We know that at the moment of conception, out of millions of sperm, only one sperm joins with one egg if we are speaking of a single birth, to create a viable cell that begins to differentiate and multiply, first to form a more complex cellular structure, then an embryo, then a fetus. This in itself, is an extraordinary example of physical intelligence - intelligence on a cellular level that knows how to create life. However, beyond this is the spiritual event which occurs simultaneous to the joining of egg and sperm, an event that is necessary if cellular development is to proceed at all. In relation to conception, the spiritual and the physical are partners. They both must activate the sequence in which new life begins.

On the spiritual level, the soul that will incarnate into the mother's body has, prior to birth, been preparing for its new life, determining from the place of greater awareness and in correspondence with Divine intention, what the best course of development for the forthcoming incarnation will be. Not only are place of birth, family context, physical body, personality factors, and energetic variables chosen prior to incarnating, but the energetic matrix of the family constellation into which the new soul will be born is also a part of the decision to incarnate. The soul does not make this decision on its own, however, though it is freely chosen when it does eventually coalesce in a particular direction. Rather, each soul makes the decision with the awareness that meditation/contemplation gives to it for a period of time, enabling broad vision about what is needed for further learning and healing within the next embodiment or lifetime. If we think in terms of simultaneous embodiments of a multi-dimensional self rather than a sequence of embodiments or incarnations, then one can say that the soul chooses which aspects of itself it wishes to express in each and every incarnation. Both perspectives are valid within their own domain.

All of the great complexity of the decision-making process on the part of the soul takes place before the moment of conception. Yet, at the moment of conception, it is the spiritual force of Divine/human intention that descends from above, selecting from the host of all possible expressive channels, one single channel of choice for the birth that will be, and this channel becomes an energy force that is focused upon the joining of sperm and egg at the moment of conception and afterward. Here is one of the great miracles of physical-spiritual existence.

This energizing of the physical from the spiritual domain affects the joining of sperm and egg, creating the precise DNA and genetic makeup that the soul wishes to be the foundation for further development during a given lifetime. The choice at conception of which egg becomes fertilized is not a physical choice, nor is it a random event. It is a choice selected by the spiritual will of the higher self which orchestrates the creation of the genetic matrix from which all else emerges.

It is in this sense that one can say that while all conception initiates life, it is also true that life, the life of the spirit, initiates all conception. The process is twofold, the physical being dependent upon the spiritual. The miracle of this double joining of sperm and egg and spirit and matter is something that will become much more known in the future. Today, however, we can celebrate the great and ongoing mystery of life which materializes within time and space, events that are simultaneously taking place in the spiritual world.

Julie Redstone is a teacher, writer, and founder of Light Omega a center for spiritual teaching and healing in Western Massachusetts. The purpose of Light Omega is to create an understanding of the sacred transition into light that the earth is presently going through and the changes this will bring to individual and planetary consciousness.