Richmond IONS Meeting “The Rich Tapestry of Reincarnation Research"

Where/When: In person and online, through ZOOM* and in person at Unity of Richmond, 800 Blanton Avenue, Richmond, VA 23221, on Saturday, August 16, 2025, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, with Potluck Lunch at conclusion.

“The Rich Tapestry of Reincarnation Research.” Our August 16, 2025 program will feature a talk by James G. (Jim) Matlock, Ph.D., North Carolina Research Fellow with the Parapsychology Foundation and author, on his book Signs of Reincarnation: Exploring Beliefs, Cases and Theory (2019), and on his current research projects in this field. In Signs of Reincarnation, Jim provides the first comprehensive look at the belief in reincarnation and the evidence for past lives from historical records, anthropological studies, and contemporary research. Jim will discuss various ways the evidence may be interpreted and show that although reincarnation entails a rejection of the materialist notion that consciousness is generated by the brain, it does not require the acceptance of any radically new concepts or the abandonment of well established findings in mainstream psychology or biology. Jim’s book offers students, scholars, and anyone interested in the possibility of reincarnation an essential grounding in beliefs, cases, and theory, while opening doors for future research into the extension of consciousness beyond our present lives. Beliefs in reincarnation are widespread across the world. Most Westerners know that Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism teach reincarnation, but fewer realize that reincarnation is a tenet of several Shia Islamic sects, the ultra-Orthodox branch of Judaism, and many indigenous tribal societies. The details of the beliefs vary, but, interestingly, all are associated with the same set of signs, including memories of previous lives. Jim also will share with our group evidence of reincarnation from groundbreaking research he is conducting currently involving links between autism and past-life memories (“PLM”), describing two cases where PLM were displaced onto invisible companions. We are pleased to welcome Jim as our guest speaker.

About Our Presenter: Jim Matlock received his B.A. in English from Emory University in 1977, an M.A. from Hunter College in New York City, and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale in 2002. He has worked at the American Society for Psychical Research in New York City and at the Rhine Research Center in Durham, North Carolina. He is presently a Research Fellow at the Parapsychology Foundation and with the Rhine Research Center, and he has been a featured guest on Jeffrey Mishlove’s New Thinking Allowed podcast. Jim’s chief research interests are the history of parapsychology, anthropology of religion, and reincarnation. He can be reached at jgmatlock@yahoo.com and at his Facebook Group called Signs of Reincarnation.

*(Meeting ID: 865 1815 1952, Passcode: 142841)

About Central VA IONS Community Group: Central VA IONS Community Group is an unincorporated association and a local community group of The Institute of Noetic Sciences, an international association based in Novato, California (www.noetic.org). Central VA IONS is not associated with any religion, religious organization, doctrine or set of beliefs or practices and is open to all. Central VA IONS is entirely dependent upon voluntary donations of its members and friends to support its programs, mailings and other costs, and a love offering is requested at each meeting from those attending in-person or online. Central VA IONS meetings are held each month at locations announced in its program notices and are open to all. Our website is at richmondions.com.