Our mind records everything that has ever occurred to us since our
first perception, existence, creation and this record includes
thoughts, sounds, feelings, attitudes, biases and all other
experiences. These records are always accessible through the
subconscious and include memories of not only this lifetime, but
others as well.
85% of the religions on this planet have a fundamental belief in
reincarnation and past lives...that they will actually admit to.
There are usually 3 basic reasons for people to seek a Past Life
Journey and these are: Curiosity (i.e., who was I, where did I live?
Etc) Spiritual growth (discovery of life blue print, acceleration of
one's spiritual growth through the viewing of past mistakes/lessons)
and Therapeutic (resolving current issues which originate in past
incarnations - unfinished business).
Dr. Edith Fiore was one of the pioneers of Past Life Therapy and said
that over 95% of people's current issues result from Past life
experiences, in the form of unfinished business, unresolved
experiences etc. These issues can include such things as fears,
phobias, physical ailments, weight, addictions, abandonment, self
image issues, relationship difficulties etc...
Prior to entering into a new incarnation, we make various decisions
relating to our upcoming life. These decisions include gender, race,
geographic location, religion, appearance, karmic lessons,
disabilities and unresolved issues. These provide the bulk of
our "free will" choices and are actually made prior to us even
getting here!
As Spirits, we are completely responsible for making our own
decisions, however, although we make these choices prior to birth,
and even conception, they are buried deep within our unconscious mind
which means that they are not consciously remembered once birth
occurs. Our soul, however, remembers and if these are the choices
that we have made and the lessons that we have come here to learn,
then this is what we must do. Free will does not come into it as far
as whether or not we will learn these lessons or have these
experiences. We are destined to do so. The only choices we now have
in this regard is how long it will take us. We can resist our path
for as long as we like if we wish to do so. We can choose to back
track or stop completely, however, when we do decide to move, our
path will invariably continue as we chose it to be in those pre
conception days.
As Souls, once life begins, we retain individual choice and the
accountability for those choices. With this in mind, we are able to
change our minds and so, although, for example we may have chosen to
come to learn about trust, experiences and changing circumstances may
mean that it takes us more than one incarnation to do that.
Nevertheless, the lesson is eventually learned...the easy way, or the
hard way.
In exploring Past Lives in a Soul Light Journey, it is important to
distinguish between Past Life Regression and Past Life Therapy. A
Soul Light Journey is usually initially undertaken for curiosities
sake, however, this can become therapy when it is used to provide
resolution and healing of past life issues and events. Belief in
reincarnation is unnecessary for this process to work.
Past Life memories may come to us in many ways eg/dejavu about
people or places, recurrent dreams or an unexplained fear or phobia.
Quite often, people who fear water, public speaking or heights, etc.,
etc., uncover traumatic past life experiences that explain them. As
these traumas are explored and resolved in past life therapy, the
phobias often cease to exist.
Actual occurrences from beyond our current lifetime are recorded in
the deep subconscious part of ourselves. These events affect us just
as events of significance from childhood do, even though we don't
remember them. Ancient memories from previous existence's can have
the same prayerful impact on our current lifetimes.
Past life patterns can influence a persons behavior, attitudes,
likes and dislikes, relationships, phobias and almost every other
aspect of life. Soul Light Journeys can assist a person to uncover
past life events which could be the cause of unwanted and non-useful
behaviors and chronic health and life style problems in this
incarnation. Once the cause of a behavior is discovered, it can be
resolved and healed.
Resolution of past life trauma can ease or resolve present life
conflicts, by eliminating residue from the prior incarnation.
Healing of this trauma in the present moment involves the resolution
of the unfinished business from the past incarnation, which continues
to influence a person's emotional balance.
Many emotional problems and conflicts can be quickly and effectively
resolved through Soul Light Journeying.
Within a Soul Light Journey relating to past lives, the subject is
guided to locate the source or cause of the problems from which they
are suffering. Their own guides will reveal the time, place and
circumstances and we will set about making new belief statements,
which will set aside mental residue.
During this process, the entire meaning of an event or lifetime can
be changed leaving no emotional charge on these formerly traumatic
events.
Issues that are often encountered and successfully treated through
Soul Light Journeys include unfounded fears, phobias; eating
disorders; relationship issues; physical ailments; finding the life
purpose, recovering lost talents or exploring lifetimes in historic
times of interest.
With the knowledge and wisdom gained through Soul Light Journeys and
the power of forgiveness the emotional residue of past incarnations
can be healed, allowing people to live more fully in the moment and
the best part about that is that it is a direct and swift way of
reaching issues, allowing them to be resolved immediately with
lasting results.
Reincarnation
Death is not a final end. It's simply a part of a wheel that includes
rebirth. Death is simply transformation, not termination. In Wicca,
we are not striving to get off the wheel or to get beyond the need
for rebirth. Rebirth is the Goddess's great gift to us, and we
embrace it. Despite the emphasis on rebirth, death is still a great
loss. Our essence, our Deep Self, is reborn, but our particular
personality is wedded to a body, a gender, an ancestry, a life
history. That personality will dissolve at death. Lessons we have
learned will become part of our essential being. But much of what
makes us unique in this life will be gone. This is much like when
your personality changes thoughout your living life. Your environment
and life challenges can often change your personality. For example,
in this life your dignity is beaten down everyday by someone. Your
personality is likely to be one of someone that feels they have no
self worth or contribution. Now lets say in your next life you are
born into a family that loves you very much and appreciates you, only
touching you in a loving manner. Your personality in that life is
likely to be one of someone that feels loved, has self worth and
tackles the world with their head held high.
Suicide
Suicide is not a neutral act: it causes harm to family, partners, and
intimate friends. It is not a solution to problems such as depression
or despair; it simply transfers them to another plane and intensifies
the challenges the soul faces. For these reasons, suicide is strongly
discouraged. When someone does commit suicide, however, we attempt to
view the act with the same compassion we would accord any other
mistake. The person is still considered part of our community,
entitled to the same spiritual aid, guidance, and rites as anyone
else who has died.
Crossing Over
When you die, anything that you believe in does exist in the other
world; the spirit crossing over goes wherever it expects. If you
believe you will go to Avalon and walk with the Goddess beneath her
flowering apple trees, then you will. You create your own "Heaven" in
your mind. If you would like more examples, and a really good movie to watch, *grin* I suggest you check out "What Dreams May Come" starring Robyn Williams ©1998. This movie is the closest thing I've been able to find to these beliefs.
One Wiccans Point of View
(Written by Griffonstone) Many people have various opinions on what
death is and what exactly happens to us when we die. I too have an
opinion on this one. I have studied death and dying for the majority
of my life and I have even experienced a few (yes, a few) near death
experiences and out of body experiences. I guess you can say I've
been there. So I will share what I have learned in my great adventure
that I call life (and death). Well, as you might have already
guessed, death is by no means the end of everything. It is certainly
not the end of us! In fact, it is only the beginning of our new life,
life anew, in other words. We are certainly immortal in our souls and
this is something that we must learn to accept as it is something
that we cannot just "ignore". There is no reason to fear death! But,
to actively seek out death will cause you problems both here and on
the other side alot more than you can imagine!
If we so choose, we can either stay on the other side (eternal life
on a "higher" plane, that is to say: Heaven, The Happy Hunting
Grounds, Nirvana etc.) or we may choose (yes, it is a choice) to
reincarnate either back here on Earth or some other place. I do not
feel that we have to worry about reincarnating into a slug or
something like that but, we will reincarnate into someone that will
best help us learn and understand what it is we need to learn or
experience at that time. We will know what is needed to be done.
There is no Hell or judgment. The multiverse is far too gigantic to
worry about such trivial things. Ever wonder why there is the
saying " you are your own worse judge?" I think that I will be far
harder on myself than anyone else I can think of. For those who seem
to have no conscious, the laws of Karma will be very active in your
life. I believe that Karma is alive and well in our lives long before
we die. Like I said, there is no judgment. We do have responsibility
and consequence though. Just look around in our world and/or your own backyard for this one! I believe that life has a great plan and
scheme for all of us and we are intimately entwined to it and each
other. We all come from the God and Goddess; we are all their
children! We will learn from our parents and ourselves. This is
another reason for no Hell and judgment after life. You can let that
one go now! (The whole Hell and judgment thing). Reincarnation is the
God and Goddess's way of letting us explore their creations from many
different points of view. Our parents want us to fully understand and
enjoy what it is they have created. We can learn many wondrous (and
often difficult) lessons in our development by fully utilizing their
gifts and wonders. Remember, not all wonders are made of gold; we
must accept the bitter with the sweet. The variety is what makes life
worth experiencing, whether we see it or not.
Reincarnation - Edgar Cayce
Have We Lived Before? Just what is the nature of humankind? This same question, framed in dozens of different approaches, was asked
repeatedly of Edgar Cayce. His answers-insights into our relationship
with God, one another, and ourselves-have served as a foundation for
comparative studies between the East and the West for decades.
From Cayce's perspective, we are not simply physical bodies or even
physical bodies with souls, but are instead spiritual beings who are
currently having a material experience. As souls, we have manifested
in the earth in order to learn lessons that will enable us to return to our former state of spiritual awareness. At the same time, one purpose we all have in common is to bring the spirituality of the Creator into the earth. A soul can choose to be born into either a male or a female body in any given lifetime or, as Cayce called it, an incarnation. A soul selects that environment (parents and family, location, personal obstacles, etc.) which will best allow for the learning of lessons it needs for completeness. The goal is to fully express love in all the challenges which physical life offers. One's experiences are subject to the choices made with free will. As one grows, he or she learns-or rather remembers-his or her true relationship with God and one's heritage as a spiritual being. With free will, we can turn the challenges life presents to us into stepping-stones toward growth, or we can see them as obstacles and stumbling blocks. Either way, we reap what we have sown. We constantly meet the consequences of previous deeds and attitudes.
One frequently misunderstood concept regarding reincarnation has to
do with karma. From the standpoint of the Cayce material, karma is
not destiny; it is only memory. These memories are generally
unconscious and influence our abilities, our faults, even our
relationships with others, but with free will we can meet this memory
as a positive or a negative experience. Karma provides us with the
potential to learn a lesson we need in order to grow at a soul level,
and free will determines whether or not we choose to learn it at this
time. The choices we make determine the next set of potential
experiences we encounter.
Much more than simply a concept that applies to a limited segment of
the world, reincarnation is a philosophy that has-at one time or
another-been embraced by all the major religions of the world. It's a
concept that can allow us to have compassion for one another because
ultimately we are all equal-there is only one God, and we are all His
children. From Cayce's viewpoint, it doesn't really matter if an
individual believes in reincarnation or not. For some it can be a
helpful concept, for others confusing. The main purpose is to allow
individuals to become aware of their true spiritual nature and their
ultimate relationship with one another. In fact, if we can think for
a moment about the one person in our life whom we love most of all.
then we will get an inkling of the goal of reincarnation: to be able
to love every single soul, even ourselves, with the very same love.
Adapted from:
Past Lives & Karma
(Portions Taken from Skyhawk's Book - "The Pagan Book of Living and Dying")
Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records