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P.M.H.
Atwater, L.H.D., Ph.D. (Hon.) (pmhatwater.hypermart.net
and
www.amazon.com) is a near-death experiencer,
a near-death expert (especially in childhood NDEs).
Visit
Atwater's NDE News Blog and her
Q & A Blog. Sign up for
her free online newsletter. Atwater is the author of many wonderful NDE books on the
subject including:
The Forever Angels (2019),
The Animal Lights Series of Children's Books
(2019),
A Manual for Developing Humans (2017),
The Big Book of NDEs (2014),
Dying to Know You (2014),
Future Memory (2013),
Children of the Fifth World (2012),
NDEs, The Rest of the Story (2011),
I Died Three Times in 1977 (2011),
Coming Back to Life (2008),
Beyond the Indigo Children (2005),
We Live Forever (2004),
The New Children and NDEs (2003),
Beyond the Light (2009),
Children of the New Millennium (1999), and
Goddess Runes (1996). What follows are some
of the childhood near-death experiences profiled
in her book, Children of the New Millennium reprinted
by permission.
Brad Steiger's
near-death experience is an excerpt from his excellent
book,
One with the Light.
David Goines experience is an excerpt from his website
which, for some reason, no longer exists on the
internet. I suspect he is now in spirit.
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1.
Laura's NDE (age 3 ½ ) |
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My father, in a blind
drunken rage, raped and sodomized and beat me to
death in the middle of the night. At the most extreme
outpost of pain, I cried out to God and in that
moment I was torn from life.
As I died I felt myself
raised up by angels in robes of many colors. I did
not know where they were taking me as they flew,
carrying me up higher and higher in the sky. Finally,
we reached a place where emptiness gave way to form,
and form took the shape of huge cloudlike masses
on which other angels seemed to be walking, although
they too floated through the air.
The angels carrying me
lay me at the feet of a beautiful female angel whose
radiating love was more powerful than any of those
around her. She said to me in a voice whose sweetness
and tone are unknown here on Earth, "Tell me your
story."
I said to her, not in
spoken words but in thoughts, "I will, but now I
need to rest."
My spirit had no energy,
even to answer this loving lady.
God in the manifestation
of infinite light appeared off to my left, and I
was engulfed in a form of all-powerful, all-nourishing
love. That divine being appeared as a massive column
of golden light, with the suggestion of a human
shape inside. I both saw and felt his light, feeling
as if I were in a warm bath that completely healed
and protected me. I never wanted to leave. No conversation
passed between us, but in those infinite moments
I acquired the knowledge that allowed me to go back
to Earth to complete my life.
After this infinite moment
had passed, there began a battle for my life between
the angels in heaven and the doctors on Earth. Every
time the doctors pounded on my chest, my spirit
was sucked into my body for a split second, only
to be pulled back again by the angels. They held
me by my feet, struggling to keep me from coming
back. Finally, the doctors pounded one last time.
I heard an angel say, "They're stronger than we
are," and I was sucked back into my body, sat up,
screamed, and passed out.
To this day, I always
have the feeling that I need to go back, that there
was something more I was meant to do there before
returning. That feeling of incompleteness keeps
me half in the other world all the time.
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2.
Clara's NDE (age 10) |
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I was in the fifth grade
when I became sick with extreme pain in my lower
right side. My teacher thought it was only a stomach
ache and ignored it. Two hours later I was rushed
to the hospital. I was terrified and begged to go
home. I was fighting the ether mask when it happened.
One second I was awake, scared to death, the next
second I was falling straight down a dark hole as
if in a well.
There were loud sounds
like buzzing and ringing and metal scraping together,
then I was up by the ceiling looking down on myself.
I felt as though I was spread out all over the room
like vapor or a cloud. I watched as the doctor had
a square green machine wheeled into the room by
a nurse, and then worked on me using it. There were
several nurses there.
Suddenly I was standing
alone in a room with large, heavy doors leading
into other rooms. Someone came to me. I didn't see
him; I only heard his voice. He led me up through
what seemed like a tunnel. I seemed to be walking,
but my feet didn't touch a floor. Suddenly I heard
what sounded like a city-sized playground full of
kids, laughing and playing. Hearing them calmed
me. Another man came to meet us. I didn't see him
either. He asked the one leading me who I was, then
he went away. When he returned he told the man with
me that I had to go back, that they weren't ready
for me yet.
I was led up a sidewalk
to a large building with large doors. I walked inside
and saw people all around working and doing things.
I was taken to a huge iridescent white room and
told to sit down on some steps that led up to a
large white chair, and wait there for someone who
was to talk to me. He came out a door at the other
end of the steps, walked to the chair above me,
and sat down. He was dressed in a white, long-sleeved,
floor-length robe with a wide gold band around the
mid-section. He wore sandals. His dark brown hair
was shoulder length; he had a long face, broad chin,
dark eyes with black around both eyelids, like eyeliner
pencil, but it wasn't. His skin was olive colored
and his eyes were as liquid love. He communicated
by looking at me. No words had to be spoken, as
we could hear each other's thoughts. He told me
what I had to do in life and had me go to the other
side of the room and look down into something like
a TV set so I could see my future. What I saw made
me very happy. This man, who I believe is Jesus
Christ, said that once I woke up in the hospital
I would forget what I was supposed to do in life.
"Nothing can happen before
its time," he cautioned.
As I was leaving the
room he said I must obey his commandments if I wanted
to come back.
When I revived, a nurse
was sitting beside my bed and she said, "Thank God
you finally woke up."
I told the doctor that
I had watched him work on me and the color of the
machine brought into the surgery room. He didn't
know what to say.
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3.
Cecil's NDE (age 11) |
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My brother and I went
swimming. He had a problem. I tried to get him out
of the water, but in his panic he pulled me under
several times. We both drowned. He died and I came
back. I can remember it all like yesterday. Just
as I could no longer stay afloat, a strange sound
like ringing in my ears started. A peaceful feeling
came over me. I felt my spirit come out of my body
and I went into a black void. That was a little
frightening.
A long way off there
was a pinprick of light. I moved toward it, slowly
at first, then faster and faster as if I were on
top of a train accelerating. Then I stopped and
stepped fully into the light. I noticed everything
- sky, buildings, glass - emitted its own light
and everything was much more colorful than what
we see here. A river meandered around. On the other
side was a city, and a road running through it to
another city, and another city and another and another.
Right in front of me
but across the river were three men. They projected
themselves to me. They didn't walk or fly; they
projected over. I didn't recognize them, yet I knew
one was Lynn Bibb. (I was named after him. He died
a matter of weeks before I was born.) I knew these
three men were looking out for me, like a welcoming
committee to escort me over the river to the first
city. I had the feeling that if I went with them,
there would be no coming back, so I hesitated.
The first city was like
first grade. People stayed there until they were
ready to go to the next city - your eternal progression,
from city to city. Behind me and to the left was
a strong light source, very brilliant and filled
with love. I knew it was a person. I called it God
for lack of a better term. I could not see it; I
felt what seemed like a male presence. He communicated
to me, not so much in words but telepathically,
and he asked, "Why did you hesitate?"
I replied, "Well, I'm
kind of young to die."
He chuckled. "We have
babies die."
I said, "Well, there's
some things I want to know first."
He replied, "What do
you want to know?"
"What is death?" I asked.
He said, "Turn and look
to one side."
As I did, I saw a bad
car wreck. Several people had been killed. Out of
some of the bodies a spirit came up to progress
on.
Some who did not believe
it was possible stayed in their bodies and would
not emerge. I asked if they could be reached and
he said, "Yes, some more quickly than others and
some maybe never." Death, then, is not believing
in anything.
I asked, "What is hell?"
He said, "Turn and look
again."
I saw an old woman in
a rocking chair determined to sit and rock and worry
about children and grandchildren and everything
else. Hell is therefore a lack of wisdom and not
moving on, choosing not to go any further, sitting
there and doing nothing. Hell is not a place.
I asked if there was
a Devil or Satan.
He said to me, "Would
God allow that?" He continued, "If I made you God
for just a few seconds, what would you do first?"
I knew my first act would
be to eliminate any Devil or Satan. I asked, "How
do I know right from wrong?"
He replied, "Right is
helping and being kind. Wrong is not only hurting
someone but not helping when you can."
We walked as I asked
about the universe and reasons for everything. All
of these things were shown to me. Then he wondered
if I still wanted to return to the physical world.
"I do want to return."
He asked, "Why?"
I said I would help my
mother whom my father had left with four children
and one on the way. God kind of chuckled and asked
me for the real reason. I said I would leave the
Earth a little better than I found it.
Then you may return with
some of the knowledge of the things you have learned,
but the rest will be veiled for a time. Live in
such a way that you will not be going back when
you return here again.
I woke up face down in
the mud of the river bottom and was 'lifted' to
the top. I threw up great amounts of water, then
pulled myself out of the river only to discover
my brother had died.
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4.
Brad Steiger's NDE
(age
11) |
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Brad
Steiger is a famous author of paranormal books such
as Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places,
Dog Miracles: Inspirational and Heroic True Stories,
and Angels Around the World. On an August day in
1947, 11-year-old Brad Steiger nearly died of multiple
skull fractures after being caught in the metallic
blades of a piece of machinery on his family's Iowa
farm. He felt his "essential self" drift away from
his body. He watched his sister run for help and
realized he was simultaneously in his father's arms
being carried from the field, and above himself,
observing.
While "out" of his body
he was shown a geometric design of colors and seemed
to see the patterns inherent in all of life. He
came back to his body just as the surgeons were
about to operate.
Although he did not understand
it, he felt he had been shown a plan of the universe,
and that he had a mission "to testify to others
that the human spirit is eternal and that we are
not alone in the cosmic scheme of things."
Children report being
taken on a tour of heaven, seeing angels, colorful
geometric patterns, and dead relatives and pets.
One 9-year-old boy, after 36 hours in a life-threatening
fever, reported seeing his sister during a tour
of heaven. It was she who told him he had to come
back to life. His father assured him he couldn't
have seen her there as she was safely away at college.
The following morning they found out that the daughter
had died the night before in a car crash.
One of her professors
at the Chicago Theological Seminary once told of
a girl who was dying and reported seeing her brother
right in front of her in the hospital, telling her
it was "OK."
When told of this after
her death her parents were stunned. They had never
told her she had had a brother who died years before
she was born.
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5.
Guenter Wagner's NDE (age 11) |
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Read
Gunter Wagner's NDE in the Exceptional NDEs
section.
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6.
David Goines NDE (age 13) |
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This
is the true story about an event that forever changed
David Goines' life and that has been the basis for
the way he has since lived. When he was thirteen
years old, he was riding his bike to school when
he was hit by a concrete mixing truck. His resulting
near-death experience revealed to him many of the
secrets of the afterlife. Many questions concerning
"Why are we here?" and "What is the meaning of life?"
are answered here. At the end of his experience,
he was given a choice - a choice that is offered
to all of us. It is a choice we all must make when
we die. The following is David Goines' NDE testimony
in his own words.
I remember the fear of
impact (getting hit), however, I have no recollection
of the impact or having my body become totally integrated
with the bicycle, nor hurtling over sixty feet through
the air and landing in the canal. My next memory
was quite a scene in the hospital emergency room.
It was the most unique experience of my earthly
life. Unique, because I was observing my own body
in the emergency room and all the activity going
on, except that I was not in my body. I was above
it all - looking down. I was feeling no pain.
Everyone was very busy. I knew by their activity
that I was in serious trouble. There was much discussion
about how to extract me from the tangled wreckage
of my bike and/or whether they would need to leave
me in it until I was stabilized enough to try. I
could see and hear everything. It was gruesome.
It was frightening. They finally decided they had
me stable enough to get rid of the bike and they
called for a welding specialist to bring a torch
to help cut me out of the bike. Thank God my body
seemed to be unconscious. All of this would have
been quite enough for my young mind to endure -
until one nurse, whom I knew, said to another, "Well
- it certainly makes you wonder if it is worth saving
this mess." She nearly scared me to
death! At that moment, it was more than I could
stand above and watch. I wanted to run away from
this scene. I needed to escape. Quickly, I turned,
took one step through the wall so to speak and found
myself in total darkness. I looked back - nothing
but darkness! Before I could barely think, "Now
I've done it!" I apparently took another step; and
I was instantly in the most beautiful garden I have
ever seen. This garden was like a formal terrace
which had been carved out of a rough mountain, just
a few feet below the peak. Everything was white
marble and evergreen. The air was so incredibly
light and clear and fresh and cool. It seemed like
I was breathing pure chilled oxygen. The garden
was trimmed in evergreen shrubs, each a perfect
specimen; and the fragrance of evergreen lightly
scented the air. This place seemed so perfect in
every detail. Directly in front of me, just a few
steps away, was a marble bench which seemed to invite
me to come, sit, and rest. As I sat
down and breathed in the fresh wonderful air, I
looked around. What a wonderful place to rest. The
floor was flat and smooth, polished to perfection
such that it looked seamless. This garden terrace
was surrounded by low marble pillars and a marble
railing and looked like it had been formed right
out of the side of the mountain in one seamless
effort. I noticed the stark contrast between the
formal perfection of white marble and the surrounding
mountain that was rough and ragged by comparison.
It seemed like only moments while I looked around
this beautiful setting, when I noticed a very warm,
kindly, old gentleman sitting beside me on the bench.
I had not seen or heard him come - he was just there.
A light smile crossed his face, and I knew he was
a friend. His face was warmly wrinkled, but soft.
His eyes were a soft blue and yet with a depth and
sparkle of wisdom. I looked away so as not to fall
into his eyes; and as I did, he spoke to me. His
voice was firm, but soft and loving.
He said, "Well, you've had a rough day," as if he
knew all about it. With a tired sigh
I said, "I sure have!" No further explanation
seemed necessary as we both sat there. Then, I remembered
just how much trouble I really was in; and I looked
back at him hoping he would have an answer I could
stand to hear. I asked "Am I dead?"
He smiled to assure me and said, "No, you are not
dead. Your body is in a lot of trouble, but it is
being well taken care of and you do not need to
worry." I remember I felt so relieved
to be told that I was not dead. Life was not over.
This was not the end. All these things ran through
my mind like a whirlwind that stopped abruptly,
and I was filled with a million questions as to
explain my current condition. I could not explain
why I felt like I was sitting here in this place
feeling very much like I had a body and yet knowing
very much that I had left it behind.
Again I looked at him, and his face looked so understanding
I knew he had the answers even before I asked the
question. It was like we could read each others
thoughts - even before words were spoken - and I'm
not sure but what a lot of our communication did
take place this way, mind to mind. Then a kind of
panic set in. I demanded of him: "How
am I here, in this place, when I know that my body
is back there in the hospital?" And "Where is this
place? How do I see this place and you, if I'm not
with my body? How can I be two places at once?"
I began to feel very upset. "What are you?" I demanded!
His voice calmed me immediately. He said, "You are
in a very special place. You are safe."
He went on to explain that, though my body was in
the hospital, it was my physical body and that each
of us has also our spiritual body and our mental
body. He said, "It is your mental and
spiritual body that is here. It is with your mental
and spiritual eyes that you see this place. Likewise,
it is through your mental and spiritual body senses
that you perceive everything in and about this place.
This place is in your mind's eye, your imagination;
it is as it is because this is exactly what you
need it to be. Your physical crisis and mental need
caused it to be just as you perceive it. I am here
too without a physical body. You see me as I see
myself in my own mind's eye. A mental picture (a
thought) from my mind to your mind's eye. I am as
you see me because this is the way that I perceived
that you needed me to be. Who I am or my name is
not important. I am here for you on behalf of your
heavenly Father's love for you and to remind you
from where you came." My first thought
was - The hospital? He smiled a smile
of wisdom and patience beyond wisdom itself and
said lovingly, "No, I mean your Father's house."
It was then at that moment that I realized that
I knew everything that he was saying was true and
that I had known this consciously before I was born
to this Earth to have a physical body. I remembered
that I was also a spiritual and mental body (being),
and it all made perfect sense. I even remembered
coming through the veil to find and choose my physical
body. I was mildly puzzled that I could have even
forgotten such things - when he reminded me that
to have/experience a physical life - it was necessary
to at least for a while, forget a little of our
prior knowledge so that we might more fully experience
the physical things, be physically challenged, make
choices of free agency, and yes, even make mistakes
so that we could learn from them in ways that only
a physical life could impart. If we
retained all of our prior knowledge, we might not
bother to experience the physical life for its fulfillment
- we might decide to skip the pain and thus miss
the pleasure. I also remembered the promise I had
made to my heavenly Father upon accepting the opportunity,
challenges and responsibility of a physical life.
To make the most of this opportunity for myself
and for him. To return to my Father's house with
the knowledge and experience gained such that likewise,
my Father (Creator) could be enhanced by the experience.
It was upon this basis that I realized why we need
to experience a separation of our total reality
when we take a physical body. That is because in
order for us to appreciate, benefit, and learn all
we can from our physical life, we must seemingly
have to re-discover what we knew before - now in
physical ways. Likewise, through this physical life
we must discover how to return to our heavenly Father.
By the good that we do to each other here, by the
ways we improve our minds, and by the ways that
we learn to cope with a physical body and physical
life, do we earn our right of safe passage back
to our Father's house; and in so doing, do we likewise
magnify and glorify (honor) our Father. It is our
Father's love that sends us on the journey and it
is our love for him that will allow us to go back
home to his loving arms again. As soon
as I had remembered all that I needed to know, my
loving, special friend disappeared.
This was a wonderful place; it was everything I
needed it to be. I not only remembered and could
see from where I came, I could also see and remember
where I was going, the many things that I was supposed
to do. I knew when I chose this life that it would
be challenging. I knew that I would be responsible
for finding a physical life mate and that, together,
we would accept the responsibility of providing
new physical life so that others of God's children
(creation) could likewise share in a physical experience
for themselves. I knew that I would be responsible
for choosing between good and evil so that my life
would serve to glorify my heavenly Father upon my
return to him. As I continued to ponder
and re-affirm these things, I felt very refreshed
and again more conscious of my garden place. I turned
and noticed a small winding path leading up to the
crest of this rugged mountain. I had not noticed
this path before, but it was there now and it beckoned
me. I got up from my marble bench and began making
my way up the steep access of the path. It was difficult
and my footing was very unsure. As I reached the
top, I looked down upon a beautiful meadow on the
other side. It was so tempting. There were flowers
of every description and color. A beautiful brook
flowed playfully through the meadow, and I made
my way through the lush grass to be by its side.
The brook was only a few inches deep. The water
flowed quickly. I picked up some pebbles and tossed
them one by one into the water. I was about to turn
away and leave when I looked on the other side of
the stream and saw a beautiful white light much
like sunbeams. From this beautiful light a figure
appeared. It was clothed in white robes and white
light such that I could scarcely tell the difference.
I could not make out a face - but I clearly saw
hands. These hands stretched out to me and a voice
said: "Will you come unto me?" Without
hesitation I stepped into the water, then I paused.
I was shaking all over. Then I remembered that I
had a life to learn and experience. I turned; and
as I stepped out of the water, I said "No, I still
have many things which I must do."
I made my way quickly, running as fast as I could
back up to the top of the hill and back down that
winding path, nearly falling several times. As soon
as my feet touched the floor of my beautiful marble
garden, I was consciously back in my physical body,
awake, and suddenly in more physical pain than I
ever thought possible. My body was in five-way traction,
and I was barely touching the bed. Everything hurt.
My first conscious thought was, "Big mistake - boy,
I've done it now! I've screwed up big time! That
white figure was Jesus and I told him, "No!"
I don't know whether I cried more from the physical
pain I was in or the spiritual and mental torment
I was having over this decision. Later through prayer
and meditation, I have been comforted. I now understand
and have so often reflected that through this experience
I was being offered a choice. A choice which I,
and each of us, have the right to make. My heavenly
Father has such a profound love for me and all of
his children, for that matter, that I was offered
through his son Jesus the opportunity to come back
to him right then. His love is so great
for his children that he was and is willing to sacrifice
his potential for glory. Fortunately for me, I have
the opportunity on his behalf to experience a physical
life; and hopefully in doing so, I will ultimately
magnify and glorify my heavenly Father and more
so than if I had accepted grace and forgone this
opportunity. I did not realize that
my garden experience had lasted for twenty-one days,
until I was told by my doctors and nurses that I
had been in a coma all that time. It was from this
experience that I was able to draw enough strength
and energy to rehabilitate my body, learn to walk
again, and do all the things that I have been able
to do so far in my life. I am telling
you this story, one, because I needed to tell it;
two, because, perhaps you needed to hear it; and,
three, because it allows me a credible basis for
sharing with you much of the magic that can enhance
a physical life.
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