Tuesday, October 31, 2017

The Guardian on the Threshold

The Guardian on the Threshold


by Bob Peterson

It's Sunday morning and you're lying in bed, trying hard to produce an out-of-body experience. You're in the perfect state, relaxed, focused and single-minded. You're just a hair breath away from an OBE when all of a sudden you hear a familiar voice, convincingly real in every respect. It's your mom, dad, wife, husband, or other voice of authority and they say something like "Come on. Get up! Get out of bed. We've got to go! Right now!" You may even hear banging or knocking on your bedroom door. The sense of urgency is palpable, but what horrible timing! You were almost there, right?

Sometimes the voice may sound angry. "You lazy-ass good-for-nothing. You've been lying around in bed all morning! I've been waiting more than an hour for you to get up. Get the hell out of bed right this minute."

It may appeal to your sense of urgency. "It's your little sister! Something got caught in her throat and she's choking! I need your help! Please hurry!"

Or maybe, "Your boss is on the phone and she sounds pissed. You better get up and take this." You think to yourself, "Why in hell is she calling me on a Sunday morning? How urgent can it be?"

Or maybe you hear loud banging on the door and a booming voice that says, "This is the police. Open up. We've got a warrant to search the premises. Let us in or we'll break the door down."

Or my personal favorite, "The house is on fire! It's a matter of life and death! You've got to get up right now!"

Finally, with a deep sigh, you abort the OBE attempt and get out of bed to see what's so damn urgent. Then you discover there's nobody there. Nobody is at the door. Nobody is on the phone. The house is not burning down. There is no emergency.

You were pranked.

The Shadow Man

It can be much more menacing than just a voice. More sinister versions probably stem from episodes of ASP (Awareness during Sleep Paralysis) in which your subconscious fears and insecurities are manifested as very realistic hallucinations, like:
  • An old hag who wants to sit on you (known as "hagging").
  • A sexual demon (incubus or succubus) who comes to rape you in your paralyzed and helpless condition.
  • A dark menacing shadow figure whose face is not quite visible.
These are all basically the same thing. This is a phenomenon known as the "Dweller" or "Guardian" on the Threshold. If you've tried to produce OBEs for any length of time, you've probably encountered it in one of its many forms.

According to Wikipedia:
"The Guardian of the Threshold is a menacing figure that is described by a number of esoteric teachers. The term "Guardian of the Threshold", often called "dweller on the threshold", indicates a spectral image which is supposed to manifest itself as soon as "the student of the spirit ascends upon the path into the higher worlds of knowledge". 
What is the Guardian?

In my opinion, the Guardian is a big collection of subconscious scare tactics. It's a subconscious defense mechanism. Basically, it comes from within your own mind: your own subconscious fears and insecurities.

What does it want? What is its purpose?

I believe its purpose is to make sure you don't achieve out-of-body experiences until you're psychologically prepared for it. It wants to make sure you're cool enough to remain calm and in control when faced with unexpected or frightening circumstances.

Variations (Alternate scare tactics)

"My heart starts beating out of control"
Another common variation is when it seems like your heart starts beating wildly out of control, like it's going to explode in your chest. This one's a little more tricky. On the one hand, it could really be your heart: it's easy to believe an adrenaline rush may have pushed your heart into atrial fibrillation ("a-fib") or some other fight-or-flight response. I'm especially vulnerable to this because my heart does occasionally go into a-fib (not in OBEs, but under normal circumstances).

However, on many occasions, I've forced myself back to full consciousness only to find it was another false alarm: my heart was, in fact, beating normally; often even more slowly than normal.

"OMG, I stopped breathing!"

Another variation is when it seems like your physical body stops breathing. One minute it seems like your body is breathing normally: you can hear the breath coming and going from your lungs, then suddenly everything goes silent. It seems like you stopped breathing. So you get scared that you're going to suffocate. But when you abort the OBE, you discover your body is still breathing normally. This can either be a manifestation of the Guardian or simply because you've lost awareness of your physical body as your conscious awareness shifts focus to the non-physical environment.

How do you stop it?

The key to stopping this nonsense is understanding exactly what it is, why it's there, and what it wants.


The guardian (your own subconscious) is testing you. To get rid of it, you simply need to pass the test. You need to ignore it and continue inducing the out-of-body state. You need to just ignore the distraction and think to yourself, "Nice try, but I'm not going to fall for it this time. I'm not going to let it stop me."

You need to realize and understand that the voices are not "real" and if there is a real emergency, you won't have to stop and think about aborting: you'd already be jarred out of the pre-OBE state automatically. If a real emergency had happened, there would be no reason to hear the voice in the first place.

Once you learn to ignore the Guardian and continue with the OBE, you will have "passed the test" and leveled up. Your subconscious will realize you refuse to be manipulated and will no longer bother with the scare tactics. Then you can fearlessly start exploring this strange new world.

Bob Peterson
31 October 2017

17 comments:

  1. I've read most, if not all, of your blog posts and this one really hits home. I'm bookmarking this for future reference and definitely sharing with my friends and the like.
    Thanks a bunch, Bob!

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  3. Hi, is it possible for the 'guardian' to manifest in the form of a large dog? pitbull like, best way i can describe it. Im not afraid of dogs but i found it interesting one time i tried to have an OBE, i couldnt because that dog sitting on my bed right next to me.

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    1. Cerberus is a big dog who guards the the realm I think it’s an older representation of this from Greek religion

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    2. I came across this today after astral projecting this morning. I found myself asleep but aware. And thought ok now is the time, don’t be scared. Then the vibrating started to occur, but I thought nope I’m not going to be scared keep going! Just as I started flying, my mum came and tried waking me, “come on, get up’ she started nudging me. It wasn’t until I fully woke up in the physical I realised my mum wasn’t there at all, in fact I’m not even in the same house as her. So Thankyou for this article! It has given me the confidence to keep going

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  4. So interesting thanks. I have seen witchy faces or scary faces, heard banging in my closet and front door, kids calling my name etc. The images are easy to dismiss as they have a dreamy feel to them but the sounds are so real.

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    1. This last time, the talking thing that sounded like my husband was contemplating pancakes and sausage and I was starting to think, “yeah that sounds good”. Then I thought, wait a second…that’s not really happening and rolled out of my body instead Thankfully I haven’t had any really frightening manifestations.

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  5. Interesting! I just this week decided that I was experiencing the guardian when my husband would be chatting away at me as I tried for a Sunday morning OBE. I’d get so angry! Of course it was never really him, he’d be peacefully sleeping next to me. This time I realized it wasn’t him and I decided it must be some kind of threshold guardian. Now reading your article I have confirmation! Thank you.

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  6. This article helped set my mind free. I used to have the demon sleep paralysis but overcame it when it I realized it was a cheat code for astral projection but then i started going into states of extreme electrical shocks. I get stuck in this bright blue electrical light. It feels like I'm in the hard wiring of my brain. The more I push through the more shocks, electrocuting , and zap sensations I feel. Now I realize this is probally my brain trying to keep me from moving fowad.

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    1. Did you get past the shocks? What happens after?

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    2. Haha, you're not going to believe this, but yet to go somewhere where there are no high voltage wires or equipment... Been there, it sucks!

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    3. Tldr 2 blue orbs that made mr primal fear them after a long time recurring dream of a bridge that in the last one was tlod was dangerous

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    4. Hi can you elaborate on the bridge and blue orbs - I have experienced both and would like to know if this is normal to experience. One experience the blue orb had the face of my dead grandmother who looked absolutely terrified when she realized what was happening. On the other on this bridge I felt myself about to be catapulted into the astral realm but got scared and shook myself out of it. (I have never intentionally tried to AP. I am finally trying to understand it and came to this blog to get over my fear of SP which has happened to me several times - last time I think I "defeated the trickster" sleep demon though - I hope !)

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  7. Wow I am so glad I found this forum. Please invite me in. I kicked that guardians ass a long time ago and now he's dragging me into different realms. But he scared me tonight by not remembering my prayers. I tried to be powerful with words tonight and failed. I got scared because I'm forgot how to pray there. Is this a bad sign? Or is it a trick....

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  8. I really appreciate the work that you're doing, Bob Peterson, and all the writing about OBE and problem-solving. At the same time, I want to make everyone aware, including yourself, that to disregard the Guardian as just something from one's subconscious and to continue in the so-called spiritual realm without the proper inner work and moral development that the Guardian makes you aware of it's not only foolish but dangerous as well. I am not saying you do that - not saying you dismiss or disregard, it's obvious to me that your research is well thought of, and well done and you properly look into every topic with as much interest as possible.

    People end up in their illusions and a "fake" spiritual or astral realm, having to do more with themselves as individuals rather than achieve any proper spiritual exploration. The so-called Guardian isn't just there to test your willpower or make up fears and obstacles. There are also dangers of falling prey to illusionary realms created by entities far more powerful than any human.

    I follow both the scientific and esoteric approach to OBE and through experience I wanted to take the easy path myself - judging only the scientific approach as "valid", more experience and later on more knowledge taught me better. I recommend Rudolf Steiner's extensive work on the Guardian of the Threshold and on the Double.

    https://anthroposophy.eu/The_double

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  9. Recently in the morning just before awakening or coming out of sleep-but I was still asleep, a voice said Do it now. If that was suggesting I try to separate I don't see how I could bcuz I was still asleep and not able to think in my normal mind.

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  10. Can it actually cause your harm or pain?

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