Fifty years after her death, on 5th August, 1962, there are some people who still cannot get enough of Marilyn Monroe. Well, I have good news for them. She is alive and well … having reincarnated. Not once. Not twice. But at least three times, according to various claims that have been made in recent years, the most recent of which has just surfaced in Israel.
Born Norma Jean Morteson in 1926, the Hollywood bombshell who mesmerised presidents, novelists and millions of others, lives on in films like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Niagara and Some Like It Hot. Many believe that her tragic death at the age of 36 was neither suicide nor an accidental overdose, but murder.
So, it would be enlightening if she has been reborn and can provide new evidence about the circumstances of her dying moment in that past life. But with more than one reborn Marilyn being claimed, disillusionment is the more likely outcome.
Scottish-born singer Sherrie Lea Laird, who now lives in Canada, made the same claim several years ago, based on her own apparent memories and a series of past-life hypnotic regressions conducted by Dr Adrian Finkelstein in the United States.
The story is told in Marilyn Monroe Returns: The Healing of a Soul. In this life, Sherrie – who was born nine months after Marilyn died – has had success as a recording star. Her recording of No Ordinary Love was a No. 1 hit in Canada and Europe. But she also felt suicidal at times and was convinced she had lived before. It was only under hypnosis that she claimed to be Marilyn (see excerpt from BBC documentary).
This is a story I am familiar with, and which I included in The Big Book of Reincarnation.
Another claim to be Marilyn reborn came from a Hungarian model named Zsuzsanna in 1999. A number of people remarked on how much she looked like the Hollywood actress and various publications featured her as Marilyn’s reincarnation. One headlined its story: “Marilyn is still alive”. It appears that she underwent hypnotic regression in 2005 during which she confirmed her past life as Marilyn Monroe. The story was told in her biography but Zsuzsanna’s website, on which an English translation appeared, is no longer accessible.
28-year-old Englishman, shop assistant Chris Vicens, is yet another reborn Marilyn.
“Yes, people have scoffed,” he told the Daily Mail in 2010, “but I know what I know. When I first awoke from my session and the therapist told me who I’d said I was, I thought: ‘No, that’s not possible — what are the odds of that happening?’”
Chris told what emerged during five sessions with regression therapist Fiona Childs: “She was murdered in her pool house, then dragged to the bedroom and stripped. Five people were involved in her death. Each time I regress, I learn a little more. I like to think I am a sane and rational person. I am definitely not making this up. Why would I open myself up to ridicule?”
Having realised that the “I-am-Marilyn-reborn” folder on my hard disk was beginning to be a little over-populated, I was surprised to discover this week that it needs to make room for one more claimant.
An Israeli named Dr Edith Daniel was featured in Times of Israel yesterday – the 50th anniversary of Marilyn’s death – because of her claim to be the reincarnation of the Hollywood star. The story was picked up from a Hebrew language interview she had done with the news site NRG.co.il, in which she spoke of her beliefs and shared some videos she had made which the Times described delicately as showing her “in an ecstatic state”.
So convinced is she that, when she received her doctorate (in alternative medicine and homeopathic remedies), she adopted the names Marilyn was given at birth, and is now known as “Dr Norma Jean”.
Her past life was revealed to her during Skype regression sessions with hypnotherapist Dr Bruce Goldberg, which Edith Daniel videoed and is now sharing with anyone interested on YouTube. (For those interested, a three-hour Skype session costs $400 and 90 minute follow-ups are charged at $200.)
According to the Israeli newspaper, during these over-the-internet sessions, Edith revealed that Marilyn had been poisoned by secret agents, had an affair with a Chicago mobster, and had an abortion after being raped.
Goldberg told NRG that the information wasn’t public knowledge and that they could confirm her claims only after many hours of research.
I started watching some of these videoed sessions but soon gave up. If you have the time to watch a rather sad looking woman taking a very long time to respond to questions, you can begin here.
In an effort to make sense of these claims, I emailed both Finkelstein and Goldberg, inviting them to comment. Finkelstein was quick to reply, having received similar requests from others. He sent me his comments which he has also posted on his website. Choosing his words carefully, he says: “In my long experience with past life regression, when done on Skype, it is grossly unreliable.” In his 15-point response, he goes on to conjecture that perhaps in a previous lifetime Edith Daniel was in Marilyn Monroe’s close entourage.
“And this is the most frequent occurrence in my experience with hundreds of beautiful women stepping forward and claiming in an absolute way that they are the reincarnation of the famous actress. It is called a landmark reincarnation. Because of living in the proximity of a famous person of a historical era, such as Cleopatra or Napoleon, one may identify with them subconsciously and claim that are that personality.”
Adrian Finkelstein concludes with the observation that “no serious scientific researcher can ever claim absolutely a reincarnation, as psychics and astrology may do. Even in the amply-documented case of Sherrie Lea Laird, I can only say that she appears to be the probable reincarnation of Marilyn Monroe.”
If I receive a response from Bruce Goldberg, I will update this Blog.
My search also took me to the web pages of Brianstalin whose “past life research” seems to involve tapping into the Akashic Records (a bit like cloud computing but without computers!), a pendulum and the assistance of his spirit guides.
Brianstalin lives in Thailand and when he’s not exploring the past lives of famous people he gives Reiki healing and conducts courses. Using his unusual research methods he claims to be able to throw some light on the reborn Marilyns, which I will now share with you – but you’ll need to pay attention.
Apparently, in a previous life Marilyn was Maria Feodorovna who was married to Tsar Paul, who later reincarnated as Robert Kennedy. Among Maria’s daughters were the Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna, who in this life is Sherrie Lea Laird, and the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, who is now Sherrie’s daughter, Kezia, and Maria Pavlovna, who is now Zsuzsanna.
So two of those who believe they were Marilyn Monroe do have past-life connections of some sort, but were not actually her, according to Brianstalin.
Maria’s father, Friedrich II Eugene, Duke of Wüttemberg, he adds, reincarnated as playwright Arthur Miller who, of course, married Marilyn, his past-life daughter. And Gustav IV Adolf, King of Sweden, was betrothed to the Grand Duchess Alexandra in 1796 but the marriage was called off for religious reasons. Gustav was reborn as baseball star Joe diMaggio, Marilyn’s second husband.
What does the story of Marilyn Monroe tell us? That you can’t take most past-life regressions at face value. However plausible they may sound, they should be treated as highly suspect. And the conjecture of “experts” using pendulums and the Akashic Records is likely to add to our confusion.
Besides, for me, there will only ever be one Marilyn Monroe … regardless of who or where she is today.