ABSTRACT
There is a deep human need to seek beyond our earthly existence to encounter the divine, to be reunited with family and friends, to find safe haven in another realm that will make up for the deficiencies of this one. Accounts of such quests can be found in many religious faiths. Enoch, who walks with God in Genesis, eventually returns to explore the world beyond. Mohammad ascends to the heavenly realms in his Mi’raj, and Arjuna spends several adventuresome years there. Dante wrote of his own journey, the fullest account to date, as did Robert Monroe, a twentieth-century astral traveler. This chapter will explore the important purposes these and other such stories serve in their respective traditions, as well as their striking commonalities: the motivation of the travelers, the narrative arc of their stories, and who and what they found beyond.
