Tribalgroove

I was wondering if anyone out there was sufficiently educated to substantiate or refute a correlation I have superficially observed between environment and reincarnation.

It seems significant to me that many desert cultures and jungle cultures that do not experience a significant winter cycle evolve a religious perception that espouses one life and one afterlife.

ex: Sumerians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Mayans, Aztecs, etc...

Many cultures that DO witness a winter(death) - spring(rebirth) cycle often evolve a religious perception involving some kind of reincarnation possibility.

ex: Greeks, Celts, Native (North) Americans, Indians, Chinese, etc...

Any thoughts or light shed on this fledging theory would be greatly appreciated.

Draygomb

Interesting, but I don't recall any mention of reincarnation in Greek or Norse Mythology while I do seem to recall some mention of reincarnation amoung the Hebrews, Babylonians? and a Central American culture. Better check the Wiccan and Druid beliefs as well.

It's been a long time, I could be wrong.

Interesting.

Tribalgroove

Many post-homeric greek traditions do not specifically employ an idea of reincarnation, but rebirth is consistent in their mythology, evident in such stories as persephone and hades. I think that some pre-homeric religions such as Orphism espouse reincarnation. I think it is important to note that other influences contribute to reincarnation bias. For instance, I think that aggressively patriarchal societies tend to suppress reincarnation myth and agrarian cultures tend to promote such myth. It is often difficult to say just what influenced what.

Norse mythology, for example, is extremely patriarchal, and witnesses very little change in season.

Additionally, culture does not have distinct boundaries, ideas and myths are constantly borrowed or adapted, and it is hard to distinguish initial origin, if there is such a thing.

Draygomb

Tribalgroove You seem to be using a different meaning of reincarnation. I was thinking of the reincarnation of mortal men while you're speaking of magical creatures like the Phoenix.

Your view makes the theory work better. But you also need to include periodic flooding such as the Egyptians dealt with.