My own brother had many memories of a past life when he was a child. He talked a lot about when he was a "big man" and a teacher. He also has had very vivid dreams all of his life in which he is a dark-skinned man swimming with a child who was his child in the dream. Suddenly my brother is dragged under the water by a shark. To this day, my brother is absolutely phobic about sharks.

I myself have always had a phobia about big ships. I get physically ill when I even see a picture of one in a magazine. Turns out that my father is also terrified of ships and so is one of my nieces. Believe me, my father and I never discussed this fear until I was an adult and we had never talked about it with my niece. So why are we so afraid of ships?

We're not afraid of small boats at all. We're not afraid of water or the ocean. So why does the idea of getting on a big ship make us hyperventilate?

I was discussing this with a friend one evening who suggested that we'd all gone down on a big ship in a past life and it made me wonder....

just belief. It totally makes sense to me in all aspects (I don't want to write a whole book here) but why are we here except to grow & learn & love others? Then we come back usually better

ppl, or sometimes we choose not to come back to stay & do work there. I'll end it here before I go off on a rant. But those are my beliefs.

I have always been interested in reincarnation. I have read many books and articles over the years on this fascinating subject. However, it wasn't until I read Jeffrey Keene's book "Somebody Else's Yesterday" that I was totally convinced. His account of his "waking memories" of his life as Confederate General John B. Gordon is an amazing read and has inspired me to read more on the subject.

Carolyn

Jeff's Book

Carolyn

just don't seem to cover this unexplained phenomenon quite as well as

reincarnation. Imagine the sheer will to push a consciousness from one

incarnation to another intact. Now that would be a ride! On the same subject

my neck always hurts and I have a fear of ropes, wooden trapdoors and

wanted posters. I wonder if that is an insight as to one of my incarnations?

On what do I base this? Several things - but really that belief came about during our September 2008 reincarnation issue as I researched and experienced all sorts of things. I've had two past life regression hypnotherapy sessions (the first was in the aforementioned issue. The second will be in our June, 2009 issue.) During both of those sessions, I saw details of times past that wound up being very accurate with the dates that popped into my head. These were things like clothing, illness, houses - that type of thing. Now, I am not much of a history buff. Yet my visions with regard to the details of the period were remarkably accurate. Does this mean that it isn't a case of cryptomnesia? Could I have known more about the time period than I recall knowing? Certainly.

But I also interviewed and talked at length with Jeff Keene. The interview is in the September 2008 issue, and there is a podcast we did with Jeffrey as well. Jeff's case is a compelling one. He believes that he is the reincarnation of Civil War General, John B. Gordon. Certainly, Jeff's evidence has to do with coincidence and memory. That being said, it is an awful lot of coincidence. So much so that the preponderance of evidence points more towards him being John Gordon in a past life than away from it.

Add to that the research I did on Carol Bowman's site (Cheryl interviewed Carol in the September issue). Some of the stories coming from children are fairly remarkable. When my son was about three, I asked him who he was before I was his mom. Just out of curiosity - I wanted to see what he'd say. His face lit up like he'd been waiting for me to ask him just that question and he said, "OHHHH!" He then proceeded to tell me a story about his life as a doctor on a boat to Africa. The bottom tip. I didn't supply details or say anything other than, "Tell me who you were before I was your mom." He did the rest.

Energy can't be destroyed. This much we know. It can change forms - but it always exists. So is it possible that the energy of past events and lives of others reworks itself into a new person who is capable of recalling pieces of those past lives? I would say that it is definitely a possibility.

I just finished co-writing a book with my friend, Melissa Watts. Lisa is a past life regression hypnotherapist. She's got some interesting stories that certainly make you wonder.

Could my son have been making stuff up for my benefit? Absolutely. Could I have had more knowledge of those historical periods I saw than I realized? Certainly. Could Jeff Keene's case be entirely coincidence? Yeah. But it sure makes me wonder. I do believe that reincarnation is a distinct possibility. What do you think?