Q&A Reincarnation

The Light of Consciousness

Q: Assuming reincarnation is true, what exactly is it that reincarnates, and what dies permanently?

A: We have two parts to our nature, the soul and the ego/personality. The soul is eternal and it reincarnates into different bodies and ego/personalities that develop during the lifetime. Each ego/personality can also get some tendencies, talents, knowledge, karma from what it learned in previous lifetimes the essence of which is stores in the soul. The soul’s main value is learning and growth, doesn’t care about money, success, fame but if you do have those things it cares about what you do with that money, fame and success. The personality is a lot more short sighted and cares more about gratification of wants and needs.


Q: If an apocalypse occurs and wipes the entire population, then what will happen to souls with unfinished lessons and contracts? Will they be punished or get stuck for an eternity?

A: Without bodies to incarnate into they will continue to learn and grow on the astral plane where we exist between lives. Some theories say we incarnate on other planets as well as earth. With many populated planets out there and our increasing contact with ETs we are becoming karmically entangled with them and other planets. Souls can even work on karma and lessons by helping others and being spirit guides. If the population grows again, if it does they will return to reincarnating into physical bodies. Souls sometimes even now wait hundreds of years between incarnations. Some wait as little as two months between lives. There is an infinite world on the other side, the astral plane. No one gets punished.


Q: What is the best person to talk to about past life regression I have did a meditation session one time on my own an the visions an images I saw are truly mind-blowing an I don't have a soul I can talk to for better understanding?

A: I know what you mean. When I started having memories of past lives, no one except my teacher understood. However there are a few organizations that have trained people to help you integrate experiences like past life memories.

You do have a soul or you would not be here.

This one has online sharing groups for more than just NDEs

the most reliable source of information on NDEs
https://iands.org/

this one you can contact and speak one on one with someone

ACISTEAmerican Center for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences

http://aciste.org/


This is licensed therapists who understand

Spiritual Emergence Network
SEN provides individuals that are experiencing psycho-spiritual difficulties a specialized mental health referral and support service. In a culture which has not understood issues surrounding spiritual development, the gift of being heard and understood by a knowledgeable and supportive listener can be life-altering. Our referrals are licensed and/or trained mental health care professionals who are preferably in your area (but many also work by phone or encrypted video) who have expertise with many specific psycho-spiritual issues. SEN offers its referral services and directory listings free of charg e ! Much of our transpersonal (psycho-spiritual) directory is online for self-referral. If you don’t find a self-referral that works for you, you can leave a message at 415-634-5736 . A volunteer will be in touch as soon as possible with other potential referrals and/or ideas for finding the help you need. This website is also a spiritual emergence resource guide. Look into our books and links sections in the index above.
http://www.spiritualemergence....


A forum for past life memories

Past Life Memories

Share your past life experiences here
http://reincarnationforum.com/...


Q: What is your most powerful spiritual awakening experience?
Probably the first time I realized something was happening to me that I did not believe could. Here is the article I wrote about it, the Awakening:

A: THE AWAKENING

By Nancy Poitou, M.A., M.F.T. ©2000 Published in Exceptional Human Experience: Studies of the Unitive, Spontaneous, Imaginal Vol.16,No.1, 2000

It was August 11, 1986 the day I awakened. It had started about eight months earlier with some minor pre-cognitive visions that I had passed off as coincidence. I had never believed that I had any psychic abilities or was capable of having them, and, although my therapist had told me several times I was very intuitive, I didn’t believe her.

In the fall of 1985 I was camping at the beach with a group of friends. Anna (not her real name) and I had become close friends in the last year and she was sitting across the campfire from me. Something seemed so familiar about this moment, I guess deja vu would describe it. A vision of us as Native American Indians sort of floated through my mind. I said to Anna, “I think we were Indians in a past life.” As soon as that statement left my mouth, I wanted to pull it back. Although I had been reading books on metaphysical subjects for years and believed in reincarnation, I was certain I would never know anything about my past lives. I did not believe anyone could access past life information except through someone with special abilities such as Edgar Cayce whom I had read a great deal about.

Reincarnation felt right to me. I had always had trouble with religion. Something in me had always been repelled from a very young age by the idea of a minister being the intermediary between myself and God. With a history of recurring depression I often wondered how past lives may have created my personal hell. I would think, “I must have been a terrible in past lives, to feel this way now.” But in that moment at the campfire I thought my creative mind was getting a bit out of control and I regretted my mouth following up on it. I had heard of others who believed they were so-and-so in a past life. I thought they were delusional, weird eccentric folk who had to gain some sense of self worth through some imaginary past life as a way of blaming the past and avoiding the present.

I had not yet met Lily who I was to meet in May of 1986 when this began. Lily a professional clairvoyant became my teacher in the esoteric sense and meeting her quickened what had already begun. The second incident I recalled of this particular past life happened after I met her yet I still had not recognized it as such.

One evening Anna had come over for a barbeque dinner. As we were eating the chicken, she pushed a plate in my direction and said something about “Do you want some more of this?” This seemed to trigger a memory. I saw her, but she was an Indian woman, and, as I blinked my eyes and stared, it was as though I was seeing a picture laid over her. She looked the same and different at the same time. There was a dwelling behind her. I set my chicken down abruptly. Now I “knew” she was my wife.

Anna caught me staring and rubbed her face, “what? have I got something on my face?” she asked. I looked down at my own body and saw a man’s brown skinned arms and chest. Muscled upper arms and hairless chest. I could see the tips of my black hair on my chest. I had some type of animal leather pants on. I thought, “This is it, my creative mind has now jumped the track!” This did not compute. My mind froze like a computer screen when there is some kind of glitch in the system. I went into shock and could not process the scene so I repressed it.

I suddenly became very quiet and felt a slight internal tremor. This had the same feeling as a memory, as the flashbacks of childhood I had begun to have in the last year. But while in therapy I had at times felt so overwhelmed that I thought I was going crazy. On this evening I was convinced. This did not make sense. This did not compute. This was some figment of my imagination. This could not be real. Forget it. And it was forgotten--until August 11th.

On August 11, 1986 I wrote in my journal, “I believe I recalled a past life today.” I was getting ready for an appointment and while walking through the living room a series of flashbacks happened. I saw the same scenes I had seen with Anna and, also some new pictures: a young six year old Indian boy running. The soul of my son is now reincarnated in my younger brother. I saw his limp, body on the ground and felt a horror beyond what I could imagine. He had fallen from a height onto some rocks and was unconscious. He lived less than 24 hours.

I knew I was the son of a medicine man, and yet I felt paralyzed. I was in shock. My father had trained me in his art but I felt I could never live up to his legacy. My training was unfinished when he died during a trance. He had at least died for a good cause, fighting the evil spirits. But I did not feel ready to do what he could. Any confidence I had was gone. My son was dying and I could not save him. I failed him, my wife, my father and our tribe.

My wife blamed me and herself. She barely ever spoke to me again. The pain of the loss of my son was compounded by her refusal to talk to me about it. I kept feeling if she would just get angry at me that would be better than the frozen silence between us. I was depressed for the rest of that lifetime. I never recovered.

I reeled from the flashbacks. My head was spinning. I felt disoriented. But somehow this time I got it. Trying to get a handle on this intense experience I sat down at the kitchen table. The internal tremor had hit and I was visibly shaking. On the table was a newspaper. There in front of me were two articles about recent archeological digs and their findings regarding the Anasazi Indians of the southwest. Although the articles didn’t say much about the Anasazi Indians theyhad disappeared some eight or nine hundred years ago. The article was saying that they may have come to the region as far back as 3,000 years ago. Synchronicity or coincidence, something hit me. I could only think that this felt right. We were Anasazi. I was still shaking. Some part of me had a kind of blissful “ah-ha” feeling. It was as though I had touched eternity. I had contact with my eternal soul. There was some sort of shift within, and I awoke.

I was never the same after that moment. Perhaps it was the recognition of a deep grief that had never been resolved. I knew this was real now. I was not losing my mind. The two previous memories came back to me now and it all made sense. I could no longer deny what was happening to me. I had not yet spoken to anyone about it. I went to my appointment and returned to find a message from Anna. I returned her call, to discuss the details of an upcoming trip we were taking. I was tempted to say something to her about it but refrained.

Within a few minutes she called me back again to ask me if everything was OK. I had apparently sounded distracted in the short previous conversation. I replied that something was going on with me but I wasn’t sure she would want to hear it. (Anna was a born-again Christian and though we had reconciled our differing beliefs, I thought this might be too much for her to accept.) Anna asked me why and I told her she might think I was crazy. She humorously stated that I had nothing to worry about since that was an established fact.

I told her that I had a past-life memory that involved her. She seemed to want to hear about it, stating that she was more open-minded about my beliefs now than before. I began to tell her and I began to cry. I said that I could be totally wrong about this but my emotional state led me to believe it was real. Anna asked me what I thought it meant. I said I felt that it seemed that we were currently working out some of the feelings we were left with from that previous life time.

I went to see Lily that day and although she could not also see that lifetime, she validated my memory, saying that she could tell that I felt it quite deeply. Lily had been psychic all her life and had received past-life memories of her own.

Of all the past life memories and Exceptional Human Experiences I have had, my memory of being an Indian still haunts me. It seems to have the biggest emotional charge and it was the beginning of an amazing spiritual adventure. For the next couple of years I white-knuckled a wild ride of having awakened the Kundalini. I’ve experienced lucid dreams, out-of-body events, clairvoyance, spirit guides and more past life memories.

Kundalini unfurled and I saw amazing things that made the mundane world pale in comparison. Kriyas rocked my body and the fire burned up my spine. I couldn’t believe my life. But now I understood it. I knew it. I was living in two worlds. I would spontaneously see other people’s past lives. I even met people who recognized me from past lives.

I was undergoing a transformation no one could see or understand except Lily. Small talk seemed irrelevant. Concerns seemed petty. I was overwhelmed and felt as though the ground beneath my feet was constantly shaking. The light and colors around people showed me their true nature. Since this all began I daily see beautiful bright lights of colors that did not exist to me before.

My world turned upside down. I could no longer see my world in the same way. I could no longer be “unconscious.” Everything made a difference. Nothing was inconsequential. We are all souls on a physical journey and each has his or her own unresolved spiritual issues. I can no longer buy the “optical delusion” (Einstein) that we are separate from everyone and everything. The magnificence of the universe was thrust upon me.

On that day in August my universe was changed by my recognition of the fact that I was not going crazy. What I was experiencing was indeed real. I have not been the same since. It is one thing to believe and have faith and another to experience and “to know.” To recognize and validate my experience was to touch my eternal Self and the hidden potential of every one of us. This experience was a turning point, I could not go back.

At times when I tell the story of this particular past life I am overwhelmed with emotion. Some people say the death of a child is something you never recover from and I know this to be true. Even though the soul of my son is now reincarnated in my younger brother, whom I am very close to, this knowledge did not dissolve my long standing grief. The personal sense of failure surrounding that life lessens as I work to resolve the feelings. Various painful aspects of the issues connected with that life have at times been triggered. Now I can connect these feelings with the past and forgive myself.

Realizing the depth and breadth of our spiritual journey through many lives has connected me with the nature of the soul and its relationship to other souls as we travel through time. We meet again and again but are unaware of our previous encounters as friends, lovers and family members. Before this I was cynical and was dealing with depression by putting one foot in front of the other. I had adopted the bumper sticker philosophy, “I feel much better now that I have given up hope.”

Today as a therapist I am trying to give hope to others. I often talk to depressed and suicidal clients about not giving up. If they are open to a past life perspective I relate to them the futility of suicide as an escape. If they balk at opening up to and working through the pain, I remind them, “you deal with it now or you deal with it later.”

It will not go away when you die, and enduring emotional pain until death thinking it will end the suffering is an illusion. Until it is dealt with, it will continue to haunt you until you are ready or are forced by circumstances to recreate the issues and feelings in another life.

Years later I remembered my death in that life time. I was ill and people were coming into my dwelling to say good-bye. I was glad I was dying because I thought my misery would finally be over. Though we all desire to escape such pain I know today that there is no escape, only delay.

As I facilitate past-life regressions and soul retrieval, my clients are amazed at their own potential to remember. These memories are closer to the surface than is generally believed. They are also surprised to see how elegantly their current issues and emotional challenges fit their past life memories. I do not even use formal hypnosis, but induce a light trance state. The past of hundreds or even thousands of years ago is closer than we think. Even before my past-life memory my brother used to draw pictures of Indians of the southwest.

My feelings were triggered again recently while watching a show on the Anasazi and their rock dwellings. The narrator commented that a wall had been added later to prevent children of the Anasazi from falling off the cliff dwelling onto rocks. This pierced my ancient heart to reawaken the grief of the accidental death of my child. Will it ever be over? I don’t know, but it is an amazing sensation to experience such strong feelings that originated thousands of years ago when I was a different sex and color. How much racial and sexual discrimination would be transformed if all of us had this type of Exceptional Human Experience? How many would be more motivated to resolve relationship conflicts?

Unfortunately, though I gave it my all, Anna eventually shut down and shut me out once again in this lifetime, choosing not to communicate whatever distress was behind her pushing me away again. We no longer have contact. Well there’s always another life and, another chance and in another lifetime, we will meet again.

The biggest gift this and subsequent experiences and memories gave me was not so much the information. With the experience of many memories from many different lifetimes I awoke to my true Self. For I am not a white female therapist in the 21st century, nor an Anasazi male, nor an ancient Egyptian, nor a shepherd from Judea, nor a Franciscan Monk, nor a Chinese rice farmer. I am an evolving soul that originated from a divine spark that is one with all life.

Past lives are but the journeys this soul has taken in physical form to develop will through effort, love-wisdom through experience, and intelligence through discernment and choice. The path to this change in identity was disorienting, blissful and traumatic but the meaning gained has been worth it. I stand on the firm ground of being, of the Soul Eternal. I have the privilege of serving the soul in the role I play as psychotherapist (servant of the soul) this time around, coaxing the souls who sit in my office to awaken and honor their own journey and see its meaning.

This article is also on my website.

Spiritual Awakening | Spiritual Emergence | Kundalini Awakening
Nancy Poitou, Spirituality, Meditation, Exceptional Human Experience, Spiritually Transformative Experiences, Paranormal, Spiritual Emergence, Kundalini Awakening,
https://www.nancypoitou.com/th...


Q: What is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth?

A: I’m not Buddhist but Buddha would say that it is our attachments that cause suffering. The idea, he is trying to convey is that our attachments to the what we want or the way we think it “should” be is an attachments. We often think life is unfair and ask “why?”. Buddhists strive to accept things as they are without judgement. Also our attachment to material things also causes suffering. Buddha was a cognitive behavioral psychologist in his approach to becoming awake. There is a lot more to Buddhism that what little I describe here but there are some central themes that form the basis of a religion. Buddha never said anything about God or the afterlife but it was said that he had recall of all his past lives.

Buddhists also believe in reincarnation and the Dalai Lama is recognized at a very young age that the child is the reincarnation of a previous Dalai Lama or Lama and is tested having the child choose from a number of personal items which were his to prove he is the reincarnation. The idea as I understand it is that being awake or enlightened is the goal which means being free of attachments and living life as it is one moment at a time being fully present there would be no suffering. At some point it is no longer useful to reincarnate. So you would stop reincarnating unless you took a “Bodhisattva Vow” to continue the cycle of reincarnation to help others become free of attachments and suffering until the last soul is free of suffering and rebirth.


Q: Do you have memories of a past life or memories you can't explain? What are they?

A: I have some bits and pieces of about 2 dozen lifetimes, a few of them I remember a lot more. Too much to share here but here’s a link to my first and most important past life as far as its effect on my current life and karma. I posted it in another answer a few days ago.

Spiritual Awakening | Spiritual Emergence | Kundalini Awakening
Nancy Poitou, Spirituality, Meditation, Exceptional Human Experience, Spiritually Transformative Experiences, Paranormal, Spiritual Emergence, Kundalini Awakening,
https://www.nancypoitou.com/th...


Q: Is the desire (perhaps greed) to max good karma an obstacle to enlightenment?

A: It seems like you’re asking if there is such a thing as too much good karma. I think it depends on your motivation. If you are doing it just so the universe “owes you” good karma maybe that is the wrong motivation. If you are doing positive things because you want to help people and enjoy doing so I think that is a better motivation for service to others. Either way good karma is good karma. Our motivation is also energy that comes back to us. Thoughts, words, deeds, motivation, intent all matter. We should all always be trying to do the best we can and be of service to others. Keep up the good work!


Q: Is reincarnation true? If it is, why don't people remember their past life? And if it's not, why do innocent souls die accidentally?

A: Some people do remember some past lives. I have glimpses of about 2 dozen. A few of those I remember quite a bit, probably because they have a bearing on my present life, karma and things I need to work through with other souls. I think if you are at a level where knowing will help you move forward you will remember what you need to know. Or you can do a hypnotic past life regression. People often ask why we don’t remember. Honestly there are parts of my present life I would like to forget. And when I starting remembering I thought, “Oh great as if this lifetime wasn’t enough to deal with now I have other life memories to deal with also.” Be careful what you wish for. Past life memories are not always glamorous. Past life trauma is just as hard as current life trauma and you’re more likely to remember the trauma because it still has an emotional charge and you need to deal with it. I believe that we reincarnate to learn and grow from experiencing karma, good and bad. And life is a test to see how much you learned thus far. So if you have a test and did not study and try to understand what it was you were supposed to learn and I gave you the answers (having all your past life memories) then how much would you actually learn? Nothing really when you have the answers handed to you. We learn the most here on earth because it takes effort.


Q: Is living in the moment enough, or is having to let go mentally of all attachments to possessions, opinions, people, achievements, and life itself necessary to break the circle of rebirth?

A: I think there is a lot more to our spiritual growth than mindfulness. And I think it is how much growth we achieve that determines whether we reincarnate. Letting go of attachments also includes ideas and beliefs about how things “should be” and how people “should act” and “should be” which are the most important things to let go of because they involve judgement of others. Non attachment is a Buddhist path.

If you look at the Western Mystical Tradition and research on near death experiences becoming free of the cycle of reincarnation is more about learning, growth and how you loved during your lifetime.

Each tradition has it’s own beliefs about how we achieve that. As is said, “there are many paths up the mountain and they all lead to the top.” “But if you are running around the mountain trying to get everyone to take your path you’re not on your path.” I believe everyone is exactly where they need to be spiritually.

I don’t believe we need to let go of all attachments, the judgmental ones, yes. I think it is more about not making our attachments more important than how we treat other people. In every religion there is the “Golden Rule” expressed in slightly different words but all express the same basic idea, treat others as you want to be treated. Because it is a truism across the board in all religious traditions and certainly explains karma that it is through our relationships with others and how we love, which is not just romantic love, but we can express love may different ways and through service to others or humanity is love. So I believe it is more about our intentions and motivation as well as how we love and treat other people that will determine the need to reincarnate or not.


Q: Can a spirit guide be someone from my past life?

A: Absolutely, and most of them are souls we knew in another form in a past life. We are part of a spiritual family that takes turns being the guide and the guided. If we see them either in our mind’s eye or a rare visual appearance they will usually appear as we knew them in that past life. Even if we don’t consciously recognize them our unconscious mind does and that bond helps us connect with them.


Q: How much karma do you have, and what's your strategy for mining it?

A: The first past life memories I got and the ones I remember the most about are the ones from which I am dealing with the most karma, both good and bad. My strategy is to try to deal with everything from this or past lives without avoidance and to do my best to resolve any interpersonal karma without creating any additional negative karma. My motto is you deal with it now or you deal with it later so there is no use in avoiding it. But I can only do my part on that type of karma. I really work on forgiveness, which the person I am trying to forgive knows nothing about as I am constantly working on letting go of resentments.

I am fortunate to know where some of the karma comes from which I find helpful. But I’m sure I also reap other past life karma that I am clueless. How much karma I have is an unknown because we only bring forth into a lifetime the karma of 40 or 50 lifetimes at a time. All of it would be chaotic and overwhelming. (I believe I have had hundreds of past lives.)

I work on staying present, authentic and mindful. I try to embody all the characteristics I consider spiritual. Qualities that make up spirituality are empathy, compassion, respect, tolerance, equanimity, fairness, service, love, inclusivity, peace, mindfulness, gratitude, authenticity, self awareness, kindness, and if I think long enough I’m sure there are more qualities to this list.

I attempt to show respect for all living things and the earth. Knowing that we all are reincarnations I do not judge because I don’t know what that person or soul has gone through in this life or previous lives. I do however use discernment to decide who and what I want in my life. I foster an awareness of my ego and my Higher Self and attempt to put the H.S. in the driver’s seat.

Being a spiritual person does not include allowing people to walk all over me. It doesn’t mean I don’t get angry, sad or frustrated. I learn from emotional reactions but aspire not be reactive and hurt anyone in the process. But it does mean I try to approach difficult situations and relationships with compassion and empathy first and then I only get as assertive or aggressive as necessary and try not to hurt others in the process. I will also let people know when something they have done or said has hurt me. I separate myself from toxic relationships.

I don’t think God wants us to be doormats, so it is about trying to find a balance. I also practice surrender to the Highest Good and use meditation as a spiritual practice work to embody the qualities that I named above. I have a tendency to freeze and have a delayed reaction when there is conflict and anger, mine or someone else’s and become unable to express myself in the moment which is my biggest challenge right now. But I would rather have a delayed reaction so I can think about how to respond than to overreact emotionally in that moment.

Most important of all, the Golden Rule. I treat others as I would want to be treated. It is in all religions, the wording slightly different but I believe that it is the key to karma. But there are those who will try to take advantage thinking kindness is weakness. That will be on them.

All these things I mention above are my way of trying to create only good karma. Some of my past issues with my inner self are challenging because I need to also forgive myself for the things for which I judge myself. That may be the hardest part. And to trust myself again with abilities I misused in a past life.


Q:  I heard this new thing, but it's also old esoteric knowledge called walk-ins or spirit soul walk-in. What is this? Can it be done, and is it true?

A: I met someone who was a walk-in and she seemed legit. Just because few people haven’t heard of it doesn’t mean it isn’t real. It has probably gone on forever but now we have the internet and have discovered a lot of things that are new to us.

It is an agreement between two souls, one who wants to leave the life they have and another wants to come in without having to grow a new body. I don’t see any metaphysical reason why it could not be done. Possessions and attachments happen but no one gives up the body to the other willingly. But this is done with agreement between the two souls.


Q: Why hypnosis never works on me? Is there other alternative to perform past life regression on those who cant be hypnotized?

A: Despite the claim of many hypnotists that anyone can be hypnotized there are some people who cannot be hypnotized. It is usually people who have a strong need for control that are the most difficult to hypnotize. It can also be an unconscious fear of repressed memories that could flood a person’s psyche, which could initiate decompensation.

I did some past life regressions, but I didn’t believe them all. I did undergo some past life hypnotic regression while learning hypnosis and I didn’t believe some of my own “memories” under hypnosis. Some I did. People are highly suggestible under hypnosis. Also if you make an appointment for a regression your psyche has time to make things up in order for it to be successful.

I preferred another approach that is rarely used. When I would hear something that seemed out of place during therapy I would have the person repeat the phrase and close their eyes and allow them to access the feelings connected to that phrase and then by asking questions they would start to see a past life. This way we took the psyche by surprise and it was not under hypnosis and there was no intervening time for the psyche to make things up. It is most like a technique called the Netherton Method. It was taught for a short time until Dr. Netherton died. I was not trained in it but it seems to cut the risk of false memories and problems getting people into a hypnotic state.


Q: When I was younger, I felt I was someone that was shot as a police officer, but when I got older, I had my appendix taken out at that same spot. Could this be a past life experience I had?

A: That is entirely possible however what has been found through research on children’s past lives is there is often a birth mark or other body mark where the person was mortally wounded, especially if it was a recent past life.

Look at the research of Dr. Ian Stevenson and now Dr. Jim Tucker continues his research on children’s past lives.

Jim B Tucker's Books: Life Before Life and Return to Life

Q: What is reincarnation? Why does it happen? How does it affect me?

A: Reincarnation is when the soul, the eternal part of you is reborn through history again and again into new bodies. Reincarnation is for the the soul to learn and grow on earth because it is the best place to learn. On earth it takes more effort to do anything so we develop our will. Love, learning and growth is the soul’s highest priority and values challenges and adversity because it is how we learn. We spend time in other planes of existence in between lives. Part of that time we spend planning our next lifetime, what karma we need to fulfill, what challenges we choose, what events and people we plan including our parents, where on earth and what kind of body we will have. Remember it is not you, the ego/personality that is planning, we change meat suits every incarnation and often change sex. It is your soul that makes the decisions and plans for your learning and growth.

Our consciousness once it has evolved to the point of being human does not reincarnate as anything else other than human bodies. There is nothing to be learned by going backward and being a cockroach so we don’t regress we evolve. Anyone alive right now has been here many times before. Souls who have not had previous incarnations have not been born since about 1920 because this period in time is too chaotic and fast that a soul without previous experience on earth would not be able to handle it.

Any talents you have in your current life is because you had one or more past lives doing what it is you are talented at it. Some phobias come from past lives. Most of our family and friends we have known in past lives and may have karmic relationships with things to work out.


Q: Is there any spiritual cause for one always lacking money and not receiving?

A: There are three possible spiritual reasons for anything we have in our lives but don’t want to experience from the ego’s perspective.

1. Karma - In a past life I was part of a rich family but didn’t appreciate how good I had it. I have had to struggle financially in this lifetime because struggling made me appreciate having money.

2. Destiny - It is something you as your soul planned between lifetimes as something that you need to experience and grow from that experience.

3. Use or Misuse of Free Will by someone else. This one is unlikely unless someone stole or conned you out of money.


Q: Is there any way for me to know what or who I’ll be in my next life? Maybe through astrology? Because there you can see your past life so why not see your next life too?

A: I don’t believe astrology is very useful, others do. However just as there is hypnotic past life regression there is hypnotic future life progression. You can see future lives but remember that what you would see is the most probable future life, things can change and it is based on your trajectory right now. It can be changed.


Q: What are the two aspects of karma?

A: Sounds like a test question. There are many aspects of karma, but if I were to pick the two most important it would be that there is both positive and negative karma from the view of the ego. From the soul it is all positive because what the ego thinks of as negative the soul sees as an opportunity to learn and grow. What is most important to understand about karma is that it all plays out on an emotional level so when you have you karma returned to you it is not that you get exactly the same thing done to you as you did to someone else, but rather the emotional impact is equal to what the other felt from the impact of your actions, words.


Q: If our souls are on Earth to learn lessons, is abuse designed to help the soul learn something? Did our souls choose this?

A: We can learn from anything that happens to us designed or not. Unfortunately we learn and grow more from negative experiences than from positive ones.

There are three possible spiritual reasons for anything we have in our lives but don’t want to experience from the ego’s perspective.

1. Karma - We may have abused someone in a past life, but not necessarily, what we get with karma is an equal impact emotional equivalent to what we caused another to feel.

2. Destiny - It is something you as your soul planned between lifetimes as something that you need to experience and from which you will grow.

3. Use or Misuse of Free Will by someone else. Not karmic or chosen a person misused their free will to abuse you from which they will at sometime maybe a future life will experience the emotional equivalent.


Q: Can you willingly remember a past event?

A: I guess you’re asking about past life memories.

Sometimes by asking myself a question, for example, “I wonder if I was ever Japanese?” Within days I will see my answer. To that question much to my surprise and shock I saw myself as a Sumo wrestler. Looked big and mean but inside I was just the opposite.

I think if I phrase it as a question and not try to remember which might bring my imagination into it, but receive an answer I feel more confident in the answer I get if it, a. surprises me, b. comes to me without trying. Because trying by thinking a lot about it muddies the result. I would be asking if that was what I wanted to think was the answer, something that might involve ego.

Most of my past life memories have come to me spontaneously and at first I didn’t trust that probably because I never heard of anyone just remembering at that time. I did undergo some hypnotic regressions and some of it I believed and some I think was imagination and being suggestible. Some I didn’t connect to emotionally. It is the visions I connect to emotionally also that convince me it is real. Also there is a sense of remembering, just like suddenly remembering a childhood memory that has been locked away for decades. So the past life regressions made me more confident in the spontaneous memories.

The first memory I had really was a shock, I didn’t think past lives could be remembered and I certainly didn’t think I could remember a past life. You can read about that memory here:

https://www.nancypoitou.com/th...


Q: Do past-life regressionists believe it literally or as an internal metaphor?

A: I guess you might have to ask them individually but I think most would say literally. I do believe them literally but if someone is uncomfortable about that we could look at them as an internal metaphor or personal mythology, archetypal journey, or treat it like guided imagery or dream imagery.

However I have some issues with hypnosis in that if you make an appointment for a hypnotic regression the mind has a lot of time to think, wonder and imagine before and are highly suggestible during a hypnotic regression. Some of the regressions I facilitated I did not believe because I think the person already had a story line they were invested in and it came out in imagery. I had issues with the regressions I experienced because I didn’t feel emotionally connected to them and again under hypnosis we are highly suggestible.

So I would say I do believe in reincarnation as a fact, but don’t always believe hypnotic regressions are accurate.


Q: Why did human "souls" wait so long to show up? Can we be incarnated during any time period we chose or is time linear? Also, are we ever finished incarnating? What happens then?

A: We were evolving through the other kingdoms. First we develop molecular consciousness through the mineral kingdom, then reactive consciousness through the plant kingdom, then external consciousness through the animal kingdom, then become human and develop internal consciousness, which a lot of us are still working on. All the kingdoms are group souls until you incarnate into a human body. On one level we are still group souls since we are all connected.

Time in the spirit world does not exist, it is something that allows us in the physical world where time does exist to experience this world one moment at a time in order to learn. So actually all lifetimes are taking place at the same time.

During Bardo which is the time between incarnations we make plans for the next incarnation, choices like when, where, who we are with, parents, siblings, what our body will be, events and experiences we plan to learn from form our destiny. Some of it is to resolve karma.

We stop incarnating when we have learned all we can from this world. I suspect we graduate to higher realms where we continue to evolve.


Q: Will I get bad karma for sending bad energy sent to me back to the sender?

A: The energy will go where it finds it is most compatible with.

So because they created it if it is incompatible with your energy field it would automatically bounce off your energy field and go back to the person who created it. So let’s say the sender sent you a thoughtform that may have formed from a thought they had that you are stupid for example if you don’t believe you are stupid and have good self esteem it will bounce back to the sender no matter what you do with it. But if you have low self esteem and think you are not smart it will enter your energy field and reinforce the way you think of yourself.

But because there are karmic consequences never send negative thoughtforms to anyone until you don’t mind the karmic blowback.


Q: How does personal identity persist through time?

A: We process every event and experience through the chakra system. Successfully processed it is released to the crown chakra and into the causal body. It is stored in permanent atoms and becomes a part of that personal identity of the soul. Unsuccessful processing will cause it to reappear at some time in the future, in another lifetime because it is unresolved.

When we reincarnate we take the energies of a limited number of lives. All of them would be overwhelming. In Bardo, the between lives state we decided which lifetimes’ karma, good and bad to take into the next life. We also take abilities that appear to be natural talent into the next lifetime.

I have memories of about two dozen lifetimes. Some just a snippet some a lot more. But after a few of these I became very aware of what was constant. My soul was the foundation upon which each house was built. As we learn and grow those lessons are also stored in the soul. For most people this is all unconscious but it is there. It persists longer than any lifetime and beyond.


Q: How can reincarnation work?

A: We have two parts to our nature, the soul and the ego/personality. The soul is eternal and it reincarnates into different bodies and ego/personalities that develop during the lifetime. Each ego/personality can also get some tendencies, talents, knowledge, karma from what it learned in previous lifetimes the essence of which is stores in the soul. The soul’s biggest priority is learning and growth, doesn’t care about money, success, fame but if you do have those things it cares about what you do with that money, fame and success. The personality is a lot more short sighted and cares more about gratification of wants and needs.

Before incarnating into a human body we evolve through the other kingdoms. First we develop cellular consciousness through the mineral kingdom, then reactive consciousness through the plant kingdom, then external consciousness through the animal kingdom, then become human and develop internal consciousness, which a lot of us are still working on. All the kingdoms are group souls until you incarnate into a human body. One you evolve from one kingdom into the next you do not go backward in your evolution, there would be nothing to be learned from doing that. On one level we are still group souls since we are all connected.

Time in the spirit world does not exist, it is something that allows us in the physical world where time does exist to experience this world one moment at a time in order to learn. So actually all lifetimes are taking place at the same time. But that gets confusing and is difficult to wrap our minds around.

During Bardo which is the time between incarnations we make plans for the next incarnation, choices like when, where, who we are with, parents, siblings, what our body will be, events and experiences we plan to learn from form our destiny. Some of it is to resolve karma.

We stop incarnating when we have learned all we can from this world. I suspect we graduate to higher realms where we probably continue to evolve.


Q: What is the spiritual meaning of destiny?

A: Destiny is what we have planned for our growth in a particular incarnation. Between lives we make a plan like a road map. We will meet certain people, have planned certain experiences and challenges as a part of our plan to work out karma and learn things for our own growth. If, perchance we miss some of these experiences, meetings, etc. there are backup plans in place.

Fate on the other hand I see as “s**t happens”. You happen to be in the right or wrong place at just the right time to be subject to the free will of another whether that turns out to be good or bad.


Q: In the akasha meditation i saw my past lives. It Was like a movie going back. But at the start I saw a goddess. What does this mean ?

A: Perhaps the Goddess was allowing you a peak at your past. Or depending on what you saw in your past lives she played a part in one of them. Do you know the name of the Goddess? I would do some research on her. If you don’t know her name perhaps you saw what culture or religion she was from. Look into who she was and what she represents and it may explain why you saw her. What an honor!


Q: Is karma unconsciousness?

A: For most people who don’t know about karma it is. Very few people can recognize karma when their actions return to them because we don’t know what the karma is for that may have originated in past lives. I have some past life memories and I do recognize some of my karma when it shows up. But not everything is karma. Some things that be due to someone else’s free will. And some things we make a plan to experience during the time between lives.


Q: What are some spiritual reasons that some people are better fitted to play the role of a soldier as compared to a leader?

A: The reason is that they were in a similar role in one or more past lives. We learn skills in past lives that we can pick up again very quickly in a subsequent lifetime. And because the role feels familiar the soul is attracted to that role. So that’s a good thing, past experience is carried forward albeit in most cases entirely unconscious. What people call talent is often a past life skill. Prodigies are the result of past life skills.


Q: Do you believe in karma? Why or why not?

A: Karma is real. What feelings you cause in others through how you treat them, things you have done and said to them them will come back to you in experiences and events that will produce equal emotional feelings, good or bad. Your karma coming back to you might not exactly mirror actions you did in the past to others but the feelings will be equivalent to what they felt.

What karma you make in your current lifetime may come back to you in your current or a future lifetime. What you experience in this lifetime may be a result of what you have done in previous lifetimes.

Not only in the “life review” many who have a near death experience are they shown things that they will want to do over in the form of karma but in my own spontaneous past life memories I have seen karma at work in my lifetimes. We are held accountable for our actions fairly through karma and we judge ourselves and what we need to still learn, and usually the best way to learn how we effect others and develop empathy and compassion is to experience for ourselves how we affected others both in a positive and negative sense.


Q: What can you remember about your past life if you have existed before?

A: I have snippets of about two dozen lifetimes. A few I know a lot more about and have more effect on my current karma and life. If you would like to read about my first and probably most important in terms of my present life, I wrote about it here.

https://www.nancypoitou.com/th...
and here . . . https://www.nancypoitou.com/aL...


Q: Is it possible for us to have had past lives?

A: In my opinion we all have had past lives.

I have spontaneous past life memories. If you would like to read about my first set of past life memories the link to it is below. I think it is a good example for those who wonder because I did not believe one could just remember until it happened to me. I have since learned that many people have had at least one flashback into a past life. I have had flashback or snippets of about two dozen. About 3 lifetimes I know a lot more.

https://www.nancypoitou.com/th...


Q: Do things happen in life because of our karma, in mystical/spiritual terms, or are things happening because of cause and effect, in very rational terms? Is everything part of fate?

There are 3 possible causes.

I define Destiny as the plan you made in between lifetimes as to events you would experience and people you will meet positive and negative in order for you to learn and grow or accomplish your mission during your lifetime.

Then there is Karma which are also lessons we learn from having affected others in your past and past lives positive and negative and learning by experiencing something similar, but equivalent as far as the emotional impact.

Then there is Fate which I define as “shit happens”, events that were not planned but the result of the use or misuse of another’s free will that results in a positive or negative negative experience for you. Or you just happen to be in the right or wrong place at the right or wrong time.

We always have free will and choose how we react and use experiences for growth or as an excuse to hurt others.


Q: How does reincarnation work? What is the cycle of reincarnation?

A: We started out as consciousness that first began in the mineral kingdom developing cellular consciousness. Once that is done we moved on to the plant or sometimes called the vegetable kingdom where we developed reactive consciousness. When that is done we moved on to the animal kingdom where we developed external consciousness. At this point we change from group souls to one soul per body when we move on to the human kingdom where we developed internal consciousness. Once done in one kingdom we do not go back and reincarnate as an insect or animal or anything in lower forms of consciousness, there is not purpose in doing it and it is impossible.

This information is from the Western Mystical Tradition or the Western Esoteric Tradition traces its roots back to Plato, Pythagoras and ancient cultures like Egypt. However it has changed over time and as more people had experiences. This tradition has a long history that in more modern times cites Theosophy and Edgar Cayce as contributing an understanding of reincarnation. Some of the most recent contributions to our understanding have come from past life hypnotic regressions. Not all are accurate but regressions have contributed a great deal of information on reincarnation. And although it hasn’t given us a whole lot on how reincarnation happens there is very good research on children’s memories of usually recent past lives in which they died a traumatic death.

The current understanding is that reincarnation is what drives the evolution of consciousness. That the between life state can be as short as two months or hundreds of years. Between lives we make a plan to work out karma, we choose particular events and experiences to help us learn and grow. I refer to these plans as destiny. Like a road map where we plan to visit certain cities and attractions on our journey these also have backup plans in case we miss our first connection. We also have free will in that if we see something on the journey we can take a side trip. Then there is what I call fate in that the free will of others can come into play that can also affect our lives. Regardless it is all “grist for the mill” and our free will in how we react to all these factors can be meaningful growth regardless of the cause.

We also have “exit points” where we might die but choose not to. We might also have set up tests for ourselves to see if we have learned a particular lesson. If we pass the test our life plan goes in a different direction than if we fail our test. In between lives we make decisions like what sex we will be and what kind of body we will have. Where we will live most of our lives and who our parents and family will be. This is not chosen by the ego but by the Higher Self or Soul to whom our learning, growth and love while incarnate is of primary importance. Unfortunately we grow more from difficulties and challenges than we do from happier times when live is easy. Growth in these meat suits on this earth is the best way to learn because of the effort it takes.

This seems to be the current state of my understanding of reincarnation in a nutshell.


Q: Is it karma when I see some people that have hurt me in the past are watching me on the street? It's as if the universe wants them to see me.

A: No that is not karma. Karma is when a person has an experience or an event happen in their lives, positive or negative, that is equal on an emotional level to what they did to another person and what that person felt in this or past lives.


Q: If someone was wealthy in one life but reincarnated into a poor person in their next life, what are examples of lessons that a rich person may struggle and fail to learn but a poor person would have an easier time at learning?

A: In a past life I was part of a wealthy family in France. I did not appreciate what I had and sort of denigrated being wealthy.

In this lifetime I was not born poor, rather middle class, but have struggled a lot financially as an adult. Financially I am doing much better now, perhaps I learned my lesson to appreciate what I do have and did have in that past life.

Other possibilities could be that they squandered their wealth in a past life on frivolous things or drugs and did nothing good with it. Or their wealth may have come from greed and in the process of becoming wealthy they were unfair or cruel to people that worked for them. The wealth may have come from enslaving other people. So experiencing a life of lack can teach them compassion and empathy and appreciation for having had everything they needed or wanted in a past life.

Think of money as frozen energy. What we do with our energy brings karma, good and bad. Money is power, how we use that power may also bring us good or bad karma. If because we are wealthy we think we are better than anyone else and treat people who are less fortunate with distain and disrespect that will also come back to us. and we may need a life of lack to see that is a wrong. So it is not only how we use money/energy/power but how it might change us, which could be for the better or for the worse. In which case we may have something to learn by being poor.

People who are not rich tend to do more volunteer work, and give a higher percentage of their income to charities. Why? Probably because they empathize with those who have less. Compassion and empathy are two very important spiritual attributes that we all need to develop. Struggle will often teach us to have those qualities.


A: Can you remember past lives? If yes, what do you remember about the moment of death in your previous lives? Was it painful physically? How was it emotionally?

Q: It seems like the traumatic memories of being killed are more vivid and easily recalled.

Getting killed was pretty scary in one life where I was betrayed and it was completely unexpected. I was a advisor to the Pharaoh Rameses III. There was a conspiracy to kill him with black magic. I learned of it and warned him. He put together a committee to investigate it. Half the committee members were part of the plot. They lured me out to a cliff one night on a lie that we were going to talk to someone who knew something about the plot. The 3 of them grabbed me and I realized what was happening and were into an absolute panic, completely hysterical, screaming and struggling as they dragged me toward the cliff and threw me over. 2 of the 3 are now people I know. I have never told them. It was a quick death so not painful physically but emotionally quite painful, traumatic and shocking.

In another lifetime I was a captain in the Roman army with a small garrison at an outpost in the North of Italy. We spotted Barbarians, invaders from the North. There were not that many of them but they were big, all on horseback and they were twice our number. We had a few horses but not enough for all of us. I sent the youngest of the garrison on horseback to get reinforcements but I knew it would be too late and we would be overrun. They attacked from 3 directions flanking on two side and then the frontal attack. The battle didn’t last long. I was stabbed in the solar plexus and bled out. Not shocked because I knew it was going to happen, some pain but not terribly physically painful either. As I floated above my body I watched as they took all the metal off my body, helmet, shield and sword as booty from this small short battle. I had not been happy with being a Roman soldier for a long time so I wasn’t particularly upset my life was over.


Q: Is there a way to tell if you have a past life connection with someone else?

A: Besides a reading from a psychic or a past life regression you usually feel it.

If it was a good past life connection you immediately feel like you have known them forever and have an immediate rapport. You talk like you have known each other a long time.

When I first met my teacher she said she knew me from a past life had been expecting me for a couple years and asked what took me so long to show up? We talked for 5 hours the first time we met. Although I am white and was a blonde at the time and she, Native American with black hair and olive skin, people used to ask us if we were sisters. We were in a past life.

If it was a bad past life connection you usually feel that too and want to get away from the person or have as little to do with them as possible. Not always possible if they are a family member which is often why they are so we can’t easily get away and not work out whatever karmic relationship you had.


Q: What do you think may be in the way for someone to succeed? Could they be spiritually blocked?

A:
They could be spiritually blocked either through karma or their life plan. The may have decided between lives that success would keep them from accomplishing their spiritual goals of learning and growth. That’s why “manifesting” success doesn’t always work.


Q: What is the karma behind people who won the lottery?

A: People may think someone must have good karma coming to win the lottery, but suddenly having a lot of money poses problems that some lottery winners say ruined their life.

Lottery Curse Victims: 7 People Who Won Big and Lost It All
Could winning the lottery be a tragedy, not a windfall? Here are 7 lottery curse victims whose lucky jackpot win led to divorce, bankruptcy, or worse.
https://www.liveabout.com/lott...
It presents temptations and ego inflation. Money is frozen energy and power. How we use that power and energy creates karma. It can be a test of our spiritual maturity. There is nothing bad or sinful about money but those who yield that kind of power can be. For many money changes them and those changes can create bad karma if the changes are negative.

So it is not always good karma that get them the winning ticket. On the more positive side it might be restoration of wealth that was taken from them in a past life. It can be good karma from generosity in a past life. It can be from a past life where had they had money they could have done more good for others with what they were doing. The positive karma that might end up in a lottery win often has to do with how they used money in a past life to help others. It certainly is a good test of our spiritual maturity. Just as with negative events in our lives we have free will as to how we handle the windfall or a reversal of fortune.


Q: What are some exercises you can do with children to see if they remember their past lives?

A: Ask some non-leading questions. Do you remember ever being big like me? Notice if they seem whimsical or matter of fact in their answers. If they show interest in something that is unusual for children ask questions and see if they know more about the subject than kids that age would normally.

It is usually from the time they start to speak up until 6 or 7 that many children appear to have some memories of a past life. Explore their dreams. Teach them to meditate.


Q: How is it possible for you to be spiritually connected to someone you barely even know?

A: Past lives. We knew them before and can feel very connected to them quite quickly. As though we have known them a long time and we probably have. Possibly many lifetimes.


Q: What is karma? Do twins have the same karma?

A: As you sew so shall you reap. What comes around goes around. Nearly all religions of the world teach what some call the Golden Rule. They don’t call it karma but tell us to treat others as we would want to be treated. Your thoughts, words and deeds come back to you.

Universal Law of Action (Karma) For every action there is an opposite (in direction) and equal reaction. Karma (good and bad) can be as a result of our actions in past lives. Our actions now can come back to us in future lives. We don’t experience exactly what we did to others but it causes the emotional equivalent of what someone else experienced as a result of our actions and words.

As for twins it depends if they share the same soul. If they do then yes they also share the same karma. If two separate souls then no, they each have their own karma. 


Q: Is there a way to avoid bad karma if you do something bad?

A: Nope. You can’t fool the universe. There are no loop holes. And if any claims they can erase your karma they are scamming you.


Q: Why do some people have gifts of the spirit and not others?

A: Past lives. What we have developed in past lives persists in what people call gifts but are really the result of what we did in past lives. Also what people call talents are what we did in past lives and came back to us in the current lifetime.


Q: What is the most credible historical example of reincarnation?

A: I think the most impressive example is the boy who as a 2 year old began having nightmares about being a WWII pilot who was shot down. He named names, dates, knew things about WWII airplane his parents didn’t know and drew pictures of the airplanes that were correct in details he could not have known any other way.

Books have been written about him and other children:

Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot: Leininger, Bruce, Leininger, Andrea, Gross, Ken: 9780446509343: Amazon.com: Books
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Su...

Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives - Division of Perceptual Studies
This is Dr. Jim Tucker’s most recent publication exploring American cases of young children who report specific memories of previous lives. In this book, which is a follow-up to his first book Life Before Life, Dr. Tucker has interviewed a number of extraordinary children with memories of past lives. Return to Life focuses mostly on American […]
https://med.virginia.edu/perce...


Q: When we incarnate only about a third of our soul leaves the spirit world and when we transition back, it returns, but when? Immediately or later?

A: Because at first we are getting used to being home and for some who have been sick a long time are recuperating I believe it would not happen immediately. People who have had near death experiences, even prolonged ones don’t seem to mention that.

As we begin our journey back to incarnating we let go of the past little by little and we rise in consciousness as we shed the last most recent lifetime. At the pinnacle of that journey we are in a meta-conscious state. It this point we see all our past lives and future lives. I believe it would be at this point that we would be whole with our souls because of the meta-conscious state.

But there may be more information in people who recall the Bardo, the between lives state.


Q: If reincarnation was proven and you could identify which lives you've previously lived, what would happen in terms of assets & law?

A: As far as I know we don’t yet have laws to cover that. So if your heirs wanted to give your back your assets that would be up to them. Or we make a law that when you die you give up all your assets and have to start over. Or there would need to be a legal process process by which you could prove to your heirs you were who you say you were. Or you could write a will leaving everything to yourself and set up your own test so that no one could claim your stuff pretending to be you.

Sometime in the future we will all remember our past lives and perhaps recognize each other after rebirth and you could easily claim your stuff. But hopefully we would be more evolved by that time and not care about stuff from our previous life.

When a Buddhist Lama or Dalai Lama reincarnates they test the child, usually very young by showing him items, some of which were his in his last lifetime. The child has to identify his belongings set out before him and recognize lamas that were alive when he was last alive. I guess they figure he still has great wisdom and so why start from scratch with a soul that has no experience in Buddhism as a Dalai Lama?


Q: Are people predestined to be wicked?

A: In some cases they signed up to play the villain in our human drama, a decision made between lives. But they also have free will so can change that role at any time and decide not to be the villain.


Q: How does occult differ from past life regression? I am curious, as I have come across practices in my country like people talking to spirit, young kid talking like 80 year old in a different language which is unknown to them etc.

A: Occult just means hidden and reincarnation has nothing currently to do with being hidden. It is out there in the open now. Knowledge of reincarnation had been kept secret, hidden, occult, only talked about in secret esoteric circles throughout periods of history where anyone with beliefs other than that of the church were persecuted, for example witch burning and the inquisition.

The church did not want reincarnation taught because it would take power away from the church, because with esoteric knowledge, a part of which is reincarnation you don’t need the church, you are your own salvation not dependent on church rituals and intermediaries.

Speaking other languages that the person does not consciously know is called xenoglossy and is most often seen in past life hypnotic regressions. Talking to spirit is called mediumship and a very common practice especially in Spiritualism.


Q: Do we have to pay karma for mistreating ourselves?

A: No. However it does lower our vibrational frequency. We need self forgiveness and compassion towards ourselves as a part of our spiritual growth.


Q: Why do spirits need to grow/evolve through lifetimes/experiences …why this instead of being created/born complete from the start? Why go through all this?

A: You ask why weren’t we born complete from the start . . . only God, the Creator, the Universe really knows this answer. I can only speculate from what I have learned.

This is what has made the most sense to me. It comes mostly from Edgar Cayce, called the Sleeping Prophet. He was the most highly documented and accurate clairvoyant under trance and had abilities during his waking life as well. The records of all his readings are contained in a library at the Association for Research and Enlightenment in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Although he never wrote a book himself, there have been many written and about him and the information he brought forth.

Some say God was bored, lonely and wanted companionship. Not minions, but co-creators. Sure if God created us I suppose they could have created us that way, but that’s not exactly us as individuals if we never had any independence, any free will, and the effects of choices and experiences of our own, sounds boring to me. Kind of like spending your entire life with your brother or sister that you grew up with and spent every waking moment with throughout your entire life. There may be love but nothing interesting or new. No surprises. No challenges. What could we bring to that relationship that was new if everything about us was created by the one who created us?

At first we were one with the Universal Mind. Without individuality. We were spirit, undifferentiated from God, the Creator, the Universal Mind, what ever you call it. Then the Creator created all souls at the same time, no new souls have been created since the time of creation. We were created at the same time as the physical universe. We needed to grow and evolve to become differentiated individual souls. But we as souls also played a part in our predicament if you want to call it that.

As the earth was created we became attracted to the opportunities to experience things physically on earth. We souls began to project our consciousness into matter and eventually became trapped there. As that happened we lost or forgot our connection to the Creator. We became separate and as we became trapped in matter we eventually split into male and female. However we have reincarnated many many times as both male and female.


Q: How can I guarantee that I don't reincarnate after death?

A: Apparently at the end of this lifetime you do have a choice. Right now you see it from the ego/personality perspective because you don’t understand the perspective of your Higher Self or Soul.

In some near death experiences people describe how that perspective and the life review changed their minds. In that higher perspective once you understand how you have affected others you want to return to make things right.

The Soul’s highest value is love, learning and growth. We learn the most here on earth because it takes effort. I completely understand not wanting to reincarnate from the ego/personality perspective. I think that when we have had a rough life we will think that way. But we have changed and grown a lot, unfortunately we only seem to learn from difficulties. But when we cross over and look back at our lives, from the Higher Self Soul perspective we say, “Wow wasn’t that exciting?!?!?! Let’s do it again with more challenges!” Because we then see it differently We forget the ego/personality perspective and start planning the next lifetime after a period of rest.

Ever been on a camping trip where the tent blew down it was so windy or there was a storm it rained and hailed and you were stuck in the tent? At the time it was not fun but we look back on those challenges with humor and appreciation for the memories. Those are the camping trips we remember and tell stories about later on. “Remember that camping trip when . . .” That’s kind of what it’s like. We knew all along we would be ok, it’s just pretty inconvenient at the time. Except we have bigger challenges and forget that no matter what happens during a lifetime we (as souls, our true selves) will be fine.

So yes you can say no . . . but I’d bet you don’t.


Q: Has anyone experienced awareness of existence prior to birth?

A: The book, Life between Life by Fischer and Whitton is the best book I know of that describes the Bardo, the time between incarnations. Some children have recall of the between/pre life state and recall choosing their parents.


Q: Is reincarnation real/rebirth? I have been seeing some things I remember and it did not happen in my present life.

A: Yes it is real. Is there proof that reincarnation is real? Yes. Check out the research.

Fifty Years of Research - Division of Perceptual Studies
Over the last 50 years of active research, the UVA DOPS faculty have collected 2500 cases, most of which have been found outside of the United states. Members of the research staff at the Division of Perceptual Studies have published numerous articles and books about these cases. Of these 2500 cases, over 2300 have been coded […]
https://med.virginia.edu/perce...
Books based on Research, These and there are more

Ian Stevenson 20 Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation.

Jim Tucker Return to Life

Bruce Goldberg The Search for Grace

Books about the Study of Past Life Memories - Division of Perceptual Studies University of Virginia School of Medicine logo of UVA School of Medicine 200 Jeanette Lancaster Way Charlottesville, VA 22903 Map Marker Map and directions

Books about the Study of Past Life Memories - Division of Perceptual Studies
University of Virginia School of Medicine logo of UVA School of Medicine 200 Jeanette Lancaster Way Charlottesville, VA 22903 Map Marker Map and directions
https://med.virginia.edu/perce...

Children Who Report Memories of Previous Lives - Division of Perceptual Studies

Tucker writes about James Leininger, a boy who had past-life memories of being a WWII pilot, and Ryan Hammond, who had memories of being a Hollywood agent.

Children Who Report Memories of Previous Lives - Division of Perceptual Studies
Tucker writes about James Leininger, a boy who had past-life memories of being a WWII pilot, and Ryan Hammond, who had memories of being a Hollywood agent.
https://med.virginia.edu/perce...


Q: Can an unsolved problem in the past life reappear in this life?

A: Absolutely they do. We are here to learn and grow. So if we fail at a lesson we have to take that course over again. Sometimes many times before we learn what we need to learn.


Q: What, if any, is the relationship between our emotions and our soul?

A: Our emotions are how we learn. We as souls are here in these meat suits to love, learn and grow. How do we learn? We learn from what we feel. We feel good about something we will do it again, we feel bad we don’t, pretty simple really.

But emotions and how we learn from them is highly individual. Some people abused as children learn from that what abuse feels like and learn how to be a good parent without abusing a child. Others seem to not learn and repeat the pattern. I actually had one man say to me in a session, “My dad beat the hell out of me and I turned out fine.” Yeah well you are here (court ordered to therapy and in my office) to give you a chance at learning before you do it again and end up in prison. I would not call that fine.

Others have said to me, “I swore when I was a child I would not treat my children the way I was treated but I opened my mouth the other day and heard my mother’s voice and words coming out of it, I had the urge to hit my child. I felt really bad about myself. Please help me to be a better parent.” You knew what you didn’t want to do which is great, but have not learned what to replace that with. I will help you learn parenting skills. Children don’t come with an operating manual so we’ll talk about it and I’ll give you some tools and some things to read.

So some people choose not to learn, and just repeat the action until they do.


Q: Does karma really happen? I have a lot of people in mind that I wish they have because they did me wrong.

A: Oh yes it does. But you might now see it happen in this lifetime.

The circumstances have to be right in order for them to receive the karma. Karma is not the exact same thing they did to you happening to them, but it has the same emotional impact on that person that it did on you.


Q: How have I always just sort of known I was here on a soul contract? Does this make it something concrete and I should never question it again?

A: Questioning it matters not. It won’t change anything. But it may be better for you if you have faith in your perception that you knew that you had a soul contract or planned what is happening in your life.

It sounds good that you recall on some level what you signed up for. I would imagine it would give you some sense of peace when things happen knowing there is a purpose to it.


Q: There are people born or who get in bad environment and etc and they don't get a chance of realization, it's like dying by accident. How to continue spiritual journey if conditions aren’t equal for everyone? It’s sad if luck determines that.

A: Luck is not a factor. Karma and past lives are a factor.

When in past lives we have pursued realization we are more likely to be in a position to continue that energy stream. The Law of Conservation applies here.

In between lives we have made plans for our upcoming incarnation. For the soul it is all about love, learning and growth. Some may not be able to pursue realization until they have resolved other issues and learned other lessons. They are not ready for it. Some are older souls and have narrowed their vision to spiritual matters after learning many lessons during many lifetimes. Some are younger souls with less experience and fewer incarnations under their belt. This is not a judgement, we would not compare a 2nd grader with a 12th grader they are just in different places in their journey through life. Some souls are just in a different place in their journey toward realization as souls.


Q: What is the spiritual nature of life?

A: Life is a spiritual process. We are eternally spiritual, as souls but temporarily human in meat suits.

We are here because of the spiritual nature of life to love, learn and grow. This develops and evolves the nature of the soul in terms of will, love-wisdom and intelligence and become co-creators of the universe.

We are not humans that have souls but souls masquerading as humans for our relatively short journeys on earth. Spirit is our nature. What we call life in physical form is only temporary.


Q: If life is energy which cannot be destroyed, then is it possible for the same people to appear as others over the course of your lifetime? If so, then how do I escape the “people” that I don’t want in my life? Is it as simple as moving?

A: If what you are asking is if they can reincarnate and you can meet them twice during your lifetime, each time in a different body then yes. They cannot morph into a different person.

So that means they would start off as a baby again and you would have a different relationships with them because they are a different person. If you have no karmic ties or issues with them then yes you could just move away but if they are starting over in a new body I doubt that would be necessary.

However if you want to “escape the people” then I would venture to guess you do have karmic ties with them. Then it would depend on the life plan you made before incarnating this time. If working out the karmic relationship or issue is a part of this lifetime’s plan then it is your destiny to have them in your life to give you the opportunity to pay that karma and work out that relationship.

If in that case you were to move away you still might somehow get reunited with them. Or more likely you would attract someone just like them into your life to give you that opportunity to reap karma and learn whatever it is you needed to learn from that karma or karmic relationship.

There is no escape from karma and universal law. You deal with it now or you deal with it later, but you will deal with it. If not with the person you originally had the karma with then someone perfectly suited to take their place.


Q: Has a baby ever been partially born but wasn't ready and had to be reborn?

A: I’m not sure what you mean by partially born. I think that is an I/O arrangement.

However many spontaneous abortions, (first trimester), miscarriages (second trimester) or still births, (third trimester) and medical abortions are exactly that. Timing or circumstances are not right for the soul so they bailed out during the pregnancy only to return later. Hypnosis has revealed that medical abortions are an agreement between two souls mother and child that this is not the time. When hypnosis has been done before an abortion has taken place and the two agree this is not the time then a spontaneous abortion or miscarriage normally happens. Some pregnancies that will not come to fruition simply have no soul attached to that pregnancy.

Some children who die young come back to be reborn in the same family.


Q: Has anyone ever seen your past life? How’s that experience?

A: Yes many times.

Once when I was teaching a student saw different faces of my past selves switching while overlaid my current face. My teacher saw some of my past lives, some of which I later saw myself.

But what is even better is when both you and another person recognize each other from a past life you both had. This happened to me.

Over a few years time several people mentioned to me that I should meet a yoga teacher named Helen. That was kind of strange in itself so you gotta figure something’s up.

Well a friend and I signed up for a yoga class and lo and behold this woman Helen turns out to be teaching it. Synchronicity.

The first night of class I was having flashbacks to ancient Egyptian times and knew I knew her back then. I recalled she was a very tough teacher of a kind of yoga/Tai Chi/Chi Gung type of dance we learned in the temple school. I and some cohorts would stand at the back of the class and telepathically disrupt it. That would make her mad. But I was a testy one back then too.

After a few classes I went up to Helen after class and told her I knew you in a past life. She remembered me and it was confirmed by her memory of my being hot headed back then and her admitting she was a much harder teacher back then. What a weird feeling to remember someone who remembers you from 5,000 years ago. When the class was over I went and said good bye after class and said it was nice to see you again after all this time. Still weird but better than remembering people who don’t remember me back.


Q: Are our life paths predestined, or is it all random? Are we supposed to be at the moment and place we should be?

A: Some things are pre-destined. Some things are not. We have free will and can take side trips from our life plan or what some people call a soul contract.

Destiny - those things that were planned in between life as our life plan which with the help of wise ones we developed a kind of road map of the up coming life with certain destinations, things we will experience, people we will meet and some we have relationships with and things we will learn both academic and skills we will develop. There are back-up plans to get us to destined events even if our free will has us miss a connection that will get us back on track and in alignment with our life plan.

Fate - those random events that can result from the free will of ours or others.

Karma - Usually taken into account in the life plan as a part of destined events. Karma is particular lessons we need to learn produced from actions we took in this life or previous lives.


Q: What is a book or video that resulted in a seismic shift in your worldview?

A: The first book I read on reincarnation, Many Mansions by Gina Cerminera.

I was depressed and had never considered reincarnation because I knew nothing about it. It made me feel like there is fairness (karma) in the big picture, people do get what they deserve. And that no effort is wasted nor will it be lost when we die. That inspired me to take more chances and try new things I was curious about like acting. It led to personal growth because I knew that growth would be something I would benefit from and would be preserved in my soul from lifetime to lifetime. Reincarnation made sense to me.

I did not believe one could remember past lives. This was before I had heard of past life regression which I don’t fully trust because I am skeptical about hypnosis but not about reincarnation. 10 years later much to my shock I began having spontaneous (non hypnotic) past life memories and a Kundalini awakening. This deepened my understanding of reincarnation and made it undeniably real to me. It is one thing to believe and another entirely to know.

A great companion book to Many Mansions is Life between Life about what happens between incarnations by Whitton and Fischer.


Q: How do spirit guides or anyone who is responsible for that makes us keep/last/hold the soul contract until it is fulfilled, until the lesson is learned?

A: No one but you holds you to your soul contract until fulfilled because you, in your soul want to learn the lesson.


Q: Is karma real if someone does you wrong in a relationship?

A: Karma is real all the time in all relationships.


Q: Is it possible to buy good karma?

A: Yes by donating money to charitable causes. Money is frozen energy. You are paid for the energy you expend working for a living with frozen spendable energy. What you do with that money is karma. It is not bad karma to buy yourself things, it is neutral as long as you having and using money doesn’t hurt anyone. That’s one reason why we don’t want to spend money for example on products that take advantage of poor nations, do animal testing, do not pay a fair wage, etc. That may bring bad karma. But money can also be used in a way that gives you good karma, toward beneficial causes and products from companies that pay well and treat their employees well and do not pollute the environment.


Q: What is karma and why should it matter to us?

A: Karma means action. The Universal Law of Karma says that for every action there is an equal and opposite (in direction) reaction. Cause and effect. What you do comes back to you whether in this lifetime or a future lifetime. You reap what you sow. What comes around goes around. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is said in slightly different words in every religion. When you see that then I think we can count it as much a universal truth as Universal Law.

When you die and have a life review you will experience how you affected others by feeling what those things you did and said felt like within those on the receiving end of your actions and words. And good or bad you will receive the emotional equivalent in your future, if not your current lifetime then a future lifetime.

The Golden Rule across the World's Religions Thirteen Sacred Texts Bahá'í Faith Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself. Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings Buddhism Treat not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. The Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.18 Christianity In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. Jesus, Matthew 7:12 Confucianism One word which sums up the basis of all good conduct....loving-kindness. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. Confucius, Analects 15.23 Hinduism This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517 Islam Not one of you truly believes until you wish for others what you wish for yourself. The Prophet Muhammad, Hadith Jainism One should treat all creatures in the world as one would like to be treated. Mahavira, Sutrakritanga 1.11.33 Judaism What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it. Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a Native Spirituality We are as much alive as we keep the earth alive. Chief Dan George Sikhism I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all. Guru Granth Sahib, p.1299 Taoism Regard your neighbour's gain as your own gain and your neighbour's loss as your own loss. Lao Tzu, T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien, 213-218 Unitarianism We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Unitarian principle Zoroastrianism Do not do unto others whatever is injurious to yourself.


Q: Do soul destinies belong to specific individuals?

A: Yes each soul has an individual destiny the set up for themselves with help from guides and the Karmic Board that advises and approves life plans.

Destiny is the planned part. But there is free will and plenty opportunities to use it are in the plan as well. Even destiny can alter according to free will. We may set up tests for ourselves that may send us in different directions should we pass or fail.

A bigger destiny common to all is to evolve and eventually transcend the need to be in physical bodies all together.


Q: What is the difference between people who believe in past lives and those who don't?

A: If they understand the hows and whys of reincarnation then they are a lot more likely to:

See karma as real and treat others as they want to be treated. See the bigger picture of spiritual evolution. Not be racist knowing that they have been and in the future will be other races and live(d) in other cultures. Are more likely to be interested in history and ancient cultures. Know that no energy is ever lost it is only transformed so any education, skill learning, creative endeavors, physical skills, knowledge, etc. is never wasted, these things are still with you and can be quickly relearned, what some who don’t believe in reincarnation would call talent, and are therefore open to learning new things at any age. See all relationships and human interactions as valuable and important. Seek meaning and a sense of purpose in life. Are more inclined to be of service to others. Not in a panic to do certain things because they believe this life is their only opportunity. Know that you cannot fool the universe, there are no secrets.


Q: What are some major things we can do on earth that we can't do in the spirit world?

A: Learn, love, grow and evolve to a greater degree due to the density of the physical plane and the effort it takes. With a physical body we can experience physical sensations in a different way. Because on the physical plane we forget who we really are we can test our progress and wisdom and our adventures here are more exciting and the risks seem greater when we have forgotten why we are here. We can have physical experiences here like giving birth, illness, injury, trauma, loss and death. These things are more intense and hold a great potential for learning and growth. (There is a thing called post traumatic growth.)

I didn’t say they were all good things but forgetting who we are and why we are here does make things a lot more exciting, think action and adventure films, although they pale in comparison to reality. I think once we are back on the spirit plane we say, “Wasn’t that exciting?!?!?!? Let’s go back and do it again but make it more exciting!” Recognizing how forgetting and not seeing it from a spiritual perspective ups the sense of risk and therefore excitement.


Q: If reincarnation is real, how do I remember my past lives?

A: Become enlightened. Supposedly you remember all your past lives when enlightened as did the Buddha.

We can however remember some past lives that are relevant to our current life when you reach a certain level of development, at which point I believe you remember what you need to know.

Easiest way is through hypnotic past life regression.

Otherwise spiritual practices and a sincerely working on self awareness and integration of spiritual beliefs will eventually result in a spiritual awakening aka Kundalini awakening aka spiritual emergence often includes past life memories that arise spontaneously.

But be careful what you wish for,, it is not always fun to recall what we did in past lives. You may not like what you learn about yourself and your past lives. As a matter of fact there are some things I would like to forget about this lifetime. Usually trauma in past lives comes up first and then lifetimes that caused karma you are currently reaping that have a bearing on your current lifetime. Also what you need to know about past lives that will help you move forward in your spiritual growth.

Here is how I recalled a past life for the first time, this story is included in my book, You May Think I’m Crazy But . . . 12 of the Most Common Spiritual Experiences and Why You’re Not Crazy. I am currently seeking an agent or publisher.

https://www.nancypoitou.com/th...


Q: When we die does our soul immediately go into another body? If true could we be brought back into an entirely different family or would you be brought back into a child from a member that would’ve been born in the future?

A: There is time between lifetimes usually anywhere from 2 months to hundreds of years. In Buddhism they call it Bardo. During the between life time we learn things while slowly letting go or our last life and ego/identity and as we do we rise in vibration. When we reach the top level we are in a meta-conscious state in which we can see both our past and future lives. As we begin our decent we plan our next life with the help of wise spirits, I call the Karmic Board and our spirit guides. We collaborate on the plan and who will act as our guides for the next lifetime. The life plan of is what karma we will meet, lessons we will learn, people we will encounter and have relationships with and events we will experience and we map those our as our destiny. We also have free will and can take side trips on this map itinerary and may encounter other events and people that are not planned I call that fate. We may set up tests for ourselves that may depending on if we pass our test a change in the plan that had the fork in our path pre planned.

We choose our parents, where we will live, what kind of body we will have all to help us learn lessons. Love, learning and growth are the highest priorities of the soul. Our destiny helps us stay on track to learn what we incarnated to learn. You might reincarnate into the same family line or an entirely different family than we have now. It all depends on our plan.


Q: What is the difference between a karmic connection and a spiritual connection?

A: They can be and usually are one and the same. Karma may be good or bad. But it is pretty impossible to have a spiritual connection throughout several lifetimes without some kind of karma becoming accrued. And it is pretty hard to have a spiritual connection without having had several lifetimes in which you had some kind of relationship with the soul of that person you feel a spiritual connection to.