"Probably the most destructive thing we've been taught is that life is born of a series of circumstances, served up to us on this gigantic platter called Pot Luck, or Fate, starting always with the parents we were born to and the environment in which we grew up." (Pg. 6)

(Lynn Grabhorn, Excuse Me: Your Life is Waiting)

Perhaps one of the greatest teachers of creating your own reality, through personal choice, who slays the evil dragon of victimhood, is Lynn Grabhorn in her book, Excuse Me: Your Life is Waiting. We won't make a habit of plugging other author's books, especially as an introduction to one of Zeb and Zarna's most important articles, unless it warrants it--and this one does. But we are told in the ZZ Messages that others also speak the truth, and when we find it, we feel our role is to lead you to it.  

Freewill vs God's Will:

It seems many people shun personal responsibility for their life, preferring always to blame the results on someone, or some thing else, especially when things go "wrong." They prefer to live in denial and either assume that life is a series of circumstances, served up on this gigantic platter called Pot Luck or Fate, or that things happen according to some mysterious Divine Plan that is carried out according to God's Will or Karma.

Few are willing to step up to the plate and say, "I did that," or "I am responsible," like we said, especially when things go "wrong." But, what if the things that go wrong, ie., our mistakes, were planned by us, not by God, but in the before-life plan for spiritual growth?

Have you considered the possibility that you may have chosen to marry your "ex" so that you could grow and benefit from the experience? Or that “Bad Karma” is actually “Good Karma,” because it is of your own choosing?

I can hear it now: "You gotta be out of your everlovin’ mind!"

Perhaps, but maybe not. It matters little, for a few years ago I too would have agreed with you about my "ex," “Bad Karma,” and certainly about being “out of my everloving mind.”

One of the first messages I channeled as "Melvyn" from Zeb had to do with Zeb's take on "Karma." In ZZ Message #4 ( 11/23/02 ) Zeb said the following:

1. Karma is the deviation from your planned chart(s). Your charts are linked from the moment of your creation, to your final ascension--and not by individual incarnation. Karma is your expectations and desires and how you fall short of your evolution and progress [Your Soul Development]. If it is a debt, it is a debt of consciousness at your lack of progress.

2. Group Karma: You are linked not only with your primary soul group, but also your larger group soul(s). [Twin Soul Family, Mission Group Cluster and Soul Group] You choose what social order, environment, family, culture you come down into [during incarnation] and share their group karma... "As Above/As Below." (See The Emerald Tablet)

What about "Karmic Debt?"

5. To answer your question about "Karmic Debt," no, a murderer does not have to be murdered in a future life in order to fulfill some "karmic debt." He (or she) pays for the abuse in this [present] life, and in other lives [if the choice was made during his/her life and not before] by how his choices holds him back from his [Soul Development] attainment. His "punishment" is more incarnations until he gets it right. The same goes for the abuser, the rapist, the one who hoards his money while others starve.

Each opportunity wherein we fall short holds us back from our own enlightenment. Nor is it always the case that such abuses are unintended by the "victim."

When we choose, beforehand what we desire to experience to reach evolution [Soul Development], the one who chooses to be abused so he or she can experience the event and get beyond it also chooses his or her abuser. Often that abuser performs the task [pre-charted] at the request and in so doing suffers the wrath, social judgment and punishment, but in such a life as this, his "plan" or "karma" is not influenced. This is the meaning of your concept, "there are no victims."

Mel's Note: This is explained more fully in Part II of this article. Here and elsewhere in this article you should note that there is a "before plan" that you make before coming into this life, and a "here and now plan" you make once you get here. We are not aware of our "before plans."

If the "before plan" of the abuser was to "play the role" and carry out the abuse at the request of another, the reason why is always two fold: One, so the abused can have the experience and learn to grow from it, and Two, so the abuser can have the experience and learn or grow beyond it by experiencing society's repercussions in this life.

We are also told in the ZZ Messages that evil does exist in the physical realm and a soul can be overcome by it. If we allow it to happen by conscious choice, this can divert a soul from his or her “before” life plans.

It is best for us to remember that the "here and now" choices we make can and do override the “before “plans. One result of this, as we explained, is more incarnations until the individual learns to get his or her life “on track.” Let's continue with ZZ Message #34 ( 11-14-03 ):

These things are difficult for me to handle:  

[Note: This speaks directly of Melvyn Caryl and the choices they made, but we feel that it can benefit others.]

18. But some truths you can handle--such as your careful conscious choices made by you in your time and place that brought you to the moment of meeting your Companion Mates. Was this all planned? Of course. Could you still have missed that opportunity by choices left unmade? Of course. So do not place more importance on your "before choices" than you do your "during choices."

19. I believe there is a perfect analogy we can pull from Mel's mind having to do with "battle plans." "The best plans of battle change when the first shot is fired."

20. Yes, you and a host of others who are not privy to the future set about planning each of your coming lives, based on your past experience and current experiences, yet at your [soul] level you are not privy to future events until you reach our level.

21. So, planning is based on desire rather than what will be. Even the members of your Quadrant cannot insert themselves into your life unless you make the conscious choices that brings them in. Such conscious choices can be affected by such "unknowns" as how you are feeling at the moment of their entrance--whether your "future intended" has on an offensive color blouse or a garish tie, or forgot to brush his or her teeth in the rush to meet with his or her destiny.

Mel's Note: The next three paragraphs apply specifically to us, Melvyn Caryl, but we will share it with you for what might happen in your life.

22. Another mistake you make, honestly, without full knowledge, is that you assume your quadrant now is as it was in the life prior to this. It never dawned on you, perhaps the four of you are all that is left of a much greater number of souls traveling together--now has it?

23. There are others who were dressed for their performances, had their lines rehearsed, but missed their cue to enter on the stage of your life, or they were there and you missed them. Do not dismay--they were no more consciously aware of their missed "curtain call" than you were of their absence. As a result, they went on an alternate path, living their lives to the fullness of that alternative plan until their final hour when all will be revealed.

24. For those who have already reached that moment, there were no regrets--they wait eagerly for your reunion and together you will laugh at the missed cues and directions the last life has taken. There are no "losers" at life, only "choosers."

How much concerning relationships is charted?

25. All possibilities are taken into account. The final choice of the outcome is left to your "here and now." There is nothing left to "chance," you may think so at the time, but remember, that is before "the first shot is fired."

How much is pure chance?

26. By "pure chance," you mean random? The future is not predictable by those of your [soul] level and those who worked with you on your life plan knew no more than you. That is the way it was meant to be. If it were not, it would defeat the whole joy and pleasure of the experience. There would be no growth.

27. Have you not heard, "Life is a game of chance?" You create your own reality by the choices made in...your field of action, your play's "stage" of life. Think this isn't frustrating? You should see your guides. If they had physicality they would have plucked themselves bald long before now from pulling out their hair at some of your choices and missed opportunities. They would be hoarse from yelling in your ears, words you couldn't (or wouldn't) hear, giving you dreams that you ignored, and taking turns that thwarted all yours and their plans for your incarnation. Not all paths are equal. You know that without asking.

How much is influenced by your guides?

28. Zarna:> We, Zeb and I, do the best we can and are included here with your guides for you two [Melvyn Caryl] but you haven't always listened. Your conscious impulses are much stronger and more audible than our faint voices, or tugging of conscience in your gut feelings.

29. So, daughter of my heart [Caryl] what Zeb and I give you, you can use in your "Dating Game" [Soul Mate] article, but is it helpful? Probably not, for love is based on Hope not surity. Love comes with no guarantees. So do you give up Hope? No.

30. Remember, growth comes as much from what many of you perceive as your "mistakes," as from your "successes." How many of you would consciously choose to make the choices you deem as "mistakes" if you could see the future? How little you realize that often those "mistakes" are made to prepare you for greater things.

31. Such was the case with both of your [Melvyn Caryl's] first marriages. They were necessary for your growth. Did you plan them? Yes. Were they the best choices you could have made? No. Were there other "significant others" waiting in the wings for their chance to come on stage for their performance? Yes.

32. Did they get their chance to carry out their planned parts of yours and their plans together? No. Is that your "fault." No. It was your conscious choices that were made into your reality. So, Dear one, give others the format of your "Dating Game" [Soul Mate] article, as you have -- an outline of considerations that are important.

Conclusion to Part I:

(ZZ Message 36:4) You have come to accept that in between your physical incarnations you come Home to review your accomplishments in the past life and to compare that with what you planned. Then we expanded your awareness by reminding you that not only do you review your individual plans, but you also have a "Twin Plan" that you developed together before your first incarnations. You both accepted the fact that you have two plans you created and we only hinted at the fact that there are other plans above these that you participate in voluntarily--the "Master Plan" of your Mission Group Cluster. There is even a plan that we have created and one that we have chosen that is part of an even greater plan that we are all part of. That is the way it is.

Okay, friends,  it is time to rest your eyes and take a break. When you are ready, Part II follows just below.

  Melvyn Caryl

A Plan within a Plan

We learned in the conclusion of Part I that there are plans within plans and "bits and pieces" seem to fall together to form a larger picture. Let us remind you once again that the ZZ Messages are a work in process. Zeb and Zarna continue to teach and inspire us while constantly expanding on what has been given in fifty some odd messages. We are just beginning.

There are several conclusions we can draw from what we have already been given. It is possible that in future messages we may be proven wrong by Zeb & Zarna. It wouldn't be the first time. But we think it is natural and expected for us to put two and two together. What are some of these conclusions?

Conclusion #1:

We believe that even in life planning and charting "The Emerald Tablet" applies ("As Above/As Below,") in that there are multiple levels or layers of plans that we chose and therefore create, whether we are aware of it or not. In most cases in this life, we are not aware of the plans we made in the before life. Events seem to surprise us or happen by "accident," in many cases this is exactly the way our life was "planned."

Conclusion #2:

We know that at all levels there are "plans" that we agreed to or created by our own choices. Can we be surprised by events? Yes. Why? Because we are not consciously aware of our before-life plans, even though they are our plans from the Otherside.

Conclusion #3:

We are also aware of Group Plans that we choose to participate in with others, both on this side and the Otherside. Group Planning creates a mass reality. Therefore, we can conclude that we have a "personal reality" that exists within a "mass reality." Are there even higher levels of "reality" that we participate in willingly? Yes.

Conclusion #4:

Taking this a step further we can conclude that there is a "God Plan" based on "God's Choices" (or God’s Will) that we choose to be a part of by our own free will. And we can conclude another possibility from the article: Atlantis: Was NOT God's Destruction.

Conclusion #5:

ZZ's statement in ZZ Message 36.4 (Quoted at the end of Part I) affirms that there are many levels of plans, perhaps all the way up to and including the "All Thing's" Plan, and Zeb also assured us that He was not aware of the coming of the Atlantis destruction—no more than we are aware of some (or most) of our life mistakes or accidents. Could it be that at some level above the Zeb and Zarna’s level, that a higher level God knew what was going to happen but could not share this part of future events with our Creator Gods (Zeb and Zarna)?

This is only speculation, and we have been known to be wrong before—ZZ has no problem correcting us when we are mistaken—but would this be any different than our Creator Gods seeing our future events and not being able to share them with us? If they were to do so in complete detail, there would be no experience and therefore no growth. ZZ has said time and time again, if they gave us knowledge of the future then there would be no experience--which is the purpose of all life--not just ours.

Conclusion 6:

Is it possible that where the Atlantis Experience was an extremely painful experience that caused growth of higher level Gods, like Zeb and Zarna, that another cataclysm of such magnitude will never happen again? Possible.

Conclusion #7:

Experience brings growth, and experience resulting in growth comes from our choices. Those choices may be conscious choices, made as a result of a conscious decision, or they may come from unconscious choices that we allow others to make for us--making a decision without making a decision. We have to accept responsibility for the results of those choices.

In this too, we agree with Lynn Grabhorn, quoted at the beginning of this article, and others who say, “there are no victims.” We create our own reality by choices we make consciously or unconsciously, whether they turn out good or not so good. They are ours. But we can change our reality. We are Creators. As ZZ often says: "Are you not Gods also?" The answer is yes.

One who lives in a state of victim hood relinquishes their power. Our society is rampant with the disease of victim hood. As an example we see this manifested in ridiculous law suites by individuals who seek damages from fast food restaurants because they have over eaten and are now fat! Denial of personal responsibility strips us of our personal sovereignty. If you don’t like the way your life is going, only you can change it. Take charge and create it the way you want it.

Isn't that what empowerment is all about? Yet, many who believe in empowerment still hold on to traditional concept of retributive Karma. Why? Because they think it is vogue. Empowerment means freeing oneself from the dogma that restrains and binds us.

Conclusion #8:

Multilevel planning is evident in almost all things mentioned by Zeb and Zarna. For instance the "Cycles of the Soul."  When and why does your Composite Soul--the All of Who You Are--determine whether it needs another physical incarnation to reach its desired level of Soul Development?

The answer: After both the most recent life experience is reviewed and compared with your composite life experiences, a determination is made by yourself whether you have reached your ultimate goal or not. If that attainment is found lacking a new version of you is created, a plan is developed, and the reincarnational process begins another cycle.

Caryl’s Note! Excuse me, Twin, while I step in here for a moment to round this out a little. ZZ has mentioned that the incarnational personality who falls short of their goal might possibly replay certain portions of that life in an alternate reality—a parallel dimension. This is not punishment, but rather a chance to figure out what went wrong and make corrections—kind of a re-do of that part of their life. The new personality created by the Composite Soul that will continue the reincarnation cycle is in no way penalized by the actions of the previous incarnationl personality. They start out with a clean slate to learn from the past and mover forward.

C:> Sorry, Mel, I just felt there was a little missing.  

M:> That’s quite alright. Of course parallel dimension is a whole other subject that will be covered in a future article entitled Multidimensionality.

C:> Yes, and one that ZZ hasn’t said too much about.

M:> In time, love. We have just begun. I am sure they will get to it eventually. Shall we move on?

C:> Of course.

Conclusion #9:

There is much evidence within the ZZ Messages that this process is based on a higher plan, and is the motivation behind all creation. It is why the twelve Soul Groups were created, and why each one of them have a variable number of souls within them--no different than we each live a variable number of lives.

Conclusion #10:

We also believe that the number of Mission Group Clusters vary within each Soul Group as does the number of Twin Soul Families within each Mission Group Cluster, as well as the number of Composite (Twin) Souls vary within each Twin Soul Family--why? Because they each have different plans as part of a larger plan that they have to fulfill. And when those plans are fulfilled, what then? Graduation!  (ascension).

Conclusion #11:

Here is another tidbit we believe falls into the planning and progression process. There is always "One" at the center of every level. One what? One Soul or Over Soul, that carries the group identity or essence of all the other parts of that group. With each Composite Soul (the Whole of You) there is one identity that stands out as the one "oversoul" of who you are (and it is not necessarily your current personality or identity.) You are only a part of Who You Are.

Conclusion #12:

While we haven't seen much evidence yet in the ZZ Messages that there is an Oversoul of the Twin Soul Family we suspect there is simply because of the repetition of "As Above/As Below" and the fact that the Mission Group Cluster--the next step up has one.

Conclusion #13:

We do know that each Mission Group Cluster contains Twin Soul Families, and has one Oversoul. We suspect (but haven’t yet been told) that there is one Mission Group Cluster that is the Oversoul of all the other Mission Group Clusters within that Soul Group.

Caryl:> Kind of an oversouls, oversoul?

Mel:> That’s right. Because one Twin Soul Oversoul of one of the Mission Group Clusters ascends to take the place of the Soul Group Oversoul when it moves on.

Caryl:> Mel, this is kind of confusing without a picture.

Mel:> I know, it is difficult to picture. Forgive us, but at this point we don’t have the program to create one yet.

Conclusion #14:

We know that there are twelve Soul Groups, and twelve Soul Group Oversouls, not only because ZZ has told us so, but because when channeling several have come through with ZZ. We suspect that there is one Soul Group Oversoul that is not only the oversoul of one particular Soul Group, but also the Oversoul of the eleven other Soul Group Oversouls and we have good reason to believe that this One Oversoul of all the Soul Group Oversouls is Zeb and Zarna. (At the time this was written this was not yet confirmed. )

Why? Because of our Love and Devotion to "our" Creator Gods? No. The ZZ Message is for everyone, not just the members of our Soul Group. It appears that ZZ acknowledges this by including everyone within theirs. Could this be another example of: "We Are All One?" Perhaps. It would fall in line with the "As Above/As Below" if all souls as well as humankind are One.

It would also fall in line with what they have been telling us in their personal messages regarding their immanent ascension. There appears to be an overall progression of planning, experience and growth, followed up eventually by "moving up" or ascension that is about to take place soon with the beginning of a new Grand Cycle.

How does "evil" figure into all this?

Ah! You remembered about the "Bad Karma." While we [Melvyn Caryl] do not claim to have all the answers we can relay to you what ZZ has said so far. Evil only exists in physical dimensions and in the lowest level of the Astral Plane. There are still gaps in our understanding, for we have not yet been given the complete story.

Evil or the Dark Side appears to manifest itself in the physical realm as a contrast in relativity to the good or God Self (Soul) within us. Yet we are assured that even the smallest or youngest soul has more power than evil.

ZZ Message, 21:12   They [evil] have only the life [that] you and others gave them, and that life is eternal. But they are not “Competing Gods,” nor "Fallen Angels," they are less than even the smallest soul that shines forth [with] the light of truth and love… 13: 13 . They are the shadow beings that dwell at the lowest level of the Astral.