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THE NARRATIVE ARC
Reincarnation and the Two Past Lives I Remembered
Reality may be more fluid than we know
When people say “in a past life I…” it can mean one of two things.
The most common and disappointing possibility is that they’re referring to some earlier employment or pastime marginally different from whatever they’re doing now — “I sell insurance these days but in a past life I sold mostly annuities. Life can be crazy sometimes.”
The far more compelling usage is the one I’m about to share. Here, the speaker claims they’ve lived as an entirely different person in some past historical epoch before being catapulted squalling and resentful from a fresh womb into their current incarnation.
And why not?
The idea that humans live multiple lives is common in many religious traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and even some Christian sects (the last only until they were all slaughtered for heretics as Jesus requires). And while I claim no unique knowledge about what happens once we exit the mortal stage, reincarnation seems at least as plausible as some sort of harp and halo scenario.
With that open-minded if unscientific attitude, I have on two separate occasions essayed past-life regression.
Past life regression is a process, usually involving hypnosis, which attempts to dredge up memories of previous lives. My first experience was with a hypnotherapist whom I’d engaged to help me overcome a sudden-onset fear of flying. While the hypnosis proved less effective at curing aerophobia than red wine and Ativan, Jillian was also an expert practitioner of past-life regression who persuaded me to give it a try.
I recorded the story, but can no longer find it so I’ll relate it as best I can remember.
I am a small girl, no more than eight or nine years old. I am with my mother and father, standing at one end of an old stone or brick bridge spanning a narrow river. From the structures and people, I think I’m in Asia, probably China but can’t say for sure.
A man approaches us and has a short conversation with my parents. He looks me up and down, then nods and hands them something. My mother tells me I am to…
