Denis Diderot is known as the co-founder, primary contributor and chief editor of the first French encyclopedia, known as the Encyclopédie, which was first published in 1751. It was the first written source attempting to present all knowledge as it was known in that era.
A dramatic example of how souls engineer being reunited with loved ones and associates from prior incarnations involves Ian Stevenson’s Twin Study. Stevenson researched 31 sets of twins (62 people) who remembered past lives in childhood that were validated. In 100 percent of these cases, the twins had close personal relationships in past incarnations. To learn more, please go to:
Larry Sanders as the Reincarnation of Jean-Baptiste d’Alembert
In a session with Kevin Ryerson, Ahtun Re, the spirit being channeled through Kevin who has demonstrated the ability to make past life matches with a high degree of accuracy, affirmed that Larry Sanger was Jean-Baptiste d’Alembert in a past incarnation.
In addition to being an intellectual who contributed to the human fund of knowledge, Jean-Baptiste d’Alembert was also a scholar of music theory. Larry Sanger is an accomplished violinist.
Past Life Talent, Behavior and Abilities: d’Alembert was a founding contributor of the French Encyclopédie, much as Sanger helped found Wikipedia. Both were very involved in music.
Relationships Renewed through Reincarnation: Jean-Baptiste d’Alembert | Larry Sanger reunited with his associate and co creator of Encyclopédie, Denis Diderot, in the persona of Jimmy Wales.
Change of Nationality: Jean-Baptiste d’Alembert was French, while Larry Sanger was born in the United States. Understanding that souls can change nationality, religion and ethnic affiliation from one lifetime to another can help create a more peaceful world, as most conflicts and wars are based on differences in these cultural markers of identity.
Ty Burrell as the Reincarnation of Frankenstein, that is, the Actor Boris Karloff
A fan of ReincarnartionResearch.com wrote to me and proposed that Ty Burrell, an American actor and a star of the comedy show, Modern Family, is the reincarnation of the nineteen-century actor Boris Karloff. In reviewing images of these two actors, I observed a remarkable similarity in facial features. Click on images to enlarge them to appreciate the resemblance in facial architecture or bone structure.
Boris Karloff was actually born in London, England on November 23, 1887. His birth name was William Henry Pratt. Pratt later took on the stage name of Boris Karloff.
Karloff became famous for his role in movies about the fictional character Frankenstein. Karloff’s large forehead established the template for physical images of Frankenstein for movies of the future.
Karloff also took voice roles in animated films and became the Grinch in the children’s television program, Dr. Seuss: How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Boris Karloff was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his accomplishments in cinema. Boris Karloff died on February 2, 1969.
Split Incarnation in the Reincarnation Case of Boris Karloff | Ty Burrell
Ty Burrell was born on August 22, 1967, about year and a half before Boris Karloff died. As such, this is a case of split incarnation, in which a soul expresses itself in two physical incarnations at the same time. Ian Stevenson MD, of the University of Virginia called these “cases with anomalous dates,” as lifetimes overlapped in time.
Though Ty Burrell is best known as a comedic actor, he has also done serious portrayals on Broadway and he has also performed voice roles in many animated films, just as Karloff did the voice of the Grinch.
Change in Nationality: Boris Karloff was born in England, while Ty Burrell was born in the United States. Understanding that souls can incarnate into different religions, ethnic affiliations and nationalities from one lifetime to another can help create a more peaceful world, as most conflicts and wars are based on differences in these cultural markers of identity.
Split Incarnation or Parallel Lives: Ty Burrell was born on August 22, 1967. Boris Karloff died on February 2, 1969. As such, the soul of Karloff | Burrell animated two physical bodies at the same time for about a year and a half.
Baseball Legend David Ortiz, the Reincarnation of Babe Ruth, is Shot
Years ago, David Ortiz was identified as the reincarnation of Babe Ruth. David Ortiz had been in the news in 2019 due to being shot and almost killed in his homeland of the Dominican Republic, in a case of mistaken identity. David’s nickname is “Big Papi,” similar to Ruth’s nickname, “The Bambino.”
Babe Ruth was born in 1895. He began his career with the Boston Red Sox and became American baseball’s ultimate home run hero. Ruth died in 1948.
Babe Ruth Returning to the Boston Red Sox Baseball Team through Reincarnation
David Ortiz was born in 1975 in the Dominican Republic. Like Ruth, he is famous for his ability to hit baseballs out of the ball park. David Ortiz is an All-Star baseball player, much as Ruth was. Interestingly, Ortiz played for the Boston Red Sox, just like Babe Ruth.
Past Life Talent, Behavior and Abilities: The baseball home run ability of Babe Ruth has been replicated in the life of David Ortiz. Both Ruth and Ortiz played for the Boston Red Sox.
Change in Nationality and Race: Babe Ruth was a Caucasian born in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. David Ortiz, a Hispanic, was born in the Dominican Republic of the Caribbean Islands. Understanding that souls can be born in different nations, cultures, religions and ethnic backgrounds from one lifetime to another can help create a more peaceful world, as most wars are based on differences in these cultural markers of identity.
Dodge Brothers and Performance Cars: Flying Automobiles as a Reincarnation Project
The Dodge brothers, Horace and John, were pioneers of the automobile industry in the United States. The started as machinists who provided parts to early car manufacturers, such as Ford, then they founded their own auto company and produced their first car in 1917. The brothers both died of influenza in 1920. Dodge, the company, continues to produce cars to this day and they are known for producing performance cars powered by Hemi engines.
I have always enjoyed driving fast, muscular cars. When I was a teenager, my father bought a Dodge Charger which I loved to drive. In my adult life, Dodge Chargers and Dodge Challengers have been among my favorite cars to rent when I travel.
I own a Pontiac Grand Prix GT, which is a performance car built by General Motors, and I had a Fiat Spyder 2000 fuel injected, double overhead cam, sports car for over 30 years. I could make the tires of my Fiat squeal even in second gear. I had to give up my Spyder when it could not pass California emission standards.
Past Life Connections Renewed through Reincarnation
Reincarnation research shows that souls plan lifetimes to be reunited with loved ones in Earth incarnations. Some of the most convincing evidence involves childhood past life memory cases researched by Ian Stevenson, MD of the University of Virginia.
Stevenson studied 31 sets of twins, who in childhood, remembered past lives in which they had significant past life relationships, which were objectively validated. To review this twin study, please go to:
Knowing that souls plan to reincarnate with loved ones, I wondered whether the Dodge brothers have reincarnated in contemporary times. I have worked with world-famous trance medium Kevin Ryerson on a regular basis since 2001. Kevin channels a spirit being named Ahtun Re, who has demonstrated to me that he can make past life identifications with a high degree of accuracy.
In a session with Kevin, I asked Ahtun Re if the Dodge brothers have reincarnated in contemporary times. Ahtun Re told me that they have returned to life in Eastern Europe and were developing a flying car. With a little research, it appeared that the best candidates were Jaraj Vaculik and Stefan Klein of Slovakia, a country that was part of Yugoslavia before member countries declared their independence after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Jaraj Vaculik and Stefan Klein have founded the company AeroMobile, a company developing and manufacturing flying automobiles.
In a subsequent session with Kevin Ryerson, Ahtun Re affirmed that the Dodge brothers have reincarnated as Jaraj Vaculik and Stefan Klein.
Past Life Talent, Behavior and Abilities: The Dodge brothers were pioneers in the American automobile industry and Jaraj Vaculik and Stefan Klein are leaders in the emerging field of flying cars.
Change of Nationality: The Dodge brothers were born in the United States, while Juraj Vaculik and Stefan Klein are Slovakian. Understanding that souls can change religion, nationality and ethnic affiliation from one lifetime to another can help create a more peaceful world, as most conflicts and wars are based on differences in these cultural markers of identity.
Denis Diderot Founds the French Encyclopedie and Becomes the Librarian to Russian Empress Catherine II
Denis Diderot is best known for serving as the co-founder, primary contributor and chief editor of the first French encyclopedia, known as the Encyclopédie, which was established in 1751.
The Encyclopédie was controversial as it was secular and in articles, the veracity of Bible miracles were questioned. As a result, some of the writers of articles were persecuted and even jailed. The Encyclopédie was banned by the Catholic Church in 1758 and by the French government in 1759.
Diderot became despondent about the project and he suffered financial hardships. In 1766, after the Empress of Russia, Catherine II, heard about Diderot’s woes, she paid him to be her librarian, which he did until the end of his life. Diderot died in 1784.
Jimmy Wales Founds Wikipedia and Describes Staff as Librarians
Jimmy Wales was born on August 7, 1966 in Huntsville, Alabama in the United States. On January 15, 2001, with Larry Sanger and others, Wales launched Wikipedia—a free, open content encyclopedia. In doing so, Wales mirrored Diderot’s establishment of Encyclopédie.
Wikipedia has become the world’s largest encyclopedia. As a result, Time magazine, in 2006, named Wales as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in the World.”
I often use Wikipedia in my articles and I recently made a monetary donation. Jimmy Wales often sends Wikipedia fundraising messages and in an email he sent in September 2019, he related that Wikipedia is made up of librarians, which echoes his role as the librarian of Empress Catherine II of Russia, over 200 years ago.
Change of Nationality: Denis Diderot was born in France, while Wales was born in the United States. Understanding that religion, nationality and ethnic affiliation can change from one lifetime to another through reincarnation can help make the world a more peaceful place, as most conflict and wars are based on differences in these cultural markers of identity.
Phil Collins is a world-famous English musician. After playing drums and singing for the group Genesis, he went onto a very successful solo career.
Phil has a very unusual passion for a musician born in the United Kingdom. He has an avid interest in the Battle of the Alamo, which took place in 1866. The Alamo was an American fort in Texas that the Mexican Army attacked, as Texans were claiming independence from Mexico, which had colonized that land.
Collins has a vast collection of artifacts from the Alamo and he has done presentations on the battle. Collins donated his collection to the State of Texas. In gratitude, in 2015, the state legislature made Collins an honorary citizen of Texas.
Phil Collins affinity for the Battle of the Alamo, which makes no sense logically, begs the question of whether Collins was there, at the Alamo, in a past lifetime.
A supporter of ReincarnationResearch.com proposed that Collins was James Bowie in a past lifetime, who was a major player in the Battle of the Alamo. Bowie has fame for a knife he wielded, now known as the Bowie knife.
In a session with Kevin Ryerson, Ahtun Re, a spirit guide channeled by trance medium Kevin Ryerson, who has demonstrated the ability to make past life matches with a high degree of accuracy, confirmed that Phil Collins was James Bowie in a past lifetime.
Change in Nationality though Reincarnation: James Bowie was born in the United States, while Phil Collins was born in the United Kingdom. knowledge that souls can change nationality, religion and ethnic affiliation from one lifetime to another can help create a more peaceful world.
Past Life Behavior: With his obsession with the Alamo, Phil Collins appears to be reliving his life as James Bowie.
Affinity Reincarnation Case: Oftentimes, individuals are unconsciously attracted to their past life identities. Other affinity reincarnation cases include:
One day, while on the Internet, I stumbled upon an image of Hazel Scott. I noted a rather uncanny resemblance between Scott and Beyoncé. Upon reading a biography of Scott, I noticed that she shared many talents with Beyoncé. Subsequently, in a session with world renown trance medium Kevin Ryerson, Ahtun Re, a spirit guide channeled through Kevin who has demonstrated the ability to make past life matches with a high degree of accuracy, affirmed that Beyoncé is the reincarnation of Scott.
Hazel Dorothy Scott was born on June 11, 1920 in Trinidad, a Caribbean island just north of Venezuela. She was a musical prodigy and to develop her talent, Hazel’s mother took her to New York City when she was 4 years old. Starting at the age of 8, Hazel was awarded scholarships to study music at the famed Julliard School.
In her career as a singer, Hazel became one of the most recognized, celebrated and wealthy musicians of her era. She was the first woman of color to have her own television show in the United States.
Hazel married Adam Clayton Powell, Jr, a Baptist minister in Harlem, New York City, who also became a US Congressman.
At the age of 61, Hazel Scott died of cancer on October 2, 1981, in Manhattan.
Hazel Scott Reincarnates as Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter was born on September 4, 1981, about a month before Hazel Scott died. As such, this represents a case of split incarnation, a reincarnation case in which a soul inhabits two human bodies at one time. Ian Stevenson, MD, of the University of Virginia termed these “cases with anomalous dates,” as lifetimes overlapped.
Beyoncé was also a child prodigy singer and musician. She has sold over 100 million records and has won 23 Grammy Award.
Jay-Z as the Reincarnation of Hazel Scott’s Husband, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr
Beyonce’s husband is the ground breaking rapper Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Corey Carter. Oftentimes, married couples reincarnate together, so it was natural to wonder if Jay-Z is the reincarnation of Hazel Scott’s husband, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Though I noted a physical resemblance between Jay-Z and Powell, their talents and life paths seemed different.
Powell was a Baptist minister with no background in music that I could find through online resources, while Jay-Z is a world-famous rapper, musician and music producer. On the other hand, Powell was a Baptist pastor in Harlem, New York City. As such, his role as the church’s minister must have involved a great deal of music and singing.
Ahtun Re affirmed that Jay-Z is the reincarnation of Hazel Scott’s husband, Adam Clayton Powell. When I pointed out the discrepancy between the talents and careers of Powell and Jay-Z, Ahtun Re noted that rap is about rhythms of the spoken word and that Baptist preachers also are known for this ability.
Physical Resemblance in Reincarnation Cases: There is a striking resemblance between Hazel Scott and Beyoncé. There is also a similarity in the facial features between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr and Jay-Z.
Past Life Talent and Abilities: Hazel Scott was a child prodigy musician and singer, as is Beyoncé. Adam Clayton Powell was a renowned minister, who used the spoken word in rhythm, much like the rapper Jay-Z.
Hazel Scott was married to Adam Clayton Powell, who has reappeared in Beyonce’s life in the persona of Jay-Z.
Split Incarnation: Beyoncé was born a month before Hazel Scott died. As such, this is a case of split incarnation, where a soul inhabits more than one human body at a time. Ian Stevenson, MD of the University of Virginia called these “cases with anomalous dates,” as lifetimes overlapped in time.
My Australian friend and colleague, psychologist Terry Oleson, PhD, proposed that English biologist and parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrake, PhD may be the reincarnation of the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.
That past life match never occurred to me, but upon reading about the two and comparing facial features, It seemed to me to be an accurate reincarnation match.
Subsequently, on August 2, 2019, I had a session with world-famous trance medium Kevin Ryerson, who channels a spirit guide or spirit being named Ahtun Re. I have worked with Kevin regularly since 2001 and Ahtun Re has demonstrated to me the ability to make past life matches with a high degree of accuracy.
Ahtun Re affirmed that Rupert Sheldrake is the reincarnation of Immanuel Kant.
Immanuel Kant, Intuition and Telepathy
Kant was born on April 22, 1714. His primary thesis was that the mind shapes experience and reality. He also forwarded that intuition can provide accurate information independent of objective observation or reason. Kant’s idea of intuition is consistent with telepathy.
Kant died on February 12,1804.
Rupert Sheldrake, Morphic Resonance, Intuition and Telepathy
Rupert Sheldrake was born in England on June 28, 1942, about 140 years after Kant died. Sheldrake is a philosopher and a scientist, with an inclination towards parapsychology, which is the study of mental phenomena that cannot be explained by orthodox science.
Intuition is a major research subject of parapsychologists. Recall that intuition was a major interest of Immanuel Kant.
Sheldrake’s primary thesis is that memory is inherit in nature, which creates a collective memory, one that all living creatures can tap into. This collective memory can explain telepathic downloads of information, a process that can explain intuition. Recall that Kant also proposed that information can be downloaded by the mind outside of direct observation.
Sheldrake called the memory inherent in all individual things as “morphic resonance.” The combination of all the morphic resonances of individual things would create collective consciousness. Sheldrake proposed telepathy between living organisms was due to tapping into this collective consciousness.
Note that both Kant’s and Sheldrake’s writings focus heavily on intuition and telepathy.
Change of Nationality and Ethnicity: Kant was German while Sheldrake is English. Understanding that nationality, religion, race and ethnic affiliation can change from one lifetime to another can help create a more peaceful world.
Preface to James McColl’s Book on His Past Life as George S. Patton, by Walter Semkiw, MD
James McColl contacted me a few years ago and shared that he has memories of being United States World War II General George S. Patton.
As reincarnation research has revealed that people can have very similar facial features from one lifetime to another, I asked James to send images of himself to me. I found that as an adult, James is rotund and has a jolly face, quite opposite to the visage of Patton. On the other hand, in a photo taken when James was a child and one when James was in high school and dressed in his ROTC (military cadet) uniform, he looks very much like a young George Patton.
I also asked James what he did for a living, as people generally pursue similar careers from one lifetime to another. He explained that he is a special education teacher. In this capacity, he instructs individuals with various disabilities. This seemed opposite to the type of work that a reincarnated Patton would do.
The Reincarnation Research of Ian Stevenson, MD at the University of Virginia
A primary mission of mine is to disseminate evidence of reincarnation and in particular, the work of Ian Stevenson, MD, as this research can help create a more peaceful world.
Stevenson was an academic psychiatrist at the University of Virginia who, over a period of 40 years, studied young children who had spontaneous past life memories that could be objectively validated. In the series of 2500 children that Ian Stevenson researched, in approximately 1500 of these cases, past life memories were objectively validated. Stevenson’s cases do show that facial features and behavioral traits can remain consistent from one lifetime to another.
In addition, this research demonstrates that souls can change religion, nationality and ethnic affiliation from one lifetime to another. Most wars and conflicts are based on differences in these cultural markers of identity. Understanding that these factors can change from one incarnation to another will lead to a more peaceful world. A powerful example of change in religion and nationality involves:
Reincarnation Case of Anne Frank | Barbro Karlen
Other change of nationality and religion cases can be reviewed at:
In addition to promoting the work of Ian Stevenson, I have worked with trance medium Kevin Ryerson, who has been featured in several of Shirley MacLaine’s books. Kevin channels a spirit being named Ahtun Re who has demonstrated to me that he has the ability to make past life identifications with a high degree of accuracy. I have worked with Kevin and Ahtun Re since 2001 and our findings are found in my books Born Again and Origin of the Soul and the Purpose of Reincarnation.
After James McColl contacted me with his story, I asked Ahtun Re if James is indeed an incarnation of George Patton. Ahtun Re told me that he is, and he encouraged me to work with James.
The Past Life Karma of General George S. Patton
I then asked Ahtun Re if James McColl’s vocation as a special education teacher is related to the famous scene in the movie, Patton, in which George Patton slaps a soldier in a medical tent who was having some sort of mental or emotional breakdown related to the horrors of war. Patton had no sympathy for this soldier, calling him a coward. Ahtun Re confirmed that James became a special education teacher to atone for the karma incurred by Patton in striking and humiliating the mentally disabled soldier.
Split Incarnation in the Patton Reincarnation Cases of James Mattis and James McColl
Reincarnation research, including the work of Ian Stevenson, MD, demonstrates that souls can animate or inhabit more than one human body at a time. I call this phenomenon “split incarnation,” while Stevenson called these “cases with anomalous dates,” as lifetimes overlapped in time.
Knowing this, I also asked Ahtun Re if there was a split of Patton who was pursuing a military career. Ahtun Re told me that this was true and shared that this split was a prominent officer in the US military, though he did not tell me specifically who this person was.
About three years later, President Donald Trump appointed Marine General James Mattis as US Secretary of Defense. When I first saw Mattis on television, I immediately had the intuition that Mattis is the other incarnation of George S. Patton, which Ahtun Re later affirmed. The physical remembrance between Patton and Mattis is striking. View the:
The Past Life Memories of General George S. Patton and James McColl
One of the most common questions that I am asked is: “Why don’t more people remember past lives?” I, in turn, posed this question to Ahtun Re. His answer was that past life memories can be considered as a type of psychic gift.
George Patton had this aptitude. In his well-known poem, Through a Glass, Darkly, Patton describes multiple past lives as a soldier, warrior and killer. Does this mean that the soul of Patton will continue to reincarnate as a soldier? The answer is not necessarily. Leadership can be used for both destructive and constructive purposes.
James McColl has the same psychic gift of recalling past incarnations and in fact, the scope of his past life recall is amazing. In this lifetime, James has been a positive influence on many. Hopefully, in the future, due to lifetimes like that of James, the soul of Patton will look back and reflect through a glass, brightly.
Excerpts from The Past Lives and Reincarnation of General George S. Patton Jr., by James McColl
My earliest memories extend back to a time before my birth. As a preschooler, I could vividly recall these memories of my existence in the spiritual realm, between earthly incarnations, but over the years, they have gradually faded, and now only fragments remain. However, there is one specific pre-birth memory, which I’m able to recall in great detail. This is the memory of choosing my parents.
I recall travelling in the company of another being to observe several families from whom I was to make my selection. The only time I ever saw my paternal grandfather, James E. McColl, was on this occasion. He died shortly afterwards of a heart attack on December 14, 1968, while a patient in the hospital in Marion, South Carolina. I was not born until August 1969.
As a child, I was able to recall details of my life between lives and the preparations for my return to this world. I remember not being in any hurry to return, but knowing I needed to eventually. I also recalled visions of battlefields, destruction and smoldering ruins, and the accompanying feeling of wishing not to return to such scenes.
However, as a child I did not understand this particular memory or its significance. At some point, I became aware of the need for an individual to return to the physical world to perform a mission, which excited me enough to volunteer to go. As a child, although I tried, I never could recall what the mission was for which I had volunteered.
The Christian Upbringing of James McColl Conflicts with His Past Life Memories
I was born in Laurinburg, North Carolina and raised in a Southern Baptist home, so from an early age I was taught that death resulted in either Heaven or Hell with no mention ever of the possibility of returning to life on Earth. It was not until about my fourth-grade year in school that I was exposed to the concept of reincarnation.
My sister mentioned it at supper one evening as a subject she had studied at school in either her geography or world history class. Over the course of the dinner conversation, it was dismissed as a non-Christian belief held largely by the population of India. Long before this conversation, I was aware that I had lived before, but I believed I had only been sent back into this world to perform a mission. I believed my return was an exception and not the rule.
For this reason, I assumed I should never mention what I remembered of the time before my birth. As a child I would occasionally think about the fact that I had made it to Heaven once before, and sometimes wonder if I possibly ran the risk of being condemned to Hell upon my death for any of my actions in my present lifetime. These thoughts contributed to my strong desire to know what happens to a person, at death.
Although I was born in a Southern Baptist home, it was through a combination of my own pre-birth memories, and my mother’s influence, that I came to have a broader view of spiritual matters. Every morning at breakfast, my mother would read aloud the daily horoscope from the newspaper, and my father would often respond by saying that there was no validity to astrology. I still remember how fascinated I was when about the time I was in second grade my mother read to me an article from the newspaper concerning Dr. Raymond Moody and his pioneering research concerning the near-death experience. It was about this same time she told me an elderly man named Percy Covington (1882-1961), from her hometown of Mt. Gilead, North Carolina had used a Ouija board to receive messages from the spirit world.
Among the metaphysical experiences that I had during childhood, one in particular made a lasting impression, because of the unique way in which it occurred. Although I didn’t understand its significance at the time, as an adult I discovered that what I saw that day was a scene from my past life as Lovick William Rochelle Blair, (1821-1882), which was preserved in a photograph. Upon his death, Blair reincarnated as George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945). The following is my account of the experience.
A Child’s Vision of Past Life Memories
One summer day in 1972, when I was about three years old, I had been playing outside in the swing; being a warm sunny day, after a while I felt hot and thirsty. I went inside the house and asked my mother for something to drink. She fixed a bottle of Tang, and I carried it into the den, lay down on the cool linoleum floor, and began drinking it.
As I lay there I gazed up at the walls, and ceiling; and as I relaxed, I observed the details of the horseshoe designs on the light fixture, and the patterns in the grain of the knotty pine paneling. In the background I could hear the antique Ansonia shelf clock; which rested on the mantle, tick tock away the minutes. My focus then shifted to the pictures on the walls. First, my eyes rested upon the large picture, which hung above the back of the sofa; a depiction of a Swiss mountain range. Then I shifted my eyes to the picture on the wall to my left, an Otto Kuhler print Big Mountains, Little Engines. I gazed at it awhile, absorbing its colors and details.
A Painting of a Train Comes to Life
All of a sudden; as I was looking at it, the image came to life, the wheels on the engines began to turn round, and the train began moving down the track; smoke puffing out of its smokestack. The space behind the glass of the picture frame began to fill with the smoke; like a thick fog rolling in, eventually concealing my view of the train. Even at such a young age, I knew I was seeing something out of the ordinary, so with intense interest and curiosity, I continued to watch without moving, or blinking an eye. Then; like fog, it gradually lifted, but what was revealed was no longer a scene of a train passing through the mountains.
The image had transformed into a period room furnished in what, years later, I would recognize as the American Empire style. At first, the room was devoid of people. Then a group, dressed in mid-nineteenth century apparel entered the scene. They gathered around a center table, which stood before a large mahogany secretary bookcase. When everyone was in their place, all movement ceased, and the image froze as if it was a photograph.
I wanted someone else to witness this phenomenon besides myself, so I called for my mother to come see it. I had a feeling these people were my ancestors, and hoped she could identify them for me too. She was in the kitchen, and answered that she was in the middle of doing something, and couldn’t stop at that moment.
Thinking my sister might be in her bedroom, I asked my mother: “Where is Trudy?” She answered saying Trudy had gone to play at the home of her friend Phillip Tucker.
Curious, to see what might happen next, and not wanting to miss anything, I continued to lie there with my attention focused on the picture. Within a few minutes, what appeared like fog, or white smoke, began to form and swirl behind the glass of the frame, until I could no longer see the people assembled around the table. As it swirled, colors began to emerge. When the blurry swirl of colors solidified, I was once again looking at a picture of a train passing through the mountains.
Within seconds, my mother walked into the den and asked, “What do you want me to see?” I tried to describe what happened, but with my limited vocabulary, it was difficult. The best I could do was tell her the picture had changed from a train to a picture of some people dressed in the manner of the characters on the television programs Bonanza and Gunsmoke; the only frame of reference to the Victorian era that I was familiar with at the time.
The image, which had been revealed to me, didn’t seem significant at the time. What impressed me was seeing the picture come to life, and transforming from one scene to another. Briefly, I wondered if all pictures could come alive and transform from one scene to another, when nobody was looking, similar to the way the toys in the movie Toy Story are depicted. Finally, I decided that this phenomenon was unique to the Otto Kuhler print. I believed that it was a magic picture. Over the next few years, I would occasionally sit and watch it for a couple of minutes at a time, hoping that I might see it transform itself again, but it never did.
Throughout childhood, I experienced a phenomenon that for the lack of a better term, I thought of as watching television in my mind, but today I know it is called spontaneous past life recall. During that same time in my childhood, I was having dreams in which I now realize I reexperienced events from multiple past lifetimes. By the time I was a college student, I had begun to read books on near death experience and would occasionally discuss what I had read with my father.
A Longing to Find a Past Life Family
It was during one of our conversations that he suggested that I might enjoy reading about Edgar Cayce. This is how I came to have a better understanding of my childhood experiences, and it, along with the book, Across Time and Death, by Jenny Cockell, reawakened in me the desire to discover my identity in a past life. In the summer of 2002, remembering a promise I had made to myself as a child, that as an adult I would someday find my past life family and let them know that I was alive, I set out to discover my past life identity.
By the end of the summer, I had not had any luck and was beginning to think I never would. Finally, in October, I had an unexpected breakthrough and discovered my identity in a past life. Another few years passed by and one day while browsing in a bookstore I happened to come across a book by the title of How to Uncover Your Past Lives. This book inspired me to continue my search for my identity in additional past life incarnations, ultimately resulting in my discovery of my past life as General George S. Patton Jr.
Childhood Past Life Memories of Being George S. Patton
George S. Patton speaking in Los Angeles
As I began to research the life of General Patton, the first thing I happened to recognize was the film clip of the speech he made in Los Angeles on June 9, 1945. I experienced this exact scene in a vision I had in childhood, as I sat at the dining table one evening waiting for my mother to finish preparing the meal and call the rest of the family to the table for dinner. However, as a child, I did not have any idea as to what it was that I was experiencing/remembering/reliving.
From the vision I remember being introduced by a man that I am now able to identify as General Jimmy Doolittle, and then standing, approaching the microphones and looking out at the large crowd as I spoke. Listening to the speech on YouTube, I believe that General Patton’s voice and my own voice are similar; the difference, perhaps, being the accent, due to Patton being a native of California and the fact I have always lived in the Carolinas.
Past Life Memories of a Ship Attack and Being Splattered with Yellow Paint
As a young adult, I had a dream, which I have discovered, was an experience from General Patton’s life. The dream occurred sometime in the mid to late 1990’s. At that time, I was in my twenties. As the dream began, I was in a small boat or landing craft on a rough and choppy sea. The little boat is being tossed about, and I felt like at any moment I could easily be tossed out of the craft and into the sea. A battle is underway and there are numerous little crafts and large ships. The waters seem almost crowded with them.
George Patton on the left, wearing a helmet, with Admiral Hewitt on the USS Augusta
The little boat I’m on pulls up next to a large ship, and despite the conditions, I’m able to make my way up rope netting on to the ship. A short time later, I’m standing on the deck of the ship, along with a few other men. We were standing next to the rail looking towards the coast, watching the battle. I recall having binoculars, through which I would occasionally observe the action.
As we stood there, we were surprised when a large ship that was moored in the harbor fired a shell directly at us. We had thought that the ship was unable to engage in the battle and thus not a threat. We heard it fire and saw the smoke coming from the mouth of one of its large guns. This was the most frightening part of the dream. I still recall thinking that I was about to be killed when the shell reached its target. There was enough time to think I’m going to die, but not enough time to actually move from where I was standing, between the time the shell was fired and the moment it made impact.
The shell hit the side of the ship, directly below the spot where I was standing. When it did, I was splashed with seawater and what appeared to be bright yellow paint. Thinking that it was going to be my last moment alive, I was surprised and relieved to have been only splattered. A young man approached and offered to help me clean and dry the paint and water off my clothes, but I politely declined and laughed off the mess. Then I proceeded back to my cabin to clean myself up. It is at this point the dream ended and I woke up. I still remember feeling rattled the entire day after awakening from this particular dream. I felt as if I had actually had a close brush with death.
Afterwards, I replayed the dream over and over in my mind, trying to determine why I would have had such a dream. It was such a realistic and detailed dream, except for when the shell exploded and rather than being killed, I was splattered with yellow paint, which seemed to me like something that would occur in a Looney Tunes cartoon.
The only possible answer I found was an experience I had in Navy ROTC when a student in the 9th Grade. I had once gone on a field trip to Patriots Point in Charleston, South Carolina, which is a naval and maritime museum that features two actual World War II era ships; the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown and the destroyer USS Laffey. The ship upon which I was standing in my dream when I thought I was about to die reminded me of the USS Laffey.
As I was researching General Patton, I was surprised to discover that this was an actual experience from his life. It occurred on November 8, 1942 as General Patton’s troops were making an amphibious assault on Northern Africa. General Patton was standing on the deck of the USS Augusta when the French ship, Jean Bart, fired upon it, resulting in Patton being splattered with yellow paint. France at that point in time was not part of Western Alliance
Past Life Memories of Slapping Soldiers
General Patton’s career was almost brought to an end by two slapping incidents that occurred in August 1943 during the Sicily campaign. For the rest of his life General Patton was haunted by the dark shadow cast by these two incidents where he had lost control of his temper and slapped and verbally abused two soldiers, who were suffering from battle fatigue. It wasn’t until after I discovered my past life as George S. Patton Jr. that I realized I had actually witnessed one of the slapping incidents in a spontaneous past life recall vision I had during my childhood. I experienced the vision sometime between August 1973 and December 1975.
It occurred one day, while I was playing in the kitchen of my parent’s home when we lived in Garner, North Carolina. Instead, of viewing the scene through Patton’s eyes, I experienced it in the third person, as if I was watching television in my mind. Now as an adult, having since seen the slapping incident in the movie Patton, I can say it was portrayed very well, because it closely matched what I experienced in my vision.
At the time I experienced the vision I had no idea I was witnessing an experience from my past life. As a child, I thought I was seeing something that was actually occurring somewhere around the world at that very moment. I failed to realize that it had occurred thirty years earlier. It did not have in any way a historical feel to it.
My father watched the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite every evening and I thought what I had seen might appear on the news that day. As I remember watching the news as a young child, it seemed to me that Walter Cronkite was always talking about Vietnam and Watergate. The images I had seen in my vision were of soldiers, so they matched up in my mind with the scenes of Vietnam I saw on the news. I remember the vision scared me, because the man had been so angry yelling, slapping the soldier and pulling his pistol on the man and threatening to shoot him.
In hindsight, I guess I was allowed to experience it in the third person, since I was a young child and it had been such an intense and frightening scene. I still remember when the vision ended thinking that the man I had seen was extremely angry, and wondered why I had been shown that particular scene.
Based on the consistency of facial architecture from one incarnation to another, I believe my mother is the reincarnation of Annie Wilson, who was the sister of General Patton’s mother. She was like a second mother to Georgie. Annie Wilson died on November 26, 1931 and my mother; Margret Frances Parsons was born December 27, 1937. Notice in particular how closely the shape of the ear carried over in addition to the other facial features, when Annie Wilson reincarnated as Margaret F. Parsons. Kevin Ryerson has confirmed that my mother is the reincarnation of Annie Wilson.
Past Life Talent as a Rifle Marksman
General Patton was known to be a great marksman. Growing up my mother always cautioned me concerning the danger of guns. As I approached the age of twelve, I wanted an air rifle. By then many of my good friends either had, or were getting one. My parents were slow to allow me to have one, thinking I might shoot my eye out, or the neighbor’s window. Finally, I was allowed to purchase one. I was excited when the day arrived.
My father took me to the local K Mart and I bought a Daisy BB and a pellet air rifle. What amazed me was I discovered that I was a better marksman than my friends who had been shooting longer than I had. It seemed to come natural to me. I remember it crossed my mind at the time that perhaps it was a skill I had developed in a past life, maybe as a pioneer in early America when the country was being settled. This was the first times I gave the idea of reincarnation any serious consideration.
A Past Life Dream of an Exploding Lamp in the Life of George Patton
General Pershing and George Patton inspecting troops in the Punitive Expedition in Mexico
One of the parallels between my present life and my past life as General Patton involves a pressurized gasoline lamp. When I was around five or six years old, I had a dream, which I now know was of my experience as Patton during the Punitive Mexican Expedition of 1916. In the dream, I enter a tent. It is dark, so I light a lamp and it explodes in my face and sets myself as well as the tent on fire. I then quickly exit the burning tent and put out the fire.
In my present life I collect antiques and have been doing so since I was in the eighth grade. As a student in high school and college, I enjoyed going to the Florence Flea Market and looking for antiques. On one such trip, I purchased an antique Coleman Quick-Lite gasoline lamp. Shortly afterwards my father and I learned that it could be sent to the Coleman Company and restored to work. We sent it off and it came back with the pump to pressurize it. My father asked me if I wanted the honor of pumping it up and lighting it. I declined and asked him to do it.
The dream did not enter my conscious mind at the time, but I had a fear of the lamp exploding in my face, which kept me from lighting it. Years later when I began to research my past life, I came across Patton’s description of the lamp exploding in his face. I recognized it as matching detail by detail my dream. However when I purchased the lamp and later could not bring myself to light it, I didn’t connect it with the dream. It wasn’t until I read General Patton’s description of the incident that I finally realized it was interconnected. Patton recorded the following details in a letter to his wife.
I came back from the movies and having some work to do I pumped up my lamp and lit it. It did not burn well so I started pumping again while it lit. There was too much gasoline in it so when I stopped pumping a lot of gasoline flew out of the hole instead of air and caught fire. As it came it hit me in the face and got in my hair. I ran outside and put myself out. Then came back and put out the lamp and tent. Then I reported to General Pershing that I was burned and went to the hospital.
James, as a Child, Asks for a Antique Car Resembling One Patton had used in his Mexican Campaign
I have always liked antique automobiles. When I was around three years old, my Grandmother McColl asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I replied a Beverly Hillbillies’ car, which at such a young age was my best description of an old timey car from the early years of the 20th century.
She understood what I wanted and gave me a battery powered Model T styled toy car. I have come to realize that the antique style toy automobile my grandmother gave me resembles the 1915 Dodge touring car in which Patton, on May 14, 1916, led the first motorized attack in the history of US warfare. The incident concluded with the killing of Julio Cárdenas and two of his guards. It also resulted in Patton receiving widespread media attention and earning the good favor of General Pershing.
The Fatal Automobile Accident of Patton Replicated in the Life of James McColl
General Patton’s fatal car accident of December 9, 1945 appears to possess a number of similarities to my own car accident of November 8, 1988. In both cases, the accidents occurred in an identical manner. A truck approaching from the opposite direction made a sudden and unexpected left turn, bringing it directly into the path of the car in which General Patton was a passenger.
Likewise, my accident was caused by a truck approaching from the opposite direction making a sudden and unexpected left turn, bringing it directly into the path of my car. Just as General Patton’s driver had done, I immediately stepped on the brakes, but still collided with the truck. In both cases, the right front fender of the truck struck the front of the car. The front end of General Patton’s 1938 Cadillac was demolished in his accident. Likewise, the front end of my 1968 Falcon was demolished too.
General Patton was not wearing a seatbelt since they were not a standard automotive safety feature until many years later. Patton was thrown forward, struck his head and broke his neck. I was wearing a lap belt without a shoulder strap and was thrown forward striking my head on the windshield, but the lap belt restrained me enough it prevented me from sustaining a serious injury. The impact broke my skin causing it to bleed where my head made contact with the windshield, just as General Patton bled from the head wound he received in his accident.
The impact of the collision pushed the fenders against both of the Falcon’s front doors, so that I was unable to open either of them. This caused me to have to cross over the front seat and exit the car through one of its back doors, similar to General Patton having to be removed from the Cadillac after his accident through one of its back doors. It is interesting to note that the color of the staff car in which General Patton had his fatal accident was army green and my 1968 Falcon was dark green with a white top. The two large white stars painted on Patton’s car correspond with the white color of the top of my car.
Split Incarnation or Parallel Lives: James McColl and James Mattis derive from the same soul, a phenomenon I term “split incarnation” and which Ian Stevenson, MD called “cases with anomalous dates,” as lifetimes overlapped in time. James Mattis was born in 1950, while James McColl was born in 1969, so an overlap of 19 years exists.
Am I a reincarnation of the nineteenth century novelist Mary Ann Evans, who is better known by her pen name, George Eliot? It was 2009 when I discovered this prolific author and I am still on a great adventure sorting through nearly one hundred similarities between us, which seem to point to that conclusion. I do not claim to have George Eliot’s writing talent, but there is no doubt of a writing gift that both of us realized at an early age and developed into our life’s work.
In 2018, Walter Semkiw, MD contacted me after reading my book, Karma Road: Walking Through Time with George Eliot. After a brief interview, he asked my permission to consult famed trance medium, Kevin Ryerson, on my behalf.
In Walter’s session, it was affirmed that I am a reincarnation of George Eliot, and in addition, my husband is a reincarnation of Eliot’s soulmate of 25 years, George Lewes. In fact, Norman has much in common with Lewes including philosophy, authorship and the support role he plays in my life.
In addition to the Ryerson reading, Walter asked me to provide a photograph of myself in the same pose as a photo of George Eliot. Side-by-side comparisons reveal obvious similarities. If the eyes are the window of the soul, one can see that my eyes have the same intense look as Eliot’s. George Eliot’s picture reveals a long nose, graceful neckline and dark hair. My features are much the same.
Even our clothing choices over time have been similar. Looking back at studio photographs taken of me in 1994, I am wearing a Victorian style blouse with a cameo pin at the neck.
Family photos from the 1980s reveal more of the same wardrobe preferences, including my pilgrim collar dress and blouse similar to the ones George Eliot wore. (See the George Eliot statue in Nuneaton Square, UK.)
The Revelation in the Library: An Spirit Orb with a Message
This intriguing story began in 2009 when I took a photograph of the library bookshelf in our bed and breakfast. Enlarging the photo, I found two female faces inside an orb.
Please click on the image in order to view the two women in the orb.
Note: As a point-of-reference, the woman on the right side of the orb appears to have a white object in her mouth. Freda, upon opening the book the orb hovered over, found a what looked like a replica of the women in the orb. Even head postures seemed similar.
The orb was perched atop a particular book with a red spine, George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss (Heritage Club edition, 1963). Floss is the name of a river in England.
Replication of Book Cover Artwork Across Two Lifetimes
The book was unfamiliar to me. Because my husband and I love literature, Mill on the Floss was part of the collection of 15,000 titles that we I had purchased, though neither I or my husband had ever read The Mill on the Floss. Norman had set up the bookshelves when we moved into this house in 1998. This may be why I never noticed The Mill on the Floss before I took that photograph.
I rushed to tell my husband about the strange occurrence. He urged me to read the book—to learn what it might have to teach me. When I returned to the library to retrieve the book, I saw that the cover contained the image of a thatched cottage that was very similar to the cover of a book I had written. (House Blessings, 1997). Click on the book cover images to enlarge them.
The Mill on the Floss Inside Cover
Opening Eliot’s book, I found a painting of two females sitting side-by-side that closely resembled the “faces” in the orb. I consulted an orb expert, Dr. Klaus Heinemann, to learn more about orbs. The Mill on the Floss project I undertook with Dr. Heinemann led to my story being published in Orbs: Their Mission and Messages of Hope (Hay House, 2010).
A Scientific Analysis of Orbs Found in Photographs by NASA and Stanford Physicist Klaus Heinmann PhD
Note: An explanation of why some orbs caught in photographs are considered to be spirit beings can be reviewed at:
George Eliot’s Autobiographical Character in The Mill on the Floss Reflects Freda Chaney’s Life
The back story of my life portrays a simple country upbringing with a desire for furthering my education much like that of the protagonist Maggie in The Mill on the Floss. My life also reflects Eliot’s own in the same way since Maggie is an autobiographical character of Eliot.
I began writing at the age of twelve and studied creative writing and English composition at Otterbein College (now Otterbein University). I earned a divinity degree from the American Institute of Holistic Theology (AIHT) and attended writing workshops at Kenyon College.
My first publication was poetry in a local newspaper and coincidentally, Eliot’s first publication was poetry in a newspaper. I am an avid reader. Among my favorite authors is Ralph Waldo Emerson. I dedicated a poem, The Gathering at Emerson’s in his honor. George Eliot met Emerson when she was a young lady. They shared a carriage ride to Stratford, England along with their influential friends, the Brays.
She told her friend, Sara Hennell, that Emerson was “…the first man I have ever seen.” And of that meeting, Emerson said of Eliot, “That young lady has a calm, serious soul.” In years to come, Emerson checked out Eliot’s books from the Boston Library. Clearly, the two thinkers admired one another’s work. Eliot read and reread the works of Emerson. She was also familiar with Henry David Thoreau, another of my favorite authors.
Norman Chaney as the Reincarnation of George Henry Lewes
My husband, Norman, a university professor of fifty years, also holds Emerson and Thoreau in high esteem. Norman’s book, The Appointed Earth (Amazon, 2017), shares many reflections of the Concord Transcendentalists. Together, as proprietors of The Chaney Manor Bed & Breakfast, Norman and I relish our private time reading and writing together much as Eliot and Lewes had done in the nineteenth century.
George Eliot’s soulmate, George Henry Lewes, is known for his philosophical writings, primarily his book, The Biographical History of Philosophy (1852). Norman also wrote a philosophical book, Six Images of Human Nature (Prentice-Hall, 1990), involving biographical accounts of six great philosophers. Lewes and Norman did not use pen names, but Eliot and I did.
Freda Uses a Male Pen Name, as did Mary Ann Evans
Early in my writing career, I used the pen name of Noel Bleu. George Eliot’s name at birth was Mary Anne Evans, but she used several variations of that name before she chose her nom de plume, George Eliot. Eliot chose to use a male pen name as she felt women authors of the age were not taken seriously. Her only marriage was to John Walter Cross in 1880, taking the name Mary Ann Cross. Oddly enough, my first husband’s name was John Walter.
With mounting clues in the way of synchronicities and a burning desire to know the truth, I consulted with a reputable psychic, Dr. Doris Cohen, author of Repetitions: Past Lives, Life, and Rebirth, (Hay House, 2008) to see if I could learn more about my suspected connection with the Victorian writer. The search deepened after the psychic told me that I was the younger of the sisters in question. In fact, George Eliot was the younger of the two sisters born to Robert and Christiana Evans. Dr. Cohen shared some of her tips for overcoming past life trauma.
After Confirmation by a Psychic, Freda Travels to Her Past Life Home
The revelation that I could be a reincarnation of Eliot stirred me to make connections in England, which is where Eliot lived. I consulted with the George Eliot Fellowship to immerse myself in all things Eliot, and shortly thereafter, I traveled with my husband to England.
Griff House as it is Today
Staying at Eliot’s childhood home, the Griff House (now a Premier Inn and historical site featured in the image to the right), I was able to get a feel for the writer’s daily life at the homestead. I felt oddly at home from the outset. An interesting turn of events occurred when my husband became quite ill and had to be treated at the George Eliot Hospital, just moments from Griff House!
Karma Road: Walking Through Time with George Eliot
Soon after my trip to the Midlands of England, I began developing a book about the parallels between Eliot and me. The story was almost writing itself as I unfolded each of the similarities. I collected facts from Marghanita Laski’s biography, George Eliot (Thames and Hudson, 1973) and numerous other references I could get my hands on. Out of curiosity, I did a genealogy search. I learned that my maternal great-grandmother had married a man whose last name was the same as the novelist’s surname, Evans. Was this a connection?
Altogether, I found nearly one hundred parallels, recording seventy of them in my nonfiction book, Karma Road: Walking Through Time with George Eliot, (Amazon, 2015). The title sold well, brought speaking engagements, and was endorsed by The Science Behind Law of Attraction magazine as a “Must Read Book.”
Although my book was published, the synchronicities continued. The more I searched, the more baffled I became. One day as my husband and I were shopping in a second hand store, I saw a set of matching numbered volumes on a low shelf. I reached for one of the books and opened it to find Eliot’s poem The Choir Invisible. I bought the set, and upon arriving home, I began to search through the contents pages of each book. I learned that there was only one poem in the entire set of books that was written by George Eliot. What were the odds of me choosing the exact book from that store shelf, and opening to the exact page to find Eliot’s poem?
On another occasion, while traveling in Amherst, Massachusetts, my husband and I stopped to tour the Emily Dickinson homestead. I had always been intrigued by the recluse poet. The tour guide led us to Emily’s bedroom on the second floor. As soon as I entered the room, I saw a portrait of George Eliot on the wall! We watched a video that revealed Emily Dickinson was a fan of George Eliot. The Dickinson family library had contained some of her novels.
The continuing Eliot synchronicities involved other family members as well. My daughter, Vicki, presented me with a leather-bound collection of George Eliot’s books that she had found while on vacation. I saw that the embossed initials on the front cover appeared to be mine! The initials are GE, but in the Old English font initials laid one over another, they look like FC!
Astley Castle
In 2015 I returned to England with my daughter to present my book, Karma Road, at the inaugural Writers in Warwickshire Festival at Astley Castle. We stayed at the Griff House. For me, it was like returning home. We were given a tour of the attic (now private quarters for the hotel manager’s family) where Eliot played during her childhood. This attic is mentioned as Maggie’s retreat in The Mill on the Floss.
More Gems from the Past Life Parallels List
Below are additional similarities between Eliot and me from the Appendix of Karma Road.
ART/MUSIC: Eliot loved the common, even in paintings. Her favorite were the Dutch painters. Similarly, my favorite painter is Johannes Vermeer. I am drawn to the common in Dutch country scenes. Eliot owned a mahogany grand piano. She played quite well, and enjoyed going to concerts and theater. Eliot was friends with composers Liszt and Wagner. My husband and I have owned a mahogany parlor grand piano since 1996. We attend concerts and theater together. Both Eliot and I have experienced music soul deep.
George Eliot’s grand piano at The Herbert Gallery and Museum
BIRTHDAYS: Eliot was born on November 22. I was born on November 3. I was named after my paternal Aunt Freda who was stillborn. Her headstone records that her birthdate is the same as George Eliot’s!
DIVINITY STUDIES: George Eliot studied divinity and translated religious texts. I studied divinity and earned my doctorate from AIHT. I have written articles for spiritual publications. Like Eliot, I have been challenged finding truth through strictly Christian means.
FAMILY: Eliot’s mother died when she was sixteen. My mother died when I was an infant. We were both deeply affected by our early losses. For lack of a mother, we were led to seek moral and emotional support from our fathers and brothers.
As adults, Eliot and I sought the companionship of men over the friendship of women. Eliot’s father, Robert Evans, doted on his youngest daughter. He managed all aspects of her education, socialization and religion. He feared she may not attract a husband because of her lack of beauty. When her father died in 1849, Eliot was a spinster of 29 years. My father controlled all aspects of my early years at home and attempted to control me emotionally after I married. As a result of our fathers’ overbearing ways, we had lifelong difficulty in our father-daughter relationships.
George Eliot’s brother, Isaac, was both a positive and negative influence in her life. During their childhood years, Eliot looked up to her brother. Being close in age, they spent much time adventuring together. Soon after George Eliot moved with her father to Coventry, she quit attending church. Isaac disapproved of how his sister was living. With his father’s influence, he devised a plan to bring his sister back to her senses. Isaac’s judgment and subsequent rejection would last decades and influence the entire family against Eliot.
In 1878, George Lewes, Eliot’s first husband passed away and Eliot married John Walter Cross in 1880.
George Eliot, a short time later, on Dec 22, 1880, received a long-awaited letter of reconciliation from Isaac. This challenging sibling relationship is Eliot’s focus in The Mill on the Floss. It touched me deeply because as a young girl, I spent much time adventuring with my younger brother on the family farm. When my brother joined the military, married, and started a family, our lives drifted apart. My father was often at the root of gossip that came between my brother and me. It is interesting to note that my brother and I were reunited when I nearly died from a fall in 2018.
HEALTH CHALLENGES: George Eliot died of kidney failure. I had painful kidney infections as a child. In addition, I have been warned to stop taking over-the-counter pain relievers that might damage my liver and kidneys. I now prefer natural alternative pain relief. It would seem that the orb introducing this parallel story of authors was trying to message me about the risk of kidney failure that ended Eliot’s life.
RESIDENCES: As an adult, Eliot and her soul mate lived in the towns of Worthing and Richmond in England. Among my past residences in Ohio are Worthington and a farming community on the outskirts of Richmond. The Griff house, Eliot’s early childhood home, circa 1800, was a two-story red brick house with attic. My current home of twenty years, built in 1823, is a two-story red brick house with attic. Both have a central front entry. The driveways to the Griff House and the Chaney Manor are long, both ending in a circular turn around where a single yew tree stands.
PARANORMAL: My introduction to orbs included viewing Orbs: The Veil is Lifting DVD (Merkabah Productions, Beyond Words, 2007), and reading The Orb Project (Beyond Words/Atria, 2007). I was surprised to learn that Eliot had written a novella titled The Lifted Veil about a paranormal event.
PERSONALITY: George Eliot was an overachiever in all that she did. From an early age, she was sensitive about what others thought of her. When she met George Lewes, she became grounded in a relationship that offered her the companionship she had always wanted. He calmed her when publishers or reporters gave her an unfavorable review. Lewes was soon managing publisher correspondences for her so that she could concentrate on writing. And write she did! She drove herself to produce fictional masterpieces for which she spent most of her time researching details. My personality is much the same, but unlike Eliot, I have total control of my own writing, editing, publishing and the correspondence that all of that entails. Norman is my ear and best critic. In this way, he mimics Lewes’ role in Eliot’s life.
POETRY: My poem Harmony published in House Blessings (1997) and in Oh God, Papa (2015), contain similar phrases to Eliot’s poem The Choir Invisible (1867). Before 2009, I had never read Eliot’s poem. The following lines from Eliot’s The Choir Invisible appear on her grave marker in Highgate Cemetery, London:
“Of those immortal dead who live again/In minds made better by their presence.”
Compare these lines to my poem, Harmony, provided at the end of this article, made up of prose regarding the soul.
Summary
The year 2019 marks the bicentennial celebration of George Eliot’s birth. Her novels come back to life, characters are heralded and nineteenth century plots are refreshed for screenplay and theater. For those of us who love Eliot’s books Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, Silas Marner, and of course The Mill on the Floss, we renew our appreciation as though Eliot wrote these timeless books for us as individuals—to help us through the mire of everyday life. I certainly can attest to the fact that Eliot has played an integral role in opening my eyes to what is real, lasting, and worthy.
And yet we are born into each lifetime to learn, to become, to express to the best of our ability, to evolve where we are placed. Each lifetime has infinite value, and each must be honored as such. I realize the immensity of this charge in my current life. I am not holding onto Eliot’s life and preening feathers over seemingly obvious connections, but rather, feeling humbled that I have had the opportunity to learn from Eliot’s life so that I can move forward with my life as Freda.
My friend, Dr. Heinemann put it this way, “Never lose track of what is important here—and that is that many people learn through your life’s experiences, insights pertaining to their own lives. This will help them find their purpose, grow in consciousness…and this will be beneficial to all. That’s the greater picture.”
In the final paragraph of Chapter 20 of Karma Road, I wrote, “If Eliot is connected to my existence, and it seems she is, her soul is longing for evolution, and it is now my turn to shine—to prove that her life was a step up the ladder. My life is yet another step. George Eliot found the voice she needed in her lifetime. Now it was time for me to find my own. Sue Monk Kidd, best known for her 2001 novel, The Secret Life of Bees, said in her book, Firstlight (Penguin, 2007), “All personal theology should begin with the words: Let me tell you a story.” I have told you mine. My name is Freda.
Harmony, by Freda M. Chaney, from House Blessings (1997) and Oh God, Papa, (2015)
“The soul the foot is wearing does not diminish with the walk,
but springs on eager wings to become the hawk.
The soul selects a melody for two, though heard by only one,
bears the burden of truer sounds thrumming at the drum.
The natural ear cannot hear a truth as deep as this—
betrays itself with a single, silent hiss.
The soul the hand is wearing feels the moment to be thrust, yet lets it slip with certainty when it must.”
Physical Resemblance in Reincarnation Cases: In the cases of George Eliot | Freda Chaney and George Henry Lewes | Norman Chaney, the shapes of the faces are similar. In reincarnation cases, bone structure or facial architecture seems to stay consistent, though cosmetic or soft tissue features can vary through lifetimes.
Past Life Talent: The writing talent of George Eliot and the philosphical genius of George Henry Lewes have been expressed in the lives of Freda and Norman Chaney. The transmission of talent and abilities are observed in many documented reincarnation cases. These include:
George Eliot and her soul mate, George Henry Lewes, have been reunited in contemporary times in the personas of Freda and Norman Chaney.
Spirit Beings in Reincarnation Cases: In solved reincarnation cases, spirit being telepathic messages are frequently observed. It seems that the individuals in the spirit world want humanity to understand the reality and mechanics of reincarnation. In this case, an orb, which may represent a spirit being or a visual projection created by a spirit being, led to the Freda discovering a past life of hers. Click on the orb image to enlarge it.
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