Introduction
In 2007, Katherine took part in the UK ITV series ‘Have I Been Here Before?’ hosted by Phillip Schofield. In this series celebrities have a past life regression session with Hypnotherapist Andrea Foulkes. Their past life experiences are then investigated by Jules Hudson, a historian and archaeologist, to see if these accounts can be verified.
Katherine Maria Jenkins is a Welsh Opera and classical singer. She first came to public attention in 2003 when she sang at Westminster Cathedral, in London, to honour Pope John Paul II’s silver jubilee.
Past Life Regression
Describing how she felt before her session she said, “I was really, really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect at all. And I was also a bit sceptical… It’s always something I’ve wanted to do”.
During her session she saw a life of a vegetable farmers wife who lived in a simply log built house. The couple were Sarah and James Taylor and they married in 1867. James was 20 years Sarah’s senior.
In a later experience Sarah is now 30 and the couple have had two children – a boy (John) and a girl (Lucy). She spends her days cooking, cleaning, looking after the children and helping her husband with the farm. She describes how the farms produce is loaded into a cart to go to market in a nearby town. Later on she is 57 and James has died from a fever. Her and her children are struggling to maintain the farm.
The final experience is close to her death and she is 63 and sadly alone in the house. She reflects on her life and regrets agreeing to marry James, which was her father’s idea.
Investigation
When Jules Hudson looked at the past life the first thing he wanted to try to establish is where this was. Given they lived in a log cabin it is likely to be North America. Other clues suggest the farm may have been created following the Homestead Act of 1862 which opened up millions of acres of farm land in the rural mid-west of America. A homestead was a piece of public land in the West (usually around160 acres) granted to any US citizen willing to settle on and farm the land. The law required a three step procedure: file an application, improve the land (usually by farming) and file for the patent (deed).
Jules was able to find a record of a marriage in America between a James Taylor and a Sarah Smith from 1867. However, this does not seem to be them as in this record James outlives his wife.
Reflection
Talking about the past life regression with Phillip afterwards she said, “Well there is a lot of points brought up there that I agree with. I certainly didn’t feel like I was in England. And I felt like it was a big expansive space. And I also felt quite bored and lonely – just not really happy within myself”. She goes on to say, “I really felt quite depressed all the way through it and that was something that struck me straight away”.
She also said, “I didn’t expect us to be almost a housewife really. And to be so far away from home, I honestly thought it would be a life in the UK for some reason. It didn’t cross my mind to be in another country”. She went on to say, “I definitely believe that was one of my past lives. It just felt so real”.