Overcoming Problems During OBEs

by Bob Peterson

Out-of-body experiences/astral projections don't always go as planned. In fact, they often defy our expectations and we have problems. Like an infant thrust suddenly into a new world, we find ourselves in a sticky situation without skills and without a clue how to proceed. Here are some common OBE problems and how to overcome them.

Disclaimer: large sections of this article are take from chapter 31 of my second book, Lessons Out of the Body.

If you get stuck to your physical body

During my early years of OBE exploration, I used to get stuck to my body often.  It was frustrating to go through an hour-long procedure to leave my body and then be unable to go anywhere. When this happened, I usually struggled against it for a while, but it was useless; my astral body would just not move. Luckily, I found a two-part solution.

Part of the problem stems from our belief systems, so the first part of the solution is to work on your beliefs. If you get stuck, you may be identifying with your body too much. Your beliefs and/or fears may be holding you back. The solution is to work with affirmations that will help you move away from your body even when it is paralyzed. For example, use this affirmation:

“I can travel freely during my OBEs.”

This affirmation should be used throughout the day, not only when you have the problem.

Part two of the solution is to properly deal with the problem whenever it arises. I’ve used this technique many times. When you find yourself stuck to your body and unable to move, try to just forget the astral body completely, then try to push your consciousness forward, without the astral body. Yes, without it.

Pretend you're walking under water. Try to move the location of your consciousness to leave your astral body behind. Don’t try to move your astral body, try to move your mind forward instead. When you do this, your consciousness will move forward. Try to keep up the momentum until you are at least fifteen feet away from your physical body.

OBE pioneer Sylvan Muldoon wrote about a “cord activity range” of about 10 feet/3 meters to 15 feet/5 meters that acts like a strong gravity between you and your physical body. Once you are outside that range, you will be free to travel at will. Curiously, you will still have an astral body. Why? Some researchers have described an "etheric body," or "energy body," a dense semi-physical “vehicle of vitality” (in the words of author Robert Crookall)–that acts like a vehicle for consciousness–that is related to “ectoplasm” used by "physical spirit mediums." It’s possible that this etheric body might occasionally get stuck to your physical body, and perhaps that is what gets left behind when you try to force your mind forward. Some people insist the etheric body is permanently attached to the physical body and will never move until you die. Others say the ability to move the etheric body is why spirit mediums are different from normal people. But I digress.

I’ve also used another method to get unstuck, which is recommended by William Buhlman and Eddie Slasher: demand very firmly that you be released. Focus very strongly and forcefully on the thought, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!” and repeat this until you literally feel yourself pried away from the physical body, unstuck.

Astral blindness

At times when you leave your body you can find yourself completely blind. In my experience this is usually also related to Muldoon's "cord activity range." The way to get around it is:

1. Make an effort to close your (non-physical) eyes.
2. Do your best to walk, glide or otherwise move 15 feet/5 meters away from your physical body.
3. Make an effort to open your (non-physical) eyes.
   

Body sight

Another annoyance is when you make an effort to open your eyes, but your physical body's eyes open instead, giving you a completely different and confusing perspective that's not related to your astral body's position and orientation in space. The solution is the same as with blindness: Move away from your physical body and out of cord activity range.

Losing focus or consciousness

It’s not always easy to maintain consciousness during an OBE. If you feel yourself getting drowsy or losing focus, you can try to perk yourself up that same way you would when you’re feeling sleepy while inside your body. If that doesn’t work, William Buhlman suggests you ask for, demand or even scream, “Clarity now!”

Another trick comes from author Michael Raduga, and that is to engage your sense of touch: palpation. If you think you're starting to lose awareness, use your (non-physical) hands to touch everything in sight, including touching your own arms, face, and so forth. Engage your sense of touch as deeply as possible until your focus is stronger.

Problems traveling

Most authors of OBE books made out-of-body traveling sound as easy as thinking about a place. It's not as easy as all that. When I first started having OBEs, I encountered many problems when trying to get around. Luckily, I learned to overcome these problems by doing three things:

1. Repair a damaged belief system
   Many of my early traveling problems were caused by flaws in my beliefs. Flying seemed unnatural and I doubted I would get to my destination. Traveling by thought-power alone didn’t make sense to me. My stubborn scientific mind was convinced couldn't be that simple. After all, there is no room in the laws of physics for thought-based propulsion. The best way to combat these problems is with affirmations. Repeat several times affirmations that empower your ability to travel freely. For example, “When I’m a spirit, it is easy and natural to travel by thought.”
2. Ask for help and accept it
   I never used to ask for help from spirits because I didn’t trust them. Plus, I’m a man, and men never ask for directions, right? Gradually, I learned that there are plenty of spirit helpers out there who are willing to help you travel where you want to go. Once you get over the fear and distrust, you’ll find out it’s okay to ask for help. These helpers are there whether you see them or not, and they can read your thoughts. To ask for help, simply think, “Can someone please help me get to...[your destination]?” Most likely, you will be assisted by a helper who may not even speak to you, or speak briefly, like "Sure."
3. Think yourself there
   Eventually I learned how to “think” myself to another location, as described in other OBE books. The process isn’t easy to explain, but it's easy to do. To travel this way, focus your mind on the desired location, almost as if tuning my mind to a new frequency. It feels like setting an anchor at a distant location and suddenly pulling yourself to the anchor. It doesn’t always work, so keep trying until you get it right.
   

Persistence is key to overcome OBE problems

The following OBE illustrates how to overcome OBE problems: Many years ago induced an OBE in which I had lots of problems.

I tried to sit up, but could only partially. I struggled to my right to get out of bed and stand up, but I was stuck. I tried to rotate around but I was zapped back to the body.

Round 2. I induced the proper state with extreme ease again, opened my astral eyes and saw the ceiling. I thought I heard some noises as if someone were in the room, playing with the things on the table near the foot of the bed. I tried to listen, and finally decided to sit up to see what was there, but I had no control. I could only sit up a foot off the bed, but not enough to see if someone was there. I tried harder until I lost consciousness and woke up in the body again.

Round 3 was the same as round 2, but this time I got brave and asked, “Who's there?” No reply. I still couldn't move.  I was quickly zapped back into my body again.

Round 4.  I got out of my body and tried to free myself again. I felt stuck, but then I felt a gentle pair of hands grab my feet gently and help me separate from the body. Unfortunately, I lost consciousness soon afterward and found myself back in my body again.

Round 5. I separated from my body again and decided to peel myself away from it with a backward-somersault. I peeled off awkwardly, floated about three feet off the bed. I didn't see anyone. I thought about what I wanted to do next. I decided to float/fly. With that thought, I started floating up to the ceiling. Then I decided to try to visit Julia, a friend I know from the Internet. I wanted to see if she could detect my presence, since she is psychically sensitive. I wondered how I should go about trying to get to her when I received a thought-communication from an unknown invisible source who said, “It's easy. Just think yourself there.”

I “thought” myself up through the ceiling and over the roof of the house. I tried to get my orientation so I could decide which direction was east. I started flying east at a great speed, perhaps as fast as an airplane, but decided “This might not work, or at least not quickly enough.” The same source said, “Just think yourself there.” So I thought, “With Julia.” It worked! My consciousness shifted. My eyes were closed but I mind-sensed a light/energy in front of me and knew it was her. I reached my astral arms/hands out and cupped the light/energy between my hands, as if holding her head. I tried to telepath to her, “Julia, this is Bob. How are you?” Then I lost consciousness. I decided against making a sixth attempt.

As this OBE illustrates, persistence is a key to solving OBE problems. If you get thrown back into your body, try to induce the OBE state again immediately before you move your body. Do this as many times as you need. If you get stuck to your body during an OBE, try different methods to pry yourself free until you find one that works. Approach unknown entities with caution, but don’t be afraid to ask for help from your spirit guides. If you’re having problems moving to your desired destination, close your eyes and reach out mentally to your desired location, then tell yourself to be at that location by force of will.

Be persistent and never give up.

Bob Peterson
08 March 2022

Review: Astral Projection Plain & Simple

Astral Projection Plain & Simple

by Osborne Phillips

Today I'm reviewing Astral Projection Plain & Simple: The Out-of-Body Experience by Osborne Phillips. The copyright is from 2003.

This book falls into the category of modern esoteric, which means it claims from the onset that there are several (in this case four) different planes of existence: physical, astral, mental, and spiritual. Humans, then, have four corresponding bodies that may be used to experience these planes.

Like many occult-oriented books on the subject, its techniques center around creating a simulacrum, an artificially created astral body built from the non-physical energy of the upper abdominal region (the solar plexus). The simulacrum is then used to experience the astral plane. Like some other occultist writers, Phillips suggests you first send it out on its own (without your conscious awareness) to explore the astral and bring back its impressions to you. He gives a technique called "Creating and Sending the Watcher" that ends with:

"You should know allow the Watcher to go about its business while you go about yours." (pg. 51)

Later, you learn to integrate the two (another ritual called "Recalling and Reading the Watcher") and basically download the simulacrum's otherworldly experiences in real time to create the out-of-body experience. He calls this "Reading the Active Watcher." (pg. 53)

I don't know about you, but all this seems counterintuitive, cumbersome, and unnecessary to me. In my OBEs, I'm both the actor and experiencer.

Also, like many occult books, its astral projection techniques are centered around rituals, but they're not too excessive. His four astral projection techniques start with the same two rituals: "Setting Apart of the Place" and "The Foundation Technique."

Setting Apart of the Place (page 19)

In this technique, you:

• Stand in the center of your room, facing east.
  
• Contemplate "The Source of Light and Life"
• Reaching upward and outward, imagine yourself growing and expanding until you are immeasurably vast.
• Maintaining the sense of immensity, formulate imaginatively a globe of brilliant white light just above, but not touching, your head.
• Visualize its luminosity increasing to an intense radiance that falls upon you and through you, permeates your whole being and surrounds you as an aura of white brilliance.
• Imagine a wall of white light slowing revolving counterclockwise about your room.
• Mentally say to yourself, "By the power of the divine light of my higher self, be this place free from all hindrances and from every shadow of doubt and illusion.
• Visualize a second wall of pale blue light just within the first wall, revolving clockwise.
• Mentally say to yourself, "By the power of the divine light of my higher self, be this place filled with peace and with the blessings of love and goodness."
• Allow the visualizations to fade from your awareness.
  

(See the book for more details.)

Foundation Technique (pg 27)

In this technique, you basically do this:

1. Assume a well-balanced standing posture in which your feet are together and your arms are held loosely at your side.
2. Maintaining this posture, visualize the sphere of brilliant white light--your crown center--just above your head.
3. On an in-breath, imagine a beam of white light being drawn down from the crown center to your breast, where it forms your heart center as a brilliant white globe.
4. On an out-breath, imagine a beam of white light descending from your heart center to your feet, where it forms another center in white light, radiant but less brilliant than the crown.
5. On an in-breath, see a flash of golden light rise from your feet center and pass upward into your heart center.
6. On an out-breath, the movement of the light rests, and you mentally affirm the three centers and their connecting shaft of white light.
7. Now repeat several times steps 3, 4, 5, and 6 above.
8. Finally, you see your heart center emitting a powerful radiance, to encompass you in an aura of golden light.
   

The Techniques

The problem I have with Phillips astral projection techniques is that the critical steps are vague. For example, he gives "Method 1: The Stepping Forth" (which, as always) starts with the "Setting apart of the place" and "Foundation Technique" followed by an affirmation, a visualization, and then:

"5. Transfer your awareness into the astral simulacrum of yourself that you have thus formed, so that your awareness of your physical body is lessened and your consciousness of the silver-gray figure and the golden aura is heightened." (pg 56)

But how exactly is that accomplished? He writes as if you already know how to transfer your consciousness out of your body. If you knew that, why would you need all the rituals and such?

Likewise with "Method 2: Change of Perspective". He writes:

"6. Now, transfer your awareness to a point outside your body, say about eight feet above you and facing toward yourself." (pg. 58)

For "Astral projection method 3: The going forth" he gives a little bit more detail:

"8. Now make a mental resolution to transfer your consciousness into the astral figure above you.

"9. Immediately after making this resolution, imagine yourself--gathered as it were at your point of consciousness--gliding swiftly upwards to the astral figure and entering it at the corresponding point of consciousness." (pg. 58-59)

Astral projection method 4 is "The revolving formula." Similarly:

"6. Transfer your awareness into the simulacrum of yourself that you have thus formed, so that your awareness of your physical body is lessened and your consciousness of the astral figure and the surrounding aura is heightened." (pg. 59)

I'm sorry, but don't just tell the reader to "Transfer your awareness into your astral body." If they knew how to do that already, they wouldn't need your book.

The Guardian of the Threshold

Phillips addresses a subject covered by very few other authors, and that is the Guardian of the Threshold, which he calls "The Lurker on the Threshold," and how it tries to frighten you to keep you from going out-of-body. He talks about how some of this is caused simply by fear instilled by other authors who are inexperienced in the subject. His advice on getting rid of it?

"You'll need a great combination of sympathy, encouragement, and firm determination to help fight it." (pg. 33)

Well, yeah, I guess I can't argue with that. The most important thing is not to let it stop you or even slow you down.

The book has some excellent advice concerning breathing: Instead of trying to breathe in a particular forced way, counting seconds or heartbeats, it suggests a common sense approach:

"What is needed is breathing from the diaphragm. Standing, seated or lying, in the posture of a person who is wide awake, alert, but relaxed, one should imitate the breathing, deep and unhurried, of one who is soundly sleeping." (pg. 18)

I disagreed with Phillips' view of the unconscious mind. He writes:

"Your unconscious, remember, is rather like a child: it will take delight in shared endeavors and will aim to please you, but it needs to know the rules." (pg.50)

In my experience, the subconscious is very sophisticated and intelligent; not childlike at all. As a matter of fact, I often feel like a child that my subconscious just barely tolerates and it would rather get on with non-physical life without my bothering it.

Phillips talks a bit more in-depth about astral sex. He makes an interesting observation that was posed to him as part of a question from one of his readers:

"Although I've kept all my other astral activities entirely secret, everything I do that's concerned with astral sex gets back into my twin's dreams. Naturally this is causing a lot of curiosity and joking." (pg. 108)

He also gives details on how to pull someone else out of their body, once you've become advanced enough. This is the only book I can remember that gives instructions on how to do that, although again, it's steeped in ritual, and involves convincing them to go with you. What's the critical step here? No surprise:

"5. The subject then transfers awareness into the astral simulacrum of the self thus formed, so that awareness of the physical body is lessened and consciousness of the silver-grey figure and the golden aura is heightened." (pg. 136)

Ahem. Not helpful. Interestingly, he also claims that it's not possible to pull an animal out-of-body like you can a human, although pets can astral travel.

Oh, and my pet peeve: the book doesn't give any clues as to where Phillips got his knowledge or his level of experience. In fact, there are no astral projection narratives in the book.

Don't get me wrong. The book has its good points. I expected to hate this book, but it was actually much better than I expected. 

The book is 151 pages with good font and margins, which means there's a good amount of content. On the good side, it's very technique oriented and informative, despite the shortcomings mentioned above. On the bad side, the writing is a bit cumbersome and hard to follow. I'll give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Bob Peterson
22 February 2022

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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

Clean Room Gloves Technique

by Bob Peterson

It's been a while since I've posted an out-of-body experience/astral projection technique on my blog, so I thought I'd share one of my more recent ones.

Most astral projection techniques use visualizations--visual imagination--to derail your in-the-body "story of experience," which allows you to accept an out-of-body "story of experience." That's all fine if you're good at visualization, but many people aren't. (Also see my blog article "I Really Have Trouble With Visualization".)

Because so many people aren't good at visualization, there's a growing body of techniques that target the other senses, such as tactile imagination which instead uses an imaginary sense of touch.

Author Robert Bruce became a pioneer in tactile OBE techniques when he invented his famous "Rope Technique" in which you imagine holding and climbing a rope that hangs from the ceiling. Bruce invented this technique for blind or visually impaired people, so he meant for the rope to be touched, felt--with an imaginary sense of touch--not visualized.

I wanted a more immersive OBE technique that also employs tactile imagination, so I developed the following technique. So here's what you do:

First, close your eyes and relax your body completely. Here's a blog article I wrote about Relaxation Techniques for OBEs.

Second, focus your mind for an OBE. Here's a blog article I wrote about How to Focus Your Mind For OBEs. 

Next, forget visualizations altogether. Close your eyes and as vividly as you can, imagine you're standing in a laboratory "clean room," the kind that has long rubber gloves so you can use your hands to handle objects in a sterile environment. There's a photo of one at the top of the article.

 

Imagine you insert your arms and hands all the way into the gloves and feel the contents of the cabinet. Feel the rubber as it touches, then stretches, then pulls tight against your skin. Imagine the coldness of its touch. Try to feel this along the entire length of your arms as you slip them into the rubber gloves.

 

Now imagine that your reach down into the box with your rubber-gloved hands and touch the objects inside. As you reach your hands inside the box, you touch the square glass walls of an aquarium. Imagine you dip your hands into the aquarium's warm water. Reach your imaginary wet-gloved arms all the way to the bottom where you feel sand at the bottom. On top the sand, you feel some gravel. Imagine you run your fingers across the gravel until you feel a jar. Imagine you pick up the jar and lift it up above the water to the dry air above. If you can, imagine you hear the dripping of the water as you pull the jar up.

 

Imagine it's a jar of crunchy peanut butter. Use your imaginary hands to twist off the lid, then reach in and touch the contents. Feel the thick, sticky, bumpy texture of the peanut butter inside.

 

Imagine that somewhere inside the jar is a beautiful blue sapphire ring. Twist your imaginary fingers through the peanut butter until you feel the ring. Pull the ring out and swipe away the sticky peanut butter from its surface. Dip the ring into the water and wash it clean.

 

Imagine the sapphire ring has magical powers to start the vibrations, then slip the ring onto your finger and expect it to work.

The idea is to immerse yourself completely in an imaginary sense of touch, and to do it so completely you forget all your other senses of sight, sound, and your body's "real" sense of touch.

Bob Peterson
08 February 2022

Review: The Truth About Astral Projection

The Truth About Astral Projection

by The Llewelyn Editorial Staff

Today I'm reviewing the book A Llewellyn Educational Guide To The Truth About Astral Projection by the Llewellyn Editorial Staff. The copyright is 1983.

For many years, Minnesota-based Llewellyn Publications has published metaphysical books, several of which are about astral projection, including Navigating the Out-of-Body Experience by Graham Nicholls, and The Llewellyn Practical Guide to Astral Projection by Melita Denning and Osborne Phillips (which I haven't reviewed yet, but it's been requested). I tried to get Llewellyn to publish my book Hacking the Out of Body Experience, but they turned me down (their loss: since I self-published the book, they're not dipping into my royalties).

This book is very small. In fact, it's only 32 pages, but the font is tiny, so they cram a lot of information into a small space. Still, it's way too small to go into any depth about anything. And you won't find any astral projection techniques.

I could best sum up this book with three words: "Astral Projection 101." In other words, it's a very basic set of basic information about astral projection and out-of-body experiences. If you're a newbie, coming into the subject for the very first time, this book is a good summary. It talks briefly about some of the experiments that were done with psychics like Ingo Swann and Alex Tanous, and it touches on other pioneers of the subject.

It has a few interesting highlights, one of which is an excerpt from the book Astral Projection by "Yram," (which I've also not reviewed) where the author describes his experience with "astral sex." Since many people ask about astral sex, I'll give Yram's whole quote:

"Her love penetrated into my being under the guise of a general warmth, while a feeling of absolute confidence filled my spirit. On the other hand, my aura penetrated hers and I had the sensation as if melting into her...In no other experience have I had so wide awake a consciousness, no love so powerful, nor a calm and serenity so profound...If you want to be united truly, eternally, with those you love, you must vibrate in harmony with them on all the planes, and in every kind of activity." (pg. 12)

And this matches my (admittedly limited) experience.

This book also talks about how well-known author Jack London became enamored with the out-of-body experience of Ed Morrell, and based his book The Star Rover on it. (Crap, now I've got to buy that too!)

The authors include a 14 point summary of the book themselves on page 29. Here's my summary of their summary:

1. Astral projection is safe.
2. It is a common human experience.
3. It is an extremely pleasant experience.
4. It is possible to travel almost anywhere.
5. The astral body is a duplicate of the physical body but is composed of a finer "etheric" substance.
6. It is connected to the physical body with a "silver cord".
7. People frequently project astrally without ever being aware they have done so.
8. Other persons, under some circumstances, are able to observe the astral body. Usually, however, it is invisible.
9. It is possible to have sex between two astral partners. The experience is blissful beyond description.
10. The astral body survives death.
11. At death it enters the astral world.
12. The astral world is populated by the spirits of the dead and also by its own native inhabitants such as devas and elementals.
13. Progress through the astral world is directly related to the progress of one's moral development.
14. In the end the soul passes through the astral realm and into the mental realm.
    

I'm not sure I agree with all of the points above, but in general, most of the book seemed correct to me. The book is just too small to be practical. I'll give it 2 stars out of 5.

Bob Peterson
25 January 2022

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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

How to Focus Your Mind For OBEs

by Bob Peterson

Someone recently asked me, "What's the right frame of mind to induce OBEs? What kind of mindset should I have?" It's an excellent question and one that requires a lot of attention. It's kind of hard to explain. I wrote three different chapters of my second book, Lessons Out of the Body, on the subject. They were:

1. Chapter 22. "How OBE is Like Tightrope Walking"
2. Chapter 26. "Keys for Inducing an OBE", and
3. Chapter 28. "State of Mind Required to Induce an OBE"
   

Of the three, only chapter 26 is available on my website (see link above). But since Lessons is out of print and hard to find, I thought I'd draw on those chapters for this article.

Focus versus concentration

Inducing an OBE requires focus, and lots of it. It's like walking a tightrope. You need to stay focused on the goal and getting there. That's different from "concentration." A tightrope walker doesn't "concentrate" on getting to the other side. He or she does has the intense focus required to balance and keep moving forward to achieve the goal. He or she doesn't look down. He or she doesn't worry or even think about falling. They have a focus free of distractions, single-minded, goal-oriented and pointed in one direction. That's what you want for an OBE.

Shut out distractions

To attain an OBE you cannot be nervous, anxious, afraid, or sleepy. You cannot be distracted by bodily needs or cravings like hunger, thirst, and itches. You can't anticipate the future or dwell on the past. You cannot distracted by alerts on your phone, text messages, emails, excessive noises or other attention-grabbers. In fact, it's probably best if you put your phone in "Do not disturb" or airplane mode when you practice. Your attention needs to be completely focused inward, in the present moment. You need to shut out the external world and focus completely on internal events.

Reduced thoughts and feelings

You can't be distracted by your own thoughts, like "Am I doing this right?" "How long should I do this before I give up?" "What should I eat for dinner?" "If I'm successful, what could happen?" You need to let all that go, relax your mind (and body) and focus on doing one thing: pointing your mind in that single direction.

You shouldn't be emotional, either positive or negative. Frank Herbert, author of the Dune books famously wrote, "Fear is the mind killer." Fear is also the OBE-killer. You should not be sad or happy, anxious or elated, fearful or brave. In fact, you should aim to just "stare off into space" with a blank mind. You should strive to be "the dispassionate watcher" instead of a "doer": Just watch and see what happens next. That's what many authors describe as a "trance."

 

Don't aim to "do" an OBE technique as much as to "watch" what unfolds when you slow down and focus your mind inward.

Absorption

Absorption is the ability to shut out external influences to remain focused. For example, you can be "absorbed" in a book, like when you become so engrossed in reading that you don't even notice someone talking to you. Try to become so absorbed in your OBE technique that you don't notice external stimuli like noises.

Watch and own hypnagogic images

One of my favorite techniques is to approach the edge of sleep and wait for hypnagogic images (hallucinations) to start drifting past your mind's eye. This will happen even if you're terrible at visualization: you just need to remain conscious long enough to see it. Watch those hypnagogic images dispassionately, but never lose focus on them. Never play "what if" with them or you'll get sucked down into sleep.

 

Try to assume ownership of the images. If you see a baseball bat, tell yourself "It's my baseball bat." If you see a bowl of soup, tell yourself, "It's my bowl of soup." If you see an Imperial Battle cruiser, tell yourself, "It's my battle cruiser." Try to examine the object closely for as many details as you can and, if possible, imagine touching it and feeling its texture. Do this for any hypnagogic image until it disappears, disintegrates or fades away, then wait for the next one to appear. The longer you do this, the more solid and real the images will seem.

Realism

Try to develop this sense of realism. In other words, try to convince yourself that the things you see in your mind's eye (whether they're imaginary or hypnagogic hallucinations) are real. Tell yourself they're real, even though you know for sure they're not. The more "real" you make the hypnagogic image seem, the more your brain turns its attention away from your body's five senses, and that is the key to getting out-of-body: You need to trick your mind into letting go of its stubborn "in-the-body story of experience."

Letting go

Once your mind lets go of the "in-the-body story of experience" you will either pop right into the out-of-body state or the vibrations will sweep into your body.

 

One you're fully out-of-body, you will experience the OBE state in real time. You then stop all pretending, stop all visualizations, stop all hypnagogic hallucinations, stop all use of your imagination. Often the images will stop automatically and you'll be "zapped" into a hyper-aware state of focused consciousness.

 

From that point, simply sit up, stand up, or otherwise try to leave the bed (or chair) the same way you would physically. If you're in the right state, your physical body should be in sleep paralysis and not move at all. Your non-physical (or "astral") body will be the focus of your experience. From there, simply go out there and explore the out-of-body state.

 

Bob Peterson
11 January 2022

Review: Man Outside Himself

by H.F.Prevost Battersby

Today I'm reviewing the book Man Outside Himself: The Methods of Astral Projection by H.F. Prevost Battersby. The copyright is from 1969. The book has a second subtitle: The Facts About People Who Leave Their Bodies and Travel At Will; And How They Do It. The book is very hard to find in print, but can be easily downloaded (I think for free).

Since I started investigating astral projection/out-of-body experiences in 1979, this was one of the first ten books I bought, but it didn't have much advice for learning to induce OBEs. There are several casual mentions like, "When asked how he did it, John said he didn't know." Not real helpful. There were a few scant mentions of techniques, but it's all pretty basic stuff: calm and focus your mind and relax your body, and so on. The best set of instructions was this:

"The essential points for study are: The power to concentrate one's thoughts on a single object without being distracted by outside stimuli; the practice of rhythmic breathing; nervous and muscular relaxation; and, finally, the ability to suspend thought completely." (pg. 89)

I agree with all that, but it's still very basic.

The book does have a lot of OBE narratives and if you follow my blog, you know how much I love narratives.

Battersby also has a lot of really cool out-of-body history in the book. He talks about the earliest reports of astral projection/OBEs in modern times, and some of the most verifiable. The study of astral projection in modern times began when Ralph Shirley wrote articles for a periodical called The Occult Review in 1907. In 1920 Shirley published a narrative from one of the earliest pioneers of the subject, Oliver Fox. Eventually in 1938 Shirley published a book titled The Mystery of the Human Double. Battersby talks about Fox, Sylvan Muldoon, Yram, Charles Lancelin, and many of the other early astral projectors. He also talks about the Theosophists like H.P.Blavatsky and A.E.Powell, and about mystics like Emanuel Swedenborg.

Many of the OBE narratives quoted in the book are excerpts from another famous book, Phantasms of the Living, written by three founding members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR): Edmund Gurney, Frederic Myers and Frank Podmore. In many cases the apparition of a living person was seen by someone else. Not all of them were out-of-body experiences: some were cases of autoscopy (dopelganger), and Battersby addresses that subject in the book as well.

Here's one of my favorites: In 1891, a woman named Mrs. Butler was living in Ireland with her husband, but for years she kept "dreaming" she was in a beautiful house. It was quite literally her "dream house." Later, when the couple moved to London, they found the actual house. She said, "Why, this is the house of my dreams!" and they bought it. When the housekeeper saw Mrs. Butler the first time, she exclaimed, "Why, you're the ghost!" She then explained that the house had the reputation of being haunted and she had apparently seen the non-physical body of Mrs. Butler many times. (pg. 49) I absolutely love stories like this, and this book contains many like it.

In another case, a woman named Hermione P. Okeden claimed she could leave her body, so her friends challenged her to visit in the out-of-body state and describe the details of their homes. The friends tried several times to fool her, even rearranging furniture in the houses, changing clothes, and tried to confuse her in other ways, but her descriptions were always accurate. (pg. 64)

Battersby also talks about an often overlooked astral traveler, Vincent Turvey, whose out-of-body adventures were documented in the book, The Beginnings of Seership. (I loved that book, but haven't book reviewed it yet.) What makes Turvey unique is that he would travel out-of-body to visit spiritualist seances across town and use the spirit medium's body to do automatic writing, signing his own name. On at least one occasion he even claimed to take control of the medium's body, talk through his or her vocal cords, and so on. Turvey's book contains reluctantly signed testimonials of several eyewitnesses who were at the seance and saw it happen. Note that Turvey had medical conditions that made it virtually impossible for him to cheat or even attend the seances in-the-body.

I loved this book. On the plus side, most of Battersby's OBE narratives had third-party verification. It's pretty convincing stuff. On the minus side, the narratives are all pretty old, from the 1800s and early 1900s, which is often enough to make hardened skeptics like Susan Blackmore discount them completely. There aren't any solid astral projection techniques.

Battersby has done a ton of research here. The writing is professional and the book is 100 pages, with tight margins and a very small font, so there's a good amount of content. But the information is very old, and you won't find any OBE techniques in there. I'm giving the book 3 and a 1/2 stars out of 5.

Bob Peterson
21 December 2021
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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

Harley Davidson's OBE Secrets

by Bob Peterson

Like many of my blog articles, this one is about learning to induce out-of-body experiences/astral projection, but there's a story that goes with it, so bear with me.

Buying a Harley Davidson

I had some PTO to use before the end of the year. With cheap airfare, Kathy and I flew to Colorado to do some sightseeing and visit relatives in Arvada (home of author Vicky Short--Hi Vicky!).

One day, while Kathy toured a historic hotel in Georgetown, Colorado, I went to the public library and surfed the Internet. I've owned and ridden many motorcycles in my life, and in late August, 2021 I decided to buy a Harley. So I did some searches to see if used Harleys were cheaper in Colorado. They were! I found a good deal on a particular bike in Fort Collins, so we drove up there and bought it. But then I had to get it back to Minnesota.

Road trip!

A few weeks later, we took another cheap one-way flight back to Colorado to pick up the motorcycle and drive it home. Since the vast majority of motorcycle accidents happen in the first 100 miles of ownership, we decided to take it easy, avoid freeways, only drive 4 or 5 hours a day, and avoid driving in the dark when possible.

We didn't have a charger for our wireless helmet headsets (the manufacturer didn't include a power brick--what kind of crap is that?) so were pretty much out of battery life on our first day. They also had an old level of firmware, which was buggy, and caused annoyingly loud feedback. To make matters worse, the Harley had very loud exhaust pipes (which I've since changed out). Bottom line: I couldn't hear Kathy, the radio, or the GPS even when they did work, so I didn't even try. So although Kathy was right behind me, we didn't talk. I was alone with my thoughts. I tried to avoid "highway hypnosis" by shifting my attention from item to item: traffic, rear-view mirrors, gas gauge, GPS map, handlebars, and occasionally the lyrics of obscure songs that came to mind. There was plenty of time for introspection and talking with my "inner voice."

One night, a few days into the trip, I'd just spent five hours driving down rural highways, past cow pastures and an occasional cow, alone with my thoughts and the constant rumble of the Harley. Tired, we checked into a hotel in the middle of rural Nebraska. It was late, and the room had two separate Queen-size beds. I changed into pajamas (or if you're British, pyjamas--I love that spelling!) and climbed into bed.

Bam!

As my head sunk into the pillow and I began to relax, I thought about the low rumbling noise of the Harley, and almost immediately I was inundated by "The vibrations" that precede some of my out-of-body experiences. They swept suddenly and intensely into my head and then throughout my body.

After 42 years of out-of-body experiences I don't get the vibrations much anymore, but once in a while they still come before my OBEs, and usually they're pretty mild. This time they hit so hard, fast, and intense that it startled me. These were the fastest OBE vibrations I've ever had. I was so shocked I snapped right back out of it, unable to convert it into an OBE. Doh!

The next day, as we continued our trek back to Minnesota, I reflected on what was so different from "normal" days in my life. What had caused this sudden, intense vibrations?

What it wasn't

I was certain it wasn't caused by the unfamiliarity of the hotel. In past articles I've written about "Harnessing Unfamiliarity For OBEs" and how staying in strange hotel rooms can often trigger OBEs. But that sense of "Sleep with one eye open" (to quote Metallica) wasn't with me that night. My head had barely touched the pillow! This hotel room was nothing special; an ordinary room in the middle of no where Nebraska.

Contributing factors

So what was different about that day?

Alone with my thoughts

That day, and the few days prior, I was mostly left alone with my thoughts. I had a lot of time for quiet introspection. In other words, I exercised my Default Mode Network (DMN), focusing on inner events more than outer events. I had also been away from work, a welcome break from the analytical thinking required for my job.

Little communication

Throughout the day, Kathy and I talked at gas stations and meal time, but other than that, there was very little opportunity to talk.

Just water (and coffee) to drink 

In an average day, I often consume a variety of drinks: almond milk with cereal at breakfast, a self-made coffee drink, water, maybe some juice. On this day it was straight coffee with coffee creamer in the morning and water the rest of the day.

Absolutely no artificial sweeteners

I've always maintained that my OBEs are more plentiful when I'm more trim. To lose weight in recent years I'd started using artificial sweeteners. I've always avoided aspartame (Nutrasweet) and Saccharin because I think they're not good for you. I avoid Stevia (Truvia) because I don't like the taste. But I still used sucralose (Splenda) and Monk Fruit. For example most of those "Mio" flavor squirts for water contain sucralose. However, on this trip our options were very limited. That morning I sweetened my coffee with a little real sugar, and hadn't consumed any artificial sweeteners for three days. Maybe artificial sweeteners are counterproductive to OBEs and had worked their way out of my body?

Wheat gluten every meal

I've written elsewhere that I believe wheat gluten can assist in out-of-body work. So I took note of the fact that I had eaten wheat gluten every meal that day. I hadn't planned it, but before we left the hotel in the morning I ate one of those hotel waffles (I love that Jade Shaw's dog is named Waffles--Hi Jade!). At lunch, I had eaten a sandwich with a bun. For dinner I had eaten a chicken sandwich or something. So maybe the vibrations were partly due to an accumulation of wheat gluten in my system.

Longer periods on an empty stomach

My job as a computer analyst requires intense brain work, and I find it easier to focus if I'm not distracted by hunger or rumbling in my stomach. Plus I think my body craves carbohydrates to bring more glucose to my brain. So between meals I often eat small snacks like a granola bar or a handful of cashews or almonds. However, on the day of the vibrations, I spent the whole day driving, which meant there was no time for snacking. I was held to three meals, nothing more. So my digestive system was on more of a roller-coaster--mini fasting between meals--rather than constantly processing food.

Yogurt

I've written elsewhere that a healthy gut microbiome (friendly gut bacteria that help us digest food) can make OBEs more likely. Conversely, OBEs can be harder with constipation. On the day of the vibrations, I had eaten a cup of yogurt for breakfast, which is known to be good for the gut microbiome, and no nuts.

Attention exhaustion

On a motorcycle you need to be especially cautious. Riding on the day of the vibrations, I had been staring straight ahead, eyes on the road, looking for deer and other animals that might jump out in front of the motorcycle. So my attention was intensely focused for hours, causing some attention exhaustion.

Rumble-memory

On that day I heard the rumbling of the motorcycle and felt the motorcycle's (physical) vibrations for hours. As I lay back, the memory of the sound-coupled with vibrations was fresh in my memory.

Not sleeping next to my wife

That night our hotel room didn't have a king-size bed; it had two queen beds. So I slept in a bed separate from Kathy. Many people (including author William Buhlman) say that it's harder to induce an OBE when someone's with you in bed. Buhlman told me he thought it was due to the overlapping of the people's auras. Regardless, it may have been a contributing factor.

Long-term sense of motion

I spent that day constantly in motion; driving down the road. That constant sense of motion may have been a contributing factor too.

No music

I'm a music lover and have been all my life. But in one of my early OBE journals I once made an observation that I'm more likely to have an OBE if I don't listen to music the entire day before. So I sometimes refrain from listening to music so OBEs are more likely. Since the Harley's radio was overpowered by the noise of the tailpipes, I didn't even try to listen to the radio that day or the day before.

Other differences

• I had natural sleep cycles the night before: I hadn't been awoken by an alarm. 
• That morning I had drank coffee, but only after I'd been awake a while.
  

All of these factors may have contributed to my entering the vibrations so instantly that particular evening. Then again, some of them might boil down to superstitions and beliefs: your belief creates your reality. So maybe I'm just conditioned to think that these things will help. But it never hurts to try, right?

Things to try

So if you want to induce OBEs, here are some things to try based on what I learned from my Harley Davidson road trip:

• Eat at least a small amount of wheat gluten in your daily meals.
• Eat conservatively: Don't snack between meals.
• Be friendly to your gut microbiome: eat some yogurt or drink a small amount of kefir, and reduce your intake of foods that give you constipation, like nuts.
• Don't listen to music the day before.
• Sleep alone in bed.
• Avoid all artificial sweeteners for at least three days.
• Spend less time speaking with people and more time in introspection.
  

And if all else fails, take a motorcycle trip through rural Nebraska!

 

Of course, none of this will guarantee you an OBE. You still need to do the work. You should still practice the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Astral Travelers. All these things may help make OBEs more likely in your life.

Bob Peterson
07 December 2021