Not long ago, I invited students in one of my undergraduate courses to participate in a simple experiment."I'm going to mention a word," I said, "and I want you to write down a number from -5 to + 5 in response to that word.The number you choose should reflect your gut feeling about this word.If you feel favorable toward it, choose some positive integer; if you feel unfavorable, choose a...
Abstract: This study compares unidentified flying object experiencers (UFOErs) with near-death experiencers (NDErs) in regard to changes in attitudes toward self, others, and life in general, toward religious or spiritual orientation, and toward psychic abilities and beliefs. Kenneth Ring's questionnaires administered to NDErs (1984) were given in this study to 93 persons whose UFOE included...
This book represents the first objective, comprehensive survey of the evidence for life after death provided by 'near-death' experiences. Carol Zalewski demonstrates that the eyewitness account of life after death is a common motif in the folklore and religious literature of the world, and shows that medieval Christian visionary narratives in particular offer surprisingly close parallels to the...
Sir.—Morse et al1reported the psychic phenomena of 11 children who had near-death experiences (NDE) following cardiac arrest (seven patients), near drowning (two patients), hyperosmolar coma (one patient), and trauma (one patient). In their fascinating article, they described "out-ofbody" perceptions and visual field constrictions as prominent features of the childhood "core NDE." Based on...
Bette Furn's paper is a fine effort to assist people who appear to need adjustment. As a near-death experiencer (NDEr), however, I disagree with its basic question: What is it the NDEr is to adjust to, and why? The most difficult adjustment is being human again. The NDE is not a human experience; it does not involve variables. Instead of t rying to make the NDEr conform to "here," why not spend...
Article discussing Osirian temple rites of ancient Egypt, which may have involved ceremonial procedures deliberately calculated to induce an experience that was functionally identical to modern near-death experiences.
Article using recent research to evaluate Raymond Moody's versus Ronald Siegel's interpretations of the near-death experience (NDE). Whereas Moody had concluded that the NDE is ontologically valid, Siegel interpreted the NDE as a purely subjective hallucinatory phenomenon.
Article describing the author's near-death experience (NDE) in 1983 as a result of poisoning. Almost every feature of the experience has been antithetical to the author's prior background, both in childhood and in adult life, thereby providing evidence against reductionist explanations of NDE. An account is given of how the new consciousness is affected by various life-circumstances, and of its...
This paper discusses near-death experiencers and "general guidelines and specific interventions, developed at an interdisciplinary conference, to assist NDErs in coping with psychological difficulties following their experiences" (abstract).
We nonselectively interviewed 11 patients aged 3 through 16 years who had survived critical illnesses, including cardiac arrests and profound comas. Any memory of a time they were unconscious was considered to be a near-death experience (NDE) and was recorded. Seven of these children had memories that included being out of the physical body (six patients), entering darkness (five patients),...