Return To Contents Page

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is a view shared by many pagans, and is generally considered a necessary belief for the Wiccan system. Without it one could be very close in ideas and philosophies to a wiccan, but would not be considered a quote unquote Wiccan.

The idea of reincarnation is a product of the idea that everything in nature is cyclical. Day to night, the cycle of the seasons, phases of the moon. Modern physics teach us that matter itself is constantly spinning. Planets revolve around suns, everything moves in cycle of some type. From this idea two major schools of thought have formed. I'll go iver them both here and then give my own spin as an example. Keep in mind it is, of course, merely an opinion.

The first school of thought is that when someone dies, their life energy, or soul if you will, is dispersed back into nature to be recycled. The body becomes nutrients in soil, which in turn become grass, which is eaten my herbivores, which eventually fall prey to carnivores, who die and become nutrients in soil. The soul would progress through all of these stages, dispering into nature and constantly being recycled, in a great circle of life, to quote the Lion King.

The other major idea is that when we die our souls are born again, into a new vessel. There is a lot of debate on whether we are always people or if we can be born as animals, or even plants. Through this cycle our souls learn new lessons in every lifetime, with the eventual goal being complete enlightenment, perfection, or whatever term you want to place on it. Ideas of what happens to the soul if and when this is finally accomplished vary greatly. Some believe we become helping spirits, others think we become demi gods, and still others think we actually merge in with the divine energy of the universe, effectively becoming one with divinity ourselves. I'm sure there are a multitude of other ideas I am not personally familiar with.

My own theory coincides with the latter idea of the soul remaining intact and being reborn. I think when we die we decide what form we wish to come back in the next time around. In one life I could be a girl in China, the next a member of the British the royal family, and in the next a poor urchin in a large city. It would all depend on what lessons I would need to learn in life. If I keep making the same mistakes, I will be reborn into situations that give me chance to work through them. As for what would happen once the soul reaches its goal of perfection, I'm not sure at this point and still pondering the question.

I hope that this brief overview of some of the dominant ideas concerning reincarnation help in some way. In the end, everyone has to form their own beliefs on the subject.