“I have always found the past-life memories of children to be particularly compelling and convincing. If you give your children permission to talk about these memories, they will have the freedom to communicate without fear. Carol Bowman's book will help you to understand and communicate."
-BRIAN WEISS, M.D., author of Messages from the Masters
From hundreds of cases, Bowman has distilled the signs of a true child's past-life memory. These signs are illustrated throughout the stories and include:
Matter-of-Fact Tone
When young children speak of past lives, their tone becomes serious, matter-of-fact, and does not resemble the sing-songy, lilting style of fantasy babble. Adults sometimes notice that a child's countenance becomes calm, almost adultlike, as they speak of their other life.
Consistency of Detail
Unlike the stories of a child who is fantasizing, the basic details and facts of the stories remain consistent over time, though the child may fill in more details as his language improves.
Knowledge Beyond Experience
Children speak of events or facts from the past that they had no way of learning normally, or show an uncanny adult understanding of emotions beyond the experience of a very young child.
Memory of Death
To the parent's amazement, a child will matter-of-factly tell them he remembers being shot, or dying in a car accident, or in a war, sometimes in explicit and clinically graphic detail.
Behavior and Phobias
Inexplicable behaviors and fears that bewilder the parents suddenly make perfect sense in the context of the past life—especially the mode of death.
The Age Window
Children speak spontaneously of their past-life memories for only a short time, usually between the ages of two and seven; these episodes of lucidity are brief and appear to be random.