Reincarnation in popular culture

[2] During the classical period of German literature, metempsychosis attracted much attention: Goethe played with the idea, and it was taken up more seriously by Lessing, who borrowed it from Charles Bonnet, and by Herder.

Reincarnation is a key plot device in Edgar Allan Poe's short story "Metzengerstein" (1832),[3] in his "Morella" (1835)[4] and "The Oval Portrait" (1842).

He comes across a "curious stranger" at Warwick Castle in England who shows him ancient armor that supposedly once belonged to the knights of the Round Table.

John Brunner's story The Vitanuls speculates about a limited quantity of reincarnating souls and an unlimited population growth.

Rose inspired the FOX-TV series Past Life, Chuck Palahniuk's book Diary centers around an artist whose reincarnated soul is repeatedly used in order to keep the residents of an island rich.

Individuals within this movement who have spoken about reincarnation include Jane Roberts and Walter Semkiw,[10] Patricia-Rochelle Diegel, Vicki Mackenzie and Carol Bowman.

[12] In 1988, Brian Weiss, an American psychiatrist, started using past life regression using hypnosis on his patient, later published, best-selling Many Lives, Many Masters.