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5216
Shushan, Gregory. Near-Death Experience in Ancient Civilizations: The Origins of the World's Afterlife Beliefs. Inner Traditions, 2025, Chapter 6, "Li O," pp. 137-138.
47
Moderate Evidence
7
Incompatible
Communication with the dead (necromancy), Occult/folk magic, Afterlife bureaucracy
The near-death experience of Li O is one of the most evidentially compelling cases from the ancient world, yet it is also one of the most theologically problematic from a biblical perspective, earning a rating of "Incompatible". The experience contains numerous elements that directly contradict scriptural teachings and prohibitions. The central theme of the narrative is extensive and purposeful communication with the dead. Li O interacts with her deceased neighbor Po-wen, who acts as a benevolent agent from the afterlife, sending back a letter, a prophecy, and a magical remedy to help his living son. Later, Po-wen himself manifests as an apparition to his son. This practice of seeking guidance and interaction from the deceased is what the Bible defines as necromancy, an act strictly forbidden to God's people (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). The Bible teaches that the dead are separated from the living and are not to be contacted for guidance.
Furthermore, the case involves the successful use of an occult practitioner. When the otherworldly letter cannot be read, a "famous necromancer" is called upon to decipher its supernatural script. The reliance on a magician or medium for spiritual insight stands in direct opposition to the biblical mandate to seek wisdom from God alone. The solution to the impending plague is also occultic in nature. Instead of a call for prayer or repentance, a physical object—a "medicine ball" from the underworld—is provided as a magical talisman for protection. This promotes reliance on a magical object rather than on the sovereignty and mercy of God. Finally, the depiction of the afterlife itself as a "subterranean office" with a bureaucratic structure presents a cosmology entirely foreign to the Bible. Because the account actively promotes necromancy, validates an occult practitioner, and relies on magic for salvation, it is fundamentally incompatible with biblical doctrine.
The complex and detailed near-death experience of a woman named Li O is recorded in the 4th-century CE collection In Search of Spirits and is dated to the year 199 CE. The account begins with Li O succumbing to an unspecified illness and dying. Her death was considered certain by her family, who proceeded with her burial. She was interred for fourteen days. Her revival was not spontaneous but was precipitated by a traumatic external event. A neighbor, Ts'ai Chung, decided to rob her grave. As he hacked into her coffin with an axe, he was terrified to hear a voice from within say, "Ts'ai Chung, watch out for my head!" The grave robber fled, but the news spread, and Li O's son came to the grave, opened the coffin, and found his mother alive.
Li O's account of the afterlife was not one of celestial bliss but of a highly structured, bureaucratic underworld. She described being taken after her death to the "subterranean offices" of the Lord of the Underworld, a realm that mirrored the governmental administration of Han China. During her time there, she had two significant encounters. The first was with her deceased neighbor, Po-wen, who was surprised to see her, as her name was not yet checked off in the register, indicating it was not her time to die. Po-wen gave her a letter to deliver to his son, T'o, back in the world of the living. The second encounter was with another living person who was also temporarily visiting the underworld: a man named Li Hei. They spoke, and he told her that he had been "summoned" to the underworld but would be able to return home in three days. This case is exceptionally rich in claims of veridical perception. Li O claimed to have met a living man, Li Hei, in the underworld. The Grand Administrator located Li Hei and questioned him. Li Hei's account of his own temporary journey to the underworld perfectly matched Li O's story. Li O claimed Po-wen gave her a physical letter to take back. Po-wen's son recognized the paper as having been among the writing materials in a box buried at the time of Po-wen's death. A famous necromancer was able to decipher the otherworldly script. The letter contained instructions for T'o to meet his deceased father at a specific time and place, where Po-wen's spirit appeared and gave his son a prophecy about a great sickness and a "medicine ball" to protect him. The prediction came true, and T'o was spared. Li O's revival caused a local sensation, leading to a formal government investigation by the Grand Administrator. This official inquiry validated every aspect of her story through independent witnesses and physical evidence. |