I was home doing absolutely nothing and had no idea why I did not recall the appointment that day. We decided to reschedule. He agreed to come to my home to ensure I did not miss the appointment. When he showed up, we got to talking about many other things. By the time the evening was over, he realized he had never gotten to the past life regression! We both chocked it up to the universe not wanting me to go back in time, and I respected that…until this month.
I was trying to understand a few issues
in my life, so I called Past Life Therapist Amy Shapiro, author of the
groundbreaking book, One Sex to The Other: Reincarnation and the Dual GenderSoul. In her book she says, “Once the details of the lifetime are reviewed,
each person can see and understand the purpose of that life, the lessons
learned, character qualities acquired or the soul obligations fulfilled. These
insights are presented in an overview of how the past life relates to the
person’s present.”At the beginning of the appointment, I told Amy about the two issues in my life I was looking for clarity on. She targeted the regression to explore these issues specifically.
Before we started, she explained that she uses the Awareness Techniques by William Swygard. In Amy's book, she describes the Awareness Techniques as, “surrounding your space with an aura of light. Once in this state of integration, you are in communication with your Higher Self or Spirit, which guides you to review the information you need to answer your questions. This information is stored in what mystics refer to as the Akashic Records, also known as the 7th plane of consciousness. This technique lets you retain full memory of what you see in the session. You are fully conscious in the session of all information you are processing along with knowing that you are in a room with a guide and can open your eyes at any time if you want to stop the process. You can think of this process as going to a library and reviewing your spiritual archives, visiting that part of your consciousness where the records of past experience are stored.”
I laid down on a sofa in her office and she guided me into what seemed like a deep meditative state. She asked me to trust that my Spirit knew, and would guide me to see the information that would be most helpful. I was aware and open to all visual images, sounds and intuitive feelings.
As she regressed me, I saw myself in Holland. I knew I was in Holland because I saw windmills. When she asked me the date, I saw the date 1645 flash across my mind’s eye. I was a child and described the large family I was a part of. When she moved me forward in time, I saw myself as a man in the boat building business in Holland. I could see myself and others carrying large planks of wood across open fields and constructing boats. Did I tell you, I’ve never been to Holland? Did I tell you I had no idea they built boats in Holland? When she asked my name, I couldn’t quite get it…Chris…something-or-other. Nothing I could understand in English. She finished the regression by asking what the purpose was of that lifetime and how it related to my present life. I got the message that it was about self-esteem and believing in yourself, no matter what challenge life throws you.
To address my second issue, I was regressed to a lifetime as a child where there was great opulence. I saw two floors of a mansion with oil paintings on the walls. As a girl named Catherine, I had a huge room exclusively for dolls. Beautiful dolls were everywhere in this room! I saw that my father was a busy man with many business associates. He did not have time to spend with me.
In the next scene, I was married off by my father to a man he knew through his business dealings. I sensed that I was no longer in my native country; I was in America...yet it was not. When Amy asked me what year it was, the year 1757 flashed across my mind’s eye. I saw myself married to a handsome man. Amy asked me what country I was living in. I got confused. I said, “I don’t know.” Louisiana flashed across my mind’s eye but it didn’t seem right. I said, “Louisiana but it’s not America. I don’t know what country I'm in. I’m confused.”
Amy regressed me to a moment that was pivotal in that particular lifetime. I saw myself riding in the back of a carriage with my husband (a man I know in this lifetime). He had long sideburns. He was yelling at me, “I need you to produce a male heir for my business! What’s wrong with you!”
We were screaming at each other. I believed that I had really grown to care about this man, but I sensed that I couldn’t give him what he wanted – a male child.
Amy directed me to go forward in time to see how that life progressed. I was an elderly woman, financially cared for by my family but abandoned by my husband who had remarried and had the male heir he had wanted. His abandonment hurt me deeply throughout that lifetime.
I saw my own funeral. Lots of people around. It seemed that I was well liked in the community. Amy again directed me to ask my Spirit to reveal the purpose of that life, and how it relates to my present life. I was shown that although I was abandoned by my husband, good friends were always around to support and value me—that I had value as a woman regardless of my ability to produce children.
When I came out of this deep meditative state, I was surprised at seeing two lifetimes and having been two different genders. Amy told me that this was not uncommon. She says, “Between 25% to 50% of my clients see themselves as the opposite sex in a past life. In order for us to be wholly integrated beings, we must experience life in its entirety, so it makes sense that we change genders from one life to another. We’re not all conscious of this reincarnational shift, and much of today’s gender-identity confusion is tied to that.”
When I got home, I Googled ‘Holland 1647’ and read an article that was about Holland being the center of boat building in Europe at that time. I was shocked. I Googled ‘Louisiana 1757’ and read on Wikipedia that Louisiana changed countries three times around 1757. I sort of knew about the Louisiana Purchase…although I didn’t recall the specific date that it happened---the early 1800’s. I never knew that it was owned by Spain, England and France before it became an American state.
After the past life regression, I wondered if I had made it all up. I suppose it’s possible. Amy assures clients that skepticism is normal, since the finite mind resists the idea of a time that pre-exists it. My question is, why would I make that story up? A boat builder in Holland?—that’s not all that glamorous. And a divorcee in the Deep South who died of old age? That’s not so glamorous either. I think my imagination would have come up with something far more juicier to experience….if I was making it all up.
Many say that a past life regression can be healing, which is why Amy refers to her work as Past Life Therapy. I certainly feel that. I’m a person who loves to know the why of things. Looking at key past lives certainly gave me insight into some of the issues I was dealing with and hopefully moving through, perhaps toward that juicier lifetime my imagination would rather being living in.
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