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open access

The Acute Dying Experience

Description: Article discussing the acute dying experience (ADE), which incorporates peritraumatic dissociation and hyperarousal into an experiential continuum lasting seconds to minutes. It is instantly triggered by the sudden, clear perception of threat of significant injury and/or death and followed, at times, by physical trauma, physiological derangement, and loss of consciousness. Results from this and other studies show that paradoxically the more terrifying and traumatic an accident may appear, the m… more
Date: Spring 2008
Creator: Sabom, Michael B.
open access

Afterlife Research and the Shamanic Turn

Description: Abstract: In Western culture, approaches to the afterlife have mutated throughout history, from shamanism and mythology to philosophy, spiritualism, and psychical research. For conceptual reasons, however, survival research seems to many to be languishing, despite some remarkable recent advances. I urge a return to a more experience-based approach, modeled after features of the near-death experience, for its practical benefits; I intend that approach to complement other forms of research, not… more
Date: Autumn 2001
Creator: Grosso, Michael
open access

Afterward: Making Meaning After a Frightening Near-Death Experience

Description: Abstract: The routes by which individuals attribute meaning to a near-death experience (NDE) appear to be similar, whether the experience was radiant or terrifying. This article explores three such avenues in relation to frightening experiences. I argue that resisting a terrifying NDE is likely to intensify fearfulness in an individual, and also that a similar effect occurs within society when this type of experience is resisted and misunderstood. The article concludes with an approach to sy… more
Date: Winter 2002
Creator: Bush, Nancy Evans
open access

An Anthropological Perspective on Near-Death-Like Experiences in Three Men's Pregnancy-Related Spiritual Crises

Description: Article bringing a transpersonal perinatal anthropological perspective to the study of three fathers' near-death-like experiences (NDEs) with the "spiritual emergencies" of three New Zealand men during their partners' pregnancies. It explores the seemingly anomalous male birth/death/rebirth experiences and draws some parallels with what some Western researchers have called "the shamanic crisis," and compares their stories with the symbolic reproductive maneuvers of shaman midwives.
Date: Summer 2006
Creator: Lahood, Gregg
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