1 - Preface

This is a simple and brief outline regarding the soul’s journey in its spiritual evolutionary progression: from its creation, through its countless material existences, and then finally to its eventual evolving into a purified soul (no longer needing material existences).

In very general terms, it explains this process, describing what usually happens to the average spirit (one who is basically good and at least intellectually and morally average), and, one who has at least a vague idea regarding knowledge of the following:

• its true nature as a spirit
• the true purpose of material life
• the existence of the spirit world and the necessary process of soul evolution

It does not deal specifically with those spirits who are very evil, very primitive, or who have no belief at all in reincarnation or soul evolution, or those who believe firmly in orthodox and/or traditional religious beliefs, or for those spirits who firmly believe in nothing, or no afterlife at all. These types of spirits, although they will indeed undergo the same evolutionary soul process, may have perceptions and experiences which may differ, along their soul’s journey, then those described in this book.

Generally overall, what a spirit usually experiences during this soul development process, is based on what they went through and their behavior in their last material life, their personal belief system, their knowledge of spiritual science, and their current intellectual, spiritual, and moral levels.

This book was written through inspirational mediumship, a collaboration so to speak, between the material world and the spiritual. I thank my spirit guides, and God above all, for without them this book could not have been written. May it help those who read it, even if in some small way.

Yvonne Crespo Limoges

Spiritist Society of Florida

July 2003

St. Petersburg, Florida

USA

2 - In the Beginning & The Final Goal of the Soul

In the beginning was the Creator, First Cause of All Things, Who created the spiritual and material worlds, and spirits. The Creator, Who is All Love and All Justice, determined that each spirit created, would have equal potential and capacity to learn, grow, and evolve to relative perfection. God gave each soul a wonderful gift called "freewill" so it could determine its own path on its soul journey (and receive the merits of its own efforts with regard to its spiritual progression) on the way to the final stage of its evolution as a purified soul.

But God also established Universal Laws and provided that souls had to learn to act and grow within the boundaries of them. Breaking these Laws creates disharmony, abiding by them provides for spiritual equilibrium and moral progress.

God also wanted each soul to have help along its soul journey and this is accomplished through the assistance of superior spirits (those elder spirits who have already progressed much in intelligence and goodness). They guide, protect, and inspire those to whom they are assigned to, hoping it will help them make choices which provide for a more harmonious and progressive growth path.

The Final Goal of the Soul

The soul of a human being has had countless material existences and will continue to have them until the soul is completely purified. How many material existences a soul has, is determined by the soul itself; through the efforts it makes towards the goal of total purification. The spirit has its own freewill to make the choices which determine this.

Some souls work very hard towards this goal, others are slower in reaching it, but nevertheless, since the Law of Progress is a Universal Law, each and every soul will reach its goal and become a pure spirit, one of relative perfection, where it will no longer have to enter material life nor suffer.

Pure spirits are those who have freed themselves from all materiality, can comprehend and are near to God, and act as His helpers and messengers in the Divine administration of Creation.

3 - Life in the Spirit World

The spirit world, or where spirits live (without physical bodies), is the true home of all spirits (souls). The soul was created there and it returns there (after each material existence and then stays there upon its final purification).

While in the spirit world, each spirit goes to find others like itself. The good gravitate towards those who are good, and those with evil or malicious inclinations, gravitate to those who are like themselves.

Above all, the spirits who have already made tremendous intellectual, moral and spiritual progress, are in charge of all those inferior to themselves, and by the force of their will, they can control all of the other spirits. Everything is strictly controlled. Nothing happens without their permission nor without the final permission of the Creator, Who has power above all creation, whether spiritual or material.

As spirits journey through each of their material existences and then return again to the spirit world, how they have spent their material life and their final physical and mental conditions at its end, can determine what condition they may find themselves upon their return.

Spirits generally need time to adjust back to life in the spirit world after their stay in the material world. This adjustment can be long or short depending on how aware or knowledgeable the spirit is regarding spiritual matters, how morally evolved it is, and there are other factors as well. Upon their arrival, some spirits need what they see as hospital care and medicine, some just need peaceful surroundings, and some are put temporarily into what we may call a long spiritual sleep for their own benefit. Material life is very difficult and the spirit may need much rest from it.

But, the perception of time for spirits is very different compared to perception of time in the material world. A spirit could have died many centuries ago in your time, but the spirit may feel it has only just arrived in the spirit world.

Upon return to the spirit world, each spirit is received by their superior and loving spirit guides (sometimes called guardian angels), plus relatives and friends who care about them (from present and past lives) who have arrived before them. At times, the returning spirit, in its temporary confusion upon returning, cannot perceive these spirits who are watching over them. These caring spirits, help the returning spirit as they are able, according to their own moral, spiritual, and intellectual level. It is a homecoming for the spirit who has been away in the material world for a short time (compared to the eternal life of the soul) and has finally returned to its true home in the spirit world.

4 - Learning in the Spirit World

Once the spirit has fairly recuperated and understands its current situation, it settles down to active life in the spirit world. This recuperation and transition takes whatever period of time is necessary for each spirit, depending on its intellectual, spiritual, and moral level; some spirits take a short time, others a very long time. When spirits are ready to be active, they get involved in many activities. One of these is they can start learning other things while they are in the spirit world which are very different than in the material world. Some of these topics are about personal conduct and responsibility, spiritual science, love, duty, faith, and whatever else they may need to further their moral progression.

When a spirit is ready, and at a certain level of advancement, it will learn what the purpose of their last material existence was, and whether they succeeded in advancing in it. They find out if they have become at least a little bit better now, then when they first arrived into their last material life. They find out if they have truly put into practice, on earth, the many valuable lessons they had learned from the choices they made from in their previous lives and study in the spirit world.

They also learn if they have passed whatever tests and atonements (expiation and reparation) that they needed to accomplish, for their proper development and to have advanced spiritually, intellectually, and morally. Since these spirits had voluntarily agreed to the types of tests and trials they would undergo (many which may have been terribly painful and horrible, physically and/or emotionally) they are ecstatic if they find their efforts have been a success.

A spirit can learn many spiritual lessons in the spirit world, but it is only in the material world where they can be put into practice, in order to truly progress. A spirit can also mark time in its progress in an existence, but it cannot retrograde. The purpose of material life is to advance: intellectually, spiritually, and morally. The choices the spirit makes (its thoughts, words, and deeds) while in the material world determine whether it has indeed progressed. This is based on the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. But, the Creator is All Love and so the Law always takes into consideration any mitigating circumstances, the intent of the person is extremely important (more important at times than the act itself), the spirit’s level of culpability (in other words, did it really know it was making a wrong and hurtful choice), and a lot depends on the current moral, spiritual, and intellectual level of each spirit. No matter what else, the Scales of the Divine Justice are Perfect, so there are no mistakes.

As spirits become more active, they may also learn by observing those in the material world. They travel with guides, in groups, small or large. Many are brought to centers where mediums work and they may be allowed to communicate through one.

5 - The Return to Another Material Existence

When a spirit is ready, it decides (with the help of its superior spirit guides) that it is time to put into practice lessons that have been learned from prior lives and from its time spent in the spirit world, and return to a new material existence once again. The soul journey continues…

Parents, a family, a country, and a planet are chosen to present the best possible circumstances for the returning soul to succeed on its soul journey towards purification. The other spirits that will be accompanying it, and surrounding it, are many times the same ones they have known for eons in other times, in prior existences, in other relationships, and under other circumstances.

Once a body has been selected and the process of return has started (at the moment of conception to be completed upon delivery of an infant alive), during this period the spirit slowly enters a period of confusion and then a kind of sleep. After being born into the material world, the spirit throughout infancy, acclimates to its new home and surroundings (parents’ habits, social customs, etc.) while it is still pliable and easily influenced.

Parents’ (or other caregiver’s) mission in education of their children cannot be underestimated while these souls are in their care. This is the time to teach right conduct and correct wrong behavior; provide a healthy, loving, and nurturing environment; and, to provide as good a moral, social, and intellectual education as they are able.

Between the ages of fifteen and twenty, upon average, as the youngster grows into young adulthood, its spirit starts to come into its own… to be revealed upon full adulthood. Character traits and inclinations which were not visible before, slowly or suddenly, come forth. Each spirit goes through this process at its own pace.

In addition, the spirit must deal with the physical aspects of its material body (with all its abilities and/or limitations) and the material environment of the particular planet that it is on. The spirit, nevertheless, is limited by the grossness of the material body from revealing its full capabilities. It is freer and more able to do so only in the spirit world.

The trials and tribulations a spirit runs into in the material world, were agreed to by the spirit itself with advice from its superior guides, and determined prior to its arrival as the most advantageous of circumstances for each spirit’s own particular intellectual, moral, and spiritual progress. The hardships of material life are lessons to be learned, in order for the spirit to develop and progress (if they are overcome with resignation and without rebellion), towards its final purification.

6 - Lessons in the Material World

When a spirit is in the material world, as a human being here on earth, life can be very difficult. We forget why we have to go through such trials and tribulations and such sufferings, and we can become depressed and may lose faith.

But we must remember, God is All Love and All Justice and All Perfect, and the Divine Plan is Perfect.

Whatever happens to us in the material world, we have elected to undergo for our own betterment, and for the progression of our own soul. That is the purpose of material life and we must believe it in our hearts and in every fiber of our souls!

For if God is All Love and All Perfect, our sufferings must have a just and perfect purpose. Our spirit knew this before we were born on this earth, we just don’t remember now.

But, what we can do, is put all our faith, with all our heart, in believing in God’s Perfect Plan for us. There is a reason for everything! God does not punish us, we have chosen to make our own path...along our own soul’s journey. We know that undergoing our sufferings, bearing them without complaint, will allow us to arrive into the spirit world better off, than when we first entered material life. We will arrive within the spirit world, our true home, victorious into the Hand’s of God!

In addition, prayer is a powerful tool we can use to sustain us, in keeping on the correct course, through our soul’s journey in the material life. Use it! Long prayers are not necessary. Empty words, memorized and said without feeling, do nothing! Always pray from your heart! Pray sincerely, pray honestly, and pray humbly!

Our physical mind and body may be in shambles upon the end of our material life, but the spirit will emerge from it…. morally cleansed, greatly sanctified, and more spiritually pure, then when we were in it! That is what is most important!

7 - Faith, Hope, Charity & Love is the Way

Always do good, and be good. That is CHARITY to yourself and others.

Always have FAITH, in yourself and in God - All Perfect.

Always have HOPE, because material sufferings help us learn, grow, and eventually transform us into superior souls, who will suffer nevermore!

LOVE IS THE WAY

Love is the greatest thing one can do. LOVE is GOD, GOD is ALL - LOVE.

Love God, Who loves you. The Creator allows you the freewill to pave your own soul journey through as many material existences as you need, to reach the final state of a purified soul.

The Creator provides guidance and the means, but we each must choose our own path. If we have chosen paths which are not harmonious with God’s Universal Laws, our soul’s path will be rocky. If we have chosen paths harmonious with God’s Universal Laws, our paths will be more smooth. We choose.

But even then, when spirits have repented, expiated, and reparated their actions and non-actions, throughout their numerous material lives, they get to a point when they wish to strive even higher, in order to achieve final purification. These spirits are recognized for their great missions in helping others, sacrificing themselves through extreme voluntary sufferings, for the love of mankind. Examples of these spirits are the likes of Joan of Arc and Mohandas Gandhi. But there have been more.

Finally, there is your most Elder Spiritual Brother Jesus, the supreme model of human moral conduct possible on this planet earth. He came to show all on your planet the Way to our Celestial Father, and that is through LOVE!

Poor mankind, your sufferings will cause you to grow and reach up to God!

You are not alone, all of God’s spirits must make the same soul journey!

Take heart and have faith!

8 - Conclusion

I believe this briefly explains the soul’s journey through material and spiritual life, and its final destination. I also feel this book can be helpful to answer some very basic questions for those beginning to enter into a study of Life and its Divine Purpose, from a simple perspective.

If a person would like a more detailed and complex explanation on this topic, I fully and sincerely recommend reading all the books of Allan Kardec on the topic of Spiritism.