In spite of the frequent staunch ostracism that the idea of rebirth has encountered throughout the centuries, it has never been extirpated and today – although the traditional religious systems are in crisis throughout the entire Western civilisation – the belief in reincarnation is growing steadily both in Europe and the USA, as the statistics of the last twenty years show.
From various polls it appears that 25% of Americans believe in reincarnation, which means that one American in four believes in past lives. The European average is only slightly lower (24%) but it greatly varies from country to country, going from 15% in Norway to 33% in Great Britain. This means that in the UK one person out of three believes they have already lived in another body, in another time and – consequently – will probably come back again in the future.
Religious beliefs do not seem to interfere with the acceptance of the concept of reincarnation either, since polls have shown that – although Catholicism has been the faith to most strongly oppose reincarnation in modern times – countries where Catholicism traditionally predominates also show high percentages of belief in rebirth, even among regular mass-goers: Portugal 32%; France 28%; Italy 27%; Spain 25%. (For more details see: www.spiritual-wholeness.org/faqs/reinceur/reineuro.htm).
These data are highly encouraging in our present climate of gloom and insecurity, where we are all called to revise deep-seated behaviours and re-examine ways of life we had always considered ethically correct and never thought of putting under scrutiny before because today the future of the entire planet and the survival of our species is at stake.
Fully embracing the concept of reincarnation and living according to it will generate at least two important benefits which we are certainly in great need of: a serious environmental conscience and tolerance.
If we believe that when we die it’s all over or – alternatively – that we fly away to heaven leaving the earth far behind us forever, there is not much incentive to protect the environment for future generations that we shall never meet. The temptation to say: “It will be their problem, who cares?” is strong. However if we believe that we shall come back here and that we shall be part of those future generations, then the problem suddenly becomes ours too and it’s better to look into it sooner rather than later (especially because it is already quite late anyway).
Wars and discrimination are always based on greed and resentment but they are masked, in one way or another, by the justification of diversity. Hate feeds on envy for what others are or have. Reincarnation teaches that we have all lived many, many lives, incarnating in many different conditions: different sex, different colour of skin, different cultures, different religions, different sexual orientation, different locations, different social status ... Once we are fully aware of this, it becomes impossible to attack someone else for being “different from us” because we know that we have experienced all the possible permutations ourselves. Reincarnation teaches tolerance, it teaches us to accept and respect what is different from us because we are likely to have already been – or are going to be – in that way too.
Regrettably however, the great interest and faith in rebirth revealed by the results of surveys isn’t reflected in the interest and attention demonstrated by official channels and the non-specialised press, with the unfortunate result that too many people still feel intimidated to openly show an interest in this subject and fear to be ridiculed or considered superstitious.
The thought that some sort of political ostracism is at work now as it was in the 4th century is quite tempting. Certainly reincarnation has important philosophical consequences: embracing belief in rebirth and informing their lives on it, people certainly free themselves from many fears, and this process makes them more responsible and more independent, leaving much less possibility for them to be manipulated. Are the political powers and the hierarchised religious systems frightened of losing control as they were nearly 2000 years ago? We are not in the time of Constantine anymore and since then humans have grown up enough to be able to take responsibility for themselves. A quick search on Google gives 5,200,000 hits for ‘Reincarnation’ and 59,100,000 hits for “Past Lives”. These data speak for themselves and don’t need any further comment. As Greywind said in his Voice within the Wind: “Take courage, make the leap” … if you haven’t already done so ...
© Renata Bartoli 2009
I have a solid academic background with more than 20 scholarly publications to my credit. I have nearly 40 years’ experience in helping teenagers and adults to improve their lives and solve their problems (gained teaching in Colleges and in Adult Education in several different countries), which I combine with the expertise I have obtained from my lifelong studies of Reincarnation and Spirituality.
I began practicing hypnotherapy in Italy in 1994, and since I moved to the UK I have gained several formal British and American qualifications in Hypnotherapy and Counselling.
I am now the director of my own successful private practice in North Harrow, At The Apple Tree Hypnotherapy. Footprints from the Past is our specialised branch dedicated to Regression work and other holistic techniques.
We specialise in Advanced Past Life Regression Techniques, Stop-Smoking and Weight-Management Therapy as well as Grief and Bereavement Counselling. We have also created a very powerful new technique called Interactive Inner World Therapy, exclusively practised At The Apple Tree, which combines various techniques in a new blend of therapy that yields excellent results for many and varied conditions both physical and emotional (see our website for a complete list of the therapies and techniques available). We actively update our expertise on an ongoing basis and we are fully insured and bound by a strict code of conduct. Confidentiality is assured at all times.
As a practice we endeavour to provide support and guidance (via email and telephone) after a client has left our premises for as long as it benefits them. Our objective is always to provide a high quality bespoke service to those who put their trust in us, which is why we work only with a limited number of clients at any one time.
All our scripts are personalised, and our clients can be assured that they are created specifically for them and perfectly tailored to their problem and the causes that created it. We are all unique individuals with unique needs and unique solutions, and we know that having the same problem doesn’t mean that we can solve it in the same way. At The Apple Tree we shall help our clients' Subconscious to unleash their full potential.
All therapies are offered in ENGLISH and ITALIAN. Telephone sessions are available worldwide via Skype or conventional telephone connection.
I run LOW-COST WORKSHOPS on SELF-HYPNOSIS and PAST-LIFE REGRESSION (see our websites: www.footprintsfromthepast.co.uk and www.the-apple-tree.co.uk).