Best Astral Projection Books

Robert Bruce

Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce

Astral Dynamics: The Complete Book of Out-of-Body Experiences by Robert Bruce was my first book which introduced me to the fascinating subject of astral projection. When I first encountered it during the 1990s, it was in a PDF form circulating online, which came up with a “NEW” – New Energy Ways method to induce astral projection based on tactile imagery. This was indeed new as most other books on the subject advocated visual imagery as an induction method, which some people find a lot more difficult.

The book contains a lot of information, including speculative material about the theory behind out of body experiences, the astral body and the astral realms. But there is plenty of practical content too, A LOT of practices, which is why I recommend using the 90 day program (see above), as it makes it a lot easier to incorporate all those practices into a not-too-hard to maintain daily schedule.

Learn More (Amazon.com)

Mastering Astral Projection by Robert Bruce and Brian Mercer

Mastering Astral Projection: 90-day Guide to Out-of-Body Experience by Robert Bruce and Brian Mercer is exactly what its title suggests: a 90 day program by the end of which you will learn how to have out of body experiences at will. The program is based upon Robert Bruce’s excellent book on the subject, Astral Dynamics.

During the first part of the program, you will learn and practice all the fundamentals required for conscious projection, including relaxation, breathwork, energy body stimulation, trance induction and more. After 45 days of preparation, you will start practicing different projection methods for an additional 45 days. By the end of this program, you will not only be an accomplished projector but you will probably also start having lucid dreams and perhaps even develop psychic abilities. This highly effective program is how I learned to have conscious out of body experiences.

The book is also available in a voice guided version, which is called “Mastering Astral Projection CD Companion.” This, unfortunately, uses the same cover art as the book, so many people think it is the same, but it is a totally different product. It contains CDs with voice guided instructions for learning everything from energy work to OBE exits in addition to binaural beats tracks (like Hemi-Sync, but created with a different brainwave generator, see: bwgen.com).

Learn More (Amazon.com)

AstralDynamics.com – Psychic Services by Robert Bruce

Astraldynamics.com is psychic Robert Bruce‘s official website and service portal. The well-known and respected psychic delivers a number of interesting services through it. These services include:

• Having trouble achieving astral projection and OBEs in general? Robert Bruce offers direct help with astral projection and out-of-body experiences. These seem to be among the specialties of the psychic.
• Higher Self: accomplishment and harnessing of the magic associated with the concept. Receiving advice and guidance from your Higher Self.
• Kundalini work. More specifically, the raising of the Kundalini in a safe manner – which is extremely important in regards to this concept.
• Clairvoyance. Learning the ability to see spirits and auras.
• Recharging your chakras and general energy-related work.
• Psychic protection is an important aspect of every psychic’s activity. This includes a range of sub-taxonomies and the services they entail. Recognizing and defending against dark forces is a great example in this regard.

Given the nature of the website/service, it is obvious that Robert Bruce’s persona is the guarantor of the overall quality of the operation. If you are into astral projection and OBEs, you may have heard about him already. You may even know him from lectures and various radio interviews.

He is the author of several books, such as:

• Astral Dynamics
• Mastering Astral Projection
• Energy Work – The Secrets of Healing and Spiritual Growth
• The Practical Psychic Self-Defense Handbook.

All of this is pretty amazing when we consider the fact that Bruce taught himself the basics of English grammar and writing rather late in life.

About Robert Bruce

Bruce is a self-described open-minded skeptic. Upon his spiritual rebirth, he completely dismantled his previous belief system, building up a new one from scratch.

This belief system is predicated upon logic and tenets he knows to be true. He holds this system to be very important. It is through it that people filter thoughts and inspirations. As such, this belief system effectively sets the limits of one’s physical and spiritual existence.

Robert Bruce managed to completely “rewrite” these limits. His journey was one that people aspiring to similar spiritual accomplishments will likely have to take as well.

The psychic believes that one does not need any special talents or abilities to replicate his success. He thinks that everything needed to accomplish all he has accomplished, resides deep within every one of us. It is up to us to release these abilities and that is where he and his personal experience can help.

Bruce does not just describe this rebuilding of his fundamental belief system in vague terms. He offers up specifics.

The core of this belief system is made up of truths he has personally experienced and thus accepts unconditionally.

In his left hand, he imagines to hold tenets and concepts which are probably true. While he is ready to accept these too as truths, he needs proof before he does. In his right hand, he holds ideas/concepts that might be true…These too are pending proof.

It is interesting to see what constitutes the core of his mentioned belief system. He knows that the following are true:

• Astral projections. He says he has been having them all his life.
• Clairvoyance. He has apparently seen auras and spirits for his entire life as well.
• Kundalini.
• Healing.
• Various spirits and entities. He says he has interacted with such entities scores of times.
• The existence of a higher force.

And a couple of more controversial as well as spine-tingling issues:

• He believes people as well as animals survive death. He says he’s seen the spirits of the deceased in the spirit world, scores of times.
• Bad spirits and psychic attacks are real. He says he had even been possessed by demons and managed to self-exorcise.

Bruce’s Consultations

The personal consultations offered by the psychic are available through Skype. What this means is that if you opt for such a consultation, you will be having a face-to-face with Robert Bruce himself.

Such opportunities are obviously limited by the physical nature of time. Through such a consultation, you’ll be able to seek help for problems concerning astral projection and a number of other issues.

Since he is such a frequent astral projector, Bruce is the closest thing to an authority on this matter. Through his consultations, he will teach you how to separate your energy body from your physical shell safely and how to perform OBEs with confidence. He will also help you discover new worlds, visit your deceased relatives, and even take a peek at Akashic records.

Other issues he can help with are:

• Psychic self-defense (against attacks of psychic nature of course).
• Your energy body and its well-being.
• He will entertain you with personal stories of his own experiences.

Consultations are guaranteed to deliver a quality experience to participants. The psychic also guarantees full confidentiality. There are no taboos during these consultations and no judgment is cast.

A 60 minute personal counseling session via Skype or phone costs $197. 30-minute sessions cost $99.

Out of all the above, an oneironut will likely mostly be interested in the ins and outs of astral projection. This OBE is the king of it all, and the ultimate goal for all dreaming and lucidity enthusiasts.

Above and beyond that however, Bruce can offer psychic guidance for those at crossroads in life.

What Exactly Does Robert Bruce Offer through astraldynamics.com?

As mentioned, among the scores of courses and services he offers, astral projection stands out by a head and a shoulder. Over his lifetime, Bruce has apparently had thousands of astral projections. In line with that, he offers a series of courses, covering just about every aspect of astral projection one can think of.

Robert Bruce’s Astral Projection Mastery

From familiar concepts to never-before-heard ones, he offers step-by-step guidance for increased AP efficiency and frequency.

Again, he is not vague on this matter either. He specifies exactly what you will get if you sign up for a given course of his.

The $587.50 Spiritual Mastery Series for instance, offers value exceeding $1,000. People who purchase course membership gain access for lifetime to their preferred courses.

The mentioned course series covers a number of very interesting spiritual verticals. Specifically, it deals with:

• The manifestation of the Energy Body and healing
• It includes Astral Projection Mastery
• Kundalini
• Psychic defense against malefic entities and attacks.

Of course, if Astral Projection Mastery is all that interests you, you can cherry-pick that option. Such a course is considerably cheaper as well. You can gain access to it for $149.50. On my part however, I recommend going for the whole package.

Things are connected in unexpected ways in the spiritual realm, and your AP journey may be helped by seemingly unconnected factors.

What exactly do you get for your money though? If you pay for membership, you obviously gain lifetime access to your selected course. In addition to that, you also get a video program and a companion workbook. The workbook contains additional advice and tips. The video program can be watched and re-watched as many times as needed.

Forum membership is also part of the package.

So why should you go for Robert Bruce’s Astral Projection Mastery course? If you’ve ever tried AP before, you are probably well aware of the pitfalls and frustrations it can generate. Apparently, Bruce knows all these potential setbacks as well.

• Some people, even if they do in fact believe in AP, feel like an experience that spectacular simply cannot happen to them. This is a lack of confidence issue.
• Others find it impossible to concentrate on successful separation, even as they manage to reach the required mental state.
• You may be one of those who fall asleep just as they are about to astral project.
• Still others have all but given up on achieving AP, despite having read all the information pertaining to it and knowing everything about it.

As spectacular an experience as AP is, it is not an easy one to achieve. An experienced astral projector like Robert Bruce likely holds the keys to all the above detailed hurdles and problems. That is why you need him in your corner if you are truly aiming for success.

Let Robert Bruce Teach You How to Handle Dark Energy, Demons, and Negative People

One of the biggest fears of would-be astral projectors is that they shall encounter maleficent entities during their travels of the astral plane. As an experienced astral projector myself, I can tell you that the possibility is a very real one indeed.

In addition to such rather obvious negative presences, the spirit world teems with other possible pitfalls. Demonic attacks and the dark arts make this dimension a treacherous one for those unprepared for its perils.

Experienced walkers of the spiritual plane such as Robert Bruce know how to deal with such problems from experience.

In fact, Bruce has set up a model which helps people identify negative entities. The model also details how such entities operate and it lists a number of their vulnerabilities. Effective countermeasures are also covered.

According to Bruce, the basics of psychic protection are so simple that they can be taught to 5 year-olds.

He deals with the issue in detail in his mentioned book (The Practical Psychic Self-Defense Handbook) and also offers guidance in a special online course called Defense Against Dark Arts. Lifetime access to this course will set you back by $163.50, but in my view it is most definitely worth it.

In addition to access to the said course, for that money, you also get a video program, a companion workbook, as well as forum membership.

The way Bruce covers this vertical is thorough – to say the least. He deals with every possible defensive angle, including issues seemingly as mundane as diet and fasting.

• As far as demonic attacks are concerned, the psychic delivers all the tools you need to survive. According to him, you won’t be able to win such a confrontation, but you can definitely survive the ordeal.
• Death curses, bloodline curses, and coven wars are also covered, together with violent poltergeists and ghost hauntings.
• The cleansing of your energy body is a very important aspect of psychic defense and Bruce has quite a few pointers in this regard too.
• Keeping your physical body clean is also part of the equation. In this regard, the psychic covers salt baths, organic diet, as well as fasting. Fasting is a very interesting aspect of keeping in shape, so it is great to see Bruce take a brief detour in that direction too.

One would believe that when he/she comes under attack during an AP episode or while in an altered state of mind, doing nothing is the best course of action. This is a major mistake.

The problem is that with spirit world attacks, you simply cannot call the police the way you would in your waking life. You need to act. What do you do though? This is where Robert Bruce’s teachings come into the picture.

With more and more psychics roaming the spiritual planes, some with ill intentions, the number of psychic attacks has been on the rise lately.

Be safe and effectively protect yourself and your loved ones.

Raise Your Kundalini and Do it in a Safe Manner!

Robert Bruce has raised his Kundalini several times in his life. He accomplished the feat for the first time in 1987 and several more times since. Before we get into how he does what he does and how he can help you accomplish the same, let us answer the obvious question:

What is Kundalini?

The word itself is a Sanskrit term, which has probably been adopted by modern psychics on account of its brevity.

It denotes the very essence of life energy. The Kundalini is coiled at the base of the spine at birth. As people go through life, it provides the pranic energy, the life force that everyone knows. Upon death, it uncoils and it returns to its source.

Some people are able to awaken their Kundalini, giving rise to a flood of new sensations and changes. The raising of the Kundalini, whether it is slow or sudden, is a truly life-changing event. The raising of the Kundalini is considered to be a major component of spiritual realization.

With that in mind, the importance of Robert Bruce’s course dealing with Kundalini becomes obvious. According to the psychic, the awakening and the raising of Kundalini is the ultimate goal of physical existence.

Lifetime access to this course costs some $199.50. In addition to the actual program, you will also gain access to the forum and to a workbook.

Why is it important to find proper guidance for the raising of your Kundalini? According to popular belief, it is too dangerous to tinker about with this aspect of our physical and spiritual existence.

When done the right way, the Kundalini can indeed be raised safely. Unlike some people believe it, this is not a one-and-done act. It has to be raised from time to time. Every time it happens, the raising of the Kundalini showers the person performing the act with a flood of superior spiritual knowledge.

Thus, the first step in the successful raising of the life energy is to properly prepare for it. As mentioned in the beginning of this review, one’s core belief structure needs to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch. That is the only way to avoid being overwhelmed by the act.

Bruce’s pointers in the Kundalini course address a number of problems, such as:

• People being scared to raise their Kundalini.
• People who have unsuccessfully tried the practice and are on the verge of giving up.
• The lack of a proper guide on this important spiritual and physical practice.
• Most people lack adequate preparation.
• Most people – even among those who know about Kundalini – tend to believe that only special people can accomplish the feat. That there is some sort of talent involved in the process.

Robert Bruce never fails to iterate that he does not possess any special talents. If he can do it, surely anyone can – he says.

Bruce Shows You How to Unleash Your Higher Self

Modern life has successfully trained man to “tune out the divine.” As such, connecting with one’s higher self is more of an intricate spiritual exercise these days, than a natural process.

Our higher selves are constantly trying to communicate with us. We have just tuned out this communication.

As Robert Bruce puts it: the nature of the universe is shamanic. There are signs and omens everywhere, and they tell us of things to come. We just choose not to see/hear them.

Manifesting positive results in your life is not easy. Due to the above named issues, most people find it quite impossible. Those who manage to break out of the rut on their own terms, often risk their lives to do it.

Thanks to Robert Bruce’s guidance, you do not have to risk life or limb.

This course of the psychic only costs $74.50 for lifetime access, and it comes as part of the usual package.

What problems does the psychic address within it?

People go into various life situations expecting the worst. After all, if you do expect the worst, every other outcome will pleasantly surprise you…right? That’s not how the spiritual world works however. When your worry, you feed emotional energy to a problem.

If you feel undeserving of certain things in life, you will indirectly deprive your life of those very things.

• The entourage you keep has a major impact on your overall energy. If you hang out with pessimistic people and habitual complainers, your optimism will suffer greatly. Such people are nothing more than energy vampires. They act like parasites, stealing your positive energy to feed their misery. Keep clear of such people at all cost.
• Most people seek outside help for their problems. The answers to most of your problems lie within however. This is why you always need to turn inwards to find the right answers.
• Some think that they need to be “New Age” to engage in spiritual practices. Nothing could be further from the truth. Creating a New Age persona for yourself will actually distance you from your spirituality goals, rather than bring you closer to them.
• Not being prepared to connect with this Higher Self when otherwise ready. To make the actual connection, one needs to employ a number of methods. This is where psychics like Robert Bruce can help. Tapping into your higher self and getting out of life what you do indeed deserve, requires one final step that few find within their powers to take.

Proper manifestation and healing comes down to stimulating your energy body and to eliminating the vicious cycles of negative beliefs. Of course, reprogramming your unconscious mind for success is also part of the equation.

Robert Bruce’s eBook

Summing up his work in the “proverbial nutshell,” the psychic has made an eBook available for purchase for just $9.99. Should you pick up this eBook, you will also receive three other bonus books – probably copies of his books mentioned at the beginning of this review. There is also forum membership thrown into the eBook package.

The book comes in eBook format and it is instantly available for download.

Within it, there is general information about how you can succeed with spirituality. The book opens up a historical perspective on mysticism, and it pinpoints 8 archetypes of psychic success.

It also offers information about astral projection and various other altered states of the mind.

Conclusion

To truly hammer his point home, and to give a taste of what he delivers through his various programs, Robert Bruce has made a full Body Awareness Tactile Imaging Energy Work primer available for free.

Through this primer, he aims to allow his readers and followers to feel their energy for the first time. The awakening and opening of the chakras is also part of the program, together with a number of other spiritual practices.

Those interested have to “purchase” the program the same way they can buy all the above detailed ones. The price of this one is $0 though.

Robert Bruce’s Astraldynamics.com is an impressive psychic resource, teeming with useful advice and guides that actually work. It is well worth a peek, even if you are only interested in the astral projection bits.

Robert Monroe’s Journeys Out of the Body and Other Books

Journeys Out of the Body

Journeys Out of the Body is the first book in Robert Monroe‘s Journeys trilogy.

The book describes Robert Monroe’s own personal journeys to different realms. It is a very inspirational read. Beginners especially would benefit from reading about out of body experiences to keep their interest strong until their first successes.

The method used by Robert Monroe to prepare for astral projection is summarized in the following “Sutras.”

1. Loosen any clothes you may be wearing. Keep covered so that you feel just slightly warmer than is generally comfortable for you. Remove any jewelry or metal objects close to or touching your skin.
2. Darken the room enough to ensure that no light can be seen through your eyelids. Do not use a completely blacked-out room.
3. Lie down, in whatever position is most conductive to your state of relaxation, but with your body along a north-south axis, with your head to magnetic north.
4. Mentally repeat five times, “I will consciously perceive and remember all that I encounter during this relaxation period. I will recall in detail when I am completely awake only those matters that will be beneficial to my physical and mental being.”
5. As you become relaxed and start to drift off into sleep, hold your mental attention on something, anything, with your eyes closed.
6. Do not think of anything, but remain poised between wakefulness and sleep. Simply look through your closed eyes at the blackness ahead of you.
7. Begin breathing through your half-opened mouth.
8. Look first into the blackness at a spot a foot away from your forehead. Now move your point of concentration to three feet away, and then six feet. Hold for a while until the point is firmly established. From there, turn the point 90 degrees upward, on a line parallel to the body axis and reaching out above the head. Reach for the vibrations at that spot. When you find them, mentally pull them back into your head. Once you have learned the process, or the concept, it will not be necessary to go through the entire routine. You need only to think of the vibrations while in a relaxed state and they come into being.
9. First, mentally “direct” the vibrations into a ring, or force them all into your head. Then mentally push them down along your body to your toes, then back up to your head. Start them sweeping in a wave over your body rhythmically, from head to toes and then back again. After you have given the wave momentum, let it proceed of its own accord until it fades away. It should take about ten seconds–five down, five back–for the wave to make the complete circuit, from head to toes and back. Practice this until the vibration wave begins instantly upon mental command, and moves steadily until fade-out.

Read more in Robert Monroe’s Journeys Out of the Body (available on Amazon.com)

Here’s another version of Robert Monroe’s technique for triggering out-of-body experiences:

1. First lie down in a darkened room in a relaxing position.
2. Loosen your clothing and remove all jewelry.
3. Enter into a very relaxing state and consciously tell yourself that you will remember everything that happens at this time.
4. Begin breathing through your half-open mouth.
5. Concentrate on an object.
6. When other images start to enter your mind, passively watch them.
7. Try to clear your mind and observe your field of vision through your closed eyes.
8. Do nothing more for a while.
9. Simply look through your closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you.
10. After a while, you may notice light patterns.
11. When these cease, a state of such relaxation will happen that you lose all awareness of the body.
12. You are almost in the state where your only source of stimulation will be your own thoughts.
13. It is this relaxed and refreshed condition where out-of-body journeys are triggered.
14. To leave your body, think of yourself getting lighter and of how nice it would be to float upwards.

Robert Monroe also wrote two additional, far out books, which I highly recommend for adapt projectors.

Far Journeys

If you’re interested in how post-death life would look like or curious regarding other realities coexisting with our own, then you will love Far Journeys. The descriptions you will read (or listen) here were composed by a person who experienced those realities firsthand through his astral journeys in the dream world.

This is not an easy read, but it is fascinating. Far Journeys is highly technical since Robert Monroe had to create new terms to describe his otherworldly experiences.

Learn More (Amazon.com)

Ultimate Journey

If you successfully read Robert Monroe’s first two books, you may be ready for his third, Ultimate Journey. In this book he describes his out-of-body experiences in the physical universe and other dimensions, drawing profound realizations, conclusions, and insights regarding the nature of existence from those travels and communications.

Learn More (Amazon.com)

Franz Bardon’s Dreamwork – Mental & Astral Travel

Franz Bardon was a European Hermetic mystic, who wrote extensively about Hermetic magic, emphasizing practical aspects. In fact, his work is regarded by many as the best magical training program written in the 20th century, allowing students to become magic-users even without access to a teacher.

Personally, I am interested especially in Bardon’s dreamwork, specifically his instructions on how to project out-of-body, which I cover in depth below.

The Practice of Magical Evocation by Franz Bardon

Bardon’s books are designed to be followed in a specific order for proper benefit, therefore only after mastering Initiation Into Hermetics, his first book, should the student progress to his second book, The Practice of Magical Evocation.

This is a practical guide for the proper evocation of and communication with divine entities.

Regarding dreams, specifically about the importance of astral projection, Bardon writes:

The magician will have experienced during his mental and astral wanderings, when his mental and astral body was split off, that in the astral sphere the ideas of time and space do not exist for him, so that in one single moment he is able to travel any distance and on his way there are no material hindrances which he would not be able to penetrate with his mental and astral body. Every human being will have the same experience after his physical death. The initiate, however, has the advantage of getting acquainted with this fact during his lifetime, and that already in this material world he is liberated of one sorrow: the fear of death.

Bardon teaches how to astral travel in the first book. In this more advanced work, he covers the various entities you may get in contact with during your astral journeys and how to deal with them.

Laosa, for example, is a female intelligence of the zone girdling the earth, who is an “excellent initiator into the magical practices of mental and astral wandering,” while Nudatoni can accompany you on your astral wanderings into hot springs, stalactite caves, hidden treasures, or anything else which is to be found under the surface of the earth.

The Key to the True Kabbalah by Franz Bardon

In Bardon’s third book, The Key to the True Kabbalah, which the student ought only to reach after mastering the first 2 books, he writes about the mysticism of letters and numbers (Gematria).

To bring one example of the methods provided in this book, let us take a look at the Qabbalistic Alphabet and at what Bardon calls the Twofold key: double letters which serve as magical formulas.

The twofold key creates causes of a mental nature, and therefore also causes mental effects.

When working with this key, first imagine your astral and mental body, then, pronounce the two selected letters in a qabbalistic manner as a spirit with three-sense (visual, acoustical, and emotional) concentration. Start with the first letter and then take the second.

For example, the “C-U” formula is can be applied in the astral body by the help of dynamic breath, evoking the permanent ability to emit, at will, the astral body, fully conscious and with full power, not only by astral wandering.

Initiation Into Hermetics by Franz Bardon

Bardon’s first book, Initiation Into Hermetics, is about self-realization in the Hermetic tradition. It is divided into 2 sections:

Theory

In the theory section of Franz Bardon’s Initiation Into Hermetics, covers esoteric theory and Hermetic philosophy, dealing with such topics as the 5 elements (fire, water, air, earth, and akasa or ether), Karma, occult anatomy, the 3 planes (material, astral, and mental), religion, and God.

Forces

Bardon also speaks of the following forces:

1. an “electric” force – the universal active force
2. a “magnetic” force – the universal passive force

These are expressed in the positive and negative aspects of the four elements.

The Akasa (Ether)

Akasa (known in the West as ether) is in a sense the world of ideas. It is the highest reality, which gives rise to the four elements.

The 3 planes are constructed from the 4 elements: First, come the principle elements, fire and water. Out of their interaction, arise the pseudo-elements air and earth.

Within ether, electric and magnetic vibrations are generated, which together with the elements, are the cause of the entire existence.

Since akasa is the origin of all existing things (past, present, and future), by accessing what’s known as the akashic records, one can know everything that ever happened and ever will.

Bardon teaches using a magic mirror to investigate the past, present, or future. He explains:

All thoughts, perceptions, feelings and physical actions leave behind them exact records in the akasa or primary source, a fact that enables the magician to read like an open book in the akasa with the help of his magic mirror or directly while in a trance.

Three Planes of Existence

According to Bardon, man exists simultaneously in the 3 “planes,” each world forming a matrix for the world below it:

1. Our Body lives on the material plane – the physical world is the lowest of the planes.
2. Our Soul (or Astral Body) lives in the astral – the next plane down contains the archetypes of the physical world and to some extent the vital energy behind it.
3. Our Spirit occupies the mental world. This is the highest reality (except for akasa) and is the true and eternal ego. This plane sets the ideas of akasa in motion.

The Soul / Astral Body

The Astral Body (which is connected to the body by means of an “astral matrix” or a “silver cord”) with the help of the bodily senses makes use of the elements to receive perceptions of the physical world, from where they are passed to our immortal Spirit, which is the seer or the one who is experiencing.

The 4 elements make up the Soul in the following manner:

• Fire – causes in the Soul what is constructive.
• Water – animating.
• Air – balancing.
• Earth – causes what is thriving, compound, and preserving.

The elements determine man’s temper, and therefore his character. When they are in the active form, they represent good properties; while in the passive form, they bring about bad qualities.

Moreover, according to its development, Spirit has a different electric or magnetic fluid vibration, which affects the soul, resulting in one of four temperaments:

1. The choleric temper is due to the element of fire:
   • active polarity – activity, enthusiasm, eagerness, resolution, courage, productivity, etc.
   • negative form – gluttony, jealousy, passion, irritability, intemperance, bent to destruction, etc.
2. the sanguine temper is due to the element of air:
   • active form – capacity of penetrating, diligence, joy, adroitness, kindness, clearness, lack of grief, cheerfulness, optimism, eagerness, independence, familiarity, etc.
   • negative form – continual feeling of being affronted, contempt, propensity to gossiping, lack of endurance, slyness, garrulousness, dishonesty, fickleness, etc.
3. the melancholic temper is due to the element of water:
   • active form – respectability, modesty, compassion, devotion, seriousness, docility, fervor, cordiality, comprehension, meditation, calmness, quick to give one’s confidence, forgiveness, tenderness, and so on.
   • negative form – indifference, depression, apathy, shyness, laziness, etc.
4. the phlegmatic one is due to the element of earth:
   • active form – respectability, reputation, endurance, consideration, resolution, firmness, seriousness, scrupulousness, thoroughness, concentration, sobriety, punctuality, reservedness, objectivity, infallibility, responsibility, reliability, circumspection, resistance, self-assurance, and so on.
   • negative form – insipidity, unscrupulousness, misanthropy, dullness, tardiness, laziness, unreliability, laconism, and so on.

The intensity of these qualities shown outwardly depends on the polarity, the electric or the magnetic fluid.

According to Bardon, the astral body still has two centers in the brain:

1. Cerebrum – the seat of normal consciousness
2. Cerebellum – the sub-consciousness

Chakras (psychic centers) also have their seat in the Soul. Kundalini yoga is the Indian practice of awakening these chakras.

1. Muladhara (earth) – the lowest center occupies in the lowest part of the Soul.
2. Swadhisthana (water) – in the region of the sexual organs.
3. Manipura (fire) – in the umbilical region and the center of the soul.
4. Anahata (air) – in the region of the heart .
5. Visudha (ether / akasa) – in the region of the neck.
6. Ajna (volition and intellect) – between the eyebrows.
7. Sahasrara – the supreme and most divine center is regarded as the thousand-petaled lotus, from which all the other powers of the centers are derived.

Beginning at the top, from the Sahasrara, along the spine, down to the Muladhara,  runs the Sushumna channel, connecting and controlling the chakras.

The Relationship Between Our Bodies

We have three bodies, one in each of the three worlds. We also contain all 5 elements within us, including the fifth element, the akasa or Divine element.

Developing each of our bodies and elements in a balanced way ensures success in the development of an understanding of oneself and the universe and attainment of the goals of the practice.

The mental and astral bodies are connected to the physical body by a very subtle elastic ribbing that shines like silver, the so-called silver cord, which Bardon refers to as the astral matrix.

If the link between any two of these bodies is cut, the lower forms dissolve and death results.

For example, if the astral matrix, which is connects the astral body to the physical body, becomes severed, the astral body moves to the astral world, devoid of a physical body, and therefore, presence in the material world (which equals death).

Astral projection involves temporarily loosening the hold between the bodies. The astral body is separated from the physical body, and become able to visit any physical location at any point of time in this dimension and others.

The Astral Plane

The astral body exists on the astral plane (which is the fourth dimension after time and 3 dimensions of space) is similar to the material world, but is denser than the akasa and less dense than the physical.

In the astral plane an emanation of the timeless and spaceless eternity, having neither a beginning nor an end, can be seen, which offers the adept the capacity to attain knowledge of the past, present, and future.

Who inhabits the astral plane?

Various kinds of inhabitants of the astral plane have been reported:

1. deceased people – depending on one’s spiritual maturity, one may find oneself in the astral world after death.
2. other beings, such as:
   • elementaries – entities with one or only very few qualities, according to the dominant vibrations of the elements.
   • larvae – entities which are brought to life by intense sensorial thinking, through passions of the lowest step of the Soul. If they succeed in seducing men to give in to their suitable passion, they feed and thrive on the emanation of this passion. The more passions man has, they more such larvae one attracts to the lowest sphere of his astral plane.
   • salamander – fire elementals.
   • sylphs – air elementals.
   • mermaids or undines – water elementals.
   • gnomes or goblines – earth elementals.
   • satyrs
   • wood maidens
   • water goblins

These beings can be visited by astral projection or seen through clairvoyance.

Practice

While it is impossible to set precise disciplinary rules (sine everyone is different), Bardon stresses the importance of keeping the balance everywhere. He speaks of 3 types of discipline required of the student:

1. Discipline of thoughts
2. Ennobling the soul through control of passions and instincts
3. Harmonizing the body through a moderate and natural way of life. For example, by being moderate in eating and drinking.

The practical section is divided into 10 steps, each containing Physical, Astral (Psychic), and Mental exercises, which the student must master before moving on to the next step.

The exercises bring about development of Body, Soul, and Spirit, as well as of occult abilities.

While all 3 types of exercise must be practiced together for a balanced development, in this article, I focus on the astral (psychic) exercises since they contain Bardon’s dreamwork.

Step I

Mental exercises of the Spirit begin with observing the mind.

Astral (psychic) exercises of the Soul begins with introspection and systematically cataloging positive and negative aspects of the self.

Physical exercises of the Body emphasize physical health.

Step II

In step 2 of Bardon’s magickal psychic training, the program goes into balancing the elements.

The student must find which elemental powers are prevailing in him on the good as well as the evil side, endeavoring to establish the balance of these elemental influences at all events.

This can be done by fight or control, autosuggestion, or by transforming a quality into the opposite quality.

Step VII

In step 7 of the psychic training, the student start developing the astral sense as well as the following powers with the aid of visualization techniques and use of magickal herbs (fluid condensers):

• Clairvoyance – seeing, without making use of the physical eyes, events taking place at a distance and in the past, present or future, or seeing deceased people.
• Clairaudience – hearing, without making use of the physical ears, voices even at the remotest distance and, at the same time, to understand the language of all beings.
• Clairsentience (clairfeeling) – acquiring knowledge by means of feeling.

Step VIII

In step 8, Bardon deals with the problem of leaving the body, “or the separation of the mental and later on the astral body from the material one.”

This faculty allows the magician to leave the physical body at any time he desires, transferring himself to anywhere he wants, where he will see, hear and feel everything.

There are two kinds of out-of-body travel, according to Bardon:

1. Mental travel – temporarily severing the mental body (or consciousness or spirit) from the material one, while the astral body remains inside the physical body.
2. Astral travel – temporarily disconnecting the astral body (along with the mental body) from the physical body.

Before astral travel can be mastered, the disciple begins with mental travel exercises, which are the first step in Bardon’s program for the astral separation from the body, known as the ecstasy, during which not only the spirit but also the soul together with the spirit separate from the body.

Mental Travel – Preliminary Exercise

1. Sit down in your conventional asana in front of a mirror in which you can see yourself entirely.
2. Regard your reflection for a few moments, then close your eyes and imagine mentally your reflection in the mirror. If you are able to imprint your features very distinctly on your imaginative faculty, especially you head and facial expression, move on to the next step.
3. Transfer your consciousness into your reflected image in such a manner that you feel embodied in it. If you succeed, move on to the next step.
4. Observe any objects visible in the mirror from the perspective of your reflected image.
5. When this faculty too has become a habit, you are ready for actual mental travel.

Mental Travel

1. Take up you normal position and concentrate on your spirit.
2. For a few moments, think that it is your spirit that is perceiving everything and that it is able to move around, free from time and space constraints.
3. Imagine yourself stepping out of your body just as from a shell and standing beside it.
4. Look at (in the beginning, imagine) your body sitting in its customary position as if it did not belong to you at all, focusing your attention on the body, watching every single detail on your body, such as your facial expression, breathing, your seat, etc.
5. Examine your close environment.
6. Return into your body, wake up, and check if everything you imagined corresponds to what is actually there. When your perception becomes accurate, move on to the next step.
7. Leave your body again, but do not remain in one spot; move around in the room as if you were relying on your physical body. When that becomes easy, move to the next step.
8. Leave the room to the hall or the next room, where again you try to see what’s there, then return to the physical body to verify the accuracy of your vision.
9. Leave your house and take short walks outside it. For example, visit your neighbor’s house or the houses of friends who live near by. Check what they are doing and then verify you perceived correctly in the physical world.
10. Eventually, you will be able to perceive the world accurately from within your mental body. Then, you can start visiting places where are unknown to you.

The mastery of mental travel is an indispensable preparation for the next step of Bardon’s program, astral travel.

Step IX

In Bardon’s 9th step, we come to Bardon’s technique of separating the astral body from the physical body consciously, allowing the student to move around not just with the Spirit but also with the Soul.

The difference between mental and astral travel is that in mental wandering, the astral matrix remains in the physical body, while in astral projection, the astral matrix is pulled out of the body too.

Experientially, the difference is that in mental travel nothing can influence you, while astral travel feels almost as intense as if you are using your physical body. It’s also more difficult to move away from the physical body in the astral than in the mental.

Franz Bardon’s Astral Projection Technique

1. Sit in your asana posture (though these exercise can also be done lying down).
2. Let your mental body escape from your physical body. This step is not altogether necessary. It is also possible to leave the physical body with the astral and mental bodies conjoined.
3. Allow the physical body to fall asleep while remaining awake (this is the state of ecstasy or trance).
4. Imagine that your astral body (which is in the shape of your physical body) is being drawn out of your physical body by your willpower.
5. Unite yourself with your astral body by entering the astral shape and breathing regularly; only watch the breath. Conscious breathing in the astral body brings about the separation of the astral matrix.
6. In the beginning of this preliminary exercise, do not stray far from your body.
7. Observe your immediate surroundings.
8. Withdraw gradually from your body, only a few steps at first, and return instantly. Every time you practice this exercise, distance yourself a little more from the physical body until you are able to move freely.

Conclusion: Franz Bardon’s Astral Projection Techniques

Comparing Bardon’s method of astral projection to more contemporary methods, such as the one promoted by Robert Bruce, reveals a highly complex and difficult system, which requires months, if not years, of hard work.

An Amazon reviewer who was a member of a group of advanced practitioners with 20 years of serious study and training in magic, writes in his review titled “Mind boggling results if you can stay with it!” it took them about a year and a half of almost daily study to get through all the material properly.

To keep this article short, I didn’t cover all the steps that one needs to take before reaching actual mental (8th step) and astral travel (9th step). According to Bardon, one cannot skip any step. Robert Bruce has a 90 day program which is comprehensive and requires at least 30-60 minutes per day of practice. With Franz Bardon you’re looking at a program that is probably unrealistic for most people nowadays.

If you find yourself attracted to Bardon’s method, then I’d recommend getting a book called A Bardon Companion: A practical companion for the student of Franz Bardon’s system of Hermetic initiation by Rawn Clark, which greatly simplifies the complex writings of Bardon (which presumably are even harder to understand in the English translation than in the German origin.) As one Amazon commenter put it

this work deciphers and even challenges Bardon in ways that are not only helpful, yet vital […]  I would consider this book an actual requirement to master Bardon’s volumes and would recommend a physical copy over anything else.

One interesting point that Clark makes is regarding the difference between astral projection and lucid dreaming. While lucid dreaming involves the astral body, it is not a form of astral travel. In lucid dreaming all one can explore is one’s own inner psyche. In order to leave personal this realm behind and venture into the broader and non-personal astral realm, conscious astral projection is needed.

Visit my Complete Guide to Astral Projection.

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