Thursday, July 26, 2012

7/27/12—Journeying To A Past Life


Today's Draw: Judgment/Petrified Wood in the 12th House from Rachel Mann's Arcana Stones. Have you ever had a past-life regression? Assuming you believe, have you ever daydreamed about what one of your past lives might have been? What are some of the interests you have in your current life that might shed clues as to a past one?

Petrified wood is a compelling stone to me. "Petrified" comes from the Greek petro, meaning stone. So "petrified wood" literally means "rock turned to stone". Over time the cellulose in the rock breaks down and gets replaced by minerals such as quartz, while still retaining its look. If you were to hold the piece to the right in my picture in your hand, it would be a precise representation of what it looked like when it was wood. Only now it's stone. And heavier.

But that's not what fascinates me about petrified wood. See that oval shape at the lower middle of the sphere? That's called a window or a portal. And if you meditate on it, you might get swept down the long tunnel into a past life. If you believe in that sort of thing, that is.

Petrified Wood corresponds to the Judgment card in this oracle and the Judgment card is about rebirth. So that fits into the past-life theme. As does the 12th House, which is the last house before you get born again. So essentially we got the past life stone in the past life house of the zodiac. So we're ending our journey-themed week with past life journeys.

Many years ago I attended a past life regression with a woman who is known for regressing Civil War reenactor types. See, sometimes our hobbies and interests are this-life clues to our past lives. Other clues might be a style of music you like, a style of clothing, a period, place or art, architecture or literature...any fascination or odd connection with another era.

Anyway, this past life regression woman would often guide these guys through their past lives to come up with names. Then they would research those names and what do you know? They find the soldier they once were!

So the night before the regression with this woman I thought of all the possibilities and eras. And what happened the next day surprised me. It turned out I was a sheriff in a Wild West town who got shot in a duel. This immediately set my bullshit meter off. I mean, how many people actually got shot in duels?

The regression took me through all areas of the sheriff's life...his home life and professional life, his hobbies and, finally, his death. Let's just say he thought a lot of himself, was not well liked and his funeral was not well attended. Then we followed his soul as it went up into the ethers to meet his guides and ask what lessons he was supposed to learn and they said, "Let. Love. Live." So he needed to learn to "let" or allow because he was too controlling. He needed to love because he was too self-centered and dispassionate. And he needed to live because he just had too many rules for his life.

Like I said, this was a long time ago, back near the beginning of my spiritual journey. So I didn't know what to make of this. Was it real? Or not? Finally, I decided it really didn't matter. Whether it was real or a dream-like metaphor, the message was still profound. Chances are I've had a couple of lives between then and now, but I see how those three things are things I'm still working on. And, really, it's a universal message we can all learn from. I can't tell you how many times in the past, say, 25 years I've thought of that lesson.

Since then, I've done other past-life regressions and Akashic records (entire soul history, past and future) meditations, spirit guide meditations, shamanic journeys...you name it. And each time I've emerged with highly relevant and revealing insights. I do believe we've had past lives and I do believe they are recorded in our soul memories.

I'm still not sure about being that sheriff, but other journeys I have been on since feel more correct to me...some sort of priestess in ancient Rome, an early man who died of starvation, a woods-dwelling woman with way too many children. And we don't always come to this earth or take human form. I imagine in the spaceless, timeless world of the soul, we could even live parallel lives on other planes. There are many ways to reincarnate. So it's interesting to think about, no? And even if it's not rea, the choices the subconscious makes in concocting these visions are very revealing—even healing in terms of understanding phobias and bad habits, etc.

If you ever have a chance to do this kind of journeying, I recommend it. Basically you just go through a guided meditation and visualize your past life. Maybe you're accessing your timeless self, maybe you're using your imagination, who knows? It really doesn't matter. It's the insights that come from it that are important. If your mind is making it up, then that reveals something in and of itself.

Assuming you're mentally healthy, you can buy CDs on Amazon. You don't have to spend the money to go to a professional, though you may have a stronger journey. The professional is there to help manage your experience in case you have a particularly bad past-life journey. And some people find it easier to slip into a subconscious state in a clinical setting. Many past-life regressions will have you witness your past-life death, too, so some may find that disturbing. But my experiences have not been disturbing at all.

Or, if you prefer, you could always choose a shamanic journey where you meet your power animal or a journey to meet your angels or spirit guides. Our subconscious holds so many clues to the things that dog us throughout our lives. Why not get swept down its long tunnel and see what it holds?

2 comments:

  1. I so agree, Tierney... whether it is truly past life experience we are "witnessing" or simply wisdom returned from our deep unconscious, it's so valuable to leave the ever-circling mind behind and go to that place at our center where the Truth can be experienced, delivered in perfect format and pace for the individual "me". All of these modalities you mention are similar to Music Evoked Healing which is the deep inner work I facilitate. Thanks for your great insights!
    -Diane

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  2. I agree, Diane and was thinking of you when I wrote this, because I don't know that I've ever gone deeper into that state than when I'm with you.

    If anyone comes along and is curious, you can find Diane's work at www.ovoollc.com. I've been receiving monthly sessions from her for a couple of years and walk away not only feeling fabulous and de-stressed, but also with some interesting insights as to my current state of mind. And it's things I'm not always consciously aware of. It gives me some stuff to think through in the month between visits. The past two years have brought a lot of spiritual and personal growth for me for a number of reasons and Diane is a part of what I've been doing different to precipitate that growth.

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