In human society, you have this equivalent, but this is overshadowed by the natural handicaps that the very young must struggle with. The tiny babe, helpless to feed or move or bath itself, is clearly unimpressive to humans, regardless of the wisdom inherent in the incarnating spirit. The toddler, struggling to communicate in single word phrases, is treated as a potential only. The youngster, eager to learn but often bungling in their attempts to create even the simplest contraption, are held in esteem only by loving parents and relatives. The teenager, who may be accomplished and speak great wisdom, is overlooked as they are assumed to be rebels and speaking only to assert themselves in their desire for independence and self importance. Thus the idea that a relative youngster could have wisdom beyond their elders is incomprehensible to humans. How often, from the mouths of babes, come great insight? How often do the mutterings of mature humans in their prime show that their thinking is cluttered with dependency longings, irrational resentments, self-promotion, and an inability to be creative or resourceful? Age means nothing!
A soul is unaware of its status, but tends to recognize other strong souls during an incarnation. The human form is a great mask, in the main, except to the educated. Old souls almost instantly recognize each other. This is not a body language issue, as the human can be unaware of the age of their soul, other than that they find they are focusing on issues differently than others around them. An old soul often finds they are strongly at issue to Service-to-Self agendas, or take action suddenly to situations where others about them are debating and unsure. An old soul often has a skill set that surprises the parents, expressing early in the life of the young human whose knowledge and skill are coming from a source other than the education being given by the parents. Thus, there are clues, but the old soul in a young body feels, most often, strange and apart until meeting others of his kind.
ZetaTalk: Why Incarnations
Note: written Jan 15, 2002
At what point do incarnations cease to be a learning tool? Humans entranced with Out-of-Body experiences imagine this to be a goal, as they see so many advantages. They could spy on their neighbors, gain information useful in power plays, and just travel without expense or distress. However, Service-to-Other entities intent on their lessons do not consider such skipping out of school an advantage.
Incarnations trap the developing soul in a body with limitations, lesson 1.
Incarnations create the need to be creative, and resourceful, lesson 2.
Incarnations put the developing soul in pain and distress, frustration, longing, so that the soul has empathy later for others in this situation, lesson 3.
Thus, incarnation are seen as a tool, and until the soul has grown beyond this point, and has learned all the lesson that could be learned from incarnation, there is no press to avoid them. Humans experience Out-of-Body during suffering, as many Near Death Experiencers will tell you that they viewed their moment of death from outside their body. Torture, or intense pain, will likewise cause the soul to jump out of the body, and the body and soul then remember this and attempt to repeat it. This is discouraged by the Spirit Guides, who consider this skipping out of school, and the soul is forced back into the body by various means. As you mature, and move forward into higher densities, this desire to skip out of school will cease.
Many life forms in 3rd Density are incapable of manipulating their environment. They can have empathy with each other, the key ingredient for development past 3rd Density, as the Service-to-Other vs. Service-to-Self decision can be made. But for water creatures, for instance, who have no appendages and cannot manipulate their environment, technology is not possible. We have mentioned that Crop Circles are done by water creatures who could not travel to this planet unless assisted. They function in 4th and even 5th Density, in this life form, but do not construct or operate space ships. This is done for them. They are able, through physical means, primarily what you would consider mental powers, to create the crop circles. Thus, technology, which is whiz-bang to humans, is merely viewed as a toy, and the lack of technology not a reason to avoid incarnations.
ZetaTalk: When We Die
Note: written Apr 15, 1996
Humans are aware of a reception line awaiting them when they die, from the reports of Near Death Experiences - a long tunnel with a bright white light at the end, and those now deceased who were close to them waiting or beckoning. If the moment of death is confusing to doctors, it is no less clear in the spiritual realm. An injured body, such as one sustaining massive brain injury, may cease to be a home for the incarnating entity months before those attending the death watch finally pull the sheets up over the lingering beloved. It is possible, in such a circumstance, that the entity has already been placed in another, thriving, human body - a newborn babe. On the other hand, some entities hang around long after the body has been cremated or burned, as haunting ghosts. Beyond the issue of when the spirit leaves the body is the spiritual issue of how the entity puts the past life to rest, judges progress made on various lessons that were at the fore going into the incarnation, and determines any future course of action they personally might desire as a result - critique time.
If the death was sudden and unexpected, the entity may have many outstanding issues they remain concerned with after the physical body dies. This invariably is the first stop after death, though it varies depending on the general orientation of the entity and their life circumstances. Someone elderly, who had long settled their affairs in preparation for the inevitable, might not do more than cast a backward glance on their way to the future, noting that their death was being handled as they had anticipated. Someone in their prime, with dependent children or oldsters and many outstanding promises, might linger at this stage, visiting those they are concerned about as a ghost, essentially an Out-Of-Body, for days or months until they can see the outcome. This stage differs between orientations, the Service-to-Others lingering longer due to their concern for others and the Service-to-Self wishing only to move on to future opportunities.