Astral Bodies and the OBE

 Continuing from my last post - I will examine how the phenomenon of "Astral Travelling" and the Out of Body Experience relates to what is known as the Shamanic Journey in Core Shamanism and in the Toltec vernacular of Carlos Castaneda and don Juan Matus - "dreaming", "the second attention" and a "separate reality".

From my own experience there is a fine line between all of these altered states of consciousness but there does appear to be a genuine difference. The Shamanic Journey as currently perceived in "modern" Core Shamanism relies heavily on the imagination and a semi trance state induced by rhythmic, monotonous drumming or use of a rattle. You can find free shamanic drumming tracks by searching on the Insight Timer meditation app.  The person must "hollow out" (empty the mind) and form a powerful "intent" before beginning the Journey. Then one uses the imagination to visualise being in a special place in the real, natural world which is known as your "Axis Mundi". You always start from this place and then choose whether to journey to the "Lower World", the "Middle World" or the "Upper World". These "worlds" are very different from each other and can contain many layers or dimensions within each "world".

The Lower World is the world as it was before the beginning of Totalitarian Agriculture (about 11,000 years ago) - here there is only the natural world of plants, animals, birds, insects and nomadic, hunter gatherer humans. There are no walls, fences, roads or metal objects. No clothes as we know them today and no "ownership" of land. This can be a very bizarre world but also a very healing one. This is where you meet your Power Animals or animal guides. You may also form strong relationships with the human inhabitants of this world.

The Upper World is an ethereal place that seems a bit unreal. There are buildings and humans of a higher spiritual vibration. Also there may be "angelic" beings. Some people who were raised in a religious setting assume this to be a "heavenly" realm. People who have Near Death Experiences (NDE's) would appear to visit this realm more often than not. It is possible to meet and converse with "dead" people and animals in this world. You may also meet a human spiritual guide here.

The Middle World is the world most like the one we perceive in our normal state of consciousness. It has everything that we are used to seeing and hearing in our modern,so called "civilised" society. It has houses, cars, roads, televisions etc.etc. but it also has a dark side. There can be entities that are neither friendly or trust worthy (just like our normal world). The Middle World is where most people who have an OBE end up.  This world is the one I believe correlates to the Toltec concept of The Second Attention. It can be accessed through lucid dreaming which can then be converted into an out of body experience or a "separate reality".

It is possible to meet with other humans in the Middle and Upper Worlds (I don't know about this being possible in the Lower World), who may be in a state of lucid awareness and therefore aware of your presence - or they may be asleep and dreaming, in which case they would not be aware of you in any lucid way, although you may become a character in their dream. You can even arrange to meet other travellers in this separate reality if you have been taught how to do this.

There are three "experts" in lucid dreaming and astral projection that I am aware of who really know their stuff and are not just imaginative "New Age" wannabe gurus.

The most scientific of these men (they are all men) is a Russian guy called Michael Raduga. Michael comes from Siberia (the original home of Shamanism) and he calls the Astral travelling phenomenon "The Phase". He has written a fantastically informative and educational book entitled "The Phase", sub titled "Shattering the Illusion of Reality". He also has a great website (in English) and you can download a very good app. to your device that will help you progress in your understanding of "The Phase" state of consciousness.

The most popular of these experts is an American called William Buhlman. William has written a number of books on the OBE experience - the best known being "Adventures Beyond The Body", sub titled "How to Experience Out-Of-Body Travel". Buhlman is a teacher at the Monroe Institute in the USA (Robert Monroe was the OBE pioneer that brought Astral Travelling from the realms of mythology into the realms of scientific study in the Twentieth Century). He has a very informative website which basically guides you through all aspects of Astral Projection. You can also find free guided Astral Projection by Lucid Power Mind if you search on the Insight Timer meditation app.

The third writer I admire is a German called Jurgen Ziewe. Jurgen has lived in the UK for many years and he writes in English. His most popular book is "Multi Dimensional Man" and he written two other brilliant books - Vistas of Infinity and The Ten Minute Moment. Jurgen became aware of his ability to exit his body and travel in his Astral Body after Practising Deep Meditation and Spinal Breathing as taught by the American teacher of advanced yoga known only as Yogani.  The best thing about Jurgen is his website and his You Tube videos. Very informative and entertaining.

What we can glean from all this is that Shamanic Journeying, Astral Travelling and Lucid Dreaming are all states of consciousness that we can experience as conscious multi dimensional beings in a conscious, multi dimensional universe. The world is more exciting that you can imagine and you can explore it all from the comfort of your own bedroom without the need of Priests or Gurus.