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5210
qualitative
book
Shushan, Gregory, Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions, Oxford University Press, Chapter 4, Vanua Lava Woman, Pages Not Specified, 2018
Near-Death Experience in Indigenous Religions, Vanua Lava Woman, Chapter 4, 2018
1890
2018
F
A woman from Vanua Lava island in Vanuatu appeared to die immediately following her husband's death, falling into unconsciousness or clinical death directly linked to grief and trauma. Her soul followed her husband's spirit to a nearby hill, a liminal space between the world of living and dead. There she witnessed her husband bound hand and foot as punishment because he had not paid his debts during life, with ghosts explaining this bondage. The ghosts then recognized she was not meant to stay and gave her a specific mission to return and teach her people two fundamental moral laws: "Pay your debts, don't kill one another." She was sent back not just to live but to be a teacher of divinely sanctioned moral code, with her husband's punishment demonstrating the truth. Upon revival, she conveyed this message to her community. Her NDE served as powerful social regulation grounded in spirit world authority. The vision of her bound husband would have been an unforgettable warning about fulfilling social and economic obligations. The prohibition against killing was fundamental for social harmony. Her personal transcendent experience was directly translated into communal ethical principles, demonstrating how NDEs can reinforce and give divine weight to core moral values necessary for functioning society.
6
Unknown
2
8
10
Weak Evidence
0
Death following husband's death from grief/trauma
Specific moral teachings, husband's punishment witnessed
written_account
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0.00
0.00
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8/9/2025
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