Beethoven piano concerto no 5 Pierre Laurent Aimard
Leif was one of my first clients in Sweden. He decided to do the hypnotherapy since antidepressants didn’t help against his depressive state. During many sessions he found himself as a farmer in the middle of Sweden. Initially he mentioned the place Born I didn’t knew existed until I found it on a local map. An exiting journey was to begin.
Leif grew up as an orphan. His name was Erik. He was taken care of together with many other children in a small orphanage. This was early 1800 and at this time most Swedish farmers were poor. Many later immigrated to USA.
The woman in charge of the home became close to Erik, and when she died she left him a small farm. For him it was an incredible gift. Erik never married but once a year he went down to the big market where he got drunk and enjoyed some women. Erik continued:
”I am standing by a hay-drying rack. The Dane is here with his horse…”
“You don’t have a horse?”
“No.”
”What kind of carriage does he use”, I asked.
“It’s a carriage on iron wheels.”
”Well, let’s go to your home now. Can you describe your home to me?”
”There is a barn to the right. The house is to the left and in between is the earth cellar
”You are now inside you house. How does it look like?”
”There is one room. The kitchen is yellow. On the first floor is a bed where I sleep”, he said calm and secure.
”Do you have any books, perhaps an almanac?”.
”I don’t have any books, but there is an almanac on the wall in the kitchen.”
”What year does the almanac say”, I asked..
”1887”, he said without any hesitation..
”Are you married?”
”No, I have never had a woman, and I don’t have any relatives”, he said spontaneously.
”What kind of work do you do?”
”I work in the forest. I sell milk and eggs. I have seven cows and a few hens”, he told me without being asked.
Since Leif had told me that Erik was born 15 November 1822, we had a valuable piece of information. Later we decided to find out if we could get the farmers name and when he died.
Leif was well relaxed. His breath went silent, became almost invisible.
”You are walking around in your house. Maybe there is a contract of sale somewhere in your house. Something with your name on it”, I asked curiously.”
”Yes, yes….I was given the farm by the woman from the orphanage. A third person is there as a witness when she give me the farm. Yes, I sign the contract”, he said.
”What name can you read on the contract of sale? What namne do you write when you sign the contract?”,
”Erik…..Erik Andersen….Andersson….Anderssen…it is a little bit difficult to see and read”.
During the last session Leif told me about Eriks death. It was a historic moment.
“Do you go to see the doctor?”
“No, my neighbor brings me some medicine…its vodka.”
“What year do you read on your almanac”, I asked.
“1899”, without any hesitation.
”I was sick for a week...then I died”.
We now had the main ingredients to do something extra-ordinary. In Sweden a National register of all people has been in place since 1718, and this gave us an opportunity to check if Erik Andersson was real.
I asked Leif to write to The Provincial Office of Records and three months later he slowly came walking towards me at the surgery.
“I have something for you he said. Read!”
“The Provincial Office of Records hereby declare:”
“In Nora Mountain Parish book of deaths for the year 1899, only one Erik Andersson, born 1822, has been found. It was Per Erik Andersson, dead 16 March by heart failure and buried 23 March. At the age of 76 years 4 months and 1 day, stands 22 November 15, which seems to indicate that he was born 15 November 1822. …”
Just before I left for England, Leif, Elisabeth (Three Masters) and I went to the graveyard in Nora, where we knew that Erik was burried. After more than one hours search I suddenly stumbled over a flat an old stone. When I removed the snow we found Eriks grave. Elisabeth turned to Leif and said:
“How does it feel like being buried and still being alive?”
This is a picture of Leif and Eriks grave.
This page was last modified on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 00:21:15