The Joan of Arc theory again - fear of public speaking comes from being burned in a past life

On Sunday, September 27th, psychic Ainslie MacLeod posted a brief YouTube video titled Fear of Public Speaking: Stage Fright - Your Soul’s Fear of Judgement which ended with a very dogmatic statement that:

“The fear of public speaking always goes back to a past life where judgment resulted in death.”

Back in July 2011 I blogged about a previous statement Ainslie made in his 2009 book, The Instruction: Living the Life Your Soul Intended. On page 126 he said:

“For almost every person who suffers from stage fright, a fear of public speaking, or who goes to pieces when forced to sit an exam, the root cause is a life in which judgment has led to death.”

I’d called that the Joan of Arc Theory, and found it rather incredible since I don’t think much of claims about past life regression. You can find an article about past-life regression therapy by Karen Stollznow on the web site of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

I looked around on Google and found a web page about various phobias including glossophobia titled Past Forward: WHO were YOU in a past life? which had a gruesome list of four ways you might have died: Hanged by the neck, Burned at the stake, Beheaded by blade, and Drowned in the cistern. (It also mentioned having your tongue cut out).

When I searched in Books on Google I quickly found three other claims about past lives and fear of speaking.

In The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Reincarnation by David Hammerman and Lisa Lenard (2000), on page 188 they describe the case of Jane who became terrified every time she thought about public speaking. Regression revealed that, just like Joan of Arc, she was burned at the stake.

In Healing Lost Souls: Releasing Unwanted Spirits from Your Energy Body by William J. Baldwin (2003) he mentions that:

“Burning at the stake or being stoned to death by a crowd can induce a fear of public speaking, the most common phobia.”

In Healing the Present from the Past: The Personal Journey of a Past Life Researcher  by Heather S. Friedman Rivera (2012 on page 48 she discusses how:

“The client was afraid of public speaking and when he was regressed found out he was a Knight.  The cartoon illustrates a Knight losing his life for speaking his mind against the king. After remembering, the client was free from the fear of public speaking. “

I think it’s much more likely that fear of speaking came from something that happened in this life.

The image of a painting of the death of Joan of Arc came from Wikimedia Commons. 

UPDATE October 10, 2015

On October 7th New Scientist magazine had an article article titled Why resergence of therapy that unearths 'lost' memories is risky.