Is this our only lifetime or do we have others? Have we had others? Many people think so. Under hypnosis and by other means, people have recalled what they call past lifetimes, many of the details from these being historically verifiable. There are reports of many déjà vu experiences, where a person knows people and/or places that they have never physically met or visited in this present lifetime. However, there are many others who believe that we're here for a while then there's nothing. I'm not going to judge one against the other or to try to analyse whether one viewpoint is more likely to be true than the other.
But what if we did have many lifetimes? And what if we could choose what we did in these lifetimes? Who we were? Where we live? Who we meet? What would we choose? What would you choose?
Many therapists use past lifetime experiences under some form of hypnosis to help clients resolve problems they have in their present lives. For example, from my own experience, dealing with chronic back pain in a past lifetime enabled me to heal that in the present. Several of my past lifetimes have involved ships and in several I have drowned. By revisiting these episodes in my past lifetimes I have successfully healed my fear of drowning and also explained my love of boats and the sea in my present lifetime. Very often it is the viewing of the manner in which we died in a previous life and the releasing of emotions that surrounded this experience that enable us to move on in the present life.
The consciousness of past lifetimes may also come through during hypnosis. I know of three women who have claimed to be Cleopatra in previous lifetimes; clearly this is highly unlikely. Yet if they had lived in the time of Cleopatra, it is very possible that the strong Cleopatra consciousness that existed at that time could have colored their memories of that time. Therefore while the visiting of past lifetimes under hypnosis is a valuable therapeutic tool, the visits are not necessarily accurate or factually correct. Nor do they need to be in a therapeutic sense; if the revisiting is beneficial to the healing of the person, then that aim is achieved and that is sufficient.
If we are able to experience past lifetimes, and if, as many people believe, time is simply a construct to prevent everything from happening at once, and if, as many people also believe, it is theoretically possible to move through time at will, then theoretically we could experience future lifetimes now. So we could preview what we choose for a future lifetime by experiencing it under hypnosis in our current reality. However, it is likely that in this case what we experience is simply one of an infinite range of possibilities available to us.
This is a story about a couple who believed this; believed they could experience both past and future lifetimes now, and believed they could choose to experience highlights of these lifetimes then return to the present.
This story is fiction but several of the past and future lifetime experiences described in this story are based on my own personal experiences of past and future lifetimes which I have visited while under a form of hypnosis. None of the characters are intended to portray any real person from any lifetime. Enjoy.
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Tom negotiated the twisting road, struggling to take in the views of craggy rocks and breaking surf as they approached their weekend accommodation. Julie, his wife of six years, sat by his side, eyes glued to the road as she nervously watched each and every corner. Another few miles and they arrived at the cottage, set in an isolated natural alcove against the towering cliffs, the sea close by their feet as it pounded against the rocks, sending spume flying upwards almost to the height of the ledge where the cottage was situated.
"What an amazing place," said Julie breathlessly, watching yet another giant roller from the Pacific smash itself to pieces on the rocks. "Just the sheer power of the waves is awe inspiring."
"Yes," agreed Tom, "So powerful, so incredible. What a great place to spend a couple of days exploring time, space and us."
They watched, entranced by the regular booming of the surf, before eventually walking inside and unpacking their bags in the single room. There was a kitchen in one corner, a basic but comfortable couch and reclining chairs looking out through the glass sliding doors, across the deck to the ocean, and a large, comfortable-looking bed in the far corner. Bathroom facilities were in a second small room on the wall furthest from the sea.
As Tom sat in one chair while Julie made some coffee, he thought about why they were here, reviewing the hypnotherapy courses they'd taken during the past few years with the express aim of allowing them to visit past lifetimes. They'd had some fascinating adventures, he recalled, and as they relived these he had noticed how each past lifetime he'd visited had seemed so real. He recalled almost getting lost in one, a journey to medieval China, and how concerned Julie had been when he'd stopped responding to her voiced suggestions and she'd been only able to bring him back to the present over a long period of time and with great difficulty. It had only been with very great reluctance that he'd managed to release himself from the hold that time period had on him and allow himself to return to the present day. It certainly had seemed so real to him then, easily as real as he felt in his current body. His body, he reflected, was probably simply an unnecessary burden in any exploration of past lives.
As Julie waited for the kettle to boil she also recalled some of her previous adventures into past lifetimes. She remembered vividly her experience as a deck hand on a sailing ship in the 17th century and her fall from the rigging to her death by drowning in a wind-whipped ocean, very like the one out the window. She shuddered involuntarily. She also recalled her panic when she had found it almost impossible to bring Tom back from his adventures in China and hoped there would be no repeat of this during their explorations this weekend. She poured the coffee and took the two mugs to the lounge, where Tom indicated she should sit on his lap, something they both really liked doing even after six years of marriage.
"So, are you ready for some more adventures?" asked Tom.
"Oh, yes, and also I'm ready for some love making with my favorite husband," she replied.
He sat back a little way from her. "You have more than one?" he asked.
"Well, I guess I've had lots of them in past lives, as well as lots of wives when I was a male, but you're the only one I have who has a body right now, and it's the body that I'm looking forward to exploring this weekend too." She bent forward and kissed him passionately. "I don't know why, just the power of the waves on the rocks makes me feel sexy. Maybe the water thumping on the cliffs makes me think of something else thumping somewhere else."
"Well, I'm sure we'll find time for that too. Do you want first trip or do you want to send me away for a bit?"
"I want you to go on your trip first. I do enjoy watching you when you visit past lifetimes and your present day body often responds as your past lifetime body would. Remember how sexy you felt that time when you were in a harem? Remember how great our lovemaking was after you returned?"
Tom grinned. "Yes, that was wonderful, just as wonderful as you were after you'd returned from your courtesan lifetime in 18th century France. God you learnt some tricks from that lifetime."