Category: Astral Projection


Astral Projection Tips for Beginners

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Dear Soul Arcanum:

When you first started to astral travel, what techniques did you find most successful? Did you find it helpful to open your chakras first? I look everywhere for experiences and stories people have had but they’re hard to find. Thanks!

Sam

Dear Sam:

There are all sorts of astral projection techniques available on the internet and in books that are essentially the same in terms of their effects, so I won’t bother to mention the specific processes I used. Before going into the details of my experience, I must at least mention that patience and perseverance are perhaps the most essential ingredients in achieving an out of body experience. I tried to project every day for more than a month before I succeeded, and I didn’t allow all those failed attempts to get me down or affect my beliefs and expectations. I figured if other people could do it, then it must be possible and I must be able to do it too.

As for whether I found it helpful to “open my chakras” first, I didn’t give the matter a single thought. I’ve never been one to worry about whether my chakras are open or closed, spinning in this direction or that, etc. To me, this is like worrying about whether our hearts are beating at the proper rate or our cells are doing the innumerable things they must do for our bodies to function. We don’t need to concern ourselves with what our chakras are doing; all we have to do is energetically align with what we desire and all aspects of our being will follow suit. I can already hear some people saying, Oh no, you have to close your chakras or you’ll be wide open to psychic attack and demons will steal your soul and take over your body and you’ll be stuck in the darkest regions of hell for all eternity or some other fear-based stuff. Of course, they are right: if you are afraid of something like this happening, then it doesn’t matter what you believe your chakras to be doing, you are going to align with just the sort of experience you most dread. Fortunately, if you assume you are safe and everything will be wonderful, then that will tend to happen instead.

When first trying to project, I recommend you work with whatever techniques you have chosen without worrying too much about how fast they will enable you to succeed. In order to remain patient, it may help to keep in mind that there are wonderful benefits to simply trying to get out of your body. All astral travel techniques involve achieving altered states of consciousness; when we spend a lot of time in deep meditation like this, we naturally begin to develop psychically and have all sorts of interesting experiences.

For example, when I was trying to project every day, strange and fascinating things began to happen even though I wasn’t succeeding in getting out of my body. Other people who practice astral travel have reported similar findings. For one thing, I started to see what I call “astral structures” everywhere. These are sort of like energetic walls and astral furniture; they are just barely visible lines and forms that don’t exist in the physical. I also began to see energetic beings like spirits and astral travelers, and my spirit communication abilities took off like a rocket. I also began to experience all sorts of amazing synchronicities. I would think about someone and then run into them; I would become interested in some subject and begin to encounter information about it right and left; I would need something and it would come to me in an amazing way. I mention all of this because even if it takes you months to get out of your body, by just trying to in a regular and disciplined way, you will receive all sorts of wonderful benefits.

As you may have already figured out from what I wrote above, I should also mention that I had no fear of leaving my body by the time I decided to purposefully attempt it. I have heard from many people over the years who both want to astral travel and are afraid of what might happen if they actually succeed. They worry about getting stuck outside their bodies, getting lost in the astral, or some evil being trying to take over their bodies while they’re gallavanting around in other dimensions. As I am more faithful than fearful by nature, it never occurred to me to worry about such things. I believe this not only helped me to succeed, it naturally aligned me with only positive experiences. If you are trying to get out and having trouble, it may help to honestly evaluate any fears you may have about what may happen. Since most people seem to fear the unknown, if you find some fears lurking in the back of your mind, it’s time for more education. (Personally, I find the unknown exciting and intriguing, but apparently not everyone feels the same!) I can tell you that I have never had a negative experience while astral projecting and certainly never heard of anyone dying or being physically harmed because of any experience related to astral travel.

There are all sorts of techniques for getting astral but they all have one basic aim: to coax your body into falling asleep while you keep your mind awake. With this in mind, perhaps the most helpful thing I did was to try to project when I wasn’t tired. I believe I got this idea from my friend Bob Peterson, author of Out of Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect, which I highly recommend. He told me that he would get up in the morning feeling fully rested, drink a lot of Mountain Dew for the caffeine, and then lie down and try to project. If you are at all tired when you try to project, it will be very hard to keep your mind awake; of course, if you are wide awake, it takes a lot of discipline and control to allow your body to fall asleep. Mastering this discipline and control is the key to learning how to purposefully leave your body.

I also find it much easier to project when lying on my back, and I have read about many other people who also tend to either spontaneously project more when lying on their backs or have found it easier to purposefully get out from this position. I have no idea why this is true, but it seems to be true for many astral travelers.

Lately I seem to be spontaneously projecting more and more. (I no longer attempt to get out of body very often because it takes a lot of time and effort.) Nevertheless, I often find myself leaving my body these days, and I think I’ve figured out why: for the first time since I was a little kid, I don’t have to get up at a certain time in the morning. This means I am better rested than I have been in decades and I am able to linger in bed in the morning. While I’ve always had a rich dream life, what I’ve been experiencing lately is off the charts. I’m having all sorts of amazing dreams and spontaneous out of body experiences. If this isn’t an option for you and you are strongly motivated to learn how to astral travel, you might try going to bed several hours earlier at night so you can linger in bed in the morning.

I hope my experiences help you to have some amazing out of body adventures of your own!

Soul Arcanum

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Sleep Paralysis, Migraines and Psychic Awakening

Filed Under: Astral Projection, Chakras/Auras, Emotional Well-being, Energy/Vibration, Psychic Ability by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Sleep Paralysis, Migraines and Psychic Awakening


Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

The following has been happening for a few years now. I will begin to wake from sleep and realize that my body is paralyzed. I am awake in that I am consciously aware, but I can’t move any part of my body. I can sometimes scan the room I am in, and when I do resume control of my body, it is just as I saw it with my eyes closed. I also experience a tingling sensation throughout my body, like when your arm falls asleep but far more painful, like someone is squeezing me tightly. I hear white noise like a static sound. It used to occur on a regular basis; now it is every so often. Recently, I began having these strange migraines; many times they do not feel like my own because I am still completely functional. I am very sensitive to what others are feeling; I think that’s why others find it so easy to talk to me. Sometimes I feel bipolar; I hate being around people because many times I end up being in a bad mood. I have some family members who are strongly psychic. What do you think is happening?
Krystal

Dear Krystal:

I presume that you are aware that there is a term for what you’ve been experiencing: sleep paralysis. This is a state of consciousness in between being awake and asleep in which your body is immobilized but your mind is awake. (Usually when our bodies are asleep our minds are also unconscious, so we’re not aware of being unable to move.)

While we tend to think of ourselves as either being “awake” or “asleep,” there is actually continuum between being deeply asleep and wide awake that we are constantly moving along. Scientists now even believe that it’s possible for parts of our brains to be asleep while other parts are awake. When in a certain gray area between being awake and asleep, people tend to report all sorts of paranormal experiences.

What’s interesting about your particular question is your symptom of migraines and the psychic/empathic experiences you’ve been having, for all of these experiences are related. There is a strong correlation between the manifestation of sleep paralysis and stress/anxiety. High levels of stress and anxiety are also know to trigger migraines. Both sleep paralysis and migraines are also tied to sleep deprivation and irregular sleep cycles. It is therefore common to experience both sleep paralysis and migraines during periods of high stress, and to also have unusual psychic experiences during those times.

This was certainly true for me: I have only gone through one period in my life during which I frequently experienced sleep paralysis, and that was when my first child was a newborn and I was extremely stressed out and sleep deprived. Interestingly, it was also during that time that my psychic doors blew open and I started having all sorts of mind blowing experiences.

The dream state is a highly psychic state. If we are sleep deprived, it may be that we begin to dream while we are awake, or, more accurately, enter a dual state of consciousness wherein we are both dreaming and awake. This is the extraordinary state of consciousness known as sleep paralysis. While scientists may label the unusual things we perceive in such a state “hallucinations,” research has shown biochemical similarity between the dream state, the state of consciousness that shamans enter into to do their healing and psychic work, and the state of consciousness so-called psychotics are in when they are said to be “hallucinating.”

What is missing from most scientific research is awareness that what is perceived during a “hallucination” is not unfounded: it may not exist in the physical dimension, but it is real on a metaphysical level. The states of consciousness linked above lead to “hallucinations” because they enable us to perceive beyond the physical dimension. When we are in such a state of consciousness, we are “walking between the worlds” as shamans do. To put it in scientific terms, the sleep chemistry associated with dreaming/REM sleep is intruding on the state of wakefulness.

Scientists may dismiss these experiences as chemically driven. While there may be a bio-chemical component to them, that doesn’t mean that the psychic perceptions are invalid; instead, it means that these physical changes promote psychic perception. When we are caught in a state of sleep paralysis, our consciousness is rooted in one of our subtle bodies. This is why people report being unable to physically move while at the same time being able to see with their eyes closed, perceiving various entities that aren’t physically present, and hearing voices or white noise. Since they are perceiving at least in part with the astral body’s senses, they are picking up on astral phenomena.

Unfortunately, in the modern Western world, we have no tradition of knowledge or training for what to do when such states spontaneously occur. In tribal cultures, these experiences would be taken as signs of special gifts or abilities, which would lead to one being trained in how to work with them in constructive ways. Through apprenticeship with a shaman, one would learn how to control their mental and emotional states and how to keep one foot grounded in this reality while exploring other worlds.

As for your experience of migraines, there is a definite relationship between psychic development and headaches, especially migraines. I have a theory as to why this is common: if you are uncomfortable with what you’re picking up psychically, you will instinctively try to shut your psychic senses down. This leads to a block in the chakras of the head (the third eye and/or crown chakra). This is similar to why we may get a headache when we try not to cry at a sad movie: when we shut down the flow of energy by trying to hold back our feelings, psychic pressure builds. This would also explain the vague nature of your migraines. If this tension is occurring in your astral body as opposed to your physical body, it may feel strangely ethereal.

Closing our chakras is an instinctive protective measure against psychic overwhelm. Instead of blocking our chakras, we need to learn how to create a one-way flow of energy so that we can release that pressure. As you are clearly highly sensitive and a natural empath, I strongly feel you would benefit from some training in energy healing. Such training will help you learn how NOT to pick up on others’ moods/energy, how to work with dual states of consciousness, how to align your vibration in order to manifest the sorts of psychic experiences you desire, and a whole host of other valuable skills. Instead of being a passive victim of whatever psychic energies come your way, you will learn to consciously influence the course of your experience and apply your natural psychic abilities toward positive aims.

– Soul Arcanum

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Learning to Control the Quality of Astral Experiences

Filed Under: Astral Projection, Energy/Vibration, Psychic Ability, Psychic Protection by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Learning to Control the Quality of Astral Experiences

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I have been aware of the spiritual plane for as long as I can remember, going back to when I was a preschooler and could perceive a man in a top hat who used to watch me in my room every night. I have dreams where I meet people who have passed. In these dreams, I always travel by elevator, and the place I end up in is always a hotel of some sort, ranging from dreary (a woman who did not know she was dead) to the most beautiful room I have ever seen surrounded by walls of glass and this beautiful light that can’t be described. The light was so dense and so magnificent that nothing besides the light could be seen beyond the windows. The real reason I write is because I need help. Starting back in highschool, I occasionally had spirits try to frighten me. Many nights, my mirror would lift off my wall at approximately 2 a.m. and knock over everything on my nighttable. Sometimes my radio would turn on. (This was particularly effective near Halloween when scary commercials were on.) I continued with my prayers and made it through what was a scary time for me. Sometime later, I began to experience sleep paralysis. I became a master of focusing calmly on moving one body part and breaking the trance. I have left my body and heard the voice of my great-grandmother. One time I left my body and when I returned there was a very scary, evil-looking woman approaching my body; I began to pray to God and she snarled and vanished. Last night, I had several episodes that were weak and I was too tired to care, so I fought it off but wasn’t bothered by it. The last time, though, my entire body began to vibrate violently and I began to pray and the vibrations ceased and I was free. I know that I need to better protect myself and I know spirits are trying to contact me, but I am apprehensive. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much for your time.

Janelle

Dear Janelle:

As we naturally evolve spiritually, it’s normal to have spontaneous psychic experiences, to begin to consciously remember out-of body-experiences, and to eventually gain the ability to leave our bodies at will. It’s also normal to be anxious about this, for these are not everyday, ordinary experiences. Most of us have been taught what to do in order to remain physically safe. We’re told not to open the door to a stranger, and should we set ourselves on fire, to stop, drop and roll. No one tells us what to do when we feel paralyzed in bed and sense an evil presence nearby!

In addition to being psychically sensitive, I would bet you are also under some stress. The sorts of experiences you describe tend to happen when people are extremely sleep-deprived. They also tend to pick up during times of change and transition, such as the teen years, when babies are born, during final exams in college, during career changes, when going through a divorce or getting married, when moving into a new house, etc. Any event or change that causes stress can make us vulnerable to negative psychic experiences, for what we attract on a psychic level is a direct reflection of our inner state of being.

If you can control your inner state of being, you can control the quality of your experiences when you’re in an altered state of consciousness. If you’re anxious when you project or shift your awareness to the astral, you will tend to have frightening experiences, so anything you do that helps to lower your stress level would be helpful. If you are in a state of peace and wonder, you will have wonderful experiences. If you find yourself in an unnerving situation, try to stay calm and assume that all is and will be well. (That’s good advice whether you’re in the astral or the physical!)

Obviously, the more you know about the astral, the less fear you will have of the unknown. With this in mind, I recommend you engage in deep study of the astral, spirits, and out of body experiences. For starters, you might read Astral Dynamics, Mastering Astral Projection, and Practical Psychic Self-Defense by Robert Bruce. Also Journeys Out of the Body by Robert Monroe and Out of Body Experiences: How to Have them and What to Expect by Robert Peterson. It will take a great investment of time and energy to master this material, but since you’re having these experiences anyway, you definitely need an education in this subject.

It would be profoundly empowering on many levels to learn how to control your vibration by studying energy healing and the law of attraction. Remember: if you can control your inner state of being, you can control the quality of your psychic experiences! This has been known by mystics for millennia. It’s even in the Bible!

For example, Proverbs 4:23 – 27, says: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life….Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. In Proverbs 2:7 – 11, the Bible says, [God] is a shield to those who walk with integrity…He guards the paths of the just…Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

So what does it mean to guard your heart and to mark out a straight path? If you are at war with anyone in your life, then you carry the vibration of discord. If you send evil thoughts to the person who cut you off in traffic, to the rude person in line at the grocery store, if you are full of bitterness at your ex-spouse or feel like a victim in some way, you will tend to have negative psychic experiences. If, instead, you are ever seeking peace and harmony, if you “forgive those who trespass against you,” if you are tolerant of others and look for the divine in them, if you can bless those who do things you don’t like and not take their behavior personally, then you will radiate peace and attract positive psychic experiences.

This is not easy, but there is no more important work in life than learning how to “guard”/purify our hearts and minds.

By learning how to work with energy, as in energy healing, you will learn how to shift your vibration from anxious to faithful, how to infuse situations with positive energy, how to deflect negative energy – the list goes on and on. How you learn energy healing should be organic, by which I mean that you are guided to it by Spirit. Put out a call/prayer and see where you are guided. I was trained in the Spiritualist tradition, and I’m partial to this method because it is simple and demystified. Many traditions make things far more complicated than is necessary, and surround their teachings with unfounded mystique.

Speaking of which, Robert Bruce has a new book on healing entitled Energy Work: The Secrets of Healing and Spiritual Growth. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but based on his other work, I’m sure it’s great. I’m also sure that it’s no accident that this expert on astral projection has written a book on energy healing, for in order to control your astral experiences, you must be able to consciously influence/control energy.

– Soul Arcanum

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Common Early Astral Projection Experiences

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Dear Soul Arcanum:

We’ve corresponded in the past about my spontaneous experiences of astral projection. Recently I had another experience. I remembered you told me not to be afraid, and I wasn’t this time. I rose out of my body and was floating towards my front door. My face was next to the ceiling, and the ceiling seemed soft and flexible. I was floating back down to my body when I saw an orange-gold ball of light zooming all over the room. It had a tail like a comet. As it zoomed through the room, it would cross over its own tail. I wasn’t scared, and I gently floated back into my body. I tried yelling my husband’s name so he could see it, but I was paralyzed and couldn’t speak. I finally managed to shout his name and he woke up but he didn’t see the light. In all the experiences I’ve had, I’ve never seen this before. Can you tell me what the light was? Also, I can’t seem to get out of my house while I’m out of the body. Any advice you can offer would be appreciated!
– Vicki

Dear Vicki:

From our prior correspondence, I know that you’re new to astral projection. Since many of our readers are interested in learning how to have out of body experiences, this is a great opportunity to explore these common scenarios.

Many people have seen things like your racing orange ball of light. This could have been any one of a number of entities from another (metaphysical) dimension. Many times spirits will show up in this way. If you research ghost photography and orbs, you’ll see not only orange orbs that seem stationary but also shooting or racing orbs.

Some people have reported encountering other (living) astral travelers as orange balls of light. In fact, a popular technique for trying to get out of the body is to focus your consciousness into a ball of light and then shoot the ball of light out into the astral, so it’s possible that you saw someone else who was astral projecting.

This fellow projector could have been attracted by the fact that you were out of your body too, or they could have been totally unaware of you. We leave our bodies every night, but most of us don’t do it consciously. When encountered during our regular nightly travels, many of us will seem like we’re sleepwalking, and could pass right by a conscious astral projector as if we’re in a dream.

Some people believe that non-human entities like elves, fairies and nature spirits can appear as balls of light. Others insist they’ve seen angels, spirit guides, and earthbound spirits or ghosts take similar forms.

There also seems to be a connection between bright racing lights and the formation of crop circles. Many people have seen lights like this above fields just before crop circles were discovered. There is even a controversial video that supposedly captures orange balls of light as they create a crop circle. Google “Oliver’s Castle video” to judge for yourself.

This whole subject makes me wonder how we may appear to beings in other dimensions when we alter our state of consciousness and raise our vibration through meditation, shamanic journeying and other spiritual practices. Perhaps as our consciousness follows a guided meditation, in the realm we’re mentally traveling through, we are perceived as some sort of supernatural phenomenon. I know that spirits are drawn to “the light” of mediums in the physical, so maybe we appear as balls of light to beings in other dimensions.

You see, everything we can imagine is real on some level or in some dimension of experience. We can perceive light but we can’t hold it in our hands or capture it in a test tube. There is some light we can’t physically perceive such as infrared or ultraviolet light, but we know this light exists and can affect us.

When spirits or entities become dense and dip into the etheric plane, we may perceive them with our eyes or cameras as lights, orbs, mists, apparitions, etc. Similarly, when our consciousness shifts into the etheric or astral plane during astral projection, we can perceive things there that we can’t when our consciousness is rooted in the physical.

So you shouldn’t assume that everything you see in the astral is there to interact with you for some reason. Seeing this racing ball of light is sort of like seeing a man running down the sidewalk in your neighborhood: while he could be coming for you, he could also be getting some exercise, running away from the scene of a crime or racing to help someone. I’m not trying to discourage you from learning and exploring, I just want to explain that you’ll see all sorts of things in the astral, and many times it will simply be because you’re conscious and you’re there.

As for getting out of your house, initial astral projections tend to be brief and take place close to the physical body. For one thing, the first couple of times someone manages to project, they are usually so shocked and amazed by the experience that they think about it too much, which zips them right back into the body. In fact, just thinking about the body can pull you right back into it, and how do you think about being OUT of the body without thinking about the body itself?

There is also something of a gravitational force that will pull you back into the body if you’re close to it, so it’s wise to try to get some distance, though this is easier said than done. For one thing, when you’re totally new to the whole scene, you don’t yet know how to consciously move about in your astral body, which can make going anywhere tricky.

First conscious astral adventures also tend to be on the heavy side because you’re projecting into a dimension that is denser than the astral. At this level of projection, it’s hard to go far from your body. Also, instead of passing through walls, doors, etc., they may feel solid.

In a number of my first conscious astral projection experiences, I remained in the same room and just jumped up and down, touching the ceiling over and over again, as I was totally enthralled with how it felt to be out of the body and able to do this. Both the floor and ceiling felt solid. It was sort of like if you let yourself float down to the bottom of the deep end of a pool and then shot yourself up to the surface, except instead of the resistance of water, imagine moving through air.

It generally takes a lot of practice just to get out of the body, let alone control what you do and where you go. Despite firmly setting a very clear intention of the various experiments I wanted to conduct once I got out, time after time once I actually WAS out, I forgot all about those plans. Afterward, I would be kicking myself that instead of visiting my husband at work so I could later tell him where he was and what he was doing at that time, I just jumped around in my bedroom!

Since I never gained much control while out of the body, you’d be wise to seek guidance from someone more knowledgeable. There are many great astral projection resources available in books and online. I recommend you start with astralvoyage.com; astraldynamics.com; and books by Robert Peterson, Robert Monroe and Robert Bruce.

– Soul Arcanum

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Astral Sex: My First Out of Body Experience

Filed Under: Astral Projection, Energy/Vibration by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Astral Sex: My First Out of Body Experience

Following are the (very surprising!) details of my first out-of-body experience:

I had been reading Bob Peterson’s book and practicing some of his exercises for a few weeks. I would lay down whenever I could find the time. (Never in the morning after waking, unfortunately, for that was just too busy a time at my house with my children. Morning is supposed to be an optimum time for practicing).
I would begin by completely relaxing my body, beginning with the toes and moving up and ending with my face. Then I would do a chakra cleansing and re-energizing, and finally I would use a mind control method to detach my consciousness from physical sensation. (See exercises).

I had achieved one exerience where I felt the beginning of “vibrations,” and another where I felt strange energy surges. I had yet to achieve an out-of-body state, but a side effect of my practicing was that I began to see energy blobs, rays and formations everywhere. It was similar to the astral energy I perceive in auras and in communicating with spirits, but had much less vitality and no personality. My interpretation is that I am perceiving structures in the astral or another plane. I asked Bob Peterson about it, and he told me he has experienced the same thing.

Following is what happened.

I put my baby down for a nap and lay down to hopefully take an astral nap myself. As author D.J Conway suggested in Flying without a Broom, I surrounded myself with divine white light and prayed to connect with a higher guide or teacher on the astral who would help me with a problem I’d been having (frustration with my utterly domestic existence as it restricted me time-wise from pursuing everything else I wanted to be doing). I then began relaxing my body, beginning with the feet, ankles, etc…I made it to the calves, and the next thing I knew I was at this church across the road from my subdivision.

The following experience is rather personal (sexual) and I hope you won’t be offended by my sharing it in the interest of science. It was different from a dream, as I was in some physical form but it was lighter and more fluid than my physical body. I expected the experience to be the same as waking reality, and was surprised. The most surprising aspect was that my vision was not normal. (I hadn’t yet read the chapter on vision in Peterson’s book). It was like I had this long tunnel I was looking down, and the things at the end of the tunnel were clear, but everything around them was blurry.

There were other “presences” around the church, and they felt male. Next I’m having what I can best describe as astral sex with one male, then a whole group of them. (This was distinctly different from physical sex…it was wholly an energy thing). I didn’t resist at all, but rather, was completely absorbed in the experience and it was fabulous. (My attitude regarding this shocked me upon reflection. I began to wonder if there was an astral equivalent to AIDS and other std’s, and decided I’d better not think about it or they might become real for me!).

At one point, the entities lifted me up by what was like my wrists and ankles, and it was like I was made of some liquid that is heavier than air but much lighter than flesh. There were definite physical laws in effect, but they were different than what we normally deal with.

I had the sudden thought, “Oh my God, I’ve left my baby napping and the front door is unlocked! I have to get home!” I was not frightened or even worried; it was almost a mock concern, a voice from physical reality creeping in. Next thing I knew, I was hopping/flying down the sidewalk toward my house. While there was a lot of snow here in reality at the time, it had melted in this other dimension, and I thought that was odd. I was trying to hurry home, but I hadn’t quite gotten the hang of how to move about in this jello-like body, so I was doing this little hop…fly fly fly…hop…fly fly fly maneuver. I did imagine that this would seem very comical to anyone who saw me. Next thing I knew, I was back in my bed, but I still had no sensation of my body.

Then I thought I had opened my eyes, and I sensed a presence in the hallway. (I realized that my eyes weren’t really open, however, because my vision wasn’t normal). My husband was on a return flight from Europe at the time of this nap, and I thought, “Oh my goodness, he’s home. But it’s so early!” Next thing I knew I was on my couch, making love again, but I could only see bits of ceiling and the room as I tried to swing that tunnel vision toward the being I was with. His head was on my chest and I touched his hair and thought, “It’s G [my husband at the time].” I felt like it was G, and therefore felt fine making love to him, but then I had the thought that it was a trick, and whoever it was was just making me think it was G so I’d make love to him. (I wasn’t really too concerned with who it was, but was happy to think it was my husband).

But then the energy felt like G’s, and next thing I knew I was on an airplane with my husband and we were both in astral form and we were curled up together in this little corner. I prayed that he would land safely, and then I saw the plane coming down, though this was definitely in another dimension: the plane, the workers, the runway, etc…). I came back into my body, and just then my baby woke up. It took a while for me to feel like I was completely back in the physical.

This experience was incredible, but left me with many questions.

Why, when I prayed for guidance, did I just get lots of sex?

I’ve since noticed that my well-laid plans for astral-adventures seem to be quickly forgotten once I’m out of body.

Why was my vision distorted?

I read Bob Peterson’s chapter on astral vision and it confirmed for me that I must have been truly astral, for I had no notion that my vision would be distorted while out of body before my experience. I’ve since corresponded with other astral travelers who also have distorted vision while out of body.

Why did I think I was back in the physical and had opened my eyes when I was still “out?”

This is another experience shared by many astral travelers, called “false awakening.” I don’t know the answer.

I had read that if you just thought about being somewhere, you’d be there, but then I had trouble “hurrying” home. What was this hopping/flying maneuver about? Why was moving in the astral so awkward?

This is another experience shared by other astral travelers, though many have no problem moving about, and just think themselves to where they want to go. Some say that with experience, we gain better mobility, but some people have no trouble from the very beginning. I don’t think it can be solely dependent on the traveler’s belief system, since I believed that thinking myself to where I wanted to go would work, and it didn’t.

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Where is the Astral World?

Filed Under: Afterlife, Astral Projection, Death and Dying, Energy/Vibration, Spirits by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Where is the Astral World?


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Dear Soul Arcanum:

I’ve gotten interested in astral projection, and I’m planning on trying it sometime soon, but first I have a few questions. Is astral projection traveling into a spirit world like the afterlife? Where are you when you’re out of your body? If I were to try it with my friends, would we be able to meet up somewhere?
– Christine

Dear Christine:

Naturally, no one can give you definitive answers on the nature of metaphysical reality, so what I offer you here is based on what I’ve learned from others and experienced from projecting myself.

First, when we talk about other dimensions like the astral plane, using the term “where” is rather confusing. Instead of picturing these dimensions in some other place, we might imagine them as a different form of the space we are already familiar with.

Let’s say that the physical world is like ice, and when we raise the vibration/temperature of that ice, it melts and becomes water. It’s now fluid and we can see through it, though from the right angle, we can perceive its presence. This water is a bit like the etheric plane, which is one vibrational step above the physical.

When we heat the water further, it becomes a cloud of steam. It’s still there, but is now invisible to us. Where the water just pooled on the floor and the ice was stuck in one spot, the steam can travel to the ceiling and the highest, farthest corners of the room.

This is one way to conceptualize the etheric and astral planes, which are dimensions higher in vibration than the physical. They exist right here, only at a higher vibration. (There are higher planes than the etheric and astral, but for now, let’s stick with these three.)

Just as we have a physical body in the physical plane, we subtle bodies that exist in other planes. One step higher than the physical is our etheric body, and one step higher than that is our astral body. (These subtle bodies can be seen in our auras.)

The etheric plane is so close to the physical that those of us who generally have a high vibration are often aware of it. For example, whenever we catch a glimpse of a spirit in our peripheral vision or see an aura, we are perceiving things with our etheric eyes. This is why to see auras, we can’t be focused on both the person and their aura. When one is in focus, the other is out of focus because we are shifting our consciousness between our physical body and our etheric body.

Most of the time, what we call astral projection is actually etheric projection. When we project etherically, we become like the water mentioned above: we remain in the physical plane but step outside ourselves. Like water melting off of ice, we can look back at our bodies from a new perspective.

During etheric projection we seem to be in the physical reality we’re familiar with. For example, if we project while in our bedroom, we may separate from our body to find ourselves hovering above our body on the bed. We tend to feel very restricted during etheric projection, like we have to remain very close to our bodies. If we do travel, we won’t go far. We may feel lighter than we do physically, but still not be able to fly around like we’re weightless. This is sort of like being in a state between water and steam – if we try to go too far, we condense on surfaces and become water again.

Astral projection involves the transfer of our consciousness beyond the etheric to our astral body. This is much more difficult because it requires us to raise our consciousness to a higher vibration. (The higher the metaphysical dimension, the higher we must raise our consciousness to explore it.)

The astral may have many similarities to physical reality, but it can also seem wild and different. We are actually in the astral plane when we dream every night, so we are all quite familiar with the amazing and unusual things that can happen in this realm.

Yes, this does mean that we all project into the astral every night. In fact, while we’re sleeping, our consciousness shifts into our etheric bodies so we can recharge our life force energy. We’re sort of like ipods that can only run for so long before they need to be recharged; after we’ve played for hours, we have to plug back into Source.

After we’ve soaked up a good amount of energy via sleep, we can rise a bit higher in vibration and wander off in our astral bodies to have adventures. This is why REM activity picks up so much in the early morning hours: we’re charged up from all that deep sleep and ready for action.

The difference between a regular dream and astral projection is how conscious we are during the experience. If we purposefully leave our bodies to travel in the astral, we call it astral projection. If we remain conscious that we are out of our bodies and thus maintain some control over the experience, that’s astral projection. Obviously, this is not the case during regular dreams. In fact, experienced astral projectors have reported being in the astral and witnessing dreamers play out dream scenes, oblivious to the fact that they are dreaming.

The astral is indeed where many spirits reside, at least for a while. It may even be that spirits who have moved beyond the astral can visit with us there. Many people encounter loved ones in Spirit in their dreams, and some very experienced astral projectors purposefully leave their bodies to visit with the spirits of friends and family on a regular basis.

As for meeting up with friends who are also projecting, controlling where you go while out of the body can be both very tricky and very easy depending on various factors.

Making this happen via will power takes tremendous skill. For example, back when I practiced astral projection a lot, I would always set an intention to go visit someone I knew so I could later check to see if what I saw them doing was valid. Every time I got out of my body, however, I totally forgot about my plans because I was so caught up in the experience. Much to my later frustration, I spent a number of sessions endlessly springing up to touch the ceiling because I was totally fascinated with the feeling of being in my etheric body.

The easiest way to connect with a friend or spirit in the astral is to simply to set that intention and ask Spirit or your higher self to fulfill it. If you don’t achieve your goal while consciously projecting, odds are good you will at least have some amazing “dreams” that involve the person you want to visit.

The astral is like a newly discovered continent: we don’t have great maps yet, so we have to be willing to experiment to discover its nature and establish routes and meeting places. I believe that thanks to trailblazers like you, in the future we’ll have many more answers about the nature of other planes of existence, as well as reliable, effective ways to get out of our bodies and explore other worlds.

– Soul Arcanum

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What Causes Astral Projection Sensations?

Filed Under: Astral Projection, Strange Phenomena by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on What Causes Astral Projection Sensations?

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Dear Soul Arcanum:

I’ve had experiences related to astral projection for many years. The first one I remember happened when I was in high school. I was sleeping in bed when all of a sudden, I felt like I couldn’t move. I was sleeping but wide awake at the same time. I tried everything I could to move, but nothing worked. Then I felt this INTENSE buzzing. It felt like I had electricity flowing through my body. I could feel it around me, and I could also hear it! Since then I’ve had similar experiences, but not as intense. In fact, it happened just last week, and it still freaks me out. According to what I’ve been reading, these are the initial stages of an out of body experience. If I just let the paralysis and the buzzing take their course, will I be able to leave my physical body? What is causing these sensations, anyway?
– Malia

Dear Malia:

You are indeed describing the classic initial signs of an out of body experience. To purposefully project, you must relax and remain conscious when these sensations come over you. There are lots of exercises available in books and on the web to help you get out of your body as well. They may tell you to mentally “roll over” out of your body, feel yourself getting lighter, try to mentally “sway” back and forth, etc. So you don’t have to passively wait to be released; you can mentally manipulate yourself free.

In terms of authors, some of my favorites are Bob Peterson, Robert Monroe, and Robert Bruce. (Yes, they’re all named Robert. How weird is that?) There is also a great website I discovered a while ago called Astral Voyage. In addition to working with astral projection exercises, I highly recommend that you devote yourself to general spiritual development and meditate regularly.

Some of the most common signs of impending astral projection include physical paralysis, tingling or vibrating sensations, buzzing or roaring sounds and sexual arousal. As projection becomes imminent, one may also feel one’s limbs or entire being beginning to grow very light or “lift” up. Let’s explore some of these sensations and what is happening when they occur.

Generally speaking, the sensations that precede projection stem from your consciousness shifting into a different part of your being. This is probably unlike anything you’ve ever felt before because it doesn’t happen very often. (While we all leave our bodies every night, our CONSCIOUSNESS generally does not. Our subconscious minds are in charge when we’re dreaming.)

Most people will experience some of these sensations at some point in their lives, whether they try to deliberately astral project or not. When the physical body is extremely stressed or taxed due to sleep deprivation, extreme hunger, or physical accident/injury, many people have conscious spontaneous out of body experiences, or at least some of the symptoms. Drugs/anesthesia can also induce out of body experiences or symptoms, as can intense spiritual practices like deep meditation.

So what causes these experiences? Picture a cup sitting on a saucer, and imagine that the cup is your spirit and the saucer is your conscious awareness. Now imagine that the saucer is attached to a table (the physical body) by Velcro. Normally when we leave our bodies at night (and never realize it), the cup is gently lifted from the saucer. When we consciously astral project, however, we take the saucer with us, and to do that, we have to “pry” it from that Velcro. What you’re feeling is the sensation of your consciousness being separated from your physical body.

Please note that this is an extremely simple metaphor. In fact, some leading astral projection researchers believe that we can actually split our conscious awareness between our physical body and our astral body. For the sake of understanding here, however, all we need to know is that a part of our awareness that does not usually “go with us” when we leave the physical is separating during conscious projection.

Paralysis:

Sleep paralysis is the state where your body is “asleep” but your mind is “awake.” This is a very unusual state to be in, for usually when our bodies are asleep, our minds are too. When we practice meditation or projection exercises, we stretch our ability to remain conscious until it overlaps with the state of deep relaxation our bodies enter during sleep. We are “sleep paralyzed” every night, we just don’t usually know it. (Otherwise, it is speculated that we would physically act out our dreams.)

Though sleep paralysis can be terrifying, it is entirely natural. (What’s not natural is our conscious awareness of it.) Further, it is possible for projection to occur without physical paralysis. Sometimes we just feel deeply relaxed. The first time I began to spontaneously project, I was meditating in a seated pose when I felt my body slipping back and up. It was like I had two sets of hands, and one set was slipping out of the other set like they were gloves.

Sounds and Vibrations

If you don’t drag yourself out of sleep paralysis, next you may feel an intense buzzing or tingling sensation. Some people call these sensations “vibrations.” What I felt prior to leaving my body I would describe as waves of ecstatic energy that rolled from my pelvis up my body and over my head. Then a new wave would come. Each wave left me feeling a bit “higher” or lighter, and then the next thing I knew, I was out of my body.

Many people experience a bit of a jolt when they pop out, but for me, it was just a gentle lift. It is apparently very common to hear loud rushing, roaring, or buzzing sounds during this “vibration” period, though I didn’t hear a thing.

I should point out that my experiences seem to be much milder than the norm, perhaps because I had been on a conscious spiritual path for many years when I first projected. Because the non-physical exists at a higher vibration than the physical, the higher our consciousness is, the easier it is for it to transition into the non-physical. Someone who pursues spiritual and psychic development first, and then tries to project, would thus find it a gentler and easier process than someone who was new to spiritual matters and decided to explore astral projection out of curiosity.

Also, the more we project, the easier it gets. No doubt this is in part because we are learning what works for us via experience, but it may also stem from our diminishing fear, the natural spiritual/ psychic development that arises via meditation and astral projection exercises, and perhaps a weakening of whatever holds our consciousness in the physical body to begin with. (To employ that Velcro analogy again, think about how Velcro on a pair of pants will grow softer and easier to pull apart with repeated use.)

Sexual Arousal

Along with those waves of energy, I experienced another common sensation just prior to astral projection: some may call it sexual arousal, though I think a better term would be “energetic ecstasy.” It’s similar to the feeling of an orgasm as it builds, but it is suffused throughout your entire being: your body, your aura, your heart, your mind: everything you consider “you” and then some. This ecstatic energy courses through you in waves and builds until you lift out of the body.

The French call orgasm a “little death.” I think this is apt, because at the moment of climax, we seem to expand and merge with All That Is. Perhaps the sexual arousal that often precedes astral projection is the feeling of merging with a part of ourselves that is far more expansive and free than the physical.

May you explore fascinating spiritual territory throughout your life!

– Soul Arcanum

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Worried about Returning to Body after Astral Projection

Filed Under: Astral Projection by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Worried about Returning to Body after Astral Projection

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Dear Soul Arcanum:

I just read about your experience of meeting with your departed grandfather in the astral, and how you asked your husband for help because you couldn’t “get back,” and how his touch helped you “move back into your body fully.” If this should happen to us and we have nobody to “bring us back,” what can we do? I have also woken up from a very real experience and found myself blinking my eyes like crazy in order to “return.” It seemed to take forever. Is there anything we should know or do about such experiences?
– Kay

Dear Kay:

First, let’s cover some background. The experience of mentally awakening but feeling physically paralyzed has been dubbed “sleep paralysis” by dream researchers. It typically involves “waking up” to discover that one is unable to move. People struggling with sleep paralysis may also feel like they are falling, can’t breathe, are being suffocated or crushed by something on their chests, or are threatened somehow by an “evil presence.”

According to scientists, during REM sleep, the body’s muscles are immobilized by the brain so that we don’t physically act out our dreams. The eye muscles and the muscles responsible for circulation and respiration are not disabled. To put it simply, the experience of sleep paralysis occurs when our minds wake up before our bodies. This can happen for various reasons. Some people seem to be more prone to it than others. I had a roommate in college who experienced this all the time. Sleep lab studies revealed that her brain exhibited an extra alpha wave, which would explain her consciousness during a time most of us are oblivious. Sleep paralysis has also been associated with extreme fatigue and stress.

People familiar with astral projection, however, know sleep paralysis to be a state between normal waking consciousness and an out of body experience. It can happen before one leaves the body, but more commonly, it happens upon re-entry, and is caused by one’s consciousness not yet being fully back in the body. The more one’s consciousness reintegrates with the body, the more control one gains over their physical being. This can happen instantly or gradually.

It’s interesting to note that even the sleep paralysis experiences studied by scientific researchers typically mirror out of body experiences: they may include shaking or vibrating sensations, roaring or buzzing in the ears, the sensation of floating or being out of the body, the ability to see through closed eyes, and awareness of the presence of frightening entities, for example.

Most people describe sleep paralysis as the most terrifying experience of their lives. I’ve experienced it myself a number of times, and must admit that it is terrifying in a primal, indescribable way. Despite the terror, I suffered no real harm. I have also corresponded with many people who have had frightening sleep paralysis experiences over the years, and read accounts of many others’ experiences, and I have never heard of anyone being literally harmed.

Researchers estimate that between 15% and 25% of the population experiences sleep paralysis sometimes. In other cultures, it’s far more widespread. For example, one man who grew up in the United States but is now living in Japan commented that according to his Japanese friends, everyone there experiences sleep paralysis. In fact, they were amazed that he hadn’t himself up until the incident that prompted those conversations. With millions of people experiencing sleep paralysis, I’m sure we would have heard about it if it were truly dangerous.

Most people only experience sleep paralysis occasionally during times of extreme stress or fatigue, such as during college exams. It happened to me just after I gave birth to my son, when I was profoundly sleep-deprived. The rarity of these events contributes to their mystery.

By contrast, studies of people who experience sleep paralysis on a somewhat regular basis are reassuring, for those individuals tend to conquer their fear in time. At that point, the experience usually shifts from frightening to fascinating. Where an individual may have sensed “dark” or evil presences initially, he or she now describes the presence of angels, spirit guides or departed loved ones.

We can thus presume that a lack of understanding of what is happening is the cause of all the fear. For example, my father recently had his first spontaneous OOBE as a result of medical trauma. Before this experience, he had never really done any conscious spiritual development. He was not familiar with the idea of astral travel, and so he found himself terrified both during the experience and in the days afterward. When he described it to me, I knew that what had terrified him would probably have fascinated me. As I explained what had happened in astral projection terms, and how common his experience was, his fear began to abate.

According to astral projection experts such as my friend Bob Peterson, who has authored a number of books on the subject, we can not get lost or lose our bodies. The only thing we have to fear is truly fear itself, for when we’re in the astral, our minds will quickly give shape to our fears. What we imagine takes shape in our perceptions immediately. As feeling paralyzed sparks a huge surge of fear, it’s no wonder such experiences are typically described as terrifying.

If you find yourself in that strange state between asleep and awake, unable to move your body or even cry out for help, first try not to panic, for this tends to make things worse. This is easier said than done, as anyone who has been through sleep paralysis can tell you.

Know that you will not remain paralyzed long. Try to relax and simply focus your awareness on your body and your physical surroundings. Focus your attention on moving or opening your eyes, since these will not be immobilized. People who have a lot of sleep paralysis experiences usually recommend either focusing on moving one’s eyes or moving a single digit, like a finger or a toe. This focused effort generally brings one fully back into the body, thus ending the sensation of paralysis.

As strange as all of this may sound, it’s really quite common. Astral travel is as old as humanity itself. We can find references to out of body experiences throughout history in numerous cultures around the world. Many spiritual teachers are convinced that we astral travel every night; we just don’t remember these adventures.

As I believe that sleep paralysis may be a sign that we’re moving toward conscious awareness of other dimensions, we might view it as a positive spiritual development. In fact, many people learn how to consciously astral project from the paralyzed state. With the wisdom and understanding of experience, these strange events may become a wonderful source of new spiritual power and awareness.

– Soul Arcanum

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Worried about Returning to Body after Astral Projection?

Filed Under: Astral Projection by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Worried about Returning to Body after Astral Projection?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I just read about your experience of meeting with your departed grandfather in the astral, and how you asked your husband for help, because you couldn’t “get back,” and how his touch helped you “move back into your body fully.” If this should happen to us and we have nobody to “bring us back,” what can we do? I have also woken up from a very real experience and found myself blinking my eyes like crazy in order to “return.” It seemed to take forever. Is there anything we should know or do about such experiences?
– Kay

Dear Kay:

First, let’s cover some background. The experience of mentally awakening but feeling physically paralyzed has been dubbed “sleep paralysis” by dream researchers. It typically involves “waking up” to discover that one is unable to move. People struggling with sleep paralysis may also feel like they are falling, can’t breathe, are being suffocated or crushed by something on their chests, or are threatened somehow by an “evil presence.”

According to scientists, during REM sleep, the body’s muscles are immobilized by the brain so that we don’t physically act out our dreams. The eye muscles and the muscles responsible for circulation and respiration are not disabled. To put it simply, the experience of sleep paralysis occurs when our minds wake up before our bodies. This can happen for various reasons. Some people seem to be more prone to it than others. I had a roommate in college who experienced this all the time. Sleep lab studies revealed that her brain exhibited an extra alpha wave, which would explain her consciousness during a time most of us are oblivious. Sleep paralysis has also been associated with extreme fatigue and stress.

People familiar with astral projection, however, know sleep paralysis to be a state between normal waking consciousness and an out of body experience. It can happen before one leaves the body, but more commonly, it happens upon re-entry, and is caused by one’s consciousness not yet being fully back in the body. The more one’s consciousness reintegrates with the body, the more control one gains over their physical being. This can happen instantly or gradually.

It’s interesting to note that even the sleep paralysis experiences studied by scientific researchers typically mirror out of body experiences: they may include shaking or vibrating sensations, roaring or buzzing in the ears, the sensation of floating or being out of the body, the ability to see through closed eyes, and awareness of the presence of frightening entities, for example.

Most people describe sleep paralysis as the most terrifying experience of their lives. I’ve experienced it myself a number of times, and must admit that it is terrifying in a primal, indescribable way. Despite the terror, I suffered no real harm. I have also corresponded with many people who have had frightening sleep paralysis experiences over the years, and read accounts of many others’ experiences, and I have never heard of anyone being literally harmed.

Researchers estimate that between 15% and 25% of the population experiences sleep paralysis sometimes. In other cultures, it’s far more widespread. For example, one man who grew up in the United States but is now living in Japan commented that according to his Japanese friends, everyone there experiences sleep paralysis. In fact, they were amazed that he hadn’t himself up until the incident that prompted those conversations. With millions of people experiencing sleep paralysis, I’m sure we would have heard about it if it were truly dangerous.

Most people only experience sleep paralysis occasionally during times of extreme stress or fatigue, such as during college exams. It happened to me just after I gave birth to my son, when I was profoundly sleep-deprived. The rarity of these events contributes to their mystery.

By contrast, studies of people who experience sleep paralysis on a somewhat regular basis are reassuring, for those individuals tend to conquer their fear in time. At that point, the experience usually shifts from frightening to fascinating. Where an individual may have sensed “dark” or evil presences initially, he or she now describes the presence of angels, spirit guides or benevolent aliens.

We can thus presume that a lack of understanding of what is happening is the cause of all the fear. For example, my father recently had his first spontaneous OOBE as a result of medical trauma. Before this experience, he had never really done any conscious spiritual development. He was not familiar with the idea of astral travel, and so he found himself terrified both during the experience and in the days afterward. When he described it to me, I knew that what had terrified him would probably have fascinated me. As I explained what had happened in astral projection terms, and how common his experience was, his fear began to abate.

According to astral projection experts such as my friend Bob Peterson, who has authored a number of books on the subject, we can not get lost or lose our bodies. The only thing we have to fear is truly fear itself, for when we’re in the astral, our minds will quickly give shape to our fears. What we imagine takes shape in our perceptions immediately. As feeling paralyzed sparks a huge surge of fear, it’s no wonder such experiences are typically described as terrifying.

If you find yourself in that strange state between asleep and awake, unable to move your body or even cry out for help, first try not to panic, for this tends to make things worse. This is easier said than done, as anyone who has been through sleep paralysis can tell you.

Know that you will not remain paralyzed long. Try to relax and simply focus your awareness on your body and your physical surroundings. Focus your attention on moving or opening your eyes, since these will not be immobilized. People who have a lot of sleep paralysis experiences usually recommend either focusing on moving one’s eyes or moving a single digit, like a finger or a toe. This focused effort generally brings one fully back into the body, thus ending the sensation of paralysis.

As strange as all of this may sound, it’s really quite common. Astral travel is as old as humanity itself. We can find references to out of body experiences throughout history in numerous cultures around the world. Many spiritual teachers are convinced that we astral travel every night; we just don’t remember these adventures.

As I believe that sleep paralysis may be a sign that we’re moving toward conscious awareness of other dimensions, we might view it as a positive spiritual development. In fact, many people learn how to consciously astral project from the paralyzed state. With the wisdom and understanding of experience, these strange events may become a wonderful source of new spiritual power and awareness.

– Soul Arcanum

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Relationship Between Astral Projection and Psychic Ability

Filed Under: Astral Projection, Energy/Vibration, Psychic Ability by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Relationship Between Astral Projection and Psychic Ability

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:
I recently had what I believe to be my first out of body experience, and since then, all kinds of strange and exciting things have been happening. I had read about OOBE’s in a book and felt I just had to try it. I began all kinds of different exercises, and though it took me almost two months of regular practice, finally had an experience where I was out of my body and sort of bouncing around my room. It was unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I’ve been able to get out a number of times since this first experience. Since this began, all kinds of strange things have been happening. My psychic abilities have just gone through the roof! I can’t even begin to explain in the space here. Is there a connection between psychic abilities and astral projection, and what is that connection? Is projecting a good way to develop psychically? Thanks so much!
June

Dear June:
Thanks for a great question. Yes, psychic skills and the ability to astral project are absolutely related. Everything I’ve read and everyone I have discussed the matter with have agreed that there is a strong relationship between the ability to astral project and psychic ability in general. For example, my friend Bob Peterson (author of Out of Body Experiences: How to Have Them and What to Expect, among other astral projection books) experienced a surge in strange/psychic experiences when he began practicing astral projection. He writes, “I had many different types of psychic experiences. Remarkably, they all seemed to happen overnight. As crazy as it sounds, wishes started coming true. Suddenly the world was magical.” It’s important to note that he became interested in astral projection first; his intuitive development and interest in psychic matters were born as a result of the unusual experiences he had after he began projecting.

This is relatively uncommon, for most folks are already interested in psychic matters when they begin to explore astral projection, and then usually because they’ve read about it somewhere. As for the relationship between the two, astral projection is one of many practices that can lead to psychic development, and the more one has mastered either, the easier the other skill will become.

Here’s an analogy that may help: Imagine that instead of psychic development, your goal is to lose weight and get in shape. One thing that could help you achieve your goal is to take up jogging (practicing astral projection). Now, you can lose weight without jogging, and you can jog without losing weight, but of course jogging will enhance your weight loss efforts, and losing weight makes it easier to jog.

Similarly, practicing astral projection can help you develop psychically, and developing psychically can make it easier to astral project. Both involve a shift into an altered state of consciousness, preferably one that is self-induced instead of accidental or spontaneous.

This distinction is an important one. Many people have intuitive flashes. A good number of people also have spontaneous out of body experiences. These may arise unexpectedly during meditation, or they may be caused by an accident or some other trauma. While such experiences may enhance one’s interest in psychic development, they don’t contribute much to one’s conscious ability to induce the state of consciousness necessary to activate those experiences.

Accessing psychic information and leaving one’s body at will both require learning how to control one’s state of consciousness. In my experience, astral projection is far more difficult to master than general psychic development. To carry the earlier analogy forward, this is like “losing weight” as compared to completing a triathlon. Losing weight/ developing psychically can be achieved many ways, some of them easier than others, but astral projecting/ completing a triathlon is going to be challenging no matter what. While you can develop psychically (get in shape) without ever projecting, it would be hard to project (train for a triathlon) without developing psychically (getting in shape). Hence, those who practice astral projection naturally develop psychically in the process.

It’s important to note that one does not need to leave one’s body to psychically access information. As I see it, our minds are not “in our bodies” to begin with. If I ask you, “Where is your left big toe?” you know right where to point. If I ask you, “Where is your mind?” what do you say? Our minds are already unbound by the laws of space and time. As astral projection is far harder to master and control than psychic ability is, if what we’re seeking is wisdom and guidance, then there is no reason to go to the trouble of leaving the body in order to meet with metaphysical guides or access information from others times and places.

There are some great benefits of learning how to astral project, however. As has been stated, practicing projection will naturally develop psychic abilities further; because it is a very high level ability, mastering it can lead to leaps and bounds in psychic and spiritual development.

It’s also an amazing, transformational experience in and of itself. Through astral projection, we come to know via direct experience that we are more than our physical bodies. This can erase fear of death because we know without a doubt that our existence is not dependent on anything in the physical realm. The indescribably blissful feeling of being out of the body and not really giving a darn about the physical or whether or not we ever return to it is very freeing and enlightening.

Astral projecting is also a wonderful way to experience the power of our minds to affect and create reality. While in the astral, we have only to think of something and it will appear or happen. Experiencing the creative power of the mind in this immediate, responsive environment deepens our awareness of how we’re creating our realities with our thoughts all the time, just in less direct and obvious ways.

So in summary, you can develop psychically without ever projecting, but you can’t master projection without developing psychically any more than you could train for a triathlon and fail to get more fit. The sudden flood of psychic experiences you’ve encountered in the wake of your astral projection experiences is totally normal and to be expected. Given that you’re well on your way to mastering astral projection, you can assume that you already have a high level of psychic ability, and that your potential in that arena is extraordinary.

– Soul Arcanum

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