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Firstly, I would like to bid all who read this a slightly-belated Happy New Year. 2008 is here at last, and it seems with that it’s only fair I get on with my page here and write up a new entry, this time focused primarily on some of the aspects of the astral realms and training to learn to project. There have been countless speculations about the nature of spirit realms. Some people believe that they are arranged in order of ascending spirituality, with the higher ones having a higher rate of vibration than those closer to the material plane of existence. It is hypothesized that these high realms, or planes, are inhabited by spiritual essences from devas or higher nature spirits. Then, ascending through the planes are spirit guides, angels and archangels up to the Godhead or source of Divinity, whether this is perceived as God or the Goddess. ~ Cassandra Eason, 10 Steps to Psychic Power Okay, so there’s a different take on ‘what’ the astral realms are, from the perspective of a woman rather than a man. The above quote pretty much expresses the accepted ‘truth’ about the nature of the astral planes, and makes sense if you think about it. Remember that earlier in this journal I talked about the different realms and the fact that the first layer of the astral plane almost directly overlaps our physical one – therefore, it makes sense that it is on this first layer that devas and nature spirits reside, as they are the ones tasked with the care of this world. Now I’ll hit on something I’ve been promising for a while: My favorite technique for practicing the technique of astral projection, the Tattwa Cards. The Tattwa Cards were introduced into the West by theosophists and the magical order of the Golden Dawn at the end of the 19th and 20th centuries, and consist of five basic shapes that correspond to the four elements plus the quintessential fifth element, Spirit, or akasa. As per Cassandra Eason’s account of how to approach this technique: The easiest way to explain this is if you think of the ascending levels in terms of the gears of a car. You are using the higher gears or spiritual part of your body to reach the higher realms. You are still in your physical body, just as you are still in the car when in top gear, but because you are operating on a higher level than you do in the everyday world you can move beyond the confines of time and space while at the same time the lower reaches of your mind are totally relaxed within your physical body. [Side note: What is being described here is known as the mind-split effect as pertains to the subconscious, rather than the conscious. More on this later.] In my experience, the best way to think about the movement through these realms is in terms of descending mass, beginning with the densest (earth) and ending with the least dense (spirit). Using Tattwa Cards can help beginning projectors to form a stairway to lead them on their out-of-body travel, and can easily be made from cardstock and markers. The idea is to create geometric shapes on a 6x6 inch square background. (Note, the actual size of the card isn’t important, but I’ve found six inches is a good size just for visual purposes and wouldn’t recommend going smaller than that. 1.) Prithivi (earth) – a yellow square set on a purple background. Imagine this as a block of ice, which is solid. 2.) Apas (water) – a silver crescent (lying on its back) set on a black background. This represents the melted ice. 3.) Tejas (fire) – a red triangle on a green background. When this fire is applied to water, steam is produced. 4.) Vayu (air) – a blue circle on a red background. In this stage the steam is dispersed, leaving air in its stead. 5.) Akasa (spirit) – a black oval on a yellow background. This is the final stage, in which air is diffused into aether. Next, attach the shapes to a cord or string with akasa at the top, than vayu, tejas, apas and prithivi at the bottom. Now for actually making the journey: Find a comfortable sitting position or lay down with your head slightly propped up (I prefer the latter) and place your cards where they can be easily seen from your position without moving your head. 1.) Focus first on prithivi, then close your eyes so that you can see that glowing square in your mind’s vision. 2.) Open your eyes and focus next on apas, then picture that with closed eyes. 3.) Progress through the other levels, lengthening the time you spend on each until at last you have the glowing akasa in your mind. Focus on the open doorway through which only your inner spirit (or soul) is insubstantial enough to enter. The trick to this, in my experience is to envision yourself moving through the shape before focusing on the next…and the actual idea is that through these steps you’re placing yourself into a trance state in which you will be capable of entering the astral realms. Note that this is really an advanced step, as anyone interested in learning to project should first learn to meditate and get used to entering the trance state. A particularly determined person could probably start from this stage and progress from there, but for most learning to meditate first would be ultimately a beneficial endeavor to speed along your results. Okay, so there’s the lecture done for the day! So on to the update on my life I’ve been promising. With the beginning of the 2008, I’ve had to suck it up and get a second job to fund all the crap I waste my money on, because I could potentially have some major traveling opportunities coming up this summer for my modeling, and if I want to have spending money when the time comes I need to work hard at both jobs and save up. If all goes well, I hope to begin searching for a small house near the end of this year. My apartment is lovely, but I confess it would be far more enjoyable to have a house of my own, where my cats have room to chase each other and play until the wee hours of the morning without driving me insane in the process! As for the other aspect of my life, Sephiroth has come around on the matter of me running this journal again. On seeing that trolls weren’t, in fact, constantly assaulting me, he decided that maybe this was a good move to make after all, and I have his support on the efforts I’m making here. All I can say is that it’s about damned time. I like to think I know what I’m doing most of the time, and recently I’ve just been having these moments where it’s like, ‘You know, Seph, sometimes I go the entire day without your input.’ At any rate, I have a conference I’m supposed to be at in two hours, so it seems I’ll have to wrap this up for now. So Sephiroth and I wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season. If anyone has any questions on any matter, please leave them in a comment and I’ll gladly answer them when I get home today. Until next time! Post a comment in response: |
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