Reincarnation

[Soulful Journey]

I posted this on a parenting board about a month ago. It's a copy and paste. I didn't get much feedback there, but another member recommended I join this board. I'll be back to make updates later, as my toddler needs my attention at the moment. This is my first post here and I am so happy to have found this community!

Many thanks in advance.

My DS is 22 months old. For months now he has been telling DH and me about a birdie he sees and asking us where the birdie went. Sometimes he will say, "In the window. Birdie in the window." I don't know exactly what this means. Wednesday morning he woke early asking where the birdie went. I asked him the birdie's name. He thought for a moment and said our last name twice, followed by his paternal grandfather's first and last name. We've only referred to his paternal grandfather as Paw Paw. We have one picture in our home of his Paw Paw and DS is very attracted to that picture.

DH then took DS to the computer and placed DS on his lap. He showed DS pictures of his father, pictures that DS had never seen. DH was silent and just listened when DS spoke. DS recognized his grandfather as a baby and young child in several different pictures, calling him Paw Paw. Again, DH said nothing at all. There is a certain photo of FIL later in his life; when DH opened it, DS said, "I sorry, I sorry, sorry, uh hurt? uh hurt?" The next photo of him, DS said, "ah granny, ah granny, ah granny". Everyone called DH's paternal grandmother “Granny”. DH's father always referred to her as Granny to DH. When DH got to photos of FIL and DH's stepmother, DS said, "it kill, it kill, it kill". He has NEVER heard this word before. DH's FIL died of an overdose. DH was FIL's only child and they had a truly special connection.

Last night DS was playing around, bouncing on the bed and interacting with DH and me. DS said the following to us.

"I killed. I killed. I died. I alive again. Again. I came back. All better."

DS has never heard the word killed, died or even alive. He wouldn't have a frame of reference for those words.

We're trying to process this and would appreciate any and all perspectives.

 

[ChrisR]

Hi Soulful Journey, welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your experience with your son.


It does sound very likely that he's referring to a past life, but this is no cause for alarm, as it is very much more common in children than most people realize. The fact is, we all have past lives, but the memories are so much clearer in children because they are still young enough not to have their subconscious clouded by present day experiences .... they are closer to their past lives than they will be at any other time in their present life.


As long as these memories are not distressing him in any way, then the best advice is just to move through this period with him. It won't last forever, and the vast majority of children forget about their past lives by the time they reach about 7 years of age. He's very lucky to have parents with an open mind, most parents will dismiss these things as childhood imagination or fantasy.


If he continues to speak about his past life, try asking him a few simple questions. Don't try to force anything out of him, and keep it simple - ask him if he can remember his name, describe the clothes he was wearing, who his friends were, what he did for a living - just a few examples, nothing complicated. Then make sure you write everything down that he says, a journal can be invaluable later on if you want to validate something. Maybe you could ask him to draw pictures? All of these things will make him feel comfortable to talk about it in your presence, and will have a therapeutic affect if he has carried any issues over from his last life to the present.


You can also find a lot of further information in Carol's books: Children's Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child and Return From Heaven: Beloved Relatives Reincarnated Within Your Family


I hope this helps, and I'm sure others will have more to add. Please keep us updated, and enjoy the forum


Chris

 

[Nightrain]

Hi Soulful Journey and welcome to the Forum!


Chris is right on the money, and I can't do much more than to reinforce what he says. What you are experiencing a classic case of what author Carol Bowman calls a "Return From Heaven", in which a deceased grandparent or great-grandparent returns to the family as a newborn. You are right to embrace the experience, because it is rare as well as mind-bending. Journal everything! You'll never regret it.

 

[AKP]

Hi souful Jorney! Thanks for your posting. Since it is so fresh and he is just 22 months old, why not contact Jim Tucker (at UOV) and see if he will take it up as one of his cases. Just a thought!


AKP.

 

[Mama2HRB]

Hello, and welcome to the forum. Write down all that your little one says because it is so easy to forget as time goes by. This is a weird question but was his death a suicide or is it possible something more sinister happened, or perhaps an awful accident? The use of I killed. I killed. and uh sorry uh sorry. is a weird choice of words.


I don't think he is remembering being your FIL or MIL because he calls them granny and paw paw. Is there anyone else who died in the family that was near them when paw paw died?


Just playing amateur detective.

 

[Kristopher]

Hello Soulful Journey. Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your story with us.


I can only back what others have said. I believe that Carol Bowman's books, as Chris and Nightrain have suggested, will be of great interest to you.


I hope that you keep us updated on anything else your child says! :thumbsup:

 

[Lady2]

Hello Soulful Journey,


Welcome to the forum! Thank you for sharing your story, it sounds like your child is definitely remembering a past life. Others have already given you some great advice & links, there is much on this forum that can help you to learn more about reincarnation, and hopefully understand it better.


Journaling is a absolute must. It will help you 'connect the dots' so to speak, with all the bits and pieces your child may mention over time.


Do keep us updated! :thumbsup:

 

[Blueheart]

"I sorry, I sorry, sorry, uh hurt? uh hurt?" The next photo of him, DS said, "ah granny, ah granny, ah granny".

It sounds to me as if your son was appologizing to his father and asking if he was really hurt by what happened. After seeing the next photo, I would guess his thoughts turned to Granny, and he wanted to know if his passing 'killed' her.


Answering these questions may resolve any lingering guilt he may have carried over. You may find, if your son can be reassured, that he will find closure and memories of this life will fade.


The birdie in the window sounds to me like a description of a spiritual experience. It is difficult for a 22 month old to wrap his tounge and brain arround the English language, much less try to explain an undefinable experience. You are doing a great job, Mom, by simply listening to him, taking him seriously, and not just brushing it off with a, "There's no bird in the window . . ."


The ancient Egyptians, by the way, saw the spark-of-life as the Ba or a bird with a human head. It would leave the host's body upon it's last breath and then flitter off, to find a new baby being born. It would enter that child, and like a spark plug, start the energy or breath-of-life in a new body with that child's first cry.


I am wondering why you first posted to a parenting website? My daughter was once my grandmother, and while there were some issues with her calling me by my first name and trying to boss me around, on the whole we have had no issues beyond typical mom-child dynamic. Is there something else that concerns you?

 

[Soulful Journey]

Hi Soulful Journey, welcome to the forum, and thanks for sharing your experience with your son.
It does sound very likely that he's referring to a past life, but this is no cause for alarm, as it is very much more common in children than most people realize. The fact is, we all have past lives, but the memories are so much clearer in children because they are still young enough not to have their subconscious clouded by present day experiences .... they are closer to their past lives than they will be at any other time in their present life.


As long as these memories are not distressing him in any way, then the best advice is just to move through this period with him. It won't last forever, and the vast majority of children forget about their past lives by the time they reach about 7 years of age. He's very lucky to have parents with an open mind, most parents will dismiss these things as childhood imagination or fantasy.


If he continues to speak about his past life, try asking him a few simple questions. Don't try to force anything out of him, and keep it simple - ask him if he can remember his name, describe the clothes he was wearing, who his friends were, what he did for a living - just a few examples, nothing complicated. Then make sure you write everything down that he says, a journal can be invaluable later on if you want to validate something. Maybe you could ask him to draw pictures? All of these things will make him feel comfortable to talk about it in your presence, and will have a therapeutic affect if he has carried any issues over from his last life to the present.


You can also find a lot of further information in Carol's books: Children's Past Lives: How Past Life Memories Affect Your Child and Return From Heaven: Beloved Relatives Reincarnated Within Your Family


I hope this helps, and I'm sure others will have more to add. Please keep us updated, and enjoy the forum


Chris

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts. We have been recording the things he has said to us in a Word document. I'll be sure to share that here. I like your idea of having him draw pictures. Right now he is 23 months old and "scribbles", but as he gets older, I'm sure having him draw will be useful and therapeutic for him.


Thanks also for the book recommendations. I'll be sure to read them soon.

 

[Soulful Journey]

Hi Soulful Journey and welcome to the Forum!
Chris is right on the money, and I can't do much more than to reinforce what he says. What you are experiencing a classic case of what author Carol Bowman calls a "Return From Heaven", in which a deceased grandparent or great-grandparent returns to the family as a newborn. You are right to embrace the experience, because it is rare as well as mind-bending. Journal everything! You'll never regret it.

I guess I didn't realize it was that rare for a grandparent to return (now that my mind has been opened to reincarnation). Very interesting.

Hi souful Jorney! Thanks for your posting. Since it is so fresh and he is just 22 months old, why not contact Jim Tucker (at UOV) and see if he will take it up as one of his cases. Just a thought!
AKP.

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with the acronyms UOV or AKP. We contacted a woman named Susan Gale from A Place of Light. She has met with our son and there is a possibility that he could be part of a research study through some contacts of hers. I haven't heard back yet.

Hello, and welcome to the forum. Write down all that your little one says because it is so easy to forget as time goes by. This is a weird question but was his death a suicide or is it possible something more sinister happened, or perhaps an awful accident? The use of I killed. I killed. and uh sorry uh sorry. is a weird choice of words.
I don't think he is remembering being your FIL or MIL because he calls them granny and paw paw. Is there anyone else who died in the family that was near them when paw paw died?


Just playing amateur detective.

He died of an accidental overdose of pain meds. He had a very bad back and was in a lot of pain. I have more to write and I will talk about why we believe he is his grandfather reincarnated in my next post. ... I don't know if his spirit doesn't realize how he died or what killed him, or if he realizes and feels bad about it. I can't think of another close person who died around the same time as his grandfather.

Hello Soulful Journey. Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing your story with us.
I can only back what others have said. I believe that Carol Bowman's books, as Chris and Nightrain have suggested, will be of great interest to you.


I hope that you keep us updated on anything else your child says! :thumbsup:

Thanks for the support. I'll definitely keep you updated.

Hello Soulful Journey,
Welcome to the forum! Thank you for sharing your story, it sounds like your child is definitely remembering a past life. Others have already given you some great advice & links, there is much on this forum that can help you to learn more about reincarnation, and hopefully understand it better.


Journaling is a absolute must. It will help you 'connect the dots' so to speak, with all the bits and pieces your child may mention over time.


Do keep us updated! :thumbsup:

Thank you! I'll be sure to post updates.

 

[Soulful Journey]

It sounds to me as if your son was appologizing to his father and asking if he was really hurt by what happened. After seeing the next photo, I would guess his thoughts turned to Granny, and he wanted to know if his passing 'killed' her.
Answering these questions may resolve any lingering guilt he may have carried over. You may find, if your son can be reassured, that he will find closure and memories of this life will fade.


The birdie in the window sounds to me like a description of a spiritual experience. It is difficult for a 22 month old to wrap his tounge and brain arround the English language, much less try to explain an undefinable experience. You are doing a great job, Mom, by simply listening to him, taking him seriously, and not just brushing it off with a, "There's no bird in the window . . ."


The ancient Egyptians, by the way, saw the spark-of-life as the Ba or a bird with a human head. It would leave the host's body upon it's last breath and then flitter off, to find a new baby being born. It would enter that child, and like a spark plug, start the energy or breath-of-life in a new body with that child's first cry.


I am wondering why you first posted to a parenting website? My daughter was once my grandmother, and while there were some issues with her calling me by my first name and trying to boss me around, on the whole we have had no issues beyond typical mom-child dynamic. Is there something else that concerns you?

I think my son was apologizing to his father. His mother passed away before he did. ... Interesting perspective on the "birdie" my son sees. At first my husband and I didn't know if he was seeing an angel or the spirit of a loved one who passed. It has been mentioned to us that this could be his spirit animal, possibly.


I posted to a parenting board that I've posted on for a few years now, a place where I feel comfortable. When our son started saying these things, I didn't know where to go for more information, or what to do with the information I had. I wanted to connect with other parents who had similar experiences, but I didn't know where to look for that. Also, I posted in the Spirituality forum, so I was looking for spiritual guidance.


Thanks for sharing your thoughts. My next post will be my "update".

 

[Soulful Journey]

Update/Log/Part 1


Thanks to everyone who responded so very much!! I'm sorry it took me so long to come back to update, but I am the mom of 2 little ones under 2 years of age, and I don't have a lot of computer time where I am able to write thoughtful responses (or to type with two hands). I'm going to post some things from our log that we've been keeping, and maybe adding a little to it here and there. Lately he hasn't been speaking too much about his past life, within the past week or so.


This all started the 30th of November, what I wrote about in my initial post, looking at the pictures and such, although he was talking about the "birdie" months before then. I'm starting where I left off in the original post.


Friday December 2nd


Malachi just asked me (mom) several times, "What killed?" --I didn't know how to respond to him, as I wasn't sure if he was asking what killed him or what the word killed means. My gut says that he wanted to know what killed him.


I was nursing him down and telling how much we (mommy and daddy) love both him and his brother and how we protect them, etc. when he stared toward the dresser/foot of the bed and repeated "Granny." --I wanted him to feel safe, hence letting him know he is protected and safe, in light of his recent memories. I wonder if this made him think of his Granny who might "protect" him, as well? Or possibly he was really seeing her spirit?)


Saturday December 3rd


After his bath, our son jumped up onto the bed, fell back and said, "Bye bye". His father asked him, "Where are you going?" Our son said matter-of-factly, "I died." --This is exactly what happened in his grandfather's last moments. He fell backward onto the bed and died.


Monday December 5th


Our son approached me (Mom) and asked for a hug. He then said, "I sorry." I asked why he was sorry and he said, "I got hurt." He hadn't actually been hurt at that time.


I needed to change Malachi's diaper and I gently tossed him onto the bed. He asked for a hug and then he said, "I not hurt." --I'm thinking here that my tossing him onto the bed reminded him of how he died and he was reassuring himself that he's okay and "not hurt".


Tuesday, December 6th


We were on the bed. Malachi repeatedly said, "I did die. I did die. I did die."


Malachi stated several times today that the birdie went bye bye.

 

[Leesea]

Hi, Soulful Journey, thank you for sharing this and it sure does seem to fit with a past life that he may have experienced. It does seem likely that he may be your grandfather, and as far as calling himself paw paw I have seen little ones look at their own picture and call their own name instead of saying "it's me."


Looking forward to your updates and welcome to the forum.


ETA


Oops I see you posted while I was typing.

 

[Soulful Journey]

Update/Log/Part 2


Wednesday, December 7


My son just said two things to me (Mom). I asked him what he wanted to eat. He said, “Meat yucky. Meat yucky.” Strange.


(As a side note here, we are a vegetarian home. My husband is an omnivore and occasionally eats meat outside the home. Although we are raising our sons as vegetarians, we don't refer to meat negatively. We really don't talk about it period. So he hasn't heard from us (or anyone in this life) that meat is yucky. Also, he loves beans, nuts, seeds, tempeh, tofu, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, etc. But if something has a meat-like consistency, like seitan or some veggie burgers, he doesn't like it. My husband and I like to have seitan (wheat-meat) occasionally, but this is never a hit with our son, who is a very good eater, generally.)


Then he walked up to me and said, “I . I .”


I was washing dishes and our son said from the gate, "I ."


Monday, December 19th


Our son just said to me (Dad) as we were laying down, "Big Tuck! How he get hurt? How he get hurt?" Our Our son knows an ambulance as a big truck, because he has ridden in one twice.


Monday, December 26th


During dinner he said, "Mommy dead."


Tuesday, Dec 27th


Our son punched his parents in his sleep, then became inconsolable.


Thursday, Dec 29th


Our son said, "They beat me. They beat me". More brief pillow punching in the night.


Our son has also been complaining of his back hurting. He remembers being in a lot of pain. (His grandfather had a very, very bad back and walked with a cane at the age of 50.)


Friday, December 30th


Our son saw a picture of his grandmother (his paternal grandmother who he previously referred to as Granny) and said, "Mommy".


Saturday, December 31st


Our son awoke from a nap and began to talk about his cane. He said that he died. We told him that he was all better now.


We watched a home movie from when I (Dad) had my 3 year birthday party. Our son saw my father and said, "his grandfather's first and last name".


Sunday, January 1st 2012


In recent weeks our son has been saying. "Go bye bye? Go home?" We have questioned to ourselves what he could mean by adding "Go home?" Our son said it again this morning, so I (Dad) asked him, "Where is home?" He said, "Heaven."


He also said at one point what sounded like," used to kill, use to kill. use to kill. In hell in hell". (This really freaked us out. We think this was from a different past life perhaps? As for the reference to hell, we've never talked about hell in our home and I personally don't believe in it, or at least I didn't believe in it.)


Tonight after we came back from the grocery store, I (Dad) opened the back seat door to unbuckle him from his car seat and he said, "What happened to big? What happened to big?" We believe he was remembering that he used to be "big" and is wondering why he's little now. (I had his Dad explain to him very simply that he used to be big, but that he died and was born again as a baby, that someday he will be big again. I'm not sure we should have said this to him, but he's already told us that he was reincarnated, so we didn't give him new information. We just tried to help him understand it.)


I guess that's my update for now. I'd love for folks to share any further thoughts. Thanks so much!

 

[Leesea]

So good you are writing all of this down and eventually you may learn more that can be corroborated. He really seems special your DS.


When he asked about Big I thought of the death of the notorious rapper BIG who was murdered and they do not know who did it last I heard.


Was grandfather interested in all kinds of music including rap by any chance, or about the coastal wars in the music business?

 

[Mama2HRB]

Hi,


Thanks for the update. It is very interesting, to say the least. Your son speaks of "the birdie". My mother has told me of a belief that when a bird flies into someone's window there will be a death in the house. Also, if the grandfather ever worked in the mines, birds were used to check to see if it was safe there. The miners took a bird in a cage with them. If the bird died, it was not safe to stay there.


His use of "killed" and "in hell" intrigue me. I do believe there is more to the story here.


Also, a few generations ago it was not uncommon for parents to call each other Mommy and Daddy.


I am glad your son chose to be born to you. By being open minded you can help him to grow and understand what he is dealing with.

 

[Indian]

Very interesting to read about the development of your dear sons memories


UoV refers to University of Virginia, one of the few universities with some openness towards parapsychological studies.


Jim Tucker is the successor of Ian Stevenson. Stevenson - the originator of modern reincarnation research - investigated children worldwide while Tucker concentrates mostly on american children: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_B._Tucker


Here is a video from Tuckers investigation of a scottish child who remembers a life on the remote island of Barra:

 

[AKP]

It's fascinating to read your posts. I hope you keep us updated.


Jim Tucker, as Indian explained above, is from University of Virginia. But when I think about it, if he is following Ian Stevenson's method of selecting a case then he would not go for within family type cases, because of possibility of influence.


AKP.

 

[Nightrain]

...he would not go for within family type cases, because of possibility of influence.

Actually, Jim Tucker is constantly investigating same-family cases, because those are practically the only ones that are reported in Europe and America—with the possible exception of American Indians in the Northwest. Family influence can be an issue, but researchers would be ill-advised to ignore many of the strong cases because of that problem.

 

[Kristopher]

Actually, Jim Tucker is constantly investigating same-family cases, because those are practically the only ones that are reported in Europe and America—with the possible exception of American Indians in the Northwest. Family influence can be an issue, but researchers would be ill-advised to ignore many of the strong cases because of that problem.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Carol]

Soulful Journey,


I believe Susan Gale contacted me about your case. I emailed her from the road, but I think my email was blocked by her spam protector.


Anyway, it sounds as if you have a case of reincarnation in your family. It is a fairly common phenomenon that not many people know about. However, when you start hearing statements like your son's, you know something is up.


I'm not really interested in verifying these cases. Let's assume that your son is remembering the life of his grandfather. I think it's most important to consider how his grandfather's life and death are still affecting your son. If his grandfather died suddenly of an overdose, I imagine he would have wanted to apologize or explain what happened to his loved ones. It seems, from what you said, that your son is talking specifically about the death. That's not unusual, either.


Without giving too much personal information, do you feel that your son's grandfather left with "unfinished business" with the family? If so, identify those issues and when your son brings up the death, assure him that grandfather was loved and everyone missed him. Or whatever you feel he needs to hear. Also assure him that he is now in a new body with a strong back. I know this might sound a little odd if you haven't read my book, but sometimes physical symptoms carry over into another life; they can be tied in to the emotions of the death. Once you help your son "process" the death and any lingering feelings, his back might feel better. We do carry emotional, mental, and physical traces with us--especially from traumatic deaths.


PLEASE read Children's Past Lives as soon as you can. Start with chapter 8, called "Blake". Blake's mother talked her son through his traumatic memories. I think you'd feel more comfortable in talking to your son if you knew that this is part of the soul's healing process. These memories often surface very early in life because the soul wants to heal from the wounds of the past.


We are happy to help you through this process. It's unfolding in a natural way, which is good. Now that you're in the middle of it, it's important to let your son know that you understand and that he is now loved, safe, and in a different body.