Remembering places...

When I first went to Paris in 1993 I felt like I was coming home, despite arriving under difficult circumstances that could have given me an initial bad feeling! At first I thought it was just the excitement of a new city, visiting a place I've always wanted to go, but I've travelled a lot since then and I've been back to Paris five times since and I love it dearly. I could just have easily been disappointed by the reality of Paris having dreamed about going for years.

My Dad has the same feeling for Parisand he was a French teacher. I was good at French at school and always regret not having continued. French feels like a language I knew and then forgot. I hear it and it feels like I know what it means but my mind has gone blank like when you go to introduce people and their names all disappear from your mind. 

The other place I get a similar feel for is Greece. As a teenager I was very drawn to stories set in Greece and took Ancient History precisely for this reason. My sister, a historian, specialised in the archaeology of Ancient Greece. When I first went to Athens for Christmas 2003/4 parts of the main city felt very familiar. I went back with my sister in April and it just felt right being there with her.

And England, well I always felt at home here, especially in the south west. But then that could be ancestral memory as I'm from a vast tree of English ancestry with a few branches of Scottish and Irish and a big bower of French.

And other places, well Amsterdam but that is simply such a fantastic city and it was summery when I went! And I feel a strong pull towards South America, especially Peru.

I haven't proved to myself adequately any previous lives in these places (there's the scientist part again!) but from the various clues I have from people that are close to me, like my family, things we all love, strong attraction to a few people I've met, places I love, and a feeling in my heart, I think that I'm on the right track. 

Re: Remembering places...

You certainly are the world traveler, Cat.. :)

And the French connection does seem very strong!  It would be interesting to see what some regression therapy had to tell.

Re: Remembering places...

The French thing FEELS really strong. My Dad feels a connection, although doesn't believe in reincarnation and I'm close to my dad (and all my family), but no one else in the family really 'gets' the feeling we have for Paris. It's just another nice European city to them.

When I started reading the book on Cathars and reincarnation I got a sudden rush of emotion or something when I was reading the descriptions of the countryside and the beliefs of the Cathars. So maybe something there too.

Lots of synchronicity and cool things happen when I go to France.

Re: Remembering places...

Great Pod, and your stories are fascinating. I have always had an obsession with Great Britian. I have looked at pictures that made me feel a strong sense of homesickness. Although I have been to England, at the time i was unable to do any real exploring because I had my small children with me at the time. I do have Irish roots, having a great great grandfather who was born in county cork. I attended one of Brian Weiss seminars and during that seminar when he did a regression saw myself in medieval dress. With me was a man who I had been involved with in this life, at that time he was getting married, to someone else. And in this life he was married to another and cheating and lying to cover it.
When we were to share with the person sitting next to us, the woman beside me said she saw me at a wedding. Imagine that! I believe in reincarnation and have bookmarked your site about it so I can read it when I have more time. Right now, sleep calls with an early work schedule tomorrow.
Namaste,
Kate

Re: Remembering places...

I often go to new places 'looking' for memories that might be there, trying to 'feel' whether I have been there before in a past life. I try to be aware of anything like goose bumps, strange emotional reactions, or an ache in my solar plexus.

It has been some time since I found somewhere that gave me that kind of response and I was starting to doubt some of my previous feelings for places like Paris. I've been to so many lovely and fascinating places in the UK but none of them have given me any clues to my past, depite other strong indicators that I have had multiple lives here.

Then, last November, I walked into an old Gallo-Roman amphitheatre in Saintes in the Charente region of France and found a connection. I had a vague feeling of familiarity when I first looked down on the theatre, but I attributed this to watching too many films! However, when I walked across the sandy floor of the amphitheatre I felt a deep sadness and a gentle ache in my solar plexus. I sat there for a while but no images appeared and I couldn't find the source of the sorrow. Was it mine or was I feeling the sadness of the people who had lost their loved ones or lives here?

However, this morning while I was meditating I began to think about the places I had strong connections to. I thought of the amphitheatre and imagined walking through it again. Suddenly I heard a clear voice (my own) say “You were a doctor here. You used to check that people were really dead.” I was overwhelmed with an intense feeling of sadness and regret and found myself sobbing on my bed. When I stopped, I felt like a weight was lifted from me.

I'd never really thought of doctors working at Roman theatres. I guess I assumed no would would care much what happened to gladitors. But some research today has shown me that in fact it was common, and there have been famous doctors working with gladiators.

I know that in multiple lives I have been a doctor or a healer of sorts, and now I have finally linked one of these lives to a place.

The search continues…

Re: Remembering places...

I've not had an experience recognizing a place where I've been in a past life.  I often recognize people.  But I have a good friend (who does not completely believe in reincarnation)  who visited Paris for the first time a couple of years ago.  She explained to me that the city streets were made like spokes on a wheel.  Forgive me if this makes no sense.  I've never been to Paris.  The point is, she knew instinctively how to get around even though the city where we live is a classic grid.  She told me that she felt as if she had come home, and that she felt very strongly that she should be there.  I told her I believed she had lived there in a past life; maybe many lives which might explain why she felt so comfortable there.