Past Life Regression

If past life memories are real, we can engage in metaphysical speculation about their specific nature. Discussions of past lives generally are cast in terms of reincarnation and the life of the soul after death. However, this may be only one of a number of alternative explanations for past life memories. One possibility is that souls can simultaneously occupy different persons so that the soul’s education is accelerated. This could perhaps account for the psychic connections between certain persons. Another possibility, and one that I am at times drawn to, is that past life memories are actually memory fragments of collective conscious experience. This notion ties into the belief in the Akashic Records, a concept that is generally thought of in terms of reincarnation but in my view does not necessarily require the postulation of souls and their continued existence after death. The speculation that a universal “library” of consciousness and of past lives does not necessarily require the existence of the soul. But as is the case with all metaphysics, these thoughts are only speculations and it is important that they be put into the context of what is meaningful to living persons.

While the outright rejection of the possibility of past lives reflects scientific dogma, it strikes me as equally dogmatic to take a completely non-skeptical approach to this subject such as, for example, the belief that every past life regression taps into the memories of the past lives of actual persons. The subconscious mind has long been thought of as being the seat of creativity and imagination as well as the link to spiritual and psychic dimensions (e.g.. Thomson Jay Hudson, The Law of Psychic Phenomena, 1892.) If the subconscious does in fact have this dual role then it would not be unreasonable to suppose that creative imagery and past life memories might at times become confused or intertwined. It is possible that past life regressions may reflect information about both actual past lives and creative solutions to difficulties and challenges of the current life. Having made this distinction, however, it can be argued that in most cases it really does not matter whether the past life “memory” is real or only creative fantasy. In either case, information is being discovered which has profound importance to the hypnotic subject who is experiencing a past life regression. Past life regressions and the images of our souls in terms of different lives even if these images are imaginary can be the ultimate life reframing experience. They show patterns of behavior, challenges, anxieties, problems and successes which shine light on present day life. If reincarnation is concerned with the working out of karmic tensions, then past life regressions are part of that process regardless whether the memories are accurate or imaginative. In this sense, past life regressions are highly consistent with what is the primary goal of much of hypnotherapy: the uncovering of persistent patterns which obstruct or even sabotage personal growth and self-realization.