What’s locked in YOUR AKASHIC Record*? *Also known as a ‘spiritual library’ believed to log your past lives — and, say these women, it can transform your future

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Not long into Matt Haig’s best-selling novel, The Midnight Library, heroine Nora Seed finds herself in a supernatural library, surrounded by endless shelves of books. Each tome represents a different path she might have taken.

Within their eerie pages lie all the infinite variations on the life she is currently leading, with every possible twist and turn and different decision she could ever have made branching out into countless alternative existences . . .

It’s a brilliant conceit and makes for a creative novel. But what if I told you some people believe a similar ‘library’ really exists?

Welcome to the unusual world of the Akashic Records — a compendium, say believers, of all universal events, thoughts, words and emotions ever to have occurred in the past, present and indeed future of all life on earth.

Not that they’re actual books of course. These records, we’re told, exist on a non-physical plane of existence, and can be accessed by guides with psychic abilities (perhaps a little like Matt Haig’s enigmatic librarian, who guides Nora through all the other versions of her life).

Four UK-based women reveal why they've turned to the world of Akasha, and how the past lives they say they've uncovered, have helped them to radically change their lives today - including Marina Beech, 50, (pictured) 

Jennifer Longmore is one such guide, and with all things woo woo increasing hugely in popularity since the beginning of the pandemic, her services have been much in demand in recent months. Year on year, sales of her books and ‘readings’ have more than doubled as women turn to the idea of messages from alternative lives as an unconventional form of therapy.

‘Some envision the Akashic Records as an endless filing cabinet of information,’ she says. ‘Others view it as an online database. According to the records themselves, they exist in another higher dimension, referred to as the Akasha, which means ‘sky’ in Sanskrit.’

Renewed enthusiasm for the records — Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop website showcases several other guides or ‘readers’ — comes 140 years after the concept first gained currency within Victorian spiritualist circles, among whose number were the author and mystic Madame Blavatsky and the educationalist, and self-proclaimed clairvoyant, Rudolf Steiner.

Having been taught how to use her ‘psychic gift’ by her grandfather, who worked as a medium with the police, Jennifer now reads people’s individual Akashic files via guided meditation. She says they enable her to identify a person’s ‘soul purpose’, help them learn useful lessons from their previous existences, and live their best life in the present.

Here, four devotees reveal why they’ve turned to the world of Akasha, and why the past lives they say they’ve uncovered — from Egyptian slave to English witch — are helping them radically change their lives today . . .

I USED TO OWN SHIPS — I COULD EVEN TASTE THE TANG OF SEA

Business coach and former merchandising manager Marina Beech, 50, is married with two sons and lives in Crewe, Cheshire.

I first heard about the Akashic Records while in a Facebook group over four years ago. A guide was doing a demonstration of how it worked and asked for some questions which she would follow up on during the Facebook live chat.

I gave her my name, date and place of birth and asked the question ‘what is my master programme?’ This is like a thought pattern you repeat in life, or a set of personal beliefs which often hold you back.

It was quite a surprise to hear that I had a master programme around alcohol, which was preventing me from moving forward and living the life that I was here to experience. It was true, I enjoyed a couple of beers out with my husband most days and this was something I just couldn’t stop. Mentally, I couldn’t switch off the desire to drink every day.

The guide took out a pendulum and spun it before me and as soon as it stopped, the block lifted. As incredible as it sounds, it immediately created a shift in me. It was a warm Friday evening in June 2017, normally my cue to go out with my husband for a drink or two. Yet I didn’t have any that night and have not touched or thought about alcohol since.

Afterwards, I had another reading of my Akashic Records and this time the reader got into my different lifetimes. I discovered I worked as a slave in Ancient Egypt, and in the 1700s I was a female business owner in the Greek shipping industry.

How did this help me in my present day life? I was launching my business as a spiritual consultant in my present, yet I knew back then I was a huge rarity working in a man’s world. I saw myself on the dock, witnessed the scenery of Greece; I could taste the tang of the sea on my lips. In that lifetime I needed real inner strength to do my work and the confidence I had then is something I draw on today.

I viewed these visions of my past lives as something of an epiphany and afterwards I learned how to read them for myself. The first level of study took three months and cost £1,000. I use the records in my business and as a way of supporting others to create positive change in their own lives. Today, no longer drinking, I feel like a more authentic and much happier person.

I CHANGED MY CAREER AFTER FINDING OUT I was ONCE A WITCH

Nutrition and wellness mentor and speaker, Julie Silver, 53, is a former administrator at Granada TV. She is single, has a 26-year-old son, and lives in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.

Julie Silver, 53, (pictured), who lives in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, set off on a spiritual path after her dad suddenly died and she split with her husband 

My dad died suddenly when I was 28. It was a massive shock and not helped by the fact I split with my husband, too. My son was then one. He suffered with allergies, and I wanted to help him — and me — heal. So I set off on a spiritual path, attending mind, body and spirit fairs where I met many like-minded individuals. That’s how I found out about Akashic Records readings.

On my first reading, sitting in a room with music playing and a guide leading me into a deep meditation, I listened with intrigue as I was told that I’d been a psychic in a past life.

In another life I’d been very knowledgeable about herbs, health and healing, I was told. My thoughts immediately went to my son — what if I could help him in this lifetime? She told me my ‘soul purpose’ is helping people heal through what they eat. The guidance was specific, saying that I would set up a nutritional business and become an author and a public speaker. I’d write a book about what I learned, one which people would actually want to read.

Initially this wasn’t what I had wanted to hear, because I was painfully shy. A standout moment in my early teens was when I stuttered humiliatingly through a speech at school and vowed never again to speak in public. Yet here I was being told that this was my purpose in life.

Julie(pictured) said accessing her past lives gave her more confidence, as she left her job at Granada to study nutritional therapy 

During an Akashic reading, however, you can clear blocks that have followed you into this life from a previous one.

I had faith and believed in my guide, even though her lead took me out of my comfort zone. She told me I was scared to speak my truth in this life — hence that stuttering speech — because in a past life I had been chastised for speaking out, like a witch burned at the stake. In fact, lots of the puzzle fitted together for me when I discovered I was a white witch in a previous life.

The experience of accessing my past lives gave me more confidence and my career changed astonishingly quickly afterwards. I left my job at Granada and studied holistic therapies and stress management, alongside nutritional therapy. This helped me heal physically and emotionally, and I was able to help my son with his eczema.

Even if it sounds pretty whacky, I firmly believe there aren’t any accidents in life.

AN IMAGE OF A CHILD GAVE ME A NEW PURPOSE IN LIFE

Mindfulness Pilates expert and author Beverley Densham, 47, is single and lives in Poole, Dorset, with her son, 16.

Beverley Densham, 47, (pictured), who lives in Poole, Dorset, delved into Akashic readings during a difficult time in her life 

A friend was doing Akashic readings and the idea of delving into the ‘records of my soul’ interested me. It helped that I trusted her completely and felt reassured that I was in safe hands.

The timing was poignant too. It was the summer of 2015 and a difficult time in my life. I was very ill back then — half my vocal cords were paralysed because I had a non-malignant tumour on my thyroid gland. I couldn’t eat properly and I could only speak quietly.

When the time came, I sat in a chair while my friend lit a candle to create a sacred space. Her voice got louder and more assertive as she recited the Akashic Records prayer and, with my permission, opened my records. It was as though she then went into another zone, one that allowed her to delve into me on a whole new level.

Once she’d accessed the records, she described what it was like in this place, a library of books. She is clairvoyant, meaning she works visually. She got my book out, it glowed like it had an aura around it, opened it and began.

I’m not sure what I was expecting — but it wasn’t what happened. First of all she introduced me to my spirit guide, a woman called Christine. She saw her by a lake and told me that I could ask her for help.

I was also shown a sad vision of a refugee child washed up on a beach and it made me cry. Some Akashic readings go into past lives, but others, like this one, give direct messages about reinforcing our mission in this life. Some even show you visions of your future. Did I need to give children a voice? Especially those who couldn’t express themselves? That’s what I took from it.

I had been a Pilates teacher for more than 23 years and had a degree in sports science — this was outside my comfort zone. But I couldn’t ignore that image. Once I’d mentally decided to follow the guidance to write the cards, the ideas came flooding in.

That’s how I came to write my oracle cards for children — a set of 52 cards with positive affirmations for kids to live by. I still felt very ill, so wrote the cards in bed. The philosophy behind them was to help give a voice and express how we feel, and in doing so, heal my own voice too.

It took me a week to write the 52 cards and a few months to design them. After I’d finished them, my non-cancerous tumour shrunk, my vocal cords got better and I got my voice back. My doctors hadn’t seen that happen before.

I ONCE RODE HORSES IN THE DESERT... NOW I'M HEALING THEM  

Lizzy Adams, 35, is a former manager for a pub chain and now works as an animal healer. Single, she lives in Dover, Kent with her twin daughters, who are six.

Lizzy Adams, 35, (pictured), who lives in Dover, Kent, began researching Akashic Records after splitting with her daughters' father in 2017 

In 2017 I split with my daughters’ father and after such a huge life change, I sensed I had more in me spiritually than just working to pay the bills. Not long after, I was scrolling on YouTube when I found a meditation about connecting with your Akashic Records. After some online research, I decided to have a go at accessing them myself. I settled down on the sofa, anointed my third eye (that’s the spot between your eyebrows which is said to enhance your spirituality) with frankincense oil and listened to the melodic drum beat.

Suddenly I had a vision of a sand dune in a Middle Eastern country. I was riding a horse and I had a falcon perched on my arm. We were looking into the sunset; I could feel the warmth on my face. My bird flew off and then returned, and it was then I realised I was a man as I could sense a masculine energy.

In my head I asked what I was supposed to do with this image. The vision faded and a white light appeared as I was told my path in this lifetime was once more to work with animals.

That night, I barely slept. I knew I needed a better understanding of what I was being shown. Inevitably I was drawn to doing the meditation again the next day. I was again shown another life.

I was a tall woman with blonde dreadlocks striding through woods in a Scandinavian country with many wolf-type dogs.

Once the meditation finished, I started to put the pieces of my life together. As a child, it was true I had preferred to be around animals than people. Mum died when I was 13, and whenever I felt down I’d spend time with two horses in a nearby field.

Even though I still felt hesitant about what I should do, that same year, 2018, I completed a reiki training course. I practiced my healing abilities on friends’ animals — reiki can help skittish horses in particular — and they were amazed at what I could tell them about their pets’ ailments. Before long, word of mouth meant I was booked solid and could leave my job.

I’m so much happier having responded to my calling. Looking back it was as though the Akashic Records found me.

Divine Guidance From The Akashic Records by Jennifer Longmore is out now.