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  Healer. Healers are often drawn to the physical or mental healing professions, but are found in other areas as well. Their chosen theme of Healer can express itself in a variety of forms, all of them involving easing pain and improving general well-being. It’s imperative that Healers protect themselves from empathizing too closely with those they’re trying to heal and to pace themselves carefully to avoid an overload of the stress, pain, and illness their theme has drawn them to.

  Humanitarian. Humanitarians are born to extend themselves to humankind. Instead of addressing life’s inequities through sit-ins and protests, Humanitarians step past the protestors to directly feed the hungry, house the homeless, bandage the wounded, teach the uneducated, and generally tackle the world’s ills head-on. They face a twofold challenge: knowing there’s an infinite amount of work to be done, but also knowing when and how to keep themselves from burning out.

  Infallibility. Those with the Infallibility theme are seemingly born with everything—looks, talent, intelligence, privilege, wit, grace, and so on. And believe it or not, theirs can be an unusually difficult theme. Their problems are rarely taken seriously. They’re often resented for their advantages and can feel secretly unworthy for not having had to earn their privileged place in society. It’s not unusual for them to be uniquely drawn to such excesses as obesity, promiscuity, or substance abuse, almost as if they are trying to balance the scales by creating difficulties they were not born with. Because many things have come easily to them, they can feel emotionally inept in situations that challenge their character.

  Intellectuality. The best expression of this ultimate thirst-for-knowledge theme are people who study throughout their life and continuously use their wealth of education to inform, improve, nourish, and expand life on earth. The worst expression of this theme is found in the many versions of the “professional student” whose sole purpose is the self-directed goal of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, hoarded instead of shared, which is of no use to anyone but the one who possesses it.

  Irritant. The constant, deliberate pessimists, the faultfinders, those who are never at a loss for something to complain about have chosen the Irritant theme. For such a difficult theme, it’s amazing how many people seem to have chosen it. They’re helpful in teaching us patience, tolerance, and nonengagement in negativity, while they struggle to overcome the very negativity their chosen theme demanded they embrace.

  Justice. Those with the Justice theme are committed to an active, lifelong pursuit of fairness and equality. Some of our greatest presidents and activists are exquisite examples of the Justice theme at its finest. At its worst, when it is misguided and without God as its center, this passion for righting a wrong can result in riots, anarchy, and vigilantism.

  Lawfulness. Law enforcement and the practice and teaching of law are among the professional expressions of the Lawfulness theme, which revolves around a driven concern with safeguarding that line between legality and illegality. Elevated, those with this theme are devoted public servants who fiercely help maintain order and balance in this world. Corrupt and abusive with their power, they’re an insult to the theme they chose.

  Leader. Oddly, people with a Leader theme might be gifted at their ability to lead, but they’re almost never innovative, instead choosing to become Leaders in already established areas—for example, lawyers who gravitate toward highly publicized cases and thrive in the resulting spotlight, instead of devoting their expertise to making significant improvements in the judicial system. Perfecting this theme would involve changing their top priority from pursuing their own success to exploring new socially relevant frontiers.

  Loner. Loners are often socially active and visible, but tend to choose careers and lifestyles that will allow them to be isolated. They’re content alone and usually enjoy their own company, and they often struggle to overcome feeling drained and irritated when other people spend too much time in their space.

  Loser. The Loser theme is essentially the Fallibility theme without the physical, mental, or emotional challenges. Those with the Loser theme have many advantages and good qualities, but because they’re determined to feel sorry for themselves they insist on disregarding them. They seek attention through being martyrs, and if there’s no melodrama in their lives, they will create it. Like Irritants, they can inspire us to be more positive and to dislike their behavior without judging them as people.

  Manipulator. Manipulators approach their lives and the people in them like a one-sided chess game, controlling them to their advantage and often with remarkable talent. This is a powerful and not necessarily negative theme. When this theme is devoted to the highest, God-centered good, Manipulators can have an enormously positive impact on society. When the theme is abused, Manipulators are too self-absorbed to concern themselves with anyone’s well-being but their own, at everyone else’s expense.

  Passivity. People with the Passivity theme are sometimes perceived as weak, when in fact they’re more accurately described as uncommonly sensitive to emotional disruption. They have opinions, but express them most effectively in a nonconfrontational manner, and when they take a stand on issues, they’re strictly nonviolent. It’s difficult for those with a Passivity theme to cope with extremes, but a little tension can be a valuable tool for spurring them into their form of action.

  Patience. One of the more challenging themes, Patience takes constant effort in a world in which impatience is almost considered an admirable coping skill. The choice of Patience over a less difficult theme indicates an eagerness to move more quickly on the spirit’s journey toward perfection—in other words, Patience, in a way, indicates a spiritual impatience. Along with their ongoing battle against snapping at stress, those with a Patience theme frequently fight the guilt of occasional lapses in efforts toward their goal and of the anger they feel their theme demands they suppress. Recognizing how hard their choice of themes really is can help them be more forgiving of themselves.

  Pawn. Pawns are those whose role is to be used as the fuse that ignites something of great magnitude, either positive or negative, to emerge; as such they are essential in the advancement of the universal spirit. Possibly the most classic historic example of a Pawn is Judas, whose paid betrayal of Christ was ultimately a critical element in the birth of Christianity. People who choose the theme of the Pawn, important in their way as they are, have to be vigilant in aligning themselves with only the worthiest, most loving causes.

  Peacemaker. Peacemakers are those extremely dedicated to stopping war and violence. Unlike those with the themes of Passivity and Harmony, Peacemakers typically show a surprising amount of aggression and zeal in efforts for peace. Their allegiance to peace is far greater than their allegiance to any group or country, and they’re not opposed to achieving a bit of celebrity as part of a noble, highly visible cause.

  Perfectionist. The Perfectionist theme is exactly what it sounds like: those who need and expect perfection in every aspect of their lives—their work, their personal lives, their houses, their cars, their clothing, and their friends. Because they also expect perfection from themselves, they’re most appreciated when they stop writing improvement memos to everyone else and direct those memos inward. They’re very valuable in their ability to get things done and done well, but they also have to realize that nothing on earth is perfect and all things here are passing and transient.

  Performance. Those with the Performance theme might pursue a career in the entertainment field, but are just as likely to be content with being the life of the local party, office, or classroom. They’re nourished by the spotlight, however large or small it might be. Too often they form their opinions of themselves exclusively through the eyes of others, which they need to combat by reserving some of their considerable energy for introspection and learning to provide their own spiritual and emotional nourishment.

  Persecution. Those with the Persecution theme are not only constantly braced for the worst possibility, but are actually convinced they�
��ve been singled out for special bad luck and negative attention. Happiness is literally frightening for them, because they’re sure they’ll have to pay too high a price for it or that it can simply be snatched away from them at any moment. Overcoming the Persecution theme takes enormous strength, but the reward for overcoming it is remarkable spiritual advancement.

  Persecutor. Persecutors are typically aggressive, self-justifying sociopaths who will abuse and even kill without guilt or remorse and without the mitigating factor of mental or emotional illness. Obviously, it is almost impossible to understand the purpose of this theme in the span of a single lifetime, but they can inadvertently test, challenge, and inspire progress in our laws, our judicial systems, our forensics techniques, our moral boundaries, our social consciousness, and the unity of humankind.

  Poverty. The challenge of the Poverty theme is obviously prevalent in third-world countries, but is almost more difficult in the midst of affluence, where privilege can look mocking and unfairly imbalanced by comparison. Even the advantaged can exhibit a Poverty theme, perpetually feeling that no matter how much they might have, it’s not enough. Endurance, hope, and a perspective on the cosmic irrelevance of material possessions can provide brilliant spiritual growth for those who choose this uniquely demanding theme.

  Psychic. You would think this would be my primary theme, but no. People who choose a Psychic theme often design strict childhood environments for themselves, where their ability to sense things beyond “normal” is met with severe disapproval. The challenge of the Psychic theme is to learn to accept the ability not as a burden, but as a gift and to put it to its highest, most unselfish, most spiritual use.

  Rejection. Those with the Rejection theme usually experience alienation or abandonment in early childhood and proceed with those same patterns throughout their lives. Hard as it is, the challenge for those with this extraordinarily difficult theme is to recognize Rejection not as a burden beyond their control, but as a specific theme chosen so they can learn that when the spirit is whole and self-reliant for its identity, the acceptance or rejection of others is no longer relevant.

  Rescuer. Rescuers gravitate toward Victims, wanting to help and save them, even if the Victims have obviously created their own crisis or don’t particularly want to be saved. Rescuers are typically at their strongest in the presence of the weakest or most helpless, and they’re highly empathetic, but they can easily be victimized if they don’t maintain a safe emotional distance from those they’re trying to rescue.

  Responsibility. Those who choose a Responsibility theme embrace it not as an obligation, but as a form of emotional nourishment. Their joy is in active, hands-on accomplishment, and they feel guilty if they’re aware of something that needs to be done and don’t see that it’s tended to. Their challenge is to become unselfish enough to remember that very often the people around them need the nourishment of assuming responsibility and accomplishing something too.

  Spirituality. Those with the Spirituality theme spend a lifetime in a fervent search of their own spiritual center, if not as a profession, then certainly as a constant personal drive. The more they search, the more new territory they’re compelled to explore, and at its highest level the Spirituality theme creates boundless inspiration, compassion, far-sightedness, and tolerance. At its lowest, it can manifest itself in narrow-mindedness, judgmentalism, and the dangerous isolation of fanaticism.

  Survival. Yes, to a degree, we would all seem to have a Survival theme. But to those who have specified this theme, life is a relentless, ongoing struggle, something to be endured despite the fact that the odds are stacked against them. They usually excel in crisis situations, but they have trouble distinguishing between a true crisis and their grim view of common everyday challenges. They should all be given and take to heart a bumper sticker reading, “Lighten Up!”

  Temperance. The Temperance theme is typically accompanied by an addiction to deal with and overcome. Even if the actual addiction never manifests itself, people who choose this theme have to fight a constant sense of vulnerability to potential addiction, whether it is to a substance, sex, a lifestyle, or another person. They also have to avoid the opposite extreme of becoming fanatically or psychotically repelled by what they perceive as something that may be a potential addiction. The key to the progress of the Temperance theme across the board is moderation.

  Tolerance. You name it, those with a Tolerance theme feel compelled to find a way to tolerate even the intolerable. Obviously, this can become a pretty untenable burden, to the point where they will eventually focus all their energy on one area they feel they can universally tolerate most easily, while becoming either narrow-minded or oblivious to everything else around them. Their growth can be accomplished by recognizing the theme that is causing such an unrealistic and indiscriminate view of the world and learn that being magnanimous is only worthwhile when its target is worthy.

  Victim. By definition, life’s sacrificial lambs. Their purpose among us is to throw a spotlight on injustice and inspire us to take action and make changes for the better. Abused and murdered children, targets of hate crimes, and those who have been wrongly convicted of violent felonies and then subsequently proven innocent are among those whose Victim theme is devoted to the interest of the highest good.

  Victimizer. Here to achieve absolute control over as many victims as possible, for the purpose of being surrounded at all times by visible proof of their own power. The will and feelings of their victims are meaningless until and unless they are in perfect agreement with those of Victimizers, and the only compassion they are capable of is toward their own hypersensitive, insatiable ego. On a small scale, they are the controlling lover or spouse, the stalker, the pathologically overzealous parent, and so on. On a larger scale, they are Jim Jones of the People’s Temple, “Bo” and “Peep” orchestrating the Heaven’s Gate mass suicide, David Koresh of the Branch Davidians—anyone who demands such slavish devotion that even children, who were given no options, were sacrificed not in the name of God, but in the name of the Victimizer.

  Warrior. Our fearless risk takers, our soldiers, our pioneers, astronauts, firefighters, and countless other unsung heroes in countless other professions with the courage to step up to a physical, moral, or spiritual challenge. They work in every sphere, from the mundane landscape of everyday life; to the front lines of wars against crime, drugs, natural disasters, and homicidal tyrants; to the vast unconquered worlds in space. Without direction, Warriors’ aggression can be destructive. But when focused, especially with a secondary Humanitarian theme, those with a Warrior theme can make historic contributions of global significance.

  Winner. The Winner theme differs from the Infallibility theme in that Winners have an active, pervasive compulsion to achieve and triumph. They are perpetual optimists, always believing that the next business deal, the next relationship, the next roll of the dice at the crap table, the next lottery ticket or sweepstakes entry, the next job or even the next marriage or child will be the one they have been waiting for, that will make all the difference. In its finest form, Winners’ unfailing optimism and ability to pick themselves up from every failure and move on with confidence is inspiring and exhilarating. Without frequent reality checks, though, Winners can squander their money, their security, and their lives with too many impetuous, undisciplined, and uninformed decisions.

  Mission Life Entities

  Mission Life Entities are among the most advanced spirits among us on earth, which is why there are so few of them mentioned in this book.

  Each and every one of us has our own God-devoted purpose, whether our conscious minds are aware of it or not. Every incarnation we live here and every moment we spend on the Other Side are stepping-stones toward fulfilling that purpose. It’s essential to remember that no one purpose is more important than any other—every purpose toward God’s greater good is indispensable and equally valuable. If you find yourself doubting that, try to imagine a world full of kings and presid
ents with no teachers, nurses, miners, charity workers, cooks, mechanics, homemakers, and all the other residents of this planet who contribute to our day-to-day lives, or an army filled with nothing but generals and not a single foot soldier. Whatever our purpose, it’s ours to commit to, excel at to the very best of our ability, and know that, in God’s eyes, the very best of our ability is all He asks.

  Those who volunteer for the purpose of Mission Life Entity have essentially said, “Wherever on this earth you need me, God, I’ll willingly go.” They’ll sacrifice their own needs and their own comfort for the mission they’ve signed on for: to compassionately, selflessly rescue, affirm, inspire, ignite, and celebrate the essential genetic connection to the divine in every one of God’s children they encounter, no matter what it takes or where it takes them.

  Mission Life Entities don’t try to recruit or convert others or preach any specific dogma or religion. They’re kind, generous, and tireless, never claiming superiority or some elevated closeness to God. They include and embrace humankind rather than trying to isolate or estrange anyone. And they can be found in all walks of life, with a variety of job titles and varying levels of social status. Their purpose isn’t dependent on the amount of media exposure they can attract. It’s expressed through quiet generosity, universal empathy, and their ability to enrich the spiritual well-being of humanity during their time on this earth, a profoundly satisfying, very advanced path often filled with hardship and turmoil, which is why it’s a journey only a few rare souls choose to take.

  Mystical Travelers

  Mystical Travelers can most easily be described as Mission Life Entities with a broader range. What they have said to God about their soul’s journey is, “Wherever in this universe you need me, I’ll willingly go.”