Review of Our Spiritual DNA by Carmel Niland

I  just recently finished this fascinating book:

Spiritual DNA Book Review by Lalia Wilson

Carmel Niland’s book, Our Spiritual DNA: Twelve Ascended Masters and the Evidence for Our Divine Ancestry, stands by itself. Niland spent 25 years researching this book and it incorporates spiritual lore from Western sources, as well as some from the East. Niland’s thesis is that every human alive has a spiritual lineage that leads back to one of the twelve Ascended Masters, and to God. This spiritual DNA is not transmitted parent to child like our physical DNA, but instead assigned pre-birth through spiritual means to serve a specific purpose according to our life plan.

While many may take this book to mean a literal spiritual DNA, it is equally valid to consider these connections as threads of personalities, thus not requiring any particular spiritual approach nor violating anyone’s religion.

The book focuses mostly on western thought and western history, particularly through the lives of St. Germain and Mary’s three aspects as Mary the Mother, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the High Priestess. The focus on Western thought and history is for two reasons, one is the amount of material as we have 272 pages for an introduction and information on two Ascended Masters. The second reason, as Niland states, is that exploring some of the spiritual DNA lineages will require writers who are familiar with and likely speak the languages and know the cultures of other parts of the world.

Just as we as individuals might reincarnate as different genders over many lifetimes, so too will do the Ascended Masters. Both we and the Masters may have a preferred gender. Since there are 12 Ascended Masters and over 7 billion people on this earth, needless to say each Master is simultaneously embodied in many people. Mention is made of all twelve Ascended Masters and their psycho-spiritual traits and embodiments in human history.

The short spiritual biographies of various historical figures are fascinating. The name of the Ascended Master St. Germain, comes from his incarnation as Claude-Louis, Comte de Saint-Germain. As Saint Germain he was a linguist, violinist, raconteur, philosopher, mystic and alchemist. He was a bright light in pre-Revolutionary France and across Europe, given rooms near Versailles by King Louis XV. But the Ascended Master St. Germain has many leading roles in history following three sub-types as Pan, Loki, and Eros. He is mischievous, lucky and lustful. His Pan persona is connected to nature and manifested as the biblical Noah, Johnny Appleseed, and Robin Hood. He lived as famous dancers such as Rudolph Nureyev. He is also famous as a seducer in his lives as Casanova, Julius Caesar, and as Krishna with his 14,000 wives. As a debaucher he lived as King Charles II and Lord Byron. Ultimately St. Germain’s goals were to bring light to the world which he did as Thomas Edison, Homer, Plato, Lao Tzu, St. Patrick, and Columbus. These are just a few of the manifestations of St. Germain in history and in contemporary life. The energy of St. Germain is innovative, starting and establishing language, poetry, art, science, dance, music, entertainment, philosophy, engineering, navigation…

Mary has a quieter style. She displays grace and style as prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn, designer Coco Chanel and Empress Josephine. Mary is restless and questing as Robin Hood’s partner Maid Marian, poet Emily Dickinson, and novelist Virginia Woolf. Mary is a guardian of nature and creation as biologist Rachel Carson, and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Mary is the co-founder, partner, and colleague in the founding of spiritual movements.

In discussions of these threads through history there are some explanations of what seems to be evil. For example Queen Cleopatra, the last of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, had to fail in her duty to keep Egypt safe and independent so that power across the Mediterranean could be consolidated in Rome. Stalin’s purpose was to preserve Russia as an independent country.

The book concludes with ways to identify your particular spiritual energy, the result of which will assist you in aligning with your current life path. Methods to identify your particular Ascended Master include your first name and middle name, your aura color(s), and how you see particular threads repeating in your own life. To digress, even if you cannot see your aura color, and don’t have anyone to read it for you, most likely you will have a preference in color in your life—clothing, décor, your automobile—that is quite likely your aura color.

This writer received a free review copy from the publisher.