Saturday, December 13, 2008

Past Lives in Children's Dreams

The year was 1989. A teacher named Ellie Crystal made some very interesting discoveries when she gave her third grade class paper and crayons and asked them to draw pictures of something they had dreamed about. She also asked them to share their pictures and dreams with the rest of the class. What the children did not know was that Miss Ellie and a friend whom she called Z were doing a past-life experiment with the children. They were watching to see if images from their past lives would surface in the children's art.

The children happily set about their tasks. So absorbed were they by their pictures, they did not interact with one another. On completing the task, each child got in front of the room and talked about the picture.

One girl drew a picture of a pyramid half submerged in a lake. She spoke about a little girl who came to earth with her family; they came in a pyramid that landed in China.

Another boy told the story of a boy who came to earth from Mars which once was a beautiful planet filled with love. But it was invaded by other worlds and destroyed.The boy, however, was lucky. He came to earth in a pyramid with the help of his robot.

A Russian boy named Yuri described a place far far away called Atlantis. He said that it was filled with crystal buildings and that the people who lived there had huge ships that could fly off the planet. He and his family had to cross a big ocean to find a new home because many were killed in Atlantis when the ground shook.

Teacher Ellie was overwhelmed by parallels within the stories: pyramids, starting over in a new place or planet, water, devastation.

Next time I see my grandkids, I will certainly try what Ellie did with them.

Read all about Ellie Crystal's adventure with her grade 3 class here.

No comments: