Something I've Found Puzzling...

How is it that people on forums dedicated to historical periods (like the Axis History Forum) are usually the ones who say "LOL reincarnation is ridiculous."


I googled a WW2 history forum with the subword "reincarnation" to see what would come up. Most of the people on a thread I found thought reincarnation was a laughing matter, or at least implied it in their posts.


Why? They obviously have a connection to the time, if they are researching it so much (and a few I've seen even collect stuff). Why do they ridicule reincarnation?

Most people ridicule reincarnation, not just re-enactors. It's a shame. It's often from simple ignorance. A lot of people lump reincarnation together with ouija boards and palmistry, psychics and ghost hunters - as something to do with the supernatural, and therefore a load of nonsense. But, if only they knew that the most probable reason why they enjoy reliving and studying a certain time in history is that they have a connection to it and it excites them because of that.


When I sometimes talk to skeptics, I point out that most of the world's people believe in reincarnation across every continent and have done so for thousands of years. From the Hindus to the Innuit, the Buddhists to the Australian Aborigines, there is a vast amount of knowledge about it and it's just considered a normal part of life. It is only in the monotheistic religions that it is considered impossible. Why? Lots of reasons I suppose.


I have a friend who is obsessed with the American civil war. He reads all about it. Collects uniforms and various items. He just loves it. When I ask him if he thought maybe he had a past life connection to it, he said he didn't know. But wouldn't be surprised. He has an open mind.

If it's a history forum, my guess is they're used to people saying "I know that's not how (such and such) happened, I was Cleopatra in another life." The reasoning usually isn't... great.


Interestingly, I'm also into genealogy and there's a parallel there: People who say "oh, I found I was the descendant of Cleopatra." Again, the reasoning isn't great. In both cases, people are frustrated with idealists who are (in their minds) wasting their times with foolish claims. The thing is, of course, that that doesn't apply to everyone who is interested in those things. So yes, it would be nice not to be lumped with them!


(Of course, you also have to assume that *some* notable figures had children and/or future lives...)

It could also just be a hobby for them and have nothing to do with reincarnation. I'm sure there is other banter on there that you're not seeing.


I think the irony is that people who have no interest in past lives are the ones who have led "normal" lives for the most part.. They have no baggage or aren't in the few that are more sensitive to spiritual matters.

If it's a history forum, my guess is they're used to people saying "I know that's not how (such and such) happened, I was Cleopatra in another life." The reasoning usually isn't... great.
Interestingly, I'm also into genealogy and there's a parallel there: People who say "oh, I found I was the descendant of Cleopatra." Again, the reasoning isn't great. In both cases, people are frustrated with idealists who are (in their minds) wasting their times with foolish claims. The thing is, of course, that that doesn't apply to everyone who is interested in those things. So yes, it would be nice not to be lumped with them!


(Of course, you also have to assume that *some* notable figures had children and/or future lives...)

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Yes. You can find all kinds of connections if you go back far enough. We are all related in some way, more or less if you go back far enough of course.

It could also just be a hobby for them and have nothing to do with reincarnation. I'm sure there is other banter on there that you're not seeing.
I think the irony is that people who have no interest in past lives are the ones who have led "normal" lives for the most part.. They have no baggage or aren't in the few that are more sensitive to spiritual matters.

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I've had conversations with people where they say 'I don't remember any past lives, I don't believe in it...etc.' But if you ask a few more questions, like what kinds of games they played as children, there are often things like they used to be fascinated by WWII aircraft, and love to watch movies about it and it makes them feel all funny sometimes, and they have a recurring dream about being a fighter pilot getting shot down over the ocean and so on etc. but they didn't connect any of those feelings to past life memories.

I think it's just an act. A lot of scientists are scared of saying they believe in reincarnation because it would damage their scientific credibility, since so far reincarnation is only a hypothesis, only philosophy. Historians proudly consider history as "the only scientific social science" (or maybe only here). Stating that they are interested in the Civil war because they fought for General Lee would damage their image. Easier to say that reincarnation is stupid.
That being said, there's a bunch of Dead Nazis that found each other in AHF.

There's a general perception that reincarnation is something to do with religion I think, which also holds a lot of people back. Scientists and the church have their 'line in the sand' and it's a tricky one to cross. Old habits I guess? Creationism, Galileo, witches... It goes back a long way. So a lot of people who consider themselves very logical and rational (like historians) would not like to admit to anything they see as mystical?

But in my opinion reincarnation is just a part of nature we don't understand properly yet, as there are so many others. It may or may not have anything to do with God (however you conceive her) but a lot of people see it as some kind of 'magic' related 'belief'. People believe a lot of things that are wrong, like that animals don't have emotions or language, that trees and plants don't have feelings. That there is no such thing as the soul...

I've always been a skeptic and often rolled my eyes at friends who claim they were some famous person in a previous life or lived during WWI, etc etc. Up until a few months ago, I was a firm believer in 'when we die - we die, the end'. Sure we or whatever our conscious self is made up of might be reassorbed back into the earth and go through living through a plant or something but there was no real reincarnation. Then someone died and the gears in my head started turning and my perception of things has changed. Now I'm thinking about moments in my life that had always felt a bit off.

Years ago I was standing outside a restaurant while my mother was inside picking up dinner and one of the employees glanced out the window. For whatever reason, we couldn't stop staring at eachother. I explained it to my friend as "it was like I knew him but we had never actually met."

I still maintain that I am not a religious person and I don't believe in heaven or god (much to the ire of my mother who has found religion in the last few years) but I do believe in reincarnation and respect those who believe it's due to a higher being. People often joke or make fun of things they don't understand or that they are afraid of (or both).

Yes. I agree. I think fear of offending religious (or atheist) sensibilities holds some people back from talking about it, and of course fear of being laughed at. A lot of times past life memories feel intensely personal. Having the courage to talk about it, then only to be laughed at (or yelled at) puts a lot of people off. Often, of course, when little kids try to talk about things their parents ignore them, misunderstand them or scold them which only reinforces this.

So, when things happen, as you say seeing someone who seemed so strangely familiar, they are more likely to file that one under 'strange things that happen' or 'it's just my imagination' and keep it to themselves.

probably because they were soldiers lol

I, like many or most of us here, have been a history buff since I was little. I think history buffs have subconscious past life memories whether they are aware of it or not. The historical time periods they are most interested in give clues to their past lives. Have you watched Civil War rein-actors or gone to a Ren-fare?

A few years back, I frequently would look online for reincarnation stories to share on my forum or to add to my homepage. Reincarnation did pop its head up in a very ugly way on a Titanic group not once, but twice. And, of course, it is talked about on Axis History Forum in not an always positive light. I have even seen reincarnation bashed on a Reddit page dedicated to the Wehrmacht recently.
So imagine my surprise when I visited a large Civil War forum, where a *moderator* had started a thread about reincarnation. He began it with mentioning Patton and how he believed in reincarnation and had a connection to certain battlefields. The mod then asked, "Are there people here that have connected with a particular battlefield?"
The responses were very thoughtful. Some folks mention just having deep, uncontrollable fear, and sadness. Some say they just knew they had been at a certain battlefield before. Others described flashes they got while visiting a certain place (visions, even phrases)....all these things WE discuss when talking about reincarnation.
Not everyone who responded had had this happen to them. However, there was no drama and even the non-believers were amazingly relaxed.
I was floored.

inhaltslos said:

He began it with mentioning Patton and how he believed in reincarnation

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**** i love patton..
Im very glad to see you could find a least some people who think of it at least in a respectful way. Usually those kind of people and spiritual issues are like water and oil.
One of the "problems" ive seen is though, maybe some have real connections but others might admire someone and start believing it was them in a past life.
I think same goes with people who claim to have been someone famous, and maybe they really feel it that way but it might just be triggering something familiar or related to that person/era/etc.
And as an obvious past life believer and history lover, to me is obvious a lot of people will feel drawn to foreign places and battles/war still (as awful as it is) since a big percentage of humans were soldiers/had to emigrate

I'm just going to put this here...

http://justsomething.co/24-celebrities-and-their-incredible-look-alikes-from-the-past/