Ray in Manila / CC

By Andy Cohen

Here are 9 signs you may have had a past life

Aug 26, 2021 | 7:08 AM

A surprising number of people believe in reincarnation or that they’ve had a past life. There’s an online app that can tell you who you might have been in a past life. It’s really just an engine that tells you a famous person that died on your birth date or a day close to it…but it’s fun to use on the air. The app is here.

And, if you want to dig into it more, here are 9 signs you may have had a past life:

Dejà Vu: It’s that sudden, surprising feeling that an event has happened exactly this way before. Although scientists and psychiatrists insist there are neurological explanations for these phenomena, others believe these strange feelings could be vague, fleeting memories of past lives.

Unusual Memories: A girl has “memories” of childhood events that her parents know never really happened. Are these memories a child’s fantasy? Or is she remembering something that happened to her before she was born into this lifetime.

Dreams and Nightmares: Memories of past lives can also manifest themselves as recurring dreams and nightmares. Dreams of mundane or ordinary life activities may suggest a specific locale you inhabited during a past life. Likewise, nightmares may be reflections of past-life traumas that have clung to our spirits and haunt our sleep.

Riderville

Now for the Hard Part

Dec 10, 2025

Grey Cup!!!

Everything you wanted and more

Nov 21, 2025

Ferland earns Grey Cup ring

'A wonderful human being': High school coach thrilled Logan Ferland is a Grey Cup champion

Nov 17, 2025

Fears and Phobias: It’s beneficial to have fears of dangerous things, but many people suffer from completely irrational phobias. Fear of water, birds, certain numbers, mirrors, plants, specific colours…for those who believe in past lives, these fears may be carried over from a previous lifetime.

Affinity for Unfamiliar Cultures: You probably know a person who was born and raised in the United States but is an ardent Anglophile and can think of little else but getting dressed up and acting the part for the next Renaissance fair. Some of these interests may be simply historical. But they can also suggest a past life lived in a far-off land.

Passions: As with cultural affinities, strong passions can be evidence of a past life. This is not a simple hobby-level interest in gardening or photography. To rise to the level of being a sign of reincarnation, these interests have to be so strong as to be almost irresistible. Think of the woodworker who spends long hours in the shop every day or the map collector drove to find every last map of one single place.

Uncontrollable Habits: The dark side of passions is uncontrolled habits and obsessions that take over people’s lives and marginalize them in society. Obsessive-compulsives and hoarders fit this category–a man who has to turn the light switch off and on 10 times before he leaves a room, a woman who collects newspapers into 6-foot-high stacks throughout her house because she cannot bear to get rid of them. Those who believe in reincarnation say they might have roots in past lives.

Inexplicable Pain: Do you have aches and pains that the doctors cannot quite pinpoint or explain medically? You might be labelled a hypochondriac. Or those sensations may be manifestations of suffering in a previous existence.

Birthmarks: Birthmarks have been touted as evidence for reincarnation. One frequently cited case was studied in the 1960s by a University of Virginia psychiatrist named Ian Stevenson. An Indian boy claimed to remember the life of a man named Maha Ram, who was killed with a shotgun fired at close range. This boy had an array of birthmarks in the center of his chest that looked like they could correspond to a shotgun blast. Stevenson proved a man named Maha Ram was killed by a shotgun blast to the chest. An autopsy report recorded the man’s chest wounds, which corresponded directly with the boy’s birthmarks. Some would argue this was mere coincidence, but for believers, it was proof of reincarnation.