Review: Beyond the Edge - Part 2

 Beyond the Edge

by Nurit Weiss Davicioni

This is Part 2 of my book review of Beyond the Edge by Nurit Weiss Davicioni. To read part 1, visit this link.

This book is divided into four parts.

Part 1 is "The Journey Begins" which is mostly introductory stuff, a lot of which I covered in part 1 of my review.

Part 2 is "Astral Gateways" which is mostly techniques and tips, but also contains some interesting observations.

This quote matches my observations, and it's something almost no other books in the genre talk about:

"When people speak about astral planes, they often describe them as fixed layers or clearly defined realms. In my experience, this doesn't reflect the reality of how these spaces are encountered. The astral is not a static map--it is a living, responsive landscape...The environments I've moved through do not exist as neatly separated worlds. They blend, overlap, and transform, sometimes gradually and sometimes instantly." (pg. 155) 

What are Davicioni's experiences like? Like most people, they vary. For example:

"...In these moments, the sense of 'me' fades into the background, replaced by a quiet awareness witnessing something immense.

One such experience remains vivid: I found myself aboard what felt like a spacecraft, moving effortlessly through a vast realm of crystalline islands suspended in endless space...

Encounters like this leave me with a deep sense of humility. They suggest that consciousness extends far beyond personal exploration, and that there are realities layered with complexity and scale that the human mind can scarcely comprehend." (pg. 158)

Many astral projectors and authors become egotistical or arrogant. Some even try to convince you they have vast secret knowledge. I wrote about ego problems in this blog article. Davicioni  doesn't have that problem. She writes:

"I don't claim to understand these spaces or define what they are. I only know that they felt undeniably real and profoundly other." (pg. 158)

On the next page, she writes:

"My knowledge is limited to what I've personally encountered, and there are undoubtedly dimensions beyond anything I can imagine. Beyond the physical, there is no fixed world--only a vast, multi-dimensional unfolding of awareness that flows around and through the self, reaching into realms beyond our understanding." (pg. 159)

The book offers some unique techniques, such as the Seahorse Meditation (pg. 165), Elemental Meditation (pg. 167), Box Breathing (pg. 169), Tuning Consciousness through frequencies and voice (pg. 172), and others.

Part 3 is "My Path Beyond the Veil," which contains mostly narratives, Davicioni's personal experiences. I thought it was interesting that the author waited until nearly halfway through the book to share her experiences, other than a few simple examples near the beginning, like the ones shown above.

A lot of authors in the genre don't admit to dry spells or fallibility (probably the ego thing again). Davicioni doesn't have that problem either. She writes:

"This was one of my first experiences after years of not having any. I had just started my spiritual journey again, after being preoccupied with life for so long." (pg. 185)

Many of her narratives are interesting. For example, she mentions looking at a mirror while out-of-body and seeing her own face, but distorted, but then later, she looks again and it looks normal.

"This time, I see myself clearly, and I smile..." (pg. 195)

In most of her narratives, Davicioni tries to find a valuable or insightful take-away from her experience. For example:

"In the end, this experience brings me back to the message of balance--between control and surrender--and the reminder that, even in the surreal or dreamlike, we can find profound truth about who we are and the world around us." (pg. 197)

Part 4 is "Going Deeper: Supportive Theories and Advanced Techniques" 

As I said in part 1, I got the impression most of the author's narratives were from lucid dreams. She also shares a few non-lucid dreams that were spiritual or instructive. I'm totally okay with that. In fact, in my second book, Lessons Out of the Body, I shared a few of my own spiritual lessons I received as ordinary dreams. The author is totally upfront about this:

"The encounter felt like more than just a simple dream; it carried deep layers of meaning..." (pg. 231) 

"The encounter with Abraham might not have been a traditional astral projection or lucid dream. It was as if I had accessed a different layer of consciousness altogether." (pg. 233)

They sure reminded me of some of my own experiences in which I wasn't totally lucid. I sometimes refer to these as "Almost There Experiences." It's somewhat dream-like, but you know it's not. They seem "more real than a dream," even with partial lucidity.

It's interesting to note that, from her writing, Davicioni does not strike me as a religious person. Yet many of her experiences seem deeply rooted in religion or spirituality. She gives hints that her family has Jewish roots, but she acts skeptical and distrusting of her encounters with celestial beings like "Abraham." That tells me she's well-grounded, and that's very much the attitude I take toward unknown beings in my experiences.

Davicioni has a section on how to use astral experiences and lucid dreams for growth and healing. For example:

"Through astral projection, you travel to a parallel reality where you already made that career change. In this experience, you observe how the decision plays out." (pg. 262)

Unfortunately, she doesn't say exactly how to get to that parallel reality. 

In chapter 20, she spends a long time talking about how to use astral projection and lucid dreaming for healing.

Although she doesn't call it her "inner voice," the kind I wrote about, chapter 21 focuses mainly on developing intuition, and she treats the subject fairly well. For example, here's some great advice similar to advice from my book, Answers Within:

 "Distinguishing Between Ego and Intuition - The ego often speaks loudly, filled with fears, doubts, or personal desires. True intuition is subtle, calm, and clear--it doesn't demand attention, it simply is." (pg. 311)

Chapter 23 is titled "Awakening Our True Nature: The Evolution of Consciousness." This actually echoes my own beliefs about the nature of reality and the purpose of life.

I didn't agree with everything in the book. For example:

"If we are only using a small percentage of our brains--perhaps 3-5%--then the possibilities for our experiences are truly endless, and we are constantly evolving." (pg. 336)

I do believe we're constantly evolving, and I do believe the possibilities are endless. However, science has disproven the myth that we use only a small percentage of our brains. In fact, we use pretty much all of our brains. Well, unless you're a politician.

The author's attitude toward "fate" and "destiny" are basically the same as mine: 

 "We were not destined to blindly walk toward doom and gloom. We have the power to change our direction, to grow, and to awaken." (pg. 337)

I wrote about this topic in a blog article titled Deja Vu, Synchronicity, Fate, Destiny and the Law of Attraction and my beliefs are based on my personal experiences.

Chapter 24 delves into topics rarely spoken of by other authors in the genre. For example, she writes about "Astral Projection While Awake."

"With these tools in place, a new possibility opens--the ability to project while fully awake." (pg. 355) 

She even gives some techniques to accomplish it. Very few people have claimed to be able to astral project while fully awake. Keith Harary, Ingo Swann and Tom Campbell come to mind. Still, I think there's a fine line between this and "Remote viewing." I've always said "astral projection" is the same as "out of body experience/OBE," and I've always defined OBEs as experiences in which 100% of your awareness seems to be away from the body; the body is just another inanimate object in the room. In other words, you're completely immersed. So is it possible to project while awake? Well, Harary and Swann certainly displayed some amazing feats, but to me, it always seemed like an oxymoron.

The book contains several "advanced" techniques, and while they're treated quite fairly, seemed more like beginner techniques, such as the Target technique, Breath and energy work, and Using the hypnagogic state while awake.

It also contains techniques for lucid dreaming, primarily MILD (Mnemonic Induction of Lucid Dreams) which, in her eyes, means using a combination of:

• Wake Back To Bed (WBTB)
• Dream recall and journaling
• Setting intentions
• Visualizing yourself in a dream 

She also covers sleep paralysis, false awakenings, and such, but does not get deep into more scary topics like "hagging" and the "Guardian of the Threshold." She does, however, talk about fears and how to work past them.

Davicioni doesn't say much about the so-called "Akashic Records" but she does say:

"The Akashic Records are not somewhere else--they are a layer of awareness we can touch when we are truly present, open, and willing to listen." (pg. 379)

She doesn't give any personal experiences to back up this claim, and although it makes sense and seems reasonable, I hate unsubstantiated claims like this. Several authors--usually of esoteric or occult backgrounds, such as the Theosophists--claim the Akashic records is a specific place. Best example is Kensho's book The Astral Explorer, which contains an artist's illustration of the place. I've never seen or visited the Akashic records, so I have no experiential knowledge of it.

The book is 413 pages long, with decent font and decent margins, which means there's a lot of content. You definitely don't feel rushed or short-changed. The book covers a lot. The book has a lot of "headings" meaning that every chapter is broken up into small sections, and each section has its own heading, which seems a bit unnecessary.

I give Beyond the Edge four stars out of five. It's not the best book out there, nor the most innovative, but it's solid and worth the money.

Bob Peterson
29 September 2026

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews

Review: Beyond the Edge - Part 1

Beyond the Edge

by Nurit Weiss Davicioni

Today I'm reviewing Beyond the Edge by Nurit Weiss Davicioni. The copyright is 2026. The author sent me a copy of the book to review.

This is a big book--more than 400 pages--so I took a lot of notes. The review got so long I had to break it into two parts. This is part 1. I'll release part 2 next Tuesday. 

The first question I always ask is: Who is this author and what is their level of experience? Are they writing from experience or is it just another data dump? I can usually tell which by the book's out-of-body (OBE) narratives (or lack of them) and the subtle things authors say in their descriptions.

Unfortunately, in today's age of Artificial Intelligence, it's no longer easy to tell. Anyone can use AI to "write" a book about astral projection, and there's plenty of public material to draw upon. Sometimes the writing gives it away, as was the case in two of the three previous books I reviewed, Astral Projection by Emily Oddo, and The Astral Plane by D.R.T. Stephens. This book was different, in a good way. However, AI has also gotten much better than it was just a few months ago.

I asked google how to detect AI writing and listed a bunch of things to look for, like:

"Finding five em dashes in three short paragraphs—especially when commas or parentheses would fit better—is a strong sign of automation."

This is especially true for ChatGPT and Claude. For non-writers, an "em dash" is the long "—" symbol that separates thoughts, just like you see after the word "paragraphs" and "better" in the sentence above.

So as I read this book, I paid close attention to the "em dashes." Guess what? The book is 413 pages long, and if I had to guess, there were em dashes on 390 or more pages, and often several per page. I found very few pages without them.

So, okay, it looks like the book was probably written with the "help" of AI. Does that make it a bad book? Not at all. As an author, I'm greatly concerned by the use of AI in writing. But in many cases, AI can be used to improve writing, sentence structure, and paragraph structure. This is especially true if English isn't the author's first language. I'd rather read AI-modified content than poorly-worded sentences with poor grammar or excessive use of passive voice like some books. This book flows well.

So what is Nurit Weiss Davicioni's level of experience? That's impossible to say. The book contains several out-of-body narratives from the author, and they're pretty decent.

Since astral projection experts just seem to appear suddenly out of nowhere, I went out to the largest astral projection group on Facebook and asked the moderators if they had ever heard of Davicioni, and what they knew about her. Much to my surprise, they jumped all over her (in private discussions). They said she had joined a bunch of astral projection groups, acting like a complete novice who knew nothing about the subject, copied a bunch of people's legitimate OBE narratives, claiming them as her own, then they kicked her out, and she suddenly claimed to be an expert on the subject. They out-and-out said she was a "fraud."

Is any of this true? I didn't see any of that exchange, so I have no direct knowledge of these accusations. But I can tell you this: The book is actually pretty good.

There are a few unscrupulous authors who make money by pumping out book after book on new-age subjects like astral projection, but they always write short books. They write books from 40 to 80 pages. They don't craft a 413-page tome like Davicioni's.

I'll tell you another thing AI doesn't typically do: make mistakes. This book has very few mistakes, fewer than most books. I found one sentence that ended with two periods, and then this:

"WBTB helps to increases [sic] awareness..." (pg. 42)

I don't think an AI could have written a sentence like that. There's another on page 51 where she writes, "...your ability to recall you [sic] dreams..." which, of course, should be "your dreams." But, of course, the book was probably edited by a human, so mistakes might have been added during editing. Don't get me wrong: Most books have mistakes, but in this case, it didn't bother me. It actually gave me a bit of comfort that I might not be reading the output of a machine.

Enough about AI and the accusations. Let's dive into the contents of the book.

Even before the first chapter, in the introduction, Davicioni sounds intelligent with quotes like this:

"The stories we tell ourselves, the beliefs we hold--these form the foundation of everything we experience." (pg. XV) 

Near the beginning of the book, she gives the read clues about her level of experience and tries to explain why she wrote the book.

"My journey into astral projection and lucid dreaming began unexpectedly when I was a teenager...
Through years of practice, I refined techniques that helped me leave my body at will and explore realms beyond the physical...
And something shifts when you realize you are more than your physical body." (pg. 6)

Likewise, in chapter two she describes how she had a terrifying episode of sleep paralysis when she was 16. (pg. 9) My impression, after having read the book, is that Davicioni has much more experience with lucid dreaming than astral projection. She applies almost every observation equally to astral projection and lucid dreaming. That was a little off-putting for me, but still, I didn't really disagree with any of her observations.

The book has basic out-of-body and lucid dreaming techniques. It covers your basic WBTB (Wake Back To Bed), Rope Climbing, Roll-out, "Target" technique, Vibrational Lift-out, Mind Movement Technique (similar to my own "Almost Move Technique,") breath-work, and many others.

In fact, she does a good job of presenting techniques. She even brings a few new ideas to the table. For example, she gives a "Vanishing Body Technique" (pg. 63) that I hadn't seen in other books. She gives a "Pendulum Focus" technique (pg. 87) similar to some of my own motion-based techniques, "Sensory Shift" technique," and others.

She also gives solid techniques for lucid dreaming, although not as good as Robert Waggoner's book, Lucid Dreaming.

She also gives a fair amount of tips and helpful hints. For example, she recommends things like "Breathing like you're already asleep." (pg. 47) and "The Stillness Trick." This is not too different from my own "Sneaking Past the Gatekeeper" technique. She writes:

"The more your body believes it's asleep, the easier the transition becomes." (pg. 47)

Again, this is helpful, and if she was just out to grab money, she wouldn't have cared enough to add so many. She took great care to make the book helpful to people who want to do it themselves.

Davicioni has an interesting discussion of how her demeanor is different in her experiences. She undergoes somewhat of a shift of personality. For example, during her experiences:

"I become more confident, assertive, expressive and extroverted, while in the physical world, I'm more introverted, gentle, and quiet." (pg. 128)

I haven't noticed any major personality shifts during my experiences, but I have described how sometimes I'm more right-brained, and more "spiritual." I'm also more curious and "awestruck" even after all these years.

Unlike many "money-grabbing" authors, Davicioni gives several of her own experiences, although like I said, many of these are probably lucid dreams and not OBEs, and she does little to differentiate them. Still, she reflects on her experiences, so there's a personal touch. For example:

"And maybe that's the beauty of our multidimensional nature: We are constantly evolving by integrating these different facets--balancing the bold with the gentle, the confident with the humble, the expansive with the grounded." (pg. 131)

She gives some good advice on sleep paralysis and controlling your fear. For example, she writes:

"The key is to shift your perspective. Instead of seeing fear as a threat, see it as a signal that you are about to unlock something important." (pg. 143) 

And I absolutely loved this quote:

Fear wants form. Awareness dissolves it." (pg. 147)

(To be continued)

Bob Peterson
22 September 2026

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews

Review: Far Journeys - Part 2

Far Journeys

by Robert A. Monroe

This is Part 2 of my review for Robert Monroe's book Far Journeys. To read part 1, click here.

In part 1, I talked about how much of Far Journeys consists of out-of-body narratives, laden with new terminology and bizarre concepts. One of the most bizarre concepts is the concept of "Loosh."

Early in the book, Monroe mentions Loosh in passing, but doesn't define it, which makes the reader wonder what the heck he's rambling on about. Quite a bit later, in the middle of a "rote" explaining the origins of reality, he gives us some more clues:

"In the natural state, Loosh was found to originate from a series of vibrational actions in the carbon-oxygen cycle and the residue was Loosh in varying degrees of purity." (pg. 162)

Shortly thereafter he writes:

"Thus it was that the Rule of the Prime Catalyst came into being. Conflict among carbon-oxygen cycle units brings forth consistent emanations of Loosh. It was as simple as that. (pg. 164)

A bit later:

"The creation of pure, distilled Loosh is brought forth in Type 4M units by the action of unfulfillment, but only if such pattern is enacted at a vibratory level above the sensory bounds of the environment. The greater the intensity of said pattern, the greater the output of Loosh distillate...." (pg. 169)

Then:

"From experience, the Collectors have evolved an entire technology with complementary tools for harvesting of Loosh from the Type 4M units. The most common have been named love, friendship, family, greed, hate, pain, guilt, disease, pride, ambition, ownership, possession, sacrifice--and on a larger scale, nations, provincialism, wars, famine, religion, machines, freedom, industry, trade, to list a few." (pg. 169-170) 

The way I read it in 1985, physical existence was created for the sole purpose of generating and harvesting Loosh, which is like non-physical emotional energy. It sounds pretty negative, like some superior life-form is using people like us as cattle, milking us for Loosh. It makes the whole world sound not like an adventure or a school, but like a depressing slog as someone's silkworm, pulling something out of our asses that's valuable to someone else, someone completely out of our scope that we can't hope to know.

In an out-of-body conversation Monroe quotes a non-physical entity named "Bill":

"The big game is to control and develop this emotional energy to its most effective condition, which is vaguely set by us humans as love, until we graduate. The more we score, the more fun it becomes." (pg. 203)

Monroe also gives us, through his OBE rotes, a vision of the distant future. After traveling into the future, Monroe asks, "What year is it?" The answer is:

"Year? Oh...time. They gave up that kind of measuring somewhere after they reached the 3000 mark. Didn't need it anymore..." (pg. 211)

Monroe wonders if his current location is somewhere in the United States, and gets:

"Not the United States any longer. No states or countries anywhere. Don't need them." (pg. 211)

It was a familiar place in today's United States, but:

"...the houses, fences, buildings, roads, all were gone. The lake. The lake was still there. And trees, so many more trees and of varieties I had never seen before, and to the east, there was...water. Water where once was a four-lane highway, water stretching off into the horizon." (pg. 211)  

Less disturbing are Monroe's descriptions of:

• The invisible helpers, which I've described many times in my own OBEs. Monroe writes: "I had called them helpers at the time and let it go at that. At the minimum, I had not turned my activities over to my "greater self," but to them, whoever "they" were.
• Similarly, in one of his narratives, Monroe writes, "Surprise crossed Charlie's face. (I heard him! I heard him but I can't see him!)" (pg. 196)
• The mechanics of out-of-body movement or travel. Many times in the past I've talked about how hard it is to describe how to move from location to location. It's harder than just thinking about a place. It's more like thinking about a person (or place,) setting a mental "anchor point" at that place, then pulling yourself to the anchor point. Monroe describes it very well in this book. He talks about grabbing onto someone's "Ident" then following or "skipping" to that Ident.

Here's something else Monroe described that I failed to understand on the first reading: He talked about:

"...classes--attended by countless humans during a portion of their deep sleep, during the sleeping out-of-body period." (pg. 79) 

Now I get it because I've seen these classes firsthand. 

Throughout the book, Monroe writes about "The Outer Rings" which includes several layers (some would say "planes") including, I assume, what most people call the astral, the etheric, and the physical planes. In the Epilogue, he describes this in better detail:

"The first inner layer or ring was clear and more distinct from my non-physical perspective, and all seemed to be completely focused on the activities of the in-human physical condition." (pg. 238)

He describes the various entities you can encounter there, with long paragraphs of explanation, much like C.W. Leadbeater did in his book, The Astral Plane, but I trust Monroe a whole lot more for reasons given in my review of Leadbeater's book. Monroe describes them as:

• The Dreamers - entities attached to a physical body, and sleeping, or in an out-of-body state. 

• The Lock-Ins - similar to dreamers, but they don't have physical bodies. Dead physically but don't know it, but they still try to interact with the physical world. I assume normal people, and even ghost hunters don't even perceive they're there.

• The Wild Ones - Do not realize they're dead, and they try to interact with people and things in the physical world, and sometimes they can get "mean." I assume these are what I call ghosts. 

He also says:

"On the inner side of such null point, the dominant force is HTSI, short for Human Time-Space Illusion, strongest at the innermost sub-rings and lessening inversely throughout the entire ring until it is quite insignificant in the outer edge. On the outer side of the ring, the dominant force is NPR, or Nonphysical Reality, which is as general as one can get if there is no accurate translation available for the little that is known of it." (pg. 241)

Monroe also has some diagrams to support his claims. This is where Monroe gets kind of "manifesto-like." He talks about human sexuality and detaching matter from emotion. I disagreed with him on this:

"Free Will Is Fantasy
Within time-space, the very constraints thereof preclude any such theory. At physical birth, we are bound not only by our previous experience, whatever it may be, but by the genetic structure of the physical body we inhabit. From that point on, we have no choice but to be bonded into the flesh for that lifetime, long or short. We are bound to maintain and operate our physical bodies within the limitations they impose. The set and setting of our physical existence is controlled, initially at least, by others. What remains, colored and modified as it is, might be considered free will. Exercising this upon another only increases the load. Off-loading is accomplished by maximizing this remainder in nonphysical areas and accepting without emotion the limitations so imposed." (pg. 261)

I disagree with Monroe on much of these assertions. Based on my experience, I believe we have freewill, but our lives are carefully planned by our "Higher Self" and limited by a life-plan we set up before we're born. I explain much of this in my blog article titled Deja Vu, Synchronicity, Fate, Destiny and the Law of Attraction.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know I have a pretty weird sense of humor (or if you're British, humour). I liked Monroe's stance on humor. He writes:

"As a direct expression of the Prime Energy, when in doubt, let it out. An inadvertent smile is part of the same spectrum. It's one of the best of emotions, but must be spontaneous to produce results. Seeing and enjoying the humor in life is something not to be missed. It relaxes, de-tunes the ego, puts any event into its proper perspective." (pgs. 261-262)

Toward the end of the epilogue, Monroe gives the full text of his famous bedtime affirmation, the one that starts, "I am more than my physical body..." I won't repeat the whole thing here, but I'm sure you can find the whole text if you search for it. Monroe recommends:

"Say it first as words in your mind just as you are drifting off to sleep. Convert as early as possible to nonverbal communication (NVC), stating the affirmation in mental action rather than words. After you are well established with the technique, add specific needs such as information, health care, problem solving, communication, or any of the procedures listed previously, using NVC." (pgs. 262-263)

After the epilogue, Monroe has an appendix "Questions and Answers," most of which are pretty basic, and much of which I cover in my blog's OBE FAQ article.

Appendix II is an article by professional psychiatrists Stuart Twemlow and Glen Gabbard, titled "The OBE Psychophysiology of Robert S. Monroe." (pg. 271)

Appendix III is another article by Twemlow and Gabbard, titled "The Out-of-Body Experience: Phenomenology." The same pair went on to write the book, With the Eyes of the Mind, which is an outstanding scientific discussion of out-of-body experiences, where they do an in-depth comparison of OBEs to other phenomena and body-boundary disturbances, such as autoscopy (doppelgänger), lucid dreaming, schizophrenia, and so forth. It's a fascinating read, but unfortunately, I haven't re-read or book-reviewed it.

Far Journeys is bizarre, unsettling, and, well, kind of depressing. It makes all of human existence sound trite and meaningless; an addictive game, or a delivery system for "loosh" that's fed to non-humans. At least that's how I felt.

I've always maintained a more positive view of human existence and the meaning of life. I believe this existence is kind of a playground created to learn (and teach) life-lessons to further our spiritual growth. I believe all of us are connected, and all are fragments of the "Highest Self," in other words, God. I believe God is love-based and so our very existence is love-based. And my belief in love is, I believe, reflected in the narratives of near-death experiences (NDEs) reported in countless books. I believe that by learning our lessons through physical existence, we grow spiritually, and our spiritual growth raises the consciousness of the whole.

Maybe I'm not as "advanced" an out-of-body traveler as Robert Monroe, so what do I know? Other more advanced travelers, like Jurgen Ziewe, say nothing about "loosh" and some of Monroe's more bizarre concepts, so I consider myself in good company..

For now, I'll keep my head buried in the sand because it gives me a more positive outlook on life. That's what I need right now.

I give this book 3 stars out of 5. Like I said, the third book in the series, Ultimate Journey, was much better. 

Bob Peterson
11 August 2026

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews

Review: Far Journeys - Part 1

Far Journeys

by Robert A. Monroe

Today I'm reviewing Far Journeys by Robert A. Monroe. The copyright is 1985. The book is 290 pages, which means you won't feel cheated on the amount of content.

This is part 1 of 2. 

Way back in 1979, when I read Monroe's first (1971) book, Journeys Out of the Body, it started me on my spiritual path. It changed my life, and I was like, "Wow, this is mind-blowing, this is life changing! Five out of five stars!"

Far Journeys was Monroe's long-awaited (fourteen years!) sequel, copyrighted in 1985. When I first read it, I thought, "Monroe took a dive off the deep end of the pool, and never quite resurfaced." It was totally foreign, weird, and un-relatable. It was nothing like Monroe's first book, and I was very disappointed. It just sounded too obscure, almost like the ramblings of a madman. Parts of the book even sounded like a manifesto.

Nine years later, when I read Monroe's third book, 1994's "Ultimate Journey," I was relieved. The old Monroe was back. It was much more relatable and down-to-earth. Well, as much as a book on out-of-body experiences can be. Monroe seemed to have recovered from his lapse of sanity. Still, I think it's best to read Monroe's three books in chronological order.

So I decided to re-read Far Journeys and see if I had the same opinion, or if my forty-some-odd years of OBEs improved it.

What made Far Journeys seem so crazy? Well, for one thing, the vocabulary. Monroe states right upfront that he struggled to convey his (then) more recent experiences into words people can understand, so he made up his own vocabulary to more accurately reflect what he actually experienced. Here are some of Monroe's made-up terms, and a short description of how to translate them in your mind:

•  "TSI - Time-Space Illusion" - Earth and near-Earth environments.
• "M Band" - Psychic "noise" caused by uncontrolled thoughts.
• "Ident" - Mental "address" of a person or item.
• "Rote" - Thought ball. An encapsulated group of ideas and thoughts that can be stored away and "read" like a video screen, and telepathically.
• "Run the rote" - To replay portions of a "rote."
• "Percept" - Insight, intuition, Understand. Think "My perception of this is..." 
• "Open" - Becoming receptive to something.
• "Closed" - Tune out external stimuli.
• "Flickered" - Uncertain.
• "Blank" - Don't understand. 
• "CLICK!" - Instantaneous change in consciousness.
• "Turn in" - Consider, think over.
• "Vibrate" - Show emotion.
• "Smooth" - Get it together, in charge of self.
• "Dulled" - Lost interest.
• "Lighted" - Happy, enthusiasm.
• "Rolled" - Amused, laughed.
• "Curl" - Organized energy, usually intelligent.
• "Plied" - The way things are, goes with the territory.
• "INSPEC" - A helpful "Light being." I'll get into that later. 
• Loosh - We'll cover that in part 2. 

In the past, I've complained about authors using obscure made-up words to better describe non-physical ideas and communications. The IAC, the International Academy of Consciousness tried to do a similar thing, and I didn't like it then either. For example, in books like Demystifying the Out-of-Body Experience by Luis Minero, readers had to learn new words like "velo," "thosenes," "holothosenes," "morphothosenes," "mentalsomas," "energosomas," "cosmoethics," "holomaturity," "penta," and so on. (Minero's book is actually a good book and I gave it 4 stars out of 5). But as much as new vocabulary helps the reader get closer to the actual experience, it can still be very off-putting. Unfortunately, a LOT of Far Journeys is fraught with Monroe's new vocabulary.

On the good side, this book is almost all out-of-body narratives, and you know how much I love those. He describes details of what he experienced, but a lot of those narratives went way beyond what I think is credible. I described a similar problem in my 2018 review of Astral Projection as a Bridge to the Spiritual World by Luiz Roberto Mattos, where I wrote:

"Another problem is that the dialog was too long and detailed to have taken place in genuine OBEs. There's simply no way anyone (short of eidetic memory) would be able to remember and quote word for word what someone said in an entire half-hour lecture. Not even in real life, let alone from an OBE. I'm lucky if I remember just a few sentences."

In the case of Far Journeys it's more like, "AA tossed me a rote. I opened it, and this is what I saw and heard. (A long discourse, and then) I asked a question about it and AA tossed me another rote..."

Monroe stretches the boundaries of what's credible. And who knows, maybe he crossed that line. In one OBE he is pushed into an (physical) experience of several non-human lifeforms (animals, plants, etc.) For example, he writes:

"...but I can't move...but I can't move, I can't move!...what?...what?...just beeloon it and I can go the porch, how could I forget that! How could I forget to beeloon!...And...yes! Three-way...I could do a three-way and it wouldn't be dark...why, any curl can do a three-way without turning, you need to three-way if you want to keep your spiral going...I could pull a skip and...skip? Skip! And there's more, it's all coming back..." (pg. 108)

This is an extreme example, but see what I mean about sometimes sounding unhinged or crazy? Other times, he sounds almost sane, but his claims seem a bit farfetched or dubious. For example, in physical life, he describes a pair of pants he owned that seemed to mysteriously collect small amounts of money on their own. He writes:

"I've shown it to my wife, Nancy, and she still is skeptical. It seems that if I leave a certain pair of pants hung in the bedroom closet, it generates paper money...I can take the pants to the cleaners and return them to the closet in the plastic bag. It makes no difference. We have theorized that I may walk in my sleep and insert money in the pants pocket. The unopened plastic bag dispelled that idea..." (pgs. 8-9)

I've often said that I tend to be a skeptic and not believe wild claims, unless they happen to me. That one is weird, but hey, I believe it because I've experienced things like that firsthand. After my dad died, my mom got a large life-insurance check, which she put in an envelope on her dresser. Soon after, the check completely disappeared. Everyone in the house searched frantically for it, in every bit of the house. It was a lot of money and it was gone. A day or two later, just when my mom decided to have a duplicate check issued, it mysteriously reappeared. In plain sight. On top my dresser, which we searched a dozen times before! I felt as if my dad was trying to say I should have the money, which, of course, was ridiculous. To this day, I have no explanation. Sometimes it seems like spirits just mysteriously "apport" things. But I digress.

Monroe talks about the early days of The Monroe Institute (TMI) and the research they did. He mentioned their famous Gateway Program, and noted:

"Many, of course, have come [to the Gateway program] on the possibility that they will have an out-of-body experience. Most of the time this expectation is not fulfilled during the session itself." (pg. 29)

He wrote about some of the strange physical effects they observed at TMI. For example: 

"One night, when we got into our cars parked outside some twenty feet from booth 2, we found that the batteries were dead in all three cars...Cars parked on the other side, or sixty feet away were unaffected." (pg. 49)

I was disappointed that the book didn't include any more out-of-body tips or techniques. However, re-reading Monroe's descriptions gave me some new insights. For example, he wrote:

One of the earliest discoveries...was that I had more than one nonphysical body." (pg. 78)

In a few places, I've written that if you seem to get stuck or glued to your physical body, try "to leave your astral [some would say "etheric" or "energy"] body." (i.e. a second time.) For more information, see my blog article Problem 9 - I Can't Go Anywhere. My experience matches Monroe's perfectly. In almost all of his OBE narratives, Monroe describes a two-step process: First, he leaves his physical body, then he leaves his "second" [etheric] body to get to his astral body. (pg. 79)

Unfortunately, virtually all of his OBE narratives make it sound simple: Just reach for the vibrations, roll out of the physical, then roll out of the energy body, and you're free to roam about the cabin. I wish it was that easy.

I was disappointed in Chapter 5, "New Associations," which described how some of his early "Explorers" had experiences in which "with the Explorer's permission, friendly entities take over their physical bodies and speak using the Explorer's vocal cords." (pg. 50) As far as I'm concerned, this is nothing but channeling. Several looooong examples are given. 

Now don't misunderstand me:  I've studied channeling and mediumship half my life and I've amassed a large collection of books on those subjects. In fact, I love reading channeled material, my favorite being the "Seth" books by Jane Roberts. The problem is: I didn't buy a Robert Monroe book to read channeled material. I bought it to learn about out-of-body experiences. Thankfully, there's not a lot of that.

Starting on page 79, Monroe gives us OBE narratives (firsthand accounts of his out-of-body experiences), and aside from some supplementary information (epilogue, Q&A, and two papers written by Stuart Twemlow and Glen Gabbard) they take up the rest of the book. That's a lot of narrative. And like I said before, they're laden with Monroe's new word-concepts, and yes, they're weird.

Much of it consists of Monroe leaving his body, leaving his second-body, then receiving large, complex "rotes" or "telepathic thought-balls" from various non-physical entities. When I read the book in 1985, the concept of a "rote" seemed a bit "out there" but in 2026, with 46 years of experience, it makes perfect sense.  I've received "thought-balls" myself, although not nearly as long and complex as Monroe claims. I still don't like the strange terminology.

Most of these "rotes" come from a non-physical entity/friend he calls "BB," and Monroe unrolls them and reads or experiences them. The "rotes" supposedly explain human (and non-human) existence, its purpose, where we came from, why we keep reincarnating, where we're going to, and so forth. Deep questions. Some people may find it fascinating, but I was a bit bored. Much of it agrees with Helen Wambach's book, "Life Before Life" which I read (and loved) decades ago. Much it agrees with Jurgen Ziewe's observations of the afterlife environments. Much of it agrees with Jane Roberts' channeled observations from "Seth." But Monroe's descriptions are more obfuscated, even if more accurate.

Some of it is positively disturbing, such as:

• His non-physical friend, "BB," describes how addictive physical life is. He describes how their mutual friend, "AA," decided to see what physical life was like, but became hopelessly "addicted" to physical life and kept choosing over and over to reincarnate, to the point where BB could no longer reach or communicate with AA. It reminded me of what I heard about the illegal drug, crystal meth: If you try it once, it will be the most fabulous "peak" experience of your life, but if you try it a second time, you will be its slave forever, and it will destroy you. Just say no to physical incarnation? Oops. Too late.
• On page 89, Monroe describes a "staggering radiation" of sexuality, both male and female which came from a giant squirming mass of  naked "dead" people who focused on nothing but sexuality, but they could never be satisfied because they were no longer physical.
• INSPECS, short for "Intelligent Species." (pg. 93) When I read about them in 1985, I couldn't relate to it at all. It made no sense. Now, in 2026, I know exactly what Monroe was talking about. I believe he was describing the "Light Beings" I think are the basis for Biblical "Angels." I've talked about them in some of my podcast interviews. They're often invisible, but when you do see them, they look like giant Coleman lantern filaments. To me, they always seem helpful, but they have their own secret, yet sacred, agenda, and they sometimes use astral travelers (like me) to accomplish their goals in places they can't reach on their own. These experiences can be alarming and frightening. Monroe doesn't dwell on this much, except to say one of these INSPECS is a "friend" whom he tries to call upon to get answers, but at some point, Monroe lost his friend's Ident.

In part 2, I've cover other weirdness and the concept of "Loosh." That is where Far Journeys gets really weird.

Bob Peterson
28 July 2026

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews

Review: Astral Projection by Emily Oddo

Astral Projection

 

by Emily Oddo

Today I'm reviewing Astral Projection by Emily Oddo. The subtitle is 7 Secred Techniques to Master Conscious Travel and Unlock Higher Realms. The copyright is 2025.

I had high hopes for this book. It started out good, but it let me down. As usual, I'll start with the negative things about the book, then move on to the positive.

I always start by questioning the author's credentials and amount of firsthand experience. I ask, "What makes the author qualified to talk about this subject?" In the case of Emily Oddo, there is nothing in the book to make me think she's had even a single out-of-body experience / astral projection. She doesn't credit any teachers or books for her knowledge. She does mention a few well-known authors like Robert Bruce, Robert Monroe, and William Buhlman. There are no credentials and no narratives. There are no professional references to look up, and the whole book is just another "textbook" knowledge dump.

Even chapter 12, "The Collective Experience: Stories From the Astral Plane," which sounds promising, wasn't. In fact, it didn't contain a single OBE narrative. It was just a collection of AI-like sentences stating how astral projections change people's opinions on life-after-death, their expanded view of life, spirituality and other topics. But not one example.

A quick search on the Internet demonstrates that Oddo has published a lot of books on new-age topics, which makes me believe she's cranking out as many books as she can to collect as much money as she can from honest seekers who don't know any better. And it must work because she keeps cranking them out.

It took me a while to realize it, but I'm fairly certain it was created with the help of AI, Artificial Intelligence. But unlike my previous book review, The Astral Plane: An Exploration Beyond the Physical, by D.R.T. Stephens, it actually says something useful. So I guess the author used a better AI engine than Stephens, or something. The first few chapters read more like a human wrote it, but it quickly devolves over the next few chapters.

How do I know it's AI? Because it's way too "formula." It sounds monotone, unemotional, and analytical. In other words, mechanical, very mechanical. There's not a single off-the-wall comment or emotion expressed to make me think she's human.

Almost every sentence--let's just say 85 percent of them--are written in passive voice. Inexperienced authors think that sounds professional, intelligent, and mature, but in reality, it just makes it very difficult to read. I've complained about this before in other books. It's one of my pet peeves.

If you don't know what "passive voice" means, simply put, it's when the subject doesn't "do" the verb, but the verb "is done" to the subject. So instead of writing "I purchased the book" (active voice) you have "The book was purchased by me" (passive voice). Excessive use of passive voice drives me crazy. CRAZY! [A wide-eyed, crazed look crosses Bob's face as he pulls the choke lever on his chainsaw and pulls the starter cord.] Seriously, please try to remove it from your writing if you can.

When I say the book is "too formula," here's what I mean:

• Almost every chapter has a similar introductory paragraph that sounds almost reasonable.
• Almost every paragraph follows the same formula:

1. The first sentence is almost invariably written in passive-voice, and talks about (or eludes to) some technique, process, or practice.
2. The second sentence is written in active voice or passive voice, usually about 50 percent chance, and gives a little more detail about the subject of the first sentence.
3. The third and following sentences make points to support the previous sentences, the most often are written in passive voice.
4. The paragraphs are all about the same length.

I'll give you a concrete example: Here are the first sentences of EVERY paragraph from pages 105 through 107:

• The immediate recording practice creates a crucial first bridge between astral and physical awareness. (pg. 105)
• The symbolism translation process addresses the challenge of bringing multidimensional understanding into linear awareness. (pg. 105)
• The physical anchoring technique embeds astral insights into daily awareness through sensory association. (pg. 105)
• The progressive embodiment approach recognizes that integration occurs in stages rather than instantly. (pg. 106)
• The trigger phrase method condenses complex astral insights into concise verbal formulations that can be recalled easily during daily activities. (pg. 106)
• The parallel processing practice develops the capacity to maintain expanded awareness alongside ordinary functioning. (pg. 106)
• The integration meditation creates dedicated space for systematically incorporating astral insights. (pg. 107)
• The application identification technique transforms abstract insights into concrete behavioral changes. (pg. 107)
• The gradual frequency elevation approach works with the vibrational differential between astral and physical consciousness. (pg. 107) 
• And on and on and on, ad nauseam. 

Does that sound like a human or a machine to you?

Okay, I've harped enough about passive voice and the use of AI. 

Even if you slog through the passive-voice sentences, the author tries to make it seem like her information (from 2025, mind you) is cutting-edge, but it's really not. For example, she references (in passing--not much detail) the TPJ (Temporoparietal Junction) of the brain and default mode network (DMN), but says absolutely nothing about newer discoveries in neuroscience, like the 2023 discovery of the role of the anterior precunius in OBEs. Another example: She writes:

"The hormone melatonin and the neurotransmitter DMT (dimethyltryptamine), produced naturally in the pineal gland, have been implicated in facilitating these altered states of consciousness." (pg. 3)

She says this again on page 111. The "theory" that the pineal gland may produce small amounts of DMT was put forth by Rick Strassman in his 2001 book, DMT: The Spirit Molecule. As interesting as it is, Strassman's theory has since been disproven by science, yet Oddo presents it here as fact.

There are a few more points I disagree with. For example, she writes:

"...consciousness shifts to new locations by forming clear conceptual images of the desired destination." (pg. 60)

As I've said many times before, it's not that easy. When I was a beginner, after leaving my body, I'd try to reach destinations by visualizing them, or visualizing people I wanted to visit, stating my desire, and many other methods. It never worked. And I'm very good at visualization. It took me a couple years to get the hang of it. It's more like setting an intention of a place as an anchor-point, and pulling your awareness there. I wrote about it in this blog article and this blog article.

Oddo kind of describes a similar thing, anchor points, with regard to stability:

"As you move through the astral environment, periodically designate specific pointsas anchors by focusing brief but intense attention on them." (pg. 64)

The Vibrations

Oddo gives advice on how to pass through the vibrational state.

"When the vibrations begin, focus complete attention on experiencing them fully without resistance or analysis. Rather than attempting to immediately exit the body, temporarily direct your intention toward intensifying these sensations. This counterintuitive approach prevents premature separation attempts while allowing the energy body to complete its shift naturally." (pg. 75)

She also offers a unique approach:

"When vibrations occur, direct your attention  to a single body part--typically the head, chest, or hands. Concentrate on the sensations in this limited area until they intensify beyond the general vibrational state. This concentrated energy creates a localized separation point through which consciousness can exit more easily than attempting full-body separation during intense vibrations." (pg. 76)

That seems like good advice. I rarely experience the vibrations anymore, but I'll have to try that. Whenever I try to intensify the vibrations through intention, they always fade away. What always works best for me is to remain completely passive and watch the vibrations grow in intensity, then try to physically move. See this blog article for more information.

Lucid Dreams and OBEs

Oddo believes the same as I do with regard to lucid dreams and OBEs:

"This dream environment exists within the individual's consciousness rather than as an independent reality. Astral Projection, by contrast, involves the perception of environments that exist independently of the individual's consciousness..." (pg. 84) 

I found this interesting:

"The oscillation technique intentionally moves awareness back and forth between dream and astral states to develop precise control over state transitions." (pg. 95)

To me, that's like playing with fire. In my first book, I wrote about something I called "The fantasy trap." Basically, if you daydream and/or use your imagination too much during an OBE, you're likely to accidentally slip into a dream state. Your OBE lucidity can slip into a lucid dream state, then slip further into an ordinary dream state. So to me, trying to oscillate between the two is like injecting yourself with a sedative: it's not only unproductive, you risk losing everything. I recommend you hold onto OBE awareness as long as you can. Don't try to bop between them.

As I said, this book is much better than the previous one I reviewed. Unlike that book, this one gives some good information:

"Practice is essential. Astral projection is not merely an intellectual concept to understand but an experience to embody." (pg. x)

Here's another gem:

"Practice deliberately withdrawing awareness from each sense individually. Begin with hearing: listen to the most distant sound you can perceive, then gradually bring awareness to closer sounds, and finally to sounds within your own body. Repeat this process with visual awareness..." (pg. 15)

Techniques 

The book has some good astral projection techniques.

Oddo gives a fairly decent rendition of Robert Bruce's famous "Rope technique." She even credits him, and unlike most authors, explains (correctly) how to focus on the tactile sensations, not visualization. (pg. 34)

Oddo gives a decent explanation of the "Point Shift" method, in which you basically try to shift the focus of your attention to another location. (pg. 37)

She gives a good explanation of the Wake-Back-To-Bed (WBTB) technique on page 45. 

She also gives some decent visualization techniques (pg. 41)

She talks about sound-induced projection techniques, such as the use of binaural beats. (pg. 49) 

The book's subtitle suggests "7 Sacred Techniques," but she doesn't enumerate them, nor does she give any information about them being "sacred."

Tips and Advice

Oddo gives some good advice regarding the learning and practicing of OBEs. For example:

"Spatial disorientation provides another powerful method for completing difficult projections. When partial separation occurs, deliberately confuse your spatial awareness by imagining contradictory positions and movements." (pg. 55)" 

She also gives some solid recommendations, like:

• Keep a dream and OBE journal, and write down your experiences as soon as you can.
• Incorporate or "anchor" your intentions during daily life, like with affirmations.
• Examine your own belief system and alter them.
• Work to resolve your fears. 

I give the book 3 stars out of 5. It was obviously created with the "help" of AI, Artificial Intelligence. There was some good information in this book, but a lot of it appears in other books too. The grammar is good, the spelling is perfect, but oh my God, so much of the book is written in passive voice, it's a chore to read.

Bob Peterson
16 June 2026

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews

Astral Projection, Ego, and Arrogance

by Bob Peterson

Today I want to talk about ego. The bottom line is that astral projection can cause some people to over-inflate their ego and become arrogant.

When you start having out-of-body experiences or astral projections, it's easy to fall into the ego trap. This is especially true when you learn to self-induce them regularly. Since most people can't leave their physical body at will, it's easy to think you're special, you're better than ordinary people. After all, you've seen things "normal" people don't see: you've seen "the afterlife." You've seen astral planes, spirits, angels, light beings, akashic records, non-physical cities. You've felt things others don't, like the incredible feeling of flying free without boundaries or devices. You may have met spiritual masters like Jesus and attended their lectures. You may have flown to the stars, or explored the craters of the moon. You may have explored the depths of the oceans. You may have done healing, witnessed life-planning. You may have visited the distant past our incredible future. You've caught glimpses of a deeper reality, other worlds that evade "ordinary" people. It's easy to think "I'm special, I'm magical, I'm better than everyone else." And it's easy to look down on other people as mere "Muggles."

It's the same thing with computers. As a career computer professional, I met a lot of very arrogant people with huge egos. Back in college, my friends and I used to brag about how many computer languages we knew. Back in the day I was fluent in Fortran, Pascal, C, Basic, Cobol, Snobol, C++, Compass assembler, 8080 assembler and others. For today's kids, it's Java, Java script, Python, Bash scripting, Rust, Go, TypeScript, Kotlin, Swift, and guess what? It's all meaningless. No matter how much you know about computers, there's always someone more knowledgeable or better. And there are always things you don't know.  I sometimes wonder if there's some "final boss" at the top who is unmatched, like maybe Linus Torvalds.

It's the same thing with martial arts. In college I used to practice Tai Chi, Chin Na, and some Shaolin Kung Fu, and I met some very arrogant people along the way. Most of the greatest Kung Fu movies are about ego, and who is the "final boss." There's always someone better. (As an aside, I love love love the "Ip Man" movies).

But it's all a trap. It's all a distraction. The ancient Buddhist and Hindu teachers knew that thousands of years ago, and cautioned us against it. The fact is, the more you learn to see and understand, the more you know you don't know. You realize there are layers upon layers, and each is greater than the last, and that applies to aspects of "self," as well as aspects of reality. You come to realize we are all one, and that separation is an illusion. 

The more you see, the more you realize we're just a speck of nothing. The more you see, the more you realize your "ego"--the conscious you--is only a tiny fraction of your greater self. Your entire lifetime is only one of thousands. Or as Kansas put it, "All we are is dust in the wind."

To feel or act like you're better or superior to another person is, in fact, just like an ant thinking he's better than the microbe. Or the microbe thinking he's better than the molecule. Or the molecule thinking he's better than the atom, or the atom thinking he's better than the neutrino. Get it? Any comparison is so trivial it's laughable. 

In the end, our bodies all end up in a box or an urn, but our spiritual essence--the soul--lives on in another layer. After we die, we judge ourselves, not by what we learned or how much better we were than others, but by how we treated other people and animals, how we helped them or hurt them; how we lifted them up or tore them down. So tearing someone else down is just like gnawing on your own leg. At first it might taste good, but it's wrought with your own pain and suffering. But lifting up another person is like ascending with them. Raising consciousness for one is raising consciousness for all.

I'm reminded of the song "Lonely is the Word" by Black Sabbath from the Ronnie James Dio era. Here's a quote:

"I've been higher than stardust
I've been seen upon the sun
I used to count in millions then,
but now I only count in One.
Come on, join the traveler
If you've got nowhere to go
Hang your head and take my hand
It's the only road I know"

Bob Peterson,
02 June 2026

The Astral Plane: An Exploration Beyond the Physical

by D.R. T Stephens

Today I'm reviewing The Astral Plane: An Exploration Beyond the Physical by D.R.T Stephens. The subtitle is Uncovering the Secrets of Astral Travel and OBEs. The copyright is 2023.

If I was asked to describe this book in five words, I'd use words like "sterile, impersonal, mechanical, boring, uninspired."

As you know, the best astral projection books are inspired by personal experiences. This one isn't.  There are no clues how the author acquired this "knowledge." In fact, it reads like the author doesn't have any knowledge at all; it could very well be copy-pasted from an AI chat-bot, sight unseen.

The book has a couple of astral projection narratives in chapter 30, but they're extremely generic and uninteresting. They're so uninteresting, with lack of emotion, that I question their authenticity. And they're not the author's experiences.

The book doesn't really say anything interesting at all. I would be more entertained by misinformation or misinterpretation. At least that's interesting. At least that gives me something to think about.

I can't really find fault with anything the book said. It just didn't seem to say anything. I have absolutely no evidence to substantiate this, but I tend to believe the entire book was written by AI, Artificial Intelligence. It reads like the author, D.R.T Stephens, entered instructions into an AI chat-bot like "Write a short chapter on astral projection X" where X is something like "throughout history" or "anatomy of the astral plane" or "and aging." In other words, each and every chapter reads like a short AI-generated essay on the topic that says nothing substantial.

The entire book reads like: "While many scholars regard astral projection as a phenomenon of the mind, experiencers see it as an experience of a nonphysical reality." Well, duh.

In other words, it tries to argue multiple sides, like an AI presents different viewpoints. It never asserts anything. It never argues anything. It never presents information. It never backs up anything with experience. It never references other works on the subject. It's completely uninspired and unimaginative. Worst of all, it's mostly written in passive voice. I'll give you an example. (Opens the book to a random page):

"Chapter 20: Astral and the Occult
The realm of the occult, with its multifaceted practices and deep-rooted philosophies, has often been closely intertwined with the concepts of astral projection and the astral plane. This chapter aims to delve into the historical and contemporary roles of astral experiences within the realm of occult practices and traditions... (pg. 73)
While occult traditions share similarities with religious and shamanic systems in their use of astral projection, they often differ in objectives and methodology... (pg. 73)
The astral plane in the occult context is seen as a repository for thought-forms--concentrated packets of energy created by collective belief or individual focus...(pg. 74)
Summary
The realms of the astral and the occult are tightly interwoven, with astral projection serving as a significant practice with various occult traditions...(pg. 75)

And on and on. See what I mean? It's all just...gobbledygook. 

Another dead giveaway: At the beginning of the book, it says the characters in the book are all fictional. But there are no characters and it's supposedly nonfiction. Get it?

Then there's the off-putting multi-page disclaimer at the beginning that says things like:

"By continuing to read this book, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions stated in this disclaimer." (pg. 3) 

You're better off finding a decent AI chat bot like chatgpt and asking it your own questions about astral projection. Better yet, find a book that speaks from personal experience, and moves you with their experiences, and actually says something worthwhile. Like, say, Jurgen Ziewe, William Buhlman, Robert Monroe, or just about anyone else.

I cannot recommend this book. I give it one star out of five. It is 129 pages of unhelpful discourse, with narrow margins and a decent font. I didn't find much inside to fault, but I didn't find anything to recommend it either. Unlike some books that openly promote misinformation, this book just says...nothing. It's like bubble-wrap or packing peanuts: nicely packaged air.

And remember that subtitle? Uncovering the Secrets of Astral Travel and OBEs? It's bait-and-switch. It uncovers no secrets.

Bob Peterson
28 April 2026

----------------------------

If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

Return to the index of my OBE Book reviews