A Spirit may choose the general kinds of trials it will face, but not every event within them. Free will, other people’s choices, and unforeseen circumstances still shape what happens.
So Spiritism does not justify telling someone who suffers, “You chose this before birth.” We cannot know that, and not every event was necessarily planned.
Do We Choose Our Life Before We Are Born?
Marie’s Answer
Did you choose the life you are living now?
According to Spiritism, the answer is more complicated than simply yes or no.
Before reincarnation, a Spirit may understand something about the kind of experience it needs next. It may choose certain trials because they offer opportunities to develop qualities it still lacks, repair previous mistakes, or continue progressing.
But that does not mean we plan every event of our future life.
A Spirit may choose the general nature of a trial without choosing every detail that will happen within it. Once incarnated, our choices matter. Other people’s choices matter. Circumstances can also develop in ways that were never individually selected beforehand.
Choosing a road is not the same as choosing every stone you will find on it.
That distinction matters especially when we speak about suffering.
We should never look at someone who has experienced violence, illness, loss, poverty, or injustice and assume that they secretly chose what happened to them. We do not know that. Not every accident, misfortune, or act of harm should be interpreted as something that was destined to occur.
There is another nuance too: not every Spirit chooses with the same degree of freedom or understanding.
As free will develops, a Spirit may gain greater participation in choosing the trials it will face. At other stages, some circumstances may be determined because the Spirit is not yet able to understand what would best help it progress.
So perhaps we do not choose a complete script before birth. We may choose something closer to a field of possibilities.
And once we enter that field, the life we create still depends on what we—and everyone around us—freely choose to do.
Doctrinal Source | Grounded in The Spirits’ Book by Allan Kardec, especially Questions 258–264, concerning the Spirit’s choice of trials and the limits of that choice; Question 334, concerning the Spirit’s assignment to a body before reincarnation; and Questions 392–399, concerning forgetfulness of past lives and the limits of inferring past causes from present circumstances.
Related Questions About Choosing a Life Before Birth
Why Would a Soul Choose a Difficult Life?
1
According to Spiritism, a Spirit may choose difficult circumstances when it understands that they could provide an opportunity for growth, repair, or the development of qualities it still needs. Kardec compares such choices to accepting a demanding task because of what can be learned through it.
But difficulty should not automatically be interpreted as punishment. Nor does a hard life prove that someone did something terrible in a previous existence. The purpose of a trial may concern future progress as much as past mistakes, and we are not in a position to reconstruct another person’s spiritual history from what they suffer today.
A difficult life may contain opportunities for growth without making the suffering itself good.
Is Suffering Always Something We Chose Before Birth?
2
No. Spirits do not choose and foresee everything that happens during an incarnation. They may choose the general type of trial, while its details can result from circumstances, their own decisions, or the free choices of other people.
This distinction is essential. Spiritism should never be used to tell victims of abuse, violence, injustice, illness, or disaster that they chose what happened to them before birth.
Not every suffering is a prewritten spiritual lesson. What matters morally is also how we respond to suffering—and whether we prevent or relieve it when we can.
Is Reincarnation Chosen or Assigned?
3
According to Spiritism, it can involve both choice and guidance. Kardec says that Spirits may request reincarnation and choose the general trials they believe will help them progress. As their free will develops, they become increasingly capable of participating in that choice.
But Kardec also says that an existence may sometimes be determined for a Spirit that, through lack of experience or resistance, cannot yet recognize what would be useful for its progress. He also describes the Spirit as being assigned beforehand to the body through which it will incarnate.
So reincarnation is not presented as either complete self-design or arbitrary assignment. It is part of a process in which freedom grows together with the Spirit’s capacity to understand and choose.
Continue Exploring
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Understand how the same Spirit can live through different physical lives—and what remains continuous as bodies and circumstances change.
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Explore why Spiritism sees repeated lives as opportunities for learning, repair, and continued spiritual progress.
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Discover what Spiritism says about the period between incarnations—and how a Spirit prepares to return to physical life.