Astral projection is also known as an out-of-body experience and it is an event that can occur to a great many people at various times. These events will commonly occur during a major trauma although many people report having experienced such events through their own sheer willpower.

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 many centuries, a great number of people have gone through the mysterious process of having out of body experiences. It is not out of the question or realm of possibility that these experiences have occurred during a deep sleep and were completely ignored. The person that felt the out-of-body experience may have believed that what was seen in the experience was little more than a dream. However, the bulk of out-of-body experiences are experienced while dealing with major trauma such as surgical procedures.

There have been many accounts of out-of-body experiences occurring during the unfortunate instance of near-death situations. In all of these cases of out-of-body experiences, the individual that has gone through the experience will state he/she was able to see and hear everything that occurred in the room at the time. Such individuals have the ability to describe events that may have occurred while in this state and otherwise would not have realized what had occurred.

Out-of-body experiences have also been known to occur due to the prolonged use of psychedelic or common dissociative drugs. Yet, there are a number of techniques known to induce the common out-of-body experience most have read about. A traditional example of this is the employment of visualization during a relaxed and meditative state of mind. Various studies have occurred recently designed to show that similar experiences to out-of-body experiences might be induced directly through stimulating the brain.

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 the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the human soul possesses the ability to hover or float in a world outside the human body in what is commonly referred to the “Ka” which is also known as the subtle body. (Another name of this is the astral body) In most belief systems in astral projection, the astral body holds a connection with a silver cord of psychic energy to the physical body.

The Chinese Taoists had devised a unique alchemical practice which centered on creating a body of energy by way of breathing meditations, pulling energy into something known as a “pearl” and it then is circulating the pearl through the body to cradt the body of energy.

While an out-of-body experience takes place, scores of people eventually account that they have literally willed themselves to take a leave from their bodies. Then there are those that invoke the notion that they are literally pulled out of their body while some may state that they cannot even tell that the out-of-body experience has actually occurred. There are even those that have noted they wished to get out of bed and when the time came to reach for the door, the individuals realized they were unable to touch it. Upon feeling this sensation, they had looked in the direction of their sleeping area and realized they were still in a lying down still 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.

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