The Stories We Tell

John 1:1 is the first verse in the opening chapter of the Gospel of John. In the Douay–Rheims, King James, New International, and other versions of the Bible, the verse reads: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The stories we tell ourselves and others are what makes us human. We can’t not tell stories, so we need to be mindful to ensure that the stories we tell ourselves (and others) empower us and help empower others.

Disempowering stories can show up as generational programming around general attitudes and behaviors or specific issues, such as sexual guilt. As an adult, Debra discovered secrets her mother had kept: her mother had been married previously, and she had a sexually transmitted disease while pregnant with Debra (Listen to Your Mother: Loved and Wanted). Generational programming may be noted as preconceived perceptual frames (PPFs). If a person has a PPF that men cannot be trusted or relationships are difficult or we should be ashamed of certain experiences, the PPF will influence relationships and experiences for as long as the person maintains the PPF.

Archetypes are one way you can notice how preconceived perceptual frames, such as in Sacred Contracts, by Caroline Myss, may be affecting you.

Inevitably, you will need to include some archetypes that, like the Prostitute and Saboteur that we all share, may at first seem unpleasant or negative. Perhaps the Fool, Robot, Martyr, Servant, Sadist, or Puppet is part of your make-up. Remember that these are not necessarily negative archetypes; only your interpretation is negative. They ultimately help you avoid the shadow aspect implicit in their name. To some people, the Judge may seem like a negative archetype, implying a judgmental nature and maybe a cruel or imperious streak. But this archetype can be essential in making a wide range of informed decisions in areas as different as business and art. One day it might even save your life. (See Determining Your Archetypes)

Recognizing a current issue’s roots are in your past (including ancestors’ experiences or previous lives) can be an important step in your enjoying true freedom. We were inspired by Margaret Ruby’s book, The DNA of Healing, and developed a script that can help a lot. The basic idea is simple: you imagine going back in time to before you were born, and before your mother and father were born, make changes in the DNA that allows things to be better and then coming forth as if those changes had been made. You do not need to pretend anything is different from what it was, just allow yourself to imagine.

Knowing that you are 100% responsible for your experience drastically alters the stories you tell yourself and other.

Years ago, we went to visit a potential training venue in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Joel knew instantly he was not interested. End of story. Because Joel was not able to articulate what about the space was problematic, the situation was very stressful to everyone involved. With some questioning from Debra, Joel was finally able to blurt out that he could not stand the smell of the place. His response (and the reason for it) was beneath the level of his conscious processing.

When Joel and Debra first started training together a pattern of behavior developed. A time to meet would be agreed on. Joel would arrive early. Debra would arrive early, but later than Joel who was very early, and so his view was that she was late. Interestingly, Joel was born three weeks early. If he had been born on his due date his father would have already left for the war. These dynamics are at our core, and unrecognized can create stress and disharmony.

For more on the DNA of healing, see Five Simple Steps to Wellness and Abundance, by Margaret Ruby. For a script you can use, either by reading or by recording the words and listening, see DNA Healing Technique.

Debra had been having some health challenges. A pastor/friend suggested she read Love, Medicine, and Miracles by Dr. Bernie Siegel. Asking yourself what a symptom allows you to have or be or do is a way to give yourself that benefit without having to keep the symptom. Debra discovered that having the symptom gave her permission to rest without judging herself as being lazy.

Often people are unaware of the feelings that drive the stories they tell. Thinking “lazy people nap” or “women aren’t smart” or “relationships are difficult” or “ABC is/is not XYZ” may not be the end of the world, but it is likely to prevent you from enjoying the world just as it is. The way we represent things in our brains is almost always only one of the possible options. In the following video, Richard Bandler helps an individual change his thinking about an upsetting situation.

Being aware of and changing the way you represent things in your brain can make the world of difference. In the preceding video, the individual needed to reduce the size and intensity of a memory to bring it into a more useful perspective. In other cases, we may need to expand our perspective to fully understand. Unwanted ideations might have their source in an event we actually experienced previously, whether personally or through an archetype. While an archetype of one sort or another is often the source of unpleasant ideations, the source may be more complex than that. Although current science-based thinking discounts the idea of past lives, far too many people in far too many cultures have experienced what can only be called past life phenomena. Modern science is skeptical, which, of course, is what science should be. The most famous case is that of Bridey Murphy, but the numbers of people who have memories that seem to be from previous times is far too great for them all to be investigated. What these memories seem to show is that humans (and probably other animals as well) have souls—or spiritual essences—that are immortal.

Until Joel met Debra, he was not a believer in past lives. He wasn’t really a skeptic, either, and he had had some experiences with mediums and others who claimed knowledge of their past lives. The concept, however, wasn’t “real” for him until the first time he was on Debra’s table for energy work. When she put her hands in Joel’s field, she said, “You killed me in a previous life.” When she said it, Joel had a lucid memory of the time and place it had occurred, and certainly the energy set in motion by that event has continued to influence us.

Not long thereafter, we had a joint reading with a well-known medium who kept calling us “Joseph” and “Deebra,” the names we had in that previous lifetime. We have since had lucid memories of other lifetimes we have been together, and while many of them did not end well, we have had some happier past lives. If it were just the two of us, you could chalk those experiences up to mutual delusions. But Debra is not the only one to tell Joel, “You killed me in a previous life.” A massage therapist and Reiki Master with whom Joel traded sessions used those same words during the session. How many coincidences are necessary before something becomes “too coincidental to be coincidental”?

And how much does our consciousness need to shift to open up to the unseen help/helpers who are able to guide and direct us? If you are ready, make time to join author and teacher John Van Auken as he presents a fascinating visual presentation of these beings that live just beyond our physical world: Angels, Fairies, and the “Unseen Forces” of life. He gives special attention to insights found in sacred text, Edgar Cayce’s amazing discourses, and his own personal experience with these ethereal helpers from beyond the veil! A great storyteller, Van Auken’s visual presentations add much to our understanding. He will also teach us how to use our “second sight” to see these mysterious beings in our own lives! Search YouTube or go to this link: Edgar Cayce on Angels, Fairies, and the Unseen to enjoy this one-hour-forty-seven-minute tutorial.

Do we actually know that unseen helpers and past lives are “real”? Perhaps not always, but the ideas that result from the memories or exeriences, whether real or imagined, still influence us—for better and for worse. The main take-away from all this continues to be insight into current feelings and behavior. Knowing more leads to fearing less, and one of the thoughts that occurs to us is that when we don’t get things right, the All That Is gives us a do-over, essentially the way some students have to repeat the 3rd grade. Let’s see if we can accept the help available so we can all get it right this time….