As a child, Sand remembered living before. She remembered her death in Dachau, but she didn't have a name for her past life identity until a former friend claimed it as her own. She is haunted by her past death and recurring premonition of another death to come as she grows up in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and early US spaceflight. Her past life memories put her in conflict with the religious beliefs of mainstream society. The convergence of conflicting cultures results in race riots at the high school Sand attends. Sand's friend, Chrissie, remembers writing poetry in 19th century Amherst, Massachusetts, as Emily Dickinson. After Sand graduates from college and goes to work for a local newspaper, her childhood premonition of another death comes true. Meanwhile, a package that she has kept a secret suddenly resurfaces, but what does it mean? She discovers that her next door neighbor, a rising rock star, is a bigamist. Sand's story is told by Brenda Campbell, who is the daughter of the bigamist rock star, through the symbolism of her Tarot cards. Deception Past is a story of betrayal and forgiveness.