You knew Bernard Werber, scientific journalist but also novelist. You appreciate the writer who is as comfortable describing the daily life of ants as he is in evoking the world beyond (Les Thanatonautes or L’Empire des anges). The author of best-sellers, all published by Albin Michel, is now… a hypnotist!
At the age of 61, he embarked on an extensive tour across France. Every other Monday, it is at the La Bruyère* theater in Paris that he offers his “guided meditation” sessions. The rest of the time, he scours the halls of France. After Aix-les-Bains and Toulouse in January, he will be in Lille on February 8.
“If I tell you how I got here, I have to tell you that it was all about meeting,” he explains. The one with a medium: Monique Parent-Baccan, who died in 2006. It was she who convinced him that it was possible to dive into oneself in search of memories testifying to previous incarnations. It was Marie-Pierre Planchon who played the role of matchmaker here. “I introduced Bernard to Monique shortly after I met her. That was in 1997. Given the admiration I have for this author, whom I don’t hesitate to call a genius, I wanted to know what he thought of the sessions offered by Monique. This woman brought me a lot at various times in my life, “explains the presenter of France Inter.
“I was skeptical at first. Like everyone. But as I am naturally curious, I went to the appointment that Marie-Pierre had organized for me and I was not disappointed. To test Monique Parent-Baccan, I asked her for details of my previous existences. She explained to me that I had had 111. As I teased her about what famous person I might have been – I’m always amused by how many Napoleons there were – she described simple lives,” the writer recalls.
His topo begins with a comic slide show where the author evokes episodes of his life where the force of suggestion of the spirit appeared. The writer is here accompanied by the musician and singer Vanessa Francoeur, who distills, on the harp, planing melodies. “Accessing a form of augmented reality is not that complicated if you create the right atmosphere,” says Werber. Everything is done in several stages. The first is to imagine a lemon. “Visualize its color, envision its acidity on the tip of your tongue,” he repeats in an insistent voice. This is followed by breathing exercises and yoga stretches. The writer then invites the audience to remember a moment from last year. Then a childhood memory.
“I sometimes say my show is like a meal. It takes time to prepare, to appetize, before you can tackle the main course,” he says. The heart of the show is indeed played right after, with two improbable exercises: “a journey back in time before one’s own birth, in search of a past experience in another life, but also a projection into the future at the encounter with his self, aged”, evokes the writer.
If these two trips have left the author of these lines on the side of the road, it is not the same for the rest of the public. In view of what the spectators in the room describe (a microphone circulates in the audience), some have offered themselves great changes of scenery. “It doesn’t matter if the experiment works or not. I suggest everyone try a new approach: reconnect with their innermost being,” argues Bernard Werber.
Failing to have been able to project ourselves into a past existence, we will have let ourselves be lulled by the soft voice of the writer until we reach the gates of slumber. A moment of relaxation to explore this intimate territory where dreams are born. “I like to survey this area. The dreams that feed my inspiration find their source there. Because I remain above all a storyteller and only do this show to meet my readers, ”concludes the novelist. In fact, each performance is followed by a long signing session.
