Encyclopedia o reincarnation — that’s jist whit ye’re readin the nou. Reincarnatiopedia gethers in ae place aw the maist important things aboot past lives: whit reincarnation is, whit different fowk believe, whit researchers hae fund, hou regression warks an whaur tae find a specialist that speaks yer ain leid.
Fowk aften forget the name o the project. But they mind that there wis «some encyclopedia aboot reincarnation». That’s hou this page is the front door. Fae here ye can win tae ony section: airticles, a dictionar o terms, buiks an a leet o specialists.
In short: whit’s in this encyclopedia
- Plain answers tae the main quaistions aboot reincarnation an past lives.
- The history o the idea o rebirth: Indie, auncient Greece, Buddhism, Kabbalah, Spiritism.
- Research: bairns that mind past lives, regression, «life atween lives».
- The main researchers an their buiks.
- A dictionar o terms: karma, saul, past life, regression, reincarnatiology.
- Hou tae chuse a specialist, an a leet o specialists in yer ain leid.
Whit is reincarnation?
Reincarnation is the idea that efter the body dees, a body’s saul or mind is born again, in a new body. Ither names for the same thing: rebirth, the flittin o sauls. In learnit an philosophical writin ye’ll whiles see the wird «metempsychosis».
A past life is a life that the saul is thocht tae hae lived afore this ane. A memory o a past life is pictures, feelins an knawledge that a body cannae explain by whit they’ve been throu in this life.
Mair in the airticle whit reincarnation is an whit science kens aboot it an in the wiki airticle «Reincarnation».
Wha believes in rebirth: the history o the idea
The idea o rebirth is ane o the auldest there is. It cam up amang different fowk, ilk ane on their ain.
- Indie. In Hinduism the saul gangs roond a wheel o births an deiths, cawed samsara. Whit a body dis comes back tae them: that’s karma. The aim is tae win free o the wheel, cawed moksha. The Bhagavad Gita says: as a body taks aff auld claes an pits on new anes, sae the saul leaves an auld body an gangs intae a new ane.
- Buddhism. The Buddha taucht rebirth, but wioot a saul that bides the same: whit gangs fae life tae life is a stream o mind an karma. In Tibet fowk still seek an ken the rebirths o teachers, like the Dalai Lama.
- Jainism an Sikhism. They teach the wheel o births an karma an aw.
- Auncient Greece. Pythagoras taucht the flittin o sauls. In «The Republic» Plato tells the myth o Er, a sodger that saw sauls chusin their new lives.
- Kabbalah. In Jewish mysticism there’s the teachin o «gilgul», the roondaboot o sauls.
- The Druze in the Middle East believe that the saul is born in a new body richt efter deith.
- Spiritism. In Fraunce in 1857 Allan Kardec brocht oot «The Spirits’ Book». The day Spiritism is maist common in Brazil.
- Mony fowk o West Africae an the first nations o North Americae believe an aw that the deid are born again in their ain faimly line.
The main streams o Christianity an Islam dinnae tak wi the teachin o rebirth. But mony fowk o faith are still interestit in it an speir quaistions.
Hou karma an rebirth hing thegither, read in the airticle karma an reincarnation.
Whit dis the research say?
There’s nae direct scientific pruif o reincarnation. But there’s research that’s lookit gey seriously at memories o past lives. Here’s the three main airts.
Bairns that mind past lives
The best-kent research wis din by the psychiatrist Ian Stevenson o the University o Virginia (USA). Fae the 1960s he traivelt the warld an wrote doon bairns’ stories o past lives: in Indie, Sri Lanka, Lebanon, Turkey, Thailand, an amang the Tlingit fowk o Alaska. He checkit the names, places an happenins the bairns spak o. His archive hauds mair nor 2500 cases. His first buik wis «Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation» (1966). In the buik «Reincarnation and Biology» (1997) he compared bairns’ birthmerks wi the wounds o the deid fowk the bairns talked aboot.
The bairns’ psychiatrist Jim Tucker cairries on Stevenson’s wark. His buiks are «Life Before Life» an «Return to Life». Maistly bairns stairt talkin aboot a past life at 2–4 year auld, an by 6–7 thae stories fade awa.
Mair: bairns that mind past lives.
Regression tae past lives
Regression is a wey o warkin whaur a body, lowsed an at ease, aften wi the help o hypnosis, minds things fae the past, past lives an aw. In the 1970s the psychologist Helen Wambach ran group sessions wi mair nor a thoosand volunteers. Maist o them didnae tell o the lives o weel-kent fowk, but o the semple lives o fermers an craftsfowk. Regression cam tae be weel kent efter the psychiatrist Brian Weiss’s buik «Many Lives, Many Masters» (1988).
Mair: whit past-life regression is, hou a session gangs an the wiki airticle «Past-life regression».
Life atween lives
The hypnotherapist Michael Newton (1931–2016) didnae write aboot past lives, but aboot whit fowk mind o the time atween them. His buiks are «Journey of Souls» (1994) an «Destiny of Souls» (2000). In them cam ideas that mony fowk ken the day: the spirit warld, the saul group, spirit guides. His students are trained by The Newton Institute. Dolores Cannon (1931–2014) made her ain hypnosis technique, QHHT.
Mair: Michael Newton an life atween lives, the wiki airticle on Michael Newton, Dolores Cannon’s method.
Honest aboot douts
Doutin scientists say that memory can mix up imagination, buiks ye’ve read, films an hints. Unner hypnosis a body can «mind» things that never happent. I think awbody should ken this. A guid encyclopedia disnae promise miracles. It shaws facts, research an different opinions, an ye mak up yer ain mind.
The main researchers an buiks
- Ian Stevenson (1918–2007) — psychiatrist, University o Virginia. Cases o bairns that mind past lives. «Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation».
- Jim Tucker — bairns’ psychiatrist, cairries on Stevenson’s wark. «Life Before Life».
- Helen Wambach (1925–1985) — psychologist. Group regressions wi mair nor a thoosand volunteers.
- Brian Weiss — psychiatrist. «Many Lives, Many Masters».
- Michael Newton (1931–2016) — hypnotherapist. «Journey of Souls», «Destiny of Souls».
- Dolores Cannon (1931–2014) — hypnotherapist, maker o the QHHT technique. «Between Death and Life».
- Hans TenDam — Dutch researcher an teacher o regression therapy. Mair in the wiki: Hans TenDam.
- Maris Dreshmanis — reincarnatiologist, founder o reincarnatiology an o Reincarnatiopedia. Buiks.
Dictionar: the main terms
- Reincarnation — the birth o a saul in a new body efter the auld ane dees.
- Karma — the law o cause an effect: whit a body dis an feels shapes whit comes tae them later, an their lives tae come.
- Saul — the pairt o a body that, accordin tae this teachin, gangs fae life tae life. Mair: whit the saul is.
- Past life — a life the saul lived afore this ane.
- Regression — a wey that helps a body mind the past, past lives an aw.
- Life atween lives — the time that, as Newton tells it, the saul spends in the spirit warld atween lives.
- Reincarnatiology — a field o wark wi memories o past lives. I, Maris Dreshmanis, foondit it.
- Reincarnatiologist — a specialist that helps a body mind past lives an unnerstaund hou they’re tied tae this ane. Mair: reincarnatiologist.
Hou tae mind a past life an hou tae chuse a specialist?
Ye can mind a past life throu regression. It’s easier an cawmer wi a specialist. Here’s whit tae dae, step by step.
- Read hou a session gangs, sae ye ken whit tae expect.
- Open the leet o specialists an pick the anes that speak yer ain leid.
- Gang tae a session wi 3–4 specialists. Syne chuse the ane ye likit best for deeper wark on yer quaistions.
- Speir at the specialist straucht oot: whaur they learnt, hou mony year they’ve been warkin, hou a session gangs, whit it costs.
Hou is oor leet different fae the schuils’ wabsteids? Schuils ainly shaw their ain graduates. Hou wad they shaw their competitors? But we gether aw specialists: aw Scots-speakin, aw English-speakin, aw Chinese-speakin, fae ony schuil. The nou there’s 5,602 specialists on the leet. Ye chuse onybody, no jist oor ain graduates.
Mair: hou tae chuse a regression therapist an is regression dangerous: truith an myths.
Whit is Reincarnatiopedia?
Reincarnatiopedia is a mony-leid encyclopedia aboot reincarnation an past lives. I, Maris Dreshmanis, foondit the project. The encyclopedia haes 311 leid sites. It hauds airticles, a wiki encyclopedia o terms, a knawledge graph an a leet o specialists. Mair aboot the project in the airticle «Whit is Reincarnatiopedia?».
The project is still bein biggit. Like a hoose whaur no aw the windaes are in yet. Sign up sae we can invite ye whan we open new sections. We can ainly write tae them that’s signed up. Sign up.
Common quaistions
Is reincarnation real?
Naebody’s managed tae pruive it scientifically yet. But there’s thoosands o recordit cases, maistly stories fae wee bairns, that researchers couldnae explain by ordinar causes. Whit tae believe is up tae you.
Can ye mind a past life on yer ain?
Some fowk mind on their ain: in a dream, in meditation, in a place that feels kent at first sicht. But it’s cawmer an clearer wi a specialist that kens their wark. Hae a look at signs o past-life memories an the airticle wha wis I in a past life — hou tae find oot.
Is regression dangerous?
Regression is wark wi memory an feelins. Whiles strang feelins come up. That’s hou it matters tae chuse a specialist that kens their wark an tell them aboot hou ye are aforehaund. Mair: whit the dangers o regression are.
Whit’s the difference atween reincarnation an the flittin o sauls?
In ilka-day speech they’re the same thing. In philosophy «the flittin o sauls» an «metempsychosis» whiles mean the saul gangin no jist intae a person, but intae a beast an aw.
Whaur tae stairt readin aboot reincarnation?
Stairt wi Ian Stevenson’s buiks aboot bairns an wi Michael Newton’s «Journey of Souls». An on this site, stairt wi the airticles aboot bairns’ memories an aboot regression.
Hou dae I find this encyclopedia again?
Type «encyclopedia o reincarnation» or the name «Reincarnatiopedia» intae a search engine. Better yet, bookmerk this page or sign up.
Read an aw
Author: Maris Dreshmanis, reincarnatiologist, founder o Reincarnatiopedia. Checkit: September 2026.