January 18, 2004
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I guess it would be helpful for me to give the details of my past lives as I know them rather than refering to them piecemeal whenever the mood strikes me.
Just to be clear, I don’t believe that we are reborn as punishment, and I don’t believe karma dictates how we are born. The “time” in-between lives is changeless, and we can get pretty bored. So a lot of souls choose to come back. Sometimes they want to work through some problem/idea (prove some theory), sometimes they want to help others solve their problems, and sometimes they’re just bored. If you want, you can look at it like a tree putting out a new shoot. It changes the entire tree. That’s the way reincarnation works. Each life we live changes our “shape” in-between lives. The time in-between isn’t better than physical life, it’s just different.
Any way, so far, I’ve recalled ten lives. I can only guess at the chronology of most of these lives. I really can’t know the exact time period of the earliest lives, and actually, I’m not sure of the approximate years for any of them until Scotland. It’s not until that point that I can compare “modern” historical records to what I remember.
The first two lives were as animals. I think these came first because I never saw any people, and I don’t recall any concept of humanity. In the first I was a (male) janguar and in the second I was a (female) dolphin. As a jaguar, I fell from a tree and broke my leg. I starved to death before it healed. This life I think explains my love of jumping and stretching.
As a dolphin, I lived to a relatively old age and drowned when I became too infirm to reach the surface for air. When I was very young and just learning to swim, I used to swim like a dolphin (with my whole body) and practiced holding my breath. Both of these lives as animals might also explain the odd, um, noises I can make… like purring, growling, and dolphin-like noises. Really, you’d have to hear them to know what I mean. lol
The next life was in South America. I was a “princess” of the noble caste. I’m not sure what people I belonged to, but I think it was a Olmec or pre-Olmec group. I was about thirteen or fourteen when I died. There was a drought, and the high priest chose me to be sacrificed in order to end it. I think I was chosen because he and my father were at odds, and he wanted to hurt him. He took me to a snake pit and when I hesitated to jump, he pushed me. Being sacrificed for the good of the people was really a high honor, and I would have jumped on my own. I was just working up the nerve. I think this is why one of my spirit animals is the snake.
The fourth and fifth lives were in Egypt. I only remembered the fourth life last year, and I have very little details so far. I know I was woman and about the same I age I am now when I died. I’m pretty sure I was married, but I was having an affair. I went to the river to meet with my lover, but he never showed up and somehow I died. That part’s kind of blur, but I know I never left the river. I think I was eaten by a crocodile. This life and the seventh might be why I’m a bit hesitant about having relationships.
In the fifth life, I was an Egyptian boy. I only lived to be about eleven or twelve before I was killed by a thief as I went for water for my elderly teacher. Long before I recalled this life, I was almost compelled to study heiroglyphics and ancient alphabets. I still have notebooks full of heiroglyphs that I copied from books as I found them.
The sixth life occurred in the Middle East. I was an outspoken woman in favor of social reform. I was very philosophical and obstinate. People didn’t like that and one day at the market I was accused of Witchcraft and stoned unconscious. Then I was dragged to the “dump” where I was set on fire. Perhaps they thought I was dead from being stoned, but I doubt it. This is the first life I remembered after I was attacked at school. The stoning I received in this past life and the way I was attacked by my fellow students at school was just so similar, I think it opened the floodgates of my memory. This explains my dislike of crowds and my passionate refusal to bend to anyone else’s will.
Sometime in the 1100s I lived as a bard in Scotland or the extreme north of England. I’d grown up with the lord of the castle, so we were very much like brothers. He was Pagan, but had accepted a Christian priest into his court in order to keep peace with his neighbors. At the time, most of his neighbors were playing at being Christian too. Any one of them would have used Paganism as an excuse to attack and take control of their neighbors’ lands. Unfortunately, the priest the Church sent to us was a slimey, whiney little weasel, and maybe I was just a bit too vocal in publically mocking him. One night while I was heading back to my room (a little drunk I admit), he snuck up in the dark and stabbed me in the back. This life (and my third) explains my mistrust for clergy and my artistic leanings. This might also explain why I won’t do anything to dull my sense and I don’t like to leave my back exposed.
In the early 1800s I was hanged for horse rustling in the West. As a young Native American man, I was a convenient scapegoat, but I wasn’t guilty. I think this life contributes very much to my sense of right and wrong, having been so badly treated when I was innocent.
The last two lives before this one also occurred in America in the 20th century. In the first, I was male and lived into the thirties, eventually dying of stomach cancer. I have some idea of who I may have been due to certain details of what I remember, what I have read, and personal habits (which I won’t mention). Since it’s someone semi-famous however, I’m not going to get into it. I hate when people claim to have been someone famous. lol
And in the final life before this one, I was a girl in the sixties. I was about fifteen or so when I was abducted by someone. I think I knew my abductor in passing. Anyway, we were in a car in the mountains somewhere, and I knew that I’d probably die anyway, so I decided to take my life into my own hands so-to-speak. As the car went around a turn, I opened the door and jumped to my death. I didn’t recall this life in chronology with the time of my death, but from about the age of thirteen till I was sixteen, I had this horrible urge to open the car door and jump whenever I was in the passenger seat. At its worst, I used to lock the door just in case I wouldn’t be able to control my urge. I think this life explains my dislike of cars in general.
Since I only just remembered another life last year, I think it’s safe to say that there are probably more that I haven’t recalled yet. You’ll also note that I’ve been murdered an inordinate number of times. I’m trying not to get murdering in this life! lol
Comments (6)
Wow, there is some great reading here. Have you ever thought of turning it into fiction or biography? You’d have tons of material to work from. I admit I’ve never believed in reincarnation, yet I find what you say so interesting. Do you think there is a limit to the number of lives a person can live? Having read a little on buddist thought, the general consensus is that you can’t ‘go backwards’ ie. you can not die as a human and be reborn as something intellectually inferior, an animal or a bug whatever. That we can live a lot of lives as human but that each one is taking us further towards the end goal of complete spiritual awareness.
Well, I did write a biographical poem about my death in the 1100s here, but I don’t think I would ever write or attempt to publish a biography of all my lives. People who don’t believe in past lives can be pretty insulting on the subject. I’ve even met people who believe that past life memories are some form of schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder. That’s not the kind of criticism I want to bring on myself.
Only you limit the number of lives you live. There’s no kind of post-life beaurocracy at work. (Besides, I already said so far as I know there is no hell.
lol)
As for incarnating into a lesser creature, you can, but it’s like hitting reset on a video game. As a pantheist, I believe all matter has spiritual energy -from the lesser animals and plants to planets, stars, and solar systems, etc. You could say that different forms differ intellectually only in type. Animals are not necessarily less intelligent than humans, just differently intelligent. Most animals work on an emotional intelligence. Plants also resonate with emotions, but they are not so much driven by them as animals. You can incarnate into animals that are close to humanity either through association and/or by intellectual degree (dolphins, elephants, wolves/dogs, etc). The type of creature you incarnate as depends solely on what type of being you want to be.
When we are in-between lives, we have complete spiritual awareness. Unfortunately, some things are not possible in that state, like change. Life isn’t about achieving spiritual awareness; it’s about altering it. We incarnate here because through different experiences, we are able to change who we are when we are there. It’s like putting on a new set of clothes or entering a chrysalis to become a different butterfly.
I do believe in the Buddhist concept of the Bodhisattva, that is someone who incarnates in order to help others progress. Because there are dangers in incarnating. For instance, you can get so wrapped up in the physical side of things that you forget why you incarnated in the first place (not that you ever consciously remember your reasons for living). So eventually you die and do a cosmic D’oh! because you got sidetracked. If you meet up with someone comparable to a Bodhisattva, they can help you remember what you’re supposed to be doing so you don’t end up coming back to finish up what you began in a previous life.
Even, I as your friend learned something with this post. Especially regarding the car issues you appear to have in this lifetime. Thanks for being bold and sharing a part of yourself.
wow… i cant remember anything… wow…
Well…
Thats very interesting. I like your idea of being bored in the other world, so the souls – or whatever – come back to the living.
…or maybe that was in your other entry. either way, its interesting.
Im just wondering how you came to these notions about your past lives? Im interested in seeing if i had any past lives.
When I was in Jr high school, I was attacked by a large group of students. Most spontaneous past life memories are obtained through traumatic experiences. The experience was so much like the end of my sixth life that I can only guess that the similarity had a kind of deja vu effect which made remembering other past lives easier than I would normally have been able to. As I have gotten older, I have only remembered more lives and more details of those lives.
The best way to recall past lives (sans hypnotism or traumatic experience) is through a combination of dream diary and meditation. Obviously not all dreams are going to be past life experiences, but you’ll generally know what dreams are not “normal” by the detailed memories, normalcy, and physical sensations (sound, sight, feel, taste, smell). Historical research is also important for verification. Interest in (or dislike of) certain eras or cultures can also indicate a possible past life, as can odd personal habits.