Astral Projection
Today I'm reviewing Astral Projection: An Easy Way to Travel the Soul by Jennifer Vinney. The copyright is missing, but assumed to be 2024.
This book gave a very bad first impression. Why? There was no copyright page, the pages aren't numbered, the chapters aren't numbered, and the English grammar is poor. I could easily believe the book was written in Chinese and translated by a bot or AI into English. For example, the author, Jennifer Vinney, never talks about herself in the first person. Instead she refers to herself as "The author." In several cases she is referred to as "he" when she quite clearly (from a photo) is a she. For example:
"In the author's journey, the author found a lot of amazing knowledge and techniques. It is amazing due to the its simplicity, yet it produced amazing results." (pg ??)
Despite all that, the book gets better. The grammar gets a little better with each chapter and it contains several solid out-of-body techniques. I'll go over them later.
Despite the poor grammar, the book does have some good advice. For example:
"One-pointed attention does not mean to empty your mind. As the name suggests, one-pointed attention means to focus your attention on something. It is not recommended for you to be in a complete empty mind because this may allow the entry of distracting external forces." (pg. ??)
I agree to some extent. The difference is subtle but important. It's not exactly "Concentration" and it's not exactly keeping the mind empty. You need to achieve a quiesced state of mind with single-pointed focus.
Here's some more good advice:
"However, if you are just partially paralyzed, silence your mind and relax. As you relax, your paralysis will become stronger and then you can will yourself out." (pg. ??)
She talks about affirmations, suggesting, for example:
"My body will sleep soon, but when my body falls asleep, I will be conscious. My consciousness will not disappear. I will have full consciousness while my body is sleeping." (pg. ??)
The book contains a few curious things that baffle me. For example, she writes:
When you return to your physical body, you will usually feel the beat. This beat is a sensation caused by friction or fast movement when the other layers of your aura merges with the physical body." (pg. ??)
I have no idea what she's talking about. Is she talking about heart beat? The Vibrations? Who knows.
At one point she talks about using crystals to facilitate astral projection. She says:
"While many crystals enhance body vibrations, thereby facilitating the process, Jasper, particularly Leopardskin Jasper, is considered the best crystal for this purpose." (pg. ??)
To my memory, this is the only book I've read that suggests jasper. Some books recommend quartz crystals, and various kinds of quartz such as amethyst, but one of the most popular seems to be Blue Calcite. I've had a large Blue Calcite crystal at my bedside for many years and I don't think it's made my OBEs more or less likely. Modern thinking suggests that mixing more than one type of crystal is a bad idea, so if you do want to use crystals, stick with one type. Again, this is the first book to suggest Jasper, so maybe I'll pick up some Jasper the next time I find myself at a rock shop, and I'll let you know.
Also, most books that suggest the use of crystals say to keep it by your bedside. Vinney has the following suggestions:
"Once the crystal is cleansed and prepared for use, gently place it on your navel before sleeping. It is recommended to avoid using large crystals weighing several kilograms for this purpose. A small crystal the size of your thumb is sufficient. If you find the crystal on your navel disruptive, you can place it beside your body, at a height around the navel." (pg. ??)
The Bad
Here is something I disagree with:
"The problem most commonly experienced by most people after returning to the physical body is a headache...However, most of them will suffer headaches for days each time they leave their physical bodies." (pg. ??)
Well, that just sounds wrong to me. I've never returned to my body with a headache. Not once, ever. In all the studying I've done, and all the books I've read, I've never heard of anyone returning with a headache. If that were the case, it surely would have been talked about by the likes of Dr. Janet Mitchell, Susan Blackmore, Robert Crookall, Gabbard & Twemlow, William Buhlman, and similar.
Show of hands: Have you ever returned to your body with a headache?
Here's another point I disagree with:
"In visiting friends or relatives, don't visit someone who performs a lot of spiritual practice...A person whose energy frequency is far higher than you can throw you back into your physical body with rapid heartbeat. It also might result in the inability to leave your body for several weeks afterwards." (pg. ??)
That sounds like a lot of nonsense to me. I've been around a lot of people with varying degrees of spiritual practice, such as channelers, psychics, mediums, healers, and fellow astral travelers. I've also encounter many high-vibration entities "out there" and never once has it caused me to be sent back with rapid heartbeat. What's more, after every out-of-body experience, it's been a lot easier to induce more, at least for a couple weeks. Yes, I've been thrown back inside my body for various reason, and sometimes with rapid heartbeat, but it's always been due to a startling physical event (the phone rings, etc.) and it has NEVER made the induction process any harder.
Here's another thing I disagree with:
"Evil life forms can only reach the fifth dimension. If you are able to leave with at least the fourth layer of your aura, then you will be able to secure yourself by going to the sixth dimension when you are chased." (pg. ??)
First of all, this is unnecessary fear mongering. Second, although there seems to be "layers" of places in OBEs, I've never identified them as "layer 4, 5, or 6, etc." Like I've always said, there aren't signs above the doorway saying "This is the Astral Plane, level 3." It's more like "This doesn't look very physical, so where the heck am I now?"
I really don't believe in "evil" as people think of it. Yes, there are entities with bad intentions and motivations, just like in physical life, but if you keep your thoughts and emotions positive, they won't be able to reach you, regardless of which "dimension."
Another point of disagreement:
"The subconscious, however, is merely an overflow of information from these three consciousnesses...Unlike our three consciousnesses, which can deliberate, make choices, and learn, the subconscious lacks these abilities, although it is connected to all three consciousnesses. It serves as a receptacle for strong emotions and other information from the consciousnesses, functioning essentially as a "garbage can." (pg. ?? -- Near the end of the book)
That sounds like textbook learning, and it doesn't match my experience. In my experience, the subconscious is highly intelligent and independent, capable of making its own decisions. Or maybe it's just a problem with semantics: Maybe what I call my "subconscious" is one of the "three consciousnesses" she describes. Who knows.
The Good
Okay, so far I've focused mostly on the negative aspects of the book (pretty much the first half of the book). Now let's focus on the positive (the second half). This is where Vinney describes out-of-body induction techniques, and she offers a good variety of them:
Table Tennis Technique
I'm not sure why she calls this technique "Table Tennis." I think maybe it's mislabeled. Basically you lie down and imagine yourself floating up to the ceiling and back down.
Accordion Technique
This is similar to the Table Tennis Technique, except you imagine a small ball the size of a table tennis ball, then you pull it toward you and push it away, in rhythmic fashion. Gee, does that sound familiar to you? It's basically the same thing I wrote in chapter 24 of my first book. You can read my version of the technique by clicking this link.
Rope Technique
This obligatory technique was created by Robert Bruce. At least Vinney gets it right that it's supposed to employ "tactile imagination" rather than visualization.
Watch Yourself Going to Sleep
Again, this was appropriated from my first book, chapter 5. You can read it at this link.
Monroe Techniques
This also seems to be an obligatory technique for newer astral projection books, created by the famous Robert Monroe. Vinney's is a fairly decent description of the technique.
OOBE from Lucid Dreams
Again, this is pretty straightforward, but the author really doesn't say how to transition from a lucid dream to the OBE state.
The Red Spot Method
This technique is kind of unique. Basically, she suggests it should be done "after several hours of sleep." Basically, as you drift to sleep, you imagine there is a red spot on the floor next to your bed, and imagine that you, as a pinpoint of consciousness, are sitting on that red spot.
The Object Technique
This is just another name for the famous "Target Technique" quoted by many, but again, invented by Ophiel.
Displaced-awareness Projection
This sounds very similar to techniques in my first book.
The Jump Technique
This is a well-known technique in lucid dreaming where you jump up in the air slightly as a reality check.
Muldoon's Thirst Technique
Sylvan Muldoon described this in his book The Projection of the Astral Body. I don't recommend it. You basically leverage unsatisfied thirst to motivate your astral body to leave the physical. Believe me: dehydration is a dangerous game.
The Stretch-out Technique
This is a take-off on Jerry Glaskin's "Christos Technique" where you imagine your body is stretched to be taller at the head and at the feet. The original Christos Technique involved the use of helpers to massage the head and feet, but Vinney's variant doesn't. Incidentally, this technique was one of many techniques taught by William Buhlman in the Out of Body class he used to conduct at The Monroe Institute.
The Hammock Technique
This is a classic motion-based technique, like I wrote about in Hacking the Out of Body Experience.
The Trampoline Technique
This is a variant of the Hammock Technique.
Consciousness Transfer Method
There is one more technique listed, but it's not very helpful. Here it is:
"...the instruction given in the method is 'Let God's Blessings help you to transfer you to soul consciousness.'" (pg. ??--near the end of the book)
So the techniques section is better than a lot of other astral projection books out there, but never as good as the original sources. At the end of the book Vinney gives a "Bibliography" page in which she surprisingly recommends only seven books, only five of which are about OBEs. They are:
- Jane Roberts (who channeled "Seth")
- Usui Mikao (who wrote about Reiki)
- William Buhlman (first book)
- Vee Van Dam, The Psychic Explorer (which I own but haven't read)
- Robert Peterson (first book--Hey! That's me!)
- Janet Lee Mitchell
- Robert Monroe (curiously, only his second book, Far Journeys)
The book is 158 pages with slim margins and decent font, which means it's a decent amount of content.
I give this book 3 stars out of 5, but that's generous. The book needs page numbers, chapter numbers, and a solid Native-English editor.
Bob Peterson
04 February 2025
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