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Some interesting statistics

deborah

deborah

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Last fall I met with Carol Bowman at the Childspirit Institute Conference. I was fortunate enough to have breakfast with both Carol and Jim B. Tucker - Ian Stevenson's replacement. I also attended Jim's lecture.

In the lecture he spoke of what he looks for when researching cases. Certain behaviors.

* Emotions toward family of previous live

* Phobias related to the mode of death

* Like and Dislike

* Past Life themes in play

* Cross gender behavior.

He stated that the majority of children studied describe ordinary lives and that careful study had shown an average of 15 months between death and rebirth. 70% had unnatural means of death - often violent. The children discuss people or events from the end of their prior life and that birthmarks and birth defects were often marks from fatal wounds from before.

His tests with 15 subjects were between the ages of 3-6 years old. Eight boys and seven girls and all were in the US.

11 - remembered a life of a stranger - no one that was known to the child now,

3 - were a grandparent

1 - was a great grandparent

And only three families of the 15 believed in reincarnation BEFORE the childs memories surfaced.

Tucker also stated this research is SO IMPORTANT because it contributes to the evidence of the survival CONSCIOUSNESS.

Thought I would share............and I look forward to your thoughts, input and reflections.
 
That is really interesting Deborah. I've heard of cases where children remembered thier past life families with such detail, that the families were actually located and introduced to the child. I think one of these cases is on Carol Bowman's web site. I enjoy reading past life cases. There is one where 2 people remembered the same life from different perspectives. They had known each other in that life.
 
HI Aquaria,

Can you tell us where to read about the people who remembered living and knowing of each other in a past life?

Yes, there are several cases on Carol's web page and in the Library. :thumbsup:
 
Interesting that so many died unexpected and/or violent deaths, and that all came back so quickly. Did Mr. Tucker offer a theory to explain that?
 
Was this study just done with kids who remembered a past life? If so, I guess we can surmise that those who remember a past life are more likely to have died violently... and maybe that's why they remember.

However, if it was a cross-section of kids from the general population, most of whom didn't remember any lives at all, then maybe most of them had peaceful ends to their past lives. It's just that nobody would ever know because they didn't have any memories!

Interesting...

Lib
 
Hi Niamh and Lib.

I don't have the answer to your question Niamh but I imagine Ian Stevenson has written about it in his articles. I seem to remember something about it years ago but cannot locate the information right now.

Yes - these children have past life memories Lib. I wouldn't say that a violent death is necessary in order for children to remember. Many children speak of when they were "big" without trauma attached. It would be very interesting to know though. :)

I posted yesterday about the methodology of children's past life memories in the science section. Perhaps there is something there. :)
 
70% had unnatural means of death - often violent.
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I think it's interesting that such a high percentage died violently in a previous life. I would have thought the opposite would be more common. To die of old age. But, it does make sense that a person would remember a past life after a violent death because it would seem like the life just ends suddenly without warning and souls have no time to prepare for what's to come after.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. :)
 
For those talking about the length of time between life times: Stevenson and Tucker's research so far suggests that the majority of children studied describe ordinary lives and that careful study had shown an average of 15 months between death and rebirth.
 
Very fascinating. I can see the past life themes come out in my son's play and I can almost guess what the next memory will be about. Hard to describe but the way that he plays with things that regard a past life is different than the way he plays anything else.
2 quick examples - he walked up to an African drum that his teacher had brought to class and played a very complex beat on it. She is taking African drum lessons. He has done this before with drums since he was 18 months old. He speaks of a past life in Africa.
He touches his neck a lot and wants all of his shirts to come up really high on his neck. He's adamant about this. Its a new fixation so I didn't want to go buy him new shirts in the hopes it would go away. Turns out he was asphyxiated in the African lifetime. Struggle's over though because I found shirts on sale at Old Navy.
Vicky
 
Yes, these are very interesting statistics. 70% died in some sort of violent death. When I've read descriptions of children who remember their past life, this is a very common theme. Do you have any other Statistics? Are there any other common themes related to the other 30% who did not die a violent death. For example, were they in a major accident, i.e. a plane crash?

The two lives I always got in trouble for talking about when I was young ended violently. Any theories out there about why these lives (the ones with violent ends) are easily remembered?

There was some talk about phobias. I had and still have a phobia from one of these lives .... Rifles. I remember (this life) as a little Boy Scout my first experience with a Rifle. I was terribly upset just to be around a Rifle. The first time I had to hold one, I flipped out for some reason and was inconsolable the entire night.

Also, are there reasons some children came back to the same family while other children did not? Did they say anything about it?
 
Hi shafty,

I think things that are violent enough to end your life are probably more easily remembered. Also, when one dies violently, it is also most likely suddenly. I believe that may have an effect on memories.

My six year old son has been talking about past life memories for a year now but has not spoken of actually dying until recently. I think he just remembered it but he only remembers a lot of white light everywhere, not his actual death. This leads me to believe his death was not violent.

Vicky
 
As I do.....

..........and I look forward to your thoughts, input and reflections --Deborah
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Besides the fives narrated I would "look for when researching" a case of reincarnation-type:


1. Documentations like astrologer's registers,horoscopes,school records,letters,diaries,police records,court-judgment and post-mortem report etc.


2. Birth-marks/defects corresponding to past life.


3. Unlearnt skills.


4. Xenoglossy.


5. Knowledge of some things unknown to others but were known to the Pp.


Dr.K.S.Rawat
 
This thread is interesting- just a little note about my daughter- she is 8 and has a light brown birth mark on her right ankle and as a toddler, she would complain about pain in her ankle at that exact spot. She did go to the doctor and even had x-rays, nothing is wrong or ever was wrong with her ankle. Now that she is older, she does not mention it any more.
 
People in the present who survive horrific accidents or violent events often suffer from things like post traumatic stress disorder. They also invariably relive the events in nightmares; sometimes for the rest of their life. Violent experiences inevitably make a huge and lasting impression upon the person's mind and cannot be easily forgotten. It is therefore not surprising to me that children, who in a recent past life suffered a violent death, should have memories of what happened to them.


In view of how quickly they often return into the world, their memories are still recent and just below the surface of their conscious mind. It is very likely that at least something of what they experienced will surface in dreams and night terrors and may also filter through during their waking state. Likewise, phobias or a marked aversion to something that reminds them of the traumatic death or event that led to it. I


n some cases, an aversion or fear of something may be the only sign of a past life trauma or violent death. In short, the memories may be more deeply buried and surface only during regression by a therapist.


I suspect that the reason many return so quickly is because their lives were cut short and they have unfinished business here. If the unfinished business involves family members, it seems logical that they would choose to be born back into the same family if that is possible.


Interesting thread, Deborah - thank you!


Angelcat :)
 
Interesting thing happening in my house. My son does not mention his memories any more. He is 7 1/2. In one of the the two main lives that he's spoken about, he was mauled by a large cat animal and died later from an infection.


He has had extreme, sleep disrupting, fear of large cat animals in this life. This was better as memories faded until recently when he started to have nightmares about fighting with the large cat. He woke up screaming a few nights ago and when I went in there, he told me that he had killed the animal in our back yard with a rock. We don't have any rocks in our back yard so I'm hoping he relived something that really happened and that it is over now.


I agree that it is definitely like post traumatic stress disorder. I can't think of a better way to describe what he has been through.


I feel blessed to have been chosen as his mama in this life so that I can help be a part of his healing. Even just holding him after a nightmare, knowing that at that brief moment in time, we are encompassing several lifetimes, is a blessing.


BTW, in his lifetime where he was killed by the large cat animal, I was his mother and I was the one who let it in the house. So perhaps on a cosmic level, I need to be the one to help him through.


Whew! Sorry for the length.
 
Thanks, Deborah; for re-opening this thread.


I do feel strongly that anyone, concerned with the validity of reincarnation, should first read Dr. Ian Stevenson's book, "20 Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation". For one thing, Dr. Stevenson does not, in any way, suggest that he undertook his studies, because he already believed in reincarnation. He clearly did not. Second, one can tell by reading this book, that he took great pains to disprove each case wherever possible. He also took great pains to show that many of the people involved, such as relatives and friends of the subject, tried to trick or fool the subject whenever possible.


It would be no surprise to the reader that very few cases were reported in Christian countries, considering the dogmatic ban the Church has specifically placed upon reincarnation, even though the bible, itself, indicates that Jesus never preached against reincarnation.


However, since the publication of Dr. Ian Stevenson's work, the study of reincarnation has blossomed into a major point of interest in the U.S. and Europe; and, as such, has set the groundwork for the reporting of verifiable cases in such books as Dr. Brian Weiss', "Many Lives, Many Masters", and Carol Bowman's, "Children's Past Lives". Since then, there have been numerous books and articles, indicating that reincarnation has entered the mainstream of Western consciousness. This has not happened, because everyone has suddenly turned to the devil after reading some fairy tales. But, rather, because the floodgates of truth have opened up in a way never before witnessed.


For those, who still remain uneasy about the subject on religious grounds, one should become familiar with the history of how our present bible has been edited to serve political necessity over the centuries by reading Elaine Pagels', "The Gnostic Gospels" for starters. There is so much more information that is available out there, and many reputable books and articles can be found on this forum. Just navigate to "BOOKS and ARTICLES about Reincarnation".
 
My son seems to have remembered a past life that was long ago, though there is evidence of lives between. He did die violently in that life, but his focus was on the girl he was going to marry then. He told me she is available for him to marry again in this life, and that she'll be "coming up" in his life. That seems to be the reason for focusing on that particular life. He mentioned at one point that he was with her again, but he was much too old to marry her. So essentially, he skipped lives that weren't of greatest consequence to him now.


I say everything in past tense because he's now 5 and doesn't seem to remember any of the details he was so vocal about at age 3.
 
Paul Weiss once mentiomed that you could ask a child at around the age of 3-4 if they remembered "when they were big" and you would usually get a great response. I think since most kids aren't asked that they don't volunteer the info, however people who had traumatic lives before maybe can't help but remember and vocalize it. This might be why so many PL recalls seem to center around violence, just a thought:-)
 
4mysonK said:
...he's now 5 and doesn't seem to remember any of the details he was so vocal about at age 3.
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Hi Ian's Mom! It's so good to know that you are still keeping up with the Forum. I'm relatively new, but have read your entire thread about Ian; and, I must say, that your account is one of the most interesting that I've ever read. Regarding Dr. Harold Hill, I imagined that he could have been an English Dr. living in Asia within the past two hundred years, so I would guess that he's passed on long ago. However, some Chinese or Korean history books may have some reference for him in the imperial court somewhere.


The input that everyone has given seems to have help quite a bit. I'm sad to hear that Ian is no longer remembering his Past Life, but it seems to be a specific event for children who remember up to a point, for some reason or purpose which is not very common, but apparently routine for that age. It reminds me of a butterfly emerging from his cocoon as different now, but the same, if you know what I mean. For some reason, you have been granted an exclusive opportunity to witness something that is awe inspiring and reassuringly magic. Thank you!
 
For those who are new to the forum, you might like to read the information posted in this thread. :D
 
For those talking about the length of time between life times: Stevenson and Tucker's research so far suggests that the majority of children studied describe ordinary lives and that careful study had shown an average of 15 months between death and rebirth.
 
Deborah said:
For those talking about the length of time between life times: Stevenson and Tucker's research so far suggests that the majority of children studied describe ordinary lives and that careful study had shown an average of 15 months between death and rebirth.
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Those numbers may be accurate. However, the cases studied by Stevenson and Tucker are a sample, which because of the nature of the cases examined, may not be typical of the whole. For example, we may well ask, what about the many people who do not consciously recall a past life?

The study by Helen Wambach came up with much longer timescales, though she did conclude that the interval between lives tended to be longer in past centuries, presumably because there were fewer births available in the smaller population. Unfortunately I don't think Wambach's work is being continued by any present-day researchers, so we don't have an up-to-date picture from that perspective.
 
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