Stéphane Allix - When I Was Someone Else

To the Spirits.

WHEN I WAS SOMEONE ELSE

Stphane Allix has crafted a brilliantly riveting and intensely moving narrative that sheds new light on the nature of our identity and links between human lives. Beginning with an arresting and traumatic dream reliving the death of an SS officer in the Russian campaign, Stphane telepathically receives the name Alexander Herrmann and is astonished to find that he really existed, discovering a detailed 80-page dossier of his life. His epic inner and outer journey reveals the stunning accuracy of his dream sequence while at the same time vividly re-creating the horrors of the Russian campaign. His deep humanity, moral courage, and penetrating insight shines out from this quite remarkable book with its message of ultimate redemption through the grit of our common suffering and persistent determination. I cannot recommend this book too highly.

DAVID LORIMER,EDITOR OF PARADIGM EXPLORERAND PROGRAM DIRECTOR AT THE SCIENTIFIC AND MEDICAL NETWORK

Fascinating book. Stphane Allixs emotional research into the life and death of Alexanderalthough he does not share any of his ideas and beliefsallowed him to let go of his own past that had always pursued him. This wonderful, spiritual, and even sometimes mind-blowing book may help the open-minded reader to accept the possibility of reincarnation. Highly recommended.

PIM VAN LOMMEL, M.D., CARDIOLOGIST, NDE RESEARCHER,AUTHOR OF CONSCIOUSNESS BEYOND LIFE

This riveting book will challenge you to rethink your ideas about who you are and your interconnections with other people. Allixs dramatic journey offers profound evidence of healing of psychological wounds through acknowledgment of both light and dark.

BRUCE GREYSON, M.D., CARLSON PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF PSYCHIATRY & NEUROBEHAVIORAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITYOF VIRGINIA HEALTH SYSTEM

A riveting detective story, a thriller, a harrowing journey back into the darkest days of World War II, and, most of all, the authors relentless quest for self-discovery and to fathom the nature of his identity. An absolutely stunning, unforgettable book. Five stars and more!

KENNETH RING, PH.D.,COAUTHOR OF LESSONS FROM THE LIGHT

In his extraordinary investigation, Stphane Allix offers probably the strongest support for a case of reincarnation in an adult person. A remarkable and important book that can change the readers view of reality. Must-read!

STANISLAV GROF, M.D.,AUTHOR OF THE ULTIMATE JOURNEY

When I Was Someone Else is both an exciting detective story and an important spiritual exploration.

JIM B. TUCKER, M.D.,AUTHOR OF BEFORE: CHILDRENS MEMORIES OF PREVIOUS LIVES

The forensic details of Stphane Allixs search for the SS officer he suspects he was in a former life, combined with how this search affected him at every turn, creates a fascinating study of the intermingling of the past and present in our lives. A welcome addition to the growing literature on reincarnation.

CHRISTOPHER BACHE, PH.D.,AUTHOR OF LIFECYCLES AND LSD AND THE MIND OF THE UNIVERSE

Departure

A s my plane flies over the green ocean of the Amazon rainforest, I am light years away from having any idea of what awaits me. I savor a certain impatience in the last moments of a trip that began yesterday, twenty hours ago, in Paris.

A few minutes more and the flight that originated in Lima, the capital of Peru, touches down on the wet tarmac of the little tropical town of Tarapoto.

How could I have imagined that my life was going to take such an unexpected turn? The encounter is going to happen here, but it could just as well have been in Paris or somewhere else. Its the moment thats important, much more than the place. And the moment is special: after years of intense activity, Im finally granting myself a break. Time out.

An opportunity to take stock of my life.

Time has been racing by unattended for much too long. I want to rediscover myself, have confirmation that Im on the right path, seriously examine the wounds that Im carrying, understand my anger, heal my darknesses. My anger does not show up in what I do, but more in a sort of almost constant inner anxiety. And healing that anxiety has become imperative, a question of health, of survival even. There are moments in a life where something isnt right and where the urgency for change becomes too strong. Thats whats happening to me today. I can no longer back away.

Im about to discover that when we ask for help from the universe, destiny comes to our aid. Even though its difficult at times to realize that, it is always the case.

Walking beside death for so many years has allowed me to understand to what extent not listening to that inner quiet voice, and, beyond that, not being willing to see what part is suffering, is to risk in the end seeing your life pass you by.

When you put something off till later, its often the case that later means too late.

My brother died before my eyes in a car accident. He had just turned thirty, and in a fraction of a second, at the peak of his vitality, he disappeared. He was one who knew how to follow his instincts and to never compromise. He did well.

I also accompanied my father, aged eighty-five, up until his last breath. When he was beginning to fail, something he said touched me very deeply. Sitting on his hospital bed, he looked at me and said in an astonished tone, When I think of the future I see that its over, and when I look back, I realize that life has gone by in the blink of an eye. And he accompanied these words with a crisp snap of his fingers, his expression shining with the amazement of a realization that brooked no appeal. What would he have changed if he had been able to go back? What had not been carried through when it was still possible? What would he have been able to heal? What regrets did he have in the closing days of his life?

This experience showed me how important it is to follow intuition, even when it seems to turn everything upside down. Wanting to be free means taking risks and putting oneself in question. The world is nothing but uncertainty, but is that a reason to never undertake anything when our inner being is screaming at us to act? Certainly we always find valid excuses for staying put, but how long can we put off discovering who we really are, when everything is on fire inside us? Is it caution, or reason that dissuades us? Or habit, laziness, fear? And isnt it this intentional blindness that ends up making us ill?

I had been putting off the confrontation for too long, so I decided to jump ahead, whatever the price. I left in order to look at myself head on, in solitude and in meditation, without the blinders that daily life holds permanently in place. I am embarking on this retreat far from my usual world with the desire to encounter myself. And I have no idea just how true that is going to be.

I have the good fortune to be accompanied in this life by a wife who is like me. Natacha accompanied me to Charles de Gaulle Airport, north of Paris, and at the moment of saying goodbye in the airport parking lot, we embraced. Pressed against her, I understood this incredible thing: my wife is my refuge