Someone else's memories stuck in my head

Hello.
I must put my hand up straight away and say that I don't know if I believe in reincarnation or not but I keep bobbing about from genetic memory to simple childhood fantasy, to half-remembered TV trauma, forgotten real-life episodes, episodic nuttiness and always come back again to reincarnation, so maybe I do.
Since I was about 6 I have had what I can only describe as someone else's memories stuck in my head. I don't rightly know if the memories came from the handful of recurring dreams which I have had all my life (until a few years ago) or whether the dreams derive from these foreign memories. The dreams and memories are rigidly defined, snapshots of events, places, buildings, topography, landscapes and context. Nothing dramatic at all: riding a horse, standing on the roof of a house, being turned out of my garret to live in another, not altogether unusual I would imagine. The thing that I find so frustrating is that I have the emotional baggage and short-term memory of the person in my memory, always the same person, different scenarios but none of the memories have budged since I was 6. I can't see anything more than what I see already, can't remember things I don't already know. Some aspects are very clear, others vague and composed mainly of sensations. Various clues have led me to believe the period is somewhere in the early 1700s in the UK but beyond that I have no indication of place or time. It is clearly the memory of someone else. It's not me at all.

I like to think of myself as rather a rational, critically thinking person but these memories have always been an obsession in particular a manor house which is the focal point of everything else. I have spent my entire life, literaly, examining every building with even vaguely similar characteristics wherever I come across one to see if it fits with my memory. Two years ago, driving in the UK, I screamed at my sister who was driving, to stop. I knew, was convinced I had just driven past the place. I knew that just over the rise there would be the house. I was almost in tears. And there was a house exactly where it should be. The topography from what I could see was right, rivers, hills, fields etc., were in the right place but it was not *the* house. Back to square one. So that's about it. Pretty dull.

I don't even really know what I am searching for here, understanding, guidance, someone with similar immutable memories, suggestions? I would love to have these memories go away, but after 50 years I doubt they will now, but in equal measure I'd love to find out where they came from, who, if anybody, they belong to, even just expanding them out would be a help. So I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has any advice for getting to the bottom of this. I had thought about regression but I have no idea who is a serious practitioner and who isn't so keep putting it off. I don't even really know if it falls under the remit of regression hypnosis or just regular hypnosis. I'm worried I would be guided toward a conclusion of reincarnation by a regressionist rather than aiming at the truth of my case but I know so little about it it's hard to tell if this fear has some foundation or not.
Anyway, Hello to all.

Peter Abson said:

I don't even really know what I am searching for here, understanding, guidance, someone with similar immutable memories, suggestions? I would love to have these memories go away, but after 50 years I doubt they will now, but in equal measure I'd love to find out where they came from, who, if anybody, they belong to, even just expanding them out would be a help. So I guess I'm wondering if anyone here has any advice for getting to the bottom of this. I had thought about regression but I have no idea who is a serious practitioner and who isn't so keep putting it off. I don't even really know if it falls under the remit of regression hypnosis or just regular hypnosis. I'm worried I would be guided toward a conclusion of reincarnation by a regressionist rather than aiming at the truth of my case but I know so little about it it's hard to tell if this fear has some foundation or not.
Anyway, Hello to all.

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You can do a self regression using either audio CD, DVD, etc. Dr. Brian Weiss has a good regression video on YouTube. I had success years ago with some Dick Sutphen audio tapes. It may take more than one try, but don't give up.

Hi Peter

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like past life memories to me. This happens a lot more than most people think.

Some aspects are very clear, others vague and composed mainly of sensations. Various clues have led me to believe the period is somewhere in the early 1700s in the UK but beyond that I have no indication of place or time. It is clearly the memory of someone else. It's not me at all.

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What exactly is it that you are remembering? That's the place to start. Care to share what it is you are experiencing exactly?

Nothing dramatic at all: riding a horse, standing on the roof of a house, being turned out of my garret to live in another, not altogether unusual I would imagine...

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It's not unusual to have only brief flashes or moments. This happens a lot.

The thing that I find so frustrating is that I have the emotional baggage and short-term memory of the person in my memory, always the same person, different scenarios but none of the memories have budged since I was 6.

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It doesn't 'budge' because it's probably a memory. That's very common experience for a lot of people. But you will have some idea of what it's all about. No, it's probably not 'just' your imagination. What was going on? Any hints? The information is all in there somewhere. It might not even make sense to you yet, but everything is a clue. What does your 'gut' tell you? What feelings does this all make you feel? Why is it coming up again now? These are the important questions.

I must put my hand up straight away and say that I don't know if I believe in reincarnation or not

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Hi Peter Abson,
I know it is unreal from time to time when you have to deal with memories and flashes that make no sense in the beginning. But you ended up here in this forum, so that means you really want some new step in this process.
It is also confusing from time to time when you don't know if some image came from your own 'imagination' or not. I guess everyone here can relate to this.
In my experience the significant memories/flashes will remain in your memory and unrelated 'junk' will fade out. It takes time, often years to come to some conclusions. The parts that feel most realistic are those in which strong emotions are involved (sadness, anger, grieve... oh... don't forget: Love)
I think the first step for you is just allowing yourself on this journey. Let your skeptical part of your brain just give permission to your receptive part of your brain to play around with the possibility of reincarnation. That's what I did. Go and explore the mysteries and don't be afraid to make mistakes interpreting the bits and pieces you're gathering about past lives.
Everybody will advise you to keep up a journal. I do it on two levels: one is a handwritten journal, that's sometimes best for me, and at the same time I have some documents on the computer. These give me the opportunity to take more distance and overview situations and.... to copy and paste pictures found on the internet that can serve as some kind of validation of my former lives.
You can do self-hypnosis.... it's nothing more than a deep relaxation that allows you to remember. If you go to a reincarnation-therapist it will be the same. During the so-called hypnosis, you will not lose contact with the world around you. It's more like daydreaming. It's comfortable. Just in case you encounter bad experiences, then the role of the therapist is crucial for guidance.
I wish you luck!

Hi, thanks for the replies. The memories are quite brief yet rather complex, like all memories I suppose. In one I am riding a horse along a track following a fence in a very rural setting. I am very familiar with the horse and the horse has a particular type of bit, but I can't see it. There is something behind me, a saddle bag maybe, a blanket, perhaps a return after an absence. I am not in a hurry. To my left, over the fence are well kept fields and a manor house which features in another memory. To my right is a wooded valley or hollow which features in yet another, now rather faded memory. I know the layout of the paths through these woods and remember myself running along them after having stabbed someone not perhaps in self-defense but rather in self preservation. I don't know if I attacked first or defended myself. I remember the feeling of horror and fear at being caught, but as the memory is that of the man on the horse, it seems he was not caught. (Blimey, just writing this brings back some details I haven't remembered for a long time). The route I took is very precise and I ran without effort taking little used but well know paths along the bottom of the hollow doubling back and eventually running up hill heading for the house. I remember I remembered horsemen chasing me but that faded as a strong memory decades ago. Unfortunately and annoyingly I can't tell if the escaping and the pleasant horse riding are contemporary or separated by time. I do get the feeling though that the memories of the horseman are distant rather than recent memories.

The memories of the house are pretty odd. In one I am sitting under a tree looking at the front of the house, reading. Nice summer day. That's it. In another I was living up a narrow winding wooden staircase in a hidden room right at the top of the house. I was hiding or rather, being hidden by someone. I can't remember the room, just the staircase and the presence of the room. I am outside on the grey slate roof between two dormers maybe, looking over the grounds of the house and fields. There is a battle near but it could be the memory of a battle or an actual one. I know the time has come to leave though but I don't know in which direction. I am rather calm though despite the urgency to flee. The house has huge chimneys and a crenelated roof and pointed dormers rather similar to those of the 17th and 18th centuries. I've looked at every manor house and stately home google and every photo archive and postcard has to offer but not found it yet.
Another memory which is the only one that crops up regularly in dreams these days is living in a city in a small garret in a dark stained wooden paneled, rough wooden floor top-of-the-stairs sort of situation. The landlady, rather a nasty person but one I am anxious not to upset, is moving me to what I can only describe as being a suspended garret jutting out over the stairs. it is really very small, cupboard sized and dark and again, wood paneled. I had to move because someone paying more than me is getting my old room. There is a room next to my old room and the occupant is someone I am friendly with. But I feel very very lonely and often in real life wake up almost, and sometimes actually, crying with sadness and desperation a feeling that often messes up my day somewhat as it take ages to fade.

There are other bits and bobs, snippets of memory but imagined or real, I always know when what comes into my head or what I dream of are someone else's memories, not relevant to my own current existence. I never thought to write them down, in fact I think this is the first time I actually have, so many things have faded or gone. This has been a therapy in itself.

The idea of my memories not budging because they are memories makes a lot of sense to me. I wonder though, what made my memories start and stop at those precise places and not at some other, maybe traumatic events. And the idea of these, to me rather particular memories not being unusual is rather comforting. If I'm honest and shove my skepticism to one side for a moment, my gut feeling is that this is a memory of a previous me. Though the memories are definitely not the me I know, the person is very familiar to me. I like him and am comfortable with him like I am with myself. I don't know why my interest has been renewed now but I think the time is right to delve further. I sort of feel I owe it to the memories I have which may sound silly but they are memories of a real person to me. I liken it to wanting to put flowers on a grave or completing some task that someone long gone hadn't finished.

I like the idea of self-regression. Nothing particularly traumatic has ever occurred, just immense sadness so I think I would feel quite safe doing it. I used to meditate years ago (before kids and 24 hour tiredness) and slipped into a sort of tunnel where I would get snippets of quite ordinary life. A couple of times I have 'relived' my memories there but they were rather more animated but brief and short-lived. Possibly just imagination but the sensation is of another time, another place.

When you say a journal Fireflydancing, do you mean to put snippets down so as not to forget them or just a dream journal (I tried lucid dreaming for period but I decided I didn't like remembering my dreams very much)? Seeing how some sensations have come back to me just writing this, I think writing down everything I can would be very beneficial.

Thanks again everyone for your comments. Lots of stuff to think about.

Just one thing, I live in Italy but am English. My mother tongue is English. Would professional regression in Italian, which I am pretty fluent in, be possible or should it be in English? There is a very 'scientific' hypnotherapist near me who does regression and I'm sorely tempted to invest.
Cheers.

I haven't had much time to delve into the forum yet. But as many things I find strange seem wholly normal judging by your comments and advice , I am looking forward to doing so.

Hello! One thing that struck me in your account was when you said you felt like you were coming to the manor house and were disappointed to find it wasn't the right house. Since the memories are likely from a few hundred years ago, it's possible that the house you remember is no longer there, and that a newer one stands in its place, or that it's been heavily remodeled. You might be able to research to find out the history of the house that currently stands there and the people who have lived there through the years. That you had such a strong emotional reaction and recognition in the area sounds to me like you should investigate this place further. There may even be a local museum or historical society that can help you. Best wishes on your journey of discovery!

When you say a journal Fireflydancing, do you mean to put snippets down so as not to forget them or just a dream journal (I tried lucid dreaming for period but I decided I didn't like remembering my dreams very much)? Seeing how some sensations have come back to me just writing this, I think writing down everything I can would be very beneficial.

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Hi Peter,
I make no distinction between dreams or visions while being awake.
I just write down anything that comes into my mind: dreams, flashes, visions, personal philosophies, strange occurrences in daily life. Anything that comes from the unconscious or the subconscious

Peter Abson said:

The idea of my memories not budging because they are memories makes a lot of sense to me. I wonder though, what made my memories start and stop at those precise places and not at some other, maybe traumatic events. And the idea of these, to me rather particular memories not being unusual is rather comforting. If I'm honest and shove my skepticism to one side for a moment, my gut feeling is that this is a memory of a previous me.

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This all sounds like a clear case of past life memories to me.

It's all much too detailed and personal to be making it up. It's possible that when you were riding the horse, and looked at the lane, it reminded you (then and now) of another incident when you were running along the same lane, being chased after the fight with another man...

Yes, we do remember the most important or significant moments of our past lives, just as we do the pivotal or most memorable moments of our present lives. At first it might seem a bit episodic, but there is always rhyme and reason in there somewhere.

The more time you spend thinking about it, the more sense it will probably start to make. Bits and pieces might just 'come to you' when you are not even thinking about it. Sometimes past life memories are rather compacted (part of the storage process, like sucking the air out of your winter clothes bags... ). Sometimes they can seem a bit jumbled at first. But writing it all out as you say, not only jogs your memory of little details, it can help you connect a few dots.

That's why keeping a journal is recommended. Just get a nice notebook and start writing out by hand all the bits you can remember. Try to put them into chronological order if you can. Writing by hand works better for some reason than typing, but do what suits you.

Trust your intuition. It's usually right.

I would love the search for the house to be over. The emotion at feeling I was at the right place was absolutely genuine but, unfortunately, the house is sited in a precise context and the views I have of it in the memories are very precise and they don't correspond to the place (which is Penshurst Place, a huge stately home in Kent in the UK by the way). 'My' house is much much smaller and the most of the distinctive and significant topography associated with the house is missing. I took a walk around the area last year but everything except the path, which is now obviously a road, seemed so unfamiliar. However, today, after reading Traveler16's comment I was hunting for some old paintings to see if there are any of previous incarnations of the house or bits I recognise and I found one painting which shows a sunken road or cutting in, it would seem, the right area where my valley should be which is something worth looking into. Hopefully Google will be my friend. Next time I'm in the UK I will take the incredibly expensive tour of the house and try the local library. But there's just so much out of place at the moment. Maybe as suggested, thinking about it more will bring some sense into things. Maybe my date of the 1700s is right out and the house was the very first house built. My fantasy is beginning to run away with me.

I will certainly start a journal. I have started something maybe I should have done decades ago and am starting to write everything out in as much detail, even irrelevant as I can. Hand writing I agree tends to focus the mind more. I get lots of flashes and as with the memories, I can always recognise when they belong to my current life and when they come from somewhere else. I don't know how I do that especially as I have a rather particular capacity for recollection in that I don't have one, not in the normal sense of the word something that complicates my interpretation (and my existence) somewhat.

I'm a bit too fossilised on what I have always had and not on what I could have. I noticed today for example something that had not struck me (a duh! moment if ever there was one) I can actually see the path I am riding along. It's just a dirt track and dry and not exciting at all but in 50 years I'd not registered that feature. Maybe there are other things I can see but just don't. Fingers crossed.
Your comments are very helpful and very inspiring, thank you.

Maybe my date of the 1700s is right out and the house was the very first house built. My fantasy is beginning to run away with me.

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Always stick with what you remember. It's not unusual for someone to remember something that seems to be wrong at first, but later turns out to be right.

While it's fascinating to google the details and check them against the historical record, try to resist that temptation. Focus on noting down the bits you have already. Too much googling can make you wonder if that's something you remember or something you saw online. As you work on writing it down, more things will probably pop into your head when you are not even thinking about it. This is how it often is. Just write them down. Later you can analyse it as much as you want.

It is not unusual for something going on in the present life to be triggering past life memories, or bringing them or to the surface more than usual. Look for connections. Sometimes these insights are more useful than pinning down the historical facts. Sometimes it might be someone we have recently met who seems strangely familiar. Or a situation you might find yourself in that makes you feel like it's happened before. All very interesting to think about.

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks Tanguerra. For the time being I'll concentrate on getting what I have out without contaminating it with images and notions off Google.

Yes. Trust your feelings. They are where memories are also stored, not just in the 'head', but in the 'heart'. If something provokes a strong emotional response in you, it's very likely to be true, not your imagination.

Have an experiment with the 'Heart Center' meditation technique. I have had a lot of success with it, as have others.

The Heart Center