Raymond Moody Experiences a Materialization

Raymond A. Moody is a philosopher, psychologist, physician, and author. He is the author of Life after Life, which uses the term “near-death experience” for the first time. He is widely respected, of sound mind, and not given to hallucinations. Dr. Moody had an experience in which his deceased grandmother materialized, had a lengthy conversation with him, and calmly left. The description follows. You can listen to a narration of the text by clicking on the sound bar.

Account of Dr. Raymond Moody’s Materialization Experience

It is very difficult to put this experience into language; I am at a loss to explain some of it in words. Yet, I have no doubt whatsoever that I was in the presence of my deceased grandmother for an extended period and did in fact converse with her at length. At first, as I said, I did not recognize this person, though she immediately seemed somehow familiar. She looked somewhat as she had while alive on the earth, but appeared younger than she had been even when I was born. When I recognized her as my grandmother and confronted her with this fact, she immediately acknowledged it and began to use the nickname she alone had used for me when I was a child. She talked with me about events only my grandmother and I knew. She imparted to me certain very personal information about my early life that has been quite important and revealing…. I might add that the relationship between me and my paternal grandmother had been rather difficult while she was alive. Yet, our meeting enabled us to smooth things over. I now see her humor and appreciate her as a person in a brand new way. I look forward to meeting her again when I make my transition.[i]

I can attest that my own visit with my grandmother was radically different from anything I have experienced during my two decades of familiarity with hypnosis. As to “suggestion,” the fact that some subjects in the study [described in this source document] saw someone other than the person they set out to see illustrates the difficulty in explaining these happenings solely in terms of that concept.[ii]

[i] Raymond Moody, “Family Reunions: Visionary Encounters with the Departed in a Modern-Day Psychomanteum,” Journal of Near-Death Studies 11, no. 2 (Winter 1992): 112.

[ii] Moody, “Family Reunions.”