Some time ago I met a man I felt a really strong connection to, and it got me thinking about past lives. Suddenly, I feel a very strong need to learn about my past lives and how they may be affecting my current experiences. I bought a book on regression and I asked a friend to help me with the process. She told me she wasn't comfortable with the idea, because she said that exploring past lives can be dangerous if traumatic experiences are recalled. She urged me not to do it, or at least to find someone with lots of experience to guide me through it. I feel like she's making a big deal out of nothing. Do you think it can be dangerous? Also, do you have any advice on how to go about exploring our past lives? Thank you!
Lillian
Dreamchaser:
Some people believe that exploring past lives can be dangerous, and some people think it is perfectly safe. Your friend is obviously one of the ones who feels it is risky.
I personally feel that if it is done properly, and not as a parlor trick or a form of entertainment, it can be very helpful.
Your friend is right in one aspect: Sometimes we find out very traumatic or frightening information while exploring previous lives. We were not always happy, well-behaved, or even goodhearted people. We have all had some really horrible lives.
For example, in one life I was a priestess who threw newborn babies into a volcano as a form of sacrifice. I really felt justified in doing this in that life, but in this life, I find it appalling. You cannot, under any circumstances, expect all your lives to be full of joy, goodness and happiness.
This man is a catalyst for you to go and find out what you need to know about your past lives. In my own past life journeys, I've found that there are common themes in each lifetime I have lived, including this one.
The one theme that comes to mind now is that in every lifetime, I lived and died alone. As my regular clients may remember, I am also single in this life and live alone, except for my teenagers, which we all know is LIKE living alone. You will find that a lot of issues, problems, traits, etc., that you have in this life were present in prior lives as well.
The way that I personally explore past lives is to picture myself walking around in this big field full of wildflowers. I make sure that I am totally present in that field, and then I find the bridge of time.
It is just a wooden bridge. I always make sure to take the same number of steps over as I take back. I have heard that you can warp time if you do not count and use the same number of steps. I don't know if that is true, but I'd rather not find out the hard way.
When I get over the bridge, I look down at my feet and see what gender and color I am. I then look around at where I am and who and what is around me. Then I start to walk around and ask questions about who I am and where I am.
In this way, I slowly start to uncover the past lives I've lived. The hardest part of the whole process is convincing your mind that it is real and that you are NOT making it up.
If possible, I also view my death in that life so that I can see how it ended and why, for oftentimes, that will prove important in understanding the baggage I carry from that lifetime.
I wish you safe and enlightening journeys into the past.
*****
Astrea:
Unless you're in the hands of a qualified psychotherapist who is also trained and experienced with hypnotic regression, then yes, trying to discover your past lives through regression can be very dangerous and emotionally traumatic.
This is one situation where you don't want to place yourself in the hands of a beginner or someone who is an amateur or "new" at what they're doing. Your friend was smart to refuse your request. She didn't want to be responsible for what might happen to you if you received traumatic information.
Past life "memories" tend to be highly emotionally charged and personal, and even the happy ones can be upsetting. Discovering the "where and when" of yourself in other times is an intense experience, and it may not be a pleasant thing for some people.
Buying a book on regression probably won't enable you to access those lives either. Most people gradually uncover this information over a period of many years, because otherwise, the human mind can't process it.
Even the most open and accepting person is probably going to be thrown for a loop by seeing her own death. Also, no matter how well adjusted you are, there are some things that you probably don't WANT to know. For those things, you need someone with you who can guide you through this complex inner maze.
There are some psychiatrists (more than you might think) who will attempt something like this with you after a period of counseling. Most of the time you will have to work with a therapist for six months to two years before they will attempt any kind of regression with you, and this is different from regression for buried memories - that's a different kind of work altogether.
If you want to know about your past lives without undergoing extensive therapy first, find someone who can either channel that information for you or read it from your birthday, cards, or whatever tool they use. When I do those reports for people, all I need is their birth date, time and place (that is CRUCIAL!) and my cards.
I can't explain how it comes to me, but it does. Many readers can do this for you. Shop around until you find one with whom you feel you have a good rapport.
Some readers can get you started finding out things on your own through different kinds of study, and some will be able to tell you things simply by talking to you. This is safer, less expensive and a good bit more FUN. I also think these past life readings are just as valuable as digging through your own subconscious for past life memories.
Regression isn't the only way!
Astrea:
Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.
Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!
While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!
I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!
As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.
I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.
You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!
Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.
A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.
You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.