They say life is a “journey”, a “school” and is here to teach us “important lessons”. But why?
Have you ever considered the possibility that the lessons we learn and wisdom we accumulate in this life, extends into other lives? Is it perhaps possible that our life is not the only journey of experience, advancement and maturing – but the whole of conscious existence is?
Is it possible that reincarnation, also known as metempsychosis, is responsible for the tremendous range of world views, instinctual drives and essential life decisions we make?
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What makes us so different from one another? What makes one person wise beyond their years, another driven by power, and another childlike, despite their age?
Regardless of whether you believe in, or entertain the possibility of reincarnation or not, you will find that the following Soul Ages theory applies to the vast variety of people in your life.
Table of contents
What Exactly is a “Soul Age”?
According to the Soul Age theory, man doesn’t have simply one shot at living and learning. He has multiple lifetimes in which to grow, learn and mature.
Soul Ages are based on the different levels of advancement a soul obtains throughout its reincarnational journey (inspired by the Michael’s teachings framework). As a person progresses through the hierarchy, paying off karma as he or she advances, it is said that he or she is free to return to universal and infinite consciousness at the end, achieving final liberation.
Some call this the state of “nirvana”, others “heaven” and others “paradise”.
The 5 Soul Ages
Understanding the different levels people exist on is a useful way of developing empathy, understanding and insight. Also, these are all essential keys to enhancing the connection we have with our souls through inner work.
Below are the 5 Soul Ages in order from ‘beginner’, to ‘intermediate’, and then to ‘advanced’. You’ll also discover the sixth Soul Age which transcends all others: the Elder Soul.
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1. Infant Souls
Primary Focus: Being alive.
Lessons To Learn: Basic life skills, survival, mortality, physicality.
Age Comparison: 0 – 4
Key Characteristics: Raw, untamed, playful, excitable, unsophisticated, tribal, cautious, childlike, group-reliant, hunter-gatherers.
Also known as Newborn Souls, these people are often perceived by others as being ignorant, childish and innocent to the complexities of life. Possessing a very simplistic understanding of life, and a genuinely guileless approach to the world, Newborn Souls find it hard to adapt to ‘civilized society’. Instead, they prefer familiar clans, tribes and groups of people in wild, untamed environments. If this sounds like you, take the Infant Soul Test.
2. Baby Souls
Primary Focus: Belonging.
Lessons To Learn: Social structure, rules, roles, human relations.
Age Comparison: 4 – 13
Key Characteristics: Compliant, regimented, dutiful, role-defined, absolutist, disciplined, traditional, strong values.
Also known as Child Souls, these people seek to make meaning, order and stability out of the chaotic and uncertain nature of life. Perceived by other people as being clean, modest and rigid, Child Souls tend to be very conservative, religious and rule-bound. The Child Soul’s beliefs and senses of self are defined by their culture and traditional moral or religious system. If this sounds like you, take the Baby Soul Test.
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3. Young Souls
Primary Focus: Independence.
Lessons To Learn: Personal-advancement, free will, personal-achievement.
Age Comparison: 13 – 29
Key Characteristics: Ambitious, competitive, innovative, material gain, enterprise, freedom, individualism, self-centered, self-expression.
Also called Teenage Souls, these people often live by the maxim “my way or the highway”. The Teenage Soul, similar to an adolescent, seeks independence, social status and material gain. Essentially, these people are agents of change and are responsible for many of the greatest advancements in the world. Driven and externally focused, Teenage Souls tend to be “workaholics”. If this sounds like you, take the Young Soul Test.
4. Mature Souls
Primary Focus: Interpersonal harmony.
Lessons To Learn: Empathy, psychological stability, interdependence, self-awareness, relationships.
Age Comparison: 29 – 55
Key Characteristics: Sensitive, inquisitive, neurotic, diplomatic, introspective, egalitarian, cooperative.
Also known as Adult Souls, these people enter life seeking interpersonal and psychological harmony. Adult Souls are often perceived as being neurotic but caring. Focusing on the inner world, these people often struggle with the complexities and subtleties of life. The mature soul is liberal, relationship-orientated and visionary. Life is no longer about survival, role-filling or material gain for the Adult Soul, but about understanding, empathy and camaraderie. If this sounds like you, take the Mature Soul Test.
5. Old Souls
Primary Focus: Spiritual fulfillment.
Lessons To Learn: Non-attachment, autonomy, wise counsel, spiritual awareness.
Age Comparison: 56+
Key Characteristics: Solitary, spiritual, detached, philosophical, humanitarian, tired, unmotivated, empathetic.
Right at the end of the reincarnational cycle comes the Old Soul. Having already experienced the previous 4 stages of existence, the Old Soul has a well-rounded knowledge of society, relationships and the world at large. At this point, the Old Soul finds day to day life very uninteresting, and little can surprise or compromise their self-assurance. Relaxed and philosophical about life, Old Souls radiate depth, calmness and wisdom. The Old Souls focus is on self-actualization and self-fulfillment. To the Old Soul, life is an interconnected tapestry – one of which they strive to become One with. If this sounds like you, take the Old Soul Test.
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6. Elder Souls
Elder Souls are the completion of the Soul Age cycle. An Elder Soul is an Awakened Being who has gone through a spiritual awakening and reunited with and embodied his or her True Divine Nature. In our society, we often refer to Elder Souls as “enlightened” or “spiritual Masters.” Read more about Elder Souls.
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Although most people don’t fit strictly within each category, often overlapping others, many people tend to inhabit one Soul Age more than the other.
Which Soul Age are you? I’d love to know below!
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So true,i am 20 nd i knew this same exact thing abt soul age,no one told me this but i just knew,nd i am surprised to read this.and i think our early life’s influence our current life, and this article will only be found by old or elder souls, that’s a fact.thanks for providing this!
I’m an old soul I was right yay
Mature soul for sure. Lots of therapy, addiction issues and various relationship troubles of a soul in midlife crisis haha. I am working through it and trying to wrap up the loose ends of my previous lives, trying to find healthy coping mechanisms and get out of my head more. It is difficult, it’ll be great to experience the peace of being an old soul one day, one life.
I have been told that my Soul Age is a 6, which I believe is an Old Soul. I have read up on that and it completely resonates with me on every level. Thank you for affirming what I have believed since I was a very young child.
I would also like to say, thank you so much for this article! It helps me have a lot more compassion for others and understand them a lot better :) All my life so far I have been very angry and frustrated with Baby Souls and Young Souls, because of how they oppress others in the name of tradition, and how they allow others to suffer in poverty for their own gain. However, though I still feel those things are unfair, now that I understand why they are the case, I am able to forgive Baby Souls and Young Souls for doing that. Because it’s just a stage of development everyone has to go through. Blaming them would be like blaming a lion for killing an antelope, it’s the natural way of things, I must have done exactly the same as them in my past incarnations – in fact, perhaps some of them actually ARE my past incarnations! So I have no reason to judge them, they’re just the same as me, just in a different stage of the cycle. They’re not evil, they’re just growing. And that helps me feel a lot less frustrated and dissatisfied with the world, because I see now that this kind of stuff is necessary for all of us to grow. That doesn’t mean I’m okay with poverty and discrimination of course, I want to do my part to alleviate it. But this makes it feel less like the world is a bad place, and more like the world is a young place, that is learning how to live, and that’s something I can have a lot more love and compassion for :) It also helps me to have more compassion for myself when I slip up and do something selfish or restrictive as well, since I’m still growing and learning too. So thank you for this <3
That’s extremely insightful of you, StellarSkittles. Like you, I too spent most of my mid-twenties agonizing over the wrongs in this world, both past and present. Much of what you realized at 21 only came to me in my mid-thirties. In fact, nearly everyone passes through all their previous soul ages during their early life. For example, a young soul would function out of infant soul consciousness until the age of 4 and display baby soul consciousness between the ages of 4 and 13. He or she would only come into young soul consciousness thereafter. So it’s completely possible that you may be be transitioning through mature soul consciousness right now and may progress further thereafter. I only came into old soul consciousness at the age of 35.
I think I’m right on the boundary of mature soul and old soul. This may perhaps be the lifetime where I’m transitioning between them. I have a lot of empathy, interdependence and self-awareness, but I’m very emotionally unstable and very hurt by witnessing the suffering of others. I have started to become more detached and tired , and I have become curious about spiritual topics, but I still feel lost and confused by it all, and I definitely lack the self-discipline and motivation needed to properly pursue the path to non-attachment. So I think I might be just finishing off the last little bit of my mature soul stage and starting the first little bit of my old soul stage. My biological age is 21, so there’s definitely no correlation with my biological age, I think this is definitely a soul age thing.
I think I’m an early mature soul, perhaps just finished my young soul lessons. I certainly don’t feel like a young soul, or an old soul (I’m too fucked up lol)
Hi Richard, you’ll need to take this up with Amazon.
I see some of myself in Mature. Very little in Young (I am 17). A LOT in Old. I think that historically, Old is my predominate soul age. I have been called an old soul ever since I was three. I always got along well with adults and never quite fit in with my peers. Quite a few times, I’ve been referred to as wise beyond my years and an indigo child. Speaking of which, I think I might be a star seed AND a light worker. I really feel at home looking at the stars and love to question everything. I want to spread my wisdom to as many people as possible, but I know only a few will truly listen. To come full circle, I’ve even been told that my eyes are piercing, deep, and wise. I can also see elder soul because I’ve gone through a spiritual awakening and love to meditate/work my inner light. I am oftentimes preoccupied with the mysteries of the universe as I yearn to fully connect the dots and understand the cosmic picture/tapestry. Could someone help me determine what level I have manifested at in my particular soul age? I can really see old third or fourth, but I don’t know exactly where I fall on the spectrum. “One must know what’s wrong to understand what’s right, even if that’s comprehending the fact that there is no such thing as right or wrong beyond the human, illusory construct of our simulating dome.” ~ Anon.
Hi Elijah. As I told StellarSkittles in another comment on this same page, most of us tend to live out earlier soul ages during the initial decades of our lives. I only entered old soul consciousness when I hit 35, and it isn’t unlikely for a person to also call upon characteristics from previous soul ages when they’re necessary. An old soul can still call upon the energy and drive of a young soul while remaining detached from the materialistic outcome. The same soul can also call upon the empathy and sense of personal connections that a mature soul does, albeit without getting swept away by his or her emotions. Soul ages are stepping stones, not segregated boxes, so it’s perfectly all right to find yourself possessing traits from young, mature and old consciousness at the same time. So did I.
I’m an old soul. I have been told this several times but it never really made much sense to me until now. I really think I need to read your book.