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This is the astral projection page of the Crossroads website. The Lucid/Astral Crossroads is a shared, mind conjured space, where lucid dreamers & Astral explorers can meet. The main logo at the top of this page will take you to the Crossroads homepage. On this page you can find an explanation of OB's and AP's, out about the different planes you might travel in, an etheric projection technique and an energy raising technique. At the bottom of this page are links to other relevant webpages and as well as net forums to discuss this page.

 

What is Astral Projection? That's maybe the toughest question to answer, lucid dreaming is where your body is asleep and paralyzed but your mind is bright and awake and awareness in now in your brains own created dream world. Astral projection is seen as many to be nothing more than a lucid dream. By belivers astral projection (out of body experience, etheric projection) is when the astral body, light body or consciousness can separate from the body and travel in the astral planes/ other dimensions.

Below are three main interpretations of the term we know as astral projection.

1. Astral Projection is merely a very high lucid dream that feels like you have left your body (this is the explanation favored by classical science). Reports of near death experiences do seem to challenge this view point but it is assumed that information must be being gathered in other more conventional ways. Detailed descriptions of the operating room and procedures by the resussetated are explained by other senses, such as hearing sounds and forming a mental picture of operating procedure etc.

2. You aren't really separating from your body, but your consciousness is, your mind makes sense of this by giving you the sensations of being a spirit freed from the body (an explanation favored by some unconventional scientists and parapsycologists). Your freed consciousness can surf dimensions that science hints at in its as yet unproved theories about our universe, this state can be used to gain information that would seem to many to be only explained by paranormal powers

3. You really do have a another vessel (spirit) that contains your consciousness and this vessel is able with the correct focus to be able to roam planes of existence. These planes are what many cultures would regard as the afterlife, as an astral projector you will only be able to navigate a few planes that exist near our earthly plane of existence. The highest plane is the source, the Atmic plane, oneness, the light... god.

 

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I can't tell you which one, if any, is the correct view. I can however say that there is a state of conciousness beyond normal lucid dreaming, even feeling different from a high lucid.

For example, in an astral I had, I bounded up some steps and as I looked out of my eyes I also saw my body from the side, above and every different angle, not in small boxes or over lapping but as if I were a million me's all appreciating and able to rationally think about what I was experiencing. I often find that in these astral states of being my mind is razor sharp and my knowledge seems expanded, imagine the best you can ever be and then multiply. I struggle to express an astral state properly, no earth bound sensation comes within a whisker and no drug can take you to the heights you achieve all in perfect clarity.

Astral Projection, Out of body experience or Etheric projection explanations? Unlike many people writing books or internet pages I don't have definite theories about what astral projecting really is. Many commentors piece together parts of older teachings and practices that describe the world beyond our own material world. Science seems to be in on the act too, or at least new theories in science are being claimed by some as supporting ancient ideas about a living universe where our consciousness may not be as constrained as we have been led to understand.

I will use my artistic licence to form a "posibility" from my own experiencs and reading the experiences of other that claim to be able to astral project. Read below and see what you feel about the possibility of being able to seperate conciousness from your physical form.

You aren't your brain, that is to say my consciousness, my mind, isn't the cells and neurons of my brain just as the computer on my desk isn't its Intel central processing unit (CPU), it may have an Intel CPU (brain) but its software (mind) is the operating system Windows. In fact if I wanted to I could run Linux OS on my computer although to do that I would have to load up the software onto the computers memory. *Brain structure is part of the whole*

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Imagine this thought experiment, we click our fingers and stop time, now examine the computer mid operation if we could extract the position of each electron and the pathways open to the current in our computer, your computer would now look quite different. This is actually picture of the mind (software in operation), we could do exactly the same thing to a human showing where all the electrical pulses that run through our nerves somewhat like this artistic impression by Alex Grey.

If we didn't require a physical body to interact fully in the material world then this electrical map would be the essence of us, our thoughts, feedback from our senses and the interconnections of our memories. So far this is an acceptable if a little poetic description of what we are, however to make the split with our physical body we also have to make a split with conventional (early 21st century) wisdom.

To our eyes and instruments this etheric body cannot leave the body, the electrons are intimately tied up with the physical atoms that make up our neurons and other cells in our body. Those electrons and the subatomic particles that make them up are constrained in our earthy plane of existence, to progress we need to involve higher planes.

Higher planes or dimensions can be imagined like our own familiar three dimensions of the world around us, length, width and height these three give us three dimensions. As a thought experiment imagine a 2D universe, a flat piece of paper where we all lived our live in blissful ignorance that there should be any such thing as up or down.

However from another perspective it could be seen that the universe was actually constructed in three dimensions if you were a being that could sense in three dimensions like we do on earth. To us it would be hard to imagine how these 2D people couldn't sense or imagine up and down and it would be fun to walk over their world and run around scaring them, laying down for a second forming to what their 2D senses would perceive as another being before leaping up and jumping into the air thus disappearing.

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If there was a 2D being with the ability to raise themselves into the 3rd dimension then they could interact to a certain degree although it might be difficult for the mind of this 2D being to translate the experience of this a 3D world adequately if asked.

Now think of your 3D self, if higher planes (dimensions) exist then you'll not be able to use your ordinary senses to see and interact with them, you need to raise yourself into this higher plane. Like the 2D being, an aspect of your mind/self has to be separated from your material body. In our body it is the etheric aspect of your material body that is able to make this transition. The unique properties of the electrons in your etheric mind/body self allow them to penetrate beyond the three dimensions we usually experience. They vibrate in a state of flux, to an outside perspective they would seem to exist in two places at the same time, your physical body where your body is immovable but your mind will be exhibiting all the functions of being awake and aware within another subtle (etheric) body.

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In this state your awareness you seem to have become aware in your own body or have instantly slipped out of your body, I tend to be in my physical body and have to stand up and free myself which can offer some resistance. You are on the boundary of the material world and a higher plane and its very difficult to remain here, your consciousness either wants to move higher or merge back into the material world. I always seem to have two opposite situations in this state, either the room I project in is filled with a wonderful light and all is calm or its like I'm the center of a mighty dark storm. If you want to explore the neighbor's house and scare the local cats this is the state you want to be in. Personally I don't seem to only exist in this state for what seems like a few meters in distance from my body. After that I either get awareness back in my body or I fully cross over into the higher plane.

In my opinion I tend to doubt that my essence moves higher into these planes, I'm of the belief (and lets face it I have no proof so it is only belief) that I, as a human being have a structure that extends higher into these planes, I just can't see the rest of me with my earthly material senses. Imagine it like this, to the 2D beings I'm merely the outline of my feet, two odd feet twins. We know I'm really something that's million times more complex than two mere foot print outlines! What if it didn't end there? What if from a higher perspective my "real" form extended beyond 3D, what if my 4D form was as complex a jump up as the mere outlines of my feet were to my 3D form?

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So I'm not really moving at all, what I'm actually doing is piggy backing the higher structure and senses that are me and that penetrate all the way through the higher planes of existence. There are myriad of problems with projecting like this, the main can be explained if we think of our 2D beings being able to see through 3D eyes into our higher plane, their lower consciousness cannot interpret what they are truly seeing.

 

The different planes you can travel in - in astral theory you can raise the vibration of your astral body in order to move higher in the different planes of existence.

THE ATMIC PLANE - The oneness, the light... God.

THE BUDDHIC PLANE - I'm sure its virtually impossible for an astral projector to travel this high, beyond the grasp of human minds to describe and appreciate.

THE MENTAL PLANE - Here you break free of your former bodily trappings, creativity and free thought flow like water. Its extremely difficult for an astral projector to reach and very difficult to spend any length of time here. (This state might be linked to Passive lucidity).

HIGHER ASTRAL PLANE - "Summerland" heavenly peace. This is a very difficult plane for an astral projector to reach.

MIDDLE ASTRAL PLANE - Somewhat like our reality, souls here are rehabilitated, universities and centers of learning abound.

LOWER ASTRAL PLANE - Very close to our physical world, those who have passed over but continue to cling to their physical life can be found here.

THE PHYSICAL PLANE - The world we experience in waking life, made up of slow vibrating matter.

Etheric Projection Technique (Etheric projection is the state of least separation from your physical body in fact you don't have to leave your body just sit in it and look through your closed eye lids.) You can try this technique at anytime but I've found it works on a lazy afternoon or if you set your alarm for an hour before you'd usually get out of bed).

1. The first time you try this you need to be in a certain state of mind. You have to be in a Zen like state (empty headed) even in a regressive, sleepy (but not really tired) mood. Basically you need to be in a relaxed dreamy state of mind to begin without any stress from an appointment within the next couple of hours.

2. I'm personally lucky (or unlucky) depending on your view point to have a very empty unthinking head :¬) but you can deepen this by listening to certain music for half n hour before you start. I find the band Boards of Canada to be the best at this as they use sample loops that are from childhood, but those mood CD's with whales n sea on the shore n bird songs are the good too.

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3. Have a CD on that will balance out the noise you might experience in your chosen room. I use a looped a Hemi-sync mp3 called theta that just sounds like speaker hiss gradually moving in a wave form, this is suppose to produce theta waves in the brain (works for me). Try and use something that your brain cannot recognize and hook into those mood CD's will do just set the volume so its as equal as you can get it to the ambient noise in the room. (Free Hemi-sync Music or Travishartnett music)

4. Choose your book, it should be a challenging read but not something that you have to tie your brain in a complete knot to read.

5. Lay down with your book, making sure the body is warm but not hot (just get comfy but not so it makes you want to sleep immediately).

6. Read and read but you want to get into a state where the text in the book has promoted your brain to fantasize about a related topic. I find this happens all the time if I'm not careful, I loose focus and slip off into imagining something else. You eyes might be drooping and if you feel the need to close them do so.

 

7. DON'T SLEEP! as soon as your eyes are closed I want you to "very" gently try to recall the page you were just reading. Imagine that book is still in your hand a few feet from your eyes and you are still reading that page. Don't force it! Don't try to screw up your eyes and see the page. I'd say you were just seeing blackness with flashing colours and formless shapes at this time.

8. Don't focus on the shapes and colours keep reading the page in your mind, see the type face and if there was a diagram on the page imagine that. All the time keep the feeling that the page is held in your hand away from your face in a normal reading position.

9. This next part will either happen or it won't but if it does you'll not really notice from anything from 5 to 60 seconds. You'll still be imagining this page and reading it and then you suddenly notice that your not recalling the page from memory anymore your actually seeing the page and the book in seeming complete reality. When you get better you'll notice that at some that this point is like the second eye lid of a lizard or a shark. It just flicks open and your vision becomes crystal clear and bright and you instantly see the page.

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10. If you don't loose this due to the shock I'll be surprised, its what always seems to a happen. Your mind is perfectly fine in that 5-60 second period where your seeing the imaginary/real book but as soon as you realize the implications and process all this you shock your self and loose it. DON'T be shocked if you open your eyes when this happens and your blind, it will only last for a maximum of 20seconds and your vision will return (a bit tunnel like from the center to the outside).

11. At the opening of this inner eye(s) you need to keep relaxed and in the same state as before. Don't think too much, stop reading the book and look into your room, turn your head very gently. Note the quality of the light in particular (usually very golden) now you have to try and stand up and leave the room, I use the door but many people like to walk through walls or fly through the ceiling. If like me you have a reasonably logical mind you'll find flying very difficult and walking through walls is like walking through treacle. I can recommend slowly pushing your head through the glass of your window as personally I can see and feel the molecules of my body and the glass move around each other.

12. Things get very odd :¬) you've managed to etheric project which you'll be unable to keep focused on and you'll astral project as soon as you leave the room where your body is located.

The Crossroads is a place where you can meet others in a lucid dream. Hopefully given time the Crossroads will begin to form in the astral. If so the doors will function as portals to astral planes and experiences, and the custodians at the reception desk will be spirit guides.

Astral project from a lucid dream at the Crossroads via the mirror or the central pool. See this page for directions about how to reach the Crossroads.

The Astral Pulse runs projects designed to engender meetings by groups of people on the astral planes. Astral Pulse is called Astral Island.

Taichi exercise

Energy raising - I'm putting this Tai-chi exercise in because its extremely relaxing, if you suffer from stress you can use this anytime in your day. Also many astral projectors believe in chi (life force energy) and this exercise gathers the energy from the space around you.

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With your legs slightly bent raise your arms in a circular motion slowly from 1 to 4, breathe in while you do and feel your body become lighter. From 4 to 6 breathe out slowly push the energy you have gathered in steps 1 to 4 down your body into your tandan (belly where you can store the energy safely), feel yourself sinking as you do this. Repeat all steps for at least a minute.

 

Places to discuss issues on this page

Astral Pulse - Major Astral forum.

Saltcube forum - More into the OB side than astral.

Spirtualforums - Astral section of Spiritual forum

Shopofenlightenment - Wide spectrum of interests here

 

Other relevant pages at the Crossroads

lucid learning

crossroads guides

site map

Pages on the internet similar to this one

Beginner's Guide at Astral Voyage

Astral articles at Astral Voyages excellent website

OB guides at Saltcubes Metaphysics

Panentheism explained

How to project at everythingunderthemoon

Newage dictionary

How to astral project

Astral projection at Facebook

Other astral websites on the internet

Astraldynamics, Astral_and_Beyond, Astral guide, Out of Body Experience Research Foundation

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