Observations placeholder

Out on a Limb – Shirley MacLaine

I was aware of how explosive such a concept would be. But didn't many people within the Church pursue self-knowledge? Weren't there many people who, while following the precepts of the Church, still searched restlessly for truth beyond precepts?

I looked out the window across the dark ocean. A fishing boat blinked its light in the darkness. I wondered how many of the great truths in life one might never be able to see or prove or confirm. It was unsettling and anxiety-arousing. Was the truth only truth when we could "prove" it?

I couldn't cope with what I was thinking. I looked away from the window and back to Kevin and the "disembodied spiritual entity" he was channeling.

"So," I said anxiously, and finding myself slightly breathless, "so I lived way back in some ancient civilization?"

"Yes, several times," said John. "Twice as a male and once as a female."

I was quiet as one of the finer points of reincarnation hit home again. "Have we all experienced living as different sexes in order to be able to empathize with the opposite sex?"

“That is correct," said John. "Certainly. How else could mankind reach an understanding of itself and its identities without such diversified physical experiences?" I leaned forward again.

"Could that be a metaphysical explanation for homosexuality?" I asked. "I mean, maybe a soul makes a rocky transition from a female to a male body, for instance, and there is left over emotional residue and attraction from the previous incarnation?"

“As such," said John. 'The sexual preference of such individuals plays an important part in the requirement for understanding that we are all basically the same because we have all experienced being both sexes; our souls, if you will, are basically androgynous."

“Androgynous?" I asked. "Yes, high spiritual understanding knows no sexuality differences because the elements of both sexes are simultaneously present. The polarities are evenly opposed. Your ancient prophets and Christ figures such as Jesus and Buddha, et cetera, were not so much celibate as they were vibrating at an even and perfectly balanced frequency. Their yin and yang were so evenly distributed that sexuality was of no interest to them because there was no conflict and therefore no tension. It was not a subject they needed to sublimate or repress. It simply didn't interest them because of their peaceful spiritual level of achievement."

"I'm not sure I'd be ready to trade."

John paused a moment. "We don’t recommend the abstaining of sex," he said. "Definitely not. Sex in human terms is also a pathway to God if it is enjoyed spiritually as well as physically."

I looked at the tape recorder. "Excuse me," I said, "are we getting off the subject?"

 "Yes," said John. "But sex is a fascinating subject, even for me."

I laughed. “And who are you?" I asked. "I mean, were you once in a physical body?"

"Oh yes," said John. "I have embodied many times as both male and female but recently have remained in astral form."

 "I see," I said.

I was curious but I really wanted to know, about myself. "So, who was I in my previous lives?"

“According to the Akashic Records, you were incarnate with a twin soul."

“Oh? What exactly is a twin soul?"

“'That question takes a great deal of explanation which I will endeavor to accomplish later. For now, let me begin by explaining souI mates."

"Soul mates?" I asked. I had heard the term from time to time, usually in reverence to people who said they had found their other half.

"Soul mates," John continued, "were actually created for one another at the beginning of time, or what you call at the moment of the Big Bang. They vibrate at exactly the same electromagnetic frequency because they are identical counterparts of one another. Twin souls are more common to find because they have experienced many lifetimes together in one form or another. But soul mates were actually created at the beginning of time as pairs who belonged together. . . So you see, there is more to your Big Bang theory than you imagine and quite romantic at that, wouldn’t you say?”

I made some noncommittal noise.

"So let me begin there," said John, "where, as I said, we knew each other."

"Oh?"

"Yes, we were teacher and pupil. You were one of my brightest, and what you would term today, 'pet students."

I looked around my living room wishing I had someone to share this with. "So we knew each other?"

"Correct. It is no accident that you are here today. We believe you have matured to the understanding that there is no such thing as an accident?"

"Who's 'we' again?" I asked.

"Your spiritual guides, of whom I am one," said John.

"You mean, I was drawn here somehow by you and these guides?"

“That is correct," said John.

"How?"

"By your own need to explain your behavior and your questions and your search for the truth and by psychic guidance from those of us who feel you are ready for more of your own truth."

"Is that what is meant by Spiritual Guidance?"

"That is correct."

There was a pause as John the Voice seemed to be gathering his thoughts, or some kind of information, or both. Quite casually the Voice resumed and said: "We have isolated your vibration during one of the lifetimes that you spent with an entity with whom you are also now involved. We believe this entity is living in your British Isles. Would that be correct?"

"Gerry?" I said with a rather high-pitched squeak. “Are you talking about Gerry?"

“As such. We have also isolated his vibration and find that the two of you were man and wife during one of your previous lifetimes."

"Oh, my God," I said, amused and flabbergasted. "Did we get along then? I mean, was communication better between us then than it is now?"

There was another pause. "Your Gerry was equally devoted to his work then. And we must admit it was to the detriment of your union. However he was doing important work involving cultural exchanges with the extraterrestrials who were endeavoring to be of help technologically and spiritually."

"Extraterrestrials?"

John seemed to sense my astonishment. He replied more firmly than usual.

“As such. There were extraterrestrials visiting this planet then, as now."

"Oh, Jesus." I took a breath. "Well, could you tell me more about that? I mean, what are you really saying? Are you saying that we have had outer space visitations since the beginning of time?"

"That is correct. There are planets more advanced in knowledge than your Earth, just as your Earth is more advanced than some other planets."

I deliberately relaxed myself and breathed deeply. I supposed the logic of what he was saying held together in its own terms. But I wished I knew what questions to ask.

"Well," I said, floundering around in my own head. Maybe this was all an act, but what if it wasn’t? I didn’t want to waste an opportunity to learn something. "Well," I said again, "what kind of knowledge were these extraterrestrials bringing?"

John answered immediately. "The only important knowledge is the spiritual knowledge of God within man. Every other knowledge flows from that."

"Every other knowledge?"

"That is correct. Your scientific knowledge, for example, depends on your understanding of vibrational frequencies and how they pertain to the universe. God is love-which is the highest vibrational frequency of all. In your physical world light is the highest and fastest speed frequency. But to beings who have more knowledge, more control, thought has a much higher frequency than light. Thought is part of God, just as thought is part of man. Therefore, when thought is love your frequencies are vibrating at the highest level of energy. That is what the extraterrestrials were teaching just as you of the Earth plane will someday teach it to others. Is this to your understanding?"

I didn’t know how to answer. I cleared my throat and tried to stretch my mind to understand. I couldn't personally relate to what John was saying in any specific or detailed and understandable way. The implications of what he was saying were so stunning that I couldn’t really think of a good question. I wanted to get back to myself. That I could cope with.