Can the devil plant false memories in us? (past lives)

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Ben_Sinner

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There is a common rebuttal of re-incarnation that people make regarding people who have very vivid memories of people and places from alleged pasts lives.

Is this really a good rebuttal though?

Has there been any other situations where the devil could literally implant false memories in people? I’ve never heard of this before which is one of the reasons I find it too simplistic.

I know he can plant thoughts in peoples’ heads, but memories as well? If that is the case then how can we know that our memories aren’t from the devil?

This is what has been bothering me.
 
I would say it’s more their imagination than the Devil. The Devil can make suggestions, but I don’t think he’s allowed to implant memories Inception-style.
 
For instance, I get deja vu fairly often, connecting real life events with things I’d seen previously in dreams. You could make the argument that the Devil is trying to trick me into thinking I’m clairvoyant or something, but more than likely it’s just my brain trying to connect the dots with seemingly related feelings/images.
 
It’s important to use plenty of caution in attempting to sort out the cause of a paranormal claim. First any possible natural explanations should be considered. If none of those seems to explain the phenomenon, then paranormal or supernatural might be involved. However, the Church has made it clear that each human soul is infused into one individual only, and is judged by God upon the person’s death. There is no “recycling” of souls! :nope:

In the cases where it seems reincarnation is the only possible explanation, then, the issue is the person knowing details about another life. If very specific corroborating evidence is found, i.e. details of that life, then it might be a ghost or knowledge transmitted by some spiritual means we don’t fully understand. In the more fanciful cases where someone believes they were a Pharaoh or Queen Elizabeth I or somebody, it might be wishful thinking or if the person has been messing around with new age stuff it could be demonic. :twocents:
 
If someone has an obsession with a past life it is easy for the devil to inflate that but whether he can implant them I don’t think so.
 
Dr. Elizabeth Loftus has been working on the issue of false memories since the 1970s. Memories can be “implanted” by other people or by the people themselves; however, all the devil can do is to sort of float ideas in front of us, we have to grab them and drag them in, so to speak.

As to the issue of previous lives, as I heard long ago, it’s surprising how many of these are lives lived as queens or other important people. No one seems to recall a past life as a maid or beggar 😉
 
St_Francis said:
Dr. Elizabeth Loftus has been working on the issue of false memories since the 1970s. Memories can be “implanted” by other people or by the people themselves; however, all the devil can do is to sort of float ideas in front of us, we have to grab them and drag them in, so to speak.

As to the issue of previous lives, as I heard long ago, it’s surprising how many of these are lives lived as queens or other important people. No one seems to recall a past life as a maid or beggar 😉
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HA ! That’s so true.
Everyone want to be famous. :rolleyes:

But none of us lived before.
And yeah, the devil can make you think it’s possible. It’s a temptation like anything else.
It’s not.
 
St_Francis said:
As to the issue of previous lives, as I heard long ago, it’s surprising how many of these are lives lived as queens or other important people. No one seems to recall a past life as a maid or beggar 😉
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What about those who don’t have a pre-supposed belief in reincarnation and believe themselves to be just average Joes in the past?
 
TheAmazingGrace said:
For instance, I get deja vu fairly often, connecting real life events with things I’d seen previously in dreams. You could make the argument that the Devil is trying to trick me into thinking I’m clairvoyant or something, but more than likely it’s just my brain trying to connect the dots with seemingly related feelings/images.
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Deja vu may just be the brain interpreting an actual event as a memory, nothing supernatural about it at all. It’s a common experience. The brain and it’s workings are far more mysterious than we can imagine and we are only beginning to unravel how it works.

We should never give the devil more credit than is due or making him seem more powerful than he is by assigning things to him that are merely of human origin. He delights in this. We should be really careful about this.
 
In the book “Hostage to the Devil” by Malachi Martin, who interviewed many Exorcists and Demonologists, it was discovered during an exorcism by a Catholic Priest that this very thing happened to a University Professor who had a small cult following. The professor believed he was the reincarnation of a priest in some sort of cult during Roman times.

It came out that the demonic had placed these false memories that were very detailed, as well as geographically and architecturally correct. He had never been to this town in Italy until after his “visions” or whatever they were. So the answer to your question is yes.

I read small mention in at least one other Catholic book which touched on the demonic, that this had been done. Let me underscore the fact though that the exorcist proved that these memories where NOT real, but had been implanted by the demon. There is no such thing as reincarnation, but Satan would very much like us to believe that there is. The enemy would just love to have others not believe in the final judgement, to our great peril.
 
St_Francis said:
As to the issue of previous lives, as I heard long ago, it’s surprising how many of these are lives lived as queens or other important people. No one seems to recall a past life as a maid or beggar 😉
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There are a large proportion of people who seem to recall “important” past lives, but that’s not always the case. There are cases of people seeming to vividly recall very modest past lives, such as those of an average Joe soldier. The general theme in all of these recollections is the person died in the past life sort of unexpectedly/quickly. I know as Catholics we don’t “believe” in past lives, but I do think it is possible that maybe there are things beyond our understanding. Perhaps, reincarnation isn’t a regular thing, but maybe God does give the occasional second chance to someone who died “too soon”. 🤷
 
It’s generally understood over the centuries that demonic influence over the mind & body comes about when a person has dabbled with occult practices in some way, and opens themselves up to it, not by being just an unlucky victim.

I don’t see why it would be impossible for a demon to impact false memories in a person if that person is willing to be given over to such an obsession (like being a queen or celebrity). It’s more than likely just a mental condition though. When a person thinks themselves reincarnated, or physic, or paranormally gifted in some way, it is often sprung from a deep-rooted yearning to feel special from the rest and boost self-esteem, along with some chemical imbalances.

If it was through demonic influence it would have to be something the person turned themselves over to. Possessions don’t become obvious unless a person has become possessed and later repented and changed their mind, otherwise the person appears normal & healthy. On the same date Fatima was taking place in Portugal, Rasputin (on the eve of the Revolution) is said to have been lethally poisoned and shot fatally multiple times, and continued to live & walk normally until a bullet went through his head. So just by private accounts, possession can have a supernatural effect on a person.
 
Ben_Sinner said:
There is a common rebuttal of re-incarnation that people make regarding people who have very vivid memories of people and places from alleged pasts lives.

Is this really a good rebuttal though?

Has there been any other situations where the devil could literally implant false memories in people? I’ve never heard of this before which is one of the reasons I find it too simplistic.

I know he can plant thoughts in peoples’ heads, but memories as well? If that is the case then how can we know that our memories aren’t from the devil?

This is what has been bothering me.
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Why are you hung up on this? The Church teaches that there is NO reincarnation. That means any and all talk by anyone saying reincarnation does exist is wrong.
 
esieffe said:
In the book “Hostage to the Devil” by Malachi Martin, who interviewed many Exorcists and Demonologists, it was discovered during an exorcism by a Catholic Priest that this very thing happened to a University Professor who had a small cult following. The professor believed he was the reincarnation of a priest in some sort of cult during Roman times.

It came out that the demonic had placed these false memories that were very detailed, as well as geographically and architecturally correct. He had never been to this town in Italy until after his “visions” or whatever they were. So the answer to your question is yes.

I read small mention in at least one other Catholic book which touched on the demonic, that this had been done. Let me underscore the fact though that the exorcist proved that these memories where NOT real, but had been implanted by the demon. There is no such thing as reincarnation, but Satan would very much like us to believe that there is. The enemy would just love to have others not believe in the final judgement, to our great peril.
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Was the U prof actually possessed? Could that make a difference?
 
I think that false memories are often a result of trauma suffered in the past, often from childhood, rather than the work of the devil.

I’m reminded of a case by a homeopathic doctor who treated a patient who believed that her problems were of a past life. The patient was a women who experienced herself as a “he”, a six year old Polish boy named Jarich.

“They were rounded up and pushed into a train with uncertain destiny. On disembarking from the train he was momentarily blinded by very bright lights, especially disorienting after all the time in the darkness. He lost his parents in the chaos, only clinging to his teddy bear. He was hustled along in a group, and finally told to undress to take a shower. Many naked people were jammed together into a large room, and them they started to scream and to tumble down on top of him. Being shorter than most, he was one of the last to breathe in the deadly fumes of the gas.”

This patient under regression (a light form of trance, not hypnosis), experienced several different lives. The description above is one of a memory of dying in the gas chambers of Auschwitz during the Holocaust.

You can read the full case here:
interhomeopathy.org/case_hydrocyanic_acidum_1
 
Ben_Sinner said:
There is a common rebuttal of re-incarnation that people make regarding people who have very vivid memories of people and places from alleged pasts lives.

Is this really a good rebuttal though?

Has there been any other situations where the devil could literally implant false memories in people? I’ve never heard of this before which is one of the reasons I find it too simplistic.

I know he can plant thoughts in peoples’ heads, but memories as well? If that is the case then how can we know that our memories aren’t from the devil?

This is what has been bothering me.
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Where did all theses souls come from that are in the billions now ?
 
I remember in Only Fools and Horses, Rodney said “If there is such a thing as reincarnation, knowing my luck I’ll come back as me!”

😃
 
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