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Libra Esoterica

The Presence of Religious Metacultures in Near-Death Discourse (1580–1975)

by Jens Schlieter

  • First published:
  • 21st century

Description

Description from Crossref (opens in a new tab)

The conclusion of the discursive history outlines that in contrast to studies that argue for a broad decline of Christian narratives of deathbed experiences in the early modern centuries, there is ample evidence of a continuous stream of Christian reports. These reports are, from the 18th century onward, seconded by a broad current of Spiritualist–Occult and Gnostic–Esoteric reports. Transmitters of these reports were mostly religiously interested individuals—preeminently spokespersons of non-mainstream churches and denominations such as Pietists, Theosophists, Occultists, and Spiritualists, joined, in the early 20th century, by parapsychologists. Most common are descriptions of a paradisiacal realm, tranquility, quietness, and feelings of peace or mental clarity. Handed down in religious contexts were descriptions of a border, God, or angels. However, other elements such as the life review (absent in premodern narratives), autoscopic out-of-body experiences, or the “tunnel” clearly developed over time and assumed new meanings.

Provenance

Why this book is in the catalog

Included because retained bibliographic metadata links this work to Afterlife, reincarnation, and near-death experiences, Demonology, angelology, and possession, Gnosticism and esoteric Christianity, Occultism and esotericism, and Out-of-body, astral, and dream studies.

  • Occultism and esotericism

    Retained metadata contains “esoteric” in the description and “occult” in the description.

    • “esoteric”· in description
    • “occult”· in description
  • Gnosticism and esoteric Christianity

    Retained metadata contains “gnostic” in the description.

    • “gnostic”· in description
  • Demonology, angelology, and possession

    Retained metadata contains “Angels” in the description.

    • “Angels”· in description
  • Afterlife, reincarnation, and near-death experiences

    Controlled discovery queries from crossref matched “near-death experiences”. Retained metadata contains “near-death” in the title and “near-death” in the edition title.

    • “near-death experiences”· via Crossref
    • “near-death”· in title
    • “near-death”· in edition title
  • Out-of-body, astral, and dream studies

    Retained metadata contains “out-of-body” in the description and “Out-of-body experiences” in the description.

    • “out-of-body”· in description
    • “Out-of-body experiences”· in description

Membership records how this book met the catalog’s discovery criteria — relevance to a tradition, not a judgment of the book’s claims.

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Editions

One edition cataloged here.

Crossref publisher-supplied book record

2018-09-20Oxford University Press——Unknown

Identifiers & provenance

How this record was assembled, and the authority identifiers it carries.

Catalog id
crossref:10.1093/oso/9780190888848.003.0021
Edition coverage
Crossref source record
Retrieved