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Do You Ask For.....

deborah

deborah

Director Emerita
Staff member
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Happy January Everyone;

I would like to share some thoughts. One of the things OBE authors suggest is that when having an OBE experience -- ask for "CLARITY NOW" in order to get more details and have a more in depth experience.

I had an experience years ago that now has me wondering if the same could be applied to past lives. It began with a dream and I was flying. I caught the wind just right and floated there with my eyes shut hovering in space for a very long time. My body position was as if I was laying down sleeping. I was savoring the moments; I love the feeling of floating.

I was sick at the time and aware my chest was hurting. I said in the dream - "I want to remember this feeling..I want to remember...I want to remember." I was very sick with a chest infection. My body began to vibrate from the inside out and as I vibrated in space there seemed to be a tear in the fabric of "reality" in front of my eyes.

I had requested something specific which I believe allowed the experience in the first place. What came into view was a gravestone. It was a gray stone with white speckles, carved imagery on each corner and stood about three feet tall. I looked closely and began to see the name and date on the stone, ....lisia...ton...424 AD...then it began to blur.

In my dream I said, "I need CLARITY ---I need CLARITY NOW!" Just then like a lens that comes into focus it became clear as day. I was so excited in my dream I read it over and over again! ELISIA K. EATON 424 AD - 429 AD.

The inscription under her name read -- "She was the Mascot of our ship ....she held our hearts....." (There was more, but I went back to the name and dates repeating them to myself over and over so I would not forget!) It was so lucid I could see every detail of the engraving. I knew that her parents owned sailing vessels, that she was very loved and well cared for.

As I viewed the stone, I also became aware - that this was me. I had died at only 4 years old, of a chest infection. I had shifted consciousness and REMEMBERED the feeling. She had died due to this "feeling" -- I remembered me/her and was viewing the grave site. It felt like Europe somewhere, the weather was cool, foggy, and I sensed water nearby.

I have done many meditations and know the depth of the altered state I was experiencing in the dream. The vibration within my body was still very intense upon waking.

Have any of you asked for clarity DURING a Past Life experience and gotten it? Why couldn't the same approach for OBE's be applied to Past Life recall? What do you think?
 
A very few times I've been able to do that - - ask for clarity or ask out-right specific questions. It's a spcific state I must be in and I have no idea how to "force" that specific state, I just get lucky sometimes.
 
Hi Deborah,

Thank you for sharing your experiences about asking for clarity. You must have been so excited to ask for – and receive – the information about Elisia. :D

Deborah said:
Have any of you asked for clarity DURING a Past Life experience and gotten it?
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I have. :) I usually say something to the effect of “Show me more!” or “More detail.” It works wonderfully well for me -- especially when I want to see things around me in a more detailed manner. I find that the more I ask – the more I see/hear/feel/know. ;)

Deborah said:
Why couldn't the same approach for OBE's be applied to Past Life recall? What do you think?
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I think it’s a wonderful idea. I’d love to hear if anyone else has tried this – and the results you’ve gotten. I’d also like for people to consider trying to ask for clarity in their next meditation or regression. It definitely works ;)

MoonDansyr said:
It's a spcific state I must be in and I have no idea how to "force" that specific state, I just get lucky sometimes.
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Hi Kat, I think everyone is capable of asking for clarity -- it just takes some practice. :D

My advice to anyone for any type of meditation and/or regression experience is always -- don’t get frustrated if you don’t get immediate results.

I believe that to be true in this case as well. I think that sometimes the thought process of asking for something can be somewhat distracting as it kind of invades and interrupts the flow of the memory, as a somewhat “logical” thought. Don’t become discouraged – keep trying it, and pretty soon, you’ll be able to do it naturally. Imo, the more you ask – the more you'll receive. ;)



Aili :)
 
Hi Deborah,

All of the info I've ever received has happened in just such a state. I have not asked for clarity because usually I'm so surprised that I am asking specific questions about what is going on. Something or someone answers me.

I'm always curious as to how I know to even ask a question in the first place. I will try to ask for clarity if it ever happens again.
 
Since I very rarely receive Past Life information in dreams, but only as Imprints and Instant Knowledge, I'll be interested to see if requesting clarity has any impact. While I've learned I can always rely on the Knowledge I receive, it would be nice to experience PL memories in a way similar to how I recall current life memories. In over fifty years of meditating, I have only had a handful of PL memories.

John
 
Hi Aili,

Strangely enough, yes, I have used "clarity now" -- for the first time last night during falling into one of those hypnogogic states between waking and sleep. Usually the images that flash in those states are quick to fade and despite vivid detail go by too fast for me to comprehend.

So this time, after the vibrations started and my initial, "I am open to any messages or experiences my spirit is ready for, for the highest good of all," I stated, "Please show me something significant to who I am today. Show me significance." The images flashed by too quickly, so I specified, "Clarity now....FOCUS!" I found myself sitting with my legs crossed and folded beneath me, hands clasped staring up some stone steps at a gigantic golden buddha statue sitting at the top of the steps.

I hadn't thought it would work at the time and I think I was so shocked it had worked that I didn't probe any further than that powerful image. I woke up and could still feel electrical-type buzzing pulsing through me.

It's the second time I've seen a golden buddha in a fairly short span of time and I have to wonder if this is a past life slowly coming to the surface.

I would have to say that Deborah's idea to use "clarity now" in meditation, or perhaps in hypnogogic in-between-states and dreams as opposed to just OBEs is a very powerful one and certainly worth exploring. I know I will continue experimenting with this approach in the future. :)
 
The golden buddha sounds really interesting, Chansa! I'm curious to see what will eventually evolve -- hope you'll share!


Aili
 
Sounds like a good technique. I will give it a try.

It is funny, though I think I do that 'automatically' - being completely self-taught at this. The other night, as I recounted elsewhere, http://www.childpastlives.org/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=12860 I was trying to work out why a certain woman seemed to have a grudge against me. I was expecting some kind of garden party spat or at most a love triangle or something and I kept getting this rather gruesome image (complete with sound effects) of putting someone 'out of his misery' on the battlefield and the burning hatred in his (rather mad) eyes.

I said to myself, "No, no, let's not get into another one of 'those' events - show me what the problem is with this woman" and the image just went into a kind of speeded up repeat x 10 or so rapid repeats - like a scratched record. So I thought - "Oh, ok then - show me more." Then I got the rest of the story (why I was there, who I was with, what we were up to etc. etc)
 
Hi Chansa,

Was it a golden buddha or a buddha made of gold? I'm asking because there was a buddhist temple in the old capital of Thailand inhabited mostly or only by monks. The monks knew they were going to be attacked by invaders (I think the Burmese) so they took all of their gold, made a buddha and covered it with dried mud or something like that. All of the monks were subsequently killed by the invaders and the gold in the buddha wasn't discovered until many many years later.

Vicky
 
Yes tanguerra! I'd be very interested to know what happens when you try the phrase "clarity now". :) I think it's cool that you already do this naturally - I wonder if the wording really makes any difference then?

Vicky - that's very interesting to me and I think I heard about that somewhere (in this life I'm assuming), though I can't remember when and in what context.

As for the buddha itself - sorry for the confusion. The first time, it manifested as a glowing, animated buddha in a meditation that lit up my entire room. The second time, the time I'm referring to in my post right before this one, it was a buddha made of gold sitting on temple steps and I did get a sense that others were sitting in the same position around me at varying heights along the steps, but most toward the bottom like me. :)
 
HI Chansa,

I find your Buddha experience - interesting. It reminds me of a meditation I did several years ago. I saw a golden Buddha but it was not in a specific place. The Buddha I experienced was in a standing position - however, the Buddha I saw was up-side down.

It took some research, but I found out later - the upside down Buddha was a symbol for - viewing the world through new eyes, from an different perspective.

Thanks for sharing! I do hope to hear other peoples experiences too - if they try this approach. I also want to hear if it doesn't work, and why you think it doesn't. So far, I have had great results with it.
 
I used this method again tonight -- with great success. ;) At one point during the meditation, I found myself on the street in front of my house. I knew my father also worked inside -- I helped him many times in his "shop," which was a room off of the kitchen of the house.

Hanging off the front of the house was a sign. I couldn't see it clearly, so I asked for clarity NOW. There was a flash of light, so bright I couldn't see anything, then it faded away and before me was the wooden sign with letters branded into it -- "Siegler."

I got a lot of really great information tonight -- but I was most excited about that sign! :D

Has anyone else tried asking for clarity yet?

Ailish
 
Was this your last life time Aili? Or further back? Do you know what he did for a living?
 
Waaaay back. I believe it was in Bavaria. My father worked with wood. I used to try to help him -- by putting a long metal "brand" of sorts into the fire, by sweeping up, carrying wood and doing little odd jobs.
 
Heya Deborah :)


Thanks for sharing such an interesting idea. :)


I become more and more aware of some of my past memories but they are still tangled. Therefore, I need "clarity... Now!" :laugh:


I'll definitely try the "clarity... Now!" order in my next PL-meditation.


However, I don't need clarity for feeding my curiosity but for helping me identify the past memories I must release myself from. I need to face my bad past memories so that they definitely leave me alone.


Some of my past memories are extremely cruel and their vivid echoes scare me a lot. I definitely don't want clarity about them, but I need to protect myself from such remembrances.


---


Heya Chansa :)

Chansa said:
(...)
So this time, after the vibrations started and my initial, "I am open to any messages or experiences my spirit is ready for, for the highest good of all," I stated, "Please show me something significant to who I am today. Show me significance." The images flashed by too quickly, so I specified, "Clarity now....FOCUS!" I found myself sitting with my legs crossed and folded beneath me, hands clasped staring up some stone steps at a gigantic golden buddha statue sitting at the top of the steps.


(...)
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I am so glad that Deborah's idea works for you too! :thumbsup:


Dear Chansa, I really really appreciate the way you use it.


I love your formula: "Please show me something significant to who I am today. Show me significance."


You know, I spent years to find my own formula: "pure light", said in french (the same formula said in another language doesn't work for me :D ). When I say/think "pure light", I don't even think about light, nor about anything pure: I just say the 2 words, without putting any emotion in them. I have nothing to wonder about while recitating them.


For me, the 2 neutral words "pure light" (in french) mean "Please show me something significant to who I am today. Show me significance."


This is my protection formula that only opens the doors of what I need to know in my present life.


I don't need to know details about the extreme crualty of some of my past memories: "pure light" sorts what is good for me and protects me from such visions until I am able to face them. I also ask "pure light" to delete all the past memories I don't need in my present life: spring cleaning! :D


When I feel fully protected during my mediation, I'll then ask: "Clarity... now. FOCUS!"


I like the "focus!" part a lot! And this also means I am the only master during this process: "Focus! It is an order!" :D


I want to be in total control during my meditation if I notice that my attention is focusing on details I am not able to face yet. I would say then: "Focus! (elsewhere, on something cool)"


Thanks a lot Chansa for sharing your experience in this forum: this helps me a lot.


And thank you Deboarh for starting such a great thread. :)


Kind regards,


Axel :)
 
Hi Axel,


Yes, I have many, many upsetting and often very blood-splattered memories! It is not easy to see yourself doing things that you would never consider doing now, behaving badly, cruelly or whatever.


What I do when I see something upsetting, rather than try to suppress it completely (which is not going to help get to the bottom of the problem) is I have a couple of techniques.


1. I will 'turn down the volume' on the emotions if it is very upsetting. I can still feel/remember what I felt, but I just turn it down so that it is not so intense. Colours can be made more grey, feelings a bit more muffled. There is no need to go through all that again, in my view. Others differ, but I think once was probably enough.


2. You can get out of the scene and float above it in your imagination from a bird's eye view. This way you can still see what happened, but take yourself out of it, out of the upsetting events and watch in a 'spirit form' which is less troubled about it all than the person who was actually there. I actually used this one the other night when recalling an incident when my most recent former self was very upset about something - hysterically crying actually (long story I may post it somewhere else) - and she was also quite drunk at the time - so her point of view was not an entirely helpful one! My higher-spirit-self was able to dispassionatlely view the situation and understand what had happened and what the connections were and also kind of wish some comfort for my former suffering self, which may have helped - who knows?


3. You can just call 'cut!' like a director of a movie and jump to the next scene and find out what happened after all that if it is really bad! This is like covering your eyes if you are watching a movie and don't want to see the really scary bits. You don't have to run out of the cinema, just censor that bit out. You still know pretty much what happened, but don't need to upset yourself by seeing all the gory details.


Whichever one works for you is best. Or whichever one you remember to try at the time will do too!
 
I've never used this method before but I am certainly going to try it now. I think that this would help me to remember much more. :thumbsup:


I would think that it would work especially well during dreaming since making commands during lucid dreaming works great. Several times I have commanded myself to wake from a horrifying dream and I woke right up. It does work.
 
Hi Axel,

Some of my past memories are extremely cruel and their vivid echoes scare me a lot. I definitely don't want clarity about them, but I need to protect myself from such remembrances.
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I disagree. : angel I think it is the difficult memories – that we truly need clarity on – to be able to better understand the effects in the NOW. There is nothing to be scared of, Axel. The past – is the past. Re-experiencing and remembering are gifts – even the bad stuff ;) Clarity – regarding the difficult moments, leads to healing, which is the ultimate goal and purpose of past life work. Clarity allows you to see the world for what it is – “...a learning environment created jointly by the souls that share it.”


I think you may enjoy reading this excerpt from Seat of the Soul. Author Gary Zukav states:

"An authentically empowered human being is clear in his or her perceptions and thinking. Clarity is the perception of wisdom. It is seeing with wisdom. It is being able to perceive and understand the illusion, and to let it play. It is being able to see beyond the activities of the personality to the force of the immortal soul. It is being able to understand what it is that is struggling to come into being – the health and integration of the personality and evolution of the soul. It is the ability to recognize non-physical dynamics as they appear within the world of time and matter. It is the understanding of the laws of karma and attraction and their relationship to what you experience. It is being able to see the role of responsible choice and choosing accordingly in each moment.
Clarity is the ability to see the soul in action in the physical world. It results from choosing to learn through wisdom instead of through fear and doubt. Clarity brings forth true compassion.


Clarity allows you to see the decision-making process within the human condition is linked to the evolution of others, and in what way. It allows you to see that the contribution to the evolution of your soul is precisely the decisions that you make at each moment, and those decisions are embodied in physical reality that you share with fellow humans."
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By embracing that which we find fearful or disturbing – we are releasing that from our field of energy – bringing healing and a deeper understanding of how we are responsible for what we create. We learn the lessons – and hopefully we move forward. :D Imo, asking for Clarity NOW -- is simply asking to connect to your inner knowledge on a higher level. : angel

Axel said:
I like the "focus!" part a lot! And this also means I am the only master during this process: "Focus! It is an order!"
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You are – always the master. ;)


Ailish
 
Hi Tanguerra :)

tanguerra said:
(...)
Yes, I have many, many upsetting and often very blood-splattered memories! It is not easy to see yourself doing things that you would never consider doing now, behaving badly, cruelly or whatever.


(...)
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:laugh: Your words reassure me a lot. :thumbsup:


Even though I was actually talking about cruaulty undergone by people, not about cruaulty inflicted by torturers to their victims.


Thanks for explaining me your helpful techniques: this really helps me remember that I am only the spectator of those surfacing memories: I can control the volume, jump from one scene to another, skip the parts I don't like, switch off the projection when I need to, and so on.


Thanks a lot! :)


---


Heya aili :)


Thanks for your supporting words.


Well... I doubt I am always the master (regarding my past memories), but right now, while typewriting these words, I deeply know I am the only master in this field:


I will definitely delete from myself all the past memories that don't inspire "pure life" in my present life.


I had some kind of disturbing memories in which I saw a young man seeing his wife and children exterminated in front of him, along with hundreds of people being cruelly killed, feeling the incredible fear, panic and despair of that man during some kind of genocide (similar to what happened in Rwanda a few years ago).


Well, past is past: those emotions are not mine at all.


I am the only master therefore I can choose what to watch. Any kind of horror echoes from my past memories, any kind of terrifying human screams: I definitely delete them from my memories. They definitely belong to the past.


I choose to only keep the beautiful parts of my past memories and to definitely delete the past memories that don't inspire "life".


Past is past indeed: I only want to remember the past memories that can directly help me in my present life.


And I am the only judge & master in this field. :)


Thanks for such a reminder, Aili. :)


Kind regards,


Axel :)
 
Well, past is past: those emotions are not mine at all.
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Hi Axel,


I don't think you are quite understanding perfectly yet. If you have had a memory of an experience from a past life, and you feel the horror/fear/sadness of that memory, IT IS YOU who is feeling and remembering feeling what YOU felt before. Your soul is YOU. Your soul is the part which is immortal and feels things. Your body is new, that is from this life, but you are more than your body - you are a soul. You happen to be inhabiting a certain body at this time. The soul is what is feeling and learning and growing.


Rather than 'delete' a memory (which is impossible anyway - we are not computers as much as some people might like to pretend they are) explore it, examine it, consider what it has to teach you. This can be a somewhat difficult process, but is well worth doing. If it is very painful, just take it slowly. Take a break now and again. Take the week off and don't think about it at all. Just read a book for fun or go for a walk in the park. Don't wear yourself out. Don't dwell on these things 24/7 or you will make yourself crazy. Be gentle with yourself. Take your time and be patient with the process. It can take sometimes a few years to fully integrate an extreme experience. Writing in a journal, poetry, drawing, thinking anything like that can help you work on your feelings and try to put them into the proper perspective.

I am the only master therefore I can choose what to watch. Any kind of horror echoes from my past memories, any kind of terrifying human screams: I definitely delete them from my memories. They definitely belong to the past.
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Human history is full of horror stories and they can leave a traumatic trail behind them. Most of us on this planet have seen and done some very horrible things at some stage in our long evolution. The lessons we are learning are usually such things as courage, compassion, pity, patience, gentleness, forgiveness, love, the futility of revenge, violence is unpleasant and destructive, peace is much nicer - matters of this nature. Look at the memory and think - Yes, that is all in the past and I am safe now, but what would I do differently if I knew differently then? What should I have done in that situation? What have I learned? How can I apply this knowledge to a present life problem I might be experiencing? How can I grow into a better person now that I know about this event? What qualities does this memory show me about my nature then and now?


If you have a lot of distressing memories a professional past life therapist is always recommended.


You are definitely the master. You can learn to manage your memories - to 'turn down the volume' if something is very disturbing or to deliberately think about something else if you are not feeling strong enough to deal with a certain memory at a certain time, but slowly, gradually it is wise to take a look back through your old 'photo albumn' and put the past into perspective with the present - even if it is just to realise how far you have already come. Deleting your old 'photos' is only hiding the past, it is not healing it.
 
tanguerra said:
(...)
If you have a lot of distressing memories a professional past life therapist is always recommended.


You are definitely the master. You can learn to manage your memories - to 'turn down the volume' if something is very disturbing or to deliberately think about something else if you are not feeling strong enough to deal with a certain memory at a certain time, but slowly, gradually it is wise to take a look back through your old 'photo albumn' and put the past into perspective with the present - even if it is just to realise how far you have already come. Deleting your old 'photos' is only hiding the past, it is not healing it.
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Heya dear Tanguerra :)


Thanks a lot for sharing :)


You know, I evolve much quicker thanks to the people who don't fully agree with me. :) Interacting with them helps me notice how I contradict myself: this is fully part of my self-healing process. :)


I would really like to have a past-life regression with a therapist I can meet in real life. Unfortunately, I couldn't find yet such a therapist within an area of 100 miles around the place where I live. After such a vain search, I decided to join in a good webforum specialised in PL - Carol Bowman's forum :)


I am sure that I will meet soon a PL-therapist in real life who will help me clarify my past memories. It's just a question of patience. :)


In my opinion, there is no past to heal: past is past.


What I have to heal is my present life, in which some past memories keep spreading disturbing echoes. I want to only focus on the parts of my past memories that resonate with "pure life".


Neutralising disturbing past-echoes and focusing on partial past-memories that directly inspire Life, that's exactly what I need to do. Afterwards, I will check if such memories are real past memories or induced memories. :) -


While typewriting these pixeled words, I am understanding something very important about the english word "clarity".


English language is not my mother tongue, therefore when I read "clarity", I focus on its french translation, which is "clarté".


Both words have the same roots, so translating "clarity" into "clarté" seems fully adequate then. Actually their meanings are slightly different - and that makes a big difference for me, because I have to ask for "Clarté... now!" instead of "Clarity... now!". I sort of need to synchronise the word with the way I feel its meaning.


In my brain, "clarity" equaled "clarté"; in my heart, "clarity" and "clarté" are intrinsically different. Here is the explanation: according to english dictionaries, "clarity" means neatness, cleanness. Focus, precision, no disturbance. Clarity of a picture.


Its french translation is "clarté", a french word for which there are 2 (but distinct) interlinked meanings:


- neatness, cleanness;


- brightness, light, shine. (the "clarity" of the sun.)


In french, we cannot say "clarté" without feeling something softly bright, something that shines with light. If we watch a horror scene with very precise details, we cannot say we watch it with "clarté" but with "precision".


If we watch a scene where some people are happy under the sun, we can say we watch this scene with "clarté" - even when we cannot see all the details of the scene. :laugh: So, "clarté" is exactly the word that I need: I ask for "Clarté... NOW!" :D


Many of you lived in many different countries during your past-lives, during which you spoke foreign languages fluently: you will easily understand what I mean then.


Thanks a lot dear Deborah: thanks to you, I remember this fundamental key-word, "clarté" ("clarity-brightness", in english).


Kind regards,


Axel :)
 
I didn't catch this thread first time around, but it's very interesting. I certainly could need more clarity in my meditations, so I'll definitely give it a try next time :)
 
I'm embarrassed to say, but it hasn't really worked for me yet :o :) I mainly use guided regressions and during those I usually don't need to ask for clarity since the guide's questions helps me on the way. When I once in a while use non-guided regression the pictures are still extremely fragmented. I actually tried out the original OM cd today ( ;) :D ) and looking at my results it would probably have been a good idea to ask for clarity - but I forgot... :o :o:o: angel lol.


I promise I will try it out next time :D
 
This is what I did way back .. When I started doing self regression at 15?> years ago I was concentrating alot on the karma I had with people in my life. This was exciting to see how my feelings related to my past, and it felt reassuring to be experiencing past lives. But I was still stuck in not being able to move forward alot from those feelings.


Also some of the truamatic memories really lingered without me feeling any sort of healing from it.


I can remember getting the idea to ask for outside help from God,. I have also used the technique of pretending someone who is a good regressionist is with me in the room. I have even used you Carol ,, I hope you do not mind.. This asking made a big difference ..


I remember once I got an actual question come to mind , very surprising to say the least , IT was something that lead me to get more involved in that lifes lesson. More relevant information came and then I got a major breakthrough of understanding and immediate clearing . It was like the thought/ feelings that was going around and around in my subconscious was totally gone never to return.


It was this total clearing that is amazing to me. I have found in therapy I would be aware of a problem , but it was like I was always having to revisit the problem in my mind and reassure myself . This originally made me think I was progressing past the problem but really it was always there.


I continued to do this, always remembering that I may not know just what I need.. Sometimes I get the feeling that it is more important to look at my present life or just get on with daily life to get insights. Sometimes it would be good to ask about my future too as I have had supportive help from remembering a future life.


I find that getting stuck on the details is not good... I may miss the healing . I figure I want to be moving forward and I try and remember this lesson of remaining open to outside help ..


This reminds me of something I have been thinking about. How in old age , people come down with phobias when they never did when younger??. Our thoughts are based on those deeper experiences and I beleive in order to really clear them we do need to ask for help and for clarity . We may feel we are free of our past but until we do the actual work our emotions will catch up on us.


soulfreindly
 
Lololol - you make me laugh, Sunniva :laugh: I'll look forward to hearing how you get on with the OM and the clarity now ;)
 
Not in those words. Sounds like you're bossing the cosmos around! LOL


Mine are more like "Wait, hold up a sec. What was that?" What catches my attention varies from memory to memory. It's usually not names. Such things are fleeting, temporary labels to distinguish us from the next being. The early 1800s man, a poet who had no family of his own but was adopted by his friend's children as their "favorite uncle", the dancing girl who pirouetted her way through life in a much older, long gone France, the gunslinger who shot the wrong guy and took that long ride to the end of a rope, I remember the lives themselves, not the names they were called. (How I envy those who can!)


Where I usually try to hit the brakes to get a better look is when I'm interacting with others, but I prefer the scene to be a pleasant one. I don't avoid the unpleasant ones, but they'll stay for as long as they like whether I ask them to or not. It's the pleasant, mundane little vignettes that enthrall me so. Take the poet, for example. He wrote for his own pleasure. Whether or not he ever got published is inconsequential to me. (I do get the feeling he personally knew Washington Irving.) The scene I looked in on was a winter's evening in my friend's house. I saw it all third person but knew that was me enjoying a pipe in a very comfortable stuffed chair while a fire warmed the room. His children were playing and getting loud. His wife insisted I stay in the guest room that night because it was a "frightful night" (very cold, indeed!). He apologized for the children's noise and I dismissed any concerns, telling him he should never apologize for a home so full of life. The children were well-behaved at dinner with only a smattering of their natural immaturity coming through (to my delight), and the bed was comfortable. I know I woke up on a bright day without any winds kicking up a fuss and was able to safely walk home after a breakfast that I was practically threatened if I refused (in a polite, friendly way, of course!).


That whole scene was just going to be passed by as my soul was looking for something else, I suppose, but I wanted to see it. I had to see it! It was so like a storybook that I remember saying "Wait. I want to watch this."


I have no recollections of names, but I wonder if I could find a list of poets that Irving was friends with? I remember in third grade when our teacher, Mrs. Mackie, was going to read a pared down version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", she held up a portrait of Washington Irving and I involuntarily said "Wash!" She said something like "Oh! So you know him!" I didn't know how to respond so I just giggled.
 
I love that memory, Shiftkitty. I've visited the Hudson River Valley where Washington Irving lived. Parts of New York State seem largely unchanged since "Wash" wrote there. It is a place as enchanted as your memory.
 
I'd love to go there if we can ever get out of this pit! First time I visited New England I was asleep on the plane in mid-dream. I don't recall what I was dreaming, something to do with working on a car, but I had this image suddenly pop in of an elderly woman with her adult daughter dressed in late colonial era fashion. They just burst in! The older woman smiled with her arms open and said "Welcome home!" My eyes snapped open and I heard the guy in front of my seat tell the guy next to him "We just crossed into New England."


RE: the poet, I thought I had found a name, James Kirke Paulding. He was Secretary of the Navy and was good friends and a fellow writer with Wash who has some poetry published. Visiually he looks very similar to my memory, but he seems to have a had a nice, close family, while the memory I have is different from my others. You see, in my other memories I have no recollection of family. I can't say they weren't there, I can't say they were. But with the poet I have the strong feeling that there simply wasn't any (or else he was so estranged from them that they might as well have not existed). Guess I'll keep searching.
 
I haven't had an OBE for years. Last night I was flying over the countryside, a very lucid experience, when the thought came to me "I'm out of my body - gotta get back" ...I felt my consciousness suck back into my body.


When I woke up I kicked myself in the *** for going back. I know better! LOLOL Bummer. Maybe next time I'll remember to ask or clarity instead of I got to get back. :( OMG
 
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