OTHER LIVES, OTHER TIMES

During the years since the first wide exposure to past-life philosophies, a virtual sub-culture has developed intimately involving medical practitioners and researchers, therapists and scientists, who have begun to strongly legitimize reincarnationist thought in the Western world.

Not long after Edgar Cayce's work gained worldwide interest, Morey Bernstein's The Search For Bridey Murphy became an international best seller and enthralled several continents with its publication in 1956. This past-life study has become a classic and opened doors within minds everywhere which had been closely sealed by both science and Western religion.

Bridey Murphy was a woman who was reportedly born in Cork, Ireland in 1798 and died in Belfast in 1864, at the age of sixty-six, later born again in Iowa in 1923 as Ruth Mills whose married name was Simmons. Under regression techniques employed by hypnotist Morey Bernstein, Ruth Simmons (as Bernstein identified her), a Colorado housewife, was able to recall events of past earth lives as Bridey Murphy and a short life as an infant in New Amsterdam, which was later to become known as New York. Bernstein's interest in reincarnation and hypnosis was inspired by his studies of Edgar Cayce and had spent time with the A.R.E. in Virginia Beach. He was therefore delighted to find an excellent subject, capable of deep trance states, when he met Ruth Simmons. His book, which recounts in great detail his sessions with Mrs. Simmons, has been hailed by researchers as one of the most thoroughly documented cases ever developed. At the urging of Bernstein's editor, an independent investigation was conducted in Ireland which established the historical validity of many of the facts related by Bridey Murphy while Ruth Simmons was in trance.

A Chicago newspaper ran a highly unfavorable story about the case. Professor C. J. Ducasse, an eminent scholar associated with Brown University and a lecturer at the Universities of California, Chicago, Michigan, Columbia and Cornell, rose to the defense of Bernstein and Simmons in his book, A Critical Examination of the Belief in a Life After Death which included an article titled “How the Case of the Search for Bridey Murphy Stands Today.” Ducasse's conclusions totally exonerated Ruth Simmons of any suspicion of fraud and characterized Bernstein as a serious student of hypnosis and reincarnation. Of course, for many who were aware of the newspaper's attack but would be unlikely to read this scholarly defense by Professor Ducasse, the damage had already been done and many no doubt believe, to this day, that the entire Bridey Murphy incident was some sort of a hoax. So much for responsible journalism.

Another highly interesting study of reincarnation is being conducted by Professor of Psychiatry Ian Stevenson, M.D., of the University of Virginia Medical School. He has documented more than two thousand cases of children who have reported past life experiences and his ongoing work has been published by the University of Virginia Press and in numerous medical journals. His Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation has aroused considerable interest around the world and is regarded as almost a textbook by serious students of the subject. The children reported in his studies cover the full range of ethnic backgrounds, about half from European heritage and with strong ties to the Judeo-Christian ethos where reincarnationist ideas are largely alien to the culture. Among the most interesting cases involve very young children who begin speaking in a language foreign to their present environment (xenoglossy) and never encountered during their present lives. Many have very detailed recall of experiences during a previous lifetime even identifying towns or villages, neighborhoods, family members (some still living and verifiable), personalities and mannerisms–and some can even describe their own death in the earlier life.

Excerpt for Don and Linda Pendleton's Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness