Busting Stereotypes: Reincarnation and Past Lives

[Boadicia]

Fiddlers Green

Boadicia

My ex and his "friend," who introduced me to paganism, believe it or not, had this whole thing where they shared past lives. For a while I bought into it, but alarms started going off when she claimed to have been a slew of princesses in Asia and Europe, and he had been her bodyguard, husband, or pet tiger. Their stories grew less and less credible until I decided everything they said was bull. She was a real drama queen begging for attention, and when she didn't get it, she would conveniently drift into a past life regression, and he would "act out a past life" just to humor her. I thought they were both insane.

eek
You knew The Dork Lord?
Vlad Tepid?

Sorry, we had a local Mr. Dark who pulled that stunt with all of his "Dark Mistresses"... He would pull out random relations for some of his proclaimed past lives. xd

On an aside...
Even if someone is a fairly solid reincarnation of someone past... novelty aside, isn't it something of a squanderance of the current life, to hold too much grudery or ambition from a past one?

Having a past life like that might be cool, but I would consider it a bit of a problem if the person tried to "relive" that kind of life, one way or another. If a person thinks he were a king or something, he might try to go his whole life trying to be one again. It would be a real pain for everyone else.

BTW, Dork Lord? Yikes! In hindsight, that's probably a good description . . .  

[TeaDidikai]

missmagpie

That's very true. I might not really like it that much if I was there all the time.

Pretty much my point of view.

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Fair enough. That's a very nice way of looking at it. But suppose what you truly want is unattainable in corporeal reality? Wouldn't that make the reincarnation poinless?

Couldn't say. Never come across something like that.  

[godhi]

Your comment in the poll about having been "a witch burned at Salem" reminds me of the worst fluff bunny I ever encountered.
Several years ago I was hanging out in Paganism #1 on Yahoo Chat when this sixteen-year-old girl entered the chat room and proudly announced:
"I'm a 33rd generation Wiccan whose ancestor was burned at the stake in Salem Village!"
Needless to say, we threw the young fluff bunny to the wolves, pointing out (as mentioned previously in this thread) that:

1. No one was burned at the stake in Salem Village;
2. Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner in 1936;
3. If you were a 33rd generation Pagan (ignoring the Wiccan question), you would have to be able to prove a hereditary line of witches stretching back over 650 years.

My comment to her was: "If you're going to spin lies about your magical heritage, at least get your facts straight."  

[TeaDidikai]

godhi

Your comment in the poll about having been "a witch burned at Salem" reminds me of the worst fluff bunny I ever encountered.
Several years ago I was hanging out in Paganism #1 on Yahoo Chat when this sixteen-year-old girl entered the chat room and proudly announced:
"I'm a 33rd generation Wiccan whose ancestor was burned at the stake in Salem Village!"
Needless to say, we threw the young fluff bunny to the wolves, pointing out (as mentioned previously in this thread) that:

1. No one was burned at the stake in Salem Village;
2. Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner in 1936;
3. If you were a 33rd generation Pagan (ignoring the Wiccan question), you would have to be able to prove a hereditary line of witches stretching back over 650 years.

My comment to her was: "If you're going to spin lies about your magical heritage, at least get your facts straight."

Classic. Did you add that to the Stupid things that Pagans say?  

[TheDisreputableDog]

Boadicia

I wish I could do a past life regression, but I've never yet found anyone capable of helping me in that point. How much time passes between lives, I believe, probably varies depending on when the soul is ready to incarnate. Why rush?

My ex and his "friend," who introduced me to paganism, believe it or not, had this whole thing where they shared past lives. For a while I bought into it, but alarms started going off when she claimed to have been a slew of princesses in Asia and Europe, and he had been her bodyguard, husband, or pet tiger. Their stories grew less and less credible until I decided everything they said was bull. She was a real drama queen begging for attention, and when she didn't get it, she would conveniently drift into a past life regression, and he would "act out a past life" just to humor her. I thought they were both insane.

//Shivers.// Seriously. I hope he was happy; I certainly wasn't.  

[Sound Doxa]

Well, I personally don't believe in reincarnation, not only because it doesn't quite fit in with my religious system, but also because I've always thought that it would suck to keep having to go back to earth. I find earth to be a depressing, horrible place, and I just want to finish my life here, go to heaven, and then not have to come back.
But, it seems like, that even though some people who have posted have had past life regressions, I haven't seen a feeling of,"it sucks to be back."
So I'm asking, do you who believe in reincarnation ever wish you could stop it, or leave earth permantly?
Also, do you ever feel tired of coming back to earth?
And I guess you never feel old, like, hundreds of years old, because you lived past lives, right?
Basically, I'm just wondering about the emotional experience of reincarnation.  

[TeaDidikai]

SoundDoctrine

So I'm asking, do you who believe in reincarnation ever wish you could stop it,

That's kind of like asking if someone never wants to have tea again. I might not be thursty now, but that doesn't mean I'll never want another cup for the rest of existance.

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Also, do you ever feel tired of coming back to earth?

No. As I pointed out in another thread (or maybe this one?), this is a place of rest.

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And I guess you never feel old, like, hundreds of years old, because you lived past lives, right?

Other people's stupidity makes me feel old now and then. But this isn't tied to reincarnation or anything of the like.

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Basically, I'm just wondering about the emotional experience of reincarnation.

The sum total of "emotional experiences" linked to my "reincarnation" is that of amusement.

Really, looking back on it, as a very knocked up woman, hacking at a sausage as a form of catharsis- I can't help but chuckle.  

[Sound Doxa]

Oh okay, thanks for answering my questions Tea!
I was getting scared that they were too stupid/ignorant/naive to be answered. sweatdrop
Now I just have on more question, is there any sort of way to make a past life regression happen, even with a person who doesn't believe in reincarnation?  

[TeaDidikai]

SoundDoctrine

Oh okay, thanks for answering my questions Tea!

Happy to. It's good to see you around here. Missed bantering with you.

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I was getting scared that they were too stupid/ignorant/naive to be answered. sweatdrop

Not at all. Good questions really. Keep them coming!

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Now I just have on more question, is there any sort of way to make a past life regression happen, even with a person who doesn't believe in reincarnation?

Yes. Many styles of therapy and forms of divination designed to relate past life experiences will work (given the talent of the individual using them), without care for if the person believes it or not.