Out of Body Experiences Throughout History
Astral projection, also known as an out-of-body experience, can occur at any time to any person. The most common out-of-body experiences occur during a major trauma. However, it is possible to have an out-of-body experience by sheer will.
A more common name for such a process is astral projection. A great many persons have claimed to experience out of body experiences and even more people have made the claim they are able to perform astral projection. While the basic techniques for these abilities can be considered identical, although they can differ slightly depending on the exact person. However, some question the true validity of these claims to such abilities.
For centuries, there have been people who have experienced the phenomenon of out of body experiences. Some of them have experienced them during sleep and ignored it, believing that what they saw was a dream. However, most out-of-body experiences are experienced during major trauma such as surgeries.
There have been many accounts of out-of-body experiences occurring during the unfortunate instance of near-death situations. In all of these cases of out-of-body experiences, the individual that has gone through the experience will state he/she was able to see and hear everything that occurred in the room at the time. Such individuals have the ability to describe events that may have occurred while in this state and otherwise would not have realized what had occurred.
Out-of-body experiences have also been known to occur due to the prolonged use of psychedelic or common dissociative drugs. Yet, there are a number of techniques known to induce the common out-of-body experience most have read about. A traditional example of this is the employment of visualization during a relaxed and meditative state of mind. Various studies have occurred recently designed to show that similar experiences to out-of-body experiences might be induced directly through stimulating the brain.
Probably the most common type of out-of-body experience is dubbed an astral projection. During astral projection, a person may be able to leave the bodies and visit other places on earth. The individual may even be able to explore astral planes or even higher planes of human existence.
The renaissance Neoplatonist and Rosicrucian philosophy, as well as many other philosophies, state that an astral body in body created by light and links the “rational soul” and the physical body as an intermediate. It also states that the astral plane is a world created of the same light and exists between Heaven and Earth and is made of the spheres of stars and planets, which are believed to be home to angels, demons, and spirits.
According to many ancient Egyptian beliefs, the soul presents the common ability to hover, or float, outside the body in the “Ka” which is also referred to the subtle body. This has also been known as the astral body. In most common beliefs in astral projection, the astral body is associated with a “silver cord” of psychic energy that is linked to the physical body.
The Chinese Taoists had devised a unique alchemical practice which centered on creating a body of energy by way of breathing meditations, pulling energy into something known as a “pearl” and it then is circulating the pearl through the body to cradt the body of energy.
While an out-of-body experience occurs, many individuals have noted that they willed themselves to leave their physical body. Other people have made reports that they discovered themselves venturing out of their bodies as if they were being pulled. Then, there are others that stated that they did not realize they exited their bodies until long after they were already out of it. Many people even stated that they wished to get out of bed and when they sought to venture to their door, they found out they could not touch the door. Upon realizing this, they looked towards their bed and saw their physical body lying down.
Neurologists commonly try to explain such events as being due to a mismatch of the visual and tactile signals of the brain. A great many out-of-body experiences will occur during the time that exists in between the REM sleep and the actual time prior to waking. During the great many instances of out-of-body experiences, the subject will venture into a state known as sleep paralysis. During this time that exists in between being sleep and awake, sleep paralysis can continue onwards as dream imagery intermingles with input deriving from the senses.
Many scientific studies however have been undertaken in the field of astral projection and out-of-body experiences to show that this is a very real phenomena. Research facilities in a number of different countries such as the Monroe Institute in Virginia and the prestigious Projectarium at the International Academy of Consciousness in Portugal and the Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience in Switzerland have explored the subject with a number of interesting results.
