When trauma happens, a part of the psyche splits off and remains that way, this part, is from that point on, out of synch with the total psyche. It goes off or becomes buried and has a separate experience than the rest of the being, often it is the physical body and it’s subtle counterpart the Etheric body, which holds the true memory of the trauma. This is where the principle of embodying the past life character instead of viewing it are important. Separation from the character and detached observation happen later in the spirit world (Bardo). By embodying the character fully, all the subtle bodies (etheric, emotional, mental) are beginning to become realigned in the re-experiencing of the event. And information that might have been stored as pure emotion or somatic imprints, below the threshold of mental awareness, are able to surface in the light of consciousness and be released.  In this way the client is guided and encouraged to not relax but to fully be in their body in an active way, feeling the entire event as much as possible.

 It is a misconception that past life memories are always retrieved visually or that this is the only way to work with past lives. In fact it is a patriarchal bias that is predominate in Western culture that the head or mental body is superior to the body or emotions (Cartesian mind-body split). And unfortunately, many conventional therapies follow this model, the natural wisdom of the body and emotions are viewed as something to detach from, analyze or to be controlled. Seemily, quite afraid of what powerful emotions might release, they are shunned therapeutically for a more controlled mental expression (mostly viewing from a distance or talking about it). But if an inner part of you is enraged, the emotional body will not be healed fully by talking about it.  Kinesthetic (somatic / tactile) and sentient ways of knowing beyond logical mental overlays are encouraged and honored equally in this form of work.  In fact to activate kinesthetic memory movement is required;  if we think about a shaman entering a trance state, in many instances it is rhythm and movement that get them there, not passively lying back in a relaxed state. This is where the principles of psychodrama and gestalt are used in this process.  Thus one might experience past life memories along with the story-line as sensation, emotion, or simple direct knowing. I personally have had my body tell a complete past life story with no visual memory. Because I re-experienced that life, one in which I died during torture, so deeply in my emotional and physical body with minimal mental interference, the original traumas were released to the surface quite readily. That lifetime was one of three that after completing them finally healed my panic attacks of 10 years. To see how the process works I have described a typical session.

Astrological Understandings with a Typical Session

To start with I spend time with each client before the process identifying issues, the birth chart is used in this to also to illuminate further the dynamics that are present. For example, a client may be talking to me about how they seem unable to find meaningful work. Every job they have is a drag and they eventually end up getting fired because they do a bad job anyway. They also don’t have any meaningful relationships, and thus feel estranged and lonely.  Let’s imagine that this client has a 10^th house Pluto, or a South Node  in Capricorn. Certainly work related issues are part of the karmic theme. From what they just told me it is easy to see that they are subconsciously recreating a trauma in this case, one of a past life character that feels it failed so miserably they are afraid to try again. This inner character is acting like a silent saboteur behind the scenes, setting up situations that are destined to fail, this is a typical Capricorn theme.  If they haven’t said the words already, I might ask them on this theme “ What I hear you saying is that you feel like a failure?” In this scenario, most likely the client will readily agree. We now have our starting point for work to begin.

Now we put the feeling of failure into the present with a charged phrase. The client can now lie down and start using the phrase “I’ve failed”; they are guided to start to free associate with that phrase to any other thoughts and feelings that arise. In this case, most likely they will start to feel sadness, remorse or even desperation. Other thoughts may arise “ I’ve failed them” “ If only I had done more” already you can see that the thoughts are not from the current life but are the inner past life character speaking.. The thoughts and feelings are worked with and intensified and the person is guided back into the memory from whence they actually originated. This is only one example of the process of how to retrieve memories.

With this induction and phrase the client will typically be right in the past life memory after the failure occurred. In this case let’s say the client finds himself standing on a precipice overlooking a burning village. He may be overcome with emotions at this point, and the realization that although he tried to save them he failed in some way. The story is then moved backwards and forwards moving from scene to scene to piece together the story. Each new scene brings not only awareness of what is happening but the client is guided to be in the thoughts and feelings associated with it. In keeping with the Capricorn theme, let’s say this was the story of a mayor type person of a small village. This man was well liked in his position of authority and had a fairly uneventful life up until the time that the political landscape started to change. Perhaps the region was threatened by invasion and the regional leaders were acting irresponsibly and this particular village, being in the outskirts was highly vulnerable. So this mayor now leaves the village to meet with the regional or national leaders, to get them to send troops, pass laws whatever it is he needs from them, he leaves with the clear intent to protect and save his family, home and village.

Upon his return, he comes across the cliffs and sees his village burning. He is too  late, he knows he lost everything now, his wife his children, neighbors all gone. He sinks into deep grief and despair. In this state he admonishes himself harshly, “If only I had done more” “ I’ve failed them”. He is encouraged to fully feel the depth of this despair and the full impact it has on his being. This being a critical point in the story called a “shut down” moment. A vital part of his soul may become repressed or split off at this point.  Moving forward through the life we find this is the case,  he lives on with deep suppressed grief, his life becomes dull and meaningless, he never wants a position of authority again and does only menial work, just enough to get by. He never forms other intimate relationships and dies alone, miserable and full of self punishment and recriminations. He is guided through to the end of that life and the death experience, whatever it is, capturing the impressions of all the bodies, physical, emotional and mental at the point of death.

He has re-experienced the original trauma, and now the second and most crucial part of the healing begins; finishing the unfinished business. Since we know that consciousness survives death, it is possible to follow it in PLT through the death process into the afterlife. The method I work with was based loosely on the Tibetan Buddhist understanding of the Bardos. The Bardo is a transitional state, the term is most commonly used for the state after death and before reincarnation although in the Buddhist view all states of existence are Bardo states. The transitional plane between life and death, when the elements of the body are breaking down is the Bardo of Dying. It is at this time traditionally that a Lama or priest would read the Bardo Thotrol or Thodol ( The Tibetan Book of The Dead) to the dying or recently deceased person. It tells them not to fear death, and explains to them the experiences they will have on the other side so that they can safely navigate through these planes. It warns that once awareness is not in a body it will continue to create a reality in the after life. The person is urged to turn from the living, to die with peace of mind and heart so that they do not remain in the lower Bardos and these attachments are not recreated and experienced as reality on the other side. The Tibetans describe the light that is perceived immediately after death, and that one must recognize this light as their own true “Buddha’ nature to merge with it. But they also warn there are other lights, one is the light of ones own individuated mind. If one fails to see through the illusions and merge with the true light one will remain in the lower Bardos which eventually lead to rebirth. Many souls obviously do not achieve this state at dying they wander confused and lost in the Bardos and eventually are reborn.

 In working with many cases over the years it is apparent to me that it is only a part of the soul that remains in the lower Bardos, I think of them as split-off psychological complexes frozen in time. This is the fragmenting effect that trauma has on the psyche. In Shamanic terms it would be described as a soul fragment that is split off and stuck in a kind of tape loop, replaying it’s worries, fears, and unresolved complexes.  It is not the entire energy of the soul that is earthbound but a fragment of the original incarnated personality. Thus, a dying thought of “ I can’t leave them” for example,  plays over and over immediately after death at such an increased rate it can fix the attention of the newly departed soul on the earth plane, causing it to miss it’s opportunity to fully ascend to higher planes. Similar to the way an obsessive thought can fix the total awareness of an incarnated person on one tiny detail. Such a dying thought can take over the awareness of the departing consciousness causing it to remain partially earthbound, obsessively focused on it’s single objective.

The Buddhists and other traditions such as Hinduism understand that one of the main objectives of life is to be able to die well, thus to achieve eternal freedom from the earth plane or cycle of rebirth. The traditions that have a place for reincarnation in their beliefs all have similar teachings – it is of utmost importance to the evolutionary well being of the soul to die as consciously as possible. They explain that the intensity and weight of unfinished desires, emotions and thoughts in life, slow and even retard the soul’s progress after death, like taking too much baggage with you on a long journey. Thus they teach that by limiting desires, purification of ones thoughts and emotions during life the afterlife passage to higher planes will be easier to complete.  Anyone who works in the style of PLT that follows the consciousness into the after-life, will report that many do not perceive the light after death, they are still caught in their emotions and dying thoughts, they are still looking for their loved ones, or angry at the ones who killed them etc…. That is why, in PLT the state of mind and emotions at death, are most important to capture and bring to consciousness during the re-experiencing.

A main principle of the Bardos is that recognition and liberation are instantaneous. In other words, one only needs to see beyond the illusion to be liberated from it. Consciousness not anchored in physical matter creates faster than the speed of light. Songyol Rimpoche says in the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, that once the awareness or mind is free of the body at death,  it vibrates 100’s of times faster, thus thought manifests instantly; the projection of thought to create a reality. And is an old Esoteric teaching “Energy follows thought, and thought creates matter” This is true when alive, and potently so after death.

Keeping in mind what residue our example client has died with, it is those lingering thoughts, emotions and wounds that are worked with in the Bardo state in therapy. In this case he may be guided first to realize that the life is over. He is reminded he is in the spirit world now, perhaps he would want to see his family again. In this type of story because of the weight of his self-guilt he may fear seeing his family or villagers again. In fact most likely when he died they did come for him out of the light. But because of the weight of his complex this fragment of his soul stayed in a dark clouded space that reflected his emotional state and he did not see them. Suggesting the thought of seeing them again will trigger the old feelings of shame and guilt that still linger. Very often in this type of story those he loved will reappear, often they are filled with love and forgiveness and happy to see their lost loved one. Meeting them again can be the start of the person lifting themselves out of despair, such reunions are often quite moving and tearful, thus releasing much of the held in emotion.