Categories of Extraordinary Human Experiences

Many ordinary people have extraordinary human experiences (EHE’s), with more than 150 types and sub-types having been identified. All these EHE’s generally fall within the following categories:

Psi-related  – telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, remote viewing and psychokinesis

Hallucinatory – visions, hallucinations, hearing voices – experiences that occur in the absence of normal or obvious stimulus

Mystical – ecstatic experiences or altered states of consciousness, often with religious or spiritual aspects

Near-death – experiences with death or impending death, and feelings of detachment from the body

Out-of-body – a sense that one’s “self” or center of awareness is located outside of or beyond one’s body

Synesthesia – perceptions in one sense modality, such as vision, that are also experienced in another, such as hearing

Lucid dreaming – dreaming while knowing one is dreaming, often involving significant interactions or subjects

Revelatory or prescient dreams or visions – unexpected psychological states that impact the life of the experiencer in extraordinary ways

Anomalous healing – unusual or unexplained healing outcomes and out-of-the-ordinary experiences associated with treatment

Reincarnation – feelings of having been a different person in a previous time, including detailed memories

Religious or spiritual crises – doubt, loss of faith, conversion, or other experiences related to the spiritual or religious dimension