Astral bodies

Most of us, at some point or another, have practiced the noble art of astral projection; certainly it appealed to me, the thought of whizzing around the multiverse conjured up images of 'Dr Strange' in a young boys head :)

However, truth, as they say, can be stranger and more harrowing than fiction.

As some of you know I grew up with two, not too dissimilar, magical practices in my life. My fathers system of shamanic practice had no use of astral bodies, we were shadows that walked between worlds. Protected by various mantras, spells and guardians we 'earned' during our development.

My other side, however, pushed the idea and practise of astral journeying with gusto. My teachers reinforcing the patterns that enabled me to create a 'stronger' body with each 'extrusion'; creating a disposable golem that could be shunted around from place to place. One that was reabsorbed after every journey so as to not leave a 'shell' open to possession by passing entities.

As a magician, the first problem with astral bodies is that they are made up of the same material as the astral realms, they are harmonically linked. Therefore they are both 'visible' and 'connectible' to any being who naturally inhabits this zone. The nature of the astral is fluidity, so by creating something partially stable one attracts attention to it. Therein lies the main problem with astral projection, that as soon as the body is formed the surrounding 'neighbourhood' knows of it. The analogy would be of driving a brand new Bentley through the poorest districts of the world, it causes a stir.

Back 'then' our understanding of the science of the universe was different, magic understood the astral realm for what is was, a buffer between this vibrational level and the next. A no-mans land that was a jumble of humanities lightest and darkest thoughts blended with things that would never inhabit any other realm. All that could be imagined exists in the astral.

Science and magic have moved on, we have scientific calculus describing the potential existence of a multiverse and magicians who happily play out their lives there. Only the die-hards and innocents bother with astral forms now that the boundaries of our 'super existence' have opened up.

Concepts such as 'bi-location' and 'multiple viewpoint' orientation have become the 'norm' within ceremonial magic and the new 'techno-mage' groupings, although all 'travelling' is a harmonic of 'something'; and whilst we are now relatively free of astral incursions there are other things to worry about :)

For those newbies who still wish to choose the route of astral forms I would suggest the following -

1. when developing your new talent, only do so in a secured 'circle' until you are able to put together the form in less than 3 minutes. How do you know your circle is secure? Go find a good practitioner and get them to attack you whilst you are in your circle. Sometimes the easiest ways are still the best.

2. practise evoking your own astral form into that circle until it appears 'solid'

3. never 'leave' your astral form lying about - reabsorb it after every attempt.

4. create a series of protection spells that you build into the form and that you can actualise whilst in the from.

Remember that any astral body you create has two connections. The first is its harmonic relationship to the astral plane, it will glow like a torch to the beings there. The other is that whilst it has form it is connected to 'you' the spirit by a higher resonance; and should the astral form become possessed you will be in a whole puddle of trouble.

The reason being, is that any entity possessing an active astral form (one that is connected to spirit) immediately vibrates in resonance with its host; becoming a doppelganger, and is therefore immune to standard banishing (you can't banish yourself, try it).

So, make sure when you finish your work that you correctly re-absorb your creation.

Messes are always hard to clean up afterwards :)

BB