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5195
qualitative
book
Shushan, Gregory. Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions. Oxford University Press. Chapter 3. Tswana Elder. Pages not specified. 2018
Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions. Tswana Elder. Chapter 3. 2018
1927
2018
M
Recorded by missionary William Charles Willoughby, this details two NDEs of a Tswana elder who insisted his visions were not influenced by Christianity but were traditional phenomena. His first NDE occurred in youth when declared dead while his grave was being prepared. His soul left his body and traveled to a very lovely city, full of strange people, white and glistening. The entire environment was suffused with brilliant light, the town radiant with splendour. There was not a stump in it, nor anything that could cause stumbling or disaster - a place of flawless beauty, order, and safety. He was met by a superb man who acted as gatekeeper or divine authority, who simply told him to arise and depart. Following this command, his soul returned and he revived just before burial. His second NDE later in life was reportedly similar. The elder was insistent he was not delirious either time and denied the possibility that his experience was influenced by Christianity. He declared that in every generation there were individuals thought dead but recovered before burial, and many had seen what he had seen though they knew nothing of Christianity. According to him, knowledge of this radiant afterlife - specifically the radiance of the town and inhabitants - was common knowledge among the Tswana. He noted deathbed visions of deceased relatives were also common. His testimony positions the NDE as a recurring traditional source of knowledge about the afterlife, independent of missionary influence.
5
Unknown
2
5
7
Weak Evidence
0
Declared dead, grave being prepared, spontaneous revival
Detailed description of radiant city with white, glistening inhabitants
written_account
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8/8/2025
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