Part Five

The Akashic Connection

26. The Astral Planes

The astral planes are, in my opinion, an energetically generated reflection of universal consciousness. They have definite form, order, and structure and are one of the true wonders of our incredible multidimensional universe.

The structure of the astral planes can be clearly observed, and even used for navigational purposes, if they are approached from the correct energetic "angle of perception". This is my term for the angle at which a projector perceives the astral planes through the direct mind-senses of his or her projectable double.

Perception angles vary from projector to projector, with tube-type and plane-type angles of perception being by far the most common.

The angle of perception is set by the projectors' energetic makeup and activity during a projection, and is also affected by their belief system.

Traditional esoteric theory tells us that the astral dimension contains seven major levels, or planes, each housing a plethora of lesser subplanes, internal realms, and kingdoms. The many different descriptions for this structure - Hindu, Buddhist, spiritualist. New Age, etc., even the multidimensional theory of modern physics - often appear to conflict, mainly because of cultural and religious beliefs. I have found it impossible to verify any one version of dimensional theory as more accurate than any other. I therefore base my version of the structure of the astral planes on my own experience.

Exploring and mapping the astral planes is like trying to explore a whole planet on foot, without maps or instruments. It cannot be done during any single projection. It would have to be done over a great length of time, by highly skilled projectors with good shadow memory recall and excellent organizational and recording skills.

Astral planes are complex, multilayered, energetically generated dimensional environments with variable perception-based aspects.

A tongue twister, I know, but accurate all the same. The way the astral planes and their contents are perceived, experienced, and remembered can be extremely variable, depending greatly on the projector's level of energetic activity at the time of projection, and on the state of their belief system, their level of consciousness at the time of projection, and the state of their base level of consciousness.

All this affects how the physical brain works, and how much of what is perceived during a projection the brain is capable of storing as a recognizable memory. After all, the only thing left after a projection is the memory of it, which will be perceived, interpreted, and recalled by the base level of consciousness only.

In the astral dimension, the energetic qualities of travelers' projected doubles strongly affect their angle of perception, more so even than their state or level of consciousness at the time. This is true, I believe, not only during the experience, but also afterward. It affects the memory and how it will be stored in the physical brain at the base level of consciousness, and thus, obviously, how an experience memory will be recalled after the fact.

I have explored only a very small part of the astral planes, which constitute an enormous dimensional structure with many different aspects and facets. I have not finished making observations of the primary layers and their surface entrance structures, let alone tried to map out their plethora of internal subplanes and realms. But I will proceed to paint a word picture of the astral planes for you, based on how I have perceived them during my many journeys there. I believe this will provide you with a much better and more understandable look and feel than theory alone could provide.

The astral planes, experienced firsthand, can be likened to the pages in a gigantic book, with lightly color-tinted gaps between the pages. These pages, or planes, appear to be hundreds of miles apart during an astral projection. The areas between planes are, I believe, something like buffer zones separating each primary astral plane from the next.

These areas vary in color, but have a distinctly similar feel to each of them - a kind of thick, quiet, color-tinted nothingness - oceans of colored empty space. A relationship appears to exist between the colors of these dividing areas and the energetic colors generated by the primary energy centers (major chakras) of the human energy body.

The surface of an astral plane is two-dimensional and covered with perfectly straight horizontal and vertical grid lines. This makes for a uniform checkered appearance over the entire surface. Each square on a surface contains a brilliantly multicolored geometric design, repeated endlessly in every other square. The surface of each astral plane has its own unique pattern, completely different from that of any other astral plane's surface pattern.

Each astral plane appears two-dimensional when its surface is approached.

However, a fully three-dimensional environment is experienced when this is penetrated.

Fig. 28.

Astral plane scene, showing projector's view during approach
 

Each astral plane also contains connections with every other primary astral plane.

These connections appear in the colors and patterns of the surface skin. For example, the violet/purple dot in the middle of each centerpiece of every square (see rear cover) can provide a link with the seventh and highest primary astral plane. And the four gold petals surrounding each dot can provide a link with the sixth primary astral plane.

Although I have not yet fully explored its potential, the navy-blue star on which the above structures sit appears to link these with the fifth primary astral plane, the one depicted. However, please keep in mind that if projectors do not have the energetic abilities necessary to transcend the fifth astral plane, entering any of the above will take them to higher internal realms within the fifth astral plane. Experimentation is the only sure way to ascertain whether these structures can be used as doorways to higher primary astral planes.

The surface of an astral plane is magnificent and awe-inspiring to behold. These structures are absolutely beyond compare in their artistic, crisp, and colorful beauty; their enormity and grandeur; and their spectacular awe-inspiring power and deep mystery. I am certain that they are logically and intelligently designed structures, much too geometrically neat and intelligently functional to be merely accidental or natural.

They appear to have been designed by an intelligence far beyond ours.

This illustration and its perspective are not abstract. It is based on my living memories of many conscious-exit projections and entries into the astral planes. (See rear cover for full-color version of this sketch.) This accurately represents the surface of what I believe to be the fifth astral plane and shows what the surface of an astral plane actually looks like when encountered firsthand during an astral projection.

If you can stretch your imagination just a little after looking at these illustrations and the rear cover, try imagining yourself there. Close your eyes and imagine yourself hovering five miles high, looking down onto a spectacularly checkered wonder as depicted above.

The following illustrations show how I perceive the primary astral planes.

Fig. 29.

Seven primary astral planes
 

Astral Subplanes

My journeys within the astral planes have shown me that each primary astral plane has a complex internal structure, a tangled spectrum of interconnected levels, subplanes, and internal realms, both positive and negative.

Dimensionally speaking, many of the internal parts are situated at right angles to the primary astral plane holding them. This description (right angles) is to be considered abstract; there is nothing in the physical dimension to use by way of fair comparison to show how this internal structure actually works. However, the following diagrams attempt to do so in the abstract.

Modern physics says that energy cannot be destroyed, but only changed. I believe that this also applies in all other dimensions. Reflected energies of consciousness, radiated into the astral planes from the physical dimension, have many forms, positive and negative, each with many subtle variations.

The reflected energy contained within the astral planes originates from raw primal consciousness energy, conditioned by the minds from which they have emanated. The subplanes and lesser realms within each astral plane are parts of an extremely complex energetic filtration system. I can think of no other way to describe the mind-boggling complexity of this process.

Internal energetic structures channel negative and positive energies (energetic reflections of consciousness) into different dimensional areas. This appears to be accomplished by natural forces acting as energetic attraction and repulsion mechanisms. Positive and negative energies radiate away from each other then congeal in energetically related holding areas, so that positive and negative energies generated by consciousness are separated and channeled toward the dimensional levels with which they are most precisely in tune.

The astral energetic filtering process is most noticeable in the lower internal subplanes. It is not apparent at all on surface structures, nor can it so easily be perceived within the higher astral planes. Higher astral levels seem to attract and filter only refined high-level energies.

These flow freely into them from coarse lower-dimensional areas that are not capable of handling high-level energies. Once filtered, these energies appear to take root and energetically contribute to the environment in the dimensional layer, area, realm, or kingdom with which they are most in tune. Positive and negative areas coexist within all subplanes and realms, holding each other dimensionally apart through natural energetic repulsion mechanisms.

This energetic filtering effect can often be perceived, during a projection, as a subtle gradient of light, as a gradual brightening or darkening, or as a heaviness or lightness. Gradients of light and atmosphere exist between connected groups of related opposites. There appear to be no hard divisions between positive and negative areas. In practice, if you maintain a single directional heading for any length of time, you will perceive the astral landscape as slowly changing, for better or worse.

Your will can override the natural energetic filtering mechanism, allowing you to go wherever you choose.

Astral projectors will always naturally project to the astral level they are in tune with energetically, but they can move on from there into positive and negative areas with which they are not naturally in tune.

Fig. 30

Exploded astral plane, showing internal structure (abstract representation)
 

In the astral planes, each connecting energetic gradient has many directions, not all of them obvious to the naked astral eye.

Emotional, spiritual, and psychic directions can be taken intuitively, but they must be innate to the projector, as they are not always visibly represented in the internal parts of astral planes. The majority of visible astral plane directions have a reasonably positive outcome. If a positive direction is taken and held, a projector will generally move into a progressively brighter and lighter area, into higher-level areas. The reverse usually will not happen by accident, although it can be brought about by a deliberate act of exploration.

If travelers remain focused on what they are doing and have positive-oriented minds, they have very little to worry about in this respect. In practice, travelers wandering the astral planes at random will find themselves experiencing a great many varied and interesting environments. They will not come across any seriously negative areas in their travels unless they actively go looking for them. The underlying intentions and qualities of thought of astral travelers safeguard them from accidentally entering negative areas they are not in tune with energetically.

I hope the above description and explanation sheds some light on the question - which I am regularly asked - of why negative areas are found within the astral planes, when the astral is at a higher-dimensional vibration than the physical universe.

Positive and negative aspects are related; neither could exist without the presence of the other, as magnets could not exist without having both positive and negative poles. The opposites contained within the structure of the astral planes are not as precisely defined as are the poles of a magnet.

Therefore, an often-perceivable atmospheric gradient of energetic opposites exists.
 

Lower Astral Subplanes

The lower astral subplanes (traditionally the ones to be avoided) appear to be areas where negative emotion, thought, and fantasy-generated energies have been collecting for a very long time. These areas are home to negative manifestations of the darker side of the human mind and imagination. The fringes of these areas are not dangerous, but are decidedly unpleasant.

The very bad lower subplanes are dark, shadowy areas populated (more aptly polluted) with all kinds of demons, monsters, and nightmarish figures. The lowest of these dark areas could aptly be called hellish dimensional areas.

If you find yourself in or near a negative area, the common-sense solution is to project away to a brighter area as soon as possible. The fastest way to move away is to strongly imagine somewhere nicer and use instant projection to shift there. Holding an image of the entrance structure firmly in mind and instantly projecting there will usually return you to the surface, without your getting lost or aborting the projection. If this does not work, fly straight up while using uplifting spiritual thoughts, prayer, or song to elevate consciousness.

Fly toward the brightest area or spark of light that can be seen above or ahead. An upward direction will usually take a projector away from a negative area.

Astral travelers need not pass through negative or lower astral subplanes to travel to more positive and higher astral levels. The negative areas in the astral planes are, in a way, energetically sideways to the normal plane-like dimensional structure. It is quite difficult to project deliberately into a seriously bad lower subplane area - or to project into a seriously higher level or plane, for the very same reason.

Energetic differences and the natural attraction and repulsion effects generally prohibit this from occurring accidentally. Every projector will have his or her own energetic limitations.

The only cases I have come across where projectors have had seriously bad experiences with lower subplanes involved hallucinogenic drugs being used to precipitate out-of-body experiences. Drugs, while capable of causing out-of-body experiences, sidestep the required skills and abilities necessary for safe conscious-exit projection.

This breaks many natural laws concerning projection while artificially overcoming many natural safeguards and barriers. Natural barriers are there to protect the novice from operating in dimensional areas they are not equipped to experience. Many drug users have laughed at my stance on this, saying they usually only have positive experiences.

But, it only takes one bad experience, one hellish experience, to ruin your mind and your life, possibly forever. Using drugs to achieve OBE is like playing Russian roulette with a live round in the revolver.

Astral travelers normally only project into areas with which they are naturally in tune. We each appear to have a natural energetic value set by our level of consciousness, a value affected by many things, including karma, life's path, current lifestyle, and past actions, as well as by natural and developed states of energetic being and potential.

During a direct astral projection with no specific astral destination, astral travelers automatically project to the astral plane they are most energetically in tune with at that particular time. This plane will always bear an energetic relationship with their most naturally active primary energy centers.

Long-term energetic and spiritual development thus considerably affects which astral planes a projector can attain naturally.
 

Astral Realms and Kingdoms

The astral planes can be likened to a vast ocean of reflected thought and emotion and memory that has been slowly filling since the dawn of time. Internal energetic filtration mechanisms of repulsion and attraction cause this ocean to stratify into layers.

Many of these layers develop a cohesive integrity that holds them distinctly separate from any other dimensional area. These areas, traditionally called astral realms and kingdoms, are generated by pools of structured, like-minded energies, thoughts, memories, ideas, beliefs, and fantasies that have collected over time.

An astral realm is best thought of as a specific environment or world. An astral kingdom is an island or city or town inside a realm: a place that has a single theme and consistent structure. Astral kingdoms are usually civilized areas containing groups of like-minded astral beings.

Astral realms vary greatly in size and scope, some appearing to be as small as a country village, while others seem infinite in size and scope. Each realm has a distinct and enduring flavor and atmosphere, and its own unique environment. Many contain native astral inhabitants, with varying levels of intelligence and society. Some appear to be fairly modern structures, while others seem ancient.

Astral travelers will normally experience more than one realm or kingdom each time they project into the astral planes. As the astral level to which travelers project is set by their energetic values at the start of a projection, this will normally be well to their liking.

They thus will normally find themselves in pleasant areas each time, where they will always feel reasonably comfortable; albeit often a little perplexed.

Fig. 31.

Exploded view of internal subplanesand sub-subplanes, showing realms and kingdoms
 

For most novice astral travelers, a jaunt into the astral planes can be likened to taking a mystery flight and landing in a strange city. A city is a city, however, and although the language, customs, and laws may be different, all cities are peopled mostly by recognizably human types.

In time, as astral navigation experience is gained, it becomes possible to travel to more-specific destinations and to then explore the astral planes, realms, and kingdoms in a much less haphazard way.
 

Real-Life Astral Regions

Some parts of the lower astral areas contain approximations of real life that are often mistaken for reality, or for the real-time zone. These can be thought of as extensions of the real-time zone, containing raw energetic reflections of consciousness, both objective and subjective, that have not yet undergone any noticeable dimensional filtering and ordering.

These contain a fluid and changeable mixture of landscapes and structures. While these often seem to bear similarities with the physical dimension, closer examination reveals nothing more than a fluid concoction of subjective astral reflections.

Lower astral areas seem to be quite heavily affected by dreaming minds in the local area. They may be a kind of no man's land or a crossover between the real-time zone, the astral planes, and the dream dimensions. Just wandering across what appears to be your hometown, in the lower astral dimension, can take you through many different cities and countries, and often into alien places that do not exist in the real world at all.

The lower astral areas are fairly dismal places. Although heavily traveled by projectors, they lack order, are usually badly lit, and seem shoddily put together, a confusing mishmash of cities, landscapes, peoples, and times, all of which appear to be in a constant state of flux. Experiences here can be quite confusing.

While these areas are often heavily populated, many of the people found here appear to be half-asleep and wandering astral projectors. They are usually not aware of where they are or of what they are doing, although on the surface many seem actively engaged in performing some task or other. If wakened by another projector, they usually remember who they are but are amazed at where they are. This area is best considered a lower astral subplane, but is not truly negative, although parts of it can contain negative aspects, and anything and everything can be found there.

The last time I visited this dimensional area, I found myself floating through a wide corridor, full of twists and turns and crossroads and underpasses. It teemed with people, most of them - judging from the tingly energetic reactions I got as I passed through some of them - other projectors. The place had a faintly ruddy tint to its dim and clammy atmosphere.

I felt as if I was inside some giant underground maze. I stopped and spoke politely to several people, but although most were happy to chat, I could not get any real sense out of anyone.

Low-level astral projectors, if they are aware, are usually hyper and overexcited.

This over-exuberance results from the astral experience itself, although it will rarely be remembered. On the other hand, many people in these areas do not know they are projecting. Overall, they mill around like ants with no particular purpose, talking to each other about nothing in particular. I found a few open areas with buildings and more people here and there, but there was no order and the whole place made little sense.

I soon got bored with all this and aborted the projection.
 

Voids

Dimensional gaps, commonly called voids, are found around the astral planes. They are totally dark and featureless empty areas. Void areas appear to contain absolutely nothing and are thus not in any way dangerous. Entering a void area causes total sensory deprivation in a projector, a quiet blackness with no sensory input.

Void areas, according to some versions of esoteric theory, lead to the more abstract causal and transcendental dimensional levels beyond the astral planes. My experience supports this theory. There is no way I know of, unfortunately, to explain or describe the process of transcendence through a void, although an altered state of consciousness is obviously the basic requirement. Voids do not appear to lead into the mental or higher levels of the standard dimensional scale.

Many reasons have been given for the occurrence of a void but, by its nature, it is difficult to observe and analyze a void, let alone to try to understand its natural place in the scheme of things. Void areas appear to be null-dimensional areas containing no subjective or objective structure or form whatsoever. It is possible that voids lie completely outside the normal dimensional structure - something like black holes in the physical universe.

Do not be scared if you find yourself floating in a void during a projection. There is, quite literally, nothing to be scared of. I do not know how to deliberately enter a void dimensional area. This is just something that happens occasionally. It is not something to be overly concerned about.

It is possible that many void OBEs are simple astral vision problems. Many people have problems perceiving the out-of-body environment. An extreme vision problem could, therefore, cause total OBE blindness, leading the projector to perceive being in a void area (see chapter 21).

Three ways to project out of a void that occasionally work: Try looking at your hands and watching them melt. Feel for your physical body and try projecting back near to it. Imagine another place and project there using the instant projection method. These methods will often take a projector to somewhere brighter and more tangible. If they fail, simply relax and enjoy it. I find void areas wonderful places for introspection, meditation, and prayer.

Nothing will disturb you while you are suspended in a void.
 

Astral Plane - and Tube-Type Structures

As you advance in your ability to get about in the real-time zone, and around the first levels of the astral planes, you will begin to see definite structures at the start of astral-plane projections.

These structures mark the entrances to different astral planes and subplanes, and can be used for astral-plane navigation. The geometry, colors, and patterns of an astral-plane entrance structure, I believe, represent its internal subplanes, realms, and kingdoms in an abstract visual way.

Projectors can perceive two basic types of structures when they enter the astral planes through their surfaces:

• Astral Plane-Type Structure - a flat, two-dimensional plane of infinite proportions, usually first seen as if from a great height, with the plane's surface seen below extending to all horizons. The surface is covered in thin, black, neatly spaced, horizontal and vertical grid lines, making for a neat, checkered appearance. These grid lines outline squares that cover the entire surface. Each square contains a single, identical multicolored geometric pattern, repeated endlessly in every other square.
   

• Astral Tube-Type Structure - a more complex tunnel or tubelike structure, containing internal grid lines and geometric patterns, often brightly colored. The grid lines and patterns are internal, thus are not as easily viewed in their entirety as with the astral plane-type of entrance structure. Projectors also usually hear a rushing sound, musical notes, tones, and other sounds as they move through an astral tube. These sounds are, I believe, part of the obviously more complex astral tube structure. Moving through a tube usually produces a rushing sound; each exit point passed often produces a change in sound or tones and melodies or a series of complex musical notes.

Projectors can use either of these structures to successfully enter and navigate the astral planes.

Which type of structure is perceived appears to be set by the projector's energetic value and angle of perception at the time of projection. The similarities between astral tube-type and plane-type entrance structures indicate they share an underlying relationship. In both cases, projectors see definite astral structures containing grid lines and colorful geometric designs. Using either type also has the same result.

These structures are consistent and will be found unchanged every time the same part of the astral planes is visited. It is reasonable to suggest that tube-type and plane-type structures are one and the same thing - astral-plane surface entrance structures. I further suggest that the apparent differences in these entrance structures are caused solely by the angle of approach, the energetic perception angle, used by different projectors.

Projectors are approaching the same astral entrance structure from different dimensional angles - from a different point of view. These different angles of approach show projectors completely different aspects of the very same astral entrance structure. The tube-type astral entrance structure can thus be thought of as something like a rolled-up astral plane-type entrance structure, but whether rolled up or unrolled it is one and the same thing, just perceived differently, from different angles of perception.

These different perception angles, I think, are caused by different patterns and levels of activity of primary energy centers within individual projectors. Primary energy center activity (chakra activity) sets the dimensional angle of a projector's approach. Which type of astral entrance structure is perceived is set by the level, quality, and pattern of energetic activity within the energy bodies of individual projectors.

Projectors with strong brow or crown centers often feel themselves leaving their physical bodies through their head or brow areas; they generally perceive a tube-type astral entrance structure. Projectors with strong heart or throat centers usually feel themselves leaving through the front of their physical bodies; they generally perceive a plane-type astral entrance structure. The type of projection exit therefore gives some indication of the level on which you are operating, and, in turn, indicates the type of entrance structure you can expect to encounter.

The level of primary energy center activity (chakra activity) affects the complexity of the two basic types of astral-plane entrance structures at the time of projection.

For example, a projector with a naturally strong, but only lightly active, brow or crown center at the time of a projection may only perceive a very basic tube-type astral entrance structure, perhaps black and white, with no colorful embellishments or musical notes and tones. This same projector, projecting at another time when the brow or crown centers are more energetically active, may perceive a much more elaborate and colorful version of the same astral tube-type entrance structure.

Another way of explaining the above is to draw a comparison between these different angles of perception using three different types of cameras. Let's say we take a picture of you first with a normal camera, then with a movie camera, then with an x-ray camera.

The first picture will show you in all your glory, with your surface and face and hair all intact (astral plane-type entrance structure) in still life. The second picture will show more detail and movement, but is really just an enhanced version of the first type of picture. The third picture shows your complex internal structure and organs, minus your surface (astral tube-type entrance structure).

Each camera shows essentially the same thing, but each provides a quite different view, from a different energetic angle of perception.
 

Astral Plane-Type Entrance Structure

The astral plane-type entrance structure is the one I am most familiar with. I use it more often than I do the tube-type structure, as I find it easier to find, use, and navigate with.

The atmosphere above the plane, surrounding the projector, is faintly color-tinted, as if consisting of thin vapor radiating from the astral plane's surface. This color-tint is not apparent when looking directly down upon the surface, but can be seen misting all horizons. If projectors tear their eyes away from the spectacle of the surface beneath them, and turn around and look behind, they will see a colored blur as far as they can see, like looking into deep space on a clear and starless night.

To enter an astral plane-type entrance structure, simply dive toward it while gazing upon its surface and keeping your mind reasonably clear. Chose a square as you get closer - any square will do - and aim for the part of its pattern you wish to enter through. The chosen square and its pattern will grow steadily larger, until it is about football-field size. The transition through the surface is quite distinct, but is accompanied by no real sensation.

Once through the surface pattern, you will usually find yourself inside an astral realm, or you may find yourself temporarily in another faintly colored buffer zone, which indicates that you are approaching an internal subplane. If you enter a colored buffer zone, you must keep traveling in the same direction until you get to an astral realm. This usually only takes a few seconds.

To move among the subplanes, you can change direction while inside, moving at a different angle from your original direction.

If you are not sure which way to go or cannot make up your mind, any angle between straight ahead and straight up will generally have positive results. This is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair and it's usually best to explore the realm at hand, rather than risk accidentally aborting the projection while trying to shift elsewhere.

Always keep in mind that like any OBE, astral projection time is limited. Time out is best linked to how long it takes the physical/etheric body to fall into the deep-sleep state. Wise projectors take advantage of what they find and explore what is at hand while they have the time to do so. This is not as limiting as it sounds, as time is quite variable in the astral environment.

Time generally passes much slower there, especially in the higher astral planes, and quite a lot can be accomplished even if you only have a few minutes of real time to work with.
 

Astral Plane-Type Navigation

A fairly reliable way to navigate with the astral plane-type entrance structure is to use the surface pattern as a guide.

There is a direct relationship between the individual parts of this design and the internal parts, subplanes, and realms within. The point of entry defines exactly where you will appear. Therefore, if you remember the exact point of entry and note it in a journal after the projection, you can return to a given astral realm or kingdom again and again during future projections. With a little experimentation, you can develop an astral map for that astral plane.

The comers of each square contain small but distinct dots and splashes of color that look like yellow, green, orange, and red paint. Each of these appears to be an entry point into a specific internal realm or kingdom.

The fifth astral-plane surface pattern centerpiece (see rear cover) is a curved, six-pointed, dark-blue star surrounded by a crisp, thin, yellow outline, topped by a four-petaled gold flower, topped by a circular purple center, set in an indigo-blue background.

The background color appears to denote the level of that plane in the astral spectrum. Any part of the comer patterns or centerpiece will take you into the more structured realms within that astral plane. If the purple centerpiece is penetrated dead center, it will take you to the highest possible internal realm within that plane.

The gold flower and its purple center, I believe, is what is referred to by the famous Buddhist mantra:

"The jewel in the heart of the lotus".

As with all astral entrance structures, different projectors will experience slight differences peculiar to them due to slight variations in their energetic angle of perception.

But astral planes and their entrance structures are dimensionally solid and consistent structures, and will be found to be in line with the descriptions I have given.
 

Astral Tube-Type Entrance Structure

Many projectors leave their bodies by way of their heads and find themselves rushing through an astral tube-type structure, or they find the entrance to the astral tube waiting nearby after their exit out of body, leaving them the option of entering the tunnel or not.

This is useful if a projector wants to spend a few minutes in real time before entering the astral planes.

Personally, I much prefer the astral plane-type entrance structure, as I can find my way around a lot easier that way. I do not know any reliable way of deliberately finding an astral tube-type entrance structure during a projection. They are either found or not found at the start of it.

Please do not be afraid of entering and exploring the astral tube if you come across it during a projection - no matter what you might have heard. They will not harm you in any way!

Many people have reported to me that the sight of this tube is too much like the tunnel of light they have heard about, as reported by people who have had near-death experiences. They have thus refused to enter them through simple caution or fear - and missed out on the experience of a lifetime. Let me reassure you, there is no possible way you can hurt yourself. There is also no possible way you can go too far simply by using an astral tube-type entrance structure.

Enter the astral tube-type structure and you immediately find yourself rushing through it. You feel a sensation of great speed and often hear a rushing sound like air whooshing past you. Grid lines and colors and patterns and tones and musical notes change as you move through it. Exits appear at regular intervals, marked by definite changes in the colors, tones, and patterns around you. Sometimes you experience brief mind's-eye visions and/or intuitive feelings of where exits lead.

Use your intuition to pick an exit that appeals to you, or choose one you know from experience, or just take a wild guess and jump into one. Alternatively, just hang on, enjoy the astral tube roller-coaster ride, and see where you end up.

The tube will not hurt you no matter what you do.

The look and feel of the colors, patterns, and musical tones surrounding exit points inside a tube-type structure can provide a fair guide to the type of astral level or realm they lead to. Murky colors with too much black or gray, with low and discordant or unpleasant-sounding tones, for example, will most probably take you to lower astral subplanes. Lots of pretty red, orange, green, blue, yellow, purple, and gold, on the other hand, accompanied by harmonious or pleasant-sounding tones or musical notes, will take you to higher levels and realms.

Simply dive into your chosen exit as you pass by it and you'll suddenly find yourself inside an astral realm. The exit is quite dramatic, like entering another world. If you memorize the patterns, colors, tones, and the look and feel of an exit, you will be able to find this realm again during later projections.

More astral tube-type entrance structures may appear during the course of a single astral tube-type projection.

If you want to return to the tube and cannot see it, image it strongly in your mind's eye and it will often appear somewhere close by. Alternatively, you can try an instant projection back inside it. Another way of finding it again is to reach out and feel for your physical body and try to project back near to it. The astral tube will often be found waiting near your physical body - but sometimes not.

As projection time is always limited, I suggest that you explore whatever is at hand instead, rather than starting all over and wasting good projection time.
 

Tunnel of Light

Many projectors report shooting at high speed through a tunnel of light when they project, then ending up somewhere inside the astral planes.

Some people perceive the astral tunnel-type entrance structure as plain black and white with grid lines. Others perceive it as being multicolored or embellished in many other ways.

It is, therefore, reasonable to suggest the tunnel of light may simply be another perception angle version of the same basic astral tube-type entrance structure.

On the other hand, it is also possible that at times a brief tunnel-of-light effect can be caused by the initial blurring of stars as a projector travels at extreme velocity through the galaxy, until reality shifts and they enter the astral planes proper.

By this, I do not mean that the astral planes have an actual spatial location in the physical universe.

A sudden burst of great speed through the atmosphere and into outer space, however, can blast a projector quickly out of real time and straight into the astral planes, with simple disorientation causing the resulting dimensional shift.
 

Finding Astral Entrance Structures

Many projectors, though able to operate well in the real-time zone, seem unable to deliberately enter the astral planes.

They may occasionally slip into astral realms spontaneously, but they are unable to perceive any type of astral entrance structure at all, which makes astral navigation extremely difficult. Perceiving some type of entrance structure (either tube-type or plane-type) is necessary for projectors to explore and return to specific astral regions, or to find their way into higher dimensional levels.

On the other hand, many projectors seem unable to operate in the real-time zone.

They tend to slip directly into astral realms, while also bypassing any recognizable type of surface entrance structure. I spent many early years of conscious-exit projection stuck in the real-time zone. I found it difficult to deliberately enter the astral planes, although this did happen occasionally, until I learned a few tricks to overcome this awkward dimensional hurdle.

The method I use and recommend for getting into the astral planes is this: Starting near ground level, aim midway between the horizon and straight up and take off. Fly at the greatest speed possible. Start moving upward and feel and become aware of the star-filled universe spread out before you.

Even if it's daylight, image this in your mind's eye as you reach out and feel for the stars beyond Earth's atmosphere. Fill your mind with the feeling of enormous distance and shoot for the stars.

The incredible acceleration this causes makes your vision blur momentarily, and you may experience a brief tunnel-of-light effect.

To increase accuracy, you can instead hold an image of the rear cover art of this book in your mind's eye as you shoot for the stars. The first sign you'll have that you have succeeded is the dimensional shift, which feels like a brief falling sensation accompanied by a moment of blurring disorientation.

You will then either find yourself in a color-tinted area close to an astral plane-type entrance structure - (which is most likely) - or you may find yourself already inside an astral realm, which is slightly less likely. Even less likely, you may find yourself near or inside an astral tube-type entrance structure.

This method takes a little practice, but does work and is fairly reliable. Once you get to an astral entrance structure, you should be able to find your way back there again. Simply hold the remembered image or the look and feel strongly in mind as you shoot for the stars.

The rear cover art of this book gives a fairly accurate representation of what a real astral-plane entrance structure actually looks like. This is taken from my living memory and has been interpreted by an artist for this purpose. If you can image this strongly enough in your mind's eye, you should be able to project to this plane fairly easily. Look on this picture as a kind of astral mud-map to an entrance structure.

If this method fails entirely, which is highly unlikely, you may find yourself on the other side of the galaxy, or in another galaxy. If this happens, enjoy space flight and explore. Nothing you might do can possibly hurt you, no matter how far or how fast you go.

You simply cannot get lost in space. Do not worry about finding your way back to your body, either.

Your physical body will pull you back if it needs to, or you can simply feel for your body and return to it.
 

Returning to an Astral Plane

The colorful geometric pattern on the surface of each astral-plane entrance structure is distinctly different from that found on the surface of any other astral-plane entrance structure.

This pattern appears to be a kind of dimensional color-coding, abstractly representing the internal components of each astral plane. The different color tinting found in the open-space areas near astral planes may also correspond with the level of the astral planes being traveled. Using the known spectrum as a basic guide can give projectors some idea of where they are among the astral planes.

Keep in mind that there are many colors above the normal physical spectrum that can only be perceived while out of body. Some astral colors are impossible to describe, there being nothing in the physical dimension with which to compare them. I suggest these be judged intuitively and by their beauty.

It may be possible to use buffer zone colors to project to specific levels of the astral planes. This is a good start for new projectors, and definitely worth experimenting with, especially if you are having trouble getting into the astral planes. The success of this will depend on how well you can fill your mind with the chosen color during a projection.

You must image the color and let it fill your mind's eye, while feeling yourself moving or falling into it, in exactly the same way as you would use the instant projection method. When you appear there, you must keep moving ahead in your original direction; hopefully, an astral-plane entrance structure will soon appear.

The virtual reality projection method (see chapter 24) can also be used for this purpose. If a poster of a single bright primary color is entered, as per the VRP technique, it may be possible to cause a dimensional shift directly into the astral level associated with that color. If the surface pattern of an astral plane can be re-created as a picture, this can also be used, as per VRP technique, to project directly to the surface of that astral plane.

The rear cover of this book is, again, ideal for this purpose.
 

Skull Rock

The following is an astral-plane experience of mine, showing typical astral plane-type entrance structures, as I perceive them.

This projection happened at about one in the afternoon. I did no energy work, trance, or meditation before it, as I was intending to have a nap and not a projection. I was resting well, but although I was extremely tired I could not fall asleep - too much morning coffee maybe. I soon felt myself falling into trance and the first trickles of energetic movement and vibrations started spreading throughout my body.

I began seeing into the real-time zone around me through my closed eyelids, so decided to go astral for a while. I exited using the instant rope technique (see chapter 19) and staggered free of my body.

I literally staggered, feeling weak and having little energy or directional control. This told me I was too close to my too-awake physical body and mind. I floated with some difficulty through the wall of my room to get away from my physical body.

As I passed through the wall, I felt a tingling, electrical type of buzzing and heard a definite Velcro-like ripping sound. I saw the inside of the wall very clearly and brightly lit as I passed through it. I staggered away toward the main room like a drunkard, intending to give my nephew, Matt, a good dose of goose bumps by passing through his physical body.

I had very little control and felt my physical body trying to drag me back to it. I was still too close to my physical body, and was probably further weakened by making too rapid an exit without any preliminary energetic work. I decided to get out of the house for a while, thinking this should fix the problem. I staggered into the spare room and fell sideways through the window and out into the front yard. I rolled and floated over the front lawn and dragged myself away from the house. I soon started feeling better.

I skimmed across the road into the park opposite the house. I waited there for a few moments, hugging a big old gum tree while I concentrated on drawing more energy into myself, feeling it coursing into me from my physical/etheric body back in the house.

Much stronger now, I flew toward the beach just over a mile away, feeling better now I was airborne and well away from the house. It was a glorious sunny day with a brilliant-blue sky and very few clouds.

Picking a point well above the horizon, I reached out and felt for the star-filled universe hidden beyond the blue. I willed myself to hyper-speed, increasing speed dramatically. Everything blurred as I shot myself out into space through a brief tunnel of blurred starlight. I felt a dimensional shift and found myself somewhere in the astral dimension. After I flew through darkness for a few moments, a brighter area of deepest blue, like the evening sky, appeared all around me.

I came upon a vast astral-plane entrance structure. Spread out several miles beneath me, its crisp-blue surface beckoned me, covered with spectacular grid-lined patterns. This was absolutely breathtaking to behold firsthand and I hovered a while, breathing it all in. Every square of its grid-lined structure was filled with the same spectacular, multicolored geometric pattern. This was the doorway to an astral plane, to other worlds within. It spread out beneath me as far as I could see in all directions, filling my every horizon.

It is difficult to describe such an enormous spectacle as lay beneath me. In the physical world there is nothing with which to draw a fair comparison. I suppose skydiving from a great height over checkered fields of farmland would be the closest to it. I was excited and awestruck by this spectacular geometric beauty. Without further hesitation I swan-dived toward the surface.

A tingling rush of energy flooded through my astral body and I screamed out joyfully, as loud as I could, "Geronimoooo... Heeeee... Haaaaaa!" and heard my voice booming loud and clear throughout the astral dimension.

As I neared the patterned entrance, I felt an almost tangible humming of power in the atmosphere around me.

The square I'd picked as a target grew steadily larger and larger, but remained sharply distinct until the final moment as I plunged into it. There was no sensation of impact, but the transition was dramatic. I suddenly found myself in what seemed like deep-blue water, much thicker than the tinted atmosphere I'd just left. Visibility was extremely good, and I could see for hundreds of meters in all directions.

For a moment I thought I was in another buffer zone. Then I noticed tiny bubbles and bits of matter all around me, indicating I was indeed under water. I headed upward at a slight angle toward a lighter area that I guessed to be the surface.

A sparkling movement caught my eye. Angling back down I flew to investigate. I saw a school of several enormous fish in the distance. Drawing closer, I saw these were round, flat, and brightly colored, looking much like tropical Discus fish. These were much larger than the biggest whales that ever swam the oceans of Earth.

Swimming among these fancy behemoths were sharks, but the sharks were tiny compared to the enormous fish - like minnows among stately giants. One of the great fish looked at me as I flew slowly through their giant school. It watched me calmly with one great big friendly eye the size of an automobile as I floated past. I sensed intelligence, curiosity, and... something like amusement coming from the great fish.

Spiraling upward, I surfaced among lively ocean waves, and soared into a glorious indigo sky. Two suns shone down on me, one large and orange and one small and yellow. Several miles away to my right was a shoreline with a small bay lined with creamy yellow sands. Sparkling-white strips of surf rolled endlessly toward the beach, standing starkly out from the blue ocean. Jutting out from the shore on the left point of the bay was a massive pale shape. I looked closer: A skull-shaped rock with cavernous shadows for eyes peered back at me, looking to be several hundred feet high.

Spinning around and taking it all in, I spied several large sailing ships of curious design several miles away.

They were tall, wooden, oceangoing vessels, heavy, high, and bull-nosed in the prow, but impossibly low from midship to stern. The sails were rigged in a way I had never seen before, with V-angled masts underlined with heavy booms, looking something like giant batwing sails, stretching way out across their beams. People were crawling like ants over the decks and rigging. I dived toward them as they tacked, all turning in unison with sails and tackle cracking, spray blasting from their ornately carved bows as they heaved gamely into the lively white-crusted rollers.

I landed near the ship's wheel on the high foredeck of the lead ship. I had served for several years on merchant ships as a lad, so knew something of nautical matters, but this looked and felt like no other ship I had ever seen. I couldn't work out how they angled their sails to tack properly, but they seemed to be doing just fine and were moving along at a fairly good clip.

The stern of the ship was impossibly low in the water and, looking back, I could see it was loaded with cargo held down with what looked like heavy nets.

Each time the ship tacked, waves washed over the nets, which seemed an odd way to store any kind of cargo. Intrigued, I floated back to take a closer look. The cargo was made up of bales of broad-leafed, green-brown spotted seaweed, fine net bags of black shellfish, and tied bundles of some kind of sea worm that looked like coils of rope lashed to wooden pallets.

Everything was covered with heavy netting to keep the cargo from washing away. The wet storage area now made a lot of sense.

The crew were vaguely European looking, dark haired and heavily built, tanned and dressed in rough gray shirts with brown pants cut and frayed at the knees. They had beaded rope headbands and black cloth belts rolled and knotted about their waists. As I made my way back toward the ship's bridge, I saw a woman perched near the ship's wheel on a large bale of something like wool. She was watching me, but turned her head sharply whenever I looked back at her.

The only woman on deck, she seemed in charge of the ship. She was smaller and lighter than the men, wearing a seamless knee-length shift of fine off-white material tied at the waist with a wide, braided rope belt. Her dark-brown hair hung almost to her waist when it wasn't fanned out by the breeze. A small bone-handled knife protruded from under her belt.

She touched this briefly as I approached her, then seemed to change her mind and folded her arms tightly. She glared at me, her almost-golden eyes glinting a silent warning.

I glanced down at myself to make sure I was dressed. Fair enough, shorts and T-shirt, my standard astral garb. Sporting my most winning smile, I respectfully asked her what this world was called, but she turned her head sharply away. I moved to catch her eye again, but she snapped her head away again. Moving closer, I proffered another smile, but she hopped off the bale and marched to a raised wooden hatchway nearby. I called after her and she half-turned and barked something at me as she disappeared down the hatch.

I couldn't make out what she'd said, but could pretty much guess what it meant.

Shrugging, I approached a few of the deck hands as they went about the business of running their ship. They either turned away or stood staring sullenly at the deck, ignoring me. This was most peculiar, I thought. The people in most astral realms will usually talk to you, if only to tell you what they think of your intrusion into their lives. They could all see me and I felt fairly solid here, but no one wanted anything to do with me. I felt very unwelcome and soon left the ship.

I circled around the fleet for a short while before giving up on it, deciding to take a long sweeping pass over the shoreline. Landing atop the skull-shaped rock, I explored its top. It had a smooth, weathered limestone surface with an ancient kind of musty feel to it. This reminded me of a time I had played in Stonehenge as a boy, before they put the big fence all around it. I saw no one and nothing of further interest along the shore or on the rock, apart from a few peculiar furry-looking seagulls.

Everything appeared very peaceful here and, apart from the unfriendly seagoing inhabitants hereabouts, I decided I quite liked the place.

Knowing my time was probably short, I decided to get moving and explore some more of this realm. Lifting off, I flapped my arms for extra speed (don't laugh, this works) and took up my original trajectory, soon leaving the skull-shaped rock far behind me. Before I could go any further, I felt that old familiar weakness tugging at me as my body started dragging me back to it. The dimensional shift blurred my vision with a brief falling sensation. I fell back into my body and caught the sides of the bed as I awoke.

Sitting up I reached for my journal, feeling well rested after my unexpected astral jaunt.

As an example for future reference, the keywords I entered into my journal to describe the above experience were weak, stars, blue plane, patterns, swan-dive, fish n ships, skull. This is all I needed to cement the memories of the experience into my brain so they could not get lost.

I then proceeded to fill in all the details. Note that the order of the keywords is used as a guide to denote the sequence of events.
 

Navigating the Astral Realms

It is not necessary to perceive an astral-plane entrance structure in order to enter realms and to move among them, although this is obviously a far more accurate way of navigating. Most people will find they can project directly into astral realms without too much trouble, bypassing any kind of entrance structure entirely.

This can be likened to taking mystery flights every projection. There are many ways to get into astral realms and to move from one astral realm to another.

These all cause a dimensional shift, moving the projector into an astral realm, or to other astral locations.

• Imagine a place you'd like to be (instant travel). Don't be afraid to imagine a fantasy destination. For example, if you'd like to travel to the Skull Rock astral realm, as given above, re-create the illusion generated in your mind's eye by my description of it and feel yourself shifting toward it or falling into it.

• Raise your energy level by drawing more energy from your physical/etheric body. Feel yourself sucking and drawing energy into your projected body. As you do this, feel your vibrations increasing. Feel yourself buzzing and humming all over with power, increasing in intensity and pitch, while feeling yourself growing lighter and rising. Feel yourself rising and shifting into the astral planes.

• Fly as fast as you can, aiming midway between the horizon and straight up, while reaching out and feeling the star-filled galaxy ahead of you. Will, imagine, and feel yourself shooting through the stars at hyperspeed.

• Walk into a mirror, picture, or TV screen, as per the virtual reality projection technique (see chapter 24). Use this as a staging area and fly in one direction until you find yourself in an astral realm.

• Look at your hands and watch them melt away until they are completely gone. Your subconscious mind will have trouble accepting this, which will cause a dimensional shift, transporting you into an astral realm. This can also be used for shifting to another realm.

• Spin around as fast as you can and attempt to disorient yourself. This will often cause a dimensional shift and move you into an astral realm, or cause a shift to another realm.

Hand Glance Stabilization

Your projected double's hands can be very handy during a projection - if you'll pardon the awful pun.

You can not only use them to cause a dimensional shift, but you can also use them to stabilize a wavering projection whenever reality fluctuations begin eroding it. To stabilize a projection, briefly glance at your hands then look away again before they start melting. Do this as often as you need, briefly glancing at them every half minute or so if you need to.

The hand-glance technique seems to send a small energetic shock wave back down the silver cord, which stimulates the physical/etheric body and mind, causing it to provide the projected double with more energy. This also appears to delay the physical body's entry into the deep-sleep state. The duration of a projection can thus be lengthened and made more memorable.

This is especially effective during real-time projections.
 

Astral Rest and Recovery Areas

Many people, when they die, seem to shift into astral rest and recovery areas. Spirits rest and sleep in these areas until they recover from conditions imposed on them during their lives and are ready to progress into the spirit world proper and take more active roles in their afterlives.

If you enter these recovery areas, you usually perceive a hospital-like scenario. You see spirits resting and sleeping and being cared for in a hospital-like environment. You even see nurses and doctors caring for these spirit patients. This does not mean there is an actual hospital-like astral realm where advanced spirit beings care for recovering spirits; most likely the projector's mind creates the hospital scenario.

The projector's angle of perception interprets the energies contained within astral rest and recovery areas, and translates them into living metaphorical imagery.

Raised energetic activity and altered states of consciousness can allow projectors to project into higher dimensional levels. All experiences of this nature must be downloaded and interpreted before the physical brain can interpret and store them as understandable and recallable memories. This accounts for the abstract metaphorical nature of all higher-level experiences.

It also accounts for the difficulties inherent in interpreting and understanding them, at the normal base level of waking consciousness natural to the physical body.

I have visited astral rest and recovery places many times. The hospital-like scenario and atmosphere is always similar, but each room I visit is quite different. These rooms seem to reflect the life conditions surrounding patients at the time of their passing.

As I said, I do not really think there is an actual hospital floating around somewhere in the astral dimension, staffed by beings intent on nursing sick and tired spirits back to good health, although this is a beautiful thought. I believe this scenario is created by my own mind as it interprets the energies broadcast from these areas in the only way it can.

This perception interpretation is done according to my mind's own learned mental associations, as well as by those set in me by the collective consciousness of mankind. As this is a healing, rest, and recovery area for the recently departed, my mind interprets this as a hospital-type scenario staffed by caring doctors and nurses.

The doctors and nurses who staff and run this astral hospital do not appear to be real spirit beings. So far I have not been able to strike up anything resembling a meaningful conversation with any of them. They seem to be very two-dimensional.

On the other hand, many of the people/spirits I have met there who seem to be visiting or waiting for a patient in the hospital seem to be quite real. Many spirit visitors respond and converse in a reasonably normal fashion. Spirits I have spoken with in this situation do not seem to be aware of the length of time that has elapsed since they passed over, or of many details concerning their afterlife since that time. Memories of their earthly life also seem vague, much like a half-forgotten dream.

Many spirits seem to be aware only of their present reality, that of being in one place, the hospital scenario, for an indeterminate length of time. Some spirits do have vague memories of coming from other dimensional areas, but have so far given me only very sketchy details. Often they will speak of a warm, brightly lit, interesting place where they have many friends and loved ones, but with little more detail than this.

The most common response I get from asking spirits what it's like where they come from is:

"It's really lovely there and everyone is so nice. I don't understand this. I'm very sorry. I know it well and can picture it in my head, but I just can't describe it to you".

The dreamlike quality of memory exhibited by visiting spirits in this astral hospital area may be caused by their being too far away from their natural base level of consciousness at the time.

Keep in mind here that the natural, or base, level of a spirit is, logically, in one of the spirit worlds, and no longer in the physical dimension. It seems that any shift away from the natural base level of consciousness, either for spirit beings or human beings, causes memory translation problems.

This translation problem also accounts, I believe, for the many difficulties and vagaries common to spirit communications and channeling in general.

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