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open access

Three Fictional Deaths Compared with the Near-Death Experience

Description: Study looking at three popular works of short fiction, by Leo Tolstoy, Ambrose Bierce, and Katherine Anne Porter, in which the main character dies at the end. There are similarities and differences between these deaths and recent near-death experience (NDE) accounts. The comparison helps define the modern sensibility about dying that is part of the cultural context for interest in NDEs.
Date: Winter 2000
Creator: Haussamen, Brock
open access

Guest Editorial: The Examination of Labels - A Beginning

Description: Article addressing the problem of unclear terminology for the study of anomalies. Researchers have used the term "near-death experience" to describe four different kinds of incidents. To avoid confusion, new labels are needed for experiences that differ in their relationship to death and near-death and their transformative potential.
Date: Summer 1991
Creator: Smith, Robert P.
open access

The Myth of the Near-Death Journey

Description: Article examining the meaning and developmental potential of the near-death experience (NDE) as a stimulus to inner exploration. The NDE as a prototype of the transcendent contact encounter offers a model for an evolutionary theory of religion. The author's experiences and contemporary portrayals of NDEs suggest that the experience is a vehicle for the mythic renewal of our idea of death as a journey rather than as a termination, and may be a stimulus for spiritual revolution.
Date: Autumn 1991
Creator: Grosso, Michael
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