February 2024 – Allison Biel

Christian Haupt

Christian Haupt was born in Laguna Blanca, California in August 2008. From an early age he was obsessed with baseball. Ever since he was a toddler he practiced constantly and insisted on wearing a baseball uniform all the time. This was a surprise to his parents who were not fans of the sport. In terms of skill, he is regarded as a child prodigy.

According to Christian’s mother, Cathy Byrd, he remembered being a ‘tall baseball player’, that he’d played for the New York Yankees and that the legendary Babe Ruth (1895 –1948) had been mean to him. Christian also described details about major-league baseball in the 1920s and 30s which proved to be accurate. It appears that Christian had been Lou Gehrig. Gehrig was a contemporary of Babe Ruth’s and had a longstanding feud with him.

Christian had also said that his ‘body stopped working’. The legendary New York Yankee, Gehrig, was diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), a debilitating neurological disease and died two years later in 1941.

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However, his mother has published two different versions of how she discerned that her son had been Lou Gehrig. In a newspaper article in 2014, she quotes him as saying that he had played for the New York Yankees and his favourite position was first base (Gehrig’s position), and added that she had shown him a picture of Gehrig and another man.

But in her 2017 book (The Boy Who Knew Too Much: An Astounding True Story of a Young Boy’s Past-Life Memories) about him and her own regression-based claim to have been Ruth’s mother, Byrd writes that when shown a group picture of the team, Christian picked out Gehrig and said ‘That’s me.’ Sadly, neither version contains the details found in the other.

Nonetheless, Christian is an extremely talented Baseball player. At the age of just two he had a baseball playing cameo in the Adam Sandler comedy movie “That’s My Boy.” And, aged just four, he threw the ceremonial first pitch before the game before between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in September 2012.

I am an award winning Past Life Regression specialist. If this is something you are interested in then contact me.

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Third Man Syndrome

While doing some research recently I came across the idea of The Third Man Factor or Third Man Syndrome. It’s where people report situations where a presence, such as a spirit, provides comfort or support during a traumatic experience.

In John Geiger’s (American-born Canadian author) 2009 book “The Third Man Factor” he recounts stories of people who had this experience. The term is used where people in dire moments feel a presence helping them, comforting them or giving them courage. Some people liken it to a visit from a guardian angel, dead relative while some report an unknown presences. It has been reported by a wide variety of people from firefighters to extreme sportsmen to arctic explorers. This entity actually appears to people visually as well as auditory so that the effect is that an actual person is there.

In the foreword to The Third Man Factor book, Vincent Lam (Canadian writer and medical doctor) tells of his own Third Man experience during a highly stressful period while crammed to get into medical school. He wrote, “My visit from a Third Man, whom I believe to be my guardian angel, occurred within a personal moment of crisis, rather than in the gruelling physical circumstances described by many of this book’s subjects. This sits well with John’s [Geiger] argument that the Third Man likely occurs more commonly than we recognize, and is not limited to extreme travel and exploration”.

Sir Ernest Shackleton (Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer), in his 1919 book South, described his belief that an incorporeal companion joined him and his men during the final leg of his 1914–1917 Antarctic expedition. He wrote, “During that long and racking march of thirty-six hours over the unnamed mountains and glaciers of South Georgia, it seemed to me often that we were four, not three”. This admission resulted in other survivors of extreme hardship coming forward and sharing similar experiences.

T. S. Eliot’s (Anglo American Poet and Playwright) 1922 modernist poem The Waste Land were inspired by Shackleton’s experience. One passage says, “Who is the third who walks always beside you? When I count, there are only you and I together. But when I look ahead up the white road, there is always another one walking beside you. Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded. I do not know whether a man or a woman — But who is that on the other side of you?”

Emotional intelligence has highlighted the importance of “the capacity to soothe oneself”. This has led to the scientific explanations that consider the phenomenon an unconscious coping mechanism. But regardless of what you think these phenomena are, guardian angel, ancestor or a self-soothing coping mechanism I find it fascinating.

Dickens Technique

Claire Tomalin (English Journalist and Biographer) said, “’A Christmas Carol’ has been described as the most perfect of Dickens’s works and as a quintessential heart-warming story, and it is certainly the most popular”. And she should know as she is an expert on Charles Dickens. But did you know that this wonderful story has given its name to a very powerful technique?

The Dickens technique is a way of visualising, usually, two different paths. It can be useful when facing an important decision, as an intervention to force change or to evaluate change. It’s named as it’s similar to the story of Scrooge from Dickens ‘A Christmas Carol’ in which he sees two different futures based on whether he changes his ways or not. It can be used as a guided meditation, with Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) or simply as a thought exercise.

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Use your conscious mind to visualise the different paths / actions. Explore the actions and consequences associated with each possible action. Perhaps you are thinking of trying to stop smoking.

If you continue to smoke what would the situation be in the short, medium and long term? How things will be in one year, five years and ten to twenty years. Smoking is expensive, has a very detrimental effect on your health and is increasingly socially unpopular. Often attaching an emotional element to the outcomes helps to make the visualisation real. Would you be alive or healthy enough to play with your children and grandchildren or be at their graduation or wedding? Perhaps you want to travel the world once you have retired. Would you be healthy enough to do that? Could you afford to if you continue to smoke in the meantime?

Now, go back and explore a different path. Imagine being healthier, stronger and wealthier. Imagine your grandchildren and being at all their important life events. You would be more likely to avoid major, life changing, diseases such as cancer and respiratory problems.

Once you have fully explored all the likely scenarios and the choices, you can make a much more informed decision. And, armed with the emotional consequences you are more likely to stick to your new course of action. And this is not just a process for personal issues. It can readily be applied to many situations including business decisions and challenges.

If you think this technique could help you and would like me to guide you through it, then contact me.

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Principles of Spiritualism

I wrote recently about Spiritual literacy and that December was Spiritual Literacy month. So I thought I would talk a little more about Spiritualism and the ideas and philosophies behind it.

The Spiritualists’ National Union (SNU) is a Spiritualist organisation, founded in the United Kingdom in 1901. According to the SNU, spiritualism is based upon seven principles. These Principles are not hard and fast rules or dogma, but rather a framework of ideas and ethics to base your life upon. It’s a way to find your own path of beliefs within a culture of likeminded people. As Tom DeLonge (vocalist, and guitarist of the rock band Blink-182) put it like this, “Angels and Airwaves is a complete, pure reflection of who I am. The philosophy, the spiritualism, the esotericism, the idea of hope and space and the themes about life and grandeur… that’s all me”.

The Fatherhood of God. The core belief of Spiritualism is the acceptance of a Divine Energy. This force, whatever name you give it (Source, the Light or God), has created all there is and sustains all its creation. The ‘Spirit of God’ exists within and around everything, it is within all of us.

The Brotherhood of Man. We are all part of the universal creative force and therefore one family. True Unity throughout the world would create betterment to the lives of many, bringing equality, security and peace. Spiritualists should try to understand the needs of others and help them regardless of race, colour or creed.

The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels. Communion with divine energy is a natural and essential part of existence. Spiritualists use this ability for communication directly between those in the spirit world and ourselves. This is not regarded as supernatural; it is a normal activity. The main purpose of communication with the spirit world is to provide the guidance in this world.

The Continuous Existence of the human soul. Spirit is part of the ‘Creative Force’ and thus indestructible. This energy cannot be destroyed; it can only change its form. So, for example, after death the physical body is left behind while the soul continues to exist in the spirit world. The individual personality continues unchanged by death.

Personal Responsibility. We all have enormous potential and we can use that potential to improve our lives and those of others. We make decisions throughout our lives as we see fit. What each of us do in our life is our responsibility and no one can override that right. No other person or influence can put right our wrongdoings.

Compensation and Retribution hereafter for all the good and evil deeds done on earth. As we move through life making choices, the outcome of those choices affects our soul growth. When we leave this earthly life there will be no judgement. We will have the opportunity to reassess, take stock and decide what might have been done differently.

Eternal Progress open to every human soul. Eternity does not begin at death, instead progress is open to all now. Any action, or intent to change, to promote soul growth and progression, creates a positive reaction. There will always be the opportunity to develop and move forward.

These principles are based on the summary of faith of Emma Hardinge Britten, a pioneer for the UK’s Spiritualist Movement and have been adopted by the SNU.

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National Time to Talk day

1 February is UK National Time to Talk day. It’s a day that encourages us to talk more about our mental health and to be aware of the health of others. It’s run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness . The campaign is UK wide and run by SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health) and See Me in Scotland, Inspire in Northern Ireland and Time to Change Wales.

So why not take a moment and ask someone you care about, “Hey, how’s it going?” And be mindful of the response you get. In Britain especially it’s part of the culture to not complaint, stiff upper lip and keep calm and carry on. So, if someone replies, “Not too bad” or “I am OK” does that really mean they are in good mental health?

Mental health has long had a stigma attached to it, but it is one of the key elements on which any healthy and happy life is built on. Being able to talk freely about your mental health and seek help is increasingly important in the modern world. As Vikram Patel (Indian psychiatrist and researcher) put it, “The current approach that psychiatry takes almost ignores social worlds in which mental health problems arise and tries to become highly biomedical like other branches of medicine such as cardiology or oncology. But psychiatry has to be far more embedded in people’s personal and social worlds”.

So what can we do to help? Well the Time to Talk campaign have set out five main tips.

Ask questions and listen. Asking open, non-judgemental, questions gives the person the opportunity to share how they feel and what they’re going through. It will help you to understand their experience.

Think about the time and place. If you suspect someone is struggling or you want to talk to them be mindful of the setting. It might be easier to talk while doing something else (driving, walking, having a drink or playing sport).

Don’t try and fix it. It can be hard to see someone you care about in distress but try to resist the urge to offer quick fixes and solutions. Many mental health issue can take a long time to overcome and they may have already tried various ideas and strategies. Just the act of talking can be really powerful, so unless they’ve asked for advice directly, it might be better to just listen.

Treat them the same. When someone has a mental health problem, they’re still the same person as they were before. Their condition does not define them. If they open up, they won’t want to be treated any differently.

Be patient. Some people may not be ready to talk about their problems yet. That’s ok – the fact that you’ve tried to talk to them signals you care and are interested. When the time comes, it will be easier for them to open up another time.

Hypnotherapy can help with a wide range of mental health challenges. To find out more, contact me.