Excerpt: HYPNOSIS: A RETURN TO THE PAST by Maria Inês Rebelo

Image Graphic designed by Sandra Lopez

Marcus Belling is a world-famous hypnotist.
For the past 20 years, many exclusive clients have benefited from his skills and desire to help people.

However, everything changes when a mysterious woman named Anne Pauline Roux knocks on his door.
She holds a rare power when hypnotized, which will affect both their lives in ways they could never imagine. Her unique power is so strong that it doesn’t stay secret for long.

Marcus’ archrival and fellow hypnotist, Josef Salvaterra, has been looking for a way to shut down Marcus’ business for years. Pauline may just give him the opportunity he’s been waiting for. If he can work this to his advantage, he could be recognised as the greatest hypnotist the world has ever seen.

With such a prize at stake, is there anything he’s not prepared to do?

Reading this book is a hypnotic process that will lead you to question the meaning of destiny and truth, and restore faith in our ability to find the good, even when we are not looking for it.

Available on Amazon

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THE FIRST SESSION

The big day arrived! Anne Pauline would finally start her

sessions with Marcus Belling and it was beyond her wildest

dreams that these appointments would change both her life

and that of Marcus Belling… forever.

The sun was shining brightly on that day. The young,

green-eyed woman was anxious for the return to her past

through regression as it could possibly open the door and

enable her to understand her anxieties. But for the moment,

it was no more than mere speculation. In fact, Anne was not

really sure if she had lived any past lives, despite her intuition

telling her that she had so. She did not know if her anxiety

was related to any traumas from the past, but her intuition

said yes to this as well. Anne was also not sure if Marcus

Belling was the right person to help her, especially after

having discovered that he was the mysterious and obscure

man of her dreams. Once more, however, her instinct was

sure: the renowned hypnotist would be able to find her lost

memories, those mementoes that made her feel lost, guilty,

anxious and incapable of defining her own identity. Maybe

she belonged to those different times that still accompanied

while asleep, especially when she dreamed. This was truly a

different dimension of life that was not always so accessible

to others.

Anne Pauline wondered how she could be healed by

someone who had created so much harm. The man in her

dreams with the same tone of voice as Marcus Belling had

put a set of questions to her every night that was making

her doubt if deserved to know her past. Was she worthy or

respectful enough? Her true self was considered to be so,

but she did not know if it was necessary to look for the help

of the famous Marcus Belling at this stage in her life. For

many years, she lived with this dilemma, up until she finally

decided to take courage and ring the bell of number 27 Sun

Avenue.

Anne Pauline Roux had a strange mixture of feelings.

She lived for many years with her parents in the village where

she learned to listen to the sounds of the world, and where

she admired the horizon at the end of the day; it was only

that sight which brought her peace of mind. But during the

night, everything changed. Her dreams were trying to grab

her once more, and she didn’t know if she should open the

door to the unknown. At times, she felt a lack of freedom,

as if someone had imprisoned Anne at a certain point, and

there was no space left for critical thought to develop within

her! This was the worst possible thing one could do to her.

To a certain degree, it seemed that her mind and capability

of thought were chained, even if it was hard to define this

feeling. She was also daunted by some kind of treason, even

though Anne could not really define this feeling, which

seemed lost somewhere in the remote past. The combination

of all these circumstances created a mixture of sensations

within her that was not easy to define and thus, made Anne

Pauline’s soul enormously unstable. After several years, this

discomfort made her look for help and try past life regression

with Marcus Belling. On this day, just as Anne was heading

downtown, the famous hypnotist got ready to leave home.

He kissed Patricia tenderly and made his way to the hypnosis

clinic.

Marcus Belling had decided to see his friend Thaddeus

Borba before starting his sessions. The man was over 70 years

of age and Sun Avenue’s shoemaker. He was a tireless worker

who kept doing his work with the same dedication as he did

over 40 years ago, and so shared many affinities with Belling.

They had a close and friendly relationship, something

the old man did not have with all his clients. On his way

to the clinic, the famous hypnotist tried to feel all those

aromas of a summer morning. He was a regular client at the

shoemaker’s workshop and normally trusted him to repair

his shoes. Belling really liked to help all those who worked

in Sun Avenue by using their services, such as buying a good

book, an old chest of drawers or, as on this occasion, simply

having his shoes polished. This purpose led to the creation

of the ‘Sun Avenue’s Free Club’, an open organisation that

was formed years ago and brought together all those who

worked, lived or simply loved or admired the renowned

avenue. It was far from being a closed, elitist group, as all of

its members openly promoted their membership, as well as

the culture and arts that had developed in that central artery,

and its history. Marcus Belling obviously belonged to the

Club (since he believed in the open and democratic spirit of

the same) but was not its most regular member due to a lack

of time.

Georgine Gunderson had also decided to join in, but did

so to develop her research into the history of the Avenue.

Only a few knew it, but legend had it that large amounts of

gold existed under this street, which had become the heart

of the city. It was a myth such as this which was behind the

construction of the statue to the phoenix, a tribute to the

forgotten history of Sun Avenue. Maybe it was a forgotten

history by convenience, Georgine thought, for if the legend

was true, there could really be tons of gold to extract. But

she would never know if this was true and there was no

other alternative than to continue her search through local

history, with a special focus on Sun Avenue. On the same

day, Georgine returned to the shutdown city library, where

she would do more of her lonesome work.

As usual, Belling used some of his spare time to visit

Thaddeus. The shoemaker was a special person, who was

different from all the others. Just like many other clients,

Marcus Belling considered him to be one of the best

shoemakers in the entire country, as he could make each

client a special person. Everyone greatly admired him,

even though some found it sad that he would not teach his

precious knowledge to anyone who could then keep it alive.

Belling had not forgotten Thaddeus on this particular day

but he did not bring any shoes to repair this time. He just

wanted to greet him and see that remarkable smile Thaddeus

showed to every single client, as if each one was a unique

person.

‘Good morning, Thaddeus, how do you do?’

‘Good morning, Mr Belling! You are quite early today!

What can I do for you? Do not tell me it is because of those

shoes I fixed last time! Didn’t it work?’ the shoemaker asked.

‘Do not worry, Thaddeus, I really appreciate what you

did! But today, I am not bringing you shoes, as I usually do.

I just visited to see how you are doing,’ a smiling Belling

answered.

Thaddeus was not only recognised as ‘the shoemaker

of Sun Avenue’, but also as one of the last of his generation.

In fact, he never got married nor had he any children, and

therefore, no descendants would inherit his workmanship.

To make it worse, he was the only shoemaker who played the

lute. As he sang verses on the truth about people’s lives (or

so they said), they gave him the nickname of ‘Troubadour of

Truth’. For some others, he was not a troubadour but rather

an oracle, as each of the verses contained a vision of what the

person’s future would be like. Thus, behind the appearance

of a trova, was a hidden prognosis about future times, which

often materialised, and to everyone’s knowledge, an apparent

lay hid the prospect of future events, which could very

possibly become true! Thaddeus Borba brought these up to

entertain his clients while they waited for their shoes to be

fixed, instead of asking them to take a walk while he serviced

their shoes. This innovative method made him even more

famous in the city, and brought him more and more clients!

In fact, playing the lute and singing those verses were quite

a common occurrence for him, and that’s exactly what he

did when he saw Marcus Belling on this day. Thaddeus had

known the famous hypnotist for many years and could tell

when he needed wise advice to guide him in the near future.

His words came out to the sound of the music:

It is better to know at times

Than just to wait and see

The one who will arise

Will forever change your mind.