Angels described in Bible may be 'products of spontaneous lucid dreams'

Washington, Dec 25 (ANI): Visions of angels depicted in Bible may have been 'the products of spontaneous lucid dreams', researchers say.

In a sleep study by the Out-Of-Body Experience Research Center in Los Angeles, 30 volunteers were instructed to perform a series of mental steps upon waking up or becoming lucid during the night that might lead them to have out-of-body experiences culminating in perceived encounters with an angel.

According to the researchers, half of them succeeded.Specifically, the volunteers were told to try to re-create the story of Elijah, a prophet who is referenced in the Talmud, the Bible and the Quran. In one of the stories in the Bible's Book of Kings, Elijah flees to the wilderness and falls asleep under a juniper tree, exhausted and prepared to die.

Suddenly an angel shakes him awake and tells him to eat. He looks around and, to his surprise, sees a loaf of bread baked on some coals and a jug of water. Elijah eats the meal and goes back to sleep.

Lead researcher Michael Raduga said this event was chosen from among a multitude of biblical passages involving religious visions during the night, because, "in terms of verifiable results, angels were the ideal choice, as Western culture provides a relatively well-established image for them (wings, white robes, halos, etc.)," Live science reported.

During the four weekends devoted to the study, 24 of the volunteers indicated they had experienced at least one lucid dream. They had been instructed to try to 'separate from their bodies' every time they became half-awake or lucid during the night.

If they were able to dream that they had separated from their sleeping bodies, they were then supposed to look for angels in their homes. If they were unable to have an out-of-body dream experience, they were told to go back to sleep and try again later in the night.

Fifteen of the 24 'lucid' participants said they were able to re-create the story of Elijah during their dreamlike experiences, either in part or in full. Nine of them dreamed of experiences involving both an angel and food, while the other six encountered only an angel. (ANI)