Past Life Accounts from Adults… Maybe

While there had been Past Life Regression (PLR) investigations prior to Moody’s popularization of NDEs in 1975 – such as those by Albert de Rochas in the 19th century, A.R. Martin in 1942, and the Bridey Murphy case in 1954 – it is undoubtedly significant that only in post 1975 cases do we find descriptions of intermission states.

Both NDEs and PLR are staples of New Age spiritualities, and indeed all the PLR accounts were generated from within popular therapeutic practices usually associated with such spiritual orientations. Individuals interested in PLR would likely also be interested in NDEs, and the descriptions of their “regressions” were almost certainly influenced by them.

Nor is it a coincidence that the descriptions of each immediate states became increasingly detailed and complex with each PLR study – more systematized, bureaucratized, and merit-based, reaching a zenith in Newton’s two volumes. The other world, he depicts is clearly a white Anglo-American new age fantasy, no less culturally situated than the Buddhist Hindu and Native American themes in the spontaneous cases.

This is not to suggest that the PLR subjects are deliberately inventing stories. The psychiatrist Andrew Powell suggested that regression narratives stem from an uncontrolled “active imagination” drawing upon the archetypes of the collective unconscious. As such, they are objective experiences with an external origin, those filtered through the psychology and emotions of the subjects.

 Whitton suggested that PLR descriptions of intermission states are symbolic of an otherwise ineffable but real experience. This could conceivably account for the similarities and differences with the other extraordinary experiences. That is, as with NDEs the unconscious mind might be using symbols to Express universal experience types informs that makes sense to the experiencer.

However, afterlife skeptics reportedly had PLR experiences consistent with those of believers rather than no experience at all, as would be expected if Whitton were correct. Others expressed disappointment at nothaving they expected, such as meeting Jesus.

A subject’s PLR memories reflect the expectations of their hypnotist, which was actually confirmed by Newton in his second study.

However, between the universally poor quality of research, a lack of evidentially persuasive cases, some evidence of cryptomnesia, and the absurdities of so much of the content, such a hypothesis is unwarranted. While it cannot be stated categorically that they are all subconscious fantasies, most PLR accounts give that impression. 

At the very least, they demonstrate the ways in which subconscious minds of certain 20th century white New Age Anglo Americans model (imaginary) next worlds.

In the afterlife beliefs of most religious traditions in the world, the soul passes through various intermediate states prior to reincarnation, or to reaching the final spiritual home. Such descriptions are conceptually, consistent with a notion of intermission memories. This could support the experiential source hypothesis for spontaneous cases, and perhaps even the PLR cases as well.