Past Life Regression

A "Past Life Regression" is the (alleged) voyage through layers of cell memories of a person's various reincarnations on earth. While under hypnosis, the technique purportedly recovers pleasant and sometimes not-so-pleasant recollections, of you living in another place and time, often centuries ago.

I have gone through two PLR's, each conducted by a different person. For me the experience, which each practitioner recorded and totaled three hours of tape, was quite amazing.

Hypnosis and Religious Beliefs

Many people believe the theory of hypnosis itself, goes against the religious grain of leaving yourself vulnerable to the unknown while under the control of the practitioner. I highly respect anyone's belief in that. However, I will say; during my PLR's under hypnosis, I could stop the session at any time if it was too emotional or I just did not like where it was taking me. I did not feel the need to do so either time.

Why would anyone want to carry out a "Past Life Regression?" Maybe, like millions of the earth's populace, you believe in reincarnation and want to investigate other lifetimes. Perhaps you have undergone many moments of déjà vu, which is the distinct impression you have experienced a particular scenario before, even though it is in your mind, clearly a first for you.

A PLR is a very personal journey and certainly not for everyone. I found it exciting, though, and in a sense, cleansing because it offered me answers to some of my biggest life questions.

How Skeptics Portray "Past Life Regression"

Skeptics render a "Past Life Regression" as false memories brought forward during hypnosis. I read an article in the "Skeptic's Dictionary" that claims so-called past lives information is intentional or unintentional suggestions from the hypnotist. The article also said it is purely the hypnotized person's imagination.

Also referred to as "Cryptomnesia" and "Confabulations;" these terms describe the combination of knowledge, imagination, your past experiences and direction from the hypnotist in bringing about memories. Skeptics say this method of hypnosis reproduces a person's established memory recollections based on the above factors and is not trustworthy proof of previous reincarnations.

Brief Bits of My "Past Life Regression"

The first PLR I undertook lasted two hours and of the two separate sessions, it was the most emotional, remarkable and funny, too. I am not a good subject for hypnosis because I am a natural fidget. The practitioner was very patient with me, but at one point, I thought I was going to have to call it quits.

I simply could not get myself to relax. I finally settled down, though, and found myself standing on a beach wrapped in a dark, wool "cloak" with a hood covering my head. I told the hypnotist I was wearing a "cloak." Not a word I use everyday for sure!

Huge, noisy waves were crashing as I stared out on a foggy sea. It was quite chilly and the sky was gray. I was actually shivering and could literally feel the mist in the air. I had long, wavy red hair and I felt terribly sad. I essentially experienced an overwhelming feeling of sadness and of being lonely.

I told the hypnotist I was extremely sad and at that point began to cry. She asked why I was so sad and I responded that I was waiting for my husband to return from the sea. When she questioned how long he had been away, I sobbed that it had been three months since I saw him last and I was worried about his return. She asked if he was the captain of a ship. I laughed aloud and said, "No...but he thinks he is."

This portion of the "Past Life Regression" took up half the session. It was intensely involved and focused on me and my husband and him going to sea all the time. I wondered after the regression if he was a pirate because that would fit him nicely.

In the regression, I was deeply in love with this man and I pointed out to the practitioner that we sadly, did not have children. I want to mention here, for what it is worth, I have always felt my husband (now and yes, my second) and I shared many lives together and we never had children together in this lifetime either.

Moving forward in past-life time, I found myself partying in the wee hours on a riverboat on the Mississippi. My husband was a card shark (still is) and I followed him around looking pretty, drinking heavily and just living the good life. It was the early 1800's and he was making (cheating?) a lot of money playing cards. There is so much more, but it would take a book to recount it all. You get the gist, though!

The second "Past Life Regression" came about two years later. This one was with another practitioner, who conducted the PLR in a distinctly different manner and I never left my present life, yet I answered and saw things I could not have known at that moment. It really did not ring true as a "Past Life Regression," but was fascinating all the same.

The first thing she asked me to do after being hypnotized was to tell her something no one knew yet. I was stunned when I blurted out that my daughter was engaged, which I knew she was most certainly not.

However, much to her and everyone else's surprise, my daughter excitedly announced about two months later that she received a diamond and she was engaged. I told her then that I said that during the hypnosis session, but did not want to tell her to ruin the surprise or in case, it never happened.

Again, it would take pages to explain all the details of this regression, so I will leave you with the most though-provoking part of this session. Walking me back in time, the practitioner took me to the day of my birth, where I actually saw my mother sitting on the couch and she was in labor. I realize how crazy this sounds.

Mind you, I never saw our living room look like it did under hypnosis. It was very different and the furniture was not the same as I remembered when I was a kid. Nothing about the room was familiar. There was a clock on the wall and it said 2 o'clock. It was afternoon and my mother was alone and in labor. I told the practitioner my mother looked very crabby. Understandable, seeing how the poor woman was facing labor by herself, I thought.

The soft ring of the timer stopped my session and brought me back to reality. I did not go any further that day and I have not participated in a PLR since. If you believe, you have lived one life or many prior to this one, a "Past Life Regression" may well be something that will interest you.

Sources:

The Skeptic's Dictionary
Skepdic.com
Answers.com