Review: Astral Odyssey by Carol Eby

Review: Astral Odyssey

by Carol Eby

Today I'm reviewing Astral Odyssey: Exploring Out-of-Body Experiences by Carol Eby. The book is copyrighted 1996.

I love this book, and I love the author, Carol Eby. Partway through the book, I actually found myself fantasizing about "what might have been" if I had met her before I met my wife of 32 years, Kathy, in 1988. It might have been a match made in, well, yes, Heaven. Or at least the astral plane. From her writing, she just seems like a kindred spirit. Why am I so enthralled? I suppose it's because she seems a lot like me, and her journeys seem to parallel my own. She shares my same scientific bent, my insatiable curiosity, and my same objectivity.

The book has many OBE narratives, which won my heart, none of which were over-the-top or ostentatious. They're just ordinary OBEs, chronicles of her experiments with the non-physical, and her personal observations. Like Robert Monroe or William Buhlman. From the start she tells us who she is (a chemist by profession) and how she got involved with OBEs.

Toward the beginning of the book, Eby lives alone in a cabin in the secluded forests of the Black Hills of South Dakota, not far from Mount Rushmore. I currently live in a forest in rural Minnesota and many of my early OBEs happened in my mom's cabin in a somewhat secluded forest of Minnesota.

Her first OBE was on May 5, 1978, just a year and a half prior to my own first OBE on November 2, 1979.

The first two thirds of the book are an introduction to the subject of out-of-body experiences, and like a good scientist, she cites references for important statements. Lots of references. And her references aren't for the timid: she presents findings from authors like H.J.Irwin, Herbert Greenhouse, D.Scott Rogo, Susan Blackmore, Sylvan Muldoon and others, and not just books, but scientific articles as well: Eby's really done her homework.

Eby spends a lot of time analyzing the various states of consciousness, both from a scientific point of view, and from her own personal experience. She spends a lot of time describing and analyzing the phases of sleep, especially the hypnagogic and hypnopompic states; a lot more than other OBE books. She discusses the various sleep states and the transitions from one to the other. For example:

"Sometimes when I go from an OBE into a dream, it is similar to going from a normal waking state into a dream..." (pg. 18)

"Passing from a dream to an OBE is similar to passing from a dream to physical wakefulness, only instead of awakening in my physical body, I awaken in my astral body, which can be in the same room as my physical body, in another part of the house, or farther away." (pg. 18)

I loved this passage:

"The first time I voluntarily left my physical body and entered the astral plane fully alert, I was astonished that my consciousness actually could exist outside my physical form. As is typical of others who have had even brief OBEs, I no longer believed I had a 'soul,' I knew it. I was amazed at how absolutely solid and real the astral plane appeared--as convincing as physical waking reality..." (pp. 125-126)

I know for sure Carol Eby speaks from experience because she describes things in the OBE state that many books don't, and things I've personally experienced. For example:

"I have also heard ordinary sounds distorted with a strange, eerie, off-key resonance; my voice and my piano have sounded tinny and out of tune." (pg. 130)

That's spot on, and it's something I've personally experienced, and is very rarely talked about.

She also talks about how, in an OBE, you kind of lose your sense of orientation. The walls or ceilings can seem like floors, and she describes that quite well too:

"The strange thing was that every position felt right side up, which made viewpoint and perspective confusing. I was amazed that I could become so disoriented in my own cabin, where I had been living for most of the previous five years." (pp. 165-166)

She's also one of very few people who, during an OBE, saw a figure who looked like depictions of Jesus Christ, which she never expected. (Pg. 134 and pp 204-205)

One thing I found interesting is that she describes a precognitive dream that was bathed in a strange blue light, which is much like Graham Nicholls's precognitive OBEs.

Another thing I found fascinating is how she made a distinction between visualization and hypnagogic imagery:

"It is important to distinguish between two types of mental imagery; one type, caused by the imagination, seems to originate and take place inside the brain, behind and above the eyes, and the other type, hypnagogic imagery, seems to manifest through the inside of the eyelids. Mental pictures caused by the imagination are more deliberate than hypnagogic imagery, which seems to appear by its own volition from outside the mind." (pg. 80)

Eby spends a lot of time explaining the hypnagogic (pre-sleep) and hypnopompic (post-sleep) states of sleep, and most of her OBEs seemed to be from the hypnopompic state.

"Even without a lucid dream, the hypnopompic state is conducive to an OBE. It is necessary to simultaneously prolong the waking process and prevent falling back to sleep." (pg. 99)

There's also a very personal touch. Many of her OBE narratives chronicle her many attempts to contact her friends, primarily "Judi," which often ended prematurely, ended in ADD distractions, or outright failure, which closely echo my own frustrated attempts to contact my friend "LD" (Lisa) in my first book.

Eby presents one OBE with veridical evidence from her friend, Sue. Sue was worried about her friend Bob, and apparently visited him in an out-of-body experience. Bob was working at a pharmacy at the time, and Sue saw him dressed in his white blazer:

"Bob said he knew she had been worried and apologized for the way he had dropped the previous phone conversation. Then he mentioned that while he had been at work, he had said out loud, "I'll call you between 5:00 and 5:30." The other pharmacist, a female, who had been working with him asked, "Why?" Bob, unaware that he had spoken out loud, asked, "Why what?" Puzzled, the female pharmacist asked, "Why are you going to call me between 5:00 and 5:30?" "What!?" Bob replied.
"When Sue heard this, she realized that she had actually been to the pharmacy--in astral form." (pg. 100)

In spite of this, most of Eby's OBEs had elements that did not match up with physical reality, and in a way that makes them more interesting. For example, she would lie down in bed snug under her blankets, but after leaving her body, she saw her blankets crumpled up in a ball on the floor. At the time, she knew full well that what she saw did not match physical reality. And that leads to some interesting discussion about the nature of out-of-body perception: Is it subjective or objective? Is it an echo of the physical world or just mind-stuff? I loved this passage:

"Susan Blackmore, who has written extensively about OBEs, contends that they are internal and that the mental constructions are based upon memory. According to Blackmore, the distortions, omissions, and additions to the astral world reported by so many projectors result from faulty memory, with gaps filled by imagination.

From my experience, I believe that during my OBEs, when aberrations appear in the astral world, my memory is working about as well as in physical waking. When I saw the framed print of the old woman on my fireplace mantel, I knew, from memory, that it was not there physically." (pg. 236)

In chapter 6, "Between Worlds," Eby describes exit symptoms and gives five procedures (techniques) to induce OBEs. In a nut shell, her techniques are:

1. From a state of deep relaxation, she uses autosuggestion, visualization of a black screen, and imagination of vibration. If hypnagogic images appear, she "thinks" them away "so that my mental screen remains black." (pg. 153)
   
   That's an interesting idea; I always assume control of them and use them as an anchor to the "other side."
   
2. From the hypnopompic state, sink back and imagine you're rocking back and forth or side-to-side. (This is also one of my go-to techniques.)
3. Count back from 10 or 20 to 1, using progressive relaxation and autosuggestion toward having a lucid dream, then dispel the dream.
4. From full waking, drift into the hypnagogic state. She says that she either falls asleep or gets up, thinking she's in the physical world, but she discovers she's really in the astral.
5. From the hypnagogic or hypnopompic state, visualize any place you want to go. (AKA the Target Technique).
   

As always, my short descriptions don't match the actual text that goes much more in depth, so by all means: read the book for yourself.

After reading a lot of mediocre-to-bad books on astral projection/out-of-body experiences, it's wonderfully refreshing to encounter a really good book like this.

The book is 244 pages with smallish margins and font (although I didn't need reading glasses), which means there's a lot of good content. The writing was engaging and professional. The grammar and spelling were flawless. There is nothing negative about this book to complain about.

I give this book 4 and 1/2 stars out of 5. I would have given it 5 if the techniques section was a bit bigger.

Bob Peterson
18 July 2023

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

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

Lessons from the Chess Board

 

by Bob Peterson

One of my earliest life-lessons was when I learned to play chess when I was in elementary (primary) school. My older brother, Joe, taught me how to play, and he coached me and gave advice. I was hooked and couldn't get enough. Every day after school, we played game after game, as much as he would tolerate.

In spite of all his help, Joe had no mercy. He ruthlessly defeated me, beating me game after game after game. He kicked my ass bloody. But he also explained what I had done wrong. I'm not sure what he got out of it, but I know what it did for me: it made me a better chess player. My focus and determination grew and my chess skills slowly improved. After what seemed like years, I matched Joe's skills and won about half the time.

One day after school, at a friend's request, I visited a chess club that was holding a tournament for middle-school ("junior high") players. I played a few games of chess against their best players and I won every game. These kids were years older than me, and I went home undefeated, with a super-inflated ego. One of them said, "Next year, when you graduate to middle-school, you should join our chess club."

In middle-school I soon learned that if you only play against the same player, you may learn to defeat him/her very well, but you still may be no match for other players with different strategies.

Years later, when I got to high school, my interests changed from chess to computers. I started visiting the University of Minnesota for free "continuing education" computer classes. That's when I heard about an upcoming chess tournament at the University. A little scared and anxious, I scraped together the money and entered the tournament. 

On the day of the chess tournament I was very nervous, but defeated my first two opponents in close victories. My third opponent kicked my ass. He just took me apart, handed my ass to me, and I went home defeated, with a broken and defeated ego. It's a good thing I was good at computers!

Nowadays I play chess on my phone, and my phone usually kicks my ass. It's still fun.

What does all this have to do with astral projection or out-of-body experiences? It's all in the lessons.

My lessons from the chess board were:

• You can't get better at chess or anything in life by playing weaker opponents.
• You learn best by playing superior opponents and overcoming obstacles.
• It's good to broaden your skills by playing different players, not just the same opponent over and over.
  
• You only "lose" if you give up and stop working toward your goals.
• Don't take defeats to heart: see them as lessons, or baby steps, and move on.
• Don't take victories to heart either: there's always someone better than you.
• If you hitch your value/worth to your ego, you will always be let down.
• Never get discouraged: There is always time for another try.
• We are never done learning. There's always something else to learn.
  

As it is with chess, so it is with astral projection, except you're only playing against yourself. Astral projection is a skill, much like any sport.

• Don't be afraid of obstacles. Face them and overcome them.
• Never stop practicing and never stop improving your skills.
• You've only failed if you've given up, so never give up.
• Learn from multiple people who have experiences, not people with book-knowledge, and not just one person.
• Most importantly, try different strategies: many may fail but some of them might lead to success.
• Don't judge yourself by your success or failure. Just work toward your goals.
• The amount of effort you put into it will determine how much you get out of it.
  

And as it is with astral projection, so it is with life, too. Every one of the bullets above apply equally to anything in life.

It's all a journey and a game. We all learn and we all teach. We're just walking each other home.

Bob Peterson,
20 June 2023

Review: Astral Projection by Marius K. Green

Astral Projection

by Marius K. Green

Today I'm reviewing the book Astral Projection (Extended Edition) by Marius K. Green. The subtitle is: The Supreme Guide to Travel in Unknown Worlds and Contact Your Missing Loved Ones. That's a mouthful!

It's been a long time since I read an astral projection book and did a book review. Sorry! I guess I've had other priorities in life. Part of the problem is that the book was tedious--hard, even painful--to read, at least at first.

In fact, if you had asked me to rate this book while I was reading the first half of the book, I would have said that this is the worst astral projection book I have ever read. But then it got better. The second half is better than the first.

As usual, I'll start out with the negative and list the problems so I can end on a good note.

Some of the bad points:

• The pages have no page numbers, so I can't even tell you where to find quotes! The best I can do is tell you what chapter it's in. Unprofessional. Did I mention that this is "The Extended Edition" which means nobody caught the omission on the earlier edition?
  
• There are incomplete sentences that just end unexpectedly.
• He makes some dubious claims like "the astral body can be released and set off on a long journey, moving at the speed that is less than only the speed of light waves". (chapter 2)
• He uses strange and unfamiliar terms compared to other books in the literature. For example, he refers to the astral body as "the ghost." He refers to sleep paralysis as "astral catalepsy" like some of the very oldest books on the subject.
  
• He doesn't reference any contemporary books on the subject. He only quotes very old sources like Hereward Carrington, Oliver Lodge, Charles Lancelin, Sylvan Muldoon, and such.
• His sources are not listed in any detail, so the reader is left wondering if he/she should take the author's word for it, try to find the actual reference, or just write it off. And I'm not a man who takes authors at their word.
  
• He talks about two astral projections he had a very looooong time ago. One, he says, took place in the "summer of 1924". That's 99 years ago! His photo in the back of the book is in color and makes him look about 30 years old. The other took place "in the summer of 1916" which is 107 years ago! So something definitely doesn't add up. Maybe he was quoting from one of those old books, but didn't say so? Or did I miss-read it?
  

A big part of the problem was just the author's wording. I felt like I was reading a computer-generated translation from a book that was originally written in French. Why French? Well, the author's name is Marius and as an ignorant American, the only other time I've encountered that name was from Les Miserables (Have a listen to "A Heart Full of Love"), a play about the French Revolution. Plus he references the French author Charles Lancelin. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions.

At least in the beginning the book uses all kinds of weird phrases, even wrong words. For example:

"That what you met, following the laws of art that will be stated, may not coincide in some respects with what I tell, and about which art is acquired by practice." (Chapter 2)

Huh? Here's another example:

"This is always the way that the ghost moves when exteriorization occurs, and the body is in a horizontal position. The whole process could happen stray or slow." (Chapter 4)

Another example:

"When this happens, the physical body always experiences a concussion, sometimes accompanied by pain, or as I called it, "splitting in two." This is also called "bestowal" (repercussion.)" (Chapter 4)

I don't think he really meant concussion (head injury); he meant repercussion. In the heading that precedes this, he refers to it as "Rapercursion" which is just...bad.

Another example:

"Whenever I saw a dream, I was attracted by some terrible ghostly object, similar to the Buddha." (Chapter 5)

I can't even imagine a sentence in which "Buddha" can be described as both terrible and ghostly.

In chapter 6 he even describes sleep paralysis (a normal function of the sleeping physical body) as "epilepsy" (an electrical storm inside the brain). Yikes!

He calls flying dreams "flying sleep." He calls falling dreams "dreams of the fall." and his pronouns are often mixed up, sometimes using "it" to refer to a person, or "he" or "she" to refer to a thing. (This trait is common to European languages.)

Green says a few things that differ from my personal experience. For example, he writes:

"In the dreams of the fall [falling dreams], we always wake up before we reach the earth." (Chapter five).

I hate to break it to you, but that's not true at all. I've had dreams in which I not only hit the Earth, but was violently smashed several feet into the ground, and died from the fall! And the current book I'm reading [to be named later] contains another fine example dream.

Green references the work of a few other authors, but he doesn't cite references, so I have no idea how to do further research, and he often misspells the authors' names. For example, several times he references the work of:

• Dr. Lindler regarding the composition of the astral body.
  
• Hereward Carrington, but he calls him "X. Carrington."
• He references experiments done by "Dr. Van Letem" but cites no references, so how can I give it any weight?
• He references "Dr. Van Idey" and "Dr. Van Eden" but maybe he meant Dr. Frederik van Eeden? Possibly the same person as the previous bullet?
  
• He references the famous spirit medium Eusapia Paladino as "Evzapia Paladino."
• He references "Mr. Gurney," as one of the authors of "Ghosts of the Living." Um. That's "Phantasms of the Living" by Gurney, Myers and Podmore.
  

He also uses very dubious "pseudo-science." For example:

"Radiated in this way, their strength can be measured by means of specially designed instruments - a biometer, tonometer, and so on. Some devices of this kind were invented by French experimenters. These devices show that repulsive force is emitted from one side of the body, and gravity from the other." (Chapter 7)

He also talks about "ether" as being a fundamental particle of science, which is like 100-year-old pseudo-science. He also talks about the "weight of the soul," which, as far as I know, was debunked fifty or more years ago.

He also makes very dubious medical claims. For example:

"The body has four large nerve, or psychic centers--four brains, as they are sometimes called (brain, cerebellum, medulla oblongata and solar plexus.)" (Chapter 8)

This is not science; this is nonsense. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and suppose he's talking about chakras, it still contradicts conventional thinking.

Now for some of the good points:

The book is based on the author's personal experience, which many authors cannot claim. In fact, he says "...the author is well acquainted with this phenomenon, having made hundreds of projections of a period of 12 years..." (chapter 1).

To back that up, he has several OBE narratives, and they sound pretty convincing to me. You know how much I love OBE narratives.

Green has some interesting points about astral projection. For example, bucking conventional wisdom, he says:

"So, if you think that for astral projection, it is necessary that the mind remains calm, then you are mistaken." (Chapter 10)

(I, for one, do need to remain calm). And yet later he stresses the need for complete "passivity"--Something which I've insisted on since my very first book.

"Everything that stimulates you - alcohol, drugs, or food, is negative factor because it prevents the achievement of a passive state." (Chapter 10)

Calm and passive is what works for me. But, to get nit-picky, alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant.

Interestingly Green also recommends using as light blanket as possible, stating that "excessive weight on the body creates a special physiological effect." Although I remember another author insisted just the opposite, citing that heavy blankets are preferred because they make you slightly uncomfortable and hot. I've always preferred sleeping atop the blankets if I can.

Green insists that his astral projections correlate to a slow heart rate. In fact, he recommends trying to slow down your heart rate to induce OBEs. He said he has a naturally slow heart rate, so slow that his doctors put him on a medicine that increased his heart rate, and his out-of-body experiences completely went away for weeks. As soon as he stopped taking the medicine, he started having OBEs again. (Chapter 10). He estimates his ideal heart rate is 42 beats per minute.

He also ties many of his astral projections to fear: he had more OBEs when he was afraid of them, and as he became more comfortable, they slowed down. He was able to overcome that factor by using extreme desire, which brought them back. (Chapter 11).

He discusses some of his experiments. For example, several times he tried Sylvan Muldoon's "Thirst" technique and was successful. He's the only author I know of, besides Muldoon himself, to have actually used it successfully, and several times.

In another series of experiments, he projected several miles away to his girlfriend's bedroom to try to make his presence known to her. He got there several times, but she never saw him. Then, when he stopped trying, he dreamed that he visited her, and this time she actually saw his ghostly form. I had to laugh because this exactly mirrors some of my own experiments!

Green tried several times to affect the physical world, like trying to knock things off a shelf, but he was never successful. He became extremely frustrated by this fact, maybe even a little sorrowful, and described how joyful it was to rejoin his physical body and regain its ability to affect physical things.

There aren't really any astral projection techniques in the book, but there are hints. He talks about how he had the most astral projections when he slept for 6 hours, stayed awake for 15 minutes, then went back to bed, setting a strong intention. This is, of course, the now famous "WBTB" (Wake Back To Bed) technique, but he seems to have stumbled on it by accident. He made no references to WBTB.

He also talks a lot about developing "passive will" and influencing the "crypto-conscious mind" which apparently is halfway between the conscious and subconscious mind. It's an interesting discussion, and he spends some time on it. In fact, he states:

"I say without hesitation that the role of the passive will in the projection of the astral body is one of the great secrets. You can call it the method of simple imagination, but this is not entirely accurate. Rather, it is imagination plus a will, fulfilling the desires of the imagination. In this case, the passive will can never be used by force because it will turn into an active will. You just have to have a strong desire to project." (Chapter 11)

Yes, I agree with that.

Oh, and he makes a clear distinction between lucid dreams and astral projection.

So what are we to make of this book? There's definitely a cultural gap here, with Green talking about drinking water from a stream and visiting "nearby villages," but he also writes about power lines. There's a time gap, with references to experiences that happened a hundred years ago, and books from a hundred years ago, with absolutely no modern references. It made me wonder: Was most of the material written by his grandfather? His descriptions of the non-physical sure seemed genuine enough. He even honestly admits he never went to "higher planes" and was always stuck in the "lower astral" or the echo of the physical world. 

I didn't count the number of pages, but I'm guessing about 120, with decent (but slightly large) font and margins, so you're not cheated on the amount of content.

In my opinion, there's nothing "supreme" about this book, nor does the author explain how to contact dead loved ones, as advertised in the book's title. One thing's for sure: Things don't quite add up. And because of that, I'll only give the book 2 stars out of 5. I've read worse books, but you can find better.

Bob Peterson
06 June 2023

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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

Problem 10: I keep getting sucked back in

 

by Bob Peterson

In this article I continue my series to help you solve out-of-body experience problems. The previous articles in the series are:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep
3. Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade
4. Problem 4: I Get Scared and Chicken Out
5. Problem 5: I Can't Get The Vibrations
6. Problem 6: Stuck in Sleep Paralysis 
7. Problem 7: My OBEs are Too Short
8. Problem 8: I Get Out and I'm Blind
9. Problem 9: I Can't Go Anywhere  
   

This time I'll help you solve another common OBE problem: You successfully leave your body but you can't make any progress because your body keeps dragging you back inside.

This has happened to me for as long as I remember: I induce the proper conditions, fly, float or walk away from my physical body and after a few seconds, POOF, I'm snapped back inside my body. It usually doesn't bring me back to full-body awareness; it's just an instant relocation. In the past I've described this as like "Paddle Ball". You know, a paddle with a ball attached by an elastic string, and your goal is to hit the ball with the paddle and the ball invariably snaps back to the paddle. Yeah, pretty lame.

So how do you solve it?

Persistence is the key

Like all things astral, the key is persistence. It's normal and natural for your focus to temporarily snap back to the body, but if you persist in your efforts and try again you will make progress toward your goal. I've had many out-of-body experiences in which I make an exit but get snapped back inside within three feet (1 meter). I refocus, exit again, and get snapped back inside again, but this time I get maybe six feet (two meters). If you keep doing this you can make slow but steady progress. Eventually you'll get beyond the "cord activity range" where you'll have more freedom of movement and will be less likely to get sucked back inside.

Using this technique, I've had three-hour OBEs that were broken into lots of smaller five-to-fifteen minute segments. The down side, of course, is that it's really hard to remember what transpired during those segments. But that's another topic for another day.

The Solution

So if you get sucked back inside your body after a few seconds, my best advice is: 

• Ignore it and immediately exit again.
• When you get back to your body, do NOT move your physical body. 
• Instead, focus on the space in front of you and, if you can, develop a sense of motion and momentum to push back out of your body again.
• Do NOT think about your body at all. Casual thoughts like "I wonder if my body is alright" or "I wonder if I've been away from the body too long" can instantly send you careening back to the body again.
• Just forget about your physical body and focus on the non-physical task at hand. Stay in the present moment.
  
• Be persistent. If you get sucked back inside your body 37 times, exit 38 times.
• If you "reintegrate" with your body and can't easily exit again, don't move your physical body, but focus on inducing the vibrations again.
  

Out-of-body experiences can seem like a game of cat and mouse. You constantly chase it and it constantly gets away. But just like physical life, you need to be tenacious and never give up on your goals.

The Universe (with a capital U) often throws up roadblocks to our goals, but overcoming those roadblocks makes you stronger and helps you develop your skills.

Bob Peterson,
23 May 2023

Biggest Facebook AP Groups 2023

by Bob Peterson

The last time I analyzed the Astral Projection groups on Facebook and published my results was in May, 2021: two years ago! (You can read that article here.) Needless to say, it is now badly out of date.

In that time many groups have come and gone. Others have been renamed or changed focus. Believe it or not, some groups even kicked me out or scolded me for posting links to my blog! This, despite the fact that all I've been doing is offering free astral projection information, techniques, and advice for the last ten years. Anyone who spends five minutes to research me and my work can figure that out. I don't value any group whose moderators are so closed-minded they can't be bothered to research me or my work. Their loss.

Without further ado, here is my updated list of the biggest Astral Projection groups on Facebook for 2023:

1. Astral Projection - 76000 members, up from 66400
2. Astral Projection - Techniques - 60600 members, up from 18000
   
3. Astral Projection Lessons - 58600 members, up from 47000
4. Astral Projection Community - 32000 members, up from 31900
5. The Out-of-Body Travel Foundation! - 17200 members, up from 16000
6. Astral Projection&Lucid Dreams Teachings And Other Psychic Abilities - 12600 members
7. Astral Traveling & Spiritual Awakening - 10500 members
   
8. Astral Projection and Psychic Experience - 8200 members, down from 8600
9. Journey To The Astral World - 7700 members, up from 7000
10. ASTRAL PROJECTION - 7500 members, up from 7000
11. Astral Projection Help And Tips - 6500 members, up from 3300
    
12. Out of Body Explorers - 6300 members
13. TMI Out of Body Experience Group - 6200 members
    
14. CONSCIOUS EXPLORERS - 5500 members
15. Astral Projection & Lucid Dreaming group - 5000 members, up from 4500
16. Astral Projection (Out of Body Experiences) - 5000 members
17. Astral Projection-OOBE-Lucid Dreaming - 4700 members
    
18. Out of Body Experience & Near Death Experience - 4600 members
19. Sleep Paralysis and Astral Travel - 4300 members, up from 2900
20. Astral projection travelers, experienced and learning. - 4300 members
    
21. William Buhlman Group - 3300 members, up from 2100
    

There are many other groups with fancy names, but I chose to post the groups with the most members because those tend to be the most active and vibrant.

All these groups are excellent resources for people interested in astral projection.

Congratulations to rising star "Astral Projection - Techniques," for outstanding growth that rocketed them to the #2 position. Their dedication to a cause and outstanding team of moderators are to be applauded! Full disclosure: I moderate that group as well as several others (but I'm not very active in my moderation).

If you wish to join these groups, be sure to answer all the entrance questions honestly, and once you're in, please be respectful and thoughtful of others.

Many of these groups don't tolerate hate, religion bashing, religious agendas, self-promotion, controversy, mud slinging, or inappropriate material of any kind and will boot people out in a heartbeat if you cross the line.

Remember: while our paths may all be different, we are all headed the same direction. We are all teachers and students, both teaching others and learning from others.

Bob Peterson,
02 May 2023

Problem 9: I Can't Go Anywhere

 

by Bob Peterson

In this article I continue my series to help you solve out-of-body experience problems. The previous articles in the series are:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep
3. Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade
4. Problem 4: I Get Scared and Chicken Out
5. Problem 5: I Can't Get The Vibrations
6. Problem 6: Stuck in Sleep Paralysis 
7. Problem 7: My OBEs are Too Short
8. Problem 8: I Get Out and I'm Blind
   

This time I'll help you solve another common OBE problem: You successfully leave your body but you can't go anywhere. You seem trapped, can't leave your bedroom, unable to push through doors, windows or walls, or you can't seem to reach a friend.

Understanding the problem

Experienced astral travelers agree: barriers like this are almost always psychological: your progress is blocked by limiting beliefs, fears, or doubts, whether conscious or subconscious. For example, subconscious fears--fears you may not even know you have--can hold you back because of the mysterious unknown: Who knows what's out there? It's a defense mechanism to keep you safe.

To get around these problems, apply a bit of psychology. Here are some possible solutions:

Solution 1 - Try all your options

Sometimes you can't push through a door because, in some deep part of your psyche, you think it might be impossible. After all, you can't do it when you're physical. To your psyche, a closed door may imply a barrier you should not cross. But since you've never pushed through a wall while physical, you may not have that bias.

So if you can't get through a door, try walking through a nearby wall. If you can't get through the wall, try a nearby window. Don't give up until you've tried all three.

Even if you can't push through a door, you can try to open it. Many people find that, although they can't really open the door, they seem to pass right through as soon as they try.

Solution 2 - Leave your astral body

In my previous article (#8 above) I offered this as a solution to astral blindness, but it also works for getting stuck and being unable to leave your immediate surroundings. For the same reasons, I might add. So close your (astral) eyes and use your imagination to try to separate your conscious awareness from your non-physical (etheric?) body into a second non-physical (astral?) body.

Solution 3 - Raise your vibrations

I talked about this, too, in the previous article. Sometimes you can't get through a window, wall, or door because your conscious awareness is vibrating at too low a rate; the same reason that may make you blind during an OBE. Occultists would say your vibrations are too slow and "physical," and collide with the vibrations of the counterpart of the physical walls, doors, windows.

To counter this, try raise your vibrations. Close your eyes and imagine your conscious awareness is vibrating at a given rate, then imagine the vibration gets higher and higher, like turning up a dial. Or perhaps like a musical note that gets higher and higher in pitch. It might help to imagine peace, tranquility, or heaven or other happy thoughts. Or recall a song that really puts you in a good mood.

Solution 4 - Back your way through barriers

Another time-tested trick is to turn around and face away from the barrier (wall, door, window, etc.), then take a step backwards, backing up through the barrier rather than going through it forwards. This is simple, but effective.

Solution 5 - Freedom Now!

Another solution is to strongly insist, demand, or even scream and shout out that you are completely free from obstruction. Yelling "Freedom Now!" can unlock subconscious barriers and set you free. Willpower can overpower even stubborn psychological limitations.

Solution 6 - Think of a place and pull yourself there

I described this technique in a blog article from 2013 called Controlling Your Reality in an OBE. Basically, you think of a far-away place, set a mental anchor there, and pull yourself to the anchor. It's more about intent than actual movement.

Solution 7 - Ask helpers to take you some where

In my experience, there are helpers "out there" during my OBEs who are willing to help, even if you don't see them. In fact, I usually don't see them, but I can talk to them and hear them normally. They never interfere unless you ask them for help. But if you ask for help, they're usually very cooperative and willing to help.

So if you're having trouble, try asking (aloud) for help. Just say (aloud, in the OBE) "Can I please get some help traveling to X?"

Conclusions

Sometimes we stand in our own way and block our own progress. Doubts, fears and limiting beliefs hold us back. That's true in the physical as well as non-physical environments. The best way around them is often to discover and resolve the limiting beliefs that hold you back. That's best done before you go out-of-body.

But once you're in the OBE, use psychology devices like the solutions above. These can get you past the blockage, which, in turn, helps you resolve those limiting beliefs and fears.

It's a spiraling cycle: limiting beliefs keep you inside, but the more you struggle, the more those beliefs are reinforced.

Instead, use these simple tricks to your advantage, and your newfound freedom will break the cycle of "stuck" and prove that you are, in fact, free to go wherever you want. As they said in the Wizard of Oz, you had the power all along.

Bob Peterson,
18 April 2023

Problem 8: I Get Out and I'm Blind

by Bob Peterson

In this article I continue my series to help you solve out-of-body experience problems. The previous articles in the series are:

1. Problem 1: Nothing Happens
2. Problem 2: I Just Fall Asleep
3. Problem 3: The Vibrations Just Fade
4. Problem 4: I Get Scared and Chicken Out
5. Problem 5: I Can't Get The Vibrations
6. Problem 6: Stuck in Sleep Paralysis 
7. Problem 7: My OBEs are Too Short
   

This time I'm covering another common OBE problem: You make it all the way to a full-fledged out-of-body experience, but you find yourself completely blind and unable to see.

What is non-physical sight?

If you take a step back and look at the big picture, what we call physical "sight" is really just our physical brain's interpretation of the impressions light makes on the retina. Visual data from the eyes gets routed through the lens to the retina, along the optic nerve to the visual cortex at the back of the brain. From there impulses are sent to different processing centers of the brain where we interpret the image in several different ways (threat assessment, facial recognition, pattern recognition, memory processing, etc.). This interpretation is we call "sight."

In fact, the lenses in our eyes present the light onto our retina upside down, but your brain turns it "right side up" for your interpretation. Scientists actually conducted experiments where they gave people special glasses that flipped what they saw to be "right-side-up" on the retina. At first, the people couldn't function at all with the world seemingly upside-down. But after a while, their brains learned to adjust and then they could "see" the world normally again. But here's the weird part: When they removed the special glasses, the world looked upside-down again, until their brains readjusted back to normal.

In an out-of-body experience you don't really have "astral" eyes, retinas, optic nerves, or an astral brain. All you have is a similar interpretation, but of mysterious non-physical data. Our non-physical body schema is really just a framework we use to interpret that data. In fact, the "astral" body can take any shape, such as a sphere, a pinpoint of light, a bird, or a human body. We normally assume human form out of habit because we've been using it so long to interpret sense data.

In fact, you don't really have astral senses of sight, hearing, touch, or any of it. All you have is interpretations of all these non-physical perceptions.

The same can be said for dream senses: When we "see" something in a dream, we are really just experiencing hallucinated inner events, and interpreting that data as sight, sound, touch, and so forth.

My point is simply this: if you don't "see" during an OBE it's not really something to be too concerned about. I've found myself blind in countless OBEs where I just ignored it, walked away from my body and focused on other things, like plotting a course of action, etc., and a few seconds later, without even trying, I realize that I had started to "see" without even trying. My sense of sight somehow just naturally kicked in without effort, and I hadn't really even noticed it.

Different types of non-physical sight

In my first book, chapter 18 (which you can read here) I described four basic types of non-physical sight:

• Astral sight - This feels closest to "physical sight" everyone wants to have.
  
• Astral mind sensing - This is more like sensing everything around you in all directions at the same time. It's almost like touching the entire room, and everything in it, all at once.
• Body sight - This is where you try to open your non-physical eyes, but instead your physical body's eyes open and you see, for example, your ceiling, but often blurry.
• Clairvoyance - This is what people today would call "Remote Viewing", where you receive visual impressions of things, both near and far. Long ago, they used to call it "traveling clairvoyance." Most people don't stop to consider that if you can do it from the in-the-body state, you can also do it while out-of-body.
  

So when I say I'm "blind" I really mean that I want (or expect) to have the first type, astral sight, but I have one of the other types instead, or none at all. And that's annoying because it's hard to describe what you "saw" in your OBE unless it's that first type. So what can you do about it?

Solutions

Here are some ideas to get you unstuck.

Solution 1 - Get farther away from your physical body

Author and experienced astral traveler Sylvan Muldoon wrote that the physical body has a "cord activity range" that not only pulls you prematurely back to your body, but also interferes with your sense of sight. He estimated it to be 15 feet/5 meters, but some authors say it's more like 10. I've also found this to be true, so I always recommended follow these steps:

• Close your (astral) eyes.
• Put some distance (15 feet/5 meters) between you and your physical body.
• Make an effort to open your (astral) eyes. This is just like opening your physical eyes.
  

In my experience this is usually enough to restore good eyesight.

Solution 2 - Clarity now!

William Buhlman, author of several books on the subject, suggests you demand “Clarity Now!” to engage your sense of sight. Other suggest you even scream it at the top of your lungs. And it often does bring clarity.

Solution 3 - Engage your analytical mind

I've had OBEs in which my "sight" didn't operate properly until I engaged my analytical mind. I could "see" objects in my bedroom but my vision was extremely limited and I couldn't correctly identify or interpret them. So I started doing math problems in my mind to engage my analytical mind. I started doing simple math problems in my head. Something like this: "1024 plus 768 is, let's see, working from the right to the left, 8+4, is 12, 2+6 is 8, but carry the 10, so 92, and 10+7 is 17. So the answer is 1792." As I did this, all the objects in my bedroom came into sharp focus and I could "see" everything normally.

Solution 4 - Leave your astral body

Try to leave your astral body. Seriously. Like I said before, our non-physical body schema is really just a framework, and if that form is limiting, leave it behind. How do you do that? Just try to escape your astral body like you did your physical; walk away from it or visualize your spirit leaving the astral body, rising up, etc.

The result is that you'll usually find yourself in a different "astral body," one that can see more clearly.

Solution 5 - Raise your vibrations

Occultists of old would probably say that you cannot see because your awareness was associated with a dense a non-physical body, like the "etheric body," or the "lower astral." So you can either leave that "etheric body" and take control of the finer "astral" body, or else just focus on raising your vibrations to a higher level, and hopefully your sense of sight will snap into place.

Solution 6 - Leave "The Void"

Some seasoned out-of-body experiencers describe a place called "The Void" that's a jumping-off point for non-physical excursions. Fred Aardema comes to mind. In "The Void" all you see is blackness. It's like you're in outer space, but no stars or planets are visible.

I firmly believe that many people misinterpret "The Void" as blindness because you can't see anything. Look down at your non-physical hands. Can you see them or are they invisible too? (I've had OBEs in which I could, OBEs in which I couldn't, and still others where I could see them as filmy and translucent).

Either way, refocus your awareness to someplace more familiar, but not in your bedroom or wherever your body resides. In fact, it's usually better to focus on an area outside your house or apartment. Refocus to the roof of your house, out in the street, a garden, a park or wherever you want. Once refocused, your sense of sight is usually restored.

Conclusions

Non-physical senses can be confusing; especially the sense of sight. Hopefully these tricks can help you get unstuck. So go out and see the sights, and write down what you "saw" in your OBE journal.

Bob Peterson,
04 April 2023