Astral Projection & Your Astral Plane

[Jas]

Astral Projection & Your Astral Plane
~ A No-Nonsense Look Into Exploring Non-Ordinary Reality ~
**(c) Forest Butera, 2000; rev. 2007**

You probably have heard endless myths regarding astral projection and how is will allow you to visit actual people, or actual places, near or far away in "real time", much like "time traveling." However, this is not the case. You cannot step into your mind and will your body to end up in England, thinking that when you open your eyes you will actually be there. The Wicca version of "Astral Projection" is actually much different from all of the
different myths that have been circling around throughout the 21st century.

I am going to tell you straight-forward that Astral Projection is a very dangerous practice and should only be attempted by those who are experienced in their craft. I have studied all the aspects of Astral Projection for many years now, and I am still continuing to learn. By projecting yourself into the astral plane, you are abandoning your body and leaving it vulnerable for unseen beings. Your goal is to be able to visit your astral plane, while still maintaining some type of connection with your human self.
Day-dreaming, hypnosis, self-hypnosis, meditation, trances, and astral projection all involve the same type of physiological phenomenon but are quite different in several aspects. I would consider Astral Projection to be a form of a deeper, connected meditative trance. You may fall asleep during your Astral Travel, but if this is the case, I can assure you that you will wake up and feel as though you have awakened from a deep sleep, nothing more or less.

Astral Projection is defined as the ability to move around, at will, in "non-ordinary reality." The reality that we are aware of, both physical and non physical is often broken down into separate, easily digestible categories. First you have the "ordinary reality" as we call it. This is everything that you are able to perceive while your eyes are still remaining open. We are using any, or all of our five senses. This is where we spend most of the time that we are awake... in an ordinary reality. That is perfectly fine, because honestly, that is where you want to be.

"Non-ordinary reality" is a over exaggerated term for any place that you can "visit" while your eyes are closed. I have called referred to these as "flashes", which are pictures or images you see the split second you close your eyes. They can also be regular dreams, day dreams, meditation, astral projection, or just standard journeying. Trances would also fall under this category. Some esoteric disciplines will proceed to say that the "astral plane" is simply one specific location or layer of non-ordinary reality. However, on this website, we will be considering it as exploring with your mind, via a trance-like state. This is also any landscape within non-ordinary reality. We will begin with establishing what is known as a personal, or private, "astral temple" or "astral sanctuary."


Preparation For The Journey
Astral travel in modern day Wicca is used for a vast variety of purposes which include but are not limited to: meditation, meeting the gods (and perhaps animals, such as your spirit guide), solving problems, constructing rituals and learning much more about nature and about life. Travel within non-ordinary reality is a dangerous practice, and you cannot express any fears or hesitations if you plan to partake in it. If you are doubting yourself AT ALL, then please DO NOT attempt this. If you wish to experience Astral Projection, please do so with the guidance of an experienced practitioner such as myself who can offer Astral Plane and Astral Projection Readings.

Physical Preparation
This is much like meditation. You must make sure that you are well-rested and clear-minded before you attempt to participate in Astral Projection. Do you drink, or use drugs before you try and Astral Project. Also, do not eat a heavy meal right before hand. Some cultures, such as Shamanic or Astral Journeying Practices use hallucinogenic drugs and "plant allies" as common aids in these practices... but in the Wicca tradition they are not necessary, and even have been called forbidden by law, because believe it or not, they are harming your mind IN ADDITION TO acting as an aid.

You should focus your time into selecting a safe, quite physical place where you can begin your astral journey without getting distracted. You want to make sure that you choose a time where you know you won't be disturbed by anyone. Many people feel much more comfortable casting a circle prior to starting Astral Projection, this is totally up to you and certainly not necessary - it is just nice as an extra precaution. A fifteen minute session should aim to be your minimum, but a half hour or an hour even, is much more rewarding for you!

Make sure that you wear comfortable clothing that isn't too tight or too loose and won't distract you. There is nothing worse then finally getting the hang of it... just as you have to itch. Dim the lights and light a candle. If you are an incense user, then it will be extraordinarily helpful to choose a single type of incense to burn each time you begin your astral adventure. You can choose your favorite, or find one that is recommended by a book or online source. Until you are experienced with astral travel, make sure that you are using the same type of incense each time you begin your adventure. You will become accustomed to the scent, and each time you smell it, that will jump start astral projection much quicker. You can lie down or sit up while participating in astral projection. If you choose to sit in an upright position, however, a cushion or chair might become necessary, unless you prefer sitting on the floor.

You will begin your adventure by centering and grounding yourself. For those of you who have not been taught what these terms mean... Centering refers to the ability to make your spine as straight as possible and grounding is where you attempt to make a conscious effort at relaxing and allowing all of your stress to slip away while maintaining a deep "connection" with the Earth and the influences that it is sending to you. Try not to worry about making your mind "blank" as in meditation. Instead, just try to relax, and slow down your body processes. When I am attempting to relax, I try to turn on a tape with sounds from nature. It allows my body to feel peaceful, and at ease. This might be helpful for you. If not, there is always the option of self-hypnosis, if you are experienced in that department. You will need a particularly deep state of relaxation to begin astral projection, however. You can try counting slowly from one to ten, or ten to one, feeling your self drain deeper with each number.

Establishing Your “Astral Temple”
For your first astral journey you will need to establish a starting point in the astral, or a home base, called your "astral temple." It does not literally mean a home, or a temple. For most Wiccans, they choose a place in nature, somewhere scenic. Mine is in an open field, by a salmon stream, watching the fish lap at the bubbles on the water. You can choose a place that you have actually visited, it helps if it is somewhere that you hold close memories with, or somewhere in a movie, book, online, the ideal place that is lurking in the back of your mind... it is imperative though that you feel safe and free from interruption in your "safe haven" or "astral temple." For instance, do not choose a mall, or a place with many other people. It does not really matter where your place falls in the real world (China, Japan, Asia)... You are basically taking a scene from reality and pasting it in your mind, in non-ordinary reality, when I think of doing this, I imagine a painting. If you have a photograph or drawing of your favorite place study it for a while. Or, if you have drawing talent (unlike me), why not make a sketch of that place or attempt recalling all the details of your journey to that specific place. This will certainly help you along the way. Remember to relax, take deep breaths (in through your nose, out through your mouth), close your eyes and try to push yourself away and into your "astral temple." You will then begin to find yourself in a familiar place, but it won't be ordinary reality. You have now entered non-ordinary reality, with infinite possibilities for exploration and discovery of whatever.

Arriving In The "Astral Temple"
This is the one process that many exaggerate to be this big thing. It's actually quite an easy task if you don't focus too intently on it, just let it come naturally to you. Continue to keep your eyes closed and will yourself to relax and relieve all the pent up tension that you are holding inside of you. Think of nothing, and slowly bring your "astral temple" into your mind, as if you are in a day dream, and it is really happening in reality. It may feel as though you are pretending, or have some crazy mental disorder, but ignore the feeling and follow the procedure, carefully. The main goal of this exercise is keeping your physical body still and your physical eyes closed the entire duration. Any mention of body parts refer to the astral body which is in the astral temple.

Open your eyes within your astral temple, take a good, long look at the surroundings. Make sure that you are fully in your astral body. Become one with your astral being. You do this by looking at your hands and at your feet... Open and close your hands, examine your fingernails, wiggle your feet and toes. Feel the ground on the floor, where you are sitting. Pay close attention to the temperature of the ground (Is it hot? Is it cold? Is it dry? Is it wet?) Take a whiff of the air, what aroma fills it? (Incense? Flowers? Vegetation?) What sounds do you hear?? (Birds? Insects? Wind? Water?)

Figure out which direction is East within your astral temple. Where is the position of the sun? (Rising? Over head? Setting behind you??) Turn slowly clockwise, view everything you can see from the middle of your astral temple. Don't attempt too much on your first journey into your astral temple. You want to take things slowly, and do not rush. That is how accident can and will happen. If you have difficulty with seeing lots of details, or if things appear dazed or blurry, like a hallucination, do not worry. It will get easier the more times you practice it.

Returning Home
When you feel as though you are completely ready to head home (after a half hour to an hour session, preferably). Sit back down in the middle of your astral temple, right where you started, and close your eyes. Relax, counting slowly from one to ten, feeling yourself become more alert and aware with each number's passing. When you finally reach ten, open your eyes. Take a deep breath, rub your hands together, touch your face, or feel the floor to "ground" yourself back in ordinary reality.

Future Journeys
When you finally feel completely comfortable going to your astral temple and relaxing while looking around, the next step becomes exploration. If your astral temple has no water source, then that is a perfect chance to explore somewhere toward the West and locate a pond, stream, lake, canal, beach, etc. If you do come across a beach, maybe you should also try to locate some kind of a forest as well. Maybe you are in search of a specific type of tree or flower, maybe even a deserted cabin or cave. You have countless options to try out. Astral paths can, amazingly, lead you to other countries, or continents.

If you have not begun close encounters with a God or Goddess, you may actually have the opportunity to meet them while in your astral temple. If you plan on doing so, tell them politely that you would like to meet them. Then it becomes quite likely that you will, in fact, meet up with them. Do not expect to see them in human form, however, as they may not wish to present themselves to you. You may only feel a slight presence, or hear a gentle voice against the wind. There may even be a more subtle sign that you may, or may not pick up on. You may not even realize their presence until after your journey is over. Some people like the idea of finding an animal guide, whereas others do not. You can also meet these in the astral. You may find something as you explore which you would like to bring back into your astral temple.

When you become more advanced with your journeys, they might begin to include planting a tree or even a garden. You can also choose to create a ritual area, and perform an entire ritual (casting the circle, calling the gods and elements, etc) within your astral temple or nearby area. Many people have found that astral rituals are more beneficial to them then those performed in ordinary reality - especially if you cannot seem to find privacy or familiarity in ordinary reality. Do not attempt to do too many different things during one journey, or it may turn out as a confused mess!

Your Astral Temple And Meditation
You use many of the same techniques in Astral Projection that you will use in meditation. Why not go to your astral temple and find a nice place to sit and meditate? This time you do not have to worry about "cleansing" or "clearing" your mind. Instead, pick a topic, a question or even an object on which to ponder and meditate to. When you are finished, you can then choose to return home using the Astral Projection methods.

[Tony Perez]

This article is totally cool and informative

Thanks for sharing

[notluad]

you copied this whole thing from BLUEMOONWICCA.com but yes very informative

[shadowx]

*sigh* I'm sorry, to me this is imagination, and nothing more. Im not saying astral projection isnt a real thing, but this particular description is basically "close your eyes, now imagine you have left your body".

What's more is way it is phrased, basically "Dont listen to everyone else when they talk about astral projection it is all a myth (lie) they are wrong, i am right. Listen to me, buy my stuff."

[Xal]

What's more is way it is phrased, basically "Dont listen to everyone else when they talk about astral projection it is all a myth (lie) they are wrong, i am right. Listen to me, buy my stuff."

Yeah I'm not a fan of that technique.

[Y0m]

Astral projection should be as natural as sleeping.

[Xal]

Astral projection should be as natural as sleeping.

i wish i could do it that easily lol

You can, you just aren't conscious of it. When we sleep we project.

[azuran]

What's more is way it is phrased, basically "Dont listen to everyone else when they talk about astral projection it is all a myth (lie) they are wrong, i am right. Listen to me, buy my stuff."

Yeah I'm not a fan of that technique.

Me neither. >.< I prefer other ways of astral projection.