Past life regression

[Marinamay44]

Do you know anyone that got a past life regression?

I am thinking about it, as my mum was just talking to me about it.

My mum was a very practical and sensible person, while my dad was into stuff like past live regression.

Mum was telling me yesterday that my dad dragged her to a psychic fair in the 1980s, and there was a past life regressionist there. He did it by hypnosis.

My dad paid to get a hypnosis done, but the man couldn't hypnotise my dad. Not everyone can be hypnotised. The man asked my mum if she wanted to try. She told me that she said yes because she thought it would be a bit of a laugh and she didn't think anything would happen anyway.

Next thing, she was in a deep hypnosis. The man recorded a tape of her talking about her past life. It is really interesting. She still has the tape and I listened to it.

On the tape, She talks about living in England, (my mum was not from England in this life) and she talks about being married to a merchant in the 1800's. She talks on the tape about having four sons, and she starts crying. She says that she is very sad, because one of her sons has been killed after a kick from a horse.

It's very interesting to listen to!

I was wondering has anyone done this, or have you heard of anyone that did it?

Who has said they were Cleopatra/ Joan of Arc exactly?

When I watch the videos on youtube where young children describe their past lives, they usually describe a normal, relatively boring, past life.

Very interesting thread. Reincarnation is central to some religions. I’m not religious but I do think it “makes sense” if you believe in a spirit or something after this life than surely being recycled (for want of a better word) into a new body would make sense. Therefore I wonder why people on this thread are generally sceptical. Is it the reincarnation part or the being able to recall it via hypnosis part? No insights from me, just find it very interesting.

Acquaintances in life - people like my friends MIL, someone’s cousin etc, people that you cross paths with at friends birthday BBQ’s, their kids birthdays etc.

ETA - to clarify, this is several people over several decades, not the same group of people in a short space with same kids etc.

I would guess that if you have had many past lives, and if you accept that you can have one you may as well accept you could have many, then you would be more likely to recall the eventful ones.

So the one where you were rich and powerful and had a great time, or the one where you were struck by tragedy. The one where you plod along and not much happens might be further back in your subconscious.

A bit like we recall in vivid detail our best holidays, or the epic parties, the time we got drunk and fell down the stairs etc. but remember less detail about the day we got up, ate cereal, changed the beds, watered the plants, did a bit of batch cooking, watched east enders, ironed the kids school shirts then went to bed early after a light supper and some chamomile.

I agree!

Like when my mum spoke about her past life, she is not going to speak about a day that was insignificent to her. Like "oh then there was one thursday, when I got up and had a glass of water"

She is going to remember the important events, which to her, was her son dying.

Yep, its nonsense. It's always about stuff you see in films or read books about. From WW2 to French Revolution to ancient Egypt.
Nobody comes up with what was life like in Moldova in 1920s

My sister had it done. She was looking after a herb garden in a hot country. She thinks she might have been in a convent or similar.

The bit she found most moving was when the hypnotist took her backwards through her life and she saw our dad young again.

I don’t know what to think, really.

I am not asking if it's nonsense or not.

I asked -does anyone know some-one who got it done.

I asked Chat GPT whether any notable scientists had explored hypotheses along the lines of my musings on page 1 of this thread, and got this:

Yes, some researchers and thinkers have hypothesized that past life regression experiences could be explained by inherited memory—also known as genetic memory or ancestral memory. This idea sits at the intersection of psychology, genetics, and speculative science.
Overview of the Hypothesis
The idea is that instead of recalling a literal "past life" in a reincarnated sense, individuals may be tapping into memories encoded in their DNA or nervous system, inherited from ancestors. This could potentially explain why some past life regression experiences seem historically accurate, emotionally vivid, or deeply embodied.
Related Theories and Support

1. Carl Jung’s Collective Unconscious
2. Jung proposed that we inherit a collective unconscious—a set of archetypes and memories common to all humanity. Though not "memories" in the literal sense, it suggests a shared psychological inheritance.
3. Epigenetics and Behavioral Inheritance
4. Recent research shows that epigenetic tags—chemical changes to DNA—can be passed to offspring and can influence behavior. Some studies (e.g., in mice) have shown that trauma responses can be inherited, suggesting a mechanism for transmitting memory-like information across generations.
5. Genetic Memory in Animals
6. Some species are born with complex behaviors (e.g., sea turtles knowing how to navigate oceans, birds knowing migration routes) that they were never taught. This suggests certain types of "knowledge" can be inherited biologically.
7. Past Life Regression Cases with Historical Detail
8. Some cases of past life regression, especially those involving children (like those studied by Dr. Ian Stevenson), seem to include verifiable historical details. A genetic memory hypothesis might offer a non-reincarnation explanation, particularly if the memories align with ancestral events.

Limitations and Skepticism

• There is no concrete evidence that complex memories (like names, languages, or specific events) can be inherited.
• The majority of inherited traits are not detailed memories but rather instincts or emotional predispositions.
• Past life regression under hypnosis is highly susceptible to suggestion, and many experiences can be explained by cryptomnesia (unconscious recall of forgotten information), imagination, or cultural influences.

Summary Yes, the inherited memory hypothesis is a plausible alternative explanation to reincarnation for some past life experiences. While it's speculative and not widely accepted in mainstream science, it aligns with some known biological phenomena and offers a naturalistic explanation that avoids supernatural assumptions.

Epigenetics, some argue genetic memory a thing particularly re: trauma but ancestral DNA traces likely to fade out after only a few gens if anything in it.

I'm a sceptic but I think it's a lovely comforting thought that we might live again

I sometimes wonder if the ‘game’ is we live the same one over & over until we nail it.

I did a psychic email reading once. It was very interesting. She wasnt one of those who talk about the future etc. She got me tp email her a list of questions.

I wrote "why did I come to Earth".

She wrote back "you wanted to come to master some things that you were not able to master in your past lives.
You wanted to learn to love yourself, to trust yourself and to learn the value of relationships.

They are all three things that i still struggle with. I am always struggling with making decisions.

So I guess i have to come back next life qnd try again

I had a past life regression as a birthday present about 15 years ago. I knew the year was 1742, I was walking to a market to sell eggs, I had a son called Robert, I described the landscape as being gentle rolling hills with hedges. I described my death and the room I was in, the thickness of the cottage walls and the sound of a fox howling. I described a pain in my right breast, which is where I now have ( already done) a tattoo.
I have it recorded somewhere.

Interesting!

Were you in England?

I trained in hypnotism. I would not dream of doing regression work. I have seen and read of cases where there seems to be no other answer but 'seems to be' isn't definitive. The vast majority is on the same level as stage hypnosis; skilful but meaningless (IMHO).

Do it for fun, if you must but ask yourself what value can it bring to your present (only) life?

Ironic username but one that already belongs to me... using it as a cloak to give myself permission to say things I usually keep well and truly quiet!

Yes - I have done past life regressions... the two I remember most clearly are:

Watching my mother (not in this life) give birth to my sister at home, and my sister died.

Being a priest on a battlefield / war and pretending to listen to dying soldiers last confession but not granting them absolution..

I feel the presence of spirits / souls - usually in remote places, sometimes I chat to them .... some of whom are afraid to let go into the light because of something they did, sometimes I tell them that there is no judgement, only love but they don't always believe that... some are there because they have promised to watch over the land, sometimes I tell them they don't have to stay if they are tired.

Sometimes the souls who believe they will be judged, lurk around people that might be dying, thinking that they can pass through under the cloak of 'good' people.

I will stop there.. before someone tracks down my IP address and sends the men in white coats.

Marinamay44
Yes, in England. I'm from a very hilly part of the UK, this reminded me of holidays in Devon, but not quite the same. I've no idea if it was a genuine memory but I am open to the idea that our souls are immortal.

I’m sorry to hear that @amooseymoomum
why is your life so miserable? Is it not too late to turn it around?

Children are highly imaginative, suggestible and have trouble distinguishing between reality and fantasy.

@InvitingMattress do you have children?

I had it done once. I was a male English teacher in the 1930's in Essex. It was really interesting. I saw sort of short video clips from throughout my life. I lodged with a land lady, then got married and had 2 children. Ended up in a retirement home by the sea. My wife had died before me. I never got over her death and declined quite quickly. My daughter had moved to manchester when she married so wasnt around and my son lived a couple of hours away It was fascinating. During each snippet it was seen through my pov and I could feel the emotions. For example I was very choked up watching my wife to be walk down the aisle. I loved the children but was quite detached from them as they were my wife's domain. Enjoyed my garden, had a nice semi detached house but nothing fancy. Smoked a pipe. All very normal stuff. I died in the mid 70,s so a couple of years before current me was born

Are you a woman in this life

Yes I did it and it was so interesting. I went back three past lives. I knew my name, the year, how old I was, I could look down and see my arms and hands and feet and describe my clothing. I saw where I lived, knew the names of my family members and my history. The strangest thing of all was I felt really deep emotions! At one point I was crying because my husband had died and I was very lonely. It was a fantastic but heavy experience.

Lots of things made sense in my life now too. Phoebis when something bad had happened, an interest in world war 2 when I had lived through it, that sort of thing.

One interesting thing happened to me in this life. When i was in my twenties i met a man. When i met him, i felt that I had known him before. He had a very high sex drive. I didn't, I was very shy.

We dated for a while. One night he went too far and pushed me to do something i didn't want to do in bed. I broke up with him after that.

All of a sudden i just had a vision. I felt i saw a previous life where we had been married a very long time ago. It was an arranged marriage. It wasn't my choice , though my parents thought it would be for my benefit because he was welathy. He was older and i was young and beautiful. I often rejected him sexually as i wasnt attracted to him. I then had an affair with a security guard, (i think we had one because we were very rich) and my husband found out and had this guard killed. It was at a time where you would get killed for very little anyway. I had a lot of guilt over it. I just felt like i remembered all of that happening. It was interesting