It is not more surprising to be born twice than once.
Voltaire
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed; I guess extrapolation is inevitable. I never thought I would write about reincarnation . I strongly resonate with it.
I used to read about Quantum Physics and reincarnation all the time. (e.g., The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory, Brian Greene; The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?, Dick Teresi and Leon Lederman; Many Lives, Many Masters and Through Time Into Healing, Brian L. Weiss, M.D.; Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World’s Great Physicists, Ken Wilber, ed.) It makes sense to me that they would be interconnected. Because "reality" is altered in Quantum Physics, people have a very hard time dealing with it. The idea of an altered reality is shared by reincarnation.
As in that Barbra Streisand film, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970, Vincente Minnelli, dir. Plot summary: A “doctor finds out that she can regress into past lives and different personalities”), I believe we could reincarnate into in the future and past. Differently though, we could live brand new lives – in the past. The thing about reincarnating into the past is that we have to redefine Time. I believe Time can move forward and backward. To me, Time is slippery and unhinged. We better had better be aware of History if we indeed reincarnate into it. Maybe that is why we can have déjà vu experiences (Déjà vu is the certainty that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously). So we need to be flexible about fluctuation.
If we do reincarnate, I feel we do so many times. I think a belief is that we only reincarnate once. Multiple lifetimes are difficult for many people to negotiate. I think the implications proliferate. If we change our sex, race, sexual orientation, class etc. over and over again, what could that mean? We would have to re-examine much, including stereotypes.
I remember watching the film Logan’s Run on TV (1976, Michael Anderson, dir. Plot summary: The people in the film “have two choices: They can either take part in an extermination ceremony called 'Carousel' where they are promised of being reborn or they can go on the run and escape to outside the domed city.”). I enjoyed the idea of “renewal” even though the concept in the film involved killing. Being again is comforting. It strongly resonates with the idea of “eternal life.”
I have had an avid interest in this subject all of my life. As a child, of about seven years of age, I read The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (Max Ehrlich, 1973). ). I have had an avid curiosity about this subject all of my life. I also had an interesting recurring dream which you will read about later.
I remember my mother, Lillian, telling me about a dreadful recurring dream she had as a child. In the dream she was a young woman, standing in a line up waiting to have her head chopped off. To this day she hates standing in line. A stranger in Barbados once told her that she was Nefretiti in a previous life. My mom is unsure of reincarnation. For her it has something to do with memory in the DNA. My mother’s parents are from Poland and she, an only child, was born in Russia as her parents fled World War Two. Both of her grandparents were killed in the Holocaust . My mother’s mom was an opera singer and her dad who was a pharmacist acted as my grandmother’s manager during the war to survive. What a story!
As a very little girl I wanted to be an actress when I grew up. I had an image of blond ringlets and a bow tie mouth. Big blue eyes were a part of it. To me, gestures had to be big and over-dramatic. Little was subtle or understated. I remember watching a film on the television where a young woman was tied to railroad tracks and the villain had a big black mustache. The scenario felt very familiar. I feel I was an actress at the beginning of the 20th century in Paris; as though I made silent-films. I guess I could research this but I never have. I have a vivid memory of celebrating Christmas at that time. I see a tree, my children and my husband. Currently, I am Jewish and single. I have no children.
My feeling is that I traveled by ship to North America where I ended up living and dying. I was born in Montreal and currently live in Quebec, a French province in Canada. About 20 years ago, I lived in Paris where I breathed everything French. At the Sorbonne, I attended a course on French Culture. I speak and understand the French language. I have acted on TV, in film, and on stage. My Master’s and PhD are in drama. The affinity for French culture and acting is synchronous.
After brain tumour surgeries, I was in a coma for five months during which most of my dreams involved Nature. In a past life, I feel as if I was a male (yes, changing sexes can be a part of it) Native Indian in harmony with Nature. Some of my favorite activities involved Nature. I used to go camping often and take hikes through the forest. A while ago I had a dream that I was paddling a canoe in a lake surrounded by woods. All I could hear was the dipping of the oars into the water. This was holy to me.
Every time I visit Niagara Falls I experience a déjà vu. There is something so familiar about it. The flatness just before the great fall moves me immensely. When I visited Seville, Spain, I felt as though I had lived there. The orange trees that lined the streets were remarkable and rang a bell in me. The iron gates in front of some homes and the courtyards just beyond were strikingly recognizable. The streets, the smells…
I strongly feel I was a performer during the Commedia dell’arte period in Italy. (Commedia dell’arte “play of professional artists” was a “popular form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 15th century and maintained its popularity through to the 18th century.”) When we studied Commedia dell’arte in Grad School I remember thinking of this and imagining I was there. I adore the Italian language, have always wanted to learn it and basically understand it.
A psychic once told me that I was a priestess for the Goddess Isis. Before that I dreamt I was a blond toddler (I have dark brown hair) being held by the Greek God, Zeus. We were on a cliff, in front of a temple and it was nighttime. The moon shone brightly and lit us up. It is interesting because all of my life I have had extremely poor night-vision.
This “scene” was so clear. It was incredible to me to have a glimpse of what most people see. If I did live in that time, I am certain I would have had in-depth knowledge of Zeus. The symbolism of us being in front of a temple is not lost on me. Now, I love reading about Greek Gods and Goddesses. To me, the legends are colourful and inspiring.
I am extremely spiritual but not religious. Also, my belief in God is different than that of most other people. I feel a loving presence but no body or personality is attached to it. Once I had a dream that God was a copper wave traveling through space; that is close to my belief. If one believes in (a) God, I feel God is created by us in an image that is relatable. Never would I judge anyone on their belief-system or lack thereof.
I had a dream of the very distant future (I have a feeling that at the least one lifetime comes before this) and I was in a Royal Family in England. My present-day grandmother, who died a few years ago, was there. I was never told or thought I have ever lived a Royal life. In fact, I would have to say the lives I “saw” were quite ordinary. In the Royal life, I simply saw a room and stairs but I “knew.” I was not wearing a crown. I had no jewels on. I was wearing a red skirt-suit. At first I was getting ready in front of a mirror. I had dark hair tied back. Then I was outside walking down some stairs with my family. A very simple scene.
It is ironic that while most of the world believes in reincarnation, it is a taboo in Western culture (“Belief in reincarnation is an ancient phenomenon. This doctrine is a central tenet within the majority of Indian religious traditions, such as Hinduism including Yoga, Vaishnavism, and Shaivism, Jainism, and Sikhism. The idea was also entertained by some Ancient Greek philosophers.”) As an academic, I wrestled with how this book would be interpreted by others in my field. I even had reservations about confessing my thoughts on reincarnation to certain members of my family.
In a manner, writing this book is like being “outed.” (”Although it might be hard to imagine right now, tell yourself that This too shall pass. Things might be hard for a while, but they will get better. People will come around, or they will not. You cannot control what other people’s reactions will be. All you can control is your own behavior and reactions.”) The repercussions or backlash could be substantial. To me, it is about integrity and discovery. I am willing to shoulder a burden of negativity.
When I would tell people that I was writing about reincarnation, I would get skeptical looks. Even though there was a curiosity and interest, there was a bigger doubt-factor. Although I am considered an intelligent person, the subject is way too whimsical for most. I have laid tarot cards for people and peering into the future seems more reasonable than reincarnation: So do things like horoscopes (“a chart drawn up through the art of astrology”) and numerology (“the study of the occult significance of numbers”). I am very curious about this hierarchy. There does seem to be some kind of priority, as if one were more reasonable depending on what they admit to. It says a lot about a person, one’s reaction.
I definitely see it more as about them than the subject matter.
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