About this ebook
Charles Johnston (1867–1931), originally from Northern Ireland, was a renowned writer, academic, and journalist. He was a founding member of the Dublin Hermetic Society in 1885 and joined the Dublin Theosophic Lodge in 1886. Later in his life, he became a member of the Civil Service in India, on behalf of the British Crown, where he had the opportunity to initiate one of his greatest passions: the translation of various literary jewels from the Sanskrit to the English language.
This annotated edition of The Memory of Past Births, is now brought to the present, in a modern publication (Note from the editors: with editorial supervision by Isis Estrada, writer of Reiki: Manual with the Three Levels according to the teachings of Dr. Mikao Usui; and Spanish translator of The Great Initiates, by Edouard Schuré).
The intention of Holos Arts Project is to relaunch texts of importance that not only have overcome the barrier of time and space, but that are also very current in terms of the topics and questions that still remain in the minds of the adept to mysticism: do we live many lives? And more importantly: what can we do to remember them?
Johnston brilliantly brought the millenary knowledge acquired in his travels through the East, and presented it in his own time. with great focus and accuracy. Now, it is up to us not to allow his work to lose force, especially when it carries among its words an inexhaustible source of wisdom from which we are still thirsty. We present now, therefore, The Memory of Past Births, and we are certain it will become part of your favorite readings on the subjects of transmigration, as well as reincarnation of the soul.
About the author
Charles Johnston was born on February 17, 1867 in the small village of Ballykilbeg (in Downpatrick), County Down, Northern Ireland. His father, William Johnston (1829–1902), was an Irish politician, a member of the South Belfast parliament and a member of the Orange Order.
Charles Johnston studied Oriental Studies and learned Sanskrit, Russian and German. Among his classmates were William Butler Yeats and George William Russell, with whom he shared an interest in the occult.
Later, Johnston worked as a journalist. In 1884, he read Alfred Percy Sinnett's work, The Occult World, and founded, along with Yeats and Russell, on June 16, 1885, the Hermetic Society in Dublin. He was responsible for introducing Yeats to Madame Blavatsky in the spring of 1887.
After 1885, he also joined the Theosophical Society and co-founded in April / June 1886 the Theosophical Lodge in Dublin. Later, when the Theosophical Society broke up in 1895, he followed the direction of William Quan Judge and was a member of the Theosophical Society in America.
On October 14, 1888, he married Vera Vladimirovna de Zhelihovsky (1864-1923), Helena Blavatsky's niece. He also joined the Indian Civil Service in the same year and later served in the British Bengal Service. Johnston translated several works from Sanskrit and Russian. As an author, he devoted himself mainly to philosophical and theosophical topics.
Psychotherapist and writer, she has written several books of drama, short story and poetry; as well as books on mysticism and alternative therapies. Her academic background includes undergraduate studies on Liberal Arts at the University of Minnessota, USA, and Master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Antonio de Nebrija University, in Spain. She has an interdisciplinary professional career in the fields of choreography, literature and dramatic acting. Currently, she divides her time between writing, and aiding patients, in the areas of Clinical Therapy and Past Life Therapy.
