A reunion with a soulmate after a long and involuntary separation can be an experience worth waiting for—even if the wait is one of centuries.

On a vacation in the Southwest, my former patient, Ariel, a biologist, met Anthony. Both were emotionally mature individuals who had been married before, and they quickly fell in love and become engaged. Back in Miami, Ariel suggested that Anthony have a regression session with me just to see if he could have the experience and to “see what came up.” Both were curious to find out whether Ariel would appear in any way in Anthony’s regression.

Anthony turned out to be a superb regression subject. Almost instantly, he returned to a very vivid North African lifetime around the time of Hannibal, more than 2,000 years ago. In this lifetime, Anthony had been a member of a very advanced civilization. His particular tribe members were gold smelters who had the ability to use liquid fire as a weapon by spreading it on the surface of rivers. Anthony was a young man in his mid-20’s in the midst of fighting a 40-day war with a neighboring tribe that vastly outnumbered the defenders.

Anthony’s tribe had actually trained some of the members of the enemy tribe in the art of warfare, and one of the former trainees was leading the assault. One hundred thousand of the enemy tribe carrying swords and hatchets were crossing a large river on ropes and Anthony and his people spread liquid fire on their own river, hoping it would reach the attackers before they reached the shore.

To protect their women and children, the defending tribe put most of them on large boats with violet sails in the middle of the huge lake. Among this group was Anthony’s young and beloved fiancée, who was perhaps 17 or 18 years old. However, the liquid fire suddenly burned out of control, and the boats caught fire. Most of the tribe’s women and children perished in this tragic accident, including Anthony’s fiancée, who was his great passion.

This tragedy broke the morale of the warriors and they were soon defeated. Anthony was one of the few who escaped the slaughter. Eventually, he escaped to a secret passageway that led to where the tribe’s treasures were stored.

There Anthony had found the one other living person, his king. The king commanded Anthony to kill him, and Anthony, a loyal soldier, complied against his will. After the king’s death, Anthony was all alone in the dark temple, where he used his time to write the history of his people on gold leaf and to seal the writings in large urns or jars. It was here that he eventually died of starvation and grief over the loss of his fiancée and his people.

There was one more detail. His fiancée in that lifetime reincarnated as Ariel in this lifetime. The two of them reunited as lovers after 2,000 years. Finally, the long-postponed wedding would take place.

Anthony and Ariel had only been separated for one hour when he stepped out of my office. But the power of their reunion was such that it was though they had not seen each other for 2,000 years.

Recently Ariel and Anthony were married. Their sudden and intense and seemingly coincidental meeting now has a new layer of meaning to them, and their already passionate relationship is now infused with a sense of continuous adventure.

Anthony and Ariel plan to take a trip to North Africa to try and find the location of their past life together and to see what other details they can uncover. They know that whatever they find can only increase the adventure they find in each other.