The astonishing news of John Lennon's death changed my life forever.
The first three years, I grieved quietly, hiding my pain over the loss of the treasured rock star. I considered writing to Yoko Ono; anything to eradicate my feelings of what? Anger at myself for not seeking John out before he died? For not paying attention to where he lived, or what songs he wrote? Had I lost my mind? I reached out to my psychic mother. What is wrong with me?
She visualized an incredible scenario. Me ... back in the 1400s in southern England, only I was in a different body. My name was Katherine St. James. I loved a man named John Baron, who in this lifetime was John Lennon!
My mother described the sad story of how John and Katherine, both in their teens, fell passionately in love and planned to marry. I, as Katherine, was devastated when John died suddenly of tuberculosis. She died shortly after with a broken heart. I was shocked at how profoundly I felt Katherine's pain ... 300 years later! Could this really have happened? My sceptical husband only reinforced my own doubts, yet with my despair and longing so deep, I had to search for the truth. But where? How?
My mother psychically saw John and Katherine living near Stonehenge in a small town called Castlemere. A librarian suggested I contact a member of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; the Mormons. The LDS Church has records from church parishes all over the world. Genealogists would be lost without them, she told me. Imagine my thrill when I learned that Castlemere existed! Actually, it was the Castle of Mere, in a small village Mere, in Wiltshire near Stonehenge.
In 1985, I flew to Mere, England to verify John and Katherine's past. The trip was a disaster. There were no St. James or Barons from the 1400s, and although there were Barons from the 1600s in Mere, that was two centuries later. I arrived back in Canada defeated and feeling like a fool.
On my return home, a taped letter from my sister Konni, was waiting in my mailbox, sending my hopes soaring again. Konni suffered from multiple sclerosis and as her body weakened, her intuitive awareness blossomed, she explained.
Before travelling to England I had sent her a taped letter explaining my reason for going to Mere, searching for the existence of John and Katherine in 1400s England. Now, I listened in disbelief as my sister told me John and Katherine did exist, in the 1600s, rather than the 1400s, and in a place called Petworth, somewhere in England. She also said Katherine's name was James not Saint James.
"Here we again, eh?" my husband responded to my news.
I didn't care. I knew I was about to uncover my mind-boggling truth. Konni's information, indeed, led me to a town, fifty miles south of London, called Petworth. I actually found my own birth record on microfilm. Katherine James christened February 24, 1666, in Petworth Sussex; father Robert James.
The information opened a floodgate of memories, which spilled on to paper. A story emerged from my subconscious and I began to write it down. It took seven days to recollect the life of Katherine James, who had loved and lost her soul mate John Baron.
I took my search to a higher level and underwent a past life regression. Under hypnosis, I actually felt Katherine's life and visualized the town and my home. I knew I had to return to England and experience it for real. My marriage now suffered and friendships tested, but I had no choice. I was obsessed.
I arrived in Petworth on a sunny afternoon in 1990. Within days, most of my past life recollections were corroborated. The scenes from my chanelled account actually existed! Two psychics in Petworth, who didn't know my story, or me, felt John Lennon's spirit. I now understand why I had grieved so, when John Lennon died.
Returning to Canada, I began to write about my fascinating journey and in 1995, the same year as my divorce, I published my first book. My story however continued. More clues and connections were unearthed and in 2003 All You Need Is Love was published.
I now return to my past life home often, where I, Katherine James (Jewelle St. James) once knew and loved John Baron (John Lennon) in the 1600s. John also returned.
In November 2001, I was stunned to learn that Petworth was chosen to display John Lennon art show. The small town of Petworth, one of only four chosen galleries in Britain, would display John Lennon's art for 13 days in November 2001, including nine drawings from Yoko Ono's private collection, never seen before in public.
John, like Katherine, had returned home