This is a basic energy work practice technique i developed to help familiarize yourself with the way certain emotions and feelings look when doing energy work/out of body work. -J
Start by getting in a comfortable position to meditate in. Relax and do what ever you do to reach a meditative/trance state so you can go out of body and/or visualize a white candle burning in front of you. There should be nothing else around you almost like you’re in a void. I call this place my astral void space.
Really “see” and feel every part of this candle from the warmth it’s giving off to the way the wax feels. Hold it in your hands, or watch it in front of you. Do anything with the candle that will give you a good feel for its resting energy/base energy.
Then inside yourself bring up a strong emotion you can easily conjure up. feel it rise inside you and let the emotion and all the feelings it brings wash over you. Then project the energy/feeling from the emotion onto the candle to notice how it changes. Feel the way the warmth from the flame, the color of the light, the color of the wax change in front of your from your emotions.
Repeat step 3 with different emotions and sensations to see the way it changes the candle in your mind’s eye. Go back and forth between emotions and feelings to see if there is consistency in the way you see/perceive different energies.
For example:
The way my candle changes for feelings of being sad is the candle turns to a navy blue in color and the energy it gives off looks like a thin web of color. the candle light gives off a light blue glow and is very dim.
A happy excited energy is a mellow yellow color with a large flickering flame. The candle wax looks translucent letting the light from the flame pass through it.
This is a cool technique Ive learned to help me “see” energies better. especially when comes to seeing auras.
Astral projection is also known as an out of body experience. Astral projection can take place whether you are sleeping or awake. It is done when your conscious mind leaves your physical body on earth to a different dimension while staying connected by a silver cord. The cord makes it possible to come back to your earthly self. It enables your spirit body to explore the astral realm. It is said that Astral Projection helps you become your truest and highest self. Astral Projecting is the floating and lifting of your physical being through the use of your astral body.
Practices to Help with Astral Travel
Relax and Practice Proper Breathing techniques
Spiritually cleanse
Practice visualization
Counting up or down while focusing your breathing
Improve your concentration
Deep breathing exercises
Become Aware and Mindful
Grounding
Shielding and Protection
Intent
Spiritual and Physical Protection
Work on your inner energies
Meditate
Astral Plane
A place where angels, spirits, deities, and other cosmic beings reside. It is a place where ones astral body travels through. It may also be recognized as the “emotional plane,”
because the astral plane reacts to our emotions, thoughts, and desires.
The Silver Cord
The silver cord anchor’s ones astral body to their physical body. The silver cord allows you to find your way back to the physical realm. It is described as being strong, almost indestructible, yet soft and elastic that can stretch and flex to make sure that the astral body is truly tethered to the physical one.
Risks of Astral Projection
Exhaustion
Obscuring your focus causing obsession with the astral plane
Demonic Possession – A greatly debated topic, the truth of which is unknown.
You may become lost or disconnected from the cord – Some argue that you cannot severe the cord, some believe that becoming disconnected from the cord will cause death.
Conclusion: The dangers of astral projection are extremely controversial, be sure to do proper research and follow your gut!
Astral Travel Tips
Look after your mental and physical health.
Only travel when you have peace of mind, never when anxious or angry.
Release all fear, do not project if you are fearful of the astral plane.
STUDY
Record your experiences
Protect yourself by a visualization of pure white light
Wear loose fitting clothing and project in a warm room.
PRACTICE
Experiment with different methods
Signs you are astral projecting
You’re feeling a sort of numbness or buzzing in your skin
You’re hearing all sorts of strange sounds, like going through all sorts of random radio stations really fast
Your body is frozen and you can only move your eyes (“sleep paralysis”)
You’re feeling or hearing other people or animals in your room
Your body turns all liquidy like water and parts of you start floating
The divine ordeal of terror ended when I finally understood that there wasn’t a narrative on reality more solid than any other. And it was just afterwards that my heart was pierced and I couldn’t but fall in love.
For many years I identified the ocean of love I became surrounded by when I embraced confusion with the “Angel”. And it stayed. In occasional, scattered messages. A wink. A clue. Guiding me onwards.
As I made myself familiar with the rules of the now almost visible astral realm underlying reality, I realized that emotional intensity and willpower were key to manifestation. But it was the “ocean of love” that I wanted to experience again. However, manifesting things with the aid of magick might not be the best path there. After all, I had only reached that endless ocean when I had finally emptied myself.
Yet if what is manifested through the astral is a reflection of what is inside, a different point of view emerges. Wasn’t that ocean a reflection of an inner unknown self, seen only once the filters were clean? What if instead of an external Angel, it was a sparkle of the beauty that you might project if you work hard enough to become the Sun?
When we dream, we have out-of-body experiences on the astral plane. Conscious astral projection involves getting into a meditative state, moving your astral body out of your physical body, and traveling around on the astral plane.
Astral Body
Between you as spirit and your physical body there is an intermediate body known as your astral body. It is lighter and more changeable than your physical body. But the astral body has more shape and density than pure spirit. Your astral body may often be recognizable as your human form, but it can also change appearance, shift shapes, and do fun things like moving through walls.
Astral Plane
The world between the physical and spiritual world is known as the astral plane, or the astral. While it is commonly referred to in the singular as the astral plane, there are actually many different levels of the astral, or astral planes. We move through these astral planes in our dreams.
Astral Travel
The astral world is much more fluid than the physical world. Astral travel is not bound by the limitations of time and space. You can visit different dimensions and travel to past or future experiences on the astral. For many people, it is also easier to connect with deceased loved ones on the astral.
Astral planes vary from the ordinary, to the phantasmagorical, to the divine. Defying easy definition, the astral planes intersect with both physical reality and the symbolic realms of the dream world. Astral travel can take you to dimensions beyond your imagination.
Astral Dream Experiences
Your astral body plays a key role in creating new developments which have not yet manifested in your physical life. The astral is like a giant laboratory in which you experiment with your life and your creations.
The astral can also offer great insight, as it allows you to come at things from a different angle. Astral dream experiences allow you to see things from a different perspective than your normal awareness. As a result, astral dreams can be especially useful for working on situations that–for one reason or another–may be difficult to face directly in daily life.
Astral Projection Meditation
Astral projection typically involves getting into a meditative state so you can consciously move your astral body out of your physical body. With practice, astral projection allows you to develop greater awareness of out-of-body and astral experiences.
These are simple directions for an astral meditation that is suitable for beginners…
ASTRAL PROJECTION EXERCISE:
Preparing the Space, Preparing Yourself…
Find a quiet, comfortable place for yourself–where you will not be disturbed. Create a relaxing atmosphere. You may want to light a candle, burn incense, or play some quiet, soothing music in the background. Begin to relax in general. Take some deep breaths and perhaps do some light stretching. Sit upright in a comfortable position with an open posture.
Part I: Aura Meditation
Get yourself centered and grounded by doing the Aura Meditation in How to Meditate. You will also need to repeat this after your astral projection meditation.
Notice how you experience yourself before doing the Astral Projection exercise. Then close your eyes and focus your attention inward…
Part II: Astral Projection Meditation
Be aware of your body. Notice how you experience the density of your physical body. Then be aware of your aura about an arm’s length all the way around your body. Notice how you experience the lightness of your spiritual energy. Then start to open up your awareness of an intermediate body between your physical body and you as spirit. Notice how you experience the vibration of your astral body.
Allow yourself to shift your awareness to your astral body. Be present in your astral body.
Float your astral body up to a corner of the room. Be present in your astral body in that upper corner of the room. From that upper corner of the room, be aware of your physical body down below you, sitting in the chair. Notice how you experience your physical body down below you.
Then float your astral body up through the ceiling and be on the roof of your building. Be aware of your astral body standing on the roof of your building. On the roof, move around a bit in your astral body. Notice how you experience being in your astral body. Be aware of the world around from the roof of your building. Notice how you experience the world from your astral body.
Then bring your astral body down through the roof and be in an upper corner of the room again. From the upper corner of the room, notice your physical body sitting in the chair below you.
Float your astral body above your physical body. Notice what it’s like to be above your physical body. Then gently lower yourself down into your physical body. First be aware of being in your astral body in your physical body. Then allow yourself to shift your awareness to your physical body itself. Allow yourself to come back fully into your physical body.
Part III: Repeat the Aura Meditation
Get yourself centered and grounded by doing the Aura Meditation in How to Meditate. Draw all of your energy back from above you. Feel your feet on the floor. Feel your legs, torso, arms, neck and head. Be aware of your aura an arm’s length around your body. Notice what it’s like to be grounded back in your body.
When you feel ready, take a few deep breaths, gently open your eyes, and slowly begin to move. Notice how you experience yourself after doing the Astral Projection exercise. Give yourself some time to integrate this experience and enjoy being relaxed before moving on to other activities. (Especially after you first start practicing this meditation–you may want to journal your experience, have a cup of tea, or go for a quiet walk.)
If you practice astral meditation on a regular basis, it will become easier to do and your out-of-body experiences will gradually become clearer. – Oakwulf
Most people use the term ‘astral’ and don’t really know what it means. Worse still they read one book on the subject (usually written after 1970) and assume they are an expert when in truth the usage of the term spans centuries and sadly knowledge about the term, it’s meaning, and the experiences it’s related to has filtered down as time goes on. Many people think the astral plane is a separate reality existing above and beyond ours, an alternative world which pervades our own. This is only partially true, and sadly those who think it is wholly true normally end up being deluded or stroking their own ego.
So what is the Astral plane?
This is actually a hard question to deal with. Within the qabalistic tradition, anything astral relates to the plane above ours represented by Yesod on the tree of life and pertains to another plane of existence which the qabalists term Yetzirah, or the plane of formation.
Essentially people like to think of the world we perceive and ourselves as separate when this is simply not the case at all. Even in physical reality, the world we perceive is actually made by ourselves via visual stimuli being transformed in the brain from a 2-d stimulus on the back of your retina to a 3-dimensional world. If one is also familiar with the research in the area of quantum physics which states our observation does, in fact, influence the universe around us (sadly my tired brain forgets the specific details), why would the same not be true for astral worlds? Why would we not influence in any way what we see and what occurs on the astral, and with it being subtler why would our influence not cause greater change pertaining to that realm?
Now when I said the qabalists designate this realm of yetzirah or formative world as being above us, what I should also mention is that it is within us too. Imagining anything is in effect creating a form on the plane of yetzirah, those who can vividly visualise, create, and breathe life into the realm of yetzirah utilising their own mind are influencing the astral plane. This is something which is greatly misunderstood, most people regard imagination as a useless tool, when in fact to the occultists it is one of the most important tools in our arsenal. So, this is why on the astral plane anything is possible, it is a subtle plane which responds to the imagination, which is also why not all astral visions are valid. Eliphas Levi would call imagining something manipulating the astral light. That is, if you are on the astral you can imagine an obkect, impregnate it with your will, and use it for that purpose. Those that say things such as “It is merely imagination” don’t truly understand what imagnation is- it is the creative faculty of the mind, not some passive endeavour.
So, whilst the astral plane is the plane of imagination, it can also be the plane in which spiritual contact is given. The astral plane is a subtle level of existence which is more easily influenced by all, why would the imagination, or if we are to give the correct term, creative power of formation not be accessed by exterior spiritual beings? The answer is it can, or rather, it is believed it can be. Like I said earlier though, the astral plane is responsive to our own imagination, if we do not have control over ourselves and mental faculties they may get in the way and cloud our experiences, create things for us which really stem from the subconscious and not from an exterior source, or higher source, and therefore serve to be a hindrance, or lead us into delusion. How does one tell? Honestly, with practice. If you have experience with lucid dreaming and the characters therein one knows how subconscious characters act, they often seem lifeless or autonomic, they respond as expected, wanted, or like clockwork. Astral beings, true astral beings, retain their individuality, but that still does not stop our perception being clouded. How does one get past this? Practice!
This is why meditation is essential to magical practice, I don’t care if anyone has ever told you otherwise, it simply is. There is no other skill which I know of which can give you the tool set to control your mental faculties, it is the reason why Crowley recommended dharana for magical practice. The reasoning for this is simple; when read as instructions, it is simply imagining (i.e. creating on the astral) an image which you are to hold for the duration of the mediation period, completely still, without concentration wavering or the image changing in any way. Sadly most people read this and assume they can do it, having practised magic for years. Try it. You will find it to be one of the hardest tasks in the world at first. Crowley had plenty of time during his mountain expeditions to sit and try this practice in his early 20s BEFORE truly getting into magic. People don’t realise that a good portion of his success in magic is due to the preparatory work he put in in these formative years.
I wish I could tell you I was great at Dharana, the truth is I am awful at it. But I can control my creative imagination just enough to 1) Not create anything on the astral by accident most of the time i.e. without my will backed behind it and therefore rarely give rise to subconscious images, and 2) I have enough experience to know what comes from me and what comes from another place (could I be deluding myself still? Of course, however, it is simply less likely the case now!)
If you disagree with what I have said thus far I quote the Great Beast himself from a work which is derived from a lecture he gave a student about astral projection:
“Each and every man therefore that will be a Magician must explore the Universe for himself. This is pre-eminently the case in the matter of the Astral Plane, because the symbols are so sensitive. Nothing is easier than to suggest visions, or to fashion phantasms to suit one’s ideas. It is obviously impossible to communicate with an independent intelligence — the one real object of astral research — if one allows one’s imagination to surround one with courtiers of one’s own creation.”
This preliminary step of controlling one’s own inner creative faculty is an essential first step to obtaining actual, objective astral visions and as I have tried to emphasise before, this requires practice! Practice will be the subject of the next post.
Occult Aspects 