A Chat With…Henry Leo Bolduc
Henry Leo Bolduc has been writing, researching and conducting past life regression sessions for more than 48 years. He was my original teacher and taught me way more than the pure techniques for facilitating a past life regression session. He taught me HOW to teach.
Just by watching Henry teach, I learned how to move from being a successful corporate facilitator to teaching, but removing ego, and allowing the work to flow through.
Henry Bolduc, is a quiet, gentle man, who is revered by his students, but strongly rejects any ideas of being anyone’s guru! Life hasn’t been easy for Henry, originally from Quebec, Henry started to travel at a young age, and found himself working at the Cayce Foundation in the early 80′s as a volunteer in their press department. He then began presenting workshops for ARE (the Association of Research and Enlightenment- also the Cayce Foundation) in the 1980′s. He spoke in various places around the country on the subject of past life exploration and its relevance to current life experiences eventually teaching at the Edgar Cayce Foundation in Virginia Beach, – the start of his research and teaching career. Married to wife Joanie, they now live in the country nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, and apart from occasional classes and guest appearances at hypnosis conventions, life for Joan and Henry is peaceful and closely connected to the earth.
I managed to connect with Henry, by phone, on his farm. (He doesn’t use the internet!). “When I was 15, I read the book “The Search for Bridey Murphy and I attempted to duplicate the past life experiment. The attempt didn’t work, but I was hooked. Over the years I studied the works to Milton Erickson, Edgar Cayce and Kahil Gibran and I started conducting Past Life Regressions sessions, and documenting them, as research, in 1962.
I was raised in a Catholic family and I don’t believe they ever understood completely what I did. Even today, there are people who dismiss this work without even trying to understand the purpose of the journeys and research into other lifetimes.
The most important thing to remember when conducting a past life journey session is to Listen. Listening to what the person is saying is much more important than asking lots of questions about details. The lesson and experience of the life is more important than dates and names. It is important not to get ‘bogged down’ in any one angle, just because, as a facilitator, you may be interested in that time, or experience. If you have a sincere desire to understand the human condition, there is nothing more precious or awe inspiring than facilitating these journeys.”
Henry reminisced about his experiences on the road, and at the Cayce Foundation: “One of my favourite experiences happened when I was traveling around the U.S. in the 1970’s and we picked up a hitch-hiker, Chuck. Later during that day, I facilitated an information regression with him to explore the origins of his knee pain. He knew nothing about past life regression work, yet he want into a spontaneous regression and even spoke in an ancient language! He lived a life in an Eskimo setting. In that life, he grew old and was no longer of use to the group of people he lived with – so he broke his own knee so that he couldn’t migrate with the group, and was left to die. At the conclusion of that session, the pain in his knee was gone. Fortunately I had a tape recorder with me, and I was able to document the session”.
When I asked Henry how he envisions life – this life and the many others he has experienced himself and when guiding others – he answered that he believed in the concept of ONE life.
“One overall life, with many lives. Like a book with many chapters. I believe that we live many lifetimes with one overall life. Another example might be associating the lifetimes with grades in school. We complete each grade, and then eventually graduate.
The different grades contain various life lessons. There might be a series of lives as a male or female. Black or white. This is important for balance and for understanding others.” He added “It’s my hope that there will be honest research, not just re-hashing of thoughts and opinions for religious purposes.”
These days the IARRT (International Association of Research and Regression Therapy) is working with regression practitioners world-wide to research and document findings so that there will be a body of work which can be verified. In my own professional life – In 2004 I worked on a series for the CBC called PLI – or Past Life Investigations, facilitating a series of over 30 volunteers. The CBC researchers verified at least three past lives – in one, the person also spoke in a language they didn’t speak in this lifetime.
In closing, I asked Henry how he would like to be remembered. “As a link in the chain – as a continuum of everyone contributing to the shared knowledge – to the greater good. As a Past Life Researcher”
And I add – and with love and great respect.