Who Were You in a Past Life?
- milyssaleigh
- Jul 27
- 4 min read
Many people feel that they have lived before in the past. That, in fact, we all live multiple lifetimes through the process of reincarnation. This is a subject that has always fascinated me and I've had some indications of living past lives throughout my lifetime.
In 2008, I was contacted by a hypnotherapist who was writing a book about past-life regression and wanted to know if I wanted to participate. Since I’ve always been interested to learn if I have had any other past lives, I agreed to give it a try. She sent me a recording of her doing a hypnotic regression and I tried listening to it. Even though I followed the instructions, after several attempts I was frustrated that nothing seemed to happen. It wasn’t until about the fifth or sixth attempt that I had an experience that would turn out to be one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
I followed the regression instructions until I was in a deep state of hypnosis. I then found myself in an old-style parlor or library in a house. The room was covered in dark wood and Victorian-style furnishings. I looked down at myself and saw that I was a young woman wearing a green dress, and that the year was sometime in the mid 1860’s. I saw a mirror on the wall, so I walked over to see what I looked like. Staring back at me was a young woman about 16-17 years of age with full, curly red hair. I then realized that I was living in Boston and the name Marion Howe popped into my head. I could tell I was living with a financially upscale family based on my clothes and the room I was in. After a few minutes of this I came out of the trance completely intrigued.
With the information I received I began to wonder if I could research and find Marion Howe. I had a name, a city and a rough time frame. So, I hopped on the internet and began to do some digging. What shocked me was how quickly I was able to find her!
Florence Marion Howe was born on August 25th, 1845. She was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe. Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe ran the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, while Julia Ward Howe was a poet and author. Both parents were ardent abolitionists during the Civil War, and Julia Ward Howe went on to write The Battle Hymn of the Republic, the most famous song to come out of the north during the war.
Florence Marion Howe was named after two important people. Her first name came from Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing who was also her Godmother and friend to her parents. Her middle name, Marion, came from her great-great-grand uncle General Francis Marion who made a name for himself fighting during the Revolutionary war. He was one of the primary inspirations for the Mel Gibson character in the movie "The Patriot". Florence, or “Flossie” as she was called, would go on to marry a prominent lawyer, David Prescott Hall and would eventually move to New Jersey. She was also an author who wrote several books on manners and etiquette, and helped co-author her mother’s biography with her sister, Laura Elizabeth Howe, who won the Pulitzer Prize. Florence passed away in 1922 at the age of 76.
As a Civil War buff, I was previously familiar with Julia Ward Howe, but I literally knew nothing of her family. Her mother Julia and her sister Laura were more famous, with her sister Laura writing several books and dozens of short stories and poems. But what truly amazed me was the amount of information I was able to find out about Florence, including photos. One photo in particular caught my eye of a family collage with her father and her other three sisters. Florence is featured on the bottom-right of the photo, and I was amazed to recognize her as the young woman staring back at me in the mirror. In the photo she bears a striking resemblance to myself when I was younger. I also found a photo of the house where her family lived in Boston. On the left side of the photo is a set of pushed-out windows that resemble the windows of the room I was standing in.
I couldn’t help but notice some startling synchronicities between her life and my own. Although she was born in Boston, she moved with her husband to New York City, and then eventually moved to High Bridge, New Jersey for the remainder of their lives. Florence was a writer and creative person, and I am also very creative having done some writing myself, as well as other endeavors such as film making and music.
Florence Marion Howe is buried in Boston. I have yet to visit her final resting place, but I plan to someday. It’s not often that you get to stand overlooking your own grave.
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