Below is my e-mailed response to John Blankenship's article for The Register-Herald, entitled "Do you think that it's possible that we've lived before?"

Dear Mr. Blankenship:

I was interested to see your overview article on reincarnation, which, although typically skeptical in tone, was more balanced than some inasmuch as it presented some cases.

Note that the supposed debunking of the Bridey Murphy case was itself fraudulent. Logically, the subject came up with historically verified details that would have been extremely unlikely to have been obtained from the Irish adult in her childhood. Rather, it is typical that in early childhood, there will be a minor "recapitulation" of an earlier life, like a ripple spreading out from the initial landing of a stone in water. So the Irish adult in her childhood is consistent with the general pattern and could have been predicted; but could not have explained the information gained under hypnosis. It is a case of a reductionistic interpretation putting the cart before the horse.

It is my understanding that the debunkers of this case actually went to the lengths of publishing a forged retraction.* So in terms of ethics, the debunkers were clearly not the more reliable party. They did, however, succeed in planting the idea in the public consciousness that the case had been debunked. In a sense, I think the public colluded with the debunkers because it was much more comfortable to believe it was false, so everybody was eager to grasp at any straw. Kind of like if you see your lover kissing someone on a street corner wearing their red hat. When you confront her, she says, "Oh, that was Betty Jones, she also has a red hat like mine." Nevermind that Betty Jones was in Iowa and is a foot taller--let's not investigate the details, because we want to be reassured.

Toward the bottom of your article, you ask the question: "If it's possible to have lived in previous centuries, how come none of these people were ever born of a different sex?"

In Helen Wambach's study, published in her book "Life Before Life," she reports: "I knew that my subjects often experienced past lives as the opposite sex. Over 2,000 hypnotic subjects had reported this phenomenon." (pg 75)

Best regards,
Stephen Sakellarios
www.ial.goldthread.com

*While it is true that the debunkers in the Bridey Murphy case were aggressive and unfair, I believe I was actually thinking of the Arthur Ford/Houdini message case and confusing the two.--SS