Feelings of the dying with a predominance of the ghosts of the dead, mythical or religious figures, as well as visions of the places where the dying person is supposed to be after death. Deathbed visions have similarities that even run counter to racial, cultural, religious, educational age and socioeconomic attitudes. The significance of deathbed visions is that they are considered by many to serve as evidence for the existence of an afterlife.
Despite the fact that almost all world cultures assume the continuation of life after physical death, Western culture adheres to the views of Aristotle in this matter, according to which consciousness cannot exist separately from the body shell, and therefore death is a complete and final destruction of the human personality.
Descriptions of such visions were found in biographies and other literary sources at almost all times. They received scientific consideration in the XX century. One of the first researchers to study the secrets of the human psyche was Frederick W. H. Myers, Edmund Gurney, Frank Podmore, and James H. Heislop provide descriptions of deathbed visions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first systematic study of these phenomena was carried out, again at the beginning of the 20th century, by Sir William Barrett, a prominent professor of physics and researcher of the mysteries of the psyche. Barrett's interest in such visions arose in 1924, when his wife, a specialist in obstetric surgery, told him about her patient, who, shortly before her death, managed to tell Mrs. Barrett that she had seen places of unearthly beauty, as well as her father's and sister. These visions seemed to the patient absolutely real and brought her into a state of complete peace. When the woman had just given birth to her child, she thought aloud that it might be good for him to stay alive, but then she whispered:
“I cannot stay. If you saw what I saw, you would understand me."
Most of all, Barrett was struck by the fact that the woman, it turns out, could not have known about the death of her sister, who died three weeks before the events described. And, nevertheless, she confidently said that the ghosts of her dead sister and father appeared to her.
Several decades later, Karlis Osis, then research director at the Eileen J. Garrett Foundation for Parapsychology, became interested in Barrett's work. Under the auspices of this Foundation in 1959-1960, and later under the auspices of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASRI) in 1961-1964. and 1972 - 1973. Osis, in conversations with doctors and nurses, has collected data on tens of thousands of deathbed visions and near-death experiences in both the United States of America and India. He made an expedition to India (1972 - 1973) together with Erlendur Haraldsson. More than 1000 cases from all the collected material were studied in more detail. The results of this work confirmed Barrett's findings, as well as the claims of those researchers who worked with terminally ill and dying people (for example, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross). These results are also consistent with data on near-death sensations obtained by Raymond Moody, Kenneth Ring and others.
Deathbed visions usually occur in those people who die gradually, for example, from an incurable disease or from mortal wounds. Conversely, they practically do not occur with sudden death (say, as a result of a heart attack). Most of the visions represent the ghosts of the dead, appearing in white shining robes, or some mythical or religious figures or deities (angels, Jesus, Virgin Mary, Krishna, Yama - the Hindu god of death, Yamhut - the messenger of Yama, etc.) … The ghosts of the deceased almost invariably turn out to be close relatives of the dying person - parents, children, siblings, spouses. The purpose of these ghosts ("enticing," as they are called) is to entice or simply command the dying person to follow them. Thus, they facilitate the transition to death. Most often, with visions of this kind, dying people experience a feeling of happiness and a desire to leave, especially in those cases when these people believe in an afterlife. (It should be noted here that deathbed visions visit both those who believe and those who do not.) If the patient was depressed or in excruciating pain, then after the visions, a complete transformation of his mood is often observed. In many cases, the pain even disappears. In many cases, the pain even disappears. In many cases, the pain even disappears.
The dying person begins to literally "glow" with joy. The appearance of "captivating" ghosts usually does not prevent the patient from fully adequately feeling the real environment and the people present, but the latter only in extremely rare cases observe ghosts. About a third of the visions on the deathbed are when another world appears before the dying person's mind's eye, which seems to be completely real. Most often, the descriptions feature endless gardens of extraordinary beauty. Some see gates, bridges, rivers, boats or some other symbols of passage, as well as castles or other intricate architectural structures. Almost always, visions are brightly colored. Wonderful places from another world can be inhabited by the ghosts of the dead or some kind of spirits. Visions either pass before the dying person's mind's eye,or perceived by him as if he was transported to these magical places. And, as a rule, the patient's usual emotional response is a feeling of happiness and anticipation of a trip to the wonderful places he has seen. Only in very rare cases do such visions correspond to religious ideas about what the afterlife looks like. For example, Osis gives just one example, when a dying woman described something like hell, but it should be noted that she gave the impression of a person who feels a huge burden of responsibility for her "sins".what the afterlife looks like. For example, Osis gives just one example, when a dying woman described something like hell, but it should be noted that she gave the impression of a person who feels a huge burden of responsibility for her "sins".what the afterlife looks like. For example, Osis gives just one example, when a dying woman described something like hell, but it should be noted that she gave the impression of a person who feels a huge burden of responsibility for her "sins".
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On several occasions described by Osis and Haraldsson, the dying have heard unearthly music. Statistics show that at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, people on their deathbed heard music more often than in later times. Perhaps this fact is a reflection of the difference in the role of music in everyday life.
Most of the visions do not last long: about half of them last less than 5 minutes, 17% last from 6 to 15 minutes, and another 17% last more than an hour. As a rule, these visions occur literally a few minutes before death: approximately 76% of all patients covered by the study died no more than 10 minutes after the visions, and all the rest lived after them from one to several hours. On several occasions, the visions visited the same patient for several days in a row, as if warning him at what time his death date would take place. One gets the impression that the occurrence or absence of visions has very little to do with the physical condition of the patient. There is evidence of seemingly recovering people having visions,they almost immediately fell into a coma and died.
There is a certain similarity between visions on the deathbed and mystical sensations: a person is embraced by the feeling of something holy, pacification and elation. However, indescribable mystical sensations (they are almost impossible to describe in words) arise on the deathbed very rarely.
Researchers have put forward a number of hypotheses aimed at providing a natural explanation for the occurrence of visions on the deathbed. Medicines, fever caused by hallucinations, lack of oxygen in the human brain, the fulfillment of secret or subconscious desires, a certain loss of individuality - this is an incomplete list of the proposed explanations. Indeed, all these factors can cause hallucinations, but they have nothing to do with the idea of an afterlife and most often contribute to visions more closely tied to the real life of the dying person. A study by Osis Haraldsson has shown that deathbed visions most often come to patients who are fully conscious. Medical factors cannot explain the appearance of these fabulous pictures. The hypothesis of the realization of secret or subconscious desires does not seem convincing either, since these visions generally do not correspond in any way with the expectations of patients, and, moreover, they arise in those who really want to recover and return to life.
There is a definite connection between the visions of the dying person and the visions of the person caring for him. According to some representatives of the medical staff, sometimes at the moment of death of a patient, a cloud of silvery "energy" forms over the body. In some cases, this energy clearly takes the form of the dying person's astral body, and this form is connected by a silvery cord with the patient's real body. This cord is cut at the time of death. There is also evidence that "enthralling" ghosts appear to be living people. These can be ghosts of both deceased people and some angel-like creatures. Such cases are described in the literature by the first researchers of the human psyche. This data contradicts the assertion of Osis and Haraldsson, made on the basis of a later study, thatthat the living do not see astral bodies and very rarely observe "enthralling" ghosts. A fairly plausible explanation for this contradiction is that at that time (late 19th - early 20th centuries) more people were dying at home. A familiar environment, the constant presence of someone close to him, may have been the reasons that caused visions on his deathbed (as opposed to the official environment in a hospital).
The study of such a phenomenon as visions on the deathbed is of great importance for thanatology (the science of death, its causes and manifestations) in the physiological, psychological and sociological aspects, since this phenomenon is a guarantee that one should not be afraid of the transition to death - after all, he accompanied by amazing sensations. Death is a crucial moment in which you need to maintain the highest possible dignity and clarity of mind. Some peoples of the world have brought dying to the level of a whole art. Examples include ancient Western mystical customs and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Unfortunately, many modern representatives of the Western world are afraid of death and with the help of various kinds of medical devices cling to life with all their might,often at the cost of excruciating suffering and in an almost insensitive state, when the last spark of life is supported only by medicines and equipment. Perhaps in the future, research into such phenomena as deathbed visions, near-death sensations, and feelings of detachment will change people's attitudes towards the moment of death.