Reincarnation

Many religions believe that a part of us lives on after
we die. Some people are convinced we are actually
born again to live a new life in a new body. There is
no real evidence for reincarnation, but there are many
instances of people claiming to remember past lives
including details they couldn’t possibly know. Many
cases of reincarnation feature famous people; others
are much more obscure, but are often more intriguing.
Bard reborn To be or not to be
William Shakespeare, that is the
question for many people who claim
to be reincarnations of the famous
English playwright. It’s not hard
being the bard though. So much
is known about him already, there
are no details that only the “real”
Shakespeare reincarnated
could reveal.
DNA denial A lot of stories of
reincarnation are attached to the
Romanovs, the Russian royal family
that was assassinated in 1918.
American Donald Norsic claimed
that in his past life as the
Russian czar, he escaped to
the Sahara. But his claims
were disproved in 1994,
when DNA tests showed
the Romanovs really did
die in Russia.
..........................
Fact or fiction Welshwoman Jane Evans recalled
seven past lives under hypnosis. In one, she claimed to be
a Jewish woman living in 12th-century York in England.
She described details of life then—and also of being killed
in a church crypt during a terrible massacre of the Jews.
A history professor testified as to how accurate her
knowledge of historical details was, but the church she
described, St. Mary’s Castlegate, did not have a crypt.
Then several months later, during renovation, a crypt was
discovered. However, it was found that Jane’s story resembled
a historical novel she had read in school. At least she
learned something there.
All in an accent Some people believe that in a past life
they were on board Titanic, the great ocean liner that hit an
iceberg and sank in 1912. American William Barnes claimed
he was the ship’s designer Tommie Andrews. Barnes
spoke in a Scottish accent when “remembering”
it, but Andrews was, in fact, Irish. Oops.
182 183 Reincarnation
Going under
One way of trying to find out
if you’ve lived past lives is by
hypnosis. While in a trance,
some patients tell stories of
past lives. Most experts think
the mind is making it all up.