what I am finding for myself is that sometimes it "appears" (because with this no one, including ME !!, can ever really "KNOW") as if I am having valid memories but misreading who I "was" when seen against the backdrop of the imagery
example: suppose you had memories of being around soldiers and so the lifestyle and uniforms etc "imprint" in your mind
but rather than being a soldier, even though that is what you see, you, instead, worked with these soldiers or were the wife or girlfriend of one of them
or, perhaps, were under some form of martial law (an example of this would be Jewish ghettos in World War II or concentration camps in which there would be a constant presence of German military guards)
you SEE these images, trying to drill down and understand what it "means" and so, perhaps, you latch on to one "explanation" . . . especially if this lifetime was associated with trauma in some very powerful way . . . so what's happening -- a sort of Karmic Stockholm Syndrome . . . is that you "identify" with the oppressor
when perhaps you were, in reality, the oppressed
the memory is "false" but the emotional connection, what you would identify with to suggest the memory is valid, over rides everything
and you fill in the blanks and "poof" you remember and "become" your next door neighbor and take her memories as yours
this is partly why there are 400,000 Cleopatras
people are remembering bits and pieces and filling in the blanks in the best way they know how
using the dominant visual cues as a trigger
memories can mislead; this is what I am suggesting
past life "energy" though does not
this is why I focus so strongly on matching broad story lines with very specific physical markers as well as weird little nuances
like each person liked pickles or they were both fast runners but disliked running long distances
or they were vain or loving or bookwormy . . . these personality quirks are more telling to me
than actual past life "memories", ESPECIALLY memories that come up during regression sessions
it is also why I am soooooooo focused on matching physical features -- I think we "leave clues" and one of those clues is (just like with criminal investigations or paternity suits) DNA "evidence"
everyone has an opinion . . . and I am still learning and evolving and adding on to my own
but, this is what I think