Health and Wellness

Basically, Baby, Infant and Young souls do not have as yet coordinated personalities and their souls are often governed by the lower instincts and impulses of their personality. Mature and Old souls are more in control and their personalities are integrated and functioning under the direction of the Higher Self, the Soul. At each stage and level the soul’s consciousness level expands. It becomes more spiritually aware. Almost all prophets were Old souls. They gave teachings to the younger ones that eventually was misunderstood by them and created into dogmas. Young souls are incapable of spiritually guiding Old souls. Young souls merely believe that which they feel to be true; Old souls know what they know. Young souls guess, Old souls perceive. It is said that Infant souls learn their karmic lessons through suffering; Baby souls through pain; Young souls through losing; Mature souls through anguish; and Old souls through terror.

There is one principle that ought to be understood, and that is the appropriateness of activity and expression of souls no matter what stage they are on. It is alright for a Baby soul to act as a baby, but for an Adult soul to act as one is inappropriate and is retrogressive. It is possible to draw a correspondence between the three systems discussed above.

The eyes have long been considered as the windows of the soul. This is an occult fact. The soul’s age may be intuitively felt by its eye-emanations, by the way it gazes, the force and quality that it’s eyes radiates. Younger souls are said to have clear energetic eyes while older souls possess a deeper, worn-out, experienced look. Transcendental souls, or those bordering upon perfection, the Old souls, have eyes that radiates power, warmth, love, compassion, and sincerity. They often have a faraway look as though they were looking towards infinity. They have eyes that see through you.

The predominant soul age of the population of any country reflects upon its social life, its social mores, beliefs, and the perpetuation of its cultural and traditional values. A country’s soul-age can clearly be seen in how their internal and external diplomatic affairs are conducted, and how their people act in a crisis. A materialistic nation is basically composed of Young souls whereas a mystically-oriented society is comprised fundamentally of Old ones. Indonesia, the country where this writer lives is mainly composed of Infant and Baby souls; with a smaller percentage of Young souls trailing behind. Adult and Old souls are few in comparison.

TYPES OF SOULS

There are no two Monads exactly alike, just as there are no two Souls exactly of the same similarity. Each Monad, Soul, or entity are one of a kind, each a distinctive facet of the One Divinity, of the One Reality. Nevertheless, generally speaking, it is possible to broadly classify the psychological aspects of souls. There are many systems of classifying humanity based upon body type and psychological nature. Physically speaking, bodies may be classed as ectomorph, endomorph, and mesomorph; and psychologically as introverted or extroverted, etc. In metaphysics there are also various methods of classification. The astrological method seems to be the most popular one.

It is no coincidence that both the Chinese and Western astrological systems have twelve signs representing twelve types of men. However, esoteric astrology teaches that this sum is erroneous. According to the esoteric teachings there are actually 144 basic types. Exoterically speaking, since the characteristics of each sign, both Western and Chinese have been well-documented in books we will not trouble ourselves explaining them here.

Still related to astrology are the planetary types. This gets its name from the planets of our solar system and the sun and moon, although the latter two are not technically planets. Below we list the positive and negative characteristics of these planetary types of men (excluding the Plutonian, for much is still not yet known of this type) as extracted from Michael’s Handbook:

The Moon or Lunar Type

Positive: Calm, methodical, passive, patient, tenacious, maternal, sympathetic, and receptive.

Negative: Moody, introspective, cold-hearted, incommunicative, willfull, stubborn, unforgiving, depressive, and destructive.

The Sun or Solar Type

Positive: Radiant, creative, elegant, dignified, refined, innocent, fun-loving, and childlike.

Negative: Airy, aloof, intolerant, naïve, indiscriminate, greedy, and juvenile.

The Mercurian Type

Positive: Intellectually active, perceptive, witty, clever, versatile, and clarity of expression.

Negative: Inconsistent, impulsive, explosive, nervous, sarcastic, argumentative, and cynical.

The Venusian Type

Positive: Harmonious, socially warm, loving, gentle, non-judgmental, loyal, easy-going, and friendly.

Negative: Lazy, dependent, indecisive, careless, sentimental, and sloppy.

The Martian Type

Positive: Vigorous, energetic, passionate, decisive, brutally honest, heroic nature, and forthright.

Negative: Impulsive, irritable, pugnacious, defensive, quarrelsome, brutal, rude, lacking forethought.

The Jupiterian Type

Positive: Grand, generous, benevolent, compassionate, kind, loyal, caring, affectionate, and philosophical.

Negative: Self-indulgent, extravagant, conceited, wasteful, and craving attention.

The Saturnian Type

Positive: Paternal, calm, secretive, just, moderate, and self-controlled.

Negative: Immutable, inflexible, overly intellectual, despondent, severe, aloof, and feelingless.

The Neptunian Type

Positive: Spiritual, quiet, idealistic, imaginative, sensitive, graceful, and artistically creative.

Negative: Impractical, unworldly, uncertain, and melancholy

The Uranian Type

Positive: Independent, original, strong-willed, loathing restriction, and humanitarian.

Negative: Eccentric, rebellious, and deviant.

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7-Ray Types

Aside from the methods of classification above, the 7- Ray types have acquired popularity in recent years with the teachings of the early Theosophical leaders and the writings of Alice Bailey. The study of the Seven Rays is an abstruse subject and there is much concerning it that has not yet been revealed by the Spiritual Masters. Nevertheless, that which has already been given to humanity in the Alice Bailey teachings are substantial and it takes more than mere intellect to apprehend them.

Before briefly explaining the Seven Ray types, it would be appropriate to clarify matters regarding the Rays. We will attempt to present this simply, in accord with our present understanding of the subject. What are these Rays? Every object, entity, being, and particle radiates energy. The Sun in our solar system radiates tremendous amount of cosmic energies for the purpose of nourishing the planets and all beings therein. The Spiritual Sun, or the Spirit of the Sun, radiates a spiritual energy of a certain quality. This energy has three aspects to it and four attributes, just as the physical light spectrum has three primary colors and four lesser ones. Each aspect and attribute of this primary spiritual energy in turn have specific qualities. These seven differentiations of the primary energy of the Sun are called the Seven Rays. These Seven Rays are much higher in frequency than those detectable by our present scientific instruments.

Every component in the microcosm of man is predominantly imbued by one of the Seven Rays. The physical body, for instance may be ruled by one of the Seven Rays, the emotional or astral body may be ruled by another. When the four lower bodies of the microcosm functions in harmony their ruling Rays are in turn coordinated by one specific Ray. When this occurs there are three ruling Rays in the microcosm of man to consider: the Ray ruling the Monad (the Spirit), the Ray ruling the Soul, and the Ray ruling the Personality. Each microcosm, or each human being as a totality, may not have the same ruling Rays. For instance, one person’s personality may be ruled by the second ray, another the third, or fourth, etc.

A study of these Rays help us to understand the Soul’s make-up, its potentialities, its weaknesses and strengths, its quirks, and karmic destiny. One’s Ray type/s may be considered as the nature of the power assumed in order for one to play one’s role in the cosmic scheme of things. The Seven Rays have spiritual, psychological and physical attributes, powers, and virtues. Their characteristics are represented by the seven fields of endeavor:

[Please visit our website for the table]

Each Ray may be perfectly or imperfectly expressed, and thus would seem that they have positive and negative qualities. However, the Rays are actually neutral in nature. Some of their attributes are:

[Please visit our website for the table]

The Seven Ray types of men are represented by the: King-First Ray, Sage-Second Ray, Server-Third Ray, Artisan-Fourth Ray, Scholar-Fifth Ray, Priest-Sixth Ray, Warrior-Seventh Ray.

We regret that we are not able to elaborate upon the teachings of the Rays and how the raw data given above adds up together. To do so would go beyond the scope of this paper. We advice those who wish to delve further to study the teachings of Alice Bailey and her modern interpreters.

SOUL AND IMMORTALITY

Immortality in a religious sense, is the conception of the survival or continuation of self-identity, self-awareness, and all of the soul’s innate qualities and attributes through the “Great Initiation,” as death is sometimes called. Some conceive immortality as a potential condition to be attained by the individual through good works and moral living; others believe that immortality is an innate state of the soul. Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), the German philosopher, defined immortality of the soul thus:

“The immortality of the soul means the infinitely prolonged existence of one and the same rational being.”

The above statement implies that Kant believed souls would perceive and rationally understand themselves to be the same as they were in the mortal state.

Among the people of ancient cultures, the Egyptians were perhaps the first to give credence to immortality. For the departed they formulated specific rituals that would guide those souls in the many events of the afterworld, such as the Judgement in the Hall of Osiris. It was believed that their angel of death, the god Anubis, would assist the newly deceased to pass over to the Otherside where in the Judgement Hall it would be weighed on the scales against Maat, or Truth.

The famed “Book of the Dead” was a guide for the Ba, the soul, written in hieroglyphics upon the walls of the tomb so that the soul would know the things awaited it and what it had to do. That immortality was a salient point in Egyptian beliefs may be seen by one of the inscriptions found on a wall of a Fifth-Dynasty tomb:

“They depart not as those who are dead, but they depart as those who are living.”

The belief that the soul survived the body and its eventual return was one of the exoteric reasons that the Egyptians mummified their dead thus preserving it from deterioration. However, the real reason why cadavers were mummified is yet undisclosed. That they did not really expect their departed to return to the same body and be resurrected therein can be seen by their practice of the removal of the internal organs and placing them in special urns. If the body was to be reused they certainly would not have evacuated the internal organs. The practice of mummification is analogous to our modern practice of cryogenics in which newly deceased bodies are frozen. There is always a hope among men that future technology would be able to resurrect the dead. What motivates men to preserve the dead body is the instinctive desire for immortality. Men have always believed that a future life is possible, whether in this dimension or in some other realms. Cicero once wrote that,

“There is in the minds of men, I know not how, a certain presage of a future existence; and this takes deepest root in the greatest geniuses and most exalted souls.”

Why is the immortality of the soul believed in so emphatically in most religions and philosophical thought? In ancient times man was considered to be a dual creature. He had a physical body that was tangible and corporeal; however the ancients also recognized the fact that man had feelings and thoughts, and this was related to an intangible factor that they conceived of as spirit or soul. In addition to this, the many supernatural phenomena such as hauntings and psychic contacts convinced man that the soul was indeed immortal and survive the death of the physical body. To the ancients, another factor that gave credence to immortality is that the life-force accompanies the breath when man as a newly-born child makes its first inhalation, and that they also depart simultaneously at the time of death. The soul was conceived of as being released together with the last breath. Since the breath is indestructible, so likewise was the soul. The living body breathes, the dead does not. Many cultures used the same word to mean both breath and soul, or life-essence. The ancient Greeks for instance used the word, “pneuma” to designate the breath and likewise the vital force that animates man. They also used the word psyche to designate the mind and soul.

Another concept of immortality is that the soul was never created and that it had always existed though its consciousness may not be as developed as it is now. What has no beginning has no end. Whatever had an inception is conceived to have a termination. In the Phaedo, Plato has Socrates arguing for the immortality of the soul.

It is said that the belief in immortality is a direct extension of man’s instinct of self-preservation. All creatures struggle to survive, to maintain the life-force; all of man’s finer instincts imbues within him the sense of the continuity of self-identity notwithstanding the transitory process. It is instinctive in man to believe in a continuation of life rather than its cessation. Subconsciously man knows what the conscious mind only has a faintest realization. In “Ethics” Spinoza affirmed:

“We feel and know that we are eternal.”

From the scientific point of view, granted that the soul survives the physical form, it is still no assurance that it will maintain its integrity or structure forever. For instance, why is it that some religious doctrines believe that the soul may experience “the second death”? In what sense? Also, when the soul is considered to be immortal does this refer to its form or its essence? If its essence is considered immortal science would agree, for it knows that matter and energy are interchangeable one for the other and is essentially indestructible. Nothing is ever destroyed only converted or transmuted. However, as to the permanency of form, of structure–the structure of the soul–this is questionable. Another vital scientific inquiry would be, “Is self-identity and consciousness related to the essence, function, or form of the soul?”

Copyright © 2006 Luxamore

Leonard Lee aka Luxamore
Metaphysical teacher, counseler, healer and merchant of occult/magickal items of Indonesia.
Magickal Items from Indonesia: talismans, mustika pearls, kerises, etc.
Magickal Bezoar Mustika Pearls from Indonesia.

In my previous article, I talked about the growing danger of childhood obesity in wealthy and developed nations, especially the United States. This problem is partly caused by the lifestyle changes that are going on in those countries. One of the major foundations of the lifestyle changes is the rapid advancements of technology. It is undeniable that technology has helped in making our life easier, but you have to remember that technology can also become a double-edged sword. With advanced technology, we do not need to do as much labor intensive work as we used to do in the past. Unfortunately, with the abundance of stored energy, only a handful of people exercise regularly. Most prefer to enjoy variety of indoor entertainments such as video games, television, and DVD movies. In addition, with their busy schedules, more people are getting more dependent on fast foods which are usually high in saturated fat and generally not as healthy as home-cooked foods.

When parents are enjoying this kind of lifestyle, naturally their children will follow along and imitate their habits. No wonder, we encounter so many childhood obesity problems lately. Furthermore, it is getting more difficult to find healthy meals at school cafeterias. More schools have allowed variety of fast food vendors to rent some of space at the school cafeterias. Moreover, vending machines that we can regularly see at schools, are usually stocked with candy bars and soda. So, in essence, our children are learning bad habits that can lead childhood obesity from their parents at home. Then, these habits get enforced at school with the blatant display of variety of not so healthy foods. So, now do you still wonder why many of our children are getting obesity problems?

So, what should parents do to help their children cope with their obesity problems? With the intense exposure to junk food ads and vendors, you might think that this is going to be a tough and hopeless battle to fight. But, do not lose your hope yet, as long as you are committed to find a solution, there will always be a way out. One thing that you need to remember is that you, as parents have to get actively involved in your children’s effort to get into better shapes. If you just create some training regimen and expect that your children will follow along without you getting involved, then your plan will most likely fail.

For starter, the first thing that you can do is to reduce the amount of fat in the meals that you serve for your family. As you change your eating habit, your children will slowly follow along. In no time, your family should have a better and healthier eating habit.

After reducing the amount of fat, the next thing that you can do is to increase physical activity. Not only can exercise help you reduce the fat in you body, it can also improve your mental states and make your muscles firm. Of course, you should start off by dong some simple exercises like playing some outdoor activities with your children. This way, your children will have an easier time adapting to their new lifestyles. Then, as time goes, you and your children can slowly increase the physical activities.

Because of her love for children, Fiola Stone has dedicated her life to finding ways to develop the hidden potential in our children. Lately she has been interested in helping others find the best hair dryers and the best washing machines for their homes.

Your life is full of stress! Any arguments? Didn’t think so. Your life is full of pressure, frustration, and stress. Worrying about job security, being overworked, driving in rush hour traffic, arguing with your spouse, even dealing with medical bills – all of these create stress in your life.

According to the American Psychology Association, more than half of all Americans report being concerned about the level of stress in their lives. Most people are feeling overscheduled, overextended, and overworked. By far, the most commonly reported source of stress is the workplace.

Studies suggest that stress is a contributing factor in the development of chronic and degenerative conditions such as heart disease and diabetes. High stress levels at work can lead to job burnout, reduction in productivity, ill health, job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism. As these problems add up over time, you worry more about keeping your job while your boss becomes more dissatisfied, leading to more stress and an ever-growing vicious cycle.

When you experience stress, glands within your body respond by releasing a hormone called adrenocorticotropic hormone – we’ll call it ACTH for short. When your glands send out a burst of ACTH it is like an alarm system going off within your body. ACTH tells other glands to flood your body with the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. These two hormones cause your heart rate and blood pressure to increase. They shut down your digestive system and even alter your immune system. When you remove yourself from the stressful situation, the levels of cortisol and adrenaline decrease. As cortisol and adrenaline decrease in your system, your heart rate, blood pressure, digestive system and immune system return to normal.

As you pile one stressful situation on top of another, your body has no time to recover. If you are in a constant state of stress, or experience many stressful situations, your body’s stress response system can disrupt nearly all of your body’s processes. Some of the effects can lead to chronic illness and disease.

Stress affects the digestive system so much that stomachaches and diarrhea become common. The hormones related to stress slow down the release of stomach acid and the process of emptying the stomach. The same hormones stimulate your colon which speeds the passage of its contents – a.k.a diarrhea.

Chronic stress dampens your immune system making you more susceptible to colds and other infections.

Stress affects your nervous system and has been linked to depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and dementia. Over time, chronic release of cortisol can even cause damage to several structures in the brain.

Stress affects your cardiovascular system by causing an increase in heart rate and blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

Unlike most other diseases that affect Americans, there really isn’t any routine medical treatment for stress. Some doctors prescribe antidepressants. But drugs have a limited ability to alleviate stress.

The most effective way to reduce or relieve stress is through lifestyle habits.

Lifestyle habits such as spinal alignment, exercise, breathing exercises and coping strategies are the most effective ways to reduce stress.

Exercise is a good way to deal with stress because it is a healthy way to relieve your pent-up energy and tension. By getting physically active, you can decrease your levels of anxiety and stress, and elevate your moods. Numerous studies show that people who exercise exhibit a marked improvement in their ability to concentrate, sleep better, suffer fewer illnesses, suffer from pain less, and report a higher quality of life.

One of the consequences of stress is a tendency to unconsciously tense up your muscles, especially in your upper back and shoulder regions. This chronic tension, coupled with poor posture, causes the vertebrae of your spine to become misaligned. Misalignment causes irritation. Irritation causes more tension. More tension causes greater misalignment. And the cycle continues and you continue to get worse. Most people experience a notable improvement in their own stress levels almost immediately after a spinal adjustment. You can reduce your level of stress by visiting your local chiropractor to have a spinal adjustment.

There are two types of nutritional supplements. There are nutritional supplements that help reduce stress and there are nutritional supplements that help the body better cope with the effects of stress. Supplements that help reduce stress belong to a class of herbs that helps the body relax. Herbs such as chamomile, skullcap, valerian, and lavender help to clear your mind and calm intense emotions. Many of these herbs are taken in the form of a hot or warm tea.

Supplements that help the body cope with the physical effects of stress are the B-vitamins and zinc. When you experience stress, your body needs more zinc and more of the Vitamin-B complex. Your health suffers and you are more prone to illness when you don’t have enough of each in your body. Taking a B-complex with zinc in the form of a liquid nutritional supplement will help protect your body from the negative effects of stress.

The final key to treating stress is healthy thinking. Most stress is caused by two factors – dealing with change and feeling out of control. While you can’t predict the changes that will occur in your life, you can – control how you plan each day, – you can positively respond to change, and – you can act with purpose.

The combination of these three positive thinking habits can help remove stress from your life and diminish the effects of stress. These three simple ‘attitude adjustments’ will help you feel more in control and once adopted as a habit, can be quite relaxing.

Don’t let prolonged or repeated episodes of stress lead you to chronic or degenerative disease like diabetes or heart disease. Lifestyle habits such as spinal alignment, exercise, breathing exercises and coping strategies are the most effective ways you can reduce stress and the effects of stress on your body.

Ronald Godlewski has published several dozen articles on health, wellness, and the value of nutrition in disease prevention. Do you want to learn more about reducing your health risk related to stress? Join the discussion on the benefits of nutrition in reducing stress and learn how to receive your FREE quart of a nutrient dense supplement that helps provide zinc and Vitamin B to your body during times of stress. Got a question? Call Ron toll free at 1-888-LFI-CUST (1-888-534-2878) to discuss your own feeling fit success story.

Life, Love, and Stress

Many people in the world we live in today experience some form of stress. The inevitable stress is something that happens to all of us and leads many on a quest to find some way to deal with it. Stress relief is a great option because it provides you with a manageable and healthy way to deal with the stresses of everyday life, with work and school and other activities many adults, teens and children experience stress, which is why scientists have tried to find ways that will safely reduce those stresses.

When it comes to stress relief a lot of people turn to therapy or relaxation techniques to deal with stress, this is a very popular form of stress relief because in most cases it provides fast results and allows the person to calm down and reflect. Remember that stress will never totally disappear because no matter what, stress in going to occur whether you try to stop it or not, it is a natural part of life. Stress can also help you, it is not all bad, it can be a good motivator for people who need that extra push in work or school.

Eustress, Distress and How to Deal

If you are considering stress relief, you should first consider what kind of stress you are experiencing, not all stress is bad stress. There are two main kinds of stress, Eustress and distress. The first kind called Eustress, refers to positive or healthy stress, the Greek word for “good” is Eu which provides us with the term Eustress or good stress. This kind of stress can propel you to work harder, it gives you drive and motivation to do your best at whatever you have to do.

Eustress can be any kind of stress that has a positive experience behind it. The second kind of stress is distress which can be seriously harmful for you and the people around you, this kind of stress can make you cave under pressure, make you feel sick and fatigued. Usually distress is triggered by a traumatic event of some kind such as the death of a loved one.

But no matter what kind of stress you experience, stress relief is quite possibly the best way to deal with stress. Some helpful stress relief strategies include, full body relaxation techniques, these can be tremendously helpful when dealing with stress, start by sitting back closing your eyes and taking a deep breath lose yourself in thought but try not to think about anything that does not make you happy, with each deep breath relax your muscles starting at your head and working down, before you know it, you have relaxed your entire body, this can be a very helpful tool for stress relief.

Another good idea would be to think positively about your life and your job, thinking about things with a negative attitude only increases the stress level and it does not help your situation at all, so relax and try not to worry excessively, because worrying is never good for anyone. Setting goals for yourself can also be a helpful stress relief strategy, by setting yourself goals it gives you something to work toward one step at a time, avoiding the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Some natural herbs and minerals can help with stress as well, things like vitamin C and others can help you feel rejuvenated, while Calcium can help to relax your muscles which can be a big part in dealing with stress, the ability to relax is what you need for good stress relief. But not all stress relief is good, some people try to relieve stress by taking it out on others, overeating, or not eating at all. Stress is different for everyone and you should try to work with whatever makes you feel happy and healthy, try to avoid sugar and junk foods, going for a run or any other physical activity can be good when dealing with stress, it is really a matter of personal preference, doing what you love can help you relax and take your mind off the stressor.

Dr John Anne is a herbal specialist with years of experience in the field of Alternative Health Care. For more information visit Ashwagandha – Herb for Stress Relief at Herbal Remedies. Also visit Home Remedies for Stress