The Socratic Lifestyle

“With the silver-tongued wit and intellect that Socrates was famous for, I watched as he swayed the jury to stand in his favor, all with the powerful influence of pure reason.”

When confronted with the notion that past lives could be a reality, the logical mind of the normal individual has a unique tendency to immediately recoil with incredulity in something of a Freudian display of systemic defense. I remember when I was first exposed to this idea, even having considered myself open-minded, I rebelled against it. We are subliminally taught and conditioned through early life to fear the idea of death. I suspect that it is the finality of the subject that makes it so pernicious, so off-putting, so repellant. I remember never being afraid of the pain of death, or the fear of dying at someone else’s hand; but the mere notion of losing control, losing consciousness, acquiescing to the blackness from which I would never return is what terrified me the most.

As I grew, I started to see that there were certain proclivities to which I was subject. I loved knights and swords, pirates, and dinosaurs. All of my favorite things revolved around an undying, unflinching love of history.Looking back, the ferocity with which a child conducts him or herself when they are immersed in their fantasy world is unfathomable to an adult. No activity in which adults engage has that passionate a charge. I believe now as I believed then as a child, that I was only doing what felt right, what no one had to teach me, and certainly what no one had yet discouraged me from — I was living my past lives.

Coming to these conclusions in my early twenties felt quite liberating, but I was still without any proof. Feeling what I like to call an intuitive resonance deep down within me, I was certain that this wasn’t my first incarnation and it will not be my last; but dubious thoughts still lingered. It wasn’t until I started practicing Alchemical Hypnotherapy that my intuition was validated. The following is one of my experiences with Alchemical Past Life Regression, which I hope will shed some light on the subject. It involves a famous personage that I know the reader will recognize. It is important to see that when working with past life journeys, one must not ask themselves if it was real; we must ask if it was relevant, or, did it precipitate a sense of healing?

The point of past life regression is not necessarily to document or chronicle history (although that is possible), but to work toward a sense of relief as the memory relates to the current context of our existence. You will see in the following story that this character might not have been my actual past life, as is often the case with the recollections of famous people, but simply a metaphor presented by my subconscious to most efficiently facilitate the repair of a damaged aspect of my life. The following is a true story.

When utilizing the Alchemical method, the client, which was my role in this case, identifies a presenting problem (or ‘the issue of the moment’, as it comes to be seen), to the therapist, who in this case will remain nameless. The point of which is to have a tangible mission for the alchemy session; a pronounced goal upon which the Higher Self or the subconscious of the client can base its decisions, (More on this in a moment). My presenting problem was something of an aversion to speaking in front of crowds. No matter the size, whether 3 or 300, I remember always being inexplicably terrified of speaking in front of people. A fear of expressing my truth to strangers was articulated after a particularly revelatory pre-induction interview took place just prior to the session. And, we were off.

I’ll omit the details of the past life induction as it is protected knowledge, and we’ll jump right into the memory.

My subconscious was prompted to retrieve a memory that was directly related to my fear of speaking and, naturally, would also prove to be the avenue to my healing from that phobia. It is important to understand that Alchemical Past Life Regression Therapy takes the client back to the actual memory of a life once lived, often deep in the past, to retrieve a part of them that was once lost due to betrayal, murder, or some other significant trauma.All movements through this long repressed memory are done with the utmost grace, as some traumas can be quite perplexing to relive. Luckily, this technology safely guides its clients through to completion, where instant healing which resonates through the aeons can be achieved.

My boat docked somewhere along the shores of the river of time, I disembarked and stood in my new body. As I looked around, my first impulse was to label the environment as ‘Mediterranean’ in nature. I glanced down and noticed leather sandals, a white toga, and what appeared to be the scraggly hairs of an unkempt white beard. Very curious. As I began to move about, I noticed my locomotion was that of a sort of lumbering gate. It was a strange sensation, as I had never, to my knowledge, in my current life walked like this. But, I wasn’t in my current life, was I?

My Higher Self, who always guides the client through past life journeys in Alchemy, was then prompted to take me to the next significant memory from this yet unnamed person’s life. Instantly, I appeared in front of a small band of what looked to be young boys. My surroundings gave off a distinctly Grecian feel, typical Ionic pillars, lush sub-tropical foliage, marble, intricate pottery, a scene of such fetching beauty that, for a brief moment, I was unreachably enchanted. That moment seemed to last an eternity, I was ensconced in a sentiment unlike any I had ever felt. It was as though I was enraptured in the feeling of finally being ‘home’; a home of someone completely apart from myself, but through who’s eyes I gazed. I was amazed to be experiencing such a depth of emotion, and remember feeling a tear caress my cheek as I laid under hypnosis, feeling utterly blessed to be alive in this moment.

I was quickly pulled out of my moment when I heard, out of my own mouth, coming the strangely fluid syllables of the Athenian dialect of Ancient Greek. As soon as the words left my mouth in the memory I remember recognizing instantly that I was lecturing these young boys on the intricacies of the solar system. I knew at that moment who I was — the esteemed scholar and philosopher Socrates. What an amazing realization!

I observed Socrates’ life from within his perception, pausing and living only the most poignant instances in the stream of his conscious memory. As we moved through time, we landed, finally, on the court scene — the memory directly connected to my phobia. We learned from the Arbiter that Socrates was brought up on charges of Impiety and Corrupting the Youth, as his rather progressive views were regarded as threatening to the very conservative ideals of the current Athenian legislation. He was proven guilty and given an extremely difficult sentence — a choice of punishment — voluntary exile from the city-state he loved dearly, the place he called home, or death by suicide, through consumption of the brutal poison, Hemlock.

Socrates, being incredibly faithful and loyal to his identity as an Athenian, chose death before exile in what seemed to be a rather simple decision. I, as Socrates, drank the Hemlock, and felt the awful, burning sensation as it descended into my stomach with the fury of a thousand fires. I watched as my perception left his limp body, strewn lifeless in front of all the onlookers, and ascended out of the courtroom. I then came before the council of guides on the infinite Causal Plane from which all creation generates. My Higher Self, who was in attendance let me express my anger at being silenced in such an awful way, to which I was answered with a question from the Alchemist conducting the session in the outer world. She asked, “how would you want to live this life if you had another chance?”

I answered by first ripping the burning resonance of the Hemlock out of my throat. To my astonishment, this action immediately relieved a deep-seated chronic pain that I carried with me in my neck all through my current life up to that point. With the fervor of having received such a miraculous healing I jumped back into his body, moments before the sentence was handed down, and with the silver-tongued wit and intellect that Socrates was famous for, I watched as he swayed the jury to stand in his favor, all with the powerful influence of pure reason. It was a beautiful sensation, finally being vindicated and winning the court over by appealing to them honestly and peacefully. I watched, as I was prompted by the therapist through direct hypnotic suggestion, to see the final, happy years of the graceful, dignified Socrates’ life unfold before me. He died happily in his bed at a ripe old age, surrounded by his loving family and friends; venerated and celebrated he was.

Again, a tear crossed my cheek as through the ages this new, powerful memory affected my life. I felt a freedom in my throat, a confidence brewing in my voice. I no longer had to live with the pain of having died speaking my truth. I was not afraid to speak any longer — the plague of anxious ineptitude had at once lifted and I had been saved! Saved by amazing process of Alchemy; a technology of healing for which I was then and will always be eternally grateful…

As the session ended, a lovely gift was bequeathed unto me by Socrates’ dear friend and pupil, Plato. He gave me a copy of his text “Crito” which was an account of the last days of Socrates, including an accurate account of the trial. Only this copy was different. This copy contained the new outcome that had so recently been written — Socrates’ triumphant defeat of the charges against him by use of his melodious reason projected from his confident, incisive speaking voice. Appropriately, the gift was recommended to be placed in the area of my throat as a constant reminder to speak my truth no matter who may be watching.

I returned from this session with an amazing zeal and indomitable confidence in my voice. It was proven to me, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that we have all lived past lives, and carry with us pains and reminders that echo through the ages. My fear of death quickly faded too as I realized that there is life after we depart. We do continue on, and best of all, we have a choice over when, where, and how we incarnate upon our return. It is now my ardent belief that we must set our intentions to heal these lesions acquired over time, from our innumerable visits to this earthly plane, if we are to progress here; and, to know there is a solution is the greatest relief of all…