tiltjlp
A Recycled Soul
I've shared this privately with a few folks, since I'm not much on posting this sort of thing on the open forum. For whatever reason, decided to give it a shot, so here goes.
Almost from birth, there was evidence that I probably have had past lives as a number of writers. As soon as I could talk, I had a much larger than normal vocabulary, and spoke in sentences very early. I was creative and inventive as early as I recall. The first time I held a pencil, I knew without prompting how to hold it, and found the smell of oilcloth exhilarating beyond words. When I began writing, I seemed to know both grammar and punctuation instinctively. When I started writing poetry at 6 or 7, I had no trouble with meter and rhyme, although I much preferred free verse. I’ve always been able to “write to page”, which isn’t very easy, without any effort. My parents were Catholic, so most of this was ignored or shrugged off as it relates to any past life connection. I started what I later found out was meditation probably when I was between 5 or 6, and which has always been a link to what I write.
The dreams which eventually made me wonder if I had been Merlin The Magician, who of course wasn’t a magician but an alchemist, or what was often known as a wizard, began when I was between 18 months and two years old. By then I had been finishing stories my parents read to me, and going off on my own to make up my own stories. I was also printing my first “rough drafts” of what would be the first stories I’d write. By the age of three I was able to read the beginner books my parents had been reading to me. Because I was born in December, I started school late, and constantly got in trouble in kindergarten because I was utterly bored. So within months I was promoted to the first grade, which was much more to my liking. That teacher noticed I could write, or print, I guess, and began encouraging me. When I began second grade, I was thrilled to find out that teacher was still going to be my teacher. She’s the person who got my first article published, in a new scholastic magazine.
Now for those dreams, which were actually Imprintings and Instant Knowledge, which only made things more confusing. Almost overnight I started knowing about and being quite interested in castles, knights, moats, jousting. Dreams I did have were of a tall, thin, gaunt, bearded man working in a large room which had a furnace with a roaring fire at all times. I remember seeing this person mixing all sorts of things from small boxes and bottles, and that many of these mixtures caused the fire to either increase or even explode. About this time, my playmates and I discovered, just as my older brother and his friends had, a large hilly wooded lot just up and catty-corner to our house and yard. Within that lot was an almost cave-like grotto cut into the side of the hill. This became where we all played most of the time. I’m extremely shy and introverted, as I was then, but when we played Castles & Knights, I always took the lead. I would make up scenarios and assign roles to my playmates, and even would explain in very simple terms what knights, castles, moats, drawbridges, and so forth were. Rather than taking the role of the leader or king, or a hero, I was the Wizard and made up the rules as we played out our games. While I was in charge when we played Castles & Knights, whenever we played anything else, I was pushed around and bullied like I usually was.
Maybe a year or so later, we discovered another vacant lot, this one with a gully and a dried-up creek bed and hanging vines. This also became part of our Castles & Knights game, and yes, I was in charge of this too. By then I knew about the Knight Of The Round Table, and we would stage all kinds of challenges and contests.
Four-six months ago, I told all this to MoonDansyr, and joked that I had a past life as a legendary fictional character. She was stunned that I had never considered I might have been Geoffrey of Monmouth in a past life. Geoffrey of Monmouth happens to be the writer/monk [1100-1155] who brought all the old Welsh and British legends together, modernized the King Arthur stories, and added Merlin to the plot. Now if my memories had been of King Arthur, I might have made a connection, but my memories were of Merlin, who in the late 1940s, early 1950s, was still a very minor part of the entire legend.
At her urging, I did use investigating, and found that yes, Geoffrey of Monmouth did actually begin the modern King Arthur legend as we know it today. But I also uncovered a William of Malmesbury, who lived roughly in the same era, but a bit after Geoffrey of Monmouth. William of Malmesbury was also a Welsh monk just like Geoffrey of Monmouth, and that threw me for a loop. But as I dug deeper, I found that William of Malmesbury embellished the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and changed the flavor and character of much of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s original work. As far as I can tell, all my memories would have had their roots in the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Since I seldom have traditional past life dreams or any memories like most of you do, I had to rely on Imprinting and Instant Knowledge. But while I was wavering between Geoffrey of Monmouth and William of Malmesbury, my dreams from more than 50 years ago began again, and somehow I’m sure that they connect to Geoffrey of Monmouth. Several other things I’ve found out in my research, or that I had known support this conclusion. From the 8th until well into the 13th century, monks were as much historians and writers as they were scribes, and their communities were probably the first “writer’s colonies”. Plus, several earlier past lives I’ve had were also as monks/scribes, and a number of later ones have been as writers, as well as one as a book store owner/writer in Britain in the late 17th-early 18th century. And yes, blame MoonDansyr for this post!!
John
Almost from birth, there was evidence that I probably have had past lives as a number of writers. As soon as I could talk, I had a much larger than normal vocabulary, and spoke in sentences very early. I was creative and inventive as early as I recall. The first time I held a pencil, I knew without prompting how to hold it, and found the smell of oilcloth exhilarating beyond words. When I began writing, I seemed to know both grammar and punctuation instinctively. When I started writing poetry at 6 or 7, I had no trouble with meter and rhyme, although I much preferred free verse. I’ve always been able to “write to page”, which isn’t very easy, without any effort. My parents were Catholic, so most of this was ignored or shrugged off as it relates to any past life connection. I started what I later found out was meditation probably when I was between 5 or 6, and which has always been a link to what I write.
The dreams which eventually made me wonder if I had been Merlin The Magician, who of course wasn’t a magician but an alchemist, or what was often known as a wizard, began when I was between 18 months and two years old. By then I had been finishing stories my parents read to me, and going off on my own to make up my own stories. I was also printing my first “rough drafts” of what would be the first stories I’d write. By the age of three I was able to read the beginner books my parents had been reading to me. Because I was born in December, I started school late, and constantly got in trouble in kindergarten because I was utterly bored. So within months I was promoted to the first grade, which was much more to my liking. That teacher noticed I could write, or print, I guess, and began encouraging me. When I began second grade, I was thrilled to find out that teacher was still going to be my teacher. She’s the person who got my first article published, in a new scholastic magazine.
Now for those dreams, which were actually Imprintings and Instant Knowledge, which only made things more confusing. Almost overnight I started knowing about and being quite interested in castles, knights, moats, jousting. Dreams I did have were of a tall, thin, gaunt, bearded man working in a large room which had a furnace with a roaring fire at all times. I remember seeing this person mixing all sorts of things from small boxes and bottles, and that many of these mixtures caused the fire to either increase or even explode. About this time, my playmates and I discovered, just as my older brother and his friends had, a large hilly wooded lot just up and catty-corner to our house and yard. Within that lot was an almost cave-like grotto cut into the side of the hill. This became where we all played most of the time. I’m extremely shy and introverted, as I was then, but when we played Castles & Knights, I always took the lead. I would make up scenarios and assign roles to my playmates, and even would explain in very simple terms what knights, castles, moats, drawbridges, and so forth were. Rather than taking the role of the leader or king, or a hero, I was the Wizard and made up the rules as we played out our games. While I was in charge when we played Castles & Knights, whenever we played anything else, I was pushed around and bullied like I usually was.
Maybe a year or so later, we discovered another vacant lot, this one with a gully and a dried-up creek bed and hanging vines. This also became part of our Castles & Knights game, and yes, I was in charge of this too. By then I knew about the Knight Of The Round Table, and we would stage all kinds of challenges and contests.
Four-six months ago, I told all this to MoonDansyr, and joked that I had a past life as a legendary fictional character. She was stunned that I had never considered I might have been Geoffrey of Monmouth in a past life. Geoffrey of Monmouth happens to be the writer/monk [1100-1155] who brought all the old Welsh and British legends together, modernized the King Arthur stories, and added Merlin to the plot. Now if my memories had been of King Arthur, I might have made a connection, but my memories were of Merlin, who in the late 1940s, early 1950s, was still a very minor part of the entire legend.
At her urging, I did use investigating, and found that yes, Geoffrey of Monmouth did actually begin the modern King Arthur legend as we know it today. But I also uncovered a William of Malmesbury, who lived roughly in the same era, but a bit after Geoffrey of Monmouth. William of Malmesbury was also a Welsh monk just like Geoffrey of Monmouth, and that threw me for a loop. But as I dug deeper, I found that William of Malmesbury embellished the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and changed the flavor and character of much of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s original work. As far as I can tell, all my memories would have had their roots in the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
Since I seldom have traditional past life dreams or any memories like most of you do, I had to rely on Imprinting and Instant Knowledge. But while I was wavering between Geoffrey of Monmouth and William of Malmesbury, my dreams from more than 50 years ago began again, and somehow I’m sure that they connect to Geoffrey of Monmouth. Several other things I’ve found out in my research, or that I had known support this conclusion. From the 8th until well into the 13th century, monks were as much historians and writers as they were scribes, and their communities were probably the first “writer’s colonies”. Plus, several earlier past lives I’ve had were also as monks/scribes, and a number of later ones have been as writers, as well as one as a book store owner/writer in Britain in the late 17th-early 18th century. And yes, blame MoonDansyr for this post!!
John
Gosh thanks! 
Be careful what you wish for. So much blood and guts! So much tragedy and heartbreak! Yeech! I am enjoying my nice, quiet, respectable life this time around thank you very much.
