James G. Matlock, PhD, an anthropologist, is coauthor (with Erlendur Haraldsson) of I Saw a Light and Came Here: Children’s Experiences of Reincarnation. He is a regular contributor to the online Psi Encyclopedia sponsored by the Society for Psychical Research in London. He has authored dozens of academic papers concerning reincarnation and related areas.

Here he reviews our knowledge of reincarnation beliefs among the ancient Aryans, Hindus, Buddhists, Greeks, Romans, Jews, and early Christians. He notes that each of these cultures had contact with primitive, tribal peoples who based their reincarnation beliefs upon the sort of psychophysical signs that are observed today. Eventually each of these cultures elaborated their reincarnation beliefs.

(Recorded on November 14, 2017)

Published on May 3, 2018