by Michele Guzy, C.Ht.

INTRODUCTION

As increasing attention is focused on past lives, more people are becoming interested in exploring the issue for themselves, in finding out how to unlock their own past-life memories, as well as in learning what benefits to their relationships, outlooks, and professional lives might come from unearthing these memories.

Hopefully the following will assist in that process and it is always advisable to keep a journal or notebook handy as you go through the following to record your reactions so that it may be referred to later for reflection of possible patterns that may lead to unlocking the deadbolts of current conditions that are blocking progress or goals.

HAVE YOU LIVED BEFORE?

“You have inherited most from yourself, not from your family!” ~ Edgar Cayce

Ask yourself these questions to find out possible past-life connections:

1) Do you have a hunger for exploring past lives which is much more than idle curiosity?

2) Do you have a life-long fascination with a particular period in history?

3) Do you feel drawn to a specific location in which you have no conscious connection with?

4) Have you ever sensed that “home” is somewhere else?

5) Have you ever felt you were living in the wrong time and you don’t belong in the present?

6) Have you ever had dreams set in the distant past that seem too real to be mere dreams?

7) Do you have a love for antiques and historical buildings?

8) Do your hobbies and interests reflect an interest in the past that is unusual for your age?

9) Is there a piece of music that stirs your emotions with a longing for another place or era?

10) Do you have an uncommonly strong interest in another culture?

11) Do you have an unusually strong emotional bond to a friend, family member or acquaintance that cannot be explained by your present relationship?

12) Do you feel negativity towards someone without understanding why you dislike them?

13) Are you distrustful of certain people and fearful of your safety and security, although there is no logical reason for your anxiety?

14) Are there any persistent physical ailments or health issues that you or your doctor are unable to find a physical cause?

15) Do you suffer from a phobia or irrational fear that you can find no obvious cause?

16) Do you sometimes have access to knowledge you could not have acquired in your present life?

17) Are you “wise beyond your years,” or have you ever been called an “old soul?”

18) Do you suspect that you deserve more than you have, or that your present circumstances have been determined by something beyond your influence?

19) When you were a child, did you demonstrate abilities, understanding and knowledge that were unusual for your age?

20) As a child, did you ever refer to another home or family?

THE FOUR KARMIC LAWS

“What we did yesterday shaped today. What we do today shapes tomorrow.” ~ Unknown

1) Law of Consequences – The financial, personal and professional conditions in a person’s life can be reversed in another lifetime.

2) Law of Cause & Effect – We become better human beings as a result of valuable lessons and experiences we learn from each life.

3) Law of Grace or Golden Rule – Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.

4) Law of Compensation – Whatever a man soweth, so shall he reap.

CONNECTING WITH CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS

Make a list of all the people that you’ve had an especially strong positive or negative relationship. One theory about reincarnation holds that there is no such thing as a “chance meeting.” Every significant relationship has a deeper purpose for your soul’s continuing education.

• Imagine a different relationship that could have been formed in a past-life.
• Do they feel like your mother, father, child, sister, brother, friend or enemy?
• What would you like to understand better about each relationship?
• How would understanding your past-life roots improve your current relationship?

CONNECTING WITH SOUL GROUPS

If life is a classroom, important people in your life are like classmates – members of your soul group. While the same “classmates” may not appear in every lifetime, some often do. The theory of “soulmates” reveals that our souls travel throughout time in groups. A soul mate is not always a member of the opposite sex or a lover. It could be a friend, co-worker or family member. Members choose to reincarnate together to support each other and combine their collective experiences.

PAST LIVES AND PRESENT ISSUES

“Through analysis of your present strong tendencies you can pretty accurately surmise what kind of life you led before.” ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Many times the symptoms we feel are said to be “all in your head” by a doctor. If there are no physiological or psychology reasons for the issue, then past-life exploration would be a wonderful way to uncover cell memory of a past trauma. Analysis from a past-life point of view can reveal the “root cause” of a present symptom, injury or chronic illness. A fear of water could be related to a drowning in a past-life. Birthmarks and deformities could be the physical point of entrance in the body at the time death, such as a stabbing or gun shot wound.

ROOT CAUSE: HEALING THE MIND, BODY, EMOTIONS AND SPIRIT

A “root cause” or “core issue” is often found in a past-life memory. These issues can be brought to awareness in this lifetime using past-life therapy techniques. Pinpoint the beginning of the event, pain or emotional attachment and then move further back to a past-life cause.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What are the details within a past-life issue?
• What energy are you still holding on to?
• How is it serving you in this lifetime?
• What benefits are you receiving?
• What attention is this bringing you?
• Do you still need it as a defense mechanism?
• If you didn’t have this problem, what would life be like?
• What part of you feels overwhelmed?
• What are you responsible (or not) for?
• What event / situation in this past life triggered your fear?
• What questions do you want to ask yourself?
• What event / situation took place in this lifetime to cause a negative feeling?

“If you don’t believe in karma or reincarnation, don’t worry. Probably you will in your next life.” ~ Bruce Goldberg

CORE ISSUES & QUESTIONS

ABANDONMENT

• Do you believe that you will lose the people you love? Will they die or leave you for another?
• What do you feel when people leave your life? What is deeper than that feeling?
• Do you have a desire to be needed?
• How much attention did your mom and dad give you?

ABUSE / MISTRUST

• Do you expect to be cheated in life? How?
• Did you trust someone and then was betrayed? How? Who betrayed you?
• Who has lied to you?
• Who has harmed you physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually?
• Do you avoid or reject being loved?

VULNERABILITY

• Are you always anxious about things or people?
• Is disaster always about to strike?
• Do you often say, “I told you so”?
• Do you avoid risk?

DEPENDENCE / EMOTIONAL DEPRIVATION

• Do you feel overwhelmed all the time?
• Do you trust your own judgment?
• Were your parents over or under protective?
• In a relationship, do you seek out stronger partners?
• Do you then sabotage these relationships?

SOCIAL FEARS / PHOBIAS

• As an adult, do you often feel excluded?
• Do you believe the real you is unacceptable?
• Do you feel unworthy of being loved?
• Were your parents critical and judgmental of you?
• Are you fearful of being exposed?
• Do you have an extreme fear of water, heights or closed in spaces?
• Do you experience illogical fears and phobias of basic things in life?
• Does your fear affect your personal and professional life to a dangerous degree?

FAILURE / SUBMISSIVENESS

• Are you pleased with your accomplishments?
• As a child, did you feel that you had to measure up? How? To Whom?
• Do you often say “Oh, what’s the use?”
• Do you procrastinate or get distracted often?
• Do you always put other people’s needs first?

UNRELENTING STANDARDS

• Do you always feel under pressure?
• Would you say that life is about achieving? Owning? Having?
• How high have you set your standards?
• Whose rules do you obey?
• Whose expectations do you honor? Yours? Someone else?

EATING DISORDERS

Anorexia and bulimia could be symptomatic of current emotional problems such as lack of self worth. Past-life origination could come from rejection from a parent, partner or lover. The emotional impact of abandonment may manifest a desire to “waste away” so that you are not a burden to anyone.

Obesity can originate from a traumatic experience of malnutrition or starvation in a former life. You may obsess over food so that you will never have to feel the pain of hunger or starve to death again.

ADDICTIONS

Gratification by using drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, money, food, gambling, fast cars and people may come from deprivation or fear of loss in a previous life. You may have an all-consuming urge to make sure you “have enough” this time around. Addictions may also stem from a need to escape from reality in this life because in “times before” the suffering was more than you could endure.

DEPRESSION

Some people feel “out of sorts” without any identifiable cause for their condition. If in a past-life you suffered a traumatic loss or an extremely unpleasant experience, you may have a sense of helplessness or despondency now. S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is thought to be a chemical imbalance in the brain due to a change of seasons. Maybe an event occurred at a relevant time of year in a former life.

INSECURITY / ANXIETY

Insecurity takes many forms with the most common being the “fear of commitment.” If in a past-life you were abandoned, you may now need a lot of affection. This often leads to a series of short-term relationships or staying with abusive partners so that you never have to be alone again. Anxiety is often a deeply ingrained belief that there will never be enough food, water, shelter, air or medicine (etc).

FEARS / PHOBIAS

Fears are a “logical response” to danger and a natural instinct for survival. A phobia involves an “irrational fear” of something that does not present an immediate or logical danger. In most cases, fear is symbolic of a general insecurity and anxiety concerning the future or mortality. Past-life connection to fears/phobias could be in the form of drowning, burning, suffocating, falling or torture.

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS AS CLUES

“What the entity is today is the result of what it has been in days and experiences and ages and aeons past.” ~ Edgar Cayce

It is important to keep in mind that many current “body syndromes” may have started from a past-life experience. The body is very literal, so list what symptoms you have and then review the connection for emotional, physical, mental or spiritual trauma.

HEAD: Headaches and migraines can be symptomatic of an unwillingness to acknowledge an unpleasant experience, or a reaction to some kind of pressure / injury from a past-life. This may also be an inability to make decisions due to past conditioning.

EYES: Recurrent eye infections are symptoms of perception. A person may have witnessed a horrific event in a past-life that now creates blindness to injustice and brutality currently.

EARS: Recurrent ear infections could be an unconscious desire to ignore what you do not want to hear or acknowledge. “Turning a deaf ear” may come from a former life in which you were put down or falsely accused with such as heresy or witchcraft.

MOUTH: Ulcers, dry mouth, TMJ (etc) suggest a connection in a past-life with self-esteem and self expression. Maybe you were the one who falsely accused someone in a former life, or was not allowed to speak up and tell your truth.

NOSE & THROAT: Sinus problems and persistent sore throats may be indicative of a death by drowning, guillotine, having your throat cut, suffocation or strangulation in a previous lifetime.

NECK / SHOULDERS / BACK: Aches and pains can indicate a reluctance to bear a burden, take on responsibility or from neglect. Perhaps you had to raise a family by yourself, or run a business alone and felt overbearing pressure.

LEGS / FEET: Stiffness, swollen ankles, leg ulcers and other ailments are a manifestation of needing to escape or run away. Perhaps being  imprisoned or denied the opportunity to leave a home because of commitments, fear or obligations.

HANDS / ARMS: Arthritis, warts, blisters, tightening of joints, muscle pain, hot or cold hands could be due to the fear of being unable to hold on to something in life or reach a goal. The inability to reach for your dreams may also be due to feelings of incompetence or lack of self-worth.

STOMACH: Digestive disorders come from suppressed emotions such as bitterness, resentment and anger. In some cases, this “dis-ease” of the soul manifests in a current life as cancer in the physical body due to unprocessed emotional energy.

GENITALS: Feelings of sexual inadequacy, impotence, loss of libido, lack of bladder control (etc) could be due to guilt or fear from a past-life sexual trauma or rape. It could also be linked to religious beliefs or cults.

SKIN: Eczema, acne, hives, and rashes (etc) may be symptomatic of the need to “get out of your skin.” Often a person is uncomfortable just being himself or herself because they feel vulnerable. Often these skin eruptions are from emotional pain still stored deep inside.

HELPFUL BENEFITS OF PAST LIFE REVIEW

“People who live this earth life in the succession of numerous evolutions or reincarnations are, in effect, passing through the various primary grades of school; and when they have passed through them and gained the consciousness necessary for them to live in the higher spiritual worlds, quite naturally they do not return except on the presupposition that they can help others.” ~ Ernest L. Norman

• Healing of chronic diseases can be brought about through the understanding of karmic patterns.

• Release oneself from all kinds of specific phobias.

• Improve one’s interpersonal relationships.

• Free oneself from the fear of death.

• Reconnecting to ‘lost’ parts of the self so healing takes place.