Core Skills
According to Robert Bruce (and mostly in accordance with my own experiences) there are three core skills to master before someone can hope to successfully practice astral projection: Deep Physical Relaxation, Taming the Mind, and The Trance State.
Deep Physical Relaxation
The first big hurdle faced by projectors is deep physical relaxation. This essential skill needs to be thoroughly learned. I cannot stress it strongly enough; of the thousands of projectors I have dealt with over the years, in person and on the internet, one skill area stands way out in front as causing the majority of problems – deep physical relaxation – or rather, the lack of it. Everyone seems to rush through learning the most important of all core skills, to get on with the seemingly more interesting stuff. ~ Robert Bruce, Astral Dynamics
In my experience, this is a major factor in success during an attempt to project. One of the most common questions I get is “So what do you do? Are you telling me you just go through your normal day and lay down and project?” My answer to this is yes, but there is the catch: I have to be able to release everything I’ve done that day, work, school, homework, television, internet, feeding the cats/fish…everything must be released from my mind before I lay down to project.
To those who are interested in the techniques I use to achieve this, I find that a glass of herbal tea (green or sassafras) helps, and then I’ll kneel down and use a visualizing technique I learned by reading Summoning Spirits by Konstantinos. I imagine that I’m sitting on the edge of a cliff over looking a rushing river. One by one I imagine each thing that happened that day as a symbol. A camera for work (I’m a model), and a textbook for school, etc. Once I have found a symbol for each activity, I imagine that I’m dropping that symbol down into the river, where it is rushed away…out of sight, out of mind, as they say.
Being able to forget all of what happened during the day is crucial to successful projection. Even after all these years, if I’m not physically relaxed, forget it.
Taming the Mind
The surface mind is always active while you are awake. If can be likened to a huge message and reminder pad. Its function is to keep you aware of everything that is going on around you. It chatters away constantly, reminding you of everything, constantly stating and restating the obvious; playfully making witty comments about everything while making sure you know exactly what is happening in the world around you at all times.
This ‘inner dialogue’ is part of the reason why many people can concentrate better while listening to music. Music occupies the surface mind and slows internal dialogue, thus allowing deeper levers of thinking and concentration…
… while music can help silence internal dialogue with regard to mental training it is best considered an artificial prop. I do not advise it be used unless absolutely necessary. To deeply relax the mind and attain the trance state, where you can work with deeper and more powerful level of the mind, it is necessary to silence the constant chattering of internal dialogue. Surface thoughts also create inner tensions that reflect the physical body as physical tension, making projection more difficult. ~ Robert Bruce, Astral Dynamics.
For me, this is even more challenging than just relaxing, as I tend to unwillingly have a random thought midway through the meditation process before projection. I’ll be getting ready to lay down, and think, ‘Did I feed my toadfish today?’ And then I have to get rid of that concern before moving forward.
The Trance State
A trance is a very simple and natural state of being, the state entered when the physical body goes to sleep while the mind stays awake. Very simply, the frequency of the brain waves changes in response to the changed level of mental activity. The less mental activity, the deeper the level of trance. Normal levels of consciousness cause a lot of bioelectrical activity, which is associated with the awake activity of the surface mind, called the beta level. When the trance state is entered, this activity is significantly reduced, causing many peculiar physical and mental sensations. Changes in brain-wave activity are measurable with and electroencephalograph, or EEG, machine. ~ Robert Bruce, Astral Dynamics.
Essentially what Robert Bruce is saying is that the trance state is most easily achievable by meditation. Once a practitioner has mastered the art of combining all three core skills in a meditative state, it is only one basic step away from being able to attempt the first stages of astral projection.
Meditation comes more easily for some than others, I’ve noticed. It seems that the best time to practice meditation is when one is in a public, crowded area. Practice blocking out any and all noise…the sounds of people talking, heels clicking on tiles, dogs barking, whatever the case may be, try to drown all this out. In my opinion, using music should be avoided, as it will only be harder to master meditation when the time comes that you need to have total silence to hope for success.
The process for training myself to project took me only six months, but for an average person it wouldn’t be uncommon for them to try for up to seven years before either giving up or becoming proficient in the art.
Steps cannot be skipped or taken lightly when one is attempting to learn to project. If there are any reading this who are interested to learn the techniques, I would strongly recommend picking up Astral Dynamics for use in training. Robert Bruce knows what he’s talking about, and in my opinion, he’s the best in the business for learning what to do.
To move away from the daily lecture, I’ve made another big decision in my life. I have decided that I want to focus on developing my clairvoyant abilities in hopes that I may learn to access my astral sight in my daily life. So far I believe my training has been going well…I experimented with scrying last night and found establishing the link between the physical and the astral wasn’t that hard. And with that step, I hope to have that proficiency within the time span between now and the end of 2007.
Sephiroth is, as usual, dubious about this endeavor. He’s concerned enough that I’m writing this down on the blurty, as following that attack he’s become rather paranoid. I know he’s only concerned for my safety, but seriously, I do believe I can take care of myself.
He was against me going public with this, because he fears by writing down my beliefs like this I’ll only attract more negative attention. For my sake, I hope he’s wrong.
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-01 09:33
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This is indeed very interesting, Julia. I never heard of anything like this... but there is one thing that I cannot understand, no matter how I try. It's about your archangel. You said he's not the same as the game character. But then why did you said in the former blurty that Sephiroth told you about his family? Like how Hojo didn't allow him to have any relationships when he was alive? If he just has the game character's looks, then why did you say he was killed by Cloud? I would be most grateful if you cleared that up. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
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 sephirothslave
2007-11-01 13:01
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Yeah...I was reading back through my old posts recently, and I noticed a few of those incidents. And honestly, I'm still trying to figure out what was going on when I wrote those. I'm trying to remember the specific conversation that prompted me to write it, and you know what? I can't remember it. Now, that was a couple years ago, and I could easily attribute it to my typically bad memory or option two is that it was a dream.
I have had dreams about Sephiroth-the-character in the past, and obviously I can now distinguish between what was a dream and what was a true out of body experience. Perhaps my younger self confused the two - given how complex the topic of astral projection is, I'd say it's fairly likely that a young girl could have become confused at the difference...since I was only beginning to read on the topic and only had a very, very limited knowledge of astral projection and the astral realm.
But it's certainly a matter to look into and reflect on. If I can turn up a more definitive answer, I'll be sure to address it. However, for the time being I'm going to say I wrote that confusing a dream with true projection. At the time I didn't have much control over when I projected, so the chance to mistake the two would be high.
Hope that helps.(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-01 17:18
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I never took into account the posibility of that being an actual dream, you know. It's still a bit confusing for me, though. But I would really love to know more about this subject. I will check this blurty more often. Keep it up! ^_^ (M-chan) (Reply to this) (Thread) |
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ladybow
2007-11-02 14:45
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Oh, Julia, I had a question I wanted to ask you, I just forgot about it.
So you admit now that "Sephiroth", the man you meet, is not Sephiroth the game character. But the game character was the one you loved, and technically you don't even know the one that you're meeting, if he's really "an angel in disguise" or the like. I was thinking....wouldn't that mean that you kind of...gave up your love for Sephiroth the game character? Or like it's some kind of two-timing? Because you say they're two different people, but you've claimed to love both. But if you only love your Sephiroth because he looks like the game Sephiroth that you used to love...that doesn't seem fair. I don't know. I guess I just want to know how that works.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
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sephirothslave
2007-11-02 18:53
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Ah, the complex questions. ^.^
This is actually a matter I've given thought to, because of the seeming way I'm contradicting myself. It's true that I fell in love with the videogame character. When I first began spontaneously projecting, I thought I was meeting the game character. As I learned more about my gift and learned more about the angel I had met, it came to my attention that he wasn't, in fact, the game character. This realization didn't happen for a while, though.
So in a way, (and this hurts my head trying to understand/explain) I fell in love with the archangel when I still believed him one in the same with the game character. But when I found out he wasn't, that didn't change the fact that I was very much in love with him...and in that regard was freed from my childish obsession with the game character - a process I'm sure would have happened naturally even if I hadn't begun projecting.
Since several years have passed since this began, it's given me quite a lot of time to ponder why I have this ability, and what, exactly, it means. The issue you addressed is just one of many things I've had to think about in the last year or so...as I began to truly understand the life I'm leading. But as I said, your question was complex, because of the different factors involved in what was occuring at the time I began projecting. I came from a Catholic family, had never heard the words 'astral projection' before my psychiatrist mentioned them, was only beginning my research, I was young and naive, and the list goes on.
I guess the easiest way to sum up would be that the archangel helped me get past the videogame character. The bottom line is that now, November 2nd, 2007, I can say I am NOT in love with the videogame character...and thus leave the squabbling over that character to the psychotic fangirls.
With my years of research and practical exploration I've learned that the being I am in love with isn't that character, and by the time I realized that I had no problem accepting it. Being more mature than my younger self, what it means to truly be in love with the archangel who returns my love is infinitely superior to the infatuation my younger self had for a fictional character.
Maybe it's not fair to the character, I wouldn't know. But I know that having the opportunity to be loved in return makes the weirdness that is my life seem worth it.(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-02 19:03
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Huh... Archangel or not (I personally don't believe angels in the biblical sense exist) he probably took the form of Sephiroth from FFVII for your sake. I don't know about his name. I've heard of such things happening before with guardian spirits (as well as malicious entities). Maybe you should ask him if he has a true form to show you? Especially since you're over Sephiroth now. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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ladybow
2007-11-02 21:13
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Ah, that's interesting. I guess it's a good thing that you're not cuckoo for the video game character and moved on. You mentioned that maybe the arch-angel just looked like him and used his name because he knew you'd trust him. Any chance he's going to reveal himself now that you truly accept him for who he is? He could have a totally different name and appearance. It'd be somewhat strange. But yeah. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-03 04:26
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So he looks just like the Sephiroth character? Or, as you said, the character looks like him? Do you have any idea why? (M-chan) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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sephirothslave
2007-11-03 07:26
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Yes. As for why...you know, I'm still in the process of explaining that to myself. It seems a huge cosmic coincidence to write it off as luck, you know? I mean, what would the odds be of a young girl falling in love with a videogame character who was based off of an angel? So the truthful answer is I don't know why...I never really questioned it because I've never had a need to do so. At the time he came to me, I was in serious danger, and he saved my life - why would I question his appearance years later?
But now that you've asked the question I've given it some thought, and I guess for now my only explanation is this: I believe in the concept of soul mates. In the recent past I've conversed privately with other projectors, and found my case (of having a soul mate not of this world) is actually not that unusual. I believe that soul mates are naturally drawn to each other through the grace of whatever deity one worships, and that even though few find each other, they still are searching, deep in their subconscious mind (the reason for the american divorce rate?)
It seems that every now and then, a human is born without the other half of their soul - the being bearing the aforementioned other half is born in an entirely separate realm...in my case, some form of heaven.
Even though the circumstances are a little strange, I theorize that my connection to the videogame character was meant to lead me to the archangel. Or at least for now, that's the best I've got.(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-03 09:13
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So the archangel found a way to you by, let's say, inspiring someone to make a character that looks exactly like him? (M-chan) (Reply to this) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-03 12:39
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I haven't heard much about spiritual entities that must sign a true name other than in cases of exorcism where a priest would invoke the name of Christ and force the possessing demons to give their name/s. I'm not particularly well-versed in these matters, however, and I personally don't believe in excorcisms in the Christian sense. I have heard that spirit guides/guardian angels/what have you will take many forms and take on many names, and it's entirely possible that both the form and name were taken because of your association with the character.
The name Sephiroth is also supposed to be the name of an angel from the Five Books of Moses, among other things. It could very well be possible the entity you talk to is actually named Sephiroth, but simply took the form of the video game character you associate the name with.
Based on my own personal experiences however, I am inclined to believe that your guardian spirit did not inspire the character at all.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-04 16:03
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Do you know what kind of archangel is he? Superior beings don't need a human form, right? And if he has no other appearance, then... for me it sounds strange that an archangel has only one form/appearance, and that is of a human.
*If I'm asking too many questions, I pray to be excused. But after so many years, I can finally get a clue about what's really going on with you! It's so hard to sort anything at all from the all this internet fuss stirred by the former blurty -not counting ED- . And this is first hand information. I can't miss this chance ^_^* (M-chan) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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sephirothslave
2007-11-05 02:51
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Oh, it's fine that you have questions! That's why I started this page: to answer questions people may have, seeing as how ED successfully has made me out to be a veritable nutcase.
So, to your question then. There's a theory that the concept of shapeshifting originated from the astral realm. The level of control any being on the astral plane has is so great that he/she/it can change their appearance at will, and by doing so best adapt to what they perceive themselves to be...for example, Robert Bruce cites that most projectors over the age of about forty-five or fifty project themselves to the astral plane no older than thirty or so - the prime of their lifetimes.
As for how that pertains to Sephiroth, I imagine if the need arose he could very well change his appearance...because if I wanted to, I could change mine quite easily, making it no problem for a spiritually advanced being. I do, however, believe that any being has a 'true form' so to speak (i.e. the fifty-year-old projector may look thirty while on the astral plane, but in reality is still fifty). And from what I can gather, the appearance I am accustomed to seeing is his true form. I could be wrong, but since this first started I have made a point to attempt to view this as objectively as possible to evaluate what's going on. (At first, I was quite worried I was insane/schizophrenic!) I hope that answers the question, and would be glad to answer more.
(By the way, I'm thinking of making a Q&A post...just moving questions and my replies to the front page for easy access - if you don't mind me posting it)(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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(Anonymous)
2007-11-05 06:20
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I see you already made that post. It's a good idea, some people might be too lazy to read the comments. (M-chan) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread) |
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