This is (with some revision) taken from a chapter of Going Past, my workbook for past life recall.

Isn’t It Great? I Was Famous! (Well…)

Speaking of difficulties…

This is one of the most written about topics I have seen on discussion boards. It is a topic that, years ago, I never thought I would take an active role in debating.

If people are skeptical about reincarnation, it generally seems to go down easier with others if you said "I am the reincarnation of a farmer" or another such person.

As someone told me, when I revealed my past: "Only someone who is insane would want to be William Shakespeare!"

Since I started coming out of the "reincarnation closet," most people who know what I believe just tiptoe around me on this particular issue. Believe me, I did not want this. I spent more than forty years wanting this to go in any direction but his. I thought I might have been a musician in the company, an audience member, or finally, an actor in the company. Not Shakespeare.

Everything I have found in my personal research brought me back to him, every time. He is inescapable. I surrender. He is here, a part of the "family," and I’m not going to leave him behind just because people might stare!

Some wiser and higher minds than mine are prevailing here, somehow. I know this. A person on a reincarnation forum once wrote that people who have famous lives ought to "affect" some humbleness about it. I don’t have to affect humility. Even if pride does rear up occasionally, I am still astonished and appreciative of how little I actually have a part in any of this. The gifts come from the unknown flows of consciousness that feel no need for fame.

Fame is for the people who are alive on this plane, surrounded by the glitter of it. Whether or not it is important in some way is up to each individual.

There are several reasons why people remember having a famous past life:

1. An attraction to a famous person, without any other clues of having lived at the same time.

There are people who want famous past lives. The idea is fascinating, and easily acceptable to them. Many people have such an affinity for a famous historical figure or event that they feel they had to have been that person, or present at the event. It doesn’t matter if they have any other recall that fits the place or time: they want the connection. They want to be that person.

This is understandable: we all form affinities for people who have something that attracts us, or that we aspire to, or an event that grabs our imagination. However, you cannot stop at that point: if nothing else fits, there is no real reason to believe that you were that person in a past life. If you have to try to make something fit, then it’s not the life for you.

2. Simply living at the same time and place in which a famous person made a great impact.

It is natural to feel attached to the most visible people and experiences of a place and time. I can guarantee you that in future lifetimes some people who were mesmerized by the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, when they return, will believe they are her reincarnations. Their interest in her will stick to their energy like glue. This is called The Cleopatra Syndrome.

There is a joke that more people have claimed to be Cleopatra than, as the saying goes, actually lived in Egypt in her time! From multiple Romanovs to multiple Marilyns, there will be people who believe they were these icons. In most of these instances the belief would not hold up under any research, and it is best to look for another kind of past life.

3. Feeling a bond because of many similarities between you and the famous person.

This is sometimes simply a matter of similarities, things about the famous person that remind you of yourself, and not a case of recall. This is a matter of being drawn to an archetype, not remembering the past.

4. For others, there will be real indications that parallel a famous life, enough to merit looking into it.

People who live within the same place and time period will experience many of the same types of things. You may be absolutely sure you were a famous person, only to find that records do not fit what you remember. Don’t try to make your memories fit: accept that you might need to look further into things. The famous lifetime led you on your way, but it may not be able to help you arrive "home." The same is true if you feel attached to a famous event, such as the sinking of the Titanic, or President Kennedy’s assassination. Remember, I thought for a long time that I died in the Holocaust. When I finally examined why I believed this, I realized how much I had been influenced by the stories all around me when I was a child. The few actual memories I could attach to my idea of living in Germany turned out to be scenes from my English life. The instant ability to speak German went all the way back to the 18th century. I could not fit my belief to the record. When I let go of my assumption, my real past lifetime for that period, the life of Esther, opened up.

5. Having verifiable memories of being that person -

By that I mean very personal details, not general things. This is the only way you can make sure you are having reincarnational memory.

I fall into the last category, and I still had trouble recalling, then coming out about whom I was, because being Shakespeare's reincarnation simply is too much! I had to grow strong enough to handle the recall.

One of the indications that a person may be on the right track is an initial denial that this is even possible. That denial can hold up for a long time. I believe if it hadn’t been for another woman who believes she is the reincarnation of a member of Shakespeare’s company, the famous clown Will Kemp, I would never have started opening up to the possibility that I had been Shakespeare. I certainly know I would never have had the gall to suggest it myself until I had been slammed to the wall with confirmations. The same is true for realizing that I had been Esther Waterhouse: at the time just before the dream, it would not have occurred to me that I could have been married to someone who was famous, let alone have been famous.

Thankfully, when I started accepting the truth, there were people to support me, especially Karen, who recalls the memories of Alexander the Great, and later Sir Thomas More. She has been through the exact same stages I went through. From initial denial through detailed confirmation she has been able to tell me, "I’ve been there, as well."

The upside of believing that you had a famous past life is the fact the lives are usually well documented, and easier to research. This is the main reason you have heard me speak more about Waterhouse and Shakespeare than my other lives: in regards to research, this was a big break. The downside of all that information is, it can affect your memories: something you learned from the outside sources becomes a part of the material, and you wonder whether you remembered it, or learned it. That is one of the reasons I placed so much emphasis on collecting your bits before you research them, so that you know whether a memory is altered or not.

There is no perfect way of making sure memories stay, simply, memories. At the least you know if you made a good effort to be honest in your research. Others may decide on their own whether or not to trust you, but in the end it isn’t their opinions that matter: it is the connection that you are able to make to this past life and what it means to you alone.

How open you are about a possible famous past life is up to you. I kept mine under wraps until I was well into this book, only letting a few friends know, because I wanted to make sure I could handle any flack that might come my way when this became public. In the end, it was more important to me to teach people about all the different ups and downs of past life recall than leave anything about myself in the dark.

There is always the chance of conflict with someone over the revelation of having a famous past life, but there are far more insights than insults that can be received in accepting all the past experience that feeds our souls.