The Doctor from Another Time: Helen Pickering Reincarnation Case

Ryan O'Neill
Aug 13
3 min read

Could the shape of a town square, a tavern around the corner, and a vanished staircase survive beyond one life? In the Helen Pickering reincarnation case, those traces pull us from a small Scottish town named Blairgowrie to Aberdeen’s old College of Medicine, with historic plans later matching what she said.

At a glance | Helen Pickering Reincarnation Case

Under hypnosis, Helen Pickering described a past life as Dr. James Archibald Burns, a 19th‑century physician in Blairgowrie.
On site, she orients to Wellmeadow, points out the surgery corner and pub frontage—modernized today but still traceable.
In Aberdeen, she identifies a harbour welfare/mission corner and, inside Marischal College, calls out a library, corridors, and a stone stair that “used to be here.”
Local minute‑books and the town’s own records back several specifics; some items (exact dates and one census mismatch) remain open for verification.

A town she “knew”

Blindfold off, Helen orients as if remembering: river → grassy square → tavern. She points toward a corner surgery, then notes what’s gone. Records later show a Dr. James Burns engaged in civic work; appreciation is recorded after his death.

Haunted Scotland Research Found...

Update: the record trail gets warmer

A James Burns appears in the 1881 Blairgowrie census at 14 Lower Mill Street, age 63, born Lanarkshire (Glasgow)—a birthplace consistent with a Barony parish entry (1813) for James, son of Archibald Burns & Janet Lightbody. The address sits a short walk from Wellmeadow, where Helen stood and pointed to her “surgery corner.” We’re now checking the line’s occupation and searching 1881–1885 death records to confirm the doctor’s passing. If the 1881 line reads “physician/surgeon”, it likely means one man—born Glasgow, trained in the NE, practiced in Blairgowrie—fits her story end‑to‑end.

1881 Census, Blairgowrie — 14 Lower Mill Street (Opposite Side Of Square)
The page headed “Civil Parish of Blairgowrie,” street column “14 Lower Mill St,” includes James Burns, age 63, born Lanarkshire (Glasgow). That’s the exact birthplace pattern we flagged as per her details on who she was.
OPR Birth/Baptism, Barony (Glasgow), 1813
In the Barony parish register for 1813, there’s an entry for James Burns, son of Archibald Burns and Janet Lightbody (It’s possible that this Archibald is the same person as the one mentioned earlier.)
1851 Census (Aberdeenshire area)
A page headed Parish of Lumphanan (Aberdeenshire) lists a James Burns in a household with “boarder/lodger” style entries—age around 30 on that sheet. That age tracks a man born 1813 living/working in the north‑east in the early 1850s (within striking distance of Aberdeen).
Research brief (our working dossier)
Collates earlier notes on the 1873 testimonial (clock + purse of sovereigns + brooch for his daughter), and the “1879” death year as likely but unconfirmed, alongside the Marischal Col
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The docklands clue

In Aberdeen, she walks toward the harbour and indicates where a Seamen’s Mission once stood. Our local witnesses didn’t know it—but archive checks later confirmed it had been there.

Inside the old College

At Marischal (Marshall) College, Helen’s language shifts to layout: the library and museum, corridors, and a stone, winding staircase she insists existed in her time but not now. Historic drawings match the gist—especially the removed staircase and the quadrangle/chapel wing arrangement.

“I feel like I’ve seen a ghost.” — Helen, standing where architecture and memory seemed to rhyme.

What does it mean?

The case is defined by specific details, such as the town’s geometry, the mission’s corner, and the removed stair. Whether you hear reincarnation, resonance, or unknown cognition, the correspondences form the narrative..