Mary Celeste Revisited&NDE News

a couple of news items this weekend.

I blogged on April 16,2008 about the Ghost Ship Mary Celeste.It has always been special to me. The biggest delight was a reply by a family member of the Captain.I invite you to check it out..(I don't know how to link to it..)

Just yesterday, in 1872, the abandoned ship Mary Celeste was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean. The cause of the ship's desertion and the fate of its 10 passengers remains a mystery. Theories on what happened include a pirate attack, an encounter with a waterspout, a mutiny by the crew, and an accident involving the ship's cargo: barrels of alcohol

Another thing you might be interested in is an Email from IANDS

"The Biography Channel's new NDE series

Begins Sunday, December 5 at 10:00PM Eastern Time. Each episode features
interviews with 3 people who died, went to the other side, and came back.
Several IANDS members have been interviewed for this series.

Additional information available at:
www.biography.com/isurvived-beyond-and-back/episode.jsp"

Over 1300 Near Death Experiences Researched

Founder of the Near Death Experience Research Foundation, Dr. Jeffrey Long shared the most compelling evidence to date for the reality of near-death experiences (NDEs), and their consistent message that there is an afterlife.

" Having studied over 1300 NDE cases, he noted that the reports are remarkably consistent worldwide, even those from non-Western countries. NDEs typically may include out-of-body travel, seeing a tunnel and mystical light, encounters with deceased relatives, and a life review.

Here are some of the highlights of the consistent patterns/evidence he's found:

* The level of consciousness and alertness during NDEs is usually even greater than that experienced in everyday life even though NDEs generally occur when a person is unconscious or clinically dead.
* What NDErs see and hear of earthly events in the out-of-body state is almost always realistic, such as what is going on around them at the hospital.
* Heightened senses are often reported, such as seeing with 360 degree vision. Several people who have been totally blind since birth have reported highly visual near-death experiences.
* Life reviews in NDEs include real events that previously took place in the lives of those having the experience, even if the events were forgotten, in a kind of "perfect playback."
* During a NDE, the people encountered are virtually always deceased. Were the NDE only a product of memory fragments, they would almost certainly include far more living people, including those with whom they had more recently interacted.
* The near-death experiences of children, including very young children are essentially identical to those of older children and adults, arguing against the idea of cultural pre-conditioning.
* NDErs often report seeing heavenly or unearthly realms, with colors and sights that defy description...}
Dr. Jeffrey Long (pictured) has co-authored a new book, Evidence of the Afterlife, which shares firsthand accounts of those who have died and lived to tell about it.
His site
http://www.nderf.org/

New Thoughts About Near Death Experiences.

You probably are familiar with Dr.Raymond Moody with his pioneer work in NDE's.For many years as in his early days he did not believe that it necessarily meant that there was life after death.This new book and discussion looks as if that has changed...I am glad..

"On Thursday's show,(Coast To Coast AM) renowned near-death researcher Dr. Raymond Moody was joined by editor and author Roy Abraham Varghese for a discussion about life-after-death, and what lies on the other side. Moody said he'd recently become more confident about the reality of life-after-death because of numerous accounts of "shared death experiences." Bystanders who were at the deathbed of a loved one reported seeing a light, the appearance of a tunnel, and "even including...co-participating in the panoramic life-review of the person who was passing away," Moody detailed. They're in effect "emphatically co-living the dying experience of those that are close to them," he added.

Varghese has also concluded that life-after-death is genuine, after correlating a variety of data including cross-cultural beliefs throughout history, and contemporary testimonies from near-death experiencers. He noted that a new type of NDE has been reported, similar to the 'shared death experience.' Three soldiers were hit by a bomb, and they all reported seeing each other leaving their bodies.

The two authors agreed that "the other side" wasn't a physical place as we would typically understand it. "What we're dealing with is another state of existence that is outside the framework of time and space,"-- for instance, experiencers describe seeing everything all at once in their life review, Moody explained. He has a new book coming out called Between Two Worlds (co-authored with Paul Perry) and the first chapter is available as a free download here." http://paulperryproductions.com/

Interested In Near Death Experiences?

I just gor an Email that anyone interested in NDS's might like to know about.Here it is:
This just in from the IANDS local group in Los Angeles:
On Tuesday, September 2nd, the National Geographic cable channel will
feature a show titled "Moment of Death" as part of its Explorer series.
We
are told that the show will feature a near-death experiencer from
California whose NDE included an out-of-body experience in which the
observations made during the experience were later verified.

Information on this show can be obtained at
http://www.iands.org/maillist/lt.php?id=Yx1RBlxXAksNDUsDUQMC Please check
your local TV listings for exact viewing times in your area. It is possible
that this show will be rebroadcast in some areas later that week.

IANDS has not seen this production and cannot vouch for its content or
accuracy.


A service of the International Association for Near-Death Studies
(www.iands.org).

Child Birth Experiences

As a student nurse for a variety of reasons OB was my worst clinical experience.It happened to be my first which had something to do with it.A spontaneous delivery in the Labor Room with no one else around to help contributed greatly,( While the rest of the staff were on break and the doctor was coming later,the mother was a first pregnancy and just beginning to dilate so I was reassured by all that the 10 minutes would not be long enough for anything to happen.It did.)_Another time a baby I was taking to the nursery stopped breathing enroute.I handled all these things well enough but it was devastating for me.You know the fall apart later thing.
This was before Natural Childbirth had come back to the fore.The medications given was a combination which often produced hallucinations and contained scopolamine which allowed forgetfulness so often the women were ranting and yelling only later to say what a wonderful experience it had been.My sheltered 18 year existence had a hard time putting all this in perspective.I was certain I would never have children..Oh yes,and one of the OB Attendings who called me "Ace" made me,in spite of protests, do a delivery while he stood back.An experience that made my my classmates green with envy but only clinched the decision for me.
Considering the mental state and the fact of medications the mothers were receiving my observations may be feed for skeptics.

Any way, I talked with 6 mothers who described seeing a white light and the face or figure of Jesus appearing within it during delivery.My mother had said the same of her two deliveries although she heard Him say "Be not afraid.You and your little daughter will be fine."The ones I spoke with heard no messages.
I talked with 2 mothers who saw the same light but were attended by 2 to4 Angels.
Three others were helped with the vision of their own dead mother or grandmother.
Years later a friend who was a Nurse Midwife in California said that in three of her home deliveries without medication the mothers saw the white light and the figure of Jesus or an Angel.
Yesterday in a forum at Etsy there were some accounts of similar occurrences.When I get permission ,will share their accounts with you.

What do you think,was it medication,stress,or a form of NDE?