I have been going through some weird things of late. My life was going fine, and I always considered myself a lucky man, but suddenly a few months ago things seem to turn for the worse. I lost my job, have had major strains in my relationships, a string of health issues and life just seems a lot harder. I almost feel like I’ve ben cursed. Could that be?

I don’t think you are cursed. I think you are pregnant. Not in the physical sense, but you may be experiencing what the kabbalists call a soul pregnancy.
Sometimes we go through times in our life that seem to be incongruous with our life’s natural flow. It can come in the form of an unexpected burst of creative energy that lasts a while and eventually fades, or a patch of particularly challenging and difficult episodes that take over our life and eventually pass. It is as if our life has taken a detour and we head on an unexpected path for a while, only to come back later and resume our life as it was.
One possible explanation for this is the kabbalistic concept of ibbur, or soul pregnancy. Soul pregnancy is a form of temporary reincarnation. If a person died without completing their mission, their soul may be sent down again into this world, not to live a complete life from birth to death, but just to go through particular experiences or fulfil a specific mission. This soul latches on to a living person, and hitches a ride with them for a while, just as long as they need to complete what they need to fulfil.
If you are chosen to host such a soul, then for a specific period of time your soul becomes pregnant with another soul. Like a pregnant woman, there is a life within a life, two beings whose fate and feelings are deeply intertwined. And so your life trajectory is adjusted to accommodate the needs of this guest soul.
This experience is to the benefit of both souls. The hitch-hiking soul gets to fulfil its mission, and the host soul gets an infusion of extra energy, as it can tap in to the strengths and talents of its visitor.
Of course, it also means that the host soul receives extra challenges. But every one of those challenges comes with the offer of a gift – to reveal new layers of soul energy that would not have been accessed without the challenge.
In time the guest leaves, the soul fulfils its mission, and the host goes back to their life. But things are not the same. You will have been enriched with the experiences that your spiritual guest brought you. And you will be stronger and deeper for it. The challenges pass, but the lessons last forever.