The Idea Of Astral Projection Has Roots In Religious Texts
The concept of the “astral body” is explored in various religious texts, including the Qur’an and Hindi scriptures. Ancient Egypt had a concept of the soul separate from the physical body, which was divided into eight different components, including the “Ba,” which was closest to the Western conception of the soul.
Dr. Blackmore notes that while the concept of leaving the body for a kind of spiritual awakening does have longstanding roots, the explicit notion of astral projection is more connected to Theosophy, a belief system popularized by Helena Blavatsky that focused on spiritual experiences with little in the way of hard evidence.
“The term âastral projectionâ only goes back to Theosophy and Madame Blavatsky in the 1890s and so on,” Dr. Blackmore says. “Thereâs no evidence of any kind to support Theosophy with its seven different bodies and its higher astral planes, and therefore to support the term astral projection.â
Behind Her Eyesis Not The Only Series To Touch On Astral Projection
The ending of Behind Her Eyes is certainly one of the more shocking uses of an out-of-body experience, but it’s far from the only one. Films like The Big Lebowski, If I Stay, Ghost, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind all feature them in varying forms.
The Marvel movie Doctor Strange features a particularly trippy astral projection scene, while the 2019 horror film ASTRAL is about a character who has figured out how to leave his body and winds up coming in contact with an evil spirit.
Messier likens an out-of-body-experience to the scene in Disney’s Peter Pan where the main character loses his shadow, and has to reunite with it.
Supernatural TV shows like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, of course, Supernatural also show characters astral projecting.
Dr. Blackmore explains that instances of out-of-body experiences can be helpful and informative to the public if done correctly, but, in many cases, they serve to drive a wedge further between those who think they cannot happen and those who believe, but doubt the scientific explanations.
But, while the researchers say that according to science, out-of-body experiences are quite unlike how they’re portrayed on screenânot a product of the soul but of neurological activation and rarely controllableâBlackmore stresses that they can be thrilling, mind-opening moments, similar to watch a great movie.
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What About 2 Cor 1: 1
Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years agowhether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knowssuch a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a manwhether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak, .
This Scripture is often used to support out of body experiences, but it cannot be properly used this way. In Jewish cosmology, there are three heavens. The first heaven deals with the atmospheric region . The second heaven deals with the region of outer space . The third heaven is Gods dwelling place .
So, when Paul says that he knew someone who was caught up to the third heaven, he was speaking about entering into the dwelling place of God. What is important is that it occurred either in the body or out of the body, of which he did not know. Also, it is possible that this occurrence Paul speaks about, which is probably about himself, might very well be in reference to the instance when he was stoned and left for dead.
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead, .
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Are Out Of Body Experiences Harmful
The Bible tells us that we are to avoid any occult practices. Astral projection is just such an event. Essentially, it amounts to what the Bible calls divination and sorcery and is to be avoided. In addition, it may very well open up individuals to demonic oppression since it is in violation of the Scriptures and is dabbling in the spiritual realm in a manner not approved by Scripture.
- Lev. 19:26, You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor practice divination or soothsaying.
- Lev. 19:31, Do not turn to mediums or spiritists do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.
- Deut. 18:9-11, When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6, And he made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
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Demons Disguise Themselves In The Astral To Provoke Sin
A forum user named describes his experience of being molested by an entity who was pretending to be his girlfriend: Well this morning I took a nap, and this being posing as my girlfriend tried to get freaky with me, I noticed I was dreaming, and remembered that my girlfriend had school now, it felt different, and that it had attached itself to my root chakra and I was being leeched! I started spewing demon spawn priest talk, I cast thee out foul demonic spore of hell, Go back to hell you spawn of satan.
In my commanding voice and pulled away, it took all my energy to do that. Then I collapsed on the bed and was paralyzedI laid there for a while, and it all faded away. I woke up again in the astral, and the stupid entity was at the doorway, still posing as my girlfriend. I could barely see, my astral vision was blurring but I could see out of the corner of my eye.
Astral sex is a very common practice that is praised and encouraged within the New Age, and only God knows how many people are interacting with demons in disguise thinking they are astral playmates. We learn from this anecdote that:
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What Is Astral Projection
The shortest answer to this question is that Astral Projection is allowing your consciousness to leave your body and witness things you otherwise couldnt experience.
There are multiple methods to learn how to do this, and if youre interested, you can read our beginners guide to Astral Projection, but this post isnt about how to learn how to Astrally Project. Its about how the Bible sees it, and whether you should start to practice it.
Demons Paralyze People Against Their Will In The Astral
Another thing they will do, as we have already seen, is paralyze you against you will. A person online reached out for help on forums after having the following two experiences: I saw myself out of my body looking around my room and then something I could feel but not see had come to me. It was a male and he held me down, I tried to get away but he was very strong and overpowered me. He put his hands on my throat and I had no voice he kept me down and took full advantage of me. He was me to the fullest extent and left when he was finished. I woke up crying and continued to do so for quite awhile.
Another story describes rape and paralysis: I drifted into the astral or was pulled in rather. I floated up to some shifting faces girl. She or should I say it opens its mouth really wide and pulled on the side of it. Its skin stretched like elastic and pulled out at about an arms length. then it reached at me and tried to do the same on my skin, which wasnt as stretchy.
Next thingsomething was inserted in my anusIve had this happen 100s of times over the last 2 yearsThen, Im a new position and arms are paralyzed, so now I cant move, and I start trying really hard to move my arms, I can a little, as I struggle I hear a woman laughing, as if she were wrestling with me trying to hold me still.
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The Phenomenon Is Real But The Term Out
Dr. Messier and Dr. Blackmore, who had an out-of-body experience of her own in 1970, have spent decades studying these occurrences, and bristle at the oftentimes mystical explanations of astral projection.
“The bottom line is that I think we now have the outlines of a complete neuroscientific explanation of what out-of-body experiences are,” Dr. Blackmore says. “That doesnât mean we know every detail, but we have the outline. It is quite unnecessary, and indeed totally unhelpful, to talk in terms of astral projection, because that is an ancient theory that simply doesnât fit the facts now.”
In a 2017 article for BBC Focus, Dr. Blackmore explains that when “the body schema is disrupted by electrical stimulation,” the brain can essentially lose track of the body, thus creating a feeling of disconnect between the mind and physical form. This creates the sensation of separation, and the perception of your body “outside” of yourself.
There is no scientific consensus on how to induce an out-of-body experience, as the vast majority of people who experience them do so involuntarily, and accounts of them are based on anecdotal evidence.
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In some cases, including Dr. Messier’s and fellow University of Ottawa professor Dr. Andra Smith’s collaborative study, “Voluntary out-of-body experiences,” the phrase “extra-corporeal experience” is also used.
A Journey To Other Worlds
Daniel Miller graduated from MU with a bachelor of English in May 2014, and he is a first-year masters student now in English at MU. His fiction has appeared in ZONE 3, Puerto del Sol, and Hobart, among other publications. He selected to write about this topic simply because he has always been fascinated with astral projection and lucid dreaming. He tried to achieve this state while researching and writing the paper.
The astral body appears in many different cultures throughout time and throughout the world. In Egypt, the KA was not the soul of man . . . but its vehicle . In the Quran, Muhammads astral body travels in the Isra and Miraj story. And, among other sacred and secular texts, the astral body appears in Hindu scripture, Taoist practice, and even Christianity. In his article regarding the afterlife, Woolger notes that in such journeys in the world religions and innumerable tribal practices scholars have described a common pattern of ascent, which is to say an ecstatic, mystical or out-of body experience, wherein the spiritual traveler leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body into higher realms .
Reference List
Blackmore, S. J. . A postal survey of OBEs and other experiences. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 52, 225-244.
Muldoon, S. & Carrington, H. . Projection of the astral body. United States: Read Books.
OBEs. OBEs. . Out of body experience research foundation. Retrieved from Web on Apr.
24, 2014.
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Because So Few People Can Leave Their Bodies On Command These Experiences Are Challenging To Study
Most people who have out-of-body experiences do so very infrequently, making them nearly impossible to replicate for research purposes.
Messier and Smith’s 2014 study focused on a student who said that she had been having out-of-body experiences her whole life, and that she could trigger them deliberately, which is conceptually similar to astral projection.
“The person we studied could have these experiences because she practiced those when she was a kid as a play thing, not realizing it was anything special,” Dr. Messier says. “She just did that to pass time while she was trying to go to sleep, and sheâs had problems going to sleep, which is common among people who have out-of-body experiences.”
Messier and Smith did extensive imaging of the subject’s brain, though obviously the study hinged on believing that she was telling the truth about her ability to induce out-of-body experiences.
“I feel myself moving, or, more accurately, can make myself feel as if I am moving. I know perfectly well that I am not actually moving,” the subject said. “There is no duality of body and mind when this happens, not really.”
Breaking This Down What Does This Passage Mean
Biblical scholars all agree that this passage has a clear and understandable meaning, which well break down here line by line.
The first line is clear in meaning. Paul wants the reader to know that he is not boasting, but he has had vision and revelation. The Bible is full of visions and revelations and these are Pauls own experiences with the phenomenon.
The second line explains how Paul knew a man who experienced a vision delivered from God, when he was caught up to the Third Heaven.
Firstly, Paul isnt breaking heaven down into different levels here. Archaically, people from the time this was written would refer to the blue day sky as the first heaven, the starry sky behind it as the second heaven, and the true, third heaven where God resided above it all.
This passage is saying that the man was taken up into the true heaven, and the presence of God.
Its important to understand that Paul is being humble here. He didnt personally witness the events, so hes saying that how the man received his visions was in the hands of God.
However, the Bible makes it clear, throughout every book, that mans body and spirit are two different things.
It also makes it clear that mans body does not go to heaven, only his spirit.
Putting these two pieces of knowledge together, its clear that the man was raised out of his body, and received visions in spirit, i.e., it was a clear out of body experience.
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Bible Verses About Astral Projection
The occult practice of astral projection or an out of body experience is of the devil and it is clearly forbidden in Scripture. I am surprised at the number of people who actually try to defend this. Sorcery has always been an abomination to God. Practicing things of the occult are very dangerous and they can open up your body to demons.
Christians are to stay away from evil. There are some people who have itching ears to hear what is false, so they search ways to justify their rebellion. In 2 Corinthians Paul seems to have an out of body experience, but remember there is a difference between God prompting something and voluntarily practicing things of the occult. There is a difference between being controlled by the Holy Spirit and being controlled by an ungodly spirit.
Voluntary out of body experience.
- Practicing sorcery and divination.
Involuntary out of body experience or near death experience.
- Someone claiming to have died, but could hear the conversations of others around him.
- Someone who says they died, went to Heaven, and came back.
Forbidden
1. Leviticus 19:26 You are not to eat anything containing blood, engage in occult practices, or practice fortune telling.
3. Leviticus 20:6-7 I will be against anyone who goes to mediums and wizards for advice. Whoever does this is being unfaithful to me. So I will separate them from their people. Be special. Make yourselves holy, because I am the Lord your God.
Last days
Be careful Satan is very crafty.
Bonus
What Does The Bible Say About Astral Projection
God Creating Adam” alt=”Pix For > God Creating Adam”> For Christians new to Astral Projection, it can bring a lot of questions about how theyre going to integrate it into their life and existing practice, as well as what the Bible might say about it.
Thankfully, there are passages that touch on this question, with easy answers if you know where to look. This article will tell you exactly what the Bible says about Astral Projection, and what you need to know.
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Astral Projection Is Demonic
On the Joy of Satan ministries website, and other Satanic websites, you can learn how to astral project and create your own temple in the astral realm to perform Satanic rituals and meet with demons. The Bible calls these experiences demonic. Satanism calls these experiences demonic. Most ancient cultures would call these experiences demonic, and a lot of the New Age movement would agree that these encounters were demonic.
They will say, however, that these experiences happened because they were on a lower astral plane, and they were on a lower astral plane because of their low-vibrational state. There are many different layers to the astral realm. It is said that most experiences can be pleasant and that all bad experiences are a result of the person being on a lower spiritual plane, and they got to the lower spiritual plane by being in a state of fear.
This is false because the girl who got raped by her spirit guide was expecting nothing but pure love like she had experienced previously and did not say anything about being in a different plane when the demons raped her. None of the testimonies of people who were tormented said anything about being on a different astral plane than before. The idea that demonic activity only happens on some lower astral plane is a textbook ad hoc fallacy.