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Unconditional Love and Forgiveness by Edith Stauffer

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Reviewed by Errol Schubot, Ph.D.

 (as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume III, No. 2, Fall 1988)

“Unconditional love and forgiveness” is the central theme of Edith Stauffer’s approach to healing. She bases her principles and practices on Psychosynthesis and on the concepts of the Essenes, an ancient sect whose beliefs are recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Their practices integrated spiritual principles into everyday living, creating an atmosphere of peace, cooperation, and harmony within the group. Psychosynthesis, developed by Dr. Roberto Assagioli, carries a similar goal of bringing transpersonal concepts and awareness into practical application.

Stauffer understands the original purpose of spirituality, which is to create experiences and guidelines to bring the highest qualities into every aspect of daily life. She teaches the Essene concept of Napsha, an Aramaic word for our connection with God. She considers this connection to be “with the Source of life, with that higher intelligence that directs the orderly flow of all life.” The goal is to reach Rukha, a place of “transpersonal energy beyond personal concerns.” Rukha is the universal home, a place to rest, relax, and rejuvenate the mind. The purpose is to receive the love, wisdom and healing energy of the Source.

The Journey Within: Past-Life Regression and Channeling by Henry Leo Bolduc

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Reviewed by Jon Klimo, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume III, No. 2, Fall 1988)

bolduc2In The Journey Within, Henry Leo Bolduc provides some easy-to-read glimpses into his personal search for answers and, in particular, his exploration of the possibilities of hypnosis. Readers of The Journal of Regression Therapy should be able to identify with many of the experiences he presents in this informal, anecdotal odyssey. As Bolduc puts it, the first five chapters are “mainly about my years of research into past-life regression,” and chapters six and seven are about “what I have learned about hypnosis and past-life regression.” In the second half of the book, chapters eight through seventeen, Bolduc turns to focus on how some individuals, who have been hypnotized by him, became channels. As part of this, he includes generous samplings of their channeled material Some may find the shift from past-life to channeling phenomena a bit hard to follow, though Bolduc’s use of hypnosis in working with others seem to be the through-line.

Bolduc tells us that he first became interested in past-life work after reading The Search for Bridey Murphy. Shortly thereafter, in the early 1960’s, he began experimenting with friends. Becoming ever more committed to this work, he showed up on the doorstep of Edgar Cayce’s brother Hugh Lynn, in Virginia Beach, soon moving into the A.R.E. headquarters to live on a steady diet of Cayce Readings and related books.

The Children That Time Forgot By Peter and Mary Harrison

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Reviewed by Carol Bowman, B.A.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume V, No. 1, Fall 1991)

harrisonThe Children That Time Forgot is one of the few collections of documented incidents of spontaneous past-life recall in children. Peter and Mary Harrison, of England, collected 29 cases of spontaneous past-life recall derived from interviews with the parents of British children. This book can be compared to the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson, who has done extensive research and writes about past-life memories in children. The Harrisons’ book is significant because the cases are exclusively from a Judeo-Christian culture where reincarnation is a less well accepted idea; Dr. Stevenson finds most of his cases in Eastern cultures where the concept of reincarnation is more prevalent.

At the time of their children’s recall, none of the parents interviewed by the Harrisons believed in reincarnation. In almost all cases, the parents were bewildered or amused when their barely verbal children began relating stories of their past lives, and dismissed their attempts at communication as babbling and fantasy. Yet, in every case, the children persisted in telling their stories and adhered to the same details. Their persistence and conviction caused their skeptical parents to listen.

Several of the young children claimed to be deceased relatives. They shocked their parents with details about these former lives, details that they could not possibly have learned in their present lives. They knew exact locations of streets and buildings that no longer existed, gave accounts of conversations and events from their former lifetimes that were later confirmed by surviving relatives, and exhibited mannerisms and behavior that matched those of the deceased relative. The evidence convinced the surviving relatives that these children could only be the reincarnation of the deceased relatives.

Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation by Ian Stevenson, M.D.

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 Review by Jon Klimo, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume V, No. 1, Fall 1991)

Ian2Readers of The Journal of Regression Therapy should consider Dr. Ian Stevenson’s book, Children Who Remember Previous Lives, from two perspectives. First, the book is a thoroughly professional, even-handed treatment of its subject, and the information it contains will be helpful to anyone seeking personal and professional support in the way of careful research evidence on behalf of reincarnation in general and on behalf of the reality of the previous lives of certain currently living people in particular. Second, and problematic for Journal readers, the book takes a decidedly negative tone with regard to the use of hypnosis in order to bring to light authentic past-life memories. I will briefly deal with each of these two perspectives in turn.

We are slowly building a body of conceptual coherence and empirical evidence on behalf of an ever more widespread acceptance of reincarnation and the fact that at least some currently living people are able to retrieve memories of their own previous lifetimes. Dr. Stevenson’s newest book is a rich and welcomed addition to this body of work, with its strong emphases on rigorous research methodology, precision of thought, and careful use of terminology.

The research represented in this book provides evidence that appears to make a convincing case for a traceable continuity between what Dr. Stevenson calls a previous personality and the personality of a currently living individual. “I use the phrase previous Personality,” he writes, “to designate some aspects of the deceased person of whom the child having memories of a previous life is presumed to be the reincarnation.” He then goes on to state “The cases I have investigated suggest that something of the person may have persisted after his death and later become associated with a new physical body.”

Exploring Reincarnation by Hans Ten Dam (Penguin Group, London, 1990)

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Reviewed by Rabia L. Clark, M.A.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume V, No. 1, Fall 1991)

hans1Hans Ten Dam has written an exhaustive study about reincarnation, its history in various religions, Theosophical and Anthroposophical views, and karmic laws. There is quite a bit about both spontaneous and therapeutic recall of past lives, pre-birth memories and after death experiences. The last part of the book describes counseling techniques for past-life regressions, and effects and techniques of past-life therapy.

The author is honest about his biases, and he has a lot of them. He has read widely in the reincarnation literature, and attempts to present a broad scope of that material. There is a glossary of terms, an excellent and lengthy bibliography of books both in English and other languages on reincarnation (though arranged strangely, as if some parts were an afterthought), and a good index.

The book has been translated into English from the original Dutch, and I found no problems with that, unlike Ten Dam’s earlier book, Regression and Past-Life Therapy Without Hypnosis (self-published, 1989). The first book was very difficult to understand because of translation problems, and needs a revision of its glossary and index. That book did detail many unique and interesting techniques for past-life therapy, and includes a number of past-life therapy sessions verbatim, to illustrate techniques. (I believe it costs $30, from Hans Ten Dam, Ten Dam International B.V., Fransen van de Puttelaan 36, 3703 EH Zeist, Holland.)

Who Were You Before You Were You? The Casebook of a Past-Life Therapist by Garrett Oppenheim, Ph.D.

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Reviewed by Evelyn Fuqua, Ph.D.  M.F.C.C. and Hypnotherapist

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IV, No. 2, Fall 1990)

img011Dr. Oppenheim’s book is short (162 pages), is written in an informal style and is easy reading—all of which, hopefully, will make it appeal to the general public. Its humorous title, Who Were You Before You Were You?, should attract not only those who are seriously curious about past-life therapy, but perhaps even the total skeptics, who may pick it up initially simply because it promises to be entertaining. It will give them much food for thought.

The book covers all of the important basic concepts of PLT. It also gives many of the author’s personal insights as a result of his own PLT experiences. Oppenheim is never dogmatic in his comments although he clearly states his own belief system.

The author’s first professional experience with PLT was the result of his leaving out the words “in your life” when asking a client to go back to the first time he had feelings of depression and defeat. Oppenheim listened in astonishment as his client began describing a battlefield with legions of men in armor fighting against each other He soon learned that his client was a Carthaginian commander under Hannibal. This commander had won many battles but was haunted by the depressing realization that the Romans were winning the war and there was really nothing he could do about it.

Encounters by Edith Fiore

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Reviewed by Hazel M. Denning Executive Director Emeritus of APRT

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IV, No. 2, Fall 1990)

fiore3Dr. Edith Fiore’s latest book, Encounters, is a superb report on a highly controversial subject. Coming from a background of traditional psychotherapy, she discovered past-life therapy only a few years ago and wrote You Have Been Here Before, an excellent volume delineating the value of PLT as a therapeutic tool. Next, confronted by evidence of psychic attack in many of her clients, she wrote The Unquiet Dead, a fascinating and altogether plausible account of this universal phenomenon.

One might almost believe that Destiny had a hand on this courageous lady’s shoulder, knowing that she would share these discoveries regardless of how unorthodox or debatable they might be. When Dr. Fiore discovered that some of her clients were apparently having encounters with extraterrestrial beings, she again accepted the challenge, first investigating and then reporting her findings.

Encounters is a verbatim account, in dialogue, of 14 of the cases the author worked with in her office. Her selection is varied enough to give the reader a broad overview of the characteristics and purposes of the extraterrestrials. Her cases also represent a good cross section of the client population, with a balance of men and women, and for the most part, individuals with quite diversified emotional problems resulting from their encounters.

Channeling by Jon Klimo, Ph.D.

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Reviewed by Chet B. Snow, Ph.D.

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IV, No. 1, Spring 1989)

klimoDr. Jon Klimo’s book Channeling tells us what we’ve always wanted to know about channeling but didn’t know where to go to find out! It is a welcome, well-researched look at this popular psychic phenomenon. An educational and counseling psychologist, Klimo presents a wealth of material in an organized and reasoned manner, thereby making his book especially valuable for teachers, therapists, and other professionals who may remain skeptical about the validity of information coming from self-styled psychic “channels.” At the same time, his easy-to-read style and frequent use of interviews and excerpts from channeled sources makes Channeling  accessible to anyone interested in knowing more about this fascinating subject.

Dr. Klimo begins with a very broad-based definition of his subject:

 Channeling is the communication of information to or through a physically embodied human being from a source that is said to exist on some other level or dimension of reality than the physical as we know it, and that is not from the normal mind (or self) of the channel. (p. 2)

Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss, M.D.

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Reviewed by Edward N. Reynolds, Ph.D.

 (as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IV, No. 1, Spring 1989)

MLMMThe late philosopher and mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904-87) drew public attention to the concept of the “hero’s journey” through his scholarly writings and his widely praised public television interviews with journalist Bill Moyers (published as The Power of Myth, Doubleday, 1988).

As described by Campbell, the hero’s journey is the drama of any individual male or female, who leaves the security of familiar people and surroundings for trials and adventures in some unknown realm. With the insights gained from these experiences, the “hero” returns to his normal life as someone transformed, deepened, and enriched. He is now able to add a new level of understanding to the lives of all who come into contact with him.

By Campbell’s definition, Dr. Brian L. Weiss’ Many Lives, Many Masters (Simon & Schuster, 1988) describes a “hero’s journey” of transformation pursued by a respected and accomplished psychiatrist. Much of its popular appeal comes from this quality with which even skeptical readers find it easy to identify.

When Dr. Weiss met Catherine, the patient with whom he shared his journey, he was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Columbia University and had received an M.D. from Yale Medical School. In addition he was an associate professor of psychiatry at the Miami (Florida) University School of Medicine and chief of psychiatry at a large university-affiliated hospital. Adding further to his stature was the fact that he had already published 37 scientific papers and book chapters in his field and was widely sought as a speaker at professional meetings. At that time he was a successful, rather conservative physician and scientist hardly anticipating that this new patient would lead him on a journey of self-discovery and transformation. As he comments near the beginning of the book.

Mass Dreams of the Future by Dr. Chet B. Snow

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Reviewed by Hazel Denning, Ph.D

(as included in the The Journal of Regression Therapy Volume IV, No. 1, Spring 1989)

snowIn Mass Dreams of the Future, Dr. Chet Snow has accomplished the nearly-impossible feat of making the incredible sound credible. If you are concerned about the global problems facing mankind today: ecological conditions, political unrest, a society riddled with crime while physical and mental illness cripple millions, you will find this book challenging, fascinating reading, as well as philosophically satisfying. The “gloom and doom” criers over the past few centuries, including some New Age psychics with their perennial predictions of disaster are all compared and given due recognition. Nonetheless, this 350-page book, published by McGraw-Hill, goes beyond popular doomsayers to present positive alternative views of what the Age of Aquarius may bring, even if it isn’t portrayed as “pie in the sky” or Heaven on earth.

This monumental work began with the research of Dr. Helen Wambach, whose books on past-life research are well known. Having accumulated remarkable statistics on large numbers of subjects regressed into the past, she became obsessed with the idea of projecting subjects into future time periods to explore life on planet earth. This venture proved highly informative. Subjects apparently had no trouble finding themselves in future centuries. Dr. Wambach, however, had a problem with what they reported, for it hardly matched the popular picture of a New Age of spiritual enlightenment. She suspended her research for many months as she struggled with her own moral and ethical responsibility regarding the sharing of what she had discovered. In a private conversation with this reviewer, Helen Wambach said she felt she had been given this information for a purpose and that it must be shared. She reasoned that if she were supposed to do this, the way would be opened for its dissemination.