend of its own: a huge crab began biting the trapped foot of Hercules. Quickly disposing of this nuisance, most likely with a swift bash of his club, Hercules called on Iolaus to help him out of this tricky situation. Each time Hercules bashed one of the hydra's heads, Iolaus held a torch to the headless tendons of the neck. The flames prevented the growth of replacement heads, and finally, Hercules had the better of the beast. Once he had removed and destroyed the eight mortal heads, Hercules chopped off the ninth, immortal head. This he buried at the side of the road leading from Lerna to Elaeus, and for good measure, he covered it with a heavy rock.

The long necks of the hydra are energy cords. Cutting an energy cord is only a short term solution, because the energy cords will automatically re-establish itself. In short time, if not immediately, it will connect to your body again. Therefore, when you sit down in meditation, and imagine cutting the energy cord, you will also have to burn shut the end of the energy cord that leads to the other person. It is also a good idea to burn shut the little piece that is still left on your energy body. You have to do this really good, otherwise it will recover and connect itself to you again.

If you feel for it, can can create yourself a ritual around it. Whatever works for you best will do. The cutting of the cord happens with the will, as the will is the director of energies. You could also use a real or ritual knife to emphasize the action. The Buddhists use a kartika for this kind of practice. A Kartika, a type of spiritual ritual tool that is sometimes called a chopper or axe. It is used to sever attachments, that are also known as cords, and its use symbolizes the severance of all material and worldly bonds or any circumstance that calls for binding or cutting off. The Kartika cuts and severs those cords and attachments that are no longer serving a necessary purpose in our lives.

How do you know where the energy cord connects to your body? Usually it is at the solar plexus, but it can be anywhere on your body, even at the sides or the back. Go into meditation, or into a peaceful, calm state of mind, and just feel around. Pay attention to any variation in your energy field, or subtle impressions, or images. Knowing the exact location is not that important. The moment you feel an energy cord somehow in your energy field is enough.

You also have to understand that the place where the energy cord was connected has been traumatized if the connection was a negative one. So, after cutting the cord, bring some healing energy (white, golden, or whatever color you associate with healing) to that area. you can just visualize it, or bring it there with your hands, or with any other method.

It is also good to check yourself periodically for any negative attachments. Although don't do this out of fear, as when your attitude of daily self-protection has become strong, people wont be able to transmit negative energy through the energy cords connecting them to you (you want to keep your positive connections going with most people), and those people you have cut the cords with won't be able to create any attachments anymore. It is all about knowing what you want, be clear about it, and be strong all the time. It is a law of nature that any weakness in a biological system creates fertile ground for parasites.

You might also think that you could call for your guardian angels, St. Michael, Shiva or Shakti etc. to help you with clearing any negativity. The truth is, these spiritual beings, although powerful, will come down to help you once or twice, but they have better things to do than to hang around you in order to solve problems that you can and should solve yourself. 
This article is from House of the Sun.

Part 1 gives an overview of the hereafter according to Robert Crookal, and a couple of other authors. Robert Crookal was a retired geologist (1960’s) who collected numerous accounts of astral travels and carefully analyzed and evaluated them. In approximately 10 years he collected and wrote about over 750 different cases. I also highly recommend the books of Michael Newton: Journey of Souls and Destiny of Souls. This contemporary writer is a hypnotherapist who developed his own hypnosis technique to reach the memories of the hereafter.
Part 2 gives an overview of the hereafter according to Emmanual Swedenborg (1653–1735). He is a highly reliable source for information about the spiritual worlds, in spite of his archaic use of words.
Part 3 gives an idea about how Buddhists think of death and what lies beyond.

1 Death and the Entrance into the Spirit World

(based upon several sources)

     When a person dies the silver cord, which is an energy cord that connects the soul with the physical body, ceases to exist. The physical body is now under the influence of its spirits and the four Elements which will decompose it and return it to the earth. From near-death experiences we know that when people die, some of them go through a dark tunnel towards a light at the end; others are immediately greeted by already deceased friends and relatives; or they are bathed in a brilliant light.

     The way of dying has a strong effect on the state of mind of the deceased immediately after passing over.

     When a person dies a sudden death, as with an accident, he often has no clue that he passed over. He thinks he is still alive and is puzzled why he cannot do the things he used to do, or why people do not respond to him. His consciousness is as clear as when he was in the physical body just before he died.

     When a person dies a natural death, he notices that he leaves his body, but soon afterwards he goes ‘to sleep’. His consciousness goes into a vegetative sleep which is more like being in an undifferentiated state of mind for a while. In this state of mind he can hang around in the neighborhood of the place where he passed over. His nebulous consciousness is able to perceive the physical world vaguely, and sometimes he will attach himself to objects, plants, animals or people. In the esoteric teachings this is called the great Sleep, caused by the Dark Angel, the Angel of Death. This initial vegetative state can last from a couple of hours to several days.

     When he leaves his place of passing over, he still thinks he is alive, and visits the living, and sometimes he lives with them for a while. He is still half or totally unconscious of his deceased state.

     Many souls have little interest in what happens to their physical bodies once they are dead. But they do like to hover around the place where they died for a few days.

     Some souls are still attached to the physical world. They try to communicate with the living. In houses that have been built over an earth’s energy spot, they are able to use that energy to manifest himself to the living.

     Some of the deceased are still so much attached to the physical that they attach themselves to a living person to enjoy, through that person, the earthly pleasures, like the taste of alcohol, cigarettes, food and so on. Those souls used to be habitual drinkers, smokers and even compulsive criminals. Such a situation is always to the detriment of the living person, as the deceased interferes with the energy body of that living person. Ailments and disease will follow, sometimes quickly, sometimes gradually. Some of the deceased have a grudge against a living person and will attach themselves to him in order to cause harm. Others had such a strong connection with for example a family member, that when they pass over they attach themselves to that family member, because they cannot give up the relationship they had with that person. This also causes harm to the living person, and the deceased often does not realize that. Such disturbed spirits are rare, and help is available from higher, caring entities, who can assist in the adjustment process from the other side.

          So, the deceased now knows that he has passed over. Some of the deceased now create themselves a dream world based on that what they had expected to find when they would die. Based on these expectations he creates himself a heaven, a hell or any other place he likes. Here he indulges himself in what he likes to do, like eating, feasting and so on, until, after a while, he gets bored with it and realizes that heaven or hell, as he imagined it, is a boring place, and that his expectations of these places were childish constructs of his mind. More developed souls will move much faster through this stage.

     Many spirits will hear relaxing music, allowing them to feel more "at home". Souls will find themselves in an environment of houses, rooms, parks, nature and so on. These are all places created by their mind that relate to the laces they have lived in on Earth. This astral world is usually much nice, more beautiful, more colorful, and much more euphoric.

     Although the soul itself is androgynous, it will usually adapt an outer appearance of male or female in the spirit world. It is a question of what sex one wants to identify with.

     Once the deceased wakes up from his dreamy consciousness, and is clear and lucid, he is calm and feels free. In this of mind he can also contact the living.

     Souls arriving in this world are greeted by soul mates, friends, guides. Initially guides might be in the background when friends welcome the deceased soul.

     After the initial stages souls will speed to their destination. They arrive at their own specific group of entities at their own maturity level. Group placement is determined by soul level. The souls represented in these cluster groups are intimate old friends who have about the same awareness level. It is usually a small primary unit of entities who have direct and frequent contact, such as we would see in a human family. Contact with souls from other groups is also possible. Members of the same cluster group are closely united for all eternity. They 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.

     If necessary the deceased will undergo a healing process and a reorientation to its spiritual environment. The reorientation is a substantial counseling session with one's guide. The newly refreshed soul undergoes a debriefing of the life just ended. It is a self-evaluation process. It also provides emotional release and readjustment back into the spirit world. More advanced souls might skip the orientation process, although they will meet and talk to their guides. They are usually able to move on much quicker after their arrival in the spirit world.

     At a later time the soul will meet with a group of wise beings, usually called the Council masters or Elders. This board of review is generally composed of between three and seven members. While the Council is not prosecutorial, they do engage in direct examination of a soul's activity. Here the soul's higher self will then show him his entire past life with the highs and lows, and he will judge himself according to universal spiritual laws. Yes, there is no one else to judge you than yourself. You can also not deceive yourself in this regard, as your higher self is straightforward, knows the truth, and shows you incontrovertible where you failed.

     After the soul has spent time playing, studying, creating in the spiritual world in order to enhance its development, it will eventually feel the need again to reincarnate. This involves an orientation process too, during which a soul will be shown a series of possible lives on Earth.

2 The Hereafter according to Emanuel Swedenborg

     When man dies, the breath and the systolic movements of the heart stop. The physical body and soul (the astral and mental body) immediately separate. After the separation, the soul stays for a little while by the physical body.

     Once out of the physical body, consciousness is in the soul, and one is attracted to those souls or angels who correspond to the person’s inner state of being. Now he is in the World of Spirits, which is an intermediate world between the heavens and hells. In the beginning he keeps the same appearance as he had when he was in the physical body, but this will slowly change, as his appearance will reflect exactly his inner sate of being. By this other souls can see to which spiritual level one belongs. In contrast to life in the physical world, one cannot hide anything in the spiritual worlds.

     In general, the deceased does not know he has passed over when he arrives into the World of Spirits. He thinks he is still in the physical body. He still keeps his memory and continues to act as if he is still in the physical world.

     When more highly evolved beings interfere, the deceased is shown his past life in all the details.

     There are three states the deceased undergoes before he goes to heaven or hell.

The first state of the exteriors: this state is very much like on the physical plane. The deceased does not know that he has passed over and thinks he is still in the physical world. He meets old friends that have already passed over before him. They show him places, cities, people, and teach him about his new state of being, and the world he is now living in. Most deceased are so ignorant that they think they are already in heaven, because they think they have lived a moral and civil life. They never considered that both the bad and the good live a similar life outwardly, alike in doing good to others, attending public worship, hearing sermons and praying. They are ignorant not understanding that external deeds and external acts of worship are of no avail, only the internal state of being from which the external acts proceed is real.

The second state of the interiors: now he starts to go into his own inner state of being. In the previous state he still could pretend to be different than he actually is. Now he can only act according to his true intentions. He thinks from his own will, from his own affection, from his own love. As in this world there is no fear of losing one’s face, or one’s reputation, he starts to speak and act openly that which he otherwise would have kept secret or hidden in the physical world. His good and wicked characteristics come out unrestrained.

The third state is of instruction: This state is only for those who go to the heavens. They get instructions by angels of different orders. After the instruction the deceased are clothed with angelic garments, which are mostly glowing white as if made of fine linen, and they are lead towards the heavens and introduced to societies. Those who are spiritually well evolved have clothes that sparkle like flames; less evolved ones have cloths that shine like light; and lesser evolved ones have glittering or just white cloths. The lowest have cloths of different colors.

Swedenborg divides the spiritual world into three: The World of Spirits where the deceased arrives and stays at most thirty years. As we have seen in the above he receives help and teachings. There are three main sections of hells where the souls create themselves environments in which they continuously suffer, engage in heated discussions, act out their anger and so on. There are three main sections of heavens too.

3 The Tibetan View of Death

     Tibetan monks have studied the human being for centuries and have come up with a clear understanding of what death is and what happens after death. According to Buddhism, death is the separation of the mind and body. Each living being has a mind or consciousness which continues to exist after the death of the body, and takes a new rebirth.

     Usually the name Bardo is used for the afterlife. The name bardo means "an interval between two things" and can be used for any interval. In the context of the afterlife we call it the Bardo of Becoming. As there is no physical world present anymore for the soul to interact with, the desires of the individual carry the largely helpless soul through a variety of emotional states. As the inner state of the soul now immediately manifests itself, the soul will experience pleasure, pain and other emotions depending on the inner qualities of the soul. Nothing in the Bardo is real, it is all projected by the soul, it is like a dream state where the soul creates what it wants to experience.

     The Tibetans say that immediately after death the soul becomes unconscious for a short or long time.

     When the soul awakens it comes face to face with the Dharmakaya, the body of truth. It is an all pervasive light, it is pure consciousness. With conscious effort the soul should dissolve itself into the light, and thus enter a state of light and bliss beyond the continual cycles of birth and death to which most souls are subjected. It all depends, at that moment, if we can become aware that this light is the true essence of our being. However few beings have completed the necessary preparations to remain fully aware during this state. To most souls the radiance of this light is too overpowering and they shy away from it. An opportunity of enlightenment has been lost, although it will present itself again later on but in a more fragmented and fleeting way. The soul falls into darkness and awakens in the next stage of the Bardo.

     The soul awakens again and is confronted with the brilliant light of the realm of the enlightened beings, also called the realm of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities. All Gods, Goddesses and mythical images become vividly alive within consciousness. Because the ego is habituated to dualistic perception, the soul tries to cling to the forms of the Peaceful Deities and is repulsed by the Wrathful deities. When the mind perceives these deities it should remember that it still has a dualistic impression of an "I" experiencing the "other" (the deities). It should take this opportunity to transcend the illusion of duality and recognize the deities as projections of his own mind. In essence they are neither peaceful nor wrathful, this is only a perception of the mind. But most souls get confused and miss the opportunity to liberate themselves. The habitual tendencies, like anger, hate, attachment, ignorance and so on, drive the soul to the next stage in the afterlife: the six realms of samsara, symbolized by the well known Wheel of Samsara, or Existence, or Birth and Death.

     In it we see Yama, the god of death holding the Wheel. At the center we see a cock, a snake and a pig. They symbolize the "Three Poisons": ignorance (pig), which give rise to aversion (snake) and attachment (cock). Snake and cock are sometimes taken for greed and pride. All three keep the human being in a vicious circle of self-sustaining suffering. In the circle around it are beings moving up or down, symbolizing their progress or downfall in their spiritual lives. When death strikes man goes to the afterlife which is divided in six realms: the realm of the gods (Devas), the realm of the demi-gods (Asuras or titans), the realm of the humans, the realm of the Hungry Ghosts or continually frustrated spirits, the realm of the hell beings, and the realm of the animals. This correspond more or less with the heavens and hells of other religions.

     Where the soul will go in the realms of the afterlife, depends on how the person has lived and thus on his state of mind. In other words, it depends on the karma he has generated. As all the subconscious things in the soul are coming up, and depending on what the strongest tendency inside us is, then one of the six afterlife realms begins to predominate.

     If the soul has lived a life in which it has done a lot of good things for other people, it will go to the realms of the gods (Devas). However they are under the illusion that they have achieved the highest level. They are filled with pride, condescension and self-righteousness. When jealousy is the strongest feeling, the soul goes to the realm of the demi-gods, as they are always fighting for what others have. They are bound by competitive conditioning and underlying feelings of inadequacy. The Preta or Hungry Ghosts realm is occupied by those beings whose hunger is insatiable, not only for solid food but for subtle foods like knowledge and all forms of stimulation. The animal realm is filled with those so confined by their habitual tendencies that any threat to their narrow and frozen condition sets off the "flight or fight" reaction (animals feel secure in their habits and fear the unknown). The human realm is a combination of floating anxieties about praise and blame, with hopes and fears rising and falling, underlined by the painful reality of impermanence and death. The realm of the hell beings is marked with catastrophic pain, panic without rest. So you see, the six realms are a division of six main psychological characteristics that keep the human mind bound to its projections in the material world.

     Although every ego may be dominated by a particular psychological characteristic and dwell in one particular realm during certain times, there will be a movement from one realm to another, because we, as humans beings, contain all these realms within ourselves.

     When in the Bardo one should wake up from those dream states, or the projections of the soul, and start meditating to make a connection with the divine. There is always the possibility of experiencing the true nature of mind, and pure awareness. Only then the soul can escape the realms of the afterlife.

     However most souls reincarnate again, as their desires and passions drive them to a new physical body. It is said that the soul remains forty-nine days in the afterlife before reincarnating again, but this number should be taken symbolically.
This article is from House of the Sun.

ARE you the same person now that you were fifteen years ago? In fact, are you the same person you were just seven years ago? Most of us have heard the old saying that every cell in the body is changed over a period of seven years; but recent investigation has uncovered facts of far more significance to us as human beings. This concerns the emotional, physical and mental changes that seem to occur in approximate seven-year intervals. Of course there are no fixed boundaries and so one may achieve these levels of maturity at any period of our life. So what follows are simply the general changes you may find.

Rudolph Steiner, the great teacher of Anthroposophy said that the seven-year cycles continue throughout life, and are of the utmost importance to doctors, teachers, psychiatrists and the social sciences. Without some smattering of these changes it is difficult for anyone to understand the relationship of any given individual with his or her environment. So I have tried to summarize what Steiner and others have said about the cycles.

Before the definition is started, I feel it is important to say that as humans, in fact as any life form, we are creatures of great polarities. Or as the philosopher Erwin Goodenough said, “A book on love, loyalty or justice would gain little but pedantry by starting out with a concise definition of the term. Only as we describe the various conflicting elements associated with such words can we finally arrive at a meaning that includes these complexities; for important matters we understand, not as we simplify, but as we tolerate the paradoxical.”

One of the great paradoxes of our lives are that we constantly go through such enormous such massive changes every day. Daily we pass through an extraordinary change that we often take so much for granted we miss the wonder of it. The change occurs between sleeping and waking. For most of us being awake is when we most fully feel ourselves. Compared with this sleeping is a period during which we lose any focused awareness of being an individual, and we sink into what is generally called unconsciousness — the lack of personal awareness.

This swing between waking and sleeping can be seen as the extremes within the possibilities of our experience. Sleeping and waking are the polarities, the North and South Poles of what we can confront. In quite a real sense we can say there is nothing beyond what is included in those polarities. But there is an enormous difference between waking experience and the experience of dreamless sleep. Yes, one can have an experience of what is considered deep unconsciousness. In waking we have a sensation of time, of being in a locality, of separateness and even isolation. But at the other end of that polarity we have a sense of timelessness and non-locality. What was a sense of self merges into an ocean of awareness.

0-7 years

One of the most important of these cycles is the first, from birth to seven years of age. Its importance lies in the fact that it is the beginning of everything, the foundation upon which the later structure will be built. Birth gives individual life to an infant body. Even at birth, this small being already has its given potential of intelligence, creativity and personality. But this potential has to come to terms with its environment, which includes its own body. In a human being we cannot have awareness without consciousness; we cannot have thinking without the tools of thought such as language, concepts or ideas. So during our early years we are largely moved by the instincts of hunger, need for love, protection and support, along with pain and the impact of our environment. All this while we build up the inner, mental structures that in later years will allow us to think, to feel, and to be aware of ourselves as an individual.

One of the most important of these inputs is that of the unconscious behavioral responses we learn. From the moment you are born, perhaps even prior to that, you are learning, or there are pressed upon you, responses to what you are experiencing. The culture you are born into is a huge ready-made set of behavioral responses. For instance, an Australian aborigine would easily respond to a huge living grub/caterpillar by eating it. This would be a very difficult behavioral response for most Northern Europeans or Americans. As babies we learnt everything from whether you respond to opportunity with fear or eagerness; to love with fear of warmth; to food as a glutton or with healthy appetite.

At birth there is a very different physical and glandular system than in later years. For a start the sexual organs have not developed, meaning responses to sex and sensation are very global. Also the thymus is very large and in later years becomes smaller. It has been said this, in these early years, gives the child a very primitive response to truth, right and wrong, and what later become moral codes. So the child only slowly develops any real sense of social morality.

But something so mysterious happens to us during this first seven years that once done it can never be undone. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes this by saying that if they can have the first seven years of a child’s life, that is all they need to insure a lifelong influence. Napoleon also observed that as the twig is bent, so the tree will grow. This is borne out by seeing the cases of children who have been lost and brought up by animals during these formative years. Even with the best tuition they never learn to become a self aware personality as we know it. Time is a mystery to them, and even though their brain size and function is normal, they never approach the usual capabilities that education gives to modern women and men. So, in the first cycle we pass through an incredible process of learning. This includes motor movements, speech, relationship to ourselves and to our environment. And that means learning a vast amount about what is useful, entertaining or harmful; about what responses we get from others, and developing habits of response that may be difficult to change in later years. We learn a sense of personal awareness and move toward becoming an individual. In other words, we learn to say “I” and know what we mean.

The learning of language is like a powerful computer program that gives us the ability to develop an identity and self awareness. This is shown again by children reared by animals. Language also adds limitations which we can overcome if we recognize them.

Steiner also says that during this first stage of development the developing inner forces are working to transform the body of the child from one that was inherited from the parents, to one that represents the full personality of the child.

Something often overlooked about the stages of growth are ones emotional age.

From age zero we are completely dependent upon the loved person for our needs, physical, emotional and social. Great anger, jealousy or pain are felt if the loved one relates to anyone else, is lost, or threatens to leave. If we do not mature beyond this emotional age, in adulthood this enormous feeling reaction may also be felt at a time of emotional withdrawal of the partner, even if there is no sign of them withdrawing physically. In the infant and toddler there is a desire for unconditional love and a need to be always with the loved one. In an adult with this level of love, sex may be a part of the relationship, but the main need is a bonded connection. This is sometimes felt as a need to have the loved person want you as much, or as desperately, as you want/need them. Possibly the greatest fear, one that can trigger great anger or an enormous desire to placate or earn love, is the threat or fear of being abandoned.

7-14 years

The second cycle, from seven to fourteen, continues this growth. The concepts and association of ideas and emotions that began in the first cycle begin to be discovered by the child. The physical changes also prepare the growing personality for the next stage. The thymus gland decreases rapidly in size, allowing the development of a sense of right and wrong, and social responsibility. A sign of this physical and psychological growth is the losing of the milk teeth and the emergence of our adult teeth. This marks an entrance into a new maturity.

The child has learned, with the advent of its concepts and developing emotions, to create an inner world of its own. It is a world of heroes, danger and vivid imagination. As the thymus fades, and the sexual organs develop, the personality glides into the turbulent world of puberty and adolescence.

Sometimes it is already evident, even from the preceding cycle, the direction of interest and activity the child will take in maturity. Although for the very observant this might be seen in very early years, it becomes more evident as one approaches puberty.

In all a time of inner expansion. You begin to experience and test abilities in the broader sense of the outside world. You may learn to share and interact, controlling earlier instincts in favor of group dynamics. The habits learned in the first period are now part of the character of the growing child.

14-21 years

This is the third cycle, from fourteen to twenty-one. During it we become conscious of ourselves in a new way, and with a different relationship to life. One might say we become “self conscious.” The emotional range expands in all directions, and with this a new appreciation of music, art, literature and people begins. It is found for instance that at puberty the ability to distinguish subtler tones of color and sound develops. Besides this the person might go through the difficult struggle of breaking away from home life and/or parental influence. It naturally produces conflict as the person learns some degree of independence. Also, the opposite sex, or sex as a urgent impulse, usually becomes all important as the new emotions pour in upon our personality.

Because of the new range of feelings, many youths experience a different relationship to religion and life’s mysteries. All this, as one approaches twenty-one, produces an individual with some sense of social and individual responsibility, or if not that the beginning or a sense of a direction or life purpose. This might not be recognized as such at the time. But it is a time of searching for life purpose, independence, a realization of choices plus a testing of social and personal limitations as well as an awareness of a burgeoning sexuality. As this is a traumatic period of life for most of us, it is also likely to be a time of many unforgettable dreams.

The period is a time of adding maturity, dignity and poise to the person. If these changes have not occurred by twenty-one, then the person has in some way not covered necessary aspects of development, and both psychology and the law recognizes that they are lacking maturity.

This period is one of great and sweeping changes, physically, emotionally, morally and mentally. Such enormous changes often do not occur without an experience of loss. In this case the world of childhood is fading, or it might even be torn away, leaving scars.

It is also a time when many new features of the personality have their beginning, i.e. the religious sense, appreciation of the beautiful, etc. Although such things have their beginnings here, they sometimes remain undeveloped until later years. Because of these changes, and because such a lot is being revealed in these years, it is obvious why so much thought should be given to early marriage. Because of one’s changing viewpoint, the particular partner one would choose at seventeen or eighteen, is likely to be different to the partner chosen at twenty-one and beyond.

The emotional development at this age is possibly seen as initial uncertainty or clumsiness concerning emotional and sexual contact. It often involves desire to explore many relationships, unless there are forces of introversion or personal and social uncertainty at work. We are still finding out what our boundaries and needs are, and the sexual drive as at full flood.. Any partner we have at this time may be loved for one’s own needs – rather than out of recognition of who the other person is. Great romantic feelings and spontaneous love which are often difficult to maintain in face of difficulties.

21-28 years

The cycle that follows from twenty-one to twenty-eight, can more or less be called a process of enlargement and refinement. It is the period that we mentally and emotionally enter into adulthood. We start to build the foundations of our careers and intimate relationships with a driving energy that we hope will gain us entry and respect in the larger world.

One of the most marked features is the developing sense of discrimination. The faculties of insight, intuition, judgment and understanding begin to come to the fore. The personality softens and begins to mellow. The sparks of interest that were awakened in the previous cycles begin to be developed along more definite lines. The abilities of the last cycle also flourish. The adult emotional age may begin to emerges if one has successfully grown through the previous levels. This shows as a growing sense of recognizing needs of one’s partner yet not denying one’s own. It is followed by an ability to be something for the partner’s sake without losing one’s own independence or will. One becomes more aware of the issues that color or influence relationship, and meeting them in cooperation with others. Independence and connection can appear together instead of opposite ends of a spectrum. You move toward becoming caring sexual partners through discovering each other’s needs and vulnerability.

In this period you will begin to confront the issue that you were either born with, or arose through the challenges and pains of your infancy and childhood. These usually show as the way you handle intimate relationships, whether you can really meet in partnership with the opposite sex, and how you respond to the external world, its challenges and opportunities.

At this time what is revealed may not be addressed as a personal problem or issues to be healed or re-evaluated. They will be faced more directly later if they are not dealt with now.

28-35 years

The changes become more subtle as the years pass. The next cycle from twenty eight to thirty-five, for instance, is one where the creative process of mind becomes most active. Researchers and inventors seem to make their greatest advances during these years. It is interesting to note that physical science finds evidence of the reason for this in the fact that the association centers of the brain come to their peak efficiency at about thirty-five years of age.

This is even more interesting when we see that most of the great religious teachers and philosophers came to some vital experience at thirty-five. Jesus, Buddha, Paul, Dante and Jacob Behmen were all in the region of thirty-five at the point of their greatest insights. It would seem then, that if there is an inspirational influence at work in the life, it would possibly reach its peak during these years in and around thirty-five.

Here we take stock of ourselves and the emotional influences that have shaped our personality. We begin to determine what is us and what traits we have been pressured by family, peers or society to adopt.

35-42 years

From the thirty-fifth to the forty-second year, depending upon one’s personality and what one’s circumstances allow, one begins to feel a new restlessness. In some degree a desire to share whatever one has gained through life with others comes to the surface. Thus we find many successful business men building libraries, or aiding colleges and the arts at this period in their life. What has been developed or realized can be taken to greater subtlety during this period. This is almost like unfolding something, perhaps similar to the way a flower unfolds a bud that has been developing in earlier phases of its growth.

This is when we reassess the results of what we are doing externally in our life. Our relationships, careers, habits and the ways we interact are all put under scrutiny and modified or changed. It’s a time of facing up to what does and what doesn’t satisfy us.

You may reach heights or realization and creativity not touched previously. The profound breakthrough of ones innate genius that emerges around this time will no doubt be expressed in some degree. However, whatever is attained or realized will be enlarged and synthesized in later periods.

42-49 years

In the next cycle from forty-two until forty-nine a major change usually takes place. It is as if one takes all of one’s life experience up till this age and begins to digest it, and extract from it new ideals and a new direction in life. There is often tremendous unrest in this period and that following it. The unlived aspects of life cry out to be recognized and allowed. The desire to make a mark in life if it has not already been achieved presses for action here.

At this point it appears too many of us that we have reached the mid point of our life and from here on there will be a decline. Even if this is not so it is often felt very strongly and acted upon in one way of another. People change partners, life directions, and even attempt major personal changes, although these latter may have begun in the last cycle.

Also, the emotional age and the maturing of love may at last show signs of an unconditional love. If this is not appearing in small degree, it might be one is still locked in earlier ages. Strangely, many of us maintain the emotional age of a child right into mature years, feeling all the fear of abandonment, jealousy and possessiveness of our childhood. Many divorces and new directions appear around this period.

In these years we move from old stereotypical roles with a new found confidence in our individuality. We are prepared to please our self, rather than society and gain a real understanding of our uniqueness, accompanied by a sense of urgency to express our true self before it gets too late.

I put the following dreams in to illustrate some of what is met in this and perhaps the next period.

“Last night I had a dream which shook me somewhat, and I wonder what you make of it. I am a mature 40 year -old, don’t normally dream, and am not unduly fanciful, but this dream has really shaken me. It felt like death. In the dream, my husband and I are at some sort of social club. The people there are ex-workmates of mine and I am having a wonderful time and am very popular. My husband is enjoying my enjoyment. Then he and I are travelling down a country lane in an open horse-drawn carriage. It is very dark and is in the area we used to live in. We come to a hump-backed-bridge, and as we arrive at the brow of the bridge a voice says, ‘Fair lady, come to me.’ My body is suddenly lying flat and starts to rise. I float and everything is black, warm and peaceful. Then great fear comes over me and I cry out my husband’s name over and over. I get colder and slip in and out of the blackness. Then I start to wake up. It takes a tremendous effort, as my body is very heavy. I am extremely cold and absolutely terrified, with a feeling of horror. There seems to be something evil here. I force myself to get up in the dark and go downstairs. Even with the light on I feel the presence of great evil.”

The first part of this woman’s dream and what she says of herself shows her as an outgoing person, with a happy disposition. She likes people, and they like her; she is probably good looking, and healthy. She feels herself successful at what she has worked, and has left having acquired friends. The relationship she has with her husband is also depicted as one in which pleasure can be allowed within caring independence. Her dream image of herself is therefore created out of her own confidence. Dreams frequently summarize the quality of one’s life and the ‘story so far’ in their first scene.

The second scene is made up of several parts – the journey, the woman’s relationship with her husband, the force of nature symbolized by the horses and the countryside, and the unknown seen as the bridge and the voice. To understand what this reveals of the dreamer, look at the vital clues: what she has said about herself and what she felt in the dream. If you strip away images to see what attitudes or emotions are exposed, you can see the forces behind the dream plot. The most poignant statement she makes is in saying, “It felt like death.”

If we consider the central image of the dream, the hump-backed bridge, in relation to what she says about her age, the feelings of death’s approach make sense. When you approach a hump-backed bridge you climb, but at the very brow, the descent begins. Isn’t that a powerful symbol of life? In our younger years our strength, sexuality and ability to meet life with resourcefulness and independence increase, until middle age, when the decline sets in. You cross over – as this woman crosses the bridge – from one type of experience or view of life to another. The passage of time is seen here as the horses pulling her carriage inexorably towards the change.

But the dream’s beauty, its depth and drama, are in the voice, and in the discovery of how death ‘feels’. They tell us something about women’s inner lives, PLURAL. They reveal how, in her prime, a woman confronts change and the view of death in a way few men do. “Fair lady” the voice of change calls, “come to me.” And it beckons the dreamer towards a hefty mid-life crisis, asking her to exchange her sexual peak, her firm body, her fertility, for the different perspective of post-menopause.

Many women – men too of course – gain their sense of value as a person from their ‘attractiveness’. Losing whatever it is that makes them sexually desirable and socially popular – or fearing that they are losing it – will lead to a significant change in their way of life and their feelings about themselves. This is what makes the dreamer call for her husband. This is what produces the feeling of isolation and terror. A woman needs reassurance and love at this point in her life. She may behave indecisively and deflect the advances of her man through a lack of self-esteem.

Fortunately the human personality is resilient. Even though we are reared to identify ourselves with what our body looks like, what it can do, what sex it is, what age it is, and how others react to it, we CAN grow to mature independence without constant reassurance.

Some people create these nocturnal horror movies when leaving school or sitting exams. But middle age is just another phase of life, with as much potential for growth and love as any other phase – and as much room for failure. This woman fears what she imagines middle age will do to her. The dream isn’t an intuition of her future.

Here is a dream from a man in the same age period.

I recently reached my fortieth birthday and dreamt I was walking uphill. It was quite tough going. When I got to the top I saw the road on the other side was very steep. I felt frightened of going down it. I looked around and saw that the top of the hill stretched away on each side, so there was plenty of space, like a plateau. I realize that I can walk around and there is no hurry to go down the hill. – John H. London.

I commented on this dream by saying that before you actually got to middle age you obviously had the idea that it leads directly to a fast decline – going down hill. Your dream corrects this by showing that in fact you have worked hard to climb to a plateau of ability and possibilities that you can now explore. Each portion of life has its rewards, and in fact you depict this period of your life as more relaxed than the first half.

To balance this view a little, if there are still past difficulties to be faced, these will certainly present themselves. But a drive in many people is in some way to actualize themselves, to express themselves in a satisfying way. If we use the analogy of a plant, it is as if they have grown and reached full stature, but for some reason have not flowered and spread seeds. They have not produced fruit.

There is no one way in which people feel or seek this fruition prior to death. But it does become an imperative for many. It may involve receiving or giving love. It might be a need for expressing in one of the arts, or simply in breaking away from habits and roaming the world. The next dream illustrates this theme.

I flew over a farmyard and a large pig saw me and began to chase me as a dog might, but with the sense that he/she wanted to eat me. She chased me snapping and leaping into the air trying to ‘get’ me. I felt a bit apprehensive at times that she would get my leg. This lowered my confidence in flying and I began to worry about altitude, and flew over a barbed wire fence and the pig and her young could not follow. I flew low over small trees that were just coming into leaf. They were beautiful soft green leaves. I knew it was autumn and the leaves were only just coming out because it had been a cloudy, overcast summer. I felt the leaves would have time to mature because the sun would be out in the autumn, and the trees would not die.

The dreamer was in his fifties at the time of the dream, and had distinct feelings of something missing from his life. He felt very clearly that the late autumn expressed how he felt, that the best of his life, his fruition had not yet occurred. This was because ‘it had been a cloudy, overcast summer.’ By this he meant his life had so many difficulties, he had not had a chance to ‘flower’. But the dream promised there was still time. In fact ‘he actualized’ so much from there on.

And here is another dream example showing the same thing.

I am in a bicycle race with many other people. I came to a very long hill. It is difficult and I have to push my bicycle. It takes me until midday. When at the top I meet a lot of family. Then I cycle on, realizing that because the road is flat, I can go much further before nightfall than I covered in the morning.

The man was in his late forties at the time of the dream. It shows him feeling as if the first half of his life has been a long difficult climb. His assessment or intuition of the second half of his life is that it will achieve much more, or cover more ground and he will have more human and warm relationships, represented by his family. The bicycle represents his personal efforts to deal with life and his place in the human race; and as it suggests, he can go much further before nightfall – death – than he achieved in the morning of his life.

49-56 years

In this, and the next cycle from forty-nine to fifty-six, and the periods that follow, the physical changes bring about a mental or spiritual climax. The decline of physical prowess and vitality, forces the person to direct their attention inwards more frequently. Any problems of our personality, such as maladjustment and our repressions, will undoubtedly become more urgent in these years. This reacts upon one’s marriage and professional life alike. The problem is that we have to learn to live with ourselves in a new way. We slowly have to adapt to our new-old body, and habits of long-standing do not die easily.

This is when we take an inventory of our life. It’s a time of spiritual questioning and review of our life purpose. If we haven’t successfully understood who we are by this stage and achieved our goals, then depression, moodiness and turmoil will plague both our waking life and our dreams.

56-63 years

This period is often a time of inner tranquility and acceptance. At peace with oneself and more accepting of where we are and what we have achieved marks this period. But many things that were lying unlived within you might arise at this time, either as a form of unrest, or as directly living out those things that duty or work – or even self-restraints – kept you from doing or being.

Usually your life situation begins to change in this stage. There is the start of a great shift and adjustment, both in terms of external activities, but also in how you deal with and feel about relationships. Part of the difficulty is that you have lived a long life as a younger person, and the old ways of dealing with things is often difficult to let go of as things change. The opportunity to experiment more fully in life helps you to reassess yourself and what new way of relating and being suits you or is satisfying.

The psychiatrist Carl Jung and others such as Nietzsche developed a whole theory about this period of life that he called Individuation. Perhaps the influence of this began in the last periods during the forties, but becomes more marked now. As an individual we may come to recognize that our make-up is formed out of the collective experience of our family and the culture we have been exposed to. The question, “Who am I,” leads us to look more fully into what makes us who we are. This awareness and the insight gained from it transforms us. The change is that of becoming more fully independent of the forces that formed us. This means we create something new of who we are, and perhaps leave something of this new self in the world by what we do, create or live. Not everyone undertakes this diving into the depths of self to discover ones core being.

To quote from the website Soul-Guidance, “Individuation means that one becomes a person, an individual, a totally integrated personality. It is a process of self-realization during which one integrates those contents of the psyche that have the ability to become conscious. It is a search for totality. It is an experience that could be formulated as the discovery of the divine in yourself, or the discovery of the totality of your Self. This does not always happen without pain, but it is necessary to accept many things that normally we would shy away from. Once a person has accepted the contents of his unconsciousness and has reached the goal of the individuation process, he is conscious of his relationships with everything that lives, with the entire cosmos.”

63-70 years

Now we have deeper acceptance and understanding of the people in our life. We appreciate the differences between us and our friends and look to the good rather than the bad in people. This is a period where our accumulated experience seeks new creative outlets.

A particularly noticeable process that occurs here is a conscious or unconscious sifting of life experience and moving toward what is the essence and best of what one has been and learned from the years and experiences. Sometimes, if you can actually be aware of and work with this process, it leads to a sense of being lost or uncertain. By this is meant that for most of us external needs have dictated the direction of much that we have done or was needed of us. Now a great deal of this external pressure is removed. With its loss you realize that a great many choices or directions are open to you. It is like standing at cross roads with many directions. Which one do you want to take? Often it needs you to stand and observe before any direction from your own core wishes emerges. If during your life you have never worked at dealing with the difficulties and weaknesses or pains innate in you, then this period can lead to great confusion and the meeting of many shadows that you may not yet have developed the skills to deal with previously.

This is also a time in life when natural inner processes can lead you to a greater awareness of what lies beyond death. Things fall away naturally if you let them. A greater detachment from things of the world arises and this in itself is a foretaste of death in which you can let go of all that you have held on to.

70-77 years

Of course there are no fixed boundaries and so one may achieve this level of maturity at another period. But if the issues met in the previous cycle have been dealt with, then there is a new awareness of the subtle sides of life, and a changed relationship with those you love or come in contact with. There is a greater unconditional love and acceptance. By this is meant that awareness of the depths and subtleties of one’s own self are known more fully. If you are a person who has an active inner life, it can happen that the huge harvest of gathered life experience that was sifted and synthesized into clearer and more streamlined, or simpler concepts and meanings, is now expressed in your life and dealings with others. You may not be as powerful and active in the outer world, but you are gaining strength and effectiveness on people’s inner life if you are still healthy.

But such changes, as always, depend upon how well you have dealt with the problems, trauma as ability to grow during your life. If these are met, then this letter is an excellent example.

Hi Tony- You probably won’t remember me, I used to come to Combe Martin in the 1980s on Richard and Juliana’s Intensives Psychotherapy workshops… I remember fondly how we all enjoyed your and Hy’s wonderful cooking!

Just wanted to say that as I approach old age (nearly 70), welcome changes are happening. Firstly, I’m accessing information I never knew I had, mainly evident in my enthusiasm for University Challenge on TV where I will often find the correct answers to questions on disparate subjects, they just seem to pop out of my head without consciously thinking which, in addition to surprising me, are sometimes not even guessed correctly by any of the eight panelists!

Secondly, synchronous-type occurrences are becoming more frequent. Things such as suddenly thinking of a friend I’ve not thought about for maybe weeks, only to have him or her then call or text me less than a minute later!

Also, the wider, world view you write of is becoming stronger in me, where I get a (intuitive) sense of the world at large, a strong feeling for the multitude and mass of humanity, and principally its collective suffering, which is a much more expansive experience than previously I’ve had most of my life ie my own small world and its restricted boundaries.

I’ve enjoyed, as I get older, the growth of my intuition, and celebrate its development in contrast to left-hemisphere mental (?) attributes such as intellect, objectivity, etc. I’m both fascinated and pleased to find your writings on these subjects, and more, on your website. It feels appropriate that I have come across your site at this time in my life.

Thanks for sharing all your wisdom on the site.
Best wishes. P

77-84 years onwards

During the three preceding periods a new self was developed. This emerged out of a summary and synthesis or all that you had lived. Perhaps, if you gave attention to your inner life, doorways of perception were opened through which you saw how your present life is a continuum of the long past, of ancestors and other influences. From this new self and widened perceptions you are acting and living in the world in a different way. The essence of the purpose, love and ideas you lived by is given new expression.

As we have seen, the various physical changes have interacted with the spark of awareness lit at birth, causing changes in consciousness and attitude. Might we not speculate then, by saying that the biggest physical change of all-death – may be but a pre-requisite for yet another cycle of life; an initiation into an entirely new type of awareness? In fact it can happen that from the last cycle onwards, if you dare to experience your inner life reasonably fully, you will already have experienced what naked awareness is like, or have penetrated what is called death in some way.
Article from Tony Crisp

You need to use shipping pallet wood.  This is wood you can get for a few dollars or for free from any large store such as Walmart.  They usually have these outside by their loading docks. Make sure the pallets you get are in good shape.  You remove the nails from the pallet wood and use this wood to build a rustic birdhouse.  Some of the wood is cedar and is very good for outdoor birdhouses. I have attached the specifications on how to cut the wood for a nice size birdhouse.  You will need nails, 1 1/2 inch drill bit, hooks for hanging and glue for adding wood so the birds can perch outside on the house.