[Bit]

Originally Posted by foxyshaman

It has been exciting for me to actively seek the experiential aspects of Shamanism. I have pushed the boundaries, in my own ways, of gender and gender roles both in the physical world andin the spiritual world. I have found the the spirits don't really recognize gender assignments, such as strength, fortitude, compassion... rather they seem to expect the ability of the individual journeyor to transcend our preconceived notions of boundaries/gender.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

This is interesting. What I have found--remember, my experience is MUCH more limited than yours!--is that ghosts are generally gendered by their last lifetime as people or animals; for example, Margaret-Guardian-of-That-House remains not just female, but grandmotherly (I changed so much after I hit 50 that I'm almost willing to consider "Grandma" as a gender! lol, well, maybe Crone?). The animals who have come back to me as ghosts have come in a spirit form of their physical body, not always as the same species but always as the same sex, and the one who came back human was definitely gendered "girl/woman"... Maiden.

BUT the spirits that have chosen to work with me in my spiritual growth are different. They are not gendered in any way that fits my understanding of gender. Instead, they acknowledge my limits, my need to categorize, and they choose a gender for me to relate to so that awkwardness is reduced. In this case it is not gender that gets in the way of my spiritual growth, but lack of gender.

Originally Posted by foxyshaman

I absolutely agree with you that we do not have to remember our past lives in order to be affected by them. I accept that prior to entry we decide a great many things, right down to eye color and height. As an adopted child I struggled to find similarities in my family. I was very sprititually driven from a very young age. I came with my mystic tendancies fully activated. Soul sense is undeniable, at least in my reality it is.

It will be interesting to watch her grow up, and I too hope that you get to do that. It will be an interesting set of lessons to share with others, and hopefully understandings that you can take to your next life... providing you are coming back here. I love the Ella link.. just positively love it!!!

Lord love a GOOSE, Foxy, I dunno if I like that thought... does that mean I pre-decided to be fat?!

Oh.... wait a minnit... waaaaiiitttt jusssst a minnit... that one has possibilities.... No more guilt... "Oh, yes, I pre-decided my body size in order to accelerate the growth of humanity..." *snort*

Um. Okay, how come I have a nagging feeling this might actually be TRUE?! Did all us fat females make an agreement to change the world or something?!

Anyway, what I really wanted to answer was about coming back here, because that startled me. I used to be VERRRY firm that I. Was. Done. No more for me, please and thank you! I was DONE. I never ever wanted to be a helpless child AGAIN.

That's changed sometime in the past three years and I find myself taking it for granted that I will come back. I don't even know when it changed!

I do know that I hope to come back not just as a female, but as a Queer Femme, because I cannot imagine being the-me-who-I-am any other way. I think Spirit will have to be pretty convincing to get me to come back under any other circumstances.

Of course, there's 50 years of life to go before that bridge needs crossed... who knows how I'll change in the meantime!