The Past – Transcription
Charles: “I see, us. There is music, a band is playing. It is a long time ago.”
Joyce: “I see it, too. I know the year…it’s 1898. It’s cold here. There’s snow on the ground, there’s people skating on the pond. We are here, but this is not home. We live somewhere else.”
Charles: “I can hear people talking, they are worried about an event, something blew up a very short time ago. It sounds like it happened in Maine.”
Joyce: “No, not IN Maine. It WAS the Maine. An American ship was blown up, many soldiers died. I see us on the ice, we’re skating, but I’m not paying attention to the skating. The news is holding my attention.”
Charles: “I see that. Your mind is not on me, but we continue to skate. But all the men on the shore, they’re talking about the news. I hear ‘Spain’ talked about, many are blaming Spain for the disaster.”
Dr. Grossman: “Charles, Joyce, you are only observers. There is nothing here that can hold you or harm you. There are things to see and learn from. The couple you see that you say is you in this previous life. Do you remember the names you were called then?”
[Silence 52 seconds]
Joyce: “Spet, Spat, Spetti…it is hard to see, to hear. No one is saying our name. I see it is us, but the name is not clear.”
Charles: “Spettig? It is hazy, the image is getting hazy, like there is a fog coming in. The voices are more distant. There is no more.”
[note handed from Abigail Richards from web research. USS Maine exploded and sunk in Havana Harbor, killing 266 men, on February 15th, 1898. Popular opinion – Spain was instrumental in the disaster.]
Dr. Goodman: “Charles and Joyce, you have done exceedingly well. You have learned much, but there is more to learn. Are you willing to continue? You may now answer by voice.”
Charles: “I am willing.”
Joyce: “I…I am willing.”
Dr. Goodman: “These images are coming to guide your awareness of the problem which currently haunts you. Be at peace with the process, accept that it is in your best interest to proceed, but only do so when you feel you are prepared for the next step. Search within yourselves, and choose the next time that will reveal the next step of what must be revealed to you.”
Joyce: “It is April, it is the same year. My beloved and I are at an outdoor café. We are drinking hot chocolate, talking.”
Charles: “We are married. We married in haste. So much going on, so much turmoil. They are calling for soldiers. No. It will tear us apart. Go, don’t go, go. We are arguing. A limp, an old injury as a boy. May keep a man out of service. The war, it is going to be very big. Many are needed, standards for conscription are low.”
Joyce: “Duty to go, nation attacked, evil Spain. Men and women called for. Annie Oakley, rallies for women to serve as well as men. Our ships have isolated Cuba. Must go, our duty.”
[note - April 22, 1898 – the US Navy begins the naval blockade of Cuba.]
Charles: “We continue to argue, to go or not to go.”
Joyce: “It’s fading again, foggy, misty, echoes. It’s gone.”
Dr. Grossman: “You have done very well. You were married, you married in haste, Charles in his previous life wanted to do his patriotic duty, Joyce wanted him to stay home.”
Joyce: “No. Dr. Goodman, that is not right. No. I must go to war. I am the husband. I am the man. It is my duty to go.”
Dr. Grossman: “Joyce, this is as far as we can go today. You do not belong in this time. You are a visitor and observer only. Your former self who wished to join the military is no more, he passed away long ago. These are but echoes of the past and they have no hold on you, though they have lessons. But it is time for both of you to return to the present. When I count to three, I want both of you to speak your special word we spoke of earlier, which will bring you to full present time awareness. You will then remember and be at peace with all you have seen and learned. One, two, three.”
Joyce/Charles: [In unison] “Tinkertoy.”
“Post therapy review posted dictated by Dr. Harvey S. Grossman, in re: Charles and Joyce Baxter. Copies to be posted to file, and Judge Marion Lange c/o City Circuit Court. Subjects Charles and Joyce Baxter participated in what has come to be known as ‘past life regression through hypnosis’. This is admittedly a controversial therapy and was engaged upon first because of a marked lack of success in achieving any understanding of either subject’s aberrant behavior. The potential for violence on the part of the wife of this couple gave further incentive to being open to alternatives to mainstream approaches.
“Using the standard regressive hypnotherapy technique applied to both subjects at the same time, we were able to regress to memories both subjects have that appear to date to two years of age. Using the regression protocol as per Dr. Brian L. Weiss, the subjects appear to have discovered a previous lifetime awareness that both say represented themselves in the early months of the year of 1898. Though both claim a poor recall of American History specifics, they spoke over the course of the session of events that closely parallel the events leading up to the Spanish American War. Specific correlation can be found in the transcription of their therapy session accomplished today.
“Surprising at the time was that the couple envisioned in the shared recall had reverse genders, i.e. Charles Baxter identified the 19th century female as his character, while Joyce Baxter insisted she was the 1898 husband figure. The revelation of believed gender shift was unexpected, so I made the decision to bring the subjects out of their trance until I could do more research on how to more safely navigate these poorly chartered waters.
“The political turmoil of the early stages of the Spanish American War appears instrumental in causing a disagreement between their former selves in that the then husband felt strongly duty bound to enlist in the ranks against Spain, while the then wife repeatedly pleaded for the husband to remain at home. There was mention where the then husband had an injury as a young boy to one of his hips resulting in a limp, and there was disagreement between the two as to whether this would constitute an exemption from military service.
“It appears that, once a lesson that needed to be learned from any one particular time frame was brought out, the scene would fade into a mist or fog, noted by both observing subjects at the same time. Two such locations and lessons were viewed and discussed both during the viewing and with both subjects once they were brought out of their trance.
“According to Dr. Weiss, the goal of past life hypnotic regression is to locate the trauma for the subject in the previous life that has, by whatever mechanism this occurs, extended psychological traumatic effects to the current life. It is not my goal to prove or disprove Dr. Weiss’s theories, nor do I profess to know whether the mechanism of what we are dealing with is truly representing reincarnation, post-hypnotic suggestion, or perhaps cellular memory inheritance. My goal is to use the techniques of Dr. Weiss that have had extensive case studies with positive outcomes and apply them to this case.
“On waking from their trance, both subjects affirmed and proved that they remembered all that transpired during their session today. In my opinion, both appeared calm and retained very good perspective regarding their shared experience. Both subjects appear eager to proceed, but agree that it is wise to take this process in increments for safety’s sake.
“Both subjects will remain living apart until such time as we can demonstrate a positive outcome to the current process. We will repeat the appointment frequency next week, aiming for Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“End transcription, sign and date electronically.”
Dr. Grossman drove home, trying to focus on his driving while compartmentalizing his thoughts on the Baxters, but it was difficult. Fortunately, the drive time was short. Greta was not the demon he had suggested earlier to the ‘subjects’. Indeed, he felt she had scored points for sainthood through her relation
ship with him. Keeping names out of the equation for HIPAA’s sake, he had more than once run case descriptions by her, and there were several success stories that should have had her credited with pulling his old butt out of the fires of ignorance.
So it was this time as well. After reviewing as many details as he could reasonably recall, and he had very good recall, she chewed on the information and gave her special brand of fortune telling to the results.
“It could have almost been expected, the gender change. What you told me about their pass times would fit the picture. That thing about the husband’s upset over someone wearing the same outfit as his at the office Christmas party is telling. Having the woman perpetrate violence on the man is a reverse of the usual as well.
“I suspect that, if this previous life thing is on the level, the former male spouse did violence to the former female spouse. Whether he injured her, killed her, or just scared the bejeezus out of her, I don’t know yet. There’s a good chance it involved the old him choking the old her.
“What’s interesting to me is that the two of them seemed to almost have been led to each other, and their spirits were strongly drawn to each other from the moment they met in this lifetime. The reversal of their genders on this go round is also significant, and probably has meaning for the process of reconciliation they must achieve.
“The biggest thing I can’t fathom, though, is why there is still so much anger from the present day wife, and so much fear on the part of the husband. Even if the former husband murdered the former wife for whatever reason, why is present-day she still not only angry but acting out from it. That’s all I’ve got on this one.”
“Thanks, Greta dear. You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
“That’s nice. Now, think about this. Your present-day wife is straining her eyes with these stupid forty watt bulbs. I’m picking up some seventy-fives tomorrow just so I can read without getting a headache.”
“Greta, Honey, now don’t be hasty. We can move your reading lamp over to the guest room. The walls are white there and they’ll reflect the light much better. You’ll see.”
“I see, and no, I won’t see, because I’m getting those bulbs tomorrow, you miser. See?”
“But Honeeeeey...”
Abigail Richards had a cup of hot cider, a small plate of Graham Crackers with some slices of provolone on the side. Things had gotten very interesting at work today and she was unwilling to let the momentum wait for three more days.
The Net was up, Google was engaged and, so far, nothing of great import had been discovered. There were no references to location she could hone in on, which would have limited her search focus on variations of ‘Spettig’, the name vaguely guessed at by both subjects currently known as Baxter. The date was pretty solid, though.
Google gave her minor hits on individuals by that name involved in the Vietnam conflict and the War for American Independence, but those were really off the context beam. Tying in ‘Spettig’ to ‘1898’ seemed to give a lot of entries in German. Again, the setting belied the language as being likely involved. She even tried the date and ‘ice skating park’, but the vast majority of entries involved Central Park in NY, with the 1898 number happening to be the last four digits of the number to call for information.
Half a fruitless hour later, she gave up and went over her class assignments. Internship or not, homework was eternal.
“Charlie, this is so strange. I mean, I’m glad to have any answer to what’s been going on rather than no answer, but I don’t know how to take this. Are we haunting ourselves?”
“With sex changes, no less. Joyce, I can’t bring myself to tell my relatives about this. I just told Mom that we’re making some progress. Really wish Dad was still alive. He was easier to talk to.”
“I was your husband? Now I’m your wife? I don’t know anything about reincarnation, but isn’t there a Buddhist karma thing where you are supposed to come back to learn something you didn’t learn the first time around? Maybe what we didn’t learn as husband and wife will be easier to pick up on as wife and husband.”
“Something like having a fresh start? But that doesn’t fit. It’s more of a reboot with a new anti-virus program to catch what the old one missed. Maybe. I don’t know. Why not just give us a few centuries of purgatory and call us chastised?”
“Charlie? Maybe this IS our purgatory. I hope we learn whatever it is we’re supposed to fix so we can get back to each other…and not back AT each other.”
“Well, I’ve got room on my hard drive for new input. There’s something I knew back then that I don’t know now. Joyce, you know I can’t ice skate.”
“Did you ever try?”
“Actually…no. Now that you mention it. Lots of people never tried it. Probably doesn’t mean anything, but I’ll put it on the tell-the-doctor list.”
‘”Charlie? Do you want to give up on me? It might be easier for you.”
“No way, Babe. You’re the one and only for me.”
“Even if I might kill you?”’
“Hey, every vice has its potential side effects.”
“CHARLIE!...(giggle).”