A Modern Pagan Case For Reincarnation

One of the things I enjoy most about in-person Pagan gatherings are the opportunities to have the kind of conversations you just can’t have anywhere else. At the Connecticut Welcoming Pagan Network Harvest Festival, someone (whose name I sadly can’t remember) asked me about a reasonable Pagan argument in favor of reincarnation. I rattled off a few high level points, we had a short discussion, and we moved on to the next workshop.

Over a week later that conversation is still on my mind, so I think it’s worthwhile to put my thoughts down in writing. This way others can benefit from the conversation, and perhaps add to it.

There is a long tradition of reincarnation (or rather, beliefs about reincarnation) in the Eastern religions. I have only a very high level understanding of Hindu and Buddhist thought. This is not that, nor does it pretend to be. As the title indicates, this is one modern Pagan’s thinking on the question of life after death.

Hold loosely but practice deeply

Let’s begin by stating what I hope is obvious: what – if anything – comes after death is a question people have been speculating about for at least as long as we’ve been human. We don’t know, and anyone who says they do know is either trying to sell you something or lying to themselves, or most likely, both.

A good religion is an honest religion.

At the same time, we need not live in a state of perpetual agnosticism. We can examine the evidence, study the beliefs of our ancestors, search our own thoughts and feelings, and then come up with a tentative answer. While we hold that answer, we can explore it in depth and act as though it’s true. At the same time, integrity demands that we remain open to new ideas, new experiences, and new ways of thinking. Hold loosely but practice deeply.

A foundation of animism

Reincarnation is the belief that the essence of who we are survives death and eventually returns to the ordinary world in a new body.

What is that essence? It’s our consciousness.

Materialists – not consumerists but people who believe there is only matter and energy and the products of their interactions – argue that consciousness is a product of brain activity, and thus when the brain dies consciousness ceases to exist.

Animists – people who believe that personhood is not limited to humans, or even to other animals – point out that trees exhibit all the signs of consciousness. They respond to sensory inputs, they adapt to their environment, and they communicate with each other. The consciousness of a tree is not the same as the consciousness of a human, but it is consciousness nonetheless.

And since trees do not have brains, consciousness cannot be a product of brain activity.

And if consciousness is not a product of brain activity, it need not cease to exist when the brain dies.

I lean toward the idea that it is consciousness and not matter that is the primary building block of existence. But I suspect this is one of those things that is not only beyond our knowledge, it’s beyond our capacity to know as brilliant-but-finite humans. For our purposes here, it’s enough to say that consciousness lives on after death.

Reasons to believe our consciousness survives death

When we die, our bodies decompose and return to the Earth, from whence they came. The molecules and atoms that were our bodies are recombined into other living things – into other persons. Some of them are human and most of them are not.

Does a similar process happen with consciousness? Perhaps, but I don’t think so. I think our consciousness remains intact.

Near death experiences are not well understood, and for many of them the operative word is “near” – the person isn’t dead even though they appear to be. But there are plenty of examples of people who were clinically dead who returned to life. And when they do, they’re still themselves.

Many of us are part of traditions that speak with the dead. When we talk with them, they are themselves – for better and for worse. A frequently heard warning reminds us “just because they’re dead doesn’t mean they’re smart.” And also, people who were jerks in life tend to be jerks in the afterlife.

Some of us have past life memories. I don’t put a ton of importance on them – our job here is to live this life, not to relive previous lives – but they help explain why I am who and what I am. What’s important in this context is that in those memories, I’m still me. And so when I return to this world in another body, I expect I will continue to be me.

Some traditions teach that after multiple reincarnations, the essence of who we are dissolves into an undifferentiated whole. Perhaps – perhaps not. That’s at least one step beyond the question at hand, and we need not address it now.

It’s enough to say that our consciousness survives death intact.

Our bodies are filters

In this life, we learn and grow through experiences. I think that’s why we’re here – to learn and grow (or at least, it’s why I’m here). Our experiences are mediated through our bodies, and especially through our brains.

If I’m tired, sleepy, hungry, angry, sick, in pain – any of those things and more will influence my experiences and my understanding of those experiences. But all of those conditions are a product of having a body. What we take with us – what becomes part of the essence of who we are – is a distillation of those body-mediated experiences.

I think I’ll still be me in my next life, but I’ll have a different body. My brain will work differently – maybe better, maybe worse, probably just different. And so my responses and my understanding of things will be at least slightly different, because I’ll be experiencing them through a different “filter” – even though I’m still me.

Do we get to choose?

Do we get to choose where and when we come back? Plato thought we had some input into the decision. I tend to agree, at least somewhat.

I do not believe we plan our lives in detail. Those who say “you chose this” in response to someone’s suffering are callous and cruel.

I feel (intuitively, without a lot of deep thought behind it) that some of us get some say in the general situations into which we’re born. I feel like I agreed to the general time and place of this life. But that may be the privilege of being born in a time and place that while not easy and far from perfect still gave me a much better chance of building a good life than most get.

I can’t imagine anyone choosing to be born in Gaza in 2025.

Do we always come back as humans? As an animist, I have no reason to insist that we must. And I know a lot of people who hope to come back as a cat in their next life. I have no past life memories of anything other than being human, but I’m one person with very limited past life memories, so I’m reluctant to offer even a speculation.

Past life memories

And speaking of memories, what happens to them? Most of us come into this life remembering nothing of past lives. Given the population explosion of the past century or so it’s reasonable to believe that most of us are on our first life, but even those of us who are certain we’ve lived before have very limited memories of those lives.

A few people are born with stronger memories, but then they start to fade as they grow up. I tend to think that after death, our consciousness retains the essence of our experiences (the “lessons” if you will, although that’s a loaded word that implies a foresight I don’t think exists) but not the specifics. Except some of the specifics are so strong, so important to us, that they don’t fully distill and they carry over into our new lives… until they’re crowded out by new experiences and new memories in our new lives.

Or perhaps they’re locked away deep inside us, in a place we can’t access using ordinary methods. Those of us who learn extraordinary methods can access some of them in this life, and then they’re all accessible once we’re in the Otherworld and no longer limited by a body.

Don’t waste this life obsessing over the next life

And that brings me to the most important part of this line of thinking. One of the worst parts of my fundamentalist upbringing was their insistence that the only purpose of this life was to qualify for the “good place” in the afterlife. This life – this one beautiful and terrible life that may be the only one we get – was of secondary importance.

What weak, unhelpful – and let’s be honest, manipulative – thinking.

While it is natural to speculate on what comes after death, to spend any significant amount of time and energy on something that is ultimately unknowable is a waste of this life.

Build a better world here and now. If reincarnation is true, the world will be a better place when you get back. If it’s not, the world will still be a better place for your descendants, and that’s a good thing.

Live a good and virtuous life. If the Eastern ideas about karma are correct, you’ll have a better place in your next life. If they aren’t, you will die knowing you have done well, and that’s a good thing.

Enjoy life. Life is hard, but it’s worth it for the big accomplishments and for the small pleasures. “Sing, feast, dance, make music and love” is a good idea even if you’re not Wiccan.

Just don’t waste this life obsessing over what form the next life will take. You’ll find out soon enough.

I do not fear death

What comes after death is one of the Big Questions of Life and I can’t help speculating about it. The fact that the loudest voices in our culture baselessly threaten us with eternal damnation makes it more than simple curiosity.

My own experiences and reflections have convinced me that after death, I will spend some time in the Otherworld and then I’ll return here to continue my work of learning and growing and helping make the world a better place.

But maybe I’m wrong and this is the only shot we get in this world. I want to make the most of it while I can.

Or maybe the atheists are right and there really is nothing after death. If so, I’m reminded of the quote attributed to Mark Twain: “I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”

The only thing I’m certain of is that the Christian and Islamic fundamentalists are wrong. No one will suffer eternal torment after death – even the people we’d like to send there. The fact that there are people we’d like to send to hell says something important about the origins of that concept, but that’s another post for another time.

Reincarnation is a reasonable possibility for what comes after death. Holding that belief helps me approach my own eventual death with comfort and confidence.