Catherine S NDE-like

Experience Description

At age 14, I was experiencing extreme emotional trauma. I had just started attending junior high, my father had just died of a sudden cardiac arrest and my parents had sold the house I was born into and my family had to move out of that house at the end of the month my father had died. I was asleep when this dream occurred. I am sharing it because in some ways it is similar to an experience I read about in the list of experiences. I was asleep. I found myself in this most beautiful landscape. There was a river on my left. I was on a path beside the river and to my right was a thick forest. The scene on the other side of the river was identical. The colors were all shades and tints of a beautiful blue. I was walking along side a being in a hooded cloak. I couldn’t see their face but we were walking arm in arm. There was an overwhelming feeling of pure love and peacefulness. We did not speak using voice but telepathically. I don’t remember hearing any words but the sense I got was that everything would be alright. That I would never be alone. The sense of pure love and peacefulness has sustained me through the years as I remember that dream.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: June 1967

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? No. Significant emotional trauma Other Good health, emotional trauma

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

Did you feel separated from your body? No No

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Less consciousness and alertness than normal I was asleep

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I was asleep during the entire event

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning I felt No passage of time

Were your senses More vivid than usual? Incredibly more vivid

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. The environment seemed to breathe blue

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. I heard nothing

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes Everything was shades of a beautiful blue. The environment seemed to breathe blue

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place A landscape all in blue. A river with paths on either side of the river and dense forest on the sides of the path farthest from the river. All blue

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Joy. Pure joy. Love and peace. Also a sense that my body was just a vessel for my spiritual self which was having this experience

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

Did you have a feeling of joy? Incredible joy

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? I felt united or one with the world

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

Did you come to a border or point of No return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Catholic Not practicing

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No

What is your religion now? Select Not practising

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience I had never considered or heard anything up to that point that would have prepared me for that experience

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin A figure taller than me standing on my left on the path between me and the river. This figure was in a dark blue robe with a hood that hid any facial features

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes As I previously stated An understanding that what I was experiencing was reality and what I ‘lived’ was just physical and limited in scope

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? No

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes That physical life is not reality but a limited experience

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes An understanding that what I was experiencing was reality and what I ‘lived’ was just physical and limited in scope

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? Yes That it exists only in the physical life which is limited in scope compared to reality

During your experience, did you gain information about love? Yes That it is reality and all encompassing

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? At the time I was able to manage the significant emotional turmoil better

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Uncertain

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes It is hard to explain the feeling of pure love and peace. It has to be felt to be believed. No words can give it justice.

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience It seems to be a memory in an entirely different context. I remember the feelings of love peace and joy keenly

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Have you ever shared this experience with others? No

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? No

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? It is very difficult, regardless of how articulate a person is, to accurately describe and convey this purely emotional experience