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4577
qualitative
journal
Shushan, Gregory, "My heart sang within me, and I was glad to be dead": The Reception of Near-Death Experiences Across the Cultures of Oceania, Journal of Near-Death Studies, 36(3), Spring 2018, pp. 135-160. Nga (Maori woman, 1960s), Case 5
Journal of Near-Death Studies, Volume 36, Number 3, Page 145, 2018
1960
2018
F
In the early 1960s, a Maori woman named Nga revived as her body was being taken for burial. She described a remarkable out-of-body experience in which her soul hovered above her head before exiting the room and proceeding to Te Rerenga Wairua, the sacred departure point for spirits in Maori tradition.
Upon arriving at Te Rerenga Wairua, she bathed in a spiritual spring and then prepared to slide down to the underworld on a root of a tree, following the traditional path of deceased souls. However, just as she was about to descend, a voice stopped her and asked her identity and her purpose there. She replied that she sought her "old people" (deceased ancestors). The voice responded with a clear message: "They don't want you yet. Eat nothing and go back where you came from until they are ready. Then I shall send for you." The instruction not to eat anything echoes the common Maori belief that consuming food in the spirit world would prevent return to life. Nga obeyed the voice and returned to her body. This experience occurred during a time when she was being prepared for burial, indicating she had been considered dead for some time. The specific cultural elements - Te Rerenga Wairua, the root descent, the bathing in a sacred spring - are all consistent with traditional Maori afterlife beliefs, while the divine intervention preventing her final journey suggests her time had not yet come.
6
Unknown
5
8
16
Suggestive Evidence
3
Death apparent as body being prepared for burial
OBE, journey to Te Rerenga Wairua, voice intervention, traditional Maori elements
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7/24/2025
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