PowerPoint from the second October live class for the WizIQ Course, "Introduction to the Scientific Study of Psychic Phenomena"

1. Unusual Experiences around the Dying:
The Deathbed Witnesses
Nancy L. Zingrone, PhD
www.theazire.org
The AZIRE Learning Center in Second Life
SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madhupak/153/89/60

2. Today’s Class Topics
•
Definitions of the phenomena
•
Types of phenomena reported
•
Some of the main researchers
•
Early Examples
•
Some Typical Experiences
•
Prevalence and Comparison to the NDE Experience
•
Some references to modern research
•
The Purposes of the Research from Different Points of
View

3. Definitions
From Sonderman et al. 2011

4. Types of phenomena
O Lights seen around the body of the dying person, at
O
O
O
O
O
O
the foot or head of the bed, or in the room
Figures seen: angels, pillars of light, unrecognized
individuals
Terminal lucidity: directed towards living individuals
around the death and/or unseen individuals or unseen
landscapes
Clouds, mists, or the double of the dying person
around/ or seen to rise from the dying person
Changes in room temperature, bystanders’ perception
of the room
Shared perceptions between witnesses of a NDE-like
experiences or shared experience between bystander
and dying person
Synchronicities: clocks stopping,

5. William Barrett
Peter Fenwick
Karlis Osis
Erlendur Haraldsson
Raymond Moody
Bruce Greyson
Allan Kellehear

6. Types of informants
O Family members
O Friends
O Physicians
O Nurses
O General Hospital Staff
O Hospice workers
O Social workers / Care
managers
O Other bystanders

7. Italian St. Fina, died 1253,
appearance of Pope Gregory the Great

8. Horace Traubel
(1858-1919)
Walt Whitman
1819-1892
Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave
(1890-1971)

9. Some typical experiences:
O From my family:
O The glow
O Introducing the new nephew
O From the literature:
O The little girl and her friend Jenny
O Visits from relatives (usually parents or children)
O Visits from friends
O Visits from religious figures
O From Moody’s Glimpses of Eternity
O Traveling through the tunnel with the dying person
O Changes in the perception of the room
O Seeing the “helper” figures the dying person sees

10. Sondermann et al., 2011

11. From Ethier 2005

12. The purposes of the research:
O For nurses & physicians:
O Identifying the stages of dying
O Understanding how to support the dying and their
families
O For hospice workers:
O Understanding the importance of these
experiences for a peaceful, comforting, spiritual
death
O For anthropologists:
O To understand how cultures approach death, what
are the experiences and the beliefs
O For scientific parapsychologists:
O To examine the experiences from the point of view
of survival research

13. Deathbed Visions of the Dying
O
Barrett, William (1926) Death-Bed Visions. London: Methuen
O
Osis, Karlis (1961). Deathbed Observations by Physicians and Nurses. New York:
Parapsychology Foundation
O
Osis, Karlis, & Haraldsson, Erlendur, (1977). At the Hour of Death. New York: Avon
O
Ethier, Angela (2005). Death-related sensory experiences. Journal of Pediatric
Oncology
O
Brayne et al. (2008). End of life experiences, American Journal of Hospice and
Palliative Medicine
O
Fenwick, Peter et al. (2009). Comfort for the dying, Archives of Gerontology and
Geriatrics
O
Greyson, Bruce (2010). Seeing people not known to have died, Anthropology and
Humanism.
O
Moody, Raymond (2010). Glimpses of Eternity
O
Doka, Kenneth J, et al. (2010-2011). Deathbed Visions from India, Omega
O
Kellehear, Allan et al. (2011-2012). Deathbed visions from the Republic of Moldova,
Omega

14. Our new study …
Dr. Carlos S. Alvarado and Dr. Nancy L. Zingrone
are collecting experiences in which someone witnesses unusual phenomena
happening around a dying person, or in which someone feels that they have
shared some aspects of the dying person's experience of their death. Such
experiences might include, for example, visions of all sorts, as well as
hearing or feeling various other sensations that surround the person's
death.
Alvarado and Zingrone are interested in hearing about any experience
that you think might be relevant. If you have had such an experience, and
would like to write to them about it, you can contact them either by writing
them at Alvarado & Zingrone, c/o IANDS, 2741 Campus Walk Avenue,
Building 500, Durham, NC, 27705 or by emailing to them at
csalvarado1955@gmail.com.
All names will be kept confidential.
For more information about Dr. Alvarado you can check his biography
here: http://www.parapsych.org/users/carlos/profile.aspx.
For more information about Dr. Zingrone you can check her biography
here: http://www.parapsych.org/users/nanzingrone/profile.aspx.

15. Thanks for your Attention!
email: nancy@theazire.org
www.theazire.org
The AZIRE Learning Center in Second Life
SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Madhupak/153/89/60