Reincarnation in the Bible and at the Movies

The term, "born again," for many people, means, "Born Again Christian," but for others, "born again" means "reincarnation," and for those who don't believe in reincarnation, the topic incites many heated debates.

Reincarnation, or transmigration of the soul, is a belief that the spirit or soul of an individual returns to a different body upon the death of a previous body.

According to Comparative Religion, "The concept of reincarnation seems to offer one of the most attractive explanations of humanity's origin and destiny." 

Well, not everybody agrees. Many people consider the concept of reincarnation to be blasphemous. Some religious leaders argue against the possibility that reincarnation exists, and others use the Bible to prove that it does, saying that Jesus spoke of reincarnation when he said that John the Baptist was Elijah (in the book of Matthew). "Matthew 11:11 states: 'I solemnly assure you, history has not known a man born of woman greater than John the Baptizer. …' Matthew 11:14-15, in continuing Christ's remarks about John the Baptist, states, 'If you are prepared to accept it, he is Elijah, the one who was certain to come. Heed carefully what you hear.'"

The argument is extremely controversial because some people take the Bible verbatim while others understand it metaphorically. But even those who take the Bible literally will debate the theory of reincarnation as it relates to those three sentences. 

If you ask a biblical scholar what the statements mean, you might discover that Jesus referred to John the Baptist as being LIKE Elijah. And others will tell you that Jesus speaks in parables – puzzles that, until we reach a certain level of understanding, are left for us to figure out. 

But even if Jesus spoke in parables, wouldn't he have said John the Baptist was LIKE Elijah instead of saying he IS Elijah if that's what he meant? How can you pick out one part of the Bible among others to argue that this statement is figurative and then be emphatic that the rest of the Bible is literal?

While Western religions frequently denounce reincarnation by claiming it is evil, reincarnation is a commonly accepted certainty in Eastern religions. Belief in reincarnation requires them to live their lives with the understanding that whatever they do in this life impacts their souls in their next life.

Some people seek explanations about their former lives using hypnotic regression. Hypnotic regression has been used to explain the relationship between circumstances they are experiencing in this life and events that occurred in a previous life. 

The story of Bridey Murphy, depicted in the movie, The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), tells the tale of a housewife, Virginia Tighe, who, after having been hypnotically regressed, relates to the hypnotist, without previous knowledge of Ireland, her 19th century past life in that country.

Though much of what Virginia said while regressed proved to be false, many things she related proved to be accurate, neither proving nor disproving reincarnation.

The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), starring Michael Sarrazin, Margot Kidder, Jennifer O'Neill, and Cornelia Sharpe, is a movie that provides a scenario that, if reincarnation truly existed and people were aware that it existed, might explain why people either don't want to believe in reincarnation or wouldn't want to believe in it.

Peter Proud experiences flashbacks to a previous incarnation and finds himself drawn to a place and to a woman he knew in a previous existence. Morals concerning the possibility of entering into relationships with one's own child become muddied in the world of reincarnation theory.

A haunting movie about what happens to a child who is regressed occurs in the movie, Audrey Rose (not to be confused with the 2005 horror film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose), that debuted in 1977. Starring Anthony Hopkins and Marsha Mason, the story involves a man who is convinced that his daughter has been reincarnated in Audrey Rose, a little girl who has been born to a different family. What happens in the movie, if it were ever to be true, is frightening.

Karz, a 1980 movie inspired by the Reincarnation of Peter Proud, tells the story of a man who is reborn into a situation in which he may have to remain silent unless he wants to suffer the same fate as he did in his past life. Starring Rishi Kapoor and Tina Munim, Karz also examines the repercussions of knowing about your past life.

Is reincarnation merely a theory or does it indeed exist? Is this one life all we have? In terms of eternity, if one life is merely one speck of dust on the timeline of infinity, what can you do to make your life count?

For a list of other movies about reincarnation, click HERE.

Runes for Divination

One of my dearest friends, Katherine, believed in the power of Runes. She felt that by unlocking the secrets held within the stones, she could divine (predict) what the Runes were trying to tell her. 

Our journey through the occult began when we were each very young. I didn’t meet Katherine until we were both pregnant with one of our children. Initially I taught Katherine how to cast astrology charts by hand (before computer programs made astrology programs much easier), but her interest in the occult went far beyond where I had taken her. We both cast astrology charts and read the Tarot, but Katherine immersed herself in the Tarot and had so many clients, she was able to quit her full-time job. 

She also taught me about Runes. When Katherine told me about Runes, I decided to purchase some. I liked the way they felt in my hands, I liked their smoothness, and I liked the symbols that appeared on them, but try as I did, I couldn’t get them to reveal to me their secrets.

Inscribed with ancient letters, each rune vibrates to a different frequency and the placement of them when thrown down reveals patterns that rune readers interpret. 

My dear friend died nearly eight years ago. I think of her often, most recently when I came across information about Runes in the blog I’m about to reveal, so if you want to know more about Runes or even purchase some for yourself, you’ll find them by clicking on How to Use Rune Stones or by clicking on the photo above, which comes from Blue Dragon Creations. 

Demons, Demonology, and Demonologists

"…Satan was now at hand; and from his seat

The monster, moving onward, came as fast

With horrid strides; Hell trembled as he strode." ~ John Milton

Demon Hauntings

One of the most malevolent of all hauntings is a demon haunting – an event involving evil spirits whose only goal is to deceive and destroy.

Unlike wraiths, which are ghostlike images of people who appear shortly after death and who want vengeance for some perceived or actual harm caused them in life, demons will force their will upon vulnerable individuals and take over their bodies.

Spiritually and physically demons assault the living as they engage in spiritual warfare and seek out psychological weaknesses in people. Acting as energy vampires, they suck the life out of the person whose body they have inhabited, while draining the unsuspecting victim of his life force, luck, health, and spirit.

Animals sense a demon's presence and respond with behavior that is so bizarre, pet owners who previously may not have believed in demons, find themselves doubting their own beliefs. Not every animal who behaves strangely senses the presence of a demon, but when no other explanation suffices for an animal's response to the presence of evil, pet owners might suspect a demon.

Ridding Homes of Evil

Ridding your home of demons is best left to the experts, but some solutions for getting rid of demons include: religious procedures such as exorcism (still performed by the Catholic church – though rarely), where priests use holy water; the practice of sea salt sprinkled around the edges of a room or home (a favorite of Supernatural's Winchester brothers); or lighting sage to suppress negative energy. 

Demonology and Demonologists

The study of demons is termed, demonology. People who study demons are called demonologists. According to several sources, demonologists must be “called” to the vocation in the same way priests and nuns are called to their vocations. Being called to the study of demonology means to feel a strong pull toward the field of demonology. The decision to become a demonologist is not a choice made lightly. 

Because future demonologists are unprepared for just how harrowing an experience dealing with demons can be, they must be mentored. Strong as they may feel physically, all humans are vulnerable to the manipulations of demons. Nobody is exempt from falling under psychic attack by demons who know how to enter a body and cause physical, emotional, and psychological harm, not only to the prospective demonologist but also to his or her family and friends. 

Because no one can learn how to become a demonologist from a book or from school, potential demonologist practitioners must first become apprentices, learning from others who have been called to the challenge. Motives for entering the field of demonology cannot be selfish (monetary compensation, fame, etc.), and the demonologist hopeful cannot be young, either, because even a spiritually evolved individual will experience psychic trauma while dealing with evil – dabble with demons without protection from God, and your loved ones will witness your destruction.

Discernment and Demons

Discernment is necessary when dealing with demonic spirits, because evil humans who once lived will be as evil in death as they were in life. However, humans who behave with malicious and evil intent are not demons. Unlike hauntings, where evil spirits demand attention from the living by frightening them, demons will inhabit the human body and take it over. 

If you are called to the field of demonology, you will be drawn toward people who will mentor you. But again, pay attention to the forces around you. Both evil and good will be vying for your attention, so the gift of discernment will serve you well when you agree to become another demonologist's intern.

Entering the Demonic Field

If you are curious about the study of demonology, visit: 

Demonology at the Institute of Metaphysics

Demonology at Paranormal Clergy

Demonologists, The Warrens

WORDS OF CAUTION: Never enter the demonic realm without God's protection or you might find yourself in the midst of your own exorcism.

Photo of Nightmare (1800) by Nicolai Abraham Abildgaard is from Wikimedia Commons

Sources:

The Warrens

D.J. McAdam

Are You Psychic?

You awaken from a dream that warns you of a trip you are about to take. Your daughter calls to inform you that she, too, has an eerie feeling about the trip. Though your spouse doesn't believe in dreams or in premonitions, he tells you that he feels uncomfortable about leaving too, though he doesn't understand why. You decide not to go and later discover that the day you were to arrive, an earthquake tore apart the hotel in which you were to stay.  

On another occasion, as you are driving south down a road next to a truck, which has been blocking your eastern view for a couple of blocks, you approach a red light. When it turns green, something tells you that, even though the light is green and the truck that was to your right is already turning, you should wait before you proceed. 

As you creep slowly forward, you question your reasons for doing so because the light in front of you is clearly green. In that moment a car races around the truck at high speed going west through a red light – directly in front of you. Had you not listened to that inner voice, you would be badly hurt – or dead.

Stories abound with people who avoided disaster because their plans changed at the last minute due either to circumstances beyond their control or because something didn't feel right. Listening to that inner voice has saved many people from enduring pain or loss. 

I am one of those people – the truck incident mentioned above actually happened to me, as did the following story:

Rarely were my children and I able to take vacations, but one weekend I decided to take them to Great America. Before we left, I awoke with a feeling of dread. Something told me to postpone the trip, but I ignored that little voice. One of my daughter's friends came over before we left and begged us not to leave, because she had had a bad dream about our trip.

Another friend called to ask us to stay home as well. Despite all the warnings, though, I decided to go anyway. We hadn’t gone on any vacation of any kind – ever – and I was determined that we would arrive safely, so I deliberately drove slowing and carefully. Numerous drivers sped past us so fast I felt as if we were sitting still on the expressway most of the time. I didn't care. The warnings were ever-present in my mind.

Though I took great care to drive safely, that feeling of dread continued the closer I got to Great America.

My children and I, along with one of my son's friends, had witnessed several accidents along the way, and I thanked God we weren't in any of them. Just as we arrived at the cloverleaf of the expressway that would take us to Great America, where the ferris wheel was clearly visible, the car in front of me came to a screeching halt. Unbeknownst to me the car in front of that driver had come to a screeching halt as well, because the car in front of that driver had slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the car in front of him.

All along the cloverleaf were a series of accidents, one behind the other. As a police officer later explained, I was the last car in a series of five accidents. After we got to the hospital, we discovered that two more accidents had occurred behind us. Nobody was badly hurt, but my car was completely demolished. 

As in the case above, psychic feelings sometimes make no sense before they occur. It may not be until later that the person experiencing the feeling discovers the results of following (or not following) her intuition. 

When my oldest daughter was a toddler, for instance, I had a strong sense that somebody was trying to take her from me. From the babysitter to my mother, everybody knew not to let her out of sight. In the early 1970s, long before Adam Walsh was kidnapped from a shopping mall (and later murdered), the feeling that my daughter was going to be taken from me was so strong, I took every precaution to prevent losing her.

Several years later I discovered from a former sister-in-law that my ex-husband and his wife were going to court during that time to try to get custody of her. 

Though I haven’t always acknowledged my intuitive feelings, over time I have learned to pay attention to it.

How many times have YOU had that little voice speak to you and not paid attention to it? That feeling, that intuition, that sense that something is about to occur should never be ignored. Something that lies outside of our three dimensional world is trying to communicate with us. Something that lies within you is trying to communicate with you. Through psychic phenomena, secrets reveal themselves to us when we pay attention.

From fortune tellers gazing into crystal balls to séances held in darkened rooms, "psychic" phenomena is shrouded in mystery, but only because it reaches beyond the five physical senses. We tend not to believe things we cannot see, hear, feel, touch, or taste. Our perception of psychics is warped by the media portraying them as eccentric old ladies who predict futures while draped in veils as they collect money with greedy hands.

But we are all psychic, and we are all capable of predicting our own futures. We just need to understand what being psychic means.

The word, psychic, comes from the Greek word, psychikos, meaning "of the soul," and it relates to psyche, also meaning of the soul. According to Merriam-Webster, the term, psychic, is "marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding." Also, "lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge: immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force."

What that means is that psychic experiences, when they happen, cannot be easily explained through any physical science. They lie outside the boundaries of scientifically proven evidence. How does one prove dreams exist, after all? Scientists can prove THAT people dream because they can measure REM (rapid eye movement), but they don't understand WHY images appear in dreams or IF they are significant in meaning.

Psychics are often termed, "sensitives," because people who are highly sensitive are more likely to experience psychic phenomena than people who are less sensitive. Psychic phenomena reveals itself in a number of ways. Besides feelings of dread, many people awaken from prophetic dreams with curiosity, and many people react physically to their feelings. Some may become hyper-alert. Others become confused or nervous.

One morning as my sister and I were getting ready to go on a canoe trip with one of my friends, I kept dropping things. Normally clumsy, this particular morning, I was dramatically worse. No matter what I picked up, it managed to find its way to the floor. I was shaky and nervous for no apparent reason. I commented to my sister that something very weird was happening to me, something I couldn't explain, and I was a little nervous about taking the canoe trip, because I felt the clumsiness was somehow connected. 

My sister said that maybe my uncomfortable feelings were related to her feelings that something was a little off-kilter – she felt uncomfortable about going on a canoe that day as well.

When my friend arrived, the first words out of her mouth were, "We are NOT going canoeing today." She had been having psychic feelings all morning about the trip and when we combined my unexplainable physical clumsiness to my sister's bad feeling about the canoe trip with my friend's feeling that something was going to go disastrously wrong, we changed our plans.

In situations like the one just mentioned, we may never know if the Kankakee River would have swallowed us in an undertow or if nothing would have happened, but unlike the trip to Great America, we listened to that inner voice and decided not to go. We trusted our instincts.

Can you trust your intuition? If you can relate to any of the above stories, or if you have had premonitions, prophetic dreams, or an inner "knowing" about something you couldn't explain scientifically, you have probably experienced psychic phenomena.

My own personal belief is that everybody is psychic; some people have just developed theirs further than others. But developing psychic ability is similar to exercising a muscle, and you can develop your psychic powers by practicing techniques that will enable you to become more psychic. 

To learn more about developing your psychic abilities, please read ESP Works – Harold Sherman Shows How.

Thank you for visiting!