Is This A 'Past Life'?

[JON]

I have had a number of recurring dreams over the years. The most frequent are around this subject:-

It is the late 19th Century. Possibly Germany. I am a man of military rank. And have 'seen' myself in full uniform on several occasions. It is all white, with medals on the left chest.

I have brown hair and eyes. In my 'early years' I am clean shaven. Later on - a moustache. Then, finally, a neatly-trimmed beard. At that point I walk with a silver-topped black cane in my right hand. I have a slight limp. [Some injury sustained in battle?]

In the 'middle' and 'late' dreams time-wise my wife is usually with me. I don't recall children, though. We are sometimes in a open carriage drawn by four horses. With a cavalry escort. Or sometimes boarding a train.

The most worrying dream is this: we are descending some steps in full evening dress. [Possibly from a Theatre or Opera House. I seem to wear medals on my jacket here too!] We are usually talking to others.

Suddenly a man dashes forward with a pistol [or revolver]. There is a struggle between him an another man. The assailant's arm is grabbed. However, a shot has been fired. A woman screams. And I collapse clutching my right side. Someone gently lowers me to the ground. The gunmen is dragged away [by guards, I think] shouting. The last thing I recall before passing out is people crowding around me. And my wife kneeling beside me hysterical.

An Odd Footnote.

On the right side of my body - and this has been noted by GPs and paramedics over the years - is a 'tender' patch of flesh and muscle. This is particulaly acute in one area. Where the bullet 'grazed' me in the dream. I also have a habit of placing my left arm across my lower chest.Spooky, eh?

[Sowelu]

(((Hiya JON!)))

Is This A 'Past Life'?

I suggest that you already know the answer to that question. We often seek confirmation of our intuitive awareness from our "lateral" peers as we dare to grow beyond our previous limitations. And in that spirit I'll offer a resounding YES to your question.

My only caveat would be to say that in truth there is no time, therefore there is a very real "current framework" or NOW- ness to this other life you are so intimately connected with. And your fascination with it, as well as your physical translation evidence (body symptoms) into this particular life... are with purpose.

If you were to travel up your awareness column, that beam of light from your human self awareness all the way up to Source Itself, you would eventually encounter your Greater Self. Like a grand, light-filled, loving and AWARE hub or way-station in this universal paradigm. From that Greater Beingness that You Are... you have both this lifestream you know as JON happening, and the one you dream of from another timeline/era.

Both exist in the NOW (again, when observed from that greater perspective). Both are intimately linked with purpose... and you are the designated "navigator of purpose", destined to explore the relationship. The how and why of that connection. That this relationship is part of your life with purpose is evidenced by the repeated dreams (as well as the body sensitivity in that specific area - all meant to encourage you to question, probe possibilities).

Imagine that in that Hub of Light, your Greater Self level of awareness, you understand so much more than you do here "on the ground" as Jon. Linking this lifestream expressed as Jon with the other lifestream of the distinguished military officer has deep meaning and purpose. The Greater Self desires fulfillment for each of its life expressions. This is why human lives are created, which explore this realm of manifest reality. All experience eventually leads back to Wholeness in Self, return to Source, "coming home", etc. And in that light, or toward that end, we are guided throughout our life when we become lost or get stuck in an energetic pattern that prevents our continuous growth and expansion back to wholeness.

For symbolic reference, anything military in dreams indicates restrictions imposed on the self. A certain rigidity of beliefs, attitudes and/or behaviors is often indicated. Military is a symbol for "masculine aggression". The action-taking authority of self that moves in the world in a particular way.

There is often a focus on "righteousness" and/or "justice" that sees through a distorted lense of "us and them". As a result, military consciousness is likely to "kill off" the enemy, never quite realizing that it is "another one of myself". The self reflected through "other". An alternative to "killing off" would be to "integrate" that aspect back into one's self identity. To realize that any conflict that exists in our lives is one in which we hold "both sides" within.

All conflict exists for growth. One side of any conflict is conscious in us, the "side" we "believe in". The other side, represented by "other", is the secret, dark and denied part of us that we can literally "hate" to see in another. We fight it, deny it as ourselves and seek to destroy it's expression anywhere in the world around us. But again, this does not resolve anything nor bring the conflict to the light of Truth. It merely relegates the conflict back into the dark corners of our psyche to be pulled out or acted out yet again, sometime later (can you feel the link to reincarnation in this sentence? ). So again the alternative is integration. Facing the enemy, so to say, and realizing it is "myself". Humanity's evolution is all about this process right now. And we each have a part to play.

There is a "code of conduct" and even an "honor code" or "moral code" that comes with a military-influenced human character. At one point in human evolution this "warrior creed" was one of the most noble lives to live, and held an exacting standard over the lifestream of the warrior. Untold pain and atrocities were inflicted or experienced through this warrior approach to life, over many centuries.

Most human beings have one or many lives in their Greater Self repertoire that involve the essence of what we call "military" or militantism. These act as "wounds" in the human collective psyche AND soma.

In this time of human evolution, such standards, codes and righteousness are being released en masse in favor of The Truth That Lives in The Heart. This Heart Truth requires no defense, no rules of engagement, no aggression and no strategies or armor. But it does require surrender to it. Something a warrior inevitably finds difficult.

And what is that Truth? That we are ALL ONE. There is ONE life, in myriad form. All life is intimately connected, and all is borne of love. Love is the source of all. Anywhere that we cannot be "in love" is a place where healing is needed. Because the Truth is Love. It is who we are, what we are, and what makes all of life. All evidence to the contrary is illusion and can be (and is being) healed through reconnecting to the Heart.

My own sense is that this is the significance of this other life experience for you in your NOW. You have a part to play in healing the wounds of the collective experience of masculine aggression in this paradigm. The woundedness that produces such patterning can be healed. And in doing so... the fulfillment mentioned can unfold. Each person has their part to play, and each successful exploration and integration of these old energies serves the greater whole, all of mankind.

I offered my view based on my awareness and experience of life here. I do hope you find it useful. Take what works and toss the rest.

Blessings!
Sowelu

[JON]

Good evening, Sowelu, and thank you for your fascinating feedback.

‘Recurring dreams’ are an odd phenomenon. Those that have a ‘coherent narrative’, especially when centred on/around an individual, might appear to have the ‘hallmarks’ of a ’Past Life Experience’. [Some of my previous ‘recurring dream’ postings [focusing on an individual] could also be ‘potential candidates’.]

The ‘recurring dream’ [I have recently posted] concerning the rather macabre ‘murder’ in a Chapel [and its ‘supernatural’ aftermath], surely couldn’t be regarded as a 'Past Life'. Neither could the ‘sequel’ to In Grave Trouble, as it concerns an ‘inanimate object’. In this case, a clock, which [apparently] ‘exists’ in several times or dimensions/planes simultaneously. [Time is a 'relative' concept.]

So, I decided to ‘err on the side of caution’ by titling the posting about the still [as yet] unnamed 'German' gentleman as a question. Especially as I still don't have a specific place or timeframe for him. Unlike another possible 'Life' - Isobel Rochard - who clearly was of 1730s-50s France.

The 'physical effects' I experience Now are a puzzle, especially regarding their location. There have been cases where people have in a 'Past Life' received an injury [or wound], and have a 'mark' [or even 'scar'] in This Life. A book worth reading on Past Lives is Roy Stemmans' Reincarnation: True Stories of Past Lives. Some may say such things are simply coincidence. This is why I am interested to know the views of others. Because, as you say, I am "so intimately connected" with individuals like this man.

German [and Austrian] officers [from the Upper Class/Aristocracy], particularly in the late 19th /early20th Century, were proud of any 'mark of honour' gained in battle/conflict, a duel, or a fencing match. Those gained in the second and third of these were called "Renommierschmiss” ["bragging scar"]. I think "Renommierschmiss” duelling-cults died out by World War Two.

Once weapon used was called a Schlager - a cross between a fencing foil and cavalry sabre. The 'German' in my dreams certainly was ex-cavalry. And his carriage was escorted by cavalry. When on horseback he either had a sabre or ceremonial sword.

Incidentally, on the 'military' aspect, my father served in the Army. In Germany and Cyprus. He also fenced for his regiment. And - I discovered last year, while researching my Family Tree - I do have German ancestry on his side. [And Scottish ancestry, perhaps of Viking origin.] So - a subconcious 'element of suggestion', as well as being 'in the blood' perhaps?

[Sowelu]

Well done.

We are so much more, in truth, than we understand at the limited human awareness level. Indeed, we are everything. Including clocks and other "inanimate objects". There is only One life, in myriad form. Separation is an illusion of the limited mind. And yet each being and thing exists with specific, reflective and meaningful purpose. What is it a reflection of? The One Self.

So... while parsing things out and taking them apart, categorizing and separating them is a particularly enjoyable past time here, and something the human mind found it excelled at... and while it's something we actually came here to do (for a while, anyway)... there is an obtainable grander perspective that unifies everything back into one thing.

I guess it all depends on where you're positioned along that vast spectrum when you take a look at something... that determines just what it is.

Blessings!
Sowelu

[JON]

We are so much more, in truth, than we understand at the limited human awareness level. Indeed, we are everything. Including clocks and other "inanimate objects". There is only One life, in myriad form. Separation is an illusion of the limited mind. And yet each being and thing exists with specific, reflective and meaningful purpose. What is it a reflection of? The One Self.

I believe so. Ovid, in his Metamorphoses, said:-

“In all creation, trust me,
There is no death,…but only change,
And innovation.
What we call birth
Is but a different new beginning… .”

He also speaks of:-

"one continuous song, from nature's first
Remote beginnings, to our modern times...."

At the moment I’m reading Grace Cooke’s The Illumined Ones, in which she discusses her 'Past Lives'. There is some wonderful symbolism, including the Pentacle and Hexagram. The Five-Pointed Star = humans on Earth. The Six-Pointed Star = the "complete union" of light and dark [good and evil, Yin and Yang, etc], physical and spiritual [ie, mortal and divine], and self and selflessness.

So... while passing things out and taking them apart, categorizing and separating them is a particularly enjoyable past time here, and something the human mind found it excelled at... and while it's something we actually came here to do (for a while, anyway)... there is an obtainable grander perspective that unifies everything back into one thing. I guess it all depends on where you're positioned along that vast spectrum when you take a look at something... that determines just what it is.

Sir Isaac Newton showed that 'white light' can be split by a prism into a rainbow. Spectroscopy shows that stars have spectrums, due to the different gases they contain. And I have come across the phrase: 'spectrum of human experience [or existence]'. Life and the universe are wonderous things. And Renaissance artists showed that everything is a 'matter of perspective'. We, in our 'modern world' seem all to ready to 'categorise', 'label', and 'pigeon-hole' things. When we should be celebrating our 'diversity' and 'individuality'... .

[Sowelu]

Indeed, indeed, Jon.

...

(I noticed that somehow as you copied pieces of my post into yours, a word was changed that changes the meaning a bit, so I thought I'd just mention that I did mean "parse", or "parsing"... not "passing"... things out.

Thesaurus words for "parse": analyze, block out, bracket, conjugate, decline, detail, enumerate, hyphenate, inflect, itemize, mark, number, outline, parenthesize, point, punctuate, resolve, scan, schematize

And the irony isn't missed that in making the correction... I am, in a sense, "parsing". Hahaha! Such is this wondrous life, eh? *heehee*)

Many blessings!
Sowelu

[JON]

Sorry about that. My 'newest' Dictionary says

"parse...parses, parsing, passed. Grammar. To assign constituent structure to (a sentence or the words in a sentence) [C16: from Latin pars (orationis) part (of speech)]

I guess that covers all the Thesaurus' words you mention relating to 'syntax', 'grammar', 'sentence structure.' Then there's

"parser. Computing. A program that interprets ordinary language typed into a computer by recognising key words or analysing sentence structure and then translating it into the appropriate machine language."

Say what? Not that the inclusion of decent 'punctuation', 'parentheses', etc, would've helped to clarify the meaning... .

Any more of an English lesson and I might 'parse out' . I prefer the more eloquent French - Le Shrug ... .