Ian Stevenson

Even in the most convincing cases of children talking about past-life memories, some will find a grain of doubt. What do psychologists say about these children’s statements?

A 3-year-old seemed to know in detail about a confrontation his father’s acquaintance once had with a snake—but how he knew these details remains a mystery.

A theoretical physicist who worked with some of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, Henry Stapp says the existence of the soul fits within the laws of physics.

Epoch Times visited the University of Virginia to see reincarnation researcher Dr. Jim Tucker, who has 2,000 cases of children reporting past-life memories.

Encounters with the dead are reported by as many as 25 percent of Western Europeans and 30 percent of Americans.

Though science has made some progress in understanding how we store and access memories, much about memory remains a mystery.

Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson, professor emeritus at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik, has examined cases of children who seem to remember their past lives.

Ruprecht Schultz had a strange habit as a child of forming his fingers into the shape of a gun, and pointing at his head, saying “I shoot myself,” when he was unhappy. As an adult, it became clearer where this habit may have come from.

Nazih Al-Danaf used words his parents didn’t expect him to know at a very young age, showed an unusual interest in cigarettes and whisky, talked of a mute friend who had only one hand, said he had a red car, and said he died when people came to shoot at him.

Children who report memories of violent deaths in past lives may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to psychologist Dr. Erlendur Haraldsson, professor emeritus at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik.

When Lee was 2 ½ years old, he started talking about his “other mommy.” When he was 3 ½, he started becoming upset because he couldn’t go to his “other house,” and he needed to get back to work.

Whether someone is crazy or not can be officially determined by a manual widely used to diagnose mental illness. If psychologists were to all take the extreme materialist perspective and label any belief in a spiritual side of existence as delusion, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists alike could all be considered mentally ill.

Molly Curnutte talks about her son Cade’s memories of dying in a past life. His comments led her to believe he was killed in 9/11. It started as nightmares—many past-life recalls among children start as nightmares, say reincarnation experts.

Sammy Fernando was a tough, but colorful, character. He could play the Japanese mandolin and the rabana drum as well as sing and dance. He was working on the railways when he fell in love with Maggie Alwis.

Dr. Ian Stevenson didn’t finish his reincarnation studies without some success in reaching the mainstream science community.

“I didn’t see how a wound on one body could show up as a birthmark on another, even if you accepted the idea of past-life connections,” said reincarnation researcher Dr. Jim Tucker. Here’s a look at possible explanations.

David Paladin’s true story is one so full of hardship, perseverance, and metaphysical mystery, that it has captured the imagination of many over the past 70 years.

Hundreds of cases have been documented, some in medical journals, of people feeling the physical distress of their loved ones at a distance and without consciously knowing the loved ones are in distress.

When he was 4 years old, Ryan started talking about going home to Hollywood. He often directed imaginary movies, yelling “action!” His parents didn’t think much of it until his nightmares started.