Lesson one: Introduction

Greetings and welcome to the Online Mystical School's class on Out of Body Experiences! I am your teacher, Daven, and I will be guiding you into a wonderful universe of discovery.

OOBE and Astral Projection can be rewarding as well as challenging. It is a voyage of discovery not only for your own mind but also for the world in general. It can be used to discover a more personal relationship with the world around you and your gods. It can show you the areas in yourself that need improvement and which areas are getting out of control. You can learn things that many years of study might not be able to show you.

All this and more can be learned through Astral Projection and through OOBE. These techniques and the theory behind OOBE has been around for centuries. It was a requirement for the Shaman of many native cultures, and it was a skill that was actively sought for among the Druids.

In order to be able to do well in this class (which will focus on the actual leaving your body and walking around more heavily than anything else) it would help to have a native talent for this kind of thing. If you are a "negative personality" or someone who has a light connection to their body the exercises will be easier. This is not a requirement. You bring the talent, I will show you the skill to go with that talent.

Because of all this, OOBE is an advanced skill. You have to have a pretty good knowledge of yourself, with no illusions, in order to be able to do this properly. Once you leave your body, you cannot have any ego trips or other personality quirks that make life interesting. One thing the Astral Plane teachers you is humility.

The reason for this stricture is a simple reason. Your environment will be dictated by your mind. If there is something wrong with your outlook on the world, then there will be problems when you project out of your body. Fears and dreams will come to you and try to distract you, things you thought were buried will come back and make you look at them again.

Have I scared you yet? Good. This is not something to be undertaken lightly. It is a dangerous skill and one that has resulted in accidents before. I really don't want one to happen here. However, if done properly, with knowledge and control, it can be as safe as breathing. That is what this class will teach you.

AP (Astral Projection) is exactly like near death experiences. They are two sides of the same coin, one where you can come back to your body, and the other side where you leave your body and don't come back at all. It has been theorized that those who death-willed themselves simply projected out and didn't return to their bodies for one reason or another.

In this lesson, I will give you a brief overview of the kinds of things that you will learn in this class, and an introduction to me, as well as common definitions that will be in use in this class. My Biography is next. ;-)

As I said, I am Daven. I am an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, a High Priest in the Seax-Wican tradition (self-dedicated), a Druid and Ollamh Cainte (Professor of Magick and Ritual) in an online Druidic Society that has since closed down, as well as being a Pagan of some years standing.

I started this quest when I was 4 years old, back in 1972. My grandmother was a new-age Christian who had a fascination for the metaphysical. She undertook to teach me about some aspects of metaphysics, from auras, to dreams to AP. Mostly through theory and stories, rather than practical applications of the information she was trying to convey.

This continued on into my teenage life. At that time, I got started with AD&D and began to wonder about the validity of all that my Grandma told me. I began reading everything on metaphysics and the psychic that I could find. One of those books was "Journey out of the Body" by Robert Monroe. I began to practice meditation and astral projection. For me, at that time, it didn't work. I thought that it was simply a matter of not enough practice, so I practiced and read everything that I could get my hands on about the subject of Astral Projection.

Time passed, and I became an adult. I spent some time in the Army, learned that I didn't care for the Army at all, had a crisis of conscience with the Mormon Church, and left them. I began studying about the Pagan religions out there, and discovered Wicca. I had heard about the witches in the woods for some time, but I never had the guts to start reading about them before. Luckily, there was a Wiccan in the gaming group I was a member of. My best friend and another close friend (Native American Shaman-in-training) helped me define what I wanted out of a religion, and when I discovered Buckland's Big Blue Book, I was hooked.

This was back in 1991 when I dedicated myself into Seax-Wica. From there, it was only a matter of reading and investigating more in my areas of interest, learning all that I could about Wicca and the Wiccan traditions out there, and starting to participate in the community.

About this time I met my wife, who had been on a spiritual quest about 8 years longer than mine (she got a late start and didn't start questioning her Catholic upbringing until she was 12 and Vatican II hit). She helped me even more to define my perceptions, helped me to clean out the drek that everyone collects in a lifetime, and to focus myself. She was also a self-dedicated Wiccan, of no tradition. Together we started a voyage of discovery that continues to this day, almost 10 years later.

I have a daughter, whom I am teaching the ways of Wicca to with my wife's help. You can tell that we are Wiccan since we named our daughter after a Goddess (even though everyone thinks we named her after the song). My wife and I are both out of the broom closet, and make no bones about it.

Recently, I have been teaching the basics of Paganism to that group of Druids who don't have the background to fit some of the more esoteric information on the Druids into a worldview because of a lack of knowledge in paganism and metaphysics as a background. Also as part of that, I have an advanced class in a lot of theory of different metaphysical phenomenon (in which I have given a brief class in meditation and Astral Projection). I was voted by my peers as the administrator of the group (called Iona on Ancient Sites) when internal pressures became too much. I have started a website that has been up for about 8 months now, which has gotten good critical reviews. I do volunteer work with The Witches' Voice, submitting articles for publication and in doing their "Cats of the Craft" pages. Llewellyn books also allow me to do some reviews of their books for them.

Other than that, I am a MIS Specialist for an insurance company in my hometown (which means I fix the broken computers), I am continuing to learn, and hope to start taking a course of study with the Henge of Keltria in the near future. I have been participating in debates and discussions for about the past two years online, along with doing my classes, and running around with my normal life.

Which brings you all up to date on my current life.

Oh, I need to add to this, that I have been projecting for quite some time now. I have had multiple discussions about the nature of reality with Herne and Rhiannon and my spirit guides, I have talked to other spirits in various worlds, and I have a "pen-pal" agreement with some of my alternate me's in other universes where we swap news and keep current on what is happening with each of us (me). I have been on the Astral Plane multiple times, either in my dreams or during remote viewing and a few times without my body during meditation. I know a lot about this, but I will leave you to judge this for yourself.

I will share my stories with you all as this class progresses.

Definitions

This is the section where I define 16 or so terms that will be in use during this class. Keep them close so you can know exactly what I am talking about.

AP or Astral Projection: The ability to spiritually leave your body and walk around and interact on what is termed as the Astral Plane. Usually this happens spontaneously, but you can do it with control. I will use this term quite a lot during our class.
Alternate World: A world that is not this world. There are countless numbers of these worlds out there, which we will explore in depth as we go along in this course.
Summerlands: The "after life" for many cultures and peoples. It is analogous with the "Happy Hunting Grounds" of Native American culture, Heaven, Nirvana and so on. It is a place of rest and relaxation after a lifetime.
OOBE or Out of Body Experiences: This is almost the same as Astral Projection, but the difference is that where you leave your body behind with AP, you don't necessarily have to with this method. This term is kind of the metaphysical "catch-all" term for those occurrences that don't fit neatly into any other category. Near death experiences are OOBE, so too is Astral Projection, but both are different. OOBE is the general category, where the specific skills somewhat similar, they are still distinct enough to require their own terms. Like ESP and Telepathy. Both are different, but one is a subset of the other general category.
Might-have-been: I will be throwing this term about quite a lot in the examples I give you, and in the classes themselves. I will wait until we get to this subject to go into great detail, but in brief I can say that this is all the other choices you could have made. Any choice you make to bring you here is partnered with uncountable Might-have-beens. Each of the MHBs spin off new worlds. And you can get to them through the Astral Plane.
Astral Beings: Any permanent denizen of the Astral Plane. From Gods, to demons, angels, dragons, unicorns, devils and imps, to discarnate souls to ascended masters. These are the spirits and beings that don't have a body and will probably not get one. Just as this world is your home, the Astral Plane is their home.
Astral Plane: This is a place that is nowhere and everywhere. Ghosts and Astral Beings live there on a permanent basis. The Astral Plane touches everything and everywhere and acts as a bridge between worlds. There is only one Astral Plane, but it lays on top of multiple worlds and dimensions. Getting to the Astral Plane is a matter of control and practice.
Lucid Dreams: This is a dream that you have that is so real that you swear you could smell the flowers or the cookies baking and so on. It is a dream in which you control the environment. This is one of the beginning steps in Astral Projection.
Silver Cord: Some of you may have heard this term. Simply put, this is the "cord" of your lifeforce that keeps your body alive while you are not in it. Sever this connection, and your body dies and your soul moves on to another lifetime. There is little out there that can sever this cord and it is also a way back to your body.
Remote Viewing: Another form of OOBE, this is seeing a distant location while meditating. This is the skill I have after years of practice. You can use this to view into places on Earth, or even different worlds. Because you are conscious of what is going on in a meditative state, you can control what you see and what happens to a larger extent than you can with AP or Lucid Dreams.
Dream Projection: Another form of OOBE, this is projecting out of your body unconsciously during your sleep cycle. Those dreams about flying or falling you had at one point or another are this skill in action. This is usually the first concrete type of OOBE that you will experience, and the most frustrating. This is an unconscious ability.
Akashic Record: Some of you may have heard this term before. This is a record, stored on the Astral Plane, of everything that any person has seen, heard, experienced, thought, whatever since the dawn of time. Jung thought this was the "Collective Unconscious" however, that is a different record altogether.
Collective Unconscious: This is the same as the Akashic record, but this record only goes back to the oldest living person on the planet. It is also the sum total of the human will, not the consciousness, but the will and ego. Some have referred to this as the "human animal" or the "race memory".
Hypnosis: The alpha brainwave state, entered willingly, sometimes with the help of someone talking to you. In this state of hyper-suggestively, many changes in the subconscious are possible that are impractical during a waking state. It must be stressed that no hypnotist can make you do anything that you do not want to do. You can't be forced to murder anyone, unless you already want to kill people. That is the stuff of bad dramas. You also can't get stuck in this state, since you go into a hypnotic state every night on your own. That gray area between waking and sleeping is this hypnotic state.
Pocket Reality: Some have become so experienced at AP and OOBE that they are able to take part of the Astral Plane for their own uses. In these places they create environments suited to their tastes and wants. This is a pocket reality. You can enter them if someone else made it, but most times it's not advisable to do so. Usually they are protected to keep those outside from coming in without an invitation. Some people call them "Astral Temples".
Astral Body: This is what you look like while on the Astral Plane. Not only look like, but it is the reflection of how you truly see yourself. The aura is usually stronger and the body becomes idealized to how you see yourself mentally. This body is different for everyone. It is also what a ghost is made up of. The Astral Body can interact on this world to a limited extent, but on other worlds that changes.

Assignment time: Using my introduction and biography as a model, write an essay about yourself. I want to see what you have studied, any practical experience you may have, any stories about AP or OOBE that you may have had in the past. Tell me about you. If you have read books that have really affected your thinking on certain topics, list them as well. Introduce yourself. Tell me about your personality, your likes, interests, turn-offs. I want to also see why you wish to take this class, as well as what you hope to gain from this class listed.

These assignments will be posted on the message board and we will all be discussing them, so don't write anything you are uncomfortable with sharing.

The essay should be 200 to 1000 words in length.

Stars light your path.

Daven

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