“And when all the souls had made their choices they went before Lachesis in the order of their lots, and she allotted to each its chosen Guardian Spirit(the daimon), to guide it through life and fulfill its choice. And the Guardian Spirit first led it to Clotho, thus ratifying beneath her hand and whirling spindle the lot it had chosen; and after saluting her he led it next to where Atropos spins, so making the threads of its destiny irreversible; and then, without turning back, each soul came before the throne of Necessity and passing before it waited till all the others had done the same, when they proceeded together to the plain of Lethe …”
Plato, The Myth of Er, The Republic 1
We are not simply a bunch of flesh and bones containing our consciousness somewhere within the corner of a bodily organ called the brain. We are more than that.
Even if this thing called our consciousness is still a mystery that our science is busy catching up to explain, we deep down feel that our existence manifested as our body has a larger cause. Which also means, we don’t perish from this world as our body dies.
What is the source of this inner knowing that has no material clue? It’s because we carry a dim memory of our existence even before our birth into this realm.
We didn’t appear out of nowhere or out of nothing. We didn’t come empty-handed, even though people would prefer to believe the opposite. We, as a soul, arrived into this world with our own choices made and accompanied by a guardian spirit (the daimon 2) who guides us throughout our lives.
James Hillman’s description of the soul’s prenatal journey according to the Myth of Er illuminates why we didn’t come empty-handed.
“Before the souls enter a human life, they pass through the plain of Lethe (oblivion, forgetting) so that on arrival here all of the previous activities of choosing lots and the descent from the lap of Necessity are wiped out. It is in this condition of a tabula rasa, or empty tablet, that we are born. We have forgotten all of the story, though the inescapable and necessary pattern of my lot remains and my companion daimon remembers.” 3
Plotinus (A.D. 205-20), the greatest of later Platonists in Enneads further casts insights that our primary life conditions were elected out of many choices by the soul before human incarnation. 4
“Being born, coming into this particular body, these particular parents, and in such a place, and what we call external circumstances … form a unity and are as it were spun together …”
So many questions might follow suit in our head upon knowing this soul’s choice, described by ancient philosophers. However, one thing seems clear to answer for our existence here: We had a purpose to fulfill.
We, the soul, set the tone of our experiences based on necessity. Our body that we erroneously believe to be ‘I’ was chosen by us beforehand. The circumstances of our life – our parents and our families – were our soul’s deliberate selection to achieve something.
The soul comes before the body. Our body is the result of a cause, which is our soul. Our totality of being, hence, is not confined in the body, nor limited to the body. Rather it is rightful to say that our totality of being encloses our bodily form as an end product.
With this direction of understanding, I would say, we may be able to advance further in our development as a soul or spirit. Less fear of death. More courage to understand our lot – the circumstances surrounding us as well as events seemingly occurring toward us -, hence more patience to deal with.
Could you contemplate this for a while? Could you trace backward, by pretending you are a soul before birth and choosing many options as part of your life circumstances? Does something that you couldn’t accept or understand suddenly make sense for you? Could you give yourself a precious moment to reflect on this?
Jay
Note:
- The Myth of Er, Part XI: The Immortality of the Soul and the Rewards of Goodness, The Republic. Translated by Desmond Lee, Penguin Books, 2007.
- The Guardian Spirit is translated into many terms. I chose the term ‘the daimon’ to follow James Hillman’s narratives in describing the role it functions in unfolding the calling of the soul.
- James Hillman, The Soul’s Code, p46
- Plotinus (A.D. 205-20), Enneads, vol. 2, translated by A.H. Armstrong, Loeb ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1967), 3.15.
Leading by Reading 