207- Parents almost always transmit a physical likeness to their children. Do they also transmit a moral likeness?
“No, because their souls or spirits are different. The body proceeds from the body but the spirit does not proceed from the spirit. There is no other link than blood kinship among descendants.”
– Where does the moral likeness that sometimes exists between parents and children come from?
“They are sympathetic37 spirits, attracted by similarities of inclination.”
37 Sympathetic: “In harmony with one’s tastes, mood, or disposition; congenial: a sympathetic companion” (Webster’s, op. cit.) – Tr.
208- Don’t the spirits of the parents exert an influence on their children after birth?
“A very great influence because, as we have already said, spirits should aid in one another’s progress. As it is, the spirits of the parents have the mission of developing their children through education. This is a task for them – if they fail to perform it, they will be guilty.”
209- Why is it that good and virtuous parents sometimes have wicked children? In other words, why don’t the good qualities of the parents always, out of affinity, attract good spirits as their children?
“Wicked spirits may ask for good parents in the hope that their counsels will guide them along a better path. God often grants their wish.”
210- Through their thoughts and prayers, can parents attract a good spirit instead of an imperfect one to indwell the body of their child?
“No. They can, however, improve the spirit of the child to whom they have given birth, and whom has been entrusted to them – it is their duty. Ill-natured children are a trial for their parents.”
211- Where does the likeness of character come from, which so often exists among siblings, especially between twins?
“They are sympathetic spirits who are attracted by similar sentiments, and who are happy to be together.”
212- In children whose bodies were born joined, and who have some of their organs in common, are there two spirits, that is, two souls?
“Yes, but their resemblance often makes them seem to you as though there is only one.”
213- But if spirits incarnate as twins out of sympathy38, where does the aversion come from that may sometimes be noted between them?
“It is not a rule that twins must be sympathetic spirits. Evil spirits may desire to struggle together on the stage of life.”
38 Sympathy: “Harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another. The harmony of feeling existing between persons of like tastes or opinion, or of congenial dispositions” (ibid.) – Tr.
214- What are we to think of the stories of children fighting in their mother’s womb?
“A figure of speech! In order to portray their hatred as ingrained, it is figuratively set before birth. Humans usually do not make sufficient allowance for images that are intended to be merely poetic.”
215- Where does the distinctive character that we observe in each culture come from?
“Like humans, spirits also form families through similarities in tendencies. The purity of such tendencies depends on how evolved the spirits are. Additionally, cultures are large families where sympathetic spirits congregate, and the tendency that leads members of these families to congregate is the source of the individual likenesses that exist within the distinctive character of each culture. Do you think that good and humane spirits would seek to live among unrefined and cruel people? No. Spirits are attracted to like-minded cultures, just as they are attracted to like-minded individuals. They look for their own group.”
216- In their new lives, do individuals retain any traces of their moral character from former ones?
“Yes, that can happen. However, as spirits evolve, they change, and their social position may change as well. If a master becomes a slave, his tastes will be very different and it will be difficult for you to recognize him. Since a spirit is the same spirit in its various incarnations, its manifestations can have certain likenesses from one to the next. However, these will be modified through the customs of its new position until a notable improvement has completely changed its character. For example, the one who was proud and cruel can become humble and humane if it has repented.”
217- During their different incarnations, do individuals retain any vestiges of their physical character from previous lives?
“The body is destroyed and the new one has no connection with the old. Nevertheless, the spirit is reflected in the body. Although the body is only matter, it is molded by the spirit’s qualities, which impress it with a certain character that is mainly visible in the face. For this reason, the eyes have been rightly described as the mirror of the soul, which means that the face most particularly reflects the soul. Thus, it may be that individuals who are extremely unattractive physically can nevertheless project something pleasant if they are good, mindful and humane spirits. On the other hand, there are very attractive faces that awaken nothing in you – you might even find them repulsive. How can you believe that only perfect bodies house high order spirits, when every day you encounter moral individuals with deformed bodies? Although there may be no pronounced physical likeness, a similarity of tastes and tendencies can still pass on what we call an air of familiarity.”
The body that clothes a soul in a new incarnation does not necessarily have any relation to the previous one, since it can proceed from a very different origin. It would therefore be absurd to conclude that a succession of lives is connected by a likeness that is strictly fortuitous. Nevertheless, a spirit’s qualities almost always modify the organs that serve for its manifestation, impressing a distinctive stamp on the face, and even on the general manner. Thus, inside the humblest envelope one might find expressions of greatness and nobility of spirit, while under the garment of a wealthy person one can often find vulgarity and dishonor. Some persons, who have risen from the lowest positions, acquire the habits and manners of high society with hardly any effort – they seem to have returned to their rightful element. But others, in spite of their birth and education, always feel out of place there. How can this fact be explained except as a reflection of what the spirit was in former lives?
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