Bridey Murphy Reincarnation or Hoax?

[Zach]

Salesman and amateur hypnotist Morey Bernstein hypnotized Tighe many times. Bridey sang Irish songs and told Irish stories. She was born in 1798.

Bridey described her childhood in a Cork Protestant family, her marriage to Sean Brian Joseph McCarthy and her Belfast burial in 1864. Bernstein wrote The Search for Bridey Murphy, a best seller.
Bridey Speaks

She was a red-headed girl born in Cork. Bridey spoke in an Irish brogue and used words Tighe supposedly didn’t know when she described details about people, places and customs.

Bridey talked about how she leaned backward and was held by someone when she kissed the Blarney Stone. Some people believed this was evidence of her existence, but the procedure for kissing the stone is common knowledge and had been shown on 1950s television shows.
Reporters Investigate Bridey

He uncovered a record of a clerk named John M'Carthy who worked in Belfast between from 1858 to 1862; however the surnames have different spellings and the first names don’t match. Bridey mispronounced common Irish words and used American idioms. She had a metal bed in 1804. These beds didn’t exist in Ireland until 1850. Her father’s first name was Duncan, a Scottish name. She called Cork a village, but it was a large city in the 1800s. A Chicago American journalist discovered that there was a Bridie Murphey Corkell who lived in the house across the street from where Tighe grew up in.
Book about Bridey Had Unexpected Results

A hypnotist advertised a $25 offer to create a previous life for people. “Come as you were” parties were popular. Restaurants had reincarnation cocktails on their menus.

Some people claimed to be the reincarnation of famous historical people such as Cleopatra or asserted they were members of royalty, celebrities and other people in previous lives. One tragic result was the Shawnee, Oklahoma teen who killed himself after leaving a note explaining that he was going to investigate reincarnation.
What Was Bridey?

While it’s true that people have remembered past lives during hypnotic past life regression, some subjects will prattle about previous incarnations if the hypnotist asks about them. It appears that these subjects intertwine forgotten bits and pieces of their own memories when they speak; Tighe's remarks may have been an example of this. The memories don’t have to be actual events that people experienced; they can be things people have read, heard or seen in a film.

Some people were impressed with Bridey’s accounts of her life and believe that she lived despite the lack of evidence to prove her existence and point out incidents like her kissing the Blarney Stone as proof.

There’s a parallel case of Hungarian Iris Farczády who, not only had the memories of Spanish Lucia Altarez de Salvo, but became her. She spoke in an authentic Madrilene dialect and danced the Flamenco which can’t be learned by merely seeing it performed. Lucia knew too much to be Iris’ memories. The Watseka case of Lurancy Vennum and Mary Roff is related to Bridey. Although the case involves Mary possessing Lurancy, the principle is the same. Mary recognized the Rolfs and their friends and correctly remembered details of her life.

The fact is that there were no documents or other evidence to support what Bridey said, so it appears this is a case of confused memories, fraud or a combination of both. Morey Bernstein was a salesman and self-proclaimed amateur hypnotist who wrote a profitable book about Bridey, reminiscent of the Amityville Horror….

Read more at Suite101: Bridey Murphy Reincarnation or Hoax?: Hypnotized Virginia Tighe Claimed to be the 19th Century Irish Woman http://paranormal.suite101.com/article.c...z0esQiVIgC