I would like to know if anyone on here has experienced Astral Travel, or is a regular traveller on the Astral planes.I dont have any agenda apart from really not having too many people to chat with about this subject. Thanks!

I do now and again when I want to find out something about myself, however it's overrated and tends to make people delusuional, which is why I do it another way than most.

...I've met a few that even call themselves Masters of the Art, yet they still manage to have all the humans flaws most of us have in varying degrees.

It'sa process of moving the self from the conscious mind into the subconscious mind. ...Astral Travel or Astral projection, Soul travel..etc, etc.

You're pretty much traveling within your own subconscious. Which is where the Astral planes, mental planes and soul planes are though they are the same thing in truth. You're basically reaching into the dreamstate without falling asleep.

Akashic Records are also on the Astralplane amongst other things.

Pretty real experience though, rather similar to being dead actually. Those Alien abduction stories are just occassions of where someone has Astral Travelled or whatever people call it these days, and in the experience of it all sees Aliens which thenabuse themor whatever they're supposed to do to humans. Aka a ratherlucid nightmare, a very convicing one at that.

On the opposite scale though people who survive Near Death Experiences tell stories of seeing a tunnel of white light, and their loved ones at the end of it, or some religious figure, or even have experiences of visiting Heaven. Yup all the same thing. Subconscious imagery.

The vast majority of religions and spiritual beliefs were founded on Astral Travel experiences as well, especially the Hindu religion.

The leader of Scientology Ron Hubbard taught his followers how to access the Akashic Records on the Astral, and the Time Track aswell which shows people the past and "potential" futures. Amazing how many people pay for the information on how to do it though.

Astral travelis agreat opportunity to learn about ourselves, it's shame most people mess up big style....hence that whole Alien/Religion thing.

I've said all I've said to stop me having a chat about it, it would of cropped up anyway.

A couple of years ago I wasusing a certainayurvedic herbal supplement that is said to be good for fast hair growth; I was taking it orally as well as applying an oil blend to my scalp.

For some reason this made me feel very powerful and was effecting my memory (I was aceing an online word game thathad been previouslykicking my ass, and I was remembering all kinds of things/experiences that, seemingly, had long been forgotten). I was feeling a little giddy and said to myself, "I'm going to have an out-of-body-experience tonight!"

Long story made short, I was in bed asleep when I heard, in my head,a very loud banging noise, which I ignored --couple seconds later another even louder bang...I woke up trembling, thought I was having a stroke or something. I reach overto check my AC, but everthing's running fine. Suddenly I notice that everything in the roomlooks yellow...then orange...then green, and thenfinally returns to normal....

After Googling my experiences, this is what I found: a part ofour cousciousness will attempt to stop an OOBE with loud noises (and other phenomena) to awaken you. Other things that I read about it have made me too apprehensive to try again (though I've also read that many people have OOBE's all the time but don't remember them, or recall them as "dreams of flying"). Didn't find much info on the color thing, though it seems to have something to do with auras....

@ PM -

interesting.

Still doesnt shed light on what the dream state is. Actually you said it is "subconscious imagery". still doesnt explain for me the relevance of astral travel if one is simply scavenging through the trash cans of our subconscious.

I think dreams are more than that.

King Tubbs:

The herb is bacopa monnieri.

It's been used in India for thousands of years. Though my purpose for using it was quicker hair growth, I found out after my weird experience with the herb that bacopa is considered a brain tonic, and is said to improve memory, and to actually increase the user's intelligence level.

Parents in India give it to their kids so they'll perform better in school. I myself only really noticed the effects after applying to my scalp a concentrated bacopa and jojoba oil infusion I'd prepared.

The drawbacks I've noticed are drowsinessand urinary frequency -- I only occasionally use the stuff now because of these side-effects.

Happiness wrote: Dreams are thepower of the imagination usingthe contents of the subconscious to produce a continuum of constant experiences while we are eitherawake or asleep. Consciousand subconscious desire is the trigger for the imagination. The strength of the desire is directly proportional to the strength of the individual's will. Same goes for being awake by the way.

Quote:

I'd hardly call it a trash can, since that iswhere people develop their opinions, attitudes and personality from.. The subconscious imagerycan be arranged in nigh infinite different ways to affect the conscious mind.. Very few people do it consciously, but they do do it none the less. If you're not conscious of it, how can you expect it to be relevant to anything... It's one thing being conscious of the experience, knowing how the experience functions exactly and why it even exists in the first placeis a different story altogether. It's all a subtle process andI wouldn't do it justice explaining it away in a few words.

Wow what a great response!

I tend to think that what Maat is experiencing is lucid dreaming. Once we realise we;re dreaming we can then control the dream, which in turn then turns the experience into an Astral journey.

Has anyone read the book"The Art of Dreaming" by Carlos Castenada? I find it very heavy going, but he does gives tips to enable you to become conscious in your dreams. He suggests things like looking at your hands throughout the day and then remembering to look at them once you;re in a dream.

I think maybe the wrong people concentrating on Astral Travel may make them delusional, but so will meditation and other forms of mind work.Even seriously depressed or those with bi-polar should not be encouraged into meditation for this reason.

Jolie mentioned the "Noise". I have experienced on many occasions the most ear splitting terrible noises prior to seperating from my body. Also the experience of uncontrolled shaking and feeling as if you;re being electrocuted. Its really awful and enough to put anyone off having the experience again.

I;ve noticed a lot of people who smoke ganja have experienced the sensations of splitting from the body, with the awful paralysis of the body, but not actually made it into the Astral realms. Has anyone else had the experience of that? Its also not a good idea to try travelling astrally under influence of alcohol.

I have had some of the most amazing experiences of my life Astral travelling. The joy of flying free as a bird is unbelievable wonderful. But I have also had some of the most Terrifying experiences too with Entities coming at me too Awful to describe. Although I have found that in time those scary experiences lessen.