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You Have Been Here Before

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...to help you overcome
-- fears and anxieties
-- sexual problems
-- overeating
-- insomnia
-- headaches
-- allergies
-- and other common problems.Reincarnation TherapyIn a deep hypnotic trance, a man tortured by insomnia recalls a life as a marshal in a western town. A sexually frigid woman remembers a tragic life as a slave girl. A man suffering from an inexplicable fear of heights recalls a violent death from a fall during the Middle Ages.Discover the roots of your present-day problems. They might be deep in your past, in another life. Here is the fascinating approach to problem-solving that is changing peoples' belief in reincarnation, life after death, and immortality with challenging evidence that...

242 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

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Edith Fiore

23 books18 followers

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5 stars
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51 (35%)
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12 (8%)
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Kemila Zsange.
Author 8 books5 followers
December 29, 2012
Being a hypnotherapist myself, having read all major books on past life regressions, and having conducted many past life regressions myself, I still found this book intriguing. I got the second hand paperback which was the first edition from 1978. The book looks like a novel, and the stories were no less interesting than any novels - Fascinating stories! That's how I love doing this work. Everybody who walks into your office, old or young, good or not so good looking, male or female, interesting or dull... after being induced into trance, they can all tell fascinating stories with real emotions!

Dr. Edith Fiore had this sincere as-a-matter-of-fact tone in writing these 12 stories. Almost the whole book is transcriptions in dialogue format of the 12 cases. That gives this book a casual tone, and makes it very readable.

Reading these stories might make you wonder why there are no good lives that were recorded. First, good lives don't leave scars into another life that people need to heal with; secondly, let's be honest and look at human history - how many good lives can there be?

However, some people do have good life memories when they just "try out with a past life memory", rather than using it as therapy.

Technically speaking, there's only one thing I found lacking in this book - It's not in the book writing, but in the therapy as past life regression. Dr. Fiore seemed to believe in the school of "Seeing is healing." As long as the patients see the past life, they are healed; which I found, is not completely true. It depends. For those who are ready, insights are enough to move forward without fear or baggage; but in many other cases, it is necessary to do some releasing after experiencing a past life memory, which I found, Dr. Fiore totally ignored, at least in this small book.
Profile Image for Tim Malone.
108 reviews12 followers
July 27, 2013
Some of my regular readers are going to be mad at me. I’m going to argue in this essay the exact opposite position I presented a few weeks ago on Eternal Lives, Past Lives and Reincarnation. In that paper I stated what I would consider to be the orthodox position of most church members. I focused on the idea that we pass through this life but once. That essay opposed reincarnation.

Since I wrote that essay I read two older books from Dr. Edith Fiore. She has published three but I just could not bring myself to read Encounters, which presents fourteen case studies of people who, while under hypnosis, have recalled being abducted by a UFO. I read the reviews and will probably purchase and read the book someday, but come on now. Abducted by aliens, really?

One of the two books is The Unquiet Dead: A Psychologist Treats Spirit Possession. I read this one first although it was written after her original work, also based on clinical case studies, entitled You Have Been Here Before: A Psychologist Looks at Past Lives. The Unquiet Dead is the more popular of her books and benefits from better editing, a glossary and a bibliography.

Church Opposed to Reincarnation

But it’s her first book I want to focus on in this essay. At 185 pages, I read it in less than two days. I was so fascinated I could have completed it in one day but I was already stealing time from work to read it. Balance is a good thing to pursue in this life. You’re going to need balance if you read this book and have never considered the idea of reincarnation or past-life regression.

Like I wrote previously, I’m fairly certain the church’s official position is that there is no such thing as reincarnation. Yes, it’s official. I just found it in Preach My Gospel and you can read a nice argument against it by Spencer Palmer in the I Have a Question section of the August 1989 Ensign. If I remember correctly, Bruce R. McConkie wrote that it was a doctrine of the devil.

Just to state my position clearly, I do not believe in the type of reincarnation that advocates a return to this life in another state, either as a plant or an animal or as an inanimate object. However, I’m going to entertain the theory in the next few paragraphs that perhaps there is something to the idea that we may possibly experience Multiple Mortal Probations. Just maybe.

Convincing Clinical Case Studies

Notice the weasel words I used – perhaps, possibly and maybe. I am not convinced there is such a thing as Multiple Mortal Probations, but after reading the amazing case studies, I am scratching my head looking for explanations to fit this into what I already know and believe. I don’t read many suspense or horror stories, but the best is in this book – “I know what’s behind that door!”

How can you argue with recorded clinical case studies? Some of the individuals who participated with Dr. Fiore in these past-life regressions said they didn’t believe in reincarnation but could not deny what had happened to them. I have an explanation I’ll offer in a minute but it’s unorthodox. It combines what I have read in The Unquiet Dead with Mel Fish’s From Darkness Into Light.

You Have Been Here Before is a reprint of an earlier edition of Dr. Fiore’s groundbreaking work. It contains all the original typos, grammatical errors and formatting issues. It also contains the enthusiasm, excitement and amazement that Dr. Fiore experienced with her patients as together they discovered and documented the new breakthrough modality of past life regression therapy.

My Theory Explaining Past Lives

Here’s my explanation of how this works. It’s all theory and it’s all mine, so you can criticize it all you want. I throw it out there as a way of making sense of something that goes against all I have ever been taught and believed about the purpose of life – a one-shot, single pass-through experience. It has to do with spirit attachments, another controversial area that draws criticism.

As I read these case studies of past life regression, I kept thinking to myself, “whose past life are they now entering?” Dr. Fiore contends they are past lives of the individual patients themselves. I propose that the past lives being explored belong to spirit attachments that have been with the patients for a long time, perhaps their entire life. You can read more of this in The Unquiet Dead.

Dr. Fiore herself intimates in The Unquiet Dead that maybe hypnosis and past life regression is really a conversation with an attached spirit, not with the subconscious of the patient presenting itself in a previous mortal probation. She first wondered if they were multiple personalities but later came to recognize they were in fact, separate individuals embodied within her patients.

We Come Here to Learn

Now here comes the argument in favor of Multiple Mortal Probations. Note that I don’t call it reincarnation. I don’t want to confuse MMP with what some people believe that we can come back as a rock or tree. That just doesn’t fly for me. But as I read the case studies in Dr. Fiore’s first book, I found myself getting excited about the idea that maybe this does makes sense.

What about an individual who came to earth in the middle ages, had no education or prospects for advancement but simply lived day to day, hand to mouth, with little thought of anything else? What if this individual made a mistake, chose a foolish course of action that got her killed and did not accomplish anything with her life? Could she be given another chance another time?

This exact scenario is presented in Dr. Fiore’s book through one of her patients who had suffered from terrible headaches for the past seven years. A past-life regression through hypnosis revealed that the headaches were the result of being clubbed to death in a past life. You’ll have to read the story to understand why it made sense that her current headaches were related to her past-life.

Neither Heaven nor Hell

In any event, it made sense when I considered The Doctrine of Eternal Lives, which is presented in a book of the same name. I had rejected the idea the first time I read the book. I continued to reject the idea when I visited the topic again earlier this year and got such a tremendous amount of helpful feedback from so many of you. Now, with Dr. Fiore’s books, I’m considering it more.

Now before you come unglued and accuse me of blaspheme, remember I have offered a theory that explains how these patients and Dr. Fiore may have made a mistaken assumption in the research she was doing. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. The past lives that the patients found in hypnosis were not their own, but the past lives of other spirits that had lived and died.

I estimate that less than ten percent of members of the LDS church believe that spirits can hang around after they have died. We are taught to believe that we either go to the light of paradise or are sucked down into spirit prison by the chains of darkness which bind us in this life. But I have had too many witnesses to disbelieve there are some who die who go to neither place right away.

Spirit World Still Holds Secrets

The bottom line for me is that I have my alternative explanation to explain past-life regression therapy and now I think I have a clearer picture of the possibility that Multiple Mortal Probation may in fact be something that might be part of God’s plan. I know that’s a bold statement. I don’t believe that one can come back to experience an additional mortal probation after resurrection.

If you read the case studies closely, you’ll note that the patients reported in their hypnotic state after viewing their death in a past life, they were met by escorts who helped them understand what they had learned. Some were ready to begin the next mortal experience immediately, others needed a few years to adjust and decide if they wanted to try it again and do better this time.

Some of her patients had many past lives, some just a few, some only one and some none. It seemed that it all depended on what they had learned and if they were ready for the next step in their eternal progression – to go to the light and prepare for resurrection. There is so much we don’t know about how the spirit world works. Some of these things are only revealed by angels.

An Invitation to Dialog

Has anyone else read Dr. Fiore’s books? If you would like to meet her, you can watch excerpts of two videos on Thinking Allowed. I’m fairly certain I’ll be purchasing the full DVDs. In the end, acceptance or disbelief in the possibility of Multiple Mortal Probation is not central to the purpose of this life. What’s important is how we live here and now and how we bless others.

As Denver Snuffer wrote on his blog, “…whether true or not, it does not change a single thing about your life now. You have a challenge before you which can only be met by keeping every requirement established by the Lord for your redemption now. I fear those who are most enamored by this teaching are only distracted by it.

“They speculate about their own past history (or histories), and don’t realize their present life is slipping into history without adequate attention being given to the moment-to-moment responsibilities we are called upon to meet every second of this life. … even if you decide there is truth in it, nothing should change. … you have a challenge to live your life well NOW.”

Source: http://latterdaycommentary.com/2013/0...
Profile Image for Rebecca Walling.
11 reviews2 followers
January 21, 2024
This can be an interesting first jump into researching past lives or past life regression therapy, but overall as someone who has read a lot on the subject, this wasn’t the best. It’s quite repetitive in some aspects and could have been edited down to remove most of the hypnotizing techniques during the transcripts of the sessions. Dr. Fiore is also not very likable as a narrator, making it difficult to connect to the work. Her descriptions of her patients are harsh and judgmental, and sometimes jarring as she is positing herself in most sessions as a nonjudgmental entity. Beyond that, most of these studies took place in 1977, so some of the issues the female patients struggle with are seen as past life traumas rather than, for example, your partner tried to force himself on you & maybe that’s why you don’t trust him. In all, it’s an interesting and quick read, but not in depth enough for my personal tastes.
Profile Image for Katsu.
116 reviews14 followers
May 6, 2017
Really interesting book which author do not claim to be sure reincarnation exists. She has pretty scientific approach to this problems.
This title consist of stories from past lives regressions, which are really interesting, but often depressing and touching. As world may look very pessimistic it's worth noticing that this are stories of people who wanted to get rid of their problems, so it's understandable positive events are not the one causing problems.
It wasn't enough for me thought, made me want to read more books about our subconsciousness.
Profile Image for Allison.
391 reviews111 followers
September 12, 2013
In the past month I've read three books by Dr. Brian Weiss, and became fascinated with regression therapy. Weiss recommended this title for further reading.

Edith Fiore's book is essentially a collection of case studies. Each chapter begins with a short description of a patient and the issues they want to address through regression therapy (aka past life hypnosis). Transcripts of these sessions are included, which makes this book very easy to read. Whether or not the patient believed in past lives before engaging in this treatment, they all felt changed by what they experienced.

I prefer Dr. Weiss' books because they offer more insight about spirituality and the nature of the soul. In some ways, Dr. Fiore's book is more scientific because she merely recounts the problems, the treatment, and the results without adding larger spiritual lessons. You might even finish this book and believe that her patients made these things up, having elaborate and ultimately cathartic dreams while under hypnosis, instead of genuine past life experiences. Either way, this stuff is fascinating, and I'd pass this along to skeptics for an easy introduction.
Profile Image for L.L..
1,137 reviews22 followers
January 20, 2013
Bardzo brutalna książka. Znaczy się po tych sesjach możnaby wnioskować że wszędzie pełno przemocy seksualnej itp... i w sumie to może rzeczywiście tak się dzieje na przestrzeni wieków.
Ogólnie co mogę powiedzieć... wypatruję jakichś różnic między tym czego dowiadują się terapeuci przeprowadzający regresję, czegoś co wprowadzałoby wątpliwości :> Ale muszę powiedzieć, że trzecia książka o reinkarnacji (tzn. trzeciego autora) i nie znajduję niczego takiego, przeciwnie - choć każdy zabiera się do tego trochę inaczej, wnioski nie wykluczają się tylko raczej potwierdzają.
Tutaj mamy np. fragment gdzie pacjentka opowiada że spotyka matkę, która jej mówi że teraz tak nie wygląda ale musi się przyzwyczaić (czyli jak w książkach Newtona - dusze przybierają określoną postać witając swoich bliskich dla ich komfortu).
Jest też coś o "powrocie do domu" - tzn. dusze tak to odbierają.
Profile Image for Annette.
403 reviews8 followers
April 26, 2016
En definitiva si el tiempo es infinito al menos para una sola vida en la tierra, por qué no regresar?
Si somos tantos y tantos en el mundo, por qué no explorarlo en varias oportunidades.
Por otro lado es trágico que siempre sea tan triste la historia de nuestras vidas pasadas, pero claro las personas llegan al consultorio a solucionar problemas, no alegrías.
EL libro me sigue impulsando a experimentar en mis propias vidas, espero poder experimentar y descubrir quién soy
Profile Image for Maynalg.
29 reviews
February 14, 2008
True, I was rather young when I read this book (about 12 or 13), BUT it rattled up a good catholic upbringing by giving me other ideas on the possibilities of what the afterlife could be... Now, Im all messed up... in a good way perhaps?
Profile Image for Linda T..
35 reviews
March 2, 2008
I have been fascinated by this subject matter for 40 years! Dr. Fiore's work held me from the beginning to the end... (Oops..I don't think that there is an end!).
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews