Soulmate

A relationship-version of 'everything happens for a reason'. Same psychology, same lack of evidence.

Drawn from regression-based literature. Comforting frame, not an evidence-based claim.

Romantic-destiny belief is widespread and emotionally powerful. As a literal claim it has zero controlled evidence; as a meaning frame it produces both the deep-bond high and well-documented relationship dysfunction.

Life purpose, growth, synchronicity, soul groups, destiny.

Growth, suffering, synchronicity, calling.

Past-life memories, karma, soul contracts.

A careful synthesis of free will, determinism, compatibilism, fate, soul contracts, karma, life purpose, suffering, and the claim that everything happens for a reason.

Any claim about surviving death or being reincarnated presupposes a theory of personal identity. This entry sets the terms.

Use this as the conceptual guardrail for destiny and 'it was meant to be' claims. It separates fatalism from causal determinism, which popular spirituality often blends together.

The standard ordinary-cognition explanation for many 'meaningful coincidence' and pattern-matching claims.

The single most-cited cognitive mechanism behind subjectively-convincing astrology, tarot, cold-reading, and 'this happened for a reason' inferences.

Direct reference for regression-derived claims and cryptomnesia explanations. It should be clearly distinguished from spontaneous child past-life memory cases, which have a different evidence profile.

Important as a genealogy source for the belief, not as verified evidence that soul groups exist.