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"ANOTHER LOOK..." is an ongoing column I write for Vital Signs Newsletter, a quarterly publication of the International Association For Near-Death Studies. Each segment will appear here from now on, as well as in the Newsletter. This new feature gives me a format with which to explore varied issues about near-death states. Should you wish to make a comment or want to suggest future topics, please feel free to contact me. I may be able to use your suggestions directly. Thank you. P.M.H. Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.)
P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.) P. O. Box 7691 Charlottesville, VA 22906-7691
© 2001 P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.)
My trip to Europe involved meetings in two countries: Holland and Germany. I never made it to France. They bowed out because of time constraints. I must say, though, that events in the two countries I did visit kept me hopping, with only a few days for sightseeing. I'll discuss the two conferences I was privileged to attend before I relay to you what happened the evening of November 24th.
On Saturday, November 25th, in the Rudolph Steiner School Ilona Building at Driebergen (Holland), the newly-formed Association of Transpersonal Psychiatrists, headed by Dr. S. Gerard Lange, held their first conference. Their theme was "The Transpersonal and Psychiatric Aspects of Consciousness." I gave two talks: "What the Near-Death Experience Reveals About Consciousness" (I hope to also deliver this in July at Seattle), and "The Incredible Aftereffects of Near-Death States" (about the pattern of aftereffects, four phases of integra- tion, and types of counseling to use that have the best track record). Although the other talks given were in Dutch, I'd like to share some of the titles so you will have an idea of the material covered: "Philosophical Aspects, Mystical Experiences, Psychiatric Clinical States, and Phases of Raising Consciousness" (Gradus van Florestein); "Consciousness Through the Eyes of a Transcendental Development Psy- chology" (Bjorn Prins); "Are Virtual Photons the Elemental Carriers of Consciousness?" (Herms Romein); "Consciousness and Spiritual Ener- gy" (Johan Linschoten); and "Case Histories about Transpersonal Exper- iences in Children with a Psychiatric Syndrome" (Marleen Oosterhof-van der Poel and Hans Zwetsloot). This is just a sample. Some of the talks were major addresses, others were workshop sessions. What excites me about this Conference is that only recently have transpersonal psychology and spiritual states of awareness been pub- licly acknowledged as valid by professionals in Holland. Dr. Lange spearheaded this important change, and successfully so, for the Conference was well-attended - a salute to his vision and the sleepless nights he sacrificed to make everything happen. The audience was so receptive to material on near-death states that many came the next day, same place, for the annual conference of IANDS-Holland. (The Dutch name for Holland is "Nederland." The IANDS group is "Stichting Merkawah" or "Merkawah-Holland;" their newsletter is "Terugkeer". Cardiologist, Pim van Lommel, is the guiding light behind IANDS- Nederland. My chief translator and wonderful friend, Tineke Melles- Segaar, is the new President of the group. These two people, along with Dr. Lange, made it possible for me to do two conferences in two days, the second held on Sunday, November 26th. A full-page feature article in the newspaper De Telegraaf came out in time to publicize the event. Fifteen new members joined be- cause of it. Even television crews were on hand, filming throughout the day. I was interviewed on camera that evening. The morning was devoted to my talk about children's near-death states, followed by a discussion of what I presented. Dr. van Lommel translated. The afternoon was divided into a number of workshops, but most of the people remained in the large hall for what I thought would be a presentation on the Evolutionary Aspects of Near-Death States. I was surprised to find that the group preferred a question and answer period, as my morning address had stirred up a lot of interest. Come to find out that many of those in attendance were child experiencers of near-death states. And did we ever have a rousing session, with Dr. van Lommel doing what he could just to keep up with translations. The crowd of child experiencers confirmed observations I had made with their counterparts in the United States. Some of their stories were stunning. One of the things that struck me was how important it is for child experiencers to make a book of some kind about their experience - even if they are now a grown adult! I intend to bring to Seattle in July a copy of the book created by Aafke Holm-Oosterhof. She "died" at the age of 8 1/2 of high fever from a kidney infection and had a wondrous episode, which she promptly "set aside" because of her parent's disbelief. (Remember, child experiencers are six times more likely to do this than adult experiencers.) It wasn't until her father died and she was introduced to the near-death phenomenon, that she began to confront this "missing part" of her life. Writing and illustrating the book was not only an exercise in healing for her, but the project enabled her to make significant changes in her life. She only printed 24 copies; I have one. Across the entire back wall was a series of abstract photographs that symbolically portrayed another child experiencer's episode and long journey of understanding and integration afterward. And there were paintings, handouts, and all manner of expressions used to convey the same message - of child experiencers, some still young, free at last to tell their story without the critical judgment of authority figures. Creativity and joy burst forth from each display and page. The closing moments of the day I shall always remember: Pim van Lommel presented me with the first copy of the Dutch version of Chil- dren of the New Millennium. Sigma Press manifested this miracle, hav- ing only a few weeks to do the job in time for the Conference. I was told they ran extra shifts and worked long hours to do it. And the book's translators joined me on stage - and signed my book. Both of them, Rinus Beckers and Jacqueline Beckers-Raaijman, had a near-death experience during birth trauma: with Jacqueline, a "missing twin" was involved; with Rinus, the discovery of why he has always been so dif- ferent. Translating Kinderen van het Nieuwe Millennium deeply affect- ed them both. There is no way for me to adequately thank everyone involved dur- ing these conferences. Suffice it to say that seeing the response of all those experiencers, not to mention everyone else, told me why I was there and why I have worked so hard for so many years doing near-death research. Let's not kid ourselves. . . research is important! But hold everything. . . there's more. That Friday, November 24th, I held a workshop on my research model, "Brain Shift/Spirit Shift," in a 15th century "castle" (very small) in Utrecht. After it was over, an excited group stayed over to share a meal and then gather in a special upstairs room to discuss a Mutual European Near-Death Re- search Project. Six countries were represented: attending from Hol- land - Tineke Melles-Segaar, Machteld Blickman, Pim van Lommel, Sybrig Lips, Marieke de Vry, Gerard Lange, Prem Heera, Ingrid Elfferich, and Henk van de Heuvel; from Germany - Denise Wade (formerly of the U.S.); from Hungary - Andreas Liptay-Wagner; from Belgium - Bjorn Prins; from Austria - Englebert Winkler; and from Switzerland - Evelyn Elsaesser Valarino. Most of these people were either medical physicians, psy- chiatrists or psychologists, or professionals in the fields of busi- ness and spiritual mediumship (yes, good mediums are honored in Hol- land, and I must say Marieke is one of the best and most knowledge- able mediums I have ever met). The main organizers were Gerard Lange, Andreas Liptay-Wagner, and Pim van Lommel. Lange officiated; van Lommel took notes (as did I).
Top: Andreas Liptay-Wagner, Henk van de Heuvel, S. Gerard Lange, Bjorn Prins, Machteld Blickman, Evelyn Elsaesser Valarino, Pim van Lommel, and Engelbert Winkler. Bottom: Sybrig Lips, Ingrid Elfferich, Tineke Melles-Segaar, Prem Heera, Denise Wade, and Marieke de Vry. (You don't see me anywhere because I was taking this composite picture.)
The meeting was lively - with sentiment clearly evident for doing both a prospective and a retrospective study. Liptay-Wagner has already geared up the Budapest Foundation, which he heads, to train volunteers in the standard way to conduct re-trospective studies. Over thirty people have now been trained and are ready to begin. His plan to cover the European Continent involves the media, large talks in various cities, a full educational program, bul-letins and publications, a lecture series, and so forth. He has a long and successful background in business and is using this practical know-how to launch a very ambitious program in conjunction with what emerges from this meeting. Among his goals is to raise enough money to bring Raymond Moody, Jr., M.D. to Budapest come Spring. Pim van Lommel conducted the first prospective, clinical research ever done on near-death states; Ingrid Elfferich, the first prospec- tive, clincal research ever on the aftereffects. Their work vastly overshadows anything done to date in the United States. And, of course, they are both pushing for more prospective studies - this time focusing on a deeper investigation of the aftereffects. This goes along with what Bjorn Prins wants - a new emphasis - especially on mystical tie-ins and spiritual states of consciousness, but utilizing a single agreed-upon set of standards, scales, and questions, so the results can be used in universities worldwide. A particular tack that could be taken is "prevention," showing how much money the government can save in health costs by embracing the spiritual elements of near- death states, and to what extent the aftereffects can improve lives. A goal here is to use proper science to supplant critics, while en- couraging the participation of doctors, therapists, and nurses. Denise Wade spoke of contacting the Max Planck Institute not only in a move for funding but for their active involvement, as they have a collaborative "arm" that addresses projects like this. Heera has al- ready done some work the child experiencers, and he wants to greatly expand public avenues for reaching more. Van Lommel was especially excited about the possibility of a pro- spective study in cardiac patients during an Electro-Physiological Study (EPS), with EEG-registration. Interviews would be on a double- blind basis. He wants to do this to see if possible NDEs can be com- pared with EEGs (theoretically this could also be possible with regis- tration of magnetic activities of the brain). He is convinced that a coordinated team approach can impress the proper sources for funding. They all agreed that the initial step they need to make is to decide what kind of organization they are, who will be the actual re- searchers, and where is their office center to be located. It was suggested that the group, once fully organized, should be- come involved with the Rudolph Steiner Anthroposophical Clinics, as they would be more interested in this type of research. Winkler was quite expressive as to how valuable child experiencers' stories and drawings would be in working with the dying and those with serious illnesses or problems. NDE kids, he said, could help heal others this way. Winkler, Wade, and Liptay-Wagner acknowledged how difficult it was to do anything like this in Germany. Near-death states are still a taboo subject there, where any form of disclosure is looked upon as a sign of weakness. This is why it is so important to get books translated into the various languages in Europe, and to have direct mailings of invitations to announce meetings and lectures. De Vry cautioned everyone that the public's expectations about near-death experiences are too high. Sometimes "revelations" chal- lenge individuals in ways they have trouble handling. "Don't make experiencers into saints," she said. "People project onto near-death experiencers what they refuse to see in themselves. This still is a very touchy thing." The group talked for several hours, with many good proposals made: about providing safe places for child experiencers to talk and act out their episode, about creating situations where people can dia- logue more with each other, about planning more meetings and more edu- cational opportunities, about ways to promote the spiritual aspects. At the meeting's close, the group voted to meet again to tie up those three main questions: what kind of an organization are they, who are the researchers, and where is their office to be located? Once answers to these questions are agreed upon, they will settle any protocol/funding sources issues, and launch the project. Those from other countries in Europe who would like to participate are urged to e-mail either one or all three of the following people: Dr. Gerard Lange at sglange@worldonline.nl; Dr. Pim van Lommel at pimvanlommel@ wanadoo.nl; and Dr. Andreas Liptay-Wagner at Andreas@Liptay-Wagner.de.
Dr. Michael Schröter-Kunhardt and me at a restaurant in Heidelberg.
Dr. Andreas Liptay-Wagner was also present, but he was busy taking the picture.
When I went to Germany, I met with Dr. Michael Schröter-Kunhardt of Heidelberg (a psychiatrist quite active in near-death research), and Dr. Thomas A. Angerpointner of Munich, a well-known and highly re- spected pediatric surgeon of international note who is trying to con- duct research of children's near-death states with his patients. As you can imagine, he is having a tough time using double-blind, clini- cal protocols in his country, because of the difficulty about disclo- sures - for parents as well as children. But a solution is emerging: children are beginning to speak of "waking up" during surgery and looking around and seeing things. He has them draw pictures and talk about what they witnessed. He is convinced these kids are experien- cing the out-of-body component to near-death states. What they de- scribe to him is accurate - even though there is no way they could have seen or heard what they report. He is hopeful that as he gains their confidence, plus that of their parents, he can at last conduct the research he has been trying to do for several years. Angerpoint- ner and Schröter-Kunhardt cooperate fully with Dr. Andreas Liptay- Wagner. Together, they continue to hold public talks and take advan- tage of media opportunities to interest and educate the German people.
Dr. Thomas A. Angerpointner of Munich, Germany, in one of his surgical rooms at his downtown clinic.
I came away from this trip impressed with the vitality and vigor of what is now happening in Europe. I would compare this energy to what existed at the Georgetown University Conference in 1990, when IANDS held its first International Conference. I can't begin to praise and congratulate these people enough for their dedication and determination. And I am convinced that the thrust and the power of future near-death research will come from Europe. Already outstanding work has been done in Europe, and they are primed to do even more. If any of you reading this column want to help with the funding for the Mutual European Near-Death Research Project, please contact the central IANDS office in Connecticut. By donating to the NDE Re- search Fund within IANDS, but signifying that the money is to go to Europe, you can take advantage of the tax deduction offered by our government while still aiding in a large project that will enlighten people worldwide. And, on the Monday before I left for Germany, Dr. Pim van Lommel finally mailed his research paper to a well-known medical journal. Once his paper is published (let's all think positive here), we will have the evidence we need to confront critics of near-death states in a manner that allows hardly any "wiggle-room" for debunking. His pro- spective clinical study is that good! In a previous column, where I stated that a new day was dawning for the subject of near-death states, I wasn't kidding. We truly are standing on the edge of the most incredible time in our history as the International Association For Near-Death Studies. For updates as I receive them, check in periodically at my website. The address is: www.pmhatwater.com.
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P.M.H.Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.) is the author of many books concerning near-death states,
the latest being FUTURE MEMORY, CHILDREN OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM, and THE COMPLETE
IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE NEAR-DEATH EXPERI-ENCE. Check out her website at www.pmhatwater.com
for more information about her other books, the Subtext, and her "Brain
Shift/ Spirit Shift" model for exploring transformations of consciousness.
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