JUST WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE?
by Shari Harris
Looking for Carroll Beckwith by Robert Snow
From the Archives: This topic was originally published on April 22, 2020, Volume 1 Number 5
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"I have recently accomplished something that would make even the most seasoned detective nod with approval. I have uncovered evidence that proves beyond a doubt the existence of a past life. The evidence I uncovered in this two-year investigation is so overwhelming that if it had been a criminal case there would be no plea bargaining. A conviction would be assured." Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic, Robert Snow, p. 5.
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I hope that you are having a great summer so far! I'm enjoying being able to go to stores and restaurants and to do some traveling--activities we've been unable to do for too long! I hope you are feeling a bit "back to normal."
In this issue, I am using an earlier topic from the archives of Just Who Do We Think We Are? that was originally published in April of 2020.
I have been collecting past life stories much of my adult life. I am excited to retell here one of my favorites about Robert Snow who remembered a life as Carroll Beckwith.
I feel almost like I know Robert Snow personally since he is from the Indianapolis area where I lived for fifty-three years. I did not ever meet him in person even though he did speak publicly several times at my Unitarian Church when I was not able to attend.
My notes, which are included below, were written for a book club discussion, and they highlight the main events of Snow's story. Hopefully, the details included in the notes and the description below will spark your interest in reading the book!
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Be well and enjoy your amazing life!
Sending my love,
Shari
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One of a Series of
Fascinating Past Life Stories:
Robert Snow/Carroll Beckwith
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Robert L. Snow served for 38 years at the Indianapolis Police Department, retiring in 2007 with the rank of captain. While at the police department, he served in such capacities as Department Executive Officer, Captain of Detectives, and Commander of the Homicide Branch.
In 1999, he published Looking for Carroll Beckwith, an account of his two year investigation attempting to disprove facts that came forth during a past life regression that he had because of a dare. According to the story and the quote above, instead of disproving a past life, his investigation did just the opposite--he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that his memories under hypnosis were of a former life in the early nineteenth century as an American artist, Carroll Beckwith.
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In 2016, Snow published a second edition of the book, retitled Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic. Both books tell the fascinating story of his search for facts to prove or disprove his former life and his transformation from skeptic to believer in reincarnation.
Robert Snow was a highly respected law enforcement officer in the Indianapolis Police Department. Before his retirement, he was Commander of the homicide branch. He holds degrees in psychology and criminal justice, and is the author of over a dozen books on police procedure, as well as true stories of crime in Indianapolis, and numerous short stories and articles.
In his books, he explains how he was dared by a fellow police detective and psychologist to undergo a past life regression, after he had stated in a conversation at a party that he thought only weak-minded people could be hypnotized and that regression memories were just peoples' imaginations. Although he didn't want to do the regression, he finally felt that he had to follow through with the dare, and he made an appointment just to get it over with. Snow was sure that he couldn't be hypnotized, and he did not believe in past lives.
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What occurred shocked him to his core. He actually became hypnotized, and he was not able to forget about the past lives he remembered and spoke about under hypnosis. One life in particular included details that he could try to verify, and he eventually set out to disprove 28 facts about the life he remembered. Snow's objective was to prove it was not true and that he probably had seen the information that he relayed in a tv show or a magazine.
The book Snow wrote about the experience describes in detail the steps he took that found evidence, some serendipitous occurrences, and one mind-blowing coincidence! The fact that Beckwith had left a diary was an unbelievable discovery and helped in confirming many of the details.
Click the button below to read notes I took while reading Looking for Carroll Beckwith. You can download and/or print them, if desired. I hope they will encourage you to read the book for yourself!
If you have a choice of which book to read, I'd suggest Portrait of a Past Life Skeptic. While both books tell the same story, the latter includes two additional chapters with updated information from the years after the first publication. Snow adds details that aren't in the original book and reflects on how his life has changed as a result of his having written the book.
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Videos of Robert Snow's Story
Below are YouTube videos about Robert Snow's past life story. The longer one is a speech that Snow gave at a conference about paranormal events in 2001 in which he tells his story in his own words. He speaks in a "down to earth" and humorous manner which is very believable.
So interesting! I hope you have time to watch some or all of it. The shorter one is an excellent recreation of the story that was done later and was made for a television program called Beyond Chance.
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About Reincarnation
Click the button below for information about reincarnation and then
scroll down to read about some famous people who believed in past lives.
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A physician named Walter Semkiw, MD, created a website called "Born Again" on which he posted past life stories, mostly of famous people, with pictures of the person in both lives. His website explains how he finds past lives of certain people. It is his theory, and that of some other past life collectors as well, that people often have similar facial features to those of the person they were in a past life. In the pictures of Carroll Beckwith and Robert Snow together below, you can see the resemblance. There are more samples of Semkiw's research at a newer website called Reincarnation Research. www.reincarnationresearch.com.
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J. Carroll Beckwith -- Captain Robert J. Snow, IPD |
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Some Paintings by Carroll Beckwith |
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Paintings: Mrs. Beckwith, A Hunched-Back Woman, A Blacksmith,
Beckwith's Self Portrait, John Singer Sargent--An Artist and Friend
I know that "hunched-back" is not a politically correct term now, but it was used in the 19th century, and it is pertinent to Snow's story. He described a painting he saw himself doing in the regression, although the one pictured may not be the same painting that Snow saw in his regression. It's unclear if he ever found that one again after accidently finding it in his current life in an art store in New Orleans but not purchasing it.
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This is a picture of Robert Snow at Carroll Beckwith's Grave where, as he described
in the book, he suffered a panic attack but stayed long enough to have a gardener working
nearby take his picture. He vowed never to return to the gravesite.
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Just Who Do We Think We Are?
Here's What I Think:
I believe we are eternal spiritual beings who are currently living one of our
many lives on Earth and who are the co-creators of our experiences through
our thoughts and beliefs. Shari
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Please feel free to forward this email
to others who may be interested!
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2021 Issues
1-28-2021: Just Who Do We Think We Are? Vol. 2, #1/Bob Olson-Afterlife
2-23-21: Just Who Do We Think We Are? Vol. 2, #2/Natalie Sudman-Near Death Experience
3-30-21: Just Who Do We Think We Are? Vol. 2, #3/ Lessons from the Other Side
4-26-21: Just Who Do We Think We Are? Vol. 2, #4/Past Life Perspective-Ann C. Barham
5-31-2021: Just Who Do We Think We Are? Vol. 2, #5/Surviving Death-Leslie Kean
Previous Issues of
"Just Who Do We Think We Are?"
are available on
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