#nde's

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Some Mandaeans (literally, "possessors of secret Knowledge") live in Iraqi cities like Baghdad and Basra. There's a large Mandaean population that resides in smaller market towns and villages of the marshland in southern Iraq, and near the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Iran also has a Mandaean population; many of them dwell along the river Karun in Rhuzistan province. These days, many Mandaeans are relocating to western countries.

The Prophet Mohammed called them "Sabians," i.e. "Baptists or baptizers," a name which occurs in the Quran and which enabled them to continue under Islam. Islam also categorized them as "a people of the book," a religion that possesses their own ancient scriptures. Another factor that has traditionally enabled them to operate in the Islamic world is their affiliation with John the Baptist. John the Baptist is one of their greatest prophets.

Though the historic connection between John and the Mandaeans is hard to verify, it is indeed possible they are descendants of disciples of John the Baptist, who 2,000 years ago had a large number of followers which believed him to be a great Master and Prophet, if not the awaited Messiah. After John's death, the New Testament portrays Jesus as being the spiritual successor, but other leaders in John's community might have seen things differently. Like Jesus, others might also have claimed to be John's successor and thus would have become the leaders of a John-community that maintained its independence from the Jesus Movement, instead remaining what they were -- an unorthodox baptismal sect of the Trans-Jordan.

According to scholars of Mandaean studies like Werner Foerster, indeed the origins of the Mandaeans do go back to the Jewish tradition of first century AD Palestine and the region of the Jordan River. Foerster states in Gnosis II, published by Oxford University Press, that in the context of the Jewish war of independence and the consolidation of Orthodox Judaism after AD 70, "its position as a minority opposition evidently led to the persecution of the community and finally to its emigration from its native Jordan territory to the east, to begin with in Harran and the median hill country, then in the southern regions of Mesopotamia." Eventually the community settled in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where they could continue the ritual of baptizing initiates in "living waters" (rivers) symbolizing the connecting of their souls with "heavenly Jordan rivers of Light."

The role of the Heavenly Messenger is to give the mystic experience of light to souls and eventually guide them back up to the Place of Light, the Mandaean term for the highest heaven where the Great Life (God) resides.

The mystical encounters recorded in the scriptures of the Mandaeans may seem at times like ancient near-death experiences (NDE's), the visions of souls who were embraced by the Light long ago.

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I have held Hufford’s beliefs now for some time concerning spirit experiences despite my very scientific worldview. The idea that these spiritual experiences, most notably bereavement visits and NDE’s (near death experiences) are just pathological manifestations of trauma may be true, but in the same way that inflammation and immunological response are pathological responses to physical harm. Both spirit experiences and somatic responses to trauma serve to treat and heal that trauma. The human organism is so incomprehensibly complex that it is no large stretch to imagine a cognitive healing reflex such as bereavement visits and NDE’s has evolved because those of us who experience such things are stronger and more fit in the sense that we can undergo great trauma and recover and lead a normal (re)productive life.

               I think Hufford’s assessment that western medicine and culture is far too dismissive of these positive spirit experiences. Their ephemeral and unquantifiable nature makes them difficult to understand in the scientific lens through which our society is coming to explore itself. Obviously spiritualism makes these experiences easier to integrate as in the case of tribal life, but as Hufford makes the case they are also prevalent and largely positive in our country and so we should take steps to publicize their validity.

               On the other side of the coin is sleep paralysis which is slowly entering the public consciousness and replacing superstitions of goblins and other sleep demons. Hufford’s categories of pathological and nonpathological are very well defined with great logic in my opinion. Because of sleep paralysis’ negative and unhelpful effect on people it is rightly classified by Hufford as a pathological condition.

               Hufford’s statement,“The emotional consequences of these experiences […] depend on the conviction that they are ‘real’ experiences.” He says these real experiences were often the grounds of spiritual conviction through much of history and, “The extent to which this differ dramatically form modern mainstream religion suggests how much [organized] religion has changed in modern times.” He is saying that religion used to be based on these real and effectual experiences and they served to reinforce a positive spirituality but now our organized religions don’t use visionary experiences as proof, in a way the scientific lens of our society has changed them and made them discount these real spiritual experiences because of their current stigmatization as psychotic and pathological events. It’s humorous that our most spiritual experiences are now shunned by our spiritual institutions.      

               Hufford doesn’t touch upon it in his book but I think the curative powers of induced spiritual experiences are not something to dismiss. Psychedelic and meditative experiences are rare in our modern culture due to stigmatization of drugs and homeopathic seeming medicine (which is by and large bunk). I think more people could benefit from occasional spiritual experiences if only there were encouraged to seek them out and these experiences were made more available to the masses.