Remembering Past Lives

Cycles of Experience

This is my personal attempt to explain dimensions of consciousness and past lives. A little history might be interesting to a few readers. My mother moved to Hawaii on her 45th birthday which happened also to be the day Hawaii was notified that it would become the 50th state. Hawaii was my legal home from 1959-1979. Towards the end of this epoch, Isabel Hickey took a vacation in Hawaii and offered to demonstrate how to access past life memories. I gathered a few of my friends, and we all observed her method which was based on the Awareness Technique. It was while someone was in a slightly altered state of consciousness that I first heard a reference to the third dimension. Before that, I was aware of different states of awareness, but used a more esoteric vocabulary.

Not long after this demonstration, I moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I was almost immediately exposed to another method of recall, the Wellsprings Technique. Over time, I developed my own method, but have not given it a name.

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The third dimension is the one in which you are reading this. It is the only dimension that is “qualified” by Time and Space. As an astrologer, this is hugely important as well as fascinating. Our measurements of Time are all based on motions, mostly of the Sun and secondarily of the Moon, but there are many cycles within cycles, and all are based on apparent movement of a celestial nature. Interestingly, it does not matter what system of astronomy one uses because the mathematics supporting the different theories is not the issue. Rather, it is the cycles — or apparent movement —not the attempts to explain motion, distance, and light that give us our sense of time. In short, the cycles are the same regardless of the astronomical theories.

Though it is quite difficult for some people to grasp, I will argue that Time is an event in its own right. If we say that all events takes place in Time, it might be easier for most people to understand, but this changes the emphasis from Time to the event. From the other vantage point, Time and the events that occur in Time are inseparable; and these constitute the basis of prediction as well as the retrospective interpretations of events that are always associated with cycles, some of which repeat daily such as sleeping, awakening, having breakfast, going to school or to work, and so forth. Some events are annual, like birthday and holiday celebrations. Some are even longer, and some span several lifetimes that include the drastic interruptions of death and rebirth.

My experience has convinced me that the planning for incarnational cycles spans many incarnations, perhaps all of them. It is simply that in the third dimension, we experience chronology that is both linear and cyclical, i.e., historical as contrasted to eternal.

Mortality is only experienced in the third dimension, and the primary death involves the ego, not the breath or cessation of heart or brain activity. Our experiences and the feelings we have about the experiences are immortal as are our soul and consciousness. These are also timeless because they survive the sojourn in the third dimension and are impervious to cyclicality.

Methods of Past Life Recall

There are many methods for exploring the past. Obviously, the most common methods involve memory, both what is relatively easily accessible as well as what might be unlocked through psychotherapy, hypnotism, or some form of altered consciousness technique. I use mainly music because there are parallels between the sound patterns and the psyche. Moreover, given my understanding of astrology, I can more or less predict which types of memories will surface based on the positions of the luminaries and planets at the time of the session.

My experience is that the information that comes forth is very helpful, but it requires a facilitator because the ego must be quiescent in order for other parts of our psyche to reveal themselves. Yes, this can happen in a dream state, perhaps also with entheogens, but when there is deliberate intent to explore, prompting is essential since once outside of time, there is no volition and therefore no movement. An example of a prompt might be to suggest to the person in the slightly altered state of consciousness that he or she move forward to an event. Based on what has been seen, the event might be a celebration, like a birthday or holiday or perhaps a marriage. In the altered state, a person can read a book in a language that is not known in this lifetime, but he or she has to be prompted to turn the pages.

The precise mechanism that allows the information to come forth is not really understood. What I have, however, observed is that if a person was illiterate in the lifetime being explored, he or she will not be able to read when in the altered state. The social behavior, level of refinement, and attitudes will all be consistent with the memories being retrieved, not with current personality.

For example, one person was living in a chalet type house and could see some figures over the doorway, presumably a date. However, she could not read the numbers, but she could map them with her fingers.

In the sessions I have facilitated, people sometimes spoke ancient languages, dating back at least to mid-Atlantis, perhaps earlier. In the altered state, they understood those languages perfectly and could produce sounds that were completely foreign to the current incarnation. Lest this is unclear, think of how people can learn another language but certain sounds may be difficult to pronounce. In the altered state, this does not seem to occur. In short, they would presumably pass for a native speaker.

In most cases, the other people seen in the past lives are all recognized as people with whom one is acquainted in the present lifetime. The developer of the Wellsprings Technique, Kay Ortmans, was a gifted musician and it was from her that I developed my variation of the recall methodology. I had drafted a book about her work and went to interview her so as to have an archive in which she explained the stages of her exploration. The moment we met in person, she said, “Oh, you!” I had no idea what this meant, but she said she had been waiting to connect for many years.

It seems that a small group of dissidents had sought asylum in a nunnery in which I was an abbess. I had protected them for some time, but they were young, restless, and eager to confront their adversaries. They explained their motivations, mounted their horses, and I said, “If I were you, I would not move forward with this plan of yours.” Those were actually the last words they heard as they met their ends shortly after leaving.

There was, at the time (1984), a Wellsprings Institute in Ben Lomond, California. Several of staff members were members of the dissident group that had enjoyed asylum in the nunnery, and they had been “expecting” me ever since discovering their past lives. Since I had not revisited that lifetime, I was caught by surprise, but when they explained the details, it was really all very clear that any nun would have cautioned them to forge another plan.

Levels of Intimacy

In the normal course of a lifetime, we meet thousands of people, but we have intense relationships with some and perhaps only fleeting relationships with others. However, the same people and patterns seem to recur in different settings. Perhaps we can compare incarnations to acting. A particular actor or actress may play many roles in the course of a lifetime, but we see these as roles because the different performances occur in a specific lifetime. I am not so up-to-speed where films are concerned, but I like to use the example of Anna Netrebko, a Russian opera singer who used to sing mostly bel canto roles, often very lively roles in comic operas like Don Pasquale and L'elisir d'amore. Then, we saw more dramatic bel canto roles as in Lucia di Lammermoor. One would not have expected her to sing Lady Macbeth, but her performance was out of this world stunning. All these repertoire additions have taken place in one lifetime, but it is the same person portraying the characters.

Likewise, from a higher dimensional perspective, all our incarnations appear somewhat like roles. We can see ourselves as children, as adults, as male or female, as rich or poor, as fortunate or unfortunate, but they are simply experiences of the soul while incarnate, very much like the repertoire of a performer. For the same reason, we have interests and aversions that are carried over, and perhaps a bias in favor of certain beliefs, persons, and professions. We have karmic ties and the most intense connections are usually the ones with the most history, including unresolved issues.

Many of us experienced our highest achievements while in male incarnations, but we may or may not want to re-enact those lifetimes. In light of the current epidemic of transgender issues, I would like to say that similar issues did occur in past lives, most notably during the Inquisition when there were witch hunts that sometimes left villages without female survivors. Parents may have encouraged cross dressing as a form of protection. During times of war, the opposite disguise may have helped individuals to avoid conscription and premature death. These strategies are very easy to understand but the bleed through into the current incarnation depends in part on the intensity of the experience in the past and how much has been carried over into the present.

In saying this, I am not suggesting that transgender issues are rooted in past lives. Rather, most of us have had incarnations as males as well as females so the imagination can easily support one or the other preference. We also have issues around stereotypes and peer pressures so my intention is not to oversimplify but rather to suggest that we are probably capable of imagining almost anything. The question is therefore how we imagine, rather than whether we can imagine.

The Soul

There are many techniques for discovering past lives, but it is always more convincing if the person discovers the lives through facilitated exploration as opposed to going to a psychic or channel and being told about a lifetime. Sometimes, the relayed information is poignant and relevant, but often such accounts feel like projections, almost intrusions on the psyche. However, if one discovers the lifetime and experiences more or less without filters, the details are usually poignant.

What some people see is something like a brilliant sun or star with many rays projecting from the core. Once merged in that object, they feel that they are “authorized” to explore certain lifetimes. Each ray leads into a different incarnation, and people are sometimes forbidden to travel some of the rays, but they see the options that are permitted.

They feel like they are traveling down a ray and landing somewhere just vaguely familiar. Usually, the first scene is quite innocent. For instance, a child might be in a meadow of flowers, enjoying innocence and sunshine. Another person may be sipping tea in a café and watching people walk past the table. Others might be at a social function where most of the attendees are friends and family members.

As noted, people cannot guide themselves, so the facilitator can suggest that the child go home before it gets dark. Then, the child will see the other family members and will usually recognize all of them as people they know in the present lifetime. Based on what the person observes, the facilitator will prompt what to explore, but the facilitator needs to be very tuned in so as to make relevant suggestions. It is important to take seriously what the soul has permitted the incarnate individual to explore. This means that if one sees various people one recognizes, time should be allowed to study the previous relationships with the current ones. We will almost invariably see family members and others who are close to us.

In a normal therapy session, one can explore two, perhaps three, lifetimes before the altered state “fatigues” and it becomes harder to focus. The person has to ascend the ray and come back down in the present.

Obviously, many techniques are used so the exact similarities and differences vary from one therapist to another, but a point I would like to make is that if the person can ascend to a high enough dimension, it will be possible to discover the reasons for the Earth incarnations. At each level or dimension of consciousness, the overview is more encompassing and complete. Ultimately, of course, we are all one.

In current state of science, it is becoming the vogue to assume that the entire Universe is holographic. I am not sure this is exactly the case, but the language to explain oneness and individuality requires precise understanding. Perhaps, at the very highest level, there is something similar to what we call a hologram, but it would have to be very close to the level of Source. Within groups of souls, there are still differences and perhaps overlapping vibratory frequencies so the sense of oneness is very intense and beautiful, but not quite holographic . . . at least in terms my own experience as both the explorer or facilitator for others.

It concerns me a lot that people are tapping into higher awareness without much preparation so integration of the insights can sometimes seem interesting but perhaps haphazard.

As a sort of final word for today, it is possible to go “down” into the subconscious as well as to go “up” into the fourth or perhaps an even higher dimension. I have managed to bring a few people to seventh dimension, but this is quite rare. At this level, the entire purpose for all Earth incarnations can be viewed as a whole . . . and everything makes sense.

I do not recommend past life exploration as a sort of entertainment because the material being revealed is very important and usually helpful, but it requires integration into the reality of the present self who, for the moment, is living in Time and Space.

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Copyright by Dr. Ingrid Naiman 2023 || All Rights Reserved

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Image Credits:

Sun Rays: Serg_velusceac | Dreamstime.com

Alms: Alongkorn Sumalee | Dreamstime.com

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