Astral Projection

CrotalusCrotalus Join Date: 2003-12-02 Member: 23871Members
edited July 2005 in Discussions
<div class="IPBDescription">Higher Realms of Existence</div> This will be a discussion on Astral Projection. To put it simply, it is the art of disconnecting your soul from your body and exploring other realms of existence. Do not post if you have something ignorant to say, think it through first. Keep in mind that although it sounds like a load of BS, I can say that Astral Projection does work. I actually recommend you guys try it, I know it can be done, it will be something similar to an "out-of-body-experience."

I don't really believe that you can "communicate with other souls" or that you are "transfering your soul to another body" but, it is a very peculiar experience when you do achieve it. My belief is it has something to do with your brain losing connection with it's sensory organs...

What is Astral Projection? Is it real, or is it something else? We know that what these people experience is real, no doubt about it, but where are these feelings being generated from? And why?

<a href='http://www.astralprojection.ws/' target='_blank'>Astral Projection</a>
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Comments

  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    edited July 2005
    Crotalus, I normally don't touch on this subject as it is very, very, opinionated, however, how do you know it "can be done?"

    There is very little evidence that actually supports astral projection as possible. Our minds are so complex that even something as miraclous as this could be explained away with over active subconcious or imagination.
  • CrotalusCrotalus Join Date: 2003-12-02 Member: 23871Members
    edited July 2005
    Sorry if I didn't explain myself enough, but what I am saying is that the methods they propose for accessing the "astral" realm works, but I'm pretty convinced it isn't the astral realm, and it is just some sort of mind trick...but that doesn't explain why your mind generates such a strong sensation, and why people get this kind of "out-of-body" experience and "religious fervor" there are some pretty strange accounts, and I would like to see what other people think about why people get these sensations...

    I have tried it once, it works. I was kinda half-sleeping, to the point where you are awake, but you've lost contact with your body. (A certain chemical, it prevents you from sleepwalking) So I uh.....flew out of my body?? I don't know how to explain it, but it feels so real...anyway, it felt like I had more senses beyond the normal 5, there were other...."sensations"
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    There we go, lets delve into the middle of this lovely murky assertion.

    There are a few people I know that subscribe to the following quote:

    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
    When we are born we have all the senstations and knowledge of the world in its entirety, however, thanks to mother nature or god inspiration, none of us remember all of this knowledge and/or feelings. 

    When some people are able to enter a meditative state, they are able to awaken other senses as well as the knowledge that we all have inside.  Which would explain why most people never use over 11% of their brain their entire life.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
  • CrotalusCrotalus Join Date: 2003-12-02 Member: 23871Members
    What does the quote mean by "knowledge of the world in it's entirety?"
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    That phrase means you already know everything that can possibly be known.
  • CrotalusCrotalus Join Date: 2003-12-02 Member: 23871Members
    Ok, but what does this have to do with out of body experiences?
    How does the brain generate this wierd crap, and why does it do it?
    It seems that people who normally experience this effect are
    religious people and aircraft pilots, is this a result of physical or
    mental intervention?
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    I would subscribe to the fact it is purely mental, as it would be kind of hard to physically document anything like this.

    Which means people are fooling themselves into believing they are actually leaving their bodies when they are not.

    Think of it as a really neat holo-deck.
  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    edited July 2005
    <span style='color:red'>off topic comment deleted.</span>
  • SandstormSandstorm Join Date: 2003-09-25 Member: 21205Members
    I wouldn't assume modern science knows all. People have always thought they had things figured out, but we now look back and see how clueless they really were.

    Perhaps, one day, we will have the means to measure this, but in the meantime, all we have are theories. It could be the manifestation of a soul, or it could be a fancy dream.
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    I like to think of it like hypnotism, some can do it others can not.

    It all depends on how active your subconcious can become when you put it to use. Which is what those meditatin techniques are teaching.

    Simple concetration and being able to visually focus on things around you even when all the other senses are such down. It just goes to show how powerful our minds are.
  • theclamtheclam Join Date: 2004-08-01 Member: 30290Members
    Do you have any evidence at all that this is something more than complete BS?

    I would understand if people were just talking about weird dreams, but all the talk about the "Astral Plane" is just nonsense.
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    Oh theclam, the Astral plane is simply a metaphor for your own subconcious imgaination.(Holo-deck) Which is what I pointed out up above.
  • theclamtheclam Join Date: 2004-08-01 Member: 30290Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Cyndane+Jul 8 2005, 02:40 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Cyndane @ Jul 8 2005, 02:40 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Oh theclam, the Astral plane is simply a metaphor for your own subconcious imgaination.(Holo-deck) Which is what I pointed out up above. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    You may think that, but they don't.

    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Q: I am very interested in gaining spiritual knowledge through astral travel but is it also possible to gain knowledge on any other subjects while out travelling? Information we can use in the Physical?

    A: The Astral Plane is full of all sorts of knowledge about our inner psychology, about the past, present and future. <b>You could learn about ancient cultures, nature, divinity, the process of life and death. You could see if there is life on other planets and much much more.</b> It is a whole new dimension to discover. The learning is endless. It can also reveal earthly things.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    So I can discover if there's life on other planets while I'm asleep? They wouldn't claim that if they thought it was purely your imagination.
  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Cyndane+Jul 8 2005, 05:30 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Cyndane @ Jul 8 2005, 05:30 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->There we go, lets delve into the middle of this lovely murky assertion.

    There are a few people I know that subscribe to the following quote:

    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
    When we are born we have all the senstations and knowledge of the world in its entirety, however, thanks to mother nature or god inspiration, none of us remember all of this knowledge and/or feelings. 

    When some people are able to enter a meditative state, they are able to awaken other senses as well as the knowledge that we all have inside.  Which would explain why most people never use over 11% of their brain their entire life.
    <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    The former, while possibly true, is conveniently hard to prove. Indeed it is possible that we actually know everything, and that the act of learning anything merely makes that information available to us. The effect, on the other hand, is the same as before: We learn something, after which we know it.
    Ockham's razor (the "KISS principle" (keep it simple, stupid)) to the rescue: The simplest explanation is the best.
    The simplest explanation is that we simply learn things as we learn them: It does not recquire "mother nature" or divine inspiration.
    As long as we have no more proof regarding the "we know everything" theory, it is sensible to go with the simpler explanation.


    The latter, on the other hand, is quite simply <a href='http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm' target='_blank'>false,</a> yet still widely believed.


    Is this something you have discussed with those people you know, and if so, have you brought up the points I just made? I'd be interested in hearing what they replied, if you have already done so.
  • CxwfCxwf Join Date: 2003-02-05 Member: 13168Members, Constellation
    I was going to reply to the 10% urban legend, but you beat me to it.

    As for Astral Projection--there are 2 basic possible explanations for how it works (or they could both be true in certain situations). Either the brain is disconnecting from the senses, and experiencing self-induced hallucinations, or the soul is really disconnecting from the body and floating about. Either seems perfectly believable to me, so in the absence of definitive proof either way, I am inclined to believe Astral Projection does exist.

    However, I would not recommend actually trying it to find out! I am certainly never going to try it. If the first explanation is correct, detaching your brain from reality and inducing hallucinations can't be good for your sanity, and may even have medical drawbacks. And even if the drawbacks are minor, there certainly can't be any benefits--if you only detaching from your senses, rather than actually attaching to a higher plane, then you aren't going to be gaining any universal insights from this--just the same sort of insights you might acheive while drunk or high, that likely won't make any sense once you are sober again.

    In the second case, if you really are detaching your soul from your body--thats even more dangerous. What is to ensure that your soul will be able to reattach to your body when you are done projecting? If there really is a spirit realm that you are projecting yourself into, that suggests there might be other spirit entities in that realm--and some of them are likely to be malicious. What if you run into one of them? They might try to harm you, and you wouldn't have a clue how to defend yourself.

    Basically--the more truth there is to Astral Projection, the more reason there is never to try it.
  • theclamtheclam Join Date: 2004-08-01 Member: 30290Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-Cxwf+Jul 8 2005, 03:18 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Cxwf @ Jul 8 2005, 03:18 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> detaching your brain from reality and inducing hallucinations can't be good for your sanity, and may even have medical drawbacks <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    You've never done this? I thought everyone dreamed. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • CxwfCxwf Join Date: 2003-02-05 Member: 13168Members, Constellation
    My dreams aren't good for my sanity either--just last night I got into a fight with a flying octopus! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> (The octopus was winning, by the way.)

    But theres a difference between the automatic and largely unconscious detachment from reality that occurs while sleeping, and intentionally detaching yourself from reality while conscious. A website linked here awhile back referring to Lucid Dreaming gave the warning that people who learn to induce Lucid Dreams while awake, and do so regularly, sometimes start losing the ability to distinguish between their Hallucinations and Reality.

    And remember, this relatively low risk is present only in the case where Astral Projection is not "real", but all in your mind, and therefore can't help you either. So its either slightly risky, with no benefit, or hugely risky, with unknown benefit. Either way, not a good plan.
  • CyndaneCyndane Join Date: 2003-11-15 Member: 22913Members
    "What is life without risks? Boring" said by me.

    I shall sign up. :-)
  • BulletHeadBulletHead Join Date: 2004-07-22 Member: 30049Members
    Mmm... maybe not in this sense...

    I do believe in Magika ability. I know I can contact and be contacted "telepathicly" by others.... basicly, it's just projecting one's brain waves across a distance. Electical Migration at it's greatest. Receiving and interpreting these communications is basic hite magic, but sending them is... much more difficult... to say the least.

    I can only recieve BASIC information... most of the time I just get a headache from it XD I can only talk if I have direct line of sight as well... I haven't learned how to communicate long distance.

    I mainly "study" in healing magic, which is mostly self control. No, I can't heal others, but I can heal myself pretty quickly. After plunging an inch long blade into my left arm and carving my girlfriends name into it, it only took a few minutes for it to stop bleeding. The wounds had closed within a day, and after a week there was no indication it was ever there.

    I can cure others of some ailments, namely headaches and small aches or pains. This is mostly due to accupressure (a varient of Accupuncture using pressure points instead of needles) but I also direct a very low level charge into them, shocking the muscles gently and making them release. I also transfer low levels of endorphines into them. I haven't advanced in this very far, and it doesn't work if I myself am under high stress, but I can usually get rid of somones headache without much problem.

    I also can "feel" what others think to a limited extent. Normally only very powerful emotions, and a lot of it is influenced by facial expression.

    That's my $.01
  • MerkabaMerkaba Digital Harmony Join Date: 2002-01-24 Member: 22Members, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester
    Perhaps unrelated, perhaps not, but I remember once laying in bed at night and then finding myself flying out of my window and circling above my house. I knew that if I moved my physical body too much the illusion would disappear, and sure enough I got an itch in my foot and felt the need to move it to get rid of it. Found myself back in my bed :/ But there was a moment when I was aware of time passing but was not in my bed.

    I have had other experiences such as feeling as though I am in front of a collosal sphere but somehow an aspect of extreme minuteness was present as well, with what sounded like whisperings on the horizon. I first experienced this when I had flu as a child but I find I can sometimes recreate the feeling. Opening my eyes slightly, the world looks like it's a million miles away, like I can reach for something but would never touch it. Considering that space and distance is relative, this doesn't strike me as that odd an experience.
  • CrotalusCrotalus Join Date: 2003-12-02 Member: 23871Members
    edited July 2005
    Ugh, not that story about you carving letters into your arm again...I think it is what Cyndane said, something of a holo-deck. The Astral Projectors say that there are bad spirits and stuff that can hurt you in the astral "realm" these bad things are supposed to be like "egos" or something. And the evidence, c'mon, we have enough, I've done it, not to metion numerous other people...however proving if it is actually detaching your soul is a problem. I tend to think about humans as animals, so we don't have a "soul." But nonetheless, it is interesting to mess around on the holo-deck...

    Which of course leaves a whole crap load of stuff un-explained cause if those astral projectors aren't lying, then we still have ALOT to find out...

    EDIT: I sorta believe you BulletHead, there are some of those strange people out there that seem to "pick up" thoughts...wierd. Yeah, the website said it is a bad idea to do that kinda stuff cause stuff could mess you up if you do it too much..or something...
  • Cold_NiTeCold_NiTe Join Date: 2003-09-15 Member: 20875Members
    So, if I were to master this technique, could I be like Raziel from Legacy of Kain and say, go into the spectral realm to slide through bars and grating so that I can get to the jumping puzzles on the other side? And once I "Go Spectral", would there be souls in there that I can use to recharge my Nirvana-symbol-looking health bar?

    OK, seriously though, how did you discover this in the first place? What got you started? I've known some folks who were into this sort of thing. So I'm sort of curious what your story is. Or did you say it already and I missed it entirely?
  • CrotalusCrotalus Join Date: 2003-12-02 Member: 23871Members
    edited July 2005
    Naw, it's suppposed to be like disconnecting your soul from the physical realm and entering the astral realm. You have no physical interaction with the physical world. I play D&D, and there was a whole part on 'astral projection' in this new book on D&D cosmology or some ****. So, I checked it out online, and that's what got me started. As far as I'm concerned, I'm exploring my mind, I doubt I am actually travelling to distant places...

    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I shall sign up. :-) <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--> Sign what up?
  • BulletHeadBulletHead Join Date: 2004-07-22 Member: 30049Members
    Well, Crotalus, I can tell you that channeling my "energy" into healing myself leaves me rather tired. It's not really magic... I'm just focusing my bodies efforts into a certain thing, such as repairing my skin on my arm, healing a wound on my foot (I hate wearing shoes) or soothing a bruise on my chest.

    The only thing I've noticed is that if the wound doesn't bleed, I can't make it heal any faster. I think I need to conduct my "essence", if you will, thru my bloodstream. *shrugs* I don't know enough about it to explain it... I'm still new to it.

    However, I do believe that I am a part of a group that call themselves the Crystal. I'll try to explain later... but I need to talk to someone first. To say the least... she showed me what I was... she knows me better than I do, even though we've never met in person... I know it sounds fishy, but shes my mentor of sorts... teaching me what I know so far... while learning herself. We are helping each other... trying to find others before they are broken...

    I'll try to explain more as I figure it out <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
  • juicejuice Join Date: 2003-01-28 Member: 12886Members, Constellation
    A few times when I've been feeling relaxed, I have had a strange feeling.

    Well, more than a feeling... an experience where I feel like I'm looking at myself from outside my body, like 3rd person perspective, but it wasn't from any particular point in space. It is weird when that happens. Oh, and I was completely awake (and sober).

    As far as detaching souls from bodies, I don't know if this is part of what people have tried to describe under the "astral" heading.
  • MouseMouse The Lighter Side of Pessimism Join Date: 2002-03-02 Member: 263Members, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Squad Five Blue, Reinforced - Shadow, WC 2013 - Shadow
    An odd sensation I have sometimes; almost as if my body isn't my own. In other word, I can see my arms moving, they're still under my control. But there's an element of disconnectedness to it, almost as if it's purely coincidence that my body is doing what I want it to.
  • lolfighterlolfighter Snark, Dire Join Date: 2003-04-20 Member: 15693Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-BulletHead+Jul 9 2005, 03:37 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (BulletHead @ Jul 9 2005, 03:37 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->[...]I do believe in Magika ability. I know I can contact and be contacted "telepathicly" by others.... basicly, it's just projecting one's brain waves across a distance. Electical Migration at it's greatest.[...]<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    If you can transmit your brain waves across a distance electromagnetically, those should be extremely easy to pick up and measure with technical equipment. How does <a href='http://www.randi.org/research/' target='_blank'>One Million Dollars</a> sound to you? I'd go for it if I were you, it's nice pocket change.
  • MerkabaMerkaba Digital Harmony Join Date: 2002-01-24 Member: 22Members, Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester
    In school I remember standing in a circle around our teacher who was explaining something but I wasn't paying much attention, then suddenly I had a 3rd person view of our circle and the teacher for a small moment before finding myself back in my head. It's happened to me a few other times, just like Mouse described.

    If you think about it, your body almost always works on automatic. You don't conciouslly think about typing, catching thrown items, scratching, getting more comfortable...generally none of these things require active thought to make it happen.
  • BulletHeadBulletHead Join Date: 2004-07-22 Member: 30049Members
    There is a slight difference between BioElectricalImpulses or Human Body Energy (BEI or HBE) and Electro Magnetic Pulses, or ElectroMagnetic Impulses (EMP or EMIP)

    Namely, BEI and HBE do not have a really noticable magnetic field- there is some that can control this, thus creating an "aura" around them.. think Dragon Ball Z but not as... er... intense... to say the least. Everyone radiates a small, noticable field, but only to other creatures. IE- birds navigate using the Earths magnetic field.

    *shiver* I'm trying to delve into MetaPhysics and advanced Biology... neither of which I have extensive knowledge of...

    But yes, I suppose one COULD make their HBE become noticable by highly sensitive magnetic detectors...

    Mmm... I'll see if I can explain it better later once I've gotten in contact with my mentor... I'm not sure of 2 things

    1) how much I can actually TELL you guys.

    2) I'm not sure how I can really explain it 0o'

    We aren't "empaths" or "telepaths" per say... we aren't "psychics" like Mrs. Cleo (damn... pothead... she is...) but we aren't "secrative" either... we just don't try to brag about it. Most people in our lives aren't like us, so try not to make ourselves stand out so as to avoid public attention... yeah... this is starting to sound very stupid and hard to believe I know... but like I said I'm still new to the whole thing so I'm not very good at explaining it.
  • BeastBeast Armonkyi Join Date: 2003-04-21 Member: 15731Members, Constellation
    This should prove interesting;

    It is incredibly difficult to prove the existance of Astral projection, however, those -really- involved in the practice do beleive in it for a number of reasons; I'll get back to that in a moment.

    The main reasons for the difficulties are two problems: firstly, as astral projection is just that, projecting one's "self"/"soul"/"spirit"/"innerforcethingy version 5.6" into the Astral plane; which is outside the physical plane. Things in the physical plane do sometimes, but not always appear in the astral plane, and sometimes they can be different in appearance and/or function. The reverse tends to apply as well. This makes it extremely difficult to create noticeable effects in the physical through astral means, and thusly, the most that is possible isn't really noticable in the first place.

    Secondly: astral projection, in the true sense, is VERY difficult. There is somewhat good reason for this, else everyone would be spying on everyone if it was too easy; I think we can all agree this would be a Bad Thing™. This problem adds to the first problem, in that it makes any kind of noticable effect of it, even more difficult to create. The only means of proving the existance is to get someone to "project", and look at some physical objects that are unknown to him/her; and this leads to the third problem. How can everyone be absolutely certain that those objects are unknown to him/her? He/she could have any number of hidden ways of physically finding out-thus making it difficult to prove at all. It would require an INCREDIBLY talented "projector", who has spent many many many years practicing to be able to get an accurate "image" while under testing, which I might add, is incredibly distracting and stressfull, which affects the accuracy further. And then you need to make absolutely sure that said projector isn't aware of any of the "unknown objects", which itself is a theoretical nightmare.
    And then, what if said "projector" doesn't want to participate, as is often the case?

    Back to what I said earlier; this does not disprove the existance of astral projection, just shows how difficult it would be to prove; I myself beleive in its existance as of a number of personal experiences that I -know- to be true - and this is most likely the case with others who beleive in it's existance. Summed up: "don't knock it 'till you've tried it" <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> lol.

    Apologies if the above post made no sense. It's been a long time since I've written anything of this magnitude XD
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