near-death plus rebirth on higher level in serious occult orders – such performances are not mere rituals but real ordeals.  ‘insofar as possible within the law, the candidate is often brought to a state of terror similar to the emergency condition of the nervous system in near death crisis.  what occurs then, and is experienced as rebirth, is a quantum jump in neurological awareness.  in leary’s terminology, new circuits are formed and imprinted.’ p.139 robert anton wilson’s cosmic trigger