The Memorist (37 page)

A
s with the first novel in this series,
The Reincarnationist
, there is a lot of fact mixed in with this fictional tale.

The funeral ceremony, musical instruments, culture, customs and flora I describe in the ancient Indus Valley were carefully researched, and I’ve tried to keep true to what is known.

In almost all cases, dates and descriptions of historical events such as the Congress of Vienna are accurate, as are most of the locales of that beautiful city in which I’ve spent several months. There is indeed a complex underground world there, rife with tunnels and archaeological treasures. There are several subterranean thermal lakes in the area, though there is not one directly beneath the main music hall, as far as anyone knows. The Heart Vault, the Dorotheum, the museums, Beethoven’s homes, the Central Cemetery and Steinhof hospital are all real. Sadly, so is the information about the Nazi experiments done there and the extent to which these experiments were still used and available to researchers.

As far as I know, the Memorist Society doesn’t exist, but there were many secret societies in Austria that broke off from the Freemasons—some of which might still be functional.

There is no Phoenix Foundation. The work done there was, however, inspired by the work done at the University of Virginia Medical Center by the real-life Dr. Ian Stevenson, who studied children with past life memories for over thirty years. Dr. Bruce Greyson and Dr. Jim Tucker, a child psychiatrist, continue Ian Stevenson’s work today. (These fine doctors are not to be blamed for any of Dr. Malachai Samuels’ personality defects.)

There is fascinating research into binaural beats, some of which suggests these tones could offer a portal to past life memories. Sacred music, chanting and repetitive sounds have already been proven to affect the mind and change our perceptions.

The Austrian Orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, along with Sir William Jones in England and Silvestre de Sacy in France, was responsible for the great dissemination of Eastern knowledge in late eighteenth-century Europe. In those early days of the Age of Enlightenment the study of Eastern philosophy—including reincarnation—became very popular. Ludwig van Beethoven was in fact among those interested in these doctrines. His own notebooks contain a number of passages from
Bhagavad-Gita
, as well as a quote from William Jones’s “Hymn to Narayena”: “We know this only, that we nothing know.”

T
he tough thing about writing thank-you notes is that no matter how many people I list who helped with this book, I know I will be leaving out many, so for that I apologize in advance.

To the whole team at MIRA Books whom I am blessed to have in my corner—especially my amazing editor Margaret O’Neill Marbury, who did so much to shape this book. The idea of writing a book without her or Lisa Tucker and Douglas Clegg seems impossible—I hope the impossible never happens. To Jerry Hooten, who gave me the benefit of his knowledge—if there are any factual errors having to do with security issues and investigative techniques they are mine, not his.

A huge thank-you to readers, booksellers and librarians everywhere, to all my business associates, my friends in and out of the biz. To Doug Scofield, who along with everything else gave me a glimpse into the world of music, and to the rest of my wonderful family for their support and love.

I
have been reading about reincarnation and related subjects for many years and wanted to offer a selection of the books I have found most helpful in writing
The Memorist
.

Andrews, Ted.
Sacred Sounds: Magic & Healing Through Words & Music
. Llewellyn Publications, 2002.

Bache, Christopher M.
Lifecycles: Reincarnation and the Web of Life
. Paragon House Publishers, 1994.

Bowman, Carol.
Children’s Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child.
Bantam, 1998.

Chopra, Deepak.
Life After Death: The Burden of Proof.
Harmony, 2006.

Gershom, Yonassan.
Beyond the Ashes: Cases of Reincarnation from the Holocaust
. A.R.E. Press, 1992.

Gershom, Yonassan.
Jewish Tales of Reincarnation
. Jason Aronson, 1999.

Kushner, Lawrence.
Honey from the Rock: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism.
Jewish Lights Publishing, 1999.

Stemman, Roy.
One Soul, Many Lives: First-Hand Stories of Reincarnation and the Striking Evidence of Past Lives.
Ulysses Press, 2005.

Stevenson, Ian.
Children Who Remember Previous Lives: A Question of Reincarnation.
McFarland & Company, revised edition, 2000.

Stevenson, Ian.
Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation
. University Press of Virginia, 1980.

Tucker, Jim.
Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children’s Memories of Previous Lives.
St. Martin’s Press, 2005.

Wallace, B. Alan.
Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge
. Columbia University Press, 2006.

Wilson, Colin.
After Life: Survival of the Soul
. Llewellyn Publications, 2000.