My first astral projection attempt
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Last night I tried astral projection for the first time since I was a teenager some 20 years ago. I followed a simple "trance method" recipe from a pdf I found by Donald Degracia.
Preparation Rituals: aura cleansing bath, simple relaxing ritual, LBRP, BRH, 10ish minute attempt to get in a meditative state. (It was difficult staying completely focused during the rituals as well as my breath counting as I was excited and anxious to try astral projection again.)
After giving up on my meditation I laid out the bunk-mattress from the closet in a north-south orientation, turned on the sound machine to drown out household distractions and laid down on my back with my head pointed magnetic north. I prepared myself to be satisfied with nothing much coming of this session as my mind wasn't completely calm, there were some slight distractions and I was just abit anxious. I resigned to the fact that if nothing else, I will begin my first "practice" of Degracia's method. What followed wasn't what I expected.
I closed my eyes, placed my right forearm over my eyes as I do so often when I sleep and began focusing on the blackness and the static in that blackness behind my eyes. In less than a minute that flat plain of blackness went from flat to 3-dimesional. It suddenly appeared that I was staring into a space I felt I could almost reach out into. Not long after that, shapes and forms began to manifest and the blackness started to turn to light. I could feel something happening to my physical body and my heart began to race. This is as far as I got!
The excitement of just the beginning of what seemed to be a projection was too much to keep me in a calm enough state to proceed. I got up, blew out the candles and put up all my tools. I walked away not much unlike a child chickening out from the high dive.
I was completely taken by surprise at the ease and quickness of getting into this state. The few times I tried this before, I never got anywhere close to this. I had trouble even trying to use simple visualizing techniques designed to bring about a projection. I have been practicing the Middle Pillar Ritual with the LBRP daily for only six months now. In that time period I've also added the BRH, Rose Cross, and most recently the SIRP to my occasional if not daily practices. I assume the energy work in the MPR along with these visualizations in all the other rituals have changed something in my psyche making operations such as astral/etheric projection more accessible. What do you guys think? I know this is basic stuff and I do realize I didn't actually project last night but what I did experience was worth noting and sharing and I can't wait to try it again.
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That's good work! Better than I can do
Practice makes perfect. -
@kasper81 said
"I hope this become a debate on ap (astral projection)."
Well, since you mention it....
" Crowley said his astral body travelled around and had full conversations with people who could recall the meetings. I tend to think that is BS also."
He discussed in a few places -- Magick Without Tears in particular, I think -- experiments in which he "astrally projected" to the location of someone else who was in Hong Kong, and in the course of events he (somehow "astrally") knocked over a vase that was on her mantel. He and she compared notes later and discovered that their recollection of the event matched on all of its significant points...except that, when they worked out the time difference, they realized that the account didn't match at all (i.e. Crowley had finished the "astral" experience in his time zone before she had experienced his astral visit in hers).
So what does that mean? Not a lot. It's just some story, and none of us were there. We have no way of knowing, for example, how much of it actually happened and how much of it is self-suggestion and wishful thinking on their parts (or even deliberate exaggeration or outright lying on Crowley's part).
It does seem very possible for a person to generate a feeling and an experience we call "OBE," but it doesn't seem to be anything more than a dream: certainly, there's never been any recorded instance in which a "projecting" person could actually perceive something in the real world that they couldn't have known about or easily guessed on their own.
If someone really could astrally project, we could test this the same way that I performed a test of Simon's remote viewing powers in that other thread: have a neutral third party randomly select a few words and write them on a piece of paper in a distant location. Have the subject astrally project there and read the words and report them accurately. Repeat this again and again and again. If it's actually possible to leave one's body and really interact with the physical world, then it would be trivially easy to do this test and succeed at it. The fact that no one has ever done so should tell you right away that this "astral projection" stuff is almost certainly nothing more than a dream.
"Why bother with ap anyway?"
I can't really think of a reason one would want to train oneself to have these kinds of dreams, other than personal amusement. It's certainly not necessary for an intelligent practice of Thelema. Interestingly, I wrote a blog post on the subject of one of Crowley's writings on the astral plane, in which I note both the extent to which Crowley insists again and again that it doesn't matter if the astral plane is real and also the extent to which he presents astral work as symbolic terms through which to discuss the work of discovering one's True Will. In other words, I argue that Crowley's piece is actually about Thelema and techniques for discovering the True Will, merely couched in the symbolic language of "astral work."
You can read my essay here: thelema-and-skepticism.blogspot.com/2012/08/gems-from-forums-v-astral-plane.html
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I only had one experience with ap. I believe this happened back in high school (I going through a lot of strange things at that time including blood letting rituals). Thing is, I don't recall doing anything to cause it to happen. I just remember being asleep and then I opened my eyes to see everything was blurry, which sight is typically blurry after awakening or at least mine is, so I thought nothing of it. However, something felt different. I didn't feel the bed springs pushing up against my spine. I felt comfort and relaxed. When I turned my head, I noticed that I wasn't actually in bed, I was more or less over it. Then after that, everything went black and back into sleep. It is possible it was just a realistic dream, but I was aware of what is going on and in realistic dreams, I am not aware.
But yea, that's my little experience.
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@Los said
"...
I can't really think of a reason one would want to train oneself to have these kinds of dreams, other than personal amusement. It's certainly not necessary for an intelligent practice of Thelema. Interestingly, I wrote a blog post on the subject of one of Crowley's writings on the astral plane, in which I note both the extent to which Crowley insists again and again that it doesn't matter if the astral plane is real and also the extent to which he presents astral work as symbolic terms through which to discuss the work of discovering one's True Will. In other words, I argue that Crowley's piece is actually about Thelema and techniques for discovering the True Will, merely couched in the symbolic language of "astral work."
You can read my essay here: thelema-and-skepticism.blogspot.com/2012/08/gems-from-forums-v-astral-plane.html"
That's a very interesting read. So perhaps some of my misunderstanding of the worthiness of astral projection comes from the Golden Dawn outline. I see they seemed to think it had some importance. I assume the accounts of Crowley's experiments with it happened around the time of his Golden Dawn affiliation, no?
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Crowley recommends Hashish or Cannabis Indica/Sativa for these "fetters of the soul" that constrict one and cause one to be overwhelmed by the energies of the astral.
Imagine being strapped tight in a dress, and trying to do the hustle, with the pretty lights and patterns around you. Now imagine, after a pipe, the strings of girder loosening up, and you are now able to breathe properly, think stresslessly, and move about with ease.
I gather since you practice pentagram and hexagram rituals, that you have read through the first couple installments of the Equinox.
"The Herb Dangerous", in the second volume, the very same volume containing Liber O, written by Crowley himself, goes into detail of these sorts of experiments.
Good luck, fellow Traveler.
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@ThelemicMage said
"Crowley recommends Hashish or Cannabis Indica/Sativa for these "fetters of the soul" that constrict one and cause one to be overwhelmed by the energies of the astral.
Imagine being strapped tight in a dress, and trying to do the hustle, with the pretty lights and patterns around you. Now imagine, after a pipe, the strings of girder loosening up, and you are now able to breathe properly, think stresslessly, and move about with ease.
"I used to smoke a lot... But it was when i didnt that i had the best lucid dreams, or full projections. Just like when i was a kid. I didnt smoke then, obviously. If i dont smoke for a month or two, it's sure i'll have a couple of them.
On the other hand, smoking helped me a lot for feeling the aura when fully awake, which is helpful for martial arts, rituals, and so on. With LSD or shrooms it's even more obvious. Full visuals with open eyes, but very difficult to control if you manage to dream... At least for me. I once tried Ketamine. The thing was totally out of control.I felt like in the two worlds at the same time, and then into none of them. I wonder if what i experienced with K has anything to do with briatic consciousness, or maybe dhyanic consciousness. Cause at one point, when both the body and the astral vision were killed, all that was left was a consciousness of void, and inside that void, it was like infinite centers of consciousness communicating each one with the other on an intuitive and synchronous level. I didnt even know which one i was. I was all of them at the same time. Very strange feeling.
The only thing i achieved coming close to it without drugs was using a yoga technique Crowley mentions, the one where you project yourself straight up the stars, and go on and on till you loose consiousness. Did this for about an hour, and it got close to that K experience. It was more exhausting than doing K, but the advantage is you control and remember better the experience, and can even work on establishing that consciousness in everyday life as your automatic one... I think it's about maintaining dhyanic consciousness, or at least maintaining a tendency of gravitating towards it. Great yoga !
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We must remember the differences between a Crowlean yogist who uses herbs for the betterment of his/her life, and one who has used the herb predominately for "pleasure". You will always find them trying to separate the two ideas because of their own stigma attached to their own self thinking how they can compare themselves with society and their views of the herb, and their own misuse of it.
Crowley recommends very light use of the herb before meditation or astral work. This may come as a shock to those who have abused it.
Now let us remember the huge difference between astral work and lucid dreams. True, marijuana causes one to have a decrease in dreams, but only because it causes one to "dream awake". One toke over the line will cause one to forget these amazing experiences one is having on the herb, and then their own human selfishness compels them to the fridge or MacDonalds.
The true connection between Nature and this conversation would be that she wishes for us to live, eat, breathe, and drink in moderation. I'm sure any worthwhile magician has noticed the difference between having shots of liquor at the bar, and drinking consecrated wine from a chalice to stimulate inner human energy.
No one mentioned "giving up" astral projection for Macdonalds, for Christ's sakes, just giving up unhealthy thoughts for healthy ones.
I should mention the positives of a high-energy vegan lifestyle, but you can search my posts for these.
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Frank