HYPNOTIC REGRESSION AND
PRE-EXISTENCE
The study of NDEs points to the possibility of conscious existence
after death.
If this is the case then what of conscious existence before
birth?
Evidence for a pre-birth existence comes from hypnotic regression
studies where a person is regressed back through their life to a point before birth.
In these cases regressed patients describe a state in which they are
mentally alert, able to see and hear perfectly, move around at will, but not able to
communicate with those in the physical environment.
They describe making rational decisions about the coming life they are
to experience including, for most, specific choices regarding the foetus into which they
will be born and the particular purpose of the coming life. A foetus may be chosen because
of its sex, heredity, or because of the identity or disposition of the parents. Some of
these decisions may be made in consultation with other individuals. (Wambach, Whitton)
"I am being helped to work out the next life so that I can
face whatever difficulties come my way. I don‘t want to take the responsibility
because I feel that I don‘t have the strength. But I know we have to be given
obstacles in order to overcome those obstacles - to become stronger, more aware, more
evolved, more responsible."
"I chose my mother knowing there was a high incidence of
Alzheimer‘s disease in her family and there was every chance that I, too, would
suffer from it. But my karmic links with my mother were much more important than any
genetic deficiency. There was another reason for choosing my mother. The judges told me
that I should undergo the experience of being raised without a father in this life and I
was aware that my parents would soon be divorced. I also knew that my choice of parents
would put me in the ideal geographical location for meeting the man I was destined to
marry." (Whitton)
Studies indicate that a high proportion of people who are regressed to
the period before, during and shortly after birth claimed to be aware of the moods,
thoughts and emotions of the mother.
Several individuals were acutely aware of rather ambivalent or
negative parental thoughts concerning their coming birth.
Some individuals on the other hand felt that they had mentally
encouraged behaviour in the mother that was good for the developing foetus. In several
cases even a name for the child was believed to have been communicated.
Regressions to the moment of birth in the delivery room are all fairly
similar in content. The 'child' usually 'feels', 'hears' and 'sees' everything that
happens. They also 'know' what others in the room are thinking and feeling.
Most individuals regressed to the new born child complained that the
light was too bright, the room too cold, that they were treated more as a thing than a
human being, and that they were not in physical contact with the mother.
Regression to a previous death?
Individuals may be regressed to a previous death. These descriptions
correlate closely with NDEs.
One of Wambach‘s subjects described a previous death experience as
follows.
"As soon as I got out of the body, I want to tell them that I‘m
fine, but I can‘t reach them. Then it seems as though I am going somewhere. It‘s
almost like being pulled somewhere. The feeling is like a subway, I‘m going through a
tunnel and there is a lot of white light, hazy white light at the end of the tunnel. Then
when I get through the tunnel on the other side there are friends who meet me. It‘s
really nice." (Wambach)
Of Whitton‘s regression research in this area Fisher says:
"Time and again, Dr Whitton‘s subjects have told of
‘seeing‘their bodies lying beneath them before being pulled rapidly through a
high, cylindrical passage-way. They then discover they have left their physical bodies and
cannot comfort and reassure relatives and friends who have been left behind. In most cases
however, the onset of strange and wonderful experiences soon dissipates all earthbound
attachment."
Wambach summarised the results of a study of 1088 regressions to a
previous death as follows:
49% experienced feelings of deep calm and peace accepting their death
with no difficulty.
30% experienced feelings of joy and release.
20% saw their bodies after their death, floating above it and
watching the activity around it.
10% reported feeling upset or sorrowful either because of the manner
of their death or because of the people they were leaving behind. A subject who died
giving birth reported that she felt "so bad because I‘m leaving my two children
behind."
Accidental or violent deaths appeared to be initially unsettling. A
subject who apparently was hit by a car while running across a street reported that "I
seemed to continue running across the street, and wasn‘t really aware that I was
dead. Then I felt very frustrated and lost, because I didn‘t know what was happening
to me". Finally he saw a bright light and went "soaring" towards it.
Some subjects who expressed negative feelings at death claimed to be
fighting in war. "I was fighting and then my body crumpled. I kept on fighting,
but I couldn‘t seem to affect anything going on around me. I was still on the
battlefield, but then I seemed to be joined by others who had died. I couldn‘t seem
to leave that scene."
Regression to a 'Life Review'?
Both NDEs and these regression accounts may contain a "life
review". According to one of Whitton‘s subjects:
"It‘s like climbing right inside a movie of your life.
Every moment from every year of your life is played back incomplete sensory detail. Total,
total recall." (Whitton)
Fisher describes the life review as follows:
"While incarnate, one‘s negative actions can be
rationalised and repressed; there are always plenty of excuses available. In the interlife
the emotions generated by these actions emerge raw and irreconcilable. Any emotional
suffering that was inflicted on others is felt as keenly as if it were inflicted on
oneself. But perhaps the most distressing of all is the realisation that the time for
changing attitudes and rectifying mistakes is well and truly past. The door of the last
life is locked and bolted, and the consequences of actions and evasions must be faced in
the ultimate showdown which calls to account precisely who we are and what we stand for.
The opinions of others count for nothing; at stake is our own personal integrity, our
inner morality."
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