A minister friend writes, the Spiritualist Church is formally *not* adopting any ideas or belief concerning reincarnation on their National Platform. (The National Platform, as far as I can gather, is much like the charters that formed the Reform and Conservative movements of Judaism.) “While individual Spiritualists may have a particular feeling for or against the idea,” she writes, “it’s not at all considered Spiritualist doctrine.”
Nonetheless, reincarnators have their own conference. IISIS, the Institute for the Integration of Science, Intuition and Spirit, just held its convention in San Diego on October 3-5. The featured presenters were internationally renown trance channel Kevin Ryerson; Hans Christian King, named one of the 5 top psychics in the US; and Barbro Karlen, the reincarnation of Anne Frank.
Karlen, who speaks on the issue and even authored an autobiography, How the Wolves Howled, which opens with the Frank family’s capture by Nazi police:
” The darkness closes tighter and tighter around her, she is weeping and afraid. Her little body is shaking and drenched in sweat.
She can hear them running up the stairs, the shouted orders pierce her body like knives. Dogs are barking and with a crash the door is kicked in.
She wakes up. It is almost light outside. The birds are singing and everything is quiet. Still not quite out of her dream as she dries away the tears from her face.
She is not yet five years old, but she had been living with these dreams for as long she can remember. She had tried telling people about what happened to her at night but no one seemed to understand how in some strange way she was living in two worlds at the same time. Her parents insisted on calling her Sara, even though her name was really Anne. She thought that was odd. She had often tried to explain to her mother why she didn’t respond when they called out “Sara.” She hadn’t got used to her new name yet.”
I don’t know how I feel about this. I’m usually open to alternative things, and I believe that, as long as you’re not violating anyone else’s autonomy, you’re usually fine to do what you want to do. But is this an honest belief? Is it profiteering off of someone else’s tragedy? And if so, asks my minister friend, what about the Schindler’s List film?
On one hand, this could be one of the most bizarre tributes I’ve ever seen — and I’ve seen some really weird stuff (see right).
On the other…well, if it is profiteering, there are much more lucrative ways to profiteer with your life. And maybe, in some strange way that the rest of us just can’t understand, it’s like a memorial?
