Soul Ages: The 10 Levels Explained (Young Souls, Old Souls & Even Countries)

A few years ago, I was introduced to the concept of soul ages — a channeled teaching from spiritual medium and author Ainslie MacLeod. This framework resonates deeply with what I’ve seen for years in the Akashic Records readings I offer: the spiritual evolution of a soul follows a coherent path, structured in stages, and each one brings its own lessons, challenges, and transformations.

Every soul progresses through different levels — often across many lifetimes — and these levels influence how we perceive the world, what we value, how we react, and even the obstacles we repeatedly face.

Understanding your soul age can offer tremendous clarity on your path, helping you recognize why certain experiences repeat themselves or feel especially significant.

It’s important to know that there is no hierarchy between the levels. None are “better” than others — each soul age plays a necessary role in the global evolution of consciousness. We also spend many incarnations in each level before naturally moving on to the next.

In this article, I’m sharing the 10 soul ages in a simple and accessible way — and how these levels influence not only individuals, but also countries and their collective dynamics.

What Is a Soul Age?

In Ainslie MacLeod’s model, the soul evolves through 10 distinct levels over many incarnations on Earth. These levels aren’t a hierarchy — they’re a natural cycle of learning, where each stage carries its own themes, karmic lessons, and internal work.

As the soul evolves, it shifts…

• from fear → to love

• from survival → to consciousness

• from external authority → to inner guidance

Simply put:

• A young soul seeks security, structure, and clear rules

• An old soul seeks unity, peace, and healing

These soul levels explain so much:

why some people are rigid, others idealistic, others deeply spiritual — and why certain patterns repeat across lifetimes.

The soul returns until it feels it has integrated what it came to learn.

The 10 Soul Levels According to Ainslie MacLeod

Soul evolution doesn’t happen in a single lifetime — it unfolds across 10 successive levels, and we typically reincarnate 10 to 15 times within each one. In total, this often represents well over a hundred lifetimes, sometimes many more.

Levels 1 to 5 are known as young souls, while levels 6 to 10 are considered old souls.

At each level, the soul explores specific themes, learns new lessons, and deepens its understanding of love, consciousness, and its own mission.

Here is the structure that Ainslie MacLeod channeled and shared in his book The Instruction:

Level 1: The New Soul — “I’m learning how to exist”

The soul arrives on Earth like a cosmic newborn. It has almost no human experience. The world feels massive, confusing, and sometimes unsafe.

What the soul experiences here:

• learning what it means to be in a body

• discovering fear, hunger, fatigue, family, survival

• seeking very simple, predictable, stable environments

• understanding how to be an individual
  

Strengths: gentle innocence • simplicity • instinctive presence

Challenges: isolation • shyness • constant need for safety • very little openness to change

New souls often incarnate in small rural or isolated communities where life still feels “small,” manageable, and easy to understand.

Level 2: The Tribal Soul — “I’m looking for where I belong”

The soul begins to rely on others. It wants to join a group, a tribe, a community — but remains highly suspicious of anything unknown or different.

What the soul experiences:

• defining itself mainly through its clan

• fiercely protecting its own people

• distrusting other beliefs, cultures, or ideas

• valuing tradition, roots, and original religion
  

Strengths: loyalty • sense of duty • group solidarity

Challenges: nationalism • fundamentalism • rejection of difference • “us vs. them” worldview

This is the soul age of cultural identity and psychological boundaries.

Level 3: The Community Soul — “I follow the rules”

Here, the soul blends into a religious, cultural, or spiritual community. Systems, dogma, and authority make it feel safe.

What the soul experiences:

• following strict rules

• devotion to community

• strong conformity

• difficulty accepting ambiguity
  

Strengths: stability • discipline • loyalty to tradition

Challenges: blind obedience • moral rigidity • dependence on external authority

At this level, the soul learns collective structure — sometimes at the expense of personal freedom.

Level 4: The Moral Soul — “I want to do what’s right”

This is the age of morality. The soul develops a strong sense of right and wrong.

What the soul experiences:

• feeling called to be virtuous

• wanting to be “good” according to the norms

• judging deviations harshly

• becoming spiritually or religiously perfectionistic
  

Strengths: strong moral conscience • deep desire for integrity • commitment to one’s values

Challenges: judgment • moral hypocrisy • rigidity • difficulty with nuance

This age often appears in very religious or highly dogmatic individuals.

Level 5: The Explorer Soul — “I want to live, achieve, and push myself”

This is spiritual adolescence.The soul breaks free from moral rigidity and dives into raw human experience.

What the soul experiences:

• wanting to conquer the world

• leaving a legacy

• experimenting, creating, building

• ambition, competitiveness, material focus
  

Strengths: innovation • natural leadership • strong drive

Challenges: exploitation • strong ego • pursuit of power and recognition • difficulty trusting intuition

This is where the soul explores willpower, impact, desire — often intensely.Many modern societies vibrate at Level 5. The United States is a clear example.

The soul explores willpower, impact, and desire here—often in intense ways. Many modern societies resonate with Level 5. The United States is a clear example, as I explain in this podcast episode:

Level 6: The Awakened Soul — “Who am I beyond the material?”

The first level of old souls.The shift from 5 to 6 is often a shock: material success suddenly loses its meaning.

What the soul experiences:

• deep questioning

• spiritual or existential awakening

• need for social justice

• emotional hypersensitivity

• an almost inevitable identity crisis

  
  

Strengths: expanded awareness • sensitivity • idealism • longing for unity

Challenges: doubt • emotional instability • painful questioning

People entering Level 6 often change everything: career, relationships, lifestyle, values.

Level 7: The Creative Soul — “I want to understand the invisible”

The soul becomes a spiritual seeker.It wants to experiment, learn, and explore all subtle dimensions.

What the soul experiences:

• diving into psychology, spirituality, memory, and energy

• heightened intuition and creativity

• intense emotional sensitivity

• exploring extensively before stabilizing

  
  

Strengths: creative genius • originality • strong intuition

Challenges: anxiety • overwhelm • hypersensitivity • endless searching

Level 7 souls often live lifetimes connected to art, teaching, or healing.

Level 8: The Compassionate Soul — “I want to heal, protect, and serve”

This stage brings openness, wisdom, stability, and ecological consciousness.

What the soul experiences:

• deep desire to contribute to collective well-being

• awareness of interconnection

• love of nature, humanity, and beauty

• commitment to healing, teaching, pacifying

  
  

Strengths: empathy • justice • devotion • healing energy

Challenges: emotional exhaustion • self-sacrifice • hyper-empathy

Level 9: The Wise Soul — “I transform myself to transform the world”

A deeply introspective soul age.The soul is almost ready to leave the reincarnation cycle, but one last phase remains: karmic integration.

What the soul experiences:

• intense inner journeys

• exploration of past lives

• profound healing

• desire to teach, guide, and inspire

• 
  

Strengths: wisdom • mature spirituality • compassion • inner stability

Challenges: loneliness • hypersensitivity to suffering• difficulty fitting into younger-soul societies

Level 10: The Complete Soul — “I no longer need to return”

This is the final stage. At Level 10, the soul explores deep compassion and altruism. It wants to fully understand that the essence of life on Earth is love — giving it and receiving it — and that ultimately, we are all one.

What the soul experiences:

• universal compassion

• absence of ego

• infinite patience

• natural detachment from human chaos

  
  

Strengths: pure wisdom • guiding presence • calming energy

Challenges: incarnation fatigue • disinterest in the material world • difficulty staying embodied for long

Once the soul feels it has learned what it came to learn (perfection is not the goal!), it stops reincarnating and becomes a full-time spirit guide supporting younger levels from the subtle planes.

The Soul Ages of Countries

Few people know this, but countries also have a collective soul age.It helps explain their internal dynamics, social tensions, deep values, and karmic themes.

Here are a few examples:

🇩🇪 Germany — Level 6 Its collective consciousness is undergoing a deep karmic transformation: from duty and control to responsibility, repair, and wisdom.

🇧🇪 Belgium — Level 7 A country of balance, diplomacy, and artistic expression, constantly seeking harmony between identity and diversity.

🇲🇽 Mexico — Level 8 Open-hearted, spiritual, vibrant. Mexico teaches healing through community, family, and honoring the sacred in everyday life.

🇨🇭 Switzerland — Level 9 Calm, stable, deeply anchored in peace. Switzerland embodies conscious neutrality and shows how stability can be a spiritual act.

👉 To learn the soul age of France, Canada, the United States, or the United Kingdom, listen to my Mystical & Practical podcast episode where I explore the spiritual maturity of nations:

How to Discover Your Own Soul Age

An Akashic Records reading can reveal:

• your exact soul age

• how far you are in your current level

• your main karmic lessons

• the challenges you came to resolve

• the past lives influencing you the most

• the direction most aligned with your evolution
  

👉 If you want to go deeper, you can book a Soul Plan Akashic Reading — one of the most powerful ways to understand who you are at the soul level and clarify your path.

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Meli Guidance is a certified advanced Akashic records practitioner, a past-life psychic and a channelling coach. She is also trained in oracle cards and tarot readings. Her specialty is helping people grow by reconnecting them with their soul’s purpose and life missions. She believes that by remembering our past lives and seeing what our life plan is for our current incarnation, we can achieve our future self’s highest potential. In addition to channelling spirit guides for people from all over the world in English and French, she offers online courses and coaching sessions to anyone who wishes to develop their ability to communicate with the invisible world.

Instagram @meliguidance

YouTube @meliguidance 

Last Updated: December 15th 2025