Being an Old Soul in a Young Soul World

Being an Old Soul in a Young Soul World

"Living with Soul Vol. 1" by Tony Stubbs

If you're reading this, you're probably an Old Soul. Infant Souls are in jail for being serial killers; Baby Souls are busy attending Bible class or Ku Klux Klan rallies; Young Souls are off chasing the Almighty Dollar so they can park a shiny new BMW in their driveway for all the neighbors to see; and Mature Souls are flitting between their shrinks and the Betty Ford clinic. only Old Souls sense that there's more to life, and are trying to figure it out so that they can get off the incarnation carousel. However, as the chart shows, we're in the minority.

So, Old Soul, you live on a planet where the average soul age is late Young … and can't you tell? You know about living by the Golden Rule and honoring the Four Agreements, and you smile at the games played by the younger soul ages, for you were there once. You know that it's all Maya, or illusion, so you march to your own drum, rarely getting steamed up about causes. You are good at almost anything you do but may choose to do nothing, which, by the way, really puzzles the younger soul ages. And our work and hobbies are usually oriented to personal growth, teaching, writing or bringing beauty of some sort into the world.

Rigid schedules, a classy house or a new car are low on our list, even though we could have them because we know the secret-using the laws of creation, programming the M-field, etc., rather than plain, hard work.

The problem is that, in a Young Soul world, we're not appreciated because the younger souls don't understand who we are or what we have. Oh, we "get" them fully, of course ("been there, done that"), but they don't get us. So, when we judge ourselves by Yuppie values, we fall short. We don't fit the Madison Avenue image of success, so beating ourselves up comes easily. In fact, low self-esteem is a major Old Soul problem because we've lost the brashness and arrogance of the earlier soul ages.

According to the Michael Entity channeled through Emily Baumbach, Baby Soul organizations include most government agencies, the Ku Klux Klan, the National Rifle Association, and groups such as Rotary Clubs. Most of Corporate America is Young Soul, while ecological groups such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club are Mature Soul. We Old Souls are just too laid back to even want to organize anything.

Another reason is that we see the big picture and realize how truly tiny is our role in it. We don't have the Baby Soul's self-importance, the Young Soul's driving ambition to acquire the most toys, or the Mature Soul's fascination with his own dramas. No, we see things as they are, and can't get puffed up with our own self-importance. It's not that we don't care. In fact, we are the most caring soul age, as witnessed by Old Soul peace activists Sting, Jerry Garcia, John Lennon and Yoko ono.

For their own purposes, different soul ages favor certain countries. Aboriginal populations tend to be Infant Souls, such as those in Australia, Borneo, Ethiopia, the Amazon Basin, and the Sudan. Baby Souls tend to incarnate in Latin countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Haiti, and Central and South America in general. Baby Souls also predominate in China, India, Indonesia, in Muslim countries such as Iran, Iraq, Libya and much of the Middle East, and in African countries such as Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Liberia and Nigeria.

Young Souls pop up where science and economies are hot, such as Australia, Canada, some European countries, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam, plus progressive Arab states such as Oman and Saudi Arabia. Some areas of the U.S. are comfortable for Young Souls, such as California, especially LA and Silicon Valley, although the rest of the U.S. is shifting from Young to Mature.

Mature Souls favor countries that have the basics handled and are exploring sociological issues, such as Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, Greece, Holland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Sweden and most of the United States.

That leaves few areas that Old Souls enjoy, such as Iceland, Switzerland, and some pockets in the U.S., such as Oregon, Washington and northern California, and in spiritual enclaves such as Santa Fe, Taos, Sedona, Atlanta, the Florida Keys and Boulder, Colorado.

Our challenge is that we live in a world defined predominantly by Baby, Young, and Mature Souls. Because Baby Souls need rules & regulations, structures, direction, "authorities" and frameworks within which to live, they create them and impose them on everyone. If they think having a nude beach is disgusting and perverted, they figure it should be disgusting and perverted for everyone, so rather than just leave us alone and not go there, they ban it. Or they get the Young Soul lawmakers to ban it, who will because they're sporting the latest Gucci swimwear and don't need a nude beach.

Likewise, Old Souls see nothing wrong with being gay, but the idea terrifies Baby Souls, who pull out their Bibles and quote scriptures at the poor gays, who just want to be left alone. Their hit list is endless-pot, abortion, euthanasia, smoking. For every freedom, there's a law limiting it, and more laws pour out from the Baby Souls every day. The problem is that Baby Souls are so sure they are right, that they think they're right for us, too.

It's not easy being a Baby Soul, though. No glorious sex out in the open air; it's in the dark with pajamas on. And if the rulebook doesn't cover a situation, they must find an older soul for guidance. Their greatest constraint comes with religion, as witnessed by Baby Souls Jerry Fallwell, Oral Roberts and Jimmy Swaggart. (According to the Michael entity, Jim and Tammy Fae Bakker are first level Young Souls still operating as Baby Souls.)

Talking of religion, in Europe about 500 years ago, many of us Old Souls were doing Mature Soul intensity and beginning to question the rigid dogma of the Catholic Church. Or maybe, as an Old Soul woman, you lived alone on the edge of a forest with your cat and studied herbal remedies. Either way, it was enough to have the Baby Soul Church come after you … and Baby Soul Priests threw nine million of us into the "flames of purification" because our souls were apparently in mortal danger of eternal damnation, or so they told us. Or did they just enjoy strip-searching young women and girls, shaving their pubic hair, and looking for the "devil's teat"? Nah, they wouldn't do that. Would they?

Also, Baby Souls are compulsive about neatness and germs, not realizing that 100 percent of all illness is neurotic (all in the mind) in origin. But they worship doctors as gods, and sacrifice themselves to the medical industry, losing breasts, prostate glands and ovaries to the knife.

Okay, having pissed off 20 percent of the population, let's turn to Young Souls. Here, the main issues are power, prominence and wealth. Who has the most powerful army, the tallest skyscraper, the biggest diamond, the most gold, the largest oil reserves? And if it's not us, let's go to war so that we can have it. After all, Young Soul Warriors make up the largest population block in the United States (Young = 30% and Warrior = 30%, making for 9%, or 23 million people), exemplified by George W. Bush, a Young Warrior (with Goal = Dominance, Mode = Perseverance, Challenge = Arrogance). Perfect presidential material!

The Young Soul credo of "I win, you lose" has brought us the adversarial legal system, dreadful pollution, gas-guzzling SUVs, and a business management system corrupted into a money-making machine for the few. Talking of corruption, classic Young Souls Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, late of the Philippines, siphoned billions out of their country, while most of their subjects lived in squalor and poverty.

But again, it's not easy being a Young Soul. They are compulsive about appearances and the trappings of success, so they work long hours to buy the biggest, the best, the fastest, and the most. Also, a strong identification with the physical body brings terror at the first wrinkle or gray hair. Sagging breasts, balding or crows feet are all alarms that send Young Souls to cosmetic surgeons, also Young Souls with a taste for SUVs and BMWs. And the beat goes on.

We have much to thank Mature Souls for. Finally, souls can see and appreciate others' points of view, and don't see others as "the enemy." They bring mature themes in music (Paul McCartney, Janis Joplin, Bruce Springsteen and Madonna), in art (Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin) and in literature (J.D. Salinger and Truman Capote). They also bring us crusaders such as Ralph Nader and Gloria Steinem, not to mention passionate actors such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Kevin Costner, Russel Crowe, and Robert DiNero.

Most notably, Mature Souls are into "rights"-civil rights, gay rights, immigrants' rights, unborn children's rights, animal rights and the rights of any minority without a voice.

But now the nagging questions of "Who am I?" and "Why am I here?" begin to plague the Mature Soul, who doesn't yet have the Old Soul's answers. This brings emotional angst, confusion and pain, which in turn leads to drugs, alcohol and suicide. Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Allen are living examples of Mature Soul angst. And James Dean, Princess Diana, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison are examples of Mature Souls who would still be with us if their flight plans hadn't called for an early departure.

So, here we Old Souls live within Baby Soul rules, Young Soul greed and competitiveness, and Mature Soul angst, but at least we know what's going on and can make adjustments and allowances for the younger souls.

Now, let's turn the tables. What if we were in charge? What would the world look like if Old Souls ran it? Actually, we wouldn't run it; it would run itself once Old Souls predominate in the population. Normally getting there would take about 50 generations, or 1,500 years, but we don't have that long, for as you'll read in Chapter 12, something will happen in 2012 that will catapult us into that future, ready or not. And the next chapter explores what that society will look like.

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Excerpted from "Living with Soul Vol. 1" by Tony Stubbs