Astral Projection
by Kimberly Moon
Today I'm reviewing the book Astral Projection by Kimberly Moon. The subtitle is a mouthful: Unlocking the Secrets of Astral Travel and Having a Willful Out-of-Body Experience. Including Tips for Entering the Astral Plane and Shifting into Higher Consciousness. The book is copyrighted 2018.
This is another cookie-cutter book similar to many others I've reviewed. It is:
- Under-credentialed: The author gives no indication where she acquired her knowledge of astral projection.
- Way too short: only 39 pages long.
- Not personal: there are no OBE narratives.
- Only one real astral projection technique given, and it's pretty vague.
My biggest complaint is that the author gives no indication where she acquired her knowledge. Since there are no personal narratives, I can't believe it's from experience. Did she learn from a master, teacher, or guru? If so, she gives no credit. Thus, she has no way to substantiate claims like this one:
"The soul is incapable of leaving the bod[y], as without it, the person would die. This also makes astral projection different from near-death experiences, which occur when the soul actually leaves the body for a short time." (pg. 3)
Hm. I bet authors like Albert Taylor, author of the book Soul Traveler, would beg to differ. But Taylor's knowledge comes from his direct experiences. This also throws the entire religion of Eckankar and their "Soul Travel" under the bus. But I digress.
Here's another unsubstantiated claim:
(Besides the astral plane) "...The other six planes are etheric/physical (this is the plane where human life exists), causal/mental, essential, spiritual, monadic, and "manifestal." (pg. 3)
I'm sorry, but before you make such claims, you better have something to back it up. The author doesn't even explain what these planes are, how you can tell if you're there, how they differ from one another, etc. A hundred years ago, the Theosophists wrote about seven different planes of existence, but at least they claimed to have experiences to back it up.
I did not disagree with the author on many points. For example, she recommends drinking nothing but water. I've been slowly going that direction myself.
"It is important to train yourself to think that water is really the only beverage you should drink. Avoid sugary, caffeinated, and carbonated beverages altogether, and drink water with meals." (pg. 8)
I've never had a problem with sugar or corn syrup. I don't think caffeine is bad. In fact, in one section of his excellent book The Phase, author Michael Raduga recommends WBTB, slamming an energy drink in the middle of the night, and going immediately back to sleep. Aside from an occasional (once a month?) can of Monster, I don't drink carbonated drinks anymore. I am, however, highly suspicious of some artificial sweetners like aspartame.
"You must work to keep your mind active and engages in the process, or you run the risk of simply falling asleep and missing out on the astral projection experience." (pg. 18)
Well, that's a bit misleading. In my 40 years of experience, you need to focus and clear your mind into a tiny pinpoint of awareness. You need to quiet all thoughts and emotions, yet retain awareness. It's important to maintain that conscious focus, but you definitely don't want to keep your mind active. If you keep your mind active, you'll never enter the vibrational state.
Moon really only gives one astral projection technique, and that is summed up nicely on page 19:
- First, simply relax your body and mind.
- Relax into a trancelike state of "hypnagogia (somewhere between sleeping and wakefulness). [Note that she never explains the hypnagogic state or how to recognize it]
- Encourage, within yourself, the feelings of mental strength and control, rather than feelings from the physical self; engage with your astral self. [She never explains how to do that.]
- Be aware of the spiritual plane vibrating all around you; it feels welcoming rather than threatening. [She never explains how you're supposed to be aware of it. How? I can only assume by using your imagination.]
- Enter and embrace the vibrational state; your astral body is preparing to join the astral plane. [She never explains how to enter or embrace the vibrational state. How exactly does one do that?]
- Concentrate on exiting from the physical body into the astral realm, slowly and with intention; you will pull your spiritual self, part by part, from your physical self. [She never explains how to do this. Again, concentrating won't work. It's a matter of focusing your mind.]
- Conclude the process by guiding your astral self out of the body. Just visualize yourself separating, and it will be so.
Oddly, she calls this technique "The Monroe Steps." I don't recall Robert Monroe giving these steps. Monroe gave a few techniques, but I don't recall any that sounded like this. In fact, what this reminds me of is my second book, Lessons Out of the Body, when I bitched about way-too-vague instructions given by many astral projection authors. To quote Lessons:
"Usually, their instructions looked something like this:
1. Relax totally.
2. Imagine floating.
3. Now that you're out of your body, go ahead and explore." (pg. 9)
There are other recommendations and techniques in the book--kind of--but nothing as solid as the steps I listed above.
Moon recommends a 4-7-8 breathing meditation: Breathe in through your nose for four counts, hold your breath for seven counts, then exhale through the mouth for 8 counts. This is not an astral projection technique; just a recommended meditation.
While I agree with several of Moon's assertions, the book has a fair amount of misinformation, like this:
"You cannot control your actions in the [lucid] dreams (or the dreams themselves), so that is a different experience than astral projection." (pg. 20)
That contradicts my experience. In most of my lucid dreams, I can completely control my actions and often, I take control of the dream itself, causing objects to appear and disappear with an act of will. With astral projection, I tend to have less control.
Here's more bad advice:
"So, once it is time to return to your physical body and end astral projection, all you have to do is grab hold of your silver cord and take yourself home. It can happen instantaneously, if you so desire." (pg. 25)
Most authors (including me and William Buhlman) say you can end the OBE just by thinking of your physical body or a body part like your little finger. The problem isn't getting back because that will happen automatically when you've been away too long. The problem is staying out as long as possible. Following your silver cord back is bad advice; for one thing, many astral projectors don't see a silver cord, even when they're looking for it. For example, Eddie Slasher's book, Explorations Out of the Body, which is clearly and unequivocally based on the author's personal experiences.
Here's more bad advice:
"It is also a really good idea to set a timer of some sort to remind you when it is time to end your astral projection session." (pg. 25)
In fact, most OBE authors agree it's a really bad idea to set a timer or alarm: setting time limits tend to work against you trying to focus your mind out-of-body no matter how long it takes. If you're concerned about the time, or even mildly thinking about the time ("Have I done this too long? Is my alarm going to go off soon?") it's enough to keep you inside your body. Do yourself a favor: do not set a timer or alarm.
Another thing I found questionable was this:
"There is really nothing to fear in the astral plane or your journeys there, so we would recommend preparing yourself through all of the techniques named here, and don't worry about protecting yourself. You will be just great." (pg. 33)
While it's good to be fearless and have a positive attitude in astral projection, I think the subject should have been addressed more thoroughly. After all, we're dealing with the unknown and it's natural to be scared or cautious. Although rare, scary things can happen. She could have talked about what to do if you encounter something scary: end the experience by thinking about your physical body. Many books instill a sense of safety by saying prayers or rituals, but I've always advocated a sense of fearlessness and to counter force with force.
There were a few things I did like about the book. For example, she wrote:
"In other words, what happens in the astral realm, stays in the astral realm." (pg. 30)
I thought that was clever. She also made the observation that dreams, including lucid dreams, can be interpreted, but astral projections can't, just like real life experiences. I kind of liked that too.
Despite a few doses of misinformation like those above, the book wasn't that bad. In fact, I agreed with a lot of it. The bottom line is that the book is just way too short. It's only 39 pages, which is shorter than the "References" section of the last book I reviewed, Convergence! There's just not enough content.
I'll give it 2 stars out of 5. There are much better AP/OBE books on which to spend your money.
Bob Peterson
11 May 2021
---------------------------
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment