The Techniques of Astral Projection by Dr. Douglas M. Baker.pdf

The Techniques of

Astral Projection

By Dr. Douglas M. Baker

B.A., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., F.Z.S.

Printed and Published by Dr. Douglas Baker

Little Elephant

Essendon

Hatfield, Herts.

England

[ NOTE BY EDITOR : all notes by the editor of this datafile version are in

brackets throughout the text. We have left the text as it was printed, including

errors and English spellings. This version was generated by ANON Faction ,

Seattle, 1995.12.27, for reference in the "LIBER LIBER" project by a Curator of

the AutonomatriX. It is produced solely for this purpose, due to the

inaccessibility of other copies. ]

Gratefully Dedicated to the Master R.B.

THE AUTHOR GRATEFULLY ACKNOWLEDGES THE HELP OF BETTY

MOSELEY, RICHARD PAINTER AND STEPHEN FLYNN, WITHOUT

WHOSE HELP. THIS BOOK COULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED.

SECTION I

INTRODUCTION The Nature of Astral Projection (What astral projection is and is not)

SECTION II

TYPES AND STAGES OF ASTRAL PROJECTION

SECTION III

THE TECHNIQUES

SECTION IV

THE ASTRAL WORLD

A Coecton of Sacred Magck | The Esoterc Lbrary | www.sacred-magck.com

INTRODUCTION

The Nature of Astral Projection

(What astral projection is and is not.)

We live at a time when increasing numbers of people are having out of-body experiences. Many of them

are young. Most often they are teenagers. Some of their experiences result from the taking of psychedelic

drugs. More often it is because they are psychic in some way. We overlook the fact that this is an Age in

which the young people of today are far more spiritually developed than their parents. Such precocious

spirituality is typical of any New Age.

This phenomenon will go on increasing as the Age of Aquarius blossoms. More especially will it be

accelerated by the period of 1975 to A.D. 2000 for, in this twenty five years, it is said that the Mysteries

will be restored and that already an effort by Five great Masters of the Wisdom towards this end has

begun.

When such young people tell their psychiatrists of their out-of-body experiences, they get little

understanding in return. They are told that their experiences are hallucinatory and should be ignored and

even avoided. But to thousands of mankind, out-of-body experiences are not confused with dreams and

hallucinations. There is a tremendous difference. Out-of-body means just that. The physical body was left

behind in bed whilst the consciousness dwelt in some other vehicle of consciousness, usually a replica of

the physical but far more ethereal or ephemeral. Such is the reality of the experience that no other

possible interpretation for it can be given by the one experiencing it than that of astral projection, i.e.

projection away from the physical body in an astral body.

NOMENCLATURE

It is difficult to describe what happens in adequate language. The writer has had many thousands of astral

projections and knows the procedures well enough, but, nevertheless, must often falter in his explanations

for lack of suitable nomenclature. He has had to resort sometimes herein to the use of words associated

with Yoga and with Theosophy because no others exist in English. But these words are restricted to a

minimum.

There is another group of people having out-of-body experiences which is worth mentioning. It is those

rare individuals who suffer clinical death. During a heart attack or whilst undergoing surgery, someone

occasionally 'dies'. By this we mean that the heart stops and to all intents and purposes, the person is dead.

If or when he is successfully resuscitated, he frequently reports an out-of-body experience which is astral

projection pure and simple whilst the physical body lies 'dead' on the operating table.

Leslie Sharpe, a Toronto business man had just this experience. Late one spring afternoon in 1970, his

heart stopped beating and for three minutes and eleven seconds, he was 'dead'. But he survived and

recalled, in vivid detail, his sensations during clinical death. I quote now from the report by the Toronto

Daily Star columnist Sidney Katz....

Upon recovering consciousness, the first thing he told the doctor at his bedside was: "If I go out again,

don't bring me back - it's so beautiful out there" ....

.... "I saw myself leave my body, coming out through my head and shoulders. The body was somewhat

transparent, although not exactly in vapour form. Watching, I thought 'So this is what happens when you

die.'"

The scene suddenly shifted and Sharpe now found himself sitting on a small object, tilted at a 45 degree

angle, travelling through a blue-grey sky at a great speed....

The next sensation was of a "delightful floating" in a bright yellow light. Sharpe recalled: "I have a scar

on my right leg, the result of an old injury. Although, at the time, I was not conscious of having any lower

limbs, I felt the scar being torn away and I thought `They have always said that your body is made whole

out here. I wonder if my scars are gone?'"

"I tried unsuccessfully to locate my legs. In the meantime, I continued to float, enjoying the most

beautiful, tranquil sensation. I have never experienced such a delightful sensation and have no words to

describe it."

Then a series of hard blows to his left side brought him back to consciousness. (His heart had been

restarted by means of shocks from-an electric paddle.) Looking up, he could recognise the doctors and

nurses. They explained that he had taken "a bad turn".

Leslie Sharpe's experience contains many elements of astral projection which provide important keys to

the understanding of the phenomenon. Firstly, he insists that he was in another body. He also describes

how that body had a sensory equipment of its own which did not detract from his having sensations in his

more solid body lying, as it was, in bed. He had dual sensory equipment. His physical body possessed

sensation and his astral body also had sensory equipment. For the student of astral projection, this is most

important to understand. He must be prepared for this duality of sensation experienced in two different

vehicles of consciousness. The astral double possesses its own organs of sensation. The great New York

medium and clairvoyant Eileen Garrett often stressed this in connection with her astral projections:-

"While I am in a state of projection, the DOUBLE is apparently able to use the normal activity of

all five senses which work in my physical body. For example I may be sitting in the drawingroom

on a snowy day and yet be able in projection to reach a place where summer is at the moment

full-blown. In that instant I can register with all my five physical senses the sight of the flowers

and the sea; I can smell the scent of the blossoms and the tang of the ocean spray, and hear the

birds sing and the waves beat against the shore. Strange to say, I never forget the smallest detail

of any such experience which has come to me through conscious projection, though in ordinary

daily living I can be quite forgetful, and memories of places and things may grow dim."

[ A line drawing of the chakras, labeled, from the top, "Continuity of

Consciousness", "Clairvoyance", "Clairaudience", "Understanding",

"Travelling", "Feeling", and finally, at the bottom, "Seat of Kundalini". ]

The mechanism whereby one gains impressions of the inner worlds and of physical places a great distance

away, is through the etheric centres or chakras which are shown allied to their respective senses and

psychic powers in the picture above.

Diagram from "THE ETHERIC DOUBLE" by Major A.E. Powell

Note.

The diagram is of special interest here because it shows the pathways of vitality energising the centres

with the energy of prana derived mainly from breath. In the section on TECHNIQUES, we shall be

referring to the importance of breathing in relation to astral activity.

One is not likely to confuse the two bodies so far described. The physical body is interpenetrated and

surrounded by a force-field most generally called THE ETHERIC BODY or double. This is a vehicle of

subtle matter made of a material that interpenetrates any gas, liquid or solid just as easily as water

interpenetrates sand. The etheric body has its own organs which are adequately described in any textbook

of Theosophy. It energises the physical tissues and therefore, cannot be separated from the physical body

for long. Dislodgement of the etheric matrix soon brings death to the overlying physical body. It cannot

be projected.

On the other hand, the astral body is projected almost every time we go to sleep. When we enter the sleep

state we are usually still very active emotionally or astrally. We possess, as part of our normal equipment

both an emotional body which is termed the astral in esoteric parlance and we also have a mental body.

These are both made up of matter even subtler than the etheric already described. When we feel we act in

our feeling or astral bodies. When we think we act mentally in our mental bodies. The astral body is made

up of finer substance than the etheric body but not as fine a material as that of the mental body.

In sleep, we slip out of the etherico-physical body and dwell in our astral and mental bodies. In these,

especially the astral body, we tend to move about in the astral world which is almost an exact replica of

A Coecton of Sacred Magck | The Esoterc Lbrary | www.sacred-magck.com

those places we visit in waking consciousness but with reservations to this description which the writer

describes at the end of this work.

When we awaken, the astral and mental bodies slip back into their usual position in close alignment with

the physical and etheric bodies.

THE SILVER CORD

Sooner or later one hears about a so-called silver cord that connects the physico-etheric body to its astral

double. I mention the phenomenon here because many people aspiring to astral projection worry about

this cord. It is said that the cord is made of a silver like material and so long as it is patent, the astral body

will always return to its physical counterpart when we awake or return to our physical habitat.

There is also the suggestion that if the cord were to snap, return would not be possible. This becomes a

real fear to many. In my own instance, many years back, I used to lock my bedroom door before any sort

of esoteric endeavour like meditation or astral projection because of this fear.

It was widely believed that any sort of interruption whilst out of the body could bring about rupture of the

silver cord.

Does it exist? Is there any danger linked to its breakage?

I can only speak from experience. In all my many projections, I have never seen a cord, either linked to

me or to another person. This does not mean that the cord does not exist. It may be that with my nasty

scientific mind, I don't or won't accept that a piece of material like the so-called astral cord can be

extended indefinitely, perhaps as much as two hundred thousand miles, say, to the Moon. That there is a

tug back towards the physical body, I admit. That there is a feeling of linkage near the umbilicus or, in

women, as Eileen Garrett describes it, just above the breasts, I will also admit but that it is a cord, that I

will not accept.

I always say: "If you see a cord, take a pair of scissors and cut it!"

The great mystics and mediums who have all practised projection of some sort do not seem to have left

behind them descriptions of physical responses to astral projection even though some of them were

medically trained.

My own experiences confirm what little information we have gleaned from various records.

Swedenborg was also in his earlier days a profound student of anatomy and physiology and he frequently

gave valuable information about his own clinical condition during periods of mystical insight. But there is

practically nothing in his work describing his symptoms during astral travel. On the other hand Eileen

Garrett clearly describes the mechanism of astral projection she used and the accompanying physical

sensations and symptoms, which to me, also one who has consciously projected nly consciousness to

distances in my astral vehicle, are almost identical:-

"What is not generally accepted by science," she says, "but which I nevertheless know to be true,

is that everyone has a DOUBLE of finer substances than the physical body; it is referred to either

as the astral or as the etheric body by some scientists. This is not to be confused with the

SURROUND which remains in position enveloping the human body, while the DOUBLE can be

projected. It is by means of this DOUBLE that either accidental or conscious projection is

accomplished. Now in these experiments, I was doing conscious projection, and I know from my

own experience that when I project this DOUBLE, I do so from the centre of my chest above the

breasts. From the moment I begin to project, I am aware at this point of a pull, accompanied by a

fluttering, which causes the heart to palpitate, and the breathing to speed up, accompanied also, if

the projection is a long one, by a slight choking in the larynx and a heady sensation. As long as

the projection continues, I remain aware of these sensations taking place in my physical body."

But before we consider variations to astral projection and what astral projection IS NOT, let us look at

some interesting historical examples of the phenomenon.

HISTORIC EXAMPLES

Anyone acquainted with Jewish history will recall an occasion when the council chamber of Ben-hadad,

King of Syria, was invaded by the spirit, or sub-conscious of a Jewish prophet. Every time the king had

attempted a raid on Israel he found that his plans had been betrayed to his intended victim, and in despair

he cried: "Will ye not show me which of us is for the King of Israel'?" "None, my Lord, O King," was the

reply, "but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the King of Israel the words that thou speakest in

thy bedchamber." The prophet's astral body had journeyed to Damascus with the physical still in Israel.

Probably many of the siddhis of the saints concerned with the phenomenon of levitation which was

almost commonplace in medieval times, were really manifestations of an astral body arriving or leaving,

miles away from its physical counterpart.

It is related that St. Anthony of Padua, when preaching in the Church of St. Pierre de Quayroix at

Limoges on Holy Thursday in 1226, suddenly remembered that he was due at that hour for a service in a

monastery at the other end of town.

Drawing his hood over his head, he knelt down for some minutes while the congregation reverently

waited. At that moment, the saint was seen by the assembled monks to step forth from his stall in the

monastery chapel, read the appointed passage in the Office, and immediately disappear.

A similar experience is recorded of St. Severus of Ravenna, St. Ambrose and St. Clement of Rome.

At a later date, September 17th 1174, Alphonse de Lignori when imprisoned in Arezzo, remained for five

days in his cell without taking nourishment. Awaking one morning at the end of his fast, he declared that

he had been present at the death bed of Pope Clement XIV. His statement was subsequently confirmed,

for he had been seen in attendance at the bedside of the dying pope.

What more respectable examples could we take than those astral projections which were made into the

British House of Commons and witnessed by eminent members there'?

There are numerous historic examples:-

Sir Carne Rasch, when ill in bed, was seen in the House of Commons by SirGilbert Parker and also by Sir

ArLhur Hayter. Describing the incident, Sir Gilbert said: "When Rasch accepted my nod with what

looked very much like a glare, and met my kindly enquiry with silence, I was a little surprised." He went

on to explain that, when his friend's figure suddenly and silently vanished, he felt convinced that what he

had seen was a ghost, and that Rasch must have succumbed to his illness. Sir Arthur Hayter, who also

greeted the figure, was just as positively persuaded that he had seen Sir Carne, was struck by his extreme

pallor, and noticed that he occupied a seat remote from his accustomed place.

Dr. Mark Macdonnell was another who, while ill in bed, appeared in the House, was seen by fellow

Members on two consecutive days, actually entered the Division lobby and recorded his vote.

J.G. Swift McNeill, M.P., recounted how, in 1897, the double of T.P. O'Connor was seen in the House of

Commons in his wonted place while he was on his way to Ireland to take a last farewell of a dying parent.

The case of Dr. Macdonnell did, indeed, come in for a certain amount of comment in the Press, but seems

not even to have been a nine day's wonder.

MATERIALISATION

In all these latter examples of astral projection there has been a complicating factor which introduces the

subject of materialisation. The examples are given to emphasise that there is reality about projection. But

this was because the projection ended in materialisation of the individual. He was seen because his astral

body had materialised, if only for a short time.

This is not the place to go into the whole subject of materialisation.

Suffice is it to say that the human body gives off in very small quantities an ephemeral substance called

ectoplasm. This is mainly albumin and some amino acids. It is secreted from the orifices of the body. One

rare individual in about 50 million has the capacity to produce it in vast quantities especially during the

trance state. This person would be known as a materialisation medium. Strong white light is antagonistic

to the material which is best seen and gathered in conditions where red light is used. In a materialisation

seance huge amounts may be produced by the entranced medium and then it can act as a reservoir from

which astral entities can draw upon it. They will then be able to materialise for all to see and will remain

A Coecton of Sacred Magck | The Esoterc Lbrary | www.sacred-magck.com

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: