Discussion on Carol's Books

[Jefferson]

I am in the process of reading Carol Bowman's book "Children's Past Lives". WOW!! What an incredibly AWESOME gold mine of information on reincarnation and children remembering their past lives and the healing that can occur through regression therapy once a child's problem has been identified! WOW!!! It is an incredible book! I'm excited, can anybody tell?

I am single, incredibly handsome, and I don't have children but I do have two young nieces - Megan is 6 and Beth is 4. Needless to say, my sister is getting a copy of this book!!

Okay, that's it for now. I just thought it would be cool to be astounded and astonished and stuff in public. I also thought I'd deliver an unsolicited and glowing "shameless plug" of sorts for Carol's work and her book. If you have not read this book, GET IT AND READ IT. It is THAT good and THAT important, at least in my humble opinion!! This is information that EVERY parent should have, regardless of their beliefs concerning reincarnation.

Jeff

 

[fairchilde]

May's Book of the Month: Return From Heaven

Hello All,

May's book of the month is Return From Heaven: Beloved Relatives Reincarnated Within Your Family - by Carol Bowman

When a beloved grandfather, aunt, parent, or child dies, the loss feels so great, so sad, so final. The grieving family yearns to see him again, to hear her voice, to feel his presence. If only they could be with their loved one again!
"There is strong evidence that when the souls of our loved ones die, they can return from heaven to be with us again - not in dream or vision, or through the aid of a medium or psychic - but in reality, through reincarnation as a baby born into the family," says pioneering past lives expert Carol Bowman, in her insightful book, RETURN FROM HEAVEN: Beloved Relatives Reincarnated Within Your Family. Family reincarnation is so common, she says, "because relationships are so important, and because family relationships, especially, are so intense it makes sense that souls would have many reasons to return to the family it just left-to be with those they love again, to continue learning and growing, and to heal both emotionally and physically."

Bowman, the author of Children's Past Lives, explains the newly-discovered phenomenon of same-family reincarnation-grandfathers return as their own great-grandsons, uncles return as their own nieces, mothers switch places with their daughters, and children who died tragically young sometimes return to the same mother. "It happens all the time," she says, "but most people don't recognize it because they don't know it's possible and don't know the signs. They miss a blessed opportunity to experience reincarnation firsthand."

Return from Heaven argues passionately for reincarnation, but it is not a religious book. It is a collection of true stories and observations that report what actually happens in typical families all across America. It follows these families-most of whom did not believe in reincarnation before it happened to them-as they are convinced by their toddlers' statements and behaviors that the child is remembering the past life of a deceased relative. The families share what it feels like-the personal dilemmas and utter joy-to have a close relationship with two incarnations of the same soul.

These cases are taken from the hundreds of e-mails that Bowman received after Children's Past Lives was published in 1997. "I had been researching children's past lives for more than a decade when I first took notice of these special cases of family return," says the author. "They showed me something I hadn't seen before. They demonstrate how emotions and relationships can actually carry over from one life to the next." She selected the best stories for Return from Heaven to show the range of possibilities. They are all true, told in the words of the families themselves, and make for fascinating reading.

More information on the book can be found here ReturnFromHeaven

Please join us.

Sincerely,
Angie

 

[deborah]

What are your thoughts?

Hi,

When reviewing chapter #2 I realized that the story of Kathy was so "real" -- and honest! It is definitely about healing. Carol's approach tells the story of Kathy's experiences without being "the psychologist" or portraying the regressionist/client point of view.

I was particularly moved by Kathy's prayers and statement at the end of that chapter regarding her son who died (James) and her son now (Chad)-

I look back and remember I prayed before he died to have James back as a child in a healthy body and to be given a second chance. I prayed for it every night. But if someone had told me when James was dying that I'd have him back as another child, I would have thought they were on drugs and completely lost their minds. If they had told me that my prayers would be answered, I would have thought that I was asking for too much, for the impossible. But now I'm very much at peace with the fact that James is reborn. I accept James being part of Chad. And I accept that this is the answer to my prayers.

I would love to hear reflections on Kathy's "Prayers" and anyone's thoughts about what brought them together again as well as the healing that took place.

 

[Steve]

Deborah,

That's one of my favorite passages in Chapter 2 as well. Those are her actual words (except for a minimum of editing I did to take out repetition, etc.). We have maybe 20 hours of Kathy on tape and one is more amazing than the next. We only included what was necessary to tell the story. She has such a homey way with words.

I'd like to know what other little bits in the book most affected people. I love to see how different parts come alive for different people. That makes Carol and me feel proud that we did a good job of putting so much into these books that they speak in different ways according to what the reader brings to it, and what they're going through at the time.

Steve

 

[Steve]

Very interesting. Thanks for your commets.

Carol and I thought the miscarriage/abortion chapter would surprise some people. The section "Facing Abortion" took about ten passes to get it right. We knew we were treading on delicate issues.

The Cousins case is one of my favorites. Like so many of the major cases in the book, we left out as much material of what really happened--quotes, incidents--as we put in the book. We couldn't let the cases get too long.

Steve

 

[Veronika]

Winner

Hi Steve and Carol,
Thank you, again for the my copy of Childrens Past Lives! My best raffleprice ever.

I really enjoyed reading. I would recommend CPL to anyone who is interested in reincarnation. It's one of the best books on the subject I've read. (Not that I've read that many.) I think the balance between Carol's personal story and the scientific approach is very good.

While I read it I had an interesting experience. A couple of times I saw flashes of the described lifes. Of couse I always see pictures when I read, but these flashes remindes me of those occasions when I've been able to share past life experiences when someone else is rembering and telling me. The flashes were to short so I'm not really sure if that was the case here. What was interesting was that it only happened when Carol was present during the session and saw the memeory too and it was only when the memory contained strong emotions.

A while ago I participated in a workshop on reading and writing. We discussed what "presence" was. My theory, that I didn't mention then, is that good writers leave an emotional trace in the text that add something to the words. The story can be made up but if the emotions are true, in the sense that the writer feel them while writing, this leaves a trace that our subconsionsness can pick up. This makes the reader's experience deeper. I think that something like that could have happened when I read your book.

It was interesting to read that children need a different hypnosis method because they move more easily in and out of trance. It made me realise why selfsuggestion tapes and past life regressions never worked for me. I have always moved in and out of trance easily and I don't think that I like others to meddle around with my level of consiousness. I struggled agaist it without knowing. It only works if I'm left inchage of the process.

I had a past life regression once. I started to make up stories because I wouldn't want to embarass the therphist and I wasn't sure how it should feel and I thought: "maybe this is real". What's interesting is that the experiencies I made up are experiencies that I later remebered in the memories I see as genuine. The settings and persons were different but the experiencies and emotions were the same. I also mixed experincies from different lives and made them into one life story. This is probably why the theraphist didn't notice, she was not very experinced either. I also think that I got some help from it anyway.

This far I've lent my book to my dad. He is interested in parapsychology and experienced in using hypnosis for other purposes. We'll see what that will lead to.

 

[Kelly]

Hi everyone

I can’t wait to see this new discussion grow, so I thought I might kick start it off with some general questions about the book. I was re-reading the first chapter again this morning (through the link Chelle provided) and whilst reading it again, I was reminded of WHY Carol herself first started writing the book…it all began to really take shape through the inner journey Carol decided to take with her kids and the things that were surfacing for them…so I wondered…

How many of the members here bought the book AFTER experiencing similar things with their own children and what parts of the book resounded most with your personal journey at the time??? Or, alternatively, how many members bought the book out of curiosity, or by fate - and after reading it - found so many answers and thoughts that matched their own inner ponderings. How did the book make you feel??? And again, which chapters or cases most resounded with your own experiences or questions at that time???

Interestingly (and without this discussion spiralling into a political one), the first chapter of Children's Past Lives covers the fears that resurfaced for Chase when the first war with Iraq was underway. Being his most recent past life (and death) was during a time of war, he emotionally connected to many of the feelings that were surrounding him (and all those around him) and this caused his memories to surface further. With all that is going on in the world in the present time, I wondered whether this was true for anyone else…be it your own memories, or your childrens???

 

[vicky]

I read both Children's Past Lives and Return From Heaven. An atheist friend found this site after my son started talking about a past life in Africa. I learned about the books here and ordered them.
I personally would not have come to this site or read the books or really cared to learn about reincarnation had I not been literally shocked into action by the things my son said. He needed some explanations like how he got to this life, how we 'found him', why he can't go back and see his African family. I needed to learn as much as I could to make this less scary for him. When he began sleeping better as a result, I was even more motivated to learn. Carol's books immediately took away the feeling that something might be wrong with my son or that I might somehow be misunderstanding what he was saying.
He has since spoken of many lifetimes and some have matched my memories that i began having after he started talking.
Vicky

 

[tiltjlp]

Return From Heaven Discussion

Since the first time the concept of reincarnation presented itself to me, it has been one of my Life Facts. We breathe, we reincarnate, one because we are human, one because we are souls. I’ve just finished reading both of Carol and Steve Bowman’s wonderful books, Children’s Past Lives and Return From Heaven. I would like to begin a discussion of their second masterpiece, Return From Heaven. It deals with reincarnation, or the Return From Heaven, into the same families.

You can read a number of the cases the Bowman’s cite here, http://www.carolbowman.com/childrens-past-lives/, but you’ll get so much more food for you soul’s spirit by reading both of these stunning books. Yes, I’m on staff here, but that’s not why I’m posting this. I simply feel that if somehow we can convince the world of the reality of reincarnation, our lives, and our society, will be transformed for the better.

I’ll let the links I provided give you some insight into these glorious books. All that I will quote is two sentences from the top of page 226. “All I knew was that I wasn’t done loving. I wasn’t done hugging.” And now I’ll explain why those sentences say so much to me, and how Return From Heaven has changed my life.

Like the most elusive mystery, with every clue right out in the open, reincarnation, and Return From Heaven, weave a rich tapestry of wonderment, doubt, confusion, and discovery. The promises that reincarnation offer, and Return From Heaven so engagingly explains, go far beyond a continuing lifetime of sorts. These promises are 1, spiritual immortality, quite possibly, 2, a 2nd, 3rd, and maybe unlimited chances to improve both your humanly as well as spiritually knowledge and understanding, 3, the opportunity to forgive yourself and those who have been close to you in past lives, and 4, the chance to ask for that same forgiveness. Each of these impact love in some way, allowing us to love again. Or maybe for the first time. We can share love, and growing in our knowledge of love, find a starting over point. Being with those who have been closest to us during our soul’s journey is merely a bonus.

The real mystery to me is how, once seeing the evidence and proof of reincarnation, so many people reject what for me has been truest fact for over 40 years. Religious doctrine is a major stumbling block, as may well be family tradition. It can be very difficult to turn away from what you have believed all your life. For some it might be blind adherence to strict biblical interpretation, or simply confusion and fear. Even those who do believe sometimes reject reincarnation, stating that they prefer not to take part, in the incorrect assumption that our souls can Opt Out. What our souls can do is participate in the planning of the next life, and seemingly, to some degree, have a say in when they will Return From Heaven.

I feel that I have made great strides in both my human situation, and my spiritual growth in this life, and while I’m not quite ready to restart the cycle yet, I look forward, eagerly, to my next reincarnation. I would hope that some of my better qualities and interests will rise to the surface in my next life. But I dearly hope the new me, whomever that may be, leads a less cautious and fearful life. Reading the fascinating and astonishing cases presented in Return From Heaven, we can all be assured that we can readily live with a lot less pain, confusion, sorrow, unresolved memories, and more love and compassion, in comparison to our past lives. We just might be able to influence our next lives favorably in our final time left in this life.

What I took away with me, and will now carry with me forever, are the endless possibilities that reincarnation afford us. Amazingly, living proof of those endless possibilities are the babies from under two years old, up to the youngsters of 5 or 6, who recall without prompting, past life memories. Memories that they could only know through this miracle of spiritual reincarnation. I urge everyone to read Children’s Past Lives, and then Return From Heaven. If you now live with doubts, I sincerely hope you’ll see the reality and truth of reincarnation. If, on the other hand, you are a believer such as I am, you’ll celebrate your belief, and your many future lives, on nearly every single page. Prepare to have your view of life, and death, altered forever. Rejoice in all the possibilities.

I welcome and encourage everyone fortunate to have read Return From Heaven to share their enthusiasm, their hope, and their opinions. I pray that like me, your life has been changed in some small but meaningful way.

John

 

[traveler]

I feel silly having joined this forum without reading Carol Bowman's book. I just went to the library and put "Return from Heaven" on hold. One of the unfortunate aspects of living in a rural area is that the library is small and books sometimes need to be borrowed from other branches, but I will read it as soon as it comes in.

 

[traveler]

I've now read "Children's Past Lives" by Carol Bowman. I found it very thoroughly researched and surprisingly non-judgmental considering the amount of personal experience which is included.


The book contains a good mixture of personal stories and scientific studies. It was written from the author's perspective as she gradually forms her views from her own experiences and research. This brings the subject matter down to earth and makes it more practical for average families, yet the author is very thorough in covering the issues and supporting her theories.


Although the book is relatively long, it is not "fluffy" in any way. Every story, description of research, and review of other books is necessary to make it a complete volume summarizing everything known about how past life memories affect children and they can heal.

 

[Amy]

I've read both of her books. They were wonderful & so informative for anyone who wants to know more about reincarnation. It is interesting from the beginning to the end and very easy to understand. I highly recommend, to those of you who haven't read it yet, that you get it asap. I promise you will be glad that you did!


Deborah, do you know if Carol will be writing another book in the near future?

 

[deborah]

Not that she has mentioned. But - things change and doors of opportunity may open. She did say the first two wore her out. A ton of work writing a book can be, especially if they are done right.