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"Children's Past Lives" by Carol Bowman-Ongoing Discussion

fairchilde

fairchilde

Listening...
September "Children's Past Lives"
Part One: Past Life Stories

Welcome to the first discussion of our Reading Group!

The best thing may be to simply begin and see how our flow progresses.

Part One covers chapters 1-9
*Also represents weeks 1 and 2 for the month of September.


Questions and Discussion Ideas:



[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-06-2002).]
 
Hi Angie!

First I have to say what a wonderful book!!!

I'm going to start my thoughts on Chapter 1.

While rereading Chapter 1 of CPL, the first thing I noticed is the relation to my own son's fears. See Suggestions please... 4year old terrified of fire

Next, in Ch.1 I found the synchronicity involved in this chapter to be inspiring. I mean, her son is having this terrifying ordeal with fireworks and loud noises, then coincidentally, she has a house guest, Norman, who happens to be a past life regressionist. Then she reads about blacks in the civil war a day after Chase's acknowledgement and confusion that he was a black soldier. WOW!

Same goes with Sarah's fear of fire. Which I also related to on a personal level. While I have never been regressed or had memories, I tell you I have things ready each night (like birth certificates, social security, etc) just in case. I was about 20 years old before I finally stopped sleeping in day clothes, because I always wanted to be ready to run. Now, I still need a night light, but that's OK. *smile*

But the most compelling feeling while reading Chapter 1 was the messages coming from young children and the descriptions of what they were seeing. I was amazed at how fast young children could go under hypnosis. "Chase's memories were close to the surface and needed only gentle encouragement to come out." Or, "I listened in wonder as my young son talked about the universal balance and compassion. He spoke with a wisdom far beyond his eight years."

Carol's compassion and understanding to her children's experiences were heartening. How many of us have heard, "Get over it!" in our lives? That she was willing to found out how many other children this affected says a great deal.

What are your opinions on the switch of energy in the room during regression? It seemed that it was tense while they were remembering the fear before death, then peaceful while they were floating "up". What a gift to feel and sense the energy!


Looking forward to discussing more shortly. Have to run....

Take care,
Julie

[This message has been edited by JulieZ (edited 08-31-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Galadriel (edited 08-31-2002).]
 
Hi Julie!

The likenesses in yours and Carol's sons are interesting. It makes perfect sense..there has always been war and probably more so with the advent of firearms. Its heartbreaking to think of these little guys having this kind of fear in their bodies. With attentive parents such as you though..they will be alright and even lead us along the way!

Since I do not have children, I relate more to what I'm remembering of my own childhood. After reading about Chase and Sarah I thought back on a few things that make me question whether or not I was remebering a past life. There was a song I used to always sing as a child..as young as 3 my family says. I have never heard it anywhere else. I can't even spell the words as it is not in English!

Yes, to just be "witnessing" Carol's Love of her children was a warm and very nice experience. My room kind of filled up with that same energy and felt like I was there with them.

The switch of energy follows what I've mostly always heard it to be anyway.. a level of fear or "tension" and then peace. It was this way to a degree at my grandmother's passing...though I feel the fear was more on our end than hers.
-----------

Chapter Two is excellent..very interesting for me as I'm looking into past life patterns myself. Not to skip ahead too much beyond Chapter One, here's a glimpse of Chapter Two...Carol asks:
Why was I healed? It had something to do with recognizing patterns from the past and understanding how they carried over from life to life.
Click to expand...

This Chapter I can go on and on about. You ready? Anybody?

With Love,
angie



[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-01-2002).]
 
I was struck by how wonderful it was that Chase and Sarah were so rapidly healed by accessing their past life memories during their regressions. Chase was no longer panicked by loud noises and his eczema was gone, and Sarah could let go of her fear of housefires.

If Carol hadn't known about past-life regressions and hadn't been open to the possibility that they could help her children as she'd been helped, then who knows what course their lives would have taken? A "traditional" approach would have been to take Chase to a child psychologist - might have gotten to the root cause eventually but I'm sure it would have taken much longer than one session!

And in the case of Sarah, whose fear of housefires was less obvious, this fear might have lessened as she got older, but who knows? The fact that she WAS healed - and so quickly - what a blessing! Imagine how many other children could be helped by regressions?

But to step back a little, one comment I want to make is my 1st impression of this book is Carol's GUTS. You see, I probably first learned of this book earlier than most people on this forum. I was then living in the Philadelphia area, 3 miles from the suburb Carol mentions, when the book came out. I can still remember picking up the Philadelphia Inquirer and reading the interview the paper had done with her when the book was first released. I thought to myself, "wow, she's got guts to talk about this in such a conservative area!" I'd always instinctively believed in reincarnation, but never talked about with anyone; I was too afraid I'd be laughed at or people would think I was strange. I didn't know anyone else who believed in it also.

I didn't read the book then because my daughter was just a toddler and thus I didn't have a lot of free time. Yet obviously I remembered it, for about 2 years later, when my daughter did some unusual playacting (see my reply to a recent post by Alisande), that's the first thing I thought of. By synchronicity, I came across CPL shortly thereafter and purchased it. I was blown away by the depths of the experiences people reported! It is so wonderfully written!

I could go on and on, but I think I'll stop for now and give others a chance to report on their reactions to the book.
 
I was struck by how wonderful it was that Chase and Sarah were so rapidly healed by accessing their past life memories during their regressions. Chase was no longer panicked by loud noises and his eczema was gone, and Sarah could let go of her fear of housefires.
Click to expand...

Yeah..makes you think. Even though its so important to stay in the now..at the same time we have to come to terms with unresolved things in our lives. So, watching the children..they have these memories, they deal--and then get right back in the now!

Now and days I'm really thinking I'd like to do a regression with a professional...the point being to move on with what I find out and use that information to create real change, not to stay stuck.

Love,
angie

------------------
"The requirements of language and of logical thought are not always the same; demands of syntax may lead to errors in thinking." P. W. Nathan, Neurologist.



[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-06-2002).]
 
So glad we finally got going. I'm on chapter 9, so forgive me if I'm too general for now. I am rereading this book after my first encounter with it many years ago.

At 3 years old ,the most I could do for my son's mysterious fear of separation ,was to assure him that we would ALWAYS be together through many lifetimes. Though I didn't know the techniques to draw out his memories, then, my limited understanding of reincarnation helped him deal somewhat with his separation anxieties.Just that knowledge helped him get on with the business of leaving to go to a friend's house etc..

A few years later I heard Carol speak in Montreal..bringing significant AHAHH! moments to my understanding of the strange behaviour he was exhibiting.
When I asked a past life reader (not a therapist..I live in a small town without many therapists ) about regressing him...he was then 7, she felt it was best not to arouse more anxiousness in a child. I think she was afraid of the intensity of what she might not have been ready to deal with.

As I reread this book, I can see how some of his phobias have altered but not disappeared.
Carol's work is extremely important and exciting for healing youngsters before phobias alter their lives ,not even mentioning just the overwhelming evidence for reincarnation.

Also, since I am a supply teacher, I have encountered MANY instances of cases I would like to follow up especially in the little ones.Unfortunately I don't have undivided time with any one child,From what I have heard from the "mouths of babes" past life memories ABOUND very close to the surface of their worlds.I don't even think, in many instances that regression or hypnosis would be necessary! We just miss the moments!

Carol was in the right place at the right time with the right acquaintances...NOT a co-incidence.

I do have a question.I have noticed that many, maybe most of the children in the book spoke of a past life in their own area of the world...e.g.
Carol mentions the Blue Ridge Mountains Isn't that in West Virginia?..Wasn't the civil war, where Chase' memories were from, fought there?(forgive me, I'm Canadian)
There are several other cases like that.
I'd like some comments on my question and would love to know if others had similar reasons for relating to this book.
Back to the book!...Nexus



------------------
"I am a part of all that I have met"
Alfred Lord Tennyson
 
Hi Nexus!

I can tell you that the Blue Ridge Mountains encompasses Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia...a huge span!

The Civil War began at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina and really involved 26 states..(from about April 1861 to May 1865).

Love,
angie


------------------
"The requirements of language and of logical thought are not always the same; demands of syntax may lead to errors in thinking." P. W. Nathan, Neurologist.


[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-02-2002).]
 
Hello,

We lived in the mountains of North Carolina--both Chase and Sarah were born there. We've talked to Civil War experts and the best guess, based on the terrain Chase saw, for the location of the battle is New Market Heights in the Pennisula campaign--coastal Virginia near Richmond. The cases show that it's not unusual for souls to reincarnate geographically close to where they left off.

The synchronicity Carol experienced was real and all the events are true. In fact, just so there is no doubt, every detail in both books is true. We didn't alter events to make them more interesting. Actually, we left out a lot of the strongest synchronicities and weird happenings to tone it down and make Carol's story more credible. Carol is one of those people who is constantly attracting synchronicity. I've known her for 28 years and it happens so often I don't even think about it any more. So I guess she was a natural for this to happen to her.

I'm glad you're all taking the time to reread CPL and discuss it here. We packed a lot into that book, and it's a treat for us to see what readers get out of it. The original manuscript was twice as long as the finished book, and in the editing process we cut out words and cases, but no important ideas.

Let me tell you something we haven't revealed publicly before: the first is composed like a large musical composition, and is full of musical puns and allusions. I have a degree in music composition, and it was natural for me to draw from that training when organizing this book. For example, the length and tone of each chapter is carefully calculated. "Prelude" and even "Presto" are names of musical movements. Can you find more?

It works because music is an important thread in the story--notice the many references to the piano. Carol plays piano every day now. Our priced possession is a Steinway grand piano.

Do you have questions for me or Carol about CPL?

Steve
 
Steve, I just wanted to thank you and Carol so much for bringing CPL and this forum into the world! I really do remember the Philadelphia Inquirer interview - I was living in Haverford at the time - and I was so impressed by Carol's guts in discussing this topic so openly. I'm not from the Main Line and in general it seemed like such a conservative area to me. Did you and Carol find it hard to bring up reincarnation at first, or have you always found it easy to discuss with others? I'm currently struggling with this issue now - how much to discuss with my husband (and others) about the insights I've been picking up through a recently-discovered past life connection.


The book really got me to thinking about reincarnation in a more analytical way; before it had been an instinctive belief. I purchased CPL after witnessing a possible PL behavior in my young daughter, and it led the way to reading other books on reincarnation and new ways of thinking about people and their relationships! So once again, thank you!

PS wouldn't it be great if child psychology professors required their students to read CPL? Do you know of any such professors who have done so?
 
Hello Everyone!

I'm short for time at the moment, but I'll be back later to share more thought with you all.

I just wanted to say that is very interesting about the music. When I got to the title of Chapter 2 I immediately "heard" some piano music in my head when I read Prelude.

Nexus,
Don't worry about only being on Ch. 9. These first 2 weeks only cover Ch. 1-9 so we can all reread together. I'm only on Ch. 4 myself in my reread.

How intriquing about the settings of current life and pastlife memory. I didn't even make the correalation. Fascinating! It reminds me of what sparked my 'first real' past life memory when I moved to the desert Southwest. The dust in the air sparked my memory.

Bishopk,

PS wouldn't it be great if child psychology professors required their students to read CPL? Do you know of any such professors who have done so?
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree with you more!!!

Be back later when I'm not in such a hurry.

Take care,
Julie
.
.
 
Hi Steve,

The cases show that it's not unusual for souls to reincarnate geographically close to where they left off.
Click to expand...

That fact is also noted over and over in Dr. Stevenson's work. I remember that from when I read some of his work back in the late 80's.
====

LOL! Musical puns and allusions huh? Well now let me see..ummm, Carol is one!! --*"Carol - The term was derived from a medieval French word, carole, a circle dance. In England it was first associated with pagan songs celebrating the winter solstice. It then developed into a song of praise and celebration..."--
Some other things make sense even more now..the flow of this book. I was going to say in an earlier post before we began the new thread: to be able to read it straight through and have it fill up the room the way it did for me was a pleasant surprise..

Carol plays piano every day now.
Click to expand...

When's the CD coming out?! LOLOL

Love,
angie

[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-04-2002).]
 
Hello,

Does anyone here have stories to tell from their own childhood concerning phobias?

Just for now, if you don't mind--can we just mention the phobias. Later we can discuss where we think their roots lie!

The most predominant one for me in childhood was that I never wanted to be apart from my mother. Sounds normal, I know. But my grandmother (and aunts and uncles as well) used to tell me that I was "overly sensitive" when it came to her and that no matter who I was left with as a toddler and older, I was never completely settled (and sometimes would not stop crying the whole time) until I saw my mother coming through the door. I do remember many things about this, one being that at kindergarten, I'd stand there and cry as she drove away because she had not locked her car door as I'd always beg her to do. I would beg her to do it and sometimes she'd forget.


Love,
angie



[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-04-2002).]
 
Hi Angie,

Here are my early childhood situations, without further detail:

I had a terrible stuttering problem, was incredibly shy and a recluse. I wasn't 'clingy' to my parents, just always more content to be alone. In Kindergarten I didn't say one word the whole school year to another kid. The teacher had to talk to me in really quiet whispers, which I would only do in her ear.

Even now I'm pretty quiet and like to be alone.


****************************************

In Chapter 4 the moment of death is discussed. What are your thoughts on this?

Julie
 
BishopK,

Carol has never had any problem talking about reincarnation, or any other "weird" topics. Of course she can sense who will be receptive, and who won't. But her very presence seems to invoke the subject. I swear, I've seen it happen so many times: she'll be talking to a total stranger at the supermarket, on the street, and within one minute they're confessing their past life memories and speculations. They bring it up. Carol just goes along, and only gradually reveals who she is and what she knows.

I don't hesitate to mention it if it's appropriate, and I talk to a lot of conservative, straight business people. I'm surprised at how many people are at least fascinated, if not outright believers. I rarely run into real resistance. I think that says something.

Maybe if everybody who knows reincarnation as a personal reality would talk about it, it wouldn't be a taboo subject. It's an Emporer's New Clothes phenomenon.

On another note, I can't tell you where, but we've heard a number of times that CPL is being used in college and high school courses.

Steve
 
Angie,

to be able to read it straight through and have it fill up the room the way it did for me was a pleasant surprise..
Click to expand...

I like that! It filled up the room. That makes me feel good to know it had that effect.

Did you know that for one of the final editing passes, Carol and I read the entire book OUT LOUD to each other. We wanted to make sure it flowed and sounded good. Also, that's a great way to catch little mistakes and "bumps" as we called them.

The music metaphor is also inspired by T.S. Eliot's The Four Quartets, which is quoted throughout Prelude and has always been my favorite poetry as it has with Carol. Just as we were starting to write CPL, I read a book about the musical structure underlying The Four Quartets, and had fun with the idea. For example, Chapter 3 "Musings" is very short because it acts like an interlude before the long, heavy, and dark "Moment of Death." It works like a short movement in a romantic string quartet. "Presto, Chicago" picks up speed, like the last movement (with tempo "presto," or fast) of a classical symphony; the chapter ends the first section, which we conceived as a complete unit. It's also a pun on "presto, change-o," --or is that obvious?

True story: I was writing the sub-section "Moment of Death" about the Tibetan Book of the Dead at the moment I heard that Jerry Garcia had died. "Broken Dreams and Vanished Years" (sub-chapter in Prelude) is a quote from a beautiful Grateful Dead ballad, "Stella Blue."

Fun, huh?

Steve

------------------
Reincarnation Forum Founder and Grand Poobah;
Co-author, Children's Past Lives and Return from Heaven

[This message has been edited by Steve (edited 09-04-2002).]
 
Hi Julie,

It would take all night to tell you what Chapter 4 means and revealed to me the first and now second time I read it! But here's an attempt to be briefer than that:

When Carol describes the moment of death as not only a doorway, but also a "psychological event..with psychological consequences," that only made sense to me; as a "golden opportunity" to heal and progress emotionally and Spiritually.

Also, when she writes about the heightened consciousness one experiences at death, and how the thoughts and emotions that are foremost present carry over to the next life...it made me think of my grandmother at the moment of her passing. I was there very close to her, face to face, and I was talking to her the whole time. I have many more thoughts about that now, since reading this book.

Chapter four is one of my favorite Chapters. It's full of validation of how important emotion is to every aspect of our lives.. in ways we just can't attach to normal understanding of emotions. I'm still waking up to the many implications in this part of the book. I do know that more and more I want to try past life therapy.

With Love,
angie

[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-04-2002).]
 
Steve, thank you so much for your reply. Carol must indeed be an amazing person, to have strangers come up to her and talk about past lives like that. Somebody ought to do a biography on her - I'm sure there are tons of amazing stories to be told.

It's truly wonderful that the two of you have each other - you both would have lost something special had either of you married non-believers of this sort of thing.

You mentioned talking to "conservative businessmen" about this - tell me, have you talked much to engineering professors? That's my husband's profession, plus he's a traditional-thinking Catholic, so he called me a nut and a kook when I told him of my past-life experiences.

To top things off, the town we just moved to is dominated by a Protestant religion that seems somewhat old-fashioned to me (I'm Catholic too, so that's probably my ignorance showing) - and this same religious organization runs the college where my husband now teaches. I don't think the subject of reincarnation would go over too well there. Yet it was reincarnation that brought us here - I had what seemed to be an intense past-life recognition with one of my husband's future co-workers on the interview trip - yep, another engineering professor. How ironic!

Glad to hear that some high schools and colleges are using CPL. Maybe this is among the 1st steps in creating more openess about this topic....
 
about the childhood phobia thing: I don't know if this is really a phobia, but ever since I can remember, I've always had a thing about not being late when going somewhere. This got me into trouble when I was 11 - I got hit by a car while carelessly crossing a busy street. The reason for the carelessness? I felt I was going to be late for school and I didn't want my teacher to mark me tardy. Instead, I was marked absent for the remaining 9 weeks of school! Pretty idiotic of me!

I grew up in a big family and thus it was chaotic getting us all ready to go somewhere - so it wasn't as if my mom or dad were punctuality freaks. No, this seems to be something self-imposed.

To this day, I tend to get anxious when I feel I'm running late for something; I'm always ready to go earlier than my husband is. My confort level about a designated arrival time is obviously different than his. Having a baby didn't seem to alter this; I still seemed to feel it was important to be on time and most of the time managed to do so, diaper bag, nursing and all.

Personality-wise, as a kid I was much like the descriptions already posted: very introverted and I preferred peace and quiet. Not easy to get as a kid in a family of 10! My mom says
I was always my own best friend.

I still prefer a lot of "alone time" but have become much more outgoing, which I attribute to having moved several times. However, a general anxiety about calling attention to myself lingered until very recently - even among a small group of board members I was part of a year ago, I was always hesitant to speak my mind. I mention this because my major PL experience seemed to "cure" me, to the point that I feel like a different person now.
 
Hi Bishopk,

What you and Julie shared above is what I had in mind..not to exclude phobias and to include any life issue or theme that is predominant. It would be interesting to recall and observe our individual "themes" as we go along in the book..for the purpose of healing.

I've been researching more of my own "issues" by way of asking my family more questions. Its amazing the things you hear for the "first time" in reference to the things Carol is finding out as the book goes along. What I mean is that when Carol writes about Chase and Sarah's past life connections..(when Sarah was Chase's father and brother), you then wonder what you and your own familial patterns might be. I think definitely I once was my mother's mother..and have felt that from a young age by way of feeling (without knowing the concept of the term.."past life" or the word.."reincarnate").

Also--prior to writing about these "familial" connections, Carol writes about many of the physical conditions that some are born with or develop later on..that are linked to real physical and psychological events from past lives! Interesting to reflect on. So many things making sense.


With Love,
angie
 
Hi all.
I'm sorry that I still haven't got the book - I hope to be more organised in a couple of weeks, so will do something about it then.
In the meantime I'm enjoying reading everything here, since it gives me an idea of what the book is about. Sounds great.
I find it interesting that so many people here seem to have such deep interests and feeling for music (myself included)(piano also much neglected at the moment due to lack of time).
Even the Grateful Dead get a mention!! Oooh I remember going to London for one of their concerts - which they were enjoying so much, went on for about six hours. Wonderful!!
I had quite a few phobias as a kid, but my greatest fear from a very very early age was of war. When I was really tiny I used to worry about it all the time and keep asking my parents 'will there be another war'.
When I was about six they gave me and my brother some money to put in a collection box by the sea. The collection box was actually a huge old mine, as used to blow up ships. I refused to put the money in it because I was convinced the moment I did it would blow up!! (Possibly a very poor idea if they were trying to collect money - but logic didn't come into it at all!!!!)
Thanks for all the interesting stuff'
Love to all.
Gemeni.
 
Hi

Julie and Fairchilde, - this is a GREAT section.

Carol wrote about triggers in chapter 11. Am I jumping the gun? I had a very interesting experience last year that got me thinking about "triggers" - things that spark past life 'memories' and bring them to the surface. Here is my example -

I was walking from class to my truck in the parking garage. The sun was shining and it was warm outside, students were sitting in the grass..it was a very nice atmosphere.

Not far away a siren started to go off...it was an odd sounding siren, not like a modern one and I do not know where it came from except maybe an ambulance. No one seemed to notice or pay any attention to it.

I kept walking, but as I walked -- in my third eye vision -- as if there was a tear in the fabric of reality -- I saw holographic images coming through. I began to see a truck, with round head lights from the 1940's. It was covered in ash...with rubble all around it and behind it. As if a bomb had just been dropped.

I continued to walk to the garage, but within my vision,I stumbled on the rumble, and I caught myself with my hands {in another body, I was wearing a skirt..but that day at school -- I wore pants}.

I noticed that the siren that was happening in the background at the school shifted to an older sounding siren -- in 1940. I saw a Red Cross on the side of the truck. My eyes were open during the vision, so I closed them.. but it didn't matter..the truck, the sirens, the rubble and ash..were still there in front of me; eyes opened or closed.

It only lasted about a minute -but during that time I found it difficult to be in the here and now and walk forward while stumbling and heading for an ambulance after a bombing and feeling the emotions of another time. How could I explain the tears rolling down my cheeks?

It appeared to me like a black and white movie....but then the red cross on the side of the truck suggested other wise, and it dawned on me that the ash was covering everything from the bombing, and made it appear mostly black and white. When I looked down, I was wearing an ashen covered blue skirt with a white apron.

When the images came into full view...so too did the emotions, thoughts and feelings I had then. The vision was just a moment of one day in my past life, but my soul remembered well the tragedies of another time. The siren triggered more memories. I realized it was World War II --- I was in Italy - in a town near my home, my consciousness was not in 2001 - but in about 1940!

I have thought about it this past year, and integrated my feelings and emotions regarding recent events. The tears I felt deep within my heart in the vision, are those I feel every time I now see the images of buildings in rubble in New York.

I am thankful for the experience.... it has helped me to integrate my 'soul reactions' to recent events and better understand me.
War huh Gemeni? Me too.

Has anyone else had 'triggers' --that have brought on memories from a past life?

------------------
Deborah

Memory is an abstract painting - it does not present things as they are, but rather as they feel. --Eugenia Collier



[This message has been edited by Deborah (edited 09-08-2002).]
 
Hello!
I am responding to the invitation to join in the discussion of Children’s Past Lives. I first learned about this book when I was searching for information on reincarnation on the internet about a year and a half ago. I was fascinated by the excerpts from the book, and then read it, which I thought was excellent. I also read Return from Heaven which I ordered at the same time. Before reading Carol’s book I had purchased and read Stevenson’s Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect. (I obtained this while on a visit to the Rhine Research Center in Durham, NC). After reading Carol’s books, I bought and read Past Lives by Peter and Elizabeth Fenwick. Finally, I have read most of the messages on the Reincarnation Forum in both the Childrens and Adult Sections, and have just started making postings on the Adult Section.

I think that Carol’s books and the work of the forum are tremendous. Stevenson’s scientific approach (I had read other works of his over the years) was very valuable and convincing. But there was something missing, and Carol’s books filled the void. I had thought that Stevenson’s approach to reincarnation was excellent and convincing, even though very cautious. But Carol’s approach to using past life memories as a clue to healing present phobias was even better. Am I correct in my memory that Stevenson does not like the regression approach? And also that he believes that a person has only one previous life (or at least didn’t explore the possibility of other previous lives?) Has Stevenson changed in his views after his conversations with Carol, or the publication of her books?

A suggestion—is there any possibility of providing an index in both books in a future edition? Before writing this I tried to find the section dealing with Carol’s research project with Stevenson in Chicago. I spent some time looking for it in the Children’s Past Lives book, and then finally realized it was in Return from Heaven. It’s exciting to know that CPL is being used in some high school and college courses. I should think that an index would be especially helpful to students who might want to use the book as a basis for a term paper. Indexes appear in the other books I mentioned above. As the author of a book myself I made it a point to have a very detailed index myself, especially after reading many books on the subject on which I wrote and being very frustrated with those books that did not have indexes. Often I look at an index before reading a book, and then reading sections that appeal to me. But that may be just me!

Now that I am aware of the memories of past lives that very young children have, I often wonder if our own children ever said anything which may have suggested a past life. If so, I would have dismissed it, as I did not believe in reincarnation when they were children. I’m wondering also if our grandchildren said anything to their parents, and if they dismissed any remarks as well.

Several years ago our grandson was with us to see some Fourth of July fireworks. He was looking forward to it eagerly, as was our granddaughter. But when the show started he was very frightened, and continued to be frightened until it was over. This past Fourth of July we watched the fireworks and this time he had no fear of them. His explanation for his previous fear was he thought that the fireworks would land on top of him. Of course I wondered if he might have been in a war in a previous life, but I did not discuss this with him. Now 11, he was familiar with the word and concept of reincarnation, but I did not pursue the matter further.

Since reading Carol’s books with its emphasis on present ills and their relation to past lives and the possibility of healing I have wondered about another matter. Three of our four grandchildren have Tourette’s Syndrome. Neither my wife nor I have any evidence that any of our other family members (parents, grandparents, etc.) had this problem. We had never even heard of it before. Has Carol dealt with any people that have had this, and if so, have any been helped by a past life regression?

I think that the Forum and this book discussion section are fabulous! Hope lots of people take advantage of them.

Best wishes,

Enigmatic
 
Bishpok,

Engineers, scientists, and conservative protestants seem to be the groups that are most closed-minded to past lives or pshychic phenomenon.

Steve
 
Thanks for the reply, Steve - so you, too, have obviously noticed that engineers and conservative Protestants aren't readily open to this sort of thing. So it looks like I've got a double whammy against me here! That's okay, I accept it, and in fact am highly amused by the irony of the whole thing!
 
Deborah - what a fascinating story you told! To have a clear memory of what had happened - that's really something.

My example is a trigger that involved emotions, and of course, it involved my husband's future co-worker, on the interview trip. Now, I'd just met the guy about 1 1/2 hours ago, and had pretty much been in a haze that whole time after having a bizarre reaction to meeting him. I could hardly take my eyes off his face, there was just something about him, and my emotions were all over the map. All this made me very self-conscious around him, yet somehow I ended up walking next to him during the on-campus tour - my husband had gone off with the other professor. We stopped at the edge of campus, with the stately college chapel behind us. The interview trip was clearly over at this point, so I tried to express my thanks to this guy, since as department head he'd been the one to set it up.

The town where the college is located is in my native state, but I'd never been to this town, so I said that what little I'd seen of the area, it seemed nice. I wanted to ask the man what he thought of the area, since he's from the East Coast - quite a different area from my state. But I decided not to ask that question; didn't want to seem nosy.

Much to my surprise, the man blurted out something about how he and his family would have already moved back east, but they had come to really like the area. It was like he'd read my mind and had answered the question I hadn't asked.

Perhaps he misundertood the surprised look on my face, for he kindly added "But I guess that's East Coast snobbery, isn't it?" I thought it was really nice of him to make that comment, as if he thought he'd shown some disregard for my native state and was trying to explain why he'd wanted to move back to his original home. But since I'd spent many years living in other places, I took no offense to his comment about moving back.

Yet as we stood there, looking at each other, I suddenly got the sense that he was asking my forgiveness for something - it was as if somehow that "East Coast snobbery" comment had triggered a memory of another conversation, another time. And I wanted to reach out and touch his arm, softly say his name and add "it's okay now. I understand and I forgive you."

I knew that wasn't socially appropriate behavior, so instead I fumbled with some reply that pertained to his actual comments.But I tried to send him my forgiveness subconsciously; it seemed like the thing to do! I sensed that was what he wanted and needed from me. I felt so flustered by the depths of the emotions I was feeling, I couldn't even look at his face. It didn't help that suddenly I got the feeling we were standing too close together and how THAT happened, I didn't know. And I felt like we were communicating with our souls; it was a very deep, spiritual feeling that I hadn't experienced with anyone else before.

Maybe the chapel in the background helped in triggering the need to forgive? At any rate, it changed my life - that act of forgiving him seemed to open me up: I'm not as afraid of life -or people- anymore.
 
Hello Everyone,

Gemeni..hi! Nice to see you over this way..I hope you'll stay around whether you read the book soon or not. What you share always adds so much.

Hi Enigmatic,
Nice to hear from you! I enjoyed what you shared and am glad you mentioned this..."Carol’s approach to using past life memories as a clue to healing present phobias was even better." That's the whole essence of the book for me..using past life memory/information for the purpose of healing! Its exciting to me and offers so much hope for many who thought they'd tried everything in resolving certain patterns (including me).

Thank you for your kind words about the forum.

Deborah...Bringing up triggers now fits in perfectly with the flow of discussion. Thanks for sharing. How incredible and emotional that must have been to experience. I like how you related it forward..to the present, and described the sorrow of what happened almost 1 year ago. "Soul Reactions"..never heard that before now!

The triggers, (or Soul reactions) I've experienced have been less detailed. In fact, since reading this book..I realize I have some memories from childhood about "Soul reactions" I was having then that I remember now. More recently and something recurring that I get a glimpse of is this huge house with many many hidden rooms. I'm little and feel alone. The fabric on different pieces of furniture is rose pattern in the style of English Country. The memory seems spontaneous, but more and more I think it may be triggered by feelings of aloneness. Not sure.

Hi Bishopk,

I read where you've shared about this man and I find it very interesting! I always have this picture in my head as you tell more about it..the look of half shock on your face the "first" time meeting him, to what you've described above and you looking shy and sincere. And you give such clear detail...
Its obvious there's something there and for whatever reason..I get the feeling he was more a brother, perhaps even father to you once.

Much Love,
angie




[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-09-2002).]
 
Perhaps this is a backwards trigger..or just a connection.

While I was in hard labour with my firstborn, the doctor had told me it would be at least another 6 hours.

I vowed that I was NOT going to wait 6 hours to have this baby! At this point I began to count aloud with the pain making me lose concentration so the numbers were random, as long as they were numbers.All of a sudden I felt myself separate from my body...Somehow "I" was slowly walking around a ledge on a very high cliff. After a while I decided to sit in a little alcove on the ledge and just appreciate the scenery.I was not "me" but a young native girl,long, black hair..leather clothing. I could observe my other body from on high and was "aware" of when I was having contractions but they meant little to my "new" self. It was as if I was waiting for the time to be up when I would return and give birth.

While I was still on the mountain, the doctor came in to check on me,1 hour later.He was surprised that I was ready to deliver!

About 4 years ago, I was privileged to be invited to go with a group to the top of a native spiritual site used for visionquests.
As we were about to leave..I wandered over to the side of the mountain and came across the EXACT same cliff ledge as in my vision, complete with each tiny crevice and bush...and a log house in the valley far below just as I saw.

They had to send someone back up the mountain for me when I did not come down.I have had one other occasion to visit this place. It is usually out of bounds to non-natives. Each time it has felt like the most familiar and comfortable place to me...like I had been there many many times.

My original vision happened at a time that I never thought of hypnosis and was not actively thinking about reincarnation.

Now,I willingly "go" up on the mountain in situations like the dentist chair etc...It is my personal waiting room while I escape pain.

This was at a time that reincarnation was just an idea I had heard about as a teenager, so it was a totally surprising spontaneous event. I guess it was triggered by a need to escape.Maybe this was where I would go in a past life to escape unpleasantness...Seems to work as well in my present life as in the past.

Although I do not remember many events like this, (outside of my prolific dreams) , it is all the little things that happen to me in my lifetime that make Carol's book and other sources so enlightening.


------------------
"I am a part of all that I have met"
Alfred Lord Tennyson
 
Nexus, it was great that you found that peaceful haven as a trigger during hard labor, and how resourceful of you to utilize that place still when you need to escape something. I was in labor for over 24 hours, including 3 hours of pushing; I could have really used a peaceful place to go to also!

Angie - thanks for your comments - they're very nice as always! Try "look of total shock" instead of "half shock" when I first saw him. Talk about feeling like an IDIOT - here I am in this boardroom, with my husband and several of his potential co-workers, when the department head walks into the room and who knows what my face showed! I wondered what he and the other professors thought.(when I finally got up the nerve to tell my husband about all of this, he said he wasn't looking at me when I met the man, so he didn't see how my face looked) And later on, at the end when I couldn't even look at his face - I felt like I seemed quite rude. I worried afterward that I had sent out all sorts of weird vibes! Well, seemingly no ill effects, as he continues to show the same kindness and sensitivity that he did during the interview trip. And he definitely isn't trying to avoid talking to me when he sees me.

But back to triggers - I wanted to ask if anyone else was deeply affected by the Victoria Bragg/Mark excerpt in Chapter 11. Carol writes of it so well, one can really feel Victoria's pain as she deals with little Mark and his memories of their happy life together before she'd died. It obviously haunted her; she mentions thinking about it for years before finally getting a past-life regression. One can only imagine her sorrow in having his memories invoke such strong emotions in her, when after all he was only 4 and she a young woman. From the 1st time I read the book, I found the story to be very poignant. I wondered if somehow they'll ever meet up again in this life, and if her feelings about their life together had any effect on her love life. She seemed so sad in telling the story, even though she told it to Carol 10 years after she'd met Mark.
 
Hi Nexus,

Cool trigger! I'd definitely call it a trigger since it does sound like a place you've been to many times for solace.

Hi Bishopk,

The story about Victoria Bragg and Mark was touching.

In Chapter 11 the thing that intrigues me most is the instances of Mother/child telepathy and the implications of that. Just a mother's unexpressed interest (without total acceptance) in reincarnation can be a factor in a child's past life recall. Anna and Seth's story was like a chain reaction...from Anna's firm disbelief in reincarnation to her being exposed to the idea of it through Elona..to two days later when Seth's memories came to the surface and the subsequent healing of his phobia!
 
Hello,

I want to share something that happened Wednesday night. I went to bed kind of early, but woke up an hour later unable to go back to sleep. I decided to pick up where I'd left off in re-reading CPL, the end of Chapter 12.

But my mind kept going back to Chapter 11, "Mother and Child Telepathy." I read it yet again and then fell into a kind of daze, thinking I was just sleepy. The thing is though that I went into a deep very clear past memory of something my Mother used to say to me through my teens years, (in this lifetime). She'd only say it while drinking. Since then I've thought of it a few times, but not really allowed myself to feel it or understand how the message of it got programmed into my mind. Even during therapy I'd not dealt with this because it seemed small.

But in this memory..it all came back with all the power of emotion it once had for me during those years. I started crying, I felt it deeply and was able to see how it has secretly played with me through life. It happened so fast..this spontaneous processing. And at that moment I imagined my higher self coming in and telling me the real truth of the matter. At the same time I imagined my Mother's sorrow, (now that she's not had a drink in nearly 20 years!) at remembering this thing she'd say to me. I know without one doubt that my Mother never ever meant it. I saw her sorrow about it..and the tears came stronger. Then I felt myself release it for the first time just as I relized that I'd been holding onto to it and believing it on some level all of my life. Not that the pain of it went away, in fact, as I said..I'd not really dealt with this so the pain of it is sort of "new." But its the healing kind of pain.

After that I felt more of the release... that's hard to explain. It was peaceful and gentle really, like exhaling slowly and calmly. Then I went to sleep.

The next evening, (last night) I was over at Mom's and she told me that she'd had the best day she'd had in a very long time. She said she was full of energy and felt wonderful all day long, even as we were talking. And she was glowing! I haven't seen her glow for years. Also, she's a supervisor at her job and they are swamped lately with overtime and other things. So this made me happy to hear as I've been worried that she's working too hard.

Now I've been wondering..had she felt that "spontaneous processing" too? Had we done something together on some level that caused a wonderful release for us both?

I'm thinking so...and that it was Mother-Daughter telepathy.

What do ya'll think?

Love,
angie

------------------
As I go through these experiences, pain--scars of the Soul--I can also still choose Love over suspicion, hope over cynicalness & thoughts that heal over thoughts that incapacitate.


[This message has been edited by fairchilde (edited 09-13-2002).]
 
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