Past Life? an animal?

Ok I have been wondering about this for awhile now. And I was just wondering is it posibble that in a past life you could have been an animal.
I was thinking about this because you always hear about people saying they used to be whoever but you never hear people say that they used to be an animal.

Well, anyway I have story about this.

When I was like 4 or 5 I used to think that I used to be a wolf. And according to my mom I used to always talk about me being a wolf when I was little and apperently I said used to be called wolfie. Not sure if that part is true I just find it kind of funny.
And I thought this might be true because I hear that little kids are more spirutally aware.

True, children are more aware than adults. It's because our whole lives we've been told these things are unreal.

That's why children see auras and aliens in their rooms. They see ghosts and that's why they never look directly at you when there are babies.

I've never thought about it before. Maybe the evolution is too much for rebirth into a human body. Possibly animals reincarnate into animals and humans reincarnate into humans.

Good question - certainly got me thinking. I'll post again when I think of something that doesn't seem like a stupid guess.

LOL! This blows my point that no one ever claims to be someone UN-famous in a past life!

I believe it to be completely possible not to mention highly probable that MOST people have at some point lived life as an animal. Think about it; what is really the difference between humans and animals?

Most people make the distinction based on the speciest arguement that humans are superior or, and this one is my personal favorite, that humans have souls while animals do not.


Arguement 1: Humans are superior to animals and are therefore not animals themselves.

Counterarguement 1: Humans are not superior they are simply different. Humans lack many of the features present in other animals that increase survivability (claws, fangs, speed, night vision, camoflauge). The feature that humans possess that compensates for this is the ability to combine higher thinking skills with the ability to cooperate to solve a problem. Several studies have been done testing capuchin monkeys for the features. While the monkeys do have higher thinking skills they failed in every instance to cooperate with one another to complete a task in which cooperation was necessary for completion. This adaptation alone sets humans on the same pedestal as animals therefore humans are animals.


Argument 2: Humans are not animals because humans have souls while animals do not.

Counterargument 2: Define "soul". For thousands of years philosophers have struggled with this task. Assuming that the soul is what makes an individual an individual, the Taoists would say that there is no such thing as a soul. I once heard the soul likened to a drop of water. Once the vessel for the soul ceases to be, what is left to keep that drop of water from rejoining the waters around it? Traditional Japanese philosophy would say that the soul has many forms or selves depending on who is percieving it. Many argue that the notion of an everlasting soul is indicative of a strong sense of self-preservation, a delusional method of "cheating death". Still, others believe that the soul is NOT what makes an individual unique. Many fundamentalist Christian denomonations claim that the soul is not the personality but an indistinct eternal form that was created by God.

This counterargument, while proving a point, does little other than diverting the issue. I believe that it is certainly an argument to consider but I do not find it to be the most effective in refuting the claim that humans have souls while animals do not.

Counterargument 3: It can not be proven that humans have souls, that animals do not have souls, or that souls exist.

Rebuttle to Counterargument 3: Just because you can't prove something does not mean that it isn't true. (The absence of evidence does not constitute the evidence of absence.)

Response: Counterargument 3 made no claim that because you can't prove the existance of the soul the soul doesn't exist. Counterargument 3 makes the distinction between belief and knowledge. The Theory of Justified True Belief (JTB for short) states that in order to know something one must have the following:
Justification- A logical reason for believing something.
Truth- The subject in question must be true. To put it more colloquially, the moon is in fact NOT made of blue cheese; the belief that it is is not true.
Belief- the acceptance of a subject.
Without justification, truth, and belief, one can not truly know something; one can only hold a belief.

Oh, well Im Immortal like hulk hogan. So I guess I wouldnt exactly know. But, sure why not? im sick of people saying they were Vango, Lincon or on the Titanic im a past life. What are the chances of that?

Slim to none I say. But then again, if you have been a bunch of average joes in past lifes I doubt you'de claim "Oh, I sold hot dogs" or "Oh I worked at Wal-Mart" In a past life. So yeah I don't blame people for either claiming to once be George Washington or something, Conpaired to a guy who worked at 'Kenny's Shoes'.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I have been thinking about this lately and thought that maybe humans and animals have the same type of souls. So sometimes your soul may end up in a human and sometimes it may end up in some animal or other being. Its just that when your in a human you have alot more brain power so you can come up with different ideas and work with other people.

Oh yeah and to daniel191159 thanks for your input on the arguments about souls and such. I always belived animals had souls, so I never really liked the argument about them not having them.

Originally posted by Trash can
True, children are more aware than adults. It's because our whole lives we've been told these things are unreal.

That's why children see auras and aliens in their rooms. They see ghosts and that's why they never look directly at you when there are babies.

I've never thought about it before. Maybe the evolution is too much for rebirth into a human body. Possibly animals reincarnate into animals and humans reincarnate into humans.

Good question - certainly got me thinking. I'll post again when I think of something that doesn't seem like a stupid guess.

excellent post. that's why babies can't even speak! their minds are so open, their skulls aren't even closed! their crown chakras are unlimited.

the imagination of a baby must be out of this world. creativity at its' finest.

Wow I never really thought about it that way.
Good post.

Cool concept. I have always been interested in the whole reincarnation premise. Native Americans as well as a few other cultures have expressed belief in an animal spirit, or possibly an animal spirit guide for humans. Some even believe that we each have an animal spirit guide that our personalities are crafted after.

Hindus focus quite a bit on reincarnation and if I am not mistaken, they believe that spirits can return to earth in many different animal forms. I suppose it is just as possible as any other unproven religious belief.

And for the record, my animal spirit is the bear. Do not ask me how I know this, I just do



(animals do in fact have souls. Don't believe me? Just look into the eyes of a dog and see for yourself)


[edit on 5/15/08 by BlackOps719]

hahaha Cool, my Fave animal is Wolf among many others, a family friend of my parents has Wolves/Owls/Monkeys etc etc in UK, He hires them in Movies, LOVE wolves and want to visit him soon to see them, Beautiful misunderstood animals.
I even had a major strange dream which involved me meeting a guide of mine which is/was a wolf, the wolf in the dreameven gave me a name haha weird, Now I said it was a dream so I am not too insane nor gullible, but I have read about totem animals and shapeshifting guides in dreams and have researched all this stuff for years, its too weird to believe it.
Yet It was a Very Lucid dream, I have it written down somewhere, turns out the name given to me is an Egyptian God and not a widely known one so when looked it up online was VERY weird, I used to be obsessed with Egypt as a kid massively so but never heard of this God. But it referred to another thing unusual I had all seeing eye of Horus tatt (it was temporary for few years) but it was massively relevant to the name of the wolf, Very weird!
So I SORT of believe we could have been animals in past lives, Some Spiritual Speakers say animals incarnate a number of times before they are given choice to incarnate as humans and we humans can speed up an animals evolution spiritually through our love and contact, you know how some people say they are attuned to their dog/cat/etc? well anyway hahaha, madness over. One of my weird experiences anyway.
Sanity says all this is Cr*p but when you have these experiences its better to just believe haha no matter how skeptical you are

Hey...really interestic topic...Well you may think that I am insane but when I was a kid I had dreams how I day as a wolf. I cry...my grandma took me to a woman that can take the fear form me

Ok...the wind and the moon...the wolf, are my guides thought this life...

Bye bye
see ya in other place ;0)

In my honest opinion, I don' think animals can reincarnate into humans or vise versa. I've seen before on other websites that say animals have collective souls, while humans have individual souls.

my 2 cents

Hey guys, here's a thought, if we could have been animals in past lives, could we have beeen DINOSAURS?

Originally posted by Bruceleeroy2
Hey guys, here's a thought, if we could have been animals in past lives, could we have beeen DINOSAURS?

Well, if humans could be dinosaurs, then they could be any other organism in the animal kingdom such as insects, arthropods, birds, etc. I'm not sure if this is possible, but that's why we have ATS to discuss topics like this!

reply to post by 5ealchris


Hey ther 5eachris,

I became a Pastlife Regression Therapist about 15yrs ago (after a personal 'spontaneous' experience). In all that time I myself have never regressed anyone who recalled being an animal.

However, some years ago when I still lived in the Midlands, I had a friend who firmly believed that she'd been a Golden Retriever before her present incarnation (wow ... that sounds even weirder when it's written down than when she actually told me)

Now, I have no idea whether she was a G.R in a pastlife or not but knowing her as well as I did, I can only say in her defence that she was not the kind of person who was prone to flights of fancy ... so who knows !

I do believe however, that we all have a 'totem animal' ... whereby we can sometimes display their influential characterstics. Maybe that's what you were speaking of as a child ?

Good thread ... I didn't see it when you first posted (if you're interested in the subject I had a thread here at the end of last year ... there's about 13-14 pages of peoples accounts/suggestions etc. Just click on my profile for the link).

QUICK NOTE;
To the person who thinks that people only recall being somebody famous ...

Over the years I've regressed several hundred people and so far none have recalled being famous in their previous lives.
The closest - I suppose you could say was 'famous by default' - a female client recalled holding the position of personal-aid / manservant to Akhenaten (Egyptian Pharaoh).
Just putting the record straight you understand.

Woody

[edit on 29-6-2008 by woodwytch]