Early childhood memories are interesting. They often point to something meaningful in our life.
My first memory dates back to before age three. Mom, Dad and I were in the old red pick-up truck coming home from getting a dog. An older farm couple were moving into town and needed to rehome their outdoor dog. It was summer because in my memory, my mother was wearing a sleeveless dress, her belly rounded from pregnancy. My mom sat in the middle, and I was in the passenger seat. (This was back in the days before car seats for toddlers were used.)
Cindy sat on the floorboards by my feet. I gently patted her head on the drive home, excited about meeting my new canine friend.
This scene made a lasting impression. It seems appropriate that my first memory was of getting a dog. This started a lifelong love of animals.
My second earliest memory happened shortly after that when my brother was born a month shy of my third birthday. My aunt Susan and I were doing laundry down in our old stone basement. Dad came down the steps and said, “You’ve got a new baby brother!” That was another happy milestone in my life, and I loved my brother.
I sometimes ask clients about their earliest memory because it can give insight into their life. The memories may be happy, and sometimes they’re sad. All of them shape who we are.
On several occasions, clients have remembered something from early infancy, even before their first birthday. I smile to myself because this can indicate they are intuitively open. All children are born with the sixth sense, but as we grow up we are programmed by our families and society that what we’re sensing isn’t real. These extra senses often shut down around age 6-8. Although it can be challenging in a world that doesn’t understand these abilities, there are also many ways in which these gifts are highly helpful, and some children make the decision to keep them turned on.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, and more frequently, clients share that they don’t remember anything from childhood up to about age 12. This can indicate early childhood trauma and soul loss. When a piece of our soul leaves because of trauma, it often takes memories with it. In the aftermath, we are less present to take in what would otherwise become new memories.
Soul retrieval may bring back some of the missing memories, especially when the soul loss was caused by the death of a beloved parent, grandparent, or pet. The loving memories are free to resurface. I sometimes hear feedback a month or so after the session when the client shared some version of “I remember once when Grandpa…” or “I remember the way Grandma used to…”
Sometimes memories are traumatic in nature, and they can surface as flashbacks. (We can also carry past life and ancestral memories as well.) For anyone with traumatic memories, I recommend seeing a therapist trained in working with trauma in body-based modalities such as EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, or sensorimotor technique. A shamanic healing session can also help drain the heavy energy out of the memory and then fill in with a soul retrieval to bring back the light and vitality lost because of the incident.
This work is real, and it matters.
August 2, 2022