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Otherworld Journeys : Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times

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Title: Otherworld Journeys : Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
Description: Dozens of books, articles, television shows, and films relating'near-death'experiences have appeared in the past decade. People who have survived a close brush with death reveal their extraordinary visions and ecstatic feelings at the moment they died, describing journeys through a tunnel to a realm of light, visual reviews of their past deeds, encounters with a benevolent spirit, and permanent transformation after returning to life. Carol Zaleski's Otherworld Journeys offers the most comprehensive treatment to date of the evidence surrounding near-death experiences. The first to place researchers'findings, first-person accounts, and possible medical or psychological explanations in historical perspective, she discusses how these materials reflect the influence of contemporary culture. She demonstrates that modern near-death reports belong to a vast family of otherworld journey tales, with examples in nearly every religious heritage. She identifies universal as well as culturally specific features by comparing near-death narratives in two distinct periods of Western society: medieval Christendom and twentieth-century secular America. This comparison reveals profound similarities, such as the life-review and the transforming after-effects of the vision, as well as striking contrasts, such as the absence of hell or punishment scenes from modern accounts. Mediating between the'debunkers'and the near-death researchers, Zaleski considers current efforts to explain near-death experience scientifically. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of the otherworld vision for understanding imaginative and religious experience in general.
Authors: Carol Zaleski
Resource Type: eBook.
Subjects: Voyages to the otherworld in literature, Voyages to the otherworld, Near-death experiences--Religious aspects--Christianity
Categories: RELIGION / Mysticism, PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Death & Dying
Database: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
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  – Type: ebook-pdf
  – Type: ebook-epub
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  Availability: 0
Header DbId: nlebk
DbLabel: eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
An: 330586
RelevancyScore: 959
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: eBook
PubTypeId: ebook
PreciseRelevancyScore: 959.155151367188
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  Data: Otherworld Journeys : Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
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  Label: Description
  Group: Ab
  Data: Dozens of books, articles, television shows, and films relating'near-death'experiences have appeared in the past decade. People who have survived a close brush with death reveal their extraordinary visions and ecstatic feelings at the moment they died, describing journeys through a tunnel to a realm of light, visual reviews of their past deeds, encounters with a benevolent spirit, and permanent transformation after returning to life. Carol Zaleski's Otherworld Journeys offers the most comprehensive treatment to date of the evidence surrounding near-death experiences. The first to place researchers'findings, first-person accounts, and possible medical or psychological explanations in historical perspective, she discusses how these materials reflect the influence of contemporary culture. She demonstrates that modern near-death reports belong to a vast family of otherworld journey tales, with examples in nearly every religious heritage. She identifies universal as well as culturally specific features by comparing near-death narratives in two distinct periods of Western society: medieval Christendom and twentieth-century secular America. This comparison reveals profound similarities, such as the life-review and the transforming after-effects of the vision, as well as striking contrasts, such as the absence of hell or punishment scenes from modern accounts. Mediating between the'debunkers'and the near-death researchers, Zaleski considers current efforts to explain near-death experience scientifically. She concludes by emphasizing the importance of the otherworld vision for understanding imaginative and religious experience in general.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Carol+Zaleski%22">Carol Zaleski</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Voyages+to+the+otherworld+in+literature%22">Voyages to the otherworld in literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Voyages+to+the+otherworld%22">Voyages to the otherworld</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Near-death+experiences--Religious+aspects--Christianity%22">Near-death experiences--Religious aspects--Christianity</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22RELIGION+%2F+Mysticism%22">RELIGION / Mysticism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22PHILOSOPHY+%2F+Metaphysics%22">PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SOCIAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Death+%26+Dying%22">SOCIAL SCIENCE / Death & Dying</searchLink>
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Classifications:
      – Code: 129
        Scheme: ddc
        Type: prePub
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Voyages to the otherworld in literature
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Voyages to the otherworld
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Near-death experiences--Religious aspects--Christianity
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Otherworld Journeys : Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
        Type: main
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    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Carol Zaleski
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Carol Zaleski
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 01
              Type: published
              Y: 1988
            – D: 04
              M: 02
              Type: profile
              Y: 2014
          Identifiers:
            – Type: isbn-print
              Value: 9780195056655
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9780195363524
            – Type: isbn-electronic
              Value: 9780190281588
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Otherworld Journeys : Accounts of Near-Death Experience in Medieval and Modern Times
              Type: main
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