When reincarnation is not one of the beliefs of a religion then the metaphoric “gates of hell” are flung wide-open. The present day most vivid result of this is exemplified by Islamic jihad and is equated to a one way ticket to paradise even though you may have blown up innocents while achieving jihad. JC
One of the great mysteries of life is not about life at all but death. Mystery swirls around our physical death, even though it is inevitable. The question that enters everyone’s mind at some point in their lives is: What happens after we die? Do we spend an eternity with seventy-two virgins? Or do we wait somewhere (not sure where) for the Rapture or the resurrection of our physical body?
Organized religions have utilized resurrection to their benefit by keeping people in fear and servitude. If people believe this propaganda of their church, temple, or mosque, then they are locked into being a slave of the religion. If they are Christians, then their behaviors will take on a philosophy wherein it doesn’t really matter who or what they hurt and abuse through their actions, as they are guaranteed resurrection and a place in heaven due to their professed belief in the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.
A Christian’s emphasis is on words, prayer, not on action, deeds. A deranged gunman can kill nine people while reloading his gun five times while no one physically stops him but only attempting to talk him out of his intrinsic evil rampage. We can see the dangers inherent in the church’s emphasis on words/prayer not deeds and their concept of resurrection.
If resurrection is not reality, then what is? Reincarnation is a philosophical paradigm that causes shock and awe in Christian and Muslim circles. It is a threat to the power of organized religion. Early on, the Church of Rome saw the danger in people’s belief in reincarnation. Consequently, “Those early Church Fathers who taught or believed in reincarnation were declared heretics, excommunicated, and their books were burned. Other heretics faced horrible deaths, such as being burned alive. Why? Think about it. If you believe you will reincarnate in another body, you cannot be controlled by fear of an eternity in the fires of hell.
“The church existed to hold power over the people, to tell them what to believe rather than have them think for themselves. Control by fear is not possible if an individual knows who she/he is (astrology) and that he will reincarnate again and again. There is nothing to fear when we know Truth; therefore, Truth must be hidden from the people.”[i]
There are indications of a belief in reincarnation/rebirth within the Norse consciousness. Within the Poetic Edda, there are references to rebirth in the Helgi poems. The lovers Helgi and Sváva are said in the prose note at the end of Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar to be born again, while at the close of Helgakviða Hundingsbana II there is a reference to a similar tradition about the later Helgi:
“It was believed according to ancient lore (í forneskju) that folk were reborn; but this is now said to be old women’s lying tales. Helgi and Sigrún are said to have been reborn; he was then called Helgi Haddingjaskati and she Kara Hálfdanardóttir, as is related in Káruljóð; and she was a Valkyrie.”[ii]
One of the most detailed accounts of Norse funeral rites was by the Arab diplomat Ahmad ibn Fadlán. Hidden in his account is the Norse belief in rebirth. Part of the rites involved the sacrifice of a servant girl. Before she was to die, she “was given a hen. She cut off its head and the body was thrown into the funeral ship. It is possible that birds of this kind symbolize rebirth…We may also think of the cock, Salgofnir, awakening the fallen warriors in Valhöll.”[iii]
It makes sense to recognize rebirth in the mind of the Norse. This “conception of rebirth combines, as it were, the idea of the indestructible soul and the close connection of this with the body after death.”[iv] Thus, we see the importance of grave mounds and sacred hills such as Helgafell Mountain in Iceland. “Landnámabók gives a number of references to certain Icelandic families who believed that after death they would pass into some particular hill or mountain near their home, showing that this belief, if it really flourished in late heathen times, was closely bound up with special localities, and with the unity of the kindred.”[v] In regards to the grave mound, it seems possible “that the emphasis on the help and wisdom to be won from the world of the dead by the seeker who knows the way is based on a belief in the nearness and potency of the other world, prevalent in Scandinavia in pre-Christian times.”[vi] Furthermore, it was believed that “One can recognise a hero of the past in one’s contemporary, by his courage, and by the contents and strength of his honour, but also his career provides its evidence, and this perhaps of the clearest, as to the connection between past and present.”[vii]
Of course, the Norse weren’t the only ones who believed in reincarnation. Even in the New Testament, Jesus relates that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of the prophet Elijah. A belief in reincarnation is extremely important. It frees us from dogmatic religious beliefs and practices that seek to control people through fear, coercion, and intimidation. From a practical as well as a spiritual/religious viewpoint, believing in reincarnation is paramount to our soul’s well-being and to the welfare of the earth and all its creatures.
[i] Nancy B. Detweiler, History of Astrology in Judaism & Christianity, http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/history-of-astrology-in-judaismchristianity-a-fantastic-article-that-helps-to-correct-some-of-our-falsehistory-j/.
[ii] Hilda Roderick Ellis, The Road to Hel, 139.
[iii] E. O. G. Turville-Petre, Myth and Religion of the North, 273.
[iv] Hilda Roderick Ellis, The Road to Hel, 149.
[v] Ibid., 87.
[vi] Ibid., 199.
[vii] Vilhelm Grönbech, The Culture of the Teutons, 153.