8
Rebirth follows death. To bring something new into your life you must create space for it. Through your symbolic death in the labyrinth you have let go of what no longer has life or vibrancy for you. This may be physical possessions, relationships, traumas from the past, ways of behaving, and anything else that you are holding on to that may be weighing you down at this stage of your life. Rebirth is the stage of newness after you have let go of some of these things. The labyrinth is a powerful symbol of rebirth. After letting go of what no longer serves you on your walk into the labyrinth, you then emerge from the womb of the labyrinth in a state of newness.
How you see life is reflected in the labyrinth. If you see life as primarily about death, then it may represent entrapment for you. If you see the life and the labyrinth as largely about rebirth, then the labyrinth represents release and freedom. When you focus more on the release and rebirth, that is what your life becomes. What you focus on grows.
Rebirth is soul growth. The more growth you have in this lifetime, the more advanced you will be in the next lifetime. This is karma: the bringing of learning from experiences in past lives into this lifetime. Karmic experiences can be positive as well as negative. Your soul does not forget what it learned in previous incarnations. In this lifetime, you will have chosen certain experiences to have and certain lessons to take to progress on your soul’s journey. You may also have chosen to forget past life experiences for a time so that you can start afresh in this lifetime.
Rebirthing is bringing in what you already know on a soul level. Rebirthing gives you an opportunity to heal what you need to heal so you can move on. You will need to work through your current life experiences in need of healing before you can address some of your past life issues.
Issues from past lives can reappear in this lifetime. When you encounter a situation that you are struggling with on an emotional and energetic level, it is worthwhile considering if there might be a past life influence for what is happening. This is not to use past lives as an excuse to avoid addressing what is arising. Rather, once you have exhausted current life approaches and solutions, it is about being open to the possibility that you may be energetically carrying some thinking or behaviour from a past life that is dominating your approach to a situation in this life.
Remembering past lives is not just an interesting game to discover something exciting or fascinating about yourself. When you delve into past life experiences it can often shine a spotlight on some aspect of your current life that you need to address and can even provide insights into future lives. In the words of the Buddha, “If you want to know the past, look at the present. If you want to know the future, look at the present.”
Past Lives
For many years, I had no idea of any of my past lives. Indeed, I had no understanding or interest in the subject. As I began to walk my own path to self-discovery, remembering my past lives crept up quietly on me without me realizing. The first memory that I had was of an immense and deep sadness that I experienced in Montsequr, France, in 2005. A group of five of us went to climb the hill and to remember those who had given their lives for their beliefs in 1244. We spent a short time in meditation at the top. My wife, Fionnuala, who is quite psychic and intuitive, tuned in and saw images of the five of us there back in 1244. I knew deep within me that I had been there before, although I could not logically explain it. I was overcome by a huge sadness and stayed in the energy of that emotion for several minutes. It felt like I was living in two worlds simultaneously. When I brought my attention fully back to this lifetime, something in me had shifted.
This experience seemed to open a doorway to other past life experiences. Several of my other past life experiences are related to the labyrinth and some specifically to Chartres in France. One of these involved a significant healing for me on several levels in this lifetime. For many years, I had suffered with sporadic stomach pains and remember on one occasion when at a football match not being able to stand with the cramps in my stomach muscles.
A few weeks before I went to Chartres in October 2005, I went to a sweat lodge ceremony. As I crawled out of the sweat lodge, I threw myself on the ground and pressed my bare skin against the cold, refreshing earth to cool down. I felt an energy leave my stomach and be absorbed by the earth. I had a strong sense that this had something to do with my upcoming trip to Chartres.
While waiting at the airport for my flight to Paris, I had a cup of tea with Fionnuala. At one point, Fionnuala stopped and asked me if there was a soldier in my family, as she was seeing someone in army uniform in my energy field behind me. I couldn’t come up with any explanation that made sense. Later, on the flight to France, I wrote in my journal about a clear and intense dream that I experienced a few times. I wrote: “I had a vivid dream of being a soldier, running an explosive cable to destroy a building as the battle raged around me. I was and am convinced that this was a past life dream. Why it comes up now, I will find out in Chartres.”
In Chartres I couldn’t sleep one night, so I went for a walk at three o’clock in the morning. I walked down along the River Eure and out into the countryside. I walked for hours, always secure in the knowledge that I could see the floodlit cathedral in the distance and that it showed me my way back. Walking back into Chartres as I headed up the hill towards the cathedral, I passed a war memorial that contained thousands of names from many different wars. I sat down on the plinth with my back to the memorial, but something caused me to turn around. As I looked at the lists of names, one name particularly caught my attention, almost as if it was rising up from the stone. I knew instantly that this was significant. It was the name of a soldier who had died in 1942.
I had a pendulum with me that I used for dowsing and divining answers to questions, indicating either a yes or no answer by a particular movement of the pendulum. I began to ask questions about this name. The first question I asked was “Was this me in a past life?” and I received a strong yes. As I asked more questions and got more answers, I asked if I had been shot and got a yes. I then started asking where I was shot: In the head? … No. In the chest? … No. In the stomach? As soon as I asked if I was shot in the stomach, my stomach went into severe spasms and I was bent over double with the pain. I got a very definite yes. Once the pain had eased, I proceeded with my questions. I asked if I died on the battlefield, and I got a no response. “Did I die in a hospital?”—No! I asked if I died in a farm shed, and I received a strong Yes.
I told Fionnuala all about it on the phone that evening. She told me about a vivid dream that she had experienced several times years before she met me. She was a girl of about seventeen living on a farm during wartime. One day a soldier crawled into the barn on the farm. He had been shot in the stomach. She held her hands over his stomach and tried to heal him, but he died.
I was eagerly looking forward to walking the labyrinth in the cathedral a few days later, expecting to get more insights into being a soldier shot in the stomach in a past life. I was part of a group of over thirty people who were having a private walk on the labyrinth after the cathedral had closed. After preparing for the labyrinth walk through meditation and contemplation, we made our way to the labyrinth that was lit by candles placed in the lunations around the outside of the labyrinth.
As soon as my bare feet touched the cold flagstones of the floor, my perception shifted. Everything felt different, and the date 1288 shot into my thoughts. I knew that on one level, I was transported back to the year 1288 when I was a ten-year-old boy about to walk the labyrinth on the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France. Not only was I experiencing one of my own past lives, I was aware that many people in the group there with me that evening were also there in 1288. I recognized some members of the current group in different roles and different ages than they were in present-day time. Even the musical group who were performing appeared visually to me dressed in white robes of the time.
I walked the labyrinth as that ten-year-old boy. It was fun, and getting off the path to allow adults to pass didn’t bother me. I had a huge smile on my face. When I looked down at what I was wearing, I had a large, baggy, woolly jumper, and my trousers were rolled up to my knees like half-length pants of the time … and I was in my bare feet. At one stage, I glanced over to the base of one of the pillars where I always liked to sit during the day. I almost froze with fright. There was a woman sitting there dressed in black with a hooded shawl covering her head. I knew immediately that it was my mother from 1288, and that she was quite ill, which was the reason we had made the pilgrimage to the cathedral of Notre Dame in Chartres. What I wasn’t sure of was if it was actually one of the present-day group or if it was an image of my past mother being shown to me just at that time. When I was finished walking the labyrinth, I made my way towards the pillar where my “mother” was sitting and sat on the steps by her feet. There was a real person sitting there: a member of the present-day group. The vivid images and palpable experiences of two simultaneous realities had me in a state of heightened awareness and still moves me when I remember it. It is still one of the most significant and relevant of my past life experiences.
Even more significant was the connection that I had with Fionnuala in that lifetime. Although it was only a fleeting few moments when she tried to heal me—the wounded soldier—I know that the reconnection is telling me that we never know when we will meet someone significant in our lives. It is a reminder to be open to the significance of every moment and the possible importance of everyone you meet.
Since the sweat lodge and my trip to Chartres I have not had any problems with my stomach. I healed a physical injury from one of my past lives that was affecting me in this lifetime. Past life memories always arise for a reason, the most common of which is to heal something in this lifetime that you have brought with you energetically from a past life. It may not always be clear what the issue is, but with time, reflection, and meditation, the answer frequently becomes clearer.
And while some of these events did not happen on the labyrinth, it was because of the labyrinth that I went to Chartres. After those events, I have a greater understanding and knowing of the interconnectedness of all of existence. I also know that healing from past lives helps us in this life in physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual ways. Past life experiences almost always show us something in this life that we are here to address. I related my experience to the group later, and it was of particular relevance for several of them. I had always considered that past life experiences were mainly for the individual experiencing them, and were for my own learning and journey. Now it appears that they can also be for others’ benefit.
Over time, the labyrinth presented an image to me of togetherness. Whatever this group of people had come to experience in today’s world, they had also come together for some other experience hundreds of years previously. We were taking steps on our soul’s journey together over many lifetimes. And while there are some people from this group that I have never met again since this event in Chartres, there are others with whom I have developed lifelong friendships. Or, perhaps, it is more correct to say that I re-established soul friendships that have existed through many lifetimes and in the spirit world.
In life, you will find yourself in certain groups at certain times. Nothing happens by accident, particularly when it concerns people in your life. The people who are meant to be in your life at a particular time are there, whether you find their presence helpful or not. Although some people’s presence in your life that you consider less than helpful is often to prompt you to choose a certain course of action that involves an advancement on your soul’s journey.
In my work with the labyrinth, and particularly at workshops and events, I find that I have a soul connection with almost everyone who attends. I can feel this connection in my heart, and I can see it in their eyes. There is a knowing between us that is beyond words, and beyond the physical. It is a wonderful experience to reconnect with someone that you remember from the spirit world, and previous lifetimes. The depth of connection, joy, and recognition is full of love and a palpable excitement. There is an immediate sense of support and togetherness in this lifetime, and an image of the bigger picture of what we are here for begins to emerge.
The labyrinth is acting as a call to action and as a catalyst for people to come together, to remember their souls’ journeys, and to support each other in this lifetime. If you feel a draw to the labyrinth, then follow that draw. The labyrinth is a meeting place for people that you are meant to meet on your life’s journey. It is a place of assembly for soul friends and soul groups. And while the only past life recollection that I have of interacting with labyrinths was as the ten-year-old boy in Chartres, I will not be surprised if and when I discover that I had several other encounters with labyrinths somewhere in my many previous incarnations.
Exercise: Exploring Your Past Lives
Labyrinth Walk
The intention of this labyrinth walk is to seek greater awareness of some of your past lives and significant aspects of those lives that are relevant for you in this lifetime. This is so you can better understand how they might be influencing your thinking and behaviour in this lifetime and how you can begin to address them. This walk is also about going back through many lifetimes to find a common thread and purpose to get to know better your soul’s purpose through lifetimes. You came to earth for a reason which you have temporarily forgotten. You may even have deliberately decided not to remember your reason for coming here so that you could overcome the learning obstacles placed in your way to strengthen and develop your soul’s resolve and commitment to progression.
In preparing for this walk, take some time to reflect on the reasons that you might be here on earth or here in this room at this time. Your soul’s journey has brought you to this point. The walk into the labyrinth, therefore, is a representation of tracing back through previous lifetimes—seeing significant events of previous lifetimes for the first time, or in a new light, that reveal some aspect of your progress to this point in time. When walking into the labyrinth, the centre represents the point of the beginning of your soul’s journey.
Setting a clear intention before you commence your walk is crucial to gaining the most benefit from this walk. Formulate clearly what aspects of your past lives you wish to explore. Write down what you are seeking on this walk. There are several ways you can explore past lives during this walk. If you do not remember any past life, then you are seeking any information about a past life that is relevant for you and that you are ready to learn about and address. If you already have some awareness of a past life, or sense that something in this lifetime is related to a past life, then set the intention of receiving greater clarity about that past life or event. If you are looking for a common theme that is running through lifetimes that you need to address or continue with in this lifetime, then state that clearly. Visualize yourself going back in time through past lives and your time in the spirit world.
As you walk into the labyrinth towards the centre, be aware of all thoughts, insights, images, and sensations that come to you. Observe what is presenting itself to you. Allow these to develop without judgement. Judging can often halt the development of an insight, so remain as an observer until you have exited the walk and are reflecting on your experiences. Become aware of every thought, feeling, sensation, sound, and image that comes to you. Observe what you are experiencing, again without judgement. Avoid getting caught up in interpreting what you are receiving during the walk, as you may block additional information from coming through. If memories of past lives come to you during the walk, just allow the memory to flow until it reaches its natural end.
When doing this for the first time, you may have excessive expectations that are hindering access to quieting your mind, which is needed to allow past life memories to be revealed. Doing a first labyrinth walk just to quieten the mind, and following it immediately with the walk in this exercise, can help bring greater depth and clarity to this exercise. Insights received on this walk may not be obvious. Take note of anyone who comes to mind when you are walking. There is a strong possibility that someone from this lifetime who comes to mind during this walk was with you in a past lifetime. Every thought that comes to you on this walk may be a clue to a past life experience.
When you reach the centre, rest there in the centre of all of existence. You have returned to Divine Source to experience your point of origin. Allow whatever presents itself to you to penetrate your whole being. Remain in this space for as long as you feel necessary before you begin your journey back out through the labyrinth, through your soul’s journey to where you are now.
As you walk out see how you have travelled as a soul. Seek guidance as to what brought you to where you are now on your journey. Allow insights to present themselves to you, particularly those that shed light on your purpose in this lifetime.
When you have finished your walk, write down everything you experienced. Describe in detail what came to you. Do not stop to interpret, just write everything down first until you have fully described your experiences. If possible leave generous spaces between paragraphs, as you will be interpreting these experiences later. Next, go back over your experiences and write down your emotions and thoughts for each significant event revealed to you. Then write down everybody who came to mind during the walk. Keep writing until you have nothing left to put down on paper.
Don’t worry if you have not had any new revelations or insights. This, too, is an insight. So, consider how this might be part of your soul’s journey and where you go from here.
Reflection
When you have finished writing, take a few quiet moments to contemplate what arose for you. These moments are to let whatever thoughts, feelings, and insights that came to you during the walk to settle in your conscious mind. This is a time to be quiet and just allow yourself a few special moments to be with your thoughts of your past lives.
Look back at the emotions that arose for you during the walk. Sometimes the emotion is the easiest way to get access to past life information. If you did not get any clear images or insights into a specific past life, every emotion that you experienced could be a clue or doorway to finding out more. As you consider what you have written about the emotions, keep your mind as clear as possible. Without judgement, allow whatever thoughts that come to mind to flow. If someone from this lifetime came to mind during the walk, take note of the context in which this person came to mind, and if you were thinking or feeling anything specific at the time. You may have had a different close relationship in your past lives, and may have come back together at this time to address some leftover issues, or to continue what you started in a previous lifetime.
When you have done all this, see if you can interpret what you have experienced. How does what you went through impact where you are now? What insights did you get about what you must do now in this lifetime? Consider individual events and the walk as a whole, and even tie in with other events and experiences that appear to you to be related. If you can identify a connection to a previous existence, then consider what the relevance of this is for you. All your past life experiences and recollections are significant. The ones that are revealed to you in this lifetime are almost always to bring healing to some situation and insight into some behaviour. Be grateful for any remembrances, as they are stepping stones to greater things.
This is a deep exercise, and one during which the mind can sometimes play tricks on you. It is often beneficial to repeat this exercise.