hree and a half months had passed since our first hypnosis session. Not only had Catherine's symptoms virtually disappeared, but she had progressed beyond merely being cured. She was radiant, with a peaceful energy around her. People were drawn to her. When she ate breakfast in the hospital cafeteria, both men and women would rush to join her. "You look so beautiful; I just wanted to tell you that," they would say. Like a fisher, she would reel them in on an invisible psychic line. And she had been eating unnoticed in the same cafeteria for years.

As usual, she sank quickly into a deep hypnotic trance in my dimly lit office, her blond hair spilling over in rivulets on the familiar beige pillow.

"I see a building... it's made out of stone. And there's something pointed on the top of it. It's in a very mountainous area. It's very damp... it's very damp outside. I see a wagon. I see a wagon going by... the front. The wagon has hay in it, some kind of straw or hay or something for the animals to eat. There are some men there. They're carrying some type of banners, something flying on the end of a stick. Very bright colors. I hear them talking about Moors... Moors. And a war that's being fought. There's some type of metal, something metal covering their heads... some type of head

covering made of metal. The year is 1483- Something about Danes.

Are we fighting the Danes? Some war is being fought."

"Are you there?" I questioned.

"I don't see that," she answered softly. "I see the wagons. They have two wheels on them, two wheels and an open back. They're open; the sides are open with slats, some type of wooden slats held together. I see... something metal they wear around their necks...

very heavy metal in the shape of a cross. But the ends are curved, the ends are round... on the cross. It's the feast of some saint.... I see swords. They have some type of knife or sword... very heavy, very blunt end. They are preparing for some battle."

"See if you can find yourself," I instructed. "Look around. Perhaps you're a soldier. You're seeing them from somewhere,"

"I'm not a soldier." She was definite about this, "Look around."

"I have brought some of the provisions. It's a village, some village."

She was silent. "What do you see now?"

"I see a banner, some type of banner. It's red and white... white with a red cross."

"Is it the banner of your people?" I asked. "It's the banner of the king's soldiers," she responded. "Is this your king?" "Yes."

"Do you know the king's name?" "I don't hear that. He's not there." "Can you look and see what you're wearing? Look down and see what you're wearing." "Some type of leather,.. leather tunic over... over

a very rough shirt. A leather tunic... it's short. Some type of animal-skin shoes... not shoes, more like boots or moccasins. No one's talking to me."

"I understand. What color is your hair?"

"It's light, but I'm old, and there's some gray to it."

"How do you feel about this war?"

"It has become my way of life. I've lost a child in a previous

skirmish."

"A son?"

"Yes," She was sad.

"Who's left for you? Who's left in your family?"

"My wife... and my daughter.".^

"What was your son's name?"

"I don't see his name. I remember him. I see my wife." Catherine had been both male and female many times. Childless in her present life, she had parented numerous children in her other lifetimes. "What does your wife look like?"

"She's very tired, very tired. She's old. We have some goats."

"Does your daughter still live with you?" *

"No, she is married and left some time ago."

"Are you alone, then, you and your wife?"

"Yes."

"How is your life?"

"We are tired. We are very poor. It has not been easy."

"No. You've lost your son. Do you miss him?"

"Yes," she answered simply, but the grief was palpable. "Have you been a farmer?" I changed the subject. "Yes. There's wheat... wheat, something like wheat."

"Have there been many wars in your land, through your life, with

much tragedy?"

"Yes."

"But you have lived to be old."

"But they fight away from the village, not in the village," she explained. "They must travel to where they do battle... over many mountains."

"Do you know the name of the land that you live in? Or the town?"

"I don't see it, but it must have a name. I don't see it."

"Is this a very religious time for you? You see crosses on the soldiers."

"For others, yes. Not for me."

"Is anybody alive yet from the rest of your family, other than your

wife and your daughter?"

"No."

"Your parents have died?"

"Yes."

"Brothers and sisters?"

"I have a sister. She is alive. I don't know her," she added, referring to her life as Catherine.

"Okay. See if you recognize anyone else in the village or your family." If people did reincarnate in groups, she was likely to find someone there who was also significant in her current lifetime. "I see a stone table... I see bowls."

"Is this your house?"

"Yes. Something made out of ker... something yellow, something from corn... or something... yellow. We eat this...."

"All right," I added, trying to quicken the pace. "This has been a very

hard life for you, a very hard life. What are you thinking of?"

"Horses," she whispered.

"Do you own horses? Or does somebody else?"

"No, soldiers... some of them. Mostly they walk. But they're not horses; they're donkeys or something littler than horses. They are mostly wild."

"Go ahead in time now," I instructed. "You're very old. Try to go to the last day in your lifetime as an old man."

"But I'm not very old," she objected. She was not particularly suggestible in these past lives. What was happening was happening. I could not suggest away the actual memories. I could not get her to change the details of what had happened and been remembered. "Is there more to happen in this lifetime?" I asked, changing my approach. "It is important for us to know."

"Nothing of significance," she answered without emotion.

"Then, go ahead, go ahead in time. Let's find out what you needed to

learn. Do you know?"

"No. I'm still there."

"Yes, I know. Are you seeing something?" A minute or two passed before she answered.

"I'm just floating," she whispered softly.

"Have you left him now?"

"Yes, I'm floating." She had entered the spiritual state again.

"Do you know now what you needed to learn? It was an-other hard lifetime for you."

"I don't know. I'm just floating."

"Okay. Rest... rest." More minutes passed silently. Then she seemed to be listening to something. Abruptly she spoke. Her voice was loud and deep. This was not Catherine.

"There are seven planes in all, seven planes, each one consisting of many levels, one of them being the plane of recollection. On that plane you are allowed to collect your thoughts. You are allowed to see your life that has just passed. Those of the higher levels are allowed to see history. They can go back and teach us by learning about history. But we of the lower levels are only allowed to see our own life... that has just passed.

"We have debts that must be paid. If we have not paid out these

debts, then we must take them into another life... in order that they may be worked through. You progress by paying your debts. Some souls progress faster than others. When you're in physical form and you are working through, you're working through a life.... If something interrupts your ability... to pay that debt, you must return to the plane of recollection, and there you must wait until the soul you owe the debt to has come to see you. And when you both can be returned to physical form at the same time, then you are allowed to return. But you determine when you are going back. You determine what must be done to pay that debt. You will not remember your other lives... only the one you have just come from. Only those souls on the higher level-the sages-are allowed to call upon history and past events... to help us, to teach us what we must do.

"There are seven planes... seven through which we must pass before we are returned. One of them is the plane of transition. There you wait. In that plane it is determined what you will take back with you into the next life. We will all have... a dominant trait. This might be greed, or it might be lust, but whatever is determined, you need to fulfill your debts to those people. Then you must overcome this in that lifetime. You must learn to overcome greed. If you do not, when you return you will have to carry that trait, as well as another one, into your next life. The burdens will become greater. With each life that you go through and you did not fulfill these debts, the next one will be harder. If you fulfill them, you will be given an easy life. So you choose what life you will have. In the next phase, you are responsible for the life you have. You choose it." Catherine fell silent.

This was apparently not from a Master. He identified himself as "we of the lower levels," in comparison with those souls on the higher level-"the sages." But the knowledge transmitted was both clear and practical. I wondered about the five other planes and their qualities. Was the stage of renewal one of those planes? And what about the learning stage and the stage of decisions? All of the wisdom revealed through these messages from souls in various dimensions of the spiritual state was consistent. The style of delivery differed, the phraseology and grammar differed, the sophistication of verse and vocabulary differed; but the content remained coherent. I was acquiring a systematic body of spiritual knowledge. This knowledge spoke of love and hope, faith and charity. It examined virtues and vices, debts owed to others and to one's self. It included past lifetimes and spiritual planes between lives. And it talked of the soul's progress through harmony and balance, love and wisdom, progress toward a mystical and ecstatic connection with God.

There was much practical advice along the way: the value of patience and of waiting; the wisdom in the balance of nature; the eradication of fears, especially the fear of death; the need for learning about trust and forgiveness; the importance of learning not to judge others, or to halt anyone's life; the accumulation and use of intuitive powers; and, perhaps most of all, the unshakable knowledge that we are immortal. We are beyond life and death, beyond space and beyond time. We are the gods, and they are us. "I'm floating," Catherine was whispering softly.

"What state are you in?" I asked.

"Nothing... I'm floating.... Edward owes me something... he owes me something."

"Do you know what he owes you?"

"No.... Some knowledge... he owes me. He had something to tell me, maybe about my sister's child." "Your sister's child?" I echoed. "Yes... it's a girl. Her name is Stephanie." "Stephanie? What do you need to know about her?" "I need to know how to get in touch with her," she answered. Catherine had never mentioned anything to me about this niece.

"Is she very close to you?" I asked. "No, but she'll want to find them." "Find who?" I questioned. I was confused. "My sister and her husband. And the only way she can do that is through me. I'm the link. He has information. Her father is a doctor; he's practicing somewhere in Vermont, the southern part of Vermont. The information will come to me when it's needed."

I later learned that Catherine's sister and her sister's future husband had put their infant daughter up for adoption. They were teenagers at that time, and they were not yet married. The adoption was arranged by the Church. There was no information available after that time.

"Yes," I agreed. "When it's the right time." "Yes. Then he will tell me. He'll tell me." "What other information does he have for you?" "I don't know, but he has things to tell me. And he owes me something...

something. I don't know what. He owes me something." She was silent. "Are you tired?" I asked.

"I see a bridle" was her whispered reply. "Tackle on the wall. A

bridle... I see a blanket lying on the outside of a stall."

"Is it a barn?"

"They have horses there. They have many horses."

"What else do you see?"

"I see many trees-with yellow flowers. My father is there. He takes care of the horses." I realized I was talking to a child. "What does he look like?"

"He's very tall, with gray hair."

"Do you see yourself?"

"I'm a child... a girl."

"Does your father own the horses or just take care of them?"

"He just takes care of them. We live nearby."

"Do you like horses?"

"Yes."

"Do you have a favorite?"

"Yes. My horse. His name is Apple." I remembered her lifetime as Mandy, when a horse named Apple had also appeared. Was she again repeating a lifetime we had already experienced? Perhaps she was approaching it from another perspective. "Apple... yes. Does your father let you ride Apple?"

"No, but I can feed him things. He's used for pulling the master's

wagon, pulling his carriage. He's very big. He has big feet. If you're

not careful, he'll step on you."

"Who else is with you?"

"My mother is there. I see a sister... she's bigger than me. I don't

see anyone else."

"What do you see now?"

"I just see the horses."

"Is this a happy time for you?"

"Yes. I like the smell of the barn." She was being very specific, referring to that moment in time, in the barn. "Do you smell the horses?"

'Yes."

"The hay?"

"Yes... their faces are so soft. There are dogs there, too,.. black ones, some black ones and some cats... lots of animals. The dogs are used for hunting. When they hunt for birds, the dogs are allowed

to go." "Does anything happen to you?" "No." My question was too vague. "Do you grow up on this farm?"

"Yes. The man who is taking care of the horses." She paused. "He's not really my father." I was confused. "He's not your real father?" "I don't know, he's... he's not my real father, no. But he is like a father to me. He's a second father. He is very good to me. He has green eyes."

"Look in his eyes-green eyes-and see if you can recognize him. He's good to you. He loves you."

"He's my grandfather... my grandfather. He loved us very much. My grandfather loved us very much. He used to take us out with him all the time. We used to go with him to where he would drink. And we could get sodas. He liked us." My question had jolted her out of that lifetime into her observing, super conscious state. She was viewing Catherine's life now and her relationship with her grandfather. "Do you still miss him?" I asked. "Yes," she answered softly.

"But you see he has been with you before." I was explaining, trying to minimize her hurt.

"He was very good to us. He loved us. He never hollered at us. He used to give us money and take us with him all the time. He liked that. But he died."

"Yes, but you'll be with him again. You know that."

"Yes. I've been with him before. He was not like my father. They're so different."

"Why does one love you so much and treat you so well, and the other one is so different?"

"Because one has learned. He has paid a debt he has owed. My father has not paid his debt. He has come back... without understanding. He will have to do it again."

"Yes," I agreed. "He has to learn to love, to nurture."

"Yes," she answered.

"If they don't understand this," I added, "they treat children like property, instead of like people to love." "Yes," she agreed.

"Your father still has to learn this."

"Yes."

"Your grandfather already knows...."

"I know," she interjected. We have so many stages we go through when we're in physical state... just like the other stages of evolution. We have to go through the infancy stage, the baby stage, the child stage.... We have so far to go before we reach... before we reach our goal. The stages in physical form are hard. Those in the astral plane -are easy. There we just rest and wait. These are the

hard stages now."

"How many planes are there in the astral state?"

"There are seven," she answered.

"What are they," I questioned, looking to confirm those beyond the two mentioned earlier in the session.

"I've only been told two," she explained. "The transition stage and the stage of recollection."

"Those are the two that I'm familiar with, also."

"We will know the others later."

"You have learned at the same time I did," I observed. "We learned today about debts. It is very important."

"I will remember what I should remember," she added enigmatically.

"Will you remember these planes?" I inquired.

"No. They aren't important to me. They are important to you." I had heard this before. This was for me. To help her, but more than that. To help me, but more than that, too. Yet I could not quite fathom what the greater purpose could be.

"You seem to be getting so much better now," I went on. "You are

learning so much."

"Yes," she agreed.

"Why are people now so drawn to you? Attracted to you?" "Because I've been freed from so many fears, and I'm able to help them. They feel some psychic pull to me." "Are you able to deal with this?"

"Yes." There was no question about it. "I'm not afraid," she added.

"Good, I will help you."

"I know," she replied. "You're my teacher."