8 Signs That You May Have Lived a Past Life
Have you ever wondered if you lived as someone else in the past? Medical and academic researchers, including the team at the University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Division of Perceptual Studies, have investigated thousands of possible cases of reincarnation. The strongest cases share eight characteristics. Read the list below and find out how many apply to you!
SIGN #1
You’re obsessed with a different time period.
Has anyone ever told you that you were born in the wrong time? Maybe you have a passion for classic cars, prefer to wear vintage clothing, only listen to hits from decades ago, or spend incredible amounts of time watching The History Channel. Clinical hypnotherapist John McGrail says this preferences may be the result of “intuitive feelings of being someone else somewhere else at another time.” In other words, you may be channeling a past life.
SIGN #2
You have an unusual birthmark.
Do you have a strange mark on your body that almost looks like a healed wound? The late Dr. Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia Medical School Division of Perceptual Studies documented hundreds of cases where people had a birthmark that matched with a fatal injury they remembered suffering in a past life. Under hypnosis, one man remembered an enemy spearing him through the chest. This patient had a triangular splotch right over his heart.
SIGN #3
You get déjà vu when visiting a particular place.
Have you ever visited somewhere new and had an overpowering feeling that you’ve been there before? 70% of people have experienced déjà vu, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The eerie sensation is most common among adults age 15 to 25 years of age, but anyone can experience this fleeting feeling of unnerving familiarity, according to the Clinic’s researchers.
Some neuroscientists think déjà vu is caused by temporarily crossed circuits in the brain’s hippocampus, the region that controls memory. Essentially, they hypothesize we are simply “remembering the present.” But what if we’re remembering something else entirely? Some experts in past-life hypnotherapy believe you may be accessing a memory from a former life.
SIGN #4
You have an irrational fear.
Are you afraid of something that people don’t typically find frightening? Dr. John McGrail said one of his patients was terrified to look directly at the sky. The woman had no idea what could be causing her fear, which had become quite debilitating. Then, through hypnotic regression, she remembered being accused of murder and hung at the gallows for the crime in a former life. Just before the floor dropped and the rope cracked her neck, she’d looked up at the clouds.
SIGN #5
You strongly identify with another culture.
Do you have a deep love for a culture other than the one you were born into? Beyond general interest, perhaps you find yourself wearing that culture’s traditional clothing, learning its language, cooking its signature dishes, listening to its music. Experts in past-life hypnotherapy recommend visiting that culture’s country or area of origin to immerse yourself in its heritage and possibly trigger specific memories of a past life.
SIGN #6
You demonstrated an extraordinary skill as a young child.
Were you a child prodigy in any particular field? Researchers call this the “phenom effect”—when a child expresses a near superhuman talent without clear explanation. Renowned psychiatrist Dr. Ian Stevenson documented a case that describes a young girl who was able to repair her family car’s broken alternator, having had no mechanical or automotive training.
And then, of course there was Mozart, who composed his first piece of music at age four. Some experts believe these individuals were accessing expertise obtained over the course of many previous lifetimes.
SIGN #7
You often dream about something specific.
Do you have a recurring dream, so vivid it feels completely real? Hypnotherapist Dr. McGrail says, “Recurring dreams focused around a given historic period, in which you are the same character interacting with the same cast of other characters,” could indicate a memory of a past life.
SIGN #8
Your partner is your soul mate.
Do you share a metaphysical connection with your partner on a deep emotional level? Through his medical practice, hypnotherapist Dr. Brian Weiss discovered his patients actually recognized current family members in past-life incarnations. The relationships changed—sometimes the mother was a daughter or a sister—but these souls seemed to be drawn to one another.
“In one case,” Dr. Weiss said, “Michelle, whose mother died when Michelle was a small child, was comforted to find that she and her mother were together before in the Middle Ages. They were husband and wife at that time.”
I came across these fascinating signs of possible reincarnation when researching for my latest psychological thriller, DON’T GET CLOSE. In the novel, scientists plan to conduct a controversial experiment at government lab to prove what happens after death, and an infamous reincarnation cult will do whatever it takes to stop them.
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About the author: Matt Miksa is a bestselling author and former FBI intelligence analyst who helped prevent foreign spies from stealing America’s secrets. Today, he writes thrillers that blend history, science, and espionage.
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Reputable medical and academic professionals have been studying the science of reincarnation for nearly a half-century. Their meticulous research has uncovered these 12 staggering facts.