Reincarnation

Reincarnation




Death is not a final end. It's simply a part of a wheel that includes rebirth. Death is simply transformation, not termination. In Wicca, we are not striving to get off the wheel or to get beyond the need for rebirth. Rebirth is the Goddess's great gift to us, and we embrace it.

Despite the emphasis on rebirth, death is still a great loss. Our essence, our Deep Self, is reborn, but our particular personality is wedded to a body, a gender, an ancestry, a life history. That personality will dissolve at death. Lessons we have learned will become part of our essential being. But much of what makes us unique in this life will be gone.

This is much like when your personality changes thoughout your living life. Your environment and life challenges can often change your personality.

For example, in this life your dignity is beaten down everyday by someone. Your personality is likely to be one of someone that feels they have no self worth or contribution.

Now lets say in your next life you are born into a family that loves you very much and appreciates you, only touching you in a loving manner. Your personality in that life is likely to be one of someone that feels loved, has self worth and tackles the world with their head held high.

Suicide

Suicide is not a neutral act: it causes harm to family, partners, and intimate friends. It is not a solution to problems such as depression or despair; it simply transfers them to another plane and intensifies the challenges the soul faces. For these reasons, suicide is strongly discouraged. When someone does commit suicide, however, we attempt to view the act with the same compassion we would accord any other mistake. The person is still considered part of our community, entitled to the same spiritual aid, guidance, and rites as anyone else who has died.

Crossing Over

When you die, anything that you believe in does exist in the other world; the spirit crossing over goes wherever it expects. If you believe you will go to Avalon and walk with the Goddess beneath her flowering apple trees, then you will. You create your own "Heaven" in your mind.

If you would like more examples, and a really good movie to watch, *grin* I suggest you check out "What Dreams May Come" starring Robyn Williams ©1998. This movie is the closest thing I've been able to find to these beliefs.

One Wiccans Point of View
(Written by Griffonstone)

Many people have various opinions on what death is and what exactly happens to us when we die. I too have an opinion on this one. I have studied death and dying for the majority of my life and I have even experienced a few (yes, a few) near death experiences and out of body experiences. I guess you can say I’ve been there. So I will share what I have learned in my great adventure that I call life (and death).

Well, as you might have already guessed, death is by no means the end of everything. It is certainly not the end of us! In fact, it is only the beginning of our new life, life anew, in other words. We are certainly immortal in our souls and this is something that we must learn to accept as it is something that we cannot just “ignore”. There is no reason to fear death! But, to actively seek out death will cause you problems both here and on the other side …more than you can imagine!

If we so choose, we can either stay on the other side (eternal life on a “higher” plane, that is to say: Heaven, The Happy Hunting Grounds, Nirvana etc.) or we may choose (yes, it is a choice) to reincarnate either back here on Earth or some other place. I do not feel that we have to worry about reincarnating into a slug or something like that but, we will reincarnate into someone that will best help us learn and understand what it is we need to learn or experience at that time. We will know what is needed to be done. There is no Hell or judgment. The multiverse is far too gigantic to worry about such trivial things. Ever wonder why there is the saying “ you are your own worse judge?” I think that I will be far harder on myself than anyone else I can think of. For those who seem to have no conscious, the laws of Karma will be very active in your life. I believe that Karma is alive and well in our lives long before we die. Like I said, there is no judgment. We do have responsibility and consequence though. Just look around in our world and/or your own backyard for this one! I believe that life has a great plan and scheme for all of us and we are intimately entwined to it and each other. We all come from the God and Goddess; we are all their children! We will learn from our parents and ourselves. This is another reason for no Hell and judgment after life. …You can let that one go now! (The whole Hell and judgment thing). Reincarnation is the God and Goddess’s way of letting us explore their creations from many different points of view. Our parents want us to fully understand and enjoy what it is they have created. We can learn many wondrous (and often difficult) lessons in our development by fully utilizing their gifts and wonders. Remember, not all wonders are made of gold; we must accept the bitter with the sweet. The variety is what makes life worth experiencing, whether we see it or not. So, hey, don’t sweat it. We are all in good hands!




The Law of Return



Magickal Systems that acknowledge Natural Laws assume that Nature abhors a vacuum and that Nature will shift to balance any movement of energy or matter that occurs within itself. When observing Nature it is apparent that She prefers to choose energy of the same form to replace any energy displaced. Think of pouring water from a pitcher into a glass, the water moves, but it is the air within the glass that is displaced, and it is air that moves in to replace the water no longer in the pitcher. From this observation, adepts have developed the Laws that govern most magickal practices. Although they may be expressed somewhat differently: Law of Return, Karma, The Threefold Law, etc., ultimately they all say the same thing: "what you give, you shall receive."

After twenty years of practice I've come to rely on the Law of Return quite heavily, knowing full well that it very adequately, and sometimes surprisingly, fulfills any desire for retribution I might have and, even better, it reinforces for me that I never lose out by being kind or generous. It's a nice, comfortable way to live.. never having to worry about what may come my way as long as I maintain my ethical standards.

I realize that this sounds a bit odd coming from a woman who is named Morrigan Sidhe, and who obviously has some connection and respect for the Morrigan in Celtic mythology and history. Most people would expect anyone with my name to be somewhat skilled in the art of Vengeance.

Well the truth is that I am. Very skilled in fact, and I don't have to lift a finger to do it. I just wait and watch.

This is why it surprises me to see fellow pagans with a great deal of experience in magickal practice succumb to petty emotions and actively wish ill upon another. Certainly I've seen them attempt to do this in ways that they believe to be safe and that will have no repercussions, usually by attempting to invoke the Law of Return specifically (e.g. "may you get what you deserve in life"). Interestingly enough, these are the first people to accuse others of psychic attacks when the Law of Return manifests, not upon their perceived enemy, but upon themselves. Obviously this is because they think that they have not done any Working that would bring anything remotely negative back to them. Therefore they conclude that their ill fortune/difficultie s must be the result of a magickal attack targeted toward them.

These practitioners have forgotten the basics of magickal practice: Will, Form and Desire all come together to create a Magickal Working. Many of them have mastered the Form of what they believe to be an invocation of the Law of Return ("may you get what you deserve in life"), and they may have mastered the Will portion by rationalizing that no harm will come to their foe if the perceived wrong is mistaken because they've worded it so carefully, but rarely have they mastered the Desire portion and despite their greatest efforts to be neutral, their Working is still tinged with malice, resentment, anger or a myriad of other emotions that will return to haunt them in short order. After all, if they didn't feel these emotions, they wouldn't be prompted to invoke the Law of Return to begin with!

Vengeance is truly an art form, and true Mastery of it requires perfect trust that the Laws of Nature apply in all things and that the Law of Return always will manifest when it is Time.

"But, but," you say, "what of Morrigan the War Goddess? Wouldn't She tell us to stand up and fight for ourselves?"

If there is any lesson that the tales of the Morrigan have taught me it is that there is enough strife to be had by challenging yourself (and those you care about) to live up to potential without needing to look elsewhere for conflict. The War that She best represents is the War within ourselves to achieve our Mastery, to adhere to the ethical standards of our Ancestors and to remain vigilant in being true to our Self when facing opposition and aggression. Despite Her reputation, the Morrigan of myth is an infinitely subtle (and harsh) Teacher and Her lessons are never simple or easy.

(Portions Taken from Skyhawk's Book
"The Pagan Book of Living and Dying")

FOund and Posted By Witch of the North.
Blessed be to you all..