Book Review: Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, Ph.D.

Every once in a while, you come across a book that’s a game changer. Michael Newton’s book, Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives is one of them. This is the book I’ve recommended more than any other over the years. Newton is a clinical psychologist and trained hypnotherapist. An admitted skeptic, he claimed to have no interest in using his hypnotherapy skills to do things such as past life regression with his clients. His perspective broadened, however, after one of his clients had great success eliminating chronic pain after being regressed to a previous lifetime. After that experience he started incorporating regression techniques into his practice.

This led to the case that changed everything, subsequently flipping Newton’s worldview on its back. During one particular session he ended up unintentionally taking an “especially receptive hypnosis subject” back to the time between her previous and current incarnations. She was able to access the spirit world – the time between lifetimes when she was not human.

Journey of Souls is a collection of case studies that explores in impressive detail the experience after death. One of the things that’s striking about what Newton uncovers is the continuity between cases. Everyone pretty much perceives the spirit world in the same way.

What blew my mind about Journey of Souls was that it’s the first and only book I’ve read that accurately captures the details of my shamanic experiences in the upper world – the place you return to when you die and where your oversoul (aka, higher self/consciousness) resides. Not only did the case studies validate my experiences (which were profound and life altering), but it confirmed to me that Newton was on to something.

So, if you’re curious about what may (likely!) happen to your consciousness after death, I highly recommend checking out Journey of Souls, as well as Newton’s equally interesting follow-up, Destiny of Souls. These are books you’ll find yourself returning to every so often – especially when you find yourself baffled by the whole being human thing.