Questions of the Reincarnation Type

Abstract

Field studies of cases of the reincarnation type (CORTs) tend to suggest that paranormal aspects are due to some kind of reincarnation involvement, partly because these studies were mainly carried out in communities that traditionally accept and interpret paranormal fi ndings as evidence for reincarnation.  Based on fi eld research of several hundred CORTs, this is an attempt to present data that can be regarded as being well-established and which support explanation of psi via living agents.  Questioning reincarnation assumptions may be regarded by some critics as an admission of major problems associated with this research.  However, by emphasizing basic data, i.e., apparently paranormal information provided by children about deceased persons, the importance of these investigations may be more readily appreciated even by scientists who generally reject all results associated with reincarnation research.  This discussion is less concerned with the evidence for paranormal aspects of the cases (which have been examined in various publications) but more with questions, which follow from the assumption that the majority of cases include paranormal components.  This paper is mainly based on fi eldwork results, which are in agreement with a living agent psi explanation.  It is not an examination of particular historical or contemporary cases that perhaps appear to support the survival hypothesis.