My father is the seventh son of a seventh son. Does this mean anything? I have often wondered about this. I've also often wondered about the idea of the "sins of our fathers" being passed down to us. How much does our family lineage affect us in each lifetime? Is our karma individual and carried from our own past lives, or are we also affected by the past actions of our family members?
Dreamchaser:
After extensive research, I was only able to find one reference to the whole "seventh son of a seventh son" thing. I learned that there is some folklore belief that the seventh son of a seventh son had mystical or unusual powers. I could not, however, discover where this idea came from originally.
Other than that, all I could come up with was the Iron Maiden song. I wonder if pop culture has implanted an idea in our heads that would not have been there otherwise. How many of us would ever say the expression "whistle while you work" if we had never seen Snow White? So at this point, it looks like there is no special meaning to your father being the seventh son of a seventh son.
As far as how much the "sins of our fathers" affect us, first we have to define sin:
1. A transgression of a religious or moral law, especially when deliberate.
2. Something regarded as being shameful, deplorable, or utterly wrong.
I believe that a "sin" is a personal act. No one else is responsible for another's sins. I do not believe that sin can be passed from generation to generation.
However, what some see as sin coming down through the family line can be classified as a DNA legacy. We pass down our "human stuff" in the form of DNA. We do, after all, get our DNA from our parents. However, we are not then slaves to that DNA. We can choose to alter ourselves and our behaviors. We all know the family from the "other side of the tracks" that had one child go on and become something great. That child chose to alter their DNA, so to speak.
We all do have traits that are inherent. For example, when I am listening to someone, I put my hand on my chin and tuck my head down. My birth mother does the exact same thing.
I know there is a portion in the Christian Bible that states what I do will affect generations to come. I do not believe that. My actions in this life do not affect my children's children in any way except what I teach MY children. If I teach them to be loving, giving, caring and forgiving people, they will teach their children the same.
Karma is an individual thing. Karma defined is: the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation. We carry karma from lifetime to lifetime, and are NOT affected in any way by someone else's Karma. So whatever your family member did in a prior life has no karmic bearing on you.
I wish you a lifetime spent building great Karma.
*****
Astrea:
The old superstitions about "the seventh son of a seventh son" come from seven being considered "God's number" in many Christian sects. Six is the number of Man in those Fundamentalist groups. Seven has always been considered a LUCKY number, and that is the reason people think the seventh of the seventh is supposed to be extra blessed or special.
The seventh son of a seventh son is supposed to be blessed with great luck and a strong connection to God. That person will live a "perfect" life, or as close to that as possible for a human being. Also, that person is supposed to be a wonderfully gifted psychic. Does your dad use his "power?" If he does, he could probably teach you a thing or two. I would tap into whatever he has to offer if I were you!
If you and your dad were brought up in an atmosphere of psychic acceptance, he'll know what he can do and what he can pass along to you. You ARE the daughter, and fathers DO pass psychic ability to daughters more than to sons. In my own family, it goes from father to daughter to son to daughter. I believe my family arranged that about a hundred years ago, so that neither sex would be left out of whatever "magic" we possessed in our family.
Your dad being the seventh son of a seventh son would also mean that your poor Granny is VERY TIRED with all those kids!
In my work, I see people struggle with other people's Karma all the time, but they always have CHOSEN to be part of that person's life. To take on someone else's Karma is something you agree to before you're born into each incarnation, and very few of us actually do that. Family Karma doesn't affect us once we're grown and out of the house.
It's easy to blame Karma for our problems, which actually are consequences of the choices we make in life. Although blaming others for our problems seems to be the order of the day, I've never heard it put just the way you put it! How freeing and relaxing to think that we could be victimized by our family's Karma and not have to pay for or learn from our own.
Unfortunately, we don't get to do that! Once we reach adulthood, our Karma is on us; our own individual actions in past lives come back to us in THIS one, just like they know the way. This doesn't mean you have to be victimized by your own Karma, either. The whole point in living many lifetimes is to LEARN. The choices you make in this life will become the Karma you carry to your NEXT life, so live right!
Astrea:
Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.
Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!
While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!
I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!
As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.
I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.
You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!
Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.
A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.
You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.