Letter written to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies by a hospice social worker, describing the experiences of patients and their families during the pandemic and relaying a particular experience from a patient's daughter.

Article suggesting several topics for further work in the area of near-death phenomena.

Abstract: This exploratory study was based on the cognitive and perceptual characteristics of 50 cases of near-death experiences (NDEs) collected through the International Association for Near-Death Studies-France. This study resulted in the formulation of a model of perception based on the concept of "global perception" or "global acquisition of information." Further analysis showed that this model is consistent with the concept that these perceptions are not purely hallucinatory but are, in part, modified perceptions of reality. Several clues are then proposed to explain how this type of information could be processed at the cerebral level and beyond. Finally, we offer a clinical research protocol, including a test that could lead to irrefutable proof of veridical perception during NDEs.

Abstract: This review supports cardiologist Pim van Lommel's continuity claim for human existence in his recently published book 'Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience' (2010). Van Lommel and colleagues (van Lommel, van Wees, Meyers, & Elfferich, 2001) studied NDEs among 344 Dutch hospital patients who had been resuscitated following cardiac arrest. From their and others' NDE research findings (e.g., accurate perceptions during the arrest period), van Lommel and colleagues concluded that mental activity can take place even in the absence of cerebral function. Extrapolating from this conclusion, van Lommel claimed in 'Consciousness Beyond Life' a fundamental continuity for individual human existence: that death and birth mark not final limits but instead the transition from one state of consciousness to another. In the course of making his continuity claim, van Lommel referred to other topics such as deathbed visions and past-life memories. In addition to reviewing NDE research, this article reviews research and illustrative responses pertaining to these related phenomena. A convergence of corroborative evidence is consistent with van Lommel's continuity claim.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Letter from Dianne Arcangel to the editor responding to a previous issue (Atwater, 2007) discussing the research and data around placement of apparitions during near-death experiences.

Review of the book "The Eternal Journey: How Near-Death Experiences Illuminate our Earthly Lives" by sociologists Craig R. Lundahl and Harold A. WIddison.

Abstract: This article describes the social positions of inhabitants in the otherworldly City of Light as reported by a limited number of Mormon near-death experiencers (NDErs). These social positions included men and women and various relatives and friends, in addition to authorities or administrators, genealogists, guardians, guides, homemakers, missionaries, teachers, and students. These reports of social positions in the City of Light are similar to those described by other researchers, and are comparable to those found in our own world.

Letter written to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies on the topic "Review of The Eternal Journey."

Article describing the physical environment found in the other world or the City of Light, based on published accounts of near-death experiences (NDEs). The City of Light appears to be a world of preternatural beauty that cannot be described adequately. NDE accounts provide descriptions of the landscape, animal life, plant life, and architecture found in the other world.

Abstract: We analyze three near-death experiences involving a unique type of prophetic vision that has not previously been reported in the literature. These visions involve a brief glimpse of what circumstances would have been like for the near-death experiencers' family in the aftermath of the experiencers' deaths, had they actually died.

Article exploring the role of anoxia in near-death experiences (NDEs) through the use of a questionnaire.

Abstract: A recent interview with a 34-year-old man, currently serving a life sentence for murder, revealed a remarkable case of "near-death experience by proxy." The phenomenological features of the experience unfolded typically, with some slight variation in content. The immediate drastic changes in attitude and belief following the experience are described.

Abstract: In this article we rejoin Gerald Woerlee's response in this issue to Smit's (2008) article, "Corroboration of the Dentures Anecdote Involving Veridical Perception in a Near-Death Experience." We show the untenability of his claim that the man whose dentures were lost before his resuscitation in the hospital was initiated had been conscious virtually all the way from the moment he was found in the meadow up to his transport to the hospital's cardiac care unit. Also, we question Woerlee's claim that the patient constructed an accurate mental picture of objects and persons in the resuscitation room simply by listening to the sounds caused by the actions around his body. In all, we question Woerlee's materialistic explanations of the out-of-body experience that occurred in this patient's near-death experience. Our conclusion is straightforward: We consider Woerlee's claims to be wrong.

Abstract: This essay is a first-person account describing the profound impact of my near-death experience (NDE). I surrendered everything in response to a spiritual mandate to do something different with my new life after the NDE. Researchers may find that such intensive responses contain credible data of interest in evaluating the question of why we have NDEs.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.

Article highlighting the types of contacts from a deceased loved on or a divine being reported, messages claimants believe are received, changes in death perceptions, and the therapeutic potential of the experience for coping with the death of a loved one. Much of the material is based on a workshop given by the author throughout the United States.

Abstract: The field of near-death studies shares a number of interesting, often compelling, similarities with the ancient spiritual tradition known as shamanism. Not least among these similarities is the fact that a near-death experience (NDE) is a time-honored form of shamanic initiation. I present a case example illustrating how a deep NDE can propel a person who had no prior knowledge or interest in shamanism into spontaneous, often classic, shamanic experiences, while living an apparently normal life in the midst of modern Western society.

Abstract: The physiological and psychological underpinnings of near-death experiences (NDEs) are not yet understood. In this article, we show that for "critical" NDEs reported after cardiac arrest, two different neurophysiological models have been proposed that, in the literature so far, have not been adequately distinguished from each other. In the real-time model, it is postulated that during critical NDEs, residual activities in the cerebrum were sufficient to generate NDEs in real time. In the reconstruction model, it is assumed that due to severe oxygen deficiency, critical NDEs could not have occurred at the time in question but were reconstructed later during the regeneration phase of the brain. To assess the plausibility of these two models, we analyzed the phenomenology of the view of one's own body from above (autoscopy) that frequently occurs in the beginnings of NDEs. In addition to the available literature, we used original descriptions of autoscopies obtained in an online survey conducted in 2015. We found that the reconstruction model is not supported by empirical findings and that some findings even speak against it. We therefore conclude that future discussions of explanatory models of NDEs should focus primarily on the neurophysiological real-time model and a third alternative …

This paper describes deep near-death experiences (NDEs). Personal flashforwards (PFFs) and prophetic visions (PVs) involve seeing events subsequent to the NDE, and seeing planetary-wide events, respectively. The paper describes PVs that depict major global changes.

Article relating near-death phenomena to John Shelby Spong's argument for a more "authentic" view of Jesus, a more spiritual understanding of humanity, and a new, evolving Christianity. Near-death research and Spong's envisioned new Christianty share in principle the ideal of progress through challenge and open dialogue.

Article presenting a projective geometry for out-of-body "separation experiences," built up out of a series of higher space analogies and resulting diagrams.

Article regarding observed somatic continuance (OSC) -- i.e., situations where an experiencer observes their physical body persisting in semi-autonomous behavior from what appears to be a detached vantage point -- and discussing possible theories about what might trigger the experiences.

Quarterly journal publishing papers related to near-death experiences, including research reports; theoretical or conceptual statements; expressions of a scientific, philosophic, religious, or historical perspective on the study of near-death experiences; cross-cultural studies; individual case histories; and personal accounts of experiences or related phenomena.