Judith D Probable NDE

Experience Description

Prior to the experience happening, I was of high school age. I woke up that morning as usual to get ready for school. My usual routine included going into the kitchen for coffee and toast. When I got to the counter where the toaster was, I suddenly felt extremely ill. I was alone in the kitchen. I suddenly 'knew' I was going to immediately throw up. I had never had that experience before. I took a step to the right, thinking I would throw up in the kitchen sink. The urge was that sudden and overwhelming. But as soon as that feeling came, it seemed to vanish. I think I caught myself falling backwards, by holding onto the edge of the kitchen sink. I looked down at my left hand, and I could see it was gripping the sink or counter edge, but I could not feel my hand at all. I looked back up, and everything went black. I really have almost no memory of what happened next. But I know now that something did happen.

It isn't really possible now, after all these years, for me to say what order things happened in exactly. I was hearing a loud voice or voices. I could see some specific colors that were were jewel-tones of red and green. I saw the hem of a gown, that had thick and very beautiful gold embroidery around the hem. It looked to me, like the hem of a gown worn by an angel, or angels. That was the only idea I had at the time as I was returning to life, or consciousness. I could hear the sounds merge into the sounds of my parents coming into the kitchen and my father's voice calling me.

Wherever I had been, it was leaving my awareness where I could not retain it, so I grasped at the last thing I had seen and heard. It was like a veil dropped down between me and the place I had been, and I wasn't able to remember any of what happened except for the impression of loud, booming voices, the colors, and the hem with the thick, gold embroidery. It was like I was falling down as if I had been above my body. I knew that my father had picked up my limp arm and started rubbing my left wrist between his hands. I heard the fear in his voice as he was calling me. As he rubbed my wrist, I suddenly felt my heart give a massive lurch and start to beat. I felt all the blood in my body start to move and reach all the way to my toes. I remember thinking how very, very GOOD that felt. I wondered how he knew to do that.

I opened my eyes, and I said: 'What happened?' My father immediately said: 'You fainted.' I was lying flat on my back, on the floor, alongside the kitchen table and in front of the refrigerator. It was lucky I didn't hit the table or the kitchen chairs when I fell. I had a huge lump on the back of my head that was very painful. I had never fainted before, and nothing like this had ever happened to me, so I readily accepted his explanation that I fainted. My first thought upon hearing that was, 'I didn't know that you dream when you faint', though I didn't mention what I had seen. I just assumed for many years that I had been dreaming. I asked my father how long I had been out, and he said at least 30 seconds or so. They heard me hit the wood floor of our raised house, and had been calling me from their bedroom. When I didn't answer, they eventually came to see what had happened.

I never forgot what I saw, but it never occurred to me to wonder if my father might have been wrong; perhaps I didn't simply just faint. I was quite weak following that happening. I was put into bed, and later that day when I seemed recovered, I was sent to school. I subsequently fainted on another morning, soon after this incident, and had a seizure. I was drenched in a cold sweat afterwards. I was as wet as if I had just gotten out of a swimming pool. I actually fainted twice that morning, and I was carried unconscious to bed. I was eventually given a physical, and it was discovered that I had mitral-valve prolapse. So perhaps my heart had stopped, I don't know. I was advised to sit on the edge of my bed upon awakening, and not to get up out of bed too quickly. I still do that to this day. Also, I was advised not to have caffeine, and for several years, I complied with that.

I read Dr. Moody's book: Life After Life, in the 1990s. I came across the book in the library by what seem like an accident. I was instantly fascinated, and read other books of his, but never thought that anything like this had ever happened to me. This past Spring, (2015), I saw a photograph online of a young celebrity at the Met Gala. When I saw the photo of a close-up of the hem of the gown she was wearing, and the thick, gold embroidery on it around the hem, on the jewel-toned red carpet, with the deep green hedges in the background, I knew that that is exactly what I had seen as a teenager in the 1970s. Needless to say, I was stunned. Prior to seeing this photo, I had become aware in 2013 that I had once had a dream of a man who was a complete stranger to me. I had this dream in the Spring of 2005. I was married at the time. It was a very intimate dream, but very brief. In the dream, I opened my eyes and saw a man who was unknown to me, but I was smiling as I looked at him with an incredible feeling of love. He was smiling at me in return. I woke up, and I was of course very shocked by this. I was faithful to my husband during our marriage. I was very surprised when I realized that I had been having this intimate dream of a complete stranger, and that stranger was completely bald, as well. I didn't even know any bald men. I wrote it off as a very strange dream and after a couple of days, I forgot about it. Approximately six months later, I met that man from my dream. I was still married, and I thought he looked hauntingly familiar. I racked my brain, but I could not remember where I had seen him before. He, on the other hand, behaved as if he knew exactly who I was. He almost fell out of his chair when I happened to smile at something, and he stared intently at me from across the room. He often stared at me during the time I knew him, which I found very odd, at the time. It just so happened that my husband left me a few months after I met this man.

Something I read in a book in 2013 jogged my memory, and then I remembered how I had seemed to know this person, and he me, because I suddenly remembered that long-ago dream. But by then, we had not seen each other for years. I have felt a great deal of confusion and heartache about this matter. I don't know if the dream will come true in the future sometime, or if the opportunity was lost. I also once saw a vision of him while I was speaking with him. In reality, we were in a room with many large windows on a sunny day, surrounded by many people. But as I looked at him, I suddenly saw his face only, surrounded by total darkness, as if his face were lit up by a spotlight. And he was smiling at me. I was saying goodbye to him at the time, and as I turned and walked away, I was in shock. I knew that this had just happened, but I was completely at a loss to know what, if anything, it meant. More recently, I had the experience of reading a new book I had bought, and knowing that one of the sentences in the book, was something I had already read before. Naturally, this all seems quite spectacularly phenomenal to me, but I have been forced to conclude that I am capable of seeing into the future upon occasion. Not that it has ever helped me in life, but I must admit now that I can. I have had other experiences in the past few years that, to me at least, have no other explanation than they were gifted to me by a Higher Power.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 1978

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Uncertain. Loss of consciousness Illness, trauma or other condition not considered life threatening. I do not know if I fainted or if my heart stopped beating.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Neither pleasant NOR distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

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 don't think I was allowed to retain the memory of most of what happened, or where I was, even.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? I have no idea, as I felt I was unable to remember most of this experience.

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 as if I had been gone a long time, as if I had been in another world for an eternity, but when I regained consciousness and I asked, I was told I was not gone for very long in earth time.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? No

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. It seemed the same.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. It didn't seem to be different from the usual.

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 see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? No

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I felt very calm; I didn't feel either joy or pain during the experience. I felt I was in a familiar place, with persons I knew, but I can't remember these specifically.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

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

The experience included: Awareness of the future

Did scenes from the future come to you? Scenes from the world's future I saw something, which has nothing to do with my life, or me nearly 40 years after I was allowed to remember this tiny bit of whatever it was I saw at the time. Upon much reflection, I have come to believe that this event that I saw and remembered was something rather generic and otherwise meaningless to me, except for the fact that it indicated to me that it makes no difference how much time passes between seeing something in a dream or a vision, and seeing it in the physical. In other words, I feel I am meant to not give up hope that other things I have been shown will happen in their appointed time, and not before. The more important meaning to me, behind this, is that there is much more to all of us than we may think, and that there is a profound power that guides us. If not for this conclusion, none of it would make any sense to me, whatsoever.

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

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Greatly important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Catholic I attended mass each week and holy days of obligation, etc.

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? No See above

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Greatly important to me

What is your religion now? Unaffiliated- Nothing in particular- Religious unaffiliated I study A Course in Miracles since 2014

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 was actively participating in the Catholic church at the time of this experience. I had never heard of a near-death experience, so I had no real idea of what to expect when the time for my death would come, but I did not expect to see an as-yet unborn celebrity posing for the media on a red carpet nearly 40 years in the future!

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes My values have remained the same. I have always valued honesty and kindness to and from others. My beliefs have been greatly modified from what the Catholic Church taught me to believe, to what I now believe after many years of searching for my own answers.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I heard a voice I could not identify I have no memory of the voice, or voices, that I heard. I had the impression that what I heard was the sound of a deep voice, and that it was loud.

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? No

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God probably exists

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

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God definitely exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Unknown

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

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? An afterlife probably exists

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists No

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I greatly feared death

Do you fear death after your experience? I slightly fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Greatly fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Slightly fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Unknown

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are meaningful and significant

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? No

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Slightly compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

Were you compassionate after your experience? Moderately compassionate toward others

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Yes I know what I saw now, and it doesn't really matter to me if I am believed or not. But I think in the knowing of this, I changed as a person, and I can't 'un-know' what I know. The person I trusted as a friend turned out to be extremely untrustworthy, and our ways have parted, largely due to guidance, I was given and my recognition that I was in denial about many things this person was doing. I am not now the same person I was when we first met.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

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. This memory has stayed with me all these years, but I have not got a clue as to what was going on in my life in that general slice of time otherwise.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? Yes I consider being able to see future events as special, or non-ordinary! :)

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? What is most meaningful to me, about the experience I had that day, is that I am being guided, and have always been guided, by a Higher Power. Thus, despite the difficulties I felt I faced all alone during my subsequent lifetime, I was NEVER truly alone at all, and it is certainly significant information to me that I believe that I now know something wonderful that was foretold to me, will occur when the time is right. I also believe that if this could happen to me, it could happen to anyone, as we are all equally worthy in eternity. I believe I required this experience to open my mind to further growth.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes I told my children within the last few years, and a person I trusted as a friend at the time. They were all not interested or did not think that these things could have actually happened.

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 definately not real In those days, it never occurred to me to question what my father told me. Because he told me I fainted, I believed for decades that that was what happened. It seemed as if I had been dreaming, and it never occurred to me that anything I saw could be a depiction of something yet to come, so I didn't really ever stop to think that it could be real. But I never forgot it. It was burned into my memory.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Having seen, I believe. It may not have been a revelation of something that had any great value in and of itself. After all, it turned out to be a gown, a carpet and some greenery. But I view the reality of having seen the future as unequivocally life changing for me, personally.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes What I saw during the experience, I saw in 'real' life many years later.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? I'm very grateful for my experience. It seemed to open a sort of a portal for me, perhaps. I notice I have been far more open-minded than any of my siblings, for example, when it comes to spirituality and different points of view that people have.

Are there any other questions that we could ask to help you communicate your experience? I think all the questions about the experience are terrific, but perhaps the more important aspect of having an experience isn't really questioned so thoroughly. The most important aspect, in my opinion, being: what does this experience teach you about yourself, about others, and about where you have come from (and where you will return).