Deja Vu...or Reincarnation...or What?

I do not believe in reincarnation. I am one of these people who rolls their eyes when Shirley McLain espouses her, let's just say, "cosmic" view of life. I do embrace the belief we all get one shot at this chance on the planet to fulfull the tasks and purpose given us.

So what do you call the feeling when you walk into a restored historic house and feel completely at home? Or walk along a street in a town you have never been to before and expect to see someone you've known? Or read a biography and clearly see in your mind the events being described as if you were there? The result of painstaking restoration or brilliant wordsmithing by an author?

My personal experiences, whether by actual presence or absorbed through reading, seem to be connected to three historical periods: Ancient Eygpt, England/Scotland between 1100-1600, and our Civil War era. It astonishes me how my focus sharpens and my emphathy heightens when I am exposed to the situations, archeology and lives vitally captured therein. I can't explain it logically. And it's not scary at all. More like, "Oh...I fit in here!" It is as if I have slipped through an invisible veil and I am instantly connected to a shared intellect that plugs me into a "place" where I can feel as if I belong or at least I can understand the involved lives and circumstances more deeply.

This may seem a bit kooky (a "bit"??) to some of you. I'm a very grounded person as you are well aware. All I know is that on more than one occasion I have realized I have been affected on a deeper level than beyond just surface exposure. I feel at home, comfortable, knowledgeable. The latent tensions, rivalries, intrigues, laughter, emotions of the site come to life in my head. Maybe a bit unsettling the first time it happens. Or the second. Like fingers snapping in front of your eyes your attention is jolted and the lightbulb comes on and you become aware of this added dimention. Not a weird sort of cerebral plane. More like icing a cake with extra-thick chocolate frosting. These additions increase the richness of each of our life-experience tapestries.

Think about it. After all of these thousands of years Heaven is an extremely busy place filled with a whole lot of fascinating folks. Perhaps we are given these experiences to facilitate a pressure-cooker effect. By passing down emotions and situations to us we can eleviate some of the incredible lively, bubbly collective history generated by our predecessors. And for those of you who do embrace the reincarnation viewpoint I'd have to admit this is argumentatively another venue for recycling!