What is the origin of the word "Soulworker"?

There are many who are searching for more meaning in their lives along with a way of working through life’s questions that will work in the 21st century. Traditional methods and belief systems have left them wanting more. They see the results of this in their own lives and in the world. With the tools Soulwork offers they are able to understand and live their lives from a fundamentally different perspective. Soulwork brings the inner guidance they were born with to the surface and provides you with the tools to both see the bigger picture and embrace your role in it.

There also comes a time on our spiritual journey when we are ready to move to a new level of awareness. This is a very ripe and juicy time when we are ready to let go and really examine what we may have been missing. Every major spiritual, psychological, and philosophical tradition recognizes there are stages we all must pass through as our consciousness awakens, but most of us aren’t interested until it is our turn. Often this is a person whose life situation has brought them to the edge. They are “on the cusp” and ready to take the leap into the unknown.

A "soulworker" is a person who is ready to do whatever it takes to find the answer to their deepest questions, face their deepest fears, and align their life with their soul mission.

What is a "soul"?

Our soul, at its very basic level, is both the life force that sustains us, and a pathway to a world beyond common reality. It is much more than the temporary human form it associates with in a given lifetime...

It’s been very recent in the history of human evolution that we are able to understand our soul in a tangible way. Through soulwork one learns to recognize how the soul manifests through the intellect, heart, and belly centers. You can learn to know the difference in your own body and in others.

There are a number of different terms we can relate to when we hear the term "soul". Here are some examples of words or concepts commonly used to refer to the soul: Higher Self, Point of Light, Inner Star/Inner Flame, Beloved, God/Goddess Within, Guardian Angel, Bringer of Light, Divine Spec, Psyche, Authentic Self. These terms are described in greater detail in the book Ego, Soul, & Beyond.

What is "ego"?

The word “ego” is typically used to describe how we have come to answer the question “who am I?” It includes our idea of our own importance or worth. This description includes our deepest secrets about who we believe we are. Many of these secrets are no longer in our conscious awareness.
Sometimes the term "personality" is used instead of "ego".There are many definitions of this term, some of them contradictory. It can be challenging to know what someone means when they use this term.

What is "self"?

Our soul, on the other hand, transcends this ego identity and usually remains mysterious in its definition and in our awareness. The combination of ego and soul constitutes what I will refer to as “self”. A key aspect of any sincere and authentic spiritual path is to be able to consciously identify both ego and soul. Then the soulworker works on bringing both ego and soul into full awareness and actualization in a healthy and evolved way. Our view of who we are changes and expands as our soul awakens.

What is the origin and meaning of the term "pseudo-soul"?

It was necessary to come up with a term that didn’t have all the visceral and intellectual baggage that is typical of many spiritual and psychological traditions. Simply put, the pseudo-soul is that part of our consciousness that usurps control over our soul at a very young age. In order for a baby’s soul to survive in the world it develops an ego to be the interface with its new surroundings. The ego’s original and authentic role is that of a noble servant protecting and catering to the needs of the soul. As time goes by, the ego sees how the child has survived (no matter what the circumstances) and begins to take credit. This self-importance grows until it quietly assumes control over our consciousness while true knowledge of the soul with all its potential slips away. It creates a false identity that makes choices based on what it has come to believe the soul would want. This is where the terms “The Great Fall” or “Great Betrayal” originate. Soulwork gives us the tools and insights to reverse this lifelong momentum putting our soul back in charge of our life with the ego once again becoming the faithful servant. We are free of fear and confusion while learning to celebrate life in a new way.

What are some of the key aspects of a pseudo-soul?

First the dictinary's definition of "pseudo" is: "Not authentic or sincere, in spite of appearances."
A quote from the book "Ego, Soul, & Beyond" best explains its other important aspects: "When human consciousness evolved into the present day’s very sophisticated state of awareness, this very same consciousness had already been usurped by the ego to protect its false domain and keep us from evolving further. It simply got carried away with its newfound power, as we will come to see throughout this book. Some have referred to this as the Great Fall.

The ego had to create mechanisms to keep its mission in the forefront of human consciousness at any cost or, it knew it would literally cease to exist — it feared its own death more than anything else. The terror surrounding the idea of its own death provided the desperate need for mechanisms to preserve its very existence. This is the fear of all fears. However, nothing it would be able to do could banish this terror, since it’s very own existence was the basis of the terror in the first place. How could it kill itself? It would be far better to find mechanisms to perpetuate its existence:
First, it must do anything it can to defend against losing its power and control of consciousness.
Second, it must do anything to appear lasting, secure, permanent, immortal, and the center of all-knowingness.
Third, it must keep its true mission secret and guarded to prevent its ruse from being discovered.

It is within this context that our present day soul entered the world. We are inescapably influenced by the world into which we have incarnated. The majority has molded our world — fellow souls that are more or less in a common stage of evolution and awakening. Thankfully, there have been a small number of much more advanced souls in human history who have evolved much farther. These are the sages, saints, and teachers who have shown us the way. They bring us insights, maps, and guidance on how to proceed. Unfortunately, their influence has often been diminished by the interpretations of their followers, humans still trapped in various stages of soul evolution. We are challenged to peer through the veils all of our egos have created and to return to the core truths that have already been revealed to us by the masters."

What does it mean to be spiritual?

From the Introduction of "Ego, Soul, & Beyond": "At its core, “spirituality” can be defined as one’s relationship to consciousness. Consequently, depending on an individual’s depth and breadth of conscious awareness, their definition of spirituality will change, as will their definition of God. Often what stands between authentic freedom and our reality is the way society frames the concepts of God and Enlightenment. If we are to set our soul free to experience its highest attributes, then we must look at everything that might stand in the way. Consequently, Chapter 4, The Holy Grail, speaks to one of the greatest challenges we face in finding the ultimate answer to all of our questions — how our pseudo-soul has defined God. We come to find the Holy Grail does exist, just in a different form than we were led to believe."
The spiritual journey and what is behind the scenes of religion is really a journey intimately linked to the time our pseudo-soul (ego) struck out on its own and took over our identity and sense of self. An ego separated from its soul emerged and the spiritual journey unfolds. We continue to lose sight and conscious knowledge of our soul as we age. Until we are ready to readdress our true identity, our pseudo-soul grows stronger and more entrenched. Fortunately our soul remains persistent in trying to reemerge. Grace doesn’t stop flowing, but the pseudo-soul has a hard time seeing it. Many of us will work at trying to find our way home via a spiritual path. If conditions are right, we are blessed by something out of the ordinary occurring that causes us to awaken from self-deception and ask the really tough questions. Then we begin to break the shell, and the veils the pseudo-soul has created begin to part.