Description
Near-death experiences are known around the world and throughout human history. They are sometimes reported by individuals who have revived from a period of clinical death or near-death and they typically feature sensations of leaving the body, entering and emerging from darkness, meeting deceased friends and relatives, encountering beings of light, judgment of one's earthly life, feelings of oneness, and reaching barriers, only to return to the body. Those who have NDEs almost invariably understand them as having profound spiritual or religious significance. In this book, Gregory Shushan explores the relationships between near-death experiences, shamanism, and beliefs about the afterlife in traditional indigenous societies in Africa, North America, and Oceania. Drawing on historical accounts of the earliest encounters with explorers, missionaries, and ethnologists, this study addresses questions such as: Do ideas about the afterlife commonly originate in NDEs? What role does culture play in how people experience and interpret NDEs? How can we account for cross-cultural similarities and differences between afterlife beliefs? Though NDEs are universal, Shushan shows that how they are actually experienced and interpreted varies by region and culture. As the historical documents reveal, in North America, they were commonly valorized, and attempts were made to replicate them through shamanic rituals. In Africa, however, they were largely considered aberrational events with links to possession or sorcery. In Oceania, Micronesia corresponded more to the African model, while Australia had a greater focus on afterlife journey shamanism. Polynesia and Melanesia showed an almost casual acceptance of the phenomenon as reflected in numerous myths, legends, and historical accounts. This study examines the continuum of similarities and differences between NDEs, shamanism, and afterlife beliefs in dozens of cultures throughout these regions. In the process, it makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge about the origins of afterlife beliefs around the world and the significance of related experiences in human history.
About the Author
Gregory Shushan, PhD, is an award-wining author and the leading authority on near-death experiences and the afterlife across cultures and throughout history. His other books in include The Next World: Extraordinary Experiences of the Afterlife, and Near-Death Experience in Ancient Civilizations (forthcoming 2024). He is a Visiting Research Fellow at University of Winchester, Research Fellow at the Parapsychology Foundation, and Adjunct Professor of Thanatology at Marian University. Dr. Shushan was previously Perrott-Warrick Researcher at University of Oxford's Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion; Scholar-in Residence at the Centro Incontri Umani, Ascona, Switzerland; and Honorary Research Fellow at the Religious Experience Research Centre, University of Wales. University of Wales Trinity Saint David. He has lectured at universities in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, and US, has given numerous talks on his research in nine countries, and has appeared on the History Channel.
Reviews
Shushan's comprehensive comparative study of neardeath experiences from Native American, Oceanian, and African traditions features accounts by explorers and ethnologists from the sixteenth to twentieth century. Shushan provides compelling evidence of a persistent core of imagery and experience in NDE from a variety of times and cultures. * Melissa Conroy, Religious Studies Review *
The book should be of interest not only to scholars of NDEs, but also to ethnographers and scholars of the anthropology or sociology of death. * Jennifer Uzzell, Mortality *
A fundamental book for all those interested in religious expressions related to after-life and post-mortem, this volume will surely remain a milestone in the study of what Shakespeare precipitously called "the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns" (Hamlet, 3,1). After all, some travellers, so it seems, have trodden there. * Davide Torri, Shaman *
For researchers and graduate students, Shushan does an admirable job explaining the challenges of comparing exceptional experience, and demonstrates subtlety and nuance as he compares and contrasts Indigenous NDE in North America, Africa, and Oceania. Readers will be challenged by the breadth of methodological concerns Shushan examines, and by his careful thesis regarding how we can study the power of NDE within the organization of cultural knowledge surrounding the fundamental human concern with the significance of death. * Mary L. Keller, Reading Religion *
Gregory Shushan has produced the most important scholarly work on near-death experiences in the last thirty years He describes the process by which, despite regular attempts to marginalize its power, the NDE has been perhaps the most important shaper of religious creativity in human history. This is a journey and an argument as fascinating and as engrossing as the social history of mankind itself. * From the foreword by Allan Kellehear, 50th Anniversary Professor, End of Life Care, University of Bradford *
Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions is a tour de force. By comparing recorded cases from North America, Africa, and Oceania, Shushan presents a compelling argument for the centrality of Near-Death Experiences to the development of religious ideas across time and culture. Any future discussions of NDEs and the origins of religion will need to take Shushan's major contribution into account. * Fiona Bowie, founding member of the Afterlife Research Center *
Gregory Shushan's new book provides a uniquely insightful and provocative analysis of near-death experiences that documents their formative influence on worldwide beliefs about an afterlife. His ethnological perspective results in a more comprehensive understanding of NDEs than a purely biological or psychological model can provide, and suggests that afterlife beliefs are rooted not in culture but in the universal human experience of NDEs. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand NDEs and their role in society. * Bruce Greyson, Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia *
This is a remarkable survey of near death experiences gathered from reports across the world. Interested readers will be amazed at the data reported by the author in this erudite and intelligent inquiry. * Gavin Flood, Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion, Oxford University *
Shushan's comprehensive comparative study of near-death experiences from Native American, Oceanian, and African traditions features accounts by explorers and ethnologists from the sixteenth to twentieth century. Shushan provides compelling evidence of a persistent core of imagery and experience in NDE from a variety of times and cultures. * Melissa Conroy, Religious Studies Review *
<"Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions provides a detailed examination of NDEs throughout history and across cultures. It explores relationships among NDEs, shamanic traditions, and beliefs after the afterlife, and it shows that NDEs are experienced differently depending on region and culture. By significantly expanding our understanding of NDEs, we find that the experiential phenomenon is well-recognized worldwide, but how it is interpreted * the meaning of an NDEis not universal and is strongly shaped by culture.>Parapsychological Association *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197685433
Author Gregory Shushan
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 466g
Dimensions(mm) 243mm * 158mm * 20mm
About the Author
Gregory Shushan, PhD, is an award-wining author and the leading authority on near-death experiences and the afterlife across cultures and throughout history. His other books in include The Next World: Extraordinary Experiences of the Afterlife, and Near-Death Experience in Ancient Civilizations (forthcoming 2024). He is a Visiting Research Fellow at University of Winchester, Research Fellow at the Parapsychology Foundation, and Adjunct Professor of Thanatology at Marian University. Dr. Shushan was previously Perrott-Warrick Researcher at University of Oxford's Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion; Scholar-in Residence at the Centro Incontri Umani, Ascona, Switzerland; and Honorary Research Fellow at the Religious Experience Research Centre, University of Wales. University of Wales Trinity Saint David. He has lectured at universities in the UK, Ireland, Switzerland, and US, has given numerous talks on his research in nine countries, and has appeared on the History Channel.
Reviews
Shushan's comprehensive comparative study of neardeath experiences from Native American, Oceanian, and African traditions features accounts by explorers and ethnologists from the sixteenth to twentieth century. Shushan provides compelling evidence of a persistent core of imagery and experience in NDE from a variety of times and cultures. * Melissa Conroy, Religious Studies Review *
The book should be of interest not only to scholars of NDEs, but also to ethnographers and scholars of the anthropology or sociology of death. * Jennifer Uzzell, Mortality *
A fundamental book for all those interested in religious expressions related to after-life and post-mortem, this volume will surely remain a milestone in the study of what Shakespeare precipitously called "the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns" (Hamlet, 3,1). After all, some travellers, so it seems, have trodden there. * Davide Torri, Shaman *
For researchers and graduate students, Shushan does an admirable job explaining the challenges of comparing exceptional experience, and demonstrates subtlety and nuance as he compares and contrasts Indigenous NDE in North America, Africa, and Oceania. Readers will be challenged by the breadth of methodological concerns Shushan examines, and by his careful thesis regarding how we can study the power of NDE within the organization of cultural knowledge surrounding the fundamental human concern with the significance of death. * Mary L. Keller, Reading Religion *
Gregory Shushan has produced the most important scholarly work on near-death experiences in the last thirty years He describes the process by which, despite regular attempts to marginalize its power, the NDE has been perhaps the most important shaper of religious creativity in human history. This is a journey and an argument as fascinating and as engrossing as the social history of mankind itself. * From the foreword by Allan Kellehear, 50th Anniversary Professor, End of Life Care, University of Bradford *
Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions is a tour de force. By comparing recorded cases from North America, Africa, and Oceania, Shushan presents a compelling argument for the centrality of Near-Death Experiences to the development of religious ideas across time and culture. Any future discussions of NDEs and the origins of religion will need to take Shushan's major contribution into account. * Fiona Bowie, founding member of the Afterlife Research Center *
Gregory Shushan's new book provides a uniquely insightful and provocative analysis of near-death experiences that documents their formative influence on worldwide beliefs about an afterlife. His ethnological perspective results in a more comprehensive understanding of NDEs than a purely biological or psychological model can provide, and suggests that afterlife beliefs are rooted not in culture but in the universal human experience of NDEs. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand NDEs and their role in society. * Bruce Greyson, Carlson Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, Division of Perceptual Studies, University of Virginia *
This is a remarkable survey of near death experiences gathered from reports across the world. Interested readers will be amazed at the data reported by the author in this erudite and intelligent inquiry. * Gavin Flood, Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion, Oxford University *
Shushan's comprehensive comparative study of near-death experiences from Native American, Oceanian, and African traditions features accounts by explorers and ethnologists from the sixteenth to twentieth century. Shushan provides compelling evidence of a persistent core of imagery and experience in NDE from a variety of times and cultures. * Melissa Conroy, Religious Studies Review *
<"Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions provides a detailed examination of NDEs throughout history and across cultures. It explores relationships among NDEs, shamanic traditions, and beliefs after the afterlife, and it shows that NDEs are experienced differently depending on region and culture. By significantly expanding our understanding of NDEs, we find that the experiential phenomenon is well-recognized worldwide, but how it is interpreted * the meaning of an NDEis not universal and is strongly shaped by culture.>Parapsychological Association *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197685433
Author Gregory Shushan
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 466g
Dimensions(mm) 243mm * 158mm * 20mm
