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Shared by:
William James Rhodes III
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The name Rhodes is from Rhodez, a local name in Aquitaine, the French De Rodes.
Historical records state that the family descended from Rhodri Mawr, King of Wales.
The first American ancestor was a Rev. Daniel Rhodes. He was a descendant of Henry
Rhodes of Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1750, who died on the way over to America. The family
is descended from Count de Rodez, of Chester, England. One member of this family was
Knited by the King of Portugal, and received the royal Military Order of Christ in 1895.
The American branch of this family settled first in Pennsylvania, later moving west.
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I HAVE BEEN HERE BEFORE by Bill Rhodes:
Do you think you may have lived during another lifetime? Take a moment and think about
it. I believe you have, I feel sure my present life is another reincarnation. I am very
serious about this, and perhaps the reader will have a better understanding of what I
am saying by reading on.
First, let me begin by bringing to mind some strange experiences you and I had that are
difficult to explain. Like myself, you no doubt have seen things you knew were going to
happen before they did; or sometimes know the caller at the time the telephone rings,
and how about dreaming about a person you haven't thought about for many years because
that person has long been deceased. So what's it all about? Does it belong to our physic?
It could be, or perhaps it could be another dimension.
Two out of three people that read this paper have had similar experiences as those
previously mentioned but would not likely address the matter for fear of being tagged
as someone strange. The reaction would be the same when trying to convince some people
they have a spiritual guide helping them through life. Two out of three people won't
believe that but at one time or another those same people will make the remark, someone
up there must have been looking out for me. It was Sir Walter Scott that said what I am
trying to get across here, "How often do we find ourselves in society which we have
never met, and yet impressed with a mysterious and ill defined consciousness that
neither the scene or the speaker nor the subject are entirely new; nay, feel as if we
could anticipate that part of the conversation which has not taken place." Now for my
story that dates back to the early 1960's during a vacation trip to Great Britain. It
was at a London hotel that a fellow traveler suggested we see the City of Chester, if
at all possible. His exact words were, "If you miss Chester you missed England." The man
so impressed me that I felt seeing Chester was worth some changes in our itinerary.
Something else he said, " The place should be of special interest to you." I never got
the chance to find out why he thought it would be special to me as his car arrived and
they had to get out of the line of traffic. Although the man I was talking to was a
stranger, I got the feeling we had met before but that had to be impossible as he
definitely was British, and this was my first time ever in England. We (with my deceased
first wife) started right away with arrangements to leave London the next day for Chester.
Early the next evening after a 200 mile train ride we arrived in Chester where a kind taxi
driver drove us to an interesting pub type Inn reputed to be 700 years old. The age I can
believe because the walls in that building must have been 24 inches thick of stone, and
the general appearance of the place was Charles Dickens. The Inn was located on Bridge
Street perhaps the oldest part of Chester ... a splendid location it was. The meals during
our stay were pure British and most enjoyable.
Being an early riser, the next morning found me walking down Bridge street to Eastgate
Street, and when I turned the corner strange"things began to happen. This is when I saw
the city wall that enclosed the original city and the gateway entering into the city. My
first thought was I have seen this street and that entrance before. Of course it was my
imagination, I had never been in this country until now. Approaching the entrance I
remembered a massive gate that was hand cranked to close the road into the town but the
gate was missing; there was a gate because I had seen it. Today there is just an opening
in the wall for the street to run through. Walking along I saw another familiar landmark,
the Cathedral, but the building was larger than I remembered and the bell tower was
different; matter of fact I can't remember there being a bell tower. Walking along, I was
startled when I saw a row of buildings having a walkway on the second level; there were
shops on both levels and perhaps some apartments but the feeling I got was different. I
felt there were shops on the ground level and the upper levels were homes for the people
living in the walled city originally.
After walking around the center ofthe old city I climbed up on the wall for a walk and a
better view of Chester. Walking along the wall I began getting a reminder of what a
medieval fortified town was like. Honestly, I felt as if I were stepping back in time with
a strong feeling that I had been in some way linked to this city, I was strangely haunted
by what I would call the sense of pre-existence and too difficult to describe. It took
years before I discussed this experience with my family.
Walking back toward the Inn, I saw a rather large clock on Eastgate that seemed out of place
to me. What I am saying here, if! was ever in Chester before that clock wasn't. Returning to
the Inn after my two hour self conducted tour, I stopped to talk with the innkeeper about the
beautiful and interesting old city. My first question to the man was, do you suppose there was
ever a gate closing the Eastgate entrance into the city? "Indeed there was," he said very
positively. "My grandfather once owned a wood carving of Eastgate showing the gate when down;
the gate was removed during the 1700's." The gate was actually built and installed during the
Middle Ages. This I felt I already knew.
Stories like this one can become boring, especially if one doesn't believe in reincarnation,
so I will cut out much of the Chester details. After our month stay in Great Britain we
returned home in Virginia and I only mentioned Chester to two people, and could easily tell
they weren't going to buy my being familiar with the place during another lifetime so I clamed
up and never mentioned the trip again until recent years.
For my birthday in 1963 I received a beautiful framed copy of the Rhodes Coat-OfArms and with
it came a brief history of the Rhodes family that I am going to copy in part here because of
its special interest to the subject matter herein:
The first American ancestor was a Rev. Daniel Rhodes. He was a descendent of Henry Rhodes of
Frankfurt-on-the-Main, 1750, who died on the way over to America. His family is descended from
Count de Rodez of Chester, England.
After reading the family origin and my experience with Chester gave me a lot to think about.
I put my thinking about the possibility of my reincarnation in the top drawer as I had no one
at the time I could comfortably discuss the subject with until I married Ann who also helped
me find another conformation of my past life.
Ann got us an appointment with Marcy Calhoon during one of her visits to North Hollywood,
California. Marcy is a trance medium who gives past life readings. Her home is in Seattle
but she has monthly appointments with clients in Southern California. This lady had
outstanding credentials and done readings for the Seattle Police Department many times in
connection with their detective work. Marcy was recommended to Ann by a friend who had used
her service.
The sessions lasted fifty-five minutes with Ann and myself interviewed separately. We were
allowed to bring along a blank tape to record our sessions. Since the session has a lot of
detail I am going directly to the part relevant to this narrative.
In my prior life's readings Marcy found me in 17th century England and my name was Edward
Pennington. She also told me that at one time I had been a member of the town council of
the town of Chester and was motivated for creating the town as it was. She told me that I
had a deep connection with the people of Chester. Let it be understood at this point that
I never saw Marcy Calhoon before until the appointed time and have the tape with every word
spoken during my readings.
In connection with some other information, Marcy told me I had a guide whose name was
Valiant Griffin, and he has been my guide since birth. Also, it seems I have a family member
with the letter "W" beginning his surname; he too is a guide but she just couldn't find his
full name for some reason, she did try very hard but I think I know the name and the person.
Well, this is my story and let me say I accept reincarnation with complete respect. It has
been difficult for me to write this but on the other hand, I often go where other's fear to
tread. Hope you and I meet again during my next lifetime but I won't bet the ranch on it.
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