A New Past Life Regression Memory Case: The Reincarnation Story of Clockmaker and Inventor of the Marine Chronometer, John Harrison | Mechanic and Idea Man, Chuck McMurray

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Join Chuck McMurray for the story behind this John Harrison case: how a daily diary, a past-life regression, and a surprising Google Doodle led him to investigate an eighteenth-century clockmaker. He’ll share what he recorded, how he checked it, what remains open, and how you can begin your own search.

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This case is a living story — the subject became a steward of the research itself. Read the continuation below ↓ or visit ILCS to see how this work is moving forward.

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How Derived: Past Life Memories Accessed during a Past Life Regression

Researched by: Chuck McMurray

Affirmed by: Spirit Being Ahtun Re in a Ryerson-Semkiw Reincarnation Research Session

Article by:  Chuck McMurray, Edited by Walter Semkiw, MD

Click on images to enlarge

In a past lifetime, I, Chuck McMurray, believe that I was John Harrison, an 18th century, self-educated British clockmaker and inventor of the marine chronometer, which is a very precise timepiece that was used in ship voyages for navigation purposes. Harrison lived from 1693 to 1776.

Let me tell you my story, which started with a past life regression conducted in 2016, though I would not derive my past life identity as Harrison until 2018.

On October 16, 2019, over a year after I had made the hypothesis that I was John Harrison, I had a session with trance medium Kevin Ryerson, who has worked extensively with Walter Semkiw, MD. In this session my past life as Harrison was affirmed. Let us now start at the beginning.

Chuck McMurrays’s Past Life Regression

In September of 2016, I had made an appointment with Susan Wisehart, MS, LMFT, who is a licensed psychotherapist and a past life regression therapist, to have my first regression. The reason for my interest in pursuing this was research I had done on the topics of reincarnation and the afterlife.

I had found Susan’s name by researching past-life regressionists in the Chicago area, where I live. She had studied with Yale trained psychiatrist Brian Weiss, MD and she had wonderful reviews by clients who had worked with her.

So on Saturday, September 26, 2016, I made a leap of faith and met with Susan.  I was excited but also nervous, not really knowing what would happen. I was treating it like a new adventure.

At the start of my appointment introductions were made, which helped me understand what I could expect. Susan was professional, helpful and made the process seem like a very natural thing to do.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience, though intense emotions did come out during the session. In fact, I just couldn’t believe how deeply I was in tears during the whole thing.

During the regression, I experienced very clear and vivid past life memories. I’ve read that many people have this same type of experience during hypnotic regressions, but it is quite different when it actually happens to you.

Past Life Memories of a Life in England

As is normal for the regression process, Susan asked me to relax completely as she guided me into a meditative or trance state. It was quite easy.

In the session, a past life memory opened. I saw myself crossing a bridge. Immediately, I could see that I was close to a large estate-like home on a huge piece of country property. It reminded me of an old mansion. The entire area was thickly wooded. The home had many windows and a large porch that ran the length of the home. It had a U-shaped driveway that brought visitors up to the house.

When Susan asked when I thought this memory was from, I said that it felt like the 1600’s, perhaps the early 1700’s. Based on the home and the way people were dressed, it reminded me of movies I had seen of English royalty.

In this memory, I could clearly hear the sounds of the hooves of horses and the wheels of a carriage traveling over a gravel or brick paved road. Susan asked me where I believed to be and I said confidently,“England.” She then asked me to be more specific. I said “North or West Yorkshire.” Please understand that though I may have looked at a map of England twice in my life, nothing of English life had ever interested me.

A Past Life British Military Uniform

Susan then asked me to identify any traits of my body that I was able to recall. I said that I was wearing clothing like the British Red Coats wore in the era of the American Revolution. But the odd thing is that I had no weapon-no gun or sword. It dawned on me that perhaps I was a boy playing soldier in the fields.

In this scene, I was with a young male friend of mine. We were standing near a body of water, like a pond or a river that a bridge crossed over. In this particular memory we also seemed to be really enjoying ourselves, joking and laughing, as we observed how women were dressed as they emerged from horse-drawn carriages with their men.

Moving forward in the past life regression, Susan asked me the next thing that I remembered. I recalled being a sick or wounded boy who spent time in a hospital. I remembered the clothing that I was wearing. The clothing was  loose-fitting and felt like cotton pajamas. I remembered socializing with other children, as well as the nurses and caretakers.

Note: Later on, I learned that when John Harrison was young, he fell ill with smallpox and was hospitalized. He was given a watch to amuse himself in his sickbed. Historians have written that it was this watch that led Harrison to a career building clocks.

Past Life Memories of a Family and a Clock Shop

Susan then asked me to move forward again in time. I now felt that I was a young adult and that I was married and had a child. I saw a young boy and my wife and I watched as he played and ran around. I felt that I was in my early 20’s and that I was a working man. I felt as if I was just “a commoner.”

I progressed forward in time again. I saw myself in a clock shop somewhere in a small town. I felt like I was perhaps in my late 30’s or early 40’s. The shop was on a main street of some sort, with buildings no more than 1 to 2 stories in height. I saw many clocks in the shop, all ticking at the same time. I had a large table that was about chest high and there were pencils and drawings spread all over this workbench, along with clock parts. I felt like I was obsessed with the business of making and fixing clocks.

Please understand that at the time of my regression, these presumed past life memories made no sense to me, as I’ve never been interested in clockwork. However, growing up, my father in Chicago had a grandfather clock that sat in our dining room. He had won the clock as a sales award years before and I was always comforted by the chimes it made. I used to watch my father fix and tune it, but I was afraid to touch it as it always looked so fragile to me. My father’s parents also had a very large grandfather clock, which I loved to listen to when we visited their home.

A Past Life Book of Inventions and the Loss of a Family

In my regression experience as a clockmaker, I felt I was keeping a very important book containing a collection of my inventions and ideas. I could see pencil drawings everywhere. The binding of this book was strangely covered with black and white spots, like the skin of a cow. This book was very important to me and I thought it was made up of hundreds of pages.

At this point, Susan asked me where my wife and son were in relation to my past life. I was instantly and terribly saddened as I thought that I had lost contact with them, perhaps through a divorce. I couldn’t in my mind locate what happened to them. I had thoughts that perhaps they had moved to the west of England or that they had emigrated to America. I remember feeling very upset that I had lost contact with my son and wondered where he had gone.

Note: I would find out later that early in his life, John Harrison had lost both his first wife Elizabeth-Scott and his son John.

A Second Past Life Son

We moved forward again. In this past life memory, I saw myself as a much older man living in a larger city, like London. I specifically remembered a two-story apartment where my shop was. I lived on the second floor above my clock shop. There was a closet under the stairs where I kept many of my most prized clocks. I can remember the layout of the building and the windows in the front.

At this point, I remembered walking to and from the town post office, as I was worried about my son and I was hoping to get a letter from him.  I remembered that his name was William. I would check to see if he had corresponded or if anyone had heard from him. Somehow, I wasn’t able to reach him and was always hoping that he would write me so that I knew he was alright.

I also remembered that when walking through town, that people would always ask me “for the time,” as I was known to be a clockmaker. I was always adjusting and keeping time with a pocket watch of some sort that was very important to me.

A Cherished Past Life Collaborator

I also remember working with someone down the street who was a metallurgist or a blacksmith. I believed that this person helped me professionally. I remembered that he had died early and that I had missed him, feeling that I owed him for part of my success. I’m not sure where he lived, but I felt that this person lived close by, within walking distance to where my shop was located.

Note: From my research, I learned that John Harrison was continually assisted by George Graham, pictured to the right. Graham was a watchmaker and instrument maker, who may have been the person I recalled in my regression who assisted me in my business. Enlarge the image to better see instruments in the background.

A Vision from the Spirit World: A Past Life Son Carries Out Sea Trials for John Harrison’s H3 Chronometer

Susan then asked me to move forward to the “end of this life.” I saw myself waking in the middle of the night due to chest pain and having a difficult time breathing. I remembered seeing shelves of smaller clocks in my room on this night and I felt that somehow, I knew that my time was up. A special clock on my nightstand was one of my most prized possessions and I remembered setting it for the last time on that night.

Susan then asked me to move forward past my death and asked me what I saw afterward. I recalled the book of drawings of my inventions, which I believe I gave away though my will. My son seemed to be in his older years – maybe his 40’s? I believe that he had his own family at this time. The vision that I had involved him reading my book of inventions by candlelight and it felt like that the location was somewhere overseas, perhaps America.

There was a very odd aspect to this memory as the room he was reading in was very small and made entirely of wood.

Note: William Harrison, John Harrison’s second son of his second marriage, carried forth the John Harrison “H3” sea clock in trials on ships of the Royal British Navy. As John Harrison was older and was prone to be seasickness, he sent his son, William, to supervise the trials. It may be that the small, wooden room in my vision was of William on an English ship.

The famous British sea-captain and explorer James Cook, pictured above, took one of Harrison’s chronometers on his second and third Pacific voyages with William Harrison onboard. When Cook returned to England in 1775, he reported that the Harrison chronometer was “our faithful guide through all the vicissitudes of climates.”

The Day I Learned about John Harrison for the First Time

Recall that my past life regression with Susan occurred on September 26, 2016. About 18 months later, on April 2, 2018, I started a new job. On the second day of that job, I was working from my home office. At around 8:30 in the morning of that day, I had opened my computer and logged onto the Internet and the Google home page. On that day, which was Tuesday April 3, 2018, Google featured a cartoon featuring a man named John Harrison, as he was born on April 3, 1693.

After having clicked on the drawing, it landed on a page with portraits of John Harrison. There were two paintings – one that was created earlier in his life in black and white, and then a second one that was in color. The second painting to me was so striking, in that I saw my own face in his. I stared in awe for some time.

On that day, I took a picture of myself to compare my face with that of John Harrison. The facial features were nearly identical, even though in the portrait of Harrison, he was 30 years older than the age I was when I took the photo of myself.

After researching the past life memories that I accessed in my session of September 26, 2016, I met with Susan again about 2 years later in December of 2018.  I explained to Susan that the investigation of my past life memories had revealed possible historical validation of my past life experience. I felt that I had discovered evidence of a past life that was more important than just something personal.  I asked her for guidance.

Susan suggested that I reach out Walter Semkiw, MD and to perhaps validate my past life memories in a session with trance medium Kevin Ryerson. She knew of Walter’s work and that he has worked with Kevin Ryerson over many years and that Kevin channels a spirit being named Ahtun Re, who has demonstrated the ability to made past life identifications with a high degree of accuracy,

My Session with Kevin Ryerson on October 16, 2019

Ahtun Re, the spirit being that Kevin channels,  validated that I was John Harrison in a past lifetime. In addition, Ahtun Re confirmed that William Harrison, the son of John Harrison who carried out sea trials on the behalf of his father, is my son Matthew in this lifetime.

Of interest, my son Matthew and I created a website, H3mi. com (no longer active), which reflects the name of John Harrison’s chonometer, the H3, which William Harrison took on sea trials with the British Navy.

Ahtun Re also validated that my wife, Kimberly, was a wife of John Harrison. One very odd thing about the day that I first met my wife is that I knew she was very special. In fact, I went home and told my mother that I met the woman I would marry. I had no idea why I felt that way. It was a truly love at first sight!

Correspondences in the Lives of John Harrison and Chuck McMurray

I was a very curious kid, who had a lot of energy and a natural talent for taking things apart and learning how they worked. I had spent a good part of my young life building toys, making short films and playing with bikes and cars.

My father was a salesman, but he loved carpentry and making things. He spent a lot of time teaching me how to use tools at a young age, always reminding me that I should “use my hands and my head” later in life to make a living. That always stuck with me.

I was always very creative. I went to school for communications but ended up thriving in more technical roles selling and implementing data and technology. I’ve been known to my professional peers as “the idea guy.”

One of my most successful jobs was with a startup called Alteryx, which involves a geo-spatial data tool that is now widely used. John Harrison, with his invention of the chronometer, was also involved in geo-spatial science.

At the age of 11, I had made a bet with my father that if he purchased an electric model remote control car for me, which had to be assembled, I would be able to put it together without help. If I won this bet, my father would be responsible for the cost of this device. My father took up the bet and purchased the car kit.

All alone, in the basement of my Chicago home, I spent 2 weeks reading the instructions and putting together all the gears and parts. After a few trials, I was able to get the entire car together, which operated flawlessly. I remember my father’s face when he came outside to see me driving it around. He was awed.

At the age of 13, my father had again let me purchase a car, but this time it was a real car, even though I was not old enough to drive it. It was a 1975 Plymouth Valiant that did not operate, that I bought for 300 dollars. We brought the car home so that I could restore it.

My father was amazed as within weeks, though working with few tools or resources, I was able to get the car fixed and running. He attributed this to be a natural talent, so he supported me in this interest. Within just a few years, I had bought, restored and sold about 20 cars. I took a keen interest in racing them, which also seemed natural to me. I was able to understand the engines and how they worked, with no training.

In this way, I believe I was self-taught like John Harrison was. I always loved the way engines worked and I rejoiced in the fact that I could make them perform better, much like John Harrison did with clocks and his invention of the marine chronometer.

Evidence and Principles of Reincarnation-Understanding Past Lives

by: Walter Semkiw, MD

Physical Resemblance in Reincarnation Cases: There is a striking similarity in the facial features of John Harrison and Chuck McMurray. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Past Life Passions, Talent and Abilities: John Harrison and Chuck have demonstrated natural talent and genius in mechanical engineering.

Relationships Renewed through Reincarnation: In his contemporary incarnation as Chuck McMurray, John Harrison has been reunited with a past life wife and son. Chuck related that when he first met his future wife Kimberly, he knew immediately that they would be wed. This is how past life relationships are renewed through reincarnation, through destiny, intuitions and emotional remembrance.

This case is part of the Walter Semkiw Memorial Archive

Now maintained by the Institute for Life Continuity Studies (ILCS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. For evidence-labeled research, modern analysis tools, and community discussion, visit our home site.

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Continuation: From Case Subject to Steward

Updated 2026 — Added by ILCS in tribute to Walter Semkiw’s original case work above

Walter Semkiw published the case above in 2020. What follows is not a revision of his work — it is a continuation. The original narrative, evidence, and conclusions remain as Walter wrote them.

In the years since this case was documented, Chuck McMurray’s journey took an unexpected turn. What began as a personal exploration of past-life memory became a commitment to preserving and advancing the very research infrastructure that made that exploration possible.

After Walter

When Dr. Walter Semkiw passed in June 2024, the future of ReincarnationResearch.com and the community he built was uncertain. Chuck stepped forward — not as a researcher claiming authority, but as someone with the technical skills and personal investment to keep the flame alive.

Working alongside Kevin Ryerson, Henry Bieryla, and a growing advisory board, Chuck helped establish the Institute for Life Continuity Studies (ILCS), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in January 2026 to provide a permanent institutional home for this work.

Building the Infrastructure

Drawing on his career in data, technology, and AI solutions, Chuck has led the development of several tools and platforms that serve the broader research community:

  • The Reincarnation Case Map — An interactive world map plotting 320+ cases across 5,000 years, with confidence filtering, a timeline slider, and a proximity analyzer for exploring geographic patterns in the archive
  • Reincarnation.info — The primary ILCS website, featuring educational content, the dual-track methodology, evidence labeling system (A–F), and community resources
  • The Case Builder — A guided BETA tool for building and investigating reincarnation cases with structured evidence documentation
  • The ILCS Methodology — A formalized dual-track approach (empirical and intuitive), the 10-Point Validation Matrix, OCEAN personality overlay, and a 7-step case workflow that brings structure and transparency to case evaluation
  • The Continuity Archive — A long-term initiative to build a structured, searchable, evidence-labeled digital repository of all reincarnation research
  • ReincarnationForum.com — A community discussion space for experiencers, researchers, and curious minds

The Harrison Thread

There is a certain symmetry in this story that Walter would have appreciated. John Harrison was a self-taught craftsman who built precision instruments to help others navigate the unknown. Chuck McMurray is a self-taught technologist building digital infrastructure to help others navigate questions about life, identity, and continuity.

Harrison’s marine chronometer solved the longitude problem — it gave sailors a reliable way to know where they were. The tools ILCS is building aim to do something similar for reincarnation research: provide reliable frameworks, transparent methodology, and honest labeling so that people can orient themselves in a field that has historically lacked these things.

Whether one sees this as coincidence, personality continuity, or something more, the pattern is consistent with what Walter documented in his original case: a drive to build, to solve, and to make complex systems accessible to others.

Walter’s Legacy Continues

The Reignite initiative — ILCS’s campaign for renewed momentum in this field — carries a simple tagline: “The candle changes; the flame continues.”

Walter Semkiw lit this candle. The work continues — with the same commitment to evidence, transparency, and the possibility that there is more to the story of who we are.

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Xenoglossy-Unlearned Language: Past Life Story of Gretchen Gottlieb | Dolores Jay

Past Life Personality: Who was Gretchen? Carroll Jay was a Methodist Christian minister who started to practice hypnosis in 1954. His wife, Dolores, was having back pain and on May 10, 1970, Carroll conducted a hypnosis session with the aim of relieving his wife’s pain. When, in hypnosis, Dolores, speaks in German, and later revealed she was Gretchen in her past life resulting to an investigation of a Xenoglossy reincarnation case.

ReincarnationResearchMethodistMinister (1)How Case Derived: Hypnosis or Past Life Regression

Researcher: Ian Stevenson, MD

From: Unlearned Language, by Ian Stevenson, MD

Article by: Walter Semkiw, MD, from Born Again: Reincarnation Cases Involving Evidence of Past Lives with Xenoglossy Cases Researched by Ian Stevenson

During Hypnosis or Past Life Regression, Gretchen, a Past Life Personality, Emerges

Carroll Jay was a Methodist Christian minister who started to practice hypnosis in 1954, initially to help people get relief from chronic pain. In the 1960’s, he started to experiment with past life regression.

Dolores, his wife, was having back pain and on May 10, 1970, Carroll conducted a hypnosis session with the aim of relieving his wife’s pain. When, in hypnosis, Carroll asked Dolores, “Does your back hurt?” she replied in German, “Nein,” which means “No.” (1)

On May 13, 1970, in another hypnosis session, Dolores said in German, “Ich Bin Gretchen,” which means “I am Gretchen.” (2)

In hypnosis sessions conducted over the next few months, Gretchen appeared repeatedly and spoke only German. After 10 such sessions, a native German speaker was invited to participate in a session, who had a conversation with Gretchen in German. On April 23, 1971, Dolores wrote 40 words in German during a manifestation of Gretchen.

Of interest, the handwriting of Gretchen was different than the handwriting of Dolores Jay. This infers that handwriting does not necessarily stay the same from one incarnation to another.

Dolores had never learned German and she could not understand or speak German in her normal state of consciousness. As such, this represents a case of xenoglossy, where a person can speak a language that was not learned through normal means. As discussed below, xenoglossy is considered to be strong evidence of reincarnation.

Xenoglossy: Ian Stevenson, MD Validates Gretchen is Speaking German

Ian Stevenson, MD
Ian Stevenson, MD

When Ian Stevenson, pictured to the right, heard about this xenoglossy case, he traveled to Mt. Orab, Ohio, where the Jays lived, to research the case. On September 2, 1971, Stevenson, who knew German, participated in a session and had a conversation with Dolores in German. Stevenson enlisted several other German speaking individuals to participate in the hypnosis sessions where Gretchen emerged and they also had conversations with her in German.

On March 25, 1974, Dolores came to Ian Stevenson’s laboratory at the University of Virginia. Dr. Stevenson and a colleague, Ms. Elisabeth Day, had conversations with Gretchen in German. Ian Stevenson and Ms. Day transcribed conversations they had with Gretchen spanning 19 sessions. Six sessions were tape recorded. These transcripts totaled 346 double spaced typewritten pages. Transcripts of sessions are provided in the appendix of Ian Stevenson’s book, Unlearned Language.

Stevenson found that Gretchen spoke 237 different German words in these transcripts. She used 120 specific words before anyone else had said them, which indicates that she was not just mimicking conversation. In one session that was taped, Gretchen introduced 96 German words that were not previously spoken by interviewers, 21 of which neither Gretchen, nor interviewers, had ever spoken before. Stevenson had three different German speakers sign statements that Gretchen was truly speaking German.

Xenoglossy: Ian Stevenson has Dolores take a Lie Detector Test & Affidavits Signed-Dolores Never Learned German

As noted, Dolores Jay did not know German, other than a few words such as “Nein,” which most Americans would know. As such, this represents a case of xenoglossy where an individual can speak a language that was not learned by normal means. Ian Stevenson notes that a language must be learned and practiced at some point in time. If a language was not learned in the contemporary incarnation, then it must have been learned in a prior incarnation.

ReincarnationResearchPolygraphLieDetectorIan Stevenson went to great lengths to rule out that Dolores may have learned German by normal means. Stevenson even had Dolores undergo a polygraph, or lie detector test, on February 5, 1974. She passed the lie detector test, vouching that she had not learned or known German prior to Gretchen emerging.

Stevenson also interviewed Dolores’s parents, Boyd and Laura Skidmore, as well as her sister, Mary. All three signed statements that no one they knew spoke German and that there were no German speaking individuals in the area where they lived.

Further, Gretchen could converse in German in an interactive way; she could both understand and respond in German. Ian Stevenson terms this form of xenoglossy as “responsive xenoglossy,” which indicates a firm comprehension of the language. In conversations, Gretchen could understand German and English, but she only would speak in German.

Past Life Personality: Who was Gretchen?

ReincarnationResearchHorseBackRidingIn sessions, Gretchen rarely spoke spontaneously, rather, she replied politely to questions, like a well-behaved girl. She said her name was Gretchen Gottlieb and that she lived with her father, whose name was Herman. She described him as old, with white hair. Gretchen would chuckle when describing her father riding a horse. She said her mother, Erika, had died when Gretchen was 8 years old. She had no brothers or sisters.

Gretchen said her father was the Mayor of Eberswalde, Germany, where they lived. She said that they resided on a street called Birkenstrasse. Gretchen described Eberwalde as a small town with a bakery, butcher shop, church and a college. There was a forest and river outside the town. She also spoke of the cities of Worms and Wiesbaden.

Gretchen related that a housekeeper named Frau Schilder would come to their home to cook and clean. Gretchen stated that Frau Schilder would bring her own four children to the Gottlieb’s home and that she, Gretchen, would play with the children. In fact, she said she spent most of her time in their kitchen, caring for the children. She gave names for the four of them and stated the youngest was three years old.

Gretchen said that she never went to school, which was normal for girls at that time, and that she could not read or write. Gretchen was Roman Catholic and she knew that the Pope was the head of the church. She was opposed to the Protestant Reformation and she referred to Martin Luther several times as a troublemaker. She repeated the phrase, “Martin Luther, betrayer of the people,” several times. (3)

reincarnationresearchbrandenburggateGretchen repeatedly showed fear and even paranoia when she talked about the Bundesrat. Ian Stevenson noted that the Bundesrat was a cabinet in Germany that was active from 1875-1900, which was powerful in that it had to approve all bills before they became law. Due to her statement regarding the Bundesrat, Stevenson assumed that Gretchen lived in the late nineteenth century in Germany, when the Bundesrat was in existence.

Gretchen said that she was dead by the age of 16. She said she had a serious illness with the primary symptom of headache. She would put her hand to her head and made a facial expression which conveyed suffering.

Like in the Sharada | Uttara Huddar case, at times Gretchen did not seem to realize that she was dead. In some sessions, Gretchen thought that she was speaking to interviewers on the street near her home. She would plead to the interviewers, such as Stevenson, that she had to go home, as her father would be upset if he found she was talking to strangers.

As such, this represents another case in which it appears that a soul has retained a past life personality intact.

Confirmation of Gretchen’s Statements

Ian Stevenson tried to confirm Gretchen’s statements. As noted, she did discuss the Bundesrat, which was indeed a cabinet in Germany that was active from 1875-1900.

The town of Eberswalde did exist, but there was no mayor by the name of Gottlieb on record. Stevenson reasoned that her father may have been a lesser official or that Gretchen may have been an illegitimate daughter of a Mayor of Eberswalde, who was given the name Gottlieb after her birth. It is also possible that Gretchen was speaking of a different town called Eberswald, which eventually was incorporated into a larger city.

Reincarnation versus Possession

Ian Stevenson raised the issue that the Gretchen Gottlieb | Dolores Jay case may represent a case of possession, where Gretchen was a discarnate spirit who temporarily took over the body of Dolores Jay. This issue of reincarnation versus possession was discussed in some detail in the Sharada | Uttara Huddar xenoglossy case.

ReincarnationResearchMartinLuther's portraitTwo incidents support reincarnation as the explanation for the xenoglossy of Dolores Jay. First, in 1968, Dolores had a dream which occurred a year before Gretchen emerged. In this dream, Dolores saw a young girl sitting in a saddle on a horse, with an older man on foot. A crowd had gathered consisting of angry people with sticks and stones. A man burst through the crowd and grabbed the bridle of her horse. At that point, Dolores awoke.

This dream is reminiscent of scenes Gretchen later described regarding her life. Gretchen described her father as an elderly man with white hair and she chuckled when she described him riding a horse. She also called Martin Luther a trouble maker and a “betrayer of the people.” The crowd’s anger in the dream could reflect conflict related to the Protestant Reformation in Germany, which Martin Luther led. An image of Martin Luther is provided to the right.

Memories of past lives often occur in the dream state and as such, this dream would support reincarnation as the explanation for the xenoglossy that Dolores later would demonstrate.

Secondly, during a hypnosis session, Carroll Jay instructed Gretchen to have a vision that Dolores could describe in English. Dolores then said, in English, that she saw herself being taken away to a city far away. There, she saw a man speaking at a church. Mounted policemen then dispersed the crowd. A young girl and an older man, presumably Gretchen and her father, became frightened and ran away.

When her husband asked Dolores who the young girl in the vision was, Dolores said, “It was me.” (4)

Conclusions & Reincarnation Case Analysis

Having worked with Carroll and Dolores Jay for several years on this xenoglossy case, Ian Stevenson was able to get to know them very well and he became convinced that they were being honest and forthright in their statements. He noted that for Dolores, as a Christian, reincarnation conflicted with her belief system. Her husband, Carroll, observed that Dolores was “bewildered and a little scared,” by her ability to speak German. (5)

Carroll Jay also struggled with his wife’s xenoglossy, as it make life difficult for him as a Methodist Christian minister. On January 20, 1975, the Washington Post published a newspaper article on the xenoglossy demonstrated by Dolores. When their community members read the article, some of them accused the Jays with dealing with the devil.

Overall, Ian Stevenson, MD, saw no reason for the Jays or their family to make false statements and he believed this to be a legitimate xenoglossy case. If reincarnation is indeed accepted as the explanation, we see how talents, including the ability to speak a language, can be conveyed from one incarnation to another.

Further, as Gretchen emerged with her personality intact, along with the observation that at times she didn’t realize that she was dead, this case demonstrates how the soul can retain its personalities. This phenomenon was also observed in the Sharada | Uttara Huddar and Jensen Jacoby | TE reincarnation xenoglossy cases and is discussed in Origin of the Soul and the Purpose of Reincarnation.

Principles of Reincarnation & Understanding Past Lives

Responsive Xenoglossy: Dolores Jay under hypnosis could speak and respond in German, a language she did not understand in her waking consciousness. It appears that Dolores accessed this ability from a past lifetime as Gretchen.

Retention of the Personality with the Soul: When Gretchen emerged, she acted like a well-behaved young girl. Indeed, like in the Sharada | Uttara Huddar case, at times Gretchen did not seem to realize that she was dead. In some sessions, Gretchen thought that she was speaking to interviewers on the street near her home.

Change of Nationality and Religion: Gretchen was German, while Dolores was a citizen of the United States. Religious affiliation has also changed, as Gretchen was very much aligned with the Catholic Church and against the Protestant Reformation. In contrast, the Jays were Methodist, which grew out of the reformation movement in England.

Please note that the photographs provided above representing Carroll and Dolores Jay, as well as Gretchen’s father, are not historical images, rather, these are dramatizations.

 

This case is part of the Walter Semkiw Memorial Archive

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