Astral Travel? [Archive] - MysticWicks Online Pagan Community and Spiritual Sanctuary

StephanieAine

July 3rd, 2005, 02:23 PM

No, they aren't the same.

A vision quest is when a person intentionally sets out - often on foot into a remote area such as a forest, desert, mountain area etc. - for the purpose of receiving a spiritual vision/experience. You can read about vision quests and their connection to Native American and other indigenous people's rites of passage at various places online. These quests are generally performed by those transitioning from childhood to adulthood (perhaps not truly at a time when the young person is 'adult' by contemporary standards, but at least around early teenaged years, so that they are considered spiritually adult in the eyes of their tribe).

Astral travel usually happens when a person is asleep, or close to falling asleep, but it can also happen in meditation. I've heard of rare instances when people have traveled astrally without entering a meditative state first, but I personally don't think they're experiencing astral travel in such a situation (I've had the astral experience myself, unintentionally, and so I know what it feels like and what the experience is like. It would seem to me that it would be impossible to 'separate' without being extremely physically relaxed. It's not something you could do while riding a bike! But as I said, I've heard rare stories of that nature.)

I mentioned that I've traveled astrally but it has been unintentional, so I think it's important for me to stress that fact. I've heard people say that they desperately want to learn how to do it and they try all sorts of methods, but I personally think that would make it all the more difficult. Why? Because stress and even just *thinking* will prevent it from happening, LOL. I think that if you just decide you really want to do it, if you truly and deeply want it to happen, it *will* happen at some point when you're laying in bed about to fall asleep. If you don't want it to happen - well, no problem; you won't, because even the slightest hesitance to travel astrally will act like a great big astral block. In fact, if you decide you don't want to do it, it would probably be really difficult to later change your mind about it. It seems as if the mind really knows what it wants to do, and gets very "set" on that.

In my own situation, I didn't think about it one way or the other - because honestly, I didn't believe it existed at all. I thought it was stupid and New Agey. Well, the joke's on me, right? It happened to me completely by surprise. After that, I had a very, very difficult time *not* doing it, because I was unwittingly allowing it to happen. I had to learn how to not allow it.

Astral travel is also ***not*** the same thing as lucid dreaming. A lucid dream is just this: a dream in which you are aware that you are dreaming (as opposed to ordinary dreams which seem like they're actually happening - until you wake up and realize it was just a dream). Often, lucidity will happen in the midst of a nightmare or an odd dream: for instance, you might suddenly notice a flower growing out of someone's head, and then you might say to that dreamperson, "Hey - a flower can't grow out of someone's head. This is just a dream!" And they might surprise you by responding, "You're exactly right!" And then you'll wake up. <g>.

-Stephanie

mucgwyrt

July 4th, 2005, 02:19 PM

Thanks. ^^ I'm always confused about vision guests, guided meditation and astral travel.. In books and stuff they never really tell you WHAT they are or if there's any difference.

:uhhuhuh: I've found that most people who can astral travel dont bother to write books on it since they can already do it, and that only people who cant/haven't bother to research and write about it - hence they probably dont specify because they're not really sure ;)

My experiences are similar to Aine's, having discusses it with her previously :) Mine usually occur in the early hours of the morning. I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and there seems to be (for me at least) some correlation between my Astral Travel, and periods of great fatigue and/or stress. Its like my body passes out from exhaustion, but the stress keeps my mind alert and aware and doesn't allow me any rest, and so I get up and travel while my body sleeps.