The International Journal of Regression Therapy Vol XXIV 2016 PDF

The International Journal of Regression Therapy, V.
24, 2016 1
The International
Journal of
Regression Therapy
THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REGRESSION THERAPY

Volume XXIV, March, 2016
http://journalofregressiontherapy.com/
The International Journal of Regression Therapy, V. 24, 2016 2
The organization for the new International Journal of Regression Therapy is

continuing to publish the Journal formerly know as the Journal of Regression
Therapy originally published under the auspices of two legacy organizations
that do not exist today. It is felt by the Journal Policy Board that what was
accomplished and begun by these organizations is too valuable to loose and too
valuable not to continue. As the regression field gains adherents across the
world this, the only international regression journal, is available to advance the
regression discipline. For comments or questions go to the contact list at
http://journalofregressiontherapy.com/ or e-mail one of the members of the
policy board. Find past Journal issues at www.Lulu.com for download or
hardcopy at modest cost. Search capabilities by author, topic, index, and
article are available at the Journal web site. Contact one of us if you have
difficulty.
The International Journal of Regression Therapy is a professional publication.

Its function is to serve as an open forum to share and discuss information,
ideas, and theories, and for the publication of research in the regression field.
All materials presented herein represent the views and opinions of the
individual authors and are not necessarily those of the Policy Board, editors or
consulting editors. Publication of an article herein does not represent an
endorsement of its contents by them, collectively or individually.
Copyright© 2016 by the Journal Policy Board at:

http://journalofregressiontherapy.com/
Phone: 540-272-1563 (US)
E-mail: [email protected]
Journal Staff
Policy Board:
Richard Stammler, Ph.D.
Hans TenDam, MA, CRT
Athanasios Komianos, BA, CHT, CRT
Editors:
Lead Editor: Richard Stammler, Ph.D.
Lead Editor: Hans TenDam, MA, CRT, non-English speaking countries:
Consulting Editors: (alphabetical) – English-speaking countries
Bonnie Cripe, Ph.D, ACSW

Janet Cunningham, Ph.D
Nancy L. Eubel, MBA, MHt, QHHT, Rt
Heather S. Friedman Rivera, R.N., J.D., Ph.D
Todd Hayen, Ph.D
Stephanie Helberg, CHT, QHHT
Afton Blake Lucas, Ph.D
Virginia Waldron, CH, CI
Katrin Hoffman
Consulting Editors: (alphabetical) – Non-English-speaking countries
Athanasios Komianos, B.A, CHT, CRT

Serge Szmukler-Moncler D.D.S, Ph.D
Note: We invite additional consulting editors, particularly from non-English-

speaking countries. E-mail Rich Stammler, Hans TenDam or Nassos
Komianos ([email protected]) to work out details. Several from the UK
volunteered to help with British English articles. Please contact Rich
again (he needs the help.)
Supporting Organizations
Thank you for your support of the Journal.

The Earth Association for Regression Therapy
The International Board for Regression Therapy
Society for Medical Advance and Research with Regression
Therapy
The RoseHeart Center
La Asociación Chilena de Terapeutas en Vida Pasada
PLR Institute
Spiritual Regression Therapy Association
Irish Association of Regression Therapists
If your organization wants to support the

Journal, please contact one of the
Journal Policy Board members. There is
no fee and we welcome the endorsement.
As of now, we are limiting the
endorsement to regression organizations
but not those primarily engaged in
training.
Table of Contents
Volume XXIV
Editor’s Comments Page 9
A Special Note: A Foundation for Regression Therapy

by David Graham, President, EARTh/ UK Page 11
Articles
Beyond the Millennium - New Age or Brave New World? (past article)
by Chet B. Snow, Ph.D./USA Page 12
The Potency of Regression Psychotherapy; illustrated with examples of

sexual trauma
by Vitor Rodrigues, Ph.D./Portugal Page 18
Brain Research, Meditation and Regression

by Hans TenDam, MA, CRT/the Netherlands Page 33
Biased Evaluations of Regression Experiences: how reincarnation

disbelievers subjectively interpret data
by Jan Erik Sigdell, Ph.D./ Slovenia Page 39
A New European Case of the Reincarnation Type

by Dieter Hassler, Dipl.-Ing. TH/ Germany Page 47
The Silence of the Womb - Prenatal Death Page 61

by Nicolette Lachmann, M.D. and Regression Therapist/ the Netherlands
Eleusinian Mysteries and Regression Therapy: Relating the possible

benefits of ancient initiation experiences to modern regression practices.
by Athanasios N. Komianos, BA, CHT, CRT/ Greece Page 71
Conversation with Disease or Affected Organs

by Neeta Sharma Kumar/ India Page 87
Blog Posts
Past Life Therapy & Shamanic Healing

by George Schwimmer, Ph.D./ USA Page 93
“So Many Lives Lost”

by Bernadeta Hodkova / France Page 100
The Samurai
by Diane L. Ross, M.A., Certified Hypnotist/ USA Page 104
Soup or Natural?
by Todd Hayen, Ph.D./ Canada Page 107
Winafred Blake Lucas, Ph.D.

by Afton Blake/ Ph.D./ USA Page 116
Historical Document: Bulletin #1: June 20, 1980 for AAPRT

by Hazel M. Denning/ USA Page 120
Media Reviews
Inner Healing Journey - A Medical Perspective

Peter Mack, M.D., Ph.D., Editor
Reviewed by Andy Tomlinson/ UK Page 122
Transforming the Eternal Soul; further insights from regression therapy

Andy Tomlinson, Editor
Reviewed by Bernadeta Hodkova/ France Page 124
An Amazing Human Journey, Volume II

by Shakuntala Modi, M.D.
Reviewed By: Albert J. Marotta, MA, CHT/ USA Page 125
The Spirits of Amoskeag: The Wounded Heroes of the Manchester Mills

By Lois A. Hermann with Peter Paulson
Reviewed by Albert J. Marotta MA, CHT/USA Page 127
New Media
Through my Looking Glass: a Personal Journey into Vaster States of

Awareness
by Winafred Blake Lucas, Ph.D./ USA Page 128
Discovering Regression Therapy, a love story

a film by Virginia Rivera Hernandez
on behalf of the Earth Association for Regression Therapy (EARTh)
by David Graham, President, EARTh/ UK Page 130
Rapid Entity Attachment Release: A breakthrough in the world of spirit

possession and releasement
by Athanasios Komianos with/ Greece Page 133
Shaman’s Path: becoming a modern shaman

by George Schwimmer, Ph.D./ USA Page 134
Reinkarnation, Christentum und das kirchliche Dogma

(Reincarnation, Christianity and the Dogma of the Church)
by Jan Erik Sigdell, Ph.D./ Germany Page 135
Geh’ zurück in eine Zeit… / Indizienbeweise für ein Leben nach dem Tod
und die Wiedergeburt / Rückführungen in „frühere Leben“ und deren
Nachprüfung
(Go back in time . . ./Indicators for Life After Death and Rebirth/Returns
to “Past Lives” and Their Investigations)
by Dieter Hassler, Dipl.-Ing. TH/ Germany Page 136
Upcoming Conferences Page 138
The Authors Page 140
Guidelines for Submission Page 145

Editor’s Comments
This is it, the second issue of the Journal under new auspices. That it is
published at all is an achievement and, of course, there are many who have
contributed much to make this happen, not the least of which are the many
global authors (nine countries in this issue) who believe in it. My thanks to my
fellow Board Members and many reviewers who unselfishly gave their time. The
goal has been to publish across the world and we are moving rapidly in that
direction. Our subscriber list is currently over one thousand with more than 31
countries represented. The intent also is to raise the scientific quality of the
overall journal by attracting articles from the mainstream health and scientific
community as well as empirical research in the regression discipline. Let me
know if you think we are headed in the right direction.
I believe you will enjoy the wide variety of entries in this issue and find them
thought provoking. It is hoped it will also spur you to contribute.
Our first article is by Chet Snow, a past president of APRT (see “History” on the
Journal web site), who completed a study in collaboration with psychologist
Helen Wambach. She past away part way through the research and Snow
completed it. This article is a summary of that research of discovering the
future through the progression of many volunteers. It was published in the first
issue of the Journal in 1986. If one believes that the human species is in a
great transition, then this article is particularly timely.
The second entry by Vitor Rodrigues provides data for the effectiveness of
regression therapy. Hans TenDam gives us some insightful brain research on
comparisons between meditative states and dissociative states during the
regression experiences. Jan Sigdell reveals how systematic biases in the non-
believing community masks the evidence for reincarnation. Dieter Hassler
continues this topic exploring some well-documented cases of reincarnation.
Describing her process for resolving the trauma to the mothers of intentionally
and unintentionally aborted pregnancies, Nicolette Lachmann conducted a
study (and therapy) of eleven mothers with this experience. In his second
article on the ancient Greek mystery schools, Athanasios Komianos describes
the Eleusinian teachings and initiating processes. He draws parallels to the
regression process.
The Blog Section provides opportunities for opinions, a short presentation of a
case and other material in a less formal manner. Six nice examples provide
examples of the usefulness of this section.
Schwimmer (the first to graduate from the then newly minted APRT regression
training program) details his personal journey through Shamanic training and
contrasts it with regression practices. Two very interesting regression cases are
presented by Bernadeta Hodkova and Diane Ross. For Seth readers, in
Hodkova’s article, is this case an example of bleed-over of counterpart lives?
Counterparts are a form of simultaneous reincarnations within an overlapping

time-frame, which is permitted in a quantum mechanical reality (see my article
in the last issue).
An article by Todd Hayen describes a personal transpersonal experience and
details what it says about the non-material reality in which regressionists
routinely operate. The last two blog entries are a real treat. Afton Blake has
been finishing her mother’s (Winafred Blake Lucas) three volume memoir and
in our new media section presents the first volume. With the help of Sydney
Heflin, a research director of APRT in the late 80’s, the blog section closes with
the (1980) First Bulletin of AAPRT (during this time the nascent organization
had the title, American Association of Past Life Therapists and then later
apparently dropped the limitation of the geographic area settling on APRT. If
you want to feel nostalgic, check out the accommodation and conference fees.
There are some excellent reviews in the Media Reviews section and author
introductions of their new works in the New Media portion. As exemplified in
this issue, the New Media now includes items published in other languages as
long as the Journal article is written in English.
We welcome your comments and thoughts. Please send them to any of the
Policy Board members at ([email protected]).
Warm regards and enjoy this issue of the Journal,
Rich Stammler
A Special Note:
A Foundation for Regression Therapy

by David Graham, President, EARTh/ UK
I was talking with a friend and fellow therapist recently when she commented
on just how much regression therapy has changed and evolved in the ten years
since she gained her diploma. This reminded me of my own experiences and
the changes that I have noticed myself. We work within a field that is vibrant,
creative and inspirational, indeed we are led by our client’s experiences as we
discover more about ourselves and each other.
Regression therapists may understand more than most people the value of
studying where we have come from, in order to understand where we are now
and the possibilities of where we could be according to our current choices.
This movement that we might call “Regression Therapy” has its history for us
to study and learn about, to enable therapists and researchers of the future to
gain insights that may otherwise become lost or simply not yet apparent at this
stage of our development. Yet the records are disparate, spread amongst
numerous pioneering therapists, spread across the world. In order for us to
capture the potential to learn from our history there is a need arising to
actually collect all the material in some kind of organised manner. The books,
the research studies, articles, discoveries, client cases, the cultural variations
and literature that is part of the journey of regression therapy, that explains
how come we work in the variety of ways that we do now. It offers evidence for
the researchers and therapists of the future to show where they stand in the
scheme of the regression therapy story.
The time is approaching when a need for a “foundation for regression therapy”
to hold and organise all these records is becoming necessary to assist in the
further development of regression therapy. A foundation costs serious money.
This is the challenge that is heading our way. Let us find a starting point.
Ed. Note: This is to get the discussion going and invite you into the
conversation. Tell us what you think. Let us know if you wish to contribute to
such an endeavor (either financially, physical space, or documents). Tell us if
you have ideas for a physical location, perhaps ideally, one in Europe and one
in North America. Our thanks to George Schwimmer who provided the first
materials, a complete copy of early bulletins and APRT Newsletters.
Articles
Beyond the Millennium - New Age or Brave New World?*

by Chet B. Snow
From time immemorial humanity has had a special fascination with knowledge
of the future. Sages and seers across the ages have used many different rituals
in an attempt to know what tomorrow would bring. A rare few have become
enshrined as the great prophets of major world religions. Others, like
Nostradamus, still confound us with arcane predictions which seem to match
crucial events centuries later.
Edgar Cayce, an American photographer who lived between 1877 and 1945, is
among the most celebrated 20th century psychic predictors. Known widely as
“The Sleeping Prophet,” he had phenomenal success at mental medical
diagnosis and nontraditional therapy. Over 12,000 transcripts of his psychic
readings, given while he slept in a self-hypnotic trance, have been preserved by
his Association for Research and Enlightenment (ARE). Through this group’s
efforts Cayce’s words have helped many thousands suffering from a wide
variety of ailments worldwide.
In addition to his medical advice, Cayce occasionally discussed future world

events. Thus he correctly predicted the start and end dates of World War II in
the mid-1930s. Once he even foresaw his own rebirth in the 21st Century, a
time when he would astound contemporaries with his accurate recall of his
earlier life as Edgar Cayce. At that time he also noted that the USA’s west coast
was in Nebraska!
Today, as humanity struggles to avoid self-destruction either by nuclear war or

environmental suicide, speculations about the future are again popular.
Everyone from Christian fundamentalists to the Rajneeshees in Oregon has his
or her personal recipe for impending apocalyptic doom. Although such dire
predictions remain outside the mainstream, our most respected scientists
agree that a nuclear exchange could trigger a “nuclear winter” with the
potential to extinguish physical life on this planet. Even without this violent
scenario, the subtle pressure of unchecked population growth and pollution of
the Earth’s water and air spell major problems ahead.
* Ed. This is one of the first articles from issue one of the Journal published in
1986. It is a summary of a study done by Chet Snow and Helen Wambach, who
died after initiating the study. It is republished here in its original form.
Persisting world tensions, the specter of massive starvation in Africa, and

increasingly unpredictable weather make us stop and think as we enter the
second half of the 1980s. What’s going on here? Are those religious fanatics
right after all? Is this the end of the world? Are we now awaiting only the arrival
of the fourth horseman before Armageddon?
These considerations moved Dr. Helen Wambach, already noted for her
pioneering research into the mysteries of reincarnation, to look at the
mechanics of future prediction. Earlier work had shown her that when taken
into an altered state of consciousness, most people, indeed 90 percent, proved
themselves highly capable of recalling events from previous lives. They were
able to answer such mundane but statistically measurable questions as, “Are
you a man or a woman? What are you wearing? What kind of money do you
use for supplies?” Given enough cases, she found that her subjects’ answers
related to known historical facts like population curves, sex ratios, and
nutrition sources. Her analysis of this data is given in her first major book,
Reliving Past Lives (1978).
During that research, Dr. Wambach noticed that 60 percent of her subjects
reported being “ahead” of her questions while hypnotized. She soon realized
that once in their dreaming mind, most people could bypass what we call time
and space. In the Theta brain wave state where suggestions took them, her
subjects apparently activated latent telepathic abilities. Dr. Wambach
wondered if these capabilities could be tapped for answers about the future. As
she put it, “I thought, “Wouldn’t it be interesting to hypnotize thousands of
people and see what they predict about the future? Why stick with one prophet
or seer when you can do it the democratic way?”
Thus, in 1981, Dr. Wambach began offering subjects the possibility of

“progressing” to two future time periods, 2100 and 2300 AD, as well as
returning to the past. As before, her technique consisted of asking routine,
statistically-comparable questions. Since the future hadn’t happened yet (for
our conscious minds at least) she focused on finding data on which a
significant number of subjects agreed. In her words she became a “Gallup
pollster of the subconscious.” In 1983, faced with failing health and a desire to
have her research findings widely distributed, she enlisted me to help her
complete the research, analysis, and writing of this study. It has become our
joint project.
The results have proven startling. An early indication of something unusual

came with the first groups. Simply put, Dr. Wambach discovered that not too
many people find themselves in physical bodies in the future periods offered.
Consistent testing by Dr. Wambach, Dr. Leo Sprinkle of the University of
Wyoming, and I has shown that only 4 to 5 percent of subjects reported
experiencing earthly lives in 2100 AD, while about double that number report
being materially “alive” in 2300 AD. These results are consistent from group to
group and researcher to researcher. These findings also seem independent of
the conscious volition of individuals as expressed before the experience. In

addition, they appear independent of pre-existing belief systems.
An illustrative example occurred when Helen appeared before a Chicago

seminar sponsored by the Association for Research and Enlightenment. Here
there was a large group of 225 persons whose conscious minds knew of Edgar
Cayce’s prediction about his return around 2100 AD. Naturally, many of them
wanted to be there to witness that event. Some had even indicated this
beforehand. Even so, their future percentages remained at 4.5 percent for 2100
and about 12 percent for 2300 AD.
What can we make of this surprising lack of response? One answer may be
that the subconscious mind tends to resist progression more than regression
for karmic reasons. Perhaps we have more lessons to learn from the past than
from the future! It is also possible that the very newness of the idea of taking
people to future lifetimes makes it more difficult to experience.
This is consistent with Dr. Rupert Sheldrake’s morphogenetic fields theory,

also known as the “Hundredth Monkey Effect.” Basically this theory states that
learning new skills becomes progressively easier as more individuals, even if
separated in time and space, pass through the same process. By this theory, it
would be easier for the subconscious mind of ordinary people to choose past
lives than future ones, due ironically, in part, to the very success of Dr.
Wambach’s earlier research.
Of course the most obvious explanation for the small number of future
returnees is also the simplest: fewer physical bodies will be available then than
today. This presumes that for some unknown reason the earth undergoes a
steep population drop between 1985 and 2100 AD. This thesis most easily
explains the discrepancy between 2100 and 2300 AD as well, for it is
reasonable to expect that the effects of a severe depopulation in the late 20th or
21st Centuries would be more dearly visible in 2100 than later. Apparently
humanity is on the rebound by 2300 AD.
A closer analysis of the reports of about 100 subjects who have been
progressed to 2100 AD reveals additional evidence in support of this thesis.
Contrary to popular futurist analysis, virtually none of the subjects in this
study describe a future world like ours today, only bigger and better. In fact,
many report conditions which can be viewed as negative by current standards,
either in material or psychological terms. Dr. Wambach and I have found
several important correlations for this 2100 AD group. First is the sex ratio
already discussed in Helen Wambach’s earlier books.
Once again, even in this fairly small sample, the male/female ratio is nearly
50/50 (51 percent females reported). This appears to be a human constant
even though about 80 percent of our subjects are women in this lifetime.
Another key statistic is average lifespan. In opposition to current trends, the

mean age at death for the 2100 AD group is just 62.4 years. There is a broad
range, however, from accidental death at 14 to dying of “old age” at 152 years.
Five subjects even report that they simply do not die, while nine others say
they choose to die through will power when life tasks are completed. So much
for today’s passion for artificial hearts or baboon transplants.
A total of 72 of the 2100 AD cases were complete enough to make detailed

comparisons. We decided to correlate them by a single, neutral variable to see
what patterns would emerge, so we divided the reports up by their physical
environment. This gave us four distinct social groups which seem to share the
Earth and its environs along with some surprising visitors. Group sizes ranged
from 14 to 22 subjects each.
Life in a space colony, or off Earth, marks the first group (Type I). A majority
report living in dome-covered cities, eating processed food, and wearing one-
piece, metallic uniforms and boots. Life seems basically communal, but
families still exist. A universal credit system has replaced currency. Space
travel, within the solar system at least, is common, as is contact with
extraterrestrials. “Buck Rogers all the way” is how one participant expressed
his 2100 AD space lifestyle.
Type II represents the budding of the New Age on Earth. These subjects report
a “green, lush, well-cared-for” environment. Their modernistic buildings feature
a harmonious marriage of technology and nature. Light-filled temples, flowing
garments, telepathic communication, and positive feelings abound in these
New Age utopias. An awareness of Earth’s emptiness of people is about the
only flaw here. Locations mentioned include India, the Andes, Greece, and
Florida.
If Type II heralds a dawning New Age, then the third type marks the triumph of
a “Brave New World”. Also on Earth, these survivalist and technocratic
societies exist inside huge bubbles or domes. None of these subjects report
contact with the outside environment, and, in fact, four mention dying from
fumes when air supplies accidentally fail. Some report living partially
underground. If they can see out (half cannot) they see a hot, barren wasteland
there. It is far removed from Type II’s Eden. Type III cities do appear to be
linked with the Type I space colonies, however. Their clothing is similar and
communal living seems common. Their artificial food resembles space colony
fare while several urban dome dwellers report routine contact with
extraterrestrials and spacecraft. A credit system has replaced cash here, also.
Type III locations include Australia, greater New York, France, and Louisiana.
Type IV consists of 15 rural and 3 urban cases which share a primitive, non-
technical, or post-disaster setting. They are all out in the open air, but, unlike
Type II, their surroundings are old ruins or rural primitive farms. The three
urban survivors find themselves living in the ruins of old cities they identify as
Moscow, New York, and Los Angeles. The rest live in log cabins and wear
traditional homespun clothes. Spacecraft are never mentioned and metal coins
and currency are used for money. Life seems uncomplicated but a bit lonely for
these small settlements. Locations include Canada, eastern Brazil and Nepal.
Such is the way the world of 2100 AD appears to our subjects. How should we
interpret this remarkable picture? The easiest answer is either to ignore these
reports or to demean them as fantasy or mere psychological projections. I
predict such responses from the intellectual establishment. However, as
therapists and researchers who know the value of alternative ways of viewing
reality, I think that we need to take them more seriously.
I would propose two reasonable interpretations of this data. First, we can

accept the pictures given as real, if incomplete, sketches of the world about a
century from now. This may be seen as similar to past life reports, many of
which have been shown to depict actual events but with lapses and
inaccuracies. If this is true, then it demonstrates once again that our linear
time and space models of reality do not apply to the subconscious mind. It, like
our immortal soul, lives beyond such boundaries. Under the right conditions it
can view the figure simultaneously with the past and the present. What then of
free will? In this view it operates mainly at the nonmaterial level, where basic
scenarios are developed, leaving conscious free will only in charge of day-to-day
details. As Helen Wambach puts it, “You have free will in choosing when to pop
down here (to Earth).”
Edgar Cayce’s view was similar: we are really immortal spirits who don physical
bodies to learn and to grow. He nevertheless insisted that it is those often-
neglected “day-to-day” details of our lives on Earth that really matter.
Does this mean that we should all be heading for bomb shelters or Greenland
tomorrow? Of course not. Even if the parameters are set for a sudden drop in
the Earth’s population in the next half century, many details affecting the
timing and nature of that event remain open for conscious action. Let us bend
our efforts rather to raising human consciousness of our true spiritual identity
and help avert the nuclear holocaust which seems the worst way to solve
current Earthly problems.
Further, modern physics has given us a second serious way to view the
implications of these reports of 2100 AD. We all know that quantum mechanics
presents an alternative probabilities model to explain the nature of time and
space. Applied to our data, this concept suggests that the futures depicted by
our progressed subjects may represent alternatives of potential realities. This
viewpoint, while it returns more free will and choice to our conscious, material
level, also puts the burden as to which of these potential future realities we will
create, squarely on our shoulders today. In effect, quantum mechanics theory
says that the choice between the vision of New Age cooperation and harmony
with nature and the “Brave New World” of technocratic survivalists is ours to
make today. As therapists and as citizens of this bountiful planet, we must
accept this responsibility and act accordingly. Only in that way will future
generations share and enjoy a beautiful and natural world in 2103 AD and
beyond.
Summary
Fear of nuclear holocaust, massive famine in Africa, and persistent

environmental pollution are cause for reflection as we approach the year 2000
AD. Is the predicted Apocalypse just around the corner? Will we build a New
Age or a Brave New World in the next century? Dr. Helen Wambach, noted
past-lives researcher, and I have undertaken to answer these questions by
hypnotically “progressing” thousands of subjects to the future. Preliminary
results reveal a sharp depopulation of the Earth before 2100 AD followed by a
gradual rise in population thereafter. Four distinct 21st Century societies
appear likely, including men living in space and others in dome-enclosed
technocratic cities where survival is a paramount concern. Are these “mass
dreams of the future” real or illusory? As therapists we must take seriously the
combined visions of our contemporaries. For, as the famous American psychic,
Edgar Cayce, so aptly stated: “Mind is ever the builder; the physical, the
result.”
The Potency of Regression Psychotherapy; illustrated with examples of

sexual trauma
by Vitor Rodrigues, Ph.D.
This article presents a scientific and clinical discussion of how memory

is fundamental to our concepts, our experience and the workings of our
mind, to explain - for readers concerned with possessing a body and a
mind - how and why regression therapy works.
After defining regression therapy, this article follows with a general
perspective on how it is done, what are its pitfalls, and how to avoid
them. It presents a theoretical perspective on how and why it works,
and why it can overcome criticism based on studies about how memory
can be biased, can be distorted and can be fabricated.
It is a well-established fact that trauma produces powerful behavioral
consequences along with strong and very emotional memories. We
discuss brain mechanisms of stress-related effects, research on
flashbulb memories, and how research shows that memories may be
forgotten at the conscious and rational level, while still influencing us at
less conscious layers of the psyche.
A perspective on traumatic effects as being similar to 'computer viruses'
is presented, followed by three cases illustrating work on sexual
issues.
Regression Therapy has been around. One could think Regression Therapy
only recently became fashionable, but it has a considerable history, at least
since Denys Kelsey and Joan Grant published their work in 1968.
However, many authors and practitioners in the vast area of Psychotherapy

still are suspicious about it. First, regression deals with memories—and
memory mechanisms can be tricky, as we will discuss. Second, apparent past
lives may pop up. Third, regression therapy can be spectacularly effective so it
may incite professional jealousy.
What is Regression Therapy?

One could say that it consists of a methodology to help people connect with
their past: (1) to get insight in the origins of psychological suffering or
disturbances; (2) to use this insight for 'reprogramming' the mind, changing
relevant behavior and reframing life. Underlying this, we find the general
assumption that past events, learning experiences and traumas do shape and
condition who we are, what we are sensitive to, and what limits us. Many of its
practitioners assume that Past Lives are one big part of the whole thing.
Regression therapy procedures, that belong to the general field of
Transpersonal Psychotherapies (see Rodrigues & Friedman, 2013), typically

induce changes in the state of consciousness of clients, taking them towards
expanded states in which the quality of the inner experience changes either
quantitatively: more intense, vivid or enlarged perception of normal stimuli; or
qualitatively: access to a different perception of stimuli or even to different
contexts, both present or past.
To achieve this, therapists can resort to techniques such as hypnosis,

'exaggeration' of body symptoms, repetition of word formulas that encompass
strong emotions, construction of inner 'virtual' realities to be used for this
purpose, and building bridges towards the past in many ways. Sometimes
clients will get in touch with emotions, perceptions, and vivid descriptions,
concerning what they perceive as previous lives. However, many therapists
don't consider it necessary to 'believe' in these and doubt whether these
phenomenological experiences correspond to ontological truth. They may be
just powerful emotional metaphors helping clients reframe their emotional life
and may be useful despite any proof of being 'accurate memories'.
Generally speaking, the client will be helped by a therapist, working as a

catalyst, finding inside himself the memory he needs to deal with, not as a
'distant', cognitive recall, but as a vivid re-experience with emotional content.
The therapist will help the client deal with whatever came to the surface—if it
will be ontologically true or not and if it concerns infancy or a past life. What
matters is emotional relevance, symbolic power and usefulness in the quest for
new meaning and healthier behavior.
Freedman states, “we do not yet know whether past life stories are memories of
actual past lives that people have lived, or creative fantasies, but we do know
that whatever they may be, they are usually extremely and rapidly effective in
therapy for a wide variety of conditions. Healing stories, indeed.” (2007; quoted
by Zahi, 2009, pp. 266-67) Nevertheless, some high-quality, solid evidence
supports the possibility that neither reincarnation, nor Past-Lives Therapy are
so far-fetched as they may seem to many authors (Stevenson, 1997a, 1977b;
Woolger, 2004).
Going through it
A careful evaluation of the clinical condition of the client is mandatory before a
session is done. This is necessary in any therapeutic approach, but even more
here because strong catharsis may happen and because the client can, for
some time, be less connected to the 'here-and-now' reality of his surroundings
and of his body. Therefore, severe cardiac patients and patients with
hypertension are not good candidates. Neither are clients with an impaired
sense of themselves and their body, such as psychotic patients. This also
depends on the particular situation, the advice of other clinicians (e.g.,
cardiologists) and the special experience and preparation of the therapist.
To experienced therapists, many techniques can induce regression, including

varieties of EMDR and—for clients with special previous mind trainings—very
direct entries such as focusing inside, picturing a 'time-hole' and diving into it
to connect with the origin of an emotional trouble. The experience of the
therapist is quite important, but so is the experience of the client.
When the session eventually unfolds, the therapist helps the client to explore
his past in search of the origin of his clinical complaint. Once it seems that
some situation or set of situations from the past (usually after exploring several
that the client has brought up spontaneously) is the fundamental origin of the
problem, the therapist helps the client to explore how this situation produced a
particular emotional pattern, a particular mental program, or even some body
ailment that is still troubling him today.
The client is stimulated to produce some new meaning, some re-programming,

some way out that will help neutralize the past without forgetting it. We don’t
want the client to forget, but to gain some new wisdom and strength from the
whole experience. Of course, the way to manage a session depends on the
therapist’s expertise and options: some have favorite techniques, some will
make sure that each relevant situation is explored and re-programmed, while
others (like the present writer) may focus on the 'cognitive-emotional systemic
knot' of the single most important single situation and then, once it has been
untied, expect the whole 'personal system' of the client to start changing.
A session is never ended without making sure that some closure has been
achieved and that the client experiences release, new meaning, or a positive
conclusion. We don’t assume that catharsis is enough by itself. Just re-
experiencing a traumatic situation, for instance, could facilitate the
corresponding neuronal pathways and even worsen the symptoms. Therefore
we make sure that the client finds some productive way out of what he found.
Some technical cautions

Good hypnotists, as well as regression therapists in general, know very well
that it is pointless, and maybe damaging, to project their own fantasies
assumptions or expectations on clients. So, when clients are in an altered state
of consciousness - with enhanced suggestibility - the handling of the inner
exploration is extremely important. So we ask, 'What just came to your mind?'
Or, after observing a facial expression of disgust, 'What is it that just produced
some unpleasant feeling?' We never ask things like 'Is it an abuser?' or 'Is there
some green man in the situation?' because we would be the ones putting them
there.
In the same vein, if a client says he is just feeling afraid, we may ask questions
like:
• Do you know what this fear is about?

• In the moment you are feeling this fear, are you in an open space or inside
some closed place?
• Do you have the impression that it is morning, night, afternoon?
• Feel this fear. As you are feeling it in the situation, are you standing,
sitting, lying down?
• Are you alone or is someone else with you?
Sometimes the session just unfolds by itself and the client spontaneously gives
lots of detail. In this case, the therapist intervenes as little as possible, perhaps
just asking for clarifications. 'Do you mean that the pain comes from a wound?
Or is it coming from something else?' Suggesting alternatives for answers help
the clients feel there is no definite expectation and no pressure about what
they 'should' be feeling or answering, and that they are free to bring on their
experiences. We have special questions for special difficulties the client may be
experiencing: 'I don’t know.' 'What if you knew? What would be coming to your
mind?'
We may indeed ask clients to imagine a story about someone with a trouble
like theirs, but this is only a last resource when other techniques are not
working. Of course, we would not assume that this 'story' corresponds to facts
as it may just be a fabrication, though with relevant emotional content. Helping
the client find a different, positive ending to a traumatic story can be a good
idea, with possible positive results.
Theoretical considerations
Regression therapy deals necessarily with memories and how they may be
damaging the client’s present day behavior, emotional life, worldview and so
on. There are some caveats.
First, some authors have shown that memory may not be accurate and that we
do change the way we remember facts. Thomas, Hannula and Loftus (2007)
underlined the researched fact that, although imagined rehearsal of healthy
future situations can improve behavior and produce good clinical results, it
may also distort memories of past situations. “Unfortunately, those aspects of
imagination that have been shown to be important for behavior change are the
same as those that have been shown to lead to dramatic distortions in
memory.” (p. 71)
So, if a given client is asked to imagine a plausible scenario for behavior

change, it might affect his behavior, but it could also distort his memory. The
authors have shown that this can happen when we resort to guided
imagination to get therapeutic results. Subjects may change their memory of
target behaviors if they imagine them improving, for instance. This occurs the
most when imagined behaviors are self-relevant (i.e., the subject imagines
himself performing them and finds this relevant). They later may wrongly
remember their original scores in the target behavior. The quoted authors
posit, “Implicit theories may affect memory by influencing the kind of

information retrieved from memory as well as the individual’s understanding of
that retrieved information.” (p. 83)
Most people emphasize the stability and unity of themselves through time as
they see themselves in the past doing things or interpreting things consistent
with how they do things and see things today.
This line of research has been probably the most powerful source of criticism
on regression therapy in general, even forgetting that, as in any other area,
there are competent and incompetent therapists.
In the eighties, people have been accused of sex crimes they never committed,
based on false memories of supposed victims, while some real victims of sexual
abuse were not believed. Ornstein, Ceci and Loftus (1998) wrote a good review
about this. They underlined the issues we face when considering how we
remember things.
In the first place, information may or may not be stored. It may be stored more
or less accurately, its intensity and quality may change, and it may be
influenced by knowledge and expectations. Obviously, the quality of
representations also depends on how we interpret events. Recall may also be
distorted as we rebuild our memories and interpretations over time. The
repetition of events and their emotional intensity and relevance obviously play
an additional role. Lastly, the recall of events tends to fade away with time.
Ornstein, Ceci and Loftus strongly caution about the suggestibility of memories
and the dangers of inducing (even unintended) new or distorted ones, a
possibility. Loftus (1994) demonstrated in many very convincing and
experimental ways. “We may even 'inject' false memories in naive subjects
through manipulation.” However, she admits that traumatic events may be not
so easy to manipulate or change as neutral ones, since traumas tend to
produce very intense memories.
Laney and Loftus (2008) conducted research showing that even emotional
content is not at all a sure way to distinguish true from false memories. Some
people assume that the intensity of emotions gives credibility to memories. In
their research project, they could induce 'memories' of fake events in naïve
subjects, like being hospitalized or catching their parents having sex.
Emotional intensity of memories doesn’t guarantee their credibility.
Meyersburg, Bogdan and McNally (2009) even concluded that, although they
showed no differences in correct recall or intelligence, the subjects with
supposed, 'improbable', memories of past-lives showed bigger rates for false
recall and recognition than the control group who reported but one life.
However, all of those criticisms should be weighed against other evidence. For
instance, according to Ellason and Ross (1999), one core symptom in post-
traumatic stress disorder is the dissociative reliving of the traumatic scene as if
it is still happening; another important symptom is the tendency to re-enact
the whole thing. This may happen directly or more symbolically. In the authors’
research, 92% of patients with sexual trauma showed evidence of dissociative
disorders. This was also true for 77% of sex offenders, implying that early
childhood sexual trauma might often be at the origin of sexual crimes.
Nijenhuis et al. (1998) found, in a correlation study, that subjects with

dissociative disorder revealed severe and multifaceted traumatization; physical
and sexual trauma were predictors of somatoform dissociation while sexual
trauma alone predicted also psychological dissociation. Early onset of severe,
multiple, chronic traumatization was predictive of more pathological
dissociation. The authors describe a special type of dissociation: “somatoform
dissociation, i.e., dissociation which is manifested in a loss of the normal
integration of somatoform components of experience, bodily reactions and
functions (e.g., anesthesia and motor inhibitions).” (p. 713)
They also note that preliminary data shows that fantasy proneness and
absorption may be higher in traumatized patients when compared with the
non-traumatized. So indeed, this also should be weighed against the research
discrediting regression techniques because of the fantasy proneness of clients.
Many authors have shown that sexual abuse can produce severe disturbances
including somatoform complaints and dissociation.
Nijenhuis et al. (1998) concluded, “somatoform and psychological dissociative

symptoms are primarily tied to reported severe, as well as chronic physical and
sexual abuse, which according to the subjects started at an early age, and
occurred in a disturbed and emotionally neglectful family of origin.” (p. 727)
Diseth (2005) mentioned research literature showing that neurological factors

can also predispose to dissociation. They include repeated minor cerebral
traumas in early childhood and mild traumatic closed head injury in children.
However, the most important predisposing factors are still in the line of trauma
from emotional maltreatment and neglect, emotional and physical abuse and,
of course, sexual abuse.
Diseth (op. cit.) mentions the negative effects of prolonged stress on the brain
of developing children as the increased levels of cortisol can produce toxic
effects. Such effects are particularly severe in early life as they might reduce
cell migration, glial mitosis, myelination, atrophy of dendrites and early
degeneration or death of neurons. In turn, the affected areas in the developing
brain are those with many glucocorticoids receptors, such as the limbic system
and the neocortex, but also the hippocampus, known to have a key role in
memory.
In detail, observed consequences of prolonged stress to children’s brains

include:
a) a pathological response from the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis

(HPA), including a down-regulation of the production of cortisol that
could account for abused children’s inability to react to threats as
they just manifest a passive fear;
b) a pathological sympathetic and catecholamine response (increase in
secretion of noradrenaline and dopamine) that could correspond to
prolonged stress and intense responses to minor situations somehow
connected with the basic traumatic ones;
c) a parasympathetic nervous system response that could account for
dissociative symptoms. During a frightening, inescapable situation,
the child could dissociate from the actual reality. The activation of the
vagus nerve by noradrenaline would slow heart rate and bring down
blood pressure; the increased release of endorphins in the brain
would, in its turn, account for loss of attention and disengagement
from reality.
In general, prolonged stress produces alterations in general brain functions,

particularly higher activity in the right brain hemisphere, mostly in the areas
connected with emotional arousal, while the Broca area in the left hemisphere
is mostly turned off. This last fact helps us to understand that children have
mostly physical memories instead of verbal ones when re-experiencing a
trauma. Also here, regression therapies may be a lot more helpful than general
verbal ones, as they appear to bring easily pre-verbal memories.
Limbic system dysfunctions are also found. Structurally, there may be a

reduction in total brain volume, specifically in the corpus callosum,
hippocampus, amygdala and left prefrontal cortex.
Critics of regression therapy rarely take into account something quite familiar
to regression therapists: there may be several layers of contact and memory
building for the same experience and one can access them through
consciousness change techniques. A memory could be distorted at one level,
but found intact at another, as if several imprints of the same event did happen
simultaneously at several levels or structures. We also know that memory
retrieval is 'state specific'—and this state can be both the emotional and the
consciousness state.
One woman was suffering from extremely severe general amnesia after major
brain damage, but could still recover memories from her recent life and her
past as a three-year old child under hypnosis—a fact that we could corroborate
with her parent’s independent testimony.
Loftus, Garry and Feldman (1994) concluded that many people can in fact
forget past situations of childhood sexual abuse. The same can happen,
already one year later, with reports of car accidents or other traumatic
situations, showing that such forgetting is not exclusive to sexual trauma.
From clinical experience we know that it is possible to help such people retrieve
lost memories and deal with them therapeutically.
Another area to be considered when we deal with memory issues is research on

flashbulb memories. According to Davidson et al. (2005), flashbulb memories
are vivid, enduring memories of surprising and shocking events. Flashbulb
memories involve both memory of the event and its source. The authors found
evidence for probable roles of specific brain areas in the formation of flashbulb
memories and also recognized that 'flashbulb situations' produce more
accurate and consistent memories.
While most studies of flashbulb memories involve public events, they may also
concern private ones (Thomsen & Dorthe, 2003). In both cases, they are 'more
likely to be formed when an episode is important, emotionally intense, and
unusual' (op. cit., p. 566). So their phenomenological relevance would be more
important than their consistency over time.
Bohannon, Gratz and Cross (2007) reviewed several studies on flashbulb

memories, with their characteristic of being vivid and formed during shocking
events. These studies attempted to explain how much they are reconstructed
later and to which extent strong emotions produce strong engrams. This last
aspect remains undisputed: emotion—particularly shock—produces strong
memories that may be consistent over time.
The authors show that the source of the shocking event may be important in
the formation of memories that are more accurate (media, with details and
neutral information as sources) or more personalized and eventually less
precise (persons as sources).
In the same line, Lanziano, Curci and Semin (2010) concluded that emotional
states contribute powerfully to the building of strong memories, be it about
specific items or the context of events. “People have vivid recollections of when
they heard the news, where they were, what they were doing, and with whom.”
(p. 473)
However, reconstruction processes also affect those memories, so that their

accuracy may not correspond entirely to its apparent vividness and detail. They
mention the 'Now Print! Theory' by Livingston (1967), who asserted that an
underlying neuronal mechanism would serve an evolutionary function, helping
ancestors identify dangerous situations and remember their environmental

correlates.
In an experiment, the authors demonstrated that subjects can from an

emotional situation indeed retain details that are both relevant or irrelevant,
central or peripheral: both the event and its context. However, such details
may upon recall of the events be affected by reconstruction, based on schemata
available to the individual and the search for congruency. Therefore, the
authors conclude that exposure to an emotional event produces both direct
and indirect effects on memory. Both immediate, direct imprint and later
elaboration influence what will be recalled.
Flashbulb memories are a typical example of how traumatic situations can

produce powerful memories, even if there is no guarantee of their accuracy. In
the next section, we will be talking about some theoretical implications.
The glasses we use: early life emotional tones, trauma and 'computer
viruses'
Obviously, we build cognitive and emotional structures partially on the basis of
our experience. Our earliest experiences pave the way for how we construct our
vision of the world along with our identity. We also know that love deprivation
(from neglect or with physical and sexual abuse) can produce later poor mental
and physical health, in the same way abundant love and loving care produce
its opposites: better general health and resilience (Rodrigues, 2008).
David Chamberlain (1998) has shown convincingly that we do develop

extremely early memories that may be recovered even in adult life—and of
course influence it. We know (see section above) that the earlier the abuse (sex
or violence or both), the stronger the later emotional and behavioral
disturbances.
Our own clinical experience goes in the same direction and we can add
something: clients in regression therapy describe sometimes pre-natal,
perinatal or events at a very young age, even past lives. And whatever the
accuracy of their recall, clinical benefits are often obvious. How and why?
We have observed many times that, when clients recall emotionally traumatic
events, they are surprised to find out they forgot very relevant details. They
may have vivid, spontaneous recall of painful, violent or scaring events, but
many times, they forgot the way they interpreted them.
For instance, one of our clients could recall seemingly completely the sequence
of a car accident, but had forgotten the moment he turned back and saw the
wreck of the car he just had left, some ten seconds before it was bursting into
flames. He had forgotten how he thought, 'Driving can have you dying in
flames.' Later he could not explain how he became too afraid of driving, as
previously he loved it. He knew it should be related to the car accident, but
could not explain why, since he recalled a benign accident he, along with the
driver, came out of unscathed. It is a well-known research fact that emotions
are at least partially the product of evaluations of stimuli. Of course, this can
be a fast, automatic and unconscious process (see f. i., Scherer, 2000).
During therapy, many clients re-experience some situation or cluster of

situations with strong emotional relevance and then, only when in an altered
state of consciousness that allows them to do so, they understand how they
produced some idea or emotional and physiological pattern that later deeply
conditioned their emotions and even how they perceived the physical and social
world. This amounts to say that they somehow program their later emotional
symptoms, as a sort of 'computer virus.'
Usually, we only suspect ‘computer viruses’ somewhere in our system because

of changes in the behavior of the computer like making it fuzzy, slow, losing
information and so on. We suspect something, but we don’t know what it is,
how and when it entered our system. With 'cognitive-emotional viruses,' we
also know there is something wrong with our behavior and our feelings, but we
don’t know where this is coming from or we don’t know in what way. In
traumatic situations – when our emotional agitation tends to produce strong
memories but also prevents us from using cold logic or being scientific about
it—we produce many times a kind of lesson, a sort of 'moral of the story' that
later becomes our 'computer virus'. It can be something like 'I will never trust
any men’ (after being deceived by a fiancé) or 'people are bad' (after repeated
physical abuse) or 'dogs are awful' (after being bitten by a dog).
The main point here is that later we may forget the detail that is emotionally
most relevant – and then it doesn’t matter how accurate are the other data in
the memory. Sometimes it seems as if our body has become afraid of
something, like the needle that extracted our blood when we were babies; the
spoilt milk that produced an almost deadly diarrhea.
To our knowledge, only regression therapy of some kind will later help
deciphering the riddle of how and why we have such 'gut reactions' to
situations—as may happen with phobias. It becomes of the utmost importance
to recover memories and past experiences that may not be accessible to verbal
therapies or even some somatic approaches, and also because the part of
reprogramming after getting rid of the 'computer virus' is fundamental. We
must help the client re-think, re-build his vision or feelings, and so 'purge' the
virus from the computer system. In this way, we may compare regression
therapy to an anti-virus program.
To illustrate the previous discussion, let us describe some clinical examples of

what regression therapy can accomplish with sexuality.
Case 1: Hypertension
Martha was a 56-year-old married woman, working in a shop and usually
showing an assertive personality and a positive attitude. She did have some
issues with her husband, some conflict, but a normal sex life. She wasn’t
manifesting depressive or anxious or dissociative features, although she didn’t
seem very aware of her body. She complained of 'essential hypertension,' and
this led us to extreme caution in dealing with her, first checking her medication
and her blood pressure. For two years, it was around 12:16 [120/90], too high,
even with medication. So our first sessions only dealt with relaxation, trying to
bring the blood pressure down. She dropped to 11:15 [113/83], but no better
than this.
We suspected that some unconscious motive might be underlying her trouble.

We decided to conduct a very careful regression therapy session, always ready
to 'bring her back' in case of a strong emotional episode. She then unexpectedly
reported an episode of sexual abuse, from her uncle, when she was aged four.
This helped her to tell and to express what happened and exploring the
emotional and physiological consequences.
One week later, she had stopped her medication and had stable blood pressure
at 8:12 [90/60]. It remained like that, allowing us to think that probably this
major improvement was related to the clinical session. Of course, we wouldn't
trust this memory to hold up in court—but Martha wasn’t interested in
bringing charges against her uncle. She was quite happy with the therapeutic
results.
Case 2: The Gunman

Therese was a thin, tall, elegant woman in her thirties, working as an architect.
She had no depressive or anxious symptoms in general, but she was very
suspicious of men, tending to become aggressive towards any (even gentle)
advances from them, keeping them at a distance. She did feel attracted towards
men and even had a boyfriend with whom—this had been an exception—she
could feel pleasure and even sometimes achieve orgasm. However, her general
distrust was showing even in this relationship and it was difficult for her to
deal with sexual issues.
Several sessions were necessary for her to develop some trust in us and allow
herself to relax somewhat. Finally, during a successful session, she saw herself
as an old, big and heavy American cowboy. She felt even his large mustache,
the way he balanced his big body—and the way he abused women and took
advantage of them, humiliating and abandoning them.
At the end of the session, Therese was surprised how intensely she had felt this
different body – and also had understood that she was actually distrusting men
because of her own 'inside man' from the past, who had been severely abusing
some women. We helped her process this experience and somehow forgive her
'inner man.' We cannot say that this was factually a real past life, but this
session was followed by important improvements in her relationship to men in
general and more specifically to sex life.
Case 3: the Grandfather

Mary was a successful teacher, aged 40, divorced, with two healthy children.
Being an elegant, attractive lady, she had easy success with men and managed
to have a rewarding sex life. The complaint that brought her to therapy was
depression. Her depressive symptoms were serious: she had a medical leave
from her work, felt very sad, with feelings of worthlessness even though
obviously having a successful career. She was working on her PhD and was
quite popular among peers.
During therapy, we resorted to regression as she had no clues about the

origins of her suffering, besides a poor relationship with her mother that also
wasn’t understandable from events she could recall.
During the first sessions, she described an episode of childhood abuse. At first
she only saw a male figure that scared her and made her feel sick. Later she
identified it as being her grandfather, who had sexually abused her at age six.
We helped her process this episode and she thought she could forgive her now
deceased grandfather. She felt better and decided to stop the therapeutic
process a few sessions later, even declaring that she had the feeling that later
something else would need to be understood. She got back to her teaching job
and work on her PhD.
About one and a half years later she came back, feeling depressed again. This
did not surprise us, as she had interrupted the sessions too soon. Now she was
determined to go wherever she had to, so that she would get rid of the
depressive feelings. She was a determined woman. This time she allowed
herself to dive deeper and allow any contents to become conscious. She
described how her grandfather abused her for years, from a few months of age
until she was close to seven. He had her to perform oral sex on him many
times. She felt resentful towards her mother, whom she suspected had also
been abused by her grandfather when she had been young. Her mother would
allow the grandfather to 'take care of her' when she went for work.
She kept the abuse to herself as she felt hopeless, betrayed by her mother, and
with no way out. This was connected with the depressive feelings. As a child,
she did not know how to break the cycle of abuse as she was too young and
dependent on her mother and her grandfather. She felt hopeless and, to some
extent, worthless and polluted.
As part of the therapy, we helped her find her inner health resources and
understand that although her body had been abused, her soul had been
unpolluted and out of reach. She could also find her way to forgive her mother
and get rid of her grandfather’s traces at last. She got a lot better after this and
to our knowledge she still is. Even after the first therapeutic series she had felt
more alive and able to enjoy life—and now this was even better.
These three cases illustrate how regression therapy can help to deal with half-
remembered sexual abuse. We can use it to uncover hidden, forgotten or
repressed contents and to help people deal with them therapeutically. We may
access contents that are normally not available to the usual forms of
conscious, verbal processing and memory, and so help clients to rebuild their
views about themselves and find new meanings and new life decisions.
Especially when dealing with sexual trauma, regression is useful, since in

normal, conscious and rational states of mind, many people have a hard time
recalling and expressing such memories. Painful and shameful sexual
memories are among the hardest to access and retrieve, particularly because—
as we saw before, our mind can easily distort or dismiss them—and many
times does not even allow us to start a quest that may unveil the unthinkable.
So this is another, very important, area, where Regression Psychotherapy helps
people rebuild their relation with themselves, other people and the world they
are living in. And specifically the relationship with their own bodies, who may
have become unacceptable after abuse and 'pollution.'
Regression psychotherapy is an anti-virus program. And sometimes it is

homecoming in our own life, in our own body.
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Brain Research, Meditation and Regression

by Hans TenDam, MA, CRT
The author discusses the research into the neurological correlates of

meditation practices. There seem to be two general types of meditation,
each with its own neurological signature. These are compared to
regression therapy, which is hypothesized to be a third type.
During meditation brain activity changes: in frequency, in location, in
coherence. Meditation practices of the concentration-type eliminate all
mental content, emptying the mind of everything besides the
concentrating mind itself. Meditation practices of the mindfulness-type
stay with the actual moment and all that entails, inside and outside.
These practices focus on or contemplate what is present, while being as
calm and complete as possible.
Regression seems a third road, though the results may be comparable.
Meditation is attentiveness training. In regression we don't train
attentiveness; we induce a natural flow of awareness from experiencing
a problem, discovering its source, and flowing towards its solution.
Regression seems more comparable to absorption of the attention
experienced in reading or hearing stories, listening to music, or after
hypnotic inductions.
Meditation can be therapeutic, especially for depression. The meditator
learns to see negative thoughts as observable mental contents rather
than the self. This is also true for regression, though we rarely consider
it in this way. Only when a regression leads to catharsis does the
similarity with meditation become striking. A deep catharsis
approaches the mystical qualities of deep meditative states.
Further neurological research won't improve that process, though we
may discover what neurological conditions may hinder or limit
regression experiences and their therapeutic results.
Some time ago, I came across an article that reviewed 50 years of neurological
research on meditation and similar states. I devoured it. What did I learn?
Quite a lot, and not so much. What does brain research of meditative states
teach us? Quite a lot about what is happening inside the brain. Not so much
about meditative states, though it may give some pointers as to what may
happen in the brain during regression.
The summarized research gives an idea of what is happening in the brain

during meditation and what is typical for the brain of experienced meditators,
even when they are not meditating. Different kinds of meditation have been
compared: Yoga, Vipassana, TM, Qigong, guided meditation, Zen, Christian
prayer, hypnosis, alpha-training. Qigong has meditators sense the Qi or subtle
energy in the body and manipulate it by will, physical postures, and

movements. Ananda Marga meditation concentrates on the breath, followed by
mantra meditation.
I am not sure why all these research has been done. Maybe to explain
meditative experiences by what is happening in the brain. But nowhere have
meditative states been produced by changing something in the brain. And, yes,
all of these brain states have been changed by meditation. It is like explaining
the behavior of cars by what is happening inside the car and considering the
people driving them as concepts rather than reality.
Anyway, what do we know now about meditation that we didn’t know before all
this research? Different forms of meditation engage different neural structures.
Two different types of meditation produce two different types of brain states.
And that also gives us a framework for comparing meditation and regression
experiences.
Following Cahn and Polich, meditation is classified into two types:

concentration and mindfulness. Yoga is at one end of the spectrum: more
concentration, removed from sensory experience. Zen is at the other end: more
mindfulness, including sensory experience. Transcendental Meditation is in
between.
Neurological effects of meditation

Brain activity is measured by recording its electrical activity, by brain wave
frequencies (from fast to slow: gamma, beta, alpha, theta and delta), by
magnetic resonance, by blood flow, and by glucose consumption. Usually, the
brain activity is measured in different areas: front and rear; left, middle, and
right; cortex and deeper brain levels.
No general difference in hemispheric functioning has been found during

meditation. Appetitive and approach-oriented emotions are characterized by a
left-over-right prefrontal activity; avoidance and withdrawal by right-over-left
prefrontal dominance. Left dominates in happier states and traits; frontal left
or right dominance is related to approach; frontal right dominance is related to
withdrawal.
During meditation, alpha and theta waves become coherent within and
between the brain halves. Alpha coherence increases during episodes of
thoughtless awareness or transcendental experiences.
Experienced meditators show more theta and alpha, both in and out of
meditation, compared with novices and with people who never meditated. The
more experienced the meditators, the stronger the effects.
Alpha increases when the blood flow in the cortex decreases. Sensory
stimulation and focusing attention decrease alpha. In meditators at rest, alpha
is stronger compared with controls at rest. In early biofeedback studies more
alpha correlated with less anxiety and feeling calm and positive. Increased
alpha could be correlated with relaxation and with choosing to meditate, but
not all meditation studies show an alpha effect. Meditation affects the
distribution within alpha: slower and with more power.
In the long run, meditation may lead to increased theta rather than increased
alpha. In comparison, concentration produces more theta, while the more
passive form of meditation does not. With novice meditators, global theta was
higher during resting than during meditation, implicating drowsiness as the
source of their theta.
Physiologically, meditation seems a twilight condition between being awake and

being asleep. However, drowsiness decreases coherence, while meditation
increases coherence. Cerebral blood flow increases during meditation, and
decreases in sleep.
Accomplished meditators who report awareness throughout sleep had more

fast theta and slow alpha during deep sleep. Long-term meditators not
reporting awareness throughout the sleep cycle also exhibited more theta and
alpha during deep sleep, but of less amplitude.
Long-term meditators had slower mean frequency and greater theta–alpha at

rest, widespread increases in theta and early alpha, and more coherent theta.
Theta increases in the bliss state and decreases when thinking. Meditation
focused on relaxation increases theta all over.
EEG meditation studies reveal an overall frequency slowing and stronger theta
and alpha when in the meditative state. Findings of increased power coherence
and gamma band effects with meditation are emerging.
Dopamine release increases 65% during meditation. That may explain its self-
reinforcing nature once proficiency is attained.
Psychological effects of meditation

Meditation lowers anxiety, develops more emotional stability, inner-
directedness, higher moral reasoning and transcendental awareness.
The primary domain affected by meditation is attention. Meditation can be

considered attention training. Meditators focus better, and more experienced
meditators focus better than less experienced ones. Studies of breath-focused
meditation with children and adults show improvements in ignoring
distractions.
Research suggests a neural correlate for the altered sense of space in

meditation. Several investigations have found brain activity typical for weaker
self, non-self-boundaries.
Mystical experiences resemble psychiatric depersonalization, ecstasy, and

drug-induced hallucination. Emotional and volitional detachment is common
throughout meditation. Meditative and religious traditions include calm
peacefulness, less internal dialogue, perceptual clarity and awareness merging
with the object of meditation. Meditators observe thoughts and feelings instead
of identifying with them and may have mystical experiences of blissful
absorption into the current moment, named samadhi, nirvana, or oneness.
Some meditators consistently report feelings of love during meditation,

although these experiences are often not the goal. In that state, some
meditators showed greater frontal gamma than alpha. Also found was a
significant increase in gamma coherence. For effective meditations, gamma
may play a prominent role.
Clinical effects of meditation

People exhibiting more theta, especially more frontal theta, experience less
anxiety. This may be associated with feelings of peace or bliss and low thought
content that have been correlated with bursts of theta. Hypnotic states also
exhibit frontal midline theta, just as self-regulation by biofeedback does.
Long-term meditation leads to deep calm, increased comfort, heightened

perception, and a different relationship to thoughts, feelings, and experience of
self. States of awareness referred to as ‘the witness’ or ‘transcendental
experience’ are also claimed to ensue. This contentless awareness independent
of mental activities can be present during deep sleep. The sense of self shifts
from a self-awareness centered in the body to an impersonal beingness with
less separation between the observer and the observed.
Meditation increases well-being and lessens anxiety and stress. Mindfulness

practice also has been shown to lessen pain, stress-related skin disorders, and
to improve the immune system.
Mindfulness meditation has successfully treated depression and prevents

relapse. The key seems to be—and this is also interesting for us as
regressionists—to experience negative thoughts as observable mental contents
rather than as the self.
A different light on regression therapy

A number of the concomitants of effective meditative states are encountered in
regression at the time of catharsis. In research into brainwave patterns during
regression, the simultaneous appearance of beta and delta waves resembles
somewhat the incidence of both lower theta and of gamma frequencies during
meditation. And a deep catharsis approaches the almost mystical qualities of

deep meditative states.
The way we regressionists try to reach catharsis is almost the opposite of what
meditators do: we enhance the negative mind state of the client and use that as
a direct way to discover the origins of that negative mind state. Paradoxically,
welcoming the problem, evoking it, has at the same time an associative and a
dissociative aspect. It becomes something within us that we can handle. The
handler and the handled become two. The contents of a regression session also
become observable mental contents rather than the self, no matter how intense
they are experienced.
Also, paradoxically, while we are enlarging the self our more inner self becomes
the subject, and the problematic self becomes the object. When we allow our
emotions, our bodily sensations, or thoughts to appear, they appear as actors
and acts in the ring of our inner circus, while we are—however engrossed—the
spectator. The fact that we work with subpersonalities and ego-states,
strengthens the center instead of confusing and blinding it. That is, with the
exception of psychotic and borderline people—which is why we rarely work with
them, at least not straightaway.
The regression experience seems a third road in addition to concentration and

mindfulness. It is not about exorcising the troubling and confusing contents in
our mind; it is not about calming them, but about unshackling them and
giving them full space in the ring. We dissolve chaos by setting it free and
letting it run its natural course.
Neurologists will be interested in finding out what's going on in the brain

during an effective regression. Júlio Peres from Brazil studied patients who had
regression experiences during a MRI-scan.
It will shed new light on what is happening in such moments in the body. It
won't shed light on the regression process itself, though we may discover what
physiological conditions may hinder regression experiences and their
therapeutic results.
The limited brain research that has been done into regression experiences has
focused on the possibility of regression experiences being like reliving known
memories and not like engaging in fantasies. It might be more interesting to
find out what happens during reliving traumatic events and during catharsis
and healing. Of course, such processes will be hindered by measuring
equipment and research conditions. Nonetheless, similarities and differences
with meditative states may be enlightening.
References
Cahn, B. R. & Polich, J. (2006). Meditation states and traits: EEG, ERP, and
neuro-imaging studies. Psychological bulletin, 132, No. 2, 180–211.
Lucas, W. B. (1989). Mind Mirror Research on the Retrieval of Past Lives.

Journal of regression therapy, 4, No.2.
Peres, J. F. P., Mercante, J. P., Nasello, A. G. (2005). Psychological dynamics

affecting traumatic memories: Implications in psychotherapy. Psychol
psychotherapy, 78, 431-447.
Peres, J. F. P., Newberg, A. B., Mercante, J. P., & Sima, M., Albuquerque, V. E.,
Peres, M. J. P., et. al. (2007). Cerebral blood flow changes during retrieval of
traumatic memories before and after psychotherapy: A SPECT study.
Psychol med., 37, 1481-1491.
Peres, J. F., McFarlane, A., Nasello, A. G., & Moores, K. A. (2008). Traumatic
memories: Bridging the gap between functional neuroimaging and
psychotherapy. Aust N Z J psychiatry, 42, 478-488.
Biased Evaluations of Regression Experiences: how reincarnation

disbelievers subjectively interpret data
by Jan Erik Sigdell, Ph.D.
Several cases of past-life regression experiences have been investigated

by various authors, some of them in a rather biased way. The apparent
intent was to find errors and doubtful contents that could disprove the
reality of the experience and classify it as cryptomnesia or even
fantasy. A few such cases are reevaluated and other kinds of errors
exposed, amounting to false conclusions, inadequate reasoning and
improper analysis. The cases reviewed are the Matthew case of
Jonathan Venn, the O’Malley and Dick Wonchalk cases of Edwin Zolik
and the Dorothy case of Reima Kampman. The tendentious way of
reasoning in the evaluation of these cases is based on the preconceived
idea that reincarnation is impossible and, therefore, eliminates the
reincarnation hypothesis. A balanced and unbiased evaluation has to
consider both views: seeking an explanation under the hypothesis of
reincarnation as well as under the hypothesis that there is no
reincarnation. Here, the former view prevails since the latter view has
already been applied by these authors.
A few cases of regression experience have been investigated in a rather

tendentious manner and then became spread as “proofs” against reincarnation,
since the experience “obviously” resulted from cryptomnesia. I here intend to
reinvestigate four such investigations to show that the claimed results are not
conclusive, but largely guided by the preconceived intention to arrive at this
kind of “proof”, and therefore have a touch of “wishful thinking”.
Furthermore, one who has a long experience with regression therapy will be
quite aware that facts and data, which our rational mind is eager to find and
evaluate, are of a secondary importance to the soul. What is more important to
the soul is why something happened, and maybe how, but hardly where and
when (Sigdell, 1995). In respect to karma it is also important for the soul to
know what lessons it should learn from its experiences and the relationships to
other souls involved. So when a subject is asked for data that are irrelevant to
his soul, however relevant it may appear to someone else’s rational mind, it is
inconclusive.
The Matthew case of Jonathan Venn

The American psychologist and hypnotherapist Jonathan Venn has reported a
case of regression under hypnosis (Venn, 1986). The actual patient, called
Matthew, experienced himself as the French pilot Jacques Gionne Trecaulte
who died August 1914 in the First World War from being shot by a German
pilot. The shot hit his chest and Matthew related this to his strong chest pains
for which no medical explanation had been found. These chest pains
disappeared after his third regression. Jacques Gionne Trecaulte was allegedly
shot by a machine gun, but such guns were not installed in German planes
before October 1914. Wow, an error! The minor difference of not more than two
months became a decisive factor. The not very improbable possibility that a few
German planes were experimentally equipped with machine guns at an earlier
date, before doing it with all of them, was not taken into consideration. Also not
considered is that it may have been another kind of gun fire that the American
client interpreted as one might expect it to day. The statement “August 1914”
may quite easily be an unconscious estimate or guess and will not be accurate.
Of 30 facts that could be checked, mainly by means of American sources, 16
were correct and 14 “false”, among the latter the machine-gun fire, which
should be regarded as an uncertainty rather than an error. Many other facts
declared as “false” concern names of places that—mainly according to
American documents—appear to be non-existent in France. Most of the 17
further facts could only be investigated through French sources, in mail
correspondence with French authorities, who found them inapplicable or not
identifiable. Venn did not research all this in France himself, which is
understandable in view of the effort that would have been required.
Nevertheless, Venn visited Thionville, where Jacques claimed to have lived. If,
however, Jacques had lived and if Venn had personally done a more extensive
research in France, a different picture might have evolved.
A few other researchers of regression cases, like Linda Tarazi, did go through
extensive and time-consuming efforts of researching themselves at actual
locations, and even found confirmations where the authorities did not (or did
not invest much interest in the question). To declare all such facts as “false” is
jumping to a conclusion, since “unconfirmed” would be the honest statement.
Among these facts is the name Jacques Gionne Trecaulte that was not verified
by (mainly remotely) consulting French archives. Does that really prove that he
never existed or is this just another “unconfirmed” statement? One will have to
question if the name was spelled correctly. There is also a place named
Trecaulte with a large soldier cemetery from the First World War. Should the
possibility have been checked that one was actually dealing with “Jacques
Gionne from Trescault” (or maybe buried in Trescault)? Or a different spelling?
There are family names like “Geonne” and “Giaunne”, which are pronounced
very similarly. As we can see, various alternatives are often not taken into
consideration, especially when (as in this case) the “remote researcher” knows
no French.
One might have discovered that a village Airons exists west of Thionville
(though quite far from there, whereas the name “Arions” was not found, “error”
17), that there really is a St. Joseph’s Church in Paris (but it is not a cathedral,
“error” 18), that a name Neuviere might apply where “Nieuvere” was not found
(“error” 30), and so on. Why could not a French pilot have participated, even
though the British kept reconnaissance over the German invasion (“error” 27)?
And though the Germans temporarily called the town “Diedenhofen” during
their occupation, the French will no doubt have continued to call it Thionville
(“error” 32)! Thus we could continue to tediously go through all the data
marked as “false” in the table of Venn and question quite a number of such
statements.
The real intention of Venn, in view of his Christian background (Venn, 1966,
pp. 3-6), appears to be building a case for cryptomnesia. He states that
attempts to exclude cryptomnesia would be paradoxical, since if data exist,
they are available to both the researcher and the client and he asks how we
would prove that the client had no access to them. But he does not consider
the reverse: how would we prove that in fact he had such access? The latter
would at least need to be shown as probable on the basis of evidence. The mere
existence of information cannot be regarded as proof. Venn’s demand for
absolute accuracy is sometimes extreme. Matthew stated that German troops
crossed the Belgian border August 3, 1914 … “false” … it was August 4. A
difference of only one day is sufficient for Venn to declare the statement as
wrong! It must indeed be exact to be accepted by him, and that looks like
intention. The information about the marriage of Jacques and Monique April
1912 is also stated as false, as well as the maiden name of Monique and that
they had a son. How could Venn claim falsehood when he could not verify
Jacques’ existence? Family data belong in the list of errors (when that is what
they really are) only if the person can be identified, since they can otherwise
not be investigated; otherwise they are they are merely unconfirmed. Declaring
them as “false” may be regarded as misleading.
In our society it is quite normal to allow for and accept uncertainties and
inaccuracies in people’s memories, and that is even more motivated in
the case of past-life memories.
Alternative spellings are not considered by Venn. Only the spellings that are
conceived by Matthew’s and Venn’s American minds are considered to be
“correct” French. There would, for example, be no “General Clermond” – but
there could well have been a Clairmond, Clairemond or Clairmont. The same
applies to various names of places and streets. Without a sufficiently long and
active personal sojourn in France, Venn’s research lacks in reliability and
becomes primarily a “desktop research”. He could take an example from Tarazi.
The consequence is, therefore, that the Matthew case is not disproven
but only brought to question, since several “errors” are nothing more
than unconfirmed statements that were not (or could not be) sufficiently
investigated.
“Debunking test”
Edwin S. Zolik has introduced a method (Zolik, 1958; 1962) for “debunking” a
regression experience. The person is again hypnotized and asked where he or
she in the current life read or heard about the actual experience or a similar
story. Zolik reports a case in which a man experienced himself as being an

Irishman by the name Brian O’Malley.
Zolik’s main case

According to the experience, Brian O’Malley had been an officer in “Her
Majesty’s Irish Guard” and died in 1892 after a falling from a horse. The client,
who had that experience, was soon hypnotized again and asked if he had
known or seen the story from a book or a movie. The question seemed to
confuse him. He was then instead asked if his parents had told him about it. At
that point he remembered that his grandfather had had a conflict with a
certain Timothy O’Malley, an Irish soldier in the British Army, who he hated,
since he had to leave Ireland because of him. That man would have died after
an accident with a horse. The first names are different and no other fitting
information than the horse accident could be found concerning Timothy
O’Malley.
The client’s grandfather was not his real grandfather, but the father of his
foster-father. The client‘s mother had died and his real father had given him to
be cared for by another family. The man he called grandfather did not like the
child. The boy had once taken a horse out of the stable and later returned it
without any harm. The grandfather was furious when he found out about that.
After this incident, the boy did everything he could to be accepted by the
grandfather, apparently much in vain.
Now Zolik wants to interpret this as if the man had unconsciously identified
himself with O’Malley to please him, which seems quite far-fetched. Why
should he of all people identify himself with someone the grandfather hated?
And why did the first names not fit? Zolik gave no explanation for that.
One may rather wonder if O’Malley and the grandfather came together for
karmic reasons since they needed to reconcile on the soul level. Thus Timothy
O’Malley could have reincarnated as the boy. That would fit the concept of
karma and also explain why the grandfather rejected the boy, in whom he
would (on the soul level) recognize his enemy. It does, however, not explain the
difference in the first names. But many persons have more than one first
name.
One remark by the man is retold by Zolik without any comment. Under
hypnosis the client had said “He killed … horse … horse” and was very excited.
That sounds as if someone had killed the horse and maybe thus caused the
accident. Who? Could it be the grandfather? Did he for that reason have to
leave Ireland? That could explain why the grandfather reacted so aggressively
when he found out that the boy had taken the horse out from the stable. These
are, of course, speculations, but why did Zolik not ask questions that could
clarify this?
In any case, a proof against reincarnation can hardly be derived from this.
Zolik’s way of asking questions is rather guiding and the answers also
contained information that apparently could not come from the grandfather.
O’Malley seems to have been a womanizer and when the client was asked if the
grandfather had told him that, he denied it. The grandfather had only talked
about a “blackguard”. The only data that really fit are the family name and the
riding accident.
To claim that this would prove cryptomnesia appears to have a touch of
“unscientific thinking” since other possible explanations were not considered.
However, alternative explanations would have to take the unwanted hypothesis
of reincarnation into consideration.
A further case of Zolik

Websites (German website on psi-info) and books (see f. i. Wiesendanger, 1991,
p. 134) refer to another case that Zolik (1962) investigated.
The actual client experienced himself as being a certain Dick Wonchalk in
1875, born in 1850. He lived alone at a river, much like a tramp, and lived
from fishing and nature. When it became cold, he went down along the river to
a town, where he sat around in taverns. He died in 1876 from a disease.
References claim that this case was “carefully researched” by Zolik, but
according to the report by Zolik himself (1962) it was done rather superficially.
It was “found” that the “fantasy” would come from a movie the person had seen
just a few years earlier, with a story that in a “major portion … was similar to
the fantasy” (author’s emphasis). The person could not tell the name of the
movie. Nothing more is mentioned about it. There is also no mentioning of the
name of the man at the river, nor of other facts or details in the movie that
could agree with the experience.
This cannot be called “careful research”, but it rather looks like Zolik saw a
preconceived idea confirmed and, therefore, took no interest in further
investigation, because he had what he wanted. Perhaps a further investigation
could even have endangered the desired result. The movie is only diffusely
mentioned and no effort to identify it is described. This is actually astonishing,
since it should not have been too difficult to identify the movie if the man saw it
some three years earlier, and then Zolik would most probably have mentioned
this.
Seen from the reincarnistic aspect, one may rather expect that the movie
became a bit of a déjà-vu experience, since the person had an unconscious
memory of a similar experience. It is, however, in such cases possible that in a
regression experience an own real experience mixes with details from (in this
case) a movie. This points at another difficulty in the evaluation of such
experiences. An agreement with a “source” in today’s life cannot exclude the
possibility that behind all that could also be a personal experience. The
agreement cannot be definitely regarded as disproving reincarnation.
Important question not asked!

A question that would have been important in this case is: “Why did that movie
make such an impression on you?” Did the regressor not think about asking
this, or did he maybe not want an answer that could jeopardize the desired
result?
It is quite obvious that such reports are too uncritically accepted by those who
oppose reincarnation, since they see what they want. The reproach is usually
made towards believers in reincarnation (in the case of a positive report), and is
often justified. But it is no less valid for those who seek to disprove
reincarnation.
The “rule” seems on both sides to be: go only as far as you see your
preconceived idea verified, but not further, because a continued investigation
could endanger your opinion.
A case in Finland
The Finnish psychiatrist Reima Kampman (1943-1992) adopted the “test” and
describes a case in which a young woman experienced herself as Dorothy in
medieval England (Kampman & Hirvenoja, 1978). She sang a “summer song” in
old-style English. In a second hypnosis session she was told to go back to a
situation in this life, in which she had the first time heard or read the song.
She actually had briefly passed through a book about the history of music
(Britten & Holst, 1960, p. 25), in which the song was printed, with musical
notes.
I have checked this information. In that book, only about a third of the song is
printed, which I found out since I discovered the whole text in another book
(Einstein, 1953, p. 21). Because Reima Kampman died in 1992, I contacted his
wife and sent her an audiocassette with the question, if I might have a copy of
the tape recording with Dorothy. The answer was that Reima Kampman had
accidentally erased the tape through recording something else on it. I then
asked if one had the impression that Dorothy had sung a whole song, or only a
part of it. To this I received no reply. If she had sung more than the minor part
printed in the Finnish book [9], the question would arise, from where she had
the rest?
In any case it has to be noted that the question was quite suggestive.
Kampman assumed from the beginning that the first contact with the song
must have occurred in this life and formulated the question accordingly and in
a rather guiding manner. A more objective procedure would have been to leave
fully open, where and when she the very first time heard or sung that song —if
in this life or before (in any case carefully leaving out any formulation which
refers only to this life today). But then Dorothy might have come up again, and
it almost looks as if one did not want to this to happen. Directing it all towards
this life turns the “test” into a kind of circular proof.
So why did the girl, passing through the book, notice that song in it and not
another? The reincarnistic explanation would be that she unconsciously
recognized it.
In April 2007 I had the opportunity to see a video recording about this case. In
this video, the woman actually does sing only as much as is printed in the
Finnish book. However, the video is obviously a remake, a later set-up and not
an original recording! It is said that the woman at that time (when she was a
young woman, almost a girl) knew no English, but that she learned the
language later. She is seen sitting hypnotized in front of a window with a wintry
landscape outside. Then she, with the same camera position, sits awake in
front of the same window with the same landscape outside and comments in
fluent English that this would only be a case of cryptomnesia, and that she
would not believe in reincarnation. Obviously in the same adult age as when
she is sitting there hypnotized.
This proves nothing! The only proof would be the original recording of the actual
first session with—at that time – the young woman. And that very recording is
said to have been accidentally erased by Kampman. One has a feeling as if one
wanted to avoid the sensitive question about how much she sang (others may
have asked it or one may simply have recognized that this could be a problem)
through a later setup with an adjusted version. Whatever —certain questions
remain unanswered: How could she at that time (without knowledge of English)
sing the song with a seemingly correct pronunciation of the ancient English,
and not pronounce the briefly seen words in quite a Finnish way (a point that
may easily be missed by persons who do not have some acquaintance with the
Finnish language). Kampman writes in his book that this has been confirmed
by a language specialist. And how could she, after only a glance at the song in
the book, also absorb the musical notes such that she sang the correct
melody? Could she read notes at that time? Would this not be better explained
though acoustic cryptomnesia, i.e., that she had also heard the song? There is
no indication that she did hear the song in today’s life —but she may well have
heard and even sung it—in a past life, and then it is not a case of
cryptomnesia...
In his book (Kampman, 1975) Kampman leaves the question about

reincarnation open. In his thesis (Kampman, 1973) he only briefly touches the
subject in the review of the literature. Information from a Finnish friend
indicates that Kampman came under criticism from colleagues, who regarded
him as too indulgent towards the reincarnation question, and that he came
under pressure to take a clearer stand against reincarnation. Could the video
be seen in this context?
References
Britten, B. & Holst, I. (1960). Musiikin vaiheet (History of Music), Porvoo,

Finland: Werner Söderström.
Einstein, A. (1953). A short history of music, London: Cassell.
Kampman, R. (1975). Et ole yksin, K.J. Gummerus, Jyväskylä, (Swedish

translation). Du är inte ensam, Stockholm: Askild & Kärnekull.
Kampman, R. & Hirvenoja, R. (1978). Dynamic relation of the secondary

personality induced by hypnosis to the present personality, in Fred H.
Frankel and Harold S. Zamansky, (Eds.). Hypnosis at its bicentennial, New
York: Plenum Press.
Sigdell, J. E. (1995). Are facts important to a soul? Reincarnation International,

London, No. 5, 13-15. Also http://www.christian-
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www.freewebs.com/professor_enigma/newage.htm.
A New European Case of the Reincarnation Type*

by Dieter Hassler, Dipl.-Ing. TH
When selection is restricted to solved cases not taking place in the

same family, there remain only a very small number of cases of the
reincarnation type (CORT) that have been reported for Europe. The case
described in this paper belongs formally to this rare category and
consequently deserves recording. A number of features of the case are
described: a premonition experienced by the subject’s mother; three
announcing dreams and their accuracy; the subject’s specific behavior,
especially that relating to the opposite sex; a specific ailment affecting
the subject; the subject’s special skills; and two incidents of a
psychokinetic or poltergeist nature experienced by the previous
personality’s mother after his death. Additionally, the case is rendered
particularly unusual because it involves a chance encounter between
the subject’s mother and the previous personality at the moment of the
latter’s death, suggesting that the case could have evolved because this
encounter offered an incentive for the previous personality to
reincarnate with this particular mother. Because of the possibility of
information leakage associated with this chance encounter, however
fleeting that may have been, this devalues the case with respect to the
child’s statements about his previous existence: at least in theory they
can be explained by normal means. It is therefore a minor drawback
that the case in hand is not particularly strong with regard to the
subject’s statements.
Introduction
Ian Stevenson, the father of reincarnation research, has denoted cases of
children (subjects) who spontaneously seem to remember previous lives as
‘cases of the reincarnation type’ (commonly referred to as CORTs). The richest
and most convincing come from South-East Asia (e.g. Mills, 1989; Mills &
Dhiman, 2011; Stevenson, 1975, 1977, 1983a), but they have been reported
from all countries where any effort has been made to find examples (e.g., Rivas,
2003; Stevenson, 1983b). The total number of European CORTs investigated is
rather small (Stevenson, 2003). They are harder to find than in other parts of
the world, which is probably why only a few researchers have made an effort to
* Ed. Also published January 2013 in the Journal of the Society for Psychical
Research, Vol. 77. No.910. See JSE Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 305-326 for counter
arguments for an explanation of these cases as “thought-bundles” as
proposed by Jürgen Keil.
look for them.
The majority of European CORTs either remain unsolved, meaning that a

previous personality could not be identified, or they are solved ‘in-family’ cases,
denoting that the subject and the previous personality belong to the same
family. In-family cases suffer from the intrinsic weakness that normal
information transferred from family members to the subject about the
circumstances of the previous personality cannot in principle be safely
excluded (information leakage). Thus statements made by the subject alone are
not sufficient to create a convincing or strong case.
In-family cases or, more broadly, cases with possible information leakage can
nevertheless be very suggestive of reincarnation, if in addition to statements
made by the subject they display other features, such as specific behavior,
special knowledge or abilities, or ailments or birthmarks corresponding to
wounds inflicted on the previous personality.
The CORTs most desirable to investigate are those in which memories cannot
easily be dismissed as having been acquired by normal means. As a rule these
conditions apply in cases that can finally be solved that involve two separate
families, who prior to attempts at solving had no contact with each other.
These are extremely rare in Europe. Ian Stevenson has been the main
researcher of CORTs worldwide, but from his publications we have just four
such solved non-in-family cases from Europe (Stevenson, 2003, pp. 51, 100,
105, 210). However, typical of many CORTs, these four also suffer from
weaknesses that reduce their value or support for the reincarnation
hypothesis; for example, in one of them (Wolfgang Neurath in Stevenson, 2003,
p.100) the subject’s and the previous person’s family were closely related as
neighbors, and another one (Helmut Kraus in Stevenson, 2003, p. 105) could
not be independently verified—as applies in the case described here.
There are a small number of additional such cases from other researchers, but
these also have flaws similar to those of the current case. Peter and Mary
Harrison (Harrison, 1991, p. 11) have contributed their case of ‘Nicola’, which
on closer examination still remains unsolved because references only to the
previous personality’s father, and not the (presumably male) previous
personality, could be found in documents. Another impressive case is that of
Jenny Cockell (1993, 2008), well-verified, but by the subject herself rather than
by independent researchers. To be generous, one might add to this category the
case of ‘Christina’, investigated and published by Rawat and Rivas in Holland
(Rawat, 2007, p. 95). The previous personality could not be verified, but a
probable identity was traced. It is in this context that we believe that the case
to be described here will be of some value as an instance of the rare category of
European solved non-in-family cases.
Background of the Case

I have made an effort to find CORTs in German-speaking countries since the
turn of the century. The majority of contacts I have had with parents whose
children claim to remember a previous life have been facilitated via the internet
(Hassler, 2012). But over a period of 10 years I have found only two cases that
were worth investigation and subsequent publication in a book in German
about CORTs (Hassler, 2011).
In November 2011 a priest of a local Christian parish (Christengemeinschaft

Erlangen, 2012), open to the idea of reincarnation and knowing of my interest
in CORT, informed me by telephone of a mother living close by who had
experiences with her son, who claimed to have lived before. I had no previous
acquaintance with this mother or her family.
On 8 November 2011, I had the first interview with the mother concerned,
whom I will call by the pseudonym ‘Mrs. Wolf’. She trained as a nurse and later
studied psychology at the university in Paris. She started her professional
career as a psychologist, and is now practicing psychotherapy in a private
practice. Forty-five years of age, she currently lives as a single mother together
with three of her five children. The subject of the case reported here is her third
child, a boy of 14 years, to whom I will give the pseudonym ‘Rolf’. He has two
older sisters and two younger ones.
Mrs. Wolf has been open to the concept of reincarnation since her youth.
She told her story willingly but said she would rather not have it published
under her real name: she wishes to avoid publicity for fear of being ridiculed.
Her narration kept to the point, with no excursions into esoteric arguments. I
therefore deem her account to be as objective as can be expected from a person
recalling events that occurred 10 to 16 years earlier. As it turned out, some of
the dates she gave were inaccurate by a year or two.
The sequence of events of events as told by the subject’s mother. 1
Premonitions - Mrs. Wolf reported that her experiences started in 1994 or

1995 (later investigation revealed that it was in fact in March 1996), when she
was attending a disco in Erlangen, Germany. The more the evening progressed
the more she grew apprehensive about driving home to Bamberg, where she
then lived. She did not know exactly why this feeling arose. It became so
intense towards the end of the event that in panic she was bold enough to ask
a man who was a complete stranger to her whether he would allow her to stay
with him overnight at his home. The only reason for this plea was to avoid the
need to drive home in her car. When her request was declined, she stayed at
the disco for as long as was possible, which was until at about 2 a.m., and
1 Thissection has been checked with Rolf’s mother to confirm that the facts are recorded
correctly.
then she was finally obliged to drive home. She decided to take the autobahn
(motorway) and, contrary to her normal practice, drove very slowly, at no more
than 80 km/h.
Another car on the autobahn overtook her, traveling at approximately 100

km/h. When it was back in her lane in front of her, she saw in the dim light
someone on the road being hit by this car and knocked down. Mrs. Wolf
stopped her car near the victim and pulled him clear of the carriageway. It was
a young man of about 18 years, and he looked at her for a brief moment before
falling unconscious. He began bleeding from the mouth and nose but not very
much. The lower part of his right leg was at an unnatural angle. Mrs. Wolf took
him in her arms and felt his pulse, which was becoming progressively weaker.
Fearing he was about to die she said to him: “Don’t be afraid. Go into the light
and accept the facts as they are.”
Not long after that he died in her arms: being trained as a nurse she was able
to recognize the signs. The ambulance helpers tried to revive the young man,
performing resuscitation on him for two hours, but to no avail.2
It was then that Mrs. Wolf surmised that the young lad had attempted suicide.
She believes that the strange feelings of panic she had at the disco were related
to these events.
Announcing Dreams - For the rest of that dreadful night she asked a female
friend to stay with her at her home. Towards dawn she succeeded in falling
asleep. She dreamt about the accident victim, seeing and recognizing him
clearly. He cuddled up to her and let her know his intention of coming to her,
saying he wanted to be
• This section has been checked with Rolf’s mother to confirm that the
facts are recorded correctly.
• This association of an ostensible case of reincarnation with a link forged
at the scene of a fatal road accident might make Ellis’s (2003)
speculations concerning such a link in an otherwise very different case
seem just a tiny bit less fanciful near her. She understood this to be a
desire to reincarnate into her family. In her dream Mrs. Wolf vehemently
opposed that idea. She did not want to burden herself with a suicidal
person, and said that he did not belong to her family and should return
to his own. However, he did not accept this argument, refusing to go to
his own family and insisting on coming to her as her child. They could
not reach any agreement.
2
This association of an ostensible case of reincarnation with a link forged at the scene of a fatal
road accident might make Ellis’s (2003) speculations concerning such a link in an otherwise
very different case seem just a tiny bit less fanciful.
The following night the same young lad appeared in a dream, again asking her
to become his mother. Mrs. Wolf was no less disapproving of this idea than the
night before. During the third night after the accident she dreamt of the young
man again. This time he was standing at a picturesque lake. Nearby, at a
cemetery on a hill, a funeral was taking place.3 They were standing at a
distance from the mourners. The man explained to her that this was his own
funeral. Mrs. Wolf was astounded and asked in her dream why he was being
buried near this lake. He answered that this was his home lake—Lago Maggiore
in Italy (later investigation revealed that the lake near the cemetery where he
was buried was Lago di Pieve di Cadore). To Mrs. Wolf this did not tally with
the man’s appearance, as he was fair-haired and blue-eyed instead of having
what she regarded as a typical Italian look.
Mrs. Wolf felt happy at the prospect that he would now go into the non-
physical realm and might no longer want to come to her. However, he distinctly
declared his desire to be with her, as he had done twice before. But this time
she gave way a little, saying she would accept his coming under the following
conditions: he must not have committed suicide; he should have cleared up
matters with his own family; and he should return in 18 months. In saying this
she had in the back of her mind that currently she had no husband or
boyfriend; that she was fully occupied in looking after her elder daughter, who
suffered from leukemia; and even if she did have an unplanned liaison, she
would use contraceptives. The young man in her dream indicated that he was
happy with this reply, embraced her and went off towards the funeral
procession. And so the dream ended.
Contact to the Victim’s Mother - Using the information from the obituary,
Mrs. Wolf contacted the deceased youngster’s mother and learned that he was
‘Mario’, a fair-haired, blue-eyed 18-year-old of German/Italian descent. Mrs.
Wolf said his parents lived part of the year in Italy near Lago Maggiore, where
their son was buried, and most of the year they ran a shop in Erlangen,
Germany (later it became clear that Mrs. Wolf’s memory concerning the specific
lake was erroneous).
She learned from Mario’s mother that, on the night of the accident, Mario had
returned to his parents’ home to take his mother’s car for a quick spin. On a
bend of the road near the autobahn he lost control of the car, which left the
road and overturned in an adjacent field. It was thought that he had been able
to get out virtually unharmed and that he must have run to the motorway,
presumably in shock, where he was hit by a car as already described. Whether
he had intended to commit suicide or only wanted to summon help is unclear.
3
In fact the funeral took place three or four days after the dream, but the decision to bury
Mario’s body in Pieve di Cadore had been made by Mario’s mother immediately after his death.
• In fact the funeral took place three or four days after the dream, but the
decision to bury Mario’s body in Pieve di Cadore had been made by Mario’s
mother immediately after his death.
In her conversation with Mario’s mother, Mrs. Wolf was careful not to reveal
any details of her dreams. She was afraid of ridicule, or of causing relationship
problems if the dream were to become reality.
Succeeding Events - One and a half years later, as Mrs. Wolf recounted, she
had an affair (later investigation revealed that it could have been no more than
nine months later). Realizing that the condom used had been defective, she
took the morning-after pill. Nevertheless she became pregnant. At the time she
had forgotten about her dream concerning Mario, so she made no connection
with the events reported above. On 9 September 1997, in Erlangen, Germany,
Mrs. Wolf gave birth to the fair-haired, blue-eyed boy to whom I have given the
pseudonym ‘Rolf’.
Statements Made by the Subject - One day when Rolf was three or four years
old he said spontaneously to his mother: “I have lived before. I died in a traffic
accident, but it was not so terrible. I was bleeding a little bit on my head and
my leg was hurting.”
This remark shocked her because, for the first time in years, she now
remembered the accident and her subsequent dreams. The boy’s description of
the accident was exactly the same as she recalled it: a little bleeding on the
head and a damaged leg. Rolf made his astonishing statement only once and
while he was alone with his mother, so there were no other witnesses.
Behavioral Features of the Subject - Mrs. Wolf (with no knowledge of the

statements Mario’s mother made later) characterizes her son as follows:
1. Trendy clothes are very important to him. He acts as a trendsetter in

clothing styles.
2. American clothes are his favored ones.
3. He takes hours to style his hair.
4. He uses perfume (not only body lotion) on his body.
5. He is a charming young boy who knows how to twist everybody round his
little finger.
6. His way of walking and his posture are a means of getting attention from
others.
7. Girls of his age adore him.
8. If he were allowed to he would dye his fair hair.
9. He is helpful to others.
10. He has practical skills (e.g. gardening, setting up electronic devices).
11. He once showed an astonishing skill for painting a portrait very rapidly,
but does not (yet) use this ability.
12. He is weak in resisting psychological pressure exerted on him.
13. He has shown some interest in religion and at his own request is going
to be confirmed.
14. He loves eating expensive meals.
15. He has no linguistic talent.
16. Some incidents suggest that he possesses some telepathic abilities.
The behavioral features 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8 can be interpreted as specifically
feminine. But as yet it is not clear whether Rolf will become homosexual or
transgender.
Bodily Features of the Subject - In CORTs not only behavioral features

should be compared between the subject and the conjectured previous person,
but bodily features as well, as has been shown by Stevenson (1997).
Rolf has an infirmity of the knees. Since the age of three he has been fond of
soccer and is training a great deal. At the age of twelve he began complaining
about a permanent aching of his right knee, which spread to the left one six
months later. He asked his mother to come with him to see a doctor. The
doctor diagnosed Osgood Schlatter’s disease and said that he would most
probably have got over this by the time he was 18.
He is highly allergic to pollen of many sorts.

His blue eyes and his fair hair are consistent with Mrs. Wolf’s genetic
disposition.
Investigation of the case

Mrs. Wolf has no written record of the events described above. As far as
possible witnesses are concerned, she declared that approximately six months
after Mario’s death she lost contact with the friend who kept her company for
the remainder of the night of the accident, and she is unable to re-establish
that contact. Nobody else was present when Rolf made his statements about
‘his’ accident, so there is no second witness for these statements. The only
independent witnesses to any of the events could possibly be her mother-in-
law and the parents of the victim, Mario. Her short contact with Mario’s mother
was discontinued just weeks after the accident. So the list of people to be
interviewed is short, comprising, on the subject’s side, Rolf and his mother,
Mrs Wolf, in Uttenreuth, and Mrs. Wolf’s mother-in-law in Erlangen; and on
the side of the previous personality, his father in Erlangen, and his mother in
Weikersheim, all of them living in Germany.
Result of the Interviews and Documents Found - I interviewed Rolf on 12

June 2012. Only recently, after our first contacts, had his mother informed
him about her experience on the autobahn, her dreams and her wondering
whether he could possibly be the reincarnation of Mario. He said that he had

no direct recollection of events from a previous life nor could he remember
having once told his mother about his death in a car accident. I showed him
ten items of Mario’s personal possessions mixed with ten objects from my own
household in order to see whether he recognized some of them and, if so, the
‘correct’ ones, but he did not recognize any of the objects. He was also taken to
Mario’s parents’ shop but likewise did not react with signs of recognition. These
negative results accord with what is known from

The behavioral features 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 8 can be interpreted as specifically

feminine. But as yet it is not clear whether Rolf will become homosexual or
transgender.
Statements about Mario’s Behavior and Character Compared with Rolf’s
Statements made by Rolf’s mother about Rolf

1. Trendy clothes are very important to him. He acts as a trendsetter in
clothing styles.
2. American clothes are favored.
3. He takes hours to style his hair.
4. He uses perfume (not only body lotion) on his body.
5. He is a charming young boy who knows how to twist everybody round his
little finger.
6. His way of walking and his posture are a means of getting attention from
others.
7. Girls of his age adore him.
8. If he were allowed he would dye his fair hair.
9. He is helpful to others.
10. He has practical skills (e. g. gardening, setting up electronic devices).
11. He once showed an astonishing skill for painting a portrait very rapidly,
but does not (yet) use this ability.
12. He is weak in resisting psychological pressure exerted on him.
13. He has shown some interest in religion and at his own request is going
to be confirmed.
Statements made by Mario’s mother about Mario - Fashionable clothing and

a perfect outfit were imperative. At school he was the clothing trendsetter.
1. American-style clothing was his favorite. He was very meticulous

about his hairstyle. He used perfume on his body.
2. He even shaved his body hair. He was very popular.
3. His gait was feminine and upright.
4. Girls of his age adored him, but he rejected their approaches.
5. Black hair was his favorite. From the age of 13 he knew he was gay
and fell in love with a black- haired (but white) boy. He did not color
his hair.
6. He darkened his skin using skin cream and a solarium.
7. He was helpful to others.
8. His practical skills became manifest when he learned with speed to
make ice cream or to drive a car. He ended his school career
prematurely because he saw his future in making and selling ice
cream.
Mario was good at drawing and painting. He once did a drawing over
the entire wall of his living room and an oil painting in one night.
9. Mario withstood the constant psychological pressure from his father
and sister but also clearly expressed a wish to die. Whether his death
must be understood as an escape from psychological pressure remains
undecided.
10. Mario showed an interest in religion (Scientology).
11. Once his greatest wish was to go for an exclusive dinner with his
mother.
12. He liked to speak broken German.
13. He had linguistic talent, speaking Italian, German and American
fluently.
14. He was learning French easily.
15. His mother granted him some telepathic abilities.
16. Good table manners.
Circumstances of Mario’s Death and his Burial - When he was thirteen,

Mario realized he was gay. A short time before his death he learned that a boy
with whom he had fallen in love was already engaged to another man and
wanted only a platonic relationship. He urgently wanted to consult his mother
about this problem, but because of scheduling difficulties he had no
opportunity to do so. Instead of getting an appointment with his mother he
learned that she was going to divorce his father. As a result of this he would
have to work closely with his father and sister, both of whom he hated. When
he was young he had been severely hurt or, rather, bullied by them. Under this
enormous psychological pressure Mario became depressed and it is perhaps
understandable that—as his friends said later—he might have intended to
commit suicide.
Mario’s mother remains undecided as to whether he intended to kill himself by

running into that car on the motorway. He had been strapped in her car when
he lost control, left the road and overturned in the field. A person does not
fasten his seatbelt when he intends to commit suicide, she argued. He could
have intended to signal for help by going onto the autobahn and in his state of
shock have accidentally walked into the oncoming car. Writing off his mother’s
car in addition to his unsolved relationship problems could also have been just
too much for him to bear. He may have thought he could evade the
psychological pressure by killing himself.
Mario’s mother confirmed that the cemetery at Pieve di Cadore, where Mario
was buried, is situated in hilly countryside and the lake close by would have
been visible from there, as seen by Mrs. Wolf in her third dream.
Psychokinetic Events after Mario’s Death - Mario’s mother also reported

events happening after Mario’s death which she regards as post-mortem
attempts at communication. She said she was in the habit of listening to soft
music on CDs when driving her car. When Mario was with her he would protest
at this, and switch it to radio-mode and a station transmitting pop music.
Three weeks after Mario’s death, when his mother was driving along a road
they had taken regularly together, she was thinking about Mario, when the
radio spontaneously switched from CD-mode to radio-mode without her
intervention and started playing pop music. She interpreted this as having
been initiated by Mario. Nevertheless, she asked a garage technician whether
the radio could switch on automatically and was told that it was impossible.
About seven weeks after Mario’s death another psychokinetic event happened
to her. All the lights went out in the shop where she and some customers were.
In fact, the entire local area was in darkness. She phoned the utility services to
ask for help and was told that they knew of no power failure, but they promised
to send a technician. Having already had the experience with her car-radio she
suspected that Mario could be involved, so she said aloud: “Mario, stop that
nonsense. You cannot switch off all the lights with customers present.”
The immediate result was the return of power and the lights coming back on.
She phoned the utility services a second time, but they could not give any
explanation.
Normal means of explaining the case

The weakest point in this case must be the fact that there are no independent
witnesses either for the statements made by Mrs. Wolf or for some of those
made by Mario’s mother. Besides, the two main witnesses are believers in
reincarnation, which raises the danger of biased reporting. In theory the case
could have been fabricated by Mrs. Wolf, making use of the facts from the
printed records in the newspaper. But there is no motive on her part to
perpetrate such a hoax. She had nothing to gain and did not intend to make
any profit from it. If she had, she would surely not have wanted to remain
anonymous. No money was paid to her. From the interviews I gained the
impression that the two witnesses were honest, rational people, and that their
reports could be relied on as objective descriptions.
By breaking down the case into its components it might be possible to explain
most of its elements normally or on the basis of parapsychological phenomena
that are commonly interpreted as effects of the living. Mrs. Wolf maintains that
she did not say anything about Mario’s accident or her involvement in it after
Rolf was born until a few months ago. She says she had forgotten all about the
event until Rolf made his surprising statement. The only people she had
spoken to about the matter were her friend mentioned above and the priest
who informed me about the case.
One reason for being so reluctant to talk about the event was her fear of being
ridiculed, but she was even more concerned about the possibility that Mario’s
mother would try to contact Rolf (talking with others would increase
significantly the danger of Mario’s mother succeeding in finding him). From the
dream she had formed the impression that for some reason Rolf’s soul wanted
to come to her, instead of to his previous mother or his former family. Perhaps
irrationally, Mrs Wolf felt that it was her duty to protect Rolf from his previous
mother. As a consequence she believes it to be impossible for her son to have
unknowingly overheard her saying how Mario died.
Nor had she ever talked about the concept of reincarnation in front of Rolf. She
adamantly insists that Rolf could not have known what he had said, as
reported above, about his pre-existence and his presumed death in a previous
life. I have no reason to doubt her, but it is possible that she might
nevertheless be incorrect and that—unknown to her—Rolf had overheard a
conversation she does not remember. If that is so, we must assume that a 3- or
4-year-old boy could have understood the concept of reincarnation and put the
pieces together to dramatize and personalize what he had heard into a story,
perhaps with the intention of pleasing his mother. If this explanation is
unacceptable one might conceivably suggest that Rolf had strong paranormal
abilities that enabled him to know the facts of the accident and then to
personalize them into a reincarnation story.
Mrs. Wolf’s premonition of the accident could be explained as precognition, a

well-known phenomenon in parapsychology that has no link to a beyond. But
this designation is not much more than renaming. In essence nobody truly
understands this process: all we have to hand are descriptions of many similar
phenomena. The announcing dreams might be reduced to Mrs. Wolf’s wishes to
fulfill an unconscious psychological need to have a child, in combination with
telepathy or clairvoyance to convey to her some information about the cemetery
and its surroundings. The exact timing of Rolf’s birth 18 months later, the time
specified in the dream ‘agreement’, could be seen as precognitive or as a
coincidence. Yet it is doubtful that any unconscious need really existed,

because Mrs. Wolf in her dream objected strongly to the idea of having the
accident victim as her future son.
The similarity of 13 behavioral features between Mario and Rolf might in

principle be declared to be coincidental, but the degree of correspondence with
no obvious contradictions is quite remarkable. The aching of Rolf’s knees needs
no explanation because it has no bearing on Mario’s fate. It is a casual
connection like Rolf’s and Mario’s allergies. Allergies are commonplace today
and it is not unlikely for two people to show them.
The psychokinetic events may have nothing to do with a deceased person,
despite the attributions of the experiment. There was a focus-person present
with obvious psychological needs who might have caused them in order to
prove to herself the survival of her son’s soul. But it must be kept in mind that
there is no known proof or modus operandi for a living person to exert psycho-
kinetic wonders with any degree of intentionality; talking about psi-fields does
not really explain how psi is working (Roll & Persinger, 2001). One only knows
that things like this have happened all over the world for many ages, and they
cannot all be explained as fraud or deception or as any other normal event
(Gauld & Cornell, 1979).
Paranormal elements of the case

It is not possible with this case to settle the argument about whether its
different aspects can be taken apart and accounted for separately regardless of
their possible interconnection, as has been done above. When all the elements
of the case are considered as a unity, it would seem very unlikely that so many
improbabilities and inexplicable paranormal phenomena could fall into place to
mimic reincarnation.
There is Rolf’s unexpected knowledge of facts that he could not have known
normally, together with his desire, as a small child, to put these into a
personalized reincarnation story. Mrs. Wolf ’ s emotional premonition of future
events, causing her deep concern, fits together with her announcing dreams in
which she correctly sees the countryside around Mario’s place of burial and
foresees the date of birth of her future son. In addition to this, 13 behavioral
features between Mario and Rolf happen to coincide. The young boy has a
weakness of his knee and feels pain where Mario’s leg was injured. Finally the
deceased Mario seems to interfere with happenings on earth. All these wonders
are covered easily by the reincarnation hypothesis or by a spiritualistic concept
which includes reincarnation.
Conclusion
Though formally a much-desired solved European non-in-family case, this one
drops back to the level of a solved ‘in-family’ case on account of the
announcing dreams and the link between Mrs. Wolf and Mario at the site of the
accident. One might wonder if the case would ever have occurred without this
connection. The correspondences between the behavioral features of Mario and
Rolf are somewhat tenuous, and the essential facts of the case are not
supported by testimony from independent witnesses. Nevertheless, taking all
its elements together, it is still an intriguing case.
Jim Tucker has introduced a ‘strength of case scale’ for CORTs that measures
aspects such as birthmarks corresponding to fatal wounds, verified statements
about a previous life, and unusual skills or aptitudes related to a previous life.
Tucker reported a mean value of 10.4 for the 799 cases from six countries he
considered initially (range -3 to 49; Tucker, 2000); while Stevenson’s Euro-
pean CORTs gave a mean value of 6.4 (Stevenson 2003, p. 252). Tucker scored
the case in hand as 4 (1 for verified statements about the previous life, 1 for
identification of the previous personality, and 2 for the distance between the
previous personality’s main residence and the subject’s birthplace), which is
below average. This rating must not, however, be misinterpreted as an absolute
objective measure for individual cases. It remains subject to individual
judgement, implying also higher scores.
Acknowledgement
I wish to thank the mothers of Mario and Rolf as well as Rolf himself for their
helpful co-operation, and my friends Pat and Rob Blunden, London, and Mairi
Barkei, Uttenreuth, for their kind assistance with the English version.
References
Christengemeinschaft Erlangen. (2012). Retrieved from

http://www.christengemeinschaft-erlangen.de
Cockell, J. (1993). Yesterday’s children: The extraordinary search for my past

life family, London: Piatkus.
Cockell, J. (2008). Journeys through time: Uncovering my past lives. London:

Piatkus.
Ellis, D. (2003). A case suggestive of reincarnation of cats? Paranormal review.

23(28),
Gauld, A. & Cornell, A. D. (1979). Poltergeists. London: Routledge & Kegan.
Harrison, P. & Harrison, M. (1991). The children that time forgot: Startling
evidence of life after death. Emsworth, Hants: Kenneth Mason Publishing.
Hassler, D. (2011). Früher, da war ich mal groß. Und . . . Indizienbeweise für ein
Leben nach dem Tod und die Wiedergeburt. Band 1: Spontanerinnerungen
kleiner Kinder an ihr “früheres Leben,” Aachen, Germany: Shaker Media.
Hassler, D. (2012). Home page about CORT and other circumstantial evidence
for survival after death and reincarnation, Retrieved from,
www.reinkarnation.de.
Houran, J. & Lange, R. (Eds.) Hauntings and poltergeists: Multidisciplinary

perspectives, pp. 154–163. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Lowry, R. (2012). Website for statistical computation. Retrieved from

http://vassarstats.net/binomialX.html.
Mills, A. (1989). A replication study: Three cases of children in northern India

who are said to remember a previous life. Journal of Scientific Exploration. 3,
133–184.
Mills, A. & Dhiman, K. (2011). Shiva returned in the body of Sumitra: a

posthumous longitudinal study of the significance of the Shiva/Sumitra
case. ProcSPR 59, 145–193.
Rawat, K. S. & Rivas, T. (2007). Reincarnation: The scientific evidence is

building. Vancouver, CA: Writers Publisher.
Rivas, T. (2003). Three cases of the reincarnation type in the Netherlands.

Journal of Scientific Exploration. 17, 527–532.
Roll, W. and Persinger, M. A. (2001). Investigation of poltergeists and haunts.

In J. Houran, & R. Lange, (Eds.) Hauntings and Poltergeists:
Multidisciplinary Perspectives, pp. 154–163. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.
Stevenson, I. (1975). Cases of the reincarnation type: Ten cases in India ,(Vol.
1).. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Stevenson, I. (1977) Cases of the reincarnation type: Ten cases in Sri Lanka
(Vol. 2). Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Stevenson, I. (1983b). American children who claim to remember previous

lives. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 171, 742–748.
Stevenson, I. (1983a). Cases of the reincarnation type: Ten cases in Thailand

and Burma (Vol. 4). Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.
Stevenson, I. (1997a). Reincarnation and biology: A contribution to the etiology of

birthmarks and birth defects, Vol.1 Westport, CT: Praeger.
Stevenson, I. (1997b). Birth Defects and other Anomalies (Vol. 2). Westport, CT:
Praeger.
Stevenson, I. (2003). European cases of the reincarnation type. Jefferson NC:

McFarland
Tucker, J. B. (2000). A scale to measure the strength of children’s claims of

previous lives: Methodology and initial findings. Journal of Scientific Exploration
14, 571–581.
The silence of the womb - Prenatal Death
by Nicolette Lachmann, M.D. and Regression therapist
Although many women have experienced the loss of a fetus or child

during their pregnancy, it is a subject not many people are comfortable
talking about. Death can be horrible. When you lose a child that hasn’t
been born yet something else happens. Most of the time the mother is
the only witness; she carried this child inside her womb. With this
article the author hopes to widen awareness amongst her fellow
therapists and other (para) medical professionals of the importance of
recognizing this trauma. If you don’t ask about it, chances are they
won’t tell. And that’s a shame because statistics show that 25% of all
women have to deal with a miscarriage and that number climbs if you
take into account the miscarriages that occur before they are even
aware they are pregnant. An additional one in five pregnancies end in
an abortion, which carries an even bigger taboo. The present article
details an approach for treating these women.
Although many women have experienced the loss of a fetus or child during
their pregnancy, it is a subject not many people are comfortable talking about.
There is silence. Silence between spouses, silence in therapy, silence with
regard to the outside world and worst of all; silence within.
Death can be horrible. The survivors: lovers, parents, brothers, sisters, friends
and family have to continue with their lives after a personal loss. When you
lose someone who shared your life, the loss is obvious. Everyone around you
has been a witness of this life; they know. So you can share your grief. You can
grief in public and will get support and understanding.
When a women loses a child that hasn’t been born yet something else happens.
Most of the time the mother is the only witness; she carried this child inside
her womb. Even if other people know they tend to be uncomfortable with her
loss and discussing it openly. This made me wonder what Regression therapy
could mean for mothers and their unborn children. The author decided to
make this the subject for her final paper before graduating Tasso training for
transpersonal regression therapy. In view of all the responses the author
received, not only from women, she realized how many people were affected,
one way or another, by this kind of trauma.
With this article the author hopes to widen awareness amongst her fellow
therapists and other (para) medical professionals of the importance of
recognizing this trauma. If you don’t ask about it, chances are they won’t tell.
And that’s a shame because statistics show that 25% of all women have to deal
with a miscarriage and that number climbs if you take into account the
miscarriages that occur before they are even aware they are pregnant. An
additional one in five pregnancies end in an abortion, which carries an even
bigger taboo.
The trauma of Prenatal death

The trauma consists of many different layers that can vary in individual
women. There has been a Physical trauma with possibly: wounds, loss of blood,
anesthesia, other medication, invasive interventions. Mental trauma can
consist of: conscious or subconscious decisions or convictions about body,
pregnancy or motherhood. There is a wide range of Emotional effects some of
which are: shame, guilt, anger, sadness, grief, fear, remorse and responsibility.
On a Spiritual level you can find missing parts of the soul, entanglement,
obsessive energies.
Because most women haven’t talked about what happened, the wounds on all
these levels have been left to fester, sometimes for decades. This results in a
plethora of complaints that are not always easily retraceable to the original
trauma, like: stress, trouble sleeping, fatigue, depression, confusion, incapable
of getting on with their lives.
Additionally, in case of abortion, in retrospect 16% of the women and 12% of

the men, are dissatisfied with their choice for the abortion. Even more (58% of
women, 37% of men) have long-lasting physical and/or emotional complaints.
These complaints can have similar effects as PTSD; flashbacks, extreme grief,
anger or fear, substance abuse, suicide, relationship issues, sexual
dysfunction, depression, avoiding certain social encounters.
Taking in effect the impact of prenatal death, the large number of women that
experience it and their silence, it might be a good idea to ask directly about
miscarriage or abortion during your intake.
Because of the above, it’s clear why regression therapy can help these women
and their unborn children. Regression therapy knows its way around all these
layers so I had high expectations when I started my research with 11 women.
This resulted in a method that helps to clean and heal all these wounds in only
two sessions.
The study
As already mentioned, the author had to write a paper about a subject within
regression therapy with the assignment that fellow therapist should benefit
from it.
The author found 11 women who suffered an abortion and/or miscarriage and
were willing to participate. The first step was send them all a questionnaire
with 11 questions regarding the history of their pregnancies, the help they
received from regular sources (doctor, social worker, psychologist), how it
affected themselves and their partners, familial history and what they expected
from the regression sessions themselves. The responses to the questionnaires

were discussed before the first session.
The first session consisted of two regressions (method Hans ten Dam/ Tasso)
one from the point of view from the mother, the other from the child’s
perspective.1 When everything involving the trauma is clear, it is time to release
the imprints found by the therapist with energy-work (again for both mother
and child) and after that, frozen or lost parts can be reintegrated, after which a
conversation between mother and child took place.
Two weeks after the first session, the second session took place with only the
mother as focal point. This was a Deep Tissue Memory2 session (method
Grabovoj and Petrov, Marion Boon) to find the deeper causes regarding the
trauma and restore the involved organs and the original DNA.
Two weeks after the second session, the women received a second
questionnaire, asking them about their impressions regarding the sessions.
The results
The first questionnaire told me that the women were between 38 and 56 years
old. These 11 women combined where pregnant 30 times. Resulting in 15
children and 17 prenatal deaths. Two women carried twins where one sibling
survived and one did not (vanishing twins). There were 10 miscarriages, 2
abortions (less than 12 weeks) and 4 abortions on medical indication (16-22
weeks) and one intervention by morning after pill. The prenatal deaths all
occurred between 1986 and 2013. For eight of the women, participating in this
research was their first encounter with professional help to help them process
the loss. One of them phrased it as follows:
That day/night I didn’t even realize what had happened, it was

about survival, I wanted to go about my normal live immediately. It
had happened and that was that. No one was going to notice
anything.
When this woman came to me, she was 52 and this happened in 1991. It was a
very traumatic experience. She didn’t know she was pregnant but had a
miscarriage while eight weeks along, during a vacation in another country. She
1
Ed. note. This is done through personification as developed by Hans TenDam. He defines the
process as, “Therapy that evokes parts of ourselves appearing as separate individuals.
Personifications are parts of ourselves that more or less lead their own lives. . . . In
personification, personal parts and outside influences are visualized as separate persons, that
can be addressed, interacted with, healed and either released or integrated.” (TenDam, 2014, p.
401)
2
Ed. note. Deep Tissue Memory is a method of repairing body tissue developed by two
Russians, Grabovoj and Petrov for which there is no reference at the present time. Marion
Boon, one of the founders of the Tasso Dutch regression school, introduced this method to that
school. She has promised to write an article on this method for our next Journal.
lost a lot of blood and spend the whole night in the bathroom in her hotel room
while her husband was sleeping. She just wanted to go on with her life and
‘forgot’ what had happened for the longest time. Her main physical complaint
was fatigue. During the session we found that apart from the loss of blood, she
also lost part of her Self, both that part and part of her child were still
entangled and remained in the bathroom of that hotel. After the energy-work
and the soul retrieval she feels different: “I feel stronger, more secure, as if I
have lost a weight and am ENORMOUS.” And her son now has a face and a
voice.
Other information the questionnaire revealed was regarding the impact on both
the mother and her partner and their relationship: fear about a next
pregnancy, sadness, emptiness, a sense of inferiority, energy loss, a feeling of
being detached from everything, tendency to flee.
Remarkably, five out of the eleven women, mentioned that they didn’t discuss
the topic with their partners after a while.
This sentiment was prevalent throughout my research. There is a tendency to

not share feelings and emotions with others. Not with partners, not with
relatives, not with friends. A lot of this unspoken emotion turned up in their
bellies and energy fields.
During the regression sessions I followed an individually tailored roadmap for

both mother and child. Objectives were to at least find out:
• What is the nature of the trauma (miscarriage, abortion, medical

reasons)
• What imprints have occurred (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual)
• What kind of interventions have there been? (surgery, medication,
anesthetics)
• What parts of the Self have been frozen or lost?
• Where is the child now and where has it been (previous life, before
incarnation)?
The women that applied for the research all had their own, personal, reasons
for doing so, mostly because of emotional issues. I found that a lot more could
be addressed. Not only the emotional impact played a part in their day to day
lives but the physical trauma still caused energy loss (even years after the fact).
What to think of; blood loss, residue of chemicals (anesthetics, medication)
invasive interventions for both mother and child (that cannot be emphasized
enough!).
Other topics that can come up:
• Are there karmic connections?

• Did the child make a conscious choice? (incarnation, parents, death)
• How did child experience the womb? (physically, energetically)
• Did the child encounter any foreign energy? (inside or outside of the
womb)
Even though most of the women did not specifically come for the answers to
some of the questions mentioned above, it did result in a lot of insight
regarding the reasons for the trauma. This contributed to help them come to
terms with their loss. With regards to this, the conversation the mother has
with her child, at the end of the first session, is very important.
A lot of the women were surprised by the amount of unresolved emotions and
physical trauma. Their expectations were met and surpassed with regards to
the result of the sessions on their own behalf. What they could not have
imagined, is the insight they gathered regarding the trauma their unborn child
has experienced. In part they share the trauma, but the child also has their
own karmic issue(s) that can be very different from that of the mother.
One woman, since the age of four, knew with a certainty that she was not
mother material. She even went so far as, at 36, to contemplate sterilization.
Only the refusal of her gynecologist prevented this from happening. She was
livid! At the age of forty, she got pregnant because her new partner really
wanted kids. So she agreed, but not wholeheartedly. After 20 weeks the
pregnancy had to be interrupted because of medical reasons. During the
session it became clear that her son never had had any intention of actually
being born. He only stayed that long, so she could experience motherly feelings
and subsequently deal with her own beliefs regarding her being a mother. The
pregnancy was never viable but not due to any genetic reasons, so there was
nothing preventing any further pregnancy. Her son wanted to experience the
peace of being in the womb without the stress of having to incarnate and could
experience a peaceful process of dying with this mother because there was no
previous karmic entanglement. At the time of the session she was the mother
of a one year old girl. Experiencing her son’s story, gave her peace of mind
regarding it not being her fault that this had happened.
Prenatal Death and Regression Therapy

Basically there are two possibilities, either the prenatal death happened
spontaneously or it was a choice made for medical or psycho-social reasons.
In terms of therapy, it doesn’t matter whether it was a miscarriage or an

abortion. The same principals apply for both.
Prenatal death is a trauma. Healing that trauma, using techniques of

regression therapy, can have profound and sometimes surprising results.
During my research it has become clear that both mother and the unborn child
are often deeply traumatized by what happened. This means that the
regression therapist has not one, but two clients during the session(s).
Therefore it is important to keep in mind the following objectives:
• healing wounds on all levels (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual)

• untangling mother and child energetically and spiritually

• recovering and integrating lost parts of the soul (mother and child)
• exploring karmic relations between mother and child
• receiving information on life issues of both mother and child
• mother and child can communicate with each other
Roadmap for healing Mother and Child after Prenatal Death

All my clients receive a questionnaire that they are required to fill in before the
first appointment regarding health issues, medication etc.
Since my research I have included a question about miscarriage and abortion
for both male and female clients, because the benefits of addressing these
issues is great, but if you don’t ask about it, they won’t always tell you.
So let’s assume for a moment I have a new, female, client that has issues that
could lead back to a prenatal loss. The first thing I do is to ask about what
went on medically, there is a difference between a sudden, spontaneous loss or
a planned medical intervention. So before the client goes into trance, ask
about; blood loss, medication, anesthetics, physical wounds, in short; what
went on? The specifics come later during the session in trance, but it is
important to know beforehand what issues you’ll have to address.
Now the session can start:
You start with the mother.
Induction: “Go to the moment you first learn you are pregnant…” I gave this
instruction because it often is a well-defined moment for the women. The story
usually flows easily after this question.
Regression: First you do a regression of the pregnancy from the point of view
of the mother. Take note of the following:
Imprints
• Physical imprints: blood loss, medication, anesthetics, wounds in the genital

area
• Mental imprints:
• Find postulates, if they are there, regarding being pregnant. What are
their beliefs regarding being a mother, being pregnant, not being
pregnant any longer etc. Write them down.
• Were there any decisions made or beliefs formed or confirmed. If so, write
them down!
• Do you notice any confusion or absence during the story; this can be a
clue for missing soul fragments, blood loss, or the presence of
medication or anesthetics.
Emotional imprints:
• Do they feel guilty? Do they feel like they should have done or not should
have done something?
• Are they angry?
• Give extra attention to the imprints that are connected to the silence.
Where in the body are they located?
• Do they feel responsible? This can indicate that part of the mother went
with the child when it died.
• If you find any recursive imprints, you deal with them now. Any other
imprints you write down and leave for later, when the child is also present.
Choices/decisions: When dealing with an abortion or termination of the

pregnancy for medical reasons, ask about the moments of choosing and
deciding. Who were there, how did it go, was there a freedom of choice, what
factors (internally and externally) were of influence?
End this part of the session with the mother reliving the loss of her child.
Next part of the session: Personification of the child:
• Invite the child to come into the personification room. Should the child
not come, this usually has a reason. It is possible that the child or part
of the child remains in a different layer due to not having died well.
• What I have noticed is that in that case, the mother spontaneously
travels towards her child, wherever they may be.
• Be aware therapist that this can also mean that there already is a soul
fragment of the mother there, which she possibly lost when her child
died.
• Either way, the mother knows where she is going, you simply follow her.
• When you have found the child, either in the personification room or
elsewhere, check to see if mother and child can see each other. If not,
find out why not. If yes, do they recognize each other?
• When they can communicate, you proceed as with a normal
personification.
Take note of the following:

 You are now working with the child. They are every bit as important as
the mother is. They can’t leave before everything is clear and completely
restored. This in contrast to ‘regular’ guests in personification rooms that
are only there in as far as they pertain to the wellbeing of the client.
• This also means that, if necessary, you regress the child until their story
is also clear.
• Ask the child if they have anything to say.
• You can specifically ask them:
o Whether they were only meant to be with their mother for a short
period
o Did they have a specific task
o Did they know their mother or father in a previous incarnation

o Check to see if they died well before this incarnation by asking
where they were before. Let it become clear. Should there be a problematic
death then do a regression and restore the energy where necessary.
o Some children travel through a family line; they have incarnated
with women of that same family before. So ask them about where they were
before this incarnation. Where were they? Are they familiar with the family?
If yes, then ask about the importance for the here and now of both mother
and child. It’s possible that there are karmic relations at work here.
o Did the child purposely choose his father or mother, if yes, find out
why/how by going to that specific moment of choice.
o What did the child bring with them for this incarnation? Take note
of any attached foreign energy. Follow the child on their journey to
incarnate with this mother. Ask: ‘does anything unusual happen before you
reach your mother’s body?’
o How did they experience the womb? Both physically (what did he
experience in the ovaries, uterus or birth canal?) and energetically (were
they in any way influenced by their mothers emotions or thoughts?).
o Did they return to or near their mother afterwards?
o Do they have a message for their parents?
o Do they want to share or say anything?
o Any other questions that might have come up during the
regression of the mother.
Proceed to the moment of death of this life:
• Go through the dying process in slow motion. Follow the energy of the
child’s soul; does it stay in the body, does it remain intact, where does
it go or is it staying anywhere, in the body, with the mother, in a room.
If the soul is fragmented, follow all the different parts and retrieve
them. It is not always immediately clear there is a part missing, so ask
about percentages and don’t stop until every part of the soul is
accounted for. With every part you retrieve, you check to see if there is
any part of the mother’s soul attached to it. If yes, disentangle the soul
parts and integrate each to their own soul.
• What is going on with the mother? Let her become aware of what is
going on with her soul’s energy. Lost parts of herself can have come
back with those of her child. But, it is also possible parts of her soul
are frozen in place somewhere. Take note of the words she uses, this is
very important! You can notice that suddenly the session becomes
duller, less vibrant and the mother might say something like; ‘it feels
like I’m not entirely here’, or; ‘I keep seeing the sonogram’ when you
have already moved on from that point of the narrative. It can mean
that part of her, is still there, in a place where it first became apparent
that her child had died. Be a detective, notice the language and recover
the soul fragments. Integrate.
Imprints:
 Take note of any imprints you find, earlier with the mother and now
with the child, the mother can help with that by looking at her child.
 Physical: I noticed that medication and anesthetics weren’t

mentioned, but when I specifically asked about it, it was, in fact, still
present and had a big impact. So ask about it directly and then
proceed to clear it out. Also ask about any wounds or mutilation,
blood loss, effects of a prolonged dying process and if you find any of
this, restore the body.
 Emotional: find out where imprints overlap with those of the mother,
and then proceed to clear them up with both mother and child, both
the imprints with and without overlap off course!
 Mental: again check if any beliefs, or decisions the child made have
overlap with the mother, find out who they belong to and clear them
out. Don’t forget about checking for familial karma, especially with
mental imprints.
 When all imprints have been cleared, it’s a good idea to ask again
about any missing parts of the soul that are left behind. Sometimes
they could not be found while there were still unresolved imprints. If
you find any, restore and integrate them.
Now it is time to check if there are any energetic connections between mother
and child. Use aura exploration to do that (see TenDam, 2014, pp. 54-65). If
you find any; what do they want to do with them? Maybe you have to explain to
them, that it is really in their best interest to continue on their respective paths
without being entangled with another soul. They can release the connections
themselves. Not by cutting them and creating another wound, but by, for
instance, dissolving them or letting go gently.
Check to see if everything you found is restored, resolved and/or cleared out.
Ask both of them if there is anything they need.
Give them another opportunity to share information. This can really result in
some remarkable exchanges. About some things, the child knows more than
the mother does.
Check the personification room for the presence of any other energy. If you find
anything or anyone ask what the meaning of this is. Did you forget to do
anything, is anything unresolved? Don’t leave until the personification room is
empty of anything but mother and child.
Have the child escorted by someone they both approve of. Do not let the child
go by themselves!
Ask the mother if she needs anything else. If not, conclude the session. After
two weeks continue with a Deep Tissue Memory (DTM) session (method
Grabovoj and Petrov, Marion Boon). This session has only the mother as focal
point. We look at the specific feminine organs to find the deeper causes
regarding the trauma and restore the involved organs and the original DNA. In
my research there were six out of ten women who had still foreign energies in
this part of her body after the first session. Energies from this life, past life or
cosmic energies. The DTM session really helps to restore and prepare the
mother for a pregnancy in present life or the future.
References
TenDam, H. (2014). Deep healing and transformation: A manual of

transpersonal regression therapy. Utrecht, Netherlands: Tasso Publishing.
Eleusinian Mysteries and Regression Therapy: Relating the possible

benefits of ancient initiation experiences to modern regression
practices.
by Athanasios Komianos, B.A., CHT, CRT
Two and a half thousand years ago I would have been put to death by
any Greek city state for publishing this paper. Releasing, publishing, or
revealing the truths of the mysteries to the uninitiated, faced the
ultimate of penalties, namely that of death. Disclosing of the content of
the Eleusinian mysteries was a disgraceful act and was unaccepted
even in the democratic state of Athens. This is an attempt to break this
old tradition and the code of conduct the initiates held and reveal what
was taking place in one of the most important yearly initiation practices
witnessed in human history. I do so to assert that today’s regression
therapists did not ‘discover the wheel’ but that through their therapeutic
approach, arrive through a different route, to a somewhat similar result
of awakening their clients to spiritual realms.
I am the son of Earth and starry Heaven, but of Heaven is my birth:

this you know yourselves. I am parched with thirst and perishing: give
me quickly chill water flowing from the pool of Memory. (Stampolidis,
Economou, 2014)
Inscriptions on golden lamellae or Totenpass
placed on the mouths of the dead.1
Incorporating ancient wisdom into our practice

Even though we deal with a lot of presenting problems by our clients none of
our colleagues will dispute the fact that many times we run into former lives, or
the death scene, or even the bardo state (commonly thought in Tibetan
tradition as stages between death and rebirth). Moreover, none can dispute
that when such experiences occur, both the therapist and the client, encounter
profound insights. Letting the academic interest aside, the reader may wonder
why we should know all the things about to be revealed and where they could
be useful to us as practitioners. The truth is that spontaneously remembering
1
Totenpass (plural Totenpässe) is a German term sometimes used for inscribed tablets
or metal leaves found in burials primarily of those presumed to be initiates into
Orphic, Dionysiac, and some ancient Egyptian and Semitic religions. The term may be
understood in English as a “passport for the dead.”
a past life is an exception not the rule, because we all “drank from the river of
forgetfulness”. It is important to know that to achieve an ideal and really deep
incubation session it would be ideal if the client first fasted, exercised,
abstained from toxic behaviors, followed a concise ritual, and performed
libations. What was called incubation in antiquity we call a hypnosis or a
regression session today. In fact, with very difficult cases—clients who do not
enter into trance and do not open into the modern accepted procedures we
have been trained with—the author executes the following protocol:
 They are asked to follow a strict diet as was done in antiquity. If they go
through this probation successfully, the therapist moves to the next
phase.
 They are lead on a long walk in pure forests exposing them in possible
dangers such as snakes (if it is summer time).
 Finally, they are required to descent into the dark basement of an old
and deserted building (a building that beforehand is known as safe).
After all this preparatory phase these clients break and their resistance
collapses. Their deepest fears arise and Pandora’s box opens. This would not
take place within a setting of a modern office. To come into terms with our
shadow side and the dark places of our soul, we have to be willing to try
everything. Not all of us can do this. Some trainers encourage clients to do fire
walking and the author met a person healed from cancer because of this. That
does not mean this therapist would do it. It is not his “cup of tea.” The
initiation practices of the Eleusinian mysteries as well as the incubation
practices of dream healing in the Asklepeia, appeal to him instead. The fact
that with success the author managed to replicate the healing effects of these
ancient practices by following the original ‘protocol’ should be considered
evidence, as far as science is concerned. If the therapist is at a loss with a
client, if the therapist thinks that the client’s unconscious can be unlocked,
and foremost if it appeals to the therapist, then think of trying this approach as
well…with all precautions and safeguards taken into account. Both therapist
and client may find it fascinating.
Regressing into Antiquity

Before proceeding it would be helpful to the reader to revisit the author’s
previous article in the Journal on Enkoimisis in order to avoid unnecessary
repetitions and to enter once more into the zeitgeist of the particular era.
Starting off we should ask ourselves what is the most important lesson left to
us from Hellenic antiquity? It seems that ancient Greeks were tuned in with
their environment and nature. Through introspection, incubation and other
mystic practices some, not all, came to the following conclusions:
 The fact that we are all immortal.

 Death is nothing more than a transition.
 The psyche is that part of the soul that survives physical death.
 The psyche can connect with the divine through dreaming,
incubation and through initiation into the Mysteries.
 The psyche reincarnates in repetitive cycles.
What were the major ways of having a transpersonal experience in ancient

Greece? Figure one shows that the major ways to have a direct experience with
the deities was to visit the most famous oracles of antiquity. Delphi, Dodoni, or
Didyma were the most famous of all, whereas only states or kings could ask for
the advice from the pythonesses. Lay persons could only go there for
consultations, or dream healing, which took place at the outskirts of the
oracles.
Figure 1
The next way to do so was to indulge in the incubation experience, which could
take place in the Asklepeia, Necromancies, and Oneiromancies. It was a
complicated process, which required a set of prerequisites before it took place.
We have already studied what took place in the Asklepeia of antiquity in the
author’s former article. The main concern in this article is the initiation
practices in the Hellenic Mysteries, which were several. The Cretan, the
Dionysian, and the Orphic-Bacchic practices were mostly known through the
Kabeirian and the Eleusinian mysteries. The present article will focus on the
best known of all the mysteries, those of Eleusis, a city located fairly close to
Athens.
As previously mentioned, disclosure of the happenings were punished by the

death penalty. Aeschylus (the father of tragedy) at first and Plato much later,
were accused of revealing parts of the mysteries. They both avoided
prosecution at the last moment. What we know of the mysteries come primarily
from a far later period, from early Christian scholars whose intention was to
scorn those practices; some come from Roman scholars or even initiates who
shared their experiences. Modern scholars know that there are three different
and distinct portrayals of the underworld: the Homeric view of the underworld,
the Bacchic-Orphic Hades and the Platonic afterlife. As centuries passed, so
shifted the consensus about the beyond. Even though many features remain
common, there are notable differences from tradition to tradition and from
locale to locale.
Thus the text that follows is a mosaic of all that is left from those times. The
synthesis will focus on letting our readers visit the shrines of the time with
their imagination and attempt to relate to the experiences of the mystai
(initiates). It will not adhere to strict, historical, archaeological and scientific
punctuality because interpretations differ. However, all the sources quoted are
the original prototypes. Moreover, the interpretation of the things done is open
to the point of view of the observer. Most of the sources are in the Greek
language, but you will be provided with the English sources in the reference
section. Keep in mind that what was done during the Mysteries was an
initiation to the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It was a “tutorial” to the
underworld, a strong and vivid trip through the shadows of Hades. The
mastering and taming of terrorizing images and feelings of guilt and terror that
would enable the initiate visitor to find his or her way to the light; to defeat the
terrorizing figures and scroll up to the light. To this effect all the technology
and know-how available at the time was utilized by the priesthood in an
attempt to reproduce the conditions of the afterlife and to impress upon
initiates the universal truths. This dramatization had to place an imprint upon
the psyche of the initiate, to defeat the fear of death by delineating the charts of
the afterlife.
Becoming a Mystic in Ancient Greece

The Eleusinian mysteries were actually based on the enactment of the myth of
the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by the king of the
underworld, Hades, and they can be seen as a cycle with four phases:
 The "descent", in which Persephone was gathering flowers with

friends, when she was seized by Hades, the god of death and the
underworld.
 The "search", in which Demeter searched high and low for her
daughter.
 The "mourning", in which Demeter mourns for her daughter causing
a terrible drought in which the people suffered and starved.
 The "ascent", through which Persephone and the reunion with her
mother and the earth returns to its former verdure and prosperity—
the first spring.
In the final verses of Homeric hymn to Demeter we read.
…Happy is he among men upon earth who has seen these

mysteries; but he who is uninitiate and who has no part in them,
never has lot of like good things once he is dead, down in the
darkness and gloom.... Right blessed is he among men on earth
whom they freely love... (Evelyn-White, n.d./1914, line 483)
Μύησις = Initiation. Μύησις comes from the verb μύω which means I close my
eyes. Thus during initiation the mystics shut their eyes and by excluding input
from the outside they came into direct communion with the divine. This
communion can only be experienced by ecstasy and transpersonal insight. The
main goal of these states is to recollect the forgotten knowledge in the psyche.
The word mystery means an initiation act that is done secretly in an enclosed
space. So a question comes to mind: What do initiation and incubation states
have in common? They both require a trance state that is the prerequisite for
understanding transpersonal reality. Trance states or altered states of
consciousness were achieved through a combination of fasting, dancing,
feasting, drama play and participation in the initiating mysteries. Initiates and
incubators had to face their deeper fears and come in contact with the shadow
part of their soul.2
Prerequisites of initiation
Persons who wanted to experience initiation had to be dedicated and devoted to
that end. They were willing to fast from toxic foods and drinks for a long span
before they visited the shrine. They had to abstain from indecent behavior.
Before the initiation a cleansing process took place. This process was called
2
An online link to the whole myth is provided at the end of the article.
katharmos. It was not only a physical cleansing but a symbolic one as well.
Piglets were sacrificed on the altar dedicated to the goddesses. Finally, they
would dispose of their clothing and wear a deer’s placenta, which, also
symbolizes cleansing and walking through the Tholos, which was a round
underground structure resembling a labyrinth. What is the purpose of this
Labyrinth? The round structure symbolizes the cycle of birth and rebirth. So it
is an initiation labyrinth. The upper floor symbolizes the heavens while the
underground floor the world of matter.3
What is symbolized through this course? Walking in the darkness symbolizes
the adventure of the psyche into the world of matter in its effort to find truth.
Darkness symbolizes the blindness with which we are doomed; the
forgetfulness and the ignorance in the world of matter. The small lamp at the
centre of the tholos symbolizes the divine illumination or the discovery of truth.
The ascent of the initiate from the underground to the upper ground floor
symbolizes rebirth of the soul into the world of heavens.
Who participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries?
 Any, man, woman, child or even slave as long as they spoke the Greek
language fluently and were of Greek origin.
 Anyone who had their “hands clean”, in other words had not committed a
murder.
 Magicians and tricksters were forbidden to participate.
What were the levels of initiation?
 Mystai: (Initiates) - the people who participated in the Lesser

Mysteries which took place in Athens, in late winter. After concluding
the initiation they were called mystai.
 Epoptai: (Contemplates) - those who concluded the initiation process
with success in the Greater Mysteries or Decent Orgies, which took
place in Eleusis.
 Priests and Priestesses - those who contributed to the success of the
Mysteries assigned with various degrees and tasks.
 Hierophants - the priests who directed and orchestrated the ceremony.
They all originated from one family tree.
Eleusinian Mysteries were of two kinds.
The Lesser (seven days)
3
More on the Tholos in the author’s former article of the Journal.
The dramatic shows occultly signified the miseries of the soul while in
subjection to the body. They consisted of plays and re-enactments of the
myth of Persephone’s abduction and ritual cleansings and sacrifices took
place as well. They then performed ritual cleansing at the river Ilissos.
The Greater (nine days)

They obscurely intimated, by mystic and splendid visions, the felicity of
the soul both here and hereafter, when purified from the defilements of a
material nature and constantly elevated to the realities of spiritual vision.
Initiation to the Lesser Mysteries
Figure 2. The distance between Athens and Eleusis and the numbered
daily routes as used by the pilgrims. (Struck, 2000-2009)
The mystai, or initiates, were under the direction of a sponsor, who was the
μυσταγωγός (mystagogos) and who introduced the initiates to the mysteries or
performed some of the preliminary rites. The price the initiate had to pay to the
mystagogos was equivalent or even higher than a month’s salary. Initiation was
individual, as group initiation was forbidden by law.4
One had to attend these mysteries only once while he or she could participate
in the Greater Ones as many times as they wished as long as they had been
initiated.
Initiation to the Greater Mysteries

Figure 2. The distance between Athens and Eleusis and the numbered daily
routes as used by the pilgrims.
First day - They started on the 15th day of Boedromion (our mid-September to
mid-October). Messengers went out to all cities to proclaim a truce.
A procession of priests with sacred objects would then walk from Eleusis to
Athens to bring them to the temple of Eleusinion where people from all over
Greece were gathered. Then the Archon Basileus would proclaim which
persons would participate in the initiation.
The people who were rejected would never be able to participate in the future.
Second day - Άλαδε Μύσται: To the sea Initiates. This was the call of the
Hierophant to the pilgrims to head to the sea. All the initiates would then walk
to the sea along with a piglet and wash themselves and the piglet in a symbolic
gesture. As the piglet is cleansed by the sea water, so shall the humans cleanse
themselves from the psychic pollution of their deeds.
Third day - This day was a day of mourning of the Dead. The piglets would be
sacrificed symbolically to show that if we are to have any contact with the
Divine we first have to abandon our body. This day was also a day of
confessions and the beginning of a self-healing process.
Fourth day - During this day the pilgrims devoted the first fruits of their crops
to god Iacchos. Iacchos symbolizes the spiritual dimension of the triangle.
Demeter is the Mother who tried to get Persephone to her real husband Iacchos
in heavens, while her daughter was “chained” in the depths of Hades by Pluto.
The incarnated daughter is trapped in the world of matter.
Fifth day - The long march through the Sacred Way (Ιερά Οδός), was a day
when the procession for the return of the holy objects back to Eleusis took
place. When the sun set, thousands of people formed a procession and headed
toward Eleusis, a distance of 22 kilometers from Athens. Eleusis means the
"place of happy arrival" and is related to Elysion, the realm of the blessed as
4
No wonder the author despises group sessions today.
described by Plato. The processors would all light their torches symbolizing
Demeter’s desperate search for her daughter. During this procession all kinds
of therapeutic miracles took place. At dawn of the next day they wore yellow
ribbons at their right hand and left foot.
Sixth & seventh days - On these days people meditated and prayed with a
strong focus on their inner selves. The initiates prepared themselves for what
was to come. During dusk they had a bath with hot water and wore clean white
clothes. They ate grapes, bread and drank lots of water. Then they went into
the Adyton and slept as the incubators of the healing temples of god of
medicine Asklepeios.
Eight day - The Legomena (Things Said)

The Hierophant demanded complete and absolute secrecy from the initiates.
The mysteries should never be disclosed to any profane person. His voice
acquired a unique theatrical volume because of a special device called echeion
that echoed. So in an eloquent, impressing and imposing way he read specific
statements out of the stone book. The initiates heard and revealed truths, such
as the following, which were also echoed by the echeion (gong-like structure
made of copper):
All variety that surrounds you has a unique, common source.

The source of things is the primary cause of everything.
It is the primordial source, the essence.
Death brings eternal life.
Death is a benefactor.
Death is rebirth. (Margioris, 1999, p. 49)
The kykeon - In the Homeric Hymn it is shown how Demeter refused wine but
broke her fast by drinking the kykeon made of barley meal, water, and tender
mint; thus she observed the sacrament. So, too, the initiates, after a fast of
perhaps several days, drank the same potent sacrament as the final
preparation for the mystic initiation. Professor Kerenyi (1991, p.179) on the
significance of the kykeon cites the opinion of a pharmacologist: “It is well
known that visionary states can be induced by hunger alone.... The content of
the visions, as experiments on visionary states induced by chemicals, that is,
drugs, have shown, is largely or perhaps entirely determined by expectations,
spiritual preparation, initial psychic situation, and by the surroundings.”
Kerenyi went as far to suggest that the barley used in the kykeon which also
contained the ergot alkaloids from where LSD is produced, was the prime
psychoactive agent that led initiates to transpersonal experiences. However,
any attempt to reproduce such states has failed so far.
Entering the Telesterion - Three statues stood at the entrance of the

Telesterion (the main temple at Eleusis): Demeter, Persephone and Iacchos.
Under Demeter’s statue initiates read: “I am the light and the source of the
souls.” Under Persephone’s they read: “I am death and hold the truth of life”
and under Iacchos they read: “I am life death and rebirth, I am the crown of
wings.”
The Dromena (things done) - The Hierophant states in awe:
For all of you that will now find yourselves in the kingdom of Hades,
in order to understand what will happen next and to realize your
current condition, you have to go through Death. This is your ordeal.
You have to learn to beat Darkness for you to feel the light in joy.
(Margioris, 1999, p. 47)
Then they entered deep into the dark subterranean labyrinth. They heard
terrifying voices, cries and terrible noises. They were dragged and pushed and
pulled. Here are some of the original quotes of either initiates themselves or
Christian witnesses who revealed what we now know of what happened during
initiation.
As Synesius (373 – 414 AD) reveals to us:
But their procedure is like Bacchic frenzy - like the leap of a man
mad, or possessed - the attainment of a goal without running the
race, a passing beyond reason without the previous exercise of
reasoning. For the sacred matter (contemplation) is not like attention
belonging to knowledge, or an outlet of mind, nor is it like one thing in
one place and another in another. On the contrary - to compare small
and greater - it is like Aristotle's view that men being initiated have
not a lesson to learn, but an experience to undergo and a condition
into which they must be brought, while they are becoming fit (for
revelation). (Rüpke, 2013, p. 231)
Themisithius (317-390 AD) writes:
Entering now into the secret dome, he is filled with horror and
astonishment. He is seized with loneliness and total perplexity; he is
unable to move a step forward, and at a loss to find the entrance to
the way that leads to where he aspires to, till the prophet or
conductor lays open the anteroom of the Temple. (Beck, n.d/2015)
Aristides (117-189 AD) writes:
Within this hall, the mystics were made to experience the most
bloodcurdling sensations of horror and the most enthusiastic ecstasy
of joy. (Beck, n.d./2015)
Proclus (412-485 AD) says:
In the most sacred Mysteries before the scene of the mystic visions,
there is terror infused over the minds of the initiated. (Beck,
n.d./2015)
Stovaios (5th Century AD) witnessed:
Thus death and initiation closely correspond; even the words (teleutan
and teleisthai) correspond, and so do the things. At first there are
wanderings, and toilsome running about in circles and journeys
through the dark over uncertain roads and culs de sac; then, just
before the end, there are all kinds of terrors, with shivering,
trembling, sweating, and utter amazement. (Beck, n.d./2015)
Some of the initiates came face to face with mythical figures under torture.
Under the almost total darkness they would feel or discern Ixion, Laocoon,
Sisyphus and Prometheus, for example. The priest would then order them to
proceed while he ignited the incense. Grotesque figures sprang up in the
darkness spreading fear among the initiates.
The Mystics clearly understood that what they witnessed are the psyche’s
torments when it is trapped in the body’s garment in their current life. Or it
could as well be their afterlife condition in case they lived as slaves of their own
passions. The subterranean life is a life of purification and cleansing of former
incarnational burdens. Those who underwent this probation could then move
to the next plane. They could finally witness the pure essence of life.
Thirsty, the dead run towards the river of forgetfullness (lethe):
Never drink from this river of Lethe (Forgetfulness) but instead

drink from the fountain of Mnemosene (Rememberance).
(Margioris,1999, p. 39)
The Pure Light…
As Stovaios describes:
..After this, a strange and wonderful light meets the wanderer; he

is admitted into clean and verdant meadows, where he discerns
gentle voices, and choric dances, and the majesty of holy sounds
and sacred visions. Here the now fully initiated is free, and walks
at liberty like a crowned and dedicated victim, joining in the
revelry; he is the companion of pure and holy men, and looks down
upon the uninitiated and unpurified crowd here below in the mud
and fog, trampling itself down and crowded together, though of
death remaining still sunk in its evils, unable to believe in the
blessings that lie beyond. That the wedding and close union of the
soul with the body is a thing really contrary to nature may clearly
be seen from all this. (Grant, 1953, p. 148)
The Harvester reaped - Persephone is offering the bundle of wheat to Demeter.

What does this mean? When an ear of wheat is reaped by the Goddess of Death
that meant that creation is the gift of gods to humans…while life is the gift of
humans to gods. The further quotes will show more details of what was taking
place then.
Cicero (106-43 B.C.) Laws II, xiv, 36
For among the many excellent and indeed divine institutions which
your Athens has brought forth and contributed to human life,
none, in my opinion, is better than those mysteries. For by their
means we have been brought out of our barbarous and savage
mode of life and educated and refined to a state of civilization; and
as the rites are called "initiations," so in very truth we have learned
from them the beginnings of life, and have gained the power not
only to live happily, but also to die with a better hope. (Beck,
n.d./2015)
Pindar (522-443 B.C.)
We learn to see at heavens, we learn to remember on earth.

Blessed those will be who will undergo the initiating mysteries.
They will be the ones to know the essence and the scope of life.
(Beck, n.d./2015)
Seneca (4 BC-65 AD)
There are holy things that are not communicated all at once:
Eleusis always keeps something back to show those who come
again. (Beck, n.d./2015)
Empedocles (495- 435 B.C.)
Birth is a great destruction since it brings the living amongst the

mortals. It was another time that you really lived, but when you
were attracted by some urge you were thrown into the abyss of
earth, within the body’s constrains. The now is a dream. Only the
past and the future really exist. Learn how to remember, learn how
to foresee. (Beck, n.d./2015)
Socrates (469-399 B.C.)
The founders of the mysteries would appear to have had a real

meaning, and were not talking nonsense when they intimated in a
figure long ago that he who passes unsanctified and uninitiated
into the world below will lie in a slough, but that he who arrives
there after initiation and purification will dwell with the gods. For
'many,' as they say in the mysteries, 'are the thyrsus-bearers, but
few are the mystics,'—meaning, as I interpret the words, 'the true
philosophers'. (Beck, n.d./2015)
The Platonic Afterlife

Plato’s writings deal a lot with the matter of death. According to him the
definition of philosophy is the human mind’s attempt to solve the issue of
death and what happens after it. He writes a lot on these issues on his works
Phaedo, Phaidros, Gorgias and the Republic. Nevertheless, I am sure that most
of us do not know the answer to this question: What is the first NDE recorded
in history? It is the myth of Er as presented in the tenth chapter of the
Republic.
The Myth of Er.

Plato, in the last chapter of his Republic, shares the story of Ήρ (Er) disclosed
by his mentor Socrates. Er was an Armenian soldier who died on the
battlefield. When his corpse was placed on the pyre for burning he came back
to life with a full memory of what he saw in the beyond. After his soul had
departed, it travelled with many other souls and came to a divine place where
there were two openings in the earth; opposite were two other openings in the
upper region of the sky. In the space between these four openings were judges
who passed sentence. They ordered the just to go to the right through one of
the openings upward into heavens for reward, but they sent the unjust to the
left through one of the downward openings to Tartarus for punishment.
Er also saw from the remaining two openings some souls coming up out of the
earth, covered with dust and dirt, and others descending from the sky, pure
and shining. When they were all reunited on the plain, they recounted their
experiences.
They then all journey to the Spindle of Necessity where the three Fates are
found. Lots are drawn and each person is allowed to pick the kind of life they
will have in the future.
The philosopher, best trained to know what is the happy life, will be able to
pick the happiest life, since it is not immediately apparent to all how to choose.
After this each soul was assigned a guardian spirit (daimon) to help them
through their life. They passed under the throne of Lady Necessity, then
travelled to the Plane of Oblivion, where the River of Forgetfulness (river Lethe)
flowed. Each soul was required to drink some of the water. As they drank, each
soul forgot everything. Then they were tossed to life through earthquakes or
thunderstorms.5
Conclusion
I hope by now that it will be evident to the reader that all these ancient mass
practices educated people about the dark waters of the afterlife. Hans TenDam
shared with the author some of his clients that in reliving an ancient life suffer
from the ill effects and hangovers6 from such initiation practices, most of which
take place in ancient Egypt. So we all stand a possibility of experiencing such
cases. I am sure that there must also have been traumatic cases in the Greek
world. Regardless, if our clients do regress in a former life, if they go through
the death scene once more, and furthermore if they relive the life between lives
stage, then it seems to me that the fear of death dissipates. Hundreds of my
clients have told me this repeatedly. Regression therapy today is offering what
the hierophants of those antique days were offering to their initiates. Also, as it
has been historically recorded, much spontaneous healing took place during
this process. Regression therapists also witness daily healings in our offices.
5
An online link to the whole Myth of Er is provided at the end of the article.
6
“Hangovers are residues of long periods of unhappiness. These are heavy, but indistinct charges;
moods rather than emotions.” (TenDam, 2014, p. 181)
Please forgive me for this, but to my mind it would not be a gross

overstatement if I asserted that we are doing something that has the same
result upon the psyche as the Eleusinian mysteries had to the souls of the
initiates in antiquity.
References
Beck, S. (n.d.). The Divine Mother and the Veil of Death: The Mysteries of
Eleusis. (Trans.) Note: Beck published his translations of the works between
2002 - 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.san.beck.org/Eleusis-4.html
Evelyn-White, H. G. (1914). Hymn to Demeter, (Trans.). Santa Cruz, CA: Evinity

Publishing, Inc. (Original work published c. 800 BCE – c. 701 BCE)
Retrieved from, http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/demeter.htm
Grant, F. C. (1953) Hellenestic religions; the age of syncretism. New York.

Retrieved from, http://earthrites.org/2006/01/dromena-3/
Kakogiannou, F. (2014). Eleusinian Mysteries: The road to initiation. Athens,

Greece: Ostria Publications.
Kallergi, D. (2001). The ancient Hellenic mysteries: The spiritual heritage of

ancient Hellas. Athens: Ideotheatron.
Kerenyi, C. (1991). Eleusis: Archetypal image of mother and daughter. New

York: Bollingen Foundation.
Kingsley, P. (1999). In the dark places of wisdom. Inverness CA: The Golden
Sufi Center.
Kourtides, K. (2002). Ancient Greek Mysteries: Orphic, Kabeirian, Dionysian,

Eleusinian. Athens, Greece: Ideotheatron.
Margioris, N. (1999). The Eleusinian Mysteries. Athens Greece: Omakoeion.
Mylonas, G. E (1961). Eleusis and the Eleusinian Mysteries. Princeton, NJ:

Princeton University Press.
Rüpke, J.(2013). The individual in the religions of the ancient Mediterranean.

Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.
Ogden, D. (2001). Greek and Roman necromancy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton

University Press.
Ogden, D. (2009). Magic, witchcraft and ghosts in the Greek and Roman worlds:
A sourcebook. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.
Stampolidis, N. & Economou, S. (2014). Beyond; death and afterlife in Ancient

Greece. Athens Greece: Museum of Cycladic Art.
Struck, P. T. (2000-2009). “Eleusinian Mysteries.” Retrieved from,

http://www.classics.upenn.edu/myth/php/hymns/index.php?page=eleusis

Wasson, R. G., Ruck, C., & Hofmann, A. (1978). The road to Eleusis: Unveiling
the secret of the Mysteries. San Diego CA: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich.
Online Links
The full myth of Persephone’s abduction:

http://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/myth-of-hades-and-persephone/
The full myth of Er:

http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/platoworks/a/062910-The-Myth-Of-Er-
From-The-Republic-Of-Plato.htm
A complete online source for the mysteries: http://www.san.beck.org/Eleusis-

Intro.html
Conversation with Disease or Affected Organs

by Neeta Sharma Kumar
Conversation with disease or the affected organs (CWD) is an

evolutionary approach to regression and past life regression therapy.
This regression technique addresses the disease directly and precisely,
thus reducing the number of sessions needed for healing processes. It
also provides important insights into the cause and remedy of disease
and illness. The author has presented a paper on this technique and
conducted her workshop at World Congress for Regression Therapy 5 in
Porto, Portugal.
The Genesis
In the author’s view all living things are made up of cells. Each cell is
conscious and has ability to communicate. These cells are miniature humans
and have all the cellular organelles which are equivalent to organs and tissues
in a human body. The cells are in vibratory motion. The vibrating cells of any
living being can get affected by various factors like infections, stress,
temperature, emotions, belief system etc. leading to blockages which cause
diseases. These various factors represent environment. Epigenetics is a branch
of genetics that studies the molecular mechanisms by which environment
controls gene activity. Genes do not have the ability to ‘‘control’’ life, because
they are dependent upon environmental triggers to determine when and how
they will be expressed. Scientists have found that genes and DNA do not
control our biology. Instead, DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell
including environment and energetic messages emanating from our positive
and negative thoughts. Epigenetic alterations, not defective genes, result in
diseases and illness.
What is disease?
The author considers that disease is a manifestation of karma. All the emotions
causing blockages are the memories from the past carried along by the soul
which is expressed in body as mind. As the time for release comes closer,
karma shows up as disease. Therefore the author considers karma is the
blueprint of the human body.
The Principle
The soul is the basis of this method of regression therapy. It is the carrier of all
memories from past lives. The soul needs a body to express itself. The mind is
part of the soul that expresses itself in a body. The environmental signals are
read and interpreted by the mind’s “perceptions.” The mind is the primary force
that ultimately shapes an individual’s life and health. CWD is based on the
principle of Mind Theory. Mind Theory states that mind is present in the entire
body of an individual. We can communicate with the mind from any cell or any
organ in a body. Mind consists of three parts.
a) Conscious mind: It forms only 10% of mind. Our life is run by

conscious mind and it’s our identity. It can move in time, from past
to future. It can create positive thoughts and think positively.
Conscious mind can be taught. It is has been found that conscious
mind is not active in a child till age of six.
b) Subconscious mind: It forms 90% of the mind. It expresses pre-
recorded stimulus-response habits derived from instincts and
learned experiences. It’s strictly habitual and repeats same
behavioral response to life’s signal again and again. Subconscious is
downloading and recording programs picked up from environment.
The most powerful and influential programs in subconscious mind
are the ones recorded during the formative period between gestation
and six years of age. Thus the child has programs put in
subconscious before it becomes conscious. Behavior comes from
programs picked up from environment. When we are thinking,
whatever we are doing is taken over by subconscious program.
c) Self-conscious mind: This part of mind is self-reflective and observes
our own behavior and emotions. It has access to most of the data
stored in our subconscious. It can observe and evaluate any
programmed behavior we are engaged in and consciously decides to
change the program. It can choose how to respond to environmental
signals and whether we want to respond to. The capacity of
conscious mind to override the subconscious mind’s pre-programmed
behavior is foundation of free will and healing disease or blockages
and CWD technique.
Methodology
The CWD technique uses disease / blockage / affected organ or affected cells
as a bridge to regression therapy. A person is consciously aware of disease or
blockage in his/her body. This technique consciously uses the “self-conscious
part of mind” to access the data/information from subconscious mind. Thus
saving the valuable time and bringing in important insights into the cause and
remedy for the blockage or illness. The disease / blockage / the affected organ
or cell already has all the information contained within it, which just needs to
be decoded. This technique forms the bridge between physicians and
regression therapists as the therapists can use the information in the medical
diagnostic reports to help in the regression therapy for treating the disease.
The author uses Hans TenDam’s “personification technique” to invite the cells,
organs, disease, and illness into the healing session.*
*Ed. Note. “Therapy that evokes parts of ourselves appearing as separate

individuals. Personifications are parts of ourselves that more or less lead their
own lives. . . . In personification, personal parts and outside influences are
visualized as separate persons, that can be addressed, interacted with, healed
and either released or integrated.” (TenDam, 2014, p. 401)
To use the personification technique in CWD has the client visualize a private
space where he or she feels good: (usually a room in the house they live in;
living room, bedroom, study or porch.) Asks the client to go to his/her favorite
spot in that space and assume his/her favorite position. Have them imagine
that it becomes twilight after a beautiful day (twilight, to more easily visualize
energies as a kind of light). The door opens and the main cause of the problem:
the disease or illness or organ or cells, enters the room.
Just ask very simple questions and the disease, illness, organs, cells are ready
to answer questions.
In the healing the cells and organs are integrated with the client as they are
part of his/her body at the end of the session. Disease or illness is never
integrated.
Insight
The cause of any illness or disease is different in each person. So treatment is
different in each case and individual. The body refuses to integrate with any
extra growth or cellular deposits and considers them an alien or foreign body.
These extra growth or cellular deposits are removed by the same method used
for foreign energy or spirit release from a person.
Case Study
The CWD technique can be used for all types of disease, illness, blocked organs
and cells. The author has used this technique for treating and healing various
illness and diseases such as cancer, myelodysplastic anemia, kidney cyst,
kidney failure, infertility in women and men, fibroid, eczema, psoriasis,
arthritis, depression, leucoderma, hearing loss, tremor in hands and entire
body, pain in body parts, cerebral palsy, heart problem, type-2 diabetes,
schizophrenia, sweaty hands and feet, and many more.
Case study examples of the CWD technique
Case Study 1: Myelodysplastic Syndrome/ Anaemia

Myelodysplastic Syndrome or Refractory Anemia is a type of red blood cell
(RBC) deficiency which may lead to cancer.
In the session, using the CWD technique, the client spoke to RBC cells, bone
marrow cells and tailbone cells.
The RBCs appeared scared, deformed, compressed and exhibited a pale

yellowish color due to the presence of revenge seeking blood thirsty entity. This
entity was the client’s deceased maternal uncle whose body was never found.
After more than seven years of searching for the body, the family had given up.
The uncle was not aware that he was dead. He wanted to seek revenge upon
his 3 friends who had killed him out of jealousy. He was so shattered to know
that he was dead and thus was troubling his niece. He forgave his friends (who
were still alive) after talking to them and receiving apologies from them. His
friends showed the place where they had dumped his body. He identified the
body by the gold ring in the middle finger of his right hand. The entity then met
his family: a son and his wife who performed the last rites and was ready to
leave the earth plane. The RBCs had now become healthy, red colored and
round shaped cells.
The bone marrow cells were invited next. They appeared like brown piece of
sack with holes in between. The bone marrow cells were weakened due to a fall
which hurt the tailbone tip leading to the malfunctioning of the bone marrow.
The fall had caused the tip of the tailbone to push inside leading to calcium
deposit. The tailbone called the calcium deposit by the name, “Calci”. The
tailbone even described the technique to massage the lower back or tailbone
area.
In the end of the session RBCs, bone marrow cells integrated with the client’s
body. But the client’s body refused to integrate with the calcium deposit and
considered it as a foreign entity. The Calci was released like a spirit/entity is
released. The client’s hemoglobin (Hb) count has improved and ranges from 6
to 8 for past three years.
Case Study 2: Cyst in the Kidney

The client was a young girl in her late teens. She was medically diagnosed with
a kidney cyst. As soon as the healing session began, the client complained of
headache and haziness. It was determined that the dark smoky presence which
was causing haziness at the heart and the head was due to the black magic
performed by the client’s servant five years before. The servant then had lost
her job after she was caught stealing. The black magic smoke that the servant
had allegedly evoked completely clouded the head of the client, especially the
forehead causing persistent headaches and making the client unable to
concentrate on her studies. The client’s left ankle was tied to the servant’s wrist
and the servant seemed to be enjoying the client’s discomfort. The servant
would send negative energy, the dark smoky presence that caused haziness at
the heart and the head. This was resolved after clearing the black magic done
by the servant.
Once the black magic, the cause of haziness and headache was cleared, the
healing session for kidney cyst began. The kidney said that fear was the cause
for the cyst. When asked the reason for fear, the client regressed to a past life
in 1888, in a village in the Hindi belt of India. In this past life, her name was
Indu, a 12 yrs old girl who was fond of reading. Her parents who worked in the
fields were burnt alive by the land owner, Shankar who did not want Indu to
pursue her studies. She escaped to a forest nearby but was killed by Shankar
after few months. She died with the intense emotions of revenge and fear. Her
soul did not go into light and lingers where her body was buried.
The soul of Indu refused to go in light as it wanted revenge. Soul retrieval

helped in her healing and her soul finally left for the light. When the kidney
was then checked, the cyst was gone. The client integrated with her healed
kidney. And an x-ray revealed that kidney was free of the cyst.
Case Study 3: Infertility

The client had two miscarriages in six years of marriage. She also had
ovulation problem and clotted blood periods. The client decided to invite
ovaries and speak to them first. Both of them were hidden together into one
round, whitish-pinkish structure, inside a thick white covering. The ovaries
said that it was not the right time for them to talk.
Next the client spoke to the uterus which replied that clotted bleeding was due
to whitish water filling the uterus. This condition resulted in a water element
imbalance in her head leading to a hormonal imbalance. Her brain said that
the emotional imbalance caused the water imbalance. There was a lot of
tension between the client and her mother-in-law as she did not accept her
son’s love marriage. The mother-in-law was actually insecure about her son.
The client had also witnessed a murder attempt on her husband by his uncle.
After the client cleared up the issue with her mother-in-law in the regression,
the water disappeared from her head thus restoring the water element balance.
The client checked with her uterus and found the water had disappeared but in
its place appeared white jelly, as hard as an egg shell further hiding her eggs
fully inside. When the uterus was asked the reason for hiding her eggs and
ovary, the soul of her first miscarried baby answered instead.
The soul of the baby said that it had decided to leave the fetus when it found
mother to be emotionally very unstable, angry and lazy. It had decided to abort
the fetus in order to save its mother from a total breakdown. It was still waiting
to come to her but only after she stabilized emotionally and was able to take
care of herself and the baby. The soul would come when it was requested. The
soul rushed in the client’s arm and settled in her uterus when she invited it.
The client integrated with her uterus and ovaries at the end of the session.
Case Study 4: Leucoderma / Vitiligo

The client was suffering from vitiligo or white patchy skin for the last 30 years.
When the client connected with his skin, the skin appeared as brown and white
patched cloth. The white patches represented the client’s unexpressed feelings,
replied the skin. The white patch appeared when the client had fallen down
and hurt his right knee at age of eight. All the family members showed concern
and the white patch soon faded away.
The discolored patch of skin reappeared on his knee when he was 13 years old.
He was youngest and the favorite of the family. Suddenly his brother was
married without family consent and was ostracized by the client’s family. His
family was also shunned by the community. The white patch suddenly
increased and spread to cover his entire body when the client failed in his
fourth semester in the college and dropped out for a year.
The client appeared to be struggling with the emotion of shame, the shame
brought to the family by his brother as well as shame due to his own failure at
college. This led to depression. The white patch that covered his body made the
client feel exposed. Each patch represented the stare and negative thoughts
directed at him by others. He felt eyes staring at him. Each stare led to the
formation of the white patch and made him feel naked. The pent up and
unexpressed grief of the client speeded up the white patch formation.
The family members were invited and asked to make eye contact and hug each
other including the client. For all these years he had missed this family energy
which acted like healing medicine to the white patches on the client’s skin. The
patches started to shrink and fade during the first session.
After a series of therapy sessions for release of pent up emotions, the

leucoderma condition seems arrested.*
* Ed. note. A similar approach was used by Gestalt Therapists and applied to
regression therapy as described by Claire Etheridge in: Lucas, W. B. (1993).
Regression therapy: a handbook for professionals, Vol. II: Special Instances of
Altered State Work. Crest Park, CA: Deep Forest Press, p. 44.
References

Blogs
Past Life Therapy & Shamanic Healing
by George Schwimmer, Ph.D.
The author describes the three major shamanic healing practices of the
Peruvian Q’ero shamans—illumination, spirit releasement and soul
retrieval – and shows how these very ancient practices differ from Past
Life Therapy and spirit releasement therapy in practical application
I first began doing Past Life Therapy (PLT) in 1984, taking part in the training
offered by the Association for Past Life Research and Therapy, eventually
becoming the first graduate of that program. I was very impressed both with
what I was learning and with the results I was getting with my clients. During
the same time, I learned to do spirit releasement therapy, acquiring that
technique from the work of Dr. William Baldwin. Back then, I couldn’t imagine
any faster or more effective techniques than these. Yet within two years a
thought came to me, “This is fantastic stuff, but there is something beyond
this—some sort of energy healing.” I had no idea what this might be, so I put
the thought aside.
Fast forward to 2003. I was living in Los Angeles now and one evening decided
to attend a free talk on modern shamanic healing practices given by
psychologist and medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., although I had
been unimpressed by what little I had read about shamanic healing in the past:
it seemed to be practiced mostly by people living—often barely—on the land,
and shamans appeared to keep their ancient knowledge to themselves. In any
case, I decided to hear Dr. Villoldo, who by then had been studying with the
Q’ero shamans of Peru, the Laika, for twenty years and had modified their
techniques for Western use.
The room for the talk filled up quickly, not a seat was empty when Dr. Villoldo
began to speak. I listened to him intently but by the end of his presentation
little had caught my attention. Concluding his remarks, he briefly described
the school he had set up to train shamans, The Four Winds Society, then
mentioned a book he had written, Dance of the Four Winds (1995). Although his
talk hadn’t impressed me, I was curious enough to go to the Santa Monica
Library the next day, take out a copy of his book and read it. The book blew me
away—this was what I had intuited almost twenty years before, what I knew
had to exist.
It was the summer of 2005 before I was able to attend the first of five six-day
trainings, held in Park City, Utah, El Capitan Canyon, Santa Barbara, and
Joshua Tree Retreat Center. I completed my training early in 2007, becoming a
“full-mesa shaman.” Some of what I learned/experienced can’t be
communicated, but I later wrote a Kindle eBook about my training, Shaman’s
Path: Becoming a Modern Shaman (2012), which described what could be
communicated.
The main problem with shamanic healing for modern science is that what’s
taking place can’t be perceived by the five physical senses, nor can it be
measured by any current device. Nevertheless, it should be pointed out that at
one time there were no devices to detect x-rays, ultraviolet rays, infrared rays,
atomic particles, etc., and, in fact, these were once unknown energies. Yet,
throughout time there have been and are now individuals who could and can
perceive the human energy field and heal it, can ‘see’ or sense the spirits of
dead humans and communicate with them.
There also have been individuals—other than ‘psychics’ and ‘mediums’—who

have found ways to perceive human energy fields. Dr. Harold Saxon Burr of
Yale University conducted over forty years of research to establish that
everything, including rocks and humans, has some kind of energy field(s)
(Burr, 1973). In addition, an English physician, Walter Kilner, in 1908 invented
a screen—made of a flat glass container filled with an alcohol solution of a coal
tar dye called dicyanin, through which, he wrote, he was able to see and
describe some of the human energy (Tansley, 1984, pp. 65-75). In 1982 I took a
course in chakra healing, during which I learned to feel the different layers of
the human ‘aura’, which under certain conditions can extend up to twenty feet
from the human body. At a later one-evening training in New York City, I was
able to perceive bits of other people’s auras and ten years later was able to
show my ten-year-old grandson and eight-year-old granddaughter how to do
this—so it can be learned. Former NASA scientist Barbara Ann Brennan has a
school providing extensive training in energy healing (Brennan, 1988).
In 1924 Carl A. Wickland, M.D., published the first U.S. book about spirit
releasement, 30 Years Among The Dead, (1974). Dr. Wickland had discovered
that attached spirits were causing some of his patients’ ailments, and he used
a static electricity device of his invention to dislodge these spirits, who would
then enter the energy field of his wife, a medium, after which Dr. Wickland
would speak with these generally uncooperative and surly spirits through his
wife and direct them to move on. In the last quarter of the twentieth century,
Dr. Baldwin and Dr. Edith Fiore released many thousands of spirits, taught
these techniques to thousands of other therapists, and wrote books about their
work (Baldwin, 2003; Fiore, 1987).
Looking back, I can see PLT work, except that they are faster and require no
client stories to effect healing. It warrants emphasis that all shamanic work of
my Laika lineage is based on energies: that of the human energy field, that of
the energy field of a deceased human, and that of the energy field of a detached
“soul part.” That all of this is energy work should come as no surprise, since
99.999% of the human body is empty space, the rest some sort of energy.
So, I’d like to match up the Laika shamanic techniques that I learned with the
techniques used by all or some past life therapists. I need to stress that the
shamanic techniques which follow originated from the Laika and a few other
Peruvian shamans and that I am not familiar with other shamanic lineages and
their healing practices. Incidentally, the Laika don’t call themselves shamans
but “paqos,” and the equivalent word to “shaman” in Quechua, the language
the Q’ero speak, is “chakaruna.”
The first technique I’d like to look at is past-life regression, of course.

Interestingly, even in my PLT work, I devised three energy strategies: healing
the past-life body, rescripting a past life, and communicating with the Higher
Self. In addition, I soon noticed that some sort of energy shift was taking place
during regressions (and I could clearly perceive an energy shift in a client after
spirit releasement therapy as well).
Before I get into a comparison of techniques, I’d like to mention two processes
that are always employed by Laika shamanic practitioners. First is the opening
of sacred space. The shaman opens sacred space by eliciting the assistance of
seven major forces, called the Winds of the South, West, North, and East, along
with the Earth, the sun, and, finally, the Great Spirit. In practical terms,
sacred space protects the client during delicate healing processes and also
permits Laika shamans in spirit to enter and help with the healing. The second
process is the opening of the shaman’s viracocha, or eighth chakra (positioned
just above the head), which surrounds the shaman and then the client. Within
the open viracocha, shaman and client are outside of time and space, which
facilitates the healing process. All shamanic events take place in sacred space,
and all shamanic healing is performed inside the shaman’s open viracocha.
The first shamanic technique I’d like to compare with past-life therapy is
illumination. As any past-life therapist knows, somewhere in a far past some
event, series of behaviors, traumas, etc. took place and was/were never
resolved, was/were brought into future lives to create havoc for an entity and
its human projections. What people generally neglect to consider is how this is
possible: to bring an issue into a future life. The answer is very simple: the
energetic expression of a trauma or issue is imprinted in the energy field of an
entity, which issue is then brought forward into the energy field of the new
human. If you look at the human energy field as a software program, then you
can see that when a computer virus (energy imprint from a trauma or issue) is
introduced, the functioning of the program is impaired. Of course, positive

events are also imprinted in the human energy field, but they do not need
therapy.
One of the most fallacious beliefs of early PLT practitioners was, “To relive is to
relieve,” as if just recalling a past life were enough to effect a resolution. Not so.
The original, underlying, issue also has to be addressed. Here is where PLT and
shamanic illumination differ in practical application. PLT and associated
therapies depend on the client talking, depend on their stories, real or
symbolic. Let’s keep in mind, however, that words are symbols for thoughts,
beliefs, emotions, and that thoughts, beliefs and emotions at bottom are
energies. So, the core of any issue troubling a person is what can be
characterized as an energy gestalt, requiring a spiritual electrician to repair
and clear out whatever is causing problems.
Enter the Laika shaman, who is a master electrician for the human energy
field. This shaman will diagnose where the problem lies, clean out corrosion,
reattach connections, and recharge the batteries. What the Laika shaman uses
for this is termed illumination. The Laika shaman’s process is to open sacred
space, open the shaman’s viracocha, and determine in which chakra (or energy
vortex) the issue is lodged—this is done with the client prone, either with a
pendulum or muscle testing for each chakra, the most commonly affected
chakras being the first, second and third, followed by the fourth and fifth,
rarely the sixth, and virtually never the seventh.
Having identified the chakra needing help, the shaman moves to the client’s
head and begins some energy therapy, then opens the affected chakra, followed
by more energy therapy and the removal of the heavy energy (hucha) clogging
the affected chakra. The shaman then illuminates the chakra by sweeping light
from the shaman’s eighth chakra into the affected chakra. When this was done
for me during training, I could ‘see’, with my eyes closed, a shower of tiny drops
of light. Once illuminated, the chakra is tested again. If needed, this process is
repeated two or even three times in a session, and further sessions may be
needed.
So, the bottom line for both a past-life regression and a shamanic illumination
is the identification and removal of a ‘negative’ energy from a person’s energy
field, which reconfigures that energy field. However, PLT may require
traditional follow-up therapy, whereas illuminations do not, having addressed
the energy malfunction directly. In addition, a shamanic client does not even
need to know or understand his/her issue—only energies are identified and
dealt with in the shamanic healing. This does not resolve everything, of course
– it only removes what is hindering the client. The beaver damn may have been
removed, but the client has to keep paddling his canoe down the river. So, for
instance, a person who has been unable to work for a couple of years, now
must make a determined effort to get a job.
There are two aspects of both PLT and shamanic energy work that should be
mentioned. Years ago, on more than one occasion, I spiritually experienced the
image of a spiral. I believe that a spiral is a symbol for the entirety of an entity,
with all of its human earthly projections. Think of this spiral as an electrical
conduit, through which flows all of an entity’s spiritual energy. If the spiral is
damaged at any point, it cuts down, sometimes drastically, the flow of energy
in the spiral, and, conversely, when the spiral is repaired, the flow of energy is
greatly increased for all who are part of the spiral, throughout time, since all
time is simultaneous. The second aspect concerns the energetic constellation of
individuals currently associated with the client. Once the client is healed, all
the people closest to the client in this life are affected, for the better. So,
relationships are like energy configurations, and if the energy field of one
component is affected—for better or worse—the entire grid is affected.
The second technique common to a Laika shaman and a past-life therapist is

the release of attached spirits, which my shamanic instructors call “liquid
energies,” since spirits can move around in the human energy field. Once
again, the difference between traditional release and shamanic release is that
with the former the client/spirit has to speak—give a history, speak as the
spirit—whereas the shamanic client does not. Shamanic release is pure energy
work, and all the spirits are released at once, greatly decreasing the time
required. It also removes the need to negotiate with a stubborn spirit who
doesn’t want to leave.
As with illuminations, sacred space and the viracocha are opened, and the
client is muscle tested for attached spirits (there always are some). The next
technique bears a close resemblance to Dr. Wickland’s static electricity device
(Wickland, p.33). The shaman places his hands at the top and bottom of a
client’s spine and images bringing fire up from the center of the earth and
running this energy up the client’s spine to dislodge the attached spirits. This
is followed by shaman and client ‘pushing’ the spirits down the left arm of the
client, into a 2.5” to 3” clear quartz crystal. Once the spirits are in the crystal,
the client is given the opportunity to say goodbye to the spirits (keep in mind
that one or more of the spirits may have been with the client for dozens of
years). Shaman and client then go outdoors with the crystal and send the
spirits off to their needed destination. The advantages of the Laika shamanic
method are the ease and rapidity of locating and removing attached spirits,
without the need of discussion or dealing with resistance. To clear out the
energy imprint that drew the spirits to the client an illumination is performed—
sometimes more than one is required.
The third primary shamanic technique is soul retrieval. I know that Bill
Baldwin practiced soul retrieval, since he wrote about it in his instructional
manual, so I expect some other PLT practitioners do as well. I won’t get into the
technique of doing this, just want to reemphasize that this is again a matter of
energy, with a portion of the person’s energy field “splitting off,” which results
in the person being unable to fully pursue, or even begin to pursue, the game
plan it brought to earth. What is interesting with this technique is that the
“soul part” which has left often refuses to come back until its human has got
her act together. One of my split off soul parts said it would only come back if I
would have more fun. Apparently it thought I was a wet blanket.
As with spirit releasement, in order to help clear out the energy imprint that
came with soul loss, an illumination is done in conjunction with the soul
retrieval. There is one last technique, again based on energy that is common to
all three Laika shamanic techniques, which is the ceremonial fire after each
procedure. The underlying energy of an issue is blown into a twig—placing the
energy of the issue into the twig—which is then placed into the ceremonial fire.
Although that may seem just symbolic, I believe some sort of energy transfer or
transmutation does occur.
Some PLT practitioners may find these shamanic techniques useful in helping
to resolve client’s issues. Traditional therapy is somewhat like a car getting a
flat tire from a nail stuck in it. The therapist will ask where the driver thinks he
picked up the nail, under what conditions, who was with him, how he feels
about the nail, etc. The shaman simply takes a pair of pliers, pulls out the nail,
plugs the hole and fills the tire with air – the back story is not relevant to fixing
the tire. The above shamanic techniques are of most value when other
approaches fail to get desired results. If a therapist does not wish to learn the
shamanic techniques herself, she can use the services of a Four Winds trained
shaman. Shamanic healing does not depend on time and space. A client does
not have to be present. I get impressive results doing distant healing. Check
out the author’s Shaman’s Path: Becoming A Modern Shaman (2012) for
examples.
References
Baldwin, W. J. (2003). Spirit releasement therapy: A techniques manual. (2nd

ed.). Terra Alta, WV: Headline Books.
Brennan, B. A. (1988). Hands of light. New York: Bantam New Age Books.
Burr, H. S. (1973). The fields of life. New York: Ballantine Books.
Fiore, E. (1987). The Unquiet dead: A psychologist treats spirit possession. New
York: Doubleday.
Schwimmer, G. (2012). Shaman’s path: Becoming a modern shaman. Santa Fe,

NM: Phoenix 11 Productions.
Schwimmer, G. (2013). My past lives & life plan. Santa Fe, NM: Phoenix 11
Productions.
Schwimmer, G. (2013). How to regress yourself to your past lives and heal
yourself. Santa Fe, NM: Phoenix 11 Productions.
Schwimmer, G. (2013). Earthbound spirits are attached to you: How you can
remove them. Santa Fe, NM: Phoenix 11 Productions.
Tansley, D. (1984). The raiment of light. London: Routledge, pp. 65-75.
Villoldo, A & Jendresen (1994). Dance of the four winds: Secrets of the Inca
medicine wheel. Rochester, VT: Destiny Books.
Villoldo, A. (2005). Shaman, healer, sage. New York: Harmony Books.
Villoldo, A. (2005). Mending the past and healing the future with soul retrieval.
Carlsbad, CA: Hay House.
Wickland, C. A. (1974). 30 Years among the dead. Van Nuys, CA: Newcastle
Publishing.
“So Many Lives Lost”

by Bernadeta Hodkova
A unique case is presented involving what appeared to be a typical

past life regression but in reality included a few interesting surprises.
During a regression with a 36-year-old French-speaking farmer the
author encountered an unusual spirit from America who makes an
unexpected and profound appearance.
Our work becomes a big discovery when healing happens. We never know what
is going to occur in the sessions. First of all we investigate, we ask, we tune in,
and we ask again. We tune into our client’s energy and their thoughts and
feelings. At some point we become one with our clients, and we both know
what to do and how to solve and heal the problem the client presented. It is the
client who choses what is best for them. So, our clients often surprise us. In
the middle of our questioning, energy checking and intuitive tuning, they can
suddenly jump up, start moving their hands, or say or shout something that
seems completely random—but it turns out what they say is never really
random.
I personally love these moments due to the challenge they bring. They look like
a diversion from the client’s way to healing, but in fact they are the clues.
Often, I see that these sudden movements or words are some form of
communication of energies or vibrations that are present in the client’s energy-
field but do not actually belong to the client. These attached energies simply
wake up during our work. They seem to be in a hurry to get out from a place
they don’t belong, surfacing and popping up like corks from champagne
bottles. After they get out, clients feel much better, lighter, and clearer and
they have a great sense of relief. It is interesting to find out why those attached
energies come to each particular client. There is always something the energies
and the client have in common.
One particular client case stands out for me. I will keep this client’s name
confidential of course, and I will keep the identification of the attached spirit
confidential as well. In this case the memory is too raw, and I feel lots of
respect for the attached spirit. This case raises questions about how strong and
persistent the bonds we create are while we are alive, and shows how huge the
attractions of our emotional vibrations can be, as well as how spirits move from
place to place to find us. Finally, it shows how our language can make us feel
comforted and how effective or ineffective our prayers can be.
The client in this case is a 36 year-old male who drove 300 km to see me. His
girlfriend, who was interested in shamanic healing, suggested he see me after
she had found me on the Internet. The client presented himself as a farmer
running a successful family business, which he liked. He had no complaints
except that felt blocked. He was unable to specify what the problem was, he
just felt blocked. He seemed very well balanced to me and seemed to be a
strong person and a strong soul. I work in French, but I still make mistakes, so
I always tell my clients if they don’t understand me they should tell me so that
I can best help them. I also ask if they speak any English, just in case. Like the
majority of my clients, this client spoke no English. I know now that language
is never an obstacle to healing, but I still want my clients to feel comfortable
with my funny accent.
The client was curious and relaxed, so it was an easy start. He went quickly
into hypnotic trance and recalled two male past lives. In one past life lighting
had struck his house while he was away. All of his family, including his wife
and children, died in the fire. He became desperate from his loss—crazy and
unable to go on with life. He died in bed with a feeling of despair, surrounded
by the people of the village who had been taking care of him. He was not able to
relate to them because of his grief.
In the other past life he was a soldier in Napoleon’s army. He got stabbed in his
back by a bayonet. His heart stopped beating, but his feeling of despair kept
him earthbound and roaming the battlefield for a long time after his death. “So
many lives lost in vain,” he kept repeating hopelessly. We did all the necessary
therapy. We worked with body and emotions and people-souls from these past
lives. In many ways it was a textbook case. The client loved the transformation
and integration he experienced, and all was working perfectly. After two hours
of work all seemed to be in place to end the session.
I was doing the final body scan, where I move my hands a few centimeters over
the client’s body to check whether there is anything else we need to work on.
The client was happy and felt good, so I was giving him final hypnotic
suggestions before bringing him to an awakened state. Then he suddenly said
in a loud voice: “I cannot talk on a walkie-talkie.” This was the moment of
surprise. I asked whether what he had said came from his own experience or
someone else’s. “Oh no, not mine, it’s not mine! But I can’t talk on a walkie-
talkie!” His response didn’t really explain anything to me. His claim seemed
completely unrelated to the work we had just done. So, I did another scan and
he felt a pulling sensation in his knees. We were able to bring out the energy
that was behind the walkie-talkie claim. With the client’s permission I asked
the energy to communicate with me through his voice. I asked my usual
question: “Hello energy, do you have a name?” The energy just answered: “So
many lives lost.” I quickly checked the content of our session and assumed
that I was talking to a soldier in Napoleon’s army. So, I asked what had
happened to his body. It took a while for the attached spirit to respond. He was
disoriented and was not aware that he was not in his own body. He kept
repeating: “So many lives lost. Nobody heard me.” I suggested that he go to
where he had a body. He kept repeating the phrase, but I still didn’t get any
picture.
Then he said his name. It was an English name. And I got the picture as if
seeing it on a screen. He was able to tell me his story, bit-by-bit, word-by-word,
in French. He was beside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. He
was a firefighter. He was standing by his truck calling on his walkie-talkie for
more help. There was no response to his calls. “So many lives lost, nobody
heard me on the walkie-talkie. They would have had time to rescue more
people, but nobody heard me.” At that moment something happened and he
lost his body. That was it. I had the sudden notion to tell him to go to the light;
I said it in English. The spirit was happy, expressed thanks and left at once.
The client was relieved, light and free.
We finished the session. The client was puzzled about what had happened. It
was then that he told me that he was in fact a volunteer firefighter. He told me
about what volunteer firefighters do. He said that he had always had difficulty
using a walkie-talkie. Talking on a mobile phone was perfectly fine, but using a
walkie-talkie was a huge problem. I was able to explain spirit attachment and it
made sense to him. He felt very good after the session and said the block was
gone.
This session stuck with me for a while. I wondered if this client actually came
to me because of this attached spirit. Perhaps he was directed to come a long
distance to see me and to bring this spirit over with him because I would be
able to help him. It felt completely natural for me to switch from French to
English to give the American spirit the final instruction to depart for the Light.
I felt that the spirit needed to hear some friendly words in his own language so
he could leave in peace. Even my client commented on it. He said that it was
strange that the energy reacted to my words in English though the client
himself didn’t understand what I was saying. The vibration of the language is
what makes us feel at home. Our session was a transit point to the spirit’s real
home. I still wonder how it works that through time and space a person’s past
life open-wound attracts other “things” from other realms on the earth-plane.
In the session the spirit just gave his first name. I had my client’s well-being in
mind so I didn’t even try to keep the spirit for more questioning, so his full
name remains a mystery. Although, later on I did a little research on the
Internet to find his identity. I discovered that there were five firefighters with
this name who lost their lives in the World Trade Centre catastrophe. There
was also a seemingly unrelated remark in one of the chat-rooms. It mentioned
that someone was trying to call on a walkie-talkie to initiate a quick
evacuation. The call was apparently never received. The person perished. [Ed.
The author does not want to give away the reference to respect the identity of
this first responder who perished.]
This lost spirit case also makes me wonder how many Christian masses and
services were given in memory of those who lost their lives in the World Trade
Center in 2001. How many prayers have soared up to the skies but did not
open a door to the Light. Or did they? If so, then what part of the energy of the
soul gets stuck on Earth and just clicks into someone else’s body until the
wound heals?
The more we work and the more we investigate in order to help healing, the
more we get to know. Our minds stretch and our comprehension expands. This
was an extraordinary case, and I am happy and grateful for the experience.
The Samurai
by Diane L. Ross, M.A., Certified Hypnotist
The following is an account of one man’s past-life regression as an

ancient samurai. This regression was extremely important to him, as it
reminded him of the energy work he had done in the past and
confirmed his proclivities toward the martial arts. It also reinforced his
belief in his own integrity and solidified his desire to be his ideal self in
his current lifetime.
I changed some of his personal details to protect his identity, but the
following text is pretty much verbatim, as he spoke in hypnosis. I have
done several regressions with “N. U.” and they have all been
fascinating. He continues to see me several times a year for
regressions. We both agree that it is incredibly important.
He didn’t want to kill again, but he had no choice. The young challenger stood
before him with his razor-sharp weapon, calculating his first strike.
The challenger was dead in seconds. “Master,” as the Japanese samurai was
called, cut his opponent with the upswing of his sword and then again on the
downswing.
N. U. spoke while lying back in the recliner in my office. He was in a deep state
of hypnosis and was remembering his lifetime as an ancient swordsman.
“I’m really fast,” he said, while recalling this incident that took place more than
500 years ago.
It seems like I’m moving slow but I’m not. It’s like my hands are alive.
I feel the energy in my hands. It’s like from my wrists down they’re
alive with energy and I can sense when someone’s going to attack. So,
it looks like I actually move before they move but, they’re thinking
about moving, but I’m that fast. I sense their intention before it gets to
their muscles. I sense their intention to move and I sense it through
my hands. People think I attack first but I really don’t. People don’t
understand this.
This is the voice of N. U., a fifty-six year middle school teacher who came to see
me to do a past-life regression just because he was curious. He went easily into
a deep trance and responded to my questions without hesitation.
N. U. described the scene as a beautiful garden area. I asked him why he was
fighting and he said his challenger, “Heard about me and he wanted to see. It
was my duty to show him. I’ve been taught to tuck in my chin down low, for
balance and to be humble. Again, it makes me faster.”
I asked what happened after he killed his opponent. “I say a prayer. I’m
standing still. I pray silently. Everybody thinks I’m looking mean but I’m
praying inside. I’m praying for him to go to a better place. I’m just thinking. I’m
just thinking with great spirit.”
I took Master to his point of death in that lifetime. He was about 80 years old.
He said he died of old age and because he was tired. I then guided him to the
Place of Review, the place in the ethereal realms where he could see the big
picture of the life that he just left.
When asked what he learned he said, “Discipline. Respect for everybody and
everything. I always did the right thing. I never lost focus. I was very serious.
Every day was discipline, that’s all. The swords were beautiful.”
He also learned how to channel energy, and how to move energy in and out of
his body, mainly through his hands.
“I should have taught more people how to do that. I kept that kind of a secret. I
couldn’t share everything. I think it would have been used against me.”
I asked him how he learned to channel the energy and he replied,
I was taught by other people. They’re kind of like people but like
spirits, too. I listen to them when I meditate. Other people could hear
them too but they didn’t listen. They thought they were silly. They just
show you how to do it, they don’t really teach you (in the conventional
sense), they show you. It’s possible that you could to do this. It’s no big
deal. Anyone can do it. But no one does.
I asked if he could use this knowledge in his current life, if he wanted to.
Yes, he said, but not for bad.
It’s the same energy used to heal people. You draw it in and let it back
out through your hands. It’s like your hands have a life of their own,
full of energy. I didn’t use it to heal anyone in that life, I used it to be
fast. I can feel it in my sword.
He said he knew about that energy as N. U.,
I always have. I also have the knowledge of how to stand alone, by

myself, when I need to. I laugh a lot more now than I did back then. I
still remember to tuck in my chin—it tightens the neck muscles—puts
your balance forward—so you can move fast.
I didn’t love anyone back then—nobody.

I understand that now. It’s why I don’t
get too close to many people—cause of
that lifetime. Even when I’m close, I’m
not really close. I still have that feeling, I
still have that person in me, not as
strong though, he doesn’t override me
[as N. U.]
I asked if Master had anything to say to N.

U. “Keep studying the energy. That’s your
connection—to heaven—that’s your
connection to heaven. Never use it for the
wrong reasons.”
“I can see myself now, back then,” N. U.

said. “I’m just standing there, looking down
at the ground. It’s funny because I look so
serious. I can’t be that serious anymore.”
Asked why
he was so
serious he
said, “He was a samurai. He had to be ready
to fight all the time.”
As N. U. pondered Master’s life, he said, “He

should have enjoyed himself a little more. He
should have let people in.” He said he died in
a cave by himself, lying on his right side.
As he got more clarity about Master’s life, the

name Musashi came to him. He said Musashi
wrote a book about the energy, but that
people only absorbed the information about
the fighting, that they didn’t understand the
energy part at all. The name of the book is,
The Five Rings, (Wilson, 1645/2002) and is
available to this day.
How will this memory affect N. U. now?
He’s still studying, still learning about the energy. But he’s happier now, not so
serious. After all, he doesn’t have to worry about someone challenging his life
at any moment!
Please read more at: http://www.dianeross.com/blog/?p=164.
References
Miyamoto Musashi Wikipages. Musashi graphic retrieved Jan 11, 2016,

from, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyamoto_Musashi
Wilson, W. S. (2010). The book of five rings. Miyamoto Musashi, Trans.

Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc. (Original work published
1645)
Soup or Natural?
by Todd Hayen, Ph.D.
On an excursion into the ruins of the Ancient Puebloan People of the

American Southwest the author encountered two spirits who guided
him to an expanded and more heartfelt understanding of the region.
This article also addresses questions regarding the true nature of
reality and the effort to make a conscious integration of what is known
in common parlance as “supernatural” with the current materialist
worldview.
I woke with a snap, like a flash of light buried deep in my brain that was so
powerful it seemed I could see it with the back of my eye. It was as if I could
hear it as well, and as my senses began to turn inside out sending feelers into
the external world, I wondered if someone was outside the tent and had
stepped on a dry tree branch snapping it in two. I held my breath and listened
with eyes wide open starring into the blackness— nothing—only a slight breeze
that stirs the stillness of a predawn desert night. My senses returned from their
foray into the unknown practically empty handed. I instinctively sent them out
again, this time with a different mission. What was I experiencing that was not
natural?—but if I could sense it at all, and bring the information into my
consciousness, or simply into my brain to process, how could it be un-natural?
Momentarily allowing my intellect to take over and ponder my questions, I

turned onto my back and stared up at the gauzy netting that served as the
tent’s only window. The stars were overwhelming, blanketing an otherwise ink-
black sky with a dizzying speckling of light. Something other than that night
sky was intently tapping at my awareness. There was a presence there, dark
and seriously attentive—watching. I was in Chaco Canyon, an ancient Native
American spiritual site in the deep wilderness of New Mexico. Cindy, my then
fiancée, and I had come here to investigate the many archeological sites dating
back to the eleventh and twelfth centuries A.D. (Lekson, 2006). The trip had
been incredible but arduous, driving thirty or so miles on only dirt and gravel
and showing up at the campsite with no food and little water. The exploration
of the amazing ancient sites had made up for the temporary discomfort and
soon we were sitting with new found friends who had graciously offered hot
soup and exciting conversation about the possibility of finding rattlesnakes on
our path back to the tent. What had earlier felt to be a welcoming place had
now, in the oppressive night, felt foreboding and resistant. I turned back on my
side feeling much too small lying under the canopy of the entire universe. I felt
an urge to speak but resisted. I knew it wasn’t my own voice that seemed
desperately to want to make itself manifest through vocal cord vibration.
“What do you want?” I thought.
“You need to leave, you don’t belong here!” The answer came back powerfully
and autonomously, almost sounding as if someone just beyond the thin nylon
of the tent wall had uttered the words in a hoarse and harsh whisper. I could
feel my body shudder, and I wondered if I would be able to get through this
without becoming so frightened I would lose my mind. I closed my eyes and
listened to the wind, which had picked up considerably since my snap
awakening. I thought about spirit possession—often times evil entities that
drop into weak and unsuspecting bodies to express themselves once again, or
even for the first time, in the physical world. As a practicing psychotherapist I
once had a client who had asked me during one of our many sessions what I
thought of evil spirits lurking around looking for a body to invade. He didn’t
seem to be the type that would be worried about such things. I sat in the
silence for a moment and finally threw the question back at him in typical
therapist fashion, “what do you think of such ideas?” I was sincerely curious to
know what he thought, but I was also equally resistant to telling him exactly
what I thought, feeling that it may encourage what my profession defines as
magical thinking or unscientific irrationality.
Since this patient had started therapy with me, he had grown progressively
more phobic of being out in public places. Driving a car had become an
impossibility, as he was so certain someone would intentionally try to ram into
him and cause an accident. He presented all the classical criteria for
agoraphobia, or even paranoia. He was convinced it all started one night he
had decided to walk through a cemetery alone. He said he felt a presence enter
his body, and he wondered if that is what had been causing his problems.
Eventually he stopped talking about this experience, and had progressed in a
favorable way over the ensuing years of therapy with conventional treatment.
As I lay under the stars in Chaco Canyon that night I wondered how different
the world would be if we accepted the supernatural for what it, at least to me,
seemed clearly to be, natural.
I decided to treat the experience I was having that night as if it were real and
as such chose to apply a bit of my objective thinking power to the situation. I
thought I would reason with this spirit, and ask why I did not belong. I also
decided to trust what I believed to be the ultimate Truth in the Universe—love,
compassion, and unity. As soon as I had reached this resolve, another entity’s
image came into my awareness. This time the vision was of a benevolent spirit,
who assured me that if I showed a proper respect for where I was and what I
was doing then all would be fine and that I then would not have to leave. It
seemed that this request was akin to preaching to the choir. I had every
intention of showing respect and had so during our entire trip. But maybe I
was missing something important I had not thought of. Maybe up until now I
was not really allowing myself to be fully conscious of the distinct reality of a
spiritual presence in this hallowed place and what that presence represented—
because these possibilities had not really been real to me, maybe I had not
been putting them in my mind and heart in a manner that actually showed a
sincere awareness of them.
I continued my silent conversation with both spirits. I continued to suppress

the urge to actually speak the voice of the darker spirit, and I grappled with the
darkness that entity brought into my experience. The night crept along and it
became much more of a struggle before the light of dawn broke the spell and I
drifted back to sleep. The next day as we walked through the ancient remains
of a long forgotten civilization my tread was lighter and my heart softer. I saw
the image of the old benevolent Indian mystic drift in and out of my
consciousness as I walked on his path and felt his desert heat and breathed
his desert dust. At one time, at the edge of an exceptionally magnificent Kiva, I
got on my knees and prayed, feeling the sharp rocks dig into my knees and
actually, for the first time during this trip, felt the reality of the ancient souls
that physically were a part of this sun-baked canyon. I thought of my patient
who claimed he may have been possessed by a malevolent spirit, and wondered
how different his therapy experience would have been if we had accepted his
spirit connection as a reality, not just as a psychological event, and called upon
the goodness in the Universe to assist him in his understanding and
reconciliation of his possible possession by a dark presence. It seemed to me,
at this moment as I knelt in the desert, that we were mostly turning a blind eye
to much of the wonder of life, even the wonder of the material world, and
ultimately turning away from love itself. In a lecture I had attended at Pacifica
Graduate Institute, James Hillman, known for his work in re-visioning
psychology, suggested that the entire universe of things opens up to us simply
to be appreciated, to be known, and to inspire us with awe and conscious
attention (2006). Manly P. Hall a theosophist practicing in Los Angeles in the
mid 1900’s said in The Wisdom of the Knowing Ones (2000):
Every blade of grass, every tree, is the visible extremity of a vast

invisible process. The choirs of hierarchies are as inconceivable as
the symbolism of Dante and Milton might suggest. These wonders
are not to be named except by an adventure of the spirit beholding
the substance of truth. For the rest there can only be acceptances
put into words or shapes that suggest, but faintly, the sublimity of
their originals. (p. 74)
Carl Jung, the imminent Swiss psychologist and the founder of archetypal
psychology, presented a similar idea, but from an opposing perspective, in his
essay “On the Nature of the Psyche” (1960):
The moment one forms an idea of a thing and successfully catches

one of its aspects, one invariably succumbs to the illusion of having
caught the whole. One never considers that a total apprehension is
right out of the question. Not even an idea posited as total is total,
for it is still an entity on its own with unpredictable qualities. This

self-deception certainly promotes peace of mind: the unknown is
named, the far has been brought near, so that one can lay one’s
finger on it. One has taken possession of it, and it has become an
inalienable piece of property, like a slain creature of the wild that
can no longer run away. (p.168)
Jung suggests that it is a materialist’s goal to reduce everything that we

perceive in this world to a namable and identifiable element. I would go further
to posit that the primary tenet of our current scientific worldview is to call only
those experiences that we can define in this limited manner real. The
experiences that remain unnamed, unmeasured, and unpredictable fall into a
category that contemporary philosophers have called promissory materialism
(Tart, 2009)—a promise that phenomena that will eventually be reduced down
to their identifiable, and thus definable, parts within the current scientific
definition of reality. This leaves a world and universe entirely defined by the
Newtonian classical physics of cause and effect. B. Alan Wallace stated in his
seminal work The Taboo of Subjectivity (2000):
Twentieth-century scientific materialism abandoned belief in any

form of theism by adopting the principle of physicalism, which states
that in reality only physical objects and processes exist. In other
words, only configurations of space and of mass/energy and its
functions, properties, and emergent epiphenomena are real. A
closely related principle maintains that everything that exists is
quantifiable, including the individual elements of physical reality, as
well as the laws that govern their interactions. (p. 26)
Where does this limited view of reality leave the discoveries of quantum physics
and noetic science? All experience then that falls outside of the materialist view
of the universe becomes a fantasy at best, and at worst, it is ignored.
What is ironic about this definition of reality is that many of these so-called
supernatural events have withstood the scrutiny of classical scientific
methodology. The extensive scientific experimentation in psi research at
various universities around the world have proven, according to currently
acceptable scientific methods, that certain phenomena such as ESP, and
psychokinesis, do in fact exist within a materialist’s framework (Radin, 1997).
Once this causal element within our definition of reality becomes loosened, it
should open the door to more research or at least a less prejudiced way of
thinking. It should, but it does not seem to have had much of an effect.
In Michael Glickman’s book Crop Circles: The Bones of God (2009) he presented
a “Twin Phenomenon”—the first being that crop circles simply cannot exist as
our science, as we know it now, cannot accommodate their existence. The
second phenomenon he explains:
...is simply humanity’s ability to look the other way. The pathetic
and clearly specious Doug-and-Dave hoax confection was swallowed
with relief and gratitude but without consideration by millions. Yet if
we believe, if we truly believe, that the crop circles are a man-made
enterprise in their entirety, why do they remain unnoticed? Why is
the art world unmoved? This must surely be the most astonishing
body of earth art in history. Why has academia not taken note of the
numerological and geometrical skills demonstrated here? Why has
the media not remarked on the perseverance and proficiency of this
team of gifted operatives? And why does nobody point out the
breathtaking conspiracy of secrecy underlying this human
enterprise? Above all, how could anyone with a grain of discernment
associate these noble and enigmatic emblems with the claims of a
squalid crew of frauds and deceivers? (p. xvii)
Crop circles are probably one of the most prominent examples of a materially
manifest, unexplainable, creative mechanism present on earth today. They
have reached a proportion of complexity that defies any attempt at describing
them as a hoax, yet the world truly does “look the other way” (Glickman, 2009).
My experience in the desert showed me how a sincere awareness of an

autonomous, nonmaterial, presence expanded my sphere of consciousness. If I
had held this spiritual encounter as strictly an epiphenomenon of my own
individual subjective psychology I would not have thoroughly integrated the
experience in a sincere and heartfelt manner. My intellect would have insisted
on keeping the experience internalized and within the limited scope of
Newtonian causal science. I believe I would have missed the whole point.
I do not propose that we make greater efforts to prove the scientific viability of
psi and paranormal phenomenon. Although there have been great strides made
in specific scientific experiments revolving around certain types of psi such as
ESP, psychokinesis and other similar phenomenon (Radin, 1997). I do not
personally believe the answer lies in simply defining these events in the same
manner that we define everything else in material existence. Taking true
advantage of what these things can teach us or how they can help us see our
planet, the universe, and life itself, in a more expanded and more truthful
manner will not come about through an exclusively materialist and realist
perspective. So then it becomes a matter of heart, and not entirely intellect,
and matters of the heart have not typically been viewed by science as having
much credence in explaining reality.
It seems then that the issue becomes an act of balancing. What has priority in
our lives, what leads and what follows? What is taken seriously, and what is
relegated to mere fantasy, dreams, and if not a positive experience, nightmares
and pathology. As children we are encouraged to fantasize, to bring elves and
fairies to life, to have imaginary friends and make-believe worlds. But when a
certain age is reached, and these nonphysical fascinations are continued, the
young adult is considered mentally ill and needs treatment to bring them into
the real world of quantifiable materialism. It is a shaky proposition to suggest
that we all take fairies, ghosts, and other supernatural experiences as seriously
as we do cancer cells in our bodies, gold in the bank, and food on the table, but
I believe that some effort must be made to find a place for these realities as
realities and not merely epiphenomena of the chemistry in our brains.
It is important not to lump all nonphysical experiences together and place

them on equal par with all physical experiences.* They are different, and within
each world of reality between purely subjective thought and hard-core physical
manifestation there are subtle distinctions. A dream of fairies is different than
a sighting of fairies in a waking state (which only one person can see), which is
different than the actual discovery of physical fairies in some obscure wooded
valley in an unexplored region of South America (no, no such discovery has
been made as yet!)—just as the thought of traveling to the moon is different
than the event depicted in movies and literature—which is different than an
actual moon landing. There is a demand, in our current Western paradigm,
that individual experience is suspect until it becomes a group observation.
Wallace (2000) commented on this as well:
The principle of objectivism demands that science deals with

empirical facts testable by empirical methods and verifiable by third-
person means. This principle has proven to be very useful in
revealing a wide range of facts that are equally accessible to all
competent observers. Such facts must be public rather than private;
that is to say, they must be accessible to more than one observer.
However there are many other empirical facts—most obviously, our
own subjective mental events—that are accessible only by first-
person means and of which the only competent observer is oneself.
(p. 22)
There is indeed a thin veil between the subjective imagination and what is
considered objectively real. I believe that our current culture and scientific
paradigm demands that there be a distinction between these two realms of
experience. Newtonian science, for the past four hundred years, has provided a
convenient measuring stick for this determination. Now it seems that our
comfortable and delineated way of looking at the universe is falling apart. We
are becoming more aware and conscious of the events that occur within our
sphere of experience that fall outside the boundaries of causal science. We
*Ed - See the discussion of this very important topic by Ken Wilber at;
https://integrallife.com/integral-post/integral-semiotics
seem to no longer have a simple way to determine what should be taken

seriously and what we should relegate to the realm of fantasy and the
supernatural. Granted, it may be quite a while before we reach the level of
consciousness that allows our imagination and inner dream world the same
exalted status as the material world. But it seems that we are on the brink of
expanding our serious awareness to include such things as soul survival after
death, communication with disincarnate spirits, crop circles and other physical
anomalies, some forms of UFO phenomena, ESP and other similar types of psi
experiences. These are the bridges that will connect our internal world of
images and thoughts to the material world we navigate through as physical
beings.
There are possibly many people who would have completely ignored the type of
paranormal event I experienced that night in Chaco Canyon. They would have
rolled over
in their sleeping bag and passed it all off as a typical nightmare not giving any
of the messages received any more credence than what they would give any
other dream or imaginative thought. There are also possibly many people, and
more so now than maybe several decades ago, that would have given the
experience the utmost attention and would have allowed it to integrate with
their physical material engagement as if it too were of the same caliber of
experience. I chose to do just that as I struggled to reconcile an experience that
simply did not fit in the materialist’s worldview. I believe I am a better person
for it, and as a result of my insistence in assessing my “supernatural”
experience as reality I have expanded my awareness of life, love, human
expression and our role as beings on this planet. I do not believe I would have
come to this insight in any other way.
In Journey to Ixtlan (1972) Carlos Castaneda and his mentor, Don Juan, are in
the desert at night searching for a spirit. They come across what Castaneda
observed to be a calf-like creature with the ears of a wolf and the beak of a
bird. It is curled up in their path and screaming as if about to die. Castaneda,
at his first encounter with his creature, is terrified; but soon, after his
reasoning powers kick in and assures him that the existence of such a creature
is impossible, he sees that it is actually a fallen tree branch wafting about in
the wind. He points this out to the Yaqui shaman and expresses his pride in
seeing the true reality. Don Juan rebukes him and tells him that in fact the tree
branch was a dying spirit while it was “alive with power” (p. 104). It was not
transformed into a tree branch until Castaneda doubted its existence.
Similar experiences happen in less obvious or dramatic ways to many people, if

not all people, through synchronicities, encounters with the paranormal, and
intuitive events. When we doubt the existence or reality of these experiences we
could actually be changing the experience itself. Certainly the experience loses
its impact and thus its power to effectuate meaningful change in our lives and
perspectives. Reality then becomes a moving target subject to our own personal
beliefs. We truly would be masters of our universe as the observers of material

manifestation creating the world in the manner in which we wish it to be rather
than allowing the material world to create us.
References
Castaneda, C. (1972). Journey to Ixtlan: The lessons of Don Juan. New York:
Simon and Schuster.
Hall, M. P. (2000). The wisdom of the knowing ones: Gnosticism, the key to
esoteric Christianity. Los Angeles, CA: Philosophical Research Society.
Hillman, J. (2007) “The Art, Practice and Philosophy of Psychotherapy.” Pacifica

Graduate Institute [Lecture Series], Santa Barbara, CA. 29, 30 June, 1
July, 2007.
Jung, C.G. (1960). On the Nature of the Psyche. In H. Read, M. Fordham, & G.
Adler (Eds.) (R.F.C. Hull, Trans.), The collected works of C.G. Jung (2nd ed.,
Vol. 8, pp. 168-169. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original
work published in 1946)
Lekson, S. H. (2006). The archaeology of Chaco Canyon: An eleventh-century

Pueblo regional center (1st ed.). Santa Fe, NM: School of American
Research Press.
Radin, D. I. (1997). The Conscious universe: the scientific truth of psychic

phenomena (1st. ed.). New York, NY: HarperEdge.
Tart, C. T. (2009). The End of materialism: how evidence of the paranormal is

bringing science and spirit together. Oakland, CA: Noetic Books New
Harbinger Publications, Inc.
Wallace, B. A. (2000). The Taboo of subjectivity: Toward a new science of

consciousness. New York: Oxford University Press.
Winafred Blake Lucas, Ph.D.
by Afton Blake
Winafred was a pioneer in

the field of Past Life
Regression Therapy. Her
book, Regression Therapy:
A Handbook for
Professionals (1993),
remains the definitive
textbook in the field. A
student of Jungian and
Freudian psychoanalysis
in Europe before the
outbreak of WWII,
Winafred went on to
obtain her doctorate from
the University of
California, Los Angeles in
1949 (only the 8th year in
which UCLA awarded
Ph.D.s to women). In time,
Winafred's interests led
her away from
psychoanalysis to Jungian Analytic Therapy, Rogerian therapy, transpersonal
psychology, Transcendental Meditation, Progaff Journal Therapy, pioneer work
with, Encounter & adolescent groups, and Roberto Assigoli's Psychosynthesis,
which introduced a spiritual dimension into psychotherapy. She developed a
reputation for understanding gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender
psychology at time when most clinicians treated homosexuality as pathological.
She was one of the founding members of the International Association for
Regression Research & Therapies. Editor of their journal for over a decade, she
also founded and ran the Institute of Regression Therapy Training program in
Sedona, AZ, and served on the core faculty of the California School of
Professional Psychology (now Alliant University). You can find out more about
Winafred at her website www.drwinafredblakelucas.com.
Most people know my mother, Dr. Winafred Blake Lucas, who was a pioneer in
Regression Therapy. Her two volume book Regression Therapy: A Handbook for
Professionals, remains the definitive textbook in the field.
I have been working to publish her last book. It’s an extensive work, combining
personal memoir with an overview of all she learned in this lifetime and many
others. It is well researched, including history, techniques, and important

mentors, showing how she integrated these to lay the foundation for her own
contribution to the field.
The book will be published in three volumes. The first is projected to come out
in the spring of 2017. We are pleased to be able to share the Introduction and
Chapter I with you in this issue of the Journal.
Afton Blake, Ph.D

Winafred’s daughter
Preface to volume one of three by Winafred Blake Lucas. [Formatting of the

original retained.]
Preface
Throughout history we have searched for meaning in various ways. Sometimes

we have explored ideas rationally, perhaps interjecting a few confirming experiences. At
other times we have depended on experience or on inner intuition, occasionally including
some rational framework.
In the beginning of my search for meaning I relied on the convictions of my
culture, which in the twenties usually involved some form of Christine doctrine.
However, I came to see that I could not trust doctrine to provide an answer, so I set up
other requirements. I decided that I needed to experience a concept personally and sense
it intuitively before I could accept it. Then I looked in scientific research for hard
evidence of the working out of my theory. Finally, I wanted to be able to fit the theory
into the most valid current statement of the nature of our world, which in this century is
found in quantum physics. The possibility exists that reality is itself evolving, so even
theories that meet these criteria could still be subject to modification.
I wrote this set of three books in part to help me understand my own journey. I
began by tracing the major dynamics of the life in which I grew up. After that I scanned
the impact of nearly a century of cultural changes, both here in the United States and in
many countries throughout the world where I have lived. I pondered these changes in my
meditation and in various altered-state experiences and recorded them in my Journal. I
concentrated particularly on my body, its wellness, its control of weight, its ability to
traverse these older years with comfort.
Then I searched to understand the energy fields that determine not only the state
of my body and of my general course of life but also how healing works. I sensed a
spread of ideas about healing, and to evaluate them I combined my training as a scholar
and researcher with my experience and my intuition. I tried out various alternative
healing methods. Many of my experiences, not only in healing but also in contacting my
inner Guides and relating to animals, moved beyond what my world considered to be
established and acceptable.
In the second book I describe in depth my experiences beyond conventional space
and time. I plumbed many lifetimes and the influence of those lives on who I am now. I
went deeply into each prenatal experience and also into what occurred after I left my
body at the end of each lifetime. I explored particularly the time between lives and came
to understand its nature and the significance of my experience there.
The third book deals with over sixty years of professional experience. This began
with a childhood incident with my father that impacted nearly my entire life. I needed to
understand this experience and make my peace with it, which in these closing years I
have been able to do. I explored the meaning of dreams and the significance of projective
techniques and psychedelics. I particularly scanned the effectiveness of my own
psychotherapy over twenty-five years. Then, typing together these experiences with what
I had determined about the energetic nature of life, I put together my conception of
psychotherapy and how transformation is accomplished.
During my life I have often moved into difficult times and my determination has
sometimes faltered, but I have never forgotten that my goal is to understand. Sometimes
goals that my conventional world considered appropriate, such as my first doctorate, have
become bypaths that I have had to renounce. These renunciations often led to periods of
painful alienation.
At other times I came upon aspects of reality, including yoga, projective
techniques, the mind-body connection, and past lives, before my immediate world found
them acceptable. These concepts are eventually becoming accepted, but while I wait for
this to happen, I find myself not fitting into my intellectual world.
Nothing in these books is simply theory. Everything has been tied to actual
procedures of living; I have not included anything that I myself cannot live out. Sharing
my own experiences of nearly ninety years is my gift to my readers. I want eventually to
communicate my profound conviction of the depth of meaning I have found in the love
energy that forms the foundation of my being and of all life. I want to share my
joyfulness that I am a creative living self in charge of my own life and destiny, which
makes up a possible scripta for everyone.
I believe that most people struggle to find meaning. I hope that these volumes will
suggest bridges that will make life richer and less anxious. I offer my own experience,
won through struggle and seeking, to suggest some directions for this journey.
WBL
References
Lucas, W. B. (1993). Regression therapy: a handbook for professionals, Vol. I:

Past-life therapy. Crest Park, CA: Deep Forest Press.
Lucas, W. B. (1993). Regression therapy: a handbook for professionals, Vol. II:

Special instances of altered state work. Crest Park, CA: Deep Forest Press.
Media Reviews
Inner Healing Journey - A Medical Perspective (2014)

Peter Mack, M.D., Ph.D., Editor
Reviewed by Andy Tomlinson
Find out how medical doctors from three

continents have guided their patients with
regression therapy to the source of their
problem to clear deep-seated emotions that
underlie medical conditions and relationship
issues.
The book is full of the patient stories of what

happened including what appear to be past
lives. The physicians show the amazing
transformation that can take place by
working with the emerging information.
It is written to be an absorbing read that

brings new hope to the public, and to
inspire medical professionals, available in
English and soon in Portuguese.
Peter Mack, M.D., Ph.D. received his

undergraduate medical education from the
University of Singapore and undertook postgraduate specialization in the field
of general surgery. He obtained his Fellowships from the Royal College of
Surgeons of Edinburgh and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow,
UK. He practices in Singapore General Hospital and has several other academic
qualifications. He has a Ph.D. in Medical Science from the University of Lund,
Sweden, and three other Masters degrees, in Business Administration, Health
Economics and Medical Education. Over the years, in his medical practice, he
developed a special interest in Clinical Hypnotherapy and obtained certification
from the National Guild of Hypnotists, International Medical and Dental
Hypnotherapy Association and the International Association of Counselors and
Therapists. He also holds a Diploma in Regression Therapy from the Past Life
Regression Academy.
Other Contributors:
• Karin Maier-Heinle, M.D. - A German physician and rheumatologist living in
Munich.
• Moacir Oliveira, M.D. - A Brazilian psychiatrist and psychotherapist living in

Salvador, Bahia.
• Dr. Natwar Sharma - A pediatrician and pediatric intensivist living in
Chennai, India.
• Sérgio Werner Baumel, M.D. – A Brazilian neurologist and psychologist living
in Vila Velha, Espirito Santo.
• Soumya Rao P, M.D. – An Indian psychiatrist living in Bangalore, India.
Transforming the Eternal Soul; further insights from regression therapy

(2011)
Andy Tomlinson, Editor
Reviewed by Bernadeta Hodkova
This book is on my shelf of my most

read books and represents one of the
best-written books on techniques for
regression therapy. As with other
Andy Tomlinson books (Healing the
Eternal Soul, Exploring the Eternal
Soul) it is very easy to read, easy to
work with and can be used as a
textbook. When I need inspiration for
working with a client, I consult this
book.
Transforming the Eternal Soul

contains various techniques and
approaches contributed by regression
therapists from all over the world—
graduates of the Regression Academy.
The techniques that have been
developed by these therapists, can
help any therapist to expand
knowledge and enhance professional
skills.
Each chapter is written in a writer-

therapist’s personal tone and is well-organized. This includes a descriptive case
study to demonstrate the use of each technique and evidence for the
effectiveness of each technique. It provides ideas for applying them together
with examples. However, I find the most useful aspect is the literal
instructions. These techniques range from carefully constructed hypnotic
suggestions, through step-by-step instructions for clearing energy to the use of
various vibrational tools to enhance the therapeutic effect. The greatest
advantage of this book is that a regression therapist can easily take the
instructions given, go to work with the client, and be sure that it will help.
For me this book represents a wonderful contribution to the expansion and
quality of our regression discipline. I recommend it to any regression therapist
who is curious and seeks to add to their professional repertoire.
An Amazing Human Journey, Volume Two (2014)

by Shakuntala Modi, M.D.
Reviewed By: Albert J. Marotta, MA, CHT
When first asked to write a review of Dr. Modi’s

latest work, I didn’t realize the difficulty involved
in this undertaking. Because of its wide scope
and divergent subject matter, it was truly an
amazing and remarkable journey.
Many books contain intelligence and knowledge.

Fewer contain true wisdom. Dr. Modi’s new
book contains extraordinary mind-expanding
wisdom, based on hundreds of hypnotic
regression case studies that extend over
thousands of years. This study is a multi-
dimensional history involving both human and
extraterrestrial interaction. What I find so
refreshing is the agenda free approach Dr. Modi
uses, “This is what my hypnotized clients report
to me…”
Volume Two is a brilliant monumental continuation challenging multi- and

inter-dimensional concepts, which should be of interest to astrologers,
astronomers, archeologists, anthropologists, historians, many other scientific
fields of human endeavor as well as the curious. Regression therapists and
those in the healing professions should note Dr. Modi presents effective 22nd
century healing modalities in the here and now, showing the complexity
between theory and the reality of life.
The ongoing theme in Dr. Modi’s latest books is extraterrestrial involvement in

human evolution. This theme gains strength with each new book she writes.
Dr. Modi’s refreshing approach is courageous, open-minded and scholarly
reflecting an insatiable curiosity, numerous sources and intuitiveness.
In Volume Two, Dr. Modi discusses numerous fascinating topics including:

Ongoing extraterrestrial involvement in human evolution, and DNA
experiments (hybrids, advanced technology, parallel dimensions, etc.). She
reports an assortment and describes copious life forms on other planets, and in
other universes. Additional fascinating areas covered, include various types of
alien abductions, energy vortexes, ley lines, etheric energies in architectural
structures (e.g. pyramids, the Great Wall of China and other ancient
structures) the space time continuum, linear vs. eternal time and so much
more.
An Amazing Journey (Volume Two) is a must read book for pure enjoyment
and/or to be studied. It is a far reaching and insightful source of wisdom for
those seeking intellectual challenge to traditionally held beliefs, particularly in
the physical, emotional, cultural, spiritual, and the healing arts. Volume Two is
an invaluable treasure chest stretching the imagination beyond what we call
today’s reality, especially for regression therapists.
Dr. Modi’s writing style is consistent in all of her works, easy to read, and
possessing a flowing provocative narrative. All of her books are a timeless
exploration of the past and future through hypnotic regression. Yet none of the
information Dr. Modi states, “… is a reflection of my own personal or religious
beliefs.”
The Spirits of Amoskeag: The Wounded Heroes of the Manchester Mills

(2015)
By Lois A. Hermann with Peter Paulson
Reviewed by Albert J. Marotta MA, CHT
This book is a historical expose of the late

16th and 17th century manufacturing and
abusive child labor practices in the New
England weaving mills. It is a 21st century
promise to tell this story, with the effective
use of transpersonal hypnotic regression
in the research needed to validate their
stories, and keep that promise.
Lois Hermann’s book is well-documented

dynamic historical adventure showing a
dark side of humanity and big business. It
is emotional, poignant, and fast paced.
Hypnotic regression techniques are used
to access earth bound spirit testimony.
The spiritual dimensions do not detract or
overshadow the storyline but rather add a
deeper dimension to her work. From a
therapeutic perspective, there is enough
technique given, that with intensive study
and careful diligence, effective spirit
releasement can be achieved by a
competent regression therapist.
The Spirits of Amoskeag is a fascinating true adventure well worth the effort of
the avid reader, historian, spiritual enthusiast, and therapist. Research is
ongoing, seeking the ultimate goal of greater details and accurate
documentation. Well done Lois and Peter.
Contact: Lois@ amhersthypnosiscenter.com

Phone: (603) 402- 9134
All donations from the proceeds of this book are granted to support the Literacy
Awareness Program of the Salvation Army in Manchester, New Hampshire.
New Media
Through My Looking Glass: a Personal Journey into Vaster States of

Awareness. (Book 1)
by Winafred Blake Lucas
[Book1] Editor’s Foreword
When Dr. Winafred Blake Lucas began to

write her three-volume memoir she fully
intended to complete it during her lifetime.
She employed a secretary in California and
this copyeditor in New England, both of
whom had worked closely with her for years.
With the Internet not yet in widespread use,

Winafred’s chapters crisscrossed the country
by mail as they underwent repeated editing
and revision. Photocopies of all materials
provided a back-up in New England, lest any
be lost in the mail.
Once her second volume had reached

completion she visited here for several days.
We kept ourselves warm by the woodstove in the basement as we moved
through each chapter of her proposed third volume. When she returned to
California, Winafred continued to revise her work, often moving entire sections
of text in and out of their original volumes.
Slowly the culmination of her life work began to come together. However,
Winafred’s physical energy waned. With hours now available to sit and think
each day, she gained deeper insights into matters of great importance to her.
Wanting to capture these new thoughts, she revised and reorganized even
further, never satisfied enough to view this massive work as complete.
Then on Christmas Day of 2006, at the age of 95, Winafred Blake Lucas slipped
into the realm that follows physical life.
A few years after her passing, a phone call came from one of her former
colleagues. This colleague had been approached by Winafred’s family, who
sought a way to publish the memoir that Winafred had tried to finish. Collette
Fethke, Winafred’s long-time secretary, had since died, and Winafred’s
computer disks proved impossible to read.
What remained in my office in New England was a haphazard accumulation of

versions of marked-up chapters. Some lay in boxes, some in file folders, others
under dusty piles of notebooks. Clearly the only hope of moving this memoir
toward publication lay in sorting and piecing together these odd copies, then
typing the entire three volumes.
The resulting work, prepared with the encouragement and proofreading skills
of Winafred’s former colleague who wished to remain anonymous, follows as
closely as possible Winafred’s ultimate thinking.
This comprehensive memoir can now follow its own path, touch its own
readers, and contribute what it will to all that is yet to come.
Joanne Garland
Deerfield, Massachusetts
September, 2014
Discovering Regression Therapy, A Love Story (2015 - in 14 parts)

A film by Virginia Rivera Hernandez on behalf of the Earth Association for
Regression Therapy (EARTh)
by David Graham, President, EARTh

This article introduces a new film currently being produced by EARTh around
the topic of regression therapy. It will explain who EARTh is, describe the
purpose of the film and describe its main target audience. It will then invite the
reader, whether a regression therapist or another interested party, to actually
view the film for their own professional interest.
Founded in Frankfurt, Germany in 2006, EARTh has outgrown its original

purpose of providing a meeting place and creating common standards for
professional regression therapists within Europe. It soon began to attract
members from around the globe and has now become a world-wide association
dedicated to promoting the profession of regression therapy as widely and
effectively as possible. EARTh promotes professional standards of therapy and
training, with each of our members being committed to follow a code of
conduct.
The film is aimed primarily at professional and potential therapists interested

in discovering more about what it takes to become a regression therapist. It
explores the demands and rewards that unfold for both the therapist and the
trainee therapist as a natural outcome of working and training in this field. It
aims to inform, educate and inspire the general public on the benefits of
regression therapy. It also refers to the personal journeys of some of our own
members and how those experiences affect and inspire others on their own
journey. There is an implied invitation for any reader to view the film and share
it with any and all of those that may be interested or gain benefit from it.
It was during 2013 that the idea first emerged for EARTh to create another film
on the benefits of regression therapy. So, we acted on a suggestion (from Hans
Ten Dam) that the film could be aimed at other professional and potential
therapists who show an interest in the subject. The approaching World
Congress for Regression Therapy (WCRT5) offered a fine opportunity to stage
the project while we had access to the experience and wisdom of many different
therapists from around the world. The congress was held in Porto, Portugal in
October 2014 under the theme of ‘Mind Healing Body, Body Healing Mind’. The
interviews were held and we expect the film to be released early in 2016.
We had thus set ourselves a challenge in Porto and subsequently took on a

team that held some awareness of regression therapy yet were not trained or
practicing in the field. Virginia Hernandez Rivera joined us as director assisted
by Elena Valdivielso, with Iris Meigas conducting the interviews. I took on the
role of producer and so the team began to take shape. Invitations were sent out
to potential interviewees to make their contributions on camera and
arrangements were made to set up the venue. We were ready to roll.
Then it happened. Twenty-two different interviews were filmed over the course
of five days in which we witnessed one contributor after another opening up
and telling their stories, offering their professional and personal experiences
and showing us their own particular insights. The film attempts to take the
viewer to the heart of regression therapy to discover the beauty that can be
found as people go inside themselves to face their own issues and thus enable
their own potential to heal. It happens for the teachers, the students and the
clients. These experiences are invariably described in an eloquent yet grounded
manner as each interviewee describes their own ‘love story’.
The film explores different aspects of regression therapy and especially the
training in the profession. As it begins with a description of what regression
therapy is, it moves on to explore what is claimed to be special about it, what is
special about the therapists and whether it actually works. Teachers comment
on what they seek from a student, students comment on the difference it has
made for them and it concludes with references into the state of the therapy
today.
Virginia persuaded us of the need to make the film accessible to different

platforms such as mobile phones, tablets and you-tube. The film is thus
constructed in thirteen chapters of an average six minute length each. Each
chapter will address a particular aspect of regression therapy, beginning with
‘What on EARTh is Regression Therapy?’ Interviews were held with pioneers,
trainers, therapists, students and clients of regression therapy. We also invited
an objective perspective from the academic past life researcher, Professor Jim
Tucker of the University of Virginia.
We hope that the viewer will be able to discern what regression therapy might
mean for them; whether attracted to training or not, whether attracted to
experiencing it or not, or whether an insight into the subject is simply
interesting or enjoyable.
The film can be viewed at; http://www.earth-association.org/discovering-
regression-therapy-love-story/
Rapid Entity Attachment Release: A breakthrough in the world of spirit

possession and releasement (2011)
by Athanasios Komianos with foreword by Hans TenDam
The world of Shadows and Hades is not the best

place to be. Not any of us are either willing or able
to ‘mind-walk’ in the shadowy areas of this cold
and rather unfriendly realm. Yet, if we do not walk
through there, then therapy may be superficial
and not lasting.
This is a chart book in the world of spirit

possession and entity attachments. This book
extends beyond the easily digestible approach of
angelic invocations and therapies sending
discarnates to the light. It is not only addressing
the world of ‘metaphysical’ phenomena infiltrating
in the everyday world of our distressed clients, but
it also illuminates the neglected influence of dark
and intrusive entities and energies. Prior
publications have really shed light into the world
of spirit possession but this book delves more deeply
into this area with valuable new insights.
In addition, it illustrates how electricity,
acupuncture, hypnosis, past-life regression, spirit
release (even exorcism) can be applied interactively
to offer effective relief from long standing debilitating
conditions.
This book will expand the therapist’s rational
capacities and it will challenge how far, or how
willing the therapist is to sacrifice the safety of
remaining within the mainstream worldview.
The author shares case studies, introduces new principal, merging tradition
with technology. There is a useful inventory of questions to help the reader
discern the degree to which a person could be possessed by an entity. A
glossary of unfamiliar terminology is offered to aid the more novice reader. And
finally, there is a comprehensive bibliography.
208 pages, 28 €, ISBN: 978-1-4467-7216-4
It is available on Amazon but can be directly purchased here:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/athanasios-n-komianos/rapid-entity-attachment-
release-rear/paperback/product-16170974.html
Shaman’s Path: becoming a modern shaman (2012)

by George Schwimmer, Ph.D.
Shaman’s Path is a vividly detailed account of the

training George Schwimmer, Ph.D.—a
metaphysical practitioner and writer for more
than forty years—received from Dr. Alberto
Villoldo and The Four Winds Society in 2005 –
2007. Dr. Schwimmer experienced many
extraordinary inner events in the course of five
week-long shamanism trainings, and recounts
them in a fascinating and entertaining way.
He learns to give—and receive—illuminations,

soul retrievals, energy extractions (spirit
releasements), simulated death rites that take
him out of his body, and many procedures that
clear and reconstitute his Luminous Energy
Field.
He also receives the nine sacred Munay-Ki rites—

three of them from Q’ero shamans of Peru—which
join him to a lineage of luminous healers, and while
receiving these he perceives and ‘hears’ both men
and women spirit shamans giving him these energy
transmissions.
There is a final chapter recounting some of Dr.

Schwimmer's experiences with distant healing. Both
novice and experienced practitioner will find this
material quite useful and interesting.
A wonderful introduction to practical shamanic

healing techniques adapted for modern life,
containing some amazing accounts. It will also introduce you to distant
shamanic healing, which is available from Dr. Schwimmer.
Reinkarnation, Christentum und das kirchliche Dogma (2001)

(Reincarnation, Christianity and the Dogma of the Church)
by Jan Erik Sigdell, Ph.D.
Ibera Publishers, Vienna, 2001, ISBN 978-3-

85052-109-3, 248 pages. Research into the
relationship between the reincarnation doctrine
and the dogma of the Church, showing that
belief in reincarnation is not unchristian, but
merely un-ecclesiastical. A free English
translation is available here:
http:www.christian-
reincarnation.com/PDF/ChristRein2.pdf.
Ibera Publishers, Vienna, 2001, ISBN 978-3-
85052-109-3, 248 pages.
Further books by me are listed here:
http://www.christliche-
reinkarnation.com/books_all.html
Geh’ zurück in eine Zeit… / Indizienbeweise für ein Leben nach dem Tod
und die Wiedergeburt / Rückführungen in „frühere Leben“ und deren
Nachprüfung (2015)
[Go back in time . . ./Circumstantial Evidence for Life After Death and
Rebirth/Regressions to “Past Lives” and Their Verification]
by Dieter Hassler, Dipl.-Ing. TH (2015)
This is a two-volume book in German which explores

the validity of lives recalled in regressions. There are
extensive bibliographical references with 37 cases
purported to be validated. However, the reports are
verified by the persons involved, not by independent
researchers. Included is a survey of the history dating
from the 18th century. Including the case-reports, this
book represents the first time such comprehensive
material has been published. The book is written for both professionals and
laymen. It is well organized and well indexed with a comprehensive table of
contents. There are many cross-references and
an extensive glossary.
A sampling of subjects in volume 2a (504

pages):
 twelve of 37 verified cases researched in

detail
 the other cases reported in shorter form
 appraisal of xenoglossy as proof for the
interpretation as cases of reincarnation
 Professor Wambach’s statistical research
of many cases.
 Fifty-one questions and answers
 regression techniques
 risks of regression
 history of development of regression
therapy
 a tour through the historic development
of the method exemplified in 79 “halts”
 thirty-seven unverified cases reviewed in a condensed to present specific
unique examples.
Contents of volume 2b (453 pages):
 seventeen verified abbreviated cases

 sixty two unverified abbreviated cases
 common features of cases presented

 karma and regression therapy
 regression into the interlife and
comparison with statements of children
to check for consistency
 past life regression therapy, results and
relationship to reincarnation
 alternative explanations of past life
recall
 how to find a regression therapists
http://www.reinkarnation.de/html/buch_anschauen.html
Shaker Media, Aachen, Vol. 2a ISBN: 978-3-95631-359-2; € 25,90 Vol. 2b ISBN:
978-3-95631-360-8; € 23,90
Table of contents and purchase are at

http://www.reinkarnation.de/html/buch_anschauen.html
Upcoming Conferences
EARTh Annual Convention 9-17 July 2016, Elatochori, Greece.
Greece is mostly well known for its beautiful waters and nice beaches but not
so well known for its magnificent mountains. By combining practical as well as
historical (in our case mythological) factors, regression therapists decided to
organize the 11th EARTh Convention in the Pieria mountain range. This
mountain is mostly known for its hosting of the Nine Muses of Greek
Mythology. The title of the Convention is HOME TO THE MUSES: How to Be
Inspired by Nature, Arts and Archetypes in Regression Therapy. For
further details, workshops and information please click here.
The next World Congress for Regression Therapy (WCRT6) will be held in Goa,
India from 12th-17th September 2017. There are two particularly unusual
features about this congress which we do not usually encounter at other
events. As clients may find a regression therapist to help them to address a
disempowering personal issue, this congress focusses on the qualities and
power that reside within each of us. So Unlocking Creativity is the theme for
this congress. Another unusual feature for a world congress is that it is being
staged within a culture that is actually accepting of the concept of
reincarnation, thus there is a stronger potential for genuine interest from the
mainstream media. Unusual indeed for therapists of the western world. The
website is being built here World Congress for Regression Therapy Hope to see
you in Goa. By the way, it is beautiful there.
Authors
Chet B. Snow, D.E.S., Ph.D. A close associate of the late Helen Wambach, who
assisted her in research both into past-lives and into possible future lives. He
is a hypnotherapist now conducting a private practice and continuing research
in Paris, France. His address Is 54 Rue Guy Moquet, Paris, France 95017. [ Ed.
This is his bio from the original 1986 Journal. See, http://www.chetsnow.com
for his latest interests and activities.]
Vitor Rodrigues, Ph.D. - (1965) has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of
Lisbon, and is a psychotherapist since 1985, using a.o. regression therapy,
hypnosis and relaxation, breathing, meditation, and guided visualization. For
fourteen years, he taught educational psychology at the Faculty of Psychology
and Educational Sciences of the University of Lisbon. He also lectured at the
nursing school in Évora and on developmental psychology at the University of
the Algarve. Since 2000, he is the coordinator of the European Committee for
Certification and Accreditation of EUROTAS. From 2002 until 2008 he was
president of the Luso-Brazilian Transpersonal Association and from 2005 until
2009 president of the European Transpersonal Association. He is the author of
ten books and various scientific articles. He leads workshops and teaches
courses in Portugal and other countries on the psychology of consciousness,
such as regression therapy, meditation and relaxation, parapsychology, psychic
protection, and the management of stress and emotions.
Hans TenDam, MA, CRT, (1943) studied psychology and pedagogy at the
University of Amsterdam. He was for 40 years an international management
consultant in a.o. conflict resolution and strategic management. He discovered
regression therapy by accident and has been teaching and training other
people in it since 1983, originally in the Netherlands, later in European
countries from Finland to Portugal, and further in Brazil, the USA, Turkey,
India and Japan. Hans was a member of APRT, later IARRT, in the United
States. He founded the World Congresses in 2003 and EARTh in 2006. His
books are translated in several languages.
http://www.tassointernational.com/books-of-hans-tendam
Jan Erik Sigdell, Ph.D. - was born in Sweden, lived in Switzerland for 30 years,
and is now retired in Slovenia. He studied electronics and obtained a degree in
medical engineering contributing to the mathematical design of dialyzers for
artificial kidneys. In the 1970’s he performed in several experimental hypnotic
regressions and later learned the Bryan Jameison non-hypnotic technique,
which he practiced since 1980. Later when regression therapy became his main
activity, he developed the Jameison technique further, adding various new
procedures, such as the effective release of negative emotional energies from
the past, dealing with attachments of souls and entities, a reconciliation
technique and other special processes. He has written a number of books in

German.
Dieter Hassler, Dipl.-Ing. TH - graduated 1966 as communications engineer of

TU Darmstadt, Germany. He worked 4½ years in industrial development in
Munich and afterwards in industrial research for medical devices in Erlangen,
Germany. After his early retirement 1995 he began to engage in private
reincarnation research represented on the internet under
www.reinkarnation.de. He first struggled to find cases of the reincarnation type
(CORT) in Germany culminating in a German book on CORT and in an English
article about a New European CORT. He then learned to regress people into
previous lives and used this ability for research purposes. As a result he
recently published another book in two volumes on verified cases of regression
into previous lives. In 2006 together with Wolfgang Eisenbeiss he published an
English article about the mediumistic communication with a Deceased Chess-
Grandmaster as Evidence for Survival. [email protected]
Nicolette Lachmann, M.D. - (1994). She is a certified neuro-linguistic

practioner/master/coach. In 2014 she graduated as a regression and
reincarnation therapist at Tasso Institute, the Netherlands. For the last 20
years she has been working as M.D. in forensic medicine; a detective in matters
of life and death. On the paths of both her life and work, she started looking at
her patients and herself in a different way. We were not people having a
disease; we are people receiving messages from our souls inviting us to change.
So she had to look and listen in another way, on another level. This led her to
the Tasso Institute where she began collecting different tools. She still works in
forensic medicine and as a regression therapist. her email is:
[email protected]
Athanasios Komianos, B.A, CHT, CRT - is graduate of Old Dominion University,

VA, USA. He was certified Hypnotherapist by the National Guild of Hypnotists
and certified regression therapist by the International Board for Regression
Therapy (IBRT). He was a member of the IARRT, and since 2013 served as the
President of the Earth Association for Regression Therapy (EARTh). He
published several articles in the Journal for Regression Therapy as well as in a
Greek weekly magazine called Phenomena. He coined the term hypnoscopesis,
the specific hypnosis technique he uses in his practice. He is author of two
books and has lectured, held workshops and offered seminars in Greece,
Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Estonia and the United States.
Neeta Sharma Kumar - is the founder director of Anjul Jyoti- Hands Of Light
Foundation, Noida, India. She is an alternate medicine practitioner, clinical
counsellor and certified clinical hypnotherapist. A qualified teacher, she has 17
years of experience in teaching science. Neeta is a multi-discipline therapist
with expertise in various healing therapies and practices including, life between
lives, past life regression, transpersonal regression, reiki (also a Karuna reiki
teacher), theta healing, NLP, EFT, rebirthing, aura reading, crystal & crystal
skull healer, meditator and dream analyst. She is also a member of Spiritual
Regression Therapy Association (SRTA) and Association for Regression and
Reincarnation Research (ARRR). Contact her at [email protected] .
George Schwimmer Ph.D. - is a writer and shaman, who utilizes several healing
modalities. Much of his writing can be found as eBooks in Amazon.com’s
Kindle book store. Dr. Schwimmer also trains shamans. He lives in Santa Fe,
New Mexico and is eighty-five years old. http://www.georgeschwimmer.com
Bernadeta Hodkova - is a holistic regression therapy & spiritual regression

therapist-teacher. Bernadeta has a diploma in Clinical Hypnotherapy, past life
and current life regression therapy and Spiritual Regression (Life Between Life
Regression). She is a member of EARTh and Spiritual Regression Therapy
Association. Bernadeta is also the head teacher in Getting Better School that
teaches accredited program in the Czech Republic/Slovakia and France. Her
working approach is based on the knowledge that everyone posses their own
healing capacity and wisdom. She lives with her family in the Basque country
in southwest France. http://www.getting-better.org/
Diane Ross - A, Diane Ross’s interest in altered states of consciousness began

in 1970, when she first started meditating. It was at that time that she began
experiencing the power of the unconscious mind.
She received her Bachelor’s degree in 1971 and her Master’s degree in 1974,
graduating cum laude from California State University at Long Beach. In 1983
she moved to Orlando, Florida, where she currently has a private practice in
hypnosis and teaches meditation. She also conducts sessions in group
hypnosis in the hopes that more and more people will experience the benefits of
expanded states of consciousness. Author of Meditations for Miracles, Diane
also recorded more than 60 self-hypnosis and meditation CDs. She is certified
through the National Guild of Hypnotists and The American Board of
Hypnotherapy. Diane is also a charter member of the Hypnosis Educational
Association and was a member of the International Association of Regression
and Research Therapies before it disbanded. http://www.dianeross.com
Todd Hayen, Ph.D., RP - is a psychotherapist in private practice also pursuing

his other passions in music for the cinema, esoteric ancient history,
psychology, spirituality, and the paranormal. He received his Ph.D. from
Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara in depth psychology with an
emphasis in psychotherapy. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife Cindy
and their two Golden Retrievers. http://www.toddhayentherapy.com
Afton Blake, Ph.D. - received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Alliant
International University, where she was initially trained in depth psychology,
Jungian and psychoanalytic. She has been practicing psychotherapy in her Los
Angeles private practice since 1980. Her work in past life regression therapy
was strongly influenced by her mother, Winafred Lucas, Ph.D., who was a
pioneer theorist, researcher, and practitioner in that field. She has collaborated
with Ron Jue, Ph.D. and Hazel Denning, Ph.D. in their pioneering research and
training institutes, which offered intensive regression training to licensed
mental health professionals. Other significant influences on her approach to
therapy include training with Psychosynthesis Institute, transformation energy
training with Brugh Joy, M.D. and Caroline Conger, Ph.D., and Jungian dream
group work with Douglas Thomas, Ph.D. At the present time her focus is on
past life regression, Jungian individuation, couples, and creative blocks.
Andy Tomlinson - is a registered psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, and EARTh

certified regression therapist. He is the training director for the Past Life
Regression Academy and founder of the Spiritual Regression Therapy
Association for graduates of his training. He trains, lectures and gives talks
internationally on past lives and the soul memories between
them. http://www.regressionacademy.com
Albert J. Marotta, MA, CHT - has maintained a successful private hypnotherapy

practice in the Los Angeles area since 1982. Specialized areas include
alternative hypnosis regression techniques including past lives, pre &
perinatal, releasement therapies (spirit, dark energy/ demonic and E.T.
influences) and several other transpersonal modalities. Marotta conducts,
lectures, demonstrations, workshops and training sessions in basic hypnosis
and advanced regression techniques. He as written professional articles and
recently retired (2013) as a college professor of 42 years. Contact Info:
323.222.3874, e-mail, [email protected].
Winafred Blake Lucas, Ph.D. - Winafred was a pioneer in the field of past life
regression therapy. Her book, Regression Therapy: A Handbook for
Professionals, remains the definitive textbook in the field. A student of Jungian
and Freudian psychoanalysis in Europe before the outbreak of WWII, Winafred
went on to obtain her doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles
in 1949 (only the 8th year in which UCLA awarded Ph.D.s to women). In time,
Winafred's interests led her away from psychoanalysis to Jungian analytic
therapy, Rogerian therapy, transpersonal psychology, transcendental
meditation, Progaff journal therapy, pioneer work with, encounter & adolescent
groups, and Roberto Assigoli's psychosynthesis, which introduced a spiritual
dimension into psychotherapy. She developed a reputation for understanding
gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender psychology at time when most
clinicians treated homosexuality as pathological. She was one of the founding
members of the International Association for Regression Research & Therapies.
Editor of their journal for over a decade, she also founded and ran the Institute
of Regression Therapy Training program in Sedona, AZ, and served on the core
faculty of the California School of Professional Psychology (now Alliant
University). You can find out more about Winafred at her website
www.drwinafredlucas.com.
David Graham – has been a regression therapist since 2008 and a passionate
advocate of the discipline since then. He is ever engaged in expanding his
professional knowledge by learning new techniques and regression approaches.
His goal is to help grow the public awareness of Regression Therapy and
support the development of the discipline. He has been intimately engaged with
the various projects of EARTh and, since June of last year, assumed the
position of president of that organization.
George Schwimmer Ph.D. - is a writer and shaman, who utilizes several healing
modalities. Much of his writing can be found as eBooks in Amazon.com’s
Kindle book store. Dr. Schwimmer also trains shamans. He lives in Santa Fe,
New Mexico and is eighty-five years old. http://www.georgeschwimmer.com
Guidelines for Submission
The Journal welcomes submissions. Submissions may be made by e-mail to the

editors at [email protected]. Send a note if you have questions. Our
guidelines are fairly standard and generally follow those practices observed by
many other journals. Our preference is for manuscripts that do not exceed
about 6,000 words (approximately 5–20 pages). Articles can include case
studies, professional approaches or techniques, research, or editorial positions
on topics of interest to the community. Smaller articles and those that are less
formal should come in as a blog. The editors will help you decide which it
should be.
Journal contributors are expected to observe accepted professional procedures
in correctly citing sources of facts and ideas, when appropriate. Append a
reference list to the articles that includes all citations made within the paper.
The Journal staff has decided to use the APA (American Psychological
Association) format, a general standard for articles in the social sciences fields.
See the last article by Rich Stammler in the 2015 issue for an example of APA
reference formatting. Use the in-article citations and place references at the
end of the article. For other in-document annotations, parenthetical comments
and the like, use page end notations, where appropriate, sequentially
numbered starting with the number 1.
Submissions should include:

Title
Name and address of author(s), including e-mail address(s)
Indicate the software program used to create the document (example:
“Produced with MS Word 97”)
A short current biography of the author(s) (75–150 words each)
A short abstract of the submission (75–150 words)
Media reviews should be about one page or less in length (single spaced).
Include a thumbnail graphic of the media cover, which can normally be copied
off of www.Amazon.com
Blog entries are one to two pages but may be more depending on topic
(single spaced).
New Media should be approximately one page in length and indicate where
the media can be purchased. Include a graphic of the author and a graphic of
the new media (book, DVD, or other digital creations).
Formatting
Format wise, we have adopted the American Psychological Association (APA)
format and referencing in the Journal. Not all the current articles are good
examples of that, but some are. We don’t intend to get anal about this but will
try to stay true to their rules, especially for the articles. I will make some
comments as to format and standards at the back of this issue. The blogs, of
course, are meant to be less formal and can also be a place for editorializing. If
you do not know the format, do not let that dissuade you from submitting your
articles, our consulting editors will help you with formatting. Additionally, if
you are a author from the United Kingdom, then British English will do just
fine.
Don’t be concerned with formatting, the entries will be reformatted as
necessary. The rule on formatting for a submitted article—the less the better.
You can do the following, otherwise, please don’t add any spaces, indents,
points after para., etc. I spend a lot of time taking out all these format items.
Preferred:
1) Single or double space with the font, Bookman Old Style, 12 points.
2) Do not add returns or point spacing between, before or after paragraphs.
If you must add spacing, the Journal uses six points after paragraphs.
3) For other spacings it is easier for Journal editors to add the required
amount.
4) Graphics are particularly problematic:
• Don’t lock the graphic to a particular place in the text. It may have
to be shifted in the final Journal position.
• In most Word editions, a graphic that is pasted in the document
defaults to (in the layout selection) “in line with text.” Change this to
another option. In the same formatting window (layout) select
“advanced tab” on the lower right and in the next window deselect
“Move object with text” button at the bottom. This will allow the
graphic to be moved freely within the document. If you have not
changed the “in line with text” option this selection will not be
available.
• Text below the graphic or a title for the graphic should be placed in
a text box (under the insert tab). When finished entering information
in the text box, select both the text box and the graphic (by shift
clicking) and group them together (on the Mac this is the “command –
g” selection or right clicking to bring up the group command). This
will save a lot of formatting headaches.
• If all of this is too confusing, just send the graphics with the
document with any title to the graphic or table and place an [insert
graphic, title of graphic, here] placed in the correct location in the
text.
5) References:
• Other than spacing and graphics, references require the most time
reformatting. Use the example of the APA formatting in the Stammler
article in the 2015 issue. Close counts.
• Avoid copying embedded hyperlinks in the reference citations if
copying the reference citation from on-line or other digital sources. In
that instance, use the “past special” command in Word. Formatting
with an embedded hyperlink in a reference can be very difficult.
• Avoid adding spaces between entries.
The author(s) of the article retain copyright to the submission and grants the
Journal the right to publish said manuscript and reprints there of; however,
brief excerpts or quotations may be used by the Journal Editorial Staff in
subsequent publications, without prior written permission. The Journal retains
the customary editing rights of a publisher, including but not limited to the
right to make changes for the sake of clarity and style, to correct grammar and
spelling, and to condense or abridge said manuscript. Normally, any
substantive changes or questions for clarification will be coordinated with the
author for approval.

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What is the purpose of the International Journal of Regression Therapy?

What is the purpose of the International Journal of Regression Therapy?

What organizations support the Journal?

What organizations support the Journal?

The International Journal of Regression Therapy, V.

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REGRESSION THERAPY

The organization for the new International Journal of Regression Therapy is

The International Journal of Regression Therapy is a professional publication.

Copyright© 2016 by the Journal Policy Board at:

Consulting Editors: (alphabetical) – English-speaking countries

Bonnie Cripe, Ph.D, ACSW

Athanasios Komianos, B.A, CHT, CRT

Note: We invite additional consulting editors, particularly from non-English-

Thank you for your support of the Journal.

If your organization wants to support the

Editor’s Comments Page 9

A Special Note: A Foundation for Regression Therapy

The Potency of Regression Psychotherapy; illustrated with examples of

Brain Research, Meditation and Regression

Biased Evaluations of Regression Experiences: how reincarnation

A New European Case of the Reincarnation Type

The Silence of the Womb - Prenatal Death Page 61

Eleusinian Mysteries and Regression Therapy: Relating the possible

Conversation with Disease or Affected Organs

Past Life Therapy & Shamanic Healing

“So Many Lives Lost”

Winafred Blake Lucas, Ph.D.

Historical Document: Bulletin #1: June 20, 1980 for AAPRT

Inner Healing Journey - A Medical Perspective

Transforming the Eternal Soul; further insights from regression therapy

An Amazing Human Journey, Volume II

The Spirits of Amoskeag: The Wounded Heroes of the Manchester Mills

Through my Looking Glass: a Personal Journey into Vaster States of

Discovering Regression Therapy, a love story

Rapid Entity Attachment Release: A breakthrough in the world of spirit

Shaman’s Path: becoming a modern shaman

Reinkarnation, Christentum und das kirchliche Dogma

Upcoming Conferences Page 138

The Authors Page 140

Guidelines for Submission Page 145

Counterparts are a form of simultaneous reincarnations within an overlapping

A Foundation for Regression Therapy

Beyond the Millennium - New Age or Brave New World?*

In addition to his medical advice, Cayce occasionally discussed future world

Today, as humanity struggles to avoid self-destruction either by nuclear war or

Persisting world tensions, the specter of massive starvation in Africa, and

Thus, in 1981, Dr. Wambach began offering subjects the possibility of

The results have proven startling. An early indication of something unusual

the conscious volition of individuals as expressed before the experience. In

An illustrative example occurred when Helen appeared before a Chicago

This is consistent with Dr. Rupert Sheldrake’s morphogenetic fields theory,

Another key statistic is average lifespan. In opposition to current trends, the

A total of 72 of the 2100 AD cases were complete enough to make detailed

I would propose two reasonable interpretations of this data. First, we can

Fear of nuclear holocaust, massive famine in Africa, and persistent

The Potency of Regression Psychotherapy; illustrated with examples of

This article presents a scientific and clinical discussion of how memory

However, many authors and practitioners in the vast area of Psychotherapy

What is Regression Therapy?