The Michael Teachings are a body of spiritual information, generally classed among "New Age" systems of thought, which proponents claim was accumulated through mediumistic channeling. They were first publicly described by novelist Chelsea Quinn Yarbro in her book "Messages from Michael" (Playboy Press, Chicago, 1979).

Summary

The core of the Michael Teachings is a multi-layered system of personality typing called the overleaves, as follows:

1. Soul Age (infant, baby, young, mature, old, transcendental, infinite)
2. Role (Artisan, Sage, Warrior, King, Server, Priest, Scholar)
3. Goal (Growth, Retardation, Acceptance, Rejection, Submission, Dominance, Stagnation)
4. Mode (caution, power, reserve, passion, perseverance, aggression, observation)
5. Attitude (stoic, spiritualist, skeptic, idealist, realist, cynic, pragmatist)
6. Chief Negative Feature (greed, arrogance, stubbornness, self-deprecation, impatience, self-destruction, martyrdom)
7. Center (intellectual, moving, emotional, Higher Moving, Higher Intellectual, Higher Emotional)
8. Body Type

The stated purpose of the system is to help the student develop compassion and understanding for himself and others, with the ultimate goal of total acceptance of self and the world as it is.

It has a distinct terminology, based on concepts such as Agape (Unconditional Love), Choice, Karma, Agreements and Monads.

The Michael Teachings provide detailed information on the function, strengths, and weaknesses of each overleaf, and on the larger processes of evolution of the soul (called "essence" in this system) from Infant Soul to Baby Soul and beyond.

History

In the mid-1970s, novelist Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and a group of acquaintances were experimenting with a Ouija board. They claimed to have received insightful, direct communications from an entity who referred to itself in the plural and called themselves Michael, and the group began to record them over the weeks and months following. In 1979 the collated messages were published under the

Further books were released, not only by the pseudonymous channel of the Yarbro book ("Jessica Chambers") but also by several other self-identified channels who claimed to have received messages from the same entity. By the mid-1990s interest in the Michael Teachings was at a height. Seminars, books, and personal consultations were all readily available in the United States and other countries.

Since then, squabbles among various channels and students of the teachings have created opposing factions, and groups stopped sharing information freely with other groups. Other channels have successfully moved the Michael Teachings into a more secular arena by not referring to the channeled nature of the material in their organizational and self-help books, and still others simply moved on to other projects. However, there are a number of websites and email lists where discussion of the Michael Teachings continues, and new channeled information is still available through these groups.

Books

Messages from Michael -- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. (October 1980) ISBN 0425065332
More Messages from Michael -- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. (March 1986) ISBN 0425086623
Michael for the Millennium -- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. ISBN 0425150747
Michael's People -- Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. (July 1988) ISBN 0425109321
Earth to Tao: Michael's Guide to Healing and Spiritual Growth -- Jose Stevens. (February 1994) ISBN 187918115
Tao to Earth: Michael's Guide to Relationships and Growth -- Jose Stevens. (February 1994) ISBN 1879181142
Transforming Your Dragons: Turning Personality Fear Patterns into Personal Power --Jose Stevens.(July 1994) ISBN 187918117
The Journey of Your Soul: A Channel Explores Channeling and the Michael Teachings -- Shepherd Hoodwin.(March 1999) ISBN 1885469071
Searching for Light: Michael's Information for a Time of Change -- Carol Heideman. (December 1994) ISBN 0964345501