I met my best friend about eight years ago, and we have developed an extraordinarily close friendship. Many people say we're more like lovers than friends, though we're both straight, and our relationship is platonic. Here's the weird part: Everyone thinks we're sisters. We look incredibly alike; have the same build, etc. We work out together, and we're practically identical in terms of our strength, endurance, etc. When I'm out with her and her sister, everyone thinks that I am her sister, as opposed to recognizing that her real sister is the one who is related. One day it just hit me: we must have been twins in a past life! What do you think? Wouldn't twins from past lives seek each other out in future lives? How does the whole twin thing work anyway? Do twins plan to be twins before they incarnate?
- Jill
Susyn:
Reincarnation is a fascinating subject, the study of which is relatively young. As time goes on, we learn more and more about the relationships we have formed throughout the ages and the various forms they can take. For example, because people can incarnate as any gender and in all sorts of different relationship configurations, it's not uncommon to find that we've been married to, parented by, or even been parents to someone who seems to have no connection to us in this lifetime.
It seems that the more we discover about reincarnation, the more questions arise. Now that we have a few centuries of photos and historical documents to compare notes with along with video tape, we've entered an exciting age in which we can actually validate some of our past life memories!
People who are lucky enough to discover pictures or other visual evidence of a past life often notice an uncanny resemblance to themselves, meaning the photographs from the past life look remarkably similar to how they look today. Because you and your friend have similar physical features and are often mistaken for sisters, it could very well be that you were sisters or even twins in a past life.
People tend to reincarnate into the same family groups. When they don't, eventually the universe guides them to reconnect with important people with whom they shared past lives. As per their destiny, they are always being moved toward the souls they are most deeply connected to on a soul level, so it would be no surprise for women who were twin sisters in a past life to meet in this life and form an immediate bond.
Some believe that before we are born, we make certain choices about the family we will become a part of, the friends we'll make, and the kinds of experiences we'll need to have that lifetime. Odds are good that both you and your friend agreed to meet up again in this lifetime when the conditions were right for you to do so.
Biologically, identical twins share the same egg and genes, while fraternal twins are two separate eggs that share a womb. In both cases, the bond between twins is incredibly strong. They tend to share a deep understanding that others can't fathom. The fact that you feel so close to your friend strongly suggests that you two were indeed twins in a past life.
In my view, reincarnation has no limits, so the answer to each of your questions is YES: all of these things are possible. I encourage you and your friend to get a past-life reading to learn more. Kajama has many gifted psychics who can help you uncover the spiritual foundation of your extraordinary bond.
*****
Oceania:
Your question on the significance of multiple births from the perspective of reincarnation is fascinating. Since this isn't my area of expertise, however, I'm going to look at your situation from a psychological perspective. It is well-documented that we're drawn to what is familiar, which means you and your friend may have gravitated towards one another in the first place because you looked alike, and stayed for eight years because you ARE alike.
You may be kindred spirits (people who share the same values) or you may be soulmates (people who share a path for some period and serve as catalysts for one another's spiritual growth). Your sense that the two of you were twins suggests you long for a sense of acceptance and familial connection that you may not have experienced earlier in your life.
It's worth examining whether either of you has a life partner. Extraordinarily close friendships can create tension at home. People sometimes cope with unhappy marriages by pouring time and energy into friendships that meet their emotional needs. While this approach serves to distract or fill in the gaps, it neglects to address underlying problems.
If neither of you is coupled, you might explore whether your close friendship prevents you from dating and finding a love match. Sometimes people hide out from relationships in friendship. It's easy to love someone exactly like you because there's little cause for conflict. Nevertheless, most of our growth comes from interactions with those who are NOT like us. Differences create challenges that require us to stretch beyond our comfort zones and expand our points of view.
I have a client in her thirties who has been best friends with a man since they were in high school together. While he is content in their friendship, she keeps hoping they'll become more. Only recently did she realize that her investment in the friendship prevents her from finding a man who could not only be her friend but also her lover, husband and the father of her children.
A final consideration is whether either of you suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder, which is characterized by intensely close relationships. These passionate love/hate connections tend to fluctuate between dramatic breakups and inevitable reunions.
Whatever the reason for the closeness you share, your friendship is a treasure. It either provides you with a safe haven of love and support that will enable you to meet life's challenges, or it's going push you to examine yourself and change so that you're less like your friend and more like your true self.
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.