Imagination vs Reality: How to Know When You’re Truly Accessing a Past Life in Meditation

This post is part of my series: “The Most Googled Spiritual Questions about Esoteric Astrology, Past Lives & Ancient Wisdom''

Every week, I take one of the most-searched questions about astrology, past lives, the soul, ancient history, or the hidden realms and break it down using ancient wisdom, sidereal astrology, and everything I’ve learnt through my own spiritual path.

Have you ever slipped into meditation, seen a scene unfold before your inner eye, and wondered… was that a glimpse of a past life, or did I just imagine it?

This is one of the most common questions people ask when they begin exploring past life work. When you start opening the door to your soul’s history, visions, sensations, and emotions can surface that feel both familiar and surreal. Some moments are so vivid they leave you shaken, as though you’ve remembered something real. Others feel dreamlike, harder to grasp, leaving you uncertain.

Learning to tell the difference between imagination and genuine soul memory is part of the process, and it’s a skill that deepens over time.

Why Past Life Work Feels So Mystical (and Sometimes Confusing)

Your subconscious mind is like a vast library filled with symbols, archetypes, and fragments of memory. When you meditate, you step into this library. Some of what you find are stories your mind is creating, while others are memories encoded within your soul. Both can feel powerful, which is why it can be difficult to know what is “real.”

The confusion often comes because past life recall doesn’t always arrive in logical order. You may see flashes, feel emotions, or hear words without knowing the full story. Imagination fills in the gaps. This doesn’t mean the vision isn’t true, it simply means you’re translating the language of the soul, which often speaks in fragments, symbols, and sensations rather than a neat narrative.

The Feel of Imagination vs the Feel of Soul Memory

Imagination tends to feel light, playful, or easy to control. You can change the scene quickly, and while it may be fun or intriguing, it doesn’t carry the same weight.

Past life memory often arrives suddenly and feels charged. There is a gravity to it, a depth that cannot be shaken. These moments carry an emotional intensity, sometimes even physical sensations. You may cry without knowing why, or feel a tightness in your chest as though you’re reliving a moment.

Here are some key distinctions:

Imagination often feels like:

• A scene you can direct or alter at will

• Dreamlike, fuzzy, or symbolic without much detail

• Fleeting, with little emotional weight once you finish meditating

Soul memory often feels like:

• Something unfolding on its own, without you forcing it

• Vivid sensory details, textures, smells, sounds, colours

• Emotional resonance that lingers, sometimes for days

• A strong sense of déjà vu or recognition, as if you already know the place or person you’re seeing

• Physical responses, shivers, tears, warmth, heaviness

Signs You’re Accessing a True Past Life

☾ The vision feels more like a memory than a story you’ve made up

☾ You feel strong emotions that don’t belong to your current life

☾ Recurring symbols, names, or places appear in multiple meditations

☾ The imagery feels stable over time, not shifting like a fantasy

☾ You sense healing, closure, or deep clarity afterwards

Why It’s Important to Know the Difference

Both imagination and past life recall can be valuable. Imagination reveals symbols from your subconscious, helping you understand patterns, archetypes, and inner stories. Past life recall goes deeper, uncovering why certain fears, gifts, or relationships exist in this lifetime.

Knowing which is which empowers you. You’ll be able to trust the memories that surface, integrate their wisdom, and release the doubt that so often creeps into this work. Without that trust, it’s easy to dismiss powerful memories as “just in my head,” when in fact they may hold the key to healing.

Practical Ways to Discern in Meditation

• Set clear intentions before you begin, ask to see what is real and needed for your highest growth.

• Ground yourself with breath, body awareness, or frequency music to stay centred.

• Journal afterwards and track patterns over time. True memories tend to repeat, while imagination shifts.

• Notice your body’s response, genuine soul memory often stirs physical sensation.

• Ask clarifying questions during meditation: “Who am I? What is happening? What lesson is here for me?”

• Stay curious instead of forceful, when you push, imagination often takes over.

The Role of Structure in Past Life Exploration

One of the biggest reasons people struggle to know what’s real is because they dive into past life work without any structure. Without a framework, it’s easy to drift into fantasy, doubt yourself, or abandon the practice altogether.

That’s why I created Unlock Your Past Lives in 14 Days. It’s a gentle, step-by-step program that guides you through daily practices, dreamwork, journaling, intuitive writing, body memory, regression, and connecting with soul contracts. Each day builds on the last, so by the end of two weeks you’ll have a clearer sense of how to recognise genuine past life recall and how to integrate it into your life.

You don’t need any prior experience, only curiosity and an open heart. And because it’s self-paced, you can revisit the practices whenever you feel called. Alternatively, I do offer 1-1 past life sessions, where I guide you to your Akashic Records.

Unlock Your Past Lives in 14 Days- Downloadable Program

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When it comes to past lives, imagination and soul memory often walk side by side. Both have value, but the soul speaks in a way that you can feel, in your heart, your body, your bones. That resonance is what makes it real.

Trust yourself, record what you see, stay open. With time, the difference between imagination and reality becomes clear, and your soul’s story begins to reveal itself more fully.