Robert Crookall collated many cases of OBEs, NDEs, deathbed visions etc. in his book What does happen when you die?….Below is an excerpt and examples of those cases reprinted with permission…
Case No. 725—Dr D. M. A. Leggett’s first case
Dr. Leggett, Vice Chancellor of the University of Surrey, published this case, representing an experience told him by a friend: “I was wounded and in hospital. Though I had lost consciousness, I remember looking down on the body of someone who was severely wounded and whose wound had opened. I remember thinking that if the bleeding continued unchecked, the person concerned would rapidly bleed to death. Then—but not till then—I realised that the person at whose body I [released ‘double’] was looking was myself [physical body]. I then willed the ‘me’ who was in bed to press the bell and summon the nurse. This I did and nurse arrived in the nick of time.†[The released “double†carried little consciousness since the soldier was nearly dead and much of the released vehicle of vitality enshrouded the Soul Body.]
Case No. 726—Dr Leggett’s second case
A dentist told Dr Leggett: “A patient, on coming round after being given ‘gas’, said that he had had the experience of looking down at ‘himself’ from a point near the ceiling while I extracted his tooth.
“Seeing my reaction of disbelief, the patient said, ‘And to prove it, I tell you that on the top of that cupboard there are two pennies’. As the cupboard was tall and I was busy, I did nothing at the time and forgot all about my patient and what he had said.
“Some months later, when I remembered the incident, I climbed up to see what, if anything, was on top of the cupboard: there were, in fact, two pennies.†[This knowledge, by the patient, was “doubtless†obtained by observing from his released “doubleâ€: but it might, theoretically, be due to pure clairvoyance: however, the fact that he claimed to look down (as in innumerable projections) leaves little doubt that it was a projection.]
Case No. 727—Mrs. M. C. Wilke
Mrs. Wilke wrote: “It has been my pleasure to read your article on Astral Projection and it was quite enlightening. Too often people who have had this experience attribute it to a dream caused by anaesthesia and are afraid to relate it to anyone for fear of scorn, ridicule or being made to feel they are insane. Now after reading your article I feel free to relate my experiences.
“While going through surgery I saw the doctors and nurses hovering over my body yet I was floating out of the window. I remember saying, ‘Well, they can’t hurt me now’ and I laughed as I looked down at them and saw my body lying there.â€
Case No. 728—Mary L. H. Evans’s case
Mary L, H. Evans told of a woman who “died†in hospital and found herself walking in sunshine towards a gate leading to a most lovely landscape, which filled her with eager joy. At the ‘gate’ she saw her first husband awaiting her; but as she drew near to join him, she saw and felt (rather than heard) him say to her, “No. Not yet. Go back.†She realised that it was for the sake of the subnormal daughter, and she obeyed him, striving to hold on to her physical life again—her fear still was to have to leave the daughter unable to fend for herself in the world. It was a relief to her to be able to tell the story to me, who fully believed it. Her other acquaintances would not have done so.
“I have personally experienced the choice of leaving or returning to my work in the world during a crisis of illness, and think it is probably fairly common.â€
Case No. 729—William Blake (1757-1827)
Wyatt Rawson drew attention to several of Blake’s psychic experiences. (1). When his brother died, Blake saw his released spirit “ascend heavenwards†and he provided illustrations to Blair’s grave depicting “the released second body lying horizontally a foot or two above the corpseâ€. Mr. Rawson observed, “This, as we learn from Dr Crookall’s books, is the normal way in which the ‘double’ is releasedâ€.
(2) On at least one occasion Blake saw beneath him his own body and those of his wife and sister.
(3) In a letter to Hayley, on the death of his son, Blake wrote, “I know that our deceased friends are more really with us than when they were apparent to our mortal part . . . I lost a brother, and with his spirit I converse daily in the spirit”