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Memories triggered by sound -WWII Siren

deborah

deborah

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I am curious if members have had spontaneous memories due to a sound. Perhaps cannons, bells, dogs barking, trains, - any specific sounds. I have had a few over the years. One in particular just recently.

I was doing some EMDR therapy, it was my second session. Didn't know what to expect holding the two pads - one in each hand as they alternated the pulsating beat. (Brings the right hemisphere and left hemisphere of the brain together.) About 20 minutes into it a siren went off outside. I'm deep in a meditative state. BAM - I'm in Italy, the sirens are going off, I remember my whole family was killed, but I had said "no" and stayed home. The guilt I felt staying home and not being dead with them was HUGE! I have trouble saying no to people now. My kids, my students, my family.

This siren was specific to WWII - just like the one below. What are the chances that my appointment and this siren, which only goes off once a month on the first Wednesday of the month at that particular time? She's one hour away from where I live and I only go every other week. I asked her this last time if it sounded like a WWII siren. She said YES and laughed how specifc it was and like no other in the area. It was a factory warehouse. OMG Of course she was blown away by my realization, (not the past life awareness - she got that part) but how fast I embrace change and issues. LOLOL Well duh, been working on myself for years.

Anyone have an experience to share?

SIRENS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erMO3m0oLvs
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I used to have one of those. It's an eerie wail, to be sure! But the only reason it unnerved me is because I knew what it was for. However, the clash of swords and the chaos of battle with archaic weaponry takes me back, as does the creaking of heavy wood. The creaking can be from any source, whether an old wagon of a tall ship. The groaning of the timbers remind me of being rocked to sleep by a ship I thought of as my mother. If it comes along with the rumble of a wheel, I see an ox-cart laden with grain headed for a mill.
 
What does EMDR stand for? This has not happened to me but I can imagine it would be the same effect as certain smells, etc.
 
EMDR stands for:

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.
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Yes i did had a experience with a specific siren sound, and every time that i heard it... trigeres me the sensation of helpless, no hope, sadness and lonlyness, and the visualization is an "empty" town ( more like an industrial area) and i´m alone seeing that "emptyness"


and i know that is conected with the last days of my past life.
 
I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I hear that siren, although I think that the air raid sirens in Germany were a longer, more continuous tone. Of course, when there were several sirens sounding off at the same time, it sounds more like a continuous tone.
 
The silence between...


Growing up in southern Michigan as a child, tornado sirens were very common and they never seemed to bother me. When I listened to the WWII sirens from Deborah's link, it was the silence between the two sirens that made my hair stand up!!! I don't have any memories of past lives during this war, but I do remember when I was about 3 or 4 (in this life) playing in a sandbox that my father had made for me and a HUGE airplane flew over our house...I said to myself, "Hopefully he won't drop a bomb on me!!" :eek:
 
Funny story...


I was reading this thread this morning before work. My daughter (20) had fallen asleep on the couch last night. I turned my volume down very low before playing the siren sound. I can usually yell at her and not wake her, so I really didn't think it would bother her, but she awoke in a panic. My dog ran into the kitchen with the strangest look on her face, she looked at both doors then at me as if to say "quick, what do we do?!" I felt really bad for scaring everyone!


I'm beginning to think my dog may have had a past life in the UK during WWII. LOL
 
Very interesting additions....the silence in-between and the reaction of someone unknowingly - while asleep. Definitely suggests something - beyond what we expect. :)
 
I've been fascinated with air raid alarms from WWII since a few years ago. I even made an alarm to wake up in the morning with the air raid sound and someone from an old documentary saying "bolschewistische fliege, alarm!", I' ve been using it since 2009 but sadly I haven' t got any memories with it. I' m not even sure how exposed I was to air raid alarms though or why I would like them.


I haven' t had any memories triggered by sound though as far as I can remember.
 
Aelfgyva said:
Growing up in southern Michigan as a child, tornado sirens were very common and they never seemed to bother me. When I listened to the WWII sirens from Deborah's link, it was the silence between the two sirens that made my hair stand up!!! I don't have any memories of past lives during this war, but I do remember when I was about 3 or 4 (in this life) playing in a sandbox that my father had made for me and a HUGE airplane flew over our house...I said to myself, "Hopefully he won't drop a bomb on me!!" :eek:
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I can relate Aelfgyva. I remember in a past life seeing a one of those planes dropping bombs in a peaceful valley of farms just at the edge of town. I was in that valley...The bright glint of the sun the shiny metal planes, the deep rumble, the sirens...When I was a kid in this life there was a huge plane that flew over our house, and now I know why it bothered me so much at the time (I can still remember it).


My mom as memories with the sirens too. Sound is a very effective memory trigger.
 
I cannot isolate an entire memory yet but some of the closest episodes occur when I hear the sound of a low flying plane. In fact ever since I was a young child this particular sound has stopped me in my tracks. It evokes a mixture of nostalgia,hope, heartbreak, sadness,the end of something and yet the beginning of something else. There were times as a child when I was startled from a solitary activity such as being deeply engrossed in a book or in the heat of a game with other children.


That sound will literally hurl me into this swirl of emotions. It still happens today. Wherever I am that low, soulful overhead drone captures my present without hesitation. One of these days I need to meditate on this and see if I can discover what might be at work here.
 
I've always loved the sound of church bells, plus the sound of horses clopping on cobblestone. I always get the feeling that I'm in a civilized place, and things are as they should be.
 
Frerotte said:
I cannot isolate an entire memory yet, but some of the closest episodes occur when I hear the sound of a low flying plane. In fact ever since I was a young child this particular sound has stopped me in my tracks.
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This is a propeller plane? I think WWII was the last war that used propeller planes almost exclusively. Airlines began using jets in the late 1950's. I've read that many children born after WWII were freaked out at the sound of planes overhead.
 
I have always been afraid of the sounds of sirens, loud airplanes, and the general sounds of war. It strikes something inside of me in a dark way. I guess most people would find the sounds of war frightening or unpleasant, but for me, it seems deeper than that. Almost like a PTSD-type reaction.


Other sounds have a more pleasant effect on me, like the sound of a ship's rigging creaking. That sound brings back strong memories and feelings in me, I believe from a colonial American lifetime, but they are not frightening. They make me want to get back on the water.
 
I have an intense, almost nauseating reaction to German air raid sirens from the WWII period. To the point where its difficult for me to finish listening...


I wanted to post a video featuring the sound but I'm not sure how. :(
 
I have an almost neurotic response to the vibrations from the bass sounds of stereos. I went to counseling once, because I thought that my reaction was so extreme, compared to other people that I knew. The counselor said that I had post-traumatic stress syndrome, like someone who had been in combat. When I remembered my Civil War life, I realized that the vibration must have been like the drums of approaching battle, and the whole thing made sense.
 
That siren sound definately is scary.


I had some childhood memories that certainly made me think I was involved in the war.


I was always terrified of thunderstorms, mainly I think because it triggered prior memories associated with bombings. I went to summer camp as a kid, and it triggered something in me that was way beyond being homesick. It affected me long after I returned home. It was too much like a POW camp, being away from loved ones, and people I knew. (Actually the camp was good, just my subconscious didn't want to be there!)


I remember one dream I had in particular where my wife and I were in hiding. There was a large bang (explosion) and the thought that we were both dead, only to wake up to find her sleeping peacefully. On the otherhand my heart was racing pretty good.


Anyways the siren sound doesn't trigger specific memories for me just and general uneasy feeling.
 
argonne1918 said:
This is a propeller plane? I think WWII was the last war that used propeller planes almost exclusively. Airlines began using jets in the late 1950's. I've read that many children born after WWII were freaked out at the sound of planes overhead.
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I have been thinking about your response for a few days wondering if it is the propeller type planes that cause this reaction for me. I think it is because they are usually the smaller, low flying aircraft that have this certain sound - not the screeching zoom of the jets taking off.


Couple that with the unexplained and rather embarrassing fear I had with loud noises as a child (thunder, etc.) and I just may have the beginnings of understanding which era these may have originated from.
 
In my case, I'm not sure if it has anything to do with PL,but the siren like the one in the video always freaks me out. I'm 24 so I haven't lived through wars,revolutions or any other situation where the siren would go off for any reason other than testing purposes,but I've always had a problem with it. I get panick attacks every time I hear them start. I think it's because they're so loud, although any other loud noise doesn't scare me. I guess a low flying plane would be a little scary,but also pretty exciting, so it wouldn't really bother me that much. But those war sirens really make me go wild, in a bad way :D It's so random, and annoying. :rolleyes:
 
Not all sirens sound the same. I think each manufacturer had a different sound. Here in the U.S. many sirens were installed during the 1950's Cold War to give us advance warning (20 minutes?) when the Russian bombers were coming. Even though the sirens are still standing most are not used anymore. Except in the Midwest where they are now used as tornado warnings. There are several posted on YouTube. They are tested monthly. I'm going to include several here and you can see if any sound like yours.


1)

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one is also used for natural disasters where I lived. Except in my neighborhood there were 2 or 3 that would go off at the same time instead of one.
 
Sounds are definately one of the biggest triggers for me
But anything can trigger a PL memory, sound, smell, a song

I know the sound of the local air raid siren (tested every first of the month here) is a trigger to a friend of mine so I can understand how it can easily send your mind back to Italy
 
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