Posted on 13 March 2017, 10:06

There was a time when I enjoyed reading books about reincarnation.  I was fascinated by the story of Bridey Murphy from the 1950s and by the research carried out by Professor Ian Stevenson, as reported by in Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, and by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. in Many Lives, Many Masters.  I was intrigued by Jenny Cockell’s Across Time and Death, by Dolores Cannon’s They Walked with Jesus, and Marge Rider’s Mission to Millboro.  My library contains about 40 books dealing with reincarnation, but at some point the idea of coming back and doing this all over again did not appeal to me and I stopped reading about reincarnation.

If I could start another life at age 20 or so in a fairly comfortable setting with everything I now know, I’d probably opt for another lifetime in this physical realm, but it doesn’t seem to work that way. I fear that I may elect to come back as a severely handicapped child to help his or her parents learn from the experience. It’s something of a Catch 22 situation – hoping to be advanced enough to be so heroic and yet hoping not to be so advanced. 

As much as I don’t want to do it again, the evidence set forth in the recently released book, I Saw a Light and Came Here, by Erlendur Haraldsson, Ph.D. and James G. Matlock, Ph.D. and published by White Crow Books, suggests that I will have to do it again, unless of course, I have reached the point at which we don’t have to come back and we continue the evolution of the soul in another realm of existence.  I feel I still have a lot to learn and so I am not optimistic in that regard. 

I decided it was about time to read another book on reincarnation and this book, subtitled Children’s Experiences of Reincarnation, seemed to be a good choice. The authors offer some very interesting and evidential cases from their extensive research in past-life studies.  The book is divided into two parts – the first authored by Haraldsson and the second by Matlock.  Haraldsson draws from nearly 50 years of field research, including approximately a hundred cases in Sri Lanka, Lebanon, India and Iceland, while Matlock is more of an “armchair” researcher, investigating accounts of reincarnation primarily by email, instant messaging, and Skype.  Both authors frequently link their findings to the research of Professor Ian Stevenson, considered “the father of reincarnation research.”
 
Haraldsson begins by summarizing several intriguing cases he researched in which children recalled episodes from an earlier life.  In one case, a Lebanese boy named Nazih was just a year-and-a-half old when he began telling his parents about his prior life.  He recalled carrying two pistols and four hand-grenades and being shot and killed.  When he was two-and-a-half, he drew a map of his previous house and said he wanted to go back there to see his children and retrieve his weapons and other belongings.  It was determined that his old home was about 17 kilometers from his present home, and when Nazih was five or six years old, his family finally took him there. He was questioned by his past-life wife and accurately answered a number of questions she put to him. He was even able to point to a cupboard in which he had kept his arms.  He further recalled giving his brother a somewhat rare kind of handgun before his death in the prior life and of building a wooden ladder, which still existed on his visit there.  He was shown a photo of three men from the prior life and identified each one by name. It was determined that he was killed in 1982 at age 57 when serving as a bodyguard for a spiritual leader.  In all, Nazih made 25 statements fitting the person he believed himself to be in the prior lifetime and only one statement that did not fit.

Haraldsson mentions that in a few cases, children spoke of memories from the period after they died and before they were reborn. Some claimed to have engaged in poltergeist activity after they died.  Many have phobias and fears related to their past-life memories.  A large percentage claim to have suffered a violent death.  Birthmarks are found in some cases to seemingly be related to wounds that led to the child’s death in the past life. Most children stop talking about the previous life by the age of six or seven.

Although most of the book is focused on reincarnation, Haraldsson devotes separate chapters to deathbed visions, near-death experiences and mediumship.

Matlock begins the second section with some history on the belief in reincarnation, dating back to Turkish tribal peoples and the Egyptians.  He goes on to note how early Christians, such as Origin and members of the Gnostic sects, believed in pre-existence of the soul and how it was condemned at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 A.D. He provides details of cases from Canada, India, Brazil and the United States.  I found his chapter on xenoglossy (people speaking in foreign tongues though not consciously familiar with the language) especially interesting, as well as the chapter on suicide cases. 

While both Haraldsson and Matlock address the skeptical concerns relating to reincarnation, they do not discuss the “overshadowing” or spirit possession theories that some believe account for it all.  That is, the past-life memories are really the influence of spirit entities – possibly entities from a common group soul who actually lived those past lives – merging with or somehow influencing the child’s aura or energy field during the developmental stages, as the child’s soul occasionally vacates the body to be nurtured in his or her true home.  This school of thought holds that such influences are mistakenly taken to be the child’s past life.

Frederic W. H. Myers, one of the pioneers of psychical research, purportedly communicated through several credible mediums following his death in 1901. One of those mediums was Geraldine Cummins of Ireland, a trance automatist.  Much of what Myers had to say through the hand of Cummins is set forth in The Road to Immortality, first published in 1932.  Among other subjects, Myers discussed the group-soul and reincarnation. 

“While I was on earth, I belonged to a group-soul, but its branches and the spirit – which might be compared to the roots – were in the invisible,” Myers wrote.  “Now, if you would understand psychic evolution, this group-soul must be studied and understood.  For instance, it explains many of the difficulties that people will assure you can be removed only by the doctrine of reincarnation. You may think my statement frivolous, but the fact that we do appear on earth to be paying for the sins of another life is, in a certain sense, true.  It is our life and yet not our life.”

Myers went on to explain that a soul belonging to the group of which he was part lived a previous life and built for him a framework for his own earthly life.  The spirit – the bond of the group soul – manifests, he said, many times on earth.  “We are all of us distinct,” he continued, “though we are influenced by others of our community on the various planes of being.” He further explained that a group soul might contain twenty souls, a hundred souls, or a thousand souls.

“When your Buddhist speaks of the cycle of birth, of man’s continual return to earth, he utters but a half-truth,” Myers went on.  “And often a half-truth is more inaccurate than an entire misstatement.  I shall not live again on earth, but a new soul, one who will join our group, will shortly enter into the pattern of karma I have woven for him on earth.”

Myers likened the soul to a spectator caught within the spell of some drama outside of its actual life, perceiving all the consequences of acts, moods, and thoughts of a kindred soul.  He further pointed out that there are an infinite variety of conditions in the invisible world and that he made no claim to being infallible. He called it a “general rule” based on what he had learned and experienced on the Other Side.

I much prefer to believe Myers’s version, but it is difficult to discount the more orthodox reincarnation belief when considering the birthmark evidence uncovered by Stevenson, Haraldsson and Matlock. One way or the other, survival is indicated and I’m inclined to believe that the truth of it all is somewhere in between the two schools of thought and for the most part beyond human comprehension, at least beyond mine. 

Michael Tymn is the author of The Afterlife Revealed: What Happens After We Die, Resurrecting Leonora Piper: How Science Discovered the Afterlife, and Dead Men Talking: Afterlife Communication from World War I.

Very good review Michael. As a member of the Signs of Reincarnation group (Jim Matlock Facebook group) I share your thoughts on the apparent automatic return. But, like you it appeals to my intellect but not my heart. I prefer it over oblivion or the Christian angry god but not over the Summer lands or the unique afterlife and reunion with my group soul. Either way it gives food for thought. Well done.

Michael Tymn: I value your opinion. Have you read Reincarnation Refuted by Stephen Blake M.Sc., if so, what do you think?

Thanks.

I think of reincarnation as an exchange of our external form of expression//body. For instance, as we kick-the-bucket/die/expire in this plane, we immediately find ourselves dressed in a new form/body/invólucro (vibrating at a different speed; perfected or flawed depending on the individual’s character.) A good example of this can be found in the book Franchezzo. Spirits in the low lands, he helped, suffered the death process and is redressed/reincarnated in a new body in order to leave that low degraded region. Franchezzo himself goes through the same process as he is ready for a higher realm. The Individual Intelligence’s vehicle of expression endures only for a while and has to be replaced. And by the way, that is, probably the reason for this thing we call death: it is the redressing/re-incarnating process that probably will happen over and over again, every time we are ready to move from one level of progress/regress to the other. So death is a continuous process for ever and ever but not as dramatic as we see it. As we fully understand death, we will embrace it as a necessary process. This of course has nothing to do with returning to the earth plane as a baby.

Behold I say unto you, my friends, we shall not return, regardless if thou desirest   it or not! Ha ha ha!

Carlos,

I hope you are right, because I don’t want to do it all over again.  As I have often said, I don’t think reincarnation plays out in the way people who believe in it think it does.

I don’t think the Individual Intelligence is born on this plane of existence to learn and or to evolve. The Individual Intelligence, be it human, animal or plant, needs a form to express itself. This mortal plane is a breading ground per say. The form of expression you get here is like a matrix; in it, contains the code for all the forms you will need hereafter. If you live here one minute or one hundred years, it doesn’t matter.

There is no such thing as reincarnation.

Yes James, I think you have said enough too.  To each his own; to each his own. - AOD

I have already explained how discarnate spirit entities are able to impress themselves in various ways including language unknown to the incarnate subject. Scars and birthmarks etc can also be impressed. There is plenty of evidence written up about it.  With respect may I suggest you do some more research on this Amos and discover more about the power of spirit and mind. None of it qualifies for proving reincarnation or past lives.

There is no scientific proof for reincarnation or past lives. Prof. Ian Stevenson was only able to present suggested cases which he admitted. There is not a single proven case but If you have or know of one please let us know.
If you are happy with the idea of repeated incarnations back to the physical world, with the expectations of spiritually progressing being the outcome, so be it. You have the right to your choice and opinion. Rather like gambling with throwing the dice again or give the wheel another spin. It can become an addiction. Gambling is a mug’s game and look where they all finish up?  But if that is your choice and opinion you have every right to it and be responsible for the consequences. However, if you wish hard enough to return repeatedly to ‘the prison of flesh’ no doubt your wish will be granted by the powers that be, but in a kind of ‘virtual’ reality, as the mind is that powerful .We cannot literally reincarnate explained Tim Gray in ‘The Risen’. Tim speaks from the other side explaining that the spirit becomes a newer form of body that is appropriate to the higher vibration. It cannot return to earth to be reborn once again because its new and higher state of vibration would no longer be appropriate there. Upon transition one is no longer spiritually human because of the higher vibration and so cannot return to being earthly human in the equivalent way.

As for the ‘Soul Survivor’ case, I researched this in depth and was in correspondence with the co author of the book, Bruce Leininger, father of his son James,  and I quote what he said to me:
“We have never thought of James Leininger as James Huston and the Huston family does not either ...... Reincarnation is a term that does not really describe what we have witnessed. Our book does not ascribe to it nor advocate it. The terminology in the title was used to provide some clarity on the genre of the story”.
Amos, that was not a case of reincarnation or past life evidence as you would like to believe (ref my article). I think enough said.

If overshadowing spirits are able to “impress scars and other birthmarks on them to give the appearance that they were once that other spirit in a former life” then those spirits must have overshadowed the person prior to birth as a developing fetus as there are examples of people who were born with scars or other deformities at birth.  (I guess that is why they are called ‘birth marks’.) The examples I am thinking about include the one where the fingers of the left hand were deformed or partly missing in a child who ‘remembered’ being in a prior existence in which he had his fingers cut off in a machine accident.  Another one was a child who was born with an extensive scar on the back of his head and who recalled a past life where the injury was incurred.  Of course these children may just be confabulating a past life to match their birth mark and by some mechanism—-ESP of Super-PSI—-were able to hone in on an actual deceased person who reportedly had suffered an identical injury. - AOD

I don’t think reincarnation and overshadowing, (obsessing, possession) are mutually exclusive.  If there is interaction between spiritual entities I see no reason why an entity that has been incarnated many times could not be overshadowed by some other entity during a current lifetime.  Perhaps it might be even more likely that there would be some residual relationships from past lives and that entities in those relationships, especially if they were of a lower order, might want to continue to influence, harass, or destroy, a spirit with whom they had a strong relationship, a particular grudge or some unfinished business. Past life expressions for the most part don’t seem to present the negative or hurtful influence that an overshadowing or possessing spirit might provide.
For me part of being reincarnated is the opportunity to have a better life, to learn new things, experience life in new places with differing cultures and with different people.  It is another opportunity to develop spiritually. There are no guarantees however that another life would be without pain.  It’s the price one has to pay for enlightenment.  I look forward to a change in venue. I don’t understand how being reincarnated would prevent spiritual progress any more than being incarnated once.

I don’t think that there is a “sadistic God” involved in the process of reincarnation nor to I consider myself to be a masochist.  “Sadistic” and “masochist” are pretty strong words to throw around when talking about a loving god and spiritual enlightenment.
I am not familiar with the evidence that supports overshadowing or obsession, or possession as an alternative explanation for seemingly past life expressions.  Ian Stevenson provided evidence ‘suggestive’ of reincarnation.  He provided a lot of evidence but apparently felt that it was not the kind that definitively proved reincarnation or maybe he was just reluctant to put his career on the line of fire.  I am aware that Stevenson did not think that hypnotic past life regression was as good as spontaneous past life stories, especially those from children under 5 years old.  Having taken a class in hypnotism a couple of years ago and becoming a ‘Hypnotist’, I also don’t think that hypnotic regressions are trustworthy.
 
I do think that the Leininger case is a good example of past lives. I will have to look up your article and book about this case.  No need to be sorry that you don’t agree with me. - AOD

Mike
I would like to respond further and comment , if I may, on the following recent posts to your excellent article.

Firstly to Bonnie, thanks for agreeing my book recommendations and for the added information provided, plus the Madame Blavatsky quote from the Dr Carl Wickland books.  There is no doubt that Dr Wickland and his wife Anna, a fine medium, did tremendous work and service in releasing obsessing discarnate spirit entities from ‘patients’ who were being kept in Institutions mistakenly,  through a complete lack and ignorance of medical and spiritual knowledge surrounding these conditions. The more recent “Soul Survivor” case involving the Leininger family and the obsession and overshadowing of the child James Leininger by the fighter pilot James Huston, is a prime example (ref my article about the book and the case and why it was not proof or evidence of reincarnation).

Yes Amos, Stephen Blake did dedicate his book ‘Reincarnation Refuted’ to me as he was particularly impressed with my research and my book ‘The Case Against Reincarnation’. I accepted the honour gratefully and humbly -  it was quite unexpected.

Paul and Amos, regarding the influence of multiple entities overshadowing, there is certainly plenty of good evidence for this (again ref Dr Wickland).  Each one of us incarnates, is a ‘self’ as spirit and is in constant mingling and interconnecting with any number of spirit beings either incarnate or discarnate.  In the etheric world we are attracted to those of like-mind.

Prof. Ian Stevenson warned of the dangers of ‘past life hypno-regression’ practiced by some therapists who were not qualified in certain areas of understanding. Stevenson was very much against it. The subject is put into a hypnotic trance state and in the regression is experiencing mediumship. A qualified medium would take the necessary precautions of protection but in many other cases where a subject offers themselves to the ‘therapist’ they can be’ opened up’ to easily attract spirit entities of any kind to overshadow or obsess or worse,  possess with their projected former life on earth and other material of the mind transferred to make it seem that the subject is actually
‘seeing’ and interpreting one of their own past lives on earth. They will even speak in a foreign language, that of the discarnate spirit entity overshadowing known as Xenoglossy.

Just read your latest post Amos. We don’t know the purpose, if there is one, for incarnating on the earth plane even once. But it would have to be a sadistic God to allow or encourage reincarnation to do it all over again and again and again…. preventing spiritual progress. Reincarnationists who approve the idea have to be masochists! Sorry Amos I totally disagree with your ‘logic’

Well, I have to say that if there is no reincarnation then I think that God or whatever is very cruel to generate spiritual beings and incarnate them in bodies that are deficient in some way and in situations filled with hurt, abuse and neglect where there is no chance for learning, spiritual development or appreciation of the meaningful and beautiful things of life.  What is the purpose of a spirit suffering and dying in infancy if there is no other opportunity to experience another try at life?  Why go to that effort?

To suffer severe autism or mental retardation, to be blind and deaf at birth, to suffer all kinds of birth defects such as being born without a head, arms or legs, to suffer starvation and deprivations of all sorts, to have a life cut short at its most productive stage because some crazed murderer was unhappy; what kind of God would allow those things with no opportunity for recompense?  Even a mere human would think it appropriate to give a wounded soul another chance.  If humans can be that loving, is not God at least as loving of his creatures.

One hears that on all planes of existence there are opportunities for learning, growth and spiritual advancement.  Why should a spiritual experience in a body on the earth plane be denied those opportunities?

Without reincarnation why perpetuate spiritual experience in a physical body with all of its challenges?  It seems to me that it would be better if everyone on earth were sterilized at birth and just put an end to the human physical experience on the earth plane altogether.

I think that reincarnation is what provides meaning in life.  For me it’s what makes the idea of spirit survival seem possible.  It’s the thread that knits everything together.  - AOD

@AOD - if Wickland was correct there could indeed be any number of entities overshadowing or influencing a person. Certainly more than one or two if my memory serves correctly.

Memories of multiple past lives maybe evidence of reincarnation, imaginary, overshadowing or perhaps any combination “Thirty Years Among The Dead” is a fascinating read.

James Webster,
I see in Stephen Blake’s ‘Reincarnation Refuted’ he dedicated the book to a “James Webster”. Is that you? - AOD

Those are excellent book recommendations, James. Wickland’s “The Gateway of Unerstanding” is less widely available than his “30 Years Among the Dead,” but used copies can be found online and it has also been reprinted in photocopy format. In “Gateway,” several notable spirits are “interviewed,” among them Madame Blavatsky -who actually apologizes for promoting the belief in reincarnation, which (after her death) she came to realize was a fallacy.

Question:  How does overshadowing work with those who report multiple past lives?  Is it more than one spirit who ‘overshadows’ or is the spirit who overshadows just playing a game pretending to be multiple personalities?  Enquiring minds want to know. - AOD

Mike
In a previous post I pointed out your mention of “overshadowing” and the importance of this phenomenon as I understand it with regard to suggested reincarnation and past lives.  Since then several other posters have shown this same measure of importance and what Paul stated was well in line IMO.
The teacher Abu (The Abu Trust) spoke and explained profoundly of the earth plane being the plane of individualisation - the crystalisation of spirit. The CDs are well worth listening to.
From many years of involved study it has become most clear and evidential that almost all cases of reincarnation are explainable through the influence of discarnate spirit entities who are able to influence their subjects with overshadowing, obsession and sometimes possession. These are mistaken for reincarnation events and suggested past lives of the subject and rarely seem to be understood by many what the real cause is.  They are the lives and experiences of the discarnate spirit “interfering” with the subject who in fact is operating unconsciously as a medium does in trance or semi trance conditions when they see or hear clairvoyantly or clairauiently . It is the same experience but translated differently.
The power of spirit discarnates can impose themselves on those incarnate in the physical and can even impress scars and other birthmarks on them to give the appearance that they were once that other spirit in a former life. All an illusion and millions fall for the deception as they do in the hands of a qualified stage magician/illusionist.
There is the warning and danger of some spirit entities who still hold to ego and self pride and pretend to be on high levels and more knowledgeable than they truly are. They will speak of reincarnation being a fact and presented as so from these “advanced levels(?)” - ref ‘The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts’ by Joe Fisher, a most important read proving just how easily we can be fooled!
Ref ‘The Risen’ by August Goforth and Timothy Gray, chapter 25 ‘The Pastime of Reincarnation, is a gem -  Tim Gray describes his experiences on the other side and how so many are totally taken in by the illusion and unreality of reincarnation as is normally accepted and “experienced” in the teaching of the doctrine.  It has to be explained to them as Tim admits that he had to find out for himself when he went over with mistaken ideas and beliefs he had been hanging onto when on earth.
Amongst other essential reads are Dr Carl Wickland ‘Thirty Years Among The Dead’ and ‘The Gateway of Understanding’ and a recent book by Stephen Blake M.Sc.(Lond)  ‘Reincarnation Refuted’ a classic work of academic research by a scientist who accepts the afterlife and spirituality.
Thanks Michael for opening up some fine debate on a very controversial and misunderstood subject.

Amos and Paul,

Yes, I like the way Silver Birch put it: “There is reincarnation, but not in the sense in which it is generally expounded.”

Hi Michael

Well that’s a good point regarding purpose. Unless of course it is necessary to individualise in some way, no matter how brief the experience?

I like the philosophy of Silver Birch - it always seems so sensible to me. His view appears to have been that most do not reincarnate, though there is reincarnation for a specific purpose. Maurice Barbanel was, I am told, vehemently against reincarnation which is curious I think. I am not saying it’s right - who knows, even opinion on the other side seems divided doesn’t it?

I think there might be another thing to consider when thinking about reincarnation, especially when thinking about birthmarks being somehow related to a past life injury. Rupert Sheldrake has proposed an interesting idea for which he uses the terms ‘morphic resonance’ and ‘morphogenetic fields’.

http://www.sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance/introduction 

While I don’t pretend to understand everything that Sheldrake proposes, (I haven’t spent a lot of time studying it!) his ideas resonate with me somehow as it seems unlikely that genetics alone can account for plant and animal form.  Genes prescribe the formation of amino acids and subsequently proteins but just what is it that directs those proteins to link together to form a structure of some kind.  What causes cells to stop dividing when some boundary is reached.  Why do cells form a heart rather than a liver or why don’t cells just proliferate into some globby mass?  Why do bodies have limits?

If a spirit of a past life had a residuum morphic field from that life, perhaps somehow that old morphic field influences the development of the fetus into which the reincarnating soul is to inhabit.  Just a thought! - AOD

Paul,

I hope you are right. The argument against the birthmark evidence can be made one way or the other, whether by orthodox reincarnation or overshadowing, so I don’t see that as decisive. The other argument in favor of orthodox reincarnation is that it doesn’t make much sense that some would incarnate only one time and then die in infancy or at a young age.  If they are able to continue their spiritual evolution on the Other Side, then the argument is why does anyone have to incarnate in the earth realm.  It supposedly hastens the process of spiritual evolution, but why wouldn’t the soul who dies in infancy want that option? So much of it is beyond our comprehension.

Thanks for replying Michael,

I take your point regarding physical marks but it occurs to me that it appears to be possible for obsessing entities to induce physical effects e.g. Possession. If that’s true, then I think it may weaken the reincarnation argument. Also, if it isn’t induced, i can’t think how such physical markings could be transferred. There does not often appear to be a familial and therefore genetic link between people who claim to be reincarnated and their families, as far as I have read anyway. In addition, the markings are often of injuries which I don’t think could transferred genetically.

Thanks to all for the comments.  To answer Paul, I think they can be explained by overshadowing, execept, as I mentioned, it is difficult to see how the birthmark evidence comes about through overshadowing. I am content, as Amos is, to believe there is something to reincarnation but it is beyond human comprehension.

When William Stainton Moses, one of the most credible mediums of the late nineteenth century asked Imperator, the name adopted by an apparently advanced spirit, about reincarnation, he was told that only the most advanced intelligences are able to discourse on that subject and that it is not given to the lower ranks of the spiritual hierarchy to know.  “There are still mysteries, we are fain to confess, into which it is not well that man should penetrate,” Imperator cautioned.  “One of such mysteries is the ultimate development and destiny of spirits.  Whether in the eternal counsels of the Supreme it may be deemed well that a particular spirit should or should not be again incarnated in a material form is a question than none can answer, for none can know, not even the spirit’s own guides.  What is wise and well will be done…There are other aspects of the question which, in the exercise of our discretion, we withhold; the time is not yet come for them.  Spirits cannot be expected to know all abstruse mysteries, and those who profess to do so give the best proof of their falsity.”

Imperator, who claimed to be on the seventh sphere, said that it was necessary for him to relay messages to Moses through spirits on lower spheres because of the difference in vibration.

Another possible explanation is one of definition or semantics. “You will find that the higher the ascent in the spiritual scale, the more recognition is there that there is reincarnation,” Silver Birch, another apparently advanced spirit communicated through the trance mediumship of Maurice Barbanell, “but not in the facile form that is so often propounded.”

Silver Birch explained that the individual personality on earth is a small part of the individuality to which he or she belongs.  He likened it to a diamond with its many facets, pointing out that the personality on earth is but one facet of the diamond. “what you express on earth is but an infinitesimal fraction of the individuality to which you belong.  Thus there are what you call ‘group souls,’ a single unity with facets which have spiritual relationships that incarnate at different times, at different places, for the purpose of equipping the larger soul for its work.”

Hi Michael
I share your view about the desirability of reincarnation. Opinions from purported denizens of the next world seem to me divided on whether reincarnation occurs and if it does, then also about the how and why. I haven’t seen many examples where it couldn’t equally well be explained by overshadowing of some sort a la Carl Wickland - what do you think?

Mike great article!  I’ve had a past life recall under the tuelage of WOW his name just escaped me but he was English and wrote a wonderful book on it years ago.  I saw myself as a man who was coming home to his wife.  I loved her very much and couldn’t wait to see her.  I felt I was in England I was on a horse and as I came up to the house she opened the door and I could see her and the fire beyond her inside.  I held her close and had this thought as the female that I am “No wonder men like to hug us.  We’re so soft.”  That how I felt in hugging “her.”  I won’t bore anyone with all the details but I died first and I hovered over her waiting for her for what seems years when she finally joined me.  It gave me a greater appreciation for men in my life and for my male clients!  Thanks for your article - I too love relying on you for such honest information.  Blessings Karen Oh his name was Roger Woolger - his book was wonderful!

Mike,
From the myriad of spirits that have communicated through trustworthy mediums, no matter how long the spirit may be in the spirit world after physical death of the body, the spirit eventually gets to a point when it feels the urgent need to reincarnate again in order to learn, to make amends, assist those whom they love, and/or in order to carry out missions, small or large.
In spirit, we think about things differently than when incarnated, especially after having reviewed our behavior in past lives.
 
The Divine Law of Progress is innate within each soul…
It is the purpose for which we were created, to strive ever towards near perfection by free will and our own efforts, and this has been reiterated by many wise spirit teachers, via many mediums at different periods of time, and in different places down through the ages said in various ways
according teach the people of those times.
Reincarnated on a special mission to be our supreme model and guide on Earth - Jesus.
Humbly and Sincerely,
Yvonne Limoges

Interesting, isn’t it?, that regardless of how much we think we know, we each cannot avoid the illusion that there is a real physical world “out there”: that we have a real physical body that exists in a real physical world that is interacting with other real physical beings, human and otherwise. This illusion has been repeatedly exposed. We know it as such. But we unavoidably always revert back into it. Until something happens and the experience we are having of a physical world ceases to exist and we find our self experiencing another reality. In this alternate reality we may experience a life review in which we relive (or could apparently relive) every thought and experience we just had but are no longer having. But the perspective is not fixed. We can, according to various accounts, experience an event or have thoughts from the perspective of another individual, as if we were temporarily, for our enlightenment, reviewing a portion of their life and not our own.

More and more it appears that we are each a conscious individuality having experiences, in this instance of a material world, but also with the possibility of experiencing other realities. Generally we want to think that we retain our individual identity and as such can move from one reality to another, but this may not necessarily be the case, as with when there is the experience of another life and we are another personality. This is not limited to the experiencing of past lives but can also be observed in individuals with multiple personalities or when a person “forgets” who he or she is for an extended period of time and starts living another conscious life, only later to “wake up” and remember the previous life (dissociative fugue).

I personally doubt that any one of us really knows what is going on: how it is that we are having the particular conscious experience we are having, what determines the shift from one conscious experience to another involving the same personality or the shift to another personality having its own experiences. What is the source, if any, of our experiences? Are they static or dynamic: can we modify them, or are we just living out an already existing script? Is there a purpose to the experiences we are each having, or appear to be having?

As I recall, in the Teacher’s Manual of A Course in Miracles, where it discusses reincarnation, it states that reincarnation is not what it appears to be. This is probably an understatement.

Tom

As always, Mike, a marvelous and fascinating article on a topic which I’ve studied and written on for decades.  Thank you!

Michael, I share your misgivings about reincarnation. I wouldn’t want to be a baby, child or adolescent again for anything. Myers does state that most people experience between 4 and 8 earth lives before they figure out that they don’t need to do it all again in this plane - which would embrace the orthodox accounts of Stephenson, et al., without its fatalism. I’ll stick with Myers, if only to get me through the remaining years of this life.

Dear Mike,
I’m of the “both/and” rather than the “either/or” school of thought, as discussed by Phoebe Bendit. And the both/and includes more possibilities, as our bandwidths of perception keep on expanding.
Best wishes,
Jane Katra

Very nice review, Mike.

You presented a balance of what the two authors had to say, quoted Meyers on reincarnation and then expressed your own point of view which I share insofar as not wanting to do battle again in another reincarnation but am expecting to choose a tortured rebirth in order to teach a new set of parents a lesson.

Don’t know why you omitted Jim B.Tucker’s fine introduction. Do you recall his brilliant chapter in his latest book which laid out the Quantum Mechanics case for consciousness preceding matter meaniing in part the mind precedes the brain?

Once again, nice work.

Read your blog with interest and so glad you have become bored with the pro reincarnation popularity which is indeed wearing thin! Someone said it ranked mostly as ‘fake news’  confusing and misinformed.  I feel inclined to agree with them!
Your Para 9 mentioning “overshadowing” really holds the key and stood out in the whole article.
This is where the modus operandi lies and ties up perfectly with the work of Dr Carl Wickland and his wife Anna, a fine medium, who did such wonderful service releasing people from possession and obsession states and disproving so called “past lives” and suggested reincarnation. Ref his books ‘Thirty Years Among the Dead’  and ‘The Gateway of Understanding’.
May I remind you of my book getting great feed-back and reviews ‘The Case Against Reincarnation’.
Also a couple of my articles ‘Reincarnation and Survival’ and ‘Soul Survivor - the case and the book’
which I would be pleased to send to anyone if they request with an email to me .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

You can rest assured Mike, you will not be returning again to this earth plane.
Look forward to meeting up on the other side!

James Webster

Michael, my early experience with the idea of reincarnation was similar to yours.  As a teenager I read Morey Bernstein’s ‘The Search for Bridey Murphy’ and the skeptical criticisms it generated, and went on to read Brian Weiss, Ian Stephenson and others.  Stephenson did not value past life reports obtained through hypnotism e.g. Bridey Murphy, as much as he valued spontaneous reports from very young children which he preferentially documented in his books.

I too have changed somewhat regarding my desire to be reincarnated.  Most certainly it would be desirable if I could have my ‘fantasy life’ but upon reflection I have come to realize that that is not likely and that the most important thing about being reincarnated is not necessarily who I will be but who my parents would be.  I think I could bear most adversities if I had loving, intelligent, caring parents but when I think of the way people are now, the chances of having ‘perfect’ parents seems to me to be very slim.  So I hope when choosing another life I pay attention to the family into which I will be born and if possible, to look at it into the future rather than looking in at a current moment which may be misleading in the long run.  As an example, when I look at photographs of my parents during their courting days, before I was born, they appeared to be very happy and a perfect choice for parents which appealed to me but after they married and I came along, it turned out that they were not as happy as I supposed and I realized that there were other perhaps more important things to look for in prospective parents.

Perhaps we have a tendency to think that Myers’ understanding of a ‘group soul’  is accurate simply because he has passed into another sphere of existence but I don’t think that the spirit newly released from physical existence necessarily knows more about such things than we do from our physical perspective.  I like the idea of ‘group soul’ but I don’t think it is such as many or most people imagine.  I think that the ‘group soul’ is what we really are when stript of all of our incarnations and that the so-called ‘group’ is just an accumulation of personas we have lived, like clothes hanging in a closet , each distinct but without consciousness.  Consciousness lies in the oversoul which can experience physical reality as various personas. It may be that it is all a great game, a stage play in which the oversoul has fun living and experiencing life at its fullest in various incarnations.  ‘Group soul’ is difficult to explain but perhaps the idea of a group soul has been best described by some as a diamond with many facets each representing an incarnation but it is the diamond that is the true conscious soul entity.
I agree with you that in the most part all of this is really beyond my comprehension. - AOD

A very thoughtful summary of the evidence and key issues in the reincarnation debate. Well done.

Wonderful article Mike, bringing out the highs and lows of having to repeat earthly experience. Many of us in or near our ninth decade probably share some of these hopes and misgivings.