What happens before we are born into our body? The spiritual path to birth is a complex and wonderful journey. It is helpful to our incarnating child to live into pictures of this starry world in a dreamlike way. As adults we can feel constricted by our everyday consciousness, however it is good to remember some of these mysterious and wonderful processes as you move towards understanding your new baby or your approaching child. I’d love to hear your thoughts following our discussion last night!
Some ordinary folk have memories of this time, and aspects that are common include:
- describing the state of being ‘unborn’
- choosing suitable parents
- previewing your life and choosing tasks and lessons
There is a collection of such memories by Elizabeth M. Carman and Neil J. Carman entitled “Cosmic Cradle”. All the accounts are from this book.
Summer: My memory goes back to a place of pure light, intermittently between lives. My individuality was barely audible. That is the best way I can describe it. All my senses became unified. Everything was one. Still I had a subtle feeling of ‘my’-ness, identity, ego, or individuality.
Francine: My very first thought was being suspended in outer space, in darkness, like a vacuum. I was surrounded by love. This love was monumental, dense, and complete. An all absorbing thought – I AM – came to my awareness and captured my attention. I was only aware of my existence as Consciousness. I was only aware that “I AM” I had no perception of time, but if I had to put it into context of what we know as time, it seemed like years or even longer, an eternity. I had no sensory experiences of sight, smell, touch, taste or hearing. I just floated as if suspended in space or in a void; there was no feeling of a body….
Nan: My memories stretch back to a period long ago when I existed as a conscious being in spirit form. .. I remember isolating myself in a Soul form, long before I prepared to be born this time. A quietness permeated that spirit realm – a quietness that totally restores. Everything was in balance. I floated in a vacuum, feeling safe and protected.
Drew: My memories are special and give me comfort. I long to be in that boundless, blissful state again. I felt pure existence, freedom. Things were very black. I could not feel, and yet somehow I sensed things. I felt weightless…..
Choosing our parents is also described as an important part of this time before birth. We choose the parents who will give us what we need to fulfil our own goals and lessons we have chosen.
Elizabeth: Whom I chose as my parents was a no-brainer. Mom and Dad were my A++, my absolute first choice because only this particular couple could provide what I needed, not what I wanted… My choice was not based on material satisfaction… My decision was based on the spiritual growth and fulfillment I needed and for setting the foundation to become what I will become in this world…. The decision was one hundred percent mine….
Vincent: He recalls that his Spirit floated in an empty universe with no stars or planets, the Void. From a distance, Vincent could see his fetal body surrounded by a light, pinkish-red energy inside his mother’s womb. “I saw my body that was growing for my Soul”. Prior to birth, a ‘guided tour’ of images of his parents announced what to expect: “This is what you get for your money. You’ve made a choice and there is no way back now.”
Much research has been done on life in the womb, and how the growing baby can be influenced by factors such as love, stress, shock and nutrition. One of the first popular books about this time is Verny’s book “The Secret Life of the Unborn Child” published in the 1980’s. Here are some memory anecdotes about life in the womb:
Elizabeth: I was completely aware of everything going on for the entire nine months. I heard voices and Mom and Dad talking to me. I felt their love. I knew when my time in the womb was growing short, and I was not ready. I always told Mom that it was one hundred percent my fault that she went into labor seventeen days late. I needed a specific birth date for astrological reasons.
Four-year old Derek: Mommy, I was a star in the universe waiting for you and daddy to become my parents. I remember when I was in your tummy I did not want to come out because I felt safe and warm. It felt like peace and home.
Five-year old Eric: Baby School is where we all go to school when we are in our mommy’s tummy. My teacher was the heart.
Matthew: I remember before I came into the womb. Everything was dark. I felt empty. I was waiting for something to direct me. Then my consciousness suddenly clicked on. I became aware that I existed. A though, from seemingly nowhere, asked, ‘What do you want to be?’ Those exact words entered my mind. I knew the answer: ‘I want to be a boy’. I instantly left that dark space and came into light…. I was inside my mother’s womb listening to her heartbeat, and I felt a closeness and bond to that heartbeat.
The path to birth includes choosing a life path and setting goals and intentions.
Summer: When the time came to establish my next life, I traveled through a tunnel filled with lights representing the laws of nature and different people. I had an ongoing dialogue with an angel, God, an aspect of God, or Saint Peter. It is hard to say exactly who he was. I desired to achieve the maximum in terms of clearing up karma and reaching enlightenment. We discussed what I needed and how to achieve my purpose with certain people. I saw my goals as well as all the choices that I could make as if I were looking at a computer board, only the computers seemed like stars…. Then in a millisecond, I witnessed a panoramic view of roads I could take with different people in order to fulfill (my) objectives…. I recall the sensation of leaving the place where I had established my life plan and the descent into matter. I traveled through space and time, which literally looked like flashing stars. It was a very fluid motion of space and time, from death to life and life to death. Obviously I did not have eyes and ears. I had nothing physical to perceive with. However my senses were in play. I became all one sense. All the senses became one, traveling through space and time and coming into the womb.
Drew: Some other force was gliding me down to Earth. As I descended to Earth, I had a panoramic view of a beautiful, bright planet with a comfortable, appealing aura. I saw all its vast clouds and oceans. I felt somewhat confident of going. Time was in incredibly slow motion as I hovered there.
If you want to read more about Rudolf Steiner’s picture of this time, there is a collection of lectures called “Life Between Death and Rebirth”.
Please leave comments, contributions or questions …..