Selosse's NDE

EXPERIENCE DESCRIPTION:
 

It was in August 1988, on holiday on the banks of the Loire with my girlfriend at the time, whom I was fed up with (we broke up 2 months later after a 4-year relationship). The weather was very hot, and I felt a need to go in the water, by myself in the middle of the Loire; the water-level was no more than 2 meters in the middle of the river at this time of drought. I swam calmly, carried along by the gentle current... but I did not realize that the current grew stronger at the approaches to a bridge where it ran very swiftly between the columns.

When I became aware of the danger, I was literally swept towards a wall of jagged rocks. I then swam frantically, and just managed to catch onto an iron pole, taking refuge out of the water on one of the feet of the bridge's columns...

I was safe but completely trapped; I was in a position where nobody could either see or hear me. I was there for half-an-hour pondering how to get out of this stand-off without too much injury.

No way out... if I dive back into the turbulent water, I will certainly collide with the rocks... but I take this action anyway, counting on my good luck...

What had to happen, did happen... My knee struck the rocks with such force that I fainted from the pain.

For a while, I ceased to exist... then darkness, a clear sensation of floating, during which my mind continued to function. I said to myself: "Ah, well, here you are then, this is death for you! It's not so bad as all that, after all."

At this point an unknown, but very clear voice, said to me: "No, you're not going to die, it's really not your time yet (with the implication 'you'll live to be very old') and you're going to get out of this."

I think that it was on hearing these words that I came back to "reality", because I suddenly realised that the water was really freezing... I also was able to make a visual assessment of my surroundings... The current was still too strong for me to get straight back to the bank, but I knew that the danger was now behind me...

Was the kind of experience difficult to express in words? No

At the time of this experience, was there an associated life threatening event?

Yes, I should have drowned, after losing consciousness and being swept away in the river-current (the Loire).

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? Just before I crashed into the rock.

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal every day consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal

If your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience was different from your normal every day consciousness and alertness, please explain: Just before I crashed into the rock.

Did your vision differ in any way from your normal, everyday vision (in any aspect, such as clarity, field of vision, colors, brightness, depth perception degree of solidness/transparency of objects, etc.)?Yes. Different, as my senses seemed to work in an isolated and successive way, not simultaneously. Conscious information therefore seemed more "precise" than usual.

Did your hearing differ in any way from your normal, everyday hearing (in any aspect, such as clarity, ability to recognize source of sound, pitch, loudness, etc.)?Yes idem question 8

Did you experience a separation of your consciousness from your body? Yes

What emotions did you feel during the experience? A certain quietude, with neither joy nor sadness; conscious of being "on the edge" and of having an atypical sensory experience whose outcome was not terribly important, all things considered.

Did you pass into or through a tunnel or enclosure? Yes. It was like going through a tunnel or enclosed space like an underwater cavern (at this spot the current was really strong but the depth of the water was at most about 3 feet.)

Did you see a light? No

Did you meet or see any other beings? No

Did you experience a review of past events in your life? Uncertain. Actually, in those 2 months I had 3 "accidents" which could have cost me my life: at the beginning of July 1988 I came off the freeway, losing control at more than 100 mph before hitting the safety-barrier; a week later I fell asleep on my bicycle (celebrating my exams, I was exhausted by lack of sleep), and crashed into the back of a car, going through the rear windscreen. I was found unconscious inside the car.

With hindsight, I interpreted these events as warnings which seemed to me to be saying: "You're not on the right path, you need to change your war of living..." This is what I did 2 months later, by leaving my girlfriend and her family... to finally find myself.

Did you observe or hear anything regarding people or events during your experience that could be verified later? No

Did you see or visit any beautiful or otherwise distinctive locations, levels or dimensions? No

Did you have any sense of altered space or time? Yes, I seemed to be gone for 30 minutes, whereas everyone was worried about my absence (1½ hours at least).

Did you have a sense of knowing special knowledge, universal order and/or purpose? Yes. I thought that this "voice" which came from inside was another "self", a kind of personal elfin spirit with the task of protecting me. I am more and more convinced of this as I get older, as my job as a policeman has often put me in a bad spot; each time the "voice" has spoken to me; I've learned to trust it and listen to it... THE ONLY QUESTION IS: who is this voice which protects me, is it ANOTHER (unconscious) me? The spirit of a living person close to me? or of a deceased loved one? GOD in person?      

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No

Did you become aware of future events? Yes. Sometimes I have visions about "other people's" future existence, but without being able to control anything; it's just a "flash" that happens ( I don't take any drugs); sometimes it relates to people I've never seen; I find myself sensing death prowling around them.

It sometimes happens that things I have wished for others, come true; marvellous when it is a positive wish, worrying when it is negative...

Did you have any psychic, paranormal or other special gifts following the experience you did not have prior to the experience? Yes, I could write pages about this to explain the inexplicable, but to summarize I think I've found that I have a psychic strength which is clearly higher than normal, exerting a mental influence on my fellows, a bit like a kind of hypnosis, sometimes without the target being aware of it. I have chosen to do GOOD by acting positively but I know that I could just as easily do EVIL. Yet I listen to my "little voice" and I know what it expects of me; I've understood this by a kind of mirror effect, when I have met people with the same special condition as myself ( a clairvoyant, a dowser, an artist friend who is a painter). Looking back, I think I have been given this gift at birth, but that it needed these extreme circumstances to become aware of it.

Have you shared this experience with others? Yes, but I speak rarely about this, except of course with people who take an interest in these matters (as I'm doing at the moment); I have a job which is very down-to-earth, yet I use my gift on a daily basis in my work, without anybody being aware. I have a reputation as a lucky policeman with a very keen nose...

As for my intimates, especially my wife (for 16 years), they have witnessed my "intuitions" so often that they no longer doubt my ability to exert a strong influence on things; sometimes they are scared, but I'm often consulted when there are important choices to be made (I do not consult packs of cards).

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No

How did you view the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real. The paranormal aspect of the event was not clear to me straight away; I was focused on the raw facts, that is to say, the risk of drowning, and I was mad with myself for being so stupid, for not seeing the danger... It is when I reviewed the events later that I understood that the only real enigma to solve was the "voice" at the centre of the experience.

Were there one or several parts of the experience especially meaningful or significant to you?

Ultimately, the thing which remains anchored in me is this "voice"; the near-drowning, it seems to me, was just a catalyst... asthe voice has revealed itself many times since the event. I  understood that this was not the product of my imagination, and that something was expected from me, positive actions, in return for this extraordinary gift.

How do you currently view the reality of your experience?

Experience was definitely real. Because 20 years have gone by, and in this time the "voice" has manifested each time there was a need; moreover, it was not necessarily me who was in danger; in retrospect, I know that this experience was truly real and it was perhaps necessary for me to be in an "extreme" situation in order to be able to BELIEVE (in the voice); would I have paid attention to it if it had  simply come to me in a dream?

Have your relationships changed specifically as a result of your experience?

Yes, I still try to help my fellows to be happy, to suffer less, physically and mentally; aware of the natural meanness of the human being, I have become more detached about possible personal attacks, with the thought (to go back to biblical terms of reference) that a bad person is often someone who is suffering (though this is not a reason to excuse everything). In short, I am more serene in my life and I never lose sight of the essential thing, LOVE rules my relations with my fellows.

Have your religious beliefs/practices changed specifically as a result of your experience?

No, I have never been much of a churchgoer, though I did receive a catholic upbringing; still, I sometimes find myself going into churches to "recharge" my positive forces; I often find a strong attraction in religious buildings of whatever confession, whereas the cult itself leaves me indifferent.

Following the experience, have you had any other events in your life, medications or substances which reproduced any part of the experience?

Yes, I know from a single experience that certain drugs can put the human body in a "receptive" state, allowing a providential opening to the Spirit. But drugs are toxic and bring on early death... so are of no interest to me; to get to a higher level, some take the elevator... I have chosen to take the stairs.

Is there anything else you would like to add concerning the experience?

It has done me good to speak about all this; actually I was never really interested in the subject of "soulmates" and "twin souls" and was unaware that these notions were associated with near-death experiences. It seems to me that the NDE is an emotional catalyst which allows one to explore the self; it is not the only one, but it is the most effective.

I have done some research at the request of my cousin's wife; her name is Maria; we met at a family celebration and got to know one another gradually... a little while back she admitted that I was probably her "sister soul", but I did not know what to make of this notion... is it a platonic love, or something else? I don't know...

Did the questions asked and information you provided so far accurately and comprehensively describe your experience?

Yes. Also I have just realized that I maybe did not grasp the deeper meaning of other experiences, which I haven't had the time to speak of here, but whose meaning is becoming clear now; encounters with mediums (who have told me I have a gift in my hands); a dowser, whom I made to suffer through the power of thought alone... Different experiences with an identical message.