Soul Contracts 101

Soul contracts might sound like an ethereal concept, but it simply refers to the contracts our soul makes -- to the universe and to other souls -- prior to entering our bodies before birth. These contracts are the desired experiences we choose to live through during this life cycle, or lifetime. We agree to have distinct human experiences and to meet certain people in order to learn important life lessons. Soul contracts are considered similar to the idea of karma (more on this later) -- the distinction being that on some higher level of consciousness, we are aware of these soul contracts as we are creating them.

If we agree that the soul exists before birth, and that the soul journeys through various lifetimes (also referred to as reincarnation), then it stands to reason that the higher-conscious self could make commitments before entering its next lifetime. It is generally believed, though, that after birth the memory of these contracts fades, leaving most of us to carry out these agreements in more subconscious ways, trusting that the universe will guide us.

We Need Others
Whatever our soul's missions in life, we need others to help accomplish it. By developing these soul agreements with other individual souls, we plan to meet them at a certain point in our lives, which is best for whatever 'work' we need to do together to accomplish our mutual spiritual goals. According to this belief, we can make agreements with hundreds, even thousands of individual souls, who will aid in our spiritual evolution.

In making these soul agreements, we are using a higher, multi-dimensional consciousness, which we all posses, and which is regarded as superior to our normal human consciousness. This means, no matter what our age or conscious spiritual maturity, we can always be in contact with our 'higher selves.' More specifically, before conception, we would be in communication with our parents -- our souls would contact their higher consciousness to make the agreement with them to parent us in the upcoming lifetime.

The essence of this belief holds that our souls choose beforehand what type of environment, amid the myriad possibilities, to be born into. These encompass everything from protective and cherished environments, to those that are abusive and traumatic.

Why would someone bring a painful experience into their lives -- especially when they are too young to protect themselves?

If you make an agreement with a parent who displays abusive qualities, there's something you learn from their behavior. Your soul needs to understand trauma and pain on a very distinct and intense level in order to heal others. It's about setting a karmic balance in motion -- perhaps you were the abuser in another lifetime. This way, you truly learn to purge those qualities and heal yourself from their effects.

How Karma Comes Into Play
Another factor involved in soul contracts is karma. Karma can be explained as the concept of retributive justice determining an individual's condition of life, and the state of his or her reincarnations as the outcome of his past deeds. Accordingly, we vibrate the energy of our past lives and actions towards the next vehicle, or body, that we deserve. Our previous actions, positive and negative, resonate a precise energy vibration, which like a magnet, attracts a specific body and circumstance to be born into. Congruently, our souls attach to the particular environment that we are most adept to deal with.

If we wish to fulfill our soul's mission in this lifetime, it is imperative that we hold to our soul contracts, especially the ones of critical importance. We can accomplish this by listening intently to our higher selves, experiencing along the way, treasured encounters with fellow travelers. Whether for a day or a decade, they voyage with us, joining us on our journey towards fulfillment and enlightenment.

Soul Contracts 101
Breakdown for beginners
by Alina Mikos
http://californiapsychics.com