REINCARNATION
For the foreseeable future, there can be no absolute scientific proof of reincarnation, and none against it. It is up to the individual whether they take a personal stand or not on the issue. But for those interested in the subject, it is desirable to have as much information about the evidence to date and the various schools of thought
There are now many recorded cases where under hypnosis a subject has not only recounted details from what appears to be a previous life, but also spoken a foreign language of which they claimed to have little or no previous knowledge. A notable case of this is the famous Hollywood actor Glenn Ford. Under hypnosis, he recalled five previous lives - one in particular as a French cavalryman under Louis XIV. The astonishing part was that though Ford said he knew only a few basic phrases in French, under hypnosis he spoke French with ease while describing this life. And when recordings of his regression were sent to UCLA (University of California), they discovered that not only was Ford speaking fluent French, he was in fact speaking the Parisian dialect from the 17th century.
Jane Evans, a Welsh housewife, agreed to be filmed for BBC television being regressed back to a past life by Arnell Bloxham, president of the British Society of Hypnotherapists and a respected practitioner. She had originally consulted him about rheumatism and under hypnosis, revealed seven past lives including one life - where the regression was televised - where she identified herself as a Jewish woman living in the city of York in 12th century England. She described many
details of Jewish life at the time and how she and the local Jews were forced to wear badges to identify themselves. She also spoke of a terrible massacre of the Jewish population by the local townspeople. During this event, she recalled taking shelter with her children in the crypt of a local church, but they were discovered by the mob and that is where she died. Professor Barrie Dobson, an expert on Jewish history at York University, was called in to check the information from her memories. He found that her description of 12th century Jewish life was impressive with its accuracy and in fact he was convinced that some of the details would have only been known to professional historians. However it also seemed that some details appeared to be quite incorrect. Firstly, it was not until the 13th century (1215 to be precise) that the Church authorities in Rome decreed that Jews in Christian countries were to wear special identification. Secondly, from her description, the church had to have been St. Mary's Castlegate, but it did not have a crypt. However further investigation revealed that the practice of making Jews wear identification was already widespread in England during the 12th century before the church decree. Then astonishingly several months later, during renovation of the church a sealed chamber was discovered below the floor which appeared to have been a crypt - a very rare phenomenon indeed for churches in the area. So not only did her regression bring forth obscure details which were historically accurate, it also yielded historical information which should most definitely not have been available at that time.
Often the first hint about a past life people have is an inexplicable interest in a particular country, language, time period, historical event, etc. And often when presented with photographs or movie footage which related to their past life, they might feel an emotional rush and even identify themselves somehow with what they are seeing.
For example, an English TV documentary showed a American who had become so fascinated with the American Civil War that he had turned his house into a Civil War museum. Not surprisingly, under hypnosis he remembered being a soldier in the Civil War. This can be viewed by the sceptic as wishful thinking, but conversely it follows that a Civil War veteran would always have a fascination for that period - probably even into their next incarnation.
Recurring dreams or nightmares are a common way people claim to be able to view their past lives. This can vary between vague dreams of an unpleasant nature with a recurring theme all the way through to vivid dreams where other participants can be clearly recognised
Some people have seemingly irrational fears from a young age for such things drowning, aircraft crashing, loud noises, etc. Often when trying to work through this problem under hypnosis, the person will state that the cause of their phobia is an event from a time when they were someone else - and often the event is the cause of their death in that life.
Another problem that can occur is when people have a chronic health problem for which there seems to be no evident reason. Here again, when working through this problem under hypnosis, sometimes people will state that the origin of their problem is a traumatic event from a past life. And surprisingly once this discovery is made (under trance, etc), the person's problem are often reported as - almost miraculously - going away of their own accord
The area of children's past lives is quite remarkable - especially in western countries, where children have seldom been exposed to the concept of reincarnation. Often such memories can fade as some grow up, while others will be able to recall past incarnations all their life. Thousands of cases have been documented by various researchers from around the world and some children are recorded as having described and their past life residence and recognised family members by name - even when these families live in a different district - and even successfully passed tests set by the identified family. What is remarkable here is that in most cases the children appear to have no incentive, financial or otherwise, to make such claims. Dr Ian Stevenson, Director of Personality Studies at the University of Virginia, has devoted the last forty years to the scientific documentation of past life memories (without hypnosis) of children from all over the world - and has over 3,000 cases in his files.
The childrens past lives web site - shows cases, stories, research, and discussions describe how young children spontaneously remember their past lives.
If you have any stories to tell of reincarnation please contact us
Websites that may be of interest