Karma and Love in Mystical and Spiritual Relationships

Sacred Psychology of Love
The Quest for Relationships
That Unite Heart and Soul
by Marilyn C. Barrick, Ph.D.

"A wonderful marriage of the mystical and practical, this
soul-nourishing book is beautiful, healing and thought-provoking."

—Sue Patton Thoele, author of Heart Centered Marriage

Contents

Author's Prologue

Introduction

1 Mystical Beginnings

A Vision of Our Mystical Origin and Trek to Earth
The Quest To Rediscover Who We Are
and the Higher Meaning of Life
Pursuing Our Destiny of Love on Earth

2 The Story of Cosmic Union and Earthly Separation of Twin Flames

The Magnet of Attraction Between Twin Flames

3 The Role of Karma in Twin-Flame Relationships

The Drama of "Karmic Return" in a Love Relationship
Twin Flames, Soul Mates and Karmic Partners
Violet Flame Angels Help Us Balance Karma
The Wheel of Karma as a Cosmic Teacher

4 Someday My Prince or Princess Will Come—and Then What?

Love Stories Quicken the Hopes and Dreams of Our Soul
A Fairy Tale as Our Inner Drama
The Queen of Vanity Can Bear No Competition
The Seven Feeling Spirits and Their Special Gifts
Special Gifts for Our Soul's Chakras
The Trickery of the Ego Queen and the Poison of Her Wares
The Kiss of Spirit Awakens The Soul from the
Spell of the Ego
Prince Charming and Snow White as Metaphor
The Melodrama Of Discerning Good From Evil
Transforming Our Flaws into Virtues
Exercise: Discovering Your Lovableness
Exercise: Seven Steps to Help You Claim Your Lovableness

5 Saints, Sages and Mystics on the Mysteries of Love

Walking in the Footsteps of the Master of Love
Your Temple of Love, the Secret Chamber of Your Heart
Seeking the Counsel of Your Higher Self

6 Creating Sacred Relationships

Developing The Practice Of Lovingness
Trading in the Ugly for the Beautiful
Nourishing Heart and Soul Through Selfless Loving

7 Loving Relationships: Is There Really a Pot of Gold at the
End of the Rainbow?

Modeling Ourselves after the Perfect or Popular Person
To Be or Not To Be Real-That Is the Question
Claiming Your Sacred and Lovable Self
Exercise: Staking Your Claim to the Golden Virtues at the End of Your Rainbow

8 Chasing Fear Out of the Arena of Loving and Relating

Facing Off with the Hobgoblin of Fear
It's Okay to Talk to Yourself, You Can Learn a Lot!
A Seven-Step Prescription for Healing Fear
A Frightened Woman in a Big, Bad World

9 Disowning and Disconnecting from Your Real Self

The Painful Price of Playing to the Audience
Healing Your Inner Hurts
Relationships-Sweet and Bittersweet
Exercise in Happiness: Claiming Your Favorite Things

10 Getting To Know Your Inner "Other Half"

Understanding the Role of the Anima in Man and the Animus in Woman
The Drama and Consequences of Anima Projection
The Play and Epilogue of Animus Projection
The Negative Impact on a Man Who Does Not Integrate with His Inner Feminine
Conscious Integration with His Anima Restores a Man's Power and Nobility
The Price a Woman Pays for Not Integrating with Her Inner Masculine
Conscious Integration with Her Animus Reveals a Woman's Strength and Beauty
Taking a Giant Step Forward Toward Wholeness and Healthy Relationships
Exercise: Loving Communication with Your Inner "Other Half"

11 Relationships as a Reflecting Mirror

Friends and Loved Ones Mirror Our Positive and Negative Attributes
Turning a Blind Eye to the Mirroring of Our Negatives Is a "Lose-Lose" Drama
Risking Seeing the Fullness of Ourselves in the Mirror Reflection
Accentuating the Positives and Eliminating the Negatives in Ourselves
Turn Your Differences into Assets
Relationships Mirror Back the Ways We Treat Ourselves
Uncovering the Jewel of Your Real Self
Exercise: Healing Ourselves Through the Reflecting Mirror of the Other

12 Loving Communication: Communion of Heart and Soul

Guarding Our Words Keeps Others from Understanding Our True Concerns
Taking the Risk of Communicating Clearly, Honestly and Lovingly
Resolving Hurt Feelings Through Loving Dialogue with Our Wounded Self
Inner Strength, Peace and Calmness De-fuses Explosive Energy

13 Adopting Principles of Aikido when Conflict Arises

Taking Problematic Situations to Your Loving Friends Upstairs
Loving Forgiveness Opens the Heart and Heals the Rifts
Accepting the Challenge of Loving Communication
Reestablishing an Inner Bond of Love
Exercise: Recreating the Dynamics of Loving Relationships

14 Differences in Men and Women: How They Love, Relate and Communicate

How a Woman Resolves Hurt Feelings and Unsettling Situations
How a Man Addresses and Handles Problematic Situations
Loving, Sharing and Respecting Our Differences

15 Re-creating Parent-Child Patterns in Love Relationships

A Man's Radar Alert: Reclaiming and Resolving the Mother Projection
A Woman's Right to Freedom: Releasing the Grip of the Father Projection
Resolving Old Patterns and Adding Spice to Loving Relationships
Exercise: Communicating Lovingly

16 Love and Commitment Once the Honeymoon Is Over

True Love Is a Heart-to-Heart, Soul-to-Soul Commitment
Healing the Past and Creating a New Beginning
Creating and Sustaining Loving Communication
Ennobling One Another Through the Art of Loving Kindness
Nurturing the Three Parties to a Marriage
Essential Ingredients for Love and Marriage

17 Heart-Centered Loving in a Sacred Relationship

Rekindling Love Through The "best" Formula
Celebrating the Sacredness of Love
Attaining to the "I-Thou" Relationship
The Victory of Holy Love in Sacred Relationship
Exercise: Behold the Spark of the Divine in the Heart and Soul
of Everyone You Encounter

Appendix: Heart-to-Heart with Dr. Barrick: Questions and Answers

How Can I Be More Loving Even When I'm Stressed Out?
Why Is It in a Relationship with Someone I Love, We End Up Pushing Each Other's Buttons?
How Can I Love the People around Me When I Don't Feel Lovable?
How Does What You Are Saying Relate to Homosexual or Lesbian Relationships?
Every Time I Think I've Found a Really Great Relationship I Get Disappointed
—What Can I Do?

Acknowledgements

Notes

"In our search for the Beloved, whether inner or outer, we seek that mysterious blend of beauty and practicality which Dr. Marilyn Barrick masterfully conveys on every page. Synthesizing her knowledge of sacred text, her clinical expertise and her life's wisdom, she has written a book for anyone seeking to love or to be loved. With compassion and humor, she gives us an important tool for enriching relationships."

—Anne de Vore, Jungian analyst

A reader from Dayton, Ohio:
"This is a "Yessssss!" book on love and relationships!
This book offers such a harmonious blend of spirituality and psychology and is written in such a down-to-earth, comforting style, that I got right into it from the very beginning. The exercises at the end of some of the chapters are creative, thought provoking and very practical. And even though some of the ideas were new to me, I felt challenged yet comfortable enough to follow through with them.
There is a lot of information packed into this book, but it all relates to the healing of hearts and souls in a variety of human relationships. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for meaningful relationships, to anyone who wants their present relationships to have more depth and meaning and to anyone who needs healing from painful relationships from the past and who is hoping for something better in the future."