Going into the light

[Jasmine]

Great link, Sardondi. Thank you.

Here's a link to a page of the The University of Virginia - School of Medicine's site, which includes information on deathbed visions, NDEs, and cases/data gathered by Dr. Ian Stevenson, who specialized in researching children who recalled past lives.

http://www.medicine.virginia.edu/clinical/departments/psychiatry/sections/cspp/dops/case_types-page

[Jasmine]

In the link provided above, and under the subject of small children who remember aspects or overwhelming emotions about past lives, there is one point, "I have another mommy/daddy" which strongly resonates with me. Before I write of my experience, it must be pointed out that reincarnation, NDEs, and deathbed visions are in a very real sense related, as each experience is a component of the very real truth of the soul/consciousness surviving the physical death of the human body. In the case of reincarnation, it takes the subject matter of life after death to a more profound level; our souls choosing to return to an incarnate state in a physical world, and undertaking that journey from the realm of spirit.

The vast majority of us can recall perhaps one or two key incidents from the time we were small children (before the age of five). I myself can easily and clearly recall three incidents, one of which was a very powerful sense of having lived prior to my present incarnation. I was three and a half years old. On one late afteroon, I was standing in our living room, looking out the huge window. The sun was setting, and, facing west, the room was filled with light. I clearly recall standing there, and experiencing an overwhelming sensation of homesickness, and a strong sense of yearning. I recall my mother entering the living room, and upon seeing me standing at the window looking out in silence, she asked what was the matter. I clearly recall looking up at her and stating I wanted to go home, that I missed my old home, and that I wanted to see my other "mommy". Perplexed and bemused, she stated that THIS was my home, and that SHE was my mother. I replied that I knew she was my "mommy", but not my other mother, the one who I, at that point in time, could not remember in regards to her face, her voice, or name, but rather a very strong sense that she (my previous mother) did in fact exist in another time. I also, somehow picked up, at age three and a half, that this woman, this other mother of mine, lived and "died" in a time period very close to the era I was born as my current self.

It was a very odd and unique experience for me, one I have never forgotten. Over the course of the passing years, this "memory" of my former mother from a past life has faded, but the memory of experiencing longing for her, missing her, and loving her, has remained with me ever since. My current mother has validated the incident many times, and part of her feels it was childhood imagination on my part. I disagree - the overpowering emotions that engulfed me on that late afternoon, so many years ago, were VERY real. I have attempted to somehow remember more of that woman who lived, who was my mother, to no avail. That "window", or portal, opened and closed quickly.

There are thousands upon thousands of case studies involving small children and past life memories. Young children are excellent subjects for these studies, as they have yet to be conditioned by society to adhere to the earthly human tangible senses.

I've also had throughout the course of my life a very, very strong feeling of identification with Russia in the late 19th Century, and centering around St. Petersburg. I also have a strong connection with the American South,Georgia in particular, in the early decades of the twentieth century. I don't for one second believe these feelings are wishful thinking or imagination on my part. In the case of Georgia, I've always had a strong sense of identifying with the plight of the African-Americans who lived in that era, that I was either black in a former life, or was a white person who strongly sympathized with their horrific supression and condemnation by the white race.

Oh, what tangled and fascinating webs our consciousness weaves!

[Centurion40]

Honestly, I don't know what to think of it all.  I have a profound love of palm trees; seeing one in it's natural setting brings me excitement and peace.  Is that because I'm Canadian, and seeing one (in it's natural setting) lets my mind confirm that I'm vacation in Florida?  Or did I live in a southern climate in a previous incarnation?

I had a dream once (which I can clearly recall, and that is somewhat unique in that I've had 1000s of other dreams that I cannot recall) where I was a young soldier in WWII on the Axis side.  I know that I was wearing boots and a kind of woollen uniform.  I was a sort of misfit, probably because I was young and immature.  I was walking alone, away from my unit, enjoying the solitude on a sunny morning- daydreaming and enjoying the the sun warming my body.  I was walking along a rail-road track.  The landscape was flat with a row of telegraph lines running alongside the tracks, and a line of poplar trees.  Suddenly I stop dead in my tracks, realizing that I had wandered far from my unit, possibly into enemy territory.  Suddenly and abruptly, the dream ends.

I thought nothing more of it, in fact I probably forgot all about it until I was watching a documentary following Peter Ustinov as he travelled through Soviet Russia.  Peter was taking a train to Moscow and there was an exterior shot of the train going down the track.  There was the train track landscape from my dreams, complete with the trees and the poles.  Gave me a chill as I realized that I had scene that landscape before in my dream.  Did I just get a glimpse from a past life, or did my mind concoct the the entire thing?  Perhaps that scene was in a commercial advertising the broadcast of the documentary?

I can't tell for certain, one way or the other.  The only thing that I can do is look to probabilities.  Which is more probable; that I recalled a past life in a dream, or that my mind created the entire thing from something that I've seen elsewhere?

[Jasmine]

Honestly, I don't know what to think of it all.  I have a profound love of palm trees; seeing one in it's natural setting brings me excitement and peace.  Is that because I'm Canadian, and seeing one (in it's natural setting) lets my mind confirm that I'm vacation in Florida?  Or did I live in a southern climate in a previous incarnation?

I had a dream once (which I can clearly recall, and that is somewhat unique in that I've had 1000s of other dreams that I cannot recall) where I was a young soldier in WWII on the Axis side.  I know that I was wearing boots and a kind of woollen uniform.  I was a sort of misfit, probably because I was young and immature.  I was walking alone, away from my unit, enjoying the solitude on a sunny morning- daydreaming and enjoying the the sun warming my body.  I was walking along a rail-road track.  The landscape was flat with a row of telegraph lines running alongside the tracks, and a line of poplar trees.  Suddenly I stop dead in my tracks, realizing that I had wandered far from my unit, possibly into enemy territory.  Suddenly and abruptly, the dream ends.

I thought nothing more of it, in fact I probably forgot all about it until I was watching a documentary following Peter Ustinov as he travelled through Soviet Russia.  Peter was taking a train to Moscow and there was an exterior shot of the train going down the track.  There was the train track landscape from my dreams, complete with the trees and the poles.  Gave me a chill as I realized that I had scene that landscape before in my dream.  Did I just get a glimpse from a past life, or did my mind concoct the the entire thing?  Perhaps that scene was in a commercial advertising the broadcast of the documentary?

I can't tell for certain, one way or the other.  The only thing that I can do is look to probabilities.  Which is more probable; that I recalled a past life in a dream, or that my mind created the entire thing from something that I've seen elsewhere?

I was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec. So I hear you on pining for those palm trees!

On a serious note, I found your telling of your dream to be quite fascinating. While it is probable that your subconscious mind retained visuals/imagery that manifested as your WWII, the very fact that this particular dream stands out front and center in your memory, that you retained so many minute details about it, alerts me to the high probability that it could very well have been a past life vignette that your soul memory brought to the forefront of your conscious mind. You're not alone; countless people recall having VERY vivid and emotionally charged dreams that, in hindsight, don't feel like the plethora of scattered, unfocused dreams they usually experience. There is a quite noticable difference to past life scenes replayed and "normal" hazy, irrational ones.

By the way, speaking of WWI and WWII, I subscribe to the following intriguing theory. Many people who have been successfully regressed to a past life/lives emphatically state that, if the soul experiences a sudden or violent death of the physical body, many of them (souls) feel angry and cheated out of that particular incarnation, anmd many opt to return to another physical body/life very quickly, usually right away. For many other souls who cross over, they elect to wait it out a while in the realm of spirit, garnering energy and wisdom before they, with the guidance of spirit guides, CHOOSE their next incarnation - parents, siblings, life circumstances, etc.

Anyway, there are many who have been regressed who lived lives as both Allied and Axis soldiers. Upon being killed whilst in the line of duty, their souls, as mentioned, felt cheated and robbed of life, and opted to return to the earthplane almost immediately. How FASCINATING when one thinks of the connection here - if these souls were incarnated immediately - 1940-1946, many of them would have been of the correct age to take part in the Vietnam war student protests, and the Paris student protests of the 1960's.

Think of it...you're killed in action as a soldier during WWII, and reborn to violently protest and fight against a future war...for you KNOW in your soul memory of what a waste war was for you, having experienced the horrors of it first hand. This makes a lot of sense to me.

[Centurion40]

I too was born in Montreal. My family moved to NS when I was 5, so as to avoid one of us getting blown-up by the FLQ.

One of the things that causes me to pause about the dream is the possibility that, if we reincarnate, it is done quickly in close geographic vicinity to where we die.  I don't know why that would matter, or even be a factor in such business- should any of it be true/possible.

In my dream I have the sense that I was Austrian, Hungarian, Romanian or possibly even Russian or Polish.  Lots of those ethnicities settled in Montreal after WWII.  So, in my mind, it is possible that my soul could have travelled to Montreal via a European immigrant.

[Jasmine]

I too was born in Montreal. My family moved to NS when I was 5, so as to avoid one of us getting blown-up by the FLQ.

One of the things that causes me to pause about the dream is the possibility that, if we reincarnate, it is done quickly in close geographic vicinity to where we die.  I don't know why that would matter, or even be a factor in such business- should any of it be true/possible.

In my dream I have the sense that I was Austrian, Hungarian, Romanian or possibly even Russian or Polish.  Lots of those ethnicities settled in Montreal after WWII.  So, in my mind, it is possible that my soul could have travelled to Montreal via a European immigrant.

I grew up in one of the Anglo neighbourhoods of Montreal, but attended French immersion primary and secondary schools. Montreal still has, hands down, the best smoked meats and poutine on the planet! 

Re European WW2 era soul reincarnating in North America. It's quite likely that you, and countless others, selected a North American current incarnation to grow, to learn new lessons, and to cast off the negative residue that was accumulated while living the horrors imposed by the Third Reich. I read where countless souls who were Jewish holocaust victims purposely selected their new incarnations to live a life "on the other side of the coin" in Canada and the U.S. (and other nations, too). We have all lived lives of both sexes, ethnic identities, various economic and vocational standings, etc. If only we all could realize this, acknowledge this...oh, what a different planet this would be.

I believe many don't pay enough attention to vivid dreams, nor do they lend them credence. These vivid dreams, which, in many cases, are far, far more than mere mind scramblings during slumber. Our astral body leaves our physical shell when we are asleep, and thus we are are in tune with all that was, and all that shall be.