Dreams: Their Meanings, Their Symbols

“Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions.”

~ Edgar Cayce, American psychic, Reincarnationist, (1877-1945)

Dreams--how often do you awaken and wonder what your dream meant?  I had to smile later this morning, when I received the email about psychiatrist, Brian Weiss' latest video on Dreams, as I had a early morning dream that I was wondering about.  At times, my dreams are very vivid, and most often, detailed.  I've also had prophetic dreams, and a few that I would consider past life dreams.  And I enjoy dreaming!  

Years ago, a couple of times, I saw the late Betty Bethards, a well-known psychic and healer.  The first time I saw her, she gave me a free mini-reading (that turned out to be "right-on,"), but at that time I bought her 1983 book, The Dream Book: Symbols for Self Understanding.  I often refer to it all these years later.   I believe her book is the best on dream interpretation, problem solving, and inspiration.  I also had the opportunity to meet her and have a free mini reading once, and to then hear her lectures on three occasions. Her energy work and demonstrations were most inspirational.  Her other book that I have, is “Sex and Psychic Energy,” which is also a interesting book.

Betty Bethards stated:  "Dreams are a lot of fun once you understand what's going on.  Just think--free movies every night starrring yourself!"

She's right, you know.

Happy to see that her Dream book is still available in print and Kindle—and I will continue to recommend it.  

And Dr. Weiss mentions one of his books, which happens to be one of my favorites, Only Love is Real, the Story of Soulmates Reunited.   

You may like to read my previous blog post on Dreams:

Psychic Abilities:  Abraham Lincoln and His Precognitive Dreams. 

Belief in Dreams

~Linda 

Dr. Evelyn Fuqua Interview on her New Book, Cosmic Relationships...

“Dr. Fuqua presents an insightful and compelling look at how past lives may influence our relationships, our spiritual growth, and the evolution of the soul. A fascinating read!” -Linda Pendleton, Author To Dance With Angels; Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom

“Dr. Fuqua is to be commended for her scientific tenacity as an ‘explorer’ as well as her spiritual veracity as an ‘explainer'. She demonstrates courage, curiosity, compassion and competence in her professional service and in her personal relationships." -Leo Sprinkle Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, University of Wyoming, Author of Soul Samples and numerous articles on ET research

I’m pleased to be doing this interview with my good friend, Dr. Evelyn Fuqua, Ph.D. Dr. Fuqua was a teacher and counselor in the public schools for thirty-three years and on the Board of Directors for the Association of Past Life Regression Therapy for six years. Dr. Fuqua, was in private practice in Rocklin, California, and is an international authority on Past Life Regression Therapy and Walk-In Phenomena. She has been a presenter at numerous professional conferences and a guest on many national radio Talk Shows, including the popular Coast to Coast AM Radio Show. She is the author of From Sirius to Earth: A Therapist Discovers a Soul Exchange,
She just released her second book, Cosmic Relationships: Exploring the Soul's Journey from Off-Earth, Earth Lives, and Reincarnation, a uniquely personal approach to understanding human relationships. Dr. Fuqua explores the past lives of herself and her four husbands. In this fascinating study, she seeks to give credence to her belief that there is no conflict between evolution and creationism.

I met Evelyn nine years ago while doing research on past lives via the Internet and discovering we lived in the same area at the time, we quickly became good friends.

Linda: Evelyn, I’m pleased to be doing this interview with you so my readers can learn about you, and your fascinating work. Tell us who or what has influenced your interest and studies in past lives and how your professional work led you into past life regression.?

Evelyn: Back in 1981 when I was receiving the training necessary to conduct hypnosis as a Marriage, Family Therapist, I had a client who was deeply depressed, even suicidal at times. There was nothing in this lifetime that seemed to explain her problems so I asked her if she was willing to try going back into a past life. Since she was desperate, she agreed. I had become interested in past lives when I became a Rosicrucian and met a group of Rosicrucian ladies who were firm believers in reincarnation. While I thought this was an interesting concept, I was still a skeptic when I regressed this particular client.

My client repeatedly went back into a lifetime in a small town in Kansas where she was killed in an automobile accident in the early 1950’s. Both she and her boyfriend were quite inebriated when the accident occurred. Her family was deeply religious and they were very disappointed in their “fallen” daughter. She apparently reincarnated rather quickly and came into this lifetime with a great deal of guilt. She was one of these very rare clients who remembered nothing of the hypnosis sessions even though there was much crying during the sessions. After dispelling these deep seated emotions, she was able to go back to her husband, had three children and was seemingly able to live a normal life.

It was this session, plus meeting many professional people who did past life therapy, that finally convinced me that past lives are valid and a very effective form of therapy.

Linda: Before we go on to tell us more about your new book, please tell us a little about your first book, and what led you to write it?

Evelyn: Rose/Athor came to me as a client in 1988 with the goal of helping her overcome her environmental illness (aka chemical sensitivity) through the use of hypnosis. She had seen my ad and photograph in a metaphysical magazine and was convinced that I was THE THERAPIST she needed to see. I had never dealt with such a case before but she had a fascinating background and I finally agreed to see her for no fee as a research case. This led to almost three years of therapy in which through bits and pieces we were able to finally make sense out of her saga of being an aspect of one of the Beings of Light on the Council of Twelve on the etheric plane of the star system Sirius. Athor is listed as a co-author since she wrote her autobiography as part of the story.

This was such a fascinating story that I felt as if I was being guided by the Council of Sirius to write this book in order to give professional validity to Walk-Ins, Soul Exchanges, etc.

Linda: What book or books have influenced your life?

Evelyn: There is a River, about the life of Edgar Cayce; Autobiography of a Yogi, about the life of Yogananda; all of the books from Religious Research in Florida; and numerous books published by the Rosicrucian Press. Actually I have a huge metaphysical library and have read a great deal that has contributed toward my present belief system as reflected in Cosmic Relationships.
Linda: I’m always amazed how There is a River by Thomas Sugrue has influenced so many of us. I have never been regressed, but years ago I had thought about it after taking a six-week class at Astara with Dr. Hazel M. Denning (a friend of yours) I guess life got in the way, and I never scheduled it. At the time, she was teaching parapsychology classes at the University of California-Riverside. Then later, Dr. Brian Weiss came long with his books, which I recommend to anyone just getting into these studies. But Evelyn, I admire you, Hazel, Dr. Weiss, and many other professionals who come forward with such credible, inspirational, spiritual information to share. Did you have to overcome any obstacles in moving into the paranormal arena as a professional?

Evelyn: It took a great deal of nerve to go from traditional therapy to past life regression therapy, and finally to working with extraterrestrials. The people who were/are traditional therapists are usually afraid to do anything that is questioned by the Board of Behavioral Sciences (professional governing board in California). I fortunately had retired from many years in the public schools as a teacher, then a counselor; therefore, I was not totally dependent on an income from my private practice. Indeed I received several letters from the Board of Behavioral Sciences cautioning me about the work I was doing. I responded each time apparently with enough legitimate information that I would not hear from them again, until perhaps a year or so later. I finally became disgusted with their harassment and continued to practice as a hypnotherapist after dropping my MFT license. I’m an Aquarian and knew that they were just way behind the times in their limited thinking!

Linda: Does past life regression often, more than not, lead to healing of trauma or conflict a person has in current life?

Evelyn: Not always, but quite often. The main benefit actually was to deepen one’s spiritual life since this is a very spiritual process.

Linda: As I always ask writers that I interview---What is your favorite quote?

Evelyn: I have finally gotten around to reading Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsch. Although I do not think he is talking to “God”, I agree with many of the concepts, and in fact might have used the following in Cosmic Relationships had I read it earlier:

“Your mind is right now filled with old thoughts. Not only old thoughts, but mostly someone else’s old thoughts. It’s important now, it’s time now, to change your mind about some things. This is what evolution is all about.”

Indeed if you can open your mind to some of the concepts in Cosmic Relationships, you will have taken a giant leap forward in your own evolution!

Linda: What other words would you like to leave us with, Evelyn? Thoughts to ponder? Thoughts on our future?

Evelyn: I am looking forward to 2012. Many of us seem to feel a new energy on the planet. There will no doubt be more chaos, but I have very hopeful that we are turning increasingly “toward the Light”.

Linda: Cosmic Relationships is now in print and will be available at Amazon Kindle soon. I wish you the best with the book, Evelyn. I’m sure others will find your book as fascinating as I have.

Evelyn: I ask for the assistance of your readers. This is from Athor, December 2010:

“We are at a time of great changes on Planet Earth. We need to ASK for assistance from the Beings of Light (This includes highly advanced ET’s – on Councils, etc., plus Ascended Masters such as Mother Mary, Hilarian, Jesus, Sananda, Buddha, etc. and Angels). They will not interfere unless asked to help, just as you should ask for help from your guides and guardian angel. Please use the following visualization with a partner or group.

“Visualize a ring of fire or white Light with rainbow colors swirling around us (or a group). Place the Planet Earth in the center of the circle. We ask for all the beings of Light who wish to assist in bringing peace, harmony, good will, unity and balance to this planet to do so. We invoke the highest levels of light to protect Earth and all of its inhabitants."

As Athor states, if people all over the world did this on a daily basis, it would make a huge difference on Planet Earth. We can’t solve all these Earthly problems alone. We NEED the assistance of the more evolved beings.

I thank my dear friend, Linda, for allowing me to share my thoughts with you.

Linda: Thank you, Evelyn. Visit Evelyn Fuqua's Website Cosmic Relationships Cover design by Judy Bullard.

Joseph Campbell on Reincarnation

Joseph Campbell, was the world’s foremost authority on mythology, a preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, and his works had a lasting and profound effect on millions. Many of us came to know Joseph Campbell when the PBS television series of six interviews of him by Bill Moyers aired.

For those not familiar with Joseph Campbell’s mythological writings or teachings may be familiar with this well known quote of his, one of my favorites:

“Follow your bliss!”

In The Power of Myth book, with transcripts of the interviews, in the chapter, The Journey Inward, Bill Moyers asks, “And what does the idea of reincarnation suggest?”

Joseph Campbell replies, “It suggests that you are more than you think you are. There are dimensions of your being and a potential for realization and consciousness that are not included in your concept of yourself. Your life is much deeper and broader than you conceive it to be here. What you are living is but a fractional inkling of what is really within you, what gives you life, breadth, and depth. But you can live in terms of that depth. And when you experience it, you suddenly see that all the religions are talking of that.”

He had so much to say that it is difficult to share only a small portion of his words. This is also another of my favorite quotes of his, and it has been valuable in my life several times: “We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

Campbell began his teaching career at Sara Lawrence College in 1934 and taught there for nearly forty years. He died in 1987, at the age of eighty-three. Two of his classics are The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Masks of the Gods.

The Power of Myth DVD at Amazon





~Linda

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

We Really Never Die, Dr. Brian Weiss

“You are not here by accident or by some coincidence of nature. You are a spiritual being learning lessons of love in this earth school.” ~Dr. Brian Weiss, psychiatrist, author



Psychiatrist Brian Weiss now has his own Youtube Channel.

I've enjoyed his books over the years beginning with Many Lives, Many Masters.







~Linda

Life Between Lives, and Before, a Look at Reincarnation

“An old soul is nothing but a very slow learner.” ~Favorite joke of Spirit Guide, James M. Peebles, from To Dance With Angels by Don and Linda Pendleton

Michael Newton, Ph.D is the Founder of The Michael Newton Institute for Life Between Lives Hypnotherapy. He is author of three books on regression therapy: Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives, Destiny of Souls, and Life Between Lives Hypnotherapy.

I believe his work is similar to psychiatrist Dr. Brian Weiss, whose books I've read and recommend.

Here is part one of an interview of Dr. Newton. You can find the rest of the interview at youtube if you’d like to hear more.

~Linda

Comparison of Channelings From Spirit Guides, Part One

Truths and Other Truths
A Comparison of Channelings From Spirit Guides
By Linda Pendleton
Part One

Are you among the eighty-two percent of Americans who believe in an afterlife? In recent times, the numbers have been increasing for those who believe they have had communication from a loved one on the Other Side.

And what about angels and spirit guides? Nearly seventy percent of Americans believe in the existence of angels as messengers of God, and nearly half believe they have their own guardian angels or angels. Are you aware of your angel or guide? If so, do you communicate or receive signs from them?

It would seem the religious/spiritual instinct is innate within humankind, as though a template for the experience had been programmed into our genetic structures that govern human expression. Within the innate religious or spiritual instinct are experiences that might be classified as miraculous. But, are many of the events or experiences actually miracles or no more than ordinary occurrences?

Reports of extraordinary and astonishing events attributed to a supreme being or a divine power will be found in virtually every world religion, every culture, and probably within every human mind from primitive times right up into the modern age. Many cultures do not regard miracles or paranormal events as anything extraordinary but merely the natural workings of a natural world. Most cultures who share that idea have well-formulated spiritual beliefs that have been carried forward from generation to generation, throughout history, and many of these cultures have evolved highly sophisticated belief systems.

When one reads the history of cultures, it is very apparent that there has always been a “knowing” within mankind that evolves into understandings that we are, indeed, spiritual beings and that life does not end with the death of the physical body. Mankind has always looked to the heavens in a search for answers. I have often wondered why that is and the answer I have come up with is, no matter our religious upbringing or belief system, we have an innate knowledge within, a knowledge that we are much more than a physical body having a life experience. We are temporarily using a physical body for an ongoing spiritual life.

So in taking those ideas of an innate spiritual connection it should appear absolutely normal for one to have communication with the Other Side, with angels, spirit guides, and loved ones who have left this physical dimension.

Channeling spirit is the receiving of messages from the Other Side – the spirit world, through the various classic psychic avenues such has mediumship, trance-channeling, clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, and intuition. The receiver is an open line, a conduit, similar to what one could consider an open telephone line or radio receiver. Although channeling or mediumship has always been with us, in recent years it has gained more attention through various movies, literature, and television shows, featuring psychic mediums such as John Edward, James Van Praagh, Char Margolis, Rosemary Altea, and others.

Shirley MacLaine was one who helped to get the idea of mediumship, past lives, and even UFO phenomena out of the “psychic closet” and into the mainstream with her book, Out On a Limb, the resulting movie and other books, and her many television appearances. Even though there were often overdone jokes about her spiritual experiences, it did open the “closet” door, and for many, it was a “new” look at what was possible—and within the norm of the human experience.

We all have intuition, and for some it is more pronounced, such as it might be with the aforementioned psychic mediums. But all of us have the capability of communicating in various ways with those on the Other Side. Sometimes, all it takes is trusting in our intuition and being open to the possibility of contact.

I’ve put together a collection of quotations from various spirit guides through their channels/mediums. It is very noticeable how they “ring” of similar ideas, wisdom, and truths.
Probably of these listed spirit guides or the mediums who work with them, it would be Edgar Cayce who probably stands out as the most profound and the “clearest connection” to information coming from the Other Side.

I have noticed that many people either began or enhanced their spiritual journey by reading the fascinating story of Edgar Cayce and his psychic gift, There is a River, The Story of Edgar Cayce written by Thomas Sugrue, and published more than sixty years ago.

Dr. Christiane Northrup, M.D., best-selling author and frequent guest on Oprah, had this to say about Cayce: "The story of Edgar Cayce has inspired me from the time I was 12 years old. As one of the first well-studied medical intuitives, his work and his life helped blaze the path for the future of medicine."

Not only did he blaze the path of future medicine, but he gave understanding and acceptance of mediumship, and also of reincarnation, as his readings focused very much on past lives. And with his work in that area, and several other books written about him, he awakened America to reincarnationist thought.


Read PART TWO, The Channelings


Copyright © 2008, 2009 by Linda Pendleton

Reincarnation, Early Memories

"I am certain that I have been here as I am now
a thousand times before,
and I hope to return a thousand times."
~ Goethe (1749-1832)

There was a long tradition of investigating evidence relevant for the question of life after death. But Ian Stevenson, M.D. started a new field of inquiry, namely the investigation of phenomena that might give evidence for life before birth, the theory of reincarnation. A well-known and revealing study of reincarnation was conducted by Professor of Psychiatry, Ian Stevenson, M.D. of the University of Virginia Medical School.
Dr. Stevenson documented more than two thousand cases of children who have reported past life experiences and his works has been published by the University of Virginia Press and in numerous medical journals. Ian Stevenson died in 2007 and child psychiatrist Dr. Jim Tucker is carrying on the work of Dr. Stevenson at the University.

Dr. Stevenson’s 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. He will be primarily remembered for his pioneering field investigations of children who claim to have lived before.

Dr. Jim Tucker’s latest book

My previous posts on Reincarnation:

Thoughts on Reincarnation

Creative Dance of Reincarnation

Past Life Memories of a World War II Fighter Pilot

Dr. Jim Tucker Interview

~Linda

Past Life Memories of a World War II Fighter Pilot

This new book is about a World War II fighter pilot, James M. Houston, Jr. who was killed in action when his Corsair plane was hit by Japanese fire and crashed, and a young boy, James Leininger, now eleven years of age who appears to be the reincarnation of the fighter pilot.

James Leininger’s memories of his past life dreams as James M. Houston, Jr. have now pretty much faded away as they tend to do as a child reaches the age of six to eight. But still with him is his love for airplanes.

James Leininger, who—a little more than two weeks after his second birthday—began having terrible nightmares that would not stop. When James began screaming out recurring phrases like, "Plane on fire! Little man can't get out!" the Leiningers finally admitted that they had to take notice.

When details of the plane, a Corsair, according to James, and the war tragedies that no two-year-old boy could know continued Bruce and Andrea Leininger began to realize that this was an incredible situation.

SOUL SURVIVOR is the story of how the Leiningers pieced together what their son was communicating and eventually discovered that he was reliving the past life of World War II fighter pilot James M. Huston, Jr. As Bruce Leininger struggled to understand what was happening to his son, he also uncovered details of James Houston's life—and death. Even another pilot who had been in the air in another plane when Houston’s plane was hit, verifies young James’ description of the event; a now elderly sister of James Houston also is convinced that young James knows facts about her brother that no one could know and she accepts the idea that he is the reincarnation of her brother.

According to a Harris Poll in 2008, approximately 24 percent of Americans believe in reincarnation while 68 percent believe in the survival of the soul after death. It’s my guess the percent is higher as with many spiritual ideas or mystical experiences, some people are reluctant to reveal their thoughts.

The story of the James’ past life seems to fit a lot of other research that has been conducted by the late Dr. Ian Stevenson, Dr. Jim Tucker, Dr. Brian Weiss, and others.

In 2006, Jim Tucker, a child psychiatrist and medical director of the Child and Family Psychiatric Clinic at the University of Virginia, one of the few researchers to extensively study the phenomenon of children who seem to have memories of past lives, and who is carrying on the years of work of Dr. Ian Stevenson, said that James' case is very much like others he has studied.

"At the University of Virginia, we've studied over 2,500 cases of children who seem to talk about previous lives when they're little," Tucker said. "They start at 2 or 3, and by the time they're 6 or 7 they forget all about it and go on to live the rest of their lives." He also said he has seen cases such as James’ where children make statements that can be verified.

Tucker is author of "Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives."
The book by Carol Bowman, Children's Past Lives has some interesting stories.
Here is a link to today’s interview on ABC with the family and below is a Prime Time

Interview from 2004.

Take a look at the book, Soul Survivor.

~Linda

Thoughts on Reincarnation

Oak Creek, Sedona, Arizona

Photograph © Copyright 2009 by Ted Grussing

"The soul of man is like to water; from Heaven it cometh, to Heaven it riseth… And then returning to earth, forever alternating." ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

"Every incarnation that we remember must increase our comprehension of ourselves as who we are." ~ Aleister Crowley (1875-1947)

“Know, therefore, that from the greater silence I shall return… Forget not that I shall come back to you… A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me."
~ Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

"My life often seemed to me like a story that has no beginning and no end. I had the feeling that I was an historical fragment, an excerpt for which the preceding and succeeding text was missing. I could well imagine that I might have lived in former centuries and there encountered questions I was not yet able to answer; that I had been born again because I had not fulfilled the task given to me." ~ Carl Jung (1875-1961)

“I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty six. Religion offered nothing to the point. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is futile if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock. Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more. The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease. If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men’s minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.”
~ Henry Ford (1863-1947)

“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The soul that rises with us or life’s star,
Has had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar,
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But railing clouds of glory, do we come
From God, who is our home.” ~William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

To read more about 19th Century poets and philosophers and their thoughts on spiritualism you may want to read my article, A Meeting of the Minds --Ralph Waldo Emerson, James Martin Peebles, Walt Whitman, and several others.

~ Linda

The Creative Dance of Reincarnation

In Western cultures there appears to be much resistance to the idea of reincarnation. Many do believe that we are immortal, but to allow for that immortality to have a beginning in previous lives, before our birth into this life, is difficult for many to accept. The belief in reincarnation, most commonly associated with certain Eastern cultures and religions, is not only an ancient belief but has been widespread throughout the world. Modern scholars have discovered that the idea had wide favor throughout the early Americas, both North and South, in Europe, and persisted into the Christian Era. Scholars can point to many examples of early Christian and Jewish thought centered around the idea of re-birth. Apparently the early Christians, somehow threatened by the idea of rebirth or reincarnation for the common man, had most references to it removed from the Bible.

Many of our more-contemporary great thinkers, philosophers, noted writers and poets, educators, and scientists have acknowledged reincarnation as the most sensible paradigm for human immortality. And the shift of paradigm in the Western world appears to be gaining momentum as evidence to support the idea comes forward from various avenues of serious study. It is an idea that will benefit from more exploration.

For myself, it has been part of my belief system for as long as I can remember. It just seemed to be logical and reasonable and a part of spiritual reality. Proof? I personally don't need any more than I already have gathered in my experiences and research. To me it is a fact of life. In some ways, I am still that young girl of seven or eight that knew I had been here before, and in all probability, would be again. Many of my experiences throughout life have only confirmed the fact for me. Especially Don, (my late husband) with the incredible love bond we had; knowing, recognizing each other the moment our eyes met across a room; and always knowing each other in the deepest sense of the word throughout our years together. Soulmates, you bet.

So is reincarnation part of our creative dance? I think so. Dr. James Martin Peebles (1822-1922), a leading Spiritualist in the 19th Century, wrote about the knowing of another soul in his 1869 book, Seers of the Ages. He penned, "Souls require no introduction. The recognition is intuitional. Meeting a noble soul that knows our soul, we indulge the pleasing truth to us, that we knew the loved one in a pre-existent state, and delicious were those delicate experiences in the sweet realms of blessedness."

Pre-existent state? Might I ask, where and when and in what form? A soul is a soul, is it not?–whether wrapped in the garment of the current physical dimension, or the etheric finery of the other dimension, or the garment of a past life that is delicately hidden away in the recesses of the soul's mind only to come forward in new and subtle awareness from time to time throughout the eternal journey.

The creative dance of the spiritual self personifies a succession of endings and new beginnings which go on throughout our human life–and forevermore.

But we are always filled with wonder–What is life all about? Who are we? Why are we here? Does life truly go on? When a loved one passes from the body and continues on their own journey, it feels very much like they have left us behind. But have they? Are they really out of our reach? Those answers are found inside our hearts, in our experiences, in our faith, and in the understanding that we are spiritual beings, only encased in a physical body for a short period of time.

Dr. Peebles wrote in his 1880 book, Immortality, "The soul is ever a questioner. From its earliest recorded experiences it has interrogated itself and the surrounding universe for a solution of the mystery of its being and the momentous changes that necessarily await it."

The creative dance is a dance of change and new beginnings.

~Linda

Edger Cayce, The Mystical Odyssey

The American public was first widely exposed to reincarnationist thought through the work of Edger Cayce and the many books that were spawned by his extraordinary psychic gift. The first such book, There Is A River, by Thomas Sugrue, was developed during Sugrue's intimate association with Cayce and was first published by Henry Holt and Company in 1942, still regarded as the most definitive study of Cayce's life.

Below is an excerpt from my book, Whispers From the Soul: The Divine Dance of Consciousness by Don and Linda Pendleton.

Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky in 1877, Edger Cayce was but twelve years old when the first awakening of his mystical nature became manifest. A Biblical scholar with an innate religious sense, he had very early on resolved to read the Holy Bible from cover to cover at least once for every year of his life. By the age of twelve, he had read the entire Bible twelve times. His favorite reading spot was in a playhouse which he had built for himself beside a creek in the woods where he went every afternoon to study the Bible.

While so engrossed one day, reading the story of Manoah in the Book of Judges, in which the conception of Samson by his barren mother was revealed to her and her husband, Manoah, by an angel who later ascended into heaven, the young Cayce looked up to see a woman standing before him. "I thought it was my mother, come to fetch me home for the chores. Then I saw that she was not my mother, and that she had wings on her back. She said to me, 'Your prayers have been answered, little boy. Tell me what it is you want most of all, so that I may give it to you.' I was very frightened, but after a minute I managed to say, 'Most of all I would like to be helpful to other people, especially children.' Then she disappeared...the next day in school I couldn't spell a word, and was kept after school...that night I slept on my spelling book and knew everything in the book when I woke up."

Cayce had a rather routine and uneventful life during his early adulthood but the event that was to profoundly change his life occurred when he was twenty-three. He became ill and lost his voice, unable to speak for nearly a year except in a whisper, and sought the help of a hypnotist after all medical remedies had failed.

While under hypnosis, he spoke without difficulty in a clear and natural voice. But then something incredible was also going on. As his speech began, his first words were, "Yes, we can see the body." This was soon to become recognized as a standard "opening statement" from his deep hypnotic trance state, the signal that he was in contact with another reality–and this first "reading" was to provide the diagnosis, treatment and cure of his own affliction.

The message through Cayce's voice continued, "In the normal state, this body is unable to speak, due to a partial paralysis of the inferior muscles of the vocal chords, produced by nerve strain. This is a psychological condition producing a physical effect. This may be removed by increasing the circulation to the affected parts by suggestion while in this unconscious condition."

This was but the beginning of the most astounding Odyssey of psychic experiences ever documented during modern times. While in deep trance, Cayce was able to diagnose illness and prescribe treatment for others even at long distance and with no physical contact between Cayce and his patients.

One of Cayce's earliest consultations was for a five year old girl who had been ill for three years and was suspected of some degree of mental retardation, suffering from convulsive seizures following an attack of grippe [influenza] at age two. She had been seen by many medical specialist without relief and the seizure episodes were intensifying, then experiencing up to twenty per day at the time Cayce was asked to help her. Through his trance state, it was determined that the child had suffered an injury to her lower spine as a result of a fall from her carriage days before the onset of flu symptoms. Cayce's diagnosis showed that the grippe germs had settled in the injured spine area which produced the convulsions and subsequent lack of mental development. He recommended specific, gentle osteopathic adjustments of the spine. The first adjustment was not dramatically effective and a subsequent reading told the doctor that the adjustment was not quite right. The following adjustment was properly done according to a "check-reading" and instructions were given to continue the spinal adjustments every day for the next three weeks. Within a week, the child was responding dramatically. At the end of the third week, Cayce, in trance, reported that the condition had been corrected and that the child was developing normally and would continue to do so without further treatments. By the time three months had passed, the child was normal in all respects and regaining the mental growth lost during those three years.

His medical readings assisted thousands of men, women and children around the world for the next twenty-two years before he entered a new phase in 1923, the "life readings" for the mind and soul, which produced the first reincarnation/past-lives and prophetic studies, the centerpiece of Cayce's work from that point forward until shortly before his death twenty-one years later.

Cayce, a devout Christian, was deeply concerned by the past-life readings, plunging him into a concerted study of the scriptures before he was able to reconcile these apparent conflicts with his Christian beliefs.

The A.R.E., Association for Research and Enlightenment, was founded by Cayce and supporters in 1931 at Virginia Beach, Virginia. Cayce died in 1945 at the age of sixty-seven but the A.R.E. foundation remains highly active to this day. More than thirty thousand stenographic records of his diagnoses, life readings and case studies, containing affidavits and reports by physicians and patients, are still being categorized, researched and published by the foundation.

Cayce was characterized as a clairvoyant and, indeed, he seemed more comfortable with that idea and preferred to think that he was merely somehow able to tap into the "Akashic Record," which is the concept that every thought, every movement, every sound since the beginning of creation is indelibly impressed into the fundamental etheric substance of the universe. One might say, impressed into the memory of God. Carl Jung's collective unconscious would seem to suggest something of this nature.

However, by Cayce's own records, it did seem that from time to time he was communicating directly with the consciousness of individual souls on the other side and sometimes engaged in dialogues with them. He did not appear to be "taken over" in any physical sense by another entity during his trance state though on occasion an entity would speak through him. It could be noted that Cayce consciously had no memory whatever of the sessions until he read them from the transcripts.

Apparently, also, Cayce was able to see auras and to diagnose medical conditions while in a complete waking state, thus it is obvious that he did possess a superior psychic sense in or out of trance.

From our own personal direct association with other trance-mediums, the entities who come through these mediums exhibit definite and memorable personality traits which could not be ascribed to some impersonal source such as the "Akashic Record." These spirits are usually highly personal, even engaging in quite detailed discussions with their clients, are often very humorous, displaying strongly identifiable mannerisms and figures of speech.

Whatever the source of Edgar Cayce's spectacular gifts, they have provided new windows through which ordinary people may perceive reality and often transform their lives.

We all are richer because of Edgar Cayce.



© Copyright 2003 by Linda Pendleton. All Rights Reserved.

Read Part One: There is a River: Edger Cayce, A Life Changing Book

~Linda