Apparently, I was an Elf Once

This would radically alter my belief system, if I thought it was true.
A short time ago, I taught a class for one of the professors here in the English deparment. We discussed The Hobbit, and had a pretty good time. Today, the professor told me that one of his students, the new-age, faith healer type, told him that I was an elf in a previous life.
If I believed in reincarnation, and if I believed that elves did in fact exist, I could think of nothing I would want to have been, or be, more than an elf. However, unfortunately, I'm stuck in a more humdrum belief system that disallows reincarnation. As much as I'd like to believe otherwise, I also have placed the reality of elves firmly in the realm of fiction. What a shame. If I could have been a little more openminded, I would have really had quite a past.
But, I guess it could have been worse. The professor was told that he was one the element of fire. Which begs the question, if he was once fire, how did he spin out into a position where he could be a human? How does the element of fire die? Or was he simply the burst of flame from the head of a match?
In any case, it gave my day a bit of surreal twist.