Astral Projection

Astral projection (or astral travel) is an esoteric interpretation of any form of out-of-body experience (OOBE) that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. Astral projection or travel denotes the astral body leaving the physical body to travel in the astral plane.

The idea of astral travel is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife in which the consciousness' or soul's journey or "ascent" is described in such terms as "an...out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body (or dreambody or astral body) into ‘higher’ realms." It is therefore associated with near death experiences and is also frequently reported as spontaneously experienced in association with sleep and dreams, illness, surgical operations, drug experiences, sleep paralysis and forms of meditation.

It is also sometimes cultivated for its own sake or may be believed to be a faculty derived from or necessary to some forms of spiritual practice. It may involve "travel to higher realms" called astral planes but is commonly used of any sensation of being "out of the body" in the everyday world, even seeing ones body from outside or above. It may be reported in the form of an apparitional experience, a supposed encounter with a doppelganger, some living person also seen somewhere else at the same time.

The belief that one has had an out-of-body experience is common: hundreds of personal accounts were published in a number of books through the 1960s and 70s and surveys have reported percentages ranging from 8% to as many as 50% (in certain groups) of respondents who state they have had such an experience. The subjective nature of the experience permits explanations that do not rely on the existence of an "astral" body and plane. There is little beyond anecdotal evidence to support the idea that people can actually "leave the body".

For example...A mother has a strong sense of a connection with a child and visa versa. If a child were to get into trouble, he/she could unconsciously let his/her spirit leave the body and appear to the mother, who would in that instant know something was wrong. This has been recorded as a common occurrence.

Another common experience is seeing a spirit before death. A dying loved one coming to see you one last time...kind of as a way to say good bye, or it is time...
Ever see a "ghost" of a loved one dying, only to rush to the hospital and have them still be alive?

What are your thoughts on astral projection? Have you experienced it? I have!

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