Drawbacks to Claiming a Past-life
In the pages that follow (Death of a Titan) I will present to you empirical proof to my reincarnation claim. But good proof and technical verification aside, it still begs the question: Why go public with such a claim? “I mean Thomas Andrews? The one man at the center of the whole Titanic thing? Are you nuts or self deluded? Is your life that boring that a non-entity seeks to elevate himself?”
This and more is the result of “going public” about a past-life memory. My friends call me the poster boy for not going public. After having my book published, and knowing what I went through, a number of my friends with past-life memories decided to write “historical novels” rather than making public announcements.
I never wanted notoriety because having memories of a historical figure is not what it’s cut out to be. Many people make it into history because they did something that stood out, or they suffered, or they got famous for just dying (like Lizzie Borden’s father) or have taken/sacrificed their own life.
Thomas Andrews was a man who stood out AND lost his life. Had Titanic not sunk Tommie would be famous ONLY in Comber rather than globally. He spent the last seven years of his life living in intense anxiety over the way Titanic and Olympic were being built. He foresaw that either ship could have suffered catastrophic damage and/or sunk. We might very well be touting the Olympic disaster rather than Titanic’s. In essence Andrews spent seven years laboring over his own coffin. Having these predominant memories running through my mind all my life begs the question : Who in their right mind would want to claim having that particular life, or any past-life whatsoever? Why relive old pains and especially your death?
Once going public I put my present life into a precarious position. At work, I was told my beliefs were not mainstream and that brought my sanity into question. I was sent to the Bethesda Naval Hospital in DC to be "analyzed." Despite receiving the thumbs up from the psychiatrist, I was designated as unable to mentally handle my job, and was given the choice to retire or be laid off. I lost my Clearance and therefore my Federal Government job and therefore my ranch. The stresses contributed to my subsequent divorce. I was not able to sue for my job because the matter had to do with my security clearance. I'm fortunate my pension is in force. I might have lost that too.
Then there were the Titanic rivet counters who felt I should know every last rivet and where it went in Titanic or how many portholes it had. These people did not understand that what is remembered is based on emotional and spiritual issues that Tommie faced. Any details about Titanic are subsequent to that. So I have been dismissed out of hand as a fraud.
I have given “talks” that were literally taken over by people such as these rivet counters and suffered great humiliation. Forgive me for griping about my experience. I would be lying to say that it has been all bad. I receive many hopeful letters that outweigh the negative ones. Many people have actually thanked me for making myself public. It has given them inner strength to accept the same kind of experiences I had, and finding peace within themselves. To tell you the truth, that makes all the difference to me and outshines any negative responses I may have received. My mission, my destiny, is to clear the name of Thomas Andrews, to share my truth and to help those who have yet to come to terms with memories they cannot explain. It has been an exciting journey — both times around.
Blessings,
William C. Barnes
Many articles have been written about me. One such article appeared in Fate Magazine in 1998. Here's a PDF download of that article.