Otherworld Journeys

Download or read book Otherworld Journeys written by Carol Zaleski and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1988-11-03 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Travels to the Otherworld and Other Fantastic Realms written by Claude Lecouteux and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of tales from the Middle Ages that reveal voyages to Heaven and Hell, the realm of the Faery, mystical lands, and encounters with mythic beasts • Shares travelers’ accounts of voyages into the afterlife, alarming creatures of unparalleled strangeness, encounters with doppelgangers and angels, chivalric romantic misadventures, and legends of heroes • Explains how travelers’ tales from the Middle Ages drew on geographies, encyclopedias, travel accounts, bestiaries, and herbals for material to capture the imagination of their audiences • Includes rare illustrations from incunabula and medieval manuscripts Heading off to discover unknown lands was always a risky undertaking during the Middle Ages due to the countless dangers lying in wait for the traveler--if we can believe what the written accounts tell us. In the medieval age of intercontinental exploration, tales of sea monsters, strange hybrid beasts, trickster faeries, accidental trips to the afterlife, and peoples as fantastic and dangerous as the lands they inhabited abounded. In this curated collection of medieval travelers’ tales, editors Claude and Corinne Lecouteux explain how the Middle Ages were a melting pot of narrative traditions from the four corners of the then-known world. Tales from this period often drew on geographies, encyclopedias, travel accounts, bestiaries, and herbals for material to capture the imagination of their audiences, who were fascinated by the wonders being discovered by explorers of the time. Accompanied by rare illustrations from incunabula and medieval manuscripts, the stories in this collection include voyages into the afterlife, with guided tours of Hell and glimpses of Heaven, as well as journeys into other fantastic realms, such as the pagan land of the Faery. It also includes accounts from travelers such as Alexander the Great of alarming creatures of unparalleled strangeness, encounters with doppelgangers and angels, legends of heroes, and tales of chivalric romantic misadventures, with protagonists swept to exotic new places by fate or by quest. In each story, the marvelous is omnipresent, and each portrays the reactions of the protagonist when faced with the unknown. Offering an introduction to the medieval imaginings of a wondrous universe, these tales reflect the dreams and beliefs of the Middle Ages’ era of discovery and allow readers to survey mythic geography, meet people from the far ends of the earth, and experience the supernatural.

Download or read book The Otherworld Voyage in Early Irish Literature written by Jonathan M. Wooding and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With The Otherworld in Irish Literature and History, Jonathan Wooding presents a major collection of essays by some of the best-known academics in Ireland, Britain and America today.

Download or read book North Star Road written by Kenneth Johnson and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reveals -- through a compelling mix of scholarly research, global mythology and lucid story-telling -- the spiritual roots of Western culture: shamanism. An in-depth study of the witchcraft trial records and the testimony of the witches themselves proves that the European peasants accused of witchcraft died, in fact, for the sake of the world's oldest spiritual path. Learn why Shamanism has survived in one form or another to this day.

Download or read book Otherworld written by Jason Segel and published by Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book OtherEarth written by Jason Segel and published by Ember. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Return to the series BuzzFeed compared to Ready Player One! The second book in the fast-paced trilogy from New York Times bestselling authors Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller is perfect for fans of HBO's Westworld. Simon would have done anything to save his best friend after a mysterious accident almost killed her--including follow her into a virtual world. And what he and Kat discovered there was more terrifying than anything they could have ever imagined. The world's largest tech corporation, the Company, is using unwitting hospital patients to test a device that lets VR be experienced with all five senses. The technology is so advanced that it's deadly. Now the Company is hunting Simon and Kat while war rages in Otherworld, the virtual world it created. Determined to destroy the coporation, Simon and Kat must join forces with a hacker, a gangster, and a digital entity. But as they battle to save two worlds, they uncover an all-new threat to our world: the Company's latest creation, an augmented-reality game called OtherEarth. Not only does OtherEarth kill, it has the power to erase the line between what's real and what's fantasy. Praise for the Last Reality series: A New York Times bestseller "A potent commentary on how much we're willing to give up to the lure of technology." --EW.com "Full of high stakes, thrillers, and fantastic twists and turns, fans of Ready Player One are sure to love this addictive read." --BuzzFeed "An engaging VR cautionary tale." --The A.V. Club "A fantastic journey from start to finish." --Hypable

Download or read book The Life of the World to Come written by Carol Zaleski and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1996 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In three brief chapters, Zaleski offers an extended meditation on the encounter with death, the hope for life beyond death, and the vision of last things as distilled in the testimony of near-death experience and the Christian tradition.