Here's another excerpt from a few days after the previous one. Let's have a look at this.
"29/03/07
About 6pm: Focused on putting body to sleep using stretches and relaxing, managed, but mind kept on wandering into half-awake, half-asleep semi-dreams, which I suppose is a good thing. Was disturbed by a knock at the front door. Feel I've made progress."
I was attempting the method of lying in your bed completely still and not moving an inch until your body begins to fall asleep while your mind stays active and awake. It's a lot harder than it sounds though as evidenced by this excerpt, as it's very hard to keep your mind from wandering into dreams and falling asleep with your body. As you can see, I was disturbed by a knock at the front door, which too is a problem. And I don't mind just being disturbed, obviously that is a sort of problem, but actually being aware that something COULD potentially disturb you is often enough to ruin the whole session as it's hard to fully commit knowing you could potentially be interrupted. However, as I noted at the end, this is still progress, and every bit of practice is worthwhile, none of it is wasted. Every "failure" (if you can call it that) builds up another block towards your eventual success.
Monday 5 September 2011
Saturday 3 September 2011
Excerpts from my astral journals
From 2007 to today I have kept a journal of astral experiences, aswell as a journal of all of my dreams including lucid dreams. For the next few posts I'm going to show you some excerpts from this that felt important to me that may be useful to you. Just to give an idea here is the first entry I ever made.
"25/03/2007, 17:38
I very nearly just astral projected. I lay in my bed naked and told myself that I would do it, and asked my spirit guide for help. I lay on my back completely still. I started to feel lots of vibrations, first in my head and then my entire body, vibrating as one unit. After two minutes of stillness I get a strong urge to move, which makes my body tingle. After a short while (about five minutes) I went into a more dreamy state and could will myself to feel like I was flying around. Every now and then I feel like I'm leaving my body, but came back every time. Was eventually disturbed by the phone. Am now very tired. Feel...odd."
"25/03/2007, 17:38
I very nearly just astral projected. I lay in my bed naked and told myself that I would do it, and asked my spirit guide for help. I lay on my back completely still. I started to feel lots of vibrations, first in my head and then my entire body, vibrating as one unit. After two minutes of stillness I get a strong urge to move, which makes my body tingle. After a short while (about five minutes) I went into a more dreamy state and could will myself to feel like I was flying around. Every now and then I feel like I'm leaving my body, but came back every time. Was eventually disturbed by the phone. Am now very tired. Feel...odd."
Thursday 25 August 2011
Sorry for the abscense
Been going through a lot of changes lately that have not only compromised my time writing for this blog but also my time practicing astral travel and lucid dreaming, when you don't have a good control over your sleeping hours it's nearly impossible to keep up consistent practice. However, I'm back at it now and might even be taking on some collaborators to share their own experiences. I used to post under the name AstralReality, I'm now using CountBlogs to manage all of my blogs, so don't be confused, AstralReality/CountBlogs are the same person.
Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for your patience.
Saturday 28 May 2011
Am I Dreaming: Numbers Method
Just a quick post here travellers. Every now and then I'll post a different method of testing whether or not you're dreaming, a lot of the type you can get a hint that you are dreaming but brush it off quickly due to your dream logic not being consistant with logic of waking reality.
This is the simplest method, and one I've had best results with - look for a set of numbers. On a piece of paper, on a credit card, on a bank statement, serial code, license plate, whatever. Look at it really fast, then look away. The look back again. If you're in a dream, chances are the digits will be different. That's because of your dream logic, and the fact that only the right (creative) side of your brain is active. The left side (which deals with numbers, stats, figures, details, facts, measurements etc.) is fast asleep. Only the right side of your brain is active during dreams...that's why you can dream something bizarre and not question the reality of it. In waking reality, numbers and codes are important, they represent measurements, time etc. but in dream logic, they're useless. They're merely representing a measurement but the figures themselves are meaningless, the right side of your brain simply can't make sense of them.
So, quickly look at that license plate. See that M024RTY turns to M3662ZKL in an instant as you look away and look again. A clear sign that your waking logic is not existant, and that you're in your dream world. Get exploring!
This is the simplest method, and one I've had best results with - look for a set of numbers. On a piece of paper, on a credit card, on a bank statement, serial code, license plate, whatever. Look at it really fast, then look away. The look back again. If you're in a dream, chances are the digits will be different. That's because of your dream logic, and the fact that only the right (creative) side of your brain is active. The left side (which deals with numbers, stats, figures, details, facts, measurements etc.) is fast asleep. Only the right side of your brain is active during dreams...that's why you can dream something bizarre and not question the reality of it. In waking reality, numbers and codes are important, they represent measurements, time etc. but in dream logic, they're useless. They're merely representing a measurement but the figures themselves are meaningless, the right side of your brain simply can't make sense of them.
So, quickly look at that license plate. See that M024RTY turns to M3662ZKL in an instant as you look away and look again. A clear sign that your waking logic is not existant, and that you're in your dream world. Get exploring!
Thursday 26 May 2011
False Awakenings
So I was speaking to a friend about this last night and since it seems to be something that a lot of lucid dreamers go through, I figure I should make a post about it.
False awakenings are the phenomenom of feeling like you've woke up then realised you're dreaming. You might wake up in your own room, with your regular surroundings, only to wake up again a few minutes later. For many people, myself included, this then repeats itself for quite a while. In the past I've had upto 10 false awakenings in a row. If you start experiencing these (especially if you've been practicing dream recall), it's a good sign that you've come far. Your mind is very alert while you sleep to the point where it's struggling to tell the difference between dream and reality. However, this should only last about ten minutes at most and isn't something to fear, it just means you're in deep sleep and as soon as someone budges you or makes a noise you'll wake up like normal.
What not to do: Don't try shouting people. Everyone does it, and I fall in every time. I shout "wake me up, I'm dreaming and can't wake up" - it feels so real that I genuinely believe I've been shouting them. Obviously I'm still under sleep paralysis and am not shouting anything, but the dream replication is so damn real. Another not to do: Don't panic. Sure, it can be a bit frustrating, but rather than trying to fight it and force yourself to wake up (which, in the past for me, has been proven futile) just have some fun. Conjure stuff up, explore, do dream stuff. You're basically locked in a lucid dream that, unlike the usual, is actually not going to fade out within minutes of you realising it. Of course, make sure you're definitely dreaming first, you don't wanna try flying whilst in waking reality (this is very unlikely though).
It is admittedly frustrating and a little frightening at first but unfortunately an unavoiable side-effect of lucid dreaming, but it's a sign that you've come far. See it as like when you've got a muscle aching after the gym. Sure it's not a nice feeling and you could do without it, but it's a good thing because it shows that you've made progress.
So if you can, try to take advantage of the false awakenings you'll no doubt eventually experience. Have fun, sleep well and happy flying.
False awakenings are the phenomenom of feeling like you've woke up then realised you're dreaming. You might wake up in your own room, with your regular surroundings, only to wake up again a few minutes later. For many people, myself included, this then repeats itself for quite a while. In the past I've had upto 10 false awakenings in a row. If you start experiencing these (especially if you've been practicing dream recall), it's a good sign that you've come far. Your mind is very alert while you sleep to the point where it's struggling to tell the difference between dream and reality. However, this should only last about ten minutes at most and isn't something to fear, it just means you're in deep sleep and as soon as someone budges you or makes a noise you'll wake up like normal.
What not to do: Don't try shouting people. Everyone does it, and I fall in every time. I shout "wake me up, I'm dreaming and can't wake up" - it feels so real that I genuinely believe I've been shouting them. Obviously I'm still under sleep paralysis and am not shouting anything, but the dream replication is so damn real. Another not to do: Don't panic. Sure, it can be a bit frustrating, but rather than trying to fight it and force yourself to wake up (which, in the past for me, has been proven futile) just have some fun. Conjure stuff up, explore, do dream stuff. You're basically locked in a lucid dream that, unlike the usual, is actually not going to fade out within minutes of you realising it. Of course, make sure you're definitely dreaming first, you don't wanna try flying whilst in waking reality (this is very unlikely though).
It is admittedly frustrating and a little frightening at first but unfortunately an unavoiable side-effect of lucid dreaming, but it's a sign that you've come far. See it as like when you've got a muscle aching after the gym. Sure it's not a nice feeling and you could do without it, but it's a good thing because it shows that you've made progress.
So if you can, try to take advantage of the false awakenings you'll no doubt eventually experience. Have fun, sleep well and happy flying.
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Sorry for the abscence
Sorry for the delay folks, I've had a lot of stuff going on lately and not had time to post much. I've been going through a break-up and this has affected my dreams a lot, and I don't like to write those dreams down, but has anyone else been trying this? Find any interesting results? Let me know.
Saturday 16 April 2011
Dream recall - any results?
So it's been a while and I apologise for my long absence, I've been very busy. So did anyone try the dream recall technique and find any interesting results?
Since I've had few comments I'm gonna get the ball rolling by posting my own results of the upcoming week or two. Would be interesting if someone else tried it also, the amount of dreams you'll recall is really fascinating. So in about a week from now I'm going to post my results and hopefully somebody else has something to compare to.
Don't underestimate how important dream recall is. It's a vital step in achieving lucidity/astral projection, just skipping to the exciting stuff isn't the right way to do it. Besides, dream recall IS exciting as you see results really quickly. So I'll post my own...maybe daily, maybe at the end of the week depending upon how busy I am. So keep up with me and try it yourself, I'm sure you'll wield some fascinating results.
Since I've had few comments I'm gonna get the ball rolling by posting my own results of the upcoming week or two. Would be interesting if someone else tried it also, the amount of dreams you'll recall is really fascinating. So in about a week from now I'm going to post my results and hopefully somebody else has something to compare to.
Don't underestimate how important dream recall is. It's a vital step in achieving lucidity/astral projection, just skipping to the exciting stuff isn't the right way to do it. Besides, dream recall IS exciting as you see results really quickly. So I'll post my own...maybe daily, maybe at the end of the week depending upon how busy I am. So keep up with me and try it yourself, I'm sure you'll wield some fascinating results.
Tuesday 22 March 2011
Dream recall
Ok so this first step is so easy and completely essential for astral projection and dream control.
It's simply what it says it is, recalling your dreams. How many dreams do you remember having a night? How many dreams can you remember from last night? This should give a good indication of how aware you are as you sleep. The goal here is to recall and note down as many dreams a night as possible, using a simply but strict method.
1) Keep a diary. This doesn't mean you have to go out and buy one, just scraps of paper held together with a paperclip is fine, you just need to keep a record. And not on your computer or phone, it has to be on paper, more why later.
2) Keep it by your bed with a pen in arms reach. If possible, have a phone or torch handy or plug in a lamp nearby ready.
3) As soon as you wake up, whether it's morning or middle of the night, make the absolute first thing you do is write down any dreams you can remember. I mean before getting out of bed, literally within 20 seconds of being awake. Those first few seconds are vital as there's plenty of stuff you'll remember that will disappear almost immediately. Some people call it the dream veil but it's not really as mystical as it sounds.
4) Note down everything - emotions, colours, people, numbers, temperature - anything significant.
5) Note down something. If you can't remember ANYTHING at all just note down any emotions, any mood, any slight vibe of a person that you get. If you really can't recall anything hold the pen to the paper anyway, so that you're forming a pattern of remembering dreams.
6) Store it away back in the same place. Maybe write it up neater or fill in some gaps, or if you want a safer record type it up on your computer. The reason I said don't do this before is because it's urgent that you pen down all of your memories immediately, you don't have time to boot a computer. But neatening it up later is obviouosly fine.
After a week or two you'll be remembering more and more dreams each night, infact your memory will become so strong you'll start to recall 10-15 a night even without even noting them down. You're basically training your mind to be more aware while you sleep, rather than just trashing the memories of dreams that were previously obsolete. Don't be surprised if you start to experience very real, detailed and intense dreams, or even slip into a lucid (aware) dream which you have full control of.
This step might seem odd and a bit too easy but trust me, it will help you out tenfold if you get into a habit of doing this. So yeah, come back here in 3 weeks or so and tell me how it goes, anything interesting you've discovered, any questions don't hesitate to ask.
It's simply what it says it is, recalling your dreams. How many dreams do you remember having a night? How many dreams can you remember from last night? This should give a good indication of how aware you are as you sleep. The goal here is to recall and note down as many dreams a night as possible, using a simply but strict method.
1) Keep a diary. This doesn't mean you have to go out and buy one, just scraps of paper held together with a paperclip is fine, you just need to keep a record. And not on your computer or phone, it has to be on paper, more why later.
2) Keep it by your bed with a pen in arms reach. If possible, have a phone or torch handy or plug in a lamp nearby ready.
3) As soon as you wake up, whether it's morning or middle of the night, make the absolute first thing you do is write down any dreams you can remember. I mean before getting out of bed, literally within 20 seconds of being awake. Those first few seconds are vital as there's plenty of stuff you'll remember that will disappear almost immediately. Some people call it the dream veil but it's not really as mystical as it sounds.
4) Note down everything - emotions, colours, people, numbers, temperature - anything significant.
5) Note down something. If you can't remember ANYTHING at all just note down any emotions, any mood, any slight vibe of a person that you get. If you really can't recall anything hold the pen to the paper anyway, so that you're forming a pattern of remembering dreams.
6) Store it away back in the same place. Maybe write it up neater or fill in some gaps, or if you want a safer record type it up on your computer. The reason I said don't do this before is because it's urgent that you pen down all of your memories immediately, you don't have time to boot a computer. But neatening it up later is obviouosly fine.
After a week or two you'll be remembering more and more dreams each night, infact your memory will become so strong you'll start to recall 10-15 a night even without even noting them down. You're basically training your mind to be more aware while you sleep, rather than just trashing the memories of dreams that were previously obsolete. Don't be surprised if you start to experience very real, detailed and intense dreams, or even slip into a lucid (aware) dream which you have full control of.
This step might seem odd and a bit too easy but trust me, it will help you out tenfold if you get into a habit of doing this. So yeah, come back here in 3 weeks or so and tell me how it goes, anything interesting you've discovered, any questions don't hesitate to ask.
Wednesday 2 March 2011
What is astral projection?
This is a subject I hate discussing. It's just...eugh. I also hate discussing human origins, the afterlife, whether or not there is a god etc. I just don't know and I don't pretend to know. I'm rather apathetic actually. I just don't care.
Many people have different beliefs regarding what astral projection is. Some believe it's a way for you soul (spirit, consciousness, whatever you would call it) to leave your body and travel around anywhere in the world like a ghost. Some have very specific beliefs, about different levels of astral planes and a silver chord which attatches to your body. Some people of different religions connect astral projection with their own dogma, sometimes giving it a different name, you can find sects of buddhists, witches, even christians that practice astral travel under a different guise. Some people think it's merely a very intense form of lucid dreaming. Some people think it's merely a hallucination of the mind, I've read more than one explanation from a scientist claiming to know exactly what it is.
But none of these people know anything at all, they're just theories. All I know is that it's a very, very real experience. Whether it's a spiritual thing or trick of the mind, it's very real. I don't know what causes it, and never will. That's the beauty of it, in a way, there's no way I could ever know so I can neglect the boring study of what it is and how it works and just go ahead and experience it. It's the same kind of open-minded approach I take to most thing, same would go for human origins. I don't know how we got here...evolution? Intelligent design? No way I could know but I don't care enough to waste time studying it anyway when I could just enjoy it. And same with astral projection, I love the experience and I love learning little things at a time with out forcing myself into a belief system before I've barely even experienced it myself.
This is one thing that holds a lot of people back. The more spiritually minded are held back because of skeptics putting them down and telling them it's just their mind tripping out. And the more skeptical people are put off practicing all together due to their beliefs. Why? What difference does it matter at all? The experience remains the same.
So to answer the question of what is astral projection is, I don't know. I will never know. You will never know. And neither of us should care. Just enjoy the practice and experience. All I can confirm from my own practice is that it's real, and that it is a different experience from lucid dreaming. If you feel you need a belief to back it, then figure that one out on your own and be happy that you have your own personal belief system.
Next post we're getting started. Something that helped me out tenfold - dream recall. Stay tuned.
Many people have different beliefs regarding what astral projection is. Some believe it's a way for you soul (spirit, consciousness, whatever you would call it) to leave your body and travel around anywhere in the world like a ghost. Some have very specific beliefs, about different levels of astral planes and a silver chord which attatches to your body. Some people of different religions connect astral projection with their own dogma, sometimes giving it a different name, you can find sects of buddhists, witches, even christians that practice astral travel under a different guise. Some people think it's merely a very intense form of lucid dreaming. Some people think it's merely a hallucination of the mind, I've read more than one explanation from a scientist claiming to know exactly what it is.
But none of these people know anything at all, they're just theories. All I know is that it's a very, very real experience. Whether it's a spiritual thing or trick of the mind, it's very real. I don't know what causes it, and never will. That's the beauty of it, in a way, there's no way I could ever know so I can neglect the boring study of what it is and how it works and just go ahead and experience it. It's the same kind of open-minded approach I take to most thing, same would go for human origins. I don't know how we got here...evolution? Intelligent design? No way I could know but I don't care enough to waste time studying it anyway when I could just enjoy it. And same with astral projection, I love the experience and I love learning little things at a time with out forcing myself into a belief system before I've barely even experienced it myself.
This is one thing that holds a lot of people back. The more spiritually minded are held back because of skeptics putting them down and telling them it's just their mind tripping out. And the more skeptical people are put off practicing all together due to their beliefs. Why? What difference does it matter at all? The experience remains the same.
So to answer the question of what is astral projection is, I don't know. I will never know. You will never know. And neither of us should care. Just enjoy the practice and experience. All I can confirm from my own practice is that it's real, and that it is a different experience from lucid dreaming. If you feel you need a belief to back it, then figure that one out on your own and be happy that you have your own personal belief system.
Next post we're getting started. Something that helped me out tenfold - dream recall. Stay tuned.
Friday 18 February 2011
Something slows the expidition
Before I start writing this, I should really say that I have no problem with religion, and anyone from any walk of life can practice dream control and astral projection. But I'm going to talk about how Christianity affected my development personally.
At early 14 I was introduced to Christianity by a youth group called YFC. They took me on a free ski trip and fed to me that Christianity is something we all need. They were all very nice, happy people and I eventually I fell in with it. I was a young teen at an impressionable age, and believed I was really making a difference. I was told that astral projection, dream control and anything that the youth ministers considered occult (which literally just translates to the unknown, things we don't understand) was bad and could harm me, and I stopped practicing. I had the occasional lucid dream (more on lucid dreams later) but really stopped putting in any work to achieve this. While I was a christian I lived in something of a bubble world. We were told that temptations and doubts were caused by the devil, and that if we didn't surround ourselves by christians then the devil would find his way in. Of course, speaking symbolically this is true - if you never seperate yourself from the church, you'll never see how life could be better because you'll never experience it. At age 17 I spent some time away from the church, I was just too busy, and the more I did the more I asked myself "really, what am I doing? This isn't me! I wasn't born to follow, and I don't even believe this stuff or agree with the morals, really why am I doing this?" A christian would interpret this as the devil getting inside me due to me being away from the church. I interpret it as common sense, something I was lacking when constantly surrounded by religous songs and imagery.
So I left, promptly and spontaneously. Now as I said, anyone from any walk of life can practice astral projection, but I have to say, it was the best decision I ever made. Not just as far as astral travel and the like goes, but for my whole life. Christianity really held me back. Lots of missed opportunities concerning school, social gatherings, hobbies, friends, girlfriends and, of course, practice of things we do not understand (or occult as they'd call it). It really held me back for about three years. I met lots of lovely people but never developed in life, not even in character. When I left I had to pick up the pieces and start again from when I was thirteen.
If there's one thing I would recommend to anyone reading this it's to never, ever fully submerge yourself in a religion. If you do, you lose all judgement because you're going off someone elses rules. I've never met an open-minded christian. They never have their own opinions, they have to go with what the bible says. Christian churches commonly have something called an altar call. This is where at the end of the talk/band, they tell everyone that Christ is in the room and is ready to accept anyone that isn't a christian. If you raise your arm now you're accepting him into your life, but you have to do it now! Tomorrow is too late, submit yourself now! There's the problem, anything that says "just go for it now", especially concerning such a MASSIVE lifestyle choice is bound to be no good. If it's worth anything at all, then milling over it in your head for a while and going at it step by step is just as good as jumping in at the deep end, better infact. See I never knew a lot about the bible before I was encouraged to get involved. I never knew Jehovah was very homophobic. I never knew he killed over 33 million people in the bible. I never knew about the weird animal sacrifices he demanded, and the fasting (see: starving yourself) he asked of his disciples later. If I had known this right from the start, I wouldn't have joined. But because I just dove in then learned later, I had to accept it. Never do this. Learn everything there is to know before getting involved with any lifestyle.
The problem with christianity is that they claim that if we don't accept christ while we're alive we're going to Hell, and from there there's no turning back, so you must DO IT NOW. Any god that truly loves his people would not ask this, and he wouldn't ask that people must worship him in order to be saved. What do I think? I think you should have an open-mind, look at every religion subjectively but never commit to one unless you're 100% SURE that you relate to every aspect of it. Don't fall for the blackmail of hell or bribe of heaven. If God's love was so great he wouldn't need this punishment and prize. So keep an open-mind, look at all walks of life and live the way you see fit, not the way people tell you you MUST should you want to avoid an eternity of fire and brimstone. Be yourself. It will help you not only with the practice but with the rest of your life too.
Next post I'm going back to astral projection. I'm going to talk about what astral projection is, afterall everyone, practioner or not, tend to disagree on what is actually happening, so I'm going to give my cents but encourage you to figure out what you believe it is for yourself.
At early 14 I was introduced to Christianity by a youth group called YFC. They took me on a free ski trip and fed to me that Christianity is something we all need. They were all very nice, happy people and I eventually I fell in with it. I was a young teen at an impressionable age, and believed I was really making a difference. I was told that astral projection, dream control and anything that the youth ministers considered occult (which literally just translates to the unknown, things we don't understand) was bad and could harm me, and I stopped practicing. I had the occasional lucid dream (more on lucid dreams later) but really stopped putting in any work to achieve this. While I was a christian I lived in something of a bubble world. We were told that temptations and doubts were caused by the devil, and that if we didn't surround ourselves by christians then the devil would find his way in. Of course, speaking symbolically this is true - if you never seperate yourself from the church, you'll never see how life could be better because you'll never experience it. At age 17 I spent some time away from the church, I was just too busy, and the more I did the more I asked myself "really, what am I doing? This isn't me! I wasn't born to follow, and I don't even believe this stuff or agree with the morals, really why am I doing this?" A christian would interpret this as the devil getting inside me due to me being away from the church. I interpret it as common sense, something I was lacking when constantly surrounded by religous songs and imagery.
So I left, promptly and spontaneously. Now as I said, anyone from any walk of life can practice astral projection, but I have to say, it was the best decision I ever made. Not just as far as astral travel and the like goes, but for my whole life. Christianity really held me back. Lots of missed opportunities concerning school, social gatherings, hobbies, friends, girlfriends and, of course, practice of things we do not understand (or occult as they'd call it). It really held me back for about three years. I met lots of lovely people but never developed in life, not even in character. When I left I had to pick up the pieces and start again from when I was thirteen.
If there's one thing I would recommend to anyone reading this it's to never, ever fully submerge yourself in a religion. If you do, you lose all judgement because you're going off someone elses rules. I've never met an open-minded christian. They never have their own opinions, they have to go with what the bible says. Christian churches commonly have something called an altar call. This is where at the end of the talk/band, they tell everyone that Christ is in the room and is ready to accept anyone that isn't a christian. If you raise your arm now you're accepting him into your life, but you have to do it now! Tomorrow is too late, submit yourself now! There's the problem, anything that says "just go for it now", especially concerning such a MASSIVE lifestyle choice is bound to be no good. If it's worth anything at all, then milling over it in your head for a while and going at it step by step is just as good as jumping in at the deep end, better infact. See I never knew a lot about the bible before I was encouraged to get involved. I never knew Jehovah was very homophobic. I never knew he killed over 33 million people in the bible. I never knew about the weird animal sacrifices he demanded, and the fasting (see: starving yourself) he asked of his disciples later. If I had known this right from the start, I wouldn't have joined. But because I just dove in then learned later, I had to accept it. Never do this. Learn everything there is to know before getting involved with any lifestyle.
The problem with christianity is that they claim that if we don't accept christ while we're alive we're going to Hell, and from there there's no turning back, so you must DO IT NOW. Any god that truly loves his people would not ask this, and he wouldn't ask that people must worship him in order to be saved. What do I think? I think you should have an open-mind, look at every religion subjectively but never commit to one unless you're 100% SURE that you relate to every aspect of it. Don't fall for the blackmail of hell or bribe of heaven. If God's love was so great he wouldn't need this punishment and prize. So keep an open-mind, look at all walks of life and live the way you see fit, not the way people tell you you MUST should you want to avoid an eternity of fire and brimstone. Be yourself. It will help you not only with the practice but with the rest of your life too.
Next post I'm going back to astral projection. I'm going to talk about what astral projection is, afterall everyone, practioner or not, tend to disagree on what is actually happening, so I'm going to give my cents but encourage you to figure out what you believe it is for yourself.
Friday 11 February 2011
An introduction of sorts
Before I start going on about techniques that are useful to me, I should maybe open with a statement of what I believe astral projection is, how I came about practicing and why I still love this part of my life. I began practing when I was 12, due to a rather simple and closed article on the net. It was on a site about magic that now seems more about selling expensive and useless products like spellbooks and cauldrons, and it gave a very specific view of astral projection and the astral planes, and very direct guidelines on how to do it. It sparked my excitement and inspired me to get involved in the practice, but also held me back as I began to practice by adhering strictly to those guidelines. Quite the mistake. But something I had to learn for myself.
The technique it taught was a common one. You lay on your back, relax your whole body with you eyes closed and picture your spirit/soul rising from you towards the ceiling, and then turning over in the air and looking down at you. Then try to "see" through it's eyes. I tried this countless times, day and night, to no avail. To this day I don't know anybody that has achieved astral projection via this technique, so it really limited things for me. But, I persisted, I refused to give up.
Then, in the early hours of the morning (about 5am), and on my 13th birthday no less, I had an astral experience for the first time. I was having a strange dream about monks in a monastry, and all of a sudden I realised I was dreaming. I rarely had lucid dreams as a child, and when I did they were mostly limited to repeated false awakenings. But when I realised I was dreaming, I saw it as a great opportunity, and instinctively I "willed" my consciousness (spirit, soul, whatever you view it as) away from my body.
I can tell you, it's the most bizarre experience you could imagine. I expected it to feel like a dream. It didn't. It also didn't feel like waking reality (although was much closer to that than imagination or day dreaming), it sort of felt like being underwater. Like when you dive under at the swimming baths with goggles, stay under for 10 seconds, once you come back out it feels really different. It's hard to describe. My surroundings were even stranger.
I read that the first time you astral project you'll probably have very little control over where you go, like when a kid rides a bike for the first time and just goes all over the place. The room I was in was a dark, castle-like room with great, red stained glass windows with light shining through. My eyesight level was hovering somewhere above the floor, as though I didn't possess a body or form, I just had an....existence. In front of the windows was a silhoutted figure, it looked as though he was hooded in some way. I got the impression this figure was confused or suprised to see me, and it took a small step forward. By this point I was overwhelmed with excitement and fear that I decided it was enough and I wanted to return to my body. I knew (from an article) that's this is a very easy process, as simple as willing yourself back to your body and as soon as I even began to think about it I was lay in my bed, on my side, staring at the wall. I was also paralysed, which would have been terrifying had I not read in an article that this is perfectly normal after a successful astral journey and only lasts about ten seconds.
I still don't know what this room was or who this character was. Did I just project to a random place in all of existence? Was this some kind of "astral home"? Did I create this place? Did something else take me there? Was I taken here based off the dream of the monastry? I have no idea. But I was so excited! It was about 5:20am and I immediately jumped over to my brother in the next bunk and woke him up to tell him. I was off school that day because my dad was taking me to manchester for my birthday, and I bought a little book about astral projection from a little occult store that no longer exists.
This was my first little humble experience, and it changed my life radically. But there was more to come. My belief system and world view was shaped overtime, and in my next article I'm going to talk about a worldview that will help you massively with astral projection and the like should it be something you feel you agree with or relate to. Stay tuned, and let me know what you think about this. If you have a first astral experience you'd like to tell me about please let me know!
The technique it taught was a common one. You lay on your back, relax your whole body with you eyes closed and picture your spirit/soul rising from you towards the ceiling, and then turning over in the air and looking down at you. Then try to "see" through it's eyes. I tried this countless times, day and night, to no avail. To this day I don't know anybody that has achieved astral projection via this technique, so it really limited things for me. But, I persisted, I refused to give up.
Then, in the early hours of the morning (about 5am), and on my 13th birthday no less, I had an astral experience for the first time. I was having a strange dream about monks in a monastry, and all of a sudden I realised I was dreaming. I rarely had lucid dreams as a child, and when I did they were mostly limited to repeated false awakenings. But when I realised I was dreaming, I saw it as a great opportunity, and instinctively I "willed" my consciousness (spirit, soul, whatever you view it as) away from my body.
I can tell you, it's the most bizarre experience you could imagine. I expected it to feel like a dream. It didn't. It also didn't feel like waking reality (although was much closer to that than imagination or day dreaming), it sort of felt like being underwater. Like when you dive under at the swimming baths with goggles, stay under for 10 seconds, once you come back out it feels really different. It's hard to describe. My surroundings were even stranger.
I read that the first time you astral project you'll probably have very little control over where you go, like when a kid rides a bike for the first time and just goes all over the place. The room I was in was a dark, castle-like room with great, red stained glass windows with light shining through. My eyesight level was hovering somewhere above the floor, as though I didn't possess a body or form, I just had an....existence. In front of the windows was a silhoutted figure, it looked as though he was hooded in some way. I got the impression this figure was confused or suprised to see me, and it took a small step forward. By this point I was overwhelmed with excitement and fear that I decided it was enough and I wanted to return to my body. I knew (from an article) that's this is a very easy process, as simple as willing yourself back to your body and as soon as I even began to think about it I was lay in my bed, on my side, staring at the wall. I was also paralysed, which would have been terrifying had I not read in an article that this is perfectly normal after a successful astral journey and only lasts about ten seconds.
I still don't know what this room was or who this character was. Did I just project to a random place in all of existence? Was this some kind of "astral home"? Did I create this place? Did something else take me there? Was I taken here based off the dream of the monastry? I have no idea. But I was so excited! It was about 5:20am and I immediately jumped over to my brother in the next bunk and woke him up to tell him. I was off school that day because my dad was taking me to manchester for my birthday, and I bought a little book about astral projection from a little occult store that no longer exists.
This was my first little humble experience, and it changed my life radically. But there was more to come. My belief system and world view was shaped overtime, and in my next article I'm going to talk about a worldview that will help you massively with astral projection and the like should it be something you feel you agree with or relate to. Stay tuned, and let me know what you think about this. If you have a first astral experience you'd like to tell me about please let me know!
Sunday 6 February 2011
Introducing Astral Escape
Welcome to Astral Escape.
If you're interested in astral travel, dream control and experimenting with consciousness then this is the right place for you. I've been exploring this fascinating part of life since I was thirteen and have many experiences to share. I'm constantly learning new things and having many exciting experiences that I'd like to share. I don't want to come across a teacher, as with everything I learn it does no more than pose more questions, but this is a log of my thoughts and experiences. Some of the stuff I have come across has helped others interested in this side of life and I know it would have helped me if I had discovered it earlier on, and hopefully it will help you too.
Please post your input and your own experiences, comments are greatly appreciated and I will always try my best to reply to any questions.
If you're interested in astral travel, dream control and experimenting with consciousness then this is the right place for you. I've been exploring this fascinating part of life since I was thirteen and have many experiences to share. I'm constantly learning new things and having many exciting experiences that I'd like to share. I don't want to come across a teacher, as with everything I learn it does no more than pose more questions, but this is a log of my thoughts and experiences. Some of the stuff I have come across has helped others interested in this side of life and I know it would have helped me if I had discovered it earlier on, and hopefully it will help you too.
Please post your input and your own experiences, comments are greatly appreciated and I will always try my best to reply to any questions.
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