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BOOK REVIEW:
Someone Else's Yesterday (Jeffrey Keene)

First Contact with Past Lives

Reincarnation Evidence

Guided Past Life Healing

Evaluation

Conclusion

Introduction:

"Someone Else's Yesterday" by (Jeffrey Keene) is the auto-biographical story of how this Connecticut Yankee firefighter discovered that he was the reincarnation of Confederate General John Brown Gordon (1832-1904). What sets this book apart from other reincarnation histories is how Keene helps the reader to follow along as he discovers this past life and where this journey leads him.

First Contact with Past Lives:

"Past Life First Contact": it is the moment when one first discovers that this life is not their first one. "First Contact" is usually a slow, drawn out process because the personal experience of karma, reincarnation, and past lives can be overwhelming.

Here is how this "Past Life First Contact" process works:

* Return to the "Scene of the Crime": Although our lives can seem to be random and chaotic, they are actually closely guided. When it is time to confront our past life karma, events unfold to make it happen. Returning to the "scene of the crime" is pure "emotional overload" as Keene describes it: "grief, sadness, and anger washed over me. Without warning, I was suddenly being consumed by sensations" (p. 2). This is almost identical to the emotional overload I experienced in Williamsburg, VA during my first contact with past lives, for more click here.

* The Past Life (PL) Apparition: Usually after one has returned to the scene of the crime, after some time has passed, the next step is the "appearance" of your past life self. This can happen in a dream (the vast majority of cases), in-between waking-sleeping (what happened to Keene p. 6), or while relaxed when awake (what happened to me). However it happens, this "apparition" is memorable. This happens just before "memories of other lives" start to "bleed through" (p. 18).

* The PL Research Vortex: Whether curious or compelled, internal pressure builds until the individual takes action to learn more about both the "scene of the crime" and the "past life apparition." The greater the unresolved past life karma, the stronger the urge to explore the past. Past life exploration can be all consuming it. As Keene explains, "I would read more books that I had in all my life, travel thousands of miles, and visit many battlefields" (p. 23).

* The PL Conveyor Belt: After the vortex sucks one in, the "past life conveyor belt" pushes one forward. As Keene expressed it, "it was clear to me that the process once begun would have to be played out to its conclusion" (p. 25). At this point, the train tracks of one's life have been switched and their life will never be the same again. Whatever they have imagined that their life would be (like me having a long career in IT), it becomes about karma (like me becoming a past life channeler). In Keene's case, although he remains a firefighter, he became an author.

* The PL Mountain of Evidence: What keeps the conveyor belt going is the mountain of evidence that emerges from the research vortex. As Keene expressed it, "I was not only receiving confirmation of a past life; I was being beaten over the head with it" (p. 31). These "tantalizing tidbits beckoned me to press on in my search for... my other selves - the many pieces that make up the whole" (p. 89-90). That is the whole point of wading through the mountain of evidence is to heal the past life and to open up to greater totality of oneself.

* The Unexpected PL Emotions: What keeps one climbing on up the past life mountain of evidence is the unexpected "punch to the heart" (p. 158) that happens along the way. One's past life exploration would not get very far unless there is undeniable confirmation along the way that this climb is not an intellectual exercise, it is an emotional necessity. Often the emotions will manifest physically as they did for Keene when he returned to the site of Gordon's funeral: "my heart started beating like a drum... until [I was] back on the street" (p. 160).

Reincarnation Evidence:

Here is evidence that the past is still present in your life now:

* Facial Architecture: Although I disagree that "people look the same from lifetime to lifetime" (p. 178), the similarity between the facial structure between John Gordon and Jeffrey Keene is uncanny to the point of being scary. As can be seen in the picture above, they are virtually clones of one another. However, it has been my experience that individuals tend to reincarnate with "composite" faces (like me with piercing eyes from the American Civil War, the hideous nose from the Protestant Reformation, and the sexy mouth from the Norman Conquest).

* Body Marks-Wounds: Birth marks are where "reincarnation and biology intersect" as past life wounds manifesting in the present physical body. As Keene found, there were "three areas on Gordon's face and mine [that] matched: the small star over the left eye, the area of the bullet entry wound under the left eye, and the jagged from the right ear across the right cheek" (p. 126). Keene is not alone: I have five birth marks now from my own lifetime in the Civil War.

* Birth Date-Anniversaries: The day that we choose to enter this life always has something important to tell us. In Keene's case, his birthday was "September 9" which was the date of the "Lost Orders" incident which resulted in the battle of Antietam: the "scene of the crime" which initiated Keene's past life journey (p. 9). In my case, every significant event in my life now (before I knew of my past lives) was on either the birth date of my past life personalities or battles I commanded.

* Parallel Life Events: Keene experienced the metaphysical pain of Gordon's past life medical problem. On September 9, 1977, Keene experienced "getting a pain in the right side of my jaw done by neck and out to my shoulder" for which doctors "could find no cause" (p. 28) (the definition of metaphysical pain). On September 17, 1862, Gordon received his "fifth wound at Sharpsburg [where] the bullet entered just below his left eye, traveling through his face exiting the right side almost severing the jugular vein" (p. 28).

* Health Patterns: As Keene put it, "an ailment or an injury will cause a person to be suddenly forced into spending time with themselves" (p. 208). This really is an understatement: physical illness is one of the primary means of administering karma and of motivating the past life healing process. For the list of present life disorders caused by unhealed past life karma, click here.

* Habits and Mannerisms: As Keene remarks, "Gordon and I share... mannerisms... I almost always have my arms crossed in front of me." In "pictures of Gordon... he has his arms crossed" (p. 79) I have Keene beat: I have 100 points of comparison in habits-mannerisms with my Civil War past self.

* Written/Verbal Expression: How one communicates - either verbally or in written form has been developed in past lives and is impressed in the present life mind. In Keene's case, a "linguistic analysis" found there were six similarities between his writing style and Gordon's (p. 189). I have noticed many parallels between my own writing style with several of my past life author personalities.

* Career Choices-Work Styles: Although I disagree that "you choose if you will reincarnate again" (p. 204) (it has been my experience that only a few have earned the right to choose), I do agree that we do help choose the "situations that will give us the best opportunity to learn the lessons needed for our soul's development" (p. 204). Career choice and work styles are two areas that tend to remain the same. In Keene's case, Gordon found himself fighting fires and today Keene is a firefighter by profession (p. 189). In my case, I was a higher level Civil War commander in one past life and a higher level IT project manager in this life.

* Relationship Roles: Keene makes a very interesting comment about this: "I have often wondered if the people I work with [now] were with me in those tumultuous times in the 1860s" (p. 178). Without commenting on this situation, I can say that life is intimately connected. Before we go on the adventure of our lives, we agree to come into certain relationships with others to resolve past life karma. Reincarnation works to open us to greater levels of love. This becomes easier when we reincarnate with the same group of people over the course of time. This has happened to me with alarming regularity in the past... and it still does.

* Emotional Challenges: Keene and Gordon both perfectly describe how these past life emotional challenges manifested in their present lives. "We were never strangers... we share a common heart... [and the] feelings we do not have the luxury of purging at the moment they arise. The job comes first and the feelings must await a later time... [because] the strain and the quick shifting of events compel the commander to stifle sensibilities and silence the natural prompting of his heart as cherished friends fall around him" (p. 37). As a former commander, I could not agree more with this statement.

"Many people will say that all of this is coincidence, but at what point do things stop being coincidental? When you get a list of five things? Ten? Twenty?" (p. 27) Only you can decide when to stop calling all these parallels between the past and present coincidence and start calling them synchronicity.

Guided Past Life Healing:

Those like Jeffrey Keene (and myself) who embark on a long path of past life healing will find these kind of experiences along the way.

* Guided by the Unseen Hand: When one opens themselves to the greater totality of their existence, it becomes clear that their journey is being guided by an unseen hand. As Keene expressed it: "I felt as if an unseen hand has come out of the past and guided me, much like a chess piece being moved from square to square" (p. 139). The chess piece is the perfect analogy because you feel as if someone outside of and other than yourself is moving you to where you need to be.

* The Guided Missile: The "unseen hand" will unerringly guide you to where you need to go, how you need to see, and what you need to find. This happened to Keene: "In the dark of night in a strange city of forty-five square miles, I picked on of five exits (the correct one) and drove to the street I was looking for. How had I managed such a feat? If I did not receive any help from without, that only leaves... guidance from within" (p. 136). Time and again, "Mr. Destiny would step in" (p. 134) to help him out. I know all too well how persuasive "Mr. Destiny" can be when it comes to healing the past.

* "This Day Only": What really convinces someone that an unseen hand is at work... is eerie timing. Take this experience of Keene's while researching in Atlanta: the librarian told him "if you had come here yesterday, you would have been out of luck. We just found it in a room that had been locked for eons and we just got the key for the room this morning" (p. 130). "This Day Only" incidents have happened to me more than I can count: it's "Mr. Destiny" at work!

* Past Life Keyword: Exploration of past lives is an "on again, off again" journey. Just when it seems that the trail has gone cold, people will get a "keyword" to keep them going in new direction. Literally this word is like a key that opens the door to the past. In Keene's case, his past life keyword was "Fusilier" (p. 90) which triggered his remembrance of another past existence as a soldier. In my case, it only took one highly charged keyword to change the course of my entire life.

* Going Home Again: It is a strange sensation to go "home" to where you once lived. What can be even stranger is that the universe often gives you some time alone in your home so that you can say goodbye. As Keene explains (p. 131): "On my visit I had to settle on peeking in the windows, now I was 'in charge' of the building." This happened to me twice: it is an unsettling feeling to walk into a place you have never been to before... and feel like you have come home... but no one of your family is there. It is hard to accept that your old home is no longer yours.

* Walking on Your Own Grave: It is an even stranger sensation to walk on your own grave. As Keene describes it (p. 160), "the beating [of my heart] built in intensity until it felt as though I was being punched in the chest, but from the inside. This pounding stayed with" him until he left the site of his funeral. I had a similar reaction: heart pounding wildly and uncontrollable tears. I was much luckier than Keene as my gravesite was secluded allowing me to mourn privately.

* Caretaker's Lecture: This is not a common phenomenon. I only mention this one because Keene and I had the same experience. When Keene visited Gordon's gravesite, he met the caretaker who commented that General Gordon was "a fine gentleman. So [Keene] thanked her for the fine job they were doing" (p. 157) He was lucky: I got an hour long lecture while visiting my past life gravesite!

* End in the Beginning: What is truly inspiring about past life exploration is when reincarnation shows its face miraculously. Keene had this experience. While at Appomattox Court House, Keene correctly identified that the flag in the painting of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia... was not the right one. The flag in the picture was the "third National Confederate flag... the official flag at the time of the surrender, but it had not been issued to the troops in the field yet." Even Keene had "surprised" himself: "how did I know about the flag?" (p. 59). That's amazing thing about reincarnation: the end is always in the beginning.

Evaluation:

If you are interested in exploring your past lives, Keene shows you how:

* Shoe Gambit: Keene used what I call the "Shoe Gambit" (p. 166) to entice past life information with gentleness. Here is how it works: If you are having difficulty seeing yourself in a past life meditation, ask only to see the feet of your past life personality. Try to see what it is that you are wearing on your feet. Are they shoes, sandals, boots, or are your feet bare? For more click here on Past Life Regression.

* Childhood Echoes: "Out of the mouths of babes" is another way that people can connect with the past. Keene relates several stories about how children connected with their past existences (p. 161, 166, 167, 172). This also works the other way around. During the time I was connecting with my past life in the Civil War, I was in a restaurant, sitting by a plate glass window. Suddenly a young child flung themselves into the glass right next to me. The child would not move until I returned their salute and recognized our past life connection to one another.

* Search for Past Life Relics: Keene had several instances of past life relics "floating back" his way. Keene received "a mini ball just laying there waiting for [him]", a "Federal breastplate", and a "watchback" Gordon had once owned. These all "took their places in [Keene's] ever growing trays of cherished mementos" (p. 115). I was infinitely blessed to acquire a collection of letters written by my past life wife. Such relics can bring a profound sense of peace.

* Premonitions (Presentiments): Although we agree to forget the past and remain ignorant of the future, there is always some part of us... that knows the total truth of our existence. This is why we can have "premonitions" (Keene uses the Victorian term of "presentiments" p. 141). Gordon tells of a premonition made by Colonel Tennant Lomax who declared "Give me your hand Gordon and let me bid you good-by. I am going to be killed in this battle. I shall be dead in half an hour" and so he was (p. 141). I too experienced this. At the beginning of the war, a friend and neighbor told me to take great care of myself... because he knew my death meant his. Years later, in war, we died within days of one another.

* Balanced Perspective: The best thing about Keene is his balanced viewpoint on the journey of past life healing: "It is important to stay in the present... If one gets too involved in past lives, one runs the risk of being incapacitated in the present and is likely to fall short in this life's lessons and goals" (p. 90). The goal of past life healing is to live more fully with a greater sense of peace in the present and empowerment in the future. For when one knows the "struggles and trials they endured [this] gives [them] a sense of where they came from, and a deeper foundation on which to base their own identity" (p. 65)

* Only Love Lives On: Keene and I are in agreement that looking back into the past reveals that "no one ever truly dies... Everyone that you have ever loved or that has ever loved you still exists" (p. 190). There is more love for you than you can imagine... past lives can reveal the deep well of love you have experienced during your journey as Soul. "Love lasts forever" and your "excursion into a better tomorrow" can start by discovering "someone else's yesterday" (p. 211).

Conclusion:

After reading "Someone Else's Yesterday", here are my final thoughts:

Why We are Here: Past life exploration can be the greatest tool for both self knowledge and growth. Stepping into the greater totality of ourselves shows us that "we are both the archer and the target, the deceased and the heir" (p. 140). For the "most heroic battles are not fought on the battlefield, but in everyday life. We are here to learn through experience and to put those experiences to work for us. Many times our greatest strides forward come after we muddle our way through some of life's difficulties" (p. 140). This is why we are here.

Living in the K&R World: Today, there is much prejudice against reincarnation and karma. Keene put it this way: "in the Bible Belt" the result of "discussing reincarnation" would be "hanging from a tree with flammable liquids all over" one's body (p. 133). Although this would not happen here and now, it did happen in past lives in other places in the world. It happened to me in the past.

True Witness: It is my belief that what God requires of us in life is to give "true witness" when it really matters. That Connecticut Yankee Jeffrey Keene has chosen to give true witness of his knowingness that he is the reincarnation of Confederate General John Brown Gordon is truly admirable and courageous.

The Greatest Synchronicity of All: Keene discusses the many synchronicities that he encountered during his past life exploration of Gordon's life (p. 129). Perhaps the greatest synchronicity of all is that my past life self worked with Gordon during the Civil War. From this book, I recognize Jeffrey Keene to be the reincarnation of John Brown Gordon... this is my true witness. Hopefully this will give Mr. Keene the "warm peaceful feeling that [he is] not alone" (p. 187).