The Black Velvet Void

Two weeks ago tomorrow, I nearly died. I cannot say how, due to legal reasons, but I will say that my breathing was cut off.

I don't remember much. I have been told I was just minutes away from death, within a half hour or so.

When I was discovered, I was cold, limp, and unresponsive, I am told. I was slapped, pinched, poked, given cpr, and whatever.

This is what I remember..............

A black void, almost like the darkest velvet, surrounding me, enveloping me. I was not cold, I was dreaming of nothing and I recall hearing nothing, other than when people tried to get a response out of me.

I did not see a light, a tunnel, or hear anything. I just remember how lovely the blackness was that surrounded me, punctuated by nothingness.

I don't remember anything for 3 days after that. Nothing at all. I was still, when left alone, just surrounded by the black velvet void that contained nothing. No worries, no fears, nothing.

Being so close to death, I am wondering why that is what I experienced being so close to death. I am not afraid, but concerned that I did not experience a light, a tunnel to the light, or see any other beings being so close to my finality.

Some who are religions have told me this is what I experienced because it was not my time to go.

The whole thing is, I enjoyed being enveloped by this black velvet void of nothingness. I was not afraid.

Now I question the afterlife.

Anyone else ever share a similar expereince? I am somewhat dissapointed by not seeing a light, etc...but I was comfortable with what I experienced.

I'm not sure what to believe in anymore, I guess.

Help, anyone with what I went through?

Sounds somewhat like an experience in the womb would be like.

Some think that death is also rebirth.

I cannot help you in this personal matter but I will say thankyou for still being here to share another day with us.

reply to post by Kruel



Thanks for your view on this. It makes a lot of sense to me, since I remember nothing about being in the womb, or much about my early years. Something to contemplate on.

reply to post by antar


antar,

Thanks for the sentiment. I am typing from a friends computer, and have thought about how to get my story out, as there is more detail, enough to write a book about, actually.

I am blessed to be visiting. I hope to be able to do so for a long time to come.

What did you do while there?

Did you just observe and think that since that was all you saw, that perhaps there was no possibility of anything else? Did you try to leave or just take it, being there?

Did you attempt to explore this void?

Did you feel still "tied" to your physical body?

Did you expect something to happen, and when it didn't, you got frustrated?

I ask these questions for a reason, to help you.

You do not have to answer them to me or anyone else. But think about each one.

I think this event happened to you for a reason, to cause you to ask questions and search.

This "void" can be entered during meditation as well, willingly. And leave willingly. It's not a place you are "sent."

Originally posted by Ceara
What did you do while there?

Did you just observe and think that since that was all you saw, that perhaps there was no possibility of anything else? Did you try to leave or just take it, being there?

I was just there. I felt like I belonged, and was comfortable. I just took it in, and was not worried about being, or doing anything. I was actually angry I was pulled away from it, as others describe being pulled away from the light in a near death experience. I felt I was a part of everything and nothing, if that makes sense.

Did you attempt to explore this void?

I was comfortable. I didn't feel a need to do anything. I felt secure surrounded by this black velvet of nothingness.

Did you feel still "tied" to your physical body?

Not at all. On the contrary, due to the position my body was discovered dumped in, I had a hard time feeling connected to it again. I had to have an MRI and a CAT scan because I was numb from the waiste down for several days. I was not comfortable getting back into my body, so to speak.

Did you expect something to happen, and when it didn't, you got frustrated?

I didn't expect anything, as I seem to remember being in a sort of suspension of animation. I was surprised when people were doing CPR on me, because that is something I was not expecting, I guess. No frustration at all. I sort of felt like I was in a cocoon, if that makes sense.

I ask these questions for a reason, to help you.

Lovely!

You do not have to answer them to me or anyone else. But think about each one.

I think this event happened to you for a reason, to cause you to ask questions and search.

This "void" can be entered during meditation as well, willingly. And leave willingly. It's not a place you are "sent."

It could well be why I was so comfortable with this, as I have been there a few times in meditation, but not recently. I do feel I was a part of everything and nothing at the same time, if that makes sense to you.

edit to fix quotes



[edit on 19-7-2008 by Enthralled Fan]

I don't want to get into religious aspects, since this is really isn't the right forum for it. I will mention a few things though.

In the Bible, not in sunday school lessons, G-d dwells and is surrounded in thick Darkness. Both the darkness and G-d moved upon the face or interior of the Deep(Tehom) in Genesis. In Exodus a thick darkness, one that could extinguish light and actually be touched, settled upon Egypt in the 9th Plague. Darkness enveloped the manifestation of G-d on Mt. Sinai in the book of Exodus. It acts as a threshold or veil.

"The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick Darkness."
(1 Kg.8:12, 2 Chronicles 6:1)

He made Darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. "
(Psalm 18:11)

"Clouds and Darkness are round about him."
(Psalm 97:2)

There is also an Outer Darkness in the Christian testament, Matthew (8:12, 22:13, and 25:30), that many Christians think is Hell, but it seems to be the same darkness from Tanakh, a threshold from the presence of G-d.

For those familar with the Kabbalah this should be the same or related to the Great Abyss that serves as a Threshold between the Supernal and everything else.

To me personally its seems like some kind of Event Horizon.

That's weird.

I saw neverending light. Maybe you were in Da'at and I was in Keter!

Da'at is in the Christian and Jewish Kabbalah, it is synonymous with knowledge, but also with the Great Abyss. Keter is Supposedly like the eternal light that composes God. I wonder if maybe you were just in a limbo period where creation was deciding where you should or shouldn't go next.

Why didn't you see like heaven or something? I'm just throwing possible explanations out there... but possibly there's a reason. Maybe if you saw what you would have expected, you'd be more likely to write it off as some sort of illusion of a dying/comatosed person's mind. Who knows why?

It's interesting because the title of your thread really resonated with me. What you are describing sounds familiar to me.

[edit on 19-7-2008 by dunwichwitch]

reply to post by Enthralled Fan


This was actually a fascinating story to read.

I am not sure what the "void" is that you experienced, or what the fact that you felt comfortable with it means, I am not a super religious person, life after death seems impossible when we really do not have any solid evidence that there anything beyond death.

How can anyone really know for sure, even from those who have said they have seen the light, etc.

What if the light people have seen near or at the end of life and were revived is nothing more than neurons in the brain firing randomly as blood flow to the brain slows and stops?

Perhaps the void you experienced is what occurs before that happens?

No matter what it actually means, or not It is a great story, thank you for sharing.

What if I know that's not true, alarmist? What if it's like an old friend that you stumble upon later in life and never forget the face of?

It's pretty hard to deny something you remember.

reply to post by dunwichwitch


Thats what I was kind of getting at.

I have heard some people think of it as a type of hell or limbo, but I am clearly not suggesting that the OP was in the process of going into somekind of qlipphothic hell or limbo.

reply to post by dunwichwitch


I suppose in order to believe it has to happen to a person before they can understand.

The only near-death experience I have was when I was a teenager, I stole my uncle's bottle of scotch and drank until I passed out and had to be treated for alcohol poisoning... I was told I nearly died, however I don't remember anything, does that count?

I hope there is some kind of life after death, there is only one way to find out for sure, and I am not in any hurry to find that out at this point in my life.

However if there is nothing after death and Enthralled Fan's void is what we can expect, black velvet doesn't sound so bad.

Hey Enthralled,
I was about to send a U2U since I haven’t seen you about in a while and wanted to know how you were so I checked your profile and found this thread. OMG
I cannot help with the experience not having been there myself, but I am glad you found it comforting at least. I am also pleased to see it “was not your time to go”
I hope all is well now.
Ant

Interesting, this blackness wasn't really nothingness, because if I understand you, you say you were aware of this, meaning you were alive, concious and awake in the darkness?

Hope you come back! People are worried about you! Where are you?

What worries me is the part you left out, HOW this happened to you? I know you have problems with your boyfriend before this, could that be related? I sure hope he didn't do anything to you! or that you attempted suicide!?

Please come back, I sure hope I'm wrong.


Edit: I'm being paranoid lol. I'm sure your ok.

[edit on 27-8-2008 by _Phoenix_]

Originally posted by Kruel
Sounds somewhat like an experience in the womb would be like.

My thoughts exactly.

Anyway, it's difficult to give any opinions on this - it would be reckless blabbering without really knowing - but I find it a very interesting addition to this sort of account.

Your near death experience is 100% based on what you believe will happen.

A christian will see a tunnel of light, god's voice etc, and a hindu will see hindu gods, a muslim will see his god, etc.

When you die or you dream, your brain releases the chemical called '___' to get you high and experience a "higher power".

Apparently, you believe in returning to the womb? On a subconscious level you may be undecided and that's why you experienced nothing at all. Whatever is though, it will feel good, due to the '___' being released.

You should be happy, many people believe they are going to hell, and that's what they experience when they die. So I'd say you were lucky.

[edit on 1-11-2009 by FouL-LiveR]

Originally posted by FouL-LiveR
Your near death experience is 100% based on what you believe will happen.

Not really, imo. The beliefs of the self create a pull/tendency in a certain direction, but not the entirety of the Universe. Belief determines about 50% of the experience, not 100.

reply to post by Enthralled Fan


I nearly died some years ago. I do not wish to go into the details of what happened to me but recovery was tough and very painful, putting me in the Queen Elizabeth Military Hospital in Woolwich London (now shut I think) for just under two years. Many more years were spent recovering from serious mental and physical injuries I had sustained.

Anyway I was found by a Quick Reaction Force and had they not found me I would have been dead soon I have no doubt of that. I was hypothermic, covered in ice (I was told) and very close to death and yet at the time I was found, I was aware that I had slipped through the ground and was floating in a foetal position just under the surface which I sensed as an abstract thing I did not want to even look at. In fact I wanted to sink deeper into balmy blackness.

There was a sense of form in that I had a human shape and I felt warm and very content to drift, looking down into an inky black abyss that as far as I could discern was infinite space. It was something of warmth and comfort vaguely similar to being wrapped in the best of all duvets.

I was facing downwards, weightless with my back arched, my knees drawn loosely up to my chest, my arms bent and my hands either side of my head. I could hear nothing until finger and thumb pinched my ear lobe and I heard a soldier shout to ‘HOLD MY GAT’.

Our experiences are very similar and perhaps it is because our brains being human bathe in similar fluid and chemicals, or perhaps it is because what we experienced was something we all get to experience when we touch the hidden void.

The experience changed me from someone who lived for the moment to someone who needed to find out about the real things that matter in life like hidden truths, respecting and being understanding of others (for some reason this is important to me).

These days I could not be horrible to someone and feel good about myself. Harsh words said by me in the heat of a moment can keep me awake at night. I was not like this before my near death experience. I never used to care too much if I stepped on somebody.

If you knew anything of my background this new tolerant self was a very challenging concept that my peer group and family found very difficult to understand and more so for them because I was different from the moment I became conscious and stepped back into this world.

The only way I can describe it is that I felt an indiscernible sense of love I do not have the words to vocalise and that I touched something that is here all the time but for most of the time is hidden from view.

What I do know is that I touched "something" and it touched me right back.

The gift that has stayed with me is that I have no fear of death at all – just the manner in which I may die!

A born again, bald headed hippy

reply to post by Skyfloating


How do you explain the fact that a near death experience is the direct result of your religion then? That's how it's been with every reported near death experience.