Dr. Ian Stevenson, the Carlson Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia Medical School, has investigated reports of past-life memories. Not from hypnosis, but from spontaneous, waking memories experienced by very small children. These accounts often did include verifiable information, and the child's knowledge, or "memories," could be corroborated and verified by surviving family members and checked against reality, so to speak. The Journal Of The American Medical Association (1975) states that Stevenson "had collected cases in which the evidence is difficult to explain on any other grounds [besides reincarnation]."

Stevenson has done what others (previously) in the field failed to do. While it is almost impossible to use the word "science" in regard to proof of reincarnation, Dr. Stevenson has nevertheless endeavored to employ as much scientific method as possible in his investigations. He reports that he uses the methods of the historian, the lawyer and the psychiatrist, gathering testimony from as many witnesses as possible. It is not uncommon for Stevenson to interview up to twenty-five people regarding a case. He also checks such things as diaries, letters, certificates of birth and death, autopsy and hospital records and any such documents he can locate through investigation.

Stevenson is often contacted by or on behalf of puzzled parents whose children insist on having lived before and of having memories of such lives. Stevenson focuses on children as young as possible because when they begin speaking (between the ages of two and four) they are limited in the amount of peripheral information they may have picked up that would influence them or create "false memories." He looks for such cases that are "rich in obscure detail," that is, full of seemingly insignificant information that although it can be verified, it is likely to be unknown to persons other than the subject themselves. Such things as where a missing piece of jewelry or weaponry was hidden, the color of paint under the existing color and so on. These would not be the workings of a childish imagination, but rather significant facts that must be known and proved true.

Stevenson has in the neighborhood of 2000 cases on file which are deemed to be "reliable" in that there has been no evidence of tampering or fraud and that roughly ninety percent of the information remembered by the child has been verified.

Some of the objections that might be put forth as alternative theories disputing Stevenson's "evidence" of reincarnation follow. It should be pointed out, however, that Stevenson began his career as a psychologist and psychiatrist and began the investigations with the intent of discovering what lay behind these memories and not with any belief in or disposition toward "proving" reincarnation. Even as of his last work he was reluctant to state his outright belief in reincarnation or to indicate that his work proved such a belief. Rather, he invited guests to read the studies themselves without predisposition. He himself would make no stronger statement than that he felt that the studies would seem to indicate reincarnation in absence of other explanation.

Alternative theories to explain the case studies include: fraud, conscious or unconscious; fantasy and personation; cryptomnesia; paramnesia; inherited memory and/or the collective unconscious; clairvoyance and telepathy; and, mediumistic possession. To each of these possibilities follows a brief statement about Stevenson's evaluation of their potential as an alternative explanation to reincarnation.

Fraud, Conscious Or Otherwise: Stevenson says, "Small children are not easy to coach for the assumption of roles that do not seem natural to them." Moreover, there is no "benefit" to any of the case study participants; no money or publicity is given. As to any unconscious deceit, Stevenson, as an expert specializing in the testimony of patients, is well equipped to detect psychological and other influences that could impeach a witness' integrity.

Fantasizing And Personation: Daydreaming and fantasizing may be natural aspects of childhood, but the main problem with this argument is that such "fantasies" are woven around a nucleus of facts that can be verified independently. Stevenson points out that such "psychoses of any kind are extremely rare in children; delusional false identification with another person is even rarer." In his correspondence with psychologists specializing in treatment of children and especially in delusional illnesses such as schizophrenia, none of the professionals had ever encountered a case of a child of these ages claiming to be someone else.

Cryptomnesia, Or An Illusion Of Memories: "A person afflicted with cryptomnesia thinks that what he is saying or writing is original with him. He has, however learned normally the content of his communication earlier, either from a person or [other] source." The main argument against cryptomnesia is again the young age at which most of the subjects being to talk about the previous lives they claim to remember. Some subjects refer to their memories when less than two years old—hardly an age where such details can be unconsciously absorbed.

Paramnesia: This refers to incidents where the two families in question have met (one family belonging to the child having memories, and the other the family of the past life). In such a case, adults may attribute more to the child than the child actually recounted, or may have added information unwittingly. Either scenario fails to take into account the actual nature of such meetings, which are usually highly uncomfortable for both parties and not a "happy exchange of memories between old friends and family." Also, there are many instances where the families have not met in advance, nor had knowledge of each other.

Inherited Memory And/Or The Collective Unconscious: Stevenson pays particular note to this argument in volume three of his case studies because of its frequent use in discussing his cases. While he particularly argues the case against "inherited memory," that is some transmission of memories through families, he does not touch on the idea of "collective unconscious," grouping it rather, with inherited memory. Inherited memory is disputed on the basis of its own paradox, that is that almost all of the reincarnations take place outside of any lineal descendancy.

Mediumistic Possession: In this case it refers to the mind of an individual being "taken over" by a deceased person, whose memories then become those of the living person. Observational evidence recounts that the children in no time exhibit any signs of mediumship or possession (which is extremely rare in children of this age), and that aside from occasionally and sporadically talking about the past life memories they are otherwise "normal" children. Sometimes an event or phrase or object will remind them of some previous life event which will stimulate a brief flow of talk that is otherwise normal except for the subject matter.

Some frequently recurring characteristics of the "reincarnation" type cases are as follows.

Age When Memories Appear: The typical case starts when the child is between two and four, but occasionally older. Often it becomes apparent as the child begins to speak and feels a need to communicate the memories. In such cases, the first words of the child are often names or places the child knew previously.

Age When Memories Fade: Universally, an almost invariable tendency is for the memories to disappear between the ages of five and eight, at the time when the child begins to venture out of his home circle and experience a wider participation elsewhere. Stevenson suggests that this is logical as the new experiences and memories begin to overlay the other memories until they gradually become inaccessible.

Characteristics Of Behavior: Unusual behavior usually coincides with the expression of memories of a past life. Not only might mannerisms or speech patterns uncharacteristic of the child and the child's family emerge, but also an attitude of gravity, from the conviction on the part of the subject that he is still an adult, not a child.

Strangeness Of The Body: Subjects frequently "have commented on the strangeness of the physical bodies in which they find themselves...the small bodies in which they feel confined."

The Most Vivid Events Remembered: Invariably the most vivid remembrances are connected with the physical death of the previous personality.

Incidence Of Violent Deaths: In a large percentage of cases, the children exhibiting such memories claim to have died a violent death. The incidence of violent death in these cases far exceeds the normal ratios of the general population. It may suggest that when the shock of death is so severe and intense that the memories more easily penetrate into the new personality.

Phobia For Objects Or Circumstances Causing Death: Another common feature in the cases of violent death is a strong phobia for events or objects related to the death. For instance, one girl moved from a bridge to avoid a bus and fell into the water and drowned. As a child, she was intensely afraid of water, bridges and buses. It took four people to hold her in order to administer a bath.

Changes In People And Surroundings Detected By Children: In meeting people or arriving at certain locations from the former life, the child frequently makes comments in the changes.

Announcing Dreams: An occasional phenomenon is that of one or two members of the family experiencing dreams toward the very end of pregnancy, in which is some foretelling of an individual who lived before returning to incarnate.

Abnormal Appetites During Pregnancy: This is a usual occurrence in many pregnancies; however, when the child exhibits past life memories, the food cravings or aversions are invariably found to be associated with the personality of the past life.

Possessing A Skill Not Taught Or Learned: children often show skills in early childhood that they could not have learned through instruction or imitation. In each case, the skill in question was one which the previous personality was known to have had.

Birthmarks And Deformities: Stevenson notes that in cases of violent death in the past life, such as accidents, gunshots or knife wounds and such, the child many times exhibits a birth mark or deformity corresponding to the wounds sustained during the previous personality's death. One dramatic case involved a young boy who remembered having been a bandit in his previous life. Rather than be captured by police, he had committed suicide by wedging his rifle under his chin and firing. The boy had been born with an open gash under his chin. Upon hearing the boy's story, Stevenson discovered a small birthmark on top of the head. Using photos and x-rays, Stevenson determined the trajectory of the bullet to exactly match the corresponding marks on the child.

Reincarnation Cases

The following "scientific proof" (as it is labeled among reincarnationists) is exclusively from Dr. Ian Stevenson's case studies. Though others also attempt the undertaking, they all imitate Stevenson's methods for making contact, verifying information and safeguarding the integrity of the source as much as possible. In most cases, such field operatives have worked closely with Dr. Stevenson and in most cases they have apprenticed and trained under him. Though the singularity of approach from all field operatives offers a certain taint to the research as it remains biased toward the methods of one particular individual, it nevertheless remains that Stevenson's work is as definitive as one can get at this point, and his objectivity of approach is unrivaled in this field. For that reason, as he is the originator of the method and no others have contributed a better or rival approach, it seems best to use his own material as example.

While a certain abbreviated cross section is included here for reference, the studies offered are by no means complete in themselves, nor do they offer the whole scope of Stevenson's research. Much varied and additional material is to be found in Stevenson's own volumes of case study history. Though mentioned elsewhere, it is prudent to remind the reader again of a certain logistic truism of philosophy and science. "When searching for the white blackbird, one needs only find one to prove the truth of its existence." In the contemporary words of Jeffrey Iverson, author of More Lives Than One? 1992; "It needs only one case to be ‘real' for many accepted ideas about life to be turned upside down (or right side up!)." It is that search that moves all research into reincarnation.

Case 1

This incident occurred in the southernmost state of Brazil. A young girl named Maria, but whom everyone called Sinha (or even more affectionately, Sinhazinha), grew up on her father's beautiful, but isolated farm. Requiring company, she often visited a village twelve miles away to visit a friend named Ida. Maria (or Sinha) fell in love twice, but her father violently rejected both suitors. One despondent suitor committed suicide. Maria fell into depression and her worried father arranged a trip to the seaside. Maria purposely neglected herself by inviting exposure to the cold, damp weather and performing exhausting activities. Shortly she was ill, and a throat infection set in, spreading to the lungs and contracting tuberculosis.

Before she died Sinha confessed to her friend Ida that her illness and imminent death were intentional. Sinha/Maria then predicted that she would be reborn as Ida's daughter (Ida was then pregnant), and that when she reached an age where she could speak she would, "in the body of the little girl who will be your daughter, relate many things of my present life and thus you will recognize the truth." Both Ida and her husband decided to remain quiet about Maria's prediction, saying nothing to any others.

Some months after Sinha died, Ida gave birth to a daughter they named Marta. Save for character similarities, the first inclination that the girl may have been Sinha reborn is an incident around one year of age when several friends visited to meet her. Ignoring the others who paid close attention to her, the one year old Marta went to the forbidding, unwelcome father of Sinha, stroked his beard and said, "Hello, papa." Sinha's father ignored the comment, supposing it to be mere baby's talk.

However, one day, when Marta was two and one half years old, she was walking with her sister, Lola, and asked to be carried on Lola's back. Lola refused, stating the little girl could walk well enough on her own. To this Marta replied, "When I was big and you were small, I used to carry you often." Lola laughingly remarked, "When you were big?" Then the little girl answered that at the time, she had not lived there [with Lola or in this place]. "I lived far from here where there are many cows, oxen and oranges where also there were animals like goats, but they were not goats." She thus described the farm of dead Sinha's parents, along with the many sheep, which Marta had never yet seen.

When related to her parents, they questioned Marta about her strange ideas, and insisted they had never lived anywhere else. To which Marta replied that at the time to which she was referring, she had had other parents, and another name; Sinharinza. Marta's mother, Ida, inquired, "In what manner did you, as Sinha, greet me when I used to visit you on your father's ranch?" Marta correctly replied that she would prepare coffee and wait outside for her arrival, playing a phonograph while she sat on a stone. Ida also inquired how Sinha had spoken to her the last visit before she died. Marta whispered in her mother's ear and pointed to her throat, saying that her voice was gone. This fact was known only to Ida.

Stevenson was present at the cross examination of the child, and much of the material emerged at that time, the parents having had no real inclination or serious consideration of the reincarnation possibility, and thus had never probed or pursued a line of questioning. Stevenson also went on note that Marta, for the remainder of her life, remained susceptible to colds and bronchial troubles, an apparent karmic repercussion of her suicide through self-neglect. Stevenson further reports that no others in the family had this trouble, and he considered it a kind of "internal birthmark."

Case 2

An especially important case for Dr. Stevenson arose in Lebanon in 1964. He had been informed of a number of cases, and one in particular involved a five year old boy who had been, "incessantly talking about his past life since the age of one." Stevenson was startled to find the natives so accepting of the fact, and discovered that they were all Druse (see under Sikh religion in previous section) and the incidence of reincarnation is among the highest in the world. The only thing unusual about this particular boy is the veracity with which he spoke.

Stevenson was able to drop in unexpectedly on the family so there was no opportunity for anticipating his arrival. Also, the two families involved (the present family of the boy and the "past life" family) as yet had no knowledge of each other's existence. Consequently, before bringing the two families together for verification and contact, Stevenson was able to record over fifty items the boy said regarding his previous life.

The boy, Imad, began to speak at about age one, and his first words were the names Jamileh and Mahmoud (not family names). As he gained fluency he spoke of people he knew, property he owned and some events of his previous life. He recalled being a member of a family from a village approximately 25 miles away via a windy mountain road. Among his present family, only his father had ever visited the village, and that was but once, for a funeral.

Imad would talk to himself about the people whose names he had mentioned and wonder how they were getting along. He also spoke of things in his sleep. He cited the names of over fourteen people, but his biggest preoccupation was with Jamileh. He raved about her beauty and spoke of the red clothes he had bought for her and the fact that she wore high heels. Imad's mother said her son's longing for Jamileh reached its height one day when lying on a bed with her, and he suddenly asked her to behave as Jamileh would under such circumstances.

Among his other memories were a fondness for hunting, and a troubling incident where he remembered beating a dog. The thing that most bothered him was a serious accident in which he was run over by a truck and both legs were crushed. Imad's mother and grandmother both noted that when Imad began to walk as a young child, he constantly exclaimed, "how wonderful it was to be able to walk again." Imad's father considered the boy a liar, and for a time he did not talk of things except to his mother and grandmother. However everyone took notice when the two year old suddenly stopped in the street one day in front of a complete stranger and asked, "Do you know me?" The startled man looked for a moment and then exclaimed, "Yes. You were my neighbor." The stranger turned out to be a native of the village Imad remembered.

The parents of the boy pieced together many incorrect conclusions: that the boy was Mahmoud and Jemileh was his wife; and that Mahmoud had been killed being run over by a truck. Stevenson took the boy and his father to the village where they met a member of the family whose name Imad remembered, but the house did not match Imad's description, nor did the rest of the facts fit. There was a Mahmoud in the family, but he was still alive, and his wife's name was not Jemileh.

Stevenson returned the next day on his own to do some further investigating. He located a man in the family whose father had been run over by a truck and had both legs crushed, dying from the incident. However, the rest of the facts did not fit...until the man suddenly remembered that his father had had a cousin who was deeply attached to him and had been devastated by the accident and death of his good friend. This cousin had been nephew to a man named Mahmoud, who had a mistress named Jemileh who scandalized the town with her modern dress and behavior. This Mahmoud had contracted tuberculosis and been bedridden for a year before his death, which explained Imad's exclamation upon being able to walk again.

To Stevenson, the family's misconceptions about the identity and circumstances only vouched for the evidence of their honesty, for if they had been trying to prove a point, they would have provided an accurately researched story. Stevenson now took Imad to the house he had once lived in and he correctly identified his sister by name, revealed the hidden closet where his gun was kept (it was illegal to own firearms at the time) and in all made fifty one direct and verifiable claims that were proved correct, much of the information unknown to anyone outside the family.

Case 3

This case was first documented in 1944 in Sri Lanka, then more or less a province of India. Due to the long occupation by the British as a colonial state, the Anglo's were hated by many. A boy named Ranjith was born into the de Silva family, and the father, though a gentle and devout Buddhist, hated the English fervently. Thus he became greatly distressed when Ranjith began exhibiting Anglo Saxon characteristics. A "certain attitude underlay [his behaviors] which made him an outsider to the family." The boy had a certain aloofness; also he disliked much of the native foods, including rice, and disdaining the chili's and spices common to many of their dishes. He skillfully manipulated knife and fork in the British way, while even the older children struggled over their mastery.

At the age of four, Ranjith announced to his parents: "You are not my mother, brothers and sisters. My mother, father and others are in England." The parents said nothing, but as the boy continued his aloofness, began to question him. Ranjith could not recall his own or his parents' name, but was quite clear about having two brothers, Tom and Jim, and a sister Margaret. He said they lived on a hill, apart from other houses, and that in the mornings it was often so cold that ice formed outside and they would sit close to a fireplace. Wagons pulled by horses would come to remove ice from the roads. (As it is easy to forget, I remind you here that this is a four year old boy from Sri Lanka who had never seen such things as ice or horse wagons, nor even heard about them.) He also said that they were very rich, that he was a Christian and not a Buddhist, and that he remembered taking his siblings to church on the back of his motorcycle.

On Ranjith's fourth birthday, his father arranged for the local British station to announce his birthday on the air. His sisters, to please him, told him his "mother" would speak to him from England. Ranjith sat next to the radio and waited as an English accented voice announced his birthday. Ranjith spoke to the radio, "Mother, I am staying in a Sinhalese family's house. Take me there [meaning England]." A British version of "Happy Birthday" was sung, which includes the word "darling." Ranjith announced, "It is my mother. She calls me "darling" and sometimes she calls me "sweetheart." When asked how he recognized his mother's voice, he said, "My mother speaks softly like that." Stevenson reports that this usage of the word "softly" was incongruent to the boy's and the family's language. The de Silvas had not known of its particular usage until they learned it from Ranjith.

Rather than joy, Ranjith became depressed after the Birthday message. Through the years he felt discomfited and out of place, eventually dropping out of school and going to work at a garage where he showed great aptitude and rapidity in learning to drive and repair autos and motorcycles. His state was such that when Ranjith turned 18, his father suggested he might try going to England for a while. Without consulting anyone, Ranjith booked passage the very next day and spent two years in England, where he instantly fell into the rhythm and culture. It was Ranjith's belief that he would remember more of his life if he lived in Europe, and possibly find his old home and family. However, this never happened. Stevenson remarks on such international cases of reincarnation that a generalization exists in which "the greater cultural distance between the subject and the life he seems to remember, the less likely he is to recall specific, verifiable details." Especially in Ranjith's case, there appears to be an even greater pulling or longing to return to the other life, perhaps as a result of feeling "out of culture" and uncomfortable.

Stevenson did a follow up interview with Ramjith many years later, when he had returned to Sri Lanka to care for his aging parents. The man still yearned to live in England, but the family situation prevented it. At that time, Ranjith remarked to Stevenson that he believed he had been a British air pilot during World War II who had crashed near Ceylon. In his present life he had a deep yearning to fly, but could not afford it.

While the case does not provide such specific statements and incidents verifiable that offer evidence toward reincarnation, Stevenson imparts its importance because of the excellent quality of a type of case that presents itself more often than do the others. That is, strong feelings and desires that transcend or even defy normal cultural influences.