4. STEPPING OUT INTO THE SUN
3 x 7 - the Soul Cycles - the first 21-28
We have looked at the first third of life, which is the building phase. Now, by age 21 the fullness of the physical person is available, and a new level of development begins. Just as physical development takes three cycles this will also take three cycles.
These three stages are about the development of the soul or consciousness. It’s the time of working from the inside out, where ideally consciousness emerges in line with the spiritual blueprint. While radical physical changes are not observable, from now on steps in the unfolding of our soul life continue in their sevenfold rhythm that brings us to age 42.
The Sun as the centre
The sun is the physical centre and powerhouse of our solar system, and metaphysically it represents our centre, that is our individuality, our ‘I’. Ideally, we have integrated our soul with our ‘I’ by the end of these three sun cycles.
In esoteric teachings the soul is threefold, and it’s connected with but not the same as the astral. The three expression of soul are:
Sentient soul – so-called because it is about sense perception;
Intellectual soul concerned with learning to form concepts independent of sense experience;
Consciousness soul which is about developing the ability to act according to the spiritual ‘I’ or I AM.
Each aspect of soul has a basic or lower and a higher expression. Planting the seeds and preparing the soul for the fulfilment of this higher unfolding takes place in line with the three soul expressions.
The sentient soul – years 21 to 28
The first seven years of soul development are concerned with the sentient soul years – ages 21 to 28. Sentient soul expression is the most closely connected with the astral, the realm of desire, because the soul is working through the senses which give us the experience of pleasure and pain, involving reaction and emotion.
To help us understand our development in this stage we need to distinguish between the astral body and the soul. It’s an integral part of esoteric teaching. We speak of the astral body when we are referring to how the awareness of an object comes about. The soul is that which can permanently store and benefit from this knowledge and awareness, and which grows and develops as a result.
Relationship with sense experiences can be instinctive with no real consciousness. The sentient level of soul makes us aware of the world around and of our needs and desires based on the physical. A task in these years is to become conscious of our emotional reactions and to understand why we react. Emotions are powerful forces and it is not easy task to direct them towards fruitful outcomes. You probably know people who have never managed this.
Sense perception involves memory in its simplest form. Let’s take visual perception, although the same process happens with the other senses. You perceive an object with your eyes, and when you close them you can recall an image of it in your mind. That is possible because while perceiving the object you formed a mental image of it. A process was taking place between your astral body and the ‘I’ that brought the external impression of the object to your consciousness. That process gives us the ability to remember our experiences. Without this we wouldn’t be able to recall what we have seen, heard, tasted, touched and smelt. These experiences are imprinted in the etheric, which means the memories become permanent and to varying degrees we can recall them.
Memory plays an important part in developing emotional maturity. We will look later at what often happens when this process begins to break down in old age. And how inner development of the higher aspects of the sentient soul comes through the ability to respond rather than react. That’s because responding involves the mind and heart while reacting is, well, barely mindful.
Twenty-one and so it begins
The twenty-first birthday party has a metaphysical basis to it. That’s why even today when ‘maturity’ in worldly terms of jobs, marriage and independent living is often delayed, it is still celebrated as the coming of age. This has an inner reality because inwardly the human ‘I’ or individuality is now activated. And hopefully we are becoming responsible enough to make decisions for ourselves.
This phase is strongly influenced by the powerful feelings and emotions which arose during puberty, and which now begin to mature. The sensitivity of the soul comes to the fore as these emotions are slowly refined and brought under control by the ‘I’. Things are experienced deeply and passionately on a feeling level, the first aspect of the inner self to influence consciousness.
Often older people see young adults as completely lacking in knowledge and life experience. That may be so, yet an outcome of the new relationship with the world around is idealism and a belief that anything is possible. This is the prime age for protesting against the status quo, especially when it’s seen as retrogressive. This is the age of fervently taking up causes. The world needs people in their twenties who give their passion and idealism voice, who see freedom as an experience equal to breathing and who long to just ‘live’ in an embracing consciousness.
The young adult is seeking their reflection in others about them – ideas, values, choice of occupation – through an urge to experience everything life has to offer. This is the time to accumulate experiences in every field of life, by being open, without reservations. In this phase there are often unlimited resources of energy. Risk-taking is part of it, with peer groups especially. Educators a