There are many who believe that those near death have a special connection to the unseen world. Talk to any hospice care worker or end-of-life counselor and they will have stories to share with you of the things their clients have said to have seen when the end was near.

For this woman and her mother, who is clearly very ill, this time brings special visitors, visitors that her mother thinks of as angels. In this video, a woman is caring for her sick mother in their home. A hospital bed has been set up in what looks like their living room. Her mother is lying in the bed, and is having difficulty speaking, but her attention is being held in wondrous rapture by the angels she says she sees floating above her bed. She is quite certain about this, and tells her daughter that she sees four angels hovering over her, even holding up her fingers to confirm it.

Whatever these angels are, neither the camera nor the daughter seem capable of picking it up. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t real. “You may have visitors when it’s your time to go,” says death educator, writer,  and counselor Martha Jo Atkins. “As people come very close to death, they often speak less and start reaching, as if to something or someone. One hand goes up, and then it moves in a symphony of motion. A change often sweeps across the person’s face — sometimes the person’s upper body brightens.”

Whoever these spirits are, they are a welcome sight to a woman who is undergoing a profound experience. 

Source: https://exemplore.com/news/dying-woman-angels

My hospice patient had a ghostly visitor who altered his view of the world

For months, as I’ve visited Evan as his hospice social worker, he has been praying to die. In his early 90s, he has been dealing with colorectal cancer for more than four years, and he is flat tired out. As he sees it, the long days of illness have turned his life into a tedious, meaningless dirge with nothing to look forward to other than its end. He’s done, finished. He often talks about killing himself.

On this visit, though, his depression seems to have lifted. He’s engaged and upbeat — and this sudden about-face arouses my suspicions: Has he decided to do it? Is he planning a way out?

“You seem to feel differently today than on other visits,” I say casually. “What’s going on?”

He looks at me cryptically.

“Do you believe in ghosts?” he asks.

It’s not the first time a patient has asked me this. People can have unusual experiences when they reach the end of life: near-death or out-of-body experiences, visitations from spiritual beings, messages delivered in dreams, synchronicities or strange behaviors by animals, birds, even insects.

“There are all kinds of ghosts,” I respond seriously. “What kind are you talking about?”

“You remember me telling you about the war?” he asks.

How could I forget? He’d traced his long-standing depression to his time as a supply officer for a World War II combat hospital. The war, he’d said, had soured him on the idea that anything good could come from humans and left him feeling unsafe and alone.

“I remember.”

“There’s something I left out,” he says. “Something I can’t explain.” He goes on to describe one horrific, ice-cold autumn day: Casualties were coming in nonstop. He and others scrambled to transport blood-soaked men on stretchers from rail cars to triage, where those with a chance were separated from those who were goners.

“I’d been hustling all day. By the time the last train arrived, my back felt broken, and my hands were numb from the cold.”

He grimaces and swallows hard.

“What happened when the last train got there?” I ask softly.

“We were hauling one guy, and my grip on the stretcher slipped.” Tears roll down his face. “When he hit the ground, his intestines oozed out. Steam rose up from them as he died.”

Evan rubs his hands as though they were still cold.

“Later that night I was on my cot crying. Couldn’t stop crying about that poor guy, and all the others I’d seen die. My cot was creaking, I was shaking so hard. I even started getting scared that I was going insane with the pain.”

I nod, waiting for him to continue.

“Then I looked up,” he says. “Saw a guy sitting on the end of my cot. He was wearing a World War I uniform, with one of those funny helmets. He was covered in light, like he was glowing in the dark.”

“What was he doing?” I ask.

Evan starts crying and laughing at the same time. “He was looking at me with love. I could feel it. I’d never felt that kind of love before.”

“What was it like to feel that kind of love?”

“I can’t put it in words.” He pauses. “I guess I just felt like I was worth something, like all the pain and cruelty wasn’t what was real.”

“What was real?”

“Knowing that no matter how screwed-up and cruel the world looks, on some level, somehow, we are all loved. We are all connected.”

This turned out to be the first of several paranormal visits. Each time the specter arrived, he’d wordlessly express love and leave Evan with a sense of peace and calm.

“After the war, the visits stopped,” he says. “Years later, I was cleaning out Mom’s stuff after she died, and I found an old photograph. It was the same guy. I looked on the back, and Mom had written the words ‘Uncle Calvin, killed during World War I, 1918.’ ”

We talk some more, then I ask, “What does this have to do with your being in a better mood?”

“He’s back,” he whispers, staring out the window. “Saw him last night on the foot of my bed. He spoke this time.”

“What’d he say?”

“He told me he was here with me. He’s going to help me over the hill when it’s time to go.”

As I’m formulating more questions, Evan surprises me by asking one of his own.

“You ever have something strange happen? Something that tells you that no matter how bad it looks, you’re connected with something bigger, and it’s going to be okay?”

A memory flashes into my mind. It was 35 years ago. It was after midnight, and I was asleep in a graduate-student apartment at Syracuse University. A siren’s blare woke me, so loud it sounded like it was inside the room. Adrenaline pumping, heart pounding like a hammer, I sat up and wondered what had happened. Was it a dream?

From outside, I distinctly heard what sounded like a two-man stretcher crew talking.

“Bring it here quick,” one guy told the other. I heard a gurney being rolled across asphalt.

I went to the window and pulled back the curtain, certain there was trouble outside.

The night was silent. Nothing was stirring in the parking lot. No one was there.

Just before daybreak, Dad called to tell me that just a few hours earlier, my uncle Eddie had been killed in an automobile collision.

That was a tough day. As night fell once more, questions filled my head: Why did this happen? What was he experiencing when it ended? Was he scared?

On the kitchen table sat a beat-up radio; some kind of malfunction occasionally caused it to turn off or on for no apparent reason. As my questions swirled, the radio turned on, and I heard the opening chords of the Beatles’ song “Let It Be.”

Not being a fan, I’d never listened closely to the song before — but this time, I did. The music and words filled me with an almost otherworldly sense of peace and comfort. The song ended. Shortly after, the radio cut off.

For years, I tried to explain away those events. It must have been a dream, I told myself. Or some kind of fabricated “memory” to fool myself into thinking that uncle Eddie and I were connected in that moment. As for the radio, it was nothing but a random coincidence. Any other conclusion is just wishful thinking.

Inside, though, a part of me knew it was real.

After nearly 30 years as a hospice social worker, I’m certain of it. And I have patients like Evan to thank: dying patients who have convinced me that the world we inhabit is lovingly mysterious and eager to support us, especially during times of disorientation and crisis. It even sends messages of love and reassurance now and then when we’re in pain.

I return to the present. Evan is looking at me, waiting for an answer. I feel grateful that he’s pulled up these memories. Outside, a flock of crows takes off in unison from the branches of an ancient oak.

“Yeah,” I say with a nod. “I guess I have.”

Scott Janssen is a clinical social worker with University of North Carolina Healthcare Hospice. This article originally appeared on Pulse — Voices From the Heart of Medicine, which publishes personal accounts of illness and healing.

Source:https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/feeling-loving-paranormal-presence-at-death/2020/12/31/50a0dfbe-2833-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html

The Trigger of Deathbed Visions: Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon's Research

By Kevin Williams

Deathbed Visions (DBVs) - also known as "nearing death awareness" - refer to paranormal experiences occurring to people who are dying. There are many examples of deathbed phenomena in both non-fiction and fictional literature, which suggests that these occurrences have been noted by cultures around the world for centuries, although scientific study of them is relatively recent. Recent research by Neuropsychiatrist Peter Fenwick and Elizabeth Fenwick published in their book, The Art of Dying, collated examples of unusual happenings at the time of someone's death. The dying person may report seeing deceased relatives or friends and having conversations with them or be overcome with a feeling of joy and happiness. If we accept deathbed visions at face value they provide glimpses of what awaits us when we ourselves make the transition. The following are some true accounts of deathbed visions from Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon's research (www.carlawillsbrandon.com) into deathbed visions from her book, One Last Hug Before I Go. Included in this article are deathbed accounts from Sir William Barrett in his classic book entitled Death-Bed Visions: The Psychical Experiences of the Dying.

Table of Contents

1.Introduction to Deathbed Visions

2.Examples of Cases of Deathbed Visions from Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon's Research

a.A Dying Mother's Deathbed Vision

b.A Dying Uncle's Deathbed Vision

3.Examples of Cases of Deathbed Visions from Sir William Barrett's Research and Others

a.Visions of the Dying Who Are Greeted By People Unknown To Them To Be Dead

b.Deathbed Visions Seen by the Dying and by Others Present

c.Other Types of Deathbed Visions Reported by Sir William Barrett

4.Links to Deathbed Vision Articles, Videos and Books

1. Introduction to Deathbed Visions

Staff working in hospices frequently relate paranormal occurrences around the time of a patient's death. According to a study published in the American Journal of Hospice & Palliative care, The Incidence of Deathbed Communications and Their Impact on the Dying Process by Dr. Madelaine Lawrence and Dr. Elizabeth Repede, hospice nurses identified 363 incidences of DBCs, with the typical hospice nurse sees approximately five patients a month with deathbed communication (DBC). Lawrence and Repede prefer "deathbed communications" (DBCs) rather than "deathbed visions" because some communication is auditory and some tactile in addition to being visual. The purpose of their study was to determine the incidence of DBCs during the 30 days before death and their impact on the dying process. A total of 60 hospice chart audits and 75 survey responses by hospice nurses across the United States were analyzed. In all, 89% of the hospice nurses reported patients who experienced a DBC had a peaceful and calm death, with only 40.5% reporting a peaceful and calm death without the DBC. According to their study, these DBCs have a positive impact on the dying process but are underreported in patient records and under described in textbooks.

2. Examples of Cases of Deathbed Visions from Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon's Research

a. A Dying Mother's Deathbed Vision

"My mother had been in and out of hospitals over the last year, near death at each admission. She was coherent and not delusional. She had congestive heart failure and lung and kidney cancer spread throughout her body. One morning in the hospital room, about 2 a.m. when all was quiet, my mother stared out the door of her room and into the hall that led to the nurse's station and the other patient's rooms.

"I said, 'Momma, what do you see?'

"And she said, 'Don't you see them? They walk the hall day and night. They are dead.'

"She said this with quiet calmness. The revelation of this statement might send fear into some, but my mother and I had seen spiritual visions many years prior, so this statement was not a shock for me to hear, or for her to see. I, however, this time, I did not see them. This small conversation was not mentioned again.

"Her surgeon said there was no point in treatment as the cancer had spread throughout her body. He said she might have six months to live, at the most; maybe three months.

"I brought her home to die. She passed four weeks later.

"The night of her (unexpected) passing, she was restless and anxious. Although my mother was a spiritual person, she had been in denial throughout her illness and declining health. She did not want to die, therefore she would not acknowledge the prognosis or her condition. She always talked as if she were going to get well and making plans of things to do in the coming spring.

"About 7:30 p.m. she asked to be carried out to the enclosed front porch. It was winter and cold. But, she insisted and by this time, I would not deny my mother any request.

"I wrapped her in blankets and made her as comfortable as possible. My mother was an invalid and could not support herself in anyway without help.

"A few minutes before 8 p.m. she said, 'I have to go. They're here. They're waiting for me.'

"Her face glowed and the color returned to her pale face as she attempted to raise herself and stand up.

"Her last words were, 'I have to go. It is beautiful!'

" And she then passed at 8 p.m."

b. A Dying Uncle's Deathbed Vision

"I found the subject of deathbed visions oddly reassuring as my favorite uncle died this morning at 7:30 a.m. CST. He has been ill with terminal cancer for over two years now and we knew the end was near.

"My aunt said he knew it was time to go and asked his son-in-law to cut his hair and trim his beard last night, then asked to be bathed.

"My aunt sat with him all night.

"A few hours before he died he said, 'Uncle Charley, you're here! I can't believe it!'

"He proceeded to talk to uncle Charley right up to the end, and told my aunt that Uncle Charley had come to help him over to the other side.

"His Uncle Charley was his favorite uncle, and is the only significant other in my uncle's life who has passed on.

"So I believe Uncle Charley did come to take Uncle Timmy to the other side, and it brings me great comfort."

3. Examples of Cases of Deathbed Visions from Sir William Barrett's Research and Others  

a. Visions of the Dying Who Are Greeted By People Unknown To Them To Be Dead

There are instances where the dying person is unaware of the previous death of a loved one, and is therefore astonished to find on their deathbed a vision of that deceased loved one whom the dying person believes to be still alive. These cases are, perhaps, one of the most convincing arguments for survival after death, as the accuracy of these deathbed visions are greatly enhanced when the fact is undeniably established that the dying person was completely ignorant of the death of the person they so vividly see. Such deathbed visions are also known as "Peak in Darien" experiences after a book by that name published in 1882 by Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904) an Irish writer, social reformer and leading suffragette. The title of her book, "Peak in Darien" and the name of "Peak in Darien" deathbed visions, are taken from a poem entitled On First Looking into Chapman's Homer by the English romantic poet, John Keats (1795-1821), who referred to the shock of the Spaniards, who, after sailing the Atlantic Ocean and scaling a peak in Darien (in what is now the Panama Canal), expected to see a continent but were awestruck when confronted instead with another ocean - the Pacific Ocean. People on their deathbeds are similarly awestruck when they meet a recently deceased person of whose death neither they nor anyone around them had any knowledge. Such "Peak in Darien" deathbed visions exclude the possibility of the vision being a hallucination related to the experiencer's expectations. Frances Cobbe describes this phenomenon as follows:

"The dying person is lying quietly, when suddenly, in the very act of expiring, he looks up - sometimes starts up in bed - and gazes on (what appears to be) vacancy, with an expression of astonishment, sometimes developing instantly into joy, and sometimes cut short in the first emotion of solemn wonder and awe. If the dying man were to see some utterly - unexpected but instantly recognized vision, causing him a great surprise, or rapturous joy, his face could not better reveal the fact. The very instant this phenomenon occurs, death is actually taking place, and the eyes glaze even while they gaze at the unknown sight."

Another "Peak in Darien" deathbed vision example comes from Frances Cobbe documents is an incident of a very striking nature:

"A dying lady, exhibiting the aspect of joyful surprise, spoke of seeing, one after another, three of her brothers who had been long dead, and then apparently recognized last of all a fourth brother, who was believed by the bystanders to be still living in India. The coupling of his name with that of his dead brothers excited such awe and horror in the mind of one of the persons present that she rushed from the room. In due course of time letters were received announcing the death of the brother in India, which had occurred some time before his dying sister seemed to recognize him."

Sir William F. Barrett (1844-1925), an English physicist and parapsychologist, documented a "Peak in Darien" deathbed case in Chapter 2 of his book entitled Death-Bed Visions: The Psychical Experiences of the Dying. This case is a well authenticated one and comes from the distinguished doctor of divinity and Unitarian minister, Dr. Minot J. Savage (1841-1918), with whom Barrett was acquainted. Dr. Savage recorded the following case in one of his books entitled Psychical Research and the Resurrection and was confirmed by Barrett as follows:

"Dr. Savage told me personally of the facts and gave me the names and addresses of the persons on whose authority he tells the incidents."

Dr. Savage narrates, as follows:

"In a neighboring city were two little girls, Jennie and Edith, one about eight years of age and the other but a little older. They were schoolmates and intimate friends. In June, 1889, both were taken ill of diphtheria. At noon on Wednesday Jennie died. Then the parents of Edith, and her physician as well, took particular pains to keep from her the fact that her little playmate was gone. They feared the effect of the knowledge on her own condition. To prove that they succeeded and that she did not know, it may be mentioned that on Saturday, June 8th, at noon, just before she became unconscious of all that was passing about her, she selected two of her photographs to be sent to Jennie, and also told her attendants to bid her good-bye. She died at half-past six o'clock on the evening of Saturday, June 8th. She had roused and bidden her friends good-bye, and was talking of dying, and seemed to have no fear. She appeared to see one and another of the friends she knew were dead. So far it was like other similar cases. But now suddenly, and with every appearance of surprise, she turned to her father and exclaimed:

"Why, papa, I am going to take Jennie with me!" Then she added, "Why, papa! you did not tell me that Jennie was here!"

And immediately she reached out her arms as if in welcome, and said:

"Oh, Jennie, I'm so glad you are here!'"

Another "Peak in Darien" deathbed vision was documented by the pioneering parapsychology researchers Edmund Gurney and Frederic W.H. Myers who described the case of John Alkin Ogle, who, an hour before he died, saw his brother who had died 16 years earlier, calling him by name. Ogle then called out in surprise, “George Hanley!,” which was the name of a casual acquaintance in a village 40 miles away, before expiring. His mother, who was visiting from Hanley’s village, then confirmed that Hanley had died 10 days earlier, a fact that no one else in the room had known.

"Peak in Darien" experiences are not limited to deathbed visions as they occur in NDEs as well. In a paper by Dr. Bruce Greyson from the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia entitled, Seeing Dead People Not Known to Have Died: Peak in Darien Experiences, Greyson argues that in his collection of 665 NDEs, 138 (21%) included a meeting with a deceased person. Greyson reports in his paper, published in the academic journal "Anthropology and Humanism, many examples, including that of Physician K. M. Dale who related the case of 9-year-old Eddie Cuomo:

"... whose fever finally broke after nearly 36 hours of anxious vigil on the part of his parents and hospital personnel. As soon as he opened his eyes, at 3:00 in the morning, Eddie urgently told his parents that he had been to heaven, where he saw his deceased Grandpa Cuomo, Auntie Rosa, and Uncle Lorenzo. Then Eddie added that he also saw his 19-year-old sister Teresa, who told him he had to go back. His father became agitated, because he had spoken with Teresa, who was attending college in Vermont, just two nights ago. Later that morning, when Eddie’s parents telephoned the college, they learned that Teresa had been killed in an automobile accident just after midnight, and that college officials had tried unsuccessfully to reach the Cuomos at their home to inform them of the tragic news."

Dr. Greyson cites many other such examples which can be read online on Michael Prescott's Blog including cases in which the deceased person seen was someone whom the experiencer had never known.

b. Deathbed Visions Seen by the Dying and by Others Present

Deathbed visions of the dying that are also viewed by person(s) present at the scene are called shared death experiences (SDEs), a term coined by Dr. Raymond Moody in his book entitled Glimpses of Eternity: An Investigation Into Shared Death Experiences. One very credible example of a SDE is the documented deathbed vision of the American poet, Horace Traubel (1858-1919), who is best known as the literary executor and biographer of his friend, famous poet Walt Whitman (1819 -1892), about whom he compiled nine volumes entitled "Walt Whitman in Camden." It is taken from a fuller narrative in the Journal of American Society of Psychical Research (1921, Vol. XV, pp. 114-123). An abridged account of the incident comes from Flora MacDonald Denison, who was present at Traubel's deathbed, and was published in the April-May issue of a Magazine entitled, The Sunset of Bon Echo  as follows:

"All day on August 28th Horace was very low spirited. Anne's illness and the going of the Bains was too much for him. Mildred was with him a good deal and we decided not to leave him a minute. He had been brought in from the veranda but absolutely radiant, and on seeing me, he called out:

'Look, look, Flora, quick, quick, he is going.'

'What, Horace,' I said, 'what do you see? I cannot see anyone.'

'Why just over the rock Walt appeared, head and shoulders and hat on in a golden glory - brilliant and splendid. He reassured me - beckoned to me, and spoke to me. I heard his voice but did not understand all, he said, only 'Come on.'"

"Frank Bain soon came in and he repeated the story to him. All the rest of the evening Horace was uplifted and happy. So often Horace would say, 'Do not despise me for my weakness,' but now he was quite confident, even jocular, as I handed him a drink.

"On the night of September 3rd Horace was very low. I stayed for a few hours with him. Once his eyes rolled; I thought he was dying, but he just wanted me to turn him. As I did so, he listened and seemed to hear something.

"Then he said:

'I hear Walt's voice, he is talking to me.'

'I said, 'What does he say?'

'He said, 'Walt says, 'Come on, come on.'

'After a time he said, 'Flora, I see them all about me, Bob and Bucke and Walt and the rest.'

"Colonel Cosgrave had been with Horace in the afternoon and had seen Walt on the opposite side of the bed, and felt his presence. Then Walt passed through the bed and touched the Colonel's hand, which was in his pocket. The contact was like an electric shock. Horace was also aware of Walt's visible presence and said so. There was no gloom about the house. No one seemed depressed. A feeling of triumph, of pride, and of exultation permeated the atmosphere."

Afterwards, a letter from Colonel Cosgrave was received by the American Society of Psychical Research confirming the statement given by Flora Denison above.

c. Other Types of Deathbed Visions Reported by Sir William Barrett

Barrett has also documented cases in Chapter 4 of his book where visions are seen by living people of persons who are dying from a great distance away from them. According to Barrett, in such cases the soul of the dying appears to be transported to a different place on Earth where they are able to be with living loved one(s) from a remote distance. Barrett referred to such cases as "travelling clairvoyance" and numerous well-attested facts of this kind have been collected in a two-volume classic entitled Phantasms of the Living by parapsychology researchers Edmund Gurney and Frederic W.H. Myers along with an opponent of spiritualism and well-known psychical investigator Frank Podmore. The modern term for such deathbed visions are called "empathetic death experiences." According to Peter Fenwick in his book, The Art of Dying, people associated with the dying person have not only reported empathetic death visions of the dying person when they are many miles away; but they have also reported suddenly sensing the feelings of a loved one on the verge of death many miles away, the experience of pets howling or behaving as if someone has arrived when no one is visible, and having clocks stop and electrical devices spontaneously switching themselves on or malfunctioning in some way. A similar phenomenon can, called after-death communications (ADCs), can occur long after a loved one has died and a living person related to the deceased suddenly sees an apparition of the deceased or experiences some form of contact with them. The webmaster of this website, Kevin Williams and members of his family, experienced for several years ADCs of their deceased mother in the form of multiple synchronicity.

In Chapter 5 of Barrett's book, he documents instances where music is heard at the time of death by the dying or by persons present at a deathbed. One example is a case published in the Journal of the Society of Psychical Research (Vol. IV, p. 181.) In this instance, the subject was a deaf mute by the name of John Britton who was taken dangerously ill with rheumatic fever which caused his hands and fingers (which were his only means of conversation) to become so swollen he could not use them, greatly to the distress of his relatives to whom he could not make known his wants nor his sufferings. The narrator was Mr. S. Allen of Steward of Haileybury College and a brother-in-law of John Britton who stated how the doctor, believing John would not recover, sent for members of his family. He adds that when he and his wife were in a room below John's bedroom, they were greatly surprised to hear music coming from upstairs and ran up at once to find out what it was. He narrates as follows:

"We found Jack lying on his back with his eyes fixed on the ceiling, and his face lighted up with the brightest of smiles. After a little while Jack awoke and used the words 'Heaven' and 'beautiful' as well as he could by means of his lips and facial expression. As he became more conscious he also told us in the same manner that his brother Tom and his sister Harriet were coming to see him. This we considered very unlikely as they lived some distance off, but shortly afterwards a cab drove up from which they alighted. They had sent no intimation of their coming, nor had anyone else. After Jack's partial recovery, when he was able to write or converse upon his fingers, he told us that he had been allowed to see into Heaven and to hear most beautiful music."

Mr. Allen asked:

"How did John know that Tom and Harriet were travelling, and how could he have heard these musical sounds which we also heard?"

Mr. Allen remarked that the music could not have come from next door or from the street and gave a rough description of his house to show it was not in a row of houses nor could the music be due to any normal cause. Mrs. Allen confirms her husband's statement and said she heard the sounds of singing which came from her brother's bedroom and that when she entered the bedroom he was in a comatose state and smiling. His lips were moving as if he were in conversation with someone; but no sound came from them. Mrs. Allen continues:

"When he had recovered sufficiently to use his hands he told me more details of what he had seen, and used the words 'beautiful music.'"

She adds that her brother died a few years later, and stated how:

"The nurse and I were watching in the room, my brother was looking just as he did on the former occasion, smiling, and he said quite distinctly and articulately 'Angels' and 'Home.'"

In Chapter 6 of Barrett's book, he documents instances where living people observe of the spirit of a dying person leaving the body. According to Barrett:

"Many well authenticated cases are on record where the relatives of a person, watching by the deathbed, have seen at the moment of death a cloudy form rising from the body of the deceased and hovering for a time in the room and then passing away."

Barrett gives an example of such a case from a letter sent to him by a well-known dignitary of a Church in New South Wales in which he describes the death of his son a few years ago. He wrote that at about 3.30 pm,

"... something rise as it were from his face like a delicate veil or mist, and slowly pass away."

He adds:

"We were deeply impressed and remarked, 'How wonderful! Surely that must be the departure of his spirit.' We were not at all distracted so as to be mistaken in what we saw."

References

1.The Official Site of Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon - www.carlawillsbrandon.com

2.End of Life Experiences and "Deathbed Visions" - www.victorzammit.com

3.The Deathbed Research of Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon - www.near-death.com

4.Did Steve Jobs Have a Death-Bed Vision? - www.dailygrail.com

5.Deathbed Visions: What You Need To Know About Deathbed Visions - paranormal.about.com

6.Do the Dead Greet the Dying? - www.cnn.com

7.General Nursing Discussion Forum: Death Bed Visions - www.allnurses.com

8.Near-Death Experiences and Nearing Death Awareness in the Terminally Ill - www.iands.org

9.Near-Death Experiences, Deathbed Visions, and Past-Life Memories: A Convergence in Support of van Lommel's Consciousness Beyond Life (Journal of Near-Death Studies, $16) - www.iands.org

10.Deathbed Phenomena and Their Effect on a Palliative Care Team: A Pilot Study ($32) - ajh.sagepub.com

11.End-of-life Experiences: Reaching Out for Compassion, Communication, and Connection-Meaning of Deathbed Visions and Coincidences ($32) - ajh.sagepub.com

12.Deathbed Phenomena: Its Role in Peaceful Death and Terminal Restlessness ($32) - ajh.sagepub.com

13.One Last Hug Before I Go: The Mystery and Meaning of Deathbed Visions (Book by Dr. Carla Wills-Brandon) - www.amazon.com

14.Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying (Book by Callanan & Kelley) - www.amazon.com

15.When the Dying Speak: How to Listen to and Learn from Those Facing Death (Book by Wooten-Green & Champlin) - www.amazon.com   

My quest to understand what the dying see began when I found out that my mom only had a few months (if that) to live. I wanted to be familiar with the stages she would go through and how I could best be there for her.

One of the things I read about the dying is that often they see deceased relatives or friends right before the end. In the world I grew up in (as a Seventh Day Adventist), I was taught that such things simply couldn’t happen. Yet, I read and heard story after story of men, women and children on their deathbeds who saw their dead mothers, fathers, grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and friends. The same is true with people who experience “near-death experiences.”

The logical response to this phenomena is that lack of oxygen and the consumption of various drugs can do crazy things to the brain. Who knows what can occur when a person is hanging on by a thread?

As we neared the last days of my mom’s life, I so wanted to understand what she was feeling and seeing. The day before she took her last breath I decided to ask her.

First I wanted to make sure she could comprehend what I was saying. I told her I loved her, and she raised her eyebrows in acknowledgement. Then I shared a funny story about a conversation my sister and I had. The corners of her mouth turned up in a smile. I could tell that she was taking in every word.

And then I went for it.

“Mom, can I ask you a really serious question?” She turned her head and opened her eyes fully. I could tell she wanted to grasp every word that came out of my mouth.

“Mom, do you see any of our dead relatives in the room? Do you see your dad?” she shook her head to indicate “no.”

“Do you see your mom,” she shook her head.

“Do you see dad?” (my dad had died when I was 10). Her response was quite different this time. She began nodding her head to indicate “yes.”

“Is he here in this room right now?” she nodded. “Can he see me?” she nodded again. And then she tried to communicate with words, but was frustrated when she couldn’t get the words out. I could tell she wanted to share her reality with me so badly.

The next day mom was in a different realm. She wasn’t responding to me or my family members, yet she was having full-on inaudible conversations with a being I couldn’t see. Maybe my dad?

At times she would become quite animated, speaking deep within her throat and making guteral sounds. At one point, she kept shaking her head and saying “no.” It was obvious she was fighting something. I sat down next to her and tried to hold her. My sister also came into the room to let mom know she was there. I then called my brother and let him say hello.

Shortly thereafter, mom began having conversations again. When she spoke to the invisible being this time, it was as though they were having a cohesive conversation — one that I still couldn’t understand because by that time her vocal chords were shot. She’d talk and then listen and talk again. It was as though she was trying to make sense of what she was being told.

The conversation ended, and a bit later her body constricted. Her brow furrowed. Then something profound happened. Her soul (the mom I loved and treasured so much) completely left her body. Her body continued to breathe, but there were no more conversations. No more frowns or grimaces when you’d adjust her legs or back.

What I saw led me to conclude that she finally agreed to go. Could it be possible that she went with my dad? That he was sent to take her away and keep her safe along the way?

While I can’t be certain, this is what it seemed to be.

According to David Kessler, author and expert on death and dying, the following things often happen when a person is about to die.

• The dying are often visited by their dead mothers.

• Their hands often reach up toward a force that can’t be seen. (My mom did this)

• Family members and friends of the dying can’t see their visions or participate in conversations.

• Visions often occur hours to weeks before they die.

While there is no “proof” that their visions and communication with deceased family members or friends are real, some death and dying experts are adamant they should be taken seriously.

“People think it’s just confusion or the drugs,” explains Maggie Callanan. As a hospice nurse for more than 27 years, she has helped more than 2,000 dying men and women in their last days. “But frankly, the confusion is ours. The patient knows what is going on.”

Dr. Martha Twaddle, chief medical officer of the Midwest Palliative & Hospice CareCenter, explains further: “You can write it off and say it’s a hallucination, they’re not getting enough oxygen in their brain, but no, it doesn’t apply to many people in these situations. I have to believe they are transitioning; they are in a phase we don’t understand physically or metaphysically. And it is profoundly reassuring to see it happen.”

Following the death of my Mom, I am more open to the idea that something amazing (like my father being there to take my mom away) may occur. The experience is one I can never forget — and honestly I never want to forget.

Just a few weeks ago, I was wondering why I haven’t had many dreams of my mom since she died. As I was driving home from work, I said out loud, “Mom, it’s about time you come and visit me in a dream! Where are you anyway?” I then laughed it off and enjoyed my drive through my favorite canyon.

That night while I was sleeping, it happened. I had one of the most lucid dreams I’ve had in a long time. Mom was dressed beautifully. She peered at me with a HUGE smile. Her eyes were bright and full of life. She was happier than I had seen her in years. And she was younger, maybe her 45 or 50-year-old self. We didn’t exchange any words, but it was clear that she is healed, happy and free.

I woke up with joy in my heart.

Vitor Moura sent me an interesting article by NDE researcher Bruce Greyson, which appeared in the December 2010 (Vol. 35, issue 2) edition of Anthropology and Humanism, a journal published by the American Anthropological Association. Titled "Seeing Dead People Not Known to Have Died: 'Peak in Darien' Experiences," the article lists a number of deathbed vision cases. As far as I know, only the abstract is freely available online.

There are so many cases, I can't excerpt them all. What follows are some of the more interesting ones. All of the quoted material is from Greyson's article and consists of Greyson's summaries in his own words.

One very early case was written up by Dr. Henry Atherton in 1680. The doctor's teenage sister,

who had been sick for a long time, was thought to have died. Indeed, the women attending to her saw no breath when they held a mirror to her mouth and saw no response when they put live coals to her feet. Nevertheless, the girl recovered and related a vision of visiting heaven, which her relatives dismissed as “dream or fancy.” The girl then insisted that she had seen several people who had died after she had lost consciousness. One of those she named was thought to be still alive; however, her family subsequently sent out inquiries and confirmed

that the girl was correct.

It's interesting that even in that more religious age, her family’s knee-jerk response was a skeptical dismissal. Some things never change!

A case written up in 1882 by Frances Power Cobbe

described a woman who, as she was dying, suddenly showed joyful surprise and spoke of seeing three of her brothers who had long been dead. She then apparently recognized a fourth brother, who was believed by everyone present to be still living in India.... Sometime thereafter letters arrived announcing the death of the brother in India, which had occurred prior to his dying sister recognizing him.

In 1885, Eleanor Sidgwick wrote up an interesting case involving a singer identified only as Julia X, who had been briefly employed six or seven years previously by an affluent lady. Now the employer was dying. On her deathbed she was coolly discussing business matters, when

[s]uddenly she changed the subject and said, “Do you hear those voices singing?” No one else present heard them, and she concluded: “[The voices are] the angels welcoming me to Heaven; but it is strange, there is one voice amongst them I am sure I know, and cannot remember whose voice it is.” Suddenly she stopped and, pointing up, added: “Why there she is in the corner of the room; it is Julia X.” No one else

present saw the vision, and the next day, February 13, 1874, the woman died. On February 14, Julia X’s death was announced in the Times. Her father later reported that “on the day she died she began singing in the morning, and sang and sang until she died.”

Here's one reported by pioneering psi researchers Edmund Gurney and F.W.H. Myers in 1889.

Gurney and Myers also described the case of John Alkin Ogle, who, an hour before he died, saw his brother who had died 16 years earlier, calling him by name. Ogle then called out in surprise, “George Hanley!” -- the name of a casual acquaintance in a village 40 miles away -- before expiring. His mother, who was visiting from Hanley’s village, then confirmed that Hanley had died 10 days earlier, a fact that no one

else in the room had known.

In 1899, Alice Johnson described the case of the dying Mrs. Hicks, who

looked earnestly at the door to the room and said to her nurse,husband, and daughters, “There is someone outside, let him in.” Her daughter assured her there was no one there and opened the door wider. After a pause, Mrs. Hicks said: “Poor Eddie; oh, he is looking very ill; he has had a fall.” Her family assured her that the last news they had heard from him [her son, who was thousands of miles away] was that he was quite well, but she continued from time to time to say, “Poor Eddie!” Some time after she died, her husband received a letter from Australia announcing their son’s death. He had suddenly become feverish the day of his mother’s vision and was found dead, having fallen from his horse at about the time of his mother’s vision.

Another early psi researcher, James Hyslop, wrote in 1908 about a case involving two children both suffering from diphtheria.

Jennie, age 8, died on a Wednesday, a fact that was intentionally kept hidden from her friend Edith. At noon on that Saturday, Edith selected two of her photographs to be sent to Jennie, providing evidence that she still thought Jennie to be alive. Shortly thereafter she lapsed into unconsciousness, but that evening she awakened and spoke of seeing deceased friends. Then suddenly she said to her father, in great

surprise, “Why, papa, I am going to take Jennie with me!” She then reached out her arms and said, “O, Jennie, I’m so glad you are here,” lapsed back into unconsciousness, and died.

One of the more interesting stories in Hollywood history is the development of Technicolor, which is vividly described here.

The system was the brainchild of Herbert Kalmus and his wife Natalie. It came as news to me that Natalie Kalmus, in 1949, reported a deathbed vision perceived by her sister Eleanor. In her final moments, Eleanor

began calling out the names of deceased loved ones whom she was seeing. Just before she died, she also saw a cousin named Ruth and asked, “What’s she doing here?” Ruth had died unexpectedly the week before, and Eleanor, because of her condition, had not been told.

Ian Stevenson, best known as an indefatigable researcher of children’s past-life memories, wrote up a case in 1959. The dying person was an elderly lady.

When the doctors said that she did not have long to live, her grandchildren gathered around her bed. Suddenly she seemed much more alert, and the expression on her face changed to one of great pleasure and excitement. She raised herself slightly and said, “Oh, Will, are you there?” and fell back dead. No one named Will was present, and the only Will her family could recall was a great-uncle who lived in England.

Not long after, her family received word from England that her brother Will had died about two days before her death.

Some near-death experiences include elements of deathbed visions. In 1968 John Myers

related the case of a woman who, in an NDE, perceived herself leaving her body and viewing the hospital room and saw her distraught husband and the doctor shaking his head. She reported that she went to heaven and saw an angel and a familiar young man. She exclaimed: “Why, Tom, I didn’t know you were up here,” to which Tom responded that he had just arrived. The angel then told the woman that she would be returning to earth, and she found herself back in the hospital bed with the doctor

looking over her. Later that night, her husband got a call informing him that their friend Tom had died in an auto accident.

Another NDE with a deathbed-vision component was reported by pediatrician and NDE researcher Melvin Morse in 1990. A cancer-stricken 7-year-old boy

told his mother that he had traveled up a beam of light to heaven, where he visited a “crystal castle” and talked with God. The boy said that a man there approached him and introduced himself as an old high school boyfriend of the boy’s mother. The man said he had been crippled in an automobile accident, but in the crystal castle he had regained his ability to walk. The boy’s mother had never mentioned this old

boyfriend to her son, but after hearing of this vision, she called some friends and confirmed that her former boyfriend had died the very day of her son’s vision.

Traveling up a beam of light sounds somewhat like the classic "tunnel" experience, and the crystal castle is reminiscent of the buildings constructed of glass or other transparent materials that are often reported by NDErs and mediums. These structures are sometimes said to be made of pure thought.

In their 1993 book Final Gifts, hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley reported the case of an elderly Chinese lady, terminally ill with cancer, who

had recurrent visions of her deceased husband calling her to join him. One day, much to her puzzlement, she saw her sister with her husband, and both were calling her to join them. She told the hospice nurse that her sister was still alive in China, and that she hadn’t seen her for many years. When the hospice nurse later reported this conversation to the woman’s daughter, the daughter stated that the patient’s sister had in fact died two days earlier of the same kind of cancer, but that the family had decided not to tell the patient to avoid upsetting or frightening her.

The same authors related

the case of Peggy, a young hospice patient dying of lymphoma. One day, she seemed to the visiting nurse much more bright, radiant, and active than usual. She reported that the previous day she had been drifting in and out of sleep, remembering back to a happy time in her childhood when she and her brother were taken in by a beloved aunt. She woke up with a start when she felt a warm, caring hand on her shoulder,  and looking around behind her saw her aunt, who lived in another state, smiling and touching her. She felt her aunt with her off and on all day, and late that night her uncle called to say her aunt had died at the same time that she was first awareof her presence.

A case reported in 1995 by a medical doctor, K.M. Dale, centered on a 9-year-old boy, Eddie Cuomo,

whose fever finally broke after nearly 36 hours of anxious vigil on the part of his parents and hospital personnel. As soon as he opened his eyes, at 3:00 in the morning, Eddie urgently told his parents that he had been to heaven, where he saw his deceased Grandpa Cuomo, Auntie Rosa, and Uncle Lorenzo.... Then Eddie added that he also saw his 19-year-old sister Teresa, who told him he had to go back.... Later that morning, when Eddie’s parents telephoned the college, they learned that Teresa had been killed in an automobile accident just after midnight, and that college officials had tried unsuccessfully to reach the Cuomos at their home to inform them of the tragic news.

The oldest case included in Greyson's study dates all the way back to A.D. 77 and appears in Book 7 of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History. It concerns two Roman brothers, Corfidius the elder and Corfidius the younger. (In those days of high infant mortality, it was not unusual for siblings to share the same name.) The elder brother was pronounced dead, and funeral arrangements were made. Unexpectedly, however, the elder Corfidius spontaneously revived and announced to amazed onlookers that

he had just come from the house of his younger brother. He reported that the younger brother requested that the funeral arrangements he had made for the now-revived older Corfidius be used for him instead, entrusted the care of his daughter to his older brother, and showed his older brother where he had secretly buried some gold underground. As the older Corfidius was relating the account of his NDE, his younger

brother’s servants burst in with the news that their master had just unexpectedly died; and the buried gold, of which no one else knew, was found in the place indicated by the revived older brother.

====

P.S. The term "peak in Darien," used to describe deathbed-vision cases, comes from Keats' poem "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer,"

and refers to the moment when Cortez and his men climbed a peak in

Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean lying before them -- a wholly

unexpected vista. The Peak in Darien was the title chosen by Frances Power Cobbe for her 1882 book on life after death, which includes some deathbed visions. 

Although DBVs can be found in the literature and lore of all ages, they were rarely mentioned in the scientific literature until the late 1920's when they were studied by Sir William Barrett, a physics professor at the Royal College of Science in Dublin.

He would never have considered examining such a topic had it not been for an experience told to him by his wife, an obstetrical surgeon. On the night of January 12, 1924, she arrived home from the hospital eager to tell her husband about a case she had had that day.

She had been called into the operating room to deliver the child of a woman named Doris (her last name was withheld from the written report). Although the child was born healthy, Doris was dying from a hemorrhage. As the doctors waited helplessly next to the dying woman, she began to see things. As Lady Barrett tells it:

Suddenly she looked eagerly towards part of the room, a radiant smile illuminating her whole countenance.

"Oh, lovely, lovely," she said.

I asked, "What is lovely?"

"What I see," she replied in low, intense tones.

"What do you see?"

"Lovely brightness - wonderful beings."

It is difficult to describe the sense of reality conveyed by her intense absorption in the vision. Then - seeming to focus her attention more intently on one place for a moment - she exclaimed, almost with a kind of joyous cry: 

"Why, it's Father! Oh, he's so glad I'm coming; he is so glad. It would be perfect if only W. (her husband) would come too."

Her baby was brought for her to see. She looked at it with interest, and then said: 

"Do you think I ought to stay for baby's sake?"

Then, turning toward the vision again, she said: 

"I can't - I can't stay; if you could see what I do, you would know I can't stay."

Although the story thus far was compelling, skeptics could still argue that it was nothing more than a hallucination due to lack of blood or triggered by fear of death. Indeed Sir William Barrett may have made that very point to his wife. Then he heard the rest of the story. It seems that the sister of Doris, Vida, had died only three weeks earlier. Since Doris was in such delicate condition, the death of her beloved sister was kept a secret from her. That is why the final part of her deathbed vision was so amazing to Barrett.

She spoke to her father, saying: "I am coming," turning at the same time to look at me, saying, "Oh, he is so near." On looking at the same place again, she said with a rather puzzled expression: "He has Vida with him," turning again to me saying, "Vida is with him." Then she said, "You do want me, Dad; I am coming."

Could all this have merely been wish fulfillment expressed in the form of a hallucination? Barrett considered such an explanation, but he rejected it because among the apparitions of the dead was someone whom Doris had not expected to see. Her sister, Vida, had died three weeks before. This explains why Doris was a bit surprised when she saw her sister. This story was so inspirational to Barrett that he undertook a systematic study of deathbed visions. His was the first scientific study to conclude that the mind of the dying patient is often clear and rational. He also reported a number of cases in which medical personnel or relatives present shared the dying patient's vision.

The work of Sir William Barrett did not contribute to the theory that these visions were a form of wish fulfillment. In fact the deathbed vision often did not portray the type of afterlife the dying expected. For example, Barrett reported several children who were disappointed to see angels with no wings. In one such case he described a dying girl who sat up suddenly in her bed and said, "Angels, I see angels." Then the girl was puzzled. "Why aren't they wearing wings?" If deathbed visions were simply a fantasy of the mind, says Barrett, why did this little girl see something different from her expectations?

Anonymous:

"Here is my story of a NDE I had on Thanksgiving evening at my apartment. At that time (around 1991 and 1992), I had a friend who was diagnosed as terminally ill from AIDS complications. Six months before, the doctor told him he had three months to live. So, basically he was on borrowed time. In the early 90s, there was no medication for advanced HIV or AIDS. Once you got sick, you basically died.

"I was not planning on preparing a huge Thanksgiving dinner that evening. But, for some reason, I woke up and called all the people in my address book. I left messages on their phone machines and said that anyone who had no place to go for Thanksgiving could come to my apartment.

"I began cooking shortly after that. I cooked all day and fed people as they strolled in. Then, around 11 p.m. that night, Phillip showed up. He was the guy who was terminally ill. He told me he had nowhere to go that evening and was thankful I had called him.

"All the guests for the day had gone, so Phillip and I began to eat together. I had not eaten all day because of the several people that came over and my entertaining them. So, I was quite hungry and tired.

"At this point, Phillip explained how six months ago, he had three months to live. He decided he would try to make it to Thanksgiving and then finally let go.

"So there we were and we were laughing and joking about how he would die after eating dinner. He'd already lived three months longer than he was supposed to and he was quite accepting of the whole situation. He was no longer afraid. He told me that his liver was so weak, at that point, that really he wouldn't be able to eat all the rich salty and sugary foods on the table. If he did, he probably would actually die. But, that would be OK. At least he made it to Thanksgiving and would die happy knowing he had a place to go and a friend who cared for him. So he decided he would eat the dinner - everything - and if he died, then it was God's will.

"Well, he began eating and the food made both of us really high from the tryptophan in the turkey. Especially because both of us did not eat all day long and we were making all these jokes about dying. Then he actually started to fade away in front of me. He turned pure white grayish and slumped over. I thought, 'Oh my God! He really is dying.'

"Then I saw this incredible white spinning light appear on his left shoulder as he was falling over toward me in his chair. I thought, "My God! I can see his soul leaving his body! Maybe it was an angel who had come for him!"

"In any event, the light was so beautiful and lovely, that I stood up without thinking and thought, 'Take me! I'll go and he can stay!' I so desperately wanted to go into that light and be with it. Suddenly, I was having a NDE with Phillip in a space that I can only describe as heaven. It was simply a pure whiteness of light just like in the movies. No visuals at all. Just white light everywhere.

"Then, I was back in my body. Phillip sat straight up and was back in his body. He was muttering that he guessed he just couldn't die.

"Then next day, when I awoke, I felt two powerful presences. It was like four pairs of hands on my shoulders: two on each side holding me in my body. I felt two very powerful angels or spirits behind me just resting their 'hands' on my back and shoulders and grounding me back into this reality. I cried, even sobbed, that I had come back here. I was actually depressed for some time. I was thinking how wonderful death was and how awful it was to come back.

"Phillip lived many years after this, I might add. Then we lost touch, so I can't say if he is still around or not."

Karl Skala:

Karl Skala was one of Germany's most noted poets. During World War II, he had a NDE. He and his best friend were huddled together in a foxhole during an artillery bombardment. The shells hit closer and closer until one finally hit close to Skala's friend and killed him. Karl felt his friend slump forward into his arms and go limp with death. Then a strange thing happened to Skala. He states that he felt himself being drawn up with his friend, above their bodies and then above the battlefield. Skala could look down and see himself holding his friend. Then he looked up and saw a bright light and felt himself going toward it with his friend. Then he stopped and returned to his body. He was uninjured except for a hearing loss that resulted from the artillery blast." (Dr. Melvin Morse, Parting Visions, page 45-46)

Sussanna Uballe:

"The experience of co-experiencing death is, I feel, much like a NDE. I did not have a near death experience, but did travel part way up the tunnel with my husband as he left this dimension.

"On Memorial day (observed), May 27, 1979, I was five months pregnant with my son, Christopher. My husband and I rode bicycles and ran errands around town, and it was a very hot day for Minneapolis. I lay down after dinner and was so exhausted that I could barely move. As my husband went to the corner store about 8:00 to buy something for his lunch the next day, I fell into a very deep sleep.

"I dreamt that I was walking with my husband, Herb, up a dark and shady forest path. It was a heavily wooded path, which was enclosed by a thick canopy of trees overhead. The path was slightly inclined, and at the crest of a hill I saw the sky, somewhat like the light at the end of a tunnel. Herb and I had been in deep conversation, about what I could not tell, but I suppose we were reminiscing about our relationship. I felt our very closeness and felt totally in love.

"He began to tell me about what it was like to die; at first filled with rage, pain, and frustration, and upset that the clerk didn't seem to understand his pleas to call an ambulance, that he had been stabbed in the heart and needed help. He said that after a short while, which felt interminable while he was experiencing it, he left his body and floated above it and saw the body below him, and felt detached from it, like it was just a body. He was filled with peace and love. And he felt no pain.

"After telling me this, he then said that he had to go. His feet started to move very fast, and he began to leave me behind on the path. I told him that I could do that too, and put some effort into "powering up" my feet to make them go super fast. I actually started to rev up and move along the path quickly, and felt as if I was traveling up a tunnel of forest toward the sunlight at the top of the hill. As I began to keep pace with him he said "NO!" in a very powerful voice, and I woke up in my bed, feeling hurt at being told no.

"I looked for him, to tell him about my dream. He wasn't there, and his side of the bed showed that he had not slept in the bed that night. It was dawn. I began to get irritated, thinking that he must have gone off with some friends, and feeling upset at how irresponsible he was behaving. I went to where we kept our bicycles, to see if his was there, and it wasn't. I was so angry that I broke the bicycle lock and chain off of my bicycle with my bare hands, (he had taken both keys with him), and set off down the street toward the corner store. His bicycle was near the store, and a patrolman was standing next to it. I asked him where my husband was, and why his bicycle was sitting there. He asked my name and address, and refused to tell me anything more. He suggested that I go back home, and that someone would explain everything to me later. In about fifteen minutes a police officer and a clergyman came by and told me that Herb had been killed the night before.

"The dream braced me for this news, and although I was in shock, I felt assured constantly that he was not in his body, and a comforting presence was with me throughout the next few days of viewing the body, the funeral and other unpleasant business.

"Two days after the funeral, I was preparing for bed and contemplating suicide to join Herb, so that we could be together on the other side or in our next phase of incarnation or whatever. I consciously thought a question, "Should I kill myself to join Herb, or stay here."

"I then went to bed. I was just falling asleep when I felt a presence by my right side, and looked to see Herb, naked and glowing with a soft, beautiful white light. He looked beautiful and I felt filled with love and happiness to see him. He spoke mentally to me, and said, "This is our son," indicating my womb, "Take good care of him." I had no question then about my purpose, and have tried to do the best possible job taking care of my son ever since. It did not at all seem strange that he used the word "son", and, of course, although these were the days before ultrasound, I did give birth to a boy."

Dr. Borysenko:

"It was about three in the morning at the time of her passing and we said 'goodbye' to each other for the last time at about midnight and then she'd gone to sleep. And my son, Justin, who was about twenty at that time, and I, were sitting with her. We were on opposite sides of her bed. I was having a quiet time. I was just praying, meditating, and my eyes were closed. All of a sudden, I had a very vivid vision. I opened my eyes after this vision and the whole room seemed to be made out of light. I know that might be hard to understand, but it was like everything was made of particles of light: my mother and the bed and the ceiling. Everything was so beautiful. I looked across the bed and I saw my son Justin. And Justin was weeping. Tears were just streaming down his face and he had this wonderful, soft look, this look of awe on his face.

"And he said to me, 'Mom, the room is filled with light. Can you see it?'

"And, boy, I said, 'Yeah, I see it. I see the light.'

"And he said, 'It's Grandma. Grandma is holding open the door to eternity for us, so that we can catch a glimpse.'

"And then he went on, he looked at me with so much love and he said, 'You know, Grandma was a very great soul. She came to this world and she took a role. She took a part much smaller than the wisdom in her soul, so that you can have something to push against; you can have something to resist and become fully who you are.'" (Dr. Joan Borysenko)

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/evidence09.html#a04

Spain - Maryland - R. Moody:

It was during one of these breathless periods that a "brilliant light" filled the room. The sisters became both frightened and hopeful, since the bright light also caused their father to stir slightly . A few minutes later, though, their father stopped breathing and died. "The light stayed for maybe ten minutes after he died," said Maria, the other sister. "We saw no forms or figures in the light, but it seemed to be alive and have a personal presence." It was this personal presence that made them think that the light consisted of their father's "essence," said the sisters. And yes, they felt changed for the better by the light

p. 86

Sharon Nelson - Maryland - R. Moody:

"About ten years ago, my very beloved sister was dying of cancer at home in her bedroom. I was present along with my other sister and my brother-in-law. About one week prior to my sister's actual passing, a bright white light engulfed the room. It was a light that we all saw and a light that has stayed with us ever since. I felt an intense love and connection with everyone in the room, including other 'souls' that were not visible but that we felt the presence of. "For me, I saw nothing except this white light and my ill sister. For many years I thought that this light said to me, 'This house, these things, they are not real.' I was confused about why those thoughts had come to my mind, but I now realize I was experiencing what my dying sister was experiencing. What a revelation! Words cannot express what impact this experience had on me. This was certainly not something I had ever thought before. The wisdom and peace of this light have not left me since.

page 84-85

Nurse North Carolina - R. Moody:

"When I was a student nurse my biggest dread was seeing someone die. I had a terrible image drawn from movies and my overactive imagination. I certainly understood it came with the territory. Still, I didn't know if I was going to be able to take it when I saw a patient die. I made some flimsy excuse about going to get some equipment when it became apparent that Mrs. Jones was about to die. ' t t r · "I was hightailing it out of the room when I heard a soft voice I recognized as Mrs . Jones's. It was clearly coming from inside my head yet obviously coming from her too. This voice insisted, 'Don't worry. I'm fine now.' I was drawn back into her room as though by a magnet. I saw her draw her last breath. Right then a light that looked like vapor formed over her face. I never had felt such peace. The head nurse on duty was very calm and told me that Mrs. Jones was leaving her body and that she wanted me to see the dying experience. "I saw a luminous presence floating near the bed, shaped somewhat like a person. The head nurse saw the light in the room and this tremendous light coming from Mrs. Jones's eyes but not the presence. "The nurse encouraged me by saying that she had witnessed similar appearances at other times. The nurse sat with me for a long time afterwards and we talked and prayed for Mrs. Jones. "Since then I have never been uncomfortable around dying patients. I have used this experience to teach student nurses." Many of my fellow researchers feel it is the enw counter with the mystical light that leads to positive ~ I

p. 83

Olga Gearhard:

An anecdotal example of evidence that a person's consciousness leaves and returns to their body during an NDE comes from the research of   Dr. Melvin Morse. Olga Gearhardt was a 63 year old woman who underwent a heart transplant because of a severe virus that attacked her heart tissue. Her entire family awaited at the hospital during the surgery, except for her son-in-law, who stayed home. The transplant was a success, but at exactly 2:15 am, her new heart stopped beating. It took the frantic transplant team three more hours to revive her. Her family was only told in the morning that her operation was a success, without other details. When they called her son-in-law with the good news, he had his own news to tell. He had already learned about the successful surgery. At exactly 2:15 am, while he was sleeping, he awoke to see his Olga, his mother-in-law, at the foot of his bed. She told him not to worry, that she was going to be alright. She asked him to tell her daughter (his wife). He wrote down the message, and the time of day and then fell asleep. Later on at the hospital, Olga regained consciousness. Her first words were "did you get the message?" She was able to confirm that she left her body during her near-death experience and was able to travel to her son-in-law to communicate to him the message. This anecdotal evidence demonstrates that the near-death experience is a return to consciousness at the point of death, when the brain is dying. Dr. Melvin Morse thoroughly researched Olga's testimony and every detail had objective verification including the scribbled note by the son-in-law.

Sources:

Book:   Morse, M. with Paul Perry,   Parting Visions: Uses and Meanings of Pre-Death, Psychic, and Spiritual Experiences. - www.amazon.com

Book:  Myers, F. Human Personality and Its Survival After Death, Longmans, Green and Co. 1917. - www.amazon.com

Book:  Zammit, V., A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife, Chapter 14: Irrefutable proof -- Cross Correspondences - www.victorzammit.com

In the weeks before dad died, he began having visions. One saturday morning I was lounging on the mattress and reading a book when dad spoke.

Where am I?

Right here, dad, in your bedroom, with me.

I feel like I’m in a tunnel, and I’m waiting for instructions on where to go next.

I sat up in a bit of a panic. I had read about these types of near death phenomena. I read Raymond Moody in the seventies and Elizabeth Kubler Ross, too, but I really did not want to have to give my dad instructions.

Um, gee dad, can you describe anything? Is there anybody around? I was fishing to understand.

I see a staircase, right over there. He began gesturing towards the upper corner of the room, pointed toward the ceiling.

Ok, great.  A staircase. Shit. Maybe this is it. He’s going to somehow ascend this invisible staircase and then my daddy’s going to be gone. I looked around for help. We were alone.

Dad, can you describe the staircase?

It’s olive green with black metal handrails.

Honestly, this was kind of a let down for me. I was thinking, silver and gold, or jewels or at least something shiny or sparkly. Olive green? Black metal? Nevermind, I told myself, it’s his staircase, not yours. I told myself that the staircase sounded, well, elegant, dad was never a fussy sort, and kept talking.

Uh, well, is there anybody around? Do you recognize anyone? You could ask for a guide you know, if you don’t know what to do.

I said this feigning confidence as if this was a customary procedure. I mean, when you go to the air port there are flight attendants, when you at a train station, you ask the conductor, if you see an invisible staircase in the corner of your room, there should be some kind of guide to go along with it. Right?

All the while I was thinking, maybe I’m the guide, maybe it’s me. Oh no, what do I do? He deserves a much better guide, or at least a dead guide, for heaven’s sake. I admit I was a bit of a mess. I looked at dad and he looked pretty calm, actually. He’s better at this dying thing than I would be, I thought.

After a few minutes of appearing as if he was in a daze of sorts, or a waking dream, really, Daddy solidly came back to me. But this experience began a string of conversations between us. Opened the door to a crash course in spiritual beliefs, and it felt urgent to me. When I asked dad what do you think happens when you die, his answer without much hesitation was nothing. Wanting to remain neutral and supportive, I asked him, how does that make you feel right now? His answer: That every moment counts.

He didn’t appear fearful or in distress of any kind. Scientific to the end. Except for these pesky visions, you know. Over the next days, he would see his father every time he closed his eyes, standing “crisp and clear, like on a cold winter’s day.” One day he saw trees in the room, 40 feet high, with tall buildings beside them. Look at all the life forms up and down the trees, he said to me. Another day it was a garden, Where did all these flowers come from? he inquired, gesturing towards nothing. Once he saw people in many costumes of different countries, dancing, and celebrating. I told him they were celebrating his life. And then there was the time  I looked up and dad’s face was beaming as he held his hands up in front of his face, as if framing an image: Look, he cried with delight – right here in front of me – it’s Times Square! He laughed softly with happiness.

My father had visions like these fairly frequently, and he would describe them to me as they occurred. It was an odd experience, listening to him and watching him, like he had one foot in the spiritual realm, and one foot in the bedroom, with me. He was translating, if you will, what he saw. I’d like to mention that these were all drug free experiences. And as I said, they opened the door to many a discussion on a variety of end of life and afterlife belief systems, which I think was a comfort to us both in the end.

A 14-year-old girl with a history of serious health issues lay dying of pneumonia in a hospital room. But as her mother waited for the girl to take her last breath, an image of bright light appeared on a security monitor. Within an hour, the dying girl began a recovery that doctors are at a loss to explain.

But Colleen Banton, the girl's mother, has an explanation. “This was an image of an angel,” she told NBC News in a story reported Tuesday on TODAY. She credited the apparition with saving the life of her daughter Chelsea.

No hope

The incident happened in Charlotte, N.C., in September. Chelsea had been born five weeks prematurely with developmental disabilities and had battled serious health problems all her life. She is particularly susceptible to the types of pneumonia infections that had taken her to death’s door.

Told that there was no hope for Chelsea, Colleen Banton had just instructed doctors to take her daughter off life support and allow nature to take its course when the apparition was seen.

It would be another two months before Chelsea finally left the hospital to return home, where she is about to celebrate her 15th birthday as well as Christmas. Her mother is convinced that Chelsea was saved by divine intervention.

“It’s a blessing,” she told NBC News. “It’s a miracle.”

Banton took a picture of the television monitor on which the image appeared. Some who look at it would describe it as a flare of reflected light. Others — including nurses who were on duty as well as Banton — say the three vertical shafts of light are indisputably an angel.

‘They walk amongst us’

Banton is hardly alone in her belief in angels.

“I think angels really do exist,” the Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook told TODAY’s Ann Curry after watching the report on the Bantons’ experience. “They protect us. They walk amongst us.”

Cook was joined by Rabbi Irwin Kula, who looked at angels as more of a metaphor for the unexplained wonders that life brings.

The Rev. Suzan Johnson Cook and Rabbi Irwin Kula discuss the existence of angels with TODAY's Ann Curry.

“Albert Einstein said there are two ways to look at the world: as if everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle,” he said.

Angels do not play a large role in the Jewish faith, but they have a prominent place in Christianity, which teaches that an angel told Mary that she was to be the mother of Jesus.

Cook said she believes that angels are messengers from God. “They bring the message of hope,” she told Curry.

According to some polls, 75 percent of all Americans believe in angels. That level of belief varies with geography and political affiliation, with more Republicans than Democrats and more Southerners than Northeasterners believing in the existence of the heavenly messengers.

The high level of belief is unique in the developed world. In Canada, Great Britain and Australia, the same polls say, belief in angels does not exceed 40 percent.

Being open to wonder

Kula said whether you believe in angels or not, there is a deeper message in Banton’s story.

Born prematurely, Chelsea Banton has suffered health problems throughout her life.

“The real question is: Can we be open to wonder?” the rabbi told Curry. “Even at the very last moment, the very darkest moment, can we actually be open to the new possibilities that are always there?”

Angels, Kula said, “can be anything.” In that sense, he said, one could say that someone who just shows up when you most need a hand can be seen as a very real angel.

“You’re having a bad day, and a child comes up to you and smiles and right away you feel better. Is that an angel or is that a child smiling?” Kula said.

Cook had to wipe away a tear of joy after watching Banton’s story. It is particularly appropriate, she said, coming at the Christmas season during a year in which many people are experiencing economic hardship.

“People are looking for a miracle right now,” Cook said.

Some, like Colleen Banton, feel they’ve found one.