Overtones and Undercurrents

Stories and practices from the casebook of pioneering transpersonal psychotherapist Ralph Metzner

• Shows how psychological problems often derive from factors not considered in conventional psychotherapy, such as prenatal imprints and ancestral connections

• Shares 15 detailed case histories from Metzner’s more than 50 years of practice

• Describes how guided imagery meditations, yogic light-fire practices, and selective use of entheogenic substances can be integrated with transpersonal psychotherapy and bring about deep healing

Drawing on more than 50 years’ experience as a transpersonal psychotherapist, Ralph Metzner explores the spiritual overtones, karmic undercurrents, and ancestral connections that shape our individual psychologies.

Sharing 15 detailed histories from his casebook and the innovative practices he uses in his therapeutic sessions, Metzner shows how the psychological problems we confront often derive from factors not considered in conventional psychotherapy, such as birth trauma, unconscious imprints from prenatal existence, memories from past lives, ancestral and familial soul connections, and even psychic intrusions. The case histories he describes include a wide spectrum of practices, such as the use of quiet meditative retreat, guided regressions, as well as imagery visualizations amplified by entheogens. He describes how tuning in with the spiritual overtones of our being and the karmic undercurrents of our lives can resolve issues such as a fear of intimacy, help heal the after-effects of abuse and abortion, reconcile estranged parental and ancestral relationships, dissolve fears left over from past incarnations, and convert malignant presences into protective allies. In addition to guided meditations, visualizations, and yogic light-fire exercises, the practices in his psychotherapy sessions at times include the selective use of small amounts of psychedelics, mind-expanding substances functioning to amplify awareness of the subtler realms of consciousness. Part of each case history gives a description of the particular visualization used, adding to the book’s practical use as a guidebook for transpersonal psychotherapists.

Through the healing experiences he describes, Metzner reveals how attending to karmic undercurrents and spiritual overtones can often bring about a peaceful resolution to long-standing distress and spiritual alienation.

Ralph Metzner obtained his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Harvard University, where he collaborated with Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert on psychedelic research. He is the author of more than 100 articles as well as several books, including The Unfolding Self and Green Psychology. He is a psychotherapist in private practice and Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. President and co-founder of the Green Earth Foundation, he lives in Sonoma, California.

Introduction

1 Finding Inner Stillness in a Place of Madness

2 Guidance on Intimacy Received from the Goddess Artemis

3 Vicissitudes of the Soul on the Journey to a Human Birth

4 Longing for the Twin Soul Left Behind in Heaven

5 Spider Grandmother Heals the Effects of Childhood Sexual Abuse

6 Family Reconciliation through an Indigenous Ancestor

7 Releasing the Daughter from Her Father’s Youthful Tragic Obsession

8 A Message of Peace Sent by a Dying Man to His Daughter

9 The Lost Beloved Brother Returned as the Son

10 Releasing Guilt in the Healing Temple of Justice

11 A Mother’s Past-Life Deathbed Vow Carried Over

12 The Liberating Death of a Persecuted Witch Healer

13 A Ceremony of Depossession from a Malignant Intrusion

14 Converting a Possessing Entity into a Protective Ally

15 The Healing Wisdom of the Serpent

Conclusions

Bibliography

Index