I'm just wired that way.

[Steve Snead]

First hello to the group. I have long lurked on the blog and thought I would put in something here. This may be odd but it's something I've thought about so here goes. I am sympathetic to the concept of reincarnation and the preexistence of the soul (what ever that may prove to be.) But, I was thinking about birth and how we come into the world. I thought about women who miscarry and I guess I just went from there. A woman can miscarry and not even know it at times. Often when they miscarry if it's early enough we don't even consider an actual person wasn't brought into this world. My own wife had a miscarriage a couple of years ago. It was early and so we didn't go through the same grieving process that we would have gone through if she had carried the child for 3 or 6 months. I am sorry to say that I wasn't really "there" emotionally for her because I didn't have the "feeling" that she had. But, that's another story and we are the proud parents of a 9 year old child we had later in life. But, after all that,  here is my question. How does the (in some members opinion) soul or spirit relate to the body? Does a spirit "hover" over the body of a woman as she carries a fetus? I know it sounds silly. I remember a lady who asked my wife once when she mentioned my belief in reincarnation. "So, he believes in a soul bank?" So, I know how easily thoughts and feelings can be mixed up when you try to put them into words.

[no one]

Hi Steve. Welcome aboard!

 

I believe that reincarnation is a fact. As for the mechanics of the thing, not completely sure. However, having read Ian Stevenson and some other good (evidential) accounts, I have formed an opinion. Some of the accounts describe the disembodied state and how the disembodied "soul" perceived - and even selected! - future parents.

 

It seems that the soul sometimes hovers around the earth plane and observes couples, feels an attachment of some kind then either elects to, or is compelled to, reincarnate as the couple's child. Apparently this can happen at some stage in the womb, at the time of birth or even a little time after birth; again, according to accounts.

 

NDEs also sometimes report observing souls preparing for reincarnation.

 

My own opinion is that when there is a miscarriage there may not have been a soul associated with the fetus or the soul, for whatever reason, reconsidered the decision to incarnate. On the other hand, sometimes things just go wrong.

 

Once we get past the idea that there is an all powerful, all knowing God micromanaging the minutia of our lives, we can be spiritual and yet accept that sometimes wires get crossed and accidents happen.

[Matt Rouge]

Good question, and I think no one's response is great.

[Michael Prescott]

Jenny Wade has some interesting thoughts on the spiritual life of the fetus in her excellent book "Changes of Mind." Essentially she holds that the spirit is rather loosely attached to the fetus for most of its development, and is capable of short-corcuiting the process if things aren't going well. 

Her book is not an easy read, but I found it one of the best books on personal development I've come across. She traces the development of consciousness from primitive stages through Authentic consciousness, and on to Transcendent and Unity consciousness. She draws heavily on Ken Wilber, but I find her easier to follow.   

[no one]

As for the mechanics of the soul/body connection, my perhaps naïve model is electromagnetic in nature. You have a physical object - the brain and other body organs - and you have the soul; an electromagnetic energy field that can exist separately or that can connect or attach with the physical object.

 

This is sort of like a computer hard drive which is blank and useless until there is an associated electromagnetic arrangement of information imposed on it.

 

To be more specific, the body is like the hard drive of a newly purchased computer. When you open the box and plug it in you have basic systems processes that work (instincts). However,you don't get any higher level functioning until you go online (the spirit world) and download software (the soul). The software is an electromagnetic impression on the hard drive.

 

I have the feeling that this analogy is not too far off base. I'm even pretty sure some important (to us)aspects of the soul/spirit entity are, indeed, electromagnetic.

 

We know that the brain (and possibly other organs and glands of the body) operate on electromagnetic impulses. So it seems to me that the mechanics of the soul/body connection involve a subtle electromagnetic bond. I further believe that thought and will are expressed, again subtly, as electromagnetic projections. Through this, thought, will, desire, etc. shape the physical world and shape each individual body.