Psychic Adventures
Have you ever had an out-of-body experience? I remember the first time I did. It was late at night, and I was sleeping in my beautiful canopy bed. Remember those? Mine was white with a bedspread and canopy covered in yellow roses. I always felt like a princess at night when I went to sleep in my canopy bed.
One night I woke up, and all I could see was the yellow rose pattern on my bedspread, which appeared very close to my face. At first I thought my eyes were bleary, and then I realized that I was somehow looking at the roses on the top part of the canopy draped over my bed! I couldn’t understand how I was seeing the canopy from above, but I knew this was what I was looking at—I could see the little toy soldier that my brother had tossed up there and that I had been trying to remove for days.
As I looked around, I saw that somehow I was up against the ceiling of my room. I remember thinking, I wonder if I could see up on the top shelf of my closet. As soon as I had that thought, there I was, looking into the closet. This is cool, I thought, and I spun around to look at the rest of the room.
As I did, I saw my body lying asleep on the bed, and that freaked me out. I hadn’t stopped to consider how I was floating around my room. I had been too caught up in the sensation. When I saw my body, it frightened me, and as soon as I experienced that fear, I popped right back into my body and sat up.
Later as I began to study comparative religions and the concepts of out-of-body experiences, astral projection, and astral travel, I realized what had occurred to me that night. I also began to understand that astral travel is something that we can train ourselves to do. For some people, it happens unexpectedly, like it did for me. Others have an experience like this during a near-death experience, in which they pop temporarily out of their body and watch the scene below them while they are in an operating room in a hospital.
Later when the patients awake after the surgery, they can describe in great detail to the doctors what was going on in the room, knowledge that cannot be explained in any other way, since they were unconscious at the time under anesthesia.
Since those early days, I’ve gone on to learn how to travel out of my body. My favorite type of work in this realm is traveling to the other side and engaging with the spiritual planes.
Let’s delve deeper into these various forms of travel and take a closer look at psychic adventures so that you can determine which might work for you.
Astral Travel and Projection
Astral travel is the ability to consciously leave your physical body to travel to other locations in your spirit body or astral form. Astral travel and astral projection allow us to see and extend our consciousness beyond the physical body. The major difference between astral travel and astral projection is that when we astrally project, we can be physically visible to others. Some describe this ability to be seen in the astral form as “etheric projection.”
The most common form of astral travel discussed by worldwide religions is the one that we all eventually experience. This is the journey of the soul as it leaves the physical body upon death. The soul then travels to the other side and leaves the earth plane. Astral travel was taught in the mystery schools of ancient Greece and Egypt so that students could learn to consciously focus and travel in this manner at will. In this way, astral travel is something that can be done during one’s lifetime and not just at the moment of death.
At night when we sleep, we often astral travel to the other planes, whether we are conscious of it or not. When we astral travel, our spirit can leave the body and travel to other places both on the earth plane and on the other planes of existence. Our spirit is always connected to the body through one of the cords in our aura, described as the “silver cord,” which connects people to their higher soul in the spirit planes through the aura at birth.
During astral travel, when we are aware of what is occurring, we can direct our astral body where we want to go. Astral projection is an ability that you can be trained to do with practice, and one example of astral projection is an out-of-body experience, which is not always a chosen conscious experience. Some people go out of body by accident. Many people are scared when this first occurs to them, and they worry that they cannot get back into their body. They find out though that as soon as they have this thought, they are snapped right back inside their body.
This is due to the etheric silver cord. The astral body is explained as one of the subtle bodies connected by a silver cord that unites the body and soul. The ancient Egyptians explained the astral body as the ka, the life force and part of the soul body that could travel outside of the physical body. It remains with the body until the moment of death. This cord, along with two other cords, then travel back with the soul to the other side. The silver cord keeps the soul connected to the physical body. When astral traveling, once a person has the thought that they would like to return to their physical body, the soul is instantly pulled back into the body through this silver-cord connection.
A more advanced form of astral travel is referred to as “mental projection.” This is for advanced practitioners who have learned how to control the emotional field of the body and have practiced working in astral projection in the various spiritual planes. They have worked through clearing the lower chakras of negative energy and have clear focus on their mental field. In this state they can enter the mental plane with greater ease and concentration. This travel is more advanced and can extend far beyond the physical plane into the higher spiritual planes. This is an ancient, esoteric wisdom practice performed by masters of this knowledge.
Bilocation is the ability to astral travel to a place separate from where your body is physically located. The difference from regular astral travel is that you have the ability to project the image of your physical body in this second area. The official description of bilocation is appearing in two places at the same time. Buddha was said to practice this often, appearing in his astral form in cities hours before he arrived in his physical body, in order to alert people that he would be arriving in their town soon.
The Catholic Church has records of various saints and monks who were able to bilocate. Three that are well known are St. Padre Pio, St. Ambrose of Milan, and St. Alphonsus de Liguori. St. Alphonsus de Liguori is a famous example of this practice because of the very public figure—the pope—whom he appeared to during his bilocation. He was seen by many witnesses in his physical body in a city hours away while he bilocated to visit with the pope in Rome at the same time in his astral form.
Astral Travel to Connect across the World
When I was studying esoteric wisdom teachings, I had to pass many tests to continue on to the advanced level studies, and one of them was an assessment of my ability to astral travel. In your astral body, you can essentially visit anyplace on the earth and beyond it into the universe and the spiritual planes.
My teacher set a date for the test and arranged for a person to be somewhere in the world. I would need to use two of my skills to pass this test. The first was being able to connect with a person psychically, and the second was to astral travel in order to find the person, learn what they were doing, and report back to my teacher.
The day of my test, I called my teacher. He had made sure this would be what is called a “double-blind study,” meaning he had spoken to someone and asked them to go somewhere at a certain time, but that he, my teacher, did not want to know the location or any information about what that person was doing at this time. This way, my teacher had no idea where the person was, which ensured that I could not psychically read him to find out the information. He knew as little information as I did.
The only information my teacher gave to me was the person’s name, René. This name was even more challenging, since I couldn’t be sure if it indicated someone male or female without seeing the spelling. The only way I could trace this person was to tap into the energy of my teacher and find the small thread that connected him to René. I then followed this energy cord until it led to me René’s location. This in itself is challenging work. When a person has a friendship with another person, an energy cord is formed. The longer the relationship lasts, the thicker the cord. If this person has a relationship not just with that person but also with their family, the cord splits into multiple cords, which connect them all.
If I wasn’t very careful, I could follow the cord to René, but that cord could continue on to René’s children or spouse, causing me to confuse the energy attachment there. For example, my teacher could be very fond of one of René’s children, and that cord would be very strong and attached to this connection. So it’s very important to follow the exact energy cord and be able to discern where each attachment splits and leads.
I traced the cord until I felt the attachment that I identified as René. (This is a master-level technique not covered in this book.) It’s difficult to describe how this feels. Basically, when you are working with someone, you have them say the name of another person aloud. When they say the other person’s name, there is a sound vibration attached to the name that gives off a specific energetic tone. You can hear the anger or the love or the adoration. This sound vibration attaches to the cord of energy between these two people in their aura bodies.
So I asked my teacher to say René’s name three times to me. On the third time, I locked in on this energy and followed the cord. This is the same technique that I use when I am doing a psychic reading for a client. When they mention a person’s name, I hear the sound vibration connected to the name and follow the cord until I can connect with that person. This allows for much deeper readings for the client, as I am connected directly to the person they are asking about, even if this person is in the spirit realms rather than the earth plane—the cords stay connected.
So here I was, locked in on René’s energy, and I felt confident that I had the right person. Holding on to this cord, I prepared to leave my body and astral travel, following the cord so that I could see what René was seeing.
Within moments, I was standing next to René and could see that René was a man. He had dark hair, olive skin, a medium height and build, and he was walking around in a store. I looked down to see what he’s shopping for, and he was standing in front of a vast array of cheeses. The cheeses had little signs in front of them, and many of them were in languages other than English. I looked around the store for clues to my location, and the best I could determine was that I appeared to be in Switzerland. I noted some of the cheeses with the names that I had half a chance of pronouncing correctly and then came back into my body.
I then called my teacher and said that I was ready to report what I saw. I described René and the shop and gave the names of some of the cheeses he was looking at in the store.
My teacher then called René to confirm his location and activities. He left a message for René to call him back. An hour or so later when René returned home from his shopping, he called my teacher and confirmed that at the time that I reported he was indeed shopping for a cheese in a store. I passed my test, and I’ve continued to develop and explore this ability since then.
In addition to connecting with people on earth, astral travel is used to step out of third-dimensional confines and open the mind and spirit to the other realms. I also use astral travel in my work as a psychic reader in order to connect with the akashic records and access information that is helpful to my clients.
If you’re not ready to astral travel, you can always ask for people from the spirit world to pierce the veil and come back to the earth plane to visit you.
Tapping into Psychic Energy during the Solstices
Throughout the history of humanity, we have felt a connection to and reverence for the sun as the symbol of the journey to enlightenment in spiritual traditions around the world. This is found in the high priestess temples of ancient Egypt, the Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone, the esoteric teachings of Mithra, the rituals of the Maya and Inca, the practices of the Druids, the traditions of the Essenes, and the texts from Christianity.
The solar energy is best expressed during summer and winter solstice. We follow the circle of life on the wheel calendar, from winter solstice, to spring equinox, to summer solstice, to fall equinox. This is the essence of the birth, death, and rebirth cycle connected to major world religions and the wheel of life calendar.
The winter solstice, displayed through the path of the sun, is the rebirth of the light within. Stories shared for thousands of years recount the birth of master teachers born during this solstice cycle. Deities and master teachers include Quetzalcoatl, Mithra, Horus, Amaterasu, Krishna, Saturn, Sarasvati, and Jesus, as they are born in the soul form during the winter solstice.
The Celtic cross symbolizes the journey of enlightenment that is formed in cyclical fashion. As we follow the cycles of the year, we move through time in this cyclical fashion, completing the cross within ourselves: as above, so below, and as within, so without.
The rays of light from the sun and planetary bodies affect us as they ascend and descend onto the earth and into our aura body through particles of infused light. This light energy enhances our mind, body, and spirit connection and creates the seasons as we experience the cycle. The solstices, in essence, are portals that when opened allow the soul to move between the earth plane and the spirit planes in order to be reborn. The energy of the summer solstice is releasing the light outward, and the energy of the winter solstice is bringing the light inward. Summer solstice is in the sign of Cancer, which begins the descent to the journey within. Winter solstice is in the sign of Capricorn, which begins the ascent of the journey outward. This is the Path of the Sun/Light. It represents our soul’s progression and evolution into awakening our consciousness (enlightenment) through illumination gained from experience along our journey.
If we have conscious awareness of how to engage with these cycles and portal openings, we can raise the energy from within at the chakra levels, which raises our spiritual, solar-fire light.
This allows our energy to rise through the heart chakra and up higher into the throat chakra and the third-eye center. It then reflects outward in order to illuminate and open the energy portals from within. This deepens the psychic connection between our souls here on earth and the higher self in the spiritual planes. During the winter solstice, a powerful ray of light covers the earth, enhancing our ability to receive this light and transform the energy into illumination. It radiates this peaceful and transformative energy. This is why many master teachers choose birthdays around this energy cycle. The cycle reflects the journey of the soul as it begins its descent from the higher spiritual planes down to reincarnating to the Earth plane.
After this peak experience of the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, the days begin to get shorter. The daily decreasing of sunlight represents our journey here through the veil, as we strive to remember our purpose—who am I, and why am I here?
Traveling out of the body during the solstices is an advanced technique. You can begin this process gently by paying attention to your dreams during the day before, the day of, and the day after each solstice. You can also connect with the energy resonating at this sacred time through guided meditations and visualizations during both solstices before moving on to more advanced astral travel techniques.
Pay very close attention to your dreams during the winter and summer solstice, as both will reveal great truths about your journey in this lifetime and what’s to come for you in the near future.
Remote Viewing
Remote viewing is a form of ESP in which one can view a person, place, or thing using the mind’s eye without actually leaving the body. Used by both the US and Russian military, it allows the practitioner to gather data about a different location, person, place, or thing by seeing the target in the mind’s eye without physically traveling there.
Remote viewers have learned how to home in through GPS coordinates to see if action is ongoing in an area. For example, remote viewers can see if a camp is being built in a particular location, if prisoners of war are being held in an area, if weapons are being stockpiled, etc. Remote viewers can tune in to any place in the world and see what is going on in this location.
The most famous study and work on remote viewing was done in the US Army in a project called Stargate. The people who worked in this program were referred to as psychic spies.
While astral travel can also be used to see things that the eyes alone cannot, the biggest difference between astral travel and remote viewing is that when astral traveling, a part of your spirit energy travels out of your body to another location while attached to a cord that tethers the soul to the body.
In remote viewing, the psychic connection moves through the mental field of the energy body, opening the mind’s eye in order to see beyond third-dimensional confines of space and time. The soul remains inside the body during this process. Remote viewing is a technique that many psychics explore—it’s like an add-on to their already burgeoning repertoire. Popular uses of remote viewing include looking into caves and mines to see if precious gemstones are accessible to mine and looking below ground to detect where oil, water, and other precious minerals are located in order to drill in the area.
I once attended a workshop on the ability, and each participant was someone who had experienced psychic ability in one form or another. We were all here to see if we could develop our psi ability in the form of remote viewing. That’s the furthest that I’ve ever worked with this particular psychic skill. Here’s what happened at this workshop:
The instructor taught us how to remote view by providing a simple test. He placed a group of large manila envelopes on a desk. Inside each envelope, he explained, was a photograph. That was all the information we received regarding the photographs.
The instructor led the class in a couple of deep breathing and relaxation exercises, which warmed everyone up to how the process worked, and encouraged us to use our mind’s eye to see the photograph. The mind’s eye is not confined by space and time and allows you to see anything, anywhere. It is not necessary to focus so hard that you break into a sweat; you can’t force things or try to magically peel back the envelope. Instead, you change your energy vibration and become like the envelope: you speed up or lower your vibration until it matches the energy of the envelope. Then the envelope begins to disappear, and you can see what’s inside. With this in mind, I relaxed my body and as I took in each deep breath, I visualized my body becoming filled with light and no longer grounded to earth. With each breath, I could feel my body getting lighter and lighter, as if I were floating, and then, to my surprise, I got a quick glimpse of the photo inside the envelope.
The instructor began to go around the room, asking people what they had seen. He started on the other end of the room and the first reply was from a man who said he had seen something dark with a white light in the middle of it. He thought that it was a cave with a light hanging inside.
Another man spoke up and said he too saw a white light, but he thought it was a tunnel with a light. Perhaps it was a train coming through, he said. Two other women both said that the photograph was mostly black with patches of white.
When the instructor came around to me, I said I saw or maybe felt something different from what the others saw.
I saw a woman and agreed the photo looked black and white. She was mainly wearing black with a bit of white around her head. The rest was what I felt and heard, not so much what I saw.
I explained that I experienced it like a movie clip. In this clip, I heard my spirit guide saying, “She’s not really dead, but to everyone else, she is dead.” There was an energy about her that said she was not completely dead.
As I said this aloud and tried to explain it further, I became more embarrassed. It sounded ridiculous, even to me, and the more I spoke, the worse it sounded.
The instructor pulled out the photo, and to my surprise it was a black and white photograph of a Catholic nun lying in a glass coffin. She was dressed in typical nun attire, a black dress and a black habit with a white band around her forehead.
“This is a photograph of a nun,” he said, “who died many years ago. Her body is kept in a glass coffin, and she is considered to be a miracle by the Catholic Church because her body has not been preserved by any means yet has not decomposed.” I would by no means say that I am a remote viewer by trade, having only participated in this one workshop, but I found it a fascinating process to focus on a photo in order to see beyond the envelope. I continue to practice this technique on occasion in order to sharpen my skill set in this area.
Exercise: Easy Remote Viewing Practice
Ask a friend to choose five photographs of various scenes of their choosing and to place each photograph in a thick envelope that you cannot see through. Make sure that your friend picks these photos when you are not around and that you have no knowledge of what types of photos they are. Place the envelopes with the photos inside on a table or desk. At random, pick one up and see if you can visualize with your mind’s eye what is on the photograph inside.
Lucid Dreaming
I’ve had dreams throughout my entire life. Over the years, I’ve broken them down into several categories, including teaching dreams, prophetic dreams, dreams of the subconscious working through problems you experienced that day, and nonsense dreams caused by having eaten poorly that day, poor digestion, or being ill or feverish.
One of the most interesting things you can do with your dreams is to keep a dream journal and write down your prophetic dreams so that you can track how they come into being. You can also become a lucid dreamer by learning how to be conscious of your dreams while in the dream state. This way, if you don’t like the direction your dream is going, you are aware that you are dreaming and can consciously change the course of the dream.
Sound amazing? It is! I remember when I was first taught about the concept of lucid dreaming. I had been so aware of my dreams since childhood and the thought that I could consciously engage with and change these dreams excited me.
I’ve found that the best way to become a lucid dreamer is to have an active meditation practice. Meditation is key to focusing the mind and developing strong, creative manifestation abilities. During your meditation practice, begin by building a room or space that becomes your sacred space. In this area, practice decorating the room, changing things in the room, and creating new features in the room, like a waterfall, flowers growing, or anything you’d like to imagine. This attunes your mind to being active and engaged while in the meditative state.
Once the mind has been attuned to engage in meditation, the next step is to move on to programming the mind to be aware while in the dream state and to consciously awaken part of you when a dream becomes disturbing so that you can change the direction of the dream. When you go to bed each evening, as you are relaxing say to yourself and to your guides that you would like to remember your dreams and that you would like to become aware in your conscious mind that you are dreaming when it happens. You would like this awareness to gently awaken you while keeping you in a dreamlike state. When you wake in this state during the night, you will still remember the dream.
Now that you have been awakened enough out of the dream to be consciously aware, you can fall gently back to sleep. As you reenter the dream, you will have enough conscious awareness to change anything that you would like in the dream, including having a person leave the dream, changing the direction or tone of the dream, or resetting the dream to be in a different location or to have a different outcome. The changes are only limited by your imagination.
I lucid dream on a fairly regular schedule, and it can be one of the most pleasant experiences to have. The lucid dreamer doesn’t fully wake up but just becomes consciously aware of being in a dream. When this occurs, the dream appears to go into a state of suspension. It’s on hold waiting for you to decide what will take place next.
Depending upon the type of dream, I may end the dream and say that’s enough. I dispel it, and it disintegrates.
If I like the dream, I may switch the location or the conversation so that it is diverted to a more positive experience. From this point on, the dream becomes a very pleasurable experience, and I am the guide in the dream. This is very useful if you are dreaming about a goal or wish, and you can direct the dream to try different scenarios to see how they feel to you. In your dream, maybe you are in your dream house and walk around and see how it feels, or maybe you are trying out a career that you’ve wanted to break into. This can be very helpful and useful when you awake and are ready to work on a vision board or more creative visualization, which we’ll discuss in the next chapter.