Interpretation of the Dalawong Case: A Thai Boy with a Snake Past Life
Animal Telepathy & Remote Viewing: A Medical Doctor’s Experience
Article by: Walter Semkiw, MD
In my work with Kevin Ryerson, Ahtun Re, a spirit guide channeled through Kevin Ryerson, has always stated that human beings do not reincarnate as animals. This subject is addressed in my book Origin of the Soul and the Purpose of Reincarnation, which consists of my dialogues with Ahtun Re.
Spirit Beings in Reincarnation Cases
Reports of spirit being involvement in reincarnation cases are frequent, including in cases researched by Ian Stevenson, MD at the University of Virginia. I have had the opportunity to work directly with a very intelligent spirit being in Ahtun Re, who is channeled through world famous trance medium Kevin Ryerson, on a monthly basis since 2001. Though I was skeptical at first, I came to the conclusion that Ahtun Re truly is a discarnate spirit being separate from the consciousness of Kevin Ryerson, primarily due to Ahtun Re’s encyclopedic range of knowledge, which I consistently found to be accurate, and an ability to make what I have assessed to be accurate past life identifications. In contrast, Kevin Ryerson does not have an encyclopedic scope of knowledge and neither do I.
Ahtun Re’s personality, sense of humor, voice and accent are also different from Kevin’s, so much so that when Kevin channels Ahtun Re, it seems as if another person has taken Kevin’s place. To learn more about the work I have done with Kevin, go to: Ryerson-Semkiw Reincarnation Cases
Let me now share insights on the idea of animal incarnation based on a reported case, a telepathic experience I had with an squirrel and comments on these matters from Ahtun Re.
Return to Life, Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives, by Jim Tucker, MD
Jim Tucker, MD has taken over for the late Ian Stevenson, MD at the University of Virginia. Dr. Stevenson was a pioneer in research that provides objective evidence of reincarnation, whose work primarily involved children who had spontaneous past life memories that could be validated. Dr. Tucker had a book published in 2013 entitled Return to Life, which I recommend. In it, he includes an unusual case in which a child claimed to have memories of being a snake in a past lifetime. After reviewing this story, I revisited the issue of animal incarnation, which made me also reflect on an unusual telepathic experience I have had with a squirrel. Yes, I know, it sounds odd, but it is true.
Animal Reincarnation and Hinduism
I believe the observation that human beings can have telepathic connections and communications with animals can explain why some people and religions, such as the Hindu faith, proclaim that humans can reincarnate as animals. First let us review the snake incarnation case published in Dr. Tucker’s book. (1)
Dalawong: A Child Recalls a Past Life as a Cobra in Thailand
This case was actually researched by the late Francis Story, a British citizen who was fascinated with Buddhism and spent many years in Asia. He was also very interested in the topic of reincarnation and assisted Dr. Stevenson in investigating a number of very important reincarnation cases in Burma and Sri Lanka. Francis interviewed the subject of this case, a Thai boy named Dalowong, along with his father, mother and sister. He also had access to a pamphlet that was previously published regarding the case, which was also summarized in an article in the Bangkok Times.
Dalawong actually claimed two past animal incarnations. He recalled a past lifetime as a deer, which he said was killed by a hunter. Subsequently, he stated he was reincarnated as a snake, more specifically, as a cobra.
Reported Past Life Memories: Mr. Hiew’s Dogs attack Dalawong, as a Snake, in a Cave
As the snake, Dalawong remembered that he was in a cave when two dogs entered and attacked him. A ferocious struggle ensued between the cobra and the dogs. The owner of the dogs then entered the cave and killed the snake. Apparently, the snake was able to bite the human invader on the shoulder, prior to succumbing to death.
The human took the cobra’s body back home, where the snake was cooked for a meal. This man shared the snake meat with an acquaintance, who would become Dalawong’s father in the near future. The man who killed the cobra had the name Mr. Hiew.
As a Spirit Being, Dalawong follows Mr. Hiew to his Home & Chooses his Future Human Parents
After being killed as a snake, according to Dalawong, he as a spirit being, followed his snake body and witnessed Mr. Hiew and his future father eating the snake meat. Apparently this meal took place at the residence of Mr. Hiew. Dalawong thought that Mr. Hiew’s friend was a sympathetic soul, followed him home and entered the womb of the man’s wife. He was subsequently born as a human being, Dalawong, who was conceived shortly after the snake incident.
Dalawong recognizes his Past Life Attacker, Mr. Hiew and Seeks Revenge
When Dalawong was 3 years old, Mr. Hiew came to a party that was taking place next door to the home of Dalawong’s family. Dalawong recognized Mr. Hiew as the man who killed him as a snake during the struggle in the cave with the dogs.
Dalawong became enraged and seeking retribution, tried to find a weapon to attack Mr. Hiew, which was observed by his mother. Dalawong explained to her that Mr. Heiw killed him when he was a snake and described the incident in the cave with the dogs. When this story was related to Mr. Hiew, he confirmed that such an incident did indeed occur just as Dalowong described.
Apparent Past Life Memory: Dalawong Knows of a Snake Bite on Mr. Hiew’s Shoulder
Dalawong then touched Mr. Hiew’s left shoulder and said that Hiew had been bitten there by the snake. Mr. Hiew indeed did have a scar at that spot incurred from snakebite.
It was pointed out that neither Dalawong nor his mother had never previously met Mr. Hiew. His parents insisted that Dalawong could not have had knowledge of the incident of the snake being killed by Mr. Hiew in the cave by normal means.
Dalawong Meditates in his Snake Cave and becomes a Shaman with Ichthyosis-Snake Skin
Follow up of this case took place 20 years after this confrontation with Dr. Hiew through Jurgen Keil, another associate of Dr. Stevenson. It was found that as an adult, Dalawong would regularly visit the same cave where he claimed to have been killed as a snake, where he would meditate. Through meditation, he gleaned information on how to use herbs to heal the sick. He was recognized in local villages as a lay medical doctor or what would be called a shaman in various cultures. It was also noted that Dalawong developed a dermatologic condition called ichthyosis, which affected his legs, causing scale-like skin, somewhat like a snake’s skin. Ichthyosis is generally considered a genetic disorder.
Snake Skin-A Possible Variant of Birth Marks in Reincarnation Cases
In his reincarnation research, Ian Stevenson found that in many cases in which an individual died of a traumatic wound, such as a knife or bullet wound, in the following incarnation a birth mark or scar would be found at the same location as the traumatic wound. To review such reincarnation cases, go to: Past Life Scars & Birthmarks
Dr. Stevenson hypothesized that in some way, the mind affected the body in the next incarnation to produce these scars or birthmarks. I like to use the concept that the soul projects an energy template into the developing fetus, which produces similar facial features from one incarnation to another, a phenomenon observed in many reincarnation cases, including Ian Stevenson reincarnation cases. It is possible that the energy template underlying the physical body can be affected by traumas, such as bullet or knife wounds, and this imprint on the energy body is reflected in the physical body in a future incarnation as birth marks or scars. To learn more, go to: Principles of Reincarnation
Dr. Tucker pointed out that Dalawong’s ichthyosis could be considered a variant of the birthmark phenomenon in reincarnation cases.
A Medical Doctor’s Telepathic Experiences Regarding a Past Lifetime
I do not consider myself psychic, but I have had definite psychic experiences involving information that was provided to be telepathically, from unknown sources, which proved to be accurate or meaningful. Most of this telepathic information had to do with the evolution a reincarnation case of my own. It was almost as if my own soul, or perhaps a spirit being, was guiding me in the discovery of past life information and past life personal connections. These telepathic experiences are most thoroughly documented in my book, Return of the Revolutionaries, but a number of these experiences are outlined in the section: Introducing Kevin Ryerson, Spirit Being Ahtun Re and the Proposed Reincarnation of John Adams
Psychic or telepathic guidance and reincarnation cases is common, including in many cases researched by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia. To learn more, go to: Spirit Being Involvement in Reincarnation Cases
Animal Telepathy: A Squirrel sends Walter a Plea for Help
Before I share this story, let me point out that I trained in psychiatry and understand very well the nature of hallucinations and delusions. Anyone who claims to get a message from a squirrel risks being labeled psychotic, but let me reassure you that throughout the years that I have received telepathic or intuitive messages, I’ve worked as a medical doctor and have functioned normally.
At the time of this incident, my wife’s father was still alive and the three of us lived together. He was a elderly widower and needed the support of my wife and I, as well extended family. I became quite fond of my father-in-law and we took many car rides together to be in nature, along the Pacific coast through the neighboring mountains. He is missed.
Squirrels in the Back Yard and on the Deck
In the house where we live, there are many trees in the backyard. Adjacent to the bedroom where my wife and I sleep, there is a deck and next to it, there is a large cypress tree which has been the home of a squirrel. I have long had a fondness for squirrels and have fed them nuts, which I place on the deck just outside the sliding glass door of our bedroom.
The neighborhood squirrels have learned that when the sliding glass door opens, they can expect a treat. They scurry onto the railings of the deck and I often talk to them in a joking fashion, saying good morning and welcoming them to breakfast, much like pet owners talk to their dogs or cats as if they were little children. I enjoy watching the squirrels standing on their haunches, holding a nut in their front paws while they nibble on their food, almost like miniature people.
Squirrel Acrobats
Some of the squirrels have become quite tame. Please don’t tell my wife, but I have even coaxed one or two into the bedroom where I would make them find nuts hidden behind my hand. I wouldn’t advise feeding them directly by hand, though, as a squirrel in its haste to obtain food can accidentally bite it’s benefactor.
I am also entertained by their acrobatics as they jump from one tree limb to another. Sometimes they even act like trapeze artists using a redwood lattice that we have in the yard to partition space. Sometimes it seems that they do these acrobatics just to show off their athleticism, as if they are aware that I am watching. I share these details so the reader understands that my involvement with our back yard squirrels has not been fleeting, but substantial.
Animal Telepathy: While at Work, Walter has a Visual Impression of a 7 Foot Squirrel in Distress
In the spring of 2013, I was working in my medical office, which is about 3 or 4 miles from our home. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon and I was doing paper work at my desk. Out of nowhere, I received a distinct visual image of a squirrel on our deck at the sliding glass door of our bedroom. What was bizarre is that the squirrel was standing up on his back legs like a human and was the size of the entire sliding glass door. In other words, this squirrel was 7 feet tall.
Though the squirrel did not speak verbally, I received a telepathic impression that it was in great distress, felt betrayed and it was communicating to me something to the effect of, “What’s going on?” It seemed to be upset and was questioning, “Why?”
Animal Telepathy: Walter Hears Himself Communicating with the Squirrel
Just after this receiving this vivid visual impression, I heard myself telepathically say to the squirrel, “Well at least she didn’t have her dogs.” I immediately knew that I was referring to my wife’s niece, who has 2 large Labrador Retrievers who can be unruly and though well meaning, due to excitement, they are aggressive in jumping on visitors.
This experience lasted only a few seconds. When it was over I thought to myself, “That was bizarre.” Though I have telepathic messages in the past, I never had a associated vivid visual image and I never expected such an experience with a squirrel. I had not been thinking of squirrels at all that day. Further, since my wife is afraid of large dogs, her niece never brings her canines to our home, so the experience seemed to make no sense at all.
I didn’t know what to make of this unusual experience, shrugged it off as a random strange incident and continued working at my desk.
Animal Telepathy: Meaning of the Squirrel Image & Experience
When I came home that evening, I discovered that my unusual telepathic visual impression of the squirrel actually had meaning. My wife’s niece had unexpectedly stopped by our home that afternoon to visit her grandfather, my wife’s father. It was a warm day and she opened the sliding glass door in our bedroom to allow air to flow through the house. She then left the bedroom to sit and converse with her grandfather in the living room.
At one point, she walked back into our bedroom and saw a squirrel at the open sliding glass door. She was unaware that I considered the squirrels pets of a sort and she did not know that I regularly fed them.
Animal Telepathy: Squirrel Attack Occurs at the Same Time Walter had the Visual Message
As she as alarmed that the squirrel was about to come into the house, my wife’s niece rapidly advanced towards the squirrel, yelling at it to chase it away. When she related these events to me and my wife, she was even proud that her repulsion of the squirrel was vigorous and aggressive, stating. “That squirrel will never come back here again.”
This attack on the squirrel happened at about 3:30, approximately the same time that I had the visual impression of the 7-foot squirrel standing at that same sliding glass door, expressing fear and betrayal.
Walter’s Animal Telepathic Message to the Squirrel & Soul Consciousness
Now I understood why during my telepathic visual experience of the squirrel, I heard myself saying to the 7-foot squirrel, “At least she doesn’t have her dogs.” As I mentioned, my niece has 2 large Labradors that can be aggressive.
What is most peculiar about this incident is that part of my consciousness was fully aware of what was going on to the extent that I could telepathically communicate back to the squirrel, “At least she doesn’t have her dogs.” Part of my consciousness was communicating back to the squirrel, which I overheard while sitting in my medical office, though in my medical office, I had no clue as to what was going on.
This demonstrates how the consciousness that we are used to on a day-to-day basis is a limited, compartmentalized awareness that is only a portion of the consciousness of the soul.
Soul Consciousness, Split Consciousness, Incarnation & Remote Viewing
This experience can be used to understand what I call split incarnation, in which one soul animates more than one body at a time. Ian Stevenson termed this phenomenon reincarnation cases with “anomalous dates,” as a previous incarnation is observed to overlap with a subsequent lifetime. In my squirrel situation, my soul was aware of what was going on in our bedroom and deck, while I was 3 or 4 miles away. My consciousness, one could say, was at two physical locations at once.
Split Incarnation, Twin Flames, Twin Souls or Parallel Lives
Just as my consciousness apparently was in two physical locations at once, the soul can split its consciousness into two physical bodies. Let me share that I have a male friend who is a very successful, retired financial executive who has identified his split, who is an accomplished businesswoman.
This occurred unexpectedly when after meeting this woman for the first time, he started experiencing her thoughts in his mind and witnessing her dreams. When these incidents occurred, my friend would contact this woman to share what he had experienced and found that she indeed was having the same thoughts and same dreams.
My friend and the businesswoman have similar facial bone structure or appearance. After reading my books, my friend hypothesized that he and this businesswoman were splits, though he preferred to use the more common New Age terms twin souls, twin flames or parallel lives. I prefer splits as one can have more than two splits, at least according to my work with Ahtun Re. To learn more, go to: Split Incarnation or Parallel Lives
Spirit Being Ahtun Re’s Interpretation of Walter’s Telepathic Experience with a Squirrel
Subsequently, in a session with Kevin Ryerson I asked Ahtun Re for his explanation of what happened to me. Ahtun Re related that all living things are indeed interconnected and through my affectionate dealings with my backyard squirrels over the years, telepathic connections have been made.
He stated that the squirrel felt shocked and betrayed when my wife’s niece chased the squirrel away from the sliding glass door. Ahtun Re added that the squirrel perceives me as a 6-foot squirrel, something along the lines of a big papa or mama squirrel. He also noted that the squirrel is very curious as to where I keep that big stash of nuts.
Walter’s Animal Telepathy Experience & Dalawong’s Past Life as a Shaman
The way my squirrel story fits in with the Dalawong case is that I wondered whether Dalawong had some type of psychic connection with snakes in a past incarnation, which made him think that he was a snake a past lifetime. I asked Ahtun Re about this case and my theory.
Ahtun Re stated that Dalawong was not a snake in a past incarnation, but that he did have a past lifetime as a shaman who used to meditate in the very cave where Mr. Hiew killed the cobra. In this past lifetime, Dalawong did have a strong affinity for snakes and developed telepathic connections with them, as well as with other animals. After the death of this shaman, his soul continued to visit the cave where he meditated while alive.
As a Sprit Being, Dalawong Observes Mr Hiew Killing the Snake
The shaman’s soul, in spirit form, was to be present in the cave when the altercation between the snake, Mr. Hire and his dogs occurred. Perhaps the shaman’s soul was drawn to the cave by the snake, just as the squirrel telepathically appealed to me.
Through a telepathic connection, the shaman experienced what the snake experienced when being killed. The soul of the shaman followed Mr. Hiew home and witnessed him sharing the snake meat meal with Dalawong’s future father. As he liked Dalawong’s father, he decided to reincarnate as this person’s child. Dalawong, as a child, accessed memories of Mr. Hiew killing the cobra, as witnessed by his own soul in spirit form.
An error was made in that Dalawong interpreted these memories as meaning that he was the snake in a past incarnation, rather than witnessing the killing of the snake as spirit being.
Jim B. Tucker’s Interpretation of the Dalawong Reincarnation Case
Jim Tucker, MD noted that he found it difficult to accept that Dalawong had a past life as a snake, rather, he writes: “What I can consider, however, is that a consciousness was associated with the snake while also apart from it.” (2)
The proposal that Dalawong was a spirit being who was telepathically in rapport with the snake Mr. Hiew killed is one way that Dr. Tucker’s hypothesis could have been fulfilled.
Soul Plans & Repetition of Behavior through Reincarnation
Reincarnation research, including Ian Stevenson’s work, does support that souls can choose their parents. To learn more, go to: Planning of Lifetimes
In addition, reincarnation research shows that we often repeat behaviors and express similar talents from one incarnation to another.
As reported by Jurgen Keil, Dalawong, as an adult, would meditate in the very cave where the snake was killed in my Mr. Hiew, before Dalawong was born. In this cave, Dalawong would access information on herbs with medicinal effects through psychic means and he became a local medicine man or shaman.
According to Ahtun Re, Dalawong lived a similar human past lifetime in which he essentially did the same thing, meditating in the same cave, developing psychic abilities and serving as a shaman for his community. Though this proposed past life, which can explain Dalawong’s memories, cannot be validated, this sort of consistency in behavior from one lifetime to another is supported by independently researched reincarnation cases, including those studied by Ian Stevenson, MD. To learn more, go to:
Talent and Behavior Replicated though Reincarnation
Animal Telepathy: An Explanation for Animal Incarnation in the Hindu Faith
In sum, the Dalawong case, my telepathic experience with the squirrel and input from Ahtun Re may give us insight on why some people believe they may have been animals in the past lifetime, and how it has be come part of the Hindu faith. Telepathic experiences with animals, and past life memories of such experiences, can be mistakenly interpreted as animal past lives.
Due to the interconnectedness of all living things, Ahtun Re does support the Hindu practice of maintaining a vegetarian diet. I have to admit that I have not disciplined myself in this regard, though my squirrel experience makes me reflect on the issue more.
Soul Evolution & Hindu Compassion for Animals
In conclusion, in my dialogues with Ahtun Re, the purpose of reincarnation is to evolve and grow, much like a child goes through grades of school in the process of becoming a self sufficient adult. Once a certain level of development is attained, reincarnation is no longer necessary and we, as souls, continue to evolve in the spirit realm.
Ahtun Re has pointed out that a soul who has evolved through human incarnations would have little benefit by incarnating as an animal, which is driven by instincts. Ahtun Re has stated that animals have an evolutionary line of their own and pets that have developed emotional attachments to humans can reincarnated with their owners. These topics are discussed in Origin of the Soul.
The interconnectedness of all living beings has been affirmed my Ahtun Re and in a humble way has been demonstrated by my telepathic experience with a squirrel. This interconnectedness supports the Hindu precept of compassion for all living things.
Footnotes
1. Tucker, Jim B., Return to Life, Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives, St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2013, pages 38-40
2. Ibid, page 41
