Now that the astral projection legend has been described, I’d like to discuss specific variants of the legend. According to Muldoon and Carrington, “the astral cord is an elastic-like structure, connecting the astral body with the physical,” he goes on to say that “the astral cord always stretches from one body to the other, regardless of the space or distance between them” (p. Once in the astral plane, the astral body is limited by the astral cable. once detached-whether slightly or remotely-you are in the astral plane” (p. while dreaming you really are in the astral plane. He says that “when you are dreaming you are not really in the same world as when you are conscious. Though exacts cannot be explained, Muldoon and Carrington (2011) calls this area a dream world. It is difficult to define what the astral plane is as it is unique to each person and what they know or have seen. A hypnogogic state is defined as the drowsy period between wakefulness and sleep and it is during this period in which, according to Muldoon’s and Carrington, astral catalepsy and astral projection takes place. It is the latter method that I find so interesting and chose to research. He states that “although an OBE can be spontaneous, it is more often associated with near-death experience, stroke, epilepsy, the ingestion of psychedelic drugs…or the emergence of hypnogogic states” (p. After defining OBEs, Smith (2010) explains how astral projection can occur. The author goes on to cite well known variants-Goethe and Freud-who have experienced this type of astral projection.ĭespite this unusual definition, though, the phenomenon most often is described as the former definition, that is, a sensation of the astral body traveling to an astral plane, and it is this definition that the paper will concern. Xiong (2008) describes astral projection as a phenomenon in which “the out-of-body self can be seen by others” and “astral projection can be subdivided into spontaneous and voluntary” (p. It is also interesting, and perhaps important, to note that this definition has been used in every source except one, a text that defines astral projection as a type of doppelganger legend. It is interesting to note that many sources use the term “out-of body experience” as a catch-all for any similar phenomenon. Smith (2010) defines OBEs as “the sensation of leaving and floating outside one’s body, often while seeing one’s body.” He goes on to explain that “this experience is presented as evidence for a nonmaterial and disembodied ‘astral body,’ ‘spirit,’ or ‘soul,’ capable of paranormal journeying through ‘astral projection,’ or ‘spiritual travel’” (p. In the following paper, I intend to define the well documented astral projection legend, and then compare and contrast variants of the legend found around the world. 4).ĭually, this quotation makes apparent the historical depth of astral projection as well as uses specific terms-spiritual, mystical, and the idea of ‘higher’ realms-that separates astral projection from other types of out-of body experiences (OBEs). In his article regarding the afterlife, Woolger (2014) notes that “in such journeys in the world religions and innumerable tribal practices” scholars have “described a common pattern of ‘ascent’, which is to say an ecstatic, mystical or out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveler leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body into ‘higher’ realms” (para. And, among other sacred and secular texts, the astral body appears in Hindu scripture, Taoist practice, and even Christianity. In the Qur’an, Muhammad’s astral body travels in the Isra and Mi’raj story. but its vehicle” (Muldoon & Carrington, 2011, p. In Egypt, the “KA was not the soul of man. The astral body appears in many different cultures throughout time and throughout the world. He tried to achieve this state while researching and writing the paper. He selected to write about this topic simply because he has always been fascinated with astral projection and lucid dreaming. His fiction has appeared in ZONE 3, Puerto del Sol, and Hobart, among other publications. Daniel Miller graduated from MU with a bachelor of English in May 2014, and he is a first-year masters’ student now in English at MU.
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