Reincarnation and Past Lives

The notion that souls can be reborn has been around for as long as the idea of an afterlife.  I suppose some might consider them mutually exclusive, but I believe in both.  I’m used to contradicting myself.  Reincarnation, from the Latin word incarnationem meaning “entering the flesh again,” is a theme in the next novella that I’m writing.  There are lots of neat things going on in there, Ancient Greek warriors, curses from a goddess, statues coming to life, and reincarnation.

Many scientists call it junk science since it can’t be proven, but it seems to me that a lot of that science that is “proven” is debunked later on when new data or better theories come by.  Plus, I think some things need to be taken on faith.  Just because it can’t be proven doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t exist.  There have been studies of children speaking of other lives that have been connected to past events that they should have no knowledge of.  Of course, I’m a firm believer in children being far more aware and elemental then adults.  They’re much more open to the unknown.

I’m halfway convinced that I was either strangled or hung in a past life.  A friend theorizes that maybe it was both, that I had died that way in multiple lives.  Wearing a turtleneck makes my skin crawl.  I love the look of choker necklaces but I gag when I try them on and have to tear them off.  I also love scarves, but I can only wear them for short periods of time, very loose otherwise I’m overcome with too many images of other ladies coming to a bad end.  It’s a phenomena called soul trauma, the body remembers what the soul endured. 

A friend of mine who’s Buddhist told of something similar with reincarnation in her culture that plays right into my story.  They believe that the people connected to you are part of your past life and that it’s a cycle of debt that keeps you together.  Another term for it is soul grouping.  

In Make Me Whole, Dexios and Lykon have broken their vows to each other so they are reborn again and again trying to make it right so they can be reunited forever.  Dexios has been turned into a series of statues by the goddess Cythera, forced to wait alone with empty arms.  As the modern incarnations of them start to face their fears, bit by bit the statues become whole when Lykon joins Dexios.  If they fail, the statues revert back to their lonely existence and they’re forced to wait for another generation.

It has been so much fun working on these guys and the story has grown far beyond my initial idea.  I’ve enjoyed talking with people about their various beliefs in reincarnation and past lives.  Has anyone else had similar experiences like the soul trauma or any other stories to share about their own beliefs?  Please share them with me.