Overviews & General Topics

Ideas about rebirth and evidence suggestive of past-life memory have generated a wide and varied literature. This Reincarnation subcategory offers general treatments of reincarnation research and belief, introducing readers to major concepts, historical background, central debates and broad patterns before more specialised case types and issues are considered.

American Children with Past-Life Memories

List of cases of children’s past-life memories from the Americas, with descriptions.

Painting - A Dream of a Girl Before a Sunrise (1833) by Karl Bryullov

Announcing and Departure Dreams

In dreams of these types, spirits of the deceased appear to let the dreamer know they plan to reincarnate.

photograph of Bobby Jones, the 1920s golf star whose life was remembered by a two-year-old American boy

Behavioural Memories in Reincarnation Cases

Reincarnation cases include not only past life memories but behaviours consistent with these memories.

photograph of birthmark in the waist region

Birthmarks in Reincarnation Cases

Birthmarks and birth defects in reincarnation cases correspond to injuries that caused deaths in the previous lives.

Brazilian Children with Past-Life Memories

List of cases of children’s past-life memories reported from Brazil, some relating to past lives in Europe.

Children with Past-Life Memories (overview)

List of articles in the Psi Encyclopedia with summaries of cases studied by Ian Stevenson.

Ma Par, a Burmese girl born shortly after the end of World War II, had fair skin and blonde hair and recalled the life of a British pilot who died in Burma

Choice in Reincarnation

A variety of factors in reincarnation cases suggest that many aspects of the new life are chosen by the individual.

Criticisms of Reincarnation Case Studies

This article addresses objections critics have raised to the reincarnation case research of Ian Stevenson and others.

Angela Grubbs, a lawyer living in Atlanta, experienced intense dreams and visions of a young woman whose life and circumstances she was able to verify.

Dreams and Past-Life Memory

Apparent past-life memories may surface in the dreams of both children and adults, but rarely are they detailed enough to be verified.

Christina, aged 3, remembered a life in Arnhem as Hendrika (Henny) Brugman that ended in 1973 when she was suffocated in a tragic house fire, aged nine.

Dutch Children with Past-Life Memories

List of 31 cases of Dutch children who spoke of previous lives, investigated by Titus Rivas and his team.

European Children with Past-Life Memories

European children speak of past lives less often than Asian children do, yet the cases are very similar.

Experimental Birthmarks and Birth Defects

The practice of marking cadavers in hope of stimulating birthmarks has been reported throughout East Asia.

Famous Past Life (FPL) Claims

Claims to remember having been famous people must be regarded with caution, yet they have been supported in a few cases.

The claim of a British man to have identified a former past life as a person who died in the sinking of the Titanic is considered unlikely by reincarnation researchers. Image: "Untergang der Titanic" by Willy Stöwer, 1912.

Fraud and Self-Deception in Reincarnation Cases

Reincarnation cases considered by researchers to be spurious, based on fantasy or fraud.

photograph of a pot of coins discovered buried in the ground

Hidden Treasure Reincarnation Cases

Some children recall having hidden money or other valuables in their previous lives and show where these may be found.

Interethnic and Intercultural Reincarnation Cases

Strong behavioual carryovers often accompany cases of these kinds.

photograph of Russian-born socialite Zina Rachevsky

International Reincarnation Cases

Cases that have been studied suggest that reincarnating internationally may require intention to do so.

Takeharu, aged four, made statements suggesting he remembered the life of a crew member of the Yamato, a Japanese battleship sunk by the American navy in 1945.

Japanese Children with Past-Life Memories

Japanese cases of children with past-life memories closely resemble those reported from other parts of the world.

Native American Children with Past-Life Memories

Collection of cases of the reincarnation type among Tlingit and other native North American cultures.

painting of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (1618-1707)

Past-Life Memories from Before 1900

Accounts of past-life memory documented in historical sources share many features with cases studied more recently.

child's drawing of a World War 1 biplane

Past-Life Memories Illustrated

Many children who talk about past lives also express their memories in art as a way of dealing with remembered traumas.

Past-Life Memories of the Holocaust

Memories of Nazi concentration camps are largely uninvestigated accounts sans past-life identifications.

photograph of Mary Sutton with her infant son, a life recalled by Jenny Cockell

Past-Life Memories Research with Adults

Reincarnation research has focussed on young children, but adults also may report having past-life memories.

Past-Life Memories Research with Children

Research has concentrated on claims to recall past lives spontaneously, without the aid of hypnosis.

Third-century Christian philosopher Tertullian, a reincarnation sceptic

Past-Life Memory and Amnesia

If we have lived before, why we remember it? And why do many children with past-life memories forget them as they age?

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, where a collection of 2500 past life memory cases is held

Patterns in Reincarnation Cases

Universal, near-universal and culture-linked patterns can be discerned in the dataset of reincarnation cases.

People Who Knew Each Other in Past Lives

Investigators have found several pairs of people who remember knowing each other in earlier lives.

Physical Signs in Reincarnation Cases

Physical signs of reincarnation include facial structure, eye form, skin colour, physique, and other features.

Planned Reincarnations

Planned reincarnation suggests that next-life circumstances can be chosen not just between lives but prior to death.

Visiting Sri Lankan children and their families

Psychological Studies of Children Claiming Past-Life Memories

Children with past-life memories may have advantages over those who don't.

Early reincarnation beliefs in the West are associated with the Greek philosopher Pythagoras in the sixth century BCE

Reincarnation: An Introduction

This introductory article covers beliefs in reincarnation, evidence for reincarnation, and sceptical views of the research.

Sanskrit verses from the Chandogya Upanishad (c 600 BCE), which contains the first recorded mention of karma

Reincarnation and Karma

Extensive case investigations have found no support for traditional ideas of karma in connection with reincarnation.

picture of snake, often the subject of phobias

Reincarnation and Phobias

Spontaneous past-life memories in children are often accompanied by phobias that correspond with remembered traumas.

Reincarnation and Suicide

Unexpectedly, cases of reincarnation after suicide have unusually short intermissions and returns in family lines or among friends.

The early Christian philosopher Tertullian of Carthage (160-222) is the first person known to have mentioned the population problem.

Reincarnation and the Population Problem

The idea that increases in population are a problem has been addressed in various ways.

Toran 'Titu' Singh, a villager in Uttar Pradesh in northern India, recalled details of people and events concerning the life of a murdered petty criminal in a neighbouring town.

Reincarnation Cases with Intermissions of Less Than Nine Months

These cases raise questions about when reincarnation occurs.

Reincarnation Cases with Records Made Before Verifications

There are still fewer than three dozen published examples of these important cases.

girl-boy-drawn-on-chalkboard-450w-134181038

Reincarnation Cases with Sex Change

Memories of a life as a member of the opposite sex are often accompanied by cross-sex behaviour.

Purnima Ekanayake recalled a past life, and incidents that occurred in the period after it ended and before she was reborn

Reincarnation Intermission Memories

Memories of the intermission show clear signs of cultural influence, but there are also cross-cultural consistencies.

photograph of Tenzin Sherab Tulku as a child

Reincarnation of Tibetan Lamas in the West

Tibetan lamas reincarnate as Westerners with the intention of spreading Buddhist teachings to other countries.

Reincarnation Research with Twins

Investigations have shown that twins in reincarnation cases typically knew each other in earlier lives.

Replacement Reincarnation

In replacement reincarnation, a person remembers the life of someone who died after he or she was born.

The African Cycle of Life – Birth, Life, Death and Rebirth (source: Swali Africa)

Signs of Reincarnation in Africa

Reincarnation beliefs in Africa are associated with signs such as a parent’s dreams and a child’s birthmarks.

Fourteen-month-old Osel correctly selects the bell that belonged to a recently deceased monk, Lama Yeshe, helping to confirm his reincarnation

Testing Children’s Past-Life Knowledge

Children who remember past lives are often set tests to try to establish the truth of their claims.

photograph of Ian Stevenson, pioneer of reincarnation research

Xenoglossy in Reincarnation Cases

In reincarnation cases, xenoglossy involves the use of language spoken in a past life but not learned in the present.