Archives: JRT Articles

A Phenomenological Study of Post-Modern Transpersonal and Spiritual Experiences with Quantitative Survey and Case Study Interviews – Janet Cunningham (Is.15)

Janet Cunningham, Ph.D. Walden University, 1997

The phrase “transpersonal and spiritual experiences” refers to the sense of identity of the self extending beyond the personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche, or cosmos. Western scientific exploration of such experiences has been nearly nonexistent, due primarily to the currently accepted scientific paradigm. But a study of the psyche that fails to deal with the transpersonal and spiritual realms is, by definition, unscientific in that it fails to take into account, or even to report, a large body of phenomena.

All participants in this study were healthy, well-functioning adults. The study had two foci: first, to discover if people who claim to have had spontaneous transpersonal and/or spiritual experiences … Read the rest

1 December 1997

EXPERIENCES. What is the Nature of Parallel Lives? – Isa Gucciardi (Is.15)

In this article, Isa Gucciardi tells us of her strange personal encounter with what may have been a parallel universe.

Isa Gucciardi, M.A., C.Ht.

There has been much discussion of the possibility of parallel lives, but this concept appears to be poorly – and variously – understood by the different investigators who have looked into the matter. There are some past-life researchers who hold that “past” lives are really occurring in the present at different dimensions of reality. Quantum physics supports the idea that time as a linear concept is just a way of talking about reality and proposes that all time is present now. Some transpersonal psychologists venture so far as to say that multiple personality disorder-type manifestations … Read the rest

1 December 1993

EXPERIENCES. Past-Life Therapy: A Personal Perspective – Thomas G. Shafer (Is.15)

In this article, Thomas G. Shafer describes the confusing mixture of dreams, memory distortion, and past lives he encountered in his search for the truth.

Thomas G. Shafer, M.D.

I began individual therapy with Mrs. Peggy Moore-Osteen after the death of my father in early 1985. My initial complaints were depression, panic-like episodes, and nightmares. I had suffered from recurrent bouts of depression since my late teens; these had no clear precipitants and lasted a few weeks to about a month. I tolerated antidepressant medication poorly due to cardiac arrhythmias. This was felt by my internist to be related to mild Mitral Valve Prolapse. Additionally, I had suffered since my mid-teens from prolonged sieges of recurrent panic episodes characterized … Read the rest

1 December 1993

EXPERIENCES. Regression by Self-Hypnosis: A Warning – Luciane Lopes de Mello (Is.15)

This articles describes some personal experiences of the author. Luciane Lopes de Mello warns of some of the dangers for untrained people in using a self-hypnosis tape to access past lives.

I: Regression by Self-Hypnosis: A Warning

Luciane Lopes de Mello

I have been practicing different kinds of meditation for years, and I have never had problems or experienced resistance with it. Meditation has always been helpful to me, and I have gotten good results with it. So I decided to try regression with a self-hypnosis tape, which I myself had recorded. There was one particular problem I wanted to examine by regressing to my past lives: a troublesome relationship with a man, whom I shall call “M.”

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… Read the rest
1 December 1997

Healing Through Time: Reconnecting with an Old Foe – Isa Gucciardi (Is.15)

Isa Gucciardi, M.A., C.Ht.

Isa Gucciardi describes combining hypnosis, past-life therapy, depossession/entity release, and soul retrieval in the treatment of a client. She suggests that combining these modalities as needed can get better results than using only one or two alone.

My work as a hypnotherapist takes me to many times and places in my clients’ psyches. I use many tools to help people discover the origin of the problems they come to me for help with. My work is inspired by some of the studies that Irene Hickman, Edith Fiore, William Baldwin and Michael Harner have presented on spirit depossession, past-life regressions and soul retrieval, but I have found that most sessions do not confine themselves into the … Read the rest

1 December 1997

A New Understanding of Reincarnation through Past-Life Recall – Rabia Lynn Clark (Is.15)

Rabia Lynn Clark, Ph.D.

Rabia Clark briefly discusses cultural and religious reincarnation beliefs and examines what past-life therapists say they have found in past-life therapy as well as what Stevenson has found in his researches into the spontaneous past-life memories of children.

Reincarnation is a belief found in many cultures and religions: Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Sufi, Huna, and others. But recent past-life memories have brought us to a new understanding about reincarnation. The work of Ian Stevenson, M.D., and the relatively new field of past-life therapy have both made contributions in confirming some old beliefs while adding new insights.

Concepts about an afterlife and reincarnation are very diverse in different religions and cultures. They offer models to deal … Read the rest

1 December 1997

Past-Life Therapy, Astrology, and the New Quantum and Space-Time Physics – Dianne Seaman (Is.15)

Dianne Seaman, B.S., C.P.L.T.

Dianne Seaman explores possible relationships between astrology, the new physics of quanta and space-time, past-life phenomena, and transpersonal experiences. As she notes in her article, her explorations raise more questions than can be answered, but her findings are provocative and she links these areas together thoughtfully.

Astrology, quantum physics and past-life phenomena are all complex subjects in and of themselves. Here I am attempting to show links among all three and how a more thorough understanding of each can be gained from exploring the other two – an even more complex undertaking. I am coming to realize that this is a lifelong project, and as I delve deeper into these matters, more questions are raised … Read the rest

1 December 1997

Where Hard and Soft Sciences Meet: The Meeting of Science and Metaphysics – Paul James (Is.15)

Paul James

This author examines, from an essentialist perspective, what must be involved if we are to have a “theory of everything.” This would include a meeting of the hard and soft sciences, or as Willis Harman put it, “the meeting of science and metaphysics.” James quotes Jared Diamond: “As to the relative importance of hard and soft science for humanity’s future, there can be no comparison…Our survival depends on whether we progress with understanding how people behave” (Diamond, 1987).

This article is dedicated to the late Willis Harman for his outstanding contributions and incomparable leadership during his 19 years as President of The Institute of Noetic Sciences.

“A theory of everything”! No theory could strike a more all-inclusive arc. … Read the rest

1 December 1997

The Other Eastern Religion: Reincarnation in Modern Jewish Thought – Thomas G. Shafer (Is.15)

Thomas G. Shafer, M.D.

Dr. Shafer, a psychiatrist, addresses potential difficulties Jewish and Christian clients and patients may have dealing with the possibility of reincarnation suggested by past-life therapy. He surveys past and modern Jewish concepts of Gilgul or reincarnation and posits that this belief system may make PLT more acceptable to clients from strictly monotheistic religious traditions.

I’ve been personally active in past-life regression therapy for a little more than a year. I find it a fascinating and highly effective modality, but in our Judaeo-Christian Western culture there is one major problem: the underlying concept. Survival after death is, of course, a commonly held belief. But what do we do with survival before birth? This implies some form … Read the rest

1 December 1997

The Client, the Therapist, and the Ethical Use of Language – Tibor Magyar (Is.15)

Tibor Magyar, Ph.D.

In this article, the author calls to the therapist/reader’s attention the importance of language in the therapeutic process and presents the reader with a series of timely suggestions, caveats and admonishments for the practice of past-life therapy.

There is a magic in words. Language has power. Every word has at least three meanings: connotative, denotative, and stipulative. Beyond the dictionary definition, each word is also defined by current usage and the experience/value system/understanding of the user and the receiver. To add further complexity, it is not only what is said, but how it is said. Ultimately, it is also what has not been said. According to Davis (1994) these are the three vital dimensions of any … Read the rest

1 December 1997