Earthly Cycles : How Past Lives & Soul Patterns Shape Your Life [Paperback]

Alexander (Contributor), Ramon Stevens (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1994

Spirit teacher Alexander offers a richly detailed exploration of the cycles of life, death, and reincarnation, illuminating the hidden influences on your life: your soul qualities and higher self: sexual orientation; choosing your parents; the laws of karma and how to release it; angels and spirit guides; the death experience; how to live a karma-free life.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Alexander gives fresh insights into what is probably the oldest, most basic set of questions we mortals struggle with." -- From the Foreward by Robert Butts, husband of Jane Roberts.

"Exceedingly well-presented with a great deal of provocative, insightful material." -- Brad Steiger, author of ONE WITH THE LIGHT

"Fascinating and valuable...not only full of important wisdom, but entertaining as well." -- Willis Harman, President, Institute of Noetic Sciences

About the Author

Ramon Stevens is an internationally recognized trance channel whose collaboration with Alexander has enlightened and inspired thousands throughout the world. He has spoken at international conferences, on television and radio, and through the newsletter, The Alexander Journal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Pepperwood Pr (February 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963941364
• ISBN-13: 978-0963941367
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,194,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very thought provoking., August 31, 2002

By 

E. N. Morse "emorse" (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Earthly Cycles : How Past Lives & Soul Patterns Shape Your Life (Paperback)

This book takes one to a different plane on thinking and analyzing ones present life. There is a very thorough and interesting review of the authors view on Karma and how it works. An outstanding book that one should read bit by bit to absorb the complete understanding. The grammatical flow of the book is a bit difficult to read at times, but worth working around.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another view of the above review, January 28, 2009

By 

A. Hughes - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Earthly Cycles : How Past Lives & Soul Patterns Shape Your Life (Paperback)

As an Alexander and Seth reader (I've read all the books of both entities) This is an excellent book and I'd like to comment on some of the above review.

It says,
"I found a great deal of it suspect as well. His explanation of how karma works-especially how karmic "braids" can be formed with others that keep two souls tied together in future incarnations-was especially difficult to swallow. How victimization in one lifetime can be offset by victimizing the current incarnation of one's former tormentor explains nothing and seems to me to only accentuate the problem. If the purpose of each incarnation is to grow spiritually by overcoming various obstacles one places in their path, karmic braids can only complicate matters and impede growth. "

The material doesn't say that victimization in one lifetime is offset by victimization in another, it say that the people braided together by karmic acts must find a way to compensate for the victimization through acts of devotion, kindness, and love in another life. The challenge is, will they do it, and thus release the braid. Makes sense to me. You have to walk the walk to learn the lesson and free the braid.

Another quote from the comment,
"It makes more sense that just as previous life memories are erased from the newborn's consciousness at birth, so too should past transgressions be forgotten, especially as those transgressions may prove to be major impediments to spiritual growth."

Alexander didn't write the rules of karma, he is just stating them. And for me, it makes more sense to have to work out your issues rather than conveniently leaving them with the past (or future?) life. Where is the growth for the greater self in that?

Another quote from the comment,
"I also found "Alexander" to be inconsistent in other ways as well. For example, he roundly condemns murder in every circumstance (even in self-defense and in the protection of the innocent) while correctly noting how it may be used as a tool for spiritual growth for its victims and their families. Apparently the spirit world doesn't understand that one can't have their cake and eat it too."

Alexander is saying that murder causes karmic braids, and that those victimized chose to participate, for a purpose. Perhaps they want to develop where they need work. This kind of work only makes sense over a series of lives. They are not having their cake and eating it too, he is saying the victims participate for a purpose as well. The braids are however created, and the work must be done to "unravel" them.

Another quote from the comment,
"Alexander's dismissal of abortion as a potential act of murder is even more disturbing; he carefully sidesteps the issue by declaring that spirits planning their next incarnation simply avoid mothers who intend to abort (as though woman are incapable of changing their minds in later stages of pregnancy.) While Alexander talks a great deal about both "intent" and "action" being required to create "bad" karma, he conveniently ignores the fact that abortion is both an intent to destroy potential life and an action to do so. As such, if killing Nazis is a karmic crime, for the sake of consistency it seems only proper that killing the unborn constitute a karmic crime as well."

I disagree; abortion does not have the intent to destroy a specific life. You don't for example say, "I am going to abort my future son Robert, because I hated him in a past life." The mother is simply putting out the vibes that they are not ready for a child to come, and they plan to abort, so the entity does not merge with the fetus. Makes sense to me.

Finally, while I consider Ramon a gifted writer, there is no way I think he could produce this kind of information with his own knowledge, let alone in the time frames the material was channeled in. Granted this material takes a lot of thinking to get your mind around, but the supposed contradictions you mention are just misunderstandings of the material, in my opinion. I hope my explanations make sense to other potential readers as well.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but Inconsistent, September 2, 2002

By 

Jeff Danelek (Lakewood, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Earthly Cycles : How Past Lives & Soul Patterns Shape Your Life (Paperback)

As a fiend for books allegedly written by non-corporeal entities, I really loved Steven's latest Alexander book. Of the many "channeled" books I've read, this one is among the most complex yet readable works of its kind I've stumbled across. I especially found it invaluable in understanding the mechanisms of how modern western concepts of reincarnation work-particularly the nuts-and-bolts of how karma functions in time and space. Ramon Steven's incorporeal confidant Alexander lays it out in such precise, no nonsense terms that at times it reads like an assembly manual for a home-built ultralight.

Unfortunately, any book supposedly written by a channeled spirit must remain problematic at best, for it is difficult to determine how much of this work is the result of "outside" forces and how much of it originated in the obvious fertile imagination of the author himself. The reason I say this is because while I found much of the book consistent with the bulk of similar literature I've read on the subject-implying a central repository of ultimate truth that a few mediums may be tapping into-I found a great deal of it suspect as well. His explanation of how karma works-especially how karmic "braids" can be formed with others that keep two souls tied together in future incarnations-was especially difficult to swallow. How victimization in one lifetime can be offset by victimizing the current incarnation of one's former tormentor explains nothing and seems to me to only accentuate the problem. If the purpose of each incarnation is to grow spiritually by overcoming various obstacles one places in their path, karmic braids can only complicate matters and impede growth. It makes more sense that just as previous life memories are erased from the newborn's consciousness at birth, so too should past transgressions be forgotten, especially as those transgressions may prove to be major impediments to spiritual growth. I also found "Alexander" to be inconsistent in other ways as well. For example, he roundly condemns murder in every circumstance (even in self-defense and in the protection of the innocent) while correctly noting how it may be used as a tool for spiritual growth for its victims and their families. Apparently the spirit world doesn't understand that one can't have their cake and eat it too.

Alexander's dismissal of abortion as a potential act of murder is even more disturbing; he carefully sidesteps the issue by declaring that spirits planning their next incarnation simply avoid mothers who intend to abort (as though woman are incapable of changing their minds in later stages of pregnancy.) While Alexander talks a great deal about both "intent" and "action" being required to create "bad" karma, he conveniently ignores the fact that abortion is both an intent to destroy potential life and an action to do so. As such, if killing Nazis is a karmic crime, for the sake of consistency it seems only proper that killing the unborn constitute a karmic crime as well.

Overall, however, I found much in this book to admire. Stevens is an obviously gifted writer who can find his voice only through an imaginary teacher, but the imagination can be a useful vehicle for uncovering ancient truth if one can divorce their own predispositions and biases from the process.