Why are they familiar?

 

*True Story (with different names!)*

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Penelope got dressed up with her friends for a night out in the 1970s. She was being set up on a blind date by a friend and was excited for an evening of drinking and dancing. She bounced through the doors of the bar and took a sweep of the room to survey the men. She noticed one; a strapping young man, who smiled at her warmly. Penelope was overcome with rage. She could do nothing but stand there feeling the fury bubble up in her. The intensity of it was so gripping that she turned around and left the bar. The man in question was the one she was being set up with; Steve.

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A few days later, Steve was at another party Penelope was attending, without her knowledge. Her friends were so sure that they would be a good match that they introduced them despite her efforts to avoid him. He spoke to her in a gentle manner, and yet she felt the rage rising again. She was furious with him! It was a while before she could even get any words out. When she eventually entered a conversation, they fell in love immediately.

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As of today, they have married, had children, separated, re-married, and had grandchildren and great grandchildren. They are a most wonderful couple and loving force together. Penelope told me she had absolutely no idea where the rage had come from, but it was the angriest she had ever felt.

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To make the story even stranger, I was over the other side of the world staying with this couple through a set of coincidences. I felt closer to them after one hour than I have almost everyone else in my life. I felt as though they were my parents; as though a little bit of me had come home. They, similarly, felt the same way. They adored me and doted on me, and we still keep in touch.

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Sometimes we sit down with someone new and feel as though we’ve known them a lifetime already.

We call it a catch-up instead of an introduction.

 

Children are the best at remembering past lives, because by the time we reach adulthood we are often trapped in our minds and have shut down to our spiritual nature. I have endless accounts knocking around in my brain, but here are some special ones:

 

'There was a young child in a small village who announced he had been murdered. He rather creepily named himself as a young girl who had disappeared from the village some years before. He led the authorities to the still-unknown burial site of the missing child and pointed out the murderer - who was found to be in possession of some of the girl's belongings.'

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'A young boy had nightmares about aeroplane crashes. After asking to sit in a World War II aircraft and play with the buttons, he knew, without being shown, what pressing each one did. The trained pilot showing him around was astonished.'

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'One little girl's father was talking to her about her grandmother (his mother) -- who had died before she was born -- she turned round to her father and said 'yes, that was me'. He tried to explain that it couldn't be, and she laughed and said, 'no, no... Before I was me, I was your mummy!’'

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Energy

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I met a man who once said, ‘well of course it makes sense, because how would we experience all there is to experience in one life? Everything is energy.’

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Everything is energy, and energy doesn’t die – it moves.

This can be via light and sound waves, natural forces, electricity, and by conduction / convection.

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The energy of souls is no different - and it's time we stopped seeing it as such.

Soul energy can move into the aether, and it can enter a body... Back to the aether. Into a body.

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Why would we decide to forget all this when we are born?

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Because where is the challenge in that? Earth is a school, and when we first go to school at four/five years old, we have no idea why we are going, other than to learn and make friends. Those who have our best interests at heart know why we are there. It is a stepping into the unknown and of becoming independent. We can’t quite see the bigger picture, but we know we are growing.

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But life is so cruel… We wouldn’t choose it, surely?

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Earth is the dimension of emotion. We come here to feel in physical expression and therefore expand our souls.

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Let’s look at it in colours. Take the colour purple for instance – one of the most loved. Say we were asked if we’d rather see everything in purple forever more, because it’s a nice colour. The world would soon be quite literally, colourless as purple lost all meaning. If we were asked if we’d like all the other colours back, including the ones we love and the others we don’t like all that much; the murky browns and sicky greens, we would say YES. Please! Life is the same. We say yes to it all when we agree to come to earth, not just half.

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It is said that those in the spiritual realms consider those who incarnate on earth to be among the most courageous souls, due to its seeming brutality. Emotions, though, are nothing but a flicker when we return to source. Emotions come and go. But there is something deep inside you that is eternal.

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Think about childbirth! It is a painful, tough journey for a few hours, where we are likely to be in pain and feel scared! But it is undertaken numerous times by the same woman for the love at the end of it.

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When agreeing to life on earth, we understand there will be suffering for the personality. We accept this because it is such a valuable experience to learn how to become sovereign of our own selves. And there will come a time when we understand as such and don’t have to suffer anymore, because we will remember (without being told) that we are love and never die. We are coming into this phase of being, where we have grown enough as souls to end our play in duality (which is opposites: light / dark, good /evil). It is an exciting time!

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Why incarnate into such chaos with people who test us?

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The short version is, early on, in our first lives, we formed bonds – they are the closest to our essence, despite the fact we all come from one source. Through our relationships with them, we build up karma – an energy between two people that needs to be released. And when we come back into new lives – here and on other planets – with intentions to learn lessons as souls, we ask those people to be with us again, perhaps reversing the relationship so that we can both have the experience. Some bonds can strengthen and connections can continue even if there is no karma. We can wish to be of service to those we have loved for many thousands of years, assisting them in their journeys at the times when they will encounter a difficult challenge. And they can do the same for us.

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Now, though -- we are in the midst of an awakening. Past lives are being remembered because the we are coming out of the dark ages and everything is coming into the light. We are being asked to heal because then we can ascend. We have learned some serious lessons in the last few thousands years of darkness! Now we need to be vibrating at a higher frequency, tapping into those Saints and geniuses from our history.

 

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Do we have the same type of relationship with another soul every life?

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Sometimes, but not usually. You might feel it is beneficial to have the same mother over the course of a few lives, or the same spouse. But if you are connected to a soul throughout many lives, you might experience being their parent, child, husband, wife, friend, and foe.

In the case of Penelope and Steve, I have no doubt their parting in their last life together was dramatic, no matter what the connection.

 

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What can I do if I am really struggling with a relationship that seems to have been sent to test me?

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Assess what it might be here to teach you. If you feel a victim in some way, the most likely lesson is that of self-love and worth; and that this soul came into your life at a time when you had little of these. You wished to learn the ability of having to love yourself to the extent that you say, ‘that is enough’ and walk away. If you are a carer, you may be excelling in the lessons of compassion and patience. If your heart has been broken, you may be learning that the only true happiness you will find is within yourself. There are endless lessons for all the relationships we go through. Step back and look at it from a wider angle.

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What happens when we all remember?

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We lose the fear, and we act out of love. The more we evolve, the higher our vibration, and we no longer need to use earth as a school. We become lighter than our bodies and so can move into other realms in the continuation of our journey. We might still choose to come back to help loved ones or to be their guides. More than anything, we are one, unified consciousness, and so when we begin to understand as such, we lift the vibration for all. Our compassion strengthens, our hearts are open, and we act only in love.

 

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SO. Who were you in your past lives?

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Here are some ways to find out:

 

- you can find a past life regression therapist or try meditating on your own. If you do, you have to trust your imagination as it plays. Whatever you get is what you're meant to get. Let it be.

 

- be open to that wonderful feeling of familiarity!

 

I still remember seeing a name on a piece of paper thirteen years ago. I can tell you where I was stood, the time of day, everything. There was a shift as something slotted into place. It was a name that shouldn’t have been important to me, but it was. I recognised it. That person came to be the most important person in my life to this day, thirteen years down the line.

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It might be a person, but it could be a place, a language, or a skill. So often people who have lived through medieval wars join re-enactment groups, and children develop strong connections to certain periods of history. You might have had a flair for painting or riding horses in many lives and return to it with love because your soul shines when you do! Be open to receiving messages, and they will find you.

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Think; eras, hobbies, music taste, places you keep meaning to get to or return to, someone you feel close to, your career.

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- fears. I know it isn't as nice, but these are a huge clue because we come back to heal them. The next time something terrifies you and you can't think why, notice it. Again, children pick up on this more. They often have severely strong reactions to some strange things, and we are no different! It can be; water / fire, harmless animals, facial hair, modes of transport, buildings, and so much more! If it's a fear, there's a chance it had something to do with a death -- so pay attention.

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- ancestry. Everything is connected, and there are ties a soul keeps to its lineage. Think about which strain of your DNA fascinates you most. You might find that you one day remember or feel a life coming up as an ancestor of that thread.

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Resources

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I have been on a journey with past lives for years. Every answer raises a thousand questions. Here is a good place to start.

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Book recommendations:

Your Soul's Plan - Robert Schwartz.

Many Lives, Many Masters - Brian Weiss

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YouTube: the (characteristically American) video: 'Evidence of Reincarnation'. One woman remembers being Anne Frank, and the boy I mentioned above,  remembers being a fighter pilot in World War II in incredible detail!

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