REINCARNATION


μετεμψύχωσις - metempsychosis

εμπψχωύν - empsykhoun

παλιγγενεσία - palingenesia

גלגול הנשמות - gilgul neshamot

पुनर्जन्मन् - punarjanman

ANCIENT GREEKS:


​​​Reincarnation is not solely an Asian concept but it's international in nature. In Greco-Roman thought, the concept of metempsychosis disappeared with the rise of Early Christianity, reincarnation being incompatible with the Christian core doctrine of salvation of the faithful after death. However, the following intellects and writings persist:


  • Orphic mystery religion: held that a preexistent soul survives bodily death and is later reincarnated in a human or other mammalian body, eventually receiving release from the cycle of birth and death and regaining its former pure state [15]


  • Plato (5th–4th century bce), believed in an immortal soul that participates in frequent incarnations, particularly his work, the Myth of Er, Republic, Chariot allegory of the Phaedrus, Meno, Timaeus, Laws [1] [16]

ANCIENT TERMS REFERRING TO REINCARNATION:

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Metempsychosis (μετεμψύχωσις), Greek philosophical term, refers to transmigration of the soul, especially its reincarnation after death [16]


Empsykhoun (to put a soul into, εμπψχωύν), term attributed to Pythagoras stating that the human soul does not die with the body but is born again in new incarnations [1]


Palingenesis (word reserved by Greeks to mean: being born again, reincarnation/regeneration, παλιγγενεσία) [17]:​


  • Meaning: restore a thing to its pristine state, renovation, renewal or restoration of life after death, Philo leg. ad Gaium § 41; de cherub. § 32
  • This term can be traced back to the Greek Stoics who used the term for the continual re-creation of the universe by the Demiurgus (Creator) after its absorption into himself
  • In the Gospel of Matthew 19: 28 (regeneration, Strong's G3824), Jesus is quoted using this word to describe the Last Judgment foreshadowing the event of the regeneration of a new world. Palingenesiais thus as much the result of, or reason for, the Last Judgement as it is directly the Judgement itself. Similarly Philo spoke of Noah and his sons as leaders of a renovation or rebirth of the earth, Plutarch of the transmigration of souls, and Cicero of his own return from exile
  • Found in Titus 3: 5, regeneration, Palingenesia
  • Restoration of the Jewish nation after the exile, παλιγγενσια πατρίδος, Josephus, Antiquities 11, 3, 9


Gennáo ánothen: The famous phrase, "born again," which is a watered down version of its extended meaning [29]:


  • Gennáo: stands for regeneration or come forth
  • Ánothen: means again from heaven or of God
  • The phrase then means regeneration again from heaven
  • The word regeneration, as shown above, is a derivative of palingenesis or reincarnation. From this, it is clear that Gennáo ánothen means "reincarnated again from heaven"

1.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation

2.   https://www.britannica.com/topic/reincarnation

3.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah

4.   H. Y. Ginsburgh, "Tav: Impression - The Seal of Creation," [Online]. Available: www.inner.org/hebleter/tav.htm.

5.   http://iisis.net

6.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilgul

7.   http://www.yeshshem.com/kabbalah-basic-class-11-reincarnation.htm

8.   http://www.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/380823/jewish/Reincarnation-and-Resurrection-43.htm

9.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11Q13

10. https://www.near-death.com/reincarnation/history/judaism.html

11. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-adam-jacobs/reincarnation-in-judaism_b_811379.html

12. Sefer HaGilgulim, "The Book of Reincarnations," by Chaim Vital

13. http://nazarenespace.com/group/essenenezarenes/forum/topics/the-crucifixion-of-jesus-by-an-eye-witness
14. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid
15. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphism_(religion)
16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metempsychosis
17. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palingenesis
18. http://www.essene.org/Ancient_Essenes.htm
19. http://www.faculty.umb.edu/gary_zabel/Courses/Phil%20281b/Philosophy%20of%20Magic/Arcana/Kabbalah/souls.html
20. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddish_literature
21. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebirth_in_North_Germanic_religion
22. http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1148
23. http://www.rosicrucian-order.com/revista_reenc.htm
24. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Rosicrucianism
25. "Afterlife! A religious, philosophy, psychological perspective," Henry Epps. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (July 17 2012)
26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites
27. http://progressive-muslim.org/islam-and-reincarnation.htm
28. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermetica
29. https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/3/3/p0/t_conc_1000003
  • Pherecydes of Syros (fl. 540 BCE), considered reincarnation​ [1] [16]

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  • Pythagoras (c. 570–c. 495 BCE), its first famous exponent, instituted societies for its diffusion [1]


  • Menander (Μένανδρος, Menandros; c. 342/41 – c. 290 BC), Greek dramatist and the best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy. He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times. His record at the City Dionysia is unknown but may well have been similarly spectacular. Fragments highlight reincarnation [1]


  • Lucian (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, Latin: Lucianus Samosatensis; about 125 AD – after 180 AD), satirist and rhetorician who wrote in the Greek language during the Second Sophistic. Makes mention [1]

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