The Big Questions About Past Lives

This article was first published in Psychic News, March 2019.

Q = Question from Psychic News Magazine

A = Answer from Atasha Fyfe

Q: Did any great civilisations of the past accept the notions of rebirth and past lives? If so, why did they fall out of favour?

A: Since ancient times, all the great religions believed in reincarnation – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and even early Christianity. The Bible is full of references to it.

Socrates, Plato, St Augustine and many others in the ancient world taught a lot about the effects of past lives.  

Then in 553CE the Emperor Justinian declared this belief a Christian heresy, punishable by death. This increased control over the masses by replacing the reassurance of eternal life with the threat of damnation. However, for cultures everywhere else, going back to very ancient times, rebirth was always accepted.  

Over time, Islam and Judaism both dropped teaching reincarnation to the general public. Nevertheless, they didn’t refute it or make it a heresy. Belief in past lives is still part of the mystical branches of Judaism and Islam, such as the Sufis and the Kabbalists.

Q: What sparked your interest in the subject?

A: It began when I discovered Dion Fortune’s novels in my teens. I enjoyed the way she worked past life effects into her stories – it made so much sense. Then when I took up yoga I loved hearing about the Indian view of reincarnation.     

Q: Can you describe a past life you recall?

A: Also in my teens, I had a very vivid dream of being executed in the French Revolution. When I put my head on the block I was shocked to feel other people’s wet blood on my throat. Then I suddenly woke up with a gasp, sitting bolt upright. Over time, other dreams about that life would come up now and then.

Eventually I had a regression, and accessed a life as a young man in revolutionary France. I was very keen on the new ideals. But it looks like I wasn’t politically correct enough!  

Q: Are children especially adept at recalling a previous life? Are they usually believed or do parents generally dismiss their accounts out of hand?

A: In the 1970s Professor Ian Stevenson, Head of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia, did some major research to find out if past lives were real. One of his discoveries was that children under the age of eight often remember their past lives quite clearly.  

Until recent times, western parents would dismiss a child’s chatter about previous lives as nothing but childish babble. In places like India, where reincarnation is accepted, this kind of talk is not dismissed. Even so, many eastern parents are not always happy to hear about other families or lifetimes that might have been more comfortable. Perhaps they fear it will make the child discontented with them.

In the western world, more people are becoming aware of this now, and are prepared to listen when their child talks about former lives.  

Q; Why do most people not recall a previous existence?

A: It’s best for those memories to come up only when it’s the right time for them. If not, they might distract or interfere with the person’s purpose or path in life. For example, recalling a negative former life could destroy someone’s self-worth just when they are meant to be rebuilding their confidence. So it’s not always the right thing for everyone. Lack of interest or wariness about their other lifetimes works like a protective instinct for many people.

However, I think everyone benefits psychologically and spiritually by accepting past lives as natural – without necessarily having to recall any of their own. This is because just believing in rebirth means we are less likely to over-identify with the ego. When we know that our true identity is the spirit within us that goes from life to life, we aren’t so pulled down by the issues and complexes of the temporary self. This also releases us from fear of death, which exacerbates many other fears.

Q: What are the benefits of remembering a past life?

A:  The biggest one is that it helps us to understand ourselves. We can find out where any unconscious patterns, habits, neuroses or phobias may come from. Doing that is more than half way to overcoming the issue.

It helps to understand other people in our lives, which improves all our relationships.

It can also help with health problems, as the body often carries and expresses issues from past lives in a number of different ways.

And of course past life awareness adds so much to the interest and richness of the reality we inhabit.

Q: After someone passes on, who decides if they are to return to earth again and as what? Is it always voluntary?

A: I think this differs quite widely, depending on the individual. Some come back almost immediately because the attractions of physicality are hard to resist. People who die suddenly may also return quickly, from a sense of unfinished business. Anyone who feels a strong wish to do something – perhaps to continue studies or to follow an ideal – may soon choose another life to continue their work.

Those who have given their lives some thought, and are aware of reincarnation, are more likely to accept the help of their guides when they reach the other side. It’s still up to them if they accept that advice or not – no-one is ever forced into anything.

Q: What’s the best way for someone to tap into a previous life?

A: While the most common methods are past life regression, workshops and guided meditations, there are many other ways.

Clues about our former lives are within and around us all the time. Some of these are:

• Inexplicable personal or relationship issues
• Strong likes or dislikes
• Unexpected tastes in food, clothes or décor
• Feeling either drawn to, or repulsed by, particular places in the world or times in history.
• Historical books, films or pictures may trigger a past life memory.
• Feelings of déjà vu when visiting a special place

When you’ve spotted a past life clue, you can then put out that question to the universe and your own greater consciousness, asking for more information about it.

The next step is to trust the answers that will start to arise. These usually come through dreams, messages or images received in meditation, synchronicities or sudden realisations.

Sometimes bodywork, such as massage or acupuncture, can be surprisingly effective in releasing and making conscious a former life memory that was held in the body.

Q: How would you answer a sceptic who dismisses past lives as an over-active imagination or wishful thinking?

A: While it’s clearly impossible to scientifically ‘prove’ previous lives by replicating them in a laboratory, there is enough strong witness evidence for them that would stand up as proof in a court of law.

There are countless documented cases about people who discovered past life experiences that helped to resolve all kinds of personal problems. If they were just tapping into any past life, or making it up, it wouldn’t have had this effect.

For example, one of my regression clients wanted to understand why he couldn’t lose weight. It turned out he’d once been a monk who’d resented that austere way of life. So he was now making up for it with lots of fast food. Once he realised that, it was much easier to change his diet and slim down.

There are many physical signs of former life experiences. Professor Stevenson discovered that birthmarks can look like the marks left by how someone died in a previous life. This is why some birth marks resemble bullet wounds, knife slashes or burns.

One young woman recalled a tribal life when she was executed by having to walk into a fire. Afterwards she showed me the red marks she’d always had on her feet. They looked just like flames licking up her ankles.

I’d say that people who scoff at the idea of reincarnation have probably not read much about it.

Q: Would you agree that too many people claim exotic past lives and were rarely a leper dying in the gutter?

A: The famous former life fantasy usually happens when people have just begun thinking about past lives – and before they’ve explored them properly to find out the truth. Maybe it’s natural at that stage to wonder if they were someone important. Also, many people may need this kind of fantasy to heal their inner wounds. This is why I’m always tactful when people confide these notions to me.     

There are sometimes clues to a real earlier life underneath the fantasy – not as the famous person, but from having lived in that part of the world, or in those times.

A young man I once regressed recalled horrific experiences in the First World War. He said afterwards that this confirmed what he thought – that he was the reincarnation of a famous poet from those times. I think if the reality of a past life is too difficult to bear, it may be psychologically necessary to gloss over it with an idealised version.

Another of my clients recalled a life in Biblical times when she was a young woman who gave up everything to join a religious group like the Essenes. She thought that meant she was Mary Magdalene. There are many cases like this when people identify with an iconic figure because it represents a quality they may need to emulate or strengthen within themselves. 

Those two are rare examples of people clinging to their fantasy after a regression. Most people who come to see if they can confirm an exotic past life through a regression are usually brought down to earth with a bump by the real memories that come up. It takes courage for them to face that, so I think a lot of them for it.

Q: What’s the best researched past life you have come across where the facts fit what someone claims?

A: Although there are many great examples to choose from, one that stands out is Professor Stevenson’s case of a little Indian girl called Swarnlata.

At the age of three, while travelling in the family car over a hundred miles from their home, she suddenly recognised the area. She directed the driver to a specific house, and announced that was where she’d once lived.  

When she was ten, her supposed former life family decided to test Swarnlata. They arrived unexpectedly with several other unrelated people. Then they set all kinds of tests and traps for her. She didn’t fall for any of them. She immediately recognised her past life brother, calling him by her private pet name for him – Babu.

She also recognised her husband from that life, and her son Biya who was 13 when she’d died of a ‘pain in the throat’. She reminded her former husband of 1200 rupees she’d given him and the secret box he kept it in. Only the two of them ever knew about that.

When they then took her to visit her previous home, she immediately noticed changes that had taken place since she lived there. She asked where the veranda and the neem tree had gone. Both had been removed since her death. She also correctly identified the room where she’d died in 1939.

Professor Stevenson did his usual rigorous investigations to make sure there was absolutely no possibility of fraud about this case – and passed it with flying colours.

Q: To put it very clumsily, if someone is currently having a terrible life are they paying for sins or bad behaviour in a previous existence? 

A: That is sometimes true, but not always. Often a soul will take on a difficult life because it gives them an opportunity to grow quickly and forge ahead on their spiritual path.  

Other times, people may be punishing themselves. It seems we are the only ones who judge and sentence ourselves – judgement doesn’t come from any gods, guides or angels.

When people have behaved in awful ways, looking at that lifetime afterwards can make them feel rather ashamed or guilty. The natural reaction is to decide to have a life suffering in the same way they made others suffer.

However, self-punishment only creates fresh wounds for that soul, as well as perpetuating negativity in the world. A better solution is to decide to then do the opposite. For example, someone who’s ashamed of having been a bad parent can make up for it by being a good parent next time. Doing better next time may be the unconscious drive behind at least some charity workers, philanthropists and reformers.

 Q: Why are some people princes and others paupers? 

A: Nobody ever experiences only one type of lifetime – we go through them all to experience and learn about every side of life. And despite how it looks, privileged lives also have their tests, lessons and challenges.

I think we enter a reincarnation cycle from a joyful curiosity to find out everything we can about life – and along the way, to benefit from the personal growth every different lifetime gives us.

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Atasha Fyfe is the author of Discovering Your Past Lives and Magic Past Lives, published by Hay House and available on Amazon UK and Amazon USA

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A Dramatic Near Death Experience

Many people have now heard about Near Death Experiences. This happens when someone is so near death that they actually do leave their body and travel to the other side. There, they go through experiences that are common to many NDEs and yet unique for each individual.

The experience ends when they learn that their life is not about to end – most often, because they still have things to do here. Next thing, they find themselves back in their earthly body.  A return to health usually follows soon after that. Many people say that after their NDE they felt inspired to move their lives in more positive directions. 

Ged Feast, author of My Life, My Soul and I, sent me this interesting NDE that he had, and gave me permission to share it on this blog site.  

Ged: 1999 was the year everything changed for me. I was struck down with the flu. The problem was, my body was never very good at defending itself. This time however, it was much worse. I could not eat, and what I did was coming out faster than it went in. The doctor couldn’t help and told me I was sick, looked terrible, and should go home and rest.

I was now in a bad place. The dreams I was having were turning into nightmares. I knew if things did not change soon I was going to die. That fear gripped me, making my dreams even worse. I was afraid to die – like most people, fear of the unknown was the biggest fear of all.

After about three weeks of this I was really ill.  I was lying in bed because now my stomach was in pain. Suddenly I got three jolts to my body. I thought this was it – I was dying and I was alone. I noticed the flashing light of my old DVD player. It was annoying so I leaned over to switch it off.

I never made it. At that very moment I felt myself lift away from the bed and kept moving upwards. At that time I knew I was dead. For a second I thought of my wife and children but just had this knowing they would be okay.

I continued to rise higher. I was now outside of my home – higher than the trees, which were now below me. Very quickly I was so high I could see the blue planet of earth and it looked alive – something I never imagined it to look.

I went even higher until I seemed to find myself going through a fog. In this fog I saw my life flash before my eyes. I even saw my funeral.

Then all at once I was through the cloud. All around me I could see fantastically beautiful shining stars. I was taken aback by it. I could hear singing like the sound of a choir of angels.

Then I heard someone call me by my name. A pure clear voice that told me I was going to be okay. I was told to go over to a bed and rest. Everything was going to be okay. The bed was in an area of whiteness. It was a four poster bed with white blankets. I lay on the bed and felt at complete peace. Never in my life did I ever feel so at peace .

The next thing I remember was walking down a grass path. It was a well trodden path but something gripped me – it was the smell of flowers so strong it’s best described as walking into a flower shop. The air was so clear.

I had no doubt I was dead and that I was on my way to meet somebody. I was not sure who, but knew somebody was waiting for me. I came across some small cottages that were white with a fence and a small gate.

It was then that I saw who was waiting for me. It was my wife’s grandfather who had died some time ago. He was happy to see me. He welcomed me inside and made me a pot of tea. I laughed because he had an orange in his hand – just as he did when he was alive. His wife was in the kitchen. She came and we talked – not sure what we talked about. Once I had drunken my tea and eaten my piece of orange, my wife’s grandmother suddenly said, “It’s time for you to go. You still have things to do”. 

I then almost instantly felt a big bump and I woke up on my bed. I was hungry -something I hadn’t been for three weeks. I ate a full lasagne that my wife made because I just felt like that’s what I wanted. 

I have no doubt that I was healed so I could complete my life’s task. I don’t fear death now. That was the beginning of new chance of life.

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HOW TO CONNECT WITH YOUR PERSONAL GUIDING STAR

The expression ‘follow your star’ feels right, and resonates well. But what does it really mean? While it sounds like a New Age mantra, the idea of a star representing higher guidance runs deep in the psyche, and goes way back into prehistory.   

This is because stars are one of our oldest and most powerful symbols. At a deep level, light stands for information and darkness for ignorance. The stars twinkling out their little points of light from the immense darkness of the night sky are like signs of hope that there are answers to the great mysteries of life. Stars are therefore an important archetypal symbol that runs deep within our psyche, representing higher guidance.

PRACTICAL GUIDANCE

From the most ancient times, people knew that the stars were good guides. Hunter-gatherers used them to find their way around at night. Sailors steered their ships by the constellations in the sky. The stars have always helped camel caravans to find their way across the desert.

As the medieval Persian poet Rumi said,

“There are no signposts in the deserts,

Caravans are guided by the stars.

In the darkness of despair, hope is the only light”.

ASTROLOGY

From Babylonian times, centuries of study developed the astrological systems that we know today. Astrology was also important to the ancient Chinese, Indian, Arab, Mayan and Aztec cultures.

“Heaven sends down its good or evil symbols, and wise men act accordingly,” said Confucius.

In Europe as recently as the Middle Ages there was no division between astronomy and astrology. Being scientifically observable didn’t make the stars any less meaningful. Only 500 years ago, a European law decreed that before doing any major surgery, physicians must calculate the position of the moon.

Astrology had to be reliable, because its first use all over the world was to predict the weather for farming. That expanded into foreseeing natural disasters and war. Later on, kings, emperors, and even popes used to consult astrologers about their current dangers and future prospects.

These days, anyone can get their own star chart. If you’re looking for astrological clues about your life purpose, the South Node represents what you’re meant to leave behind this time around, and the North Node what you’re now moving towards.

THE TAROT STAR

In the Tarot cards, the Star is one of the most hopeful and positive of all the major arcana. It represents freedom, safety, abundance and healing. When it appears in readings, it’s to give reassurance that you really are following your star.  

With the help of our guides, we decide on our life purpose before reincarnating. Once back here, we seem to forget about it. This is because it’s not always a good thing to know too much too soon about our purpose here. It could feel overwhelming, which may throw us off-course. Or the mind might jump to incorrect conclusions that send us on a wild goose chase, which just sets us back.

However, even if we never consciously know what our mission is, it remains at deep levels of our inner knowing, like a guiding star which leads us ever onward.   

TYPES OF PURPOSE

It is possible to figure out at least the general outline of your personal quest. You can look at your life and see what has driven you, made you happy, and excited you the most. These signs are like milestones, saying you’re on the right road.

At least one of these life purposes will probably ring a bell for you:

• Personal growth. This takes as many different forms as there are individuals. It’s likely to be an important part of anyone’s intention for their life.
• Completing unfinished business from a former life.
• Healing an old wound.
• Recovering self-worth.
• Developing an area of study or expertise.
• Helping others in some way.
• Undertaking reforms or initiatives to create a better world.

Most people will have at least one of those as their life mission. Our personal projects then weave their colours through those themes, making up the rich tapestry of our lives.

HOW TO FIND OUT IF YOU ARE FOLLOWING YOUR STAR

Here are four ways to find out if you’re pursuing your purpose, and to get back on track if you feel that you’re not.

1. THE TOUCHSTONES

These are the main signs that all is well:

• When you set off on a path, begin a project, or discover something that is key for you, it feels exciting. It’s what Joseph Campbell meant when he said, “Follow your bliss, and the universe will open doors for you.”
• Allowing for life’s ups and downs, your default attitude is generally positive.
• You feel at ease with the many different paths that others may take.
• Your see your way of life as basically good.

2. WISH UPON A STAR

To find out if you’re truly following your life purpose, put out that question to the universe. Perhaps wish upon a star, asking for a sign. Signs and synchronicities will then come in all kinds of ways that have special meaning for you.

3. ASK FOR A DREAM

Ask for a special dream to show where you are on your life path. Dream messages come in symbolic details. Does your dream show you on a clear path or road, and moving ahead easily? Is the way difficult or confusing? Are you unsure about where to go?

If your dream says that you’re lost or on the wrong road, you can ask for more dreams to help you find the right path. Working at this deep level is hugely effective. We make some of the biggest decisions about our lives in dreamtime.  

4. VISUALISE THE JOURNEY

This short visualisation will give you more specific information about your path. You can repeat it as often as you wish, learning more every time.  

• Ask your greater consciousness to show you where you are on your life path.
• Close your eyes and relax.
• Imagine that you are on a long journey – whatever kind comes easily to mind. For example, you may be on foot, in a boat, on an animal or in a vehicle.
• Allow yourself to drift into semi-drowsiness.
• Wait and see how the images unfold. What is the way ahead like? Are you making progress or staying still? Are there any signs to show which way to go? What are the surroundings and the weather like? These details are like dream symbols, and will give you all kinds of important clues.
• If a person or animal appears, this is often the form in which a spirit guide may choose to visit you. You can ask questions if you wish. Your guide might answer in words, images, actions, coloured light, or by transmitting feelings of peace and love.
• Trust whatever has come up as a real answer from your own inner spirit to the question that you asked.

For many people, the biggest stumbling block is trusting messages from within themselves. Our culture has taught us to turn away from our inner selves. This is sad, because it means losing your greatest ally. Learning to trust it is one of the biggest favours you can do for yourself.

Thousands of years ago, our ancestors learned that they could rely on the stars to show them the way. We are now learning to trust the guiding star within us. I believe this is all part of a huge process in which humanity is moving away from lives based on fear and competition. Together, we can build a new world on a foundation of co-operation and love – which is surely the highest purpose of all.                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This article was first published in Kindred Spirit Magazine, in Spring 2018.

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SECRETS OF THE DARK AGES REVEALED

New archaeological technology is now uncovering some exciting things about the past: for example, the Mayan world was as major as Ancient Egypt; there are large underwater cities all over the world; and an advanced ancient civilisation once flourished in Galloway, Ireland.

I recently heard about another new discovery – how the Dark Ages in Britain were not so dark after all. This demolishing of conventional history took place on a BBC programme on Arthurian Britain. In the documentary, researcher Alice Roberts set out to find out if King Arthur ever really existed. She focused on the findings made through new archaeological techniques.

The results were surprising. Perhaps disappointing in some ways, as those treasured old tales about Arthur were revealed as nothing more than that – just stories. In other ways, however, it was exciting to see the curtain finally lifted on the world of so-called ‘Dark Age’ Britain.   

We’ve always been told that after the Romans left, Britain entered a time of chaos. The people reverted to a primitive way of life. Then, to make it worse, invading hordes of Anglo-Saxons poured in to take over the land. At this point the tale of Arthur the great defender pops up, apparently killing 470 enemies on one day with his magical sword.  

Except none of that ever happened. There were no invading hordes. Forensic examination of thousands of skeletons reveals that most people from that time died of natural causes. There are no signs of great battlefields from that era, with lots of hacked corpses left lying around.

However, there is a lot of proven physical evidence that different peoples – the Angles, Saxons, Britons and so on – did mix in peaceful ways. They shared and traded things like their pottery and jewellery designs. They also inter-married.

This was because people in those days didn’t think of themselves as nations. There were no borders or passports. They likely thought of themselves much more locally than that. So it was easy for people to range freely as far as they wished. If they found a place they liked, they simply settled there. No warfare was necessary. In those days, the population was small, and the land was big enough to absorb all kinds of different settlements.

The original story of King Arthur came from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of Britain. I think the date that was written is very significant – around 1136. At that time, the country was still suffering under the yoke of the truly unpleasant Norman invasion of 1066.  It looks like the legend of Arthur as protector and saviour arose to give people hope during that traumatic time.

Over the years, Arthurian legends were further embellished with the values of later times, such as chivalry, honour and spiritual quests. Although it’s all mythology, I don’t have a problem with that. The Arthurian ethos was a highly civilising influence, and has created a rich background for our culture.

However, I think the new view we now have of the Dark Ages is also significant.  Surprisingly, it was a time of peace, when people traded and mingled far more than making war with each other.  

The archaeological discoveries about Tintagel were especially exciting. It turned out to be a huge, wealthy, almost palatial centre of international trade. Ships would come from all over Europe and the Mediterranean, to trade luxury commodities in exchange for Cornwall’s greatest asset – tin. Maybe that’s how the name Tintagel evolved. 

Tin was essential for making bronze, which created the Bronze Age. Cornwall’s tin mines were its backbone and strength for centuries before the Romans came and long after they’d left. So it was natural to say that the legendary King Arthur was conceived at an important place like Tintagel.

The Arthurian legends are beautiful. They have civilised and enriched our culture with poetry, art and spirituality. I’m happy for what has been called ‘The Matter of Britain’ to keep its much-loved place in our world.

But I’m even happier to discover that the so-called Dark Ages were actually quite civilised. Maybe even more civilised than the world has become since the development of nation states? It’s food for thought.

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FESTIVALS OF DARKNESS

At this time of year, as the days get darker and the nights get longer, it’s easy to be more aware of the mysterious side of life. Fear of the unknown is an important part of Halloween, Samhain and even Guy Fawkes Night. The ancient purpose of these rituals has always been to keep us safe from the dangers of the coming darkness.     

The word Halloween comes from the Christian festival of All Hallows Eve. However, this seasonal ritual began centuries before Christianity. Originally called Samhain (pronounced Sow’en), it marked the turning point between the end of summer and the start of winter.

Even with a good harvest stored away, people feared the deadly powers of winter on the way. So this was a time to make offerings of thanks to the sun god Baal – both for the bounty of the past summer, and for continued protection through the winter.

People said this turning point of the year caused the veil between the worlds to become thin, bringing a time of danger, excitement and wonder. Charms and spells would be especially powerful at Samhain. Evil spirits could also come through, seeking humans to possess or destroy. Druid priests performed special rituals at this time to appease the spirits of the dead.

For additional protection, on the eve of Samhain the private home fires were put out. This made the houses look empty, so that malignant forces would pass them by. Instead, the people built a huge communal fire outside. They then feasted and danced around it, wearing fearsome masks and animal disguises of skins, horns and antlers to drive away the horrors of the dark.

The custom of trick or treat also has prehistoric roots. It began with people putting food in front of their houses to placate the demons then roaming the land looking for sustenance –preferably in human form. People later began to act out that drama themselves. They masqueraded as demons, going from house to house demanding offerings, with threats of retribution if unsatisfied – a bit like an early protection racket. The masked children who knock on doors at Halloween are performing the same ritual, still fresh from the wild side of the human psyche.

Much like our modern electoral system, in ancient times the tribe chose a leader to reign for just one year. During this year, their temporary king had every luxury available. Then they sacrificed him and chose a replacement.  

The sacrifice of the old year’s king was a central purpose of the Samhain fire. It was called the bone fire because when it was over, the shaman read the dead king’s bones in the ashes for good or bad omens. With one letter dropped, it’s now our merry bonfire. The annual burning of a man’s effigy on Guy Fawkes Night is a direct echo of this arcane ritual.     

Our early winter festivals are like a gnarled old tree. While their roots still go down to these ancient terrors, the festivals these days are more about fun than fear. It feels good to thrill to the mysteries of life when we feel perfectly safe. Or are we? Maybe the veils between the worlds really are thinner at this time of year. Wishing everyone a joyfully spooky Halloween, Samhain, and bonfire night!

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ORBS OF LIGHT

One dark, autumnal evening, a friend and I were walking home after a meeting in town. We lived in a shared house at the top of Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury.     

As we reached the top of the hill, a glowing green sphere of light flew over our heads from behind us. About the size of a football, it hovered in front of us at eye level about ten feet away. It gave out a friendly, happy feeling, as if it was playfully saying ‘hello!’ After a few moments, it vanished with a slight pop.

We turned to each other wide eyed and gasping, ‘did you see that?!’ Once indoors, we were bubbling over about it. Someone suggested we go into separate rooms and write a detailed account of what we saw. That made it clear we’d both seen exactly the same thing. But for us, no proof was necessary. We knew it was real.

In his Earth Lights books, Paul Devereux theorises that orbs of light may come from natural geographic and atmospheric effects. However, he does also say that they “often appear to possess minds of their own, and respond to human thought in an almost playful manner.”

Long ago, English people called orbs of light will-o-the-wisps or fairy lights. Legends about them come from all over the world. Most cultures think they could be fae beings, witches or spirits of the dead. Some folklore said they showed people the way to hidden treasure. More often, they were feared as dangerous tricksters. Following them could mean death by drowning in a swamp or getting lost in the forest.

These days more positive stories about orbs are emerging. When Sue (not her real name) moved to Glastonbury, she enjoyed the therapies, talks and workshops here. Then a high-flying friend from her earlier life came to visit. While chatting in the garden, she poured cold water over Sue’s new joys. Glumly, Sue began to agree with her. Just then, mysterious little white lights floated out of a tall tree. They were both spellbound, and the cynicism crept quietly away.

When crop circles started appearing, researchers sat up all night watching the fields in the hope of catching a formation being made. Those vigils were notoriously unsuccessful, except for one effect – the appearance of orbs of light.

In his book The Circle Makers, Andrew Collins says, ‘Many earth lights, shining spheres and blatant UFOs have been reported either during or after the formation of crop circles, some in broad daylight’.

People also saw orbs around Avebury and Silbury Hill well before the first crop formations appeared. In Avebury in 1978, Heather Peak-Garland took her dog for a walk at 10.00 pm. When she reached the ancient stones, she saw a huge yellow ball of light. At first, she thought it was the full moon. Then she realised it was much closer than that, and was drifting gently along. Once inside the stone circle, it stopped. Then, just like the green one that I saw, it blinked out.

The crop circle connection is strong, however. In 1990, photographer Steve Alexander was taking pictures from a helicopter of two new formations near Milk Hill in Wiltshire. Then he noticed a shiny ball of light flitting around a nearby field. Wondering what it could be, he followed it with his video camera. He noticed that a tractor working in that field stopped when the orb got near it.  

The tractor driver later told Steve he’d seen a sphere of light as big as a beach ball floating overhead. As it passed over him, his engine cut out. He’d had no idea that Steve was filming him. When he told his boss and friends about this experience, they just laughed at him.

A full account and video of this event is at this link: http://temporarytemples.co.uk/what-are-crop-circles/the-milk-hill-ufo-footage

In 1996, the plot thickened when a large crop circle appeared near the iron-age hill fort called Oliver’s Castle, near Devizes. Next day, a young man called John Wheyleigh pitched up at the social mecca of the croppie world – the Barge Inn, near Alton Barnes. He announced that he’d just filmed two orbs of light making that formation. You can see his film at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcLcnrpxmUg 

John let everyone take copies of his film to circulate freely among the community. Technicians analysed the film and declared it free of fakery. No one in the croppie world had ever got anything as good as this. They decided it was too good to be true, and had to be a fake.  

John Wheyleigh then disappeared. A year later, someone calling himself John Wabe appeared on the scene. He said he was the real John Wheyleigh, and that he’d faked the whole thing. However, after some careful investigation, his claim turned out to be nonsense. By then, the croppie world was rife with rumours and speculation about what was really going on.  

Blithely unaffected by any of that, the orbs continue to float around us in ever-increasing numbers. Many people are now seeing them in their homes and gardens. They seem happy to be around us. Perhaps they are here simply to lighten us up – and have some fun creating mysteries along the way.

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FINDING YOUR PATH

One of our biggest questions is, ‘what is the purpose of my life?’ Just asking that can help – but the answers may not arrive in a neat little package. If we’re destined to move onto a particular path, it usually unfolds in its own way and at the right time in our lives. However, that way may be unexpected, and sometimes even difficult.

This is because the purpose we choose before incarnating is never solely about helping others or the world in some way. It will also involve healing or overcoming whatever personal issue we’ve chosen to sort out in this life. That is why answers to the question ‘what is my purpose’ sometimes only become clear after emerging from a life-changing experience. 

The famous mystical author Dion Fortune went through a gruelling initiation onto her destined path. Still under her birth name of Violet Firth, she began her working life as a teacher in a small school that was dominated by the headmistress from hell.

This person’s unjust and arrogant ways enraged the young woman. Those who knew the danger warned her to avoid confrontation, and instead to just quietly leave the school. Ignoring this, she marched into the head’s office and spoke her mind about everything that had been going on.

She had unwittingly walked straight into a trap. The head teacher hypnotically brainwashed her for hours with monotonously repeated statements about how inadequate and inferior she was. The attack was successful. Violet’s spirit was crushed, and it took her a few years to recover.

In the process, however, she began to study psychology and the occult powers of the mind. Under her new name of Dion Fortune, she spent the rest of her life teaching those subjects, and became the renowned author we know today.  

Dr.Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy and the Steiner schools, began life in a poor Austrian family. One day in his childhood, he was sitting in a station waiting room. A woman came in who looked a bit like his parents. She stood in the middle of the room, made some strange gestures, and said, “try to help me if you can – now and later on”. Then she walked through the ancient stove and disappeared.

Little Rudolf didn’t tell his parents about this because they were Catholic, and he feared their reaction. Over the next few days, however, he noticed that his father seemed sad. He later found out that a female relative had committed suicide at exactly the time her spirit contacted him in the waiting room.

That was how Dr.Steiner’s spiritual path began. In his lectures, he often mentioned this incident, saying from that time on a soul life began to develop in him. It was the start of his future role as one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the early twentieth century.

In the 1970s, Dr.Helen Wambach did groundbreaking research work that contributed hugely to the understanding of past lives. Her discoveries, statistics and analyses proved reincarnation as near as possible outside a laboratory. Those achievements may never have happened without the following strange experience, which took place before she had any idea of past lives.

Browsing through the library of a Quaker memorial, she felt drawn to one of the books. She had a strong feeling that it was ‘hers’ in some way. As she paged through it, a vivid past life memory came up. She was male, riding a mule in the countryside. The day was hot, and his rough clothes were uncomfortable – but his whole attention was focused on the book propped up on his saddle. It was about a priest describing the other worlds he’d gone to while in a coma.

As she turned the pages of the book in her hand in the present, she had the strange experience of knowing exactly what was on each following page before she’d reached it. She realised she was having a vivid past-life flashback. After that – and for the rest of her life – she immersed herself in past-life studies, publishing books and becoming an important influence in that field.   

In more recent times, the American therapist Denise Linn had a tough initiation to push her onto her path. When she was 17, a motorist knocked her off her scooter, shot her and left her for dead. While in a coma with horrific injuries, she had a near-death experience. Her guides said this was not her time to die as she still had work to do.

Before that experience, she had no interest in any kind of spirituality. In the years that followed, she blossomed into an internationally successful healer, author and past life therapist.  

A friend told me about the watershed experience that set him on his path as a spiritual healer. In 1963, his wife had a minor accident in their car. Worried about the cost of the repairs, he went to the garage to ask for extra time to pay. Here is his account of what then happened.

“Eric, the garage manager, brushed aside my concerns and said, ‘I want to talk to you about spiritual healing.’ I sat down uncomfortably, not knowing how to react. I didn’t know whether he was joking, taking the mickey or playing a cruel game, talking to me about something I’d never heard of and had no interest in. ‘Blah, blah, blah, spiritual blah, blah, love of God blah, blah, spirit doctors blah, blah.’ He was using words and concepts I had never heard before.

I was wondering how long this could go on when he said, ‘don’t worry, for the moment, about paying. I know I can trust you. I will be seeing you soon, I know.’

That might have been that – except my wife had a rare blood disease. Complications after the car accident got worse, and she went into a coma. The hospital said they didn’t expect her to last the weekend. In desperation, I went back to the garage to ask about spiritual healing. Eric told me to contact Harry Edwards, as he was the top distance spiritual healer.   

That evening in desperation, I wrote to him about my wife. I posted the letter on the Saturday morning and spent the weekend in an agony of despair.

On Monday morning when I went in to see her, she was still in her coma. But of course, Harry Edwards had only received my letter that morning. I found out later that he didn’t start working on her until the Monday evening.

On Tuesday morning, as I approached the ward where my wife was, I saw the specialist in the corridor.

‘I can’t understand it,’ he said to me, ‘she’s sitting up, having soup, laughing and telling jokes.’ He walked away shaking his head.         

From then on, she began a long slow period of recovery. It was clear to me that spiritual healing was the only thing that had saved her. That was the start of my future path as a spiritual healer.”

Fortunately, not everyone has to go through such difficult initiations. Sometimes just reading one book can turn a life around. For many people, the path unfolds slowly, like a flower opening one petal at a time. Over the years, there may be several big turning points, and many more minor epiphanies. That’s how it was for me, and still is.

If you’re ever in doubt about which way to go, your enthusiasms are your best guide. When a subject, course or activity feels exciting, it’s like a big signpost saying, “This is it!” That’s what Joseph Campbell meant when he said, “Follow your bliss, and doors will open to you”.

Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it”. If a path doesn’t seem to be opening up for you, look at your deepest passions and find your purpose there. Life will then meet you half way. That’s when all the wonderful synchronicities and opportunities will really start to happen.    

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RAINBOW HELP FOR NATURAL DISASTERS

When natural disasters occur, everyone’s main concern is understandably with the survivors. Those who are able to help at the time certainly do invaluable rescue work.

Naturally, no thought ever goes to the people who have just died. Those who believe in life after death assume they’re fine now, and on their way to a better world. And many of them are.

However, through different branches of research, a new understanding has been emerging about what really happens just after death. When the body dies, the spirit leaves it – but it is still in a body that feels very similar.

That etheric body looks like the old physical body, but is made of finer stuff. It can be adjusted and changed according to the person’s wishes and beliefs. This is why when loved ones who’ve passed on come back to visit us in dreams, visions or meditation, they usually look young again.

When people die suddenly and unexpectedly – as in natural disasters – they often don’t realise that their lifetime has just ended. This is because they still feel alive and conscious. Their etheric bodies seem like their physical ones. Therefore, they think they’re still physically alive. However, they are in a lost and confused state – and potentially trapped there.

Like everyone else who’s just died, they will have guides, loved ones, and even past pets coming from the other side to take them to the spirit worlds. But when a newly passed over person thinks they’re still physically alive, they either can’t see their guides, or they dismiss them as hallucinations.

These souls may remain in the earth-bound state for a long time. Many attach themselves to the auras of living people as a kind of refuge. Without meaning any harm, and usually not understanding the situation, they infuse their unaware ‘host’ with their personal issues, and even their old physical problems.

So how can earth-bound souls be helped? Spirit Release Therapy works well in individual cases. In greatly simplified form, it goes like this: the two big steps are first to gently convince the earth-bound spirit that it has physically died. Once it realises that, with some encouragement it will then start to see the guides and loved ones who have been trying to contact it all the time. After that, it’s plain sailing – often with great emotion, the person then leaves for the spirit worlds.

Highly developed psychics may be able to work in this way with people at a distance who’ve died in a disaster. Even so, it still takes training to learn about the various pitfalls that may come up in this kind of work. It’s essential to have psychic protection and to call in the help of source energy / higher guides / guardian angels.

This is because there are all kinds of earth-bound spirits floating around. Some of them are quite dark and full of nasty tricks. For example, they can pretend to be whoever will impress you. If they worm their way into your psyche it’s like a poisonous weed that will try to take over your garden. So nobody should even think about doing this kind of work without proper training.  

However, there is a safe way in which all of us can help the fatal victims of natural disasters. It’s the creation of Rainbow Bridges for the newly passed-over to take to the spirit worlds.

Thoughts are more powerful than people realise. Images are the strongest of all. Our imaginations create reality. On the physical plane, that happens in slow, and usually unseen, ways. But on the astral planes, it’s much quicker and easier.

To create an astral rainbow bridge, first ask for the help of source energy / guardian angels / guides of the light. Then put psychic protection around yourself. Feeling strong and positive within yourself always provides a lot of protection. You can reinforce that by imagining your aura as a sphere of golden light radiating from your centre and completely surrounding you, while affirming ‘my aura is strong and clear’.

Then close your eyes and imagine the disaster area. See a very wide and strong rainbow bridge coming down to it from the higher realms. See the beings of light waiting to help the ‘dead’ as they come towards the bridge.

You could imagine one of those light beings doing a mental broadcast that will go out to all the newly passed-over and earth-bound spirits in that area. The message would be along the lines of: ‘The rainbow bridge is in place. This is for anyone who can see this rainbow bridge or hear this message. All are welcome to cross the rainbow bridge. All will receive help and healing and recovery on the other side.’ Imagine that going out repeatedly like a megaphone broadcast to all earth-bound spirits in the vicinity.    

You can send rainbow bridges to previous disaster areas as well – it doesn’t have to be on the same day. Many other places would also benefit from this, such as war zones, hospitals and graveyards. The more people create rainbow bridges, the stronger they will become.

Doing this will help many earth-bound spirits move from darkness and confusion to a place where they can flourish and progress. It will reduce the numbers of spirit attachments that interfere in negative ways with the living. And, as the astral planes become clearer, the earth itself will start to feel lighter.

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5 WAYS TO TURN YOUR LIFE AROUND

Everyone goes through spells of feeling down, blocked or depressed.  For those times when only a quick and effective answer will do, here are five good ways to turn your life around.

The first two are the most powerful. Just doing those will work, even if you don’t bother with the other three. However, if you do add in the other ways, your turn-around will move ahead quicker, easier – and best of all, more enjoyably. 

1. DECIDE THAT YOU WANT YOUR LIFE TO BE BETTER. Clear and heartfelt decisions that we make about our lives and ourselves are amazingly powerful. You can build on that by also putting it out to the universe. Say, ‘Spirit please show me the way to a better life’. If you send that out with feeling, just once is enough. However, it’s also fine to repeat it whenever you wish. After that, follow your feelings. If, for some unknown reason, you want to read a certain magazine / use a new café / phone or e-mail someone – whatever it may be – any of these things may give you a signpost to your next step, or a little gold nugget of information. Over time, these little things add up to a lot.

2. TAKE ACTION. Once you’ve decided how you want your life to unfold, every day do one action towards it. These actions can begin in small, token or symbolic ways. They work because when you move your dream into the physical arena of action it sends a strong signal to the universe. You may be surprised one day when some little token thing you do leads to something unexpectedly positive.

3. COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS – from the biggest to the tiniest. Start making a list of them. You’ll be surprised how the list grows once you start it.

4. NOTICE THE NICE LITTLE THINGS. Eckhart Tolle says that a happy life is just a string of happy moments. You can build up those moments by noticing little things that you like in your day-to-day life. A pretty flower, a funny joke, the call of a bird – there is always something to appreciate.

5. SPEND A FEW MOMENTS VISUALISING yourself moving from a path you don’t like, onto a much better path. The best times to do this are first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

These five steps will turn your attention from what’s wrong in your life, placing your focus on positive solutions instead. Doing that will transform your vibration and whole attitude to life. In turn, that will automatically change what you attract to yourself. I know from personal experience that these methods really do work.

Allow it time to develop – a major turn-around can’t happen instantly. However, even at the earliest stages, you’ll start to feel the difference. You can trust this process. It’s real, it’s good – and most of all, it’s on your side.

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Atasha Fyfe is the author of Discovering Your Past Lives and Magic Past Lives, published by Hay House.

You can contact her through her website, Facebook or Twitter.

 

HOW TO USE YOUR SIXTH SENSE

Everyone has a sixth sense. We were all born with intuition – also known as psi. As we grew up, however, the world told us there was no such thing. We learned to ignore and shut down our gut instincts. The only people supposed to have these powers were fortune tellers or students of the occult.   

That’s been loosening up in recent years, and there is no longer such a huge gulf between psychic people and everyone else. Books and the internet now abound with advice on how to use your extra sensory perception (ESP). Many of them say you should begin with getting into a serious meditation practice. Here’s a little secret: while this is certainly good advice, and it will help you a lot, it’s not strictly necessary.

That’s because intuition is a natural part of you. Even if it’s been dormant for years, you can wake it up without going through arcane initiations or months of navel-gazing. In fact, the practice of using your intuition is like a meditation exercise in itself, with immediate benefits. As Gisele Bunchen said, “The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered you become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become.”

The best first step to take is simply to accept that intuition is real – it’s part of being human. Then start recalling all the times you spotted it working in your life. You’ll be surprised how that list grows as you remember more and more.

For example, most of us have experienced hearing from someone just as we were thinking about them. These psychic connections happen all the time, but usually in small, easily forgettable ways. However, events that are more striking are not as easy to forget. One of the most dramatic is an experience many mothers have reported of an urgent inner knowing when their child was in danger.

In her book The Gift, Dr. Sally Rhine Feather described how one mother woke up with a start in the middle of the night. She’d just had a vivid dream of the chandelier above her baby’s cot falling and crushing the child. She moved the cot away from the chandelier and went back to bed. Next thing, a loud noise woke her up. It was the chandelier crashing to the floor. Her premonition had saved her baby’s life.

Huge numbers of people say they somehow knew exactly when a loved one passed over. In her book on this subject, Beyond Good-Bye, Annie Cap says that she found thousands of reports of people ‘half way around the world from their loved ones’ who sensed something at the time they passed on.

This takes different forms – sometimes it’s a strong physical feeling; other times, it comes as a clear inner knowing, a vivid image or a message from the departing dear one. This is usually a farewell with reassurances: they are now leaving this world, but all is well and we will meet again.

There are also many reports of people who had hunches about disasters before they occurred. Because of their forebodings, a significant number of people have cancelled trips – and later heard that their plane or train had crashed. 

These outstanding psychic events affect most people perhaps once in a lifetime. So how are you to cultivate your ESP and make it your trusty ally in everyday life? Here are five easy and enjoyable techniques to practice.  

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This is one of the most helpful uses of your intuition. Practice noticing your inner reaction when you meet someone for the first time. It may contradict what you think you should feel – but that instant gut response is never wrong.

A friend who runs a bread and breakfast place in Glastonbury said that one day a young woman with sweet and smiling ways arrived. The minute she saw this newcomer, my friend said her heart just sank. At first she dismissed that feeling – but later realised it had been spot-on, as the visitor turned out to have a talent for causing trouble.

While looking for a car, a woman I know had an appointment with a second-hand car salesman. Naturally wary of the breed, she went along clutching a list of all the right questions to ask.

“But the second I saw him, before I had time for a single thought, I got a strong feeling that it would be OK – he was fine,” she said. That feeling proved correct, and she was delighted with everything about the car she bought from him.  

First impressions are not only helpful – focusing on them is also a great way to strengthen your intuition. Like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes.

GATHERINGS

Use your psi power to sense what’s really going on beneath the surface of gatherings – anything from cosy tea parties to formal meetings. When you can, take a moment to mentally stand back from the scene. Ignore the chatter for a bit, and focus instead on people’s expressions and body language. Don’t try to mentally analyse anything at this point. Just be open to what the situation feels like.

A man I know who’s been using his intuition for years told me about his experience at a formal consultation of local people protesting about a new development in the area. He said when he tuned in to the underlying vibration, he saw that the men running the meeting just wanted to get people’s names. Although they made a big pretence about it, they were not the least bit interested in what anyone had to say.

PLACES

With your intuition switched on, visits to historical sites can become even more interesting. You may sense events that took place hundreds of years ago; ghosts that still haunt those places; perhaps even your own past lives that took place there.

When hypnotherapist Arnall Bloxham visited Sudeley Castle for the first time, he immediately recognised it as a home from one of his earlier lives. He found he knew exactly how the place was laid out, and could give his wife and friend a detailed tour without using the guidebook.

One of my regression clients had a vivid experience the first time she went to Avebury. As she walked round the circle, absorbing the atmosphere, she said she could feel the intensity of old worshippers from very long ago.  

She came for a regression to see if she could find out more. It turned out that she’d once belonged to an ancient spiritual group who did regular ceremonies in stone circles. It meant a lot to her at the time – and that feeling came back when she re-discovered Avebury. 

Your antennae about places can be especially helpful when you’re looking for a new home. Before moving anywhere, make sure that the place feels right for you. Don’t ignore the warning signs if the thought of living there doesn’t make you feel happy.

SHOPPING

If you’re in no special hurry, shopping trips can be good times for hearing your intuition. This is because your mind is relaxed and only lightly occupied – an ideal time for your inner knowing to surface. Heeding their hunches, people have felt guided towards everything from special offers in supermarkets to books that have changed their lives.

You can also save time and effort by letting your feelings show you which shops to try and which to walk past. It’s wonderfully satisfying to find something just right because your inner senses led you to it.   

STRANGERS

A good time to practice your sixth sense is when there are strangers around you, such as on a train or in a queue. Mentally scan the area for someone interesting. Then without looking at them directly, see how much you can sense about them.

While doing this you may start receiving impressions about people’s past lives – but whatever the temptation, don’t tell them what you saw, as it may cause offence. This is a private game for you alone.

One day this may keep you safe if you sense someone in the vicinity who feels somehow wrong. Your intuition is more than a friend – it’s also your protector.    

THE DIFFERENT WAYS INTUITION WORKS

Intuition is there to help you in every way it can, from the tiniest to the greatest of life events. It can come to you in many different ways – most often as a feeling, or an inner knowing. Sometimes you may also get messages through images, dreams and synchronicities.

The body gives us one of the best ways to see intuition at work. Are your muscles tense or relaxed? Do you feel sluggish or energised? Are you fidgety and restless, as if wanting to move on?

Observe your body language towards others. Are you expressing relaxed openness or closing yourself off in a self-protective way? These are all big clues that will tell you a lot about the underlying reality of any situation you’re in. 

As you develop your ESP, you may find that you have a special bent for one of the many different kinds of psi power. Perhaps you’ll be able to see auras, or discover a talent for telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry, remote viewing, lucid dreaming, telekinesis, dowsing – the list goes on. The foundation for all these abilities is your basic intuition. And in the end, that’s really all you need.  

In the words of Eileen Caddy, the founder of Findhorn: “Cease trying to work everything out with your mind. It will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration.”

Once you discover what a trusty ally your intuition is, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it – and everyday life will never be ordinary again.

(This article was first published in Kindred Spirit Magazine)

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If you’d like to share your intuitive experiences, you’re welcome to add your comments to this article, or contact me more privately through the Contact Page on my website.

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SECRET PAST LIVES

For many reading this, it will come as no surprise that modern-day feminists and followers of the Goddess often had past lives as priestesses in the ancient worlds. While many of those memories come from Egypt, Greece or Rome, they may also come from less obvious times and places.

At first glance, it seems that we know all about the last 2000 years – the astrological Age of Pisces. Memories of lives in that time are sadly often about the persecution of women who tried to use their esoteric knowledge for the good of others.

These experiences may create traumas that are carried from one lifetime to the next. In modern times, this can create a baffling blockage when people – both men and women – decide to take up work that is in tune with their spiritual path. A traumatic unconscious memory may then act like some invisible force which keeps stopping them from making any progress on their new path.

Fortunately, becoming conscious of this issue and where it comes from is usually enough to dissolve the block. I go into this more fully in my article at this link: http://www.goddess-pages.co.uk/healing-past-life-wounds-to-the-inner-goddess/

However, there was another, hidden side to the Age of Pisces. Peeking behind the grey curtain of official history reveals a big surprise. There was a huge underground veneration of the feminine. Because it had to be kept secret, this was probably more widespread than we can ever know. It flowered especially well in what came to be called the Courts of Love. These were aristocratic strongholds such as chateaux, castles and great manor houses.

This extract from my book, Magic Past Lives, describes how that clandestine world operated, and the meaning of its mysterious codes and symbols. Some of this may ring a bell for you – if so, it’s a good sign that you may once have been a part of that world.

EXTRACT FROM MAGIC PAST LIVES

Secret societies aren’t always officially organised groups. In medieval and Renaissance times, free-thinkers often belonged to a looser-knit community of people who understood one another through other kinds of secrecy. Outside the strict walls of Church dogma there frolicked a rich world of colourful codes and symbols.

Fairytales are full of them, expressing once unorthodox ideas in the form of stories. Sleeping Beauty was about finding your inner spirit. Jack and the Beanstalk dramatised the importance of following your heart. Beauty and the Beast showed the transformational power of love.

Colour coding was often central to these tales. The description of ‘cheeks pale as the snow, lips red as blood, and hair as black as the raven’s wing’ was really a sly reference to alchemy. These colours were about the stages of turning lead to gold – which itself was a secret metaphor for spiritual transformation.

The Tarot cards encoded huge volumes of secret esoteric teachings. The Church especially disliked the High Priestess card because it stood for female spiritual authority.

One of the biggest symbols of the time was the rose. It stood for secrecy, the spiritual path and love. Renaissance heretics turned love into a form of worship. They venerated the feminine, raising women above the lowly status the Church had dished out to them. In the courtly circles of high-born heretics, devotion to a particular lady became a form of religion.

An even riskier heresy grew from this: the celebration of erotic love as a spiritual path. But this was no hippie lovefest. An admirer had to get through a lot of noble deeds and pining before his lady even looked at him. Eventually she might favour him with her scarf, which was carefully colour coded. He’d then wear it in ways that sent silent messages to her about his love.

Troubadours, poets and story tellers of the time entertained the courts of Europe with tales and songs that were full of double meaning. They loaded their works with coded messages meant only for the cognoscenti.

One troubadour said of his poem: ‘Thou can’st go whither thou wilt. I have dressed thee so well that thou will be understood by those endowed with intelligence: of others thou need’st not be concerned.’

In all these ways the secret underground world developed a rich culture of signs, smokescreens and red herrings. This was called the Language of the Birds or the Green Language.

As a result, a cornucopia of vibrant symbols pours out from those times to now. For the many who belonged to that world, they whisper tales of colourful memories that are just waiting for rediscovery.

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THE PANTHER ON GLASTONBURY TOR

At least three people have recently seen a panther on Glastonbury Tor.

‘Again!’ comes the usual sighing response. The issue is, while panthers have been popping up here for years, these sightings still lack the official stamp of reality. Some think it might be a shape-shifting creature from the spirit world. Perhaps it sparks ancestral memories of Grendel-type monsters lurking in the dark.

Personally, I think it’s both physical and otherworldly. First, the arguments for it being real:

• ‘Credible’ people like farmers have reported seeing it. A few years ago, a farmer said something that left large feline footprints in the mud had taken one of his lambs.
• Elusive doesn’t mean unreal. Wild animals habitually avoid us, so it’s a special treat ever to see any of them. Panthers are especially hard to spot because they are black.  
• Cats are one of the most adaptable animals on earth. This is why there are more wild varieties of them than any other animal – they adjust to where they find themselves. It would make sense for a large cat to lurk around human settlements because of the greater chance of grub.
• Unexpected animals are now popping up in odd places all over the world. These are often ex-exotic pets, escapees from zoos and even stowaways from ships.
• African hippos now live in Columbia. A drug baron once imported them to show off in his pool. When he was murdered, his estate fell into disrepair, and the hippos wandered off. They are now thriving, as Columbia’s lush greenery suits them better than the harsh African climate.
• A South African man has recently decided to move a group of rhinos to Australia to save them from extinction by poachers for their horns.
• American raccoons escaped from a German zoo when it was bombed in World War Two. Prolific breeders, they have since spread through Europe. Sweden has decided to cull them because they threaten local wildlife. Interloping species that turn out to be destructive like this are now called Judas animals.
• After all the rumours about pumas living near Los Angeles, they were eventually tracked down. Since 2012, they have been filmed and satellite tagged.  

The Glastonbury panther may one day go the same way – tagged, filmed and somehow reduced. I can understand why Australian Aborigines say that photographs steal the soul. While it’s still a mystery, our panther has a numinous quality, which would be a pity to lose.

Many years ago, at the start of my spiritual path, I had a dramatic dream. A panther was trying to come into the house. I was terrified. I tried to barricade the doors – but then it got in by the bathroom window. I gave up, and said ‘OK, let’s talk’. We went outside, where it turned into a jungle boy, and we shared a bag of crisps.

In this dream, the panther represented the power of the spirit world. I think this is likely to be a universal symbol, meaning much the same to most people. 

When somebody finally tracks down the Glastonbury panther, it will feel like the conquest of a mystery – and a little candle of magic will go out. However, it doesn’t have to be like that. So much of life is both physical and symbolic at the same time. I hope that for many of us the panther on the Tor can be both real and magical – like a shamanic guide animal, and a true bridge between the worlds.

If you’ve ever seen an animal in an unexpected place, drop me a line – I’d love to hear from you!

First published in Glastonbury’s Oracle Magazine

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LEVITATION

People really can fly. Not just in the form of astral travel or on aircraft, but in their physical bodies. This doesn’t mean we can all suddenly start swooping around like Superman. So far, only rare and special folk have demonstrated this, and even they just rise in the air for a while.

However, at the height of his powers, 19^th century Daniel Dunglas Home nearly did fly like Superman. His adventures in the air began one day when he found himself physically floating up to the ceiling. Understandably, this took him rather by surprise. But he soon got the hang of it, and became able to levitate at will. His most famous demonstration was to glide out of one upper storey window and float back in through another. He also learned how to suspend heavy pieces of furniture in the air. Many people saw him do these feats numerous times. Skeptics constantly tested him for signs of hoaxing, but never found any. 

Another famous flier was Joseph of Cupertino. He had ecstatic visions from childhood, was intensely religious, and became a Catholic priest in 1628. His levitations began when Pope Urban VIII granted him an audience. This event thrilled him so much, he found himself rising in the air. The other priests quickly dragged him down, but that was just the beginning. In moments of religious fervour, he often floated. Over the years, countless churchgoers and priests observed this at least a hundred times.

However, senior clergymen felt uneasy about it. It was too sensational. Maybe it was the work of devil. And they disliked the personal following Joseph was attracting. For the rest of his life, they tried to hide him away by moving him from one monastery to the other. A century later, the same church made Joseph the patron saint of air travelers.

Saint Teresa of Avila was a medieval Spanish nun who also began to float when she felt spiritually uplifted. Over two hundred priests saw this happen. However, she wasn’t happy about it. She prayed for it to stop, and it did.

Several other levitators have popped up in recorded history. There are probably many more that we’ve never heard about. When they belonged to the church, they were usually canonised. If not – such as Simon Magus in the first century – their floatings were denounced as demonic.

Travellers have brought back many eyewitness accounts of levitation by Tibetan monks, Indian Brahmins and Japanese Ninja. The British explorer Alexandra David-Neel once saw a Buddhist monk fly several meters high. He said he did it by focusing on a star that only he could see in daylight.

From a few experiments I’ve seen and experienced, it seems that one big key is to find a way to draw the spirit body upward, above the body. That enables the physical body to then follow it.

Perhaps the ancient people knew about levitation. They have left their enigmatic signatures all over the world in the form of pyramids, temples and stone circles. Experts are still trying to figure out how they transported stones sometimes so gigantic that neither super-crane nor helicopter could lift them. When we re-discover the science of levitation, we may not only learn how to fly – we may also solve the mysteries of those great monuments.

This article was first published in my ‘Tales From the Other Side’ Column in Glastonbury’s Oracle magazine.

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ANIMAL SPIRIT GUARDIANS

Folklore and fairy tales are full of stories about mysterious animals. Shamans all over the world have always called on power animals to guide them through the other realms. Witches and cunning folk were said to have helpful familiars such as cats or toads. Many traditions speak of both humans and deities who shape-shift into animals.

So it’s not entirely surprising to hear about people’s strange animal encounters. Although sometimes startling, these experiences are generally positive. They may happen for all kinds of different reasons. The following three accounts show how animals have acted as unexpected guardians.   

MEG: A load of timber I had delivered brought two rats into the house. They were huge, and they scared me. I lay awake for four nights listening to them bashing about in the kitchen. In the end, I reluctantly set a trap. Next morning, one of them was dead in it. I cried, and couldn’t do the same for the other one. Instead, I prayed, pleading for it to leave.

Suddenly, a cat from my childhood appeared at the window, which was quite high off the ground. Ignoring me, it quietly walked past me into the kitchen. After a scuffle in there, the cat walked back past me and out the window. I never saw the cat or the rat again.

LIBBY: I once rescued an Alsatian dog, and called him King. He’s gone to spirit now – but whenever things are against me, he comes back and sleeps on my bed. I know it’s him because he always slept on my bed, and would turn round three times before flopping down. 

When my boss at work was trying to sack me, King stayed with me every night. Eventually that boss left because he didn’t like the new company that took over. So I kept my job. It was a difficult time, and I’m sure my dog came back to see me through it.                          

JOE: I once worked with a band in Beirut. Near the end of that contract, we still had no idea where our agent had booked us next. I asked spirit for a sign. Then every time I meditated, all I got was a huge dog, looking up at me and wagging its tail. Next thing we heard that we’d been booked into Tehran. 

The first evening, I went on to the balcony of our first floor flat, and looked down into the street. There, smiling up at me was a huge dog. It was identical to the one in my meditations. I went down to pet it. It put its feet on my shoulders and welcomed me with big licks.

Next morning, the dog brought the rest of the desert pack with it – about a dozen dogs, all huge, and just as welcoming. At the time the Shah still ruled. The people hated westerners and sometimes attacked them, so the streets were dangerous for us. The club where we worked was ten minutes’ walk away. But every evening, this pack of wild dogs escorted us there. People were afraid of them, and crossed the road to avoid us. I think that dog came in answer to my uncertainty about what was coming next.                  

Many people have felt a psychic connection to animals. You’re most welcome to share your own experiences in the comments section, or more privately via my website contact page: www.pastlivesglastonbury.co.uk

This article was first published in my ‘Tales From the Other Side’ Column in Glastonbury’s Oracle magazine.

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FAMOUS DREAMS

Some dreams are so important they have changed the world. Surprisingly, dreams have inspired several scientific discoveries and inventions.   About a century ago, the Danish physicist Neils Bohr was trying to figure out the structure of the atom. One night he dreamed that atoms were like solar systems. The nucleus was the sun, with electrons spinning round it. After some thorough testing, he found that the dream was right. This discovery won him the Nobel Prize, and he is now known as the father of quantum mechanics.

Sewing machines have transformed everything about clothing in our world. Yet without a dream, they may never have existed. American inventor Elias Howe was puzzling over the first problem – where to place the eye of the needle. Then one night he dreamed that he was in a savage country. The king commanded him to invent a sewing machine in 24 hours. If he didn’t, he would be executed.

In the dream, he failed to do this, and his time ran out. Soldiers came to take him to his place of execution. Walking between them, he suddenly noticed that their spears had little holes near the pointed end. That was his eureka moment. He immediately woke up at 4.00 am, and set to work. By 9.00 am the first sewing machine was born.

African-American Madame CJ Walker became a millionaire because of a dream. It began when she got a scalp infection that made her hair fall out. In desperation, she prayed for a solution. An angelic looking man came to her in a dream. He showed her the specific ingredients to use for the problem. When she tried out the mixture, it worked. She started selling it as a product, and became the first female self-made millionaire in America.

There are many more examples like this. Einstein’s revolutionary theories, the discovery of insulin for diabetes, and even the invention of Google all came from dreams. There are probably many more that people haven’t made public.     

Dreams have also inspired the arts. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote to support his family. One day he was desperately trying to think of a new story to keep the wolf from the door. That night he had a dream about Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde. The publication of that tale finally established him as a successful writer.

The story of Frankenstein also came from a dream. Mary Shelley was the wife of the famous poet. While the couple were on holiday with Lord Byron in Geneva, they had a light hearted competition to see who could come up with the best horror story. That night Mary had a dream about the creation of Frankenstein. The story not only won her the little competition – it went on to become an all-time classic.  

The tune of the Beatles’ mega-hit ‘Yesterday’ came to Paul McCartney in a dream. He first made completely sure that he hadn’t somehow picked up someone else’s work. Then he and John Lennon struggled to find words for it. In the meantime, they called it ‘scrambled eggs’. One day Paul woke up knowing ‘yesterday’ was the answer. The idea was perfect for the poignant tune, which became one of their most popular songs.   

Have you ever had an inspiring dream? You’re most welcome to share it in the comments, or more privately through my website contact page: www.pastlivesglastonbury.co.uk

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THE LAST WITCH

The last British person ever imprisoned for witchcraft wasn’t even a witch. She was Helen Duncan, a spiritualist medium. Her mission was to pass on messages from departed loved ones to their families. This was a great comfort to people, especially during the Second World War, when her psychic stage presentations were hugely popular.

At one of these events in 1941, Helen received a message from a sailor. He said he’d died on the HMS Barham when a German U boat sunk it. He just wanted his family to know that he was alive and well in the spirit world.

However, the sinking of the Barham was meant to be top secret. The government wanted to hide that information from the enemy, and not create despondency at home. They were also secretly planning the D Day landings in Normandy. If one word about that got out, it could have been disastrous. Fearing what other secrets Helen Duncan might let out, they arrested her for spying.

When that charge didn’t stick, they dusted off the Witchcraft Act of 1735. This made it illegal to claim magical powers, or to accuse anyone of being a witch. At the time, it was an enlightened step forward from the old days of witch hunting.

Under this law, they sentenced Helen Duncan to nine months in Holloway Prison. This outraged many, including some top legal people. Chief among her allies was Winston Churchill, who called her imprisonment ‘obsolete tomfoolery’.

Churchill was no stranger to the mystical side of life. He was a lifetime member of the Grand Order of Druids. As a British soldier in the Boer War he was captured, but subsequently escaped. While on the run, he said ‘some form of mental planchette’ guided him to the only house that would help him.

In the Second World War, he conferred with the Glastonbury mystic Wellesley Tudor Pole to come up with the idea of the Silent Minute. For the rest of the war, for one minute at 9.00 pm every night, the country went silent and focused on peace. One German general called this Britain’s secret weapon.

In prison, Helen’s cell door was never locked. She gave free readings for a constant stream of inmates and warders alike. Sources close to her said Churchill himself visited her, with a promise to make amends for this injustice.

As Home Secretary in 1951, Churchill’s only major legislation was to abolish the 1735 Witchcraft Act. It became the softer Fraudulent Mediums Act, which ruled that making money from magic was illegal except as entertainment.

This opened the door to significant developments that have shaped the world we now live in. In 1954, the Spiritualist Church was recognised as a religion. In the same year, Gerald Gardner published his best-selling book ‘Witchcraft Today’, refuting the stereotype of witches as evil old hags on broomsticks. He said Wicca was primarily a peaceful way of honouring nature through seasonal rituals. Many people liked the sound of this, and Gardnerian witchcraft spread rapidly.

In 2000, Paganism was recognised as an official religion. Paganism honours the spirituality of nature, and is a broad umbrella that includes many sub-groups such as Wicca, Shamanism and Druidry. A 2011 census revealed that Paganism is now the fastest growing religion in Britain. Many other therapies, philosophies and practices that we now take for granted could also never have emerged under the old witchcraft law.

Controversy still hangs around Helen Duncan, like the old-fashioned ectoplasm she was said to produce. Whether that was real or not, her message about the sinking of the Barham was factual enough to rattle the establishment. Perhaps her most powerful magic was the higher purpose of the drama she went through. Without that, we might have been living in a very different world today.

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A HEALING EXPERIENCE

A friend who’s done Spiritual Healing for decades told me about the different levels of training he had. He first had to sense problems through feeling heat in his hands when they hovered over an afflicted area. Next was to see the issues clairvoyantly, with images that came into his mind. Then came learning to feel others’ pains in his own body.

For him, the final step was the toughest: learning to sense people’s problems through a direct inner knowing. He found it so hard to trust that in himself, he nearly gave up altogether. Then came the following experience:

“One evening, when things were a bit slow at the healing sanctuary, I sat next to a man who had been sitting at the edge of the room for most of the evening. He ignored me and carried on inspecting his fingernails.

‘Have you come for healing?’ I asked, thinking that perhaps he was too embarrassed to come forward.

‘Me?’ he laughed, ‘No way. I’m with the missus. She’s come for some. I don’t need it. I think you’re all a load of charlatans. I wouldn’t waste my time with you.’

So I began to chat with him about football. He relaxed, and started discussing the local team. As he talked, I became convinced that he did have a serious physical problem. I said, ‘I know you said there’s nothing wrong with you, but I have a strong feeling that there is.’

He shrugged, ‘Oh, it’s nothing really. I just have no feeling in my right knee.’  He pinched it hard. ‘See, it’s dead. Don’t feel a thing. Not felt anything there for ages.’

‘Okay’, I said, ‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do, but just say so if you object. I’ll put my fingers together like this.’ I showed him my fingers formed into a small circle, the tips touching each other. ‘I’ll put them close to your knee. I won’t even touch you, and we’ll carry on talking about football.’

 After we’d carried on chatting for a few minutes, I suddenly had a clear realisation.

‘You know, the problem you have is not with your knee. It originates in your hip. So I’m just going to shift my hand up to your hip.’

‘That’s funny,’ he said, ‘I went to the hospital today and they said just that. The problem is in the hip.’

I didn’t say so, but I also knew that the problem came from stress he’d been through about his son.

Shortly after this, his wife returned to him, ready to leave. He pinched his knee again and said, ‘See. It’s still dead. You’re all charlatans.’  He took his wife by the hand and marched out.

I thought that would be the last we’d hear of him – but next morning he phoned us. ‘This morning, when I woke, I pinched my knee and, for the first time for years, it hurt! I’ve got feeling back in my knee!’

This was not only a turning point for the skeptical man – it was also a big moment for my friend. It gave him the confirmation he needed that his healing skills were real, and he was on the right path.  

Experiences like this are more common than people think. If you’d like to share your own, you’re welcome to contact me at: www.pastlivesglastonbury.co.uk

At my website you can find out about my books, Past Life Regression,  Readings and Soul Path Counselling

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