Aug 20, 2011 -- 11:46PM, Aquella wrote:

Are there any specific steps? I'm really new at this, but I've always been interested in WWII. I'm unsure why.  Could this be part of my past life?

Quite possible. Feeling unusually drawn to a specific country or historical time period often indicates that you've had a past life association with it. So can a fascination with a particular clothing style or hairstyle belonging to a certain time period. Also, sometimes a person will see an antique or other object in a museum and feel strongly that they know how to use it even though they've never seen such a thing before.

There are some basic suggestions of techniques on the sticky "FAQ's" at the top of the list here.

This little book, Reincarnation:
Claiming Your Past, Creating Your Future (Edgar Cayce Guide) (<--click on any word in the title as it's a link to the listing) by Lynn Elwell Sparrow and Charles Thomas Cayce, available on Amazon from used-book sellers, is a particularly good and inexpensive starter work for getting into your past lives, IMO. I once participated in a weekend workshop conducted by Sparrow during which she used several of the techniques explained in this book. Too elementary for me at that point but very good indeed for others there who hadn't done as much past life work as I had. You may, however, find similarly basic books that suit you better than that one in the New Age section of any large, commercial bookstore. There are many more available now than there were when I first got interested in exploring past lives waaaaay back when.

Keeping a dream journal is a good idea to start, because sometimes you'll find that snippets of past lives play out in your dreams. Those will be unusually realistic dreams that are like watching a movie, not having the nonsense elements of regular dreams. Such has been my experience anyway.

Put a notebook and pen or pencil beside your bed (or use a recording device if that's more workable.) When a dream wakes you, it's important to record all the details you recall immediately upon waking. Otherwise, you may forget or unintentionally distort some of them.

Keep such a journal for three months or more. If nothing indicative of a past life appears, then this isn't the most workable trigger for you.

Meditation is probably the most reliable means, but guided imaging can trigger breakthroughs, too. Dr. Brian Weiss published a little book that includes a CD with a guided imaging session. There's also a full transcript so that you can read through it and decide if you think that technique would work for you before buying the book. I think it's still in print. Title is Mirrors of Time, I think, but I've often recalled it incorrectly, and this may be one of those times. I'll check Amazon and clarify if need be as that really is a well-crafted guided imaging that includes safeguards in case you happen onto a past life that is traumatic.

Yes, it is Mirrors of Time, and Amazon still sells it.

World War II, eh? You may find the Leiningers' book, Soul Survivor, intriguing then. It's the story of their toddler son James's nightmares about being trapped in "his" fighter plane as a Navy pilot shot down over the ocean by the Japanese and how the Leiningers ultimately verified many of the details the boy volunteered. Ultimately, the Leiningers not only found men who'd known the man their son said he'd been but also met the deceased pilot's only surviving sibling who verified that little James knew things that only her brother could have known. It's the single most extensively detailed such account of past life recall that I've ever read, and I've read a LOT of those. Very interesting indeed.