Astral Projection


In our last three lessons we considered that class of Psychomancy

arising from the erection and employment of the "Astral Tube." In the

present lesson we pass to a consideration of the third class of

phenomena, namely, that occasioned by the actual projection of one's

Astral Body to distant points.



In this class of phenomena the consciousness of the person does not

remain within the physical organism, but
is actually projected along

with the Astral Body to the point being psychically viewed or examined.

This form of Psychomancy is, of course, a higher degree of

manifestation than the class previously described. Here physical

consciousness is temporarily suspended (perhaps for but a moment or so)

and the Astral Body containing the consciousness of the individual is

projected to some point, perhaps far distant, with the rapidity of

thought, where it examines objects there situated, receiving sensations

through and by means of the Astral Senses. This phenomena may arise

while the person is in a trance, or sleep, etc., or else in a moment of

concentrated abstraction, when one is "day-dreaming"; in a "brown

study"; or "wrapped in thought," as the familiar terms run. When he

returns to his physical body he "comes to himself," and what he has

seen or heard seems to him like a "day-dream" or fantasy--unless he be

a trained seer, in which case the two planes of consciousness will be

closely related, and almost continuous.



Besides the more familiar phases of this class of phenomena, there are

wonderful possibilities open for the developed Psychomancer along these

lines. As a leading writer on this subject has said concerning it: "He

has also the immense advantage of being able to take part, as it were,

in the scenes which come before his eyes. If, in addition, he can learn

how to materialize himself, he will be able to take part in physical

events or conversations at a distance, and to show himself to an absent

friend at will."



The trained experimenter along these lines has also the advantage of

being able to search about on the Astral Plane for what he desires to

find or locate. He is able to direct his Astral Body to definite

places, either by means similar to finding one's way on the physical

plane, or else by following up the psychic clue afforded by a piece of

clothing, a lock of hair, a piece of stone, or some other object

connected with the person or place desired, by means of a higher form

of Psychometry. Of course, the person whose powers are not so highly

developed is not able to have such control over his Astral Body, or to

manifest such a degree of trained power. He is like a child learning to

walk, or read--he is awkward, and must learn to direct his movements.

There are many degrees of power, from the occasional, spontaneous

manifestations, to those of the highly trained Occultists who travel in

the Astral even more easily than in the physical, and with the same

degree of certainty and control.



The pages of reliable works on Occultism and Psychic Research are

filled with illustrations and examples of cases along these lines, in

which the Astral Body of persons have traveled to distant scenes, and

have reported occurrences and scenes witnessed there, sometimes

materializing so as to be seen by the persons in the places visited. We

herewith mention a few of these cases, in order to illustrate the

principle.



A well-known example is that of the Philadelphian, mentioned by the

German writer Jung Stilling, and quoted by some English writers. The

man in question was a well-known character, respected, of good

reputation and steady habits. He had the reputation of possessing

Psychomantic powers which he sometimes manifested for the benefit of

friends and others. He was once consulted by the wife of a sea captain,

whose husband was on a voyage to Europe and Africa, and whose vessel

had been long overdue, and from whom no tidings had been received for a

long time.



The Psychomancer listened to the story of the anxious and distressed

wife, and then excused himself from the room for a short time, retiring

into an adjoining room. Becoming alarmed at his continued absence from

the room, the lady quietly opened the connecting door, and peeped in

the second room, where much to her surprise and alarm she saw the old

man lying on a couch, showing all the appearances of death. She waited

in great alarm for a long time, when he aroused himself and returned to

her. He told her that he had visited her husband in a coffee-house in

London, and gave her the reasons for his not having written, adding

that he would soon return to Philadelphia.



When the husband finally returned, his wife questioned him regarding

the matter, and he informed her that the reasons given by the

Psychomancer were correct in every detail. Upon being taken into the

presence of the man, the old sea captain uttered an exclamation of

surprise, saying that he had seen the man on a certain day in a

coffee-house in London, and that the man had told him that his wife was

worried about him, and that he had answered the man, saying that he had

been prevented from writing for certain reasons, and that he was on the

very eve of setting sail for America. He said that he had then lost

sight of the stranger suddenly.



W. T. Stead relates the case of a lady of his acquaintance who has

spontaneously developed the power to travel in her Astral Body, and to

materialize the same unconsciously. She became a source of great worry

and distress to many of her friends, to whom she would pay unexpected

and involuntary visits, frightening them out of their wits by the

materialization of what they supposed must be the "ghost" of the lady,

whom they thought must have died suddenly. The occurrences, however,

became so frequent that her friends at last became familiar with the

nature of the appearances, and viewed them with merely great interest

and wonder.



The English Society for Psychical Research have several hundred

well-authenticated instances of such appearances in their published

records. One of the well-known cases is that of a gentleman described

as "S. H. B.," a member of the London Stock Exchange, and a man of

considerable business note. He relates his story as follows:



"One Sunday night in November, 1881, I was in Kildare Gardens, when I

willed very strongly that I would visit in the spirit two lady friends,

the Misses V., who were living three miles off, in Hogarth Road. I

willed that I should do this at one o'clock in the morning, and having

willed it, I went to sleep. Next Thursday, when I first met my friends,

the elder lady told me she woke up and saw my apparition advancing to

her bedside. She screamed and woke her sister, who also saw me." (A

signed statement of the two sisters accompanies this statement, both

ladies fixing the time at one o'clock, and saying that Mr. B. wore

evening dress.)



"Again, on December 1, 1882, I was at Southall. At half-past nine I sat

down to endeavor to fix my mind so strongly upon the interior of a

house at Kew, where Miss V. and her sister lived, that I seemed to be

actually in the house. I was conscious, but was in a kind of mesmeric

sleep. When I went to bed that night, I willed to be in the front

bedroom of that house at Kew at twelve, and to make my presence felt by

the inmates. Next day I went to Kew. Miss V.'s married sister told me,

without any prompting from me, that she had seen me in the passage

going from one room to another at half-past nine o'clock, and that at

twelve, when she was wide awake, she saw me come to the front bedroom,

where she slept, and take her hair, which is very long, into my hand.

She said I then took her hand and gazed into the palm intently. She

said, 'You need not look at the lines, for I never had any trouble.'

She then woke her sister. When Mrs. L. told me this. I took out the

entry that I had made the previous night and read it to her. Mrs. L. is

quite sure she was not dreaming. She had only seen me once before, two

years previously, at a fancy ball."



"Again, on March 22, 1884, I wrote to Mr. Gurney, of the Psychical

Research Society, telling him I was going to make my presence felt by

Miss V., at 44 Norland Square, at midnight. Ten days afterwards, I saw

Miss V., when she voluntarily told me that on Saturday at midnight, she

distinctly saw me, when she was quite wide awake."



We have related these accounts in order to show instances of the

appearance of a materialized Astral Body. But, we must remember that

these cases of materialization are very rare as compared to the cases

of Astral Projection (without materialization) in ordinary

Clairvoyance. And yet the phenomena is practically the same in both

instances, leaving out the phase of materialization. In many instances

the individual actually travels in his Astral Body to the distant scene

and there witnesses the events occurring at that point. There is a

"ghost" within each one of us, which under certain favorable conditions

travels away from our physical body and "sees things" at far-off

points. Under certain other conditions it materializes, and is visible

to others, but in the majority of cases it merely "sees" without being

seen. The Psychomancer, in this phase of the phenomena, actually

travels from the location of the physical body, to the other points

desired, and reports what he or she sees and hears there.



Astral Projection is frequently developed by faithful practice of, and

demonstration of, the simpler forms of Psychomancy. It is all a matter

of successive steps of development.



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