Are Irrational Phobias a Hint of Past Lives?

reply to post by smyleegrl


Glad I wasn't alone on the gallows!

reply to post by smyleegrl

Which got me to thinking...what if unusual phobias are simply memories from a past life? Of course, that's assuming reincarnation is real.

Delores Cannon, and other hypnotherapists often use past life regression to cure phobias.
Wonder no more.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Hey, I only read what you said. I haven't read through any of the thread yet.

Are you in my head again?

I'm afraid of house fires as well. I have never been in one myself either. Ever since I was a kid I can remember always unplugging things...just in case. I also sleep fully clothed. I have since I was a kid as well. I always thought, well if there is a fire at least I'll have clothes on and won't be naked in the street.

Peace and love
~nat the blue eyed ca~

Maybe it is from our past lives...reincarnation may occur. I actually just read an article about it, and it was very interesting.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I have wondered about this possibility .....I had a 'phobia' about bridges when I was a little kid.

I had nightmares about them collapsing when I tried to cross. Big bridges, little bridges, didn't matter. There weren't that many sizable bridges around where we lived, so it wasn't likely I'd actually been 'frightened' during a real crossing. The ones we did come across would give me a full on panic attack, I would crawl into the floor of the car with my eyes covered till we got to the other side!

Finally, something happened that seemed to help me 'overcome' it to some degree..... I had a dream that me and my Grandmother were on a swinging type foot bridge. We were both slipping and sliding and in danger of loosing our grip on the hand rails. In this dream, I was actually more concerned for my Grandmother than for myself......I called out to her, "Don't be afraid, Granny! This is just a dream!".....

That realization took the 'punch' out of the rest of my nightmares, but I still hate crossing big bridges.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I strongly believe that reincarnation is a possibility and the reemerging of past traumas could be linked to it.

Sheepslayer and I had a debate to find out if reincarnation was a possibilty along with some of its effects:

Reincarnation - Could it possibly exist?

You might find that to be an interesting read.

S&F.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Hmmm...you know, this may sound stupid, but when I was younger I had an extremely irrational fear/reaction to the smell of ammonia. I used to think (and sometimes still wonder) that it was due to some bizarre accident or something in a previous life. A laboratory accident or something?

I also had to make a very conscious effort as an adult to get over my fear of bridges. My palms would actually become wet with sweat when I would go over bridges. Perhaps the echos of two past deaths? Maybe we are re-born again and again until we "get it" or do it right or something or maybe when we get to "the beyond" we just want to come back and experience something else or something. I am a Christian (not the kind that believes what a majority of churches teach...but that's a different story/thread) and I have room in my ever evolving beliefs for past lives/reincarnation.

Additionally, I have read some theory (can't remember where) that sometimes if you died a violent death or something you may be reincarnated with a birthmark or some type of defect as a "carryover" from a previous life. Quite interestingly my youngest daughter has this big - almost blatantly obvious - grouping of freckles/birthmarks on the lower right side of her back that look exactly like the grouping you might get from a shotgun blast.
She doesn't have any "memory" of anything, but it sure does make me wonder.

I love going to the beach, but ever since I was a kid I was always paranoid of giant waves. I would even imagine seeing them coming up out of the horizon.

Very interesting question, I have wondered so myself because I have a fear that seems to stem out of nowhere.

I have a fear of either being strangled, or breaking and hurting my neck in any way. I can not wear turtle necks without feeling like i'm choking. I dont allow others to touch my neck, even a caress causes anxiety. walking downstairs I sometimes envision myself breaking my neck. So I dont know but I have thought that something possibly happened in a past life or i've been given a vision on what to prevent in this one.

I also am terrified of house fires almost irrationally but that stems from being in two house fires when i was younger, one started from a drunk neighbor and one was a younger sibling so that fear comes from somewhere but I understand how terrifying house fires can be and I feel for you. Rationally though as long as you have a fire detector in all main areas that should give you enough of a head start and at least some form of peace so if you dont have them, get them.

But to answer your question....yes I do believe that it is quite possible and most likely a hint of a past live.

When we go on vacation, I worry to the point I do not enjoy myself. Fire, I am scared the second we get in the car to leave the panic sets in. I didn't think I had any others until I started reading the comments. I am so freaked out sleeping in a tent.with the "windows" closed. I am claustrophobia. I am freaked when I get into an elevator, not because of no windows. I get freak that I will get stuck or it will fall. I am the same with things around my neck. hI also can not have my face covered with even a sheet at night. I don't feel like I can't breathe, I can't! I have never had anything happen that could have caused any of them.

I did believe strongly against reincarnation being true. I'm not so sure anymore.

reply to post by smyleegrl


SnF Smyleegrl once again you have hit a nail on the head.... now my head hurts lol.... I have been thinking about this idea for like almost my entire life. As a small child I was taken to the Hoover Dam when my mother was in University, it was a field trip! I cannot tell you how I almost jumped out of my skin. I have visited the Hoover at least 4 times since then. If I am driving across States and can swing by the Hoover I will but I cannot stay there for long. The reason for each trip out of the way is that is errie feeling I get! I also get a strange feeling when boarding a large vessels. When younger, I could not explain this feeling. My mother read Edgar Cayce who believed in Reincarnation. She had many books which from time to time I picked one up to read a few pages. This is the only way I can explain those feelings! I may have died being a dam builder or worse came close to and had friend who fell in my place only to have died on a sinking ship. I used to jump out of perfectly good airplanes!

It would be interesting being regressed but I have heard so many stories that the mind makes up strange ideas and this makes paying for the service impractical for my money!

Thanks again for a thought provoking thread!

Edited to say that I love bridges, I drive out of my way to go across a bridge not yet traveled. When I had a brief stay at the Presidio of San Francisco many evenings I and friends would drive the three bridges Oakland to Richmond - Marin Bridge out Lucas Valley Road to the ocean and back across the beloved Golden Gate! Have no problems with bridges clearly so what is wrong with me and Dams???

I know this thread is about phobias, but I'm going off-topic anyway. Its my thread, I can do that.

All my life I've felt drawn to certain historical periods or places. For example, I'm fascinated with King Henry VIII's reign and that entire time period. Now, I'm not claiming I was Anne Boleyn or anyone else famous, but could this....fascination/obsession have something to do with a past life? Maybe I was a peasant living then....who knows.

I also have the same fascination with WWII and am particularly drawn to Hiroshima. Maybe its just simple curiosity, maybe its something more.

Ahhh, well. Who knows. Makes an interesting ponder, right?

Hmm, i wonder what happened to me in a past life then i have huge phobia of feet.

This is an interesting idea. I have two major phobias, and both I've feared to have caused my death in past lives. It makes a lot of sense to me. I have thought about this before. I can't say I've lived other lives because I don't recall anything. I have a friend that claims he remembers things from his past lives, but I don't believe this is possible. I feel we aren't supposed to be able to know. What would be the point of a new life if we remembered everything from the ones we had before?

Fear is one crazy SOB motivator, that I know.

reply to post by smyleegrl


Its really odd, that I can associate with nearly every "new age" concept you surmise about. I used to travel for work, and one of my trips to South Taiwan I had this amazing feeling of dying there in a past life. I was alone in a hotel room, and just started to cry uncontrollably. It was that thought, or that many of my ancestors had died there. A seriously crazy feeling indeed.

This is like 4 weeks in a row, that everything you post about smylee hits home something fierce. Cheers to you!

I've had the same thought, phobias as an attachment or stain left on us from a previous life ( just like savants are carrying over an impossible talent from a past life).

I grew up in a small town, and the only escalator was a tiny one in Woolsworths , yet I am deathly terrified of the things. By extension, I can't do stairs without risers either. Both give me the impression of moving stairs and it is horribly unsettling. I've never fallen down stairs, so the best conclusion that I can come up with is death by falling down stairs at some point in my past.

As an interesting aside, I used to have recurrent nightmares of giant white spiders when I was little. White spiders do not exist in my home country.

reply to post by SinMaker

One i have,is that i cannot handle things around my feet-its like i Have to be able to run at a moment's notice.I will not tolerate even my dogs laying near my feet,no kids toys,Nothing that can trip one up.I always wondered why,as im not a constantly anxious person,or a fugitive
But there has to be an open area around my feet,where ever i sit down or stand.
Also to have my arms pinned drives me nuts,i go into a panic,even when playing,thats just something i wont put up with-i wonder though,if this could be from birth? Apparently my biological mother was passed out and they had to pry me out of her with forceps,when i was born.

Interesting concept,im an absolute believer in reincarnation.

reply to post by Raxoxane


It would be interesting to go through a regressive past life hypnotherapist and see where these fears root from. I know my feet must be covered at night! I think exposed feet would be a common fear when sleeping???

I use to have three phobias but I was able to overcome two of them.

The first was a phobia of knives. I would have panic attacks sitting at the diner table just seeing a knife in someones hand would make me shake and flee the room. I was able to handle a knife in my own hand but I was always extremely cautious with it and it made me nervous. I forced myself to get over that phobia but it was a slow process. I use to have dreams of being a young girl watching after my younger brother a blond boy about the age of 10 and has playing with a big knife like a hunting knife. He started running towards me not like he was threatening me or anything just running my direction with the knife in his hand. He tripped and fell on me and the knife plunged into my chest it took several minutes for me to die. I still have a fear of knives but it is controllable, not like the phobia it was before. They still make me nervous but I don't have panic attacks anymore.

The second one was a phobia of things around my neck. I felt like I couldn't breath and had a pressure across the front of my throat. During a past life regression session I saw myself in France. I was dirty and in a basement with about 10 others some were shackled to walls or support beams, others were loose but all were weak from starvation. Their cloths were dirty and torn but I could tell they had once been very nice clothing. I knew we were all upper middle class not rich but well off. soon three men came and lead me and 3 women and 1 man up the stairs and down the street to a platform that held a guillotine. I remember feeling numb and even though I knew I was about to die I wasn't scared I felt nothing. I was forced to kneel and when they leaned me over and clamped my neck in the wooden piece the pressure from trying to keep my balance was all on the front of the throat. After that session when ever I have something around my neck I remember that and I am able to work past it and not panic. I can even wear chokers now for a few hours without much problem. They still give me the feeling of pressure on my throat but I can breath and I don't panic.

The third one I still have no clue what causes it and it still throws me into a bad panic attack.. I can't handle anything in my face. It doesn't matter what it is, a person too close to my face, a pillow or blanket, or any big object, I can't breath, I feel like I am suffocating and I panic.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I'm not sure what my theory on reincarnation is, but I've talked to other people who've done past life regressions that have been completely cured of their fears through hypnosis regarding this subject. I guess in hindsight it makes sense, still not willing to say I believe in reincarnation though, heck I just want to get done with this life and take a rest LOL! The study was interesting though, one case went so far as curing a person of blindness, so there's definitely something to think about on this subject.

PS: I did do a past life regression under hypnosis once and was told I was burned at the stake for being a witch when I was actually a healer. Makes sense since I used to have dreams that I could heal people with my hands LOL, I went on to work in Respiratory for about seven years after that before deciding to stay home and write.

The two most common phobias in the world are snakes and spiders. Some people would argue that this is the work of evolution. Our ancestors who happened to be scared of certain things like toxic snakes and spiders were more likely to avoid encounters with them, thereby living long enough to pass their DNA along, and then their children would possibly inherit the fears genetically. Makes sense that those two fears would become the most common in the world, considering that human beings evolved in Africa which is full of toxic snakes and spiders.

I'd tend to lean towards the evolutionary trait hypothesis than the reincarnation one. Although who knows where some of the other less common phobias come from, like coulrophobia (fear of clowns). Maybe those are all reincarnated John Wayne Gacy victims