Out of Body Experiences Down Through the Ages

Astral projection, also known as an out-of-body experience, can occur at any time to any person. The most common out-of-body experiences occur during a major trauma. However, it is possible to have an out-of-body experience by sheer will.

It would be this will power manifestation that would be the most commonly known form of astral projection. A number of people have claimed to have had out of body experiences while others make claims about being able to directly perform such astral projection powers. While the basics of these techniques are the same, the power levels can differ from person to person. Of course, there are those that question the validity of such claims.

For hundreds of years, a great many people have experienced this phenomenon known as the out-of-body experience. Many people have experienced these sensation while they sleep but managed to ignored it. It was their belief that what they saw and experienced was nothing but a common dream. Yet, most out of body experiences are commonly felt while undergoing a major trauma such as a surgery.

There have also been scores of accounts of out-of-body experiences occurring during frightful near-death situations. In all of these cases of out-of-body experiences, the person experiencing them notes that he/she is able to see and hear everything occurring in the real world even though they were not conscious at the time.

Out-of-body experiences also seem to occur as a result of the use of psychedelic, or dissociative, drugs. However, there have been some techniques to induce an out-of-body experience developed. One example is the use of visualization during a relaxed, or meditative, state. There have been studies, recently, that show that similar experiences to out-of-body experiences are able to be induced by directly stimulating the brain, as well.

One of the most common forms of out-of-body experiences is called astral projection. During astral projection, the person is able to leave their bodies and visit other places, as well as, astral planes, or higher planes of existence.

In the renaissance Neoplatonist and Rosicrucian philosophy, there is the belief that an astral body in body is created by light that links the “rational soul” and the physical body together. Such philosophy also professes the notion that the astral plane is a world created of the exact light and exists between Heaven and Earth. This metaphysical light is comprised of the spheres of stars and planets that are commonly believed to be the home of angels, demons, and spirits.

According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the soul has the ability to hover, or float, outside the body in, what is called the “Ka”, or subtle body, also known as the astral body. In most beliefs in astral projection, the astral body is connected with a silver cord of psychic energy to the physical body.

The classical Chinese Taoists took part in an alchemical practice that centered on creating a body of energy via the employment of breathing meditations, pulling energy into an internal section dubbed a “pearl” and then circulating the mysterious pearl through the body to create a powerful base of energy.

During out-of-body experiences, many people have accounted that they willed themselves to leave their bodies. Others have reported that they had found themselves coming out of their bodies as if being pulled, while others state that they didn’t realize that they had left their bodies until after they were already out. Several people have even stated that they wanted to get out of bed and when they tried to reach for the door, they could not touch it. Upon this sensation, they looked in the direction of their bed and realized that they were still lying down, apparently asleep.

Neurologists commonly try to explain such events as being due to a mismatch of the visual and tactile signals of the brain. A great many out-of-body experiences will occur during the time that exists in between the REM sleep and the actual time prior to waking. During the great many instances of out-of-body experiences, the subject will venture into a state known as sleep paralysis. During this time that exists in between being sleep and awake, sleep paralysis can continue onwards as dream imagery intermingles with input deriving from the senses.

Many scientific studies however have been undertaken in the field of astral projection and out-of-body experiences to show that this is a very real phenomena. Research facilities in a number of different countries such as the Monroe Institute in Virginia and the prestigious Projectarium at the International Academy of Consciousness in Portugal and the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience in Switzerland have explored the subject with a number of interesting results.