Past Lives – Hints, Clues and Signposts
By Elaina Curran, HPD, DSFH, DPLR, Clinical Hypnotherapist
Have you ever visited a foreign country for the first time and experienced the feeling of being home? Perhaps you are irresistibly drawn to Ancient Greek culture or the “Roaring ‘20’s”? Have you had dreams set in a different time period that seemed incredibly vivid? Have you ever met someone new, yet felt like you have known them all your life? These are just some of the ways that a past life might spontaneously surface.
Although regression with a certified therapist is the most thorough way of exploring lives you have lived prior to this one, dreams, déja vu, fears and phobias or strong interests/attractions can be examples of past life influence.
One client, who I will call Miranda, described a vivid and frightening dream. She found herself in a grand, palatial room, facing Nazi soldiers. She had a sense of someone next to her, but could not see who it was. The soldiers pointed their guns at Miranda and her unknown companion and executed them both. That’s when she woke up, startled and terrified. Haunted by the experience, she decided to confide in her father. When she did, he blanched. He confessed that had had the exact same dream. All the details matched. Could her father have been the unidentified companion? Dreams can mostly be classified as a product of the brain’s nightly processing of information, but the fact that this was a shared vision adds to its compelling nature. When historical context is factored in, as well as emotional impact, vividness and the narrative element, this may indicate a past life memory. Many might attribute Miranda and her father’s experience to coincidence or dismiss it outright, but there are many examples of past life memories recollected in dreams that have been validated, as demonstrated in the following story.
The book, Soul Survivor (2009), recounts the experiences of Bruce and Andrea Leininger and their son, James, who, from the age of two, began having traumatic and terrifying nightmares. Nearly every night, he would scream of being trapped in a burning airplane and crashing in battle. Over the years, James would spontaneously remember further details such as names of fellow airmen, his own (past life) name, the carrier he flew from (U.S.S. Natoma Bay) and described a familiarity with Corsair aircraft. This information was more than Bruce Leininger could accept and he was determined to prove that James’ story was simply a product of the child’s imagination. Bruce was tireless in his research efforts as he painstakingly verified every piece of evidence. He even travelled across the country, attending reunions of naval veterans and interviewing anyone who was at the battle in question. It took years of tenacious investigation, but Bruce and Andrea were able to verify all of the information that James had given them. They found historical evidence as well as collected first-hand accounts from pilots who corroborated James’ tragic story of American WWII naval pilot, James Huston Jr., who perished in battle over Chichi-Jima Bay off the coast of Japan. Huston Jr. died exactly as James had described in his dreams.
These visions and experiences usually come unbidden and uninvited. They bubble up from deep in our subconscious, bringing peace, calm and a sense of the familiar or they can impact life in a negative way. Being able to understand their origin and come to terms with unresolved emotions can go a long way in helping us learn more about ourselves and perhaps even enrich our life experience.
Published in BS35 Local Magazine, August 2017 issue
