Reincarnation – a case study (1)
By Marcus Lowth
Most of us are familiar with the concept of reincarnation. In fact, a great many truly believe, with others sincerely hoping, that such a concept is very much a reality of human existence. For if it were, not only would it mean that something else awaits us after death, but that for all intents and purposes, each of us is truly immortal.
But what is reincarnation? Is it real? Is it inevitable? Or might reincarnation itself simply be another plateau to experience before the “soul” goes on to its next state of existence? Indeed, might reincarnation prove that life itself for each of us is a perpetual journey to be appreciated and mastered from different perspectives and forms of existence?
While many people dismiss such notions, safe in their equally dogmatic and rigid approach to life, the fact is that throughout history right up until the modern age, examples of past lives and reincarnation are everywhere. And what’s more, they come from all walks of life.
From an investigative and scientific position, if reincarnation was a proven part of human life, not only would we have to ask what the purpose to our existence might actually be, but what does it mean for our perspective of life itself? What does “life” mean? What is life? Human life? And do we live again, and again, and again?
Before we move on and explore this fascinating concept a little further, check out the short video below. It goes over the basics of reincarnation.
Reincarnation – A Constant Companion of the Collective Human Existence
Although we won’t have an in-depth discussion of the history of the concept of past lives, or of the many religions and their differing views on reincarnation here, it is safe to say the concept and belief in life after death goes back to our collective beginnings and has permeated the many religions, belief systems, and our collective existence since.
While some religions embraced the concept of reincarnation, others saw it is heretical. During the brutal years of The Inquisition, for example, many people who openly preached a belief in such a notion would be burned alive at the stake.
Indeed, it would appear that acceptance and interest, of at least the possibility of reincarnation in “the west” took place, at least publicly, after the period of enlightenment made it safe to entertain such notions in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During this time, many scholars, philosophers, and simply wealthy travelers of their day gained insight to many of the ancient eastern texts. Particularly, but not exclusively the ancient writings of India and such writings.
What is interesting is that many of the teachings in these ancient texts would appear to have been discreetly known by those in “secret societies” such as the Freemasons, at least from our retrospective view, for centuries. These secret organizations, whose roots went back to the Knights Templar, who in turn, likely gained access to such knowledge during their occupation of Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the twelfth century and their seemingly regular interaction with many eastern scholars of the time.
In short, though, whatever the truth of reincarnation and whatever the stance of the authorities of the respective times might have been, it is a concept that has lingered alongside the human race since time, for us, began. Why is that?
Accurate Descriptions Of Past Lives “Deserve Serious Consideration!”
Even today, in the modern age, where science vows it will provide an answer for everything (as well it one day might) there are many who believe the concept of past and future lives to be true. And what’s more, there are a plethora of claims to examine of those who believe they can remember their life before the one they are living now.
Carl Sagan would state he believed the issue of past lives should be one taken more seriously. He would offer before his death that: “…young children sometimes report details of a previous life, which upon checking turn out to be accurate and which they could not have known about in any other way than reincarnation!”
Indeed, the majority of those making such claims, at least without the aid of hypnotic regression, are young children.
Jim Tucker is one of the leading researchers on the subject. He would state: “The subjects usually stop making their past-life statements by the age of six or seven, and most (then) seem to lose the purported memories. This is the age when children start school and begin having more experience in the current life, as well as when they tend to lose their early childhood memories!”
There is likely, if we accept Tucker and Sagan’s claims, very much something to investigate. And several reasons for why these past life memories fade. And perhaps why, in others, they are so strong they push themselves to the surface of this existence.
In fact, Tucker’s research and findings in the paper Children’s Reports of Past-Life Memories, offers some remarkable insight into this truly fascinating phenomena.
Many Past-Life Deaths Are By Unnatural Means!
Tucker would quickly pick up on several details offered by children claiming to be able to recall past lives. He would discover, for example, that there is often a period of less than two years between the death of the individual and the birth of the child who was remembering it. It would often be the case that the two individuals concerned were in the same country or geographical area. Perhaps most intriguing, though, were the discoveries about the past life person’s death. He would write: “The one part of the (past) life that is often out of ordinary is the mode of death, as 70% of these deaths are by unnatural means!”
Although Tucker would offer that cases are most likely to be found where there is a widespread belief in reincarnation, examples exist literally all over the world, with those in countries where the idea of a past life is not as prevalent least likely to report such cases anyway for fear of ridicule, or worse.
Tucker would also draw attention to birthmarks on a person’s body who was making claims of being able to recall a past life. He would state that many children who claimed to remember a past life that ended in an untimely way, often had birthmarks or markings that matched the wound from this past existence. We will examine some of these examples shortly.
In short, while there is no particular emotion or development of emotional responses that correspond to each case, those who claim to be able to remember past lives also often emulate the emotions, fears, and personality of that person, although in most cases this is of little consequence to most family members as they most often have no connection or knowledge of those from the respective past-life cases.
Contemporary Examples and Claims of Reincarnation
While the idea and genuine belief in reincarnation has been with us for centuries, it is only really in our contemporary era that true modern studies have been conducted, recorded, and scientifically theorized as to their authenticity and what it might mean for human life as we know it.
We have mentioned extensively the work of Jim Tucker above, and rightly so. However, there are a multitude of cases to choose from, particularly from the late-twentieth century and the years of the 2000s.
Below are just a handful of examples of (relatively) recent people who claim to be able to remember another life or existence here on Earth before theirs.
The James Linegar Case – Memories from the Second World War
Perhaps one of the most recent claims of reincarnation is those from James Linegar. From the age of just 3-years-old in the early 2000s, James was not only obsessed with fighter planes from the Second World War – despite having had no known exposure to even the notion of such a conflict – his knowledge of them and their inner-workings was well beyond his years.
James could not only draw detailed pictures of a US fighter plane’s drop tank, he could completely break the plane down to the level of an experienced pilot. He would, however, also suffer from terrible nightmares, of which he would also draw detailed pictures. They would always feature a plane in flames and heading towards the ground.
When eventually asked about the strange drawing of his dreams and what they meant, James would state that he was the pilot in the plane. What’s more, he was in an accident as “the Japanese” shot down his plane. When he offered that “his boat” was the HMAS Natoma, his parents began researching. To their amazement, a US Navy boat of the same name was serving against the Japanese in the Second World War.
Even more amazing, though, was when a photograph of the crew members was shown to James, he could name each and every person in the picture correctly. He would also identify himself as US Navy pilot James Houston. Records show that a James Houston had indeed perished during as a result of engagement with enemy fire.
Furthermore, when the family managed to track down members of the unit, James’ description of the circumstances around Houston’s death matched theirs entirely.
You can check out the short video below which looks at this case a little further.
3-Year-Old Boy Recalls Past Life Murder and Located Body
Remembering the findings of Tucker for a moment and the placement of birthmarks indicating a wound in a previous one, we will quickly look at the 3-year-old boy who claimed to not only remember his previous life, but also who his murderer in that life was, and where “his body” was.
In Golan Heights, a region of Syria, the young boy would constantly recall of a past life in which he was murdered. What’s more, he was sure that the murderer had hit him in the head with an ax and then buried him in a shallow grave.
Perhaps understandably, the villagers, including the boy’s parents didn’t believe him, putting it down to the imagination of a young child. However, when he insisted on leading them to a spot he claimed to be the grave of his “other life” they were shocked to indeed discover a rotting corpse. What’s more, the dead body had a distinct wound to the head. An ax was also discovered in the grave.
Even stranger, the young boy had a birthmark on his forehead in the same place and shape as the wound on the corpse. You can check out the video below for a little further information.
Chanai Choomalaiwong – Was Once a Former Teacher Shot To Death!
A very similar story comes from Thailand where 3-year-old, Chanai Choomalaiwong, made similar claims to his family of remembering a past life. He could even recall his former name, Bua Kai, a teacher. What’s more, he was killed when he was shot riding his bike to teach at the school where he lived.
The young Chanai, despite the insistence from his family that there was nothing more than imagination behind his claims, would insist they were true. So much so, that he would force his parents to relent. They would allow his grandmother to travel to the village with Chanai, where he claimed he once lived, and where Bua Kai’s parents still resided.
After arriving at their destination by bus, the young boy would lead his grandmother to a house occupied by an elderly couple. These he recognized as the parents of Bua Kai – which indeed they were. Their son had been dead for eight years.
What is even more remarkable is that Bua Kai was shot from behind. His autopsy reports show he had a small entry wound on the back of his head and a larger exit wound on the front of the forehead. Chanai had two birthmarks, identical in positioning, size, and shape that mirrored the wounds of the former teacher he claimed to once have been.
Luke Ruehlman Remembers His Death in a Chicago Hotel Fire
When 5-year-old Luke Ruehlman repeatedly called objects and toys “Pam”, his mother, Erica finally asked who Pam was. Especially as Luke had also made several matter-of-fact comments that he used to “be a girl”. Furthermore, he “wore the same earrings as mom” and he had “black hair”. The reply he gave would shock and confuse her even more.
He claimed that he “was Pam but I died”. After this he “went up to Heaven” but he was “pushed back down” before claiming: “…and when I woke up, I was a baby. And you named me Luke!”
Shocked but continuing to press her young son, Erica asked where he lived when he was “Pam” and how did Pam die. He would reveal that he once lived in Chicago where Pam “took the train a lot”. He died in a fire which forced him to jump out of a window.
Erica would begin to research off the back of this information. What she discovered would shock and chill her in equal measure. In March 1993, a fire at the Paxton Hotel in Chicago would leave 19 people dead. When she looked at the details of those who died, she discovered Pam Robinson, who had died after jumping from one of the hotel windows attempting to escape the smoke and flames.
Cameron Macauley – Recalls a Former Life in a White House Overlooking the Sea
One of the most fascinating, and to many researchers, credible cases of apparent reincarnation comes from Glasgow in Scotland. In 2009, 2-year-old Cameron Macauley began speaking of “another life” where he lived in a “white house” on the island of Barra.
Furthermore, he had a black and white dog and apparently claimed his father was Shane Robertson. Tragically, he was killed when he was knocked down by a motorist. Perhaps the most overriding of all the claims, and the one repeated the most, was how much he missed his “other” mother. At one point, such was Cameron’s preoccupation with his former home that his family believed it was causing him great distress.
The family would eventually visit the island, taking Cameron with them. He would ultimately lead them straight to a white house on the beach front. What’s more, a family called the Robertsons did indeed live there, as did a black and white dog. Even more bizarre, Cameron knew the layout like the back of his hand, including all of the intricacies that only someone who lived there would know.
Almost everything the young boy claimed matched, aside from the name “Shane”, which may or may not prove to be of importance with further investigation. However, as Cameron grew older he began to remember less and less of his past life to the point where he recalls little if anything of it.
The case is one of the most well-known and researched. The short video below looks at this most fascinating case in more detail.
The Pollock Twins – Reincarnated As Themselves and To the Same Parents!
On 5th May 1957, in Hexham, England, John and Florence Pollok’s entire world was shattered when their daughters Joanna and Jacqueline – 11 and 6 respectively – were killed in a car accident. To say the two parents were distraught was an understatement.
However, a little over a year later, on 4th October 1958, Florence would give birth to the couple’s third and fourth children with twin girls. Named Gillian and Jennifer, it wasn’t long before the two parents made a remarkable, disturbing, yet bizarrely comforting discovery about one of their new twin daughters.
Jennifer had birthmarks on her forehead and waist – exactly in the same position where Jacqueline had scars.
Even more bizarre, as the two girls grew and the family moved to the north of England in Whitley Bay, they began to ask for toys that had once belonged to their deceased sisters. Toys they had never seen and sisters they had never met and or were even aware of. Several years later, when the family decided to move back to Hexham, the two young girls, despite having never seen the town before, knew it as though they had lived there their entire lives.
However, it was the sheer panic which overtook the young twins whenever a car came anywhere close to them that finally convinced the Polloks that their new twin daughters were, in fact, reincarnated versions of Joanna and Jacqueline.
The short video looks at this tragic yet intriguing case in a little more detail.
Semih Tutusmus – A Murder Victim with Memories, Through His Mother, Before His Birth!
Although the exact date is uncertain, a case from the 1950s in Turkey is equally intriguing. Young mother-to-be, Karanfil Tutusmus was several months pregnant when she began experiencing strange and unsettling dreams.
In them, a strange man spoke to her, his face a bloody mess and claiming he was Selim Fesli. The dreams continued, unchanged until she finally gave birth to a baby boy. She would call him Semih.
The dreams would stop following Selim’s birth. And the new mother forgot about them. As soon as the young boy could speak, however, he began to mutter bizarre words and phrases. Eventually, it became clear her son was claiming he was the reincarnation of the man with the bloodied face in the dreams she had when she was pregnant, Selim Fesli. And what’s more, he claimed he was murdered by his neighbor.
Upon investigation to a nearby village which Semih claimed he once lived, the young boy and his mother met a Fesli’s widow. Not only were details of husband’s death correct, but Semih could account for details of their lives that only she and her late husband could have been aware.
However, rather than murder, the neighbor concerned had always maintained the death was a tragic hunting accident. The young boy insisted to the grieving widow that he was shot over an argument. Interestingly, Semih would continue to visit the family for years afterward, as if fulfilling his duties. Whenever he would see the neighbor responsible for his death, he would “throw stones at him” but nothing more.
Read the second part of the article
yogaesoteric
July 1, 2019