THE
CONTINUUM OF SOULS
A Continuum is something that never
ceases to exist but which has no separate, discernible parts. The many persons who comprise the author's
Continuum are special friends and/or co-workers who travel the same esoteric
path. If you've gotten this far into
this manuscript, it's "all of us" who fit into this category. It is as though we have become part of each
other through our personal, spiritual or even mental contact.
We've been united through many
incarnations even though we may think we've only recently met. There is a spontaneous recognition of
affinity and we don't feel like strangers when first we meet.
Are you part of a Continuum? Have you ever wondered that there seems to
be an unstructured dance in your life wherein certain persons are with you for
a while, mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually? You may stay together for a long time or
soon be replaced by another group large or small, which then comes into
focus. Even if the first group is gone,
it is still part of our thought structure and will always remain so, whether or
not it again becomes part of our known pattern. It is generally accepted that every time we move, we take with us
in our hearts some of those with whom we were in touch.
In
turn, the newer ones may meld with the first group and leave you for a
while. Eventually all will be part of
the same thinking and loving picture.
There is an all-encompassing oneness among the groups. This allows us to sense we've been together
many times before and shared in other incarnations. When we meet, there is joy - positive creative action and sharing
- a Continuum of Souls.
To illustrate: a friend, Sue Foster,
whom my husband and I did not meet until the late 1980's when we attended an
Art Therapy class she taught, actually became part of our Continuum in the
1960's. We did not meet at that time
but her mother was a song leader then in the Camps Farthest Out and we all attended
retreats although at different places and times.
For
three years Sue had wanted me to meet a certain person who didn't live in the
area. The other woman and I were both
interested in the use of Color. The
"special person" had channeled great quantities of material on this
subject and was well known for her expertise.
I had taught a class on Color but was unsure of myself. Sue wanted us to meet and the Color seer
was currently in town. I had shied away
as I felt inexperienced, as though "the course had taught itself through
me; I didn't teach the course." The material was so "far out"
from my usual approach. It had received
national attention through Linda Clark, a well-known nutritional author who
mentioned the tapes I made available in her book, "Health, Youth and
Beauty through Color Breathing."
Mrs. Foster stopped by to pick up
a packet of papers from me. I took it
to the car. The woman who was such a
true expert on Color sat on the passenger side and I naturally greeted her at
the open window. We exchanged glances
and our eyes wouldn't part!
No words came. There was just an instant recognition of
mutual souls - we were part of each other's Continuum. How long did we gaze at each other? Was it two or three minutes? Surely more! It could have been an hour except that Mrs. Foster broke it up as
she was due at a meeting.
I'm not sure that the two of us -
the Color authority and me - would have ever said a word in any time space for
she was in me and I was in her and there were no words necessary. I shall never forget the interchange of
Infinity between us. Were we perhaps
reliving a close relationship of many lives before? Will we meet again in this incarnation or another? Or have we touched all we need?
"Incarnation" and
"Reincarnation" are easily said but belief in them requires true
desire. The basic Everyday Encyclopedia
on my desk gives reincarnation this definition: "A belief that the souls of the dead are re-embodied in a
new human body. An important aspect of
the various religions and philosophical doctrines. The belief in reincarnation is very old and still held by many
societies. The ancient Greeks taught
reincarnation as part of their mystery religions and Pythagoras, sixth century
B.C. philosopher and mathematician urged it on philosophical grounds as later
did Plato. Some early Christians
believed in this. Emanuel Swedenborg,
Swedish mystic, theologian, philosopher and scientist was influenced by the
belief that seems also to have interested Goethe, German poet, dramatist and poet.
Several of the founding fathers of
the United States, including Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson followed
this theory. William Wordsworth, poet
laureate of the same era, agreed with this belief which has always been carried
by those who have studied the "mystery schools of life."
An angelic being, the Archangel
Azrael, explains the law of reincarnation thus: "Life is like a school.
You learn some lessons this lifetime and others another. This may take
many incarnations or a few." Those
of us who become one through this book shall meet each other off and on for we
are part of each other's circle and more than one life cycle probably is part
of our pattern of belief.
We're all part of the eternal,
intangible CONTINUUM!
The study of Color which had its own
chapter is a wonderful meeting place for souls of like minds since it is part
of every breath we breathe during the day and night. That fact has stayed with me as a basic tenet since I taught a
course on Color. It can influence all
of us. Our mood when we arise can help
choose which clothes we shall don for our clothing is part of our whole
expression. When we speak in public or
stay home, candles of every hue placed at strategic places can enlarge our
scope and help us express ourselves more powerfully.
When did reincarnation become real
to you? My first adventure was around
1950. I had always been tense although
I didn't know why but I never seemed to quite meet my goals. I seemed tuned to the needs of others and
could help them, but my own needs didn't seem fulfilled.
A friend suggested we visit a modern
mystic, Eleanore Mary Thedick, of Oakland, California. This is the important thing she said to
me: "You've been here
19 times
previously. You decided to come back
again as you weren't happy with the prior results. You ask the Creator if you might return once more and work
everything out all over again!"
That statement hit a nerve with
me! I'd been doing things over and
over, seeking perfection. I was hard on
others also. Had I just been wasting my
energy? I pondered all the way home.
Finally standing by the fireplace of
my living room, I decided the price of perfection was too big to pay. I said aloud, "Dear Creator, I don't
know a thing about reincarnation, but if what Mrs. Thedick said is true and if
you were happy with the other results, let's call that whole deal off!"
Apparently the decision had truly
been mine alone for although a complete change wasn't instantaneous, a
modification was. My new belief was
deepened when I realized that all the "oughts" which my minister kept
saying I must achieve couldn't be achieved in one lifetime. I sought a spiritual expression which would
satisfy me intellectually and still allow room for growth and peace and freedom
without the threat of hell and eternal fire if I didn't get that perfection
done soon.
It is within this concept that the
continuum of souls can become real to us.
Those with whom
my husband and I belong are "servers." What is your area of expression?
Everyone is "gifted" with many special talents. We use ours quietly to meet needs. We learned not to push our philosophy on
anyone nor to withhold knowledge when asked.
We aren't always able to maintain
the rhythm of balance that is the main thrust of the first portion of this
book. If that perfection were already
ours, we would probably be gone to our next expression of fulfillment.
Our characteristics seem to be
carried along from one generation to another.
By the time I
joined my family, there was already a sureness for at least three generations
that we were all born into a close relationship knowing and serving as there
was this eternality which kept swelling and ebbing but never ceasing. Each of us fit somewhere into the pattern
and each one was born to the parents who could help us reach our goals.
By the time I was born in December
of 1913, my father and his parents were well known as intuitives and as
channels for healing. My paternal
grandparents had comparable pre-cognition experiences about each other. Early in the year 1859, Eliza Jane saw Isaac
in a dream and recognized him when she saw him in the flesh. Isaac was walking
along the street with another young man.
The two passed Eliza Jane and a girl friend. Out of hearing range, Isaac said to his companion, "That's
the girl I'm going to marry" and indeed on December l7th of that year,
they were wed. Eliza Jane was just
fifteen; Isaac was twenty-three. The
sureness of her dream and the decision of his first glimpse came to pass. A remarkable woman, she was taught to use
Indian healing herbs and shared her gift wisely. Dr. R.H.Wilson, one of our town's most prominent physicians,
boarded with my grandparents. When he
established a doctor's office, he used
some of Eliza Jane's herbal potions.
My father, Joseph Shannon Davis, was
the fifth of seven children born to Eliza Jane and Isaac. He was an environmentalist before his
time. I remember his speaking out
against the "copperous water" which carried the waste of the soft
coal mines into the pure streams of the "runs" and creek and on to
the Ohio river, destroying wildlife along the way.
He was Scotch-Irish and would tell
those whom he held dear, "Remember the "little people." His belief in the pixies could have come
from any of the countries - Scotland, Ireland or Wales.
He had a special affinity with one
granddaughter. A night or so after he
had gone on to a higher world, he awakened Shirley and told her she should
telephone a number in Cleveland, Ohio right then - at three a.m. Shirley did what he said. The conversation revealed that the man of
the house had just gone over to the other side. My Dad was letting his family know all was well. Pop had never been in Cleveland nor known
the man who phone number he gave to my niece.
"Jodie" as my father was
commonly known was a widower, twenty four .years old when he married my mother
at seventeen. He had two children, a
daughter of six years and a son who was three years old at that time. His daughter was so mystically talented that
she was described as "fey." The dictionary defines the word "as
though under a spell; enchanted."
Today I think of her as being more in the ethereal world than our
physical one. Musical, dreamy, poetic,
psychically aware, she was a person who should have had a patron so that her
talents could have been developed to their fullest, without the burden of
motherhood and housework in a small country place without running water or
bathroom facilities.
Her three daughters were given her
same gifts and continue to use them.
All in more modern, successful situations, nevertheless they are akin to
others needs. Especially I am grateful
to the youngest who helped in the recovery of one of my grandsons from a
serious form of cancer. Out of action
for a bit more than two years, he underwent much chemotherapy and radiation,
and yet in that one year's time he became completely cancer free..........works
part time now and within the last two weeks graduated cum laude from San
Francisco State University in Sound Engineering.
On my mother's side of the family,
the type of gift we have is called "knowing" and we are connected to
the seventh or thousand-petalled lotus blossom at the crown of the head. This connects directly with our
Creator. Mom was a very practical
person who used this gift all of the time, feeling that it was just her common
sense. My mother, my sister and I all
knew that we were intelligent but
each expressed
herself differently.
My mother was the matriarch of the
whole clan. Her opinion was respected
and she kept us all in touch with each other.
For instance, we sat around and read in the evenings. When Mom said, "Well, my book's done. Let's go to bed," we did, without
question.
My sister recognized that she was
special but she was afraid of the consequences. Her creativity came out in her school teaching, however, as she
wrote original plays for her students and really communicated with them.
I began to adventure spiritually at
an early age and was well schooled and trained, starting in the later part of
the 1949's. I haven't been especially
active for the last three years although I walk around our retirement center,
smiling and greeting other residents.
Some people say I "glow."
My husband was the youngest of
twelve children and the only one gifted mystically. He always knew he was special but didn't recognize it as being as
special as it was. He sought many
churches as a youngster but didn't find his secret place until after we were
married. When we met, his clairvoyance
popped in immediately and he said to himself, "That's the person who can
make me successful!" and pursued me accordingly. I helped a great deal with my business sense.
At the age of twelve he had a
traumatic experience which Kubler-Ross would have recognized as an after death
time for he came back from the other side.
Two boys and he were in a canoe and "rode the waves" of a
stern-wheeler pleasure boat on the Ohio River.
They were in a canoe and their small craft was overturned. One boy who knew how to swim was the only
one to drown. The other two survived,
but Wayne heard the "heavenly music" from the "other side"
before a Greek man in his best Easter clothes jumped into the river to rescue
him. He had gone down under the water
three times before the man pulled him out by his hair.
He always said that he could have
gone on but was given to understand that there was work on this side of the
veil for him to do and he came back.
That work eventually consisted in developing the innate esoteric gifts
of clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience. The first means to hear messages from heavenly Beings that others
do not; the second is to see those same ones and converse with them. The third is to pick up the feelings of
those about him, either through touching them or tuning into their thoughts.
He also was given the gift of
precognition or knowing ahead of time when something is going to happen. He passed this on to one of his
granddaughters. In a small way, he evidences
this when I say, "I think I'll phone our son." He'll casually answer, "You might as
well not bother for he isn't at home."
On a grander scale, when
then-President Gerald Ford visited Sacramento, California in September, 1975,
the two of us watched him on TV as he alit from Air Force I. As President Ford started to get in his
limousine, Wayne said, "Someone's going to take a pot-shot at that
man." And this happened the next
day when Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, on of the Charles Manson murderous gang
tried to kill him. She is still
incarcerated.
As gifted, perhaps, as my older
half-sister, Wayne, on the other hand, was leveled out by having a practical
side. He was a trained master
baker. With my business acumen and his
respected skills, we made a good team.
We were challenged in our personal
lives, though, as he used his esoteric skills selfishly until finally I told
him we had to find a mutually acceptable use for that gift. That began our spiritual life together that
blessed much of the world.
Our three sons are all a wonderful
combination of both of us. They are
intelligent, successful, creative and dedicated.
Remember the rules you learned in
the first part of the book = be sure to protect, love impersonally, temper the
power of Spirit to what can be tolerated by the recipient; believe in the power
of the Creator and follow instructions from that same Source. You will be blessed as will those with whom
you deal!
Does this give you enough to go on
to find your own Continuum? Part of
mine are eight people who were in the first course I taught as a Licensed Unity
Teacher at least
thirty years ago. We get together about
twice a year and are always available for each other in a crisis.
I could go on and on, telling
stories of others and their successes and challenges. For instance, one of my half-sister's daughters was buried in mud
in the 1937 flood. She was just a
youngster. She couldn't be seen nor
could she get
out, but a man
nearby was compelled to go hunt through the mud at that spot and her life was
saved.
And from back in 1973, one of the
first people my husband and I prayed for and whom we never met, called from
Florida in 2002 just to say "hello."
LET US GIVE THANKS THAT
WE ARE A CONTINUUM
BLESSED AS INDIVIDUALS
AND AS GROUPS.
WE SERVE AS WE ARE ASKED
WE GIVE WILLINGLY AND UNSTINTINGLY
WE ARE MADE BY OUR CREATOR
WHO BROUGHT US
INTO BEING
AS PART
OF
AN UNENDING, EVERLASTING, ETERNAL CONTINUUM
FOR THIS WE GIVE THANKS
ALMIGHTY ONE.
AMEN.
The Continuum goes on for you and me
and everyone. Our Creator is Good. We are Good. LET'S KNOW IT TOGETHER!!
WE GIVE THANKS
THAT ALL IS WELL.
THAT WE SHALL KNOW
THE ONES WHO ARE
OURS.
WE ARE A CONTINUUM.
WE ARE PART OF EACH OTHER
EACH COMPLETE AS OURSELF
AND EQUALLY COMPLETE TOGETHER.
WE ARE A CONTINUUM.
The End