Without going into the convoluted corridors of debate, reincarnation is a relatively easy-to-understand theory that can explain such things. I won't attempt to give more than an overview in this article; if you want to get into the detailed mechanics, there is plenty of material at the library or most metaphysical bookstores. I highly encourage everyone to do some reading on this subject. I would like to warn you, though _ be prepared to hear lots of high falutin' philosophical stuff that may or may not be wholly insupportable speculation set forth as fact.
Very simply, most pagans and over three-quarters of the world's population believe that when a person dies his or her spirit separates from the physical husk and goes to rest in some place where it can recuperate from its earthly journey and absorb its experiences, later to be reborn. Theoretically, a person benefits by learning and progressing toward a spiritual enlightenment that will free them from the constant cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
What goes around
Whether you progress or not depends on your "karma." Westerners don't have an exact translation for this Hindu term, but Janet Farrar describes it as "cause-and-effect." Kabbalists call this karma-thing "tikkun," which means "correctness." Not surprisingly, even those ever- innovative Christians have a concept of karma. The Book of Proverbs says: "Cast your bread upon the waters and see whether it returns to you in due season," and Christ himself supposedly said, "Practice giving, and people will give to you. They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down shaken together and overflowing." Wiccans believe in the Threefold Law, which states that whatever you do, good or bad, will be returned to you in threefold measure. All of this is karma.
How karma operates in terms of reincarnation is that you build up karma during your life and when you reincarnate you discharge your karmic debts through suffering, works or both. That's the traditional view, although a more modern view has arisen, that of "instant karma". (Thank you, John Lennon!) To illustrate: If you put your hand on a hot burner, you'll be burned, and probably ache for several days. Karmically speaking, the deed you did led to instant suffering, bypassing the traditional buildup of karma, to be worked off at a future time or life.
If I may digress for a moment, it's fascinating to see the various representations of this ongoing cycle of life and death. Most of us are familiar with the phoenix, described as a universal symbol, a strange ol' (literally) bird that would build its funeral pyre, set it afire to be consumed by the flames, only to spring back to life from the ashes and do it again. Weird. Another familiar icon of immortality is the scarab (and its variation the winged beetle), which represents Khephera, an Egyptian resurrection deity, and an African lunar symbol. The ancients saw the serpent shedding its skin and associated this with beginning life anew, marrying it into Goddess art until the two became almost synonymous. Standing alone, the serpent biting its tail is another worldwide symbol of eternal life known as an "ourobouros." The triskele, or fylfot, which looks like a yin-yang symbol with three teardrops instead of two, depicts a birth-death-rebirth cycle. Lastly, the Buddhists and the Jains came up with the Round of Existence, or the Wheel of Becoming, showing graphically the various stages of joyful or sorrowful incarnations a soul will endure with the Buddha's assistance. Whew! And that isn't even an exhaustive listing!
I'm from Missouri
While all this is very interesting, let's face it: Westerners want facts, tangible scientific evidence that holds up well under close scrutiny. In my opinion _ there isn't any. While this may not win me any friends, it's a clear statement of my opinion.
What has been gathered as "evidence" of reincarnation can be boiled down to a few categories:
1. Strange phenomena. I mean by this such things as deja vu, dreams and flashbacks. I myself have experienced dreams and deja vu so strongly that upon awaking I was overcome by a strange euphoria, knowing without a doubt that what I had experienced had actually occurred. But this is hardly a solid basis for creating a philosophy to believe in and live by.
2. Reports from children. Very young children have been sometimes known to speak knowledgeably of people, places, and things that they could not have had any prior contact or information of.
3. Past life regression via hypnosis. This is undoubtedly the most delicate and the most dubious of all ways of gaining past life information. The usual technique is to ask the subject for concrete facts such as names, dates and other verifiable data. Unfortunately, reliable documentation to compare gathered information to has not been available until recently, say the last 150 to 200 years or so.
However, Helen Wambach, author of the book Reliving Past Lives, tells how she studied reincarnation by a different tack. After regressing over 1000 individuals, she compiled information that could be statistically analyzed, hoping that such evidence could cross-corroborate each experience. Asking questions about things such as their social status, diet, clothing and so on, she found that an in-depth historical study showed an amazing consistency to the subjects' accounts. Hers truly is an interesting study.
Regardless of what you believe, whether it be reincarnation, resurrection, annihilation or whatever, I believe that it's important for humans to believe in something. I also believe that it's not important to know what happens after death, that maybe we weren't supposed to know in the first place. Let's face it, we all will die sooner or later, one way or another. The most important thing is to live your life the best you can now, enjoying your life to the fullest, doing whatever good you can for others. Be assured though, if you do believe in reincarnation, that it is one rare and golden thread shared by most members of the pagan community.
Author's note: This article is dedicated to the memory of my friend David Wayman, who committed suicide while in college. May he find peace and harmony in whatever is beyond the veil.
Next issue: Different paths for different people.
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