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Do Spiritualists Believe in Reincarnation

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(@selenegreen)
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Joined: 21 years ago

Hi There,

I have been to a development circle a few times at a nearby Spiritualist Church.

I have enjoyed going but, as I believe in Reincarnation I wondered if Spiritualists also believe in this ...?

I'd love to hear your thoughts ?

x

18 Replies
Tashanie
Posts: 1924
(@tashanie)
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Joined: 15 years ago

Hi There,

I have been to a development circle a few times at a nearby Spiritualist Church.

I have enjoyed going but, as I believe in Reincarnation I wondered if Spiritualists also believe in this ...?

I'd love to hear your thoughts ?

x

Why don't you ask them?,

A lot of spiritual people DO believe in re-incarnation. Whenever I say i do past life regression a lot of people express an interest and clearly DO believe they have lived other lives. As with a lot of things in this area have an open mind...........I concede its possible but I have no memories of living other lives- and no real feeling that I have lived before.

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Topic starter
(@selenegreen)
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Joined: 21 years ago

hmm, they are quite a closed bunch of people, they come to circle and then just leave as soon as its over - no -one speaks to each other !

I read about Spiritualism and there was an article where it did say they do not beleive in re-incarnation.

I have regressed so many people, myself included that I feel it to be true 🙂

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CarolineN
Posts: 4760
(@carolinen)
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Hi Selene

While I personally have no experience of Spiritualist groups, I hear they do seem to vary in their perspective and how they are run considerably. Maybe try another group?

From discussion with my Guides I am convinced that we reincarnate and have had flash-backs on occasion to other personalities I have been.

A fascinating topic.

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Energylz
Posts: 16602
(@energylz)
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Hi There,

I have been to a development circle a few times at a nearby Spiritualist Church.

I have enjoyed going but, as I believe in Reincarnation I wondered if Spiritualists also believe in this ...?

I'd love to hear your thoughts ?

I don't go to spiritualist church myself or even consider myself to be a spiritualist, but I've met plenty of people who are and do.

At the end of the day, I don't think the spiritualist church teaches specifically that reincarnation is a fact (or not). I've met some who just believe that when people pass, they go to the 'spirit dimension' (or whatever they refer to it as), and that's it... whilst others believe in a 'model' of spirit guides where, for example, we exist in pairs or triples of spirits and keep coming back to experience different things, with one spirit staying in the spirit dimension to guide us (the spirit guide) etc.

I believe that there is certainly potential that the energy that is localised as "me" now, has been involved in previous lives of people, animals or whatever (not necessarily on this planet), and that the patterns of those lifetimes are still existing within that energy in such a way that I can tap into them... such as when doing a past life regression.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

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 mac
(@mac)
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The term 'Spiritualist' refers to individuals and just as with any other individual, we are different one from another. Some will be confident in their understanding of how reincarnation works. Others will be unsure and a final group will dispute there's any such thing....

Silver Birch was a teacher much respected by many Modern Spiritualists who gave guidance on many issues concerning survival. He declared that he had no doubt we may experience multiple lives but he also said that some of his contemporaries declared they had never met a single soul who had reincarnated.

I'm a Spiritualist and based on what I've learned from Silver Birch's wider teachings, and also from other sources of guidance, I have no doubt that we have a choice about whether to reincarnate. But it's neither routine nor mandatory; personal circumstances will determine whether any individual feels the need to reincarnate or, conversely, makes a choice to experience physical life one-time-only.

As a final point, apparent past-life regression is not a certain indicator that the subject actually lived the lives apparently recalled.

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Energylz
Posts: 16602
(@energylz)
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Hi Mac,

As a final point, apparent past-life regression is not a certain indicator that the subject actually lived the lives apparently recalled.

Just out of interest then... what do you perceive past life regression to be doing then? And what is it the person is experiencing if not an actual past life?

All Love and Reiki Hugs

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 mac
(@mac)
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Joined: 21 years ago

Hi Mac,

Just out of interest then... what do you perceive past life regression to be doing then? And what is it the person is experiencing if not an actual past life?

All Love and Reiki Hugs

Apparent past-life-regression or therapy may recall the past life/lives of someone else - not necessarily that/those of the individual under regression.

How can one know for sure? How can such lives fully be authenticated?

For clarity, I have no doubt that reincarnation can occur - I just don't see claimed past-life recall as automatically showing sound evidence of this situation.

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Energylz
Posts: 16602
(@energylz)
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Apparent past-life-regression or therapy may recall the past life/lives of someone else - not necessarily that/those of the individual under regression.

Ah, I see what you mean. What if the person doesn't consider themselves to be 'individual' but part of Oneness? Wouldn't that mean that it is one of their past lives? 😉

How can one know for sure? How can such lives fully be authenticated?

Some people claim to have authenticated such recalls by providing factual details that can be sought out that they haven't (possibly) known beforehand. Of course, who evidences the fact that they didn't already know the details etc. etc. 😉

For clarity, I have no doubt that reincarnation can occur - I just don't see claimed past-life recall as automatically showing sound evidence of this situation.

Maybe we'll just have to wait and see for ourselves... 🙂

All Love and Reiki Hugs

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 mac
(@mac)
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Energylz;707826]

Ah, I see what you mean. What if the person doesn't consider themselves to be 'individual' but part of Oneness? Wouldn't that mean that it is one of their past lives? 😉

Perhaps it might seems so to them if they saw life that way but this notion of 'oneness' is one that doesn't appeal to my reason. To me we're all individuals whether living in-the-body or in the etheric....

Some people claim to have authenticated such recalls by providing factual details that can be sought out that they haven't (possibly) known beforehand. Of course, who evidences the fact that they didn't already know the details etc. etc. 😉

I don't doubt that some may recall their own earlier lives but that doesn't mean that all alleged past-lives are genuine. And authentication itself can be very uncertain....

Maybe we'll just have to wait and see for ourselves... 🙂

I doubt there'll ever be conclusive evidence this side of the divide about either reincarnation or past-life-recall proving that notion.

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Principled
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(@principled_1611052765)
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I am not a spiritualist, but just wanted to say that this has been an interesting thread with some good posts from Giles and Mac. As someone here has said, none of us will know any of this for certain until we ourselves pass through that experience.

Many years ago, a friend gave me a book by Spiritualist healer Betty Shine. The book was full of common sense, like her saying to people that they must not go to mediums, trying to contact the deceased person, as this all holds the deceased back from progressing.

Shine wrote that haunted houses etc are where an individual is so materially minded that they cling to earth and to the material and are afraid of progressing higher. She encourages praying for them to release them from fear. Also she says that this sometimes happens with a sudden or traumatic death.

Mary Baker Eddy observed:

Death will occur on the next plane of existence as on this, until the spiritual understanding of Life is reached. Then, and not until then, will it be demonstrated that "the second death hath no power."
The period required for this dream of material life, embracing its so-called pleasures and pains, to vanish from consciousness, "knoweth no man . . . neither the Son, but the Father." This period will be of longer or shorter duration according to the tenacity of error. (Science and Health 77)

This is a link to a video of child who had vivid knowledge of a dead airman’s life. It is very sincere and quite thought provoking.
[url]11 year old boy reincarnated FOX 8 News - YouTube[/url]

Do I think it proves reincarnation? No! I think that Mary Baker Eddy gives a good explanation of what is going on here.

Though individuals have passed away, their mental environment remains to be discerned, described, and transmitted. Though bodies are leagues apart and their associations forgotten, their associations float in the general atmosphere of human mind. (Science and Health 87)

To me, that is the explanation of the child (who was obviously very sensitive to the airman’s “mental environment”) not that the airman has reincarnated in the child. I think it was telling that after the closure of the little service for the airman, the 'memories" left the child.

Love and peace,

Judy

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Mrs. S.
Posts: 138
(@mrs-s-3)
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Selenegreen,

Find another group to join if your circle isn't speaking to each other. First point.
Second point: ask, ask, ask your medium teacher about reincarnation. Some believe it, others don't but it's not a tenet of Spiritualism per se. This is why you need to be speaking to each other.

Mac & Giles,

I have had first hand experience of past life regression: once, to determine a fear I have of fire and why it was so (burned at the stake as a witch in Great Baddow Essex and later found the record in Chelmsford Archives) and another with my ex-husband to find his guide. Found the record for the guide in a place called Shaw-cum-Donnington, Berkshire. These were many years ago.

Judy,

Betty Shine, as a Spiritualist healer, would have known that spirits come to a medium, not the other way round. I don't know why she advised people not to visit mediums, since she was a healer herself. Doesn't make sense.

Love,
Patsy.
xxxxx

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 mac
(@mac)
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Joined: 21 years ago

Selenegreen,

Find another group to join if your circle isn't speaking to each other. First point.
Second point: ask, ask, ask your medium teacher about reincarnation. Some believe it, others don't but it's not a tenet of Spiritualism per se. This is why you need to be speaking to each other.

Mac & Giles,

I have had first hand experience of past life regression: once, to determine a fear I have of fire and why it was so (burned at the stake as a witch in Great Baddow Essex and later found the record in Chelmsford Archives) and another with my ex-husband to find his guide. Found the record for the guide in a place called Shaw-cum-Donnington, Berkshire. These were many years ago.

Judy,

Betty Shine, as a Spiritualist healer, would have known that spirits come to a medium, not the other way round. I don't know why she advised people not to visit mediums, since she was a healer herself. Doesn't make sense.

Love,
Patsy.
xxxxx

It was quite a surprise to be notified that there's a new posting in this old thread! I'd have to go back to refresh my memory over what I'd written but I suspect - hope! - it wouldn't have been much different from what I'm saying now.

Many individuals have exprerienced so-called past life regression. Many tell of their being other individuals, having recalled earlier lives and sometimes in the context of current-life problems/issues. I don't doubt that some find help for their problems but whether that's proof, or even sound evidence, of a particular lifetime they experienced is not clear cut. But if individuals are convinced, and indeed helped, by what they experience then all to the good. Whatever gets you through the night...

If that sounds harsh I hope you will consider that member mac's not a naysayer or disbeliever of life-beyond-death or reincarnation. But the subject of so-called past lives is one where other explanations are not hard to find....

As for Spiritualism it isn't an important part in its teachings which are primarily concerned with helping the bereaved find comfort through evidential mediumship.

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Mrs. S.
Posts: 138
(@mrs-s-3)
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It was quite a surprise to be notified that there's a new posting in this old thread! I'd have to go back to refresh my memory over what I'd written but I suspect - hope! - it wouldn't have been much different from what I'm saying now.

Many individuals have exprerienced so-called past life regression. Many tell of their being other individuals, having recalled earlier lives and sometimes in the context of current-life problems/issues. I don't doubt that some find help for their problems but whether that's proof, or even sound evidence, of a particular lifetime they experienced is not clear cut. But if individuals are convinced, and indeed helped, by what they experience then all to the good. Whatever gets you through the night...

If that sounds harsh I hope you will consider that member mac's not a naysayer or disbeliever of life-beyond-death or reincarnation. But the subject of so-called past lives is one where other explanations are not hard to find....

As for Spiritualism it isn't an important part in its teachings which are primarily concerned with helping the bereaved find comfort through evidential mediumship.

Hello Mac,

I am glad that you replied. I've returned to HP after an absence of 2 years and am working my way through posts that might interest me.

Like you, (and as any good Spiritualist medium will know) evidence plays a great part in these things and like a good medium, I wanted to find out if my regression was authentic. I had heard stories of people claiming to be reincarnations of all sorts of folks, from Napoleon Bonaparte to the old biddy at the bus stop. I did mine because I am utterly fearing of fire, almost obsessional about it: a lovely warm fire in the grate is inviting and cosy, but the thought of my house being on fire, my car, even cremation was utterly shocking and I'd had this fear from babyhood. Even watching a film with a car on fire gave me nightmares. So, when I could, I decided to find out why. This story of being burnt at the stake gave so much information that my regressor and I decided to look into it further.We paid a visit to Chelmsford Archives and found a record of the 'person I was' having been executed for witchcraft in 1645. I was utterly shocked. It hasn't cured my fear, but at least I know now where it comes from. It is also interesting that having been burnt for witchcraft, I am now a Spiritualist medium.

You are right about Spiritualism being there to help the bereaved. In many cases, a medium has brought more comfort to bereaved people than a counselling session has and has in fact, turned some from suicide.

Love,
Patsy.
xxxx

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 mac
(@mac)
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Joined: 21 years ago

Hello Patsy - I suspect I might recognise your name from before. I'm now an infrequent visitor to HP because 'it ain't wot it used to be' and I suppose I ain't who I used to be either!

Thanks for your well-considered response. It's clear you've approached things as I would so I have absolutely no doubt that you've rightly been persuaded of the authenticity of that particular past life. I have no doubt about accepting your account either.

There was a time, though, when I heard so many accounts of previous lives that I became dismissive - there were just too many, and too colourful, accounts. Later I began to move to a point where they were neither to be dismissed out of hand nor accepted without questioning. The actuality of so many situations falls between the two extremes!

Your fear of fire and your investigations led - directly or indirectly - to your becoming a medium and that's a great outcome. 🙂 I wonder how much of that was planned and orchestrated and how much was chance, incidental or serendipity? 😉

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Energylz
Posts: 16602
(@energylz)
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Well, I did a couple of past life regressions, without any requirement to seek assistance for any personal issue; rather just to see what happened.

The experience itself was interesting. The clarity of the past lives was beyond just what I would have considered mindless imaginings. Thankfully I wasn't presented with me supposedly being some famous figure from the past; one I was a more humble son of a wealthy respected man in some desert town (exact location unknown) and the other I was a shaman/spiritual leader for a small group of rainforest dwellers.

What was off-putting wasn't my own personal experience, but the people who's house it was being hosted in; as they were proclaiming the number of past life regressions they'd done and all the famous people they had found they were (I think Napolean was one of them :confused:); and also the couple who were 'performing' the past life regression with us who, after spending the whole day with them, their credibility left much to be desired. The only thing I found credible from them was the way they actually did the regression, taking us (there was several of us all together) down into a state of mind, kind of like guided meditation, and then letting us experience whatever past life was to be experienced without any suggestion or guidance on their part as to what should be experienced.

All Love and Reiki Hugs

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Cascara
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Giles I think you are right about the clarity of past lives being different, it is as if it was right there, not a dream or a memory but happening again in that moment?

Shame about the house, sounds like ego at play there lol 🙁

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(@pritty16)
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Posts: 11
(@pritty16)
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Conference on Men, God & Universe and meditation techniques in Central London. For more information, check out the website below.
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