On the Consequences of Suicide
© 2002
>> I have a query about suicide and the soul… Obviously, in vast majority of cases, it's not a good thing. Could you indicate what Hermetics might consider the likely fate of the soul? Would it be quite horrendous in the various regions? Lead to an early reincarnation in the same family? I have read all sorts of things re: suicide and the soul, and am obviously only interested in the truth of the matter. Basically it is a wrong thing to do and the nature of post mortem existence is quite drastic. But I genuinely have wondered if there is a quick reincarnation as some say, etc. <<
The act of suicide itself changes nothing. One must still go through the astral post-mortem process of resolving all of the past incarnation's left-over emotional baggage. Therefore, what matters is how much one has left unresolved (and, of course, how willing one is to face it when it comes to the astral post-mortem context).
Most often, suicide is the response of someone overwhelmed by the emotional issues faced during their corporeal life and thus, their time in the post-mortem astral demands a great deal of work resolving the issues they could not face during incarnation. One would think, logically, that this would translate into a long time between incarnations but this is often not the case. The reason being, that most who are moved to suicide are very sensitive and (internally) open individuals and as such, they tend to manifest a greater ability to process the left-over baggage of incarnation in the astral context. In the astral context, emotions are immediate things without the distractions incurred within the physical realm (such as drug dependence, desperate circumstances, etc.). So, often an individual who commits suicide returns to incarnation rather rapidly . . . to once again face the learning of the same lessons they failed to learn in the previous incarnation (just like everyone else).
An individual who commits suicide also incurs the specific karmic burden of how their suicide affected their family, friends and loved ones, and this carries over into their next incarnation. Therefore, the greatest gift you can give to someone who has committed suicide is to forgive them and love them, regardless of their taking their own life and inflicting such emotional pain upon you. Your resolving of your own emotional response to their suicide (and don't forget to forgive yourself!) will greatly ease their own karmic burden.
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
31 Dec 2002