ASTRAL
PROJECTION 101
by Edgar
van Oostrum
This is a text on the 'how to' of
astral projection. It basically deals with 'how to
get out of your body' and is also about all the
things you can do and meet on the Astral Plane. It's
a very good idea to read more about all this. I
recommend 'Astral Projection' by Denning &
Philips (Llewellyn Press). Their meditation is the
one I use and is thus included in this document. The
Incense-recipe is from Scott Cunningham.
What is
Astral Projection?
Astral Projection is the projection
of your mental body to any place outside your
physical body. To do this, the mental body needs a
part of your astral body to serve as its vehicle.
It's not an unnatural thing to happen. In fact, we
unconsciously do it two to four times at night, when
we are asleep. Many little children for example
report 'flying' dreams. Those weren't dreams, but
astral projections. The real fun starts if we can
train our being to astrally project 'at will', or, in
other words, when we are conscious. When you are
consciously 'out there' (on the Astral Plane), you
can go anywhere you want, see what you want to see,
heal the sick, work some spells and meet the other
beings on the Astral Plane; the elementals, the
guides, other astral travellers, earthbound spirits,
angels etc. You can even have Astral Sex! It's even
more fun than Netsurfing!
How to do it?
There are many ways to achieve
Astral Projection. In fact, there are about as many
different ways as there are practitioners. Shamans
may call up on the help of nature spirits to take him
out of his body. A traditional Quabbalist may
meditate upon the path between Yesod and Tiphareth. A
Golden Dawn or Enochian ritualist may use the
'skrying in the spirit vision' rituals. So, there's
not one way to do it. Please remember this as you go
along and feel free to make any adjustments you want
to make to the following meditation. As long as it
'feels right', you're doing fine. The meditation in
this text, however, was designed to more or less
'bridge' the different methods used to Astrally
Project. It's Wiccan nor Crowleyian nor GD'ian nor
whatever. The designers (Denning&Philips) have
taken a good look at all the 'overlapping' points in
all those different rituals, and have concluded that
these 'overlap' points are the important 'points' in
the process of astral projection. They managed to
sythesize these points into the following meditation.
Preparation.
You have to prepare yourself
properly before you can succesfully astrally project.
It takes a long, long time of hard work and practice
before you can just sit down and pop out. Only the
best and most dedicated magicians may achieve this
status. Us mere mortals have to gradually glide into
the process and gently persuade our bodies to let go
of part of its consciousness and astral body. Here
are some important points:
- Learn the meditation properly
by heart. This is easier than you think. You
can not project while you're reading this
text.
- Get into a steady life-rhythm.
Wake up at the same time, go to bed at the
same time. The body really appreciates this!
- Try to get as much good sleep
as you can. 8 hours a night is the absolute
minimum. 10 hours is much better.
- Get plenty of physical
exercise. This will release energy blocks and
thus allow energy to flow more vigorously
through your body.
- Watch your diet! Try to stay
away from arrousing stuff as much as
possible. No hot or spicy foods, stay low on
fat. No coffee or chocolate (try herbal tea
instead) and ABSOLUTELY NO ALCOHOL ! Trying
to project while under the influence of this
drug can get you into SERIOUS TROUBLE. Try to
eat no meat, or, if this is hard for you, as
little as you can. Try drinking plenty of
water (no mineral water). A big mug of water
with some freshly squeezed lemon juice can be
a great coffee substitute at breakfast.
- Pick a regular time at which
you may try to project. This can be at night,
in the afternoon or in the morning. Just make
it the same time every time. The body doens't
like surprises. A good general rule.
- Before you try to astrally
project, concentrate on it. This may start
hours, days or even weeks in advance.
Persuade yourself that you ARE going to
achieve it someday, and visualise youself
being out of the body already. This gets your
being in the right frame of mind.
- Make sure you will NOT be
disturbed while you perform the meditation.
Disconnect the phone and try to jam the
door-bell. Lock your cats away, and kick
everybody else out of the house. Any
disturbance to this meditation (or any
meditation) can be extremely annoying, and
get you into a really bad mood.
- Pay attention to other
disturbing factors. Your clothes for example.
You may want to perform this mediation naked,
because your clothes are too tight, or just
getting in the way. Room temperature is
another factor. Not too cold, not too warm.
Disconnect all the electrical wiring that
surrounds you. They can generate disturbing
energy fields. In fact, any steel/iron/metal
in and on your body can seriously fiddle with
your energy-flows. So take out those earrings
and tongue-piercings. Any accupuncturist can
tell you that it's not a good idea to just
jam a piece of metal in your nervous system.
Oh, and here's a good one: remember to go to
the bathroom before you start your meditation
:)
- If you insist on using music
through the meditation, that's fine. It
doesn't work for me, though. I always end up
just listening to the music instead.
- Make your room very dimly lit.
This will relax your eyes. A very important
and often neglected step. Getting out is very
difficult when your eyes are still hard at
work.
- Like I said earlier: really
work up to the moment you will start the
meditation. If you feel you're not up to it,
then don't do it. You will most likely not be
able to project and this will only lead to
disappointment and eventually break your
moral. Always remember that it's a natural
process and that you CAN and WILL do it.
- A few hours before the
meditation, open all the windows and doors in
your room and allow fresh air to blow through
it.
- You may want to use the
incense I included in this text. Burn it
beforehand and then extinguish the fire. Your
body will instinctively react to fire burning
somewhere in your room and relaxing will
become very hard.
- Make sure all your body's
needs are satisfied. Make sure it's not
hungry, not thirsty. Don't eat anything
'heavy' before meditating. Make sure your
body is sexually pleased, although after
having a taste of astral sex, the urge for
having sex can actually be of help to achieve
astral projection.
The Meditation.
Lie down, with your head pointing
to the East. Relax. Make sure you're in a comfortable
position. Make sure your spine and neck are quite
straight. You may need a pillow to support your head.
Breathe rhythmically. In, hold, out, hold, in, hold,
out, hold. Very deeply. Concentrate on your breath.
Feel it flowing and blowing through your body. In,
down, trough your lungs, cooling your ribs, all the
way down to your genitals, hold it, out, up through
your belly, up your throat etc. Do this until you
have reached a very relxed posture and breathing
rhythm. This may take a while, so don't rush things.
Now do a muscle relaxation
exercise. Clench your toes for a few seconds, then
relax. Feel the fatigue taking over your muscles. Do
this again. Do the same with all your muscles,
working from bottom to top. Your legs, your bottom,
your belly, your chest, your hands and arms, your
neck etc. Particularly important is relaxing your
face! Try to really wear out your facial muscles.
Stick out your tongue as far as you can, make funny
faces, clench your jaw, lift your head a little of
the floor, make yourself look like an idiot (this is
why there should be no other people present :). Then
feel the fatigue and warm relaxation take over. Also
try to relax your eyes this way.
Now comes the main meditation. It
is made up out of four parts:
- Energizing
- Protection
- Formulating the Astral
Vehicle
- Actual Projection
- The energizing meditation is
actually a very good meditation to perform
whenever you feel like it. It balances out
your chakras and makes you feel fit and
clear. It's also very important to perform
this meditation after having (whether or not
succesfully) tried to astrally project,
because it will rebalance your being again.
- On an 'out' breath,
visualize the Crown centre (the top
of your head) as a sphere of
brilliant, white light. Keep on
breathing until you get a steady
image.
- On an 'in' breath,
draw down a shaft of white light to
your next centre, in this case the
Brow (your forehead, the third eye
between your eyebrows).
- On an 'out' breath,
visualize a sphere of dove-gray light
on your forehead. Make sure you get a
steady image.
- On an 'in' breath,
draw down a shaft of white light from
your forehead to your throat.
- etc. etc. etc.
Here are all the centres
and their colors. The shaft is always made of
white light. Visualize the spheres as being
part inside and part outside your body. When
you visualize a sphere, quickly recap al the
spheres you already 'energized'.
Top of Head - Brilliant white
Forehead - Dove-gray
Throat - Intense mid-purple
Heart - Radiant Yellow
Genitals - Lavender, radiant and swirling
Earth (under
your feet) - The seven prismatic colors
(rainbow) swirling lazily.
Once you have energized
your whole body like this, concentrate on all
the spheres and shafts at once. Be aware of
all the colors. After having done this
exercise a number of times, you will feel
actual tingling in the centres when you
energize them. You will feel your solar
plexus (in the middle of your body, right
between your belly button and ribs) throbbing
like crazy. Here's where you will
exteriorizing astral substance. Hold the
spheres for a few more seconds, then let them
slowly fade away.
- The
protection. Visualize
a large sphere of radiant white light lying
at your feet, until you get a steady image.
Breath in, and pull all that light in a long
white shaft up through your body to the top
of your head.See it light up the inside of
your body, leaving a steady shine. On an out
breath, let the light flow down along the
outside of your body, encapsulating you in a
waterfall of white, protective light. Let the
light recollect at your feet and at an
in-breath, pull it back up again. This is a
greatly relaxing exercise, and it makes you
feel great. Repeat this cycle for as long as
you like, at least 10 times.
- Formulate
your Astral Vehicle:
Now you have to formulate your astral
vehicle; the 'car' your conscious needs to
'travel' in. Here's how to do it. Visualize a
jet of blue-silver mist to leave your body at
your solar plexus. Make it form a cloud a few
feet above you. Then form this cloud into a
human figure, floating above you, facing down
towards you. This human figure decides what
you're gonna look like in the Astral plane,
but don't worry! You can remodel this figure
in great detail once you're out there. It is
a good idea however, to, prior to the
meditation, concentrate on how you want to
look like. Once your happy with this
visualization, stop the flow of astral
substance, but keep the fine line between you
and the vehicle intact. IMPORTANT: if you
don't succeed in projecting, ALWAYS make an
effort to 'take back' the exteriorized astral
substance. Make the figure into a cloud
again, and pull it back. This will prevent
unnecessary and severe energy loss and
fatigue.
- The actual
projection. Pick a
point on your body. Any point will do, but I
have found that the point that works best, is
your solar plexus, because it's right where
your astral vehicle is attached to your body.
Now, collect your being, your self,
everything you are, all your wishes,
thoughts, movements into this point. It like
crawling away into a grain of sand. Empty
your head, your legs, arms etc. and recollect
yourself at this specific point. Now
visualize the same point on your astral
vehicle, that's still floating above you.
Now, make a mental resolution to lift this
point where you are out of your body, along
the line (cord) that links you with your
vehicle, into your vehicle, to the same point
in your vehicle, and SEE IT HAPPEN. Now the
hard part: make a mental effort to 'turn
around' in your astral vehicle thus come to
face your own body lying a few feet away. Now
expand your personality again, and make it
fill your astral vehicle. This is rather like
putting on a thick glove. Make yourself aware
of your new body. You've done it! You can
fly! Whee! Have a good time!
Important notes: The first time it actually happens, don't
do much more than just floating in air and looking at
your body. Keep this up as long as you can, then
slowly 'drift down'. You will automatically 'snap
back' (this is very much like what can happen to you
when you're lying in bed, when you get that feeling
like you're falling down. I already said that we all
astrally project while we're sleeping). This
'snapping back' will happen more often that you wish
for the first times you achieved actual projection.
Don't worry. You have learned the 'knack', there's no
reason why you cannot do it again, and you will learn
how to stay out there for a longer period of time
automatically.
Once you're out there comfortably,
and you're ready to explore, get away from your body
as quickly as possible. Because, even looking at your
body, or getting close, may cause snapping back.
When you are back (or haven't
succesfully projected), always do the Energizing
meditation again, to revitalize your being.
I almost forgot: you need a good
reason for your body to willingly let you go. Like I
pointed out, sex is a good reason. But also a friend
in need, someone who needs healing, curiosity etc.
Any reason that makes you feel comfortable (yes, this
may include eavesdropping! But be careful, someone
might actually see you!) It's a good thing to
meditate on your reason to project, and to think of
your reason and why it's a good one right before you
try to project yourself.
The Key-signal
phenomenon. Many people who
astrally projected, reported a 'key-signal' right
before they left their bodies. This usually is a
strange, whistling sound in their ears, but can also
be a cold draft on your forehead, a strange smell, or
weird metallic noises. If this happens, don't be
upset at it! It means you're on the right track.
Thinking about your specific key-signal the next time
you try to project may even facilitate the process
significantly.
What can I
actually do out there?
You can remodel your astral vehicle
with your willpower, to look like anything you wish.
Yes, if you miss and arm or a leg, you can still have
one in the Astral world (this may explain the Phantom
pain phenomena. People who had to miss an arm or leg
often experience pain in their missing body part).
Your eyesight can be very screwed up. You can at
times experience eyes 'at the back of your head'.
This 360 degrees vision can be upsetting to some
people, and very interesting to others. Making a
willed resolution to 'see as you wish', will solve
the problem. You may be able to dress up as you wish,
you cannot disguise your personality on the astral.
Other beings can see your aura very clearly, and if
it's no good, you will be treated likewise. You can
check on your aura by looking at yourself in
streaming water, or a crystal ball (if you know where
there is one).
Moving in astral space can be very
difficult at first. Travel speed in astral space
equals thought speed. You can move yourself to the
other end of the universe by just thinking about it.
So, you have to think yourself forward and backward.
This may be awkward at first, but you'll soon get
used to it. Don't be afraid about getting lost! Just
think about your body or your room and you're there.
Get a little closer, and you'll snap back
automatically. Oh yes, physical obstacles form no
barriers!
You can also move in 'lightness'
and in time ! Though this is a bit harder, and you
may want to really practice to stretch your limits on
this.
Moving in 'lightness': You
can, by an act of will, pull energy along the astral
cord from your body, or send back astral energy to
your body. Gaining energy causes your astral vehicle
to get heavier and more 'to the earth', losing energy
makes you lighter and flow upwards, to the higher
astral realms. But getting too heavy or too light
causes you to 'snap back'. Through practice, you can
get heavier or lighter. If you are at a particular
scene that is of interest to you, try making yourself
lighter and heavier in turn. At every level you
arrive at, something else is revealed about the
scene. Getting heavier is useful when you want to
heal someone (you'll need the extra energy), when you
want to try to lift physical objects (this takes
great effort, you can lift about 56 grams), or if you
want to try to show yourself to someone (to haunt the
living daylight out of him ..grin..) Someone might be
able to take a picture of your astral body this way.
Getting lighter is useful for visiting the upper
realms, where the higher astral beings hang out. The
higher you can get, you more 'enlightened' you are.
Moving in time:
you can travel in time, about
500 years forwards and backwards. To archieve this,
visualize a calender losing it's days, or a clock
going formards or backwards. Three interesting
phenomena occur as you do this. 1. You will find that
some era's are unreachable, no matter how hard you
try. 2. When you go back, the images you're getting
fade and become colorless. More than 500 years back,
almost nothing can be seen. When you go forward,
images become more and more vibrant and sharp, until
they become painful and unbearable. You cannot
interact with the physical level when you're back in
time. 3. Time elasticity. When you spend a few
minutes in the past, you may have spend a whole hour
in the present. The further you go back, the more
'present time' you need to spend a time in the past.
For going to the future, this is the other way
around. You may be out of your body for an hour, and
spend a few hours, days or even weeks in the future
time. Odd, isn't it? Traveling to the future opens up
interesting possibilities. Yes, try and see if you
can find out which horse will win the race next week.
Astral
Perception. Since the
Astral plane is made up out of emotional energy, you
tend to percieve everything in an emotional way.
Buildings you find ugly can become unbearable to look
at in the Astral plane. Interesting anecdote: Vincent
van Gogh, the famous painter, used to drink for
'free' in a certain cafe in Paris. But suddenly, the
cafeowner, refused to serve him any longer. They got
into a serious fight, and Vincent left the cafe in a
rage. He then painted the interior of the cafe as
ugly as he could possibly make it, with disgusting
browns, reds and greens. This is a lot like seeing
something you dislike in the Astral. Reading
something can be very hard. This has two reasons: 1.
You don't have your brain with you 2. You can only
read what's emotionally important to you. Talking can
be done telepathically. Experiment with your
perception. How do you percieve the music you really
like? Can you smell and taste food? etc. etc. etc.
The Akashic
records. This is an astral
place where all the knowledge is stored and can be
studied. To go there, simple imagine a place of
study, learning, students, teachers and books, and
you will most probably find yourself back at the
Akashic Records. You can ask for teachers,
information etc. You will only be able to learn what
you can understand. Remember the old saying: 'When
the student is ready, the teacher is present.'
The Astral
beings. There are a lot of
these. First, there are the elementals. Salamanders
(Fire), Undines (Water), Sylphs (Air) and
Gnomes/Elves (Earth). You can find them anyplace
where their element is overly present (Vulcanos,
Rivers, Geysers, Mines, Cyclones etc.), but there's
usually one present in your own house. Try to observe
them closely. You may learn a lot of astral tricks
from them, like astral kissing. If you want to get
involved with them closer, keep one thing in mind:
they are not particularly 'good' or 'evil', but
playful, and most of them have the emotional
reactions of a little child. This is fine of course,
but they love imitating humans, and they can get you
in serious trouble without them realizing it.
Earthbound spirits. These are the spirits of dead
people. No reason to be afraid of them, they are just
like most people around and usually very frustrated.
They pin themselves down on some reason to stay 'down
here' and not evolve to the upper levels. You may try
to talk some reason into them and thus help them.
Your astral
guide. (S)he's always with
you, and (s)he can become a good and warm personal
friend to you. They are usually at the same
intellectual/emotional level as you are, and they
know a great deal about you. You can ask him/her to
guard your body, or to come along with you. There are
numerous other astral beings. Angels, archangels etc.
Going into describing them takes a lot of pages more.
Read about it! Ask around!
Thoughtforms: these can take on various shapes, from
stunningly beautiful crystalline formations to clouds
of viscious energy. They are a good indicator of what
goes on in people minds and you can learn a great
deal about certain people by looking at their
thoughtforms. Don't touch them! You have no reason to
destroy other peoples thoughts, and you may even take
on the negative thoughts of some people! Of course,
you can make thoughtforms yourself, through willed
action. They can be anything you like, from a pet
familiar to a diamond castle!
Astral sex. At last! Simply put: it is possible to
'melt' with another astral being. What happens then,
I leave for you to explore, but......it will rock
your socks! Study the elementals to learn about this.
It's about the only thing they ever seem to do.
You can show yourself to other
people also while they're dreaming. You can even
'shape' their dreams. This is frowned upon by some
people, but if you feel someone needs to 'think about
something', this may be a decent way to make sure
that (s)he does.
Thoughtforms and
Spellcasting. It's a good
thing to perform the heavier/lighter investigation on
yourself (your own body). Thoughtforms will show up
that affect your life, and you can alter them. Ow !
Is there that memory of the time you went swimming in
the sea and lost your bathing outfit in the water, so
you had to walk back to your towel all naked? Does it
still affect your life so you won't go swimming in
the sea anymore? Now is a perfect opportunity to
erase that thoughtform. Spellcasting. When a magician
casts a spell, (s)he makes an astral imprint
(=thoughtform) in order to change the course of
his/her life. But it's usually like drawing on a
blackboard, blindfolded. When you're out there, you
can actually see what you're doing. The change it
will bring about in your life will be more radical,
better. You can actually ask a higher astral being to
make the thoughtform for you. This is like being
helped by Rembrandt to shape your thoughtform. Before
performing a change, however, always ask yourself
these three questions:
1. Is this change really
necessary?
2. How to do it in the best possible way?
3. What are its consequences?
This seems easy enough, but people
have great difficulty in living up to these rules
(consider the environmental problems. Industrial
changes were made 1. When they weren't particularly
necessary 2. In completely the wrong way 3. without
ever considering the consequences. The net result:
big trouble).
That's about it! But be patient. It
may take many months, even years before you fully
master this art. Once you're an experienced
traveller, you may try to 'loosen up' on the rules.
Try another diet, and see how it affects your astral
abbilities. And if you're a steel-nerved kinda
person, try projecting while being drunk! Only do
this if you really know what you can do and how to do
it. Oh yes, I almost forgot...:
RECIPE FOR
INCENSE TO HELP ASTRAL PROJECTION
(from Scott Cunningham)
Take the following ingredients:
3 parts Sandalwood
3 parts Benzoin
1 part Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris, NOT Artemisia
Absinthium!)
1 part Dittany of Crete
Dry the ingredients and grind them.
You'll have to sand the sandalwood into a granular
dust. Grinding the Benzoin can be quite hard, because
it can get quite sticky, but practise makes perfect.
Then, slowly, thoughtfully, while thinking about the
purpose of this incense, mix the ingredients to-
gether, one by one. Think about astral projection.
See your- self fly. When ye're finished, keep the
incense in a dark, airtight jar, and keep this in a
dark, cool, dry place. To use it, put some sand in a
heat-resistant pot, light a coal (or better, incense
coal: a little 'cup' made of coal, which you can buy
at a store for Church supplies) and put some of the
incense on it. If you're going to use it indoors,
expe- riment with how much smoke the incense will
generate. It's hard to relax while you're
suffocating!
OK. That's all folks. Always remember to act
sensibly, respectful and with common sense. It keeps
you out of trouble. And one final warning: regard the
Astral Plane as an enrichment of your life, not as a
substitute.
Good luck!