The Forever Angels

This ground-breaking book by a veteran NDE researcher develops her earlier work based on 277 childhood near death experiences with a new study of 120 subjects, pulling together the common patterns where, unlike NDEs in adults, there is no before and after. Everything is effectively after this formative experience at a very early age - all the cases reported happened under the age of five. This gives the subjects a spiritual nostalgia for what they regard as 'Home' and makes it more challenging to adapt to our somewhat harsh world. Some of these memories come from the time in the womb, which would normally be regarded as prior to any possible cognition. As the author points out, the implications are that we need to 'redefine consciousness and the workings of life itself.' The reader gains an immediate sense of the reality of the experiences through extensive quotations and also an understanding of the Love informing the universe and the purpose of life in terms of growth and service. Experiencers tend to mature more rapidly, have unusual psychic and intuitive capacities, higher intelligence and greater empathy (84%). This can make it difficult for them to fit in. Hence also the higher prevalence of suicidal depression.

The experience can in fact take decades to integrate, and often brings accompanying health challenges. The author examines patterns in education (gifted children) and relationships as well as careers, where they are frequently unusually successful. Interestingly, the children of experiencers seem to develop some of the same qualities. Some PTSD is associated with childhood NDEs, but this is often reinforced by other traumatic experiences, as dramatically recounted by a person whose family was involved in Satanic rituals (pp. 152 ff.). There is an intriguing chapter on historical cases, asking if there are good examples of child experiencers who have made a significant contribution to society. Although this is not strictly provable, it does provide a new angle, and the list includes Lincoln, Edward DeVere, Black Elk and Walter Russell. The author identifies a considerable number of significant markers (p. 191), and draws the fundamental conclusion that the narrative is really about the life continuum rather than life after death: 'the true subject has always been continuous life' - which gives us a radically different picture when compared with the philosophy of scientific materialism. This is a highly significant and original contribution to the NDE research field.