John Douglas Conacher
1877- 1958
Douglas Conacher séance
Recorded: August 4th 1965
"Life
never ceases..."
Douglas describes the peace he has found since his death
and the opportunity he now has to continue learning.
He responds to his wife's questions
about their previous lives together on Earth
and explains that it is often necessary
for human beings to reincarnate.
They also discuss his hope that more of their conversations
might be published one day...
Read about the Conacher's books
Please read the full transcript below as you listen...
Flint:
This
séance was recorded on the 4th of August – July...August
!
Eira:
No, it is August.
Flint:
It is August,
yes.
Eira:
[Laughing] You wouldn't think so would
you?
Flint:
1965.
Medium Leslie Flint.
Mickey:
...we do our
best.
Eira:
Yes. You always
do.
Douglas:
[Whispering] Hello my
dear.
Eira:
Hello darling. How soon you've come
through. How nice.
Douglas:
I've been looking
forward so much to this.
Eira:
Have
you really? Lovely.
Douglas:
Yes.
Eira:
So
have I.
Douglas:
You heard any more about the
book?
Eira:
Oh no, it isn't out at the moment. It's
being revised. It's going out again in a months time, I hope. I
haven't quite got it complete yet.
Douglas:
Oh.
Making new...new...making a revision are you?
Eira:
That's
it. It's a new typescript and I have to wait for
the...
Douglas:
Oh.
Eira:
...parts
of it to be done.
[Short silence]
Douglas:
What shall we talk about?
Eira:
Well, do you feel strong enough, darling, to talk about
reincarnation? You said that you would like to, once.
Douglas:
Well, I feel strong enough, but I suppose if the medium isn't too
well, it's more difficult. It seems so
anyway.
Eira:
Oh...
Douglas:
But
I'll do my best.
Eira:
Yes, thank you.
Douglas:
I
hate...don't like to disappoint you naturally. But I come just as
enthusiastically as you do...
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
...looking
forward to it tremendously and trying to decide what I should talk
about. And I always want to talk about the things you want me to talk
about, of course. Reincarnation is such a enormous subject that it
would take many sessions.
Eira:
Yes, of course it
would.
Douglas:
I think the most important thing to
realise in regard to reincarnation is the fact that it is something
which isn't necessarily essential, in every instance. In other words,
not everyone incarnates again, although many, many do - in fact, the
vast majority.
But of course, we have to go back centuries
upon centuries of time and realise that there are many, many souls
who have incarnated on several occasions and now do not feel the need
to incarnate again. But, uh, of course one has to accept the fact
that in one life on Earth one can only hope to, in a sense, skim the
surface of experience, and it's often necessary to re-enter the
Earth-world to live a new life; in a new guise, in a new body, as a
new being. Indeed sometimes of the opposite sex. Sometimes it's
essential to experience certain happenings which can only be
experienced, uh, under certain conditions, which previously were
quite different when you were on Earth
before.
Eira:
Yes...
Douglas:
Then
again I think one should remember that there are individuals who
choose to return to do a special work. Most of the great teachers and
prophets of old, were very old souls who had chosen to return to do a
certain work in a certain age, and set an example and show the path
for others who might follow.
Eira:
Yes.
So many very...rather important and learned people who don't accept
it darling, do they? For instance, our beloved Findlay didn't seem be
able to embrace it.
Douglas:
I
don't think, in a sense...although it may sound rather odd, I don't
think it really matters...
Eira:
No
I don't...
Douglas:
...in
some cases. There are bound to be people with differing views and
different strata of experience. And, of course, there are many people
to whom reincarnation is repugnant and who, possibly in many
instances, will not have the need to incarnate, will not want to
reincarnate.
You see, the point is, that there are so many
souls on Earth who have, uh, experienced a great deal in previous
lives - of which they of course remember little or nothing at all,
more likely than not, nothing at all - and in consequence they do not
have the time in their incarnation, to have experience of these
things.
But...and
in a way it's a good thing. I mean, people always say, 'if one could
remember this or that, then it would be very good evidence or proof
of it...and since we don't remember, how do we know?' But the point
is this, that in many instances, it would be a bad thing to have
recognition or remembrance of previous lives, because that would be a
barrier rather than a help.
For instance, if you remembered certain aspects of life that were, in your own instance or own case, bad - from the point of view of the fact that you did this or that, that you should not have done, which was detrimental to your spiritual advancement...if you remembered this too vividly and knew about it too much, you would then, in the next incarnation, be on your guard and you would be artificially, you might say, avoiding things.
In other words, when a thing happens, it must happen from within oneself. If you want to do good or if you want to live a life that is good or do certain things that are wise, then these things will spring from within oneself and come naturally.
But
if you do things because you think you should do them, it's the right
thing to and you do them against your will, or if you do something
because you think it's essential that you do it, because in a
previous incarnation you neglected that aspect of yourself...in other
words, if you do something through a kind of fear, then that's not
good in itself.
Eira:
No.
Douglas:
You
see, it must spring naturally from one's innermost soul that you want
to do something...
Eira:
Yes,
that's a very interesting point. I've never felt that
really...
Douglas:
People say...so many people say,
'oh well if I knew where I went wrong last time, I could avoid it.'
Well, the point is, that if you knew where you went wrong or you knew
what your failings were, and in this incarnation you were on your
guard and you were saying to yourself, 'now I mustn't do this' or 'I
mustn't do that. This is where I went wrong last time', you would
probably, almost certainly, be doing something, in a sense, through
fear. You wouldn't be doing it naturally, it wouldn't...
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
...be
springing from your innermost soul when you wanted to do something.
You see, until man learns to live according to his inner conscience
and his inner realisation of things that are wise and good, until man
desires to do good for good's sake and not through a kind of
fear...that is the trouble of course for the majority of religions.
Eira:
Yes,
yes.
Douglas:
So
much goodness comes, not through the sake of goodness or wanting
particularly to be good, but but through the fear of doing otherwise,
in case they are...in case one is punished, you
see?
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
That is
one of the big faults with, uh, orthodox religion.
Eira:
Yes. Have you found...learnt your, um, incarnations darling?
Douglas:
Oh
yes I...
Eira:
When did you know about
them?
Douglas:
I've known about them for some
little time...
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
...but
I'm getting to know a little more of the detail. But the point is,
that there are some incarnations of which one has little knowledge or
realisation, because in themselves they played a very unimportant
part.
You see, there are lives in which - I suppose the
formative lives or the formative experiences of Earth - which were so
basic, which were so...in any case, one has to go back to the time
and the way of life of the times and also to realise that one was the
product of an age to some extent.
You see, there again, I
think it's important to realise that...that people are the product of
an age. And what is generally accepted as the thing to do or the
outlook of life that one may have in that age, may not necessarily
fit in and could not fit in with another age.
You see, there
is so much that one has to take into consideration. For instance, a
person may not be, according to the age in which they live, as bad a
person as perhaps we would think in retrospect. Because they are the
product of an age that may have been, for instance, very cruel - and
cruelty was an accepted thing.
I mean, this may sound like an
excuse, but the point is, that there are things that do not happen in
your life today, which were commonplace a hundred years ago.
Eira:
Yes.
Yes, of course.
Douglas:
For
instance, you take...today you don't hang children, but a hundred
years ago it wasn't an unknown thing for children who stole a loaf of
bread to be hanged, you see.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
The
point is, that we are the product of our age and our time and the
thinking. You see, the whole point is, the thought-force of an age is
so powerful...
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
...that
it affects the whole of life, it affects the whole of humanity and
until man progresses en masse...you see, we talk about the individual
progress of man which is, of course, necessary and vital and of
course it must be the individual progress of man that will formulate
the whole thinking of the whole human race en mass.
But the point is, that an age is predominantly as it thinks, and the peoples of that age are the product of the minds of a previous generation...
Eira:
Yes,
yes.
Douglas:
...that
have been the formation of their own and present. So we are all, in a
sense, in an age of change or time of change and in evolution.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
And
an age...an individual life in a certain age, is essential and
necessary and we learn, to a certain extent, and we make terrible
mistakes and we have failure.
But the point is, that it is
often necessary for the human being to incarnate; in a new
incarnation, in a new life, in a new age - to contribute something
which is very necessary, not only to himself (or evolve or develop in
himself) but to contribute to the age in which he is reborn.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
There
are great instances of course of this, of great souls who, in a way,
stand head and shoulders above the peoples of their time. They are
great leaders or great teachers or great prophets or great seers
or...in some field or other. Maybe it is in art for instance or
music.
All these great souls on which, often, the world looks
upon as a genius. Or, for instance, if not that, in some instances,
they are looked upon as people out of time, people that perhaps are
not always accepted in their age, people who do not seem to fit in.
These are old souls who have chosen to return, or perhaps, in some instances, have been sent back. But no one really enters into the world unwillingly. I don't think one can say that anyone is forced back. The point is, that the majority of people desire to enter into the world again. They feel the need for experiences or perhaps they feel the need to do a specific work or job.
Everything is law and order, everything is logical. The extraordinary is that people always say, for instance, about Spiritualism or communication or reincarnation or whatever it may be, to do with the psychic or the spiritual, that it's not logical. Actually, the most logical thing of all is this spiritual realisation. People cling to the material and think that is the logical, but it isn't, it's the most illogical.
Eira:
Yes, I do see that point darling...
Flint:
[Loud
coughing]
Douglas:
I'm
sorry...
Eira:
Could
I just ask if, um, does the subconscious mind retain memory of past
lives?
Douglas:
It
can do. But unfortunately it's invariably a great effort for the
individual to recapture past memories. It's something that, often,
one has to - if one is interested of course in this - one has to
force oneself, one has to, sort of, endeavour very hard to jog one's
memory...
Eira:
Well, I have my wonderful reincarnation graph you know, drawn
through Harold Sharp.*
Douglas:
Yes.
Eira:
He
could scarcely make up five of my former important...
Douglas:
Well,
uh...
Eira:
...giving
me absolute dates and details. And I do remember my last one in the
seventeenth century, a little.
Douglas:
Yes. Well, there you are you see. I think it is, at times,
possible. But, it's not a general thing.
Eira:
No. I
see.
Douglas:
But
it's possible for some individuals to tap the source of supply or tap
the source of knowledge, uh, of these things.
Eira:
Mmm.
I seem to have been mediumistic - especially in the seventeenth
century. It seems rather interesting, doesn't it?
Douglas:
But then again, you are in this, but you probably don't
realise it. That's the trouble.
Eira:
Well,
not in the usual sense.
Douglas:
You're
not a medium in the accepted sense, but you have tremendous
inspiration. Although sometimes you ignore it and possibly think it's
imagination.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
A
great deal that you could do, you don't do. I don't say it's your
fault. But I think it is that you are, to some extent, inclined to be
over careful - which is, in a way, not bad thing. But the point is,
that you could put down to paper a lot of impressions and thoughts
and ideas that I instil in your mind.
Eira:
Yes.
Have we been together in former lives?
Flint:
[Loud
cough]
Douglas:
Oh, we've had two Egyptian
incarnations, one in ancient China...
Eira:
Oh
that's an interesting one...
Douglas:
...and one
in...one...one, to my knowledge, in ancient Rome. And
also we were, to some extent, um, influential in the...in the early
eighteenth century - late seventeenth and early eighteenth century -
in bringing into being a new realisation of the teachings of Christ.
But, um, this of course was very difficult for us - it was an age
where orthodoxy was very powerful.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
But
we did, um, have an interpretation and a realisation of the Christian
faith, which, um, we tried to instil and impress and bring into
being, but it was, of course, very difficult. Of course, you know one
time we had a link with Holland?
Eira:
Yes, of
course...I think that was the seventeenth century one, where I was,
uh...to save my head I seemed to have embraced the Roman Church,
which amuses me. Ha!
Douglas:
Yes.
Well there you are, you see. It was in this age that we had this,
sort of, realisation of true Christian faith. But there were
circumstances which became very difficult. And, uh, if we were to
keep our heads, as you say, if we were to keep our lives at all and
possibly later do something of value, we had to pretend or on the
surface accept, the orthodox religion.
But, um, huh! I'm
afraid we weren't able to do as much as we had hoped. But you know,
we've always been - that's one thing I've discovered - possibly the
most important thing of the lot - we've always been interested in
finding out truth...
Eira:
Oh
yes?
Douglas:
...a religious truth.
Eira:
Good.
Douglas:
And I am not
a bit surprised that I have spent so much of my time and effort, in
my last incarnation, in regard to propagating Christianity.
Eira:
Yes. Yes of course...
Douglas:
My
only regret is that I didn't propagate it or didn't accept what I now
know to be the truth.
Eira:
Yes.
That's a wonderful point darling.
Douglas:
But you and I have, for centuries, in all our incarnations, been
associated and connected with religion. We have always been
seekers.
Eira:
Oh. Well that's a great point isn't
it? A very great point. Well I'm...
Flint:
[Loud
cough]
Eira:
...so
interested in that darling. You're not going to incarnate before I
come over I hope?
Douglas:
No.
No, I don't think I shall ever incarnate again.
Eira:
You
don't?
Douglas:
I don't think you will. I think our
work...our links with Earth will be finished.
Eira:
Oh
yes?
Douglas:
I'm sure of that. I don't want to go
back and I'm quite sure you won't.
Eira:
No. I'm not
very keen...
Douglas:
I want to go ahead on this
side. There's so much I want to learn and discover and find out.
Eira:
Well...
Douglas:
...and
I must admit that the greatest joy here is this incessant discovery,
this constant finding out and experiencing of new things. Life never
ceases...uh, never ceases to be
wonderful.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
There's
always something fresh and new to understand and discover. I've never
known such peace and calm, such placidity as I know now.
Eira:
Oh,
how lovely.
Douglas:
I
feel more at peace than I have ever known.
Eira:
Yes.
Oh, I'm so glad.
Douglas:
And
that fact that you know about this is a constant joy to me...this is
the greatest blessing of all, that we have this
communication.
Eira:
Yes. Thank you darling.
Douglas:
But if you want and if - I'm sure you do -
in the future I will concentrate on incarnations and go into as much
detail as I can.
Eira:
Yes.
Douglas:
This
might make a very interesting book. I suppose I shouldn't expect you
to start writing more books...
Eira:
Haha!
Well...
Douglas:
Well, at least it will be of
interest.
Eira:
I'm half way through another one, but as
Mickey says, it will probably published posthumously!
Douglas:
It's
been rather difficult today. I think it is because the medium's not
well, but I...
Eira:
Oh,
I think you've done very well...
Douglas:
I've done
my best under the circumstances. But next time I hope we shall do
much better. But, um, all my love. I must go.
Eira:
Yes.
Thank you darling. It was very, very good indeed.
Douglas:
Bye-bye
dear.
Mickey:
Bye-bye. It was difficult today, but I
tried my utmost, rather than disappoint you. Bye-bye.
Eira:
Oh,
that was kind of you Mickey.
Mickey:
God bless you.
Bye.
Eira:
Bye-bye Mickey.
Flint:
Bye-bye.
I'm
sure he's done his best, well quite frankly I wondered if we'd get
very much today...
Eira:
Yes. It's wonderful isn't
it?
Flint:
...because, um...
Eira:
Between
them, they all...
END
OF RECORDING
This
transcript was created for the Trust by K.Jackson-Barnes - April 2nd
2018