🔍 Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Peering into Past Lives

[BryWisteria]

Warm greetings to all, and blessed start of the spooky season!

Thanks again to everyone who joined in for last week’s Weekly Witchy Challenge - History of Magick

After opening up the books to explore the history of witchcraft, it’s not quite time to jump back into the present. This week, we’re continuing our journey of peering into a past with a topic even closer to home.

The theme for this week’s challenge is inspired by the start of spooky season and is…

Peering into Past Lives

Who were you before you were you?

Were you a person of power? A simple farmer? Did you exist in this world’s history, or did you wander worlds somewhere else? Perhaps you weren’t a human at all?

While all religions and spiritual paths have explanations around death, many of them also explore various types of reincarnation- that is, rebirth in some form after death.

Definition from Dictionary.com

The beliefs around reincarnation vary greatly from person to person. Those who practice the Craft with spirits, ghosts, and ancestors may or may not believe in reincarnation or that the soul returns in some form after death .

Picture from The Conscious Mind

What if I don’t believe in reincarnation?

This challenge is not meant to confront or cast doubt on your personal beliefs. It is also not the place to challenge the beliefs of others. Please follow the Forum Guidelines and remember to be respectful when responding to others.

If reincarnation or having past lives is not part of your beliefs- no worries!

For the challenge this week, there are suggestions below of how those who do not believe in reincarnation can still use this theme as inspiration in their practice

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So are you ready? Because it’s…

CHALLENGE TIME!

Art from The Artist and Past Life Regression

STEP 1 : Examining Past Lives

As always, there is a lifetime (or more!) of ways you might approach the challenge theme this week!

Here are just a few suggestions that might help you get started:

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Explore your beliefs about reincarnation

For the challenge this week, why not stop and take a moment to explore your personal beliefs?

Do you believe in reincarnation? Do you believe that is possible for someone to come back to life in some way, shape, or form?

If yes or no- why? Is there an experience or something in your practice or mundane life that helped you to build these views? If so- feel free to respectfully share your insights! Your thoughts and experiences may help others to find their own answers

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Divination to the Past

While divination methods have a reputation for revealing the future, they can also be used to see into the past!

Feel free to consult your Tarot, Oracle, Pendulum, Crystal Ball, Runes, or other favorite forms of divination to find your past lives.

Art from Fine Art America

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Astrology

Some believe that the stars have hints about not only this life, but past lives as well!

Learn more about the Lunar Nodes and look into your South Node to reveal details about past lives.

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Past Life Spells

Consider casting a spell or ritual that reveals details about your past life, such as this Mirror Past Life Spell.

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Use a Past Life Finder

There are many sites on the internet that claim to be able to help you find information about past lives. Whether to help you get a general idea or just for fun, you might consider giving them a try!

→ Slate’s Reincarnation Machine: suggests names and people you could have been in the past, based on your date of birth

→ Ask Astrologer has a Past Life Calculator based on time and place of birth in this life

→ Loner Wolf has a Past Life Regression Test with multiple choice options

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Past Life Meditation

Whether on your own or with a guide, you might do a past life meditation this week. Gaia has a meditation on How to Remember Past Lives, or your can follow along with a guide meditation on YouTube.

New Horizon has the following meditation for Past Life Regression:

Past Life Regression Guided Meditation | Discover Past Lives | Meet Your Animal Spirit Guide

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…And More!

There are many ways to explore past lives! Here a few more:

• Using crystals with past life correspondences, such as Blue Apatite
• Using plants with past life correspondences, such as Lilac

Feel free to be creative with how you approach the challenge theme!

Art by Unknown from Pinterest: Trick or Treating with Past Lives

STEP 2 : Share Your Experience

Click here for notes about challenge inclusitivity

All witches are welcome to join the challenge by practicing magick in line with the current theme. For those who don’t feel comfortable sharing, it is absolutely okay to follow along with the challenge but keep your entry personal. Feel free to join in spirit and do what feels most comfortable for you!

That being said, please know that if you would like to receive a prize and a shout-out, you will have to share your experience with the forum.

Please share:

• About your experience exploring your beliefs about reincarnation and/or your experience exploring past lives

For your entry to be counted, please write about your experience in the comments below and/or create a new thread in the forums.

Note : If you choose to create a new thread, please tag the challenge by adding a hyperlink back to this post so that I can easily find it- thank you!

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This challenge will close in 6 DAYS

To join in, please share your experience by:

Tuesday, October 12th at 7:00 AM CET (Central European Time Zone)
( 2021-10-12T05:00:00Z )

For their efforts, all participants will receive a special shout-out and a small prize!

Acknowledgments will be given in a Props and Presents Post that will appear in the forums on Tuesday.

After the challenge closes, you are still very welcome to post but please be aware that no additional prizes will be given.

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Ary Brittany Gress: Past Lives

A warm reminder that all challenges are designed to be very open- everyone is encouraged to participate in a way that honors and reflects their unique practice

If you have any doubts about if something is acceptable to post or say, please double-check with the Forum FAQ and/or reach out to your friendly Moderator Team .

And for those new to challenges- welcome! Know that the goal of these activities is to help you further diversify and strengthen your abilities and to bring together the Spells8 forum family to inspire and support one another in creative ways

Art by Elena Averina: Portrait of the Soul

Through ages and eons, places far far away
Who have you been, that you stand here today?

Blessed be!

[christina4]

Oh yeah like the kool-aid man!!! I like this one!!! Can’t wait to get started thanks for the challenge!!! I can’t wait to see everyone else’s posts about this too!!
This video is helpful for me:

Past Life Regression Hypnotherapy | Suzanne Robichaud, RCH

@BryWisteria I love the fact that you added Loner Wolf

[Amethyst]

Good Wednesday all!

I couldn’t wait and had to jump on this. I did the Past Life Calculator and this is what I got:

*WHO WERE YOU IN A PAST LIFE: *

*You were a male in your past life. You were born somewhere in Argentina. You were highly intelligent. *

*WHAT YOU DID IN THE LAST LIFE: *

*In your past life, you were involved in all the bad habits. You did not respect your elders and knowledgeable people. One day you treated a knowledgeable person in a bad manner and scolded him severely. That person got hurt and died by committing suicide. *

*THE EFFECT OF PAST DEEDS ON YOUR PRESENT LIFE: *

The sins committed by you in your past life will have their own effects on your present birth. You will face severe oppression and opposition from your spouse or people around you which leads you into depression. There may be separation from your spouse or relatives.

I may do the meditation later on this week but I just had to see what it said today and thought I’d share. Personally, I believe there was some sort of house fire involved in one of my past lives, a recent one. I’m always afraid when I go out that I’ll see a plume of smoke over the hills and that it’ll be my house on fire. Or I’ll plan on what to do and how to get out of my apartment if it gets on fire.

So yeah, I may meditate on this later on this week. We’ll see.

[BrightBear]

Yay!!! This is right up my alley!! I found myself really looking forward to this challenge even before it was posted. Now I know why!

[NoName]

I actually never really think about this besides always telling people I’d be a brothel owner or an independent pioneer woman. I’m usually halfway joking but it’s always those two things. I’m looking forward to this.

[BrightBear]

@Amethyst

Personally, I believe there was some sort of house fire involved in one of my past lives, a recent one. I’m always afraid when I go out that I’ll see a plume of smoke over the hills and that it’ll be my house on fire. Or I’ll plan on what to do and how to get out of my apartment if it gets on fire.

Same!! I’m always unplugging things. My mom had this same concern too. I’m pretty sure we shared a past life together where there was a fire. I think we were sisters in that life according to some visions I’ve had.

[Kasandra]

Cool! I didn’t think that past lives could be a weekly challenge.
The images that came to me during my Draconic Reincarnation Spell back in June were:

• The Jungle, Southeast Asia
• The Jungle, Central America, Stone head of the Olmec civilization
• Light Blue Ocean and a bright blue sky that turned gray and cloudy
• Weaving, Embroidery (near Egypt)
• Cottage in the countryside

I might meditate with Veaug and/or use a Path Life Finder to see if more will be revealed to me.

[MeganB]

Oh, interesting! I’ve never really explored past lives much. I’ll have to give it some thought

[Rowan]

This is great! I’ve been on the fence about my stance on this matter, so seems fitting to go ahead and investigate a bit.

[Amethyst]

They say there are certain people we reincarnate with, so it’s quite possible.

[debra2]

Good Wednesday to all!

This is my first weekly challenge, this one caught my eye and it challenged me to try this, so here it is

I used my Pendulum first to see if I had a past life, it said yes I did. What now to do and then I remembered in the challenge directions about a Past Life Regression Test and this is what I saw:

Flashes of a Wolf an Owl a Stake (like ones witches were burned on), Cabin in the Woods, walking on a Path picking purple flowers, Castle or Place.

I feel in my past life I was a witch.

I went deeper into my meditation of the Past Life Regression Test and this is what I saw:
I was a young female walking down a path in the Woods. There was a Wolf following behind me and an Owl flying ahead of me, basket in hand, picking herbs & berries.
Where I lived in my Past Life I didn’t quite get that straight. I was in a cabin in the woods, with a man and other people. Then I saw myself in the Castle like home and the same man was there but not beside me. I saw a figure of a man coming up behind me, he snapped my neck. In the same vision, I saw a young woman burning at that same stake I saw earlier.

What does this past life mean?

I’m not fully sure what it means, but I feel I was some kind of witch in my past life.

I will have to think and meditate on this a lot more later and maybe do the Past Life Regression Test again to see if I can retrieve some more vivid visions.

Yeah this was so exciting and I finally did a weekly challenge.

[BrightBear]

I remember reading Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut 30 years ago (possibly longer) and he has his own word for this idea - karass. He’s pretty satirical, but the concept immediately hit me as truth. In the many years since then, I have often heard these referred to as “soul groups” and other terms I can’t remember right now but it definitely rings true for me. Of course, the visions I get during some of my meditations and tarot readings (as well as just walking along the street - lol) all support this theory as well.

[Luna95]

I have always been curious about past lives! perfect time to jump in!!

[BrightBear]

@mary25 ~ Wow! That truly was specific! I think it’s pretty amazing!

[BrightBear]

Oh, I’m definitely going to do it soon! That sounds so cool!

[mary25]

Here is a link to research being done at the University of Virginia School of Medicine that is related…and there is questionnaire, if you wish to participate in the research. How interesting! Division of Perceptual Studies | University of Virginia School of Medicine

“Researchers at the University of Virginia have investigated children’s reports of memories of previous lives for nearly sixty years, studying more than 2,500 cases from around the world. In many cases, a deceased individual has been identified whose life matches the details given by the child. Common features in the cases include a child talking about a past life at a very early age, behaviors that appear connected to that life such as phobias related to the mode of death, and sometimes even birthmarks or birth defects that correspond to wounds the previous person suffered.”

[Jeannie1]

I did some divination and digging in my past life using the “past life oracle cards” by Droreen Virtue,
I asked what lessons am I working on from my prior life? To my amazement the persecution and inquision card came up. This was a validation that in
my past life I was persecuted for witchcraft.

Actually I really feel in my heart I was once a witch in my past life. I felt so bad to come out and share I am witch to my family! And it makes perfect sense why it has been very
difficult for me to be me! I have wondered from time to time if I was a witch in my past life! This is my final validation.
Amethyst thank you for the questions dear! I didn’t even know where to start but know I have a more questions to ask about! I am going to have fun with this one.

Kassandra- That is a great spell seems that you have lots of answers! Good job
Debra - Dowsing the pendulum is a great idea and that is really neat. I just got my validation tonight I was a witch too in my former life! I will try the pendulum as well!
Thank you for sharing!
Blessed be​:sparkles:
Jeannie

[Susurrus]

I have been to the 3 links shared by @BryWisteria in the original post for the Weekly Challenge:

Guy Lombardo

Gaetano Alberto “Guy” Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist. Forming “The Royal Canadians” in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating “The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven.” The Lombardos are believed to have sold between 100 and 300 million phonograph records during their lifetimes.

Samuel Butler (novelist)

Samuel Butler (4 or 5 December 1835 – 18 June 1902) was an iconoclastic Victorian-era English author who published a variety of works. Two of his most famous pieces are the Utopian satire Erewhon and a semi-autobiographical novel published posthumously, The Way of All Flesh. He is also known for examining Christian orthodoxy, substantive studies of evolutionary thought, studies of Italian art, and works of literary history and criticism.

James C. Terrell

James C. Terrell (November 7, 1806 – December 1, 1835) was a United States Representative and lawyer from Georgia. Terrell was born in Franklin County, Georgia, in 1806. He attended studied law, gained admittance to the state bar and practiced law in Carnesville, Georgia. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1830 to 1834. He was elected as a Union Representative from Georgia to the 24th United States Congress and served from March 4, 1835, until his resignation on July 8, 1835

William Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby

William Brabazon Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby (of Imokilly), PC (Ire) (15 September 1744 – 5 November 1806) was a leading Irish Whig politician, being a member of the Irish House of Commons, and after 1800, of the United Kingdom parliament. Ponsonby was the son of the Hon. John Ponsonby, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and Lady Elizabeth Cavendish, daughter of the 3rd Duke of Devonshire. He was invested as a Privy Counsellor of Ireland in 1784.

William Byrd II

Colonel William Byrd II (March 28, 1674 – August 26, 1744) was a planter, slave-owner and author from Charles City County, Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia. Byrd’s life showed aspects of both British colonial gentry and an emerging American identity. His education included classics, apprenticeship with London global business agents, and legal studies.

Henry Cromwell (20 January 1628 – 23 March 1674) was the fourth son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier, and an important figure in the Parliamentarian regime in Ireland.
Francesco Ribalta (2 June 1565 – 14 January 1628), also known as Francisco Ribaltá or de Ribalta, was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period, mostly of religious subjects. He was born in Solsona, Lleida. Although his first apprenticeship was apparently with Navarrete, who worked for years in the Escorial, Ribalta’s earliest work (a Cruxifixion of 1582) was signed in Madrid. After his years in Madrid, Ribalta was to settle as an artist in Valencia

Blessed Osanna of Cattaro T. O. S. D. (Serbo-Croatian: Ozana Kotorska) was a Catholic visionary and anchoress from Cattaro (Kotor). She was a teenage convert from Orthodoxy from Montenegro (Zeta). She became a Dominican tertiary and was posthumously venerated as a saint in Kotor.

There’s some more but these are the people that the generator link came up with for me based on my time of birth & latitude/longitude for Boston. It’s interesting to read the little blurbs by their names.

[Temujin_Calidius]

I will try and do it using meditation instead of the generators. Seems the generators picks ‘known’ names in history. So for every life I was famous or remembered according to those. Any name that can be searched on the internet or Wikipedia Out of the millions of people out there that went about their lives unknown to the world.

Tem

[Rowan]

My entry for this weeks challenge:

This topic is one that has always sparked my interest, but I’ve always felt it was too big for me to dive in to. Since opening myself up through my craft and our wonderful Infinite Roots Coven, I feel like maybe from this starting point I can explore it a bit more.

I went to the Reincarnation Machine link that was shared by @BryWisteria and these are a few of my results (It said I had twenty past lives).
Gilbert Ray Hodges, (April 4, 1924 – April 2, 1972) was an American first baseman and manager in Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.
Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming (3 November 1841 – 2 April 1924), known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology.
Captain Sir Alexander Burnes, FRS (16 May 1805 – 2 November 1841) was a Scottish traveler and explorer who took part in The Great Game.
Alexander II (Mediaeval Gaelic: Alaxandair mac Uilliam; Modern Gaelic: Alasdair mac Uilleim) (24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Scots from1214 to his death.

These results were interesting and also gave me a giggle…
Another funny thing was this evening I did a Moon Oracle pull and got the “South Node” which mentioned By Yasmine Boland says:

“The lunar Nodes are something used by pretty much every astrologer on the planet, though they are now well known. They are the points where the orbit of the Moon crosses the ecliptic. The South Node is where we’ve come from – including past lives and the North Node is where we’re going to, assuming we have the courage to push outside our comfort zone.” (Yasmine Boland, Moonology 2001)
Which I take as a confirmation that exploring the possibility of my having past lives is warranted and perhaps a path I should travel.
Thank you for this challenge and opening my eyes.
Blessed Be