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Astral Projection

Descriptions of ancient astral travels have come from Egypt, India, China, and Tibet. In Tibet, people who traveled astrally were called delogs, which means “those who return from beyond.”9 Astral projection is also called an out-of-body experience (OBE) or soul travel, which occurs when the nonphysical or astral body (see Aura) takes a short trip from the physical body and then returns. Ancients believed that, when traveling, the astral body is connected to the physical body with a silver cord, and that all people on the planet are bound together with silver strands of light (which is where I got my first name). Years ago I actually saw this web, before I read anything about it. Some describe this tapestry of light as a web of silver,10 and that’s exactly what it looks like. In the Druidic tradition, there is an old story about Mog Ruith, a Druid from West Munster, who was able to fly over the heads of an opposing army and bring back details of the enemy while wearing a bird costume—an obvious account of astral travel.11

What most people don’t realize is that OBEs are, for many individuals, a natural part of the sleep cycle, and that your astral body is a regular little traveler throughout the universe and you don’t need a passport (or your conscious mind) to do it! Controlled OBEs (when you are consciously trying to have an OBE experience) are sometimes called remote viewing (also known as bilocation), and our federal government has done a heck of a lot of experimenting on that with a great deal of success.

Although you can plan OBEs, some of our most profound experiences will most likely happen when we aren’t expecting them or trying to make them happen. These events are normally very spiritual and they occur as part of Spirit’s overall plan to help us reach another level of spirituality, or when it is time for our perception on a particular subject to drastically change. These vivid OBEs are normally full of sharp color and unusually loud sounds—Spirit’s way of making sure we don’t forget the experience. Such spontaneous episodes often relate to critical times in our lives when we are under stress or must make an important decision. It is as if Spirit says, “You’ve got this great but little-used tool in your magickal toolbox, and it’s time to use it!” OBEs can also occur when we are sick or when we have experienced a loss. In this case, the OBE helps to create a positive event from which we can gain healing and find the courage to go on.

Many people think that astral projection involves making your astral body get up and move around by conscious direction in the physical world. Although this can happen with practice (for some it’s easier than others), the range of OBE experiences tells us that there’s more to it than that, and that OBEs occur with various degrees of consciousness while daydreaming, meditating, sleeping, when you are ill, or when you are simply resting after a particularly stressful day. Some OBEs may be extremely dramatic, and others not. Some may appear to take place in the physical world with familiar surroundings, where others will happen in foreign places and even other worlds! These other worlds are called the astral planes.

There are a few negative side-effects from OBEs, and we should talk about them in case you have any such experiences (or have had them before and didn’t know what they were). Have you ever been half asleep and half awake and your body feels like it is frozen and you have no control over your limbs? Talk about panic! This happened to me all the time when I was a kid, and it occurs because your astral body hasn’t fully connected to the physical one. Sometimes the sensation takes place right before you go to sleep, or when you’ve been suddenly awakened. Don’t have heart failure, this will pass quickly. Have you ever felt like you’ve fallen back into your body with the speed of a freight train? That’s another one. For some reason your astral body has been told that it is imperative that it return, and so it does. Normally, if you follow a simple induction procedure when trying for an OBE, you won’t have these experiences, and if they happen naturally, you’ll know exactly what they are. The most common reason for failure in conscious OBE work is your own fear that somehow if you go, you won’t be able to get back, or that something bad might happen to you while you are gone; however, there has never been a recorded instance of either of these things occurring.12 In several instances it has been proven that a portion of your consciousness does remain behind, that it can tell the difference between friend or foe near your physical body, and that it would rouse you should you be in physical danger. According to Richard Webster, a highly skilled teacher on the subject, you are actually a great deal safer on the astral plane than in the physical one!13

You’ll be surprised who and what you may meet during an OBE exercise—famous people, mythical animals, angels, loved ones who have gone beyond the veil, and even archetypes (gods and goddesses). My most exhilarating experience found me running smack into the Morrigan (the Celtic goddess who was first an Earth goddess and then through legend graduated into a war goddess) in the middle of my dining room. The ancients say that you don’t pick the gods and goddesses, they pick you, which was absolutely the case in my experience. I’ve never experienced anything so real in my life. She was wearing a black and white animal skin, and she was unutterably beautiful and extremely frightening at the same time. I re-entered my body like a derailed Ferris wheel. I’ve had other experiences as well. When one of my daughters went through a sudden and serious operation, I fell asleep, exhausted, in her hospital room. I had the most uplifting and assuring dream and I knew that everything would be okay. Many times I’ve spoken with deceased loved ones in very vivid dreams. When I awake, I burn a white candle as acknowledgement of their message and as a gift of loving energy. I have no doubt that life continues beyond this plane of existence.

Sometimes people will say, “I had a dream about you last night.” If you were doing nonsensical things, they were probably working something out from their own memory storehouse, but if you have given them some wisdom or helped them with a serious problem, then you most likely met together on the astral plane. In most cases you won’t have any memory of giving such assistance, but now and then something will “ring true.” When people are connected by the activities of a group mind (see Group Mind in part 1), they often assist each other on the astral plane during the dream state.

If you practice daily devotions and meditations, or keep a dream diary, you’ll begin to pick out what is an OBE occurrence and what isn’t. Just as in magick, practice (the experts agree) is the key. Conscious OBEs appear to occur more often for those who are unafraid, where people who think something bad might happen to them (which it won’t) are less likely to experience a conscious out-of-body experience.

How to Take Your First
Astral Trip

preparations: Place a bowl of water and a bowl of salt by your bed. Bless both, then sprinkle a little of both in the four corners of the room. This assures you that the area from which you will start is purified. Choose a time and place where you know you will not be disturbed. Most folks do their astral voyages right before they go to sleep, when the rest of the family has settled down for the night, though you can choose any time of day as long as you are positive you won’t be bothered. When first learning, many individuals take a ritual bath before traveling, and some add a bit of salt or a magickal herb to the water. If you are permitted to have candles, you may wish to light at least one white candle before your journey; however, be sure that it is in a fire-safe holder and away from curious pets (cats seem to love batting the heck out of candles). Make sure your clothing isn’t too tight, that you haven’t eaten heavily the hour before, and that the temperature is comfortable. Some people (like me) get very cold during meditation, self-hypnosis, auric imprinting (see Aura), and astral travel. I always have a sheet or blanket handy.

For your first trip, you will need a purpose. Experts advise that you should stay in the same room and not venture elsewhere until you get the hang of how astral travel works (from a conscious point of view).

Instructions: Lie down in a comfortable position, with arms and legs uncrossed. Take three deep breaths (in through the nose, out through the mouth) and imagine yourself surrounded by a pure, white light. Silently, tell each part of your body to relax; for example, “My forehead is relaxing, loose and limp. The muscles around my eyes are relaxing, loose and limp.” Work through your whole body. When you feel you are completely relaxed, focus on your forehead, right between your eyes (the place of the third eye), and imagine yourself moving out of your body from that point.

It is possible you will feel a “floaty” sensation (I do), or you may tingle, feel some sort of inner vibration, or a tickling on your face—these are all natural experiences. Sometimes I feel like something “snaps” lightly and then the floating sensation occurs. Try to go with the flow. If you jerk, brush your face, or physically move to “relieve” the sensation, then you will have to start all over again. To be honest, this is the most difficult part, learning to let go, and it may take you several tries, or even several nights, until you can get past this stage. Any mental resistance now and lift-off will not occur in this semi- conscious state.

Once you have succeeded, then you are over the biggest hurdle. Each time you practice astral projection, it will get easier. If you continue to fail, don’t lose heart. Practice every day until one day, when you are least expecting it, off you will zoom! Once you are out of your body, spend time exploring your own room. Go no further. Finally, visualize yourself returning to your body. Once you have returned, lie as still as possible for a few minutes. Count from one to five, then open your eyes. Even though you’ve just had the coolest experience of your life, wait at least twenty-four hours before you take your next trip. This is to give your total body time to recuperate. Once you have been practicing, you will be able to take several trips per day.

Astral Travel and the
Magickal Person

As with many things in the world of magick, there is a type of etiquette that goes along with astral travel. Peeking in someone’s home and spying on the activities there is considered poor taste. It is one thing to run experiments with your friends with their consent and at an appointed time; it is quite another to go brandishing about someone’s home uninvited. Magickal people often set up defenses against those who might take it upon themselves to cross the etiquette/ethics line. Here are some of them:

• Surrounding the house with a ring of pickling salt (be careful, though, or you’ll ruin the grass).

• Planting specific plants, such as lobelia, around the home to keep out unwanted intruders, physical and otherwise.

• Blessing all the doors and windows, then sealing them with a banishing pentacle in the air over all windows and exits.

• Drawing an equal-armed cross with clove oil on all window frames and exits.

• Setting an astral “guard dog” (usually a mythical beast or a predator from the animal kingdom) on a constant twenty-four-hour tour around the perimeter and outside of the home, supported by a shrine or statue inside the home. Visualization is renewed every month and an offering of thanks is made to the physical animal kingdom.

• Reinforcing a weekly visualization of a deep thicket that grows around the house (as in the fairy tale Sleeping Beauty). Others visualize the outside of the house as looking like a thick fortress (spikes, turrets, moat, and all). To keep the visualization firm, they may keep a picture of such a scene hanging inside the home.

A note of caution: When people first learn to astral travel, they get so excited they want to rush right out and tell everyone. Even though both practices have been around a long time, and have gone through spurts of popularity over the last thirty years, not everyone will understand what you are talking about. Some people will make fun of you, others will simply scoff and walk away. A few of the unenlightened ones will try to tell you that you are doing something wrong or evil. Over the years I’ve discovered that those people who are the best at these things don’t share, or only discuss such subjects with people of like mind. Although astral travel and reading auras are natural to all humans, not everybody wants to acknowledge this fact. Until you know that you are on firm ground with your friends, you might like to practice the ever-faithful Wiccan rule of To Know, To Dare, To Will, and To Be Silent, otherwise known as the Witch’s Pyramid.