The technique of Past-Life
Regression runs very much in parallel with research into reincarnation in
that both subjects are involved with the study of the previous lives of the
individuals who are being investigated. However, past-life regression is not just
concerned with the immediate past-life of, usually, a child who seems to
remember events, places and individuals from this most-recent incarnation. It
usually involves adults who, under hypnosis, are taken back through their
childhood, through the processes of birth and gestation, until they are able to
recount details of one or more of their previous lives. There are many books
which describe either single cases of regression or recount some or many
individual cases of this technique. Probably the best and most reliable of
these books are those written by professionals, such as hypnotherapists or
psychologists, who have sought to investigate the material on a scientific
basis. The best cases are those where detailed material produced during a
therapeutic session has been validated by subsequent historical research. In
these cases the confirmatory material unearthed is often such as could not have
been known to the individual under investigation. The following are some of the
books available on this subject:
Iverson, Jeffrey (1976). More Lives Than One? The evidence of the remarkable Bloxham Tapes.
Souvenir Press, London. ISBN 0-285-62239-0.
The author describes how a
professional hypnotherapist, Arnall Bloxham, over a period of time hypnotised a
Welsh housewife, Jane Evans, and obtained very detailed accounts of six
previous lives during the past 2000 years. These were: as a tutor’s wife in
Roman times; as one of the Jews who were massacred in 12th. century York; as
the servant of a French medieval merchant prince; as a maid of honour to
Catherine of Aragon; as a poor servant in London during the reign of Queen
Anne; and as a nun in nineteenth-century America. The book largely consists of
the detailed stories of these six past lives which form only one case among a
unique collection of tape recordings made by Arnall Bloxham of regressions by
four hundred men and women under hypnosis over a period of 20 years. Jeffrey
Iverson, a television producer, researched the detail of these lives, finding
much to indicate that the details of Jane Evans’ lives were founded on fact. At
the end of the book he considers that Bloxham¹s twenty years of work
constitutes strong support for the concept of reincarnation. He also produced a
BBC documentary film, called "The Bloxham Tapes" based on all this
material.
Underwood, Peter & Wilder, Leonard (1975).
Lives to Remember. A case book on reincarnation.
Robert Hall, London. ISBN 0-7091-5224-8.
The authors of this book are
respectively an author and experienced psychical researcher, and a dentist and
trained hypnotist. Their combined expertise was used to regress under hypnosis
an ordinary housewife called Peggy Bailey and then to carefully assess the
results obtained and tape-recorded verbatim. Under hypnosis Peggy Bailey
relived three past lives: as ‘Sally Fraser’ in eighteenth century Devon; as
‘Liza Bloggs’ in the nineteenth century; and as ‘Lady Alice Browning’ in the
early twentieth century. All the material obtained was carefully considered and
discussed in relation to potential explanations other than reincarnation, such
as self-delusion, hypnotic influence, psychic memories and multiple
role-taking.
Wambach, Helen (1979). Reliving Past Lives. The evidence under hypnosis. Hutchinson, London. ISBN 0-09-136870-7.
Helen Wambach, a psychologist and
clinical psychiatrist, developed a hypnotic technique by which she was able to
regress her subjects back to previous lives. Over a period of 12 years, in a
carefully-designed project, she regressed more than 1000 subjects. Choosing specific
time periods within an overall span of 4000 years she asked her subjects
questions about their appearance, sex, clothing, life-style and feelings at the
moment of death for each specific incarnation. Each subject was given a
post-hypnotic suggestion that enabled them to fill out a data sheet with
precise details for each incarnation, following the session.
When analysed and correlated these
data sheets provided "... striking and extraordinary evidence of the
existence of reincarnation." Numerous figures, tables and specimen data
sheets included in the text provide much useful information about conditions of
life throughout the overall period - information which it was possible to
confirm in many instances.
Woolger, Roger J. (1987). Other Selves, Other Lives. A Jungian psychotherapist discovers past lives. Dolphin/Doubleday, New York. ISBN 1-85274-084-1. (Also published 1990 by
Crucible/Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northants.).
One of the best books on hypnotic
regression and its implications for psychotherapy. The author, originally a
sceptic, is trained in Jungian analysis. Here he expands Jungian theory beyond
childhood events and offers a holistic approach to altering destructive
emotional patterns. With the help of case histories, he explores the connection
between past life illness and current life fitness - both emotional and
physical. He documents a number of psychological conditions that have responded
to this approach (Elizabeth Fenwick). A definitive work in this field.
TenDam, Hans (1990). Exploring Reincarnation.
Arkana (Penguin Books), ISBN 0-14-019204-2.
(Originally published in Dutch in 1987).
An excellent book for the serious
student. Comprehensive and dispassionate, it begins with a consideration of the
hypothesis and its history, moving on to experiences, including spontaneous
recall, prebirth memories, regression and experiences around death. The third
section is an extensive philosophical discussion of various possible views of
the topic. (Elizabeth Fenwick).
Judy Hall is a counsellor and healer who has been
running past-life exploration groups for more than twenty years. Among the
books that she has written on this subject are:
Hall, Judy (1996). Principles of Past Life Therapy.
Thorsons, London. ISBN 0-7225-3353-5.(1997). Hands Across Time.
Findhorn Press, Forres. ISBN 1-899171-61-4.Hall, Judy (1998). Deja Who? A new look at past lives.
Findhorn Press, Forres. ISBN 1-899171-52-5.
Deja Who? is described as the first book that accepts
reincarnation and yet questions the validity of some recalled past lives. Many
famous names appear time after time in past-life regressions, and the most
useful part of this book is where Judy Hall explores in depth the possible
alternative explanations to reincarnation which may explain such occurrences.
These may be suggestion, paramnesia, cryptomnesia, false memory syndrome,
possession, psychiatric illness, multiple personality disorder, and others. The
validity and relevance of past lives are examined in the context of these
alternative explanations.
Newton, Michael (1996). Journey of Souls.
Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, Minnesota. ISBN 1-56718-485-5. (First edition 1994).
Many books have described processes
of hypnotic regression where people recall accounts of their past lives. This
is apparently the first book where, through hypnosis, individuals are helped to
recall otherwise lost memories of the periods between former
reincarnations on earth - in other words it provides accounts from 29
individual cases of details of the after-life. Journey of Souls
not only provides detailed accounts of the processes of death and progression
through the after-life; more importantly, using a new technique, it confirms
information originally determined by traditional methods using mediums.
Davies, Mary (1999). The Journey. A spiritual autobiography spanning two thousand years. Published privately by the author. ISBN 0-9536398-0-0. (Obtainable from the author at Ardgowan House, Shore Road, Brodick, Isle of Arran, KA27 8AJ, Scotland).
"The author is a practising
healer and past-life therapist who, in this book, has used six of her own past
lives and her present life to weave a fascinating account of how the human soul
evolves over the centuries, making mistakes and learning valuable lessons, and
how the continuing process is a spiritual journey to the Cosmic Source of
Divine Love. The style is conversational, deceptively easy to read but
containing deep wisdom."
Onto section 4. Seers and Mystics