

The Alexander Material by Ramon Stevens
Issue No. 5
Q:
Why exactly has my mother chosen dementia? Why do so many people of her age
choose this? Will this also change in the future or increase? Thanks for your profound answer,
I'd appreciate it. (K.)
A:
First, let us explore and clarify the notion of choosing
dementia. As we have stated before, the higher self chooses its major life themes
before birth. Its focus is on childhood and maturity; the themes and issues that can arise then.
Dementia, coming at the end of life, is less likely to be chosen ahead of time as a theme or
experience, as it comes in the final phase when one's life tasks have either been fulfilled or
not. Other brainbased debilities, like retardation or autism, which manifest early in life,
are more likely to be explicitly chosen for the experiences they will bring.
Everyone's body declines and dies. There is a vast array of potential routes to that end, and
while the time of death is chosen, the path to it may not carry such importance to the higher self.
In other words, some people may suffer a decline of brain function, or of bodily function, without
it necessarily carrying import to the higher self. It can just happen that way.
That said, the rise of endstage brain disorders like dementia and Alzheimer's, as well
as of childhoodorigin disorders like autism, reflects the increasingly toxic environment in
which you live. You in the modern world spend your lifetimes using soaps, shampoos, cleansers,
toothpastes, deodorants, medications, etc., containing manmade chemicals; eating pesticide
and fungicideladen food, perhaps of genetically modified origin; driving cars, living in
houses, working in offices, all of which emit toxic vapors; using cell phones, computers, and
wireless internet, getting xrays and CAT scansunder such an assault of chemicals,
toxins, and radiation, it is a wonder anyone grows to a ripe old age with brain and body at
peak vitality!
While we have said that suffering dementia, or any of the myriad others diseases of modernity in
old age, may not reflect a specific choice by the higher self, there can be a
collective choice such that, by declining and dying in specific ways, their suffering
reflects back to society that something is amiss, disordered, and needs attention. A century ago,
cancer was rare and suffered only by the elderly. Today, cancers of childhood and young adulthood
are increasingly common. That means something. The question is whether the message is heeded, the
cause identified, and corrective measures implemented.
Death is always chosen. A century ago, many children died of diseases which are today rare. So the
collective message of a century agoregarding sanitation, for examplehas shifted to
other culprits. The death is individually chosen; its means reflects a collective message that a
responsive society would best heed.
Q:
Is it possible to travel in time by exercise only of the mind and intent?
(L.A.)
A:
You would need to clarify what you mean by travel in time. Travel
with your physical body? How would travel of the mind and intent work; what would you
observe, experience, in such a state?
Answering in general terms, being uncertain of your meaning, we would remind you that in deepest
terms all time is simultaneous; that is, time is one of the parameters of the physical
system, which itself is simply a subset of vast fields of consciousness knowing no time or space.
Theoretically, then, a mind can travel anywhere in time or space, without limitation. What it can
observe or learn or participate in in such a state would be another
issue. It would be unrealistic to expect that you could drop in on other times and
places with the full fidelity of your five senses and presentday ego, memory and experience.
Q:
Much of the area of health seems to be ruled by the belief that
you do not create your own reality. I know people, with cancer, going to the oncologist and in
conversations it is normal to talk about this as if they are the victims of the disease. You catch
yourself doing that afterwards. When you try to believe that you create your own reality, you can
try to heal yourself. However, I don't know people who consciously healed themselves. Doing
that would be like stepping out of the box, going against a mainstream belief that the disease you
have is incurable (if the medical treatments don't work). Can social fears actually block
selfhealing? In what position am I going to get if I healed myself? What would my
family say? Do these worries matter? (W.B.)
A:
To the extent that you accept, consciously or unconsciously, the prevailing
beliefs about health and illness, then naturally they color your reaction upon becoming sick. We
would caution you, though, against the contrary belief that all illness is curable if one's
beliefs are simply in proper alignment with the Universe. Death is always chosen, the means can
vary, and there are times when a certain illness is chosen symbolically. Cancer, which kills its
host by mutating wildly, symbolizes humankind in its everincreasing numbers and assault on
the earth.
For those who survive cancer, with or without conventional treatment, such lifethreatening
illness can have many meanings. Being a victim is rarely the meaning; and slumping into
that comforting, attentiongetting role hinders recognition of the deeper meaning, which
likely relates to unhealthy lifestyle or relationships.
Q:
Leaving major avatars aside, are certain people cast as
indispensable among the players on the stage of history and granted a special role? All
of us are bound by the great rule of forming our reality through our choices and beliefs, but not
all of us can play the part of, say, George Washington. In many respects, his life seems to
have been charmed. Horses were shot repeatedly out from under him, bullet holes pocked his clothes,
assassins were summoned and failed. In the end he changed history. Was he protectedkept in
the game, so that he could play his part to the end? (K.Y.)
A:
Were spirits watching from above during Revolutionary battles, nudging
bullets aside from their lethal trajectory, foiling assassins, orchestrating battle outcomes? No.
For better and worse, there is no such direct intervention in earthly affairs. If someone seems
possessed of a shield of invincibility, it is because he or she has not chosen to die at a certain
time, in a certain way. Bullets do not meet the flesh of someone whose life plan does not allow for
such an end.
Q:
Could you comment on the symbolic meaning of money. What does it represent
in our society and was that its original intent? Why did we bring it about and what are the
pitfalls and benefits? What, if any, alternatives, like bartering, would be best for an enlightened
human society? (A.H.)
A:
You hardly need a metaphysical counselor to discover the original meaning of
money, which arose as a medium of trade. In its deepest terms, money is symbolic food; for food is
the most elemental of goods. A farmer may not care to barter his crops for pigs or pots or shoes,
whatever a buyer offers as barter. They complete the transaction with a symbol of agreedupon
meaning and valuestones, shells, coins, beads, whatever form it takes.
We have written elsewhere about the existential insecurity that afflicts civilized peoples, and
how various security trinketswealth, fame, and power being the principal
onesassuage, but never heal, that insecurity. No matter how much you have of a security
trinket, it is never enough. Many were the conquerors driven by an insatiable desire to conquer and
control the entire world; anything short of thata mere continent or twocould not quench
that burning desire. So it is with money, which is something almost everyone handles every
dayunlike power or famemaking money the focus of most people's longing for
more.
An enlightened society could still continue using a symbolic means of exchange; it is a convenient
and efficient means of conducting business. What would change is in anyone mistaking the symbol for
its deeper reality. An enlightened society would offer existential security to its members, so none
would pine for trinkets.
Q:
There is a growing concern about the growing number of bacteria resistant
to antibiotics and recently bacteria causing immunity to antibiotics within people. The cause is
the high use of antibiotics in intense stock farming. Those bacteria are spreading more and more,
causing extra health problems with patients in hospitals who get infected or with tuberculosis, the
bacteria is sometimes totally resistant to antibiotics. This whole situation can grow into a return
to a time before penicillin. Not asking how come we are in this, in everything, not wanted position
in relationship with our agriculture. (But comments are welcome). In your last book you talk about
the relationship between viruses, mankind and our immune system. But what about bacteria? Same
story? (W.B.)
A:
Life on earth is designed to be a struggle. One of the elements of that
struggle is simply staying alive amidst the onslaught of viral, bacterial, and insect assaults on
your health. Every living being is both prey to such assaults and is the assaulter of other species
(humankind being the world champion of interspecies assault!). Broadening the scope from our essay
on viruses, then, we can sketch a more comprehensive picture in which every living being is
embedded in a dance of survival, dodging or repelling assault while simultaneously assaulting other
species, for food if nothing else.
With regard to viruses and bacteria, they live in and on your body in countless number. Wash your
hands with antibacterial cleanser and they're back an hour later, none the worse
for wear. While physically so minute, these little creatures are infinitely clever, mutating
constantly to adapt to changes in their environment. If humankind employs excessive antibiotics,
bacteria will naturally develop resistance. Humans are doing their jobmaintaining an
efficient and abundant food supplyand bacteria are doing theirs, dodging chemical assault and
living to swarm another day.
Humankind has so warped and plundered its environment, has been such an effective and efficient
assaulter, that in some parts of the world nature no longer exists; instead, a
humanfabricated environment has been created, at the cost of the balance of elements present
in a healthy ecosystem. Everywhere you see evidence of the deleterious effects of these changes,
including the rise in autism and dementia. Until humankind restores itself, in smaller numbers and
a less destructive lifestyle, to its proper place in the global commons, you can expect further and
more dramatically harmful effects on your species.
For example, autism and dementia are competence diminishers; they render their
sufferers incompetent to care for themselves, to participate in the work of maintaining society.
Left alone in the woods, they would perish. As the number of such diminishers rises, as
it must in a toxic, denatured environment, the burden grows on the shrinking number of competents.
Ultimately, something has to give.
Q:
I have a question about the incarnation process in relation to the higher
self. You say that each incarnation is an offshoot of the higher self. In many cases, though, there
seems to be some continuity for the passing soul to choose a new life. How does the passing soul
experience the transition to a new life? Does he remain in eternal validity in the higher self,
watching a new offshoot going into physical incarnation with some or all of his karmic baggage, or
is there really a part of the passing soul, that does incarnate again?
You say that a new offshoot is created, but how is that new offshoot influenced by previous life,
and how does that seem to explain the apparent continuity in some cases of personality over
successive lives? (J.P.)
A:
Most of your questions are answered in our book Earthly Cycles. The
new issue raised is in your last question, regarding continuity of personality over
successive lives. All of the incarnations flowing from a given higher self share a common family of
consciousness, which has a major influence on personality. Beyond that, personality is a blend of
characteristics selected by the higher self before birth, and life experiences in a family and
culture (which are also chosen). From our perspective, everyone starts fresh, and while
karmic bonds may carry over from one lifetime to another, personality generally does not.
Q:
How many people can live on planet earth? It's the title of a
scientific documentary about our overpopulation. It is predicted that around 2050 there will be 9
billion people on planet Earth. Those extra 2 billion people are, graphically explained, the
current population of China, Europe and America added together. They must be fed, clothed and given
the opportunity to live a firstworld lifestyle. And Earth, with the aid of science and
technology, must produce just that. So science more or less said. Since that manmade future is not
going to happen (and we could be lucky with that), the documentary brought home a threatening hint
that a period of calamity is not so far into the future. Moving to a safety zone is an option. But
collectively do you see in the near future some actions taken to reduce our numbers?
(W.B.)
A:
As always, the choice is yours. You can take the necessary steps to reduce
your numbers, or have your numbers reduced by external forces, with all the suffering that will
entail. There is a saying, The Earth bats last. Picking up our assaulterassaultee
motif from above, we would add, The Earth assaults last.
Q:
You mention Southern Europe as one of the more safer regions in the world
to ride out the global warming crisis. However, it is predicted that the Mediterranean ecosystems
may be among the most impacted by global warming. Spain is expected to get an African climate and
Italy may see a return of malaria. You get the impression that the effects of global warming in
Europe will happen first and most severely in Southern Europe. So why move there? Or are there
regions or countries in South Europe best to be avoided? If so, which ones? (W.B.)
A:
It is better to speak of climate change than global
warming because there will not an even, uniform rise in temperatures worldwide. Overall, this
will be the case, but in any specific locale, temperatures may warm or cool. When we speak of a
Zone of Safety, we exclude northern regions like Canada or Scandinavia because they
may, in fact, grow colder.
More, weather patterns will become less predictable, more erratic, more extreme. So those in an
already challenged region, like the northern latitudes, may suffer the double whammy of colder
temperatures and fiercer storms.
This is why we recommended Southern Europe as more likely to weather climate change. That said, we
have mentioned that coastlines are best avoided; if there is anything Italy has more of than pasta,
it is coastline! So that is a factor to consider.
Q:
There are regression hypnotherapists [Brian Weiss, Michael Newton] who,
with seeming credibility, document hundreds of cases of regressing clients to life between
life spirit realms. That reality seems very different from what you describe in your books.
Soul color seems to matter
you never mention this. Many spirits have names (even Seth spoke of
entity names)
you never mention any spirit having a name. There are guides who
choose their charges and help them over many lifetimes
this feels really different from your
higher self decides all template. There is a coming together of soul companions after
lives
you speak mostly of moving on. There are lasting relationships over millennia...you say
the goal is to release relationships. These hypnotherapists seem to be serious people doing
serious work. Is there a flaw in their process? Is there a flaw in my interpretation? Please
comment. (K.Y.)
A:
Nothing you have mentioned as the features of the spirit realm contradicts
what we have written. The features highlighted may differ, but that is to be expected given the
radically different sources of the materials you are comparing.
You might wish to review Earthly Cycles, chapters 18 and 19. There we discuss the various
guides, which we call welcomers and sages, who assist souls in the
postdeath and prebirth processes.
Consider the source of these accounts: living human beings accessing deep memories while in a
hypnotic state. Just as we have repeatedly stated that a discarnate entity's material is
always filtered through its host's consciousness, so are such memories filtered
through the mind, the hopes, the ambitions, of their human relaters. Nothing is more important to
human beings than relationshipsthe crux and crucible of growth and learningso it is no
surprise to find an emphasis on souls joining in the spirit realm, planning lifetimes together,
bound through millennia.
Our perspective is more detached, more clinical, for we have released earthly incarnations and
observe them as scientists might the denizens of a petri dish. The intense emotional bond humans
feel for each other is absent from our consciousness, except to be noted as a fact of
human existence. We speak less, therefore, of such matters than entranced human beings do.
Our model of reincarnation, as expressed in Earthly Cycles most particularly,
does not allow for the recycling of souls into new bodies, again and again, over the
centuries. That is a simplistic, comforting notion; and it is little wonder than human subjects
concentrate on such hopes. Ours, we submit, is a more sophisticated model, however cold
and discomfiting it may be to those still on their human journeys.
Q:
You say in Spirit Wisdom that knowledge
about earth's
electromagnetic field and its role in sustaining surface life, is nonexistent. Why is this so? Is
this knowledge linked with our setpoint or are there beliefs blocking this? Further, to
be honest, I find the situation rather weird. We, meaning humans, other species and Earth, we are
in a threatening situation because we humans harnessed electricity. I know there is a difference in
an electricity network for one billion people or for 7 billion people, but if the damage can be so
invisible to us (this must be known) and at the same time so threatening to Earth's health,
you'd expect more clearer warning signs (from the universe). Holes in the ozone layer,
autoimmune diseases, freaky weather, global warming, all disturbing phenomena, but none of them
points to the use of power lines. Why is this so? (W.B.)
A:
You certainly have plenty of warning signs from the universe! The issue is
one of interpretation, desire to find the root source of the problem, and will to remedy the
problem.
When Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, the problem of the decline of bird reproduction,
which imperiled the bald eagle, was generally known. The cause, however, remained a mystery (just
as the worldwide decline of amphibians and bees is in your time). It took her synthesis of the
available data to pinpoint the cause. A similar situation arose with the hole in the ozone layer,
which was attributed to fluorocarbons used in refrigerators, etc. The problem was well known, but
its cause a mystery until the scientific data fingered a likely culprit.
The problem with the effects of global electrificationwhich include erratic weather patterns
and damage to the subtle energies of human, animal, and plant bodiesis that the effects are
so enormous and diffuse. In the examples given abovethin egg shells, the ozone holethe
problem is discrete and identifiable. Erratic weather is not identified as a single problem with a
single cause: weather always varies. When noticeably extreme, such patterns are attributed to El
Niño, La Niña, global warming, etc. The problem is too huge and diffuse to be viewed as a
specific, isolated problem. As for the effects on subtle energies, their existence is not even
acknowledged.
Q:
I have known quite a few people who say they feel they have not found their
true calling in life and flounder from one seemingly meaningless job to the next. In
Earthly Cycles, Alexander speaks about the seven different families
of consciousness and
how each family has tendencies toward certain occupations. And it seems each aspect of the human
quadrangle may also influence the potential career field of an individual.
Given this, how can one discover or identify a career that is inherent in one's consciousness
that is fulfilling and rewarding? Is there even such thing as a person's true
calling? (L.A.)
A:
Consider that human beings have inhabited Planet Earth for over a million
years, and that civilization arose only five millennia ago, give or take. That means that for the
vast sweep of human history, there was no such thing as a career. Man or woman, chief
or warrior, priest or slave, one was born into one's position in life; choosing a
career was not an option.
Remember that the principal crucible of learning and growth is relationships. For many people,
there is no career or calling that is ideal for them, because it doesn't matter how they earn
a living; what matters is how they treat the people around them; how deeply and broadly they love.
Many of the jobs in your complex, modern society are routine and boring: ask any file clerk.
When we spoke of the families of consciousness and how they cluster in certain careers, we were
indicating certain tendencies or affiliations which naturally arise: an Innovator has to innovate,
and the principal realms for innovation are science and art. That said, an Innovator can be a
school teacher, a plumber, or a bureaucrat, and find room for innovation, albeit in a narrower
range. And the poor Agitators, who cannot sit still, cannot climb a career ladder rung by rung,
cannot conform to stultifying customs, rarely build what one would call a successful
career. If their lives hold promise and potential, it lies elsewhere.
If you are reading and contributing to this column, we may presume that your friends and
acquaintances tend to be of a metaphysical orientation. It can be especially difficult for those
with sensitive natures to find a career that nurtures and supports them; an industrialized economy
has other needs. In this case, it may be that a series of meaningless jobs which keep body and soul
together is the best they can do in the career realm; they must look elsewhere, to
other realms, to express their true selves and find fulfillment.
Join the conversation! Ask Alexander a question
here!
© Ramón Stevens. All rights reserved.