Intersection of Identities in Personal Stories about Reincarnation in the Druze Community in Israel

Abstract

Belief in reincarnation in the Druze community exceeds the bounds of the official religion, and its personal story gains significance among the secular community members. Though this belief is responsible for marking the boundaries of religious, national, and gender identity, and serves as a cohesive and comforting social factor, it also raises social and psychological tensions among families and individuals who find themselves living a double life story. This study attempts to investigate these aspects among the Druze society by analyzing a collection of personal stories of men and women about their experiences of reincarnation, which I collected from members of the Druze community in Israel. These stories are called among the Druze “alnutq” / النُّطق (speaking), a concept that expresses the soul's ability to recall and talk about its past life in the previous incarnation. By collecting the stories from people mentioned in the previous incarnation, I concluded that they are saturated with internal tensions and provoke objections, and their acceptance is almost always controversial. At the same time, the stories, the beliefs, and the values they are based on have a role in maintaining the borders and organization of the Druze community.