patrick1882 said:
I am starting to get a glimpse of a life that took place sometime before 1850. I am picking up thoughts relating to racial prejudice that are completely opposite to how I think today. The negative thoughts make me scared to explore the memories. How do I get past this?
Patrick,
I'm the poster child for this sort of thing, so I'll take a stab at it.
First, keep in mind that you are looking through a window at history from today. And throughout history, including today, people have hated others for all sorts of ridiculous reasons.
A classic Trek episode comes to mind (I have a Star Trek episode for everything) where there was a planet and on that planet, everyone was half black and half white - (not mixed, but they used body paint down the midline) there were two groups. One group was black on the right side, white on the left, the other white on the right, black on the left. And the two groups hated each other because they were basically mirror images.
Today bigotry and prejudice are considered bad things (except where they aren't-hello ethnic cleansing), but back in 1850 or 1930, they were considered 'normal' and acceptable among most people. Heck, in 1850, black people were quite legally enslaved and treated as farm animals. And most people thought that was just fine.
But when you look back, and are receiving thoughts, memories, etc., from a life where things were different, it can be very confusing, because the you that you are now, thinks differently from the you that you were then.
Don't be scared of those thoughts, just think of them as being 'out of date'. Let them flow, let them pass over you, make note of them because they part of who you once were, but they can't affect you now.
Phoenix