Review of a book titled "Opening Heaven's Door: Investigating Stories of Life, Death and What Comes After" written by author and journalist Patricia Pearson

Brief paper discussing the use of induced after-death communication to help resolve grief.

Brief paper discussing the origin and workings of Spiritist Centers and Spiritist Psychiatric Hospitals in Brazil.

Brief paper discussing research regarding people who resist spiritual emergence and transformation.

Abstract: Trauma and dissociation play a decisive role in initiating spiritual experience. This article explores transformational crises and spiritually transformative experiences (STEs) that occur within the context of trauma, physical illness, and mental disorders. Such growth or transformation may be a natural evolutionary process, in which the defense mechanism of dissociation plays a part. Consciousness is challenged to transform when one's ego identity and defenses are threatened. Ultimately, one may arrive at a radically re-ordered conceptual framework and higher-order functioning. Acknowledgement of this evolutionary dynamic may serve as a bridge between two fields: clinical psychology, with its expertise regarding the effects of trauma, notably dissociative states, and transpersonal psychology, with its expertise regarding transformational processes. Research from both fields is explored, as well as case examples from the author's biography, her clinical practice, and the collective. The concept of functional dissociation is introduced, and clinical considerations are addressed.

Article describing research to explore the near-death experiences (NDEs) of Iranian Shiite Muslim experiencers. It outlines the methods and results of the study and explains how the experiences compare to those of Western experiencers.

Review of a book titled "Brain Wars: The Scientific Battle Over the Existence of the Mind and the Proof That Will Change the Way We Live Our Lives" written by neuroscientist Mario Beauregard.

This article discusses spiritually transformative experiences and how they differ from psychotic experiences, including the context, content, how the experience is remembered, and effect on the individual.

Review of a book titled "The Immortal Mind: Science and the Continuity of Consciousness Beyond the Brain" written by philosopher Ervin Laszlo and Anthony Peak.

Abstract: This article provides a distilled sketch of my observations of three general phases in a process of integrating spiritually transformative experiences (STEs). The process may be thought of as both marking development over time as well as being microgenetic, spiraling through phases in brief moments. In addition, three forces activated in an STE -- transcendence, communion, and destruction -- as well as challenges frequently associated with these types of experiences are described with brief case examples as they manifest across the three phases. Awareness of these phases, along with their overriding questions and challenges, provides an open-ended framework for helpers to use in assisting the spiritual experiencer toward integration.

Letter from Neil Helm to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies on the topic "Did Edgar Cayce Have a Near-Death Experience?".

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Article describing the methods and results of research to explore spontaneous mediumship experiences (SMEs) that occurred during and after near-death experiences (NDEs).

Abstract: Extraordinary spiritual experiences (ESEs) events that appear to be direct perception of spiritual facts, have a history in Western societies of being stigmatized and pathologized except within very limited religious contexts. That negative view has caused real harm to many "visionaries." But in the latter 20th century, social science research began to show that ESEs are actually common in the general population and that they are normal. Near-death experiences are a well-known example. The growing body of research literature suggests that many conventional theories about spirituality are empirically mistaken and that ESEs may have the potential to be powerfully health promoting. This emerging evidence creates both a great ethical obligation and a research opportunity.

Brief paper discussing after-death communication with children and how it affects their relationships with their parents.

Brief paper discussing the results of a phenomenological study to evaluate spiritual crisis and emergency among Christian women.

Letter from Ivan Andreev Manev written to the editor of the Journal of Near-Death Studies on the topic "A Hypothesis Regarding the Mechanism of Telepathy."

Abstract: Decades of studies on near-death experiences (NDEs) have reveals both cross-cultural and culture-specific features (Kellehear, 2009) and that it is important to determine which aspects are attributed to the physiological, biological, or psychological mechanisms shared by all humans and which aspects are of cultural origin. In this article, we examine Japanese NDEs and compare their features with generalizations based on observations of Western NDEs. The main differences between Japanese and Western NDEs are the interpretation of the light and the concomitant lack of interaction with it, the image of heaven, and the absence of the life review. We suggest that these characteristics are accounted for in terms of cultural differences.

Review of a book titled "Revealing Heaven: The Eyewitness Accounts that Changed How a Pastor Thinks About the Afterlife" written by John W. Price, an Episcopal priest, about his experiences with parishoners' accounts.

Article comparing near-death experiences (NDEs) to the philosophy described in the spiritual text A Course in Miracles (1976). It provides an overview of the text's philosophy, previous literature comparing the text to NDEs, and an analysis of how the philosophies are similar and different, with references to specific cases.

Editorial statement introducing the contents of the journal issue and providing other relevant notes.

Brief paper discussing the Holistic Options for People Everywhere (HOPE) organization and its goals to assist people who have spiritually transformative experiences and to educate the broader community about assisting expereiencers.