For Hollywood publicist and author Dan Harary, exploring past lives is not just a hypothetical question—it’s the core inspiration behind his latest novel. Harary’s newest work, FIVE, delves into the mysteries of reincarnation, weaving together a gripping narrative that blends his own experiences with past-life regression and a compelling murder mystery.
The idea that Harary may have lived past lives stems from a particularly eye-opening experience he had three decades ago. As he recalls, “About 30 years ago, a very well-known Hollywood psychic told me that I had been, in a past life, a ‘star in the Hungarian Theater in the 1870s.’ Because he was incredibly accurate with many other things about my life—as well as the lives of my closest friends—I took him at his word.”
This intriguing revelation remained in Harary’s mind for years, bubbling just beneath the surface. However, it wasn’t until late 2023 that the concept of his possible past life began to transform into a fully developed character for his novel. “I wanted to write about THAT GUY,” Harary explains, referring to his imagined past self. “The ‘Dan who was a star in the Hungarian Theater in the 1870s,’ to see what HIS life would be all about, to describe HIS adventures, and to explore WHO that guy WAS. Thus was born my character, Feival Vados.”
But the psychic’s revelation wasn’t the only moment that influenced Harary’s belief in reincarnation. His journey into the past-life world deepened further through a session of “regression hypnosis” conducted by Dr. Bruce Goldberg, a well-known Los Angeles physician and expert in the field of reincarnation.
“I had once undergone regression hypnosis about 20 years ago by Dr. Goldberg,” Harary explains. “I attended a lecture of his at the Conscious Life Expo in LA in the late ’90s. He presented six case studies of young children—patients he had hypnotized, who had recalled, IN VIVID DETAIL, the names, time frames, and circumstances of THEIR PREVIOUS LIVES.”
During his own regression, Harary experienced vivid memories that seemed to suggest a range of past identities, each spanning vastly different time periods and locations. “When I was hypnotized by Dr. Goldberg, he ‘regressed’ me, and while under hypnosis, I spoke of stories of me having been, in the past: a Roman soldier guarding the Coliseum; an Amish farmer plowing his crops in Pennsylvania; an ancient Egyptian priest inside a tomb at the base of the Great Pyramid; and a cop in 1920s New York City.”
While Harary admits that he cannot definitively prove the authenticity of these experiences, the idea of reincarnation became a source of fascination for him. “Can I prove that I ‘was any of those people’ from the past? No, of course not. But I found the whole idea of reincarnation and past lives simply fascinating.”
Harary’s fascination with the notion of reincarnation, combined with his Hollywood background, provided the perfect backdrop for FIVE, a novella that blends both the mystery of past lives and the excitement of a modern-day thriller. In his novel, Feival Vados, the star of the Hungarian theater, is reincarnated into the 21st century as Billy Simon, a pop music star who shares Feival’s dark past.
“After I crafted my Feival Vados character, I wanted to ‘reincarnate him’ into the modern era,” Harary explains. “Once I settled on the idea of bringing his soul back to life after 100 years, I developed the Billy Simon character—a modern-day pop music star who, alas and unfortunately, has also inherited Feival’s propensity as a serial killer.”
Through this creative storyline, Harary explores the question of whether certain aspects of our personality or behaviors could transcend time, traveling with our souls across multiple lives. His novel presents a unique intersection between past and present, one where a man’s destiny may be irrevocably shaped by the ghosts of his former selves.
Whether you believe in reincarnation or not, Harary’s FIVE promises to challenge readers with its imaginative take on how our past lives might intersect with our present reality. For Harary, the journey from personal experiences with psychics and past-life regressions to penning a novel rooted in reincarnation has been deeply rewarding. His story raises questions about identity, destiny, and whether we can ever truly escape the shadows of our past lives.
So, have you ever wondered if you’ve lived a past life? Dan Harary’s novel offers a thrilling, thought-provoking exploration of what that might look like—and the unexpected consequences it could bring.
