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Plotting Reincarnation Beliefs

This study examines the widespread beliefs in reincarnation, particularly in Indic religions, and their evolution over time. Despite early ethnographic oversight, recent findings indicate an increase in reported reincarnation beliefs among various populations, including Native Americans. The research discusses the complexities of these beliefs within cultural contexts and the methods employed to explore them. By analyzing ethnographic databases and reports, we seek to uncover patterns and correlations that reveal the significance of reincarnation beliefs in shaping cultural identity and individual behavior.

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Plotting Reincarnation Beliefs

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  1. Plotting Reincarnation Beliefs Eleanor Wynn Doug white

  2. Rationale for the study • Reincarnation beliefs are still widespread • Have even made it to new science claims (Lanza) • Foundational to Indic religions • Overlooked by early ethnographies • Christian, atheist or agnostic ethnographers • No ready explanations as metaphors under a Freudian, Marxist, functionalist or structural/semiotic framework • Under-reported in early ethnographies, increase later • In same populations • Even when nominally Christian (native American)

  3. Intersubjectivity Gap • I.e. they became more “visible” over time • As a function of ethnographer • Sensitivity? • Cultural overlap? • Sophistication? • Methodologically/phenomenologically revealing • What can we “see”, even with immersion and good field methods? • What do informants feel free to tell us? • What do we inquire about? • Beliefs neither material nor quaint/metaphorical • Might fall into categorical gray area (speculation)

  4. Increase in Reporting Over Time • Regardless of why, more detected over time • Both ethnographic databases and new reports in ethnographies • Swanson 1960: 2% of 50 cases • Constants: small hamlet, extended family compounds, small nomadic bands, scattered rural neighborhoods, etc. • Rosenblatt, Walsh, Jackson (1976, SCCS): 18% of 78 cases • Levinson (1994) 25% of 98 cases (of which 10 North American Indian) • Obeyesekere (1994, 2004), Mills & Slobodin (1994, Culture Index), 203 out of 600 (33%), of which 150 North American Indian

  5. Interesting Pattern of distribution • Although spread across the globe, there is a traceable “route” from pre-Vedic societies • Mongolia to sub-Arctic and Pacific Northwest • Pacific Northwest down West Coast into South America • Some instances on East Coast • Interesting also is possible degradation of belief along the route • Incan is not reincarnation but persistence in a mummified body--???

  6. Map of Reincarnation Beliefs

  7. Types of Beliefs • Reincarnated within a family group • Random • Karmic reincarnation, i.e. merit determines next life • Increasing elaboration in Vedic and Buddhist texts over time • Animal or human preference • Native American, no preference • Indic, human preferred, animal is downward mobility • Many more subdivisions and variations

  8. Still seeking explanatory framework • So, do these beliefs correlate to other behaviors that might explain their existence? • This is the question we posed to Dow/Eff functions • Advantage of Dow/Eff already outlined by White • Missing data • Inconsistent categories

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