Over the years, I’ve read several books featuring people’s stories of past lives. None, however, were like Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic: The True Story of a Police Detective’s Reincarnation by Robert L. Snow. Previously read books on past lives told interesting and sometimes very detailed stories. None of them, however, included the element of a seasoned police detective using his finely honed forensic skills to investigate the veracity of the story.
Snow tells of accepting a dare to be hypnotized to learn of his past lives. Since he thinks it is a preposterous idea, he procrastinates. Finally he carries through and schedules a session. He describes the session in great detail. The first two lives he relives concern a prehistoric man and a lady in Greece. Nice stories, but nothing to write home about.
Then Captain tells about his experience as an artist. It was special because the artist was someone who could be investigated. Snow vacillates between pooh-poohing the whole experience and wanting to investigate. He wonders if he has learned of the artist through reading about him or seeing some of his artwork somewhere and storing that information in his subconscious. Or could he only have learned the information he saw in the hypnotic state when he previously “lived” his life as the artist? Finally Snow’s curiosity gets the best of him and he sets out on an investigation of the artist’s life as if it were one of his homicide cases.
The rest of the book details Captain Snow’s investigation into the life of the artist and how it compared to what he experienced in his hypnotic trance. This is fascinating in two regards. First the description of his investigative process intrigued me. It started with general questions. Then he listed a number of details, to check the veracity of the experience. He found an incredible number of details considering the short experience. Finally he left no stone unturned in searching for answers to his questions. The lengths he went to in the investigation astounded me. Now I understand why he was such a successful homicide investigator.
Snow has lectured on his experience across the United States. Now you have the opportunity to hear him at 6:30 on Wed., Aug. 10 at the Irvington Library, 5625 East Washington. Bookmamas will provide his books for sale which Snow will be happy to autograph. Visit www.bookmamas.com or www.indypl.org for more information.
