How to Astral Project

I often get asked by friends, or on forums, how I Astral project. It is an experience which really needs to be felt to be understood. 
Of my non-witchy friends, It fascinates me how many people laugh and joke it off, which is fine - it is a pretty wacky subject for those who aren't used to the idea to get their head around, but then they wont even try! They think it's too silly to even bother doing. Either that or they are too scared... and then I think - but you don't believe in it so why would you be scared?


I always try to encourage others to have a go - everybody can do it and seeing is believing, as they say!
I'm quite lucky because it's never been too much of an effort for me to project. I think this has a lot to do with me being quite a calm person, I can meditate easily for this reason too.
I used to experience it as a child but I didn't know what it was. It was only when we got the internet and a computer in the house that I really delved into the subject and understood what it was.

If I'm honest, I haven't as yet consciously Astral Travelled for any reasons other than exploring the realms and having fun!
Now, this isn't a bad thing per se...there is nothing wrong with getting used to this 'new world' by testing out how things work, who's out there, who you can communicate to and just getting the general feeling of being without your physical body. I mean, I could spend the entire time just flying around in mid air, it feels so fantastic. But in truth, it's a waste. There are high vibrational energy beings for you to meet and to help you in your spiritual journey. You can meet spirit guides, angels, power animals. You can work spells and plant 'law of attraction' seeds and wait for them to grow out from the astral world and your physical one.


The reason I've kept it 'just for fun' is because unfortunately, even though I find it easy to 'get out', my time actually exploring is very short. After a while I either get too excited or something makes me scared and I fall back into my body. This is something I'm really going focus on changing from now on because I don't want to waste such good opportunities.


So basically, when you do this have fun by all means but don't forget the higher purpose of the whole experience.

Here's my How To guide but please read on afterwards for extra tips and advice. This is how it works for me, everybody is different and once you've got the basics you can relax a little more and try out different techniques.

• What you have do to, is lay down flat on your back, it's best to do it in bed, no covers on top ( at least at first, until you are used to doing it, you could use a very light sheet if you need to feel more secure) but make sure you're not cold, you need to feel cosy and be able to fall asleep. 

• Take a really good look at your ceiling, study every little detail for a few minutes, the colour, the texture - your going to need this image later on.

• Keep your eyes closed from now on and your arms and legs straight down. 

• A lot of people say not to do it at your usual bed time but for me, I find it easier to because my body is already part way relaxed, it's not too much of a strain to get your body to fall asleep.

*the key it to keep you mind conscious while just your body falls asleep*

•  Lay like that for a while and just relax, if your not quite sleepy enough, have a day dream about your day or visualise something nice, like sitting on the beach or in a beautiful woodland until you feel zoned out enough. 

• When you start to feel like you're relaxed, clear you mind as much as you can, it helps to focus on your breathing which should be slow and heavy, don't let yourself think of anything other than breathing. Do that for as long as it takes to feel totally relaxed.

• By this point, you should be really sleepy, but try not to fall asleep!! You can now start the process of coming out of your body. Don't get frustrated by how long it can take. I can sometimes be out within minutes, other times it takes hours.

• Imagine yourself floating up towards your ceiling, really picture it, find the image you stored in your memory a litle while ago. Visualise yourself slowly floating up, seeing the ceiling getting a tiny bit closer to your face every minute. Imagine how light you feel! floaty and made of energy. Just 'pretend' for a while, pretend your all ghosty and as light as air as you very slowly float upwards.

• Make that how process last for as long as it takes for you to feel fuzzy sensations in your body. This could take a long time or a short time, just *dont give up!!* 

• Everyone experiences something different at this point, the main ones I feel are buzzy feelings, vibrations or slow turning that gradually get into a spinning sensation. If you carry on visualising yourself getting closer to the ceiling you will soon feel those tingling sensations in your body strengthen and become really noticeable. 

• Then you will either feel like you are shooting upwards (or downwards, either is fine) very fast. You may hear clicking and popping noises and maybe even see colours around you. Sometimes I can hear scary noises, like scary cats screeching or malicious laughing - you have to do what you can to *Stay calm* because once you start to get too scared or excited, you will find yourself back to square one.

• When you are having the 'zooming' sensation and the tingling sensation, you don't usually have to do anything else - you're being taken up and out of your body and soon you will awake in the astral realm

• When I'm in the zooming part, I repeat a protection chant - this particular one is something I learnt on an online Astral Projection course that used to be free many years ago and it has always been successful when I have used it. You should learn this - or another of your choosing - off by heart so that you can repeat if from memory when you're in the astral to repel negative being or energies. If you google 'Bellilin Chant' you should be able to find some sound clips on youtube so that you can hear how it should be said.

Bellilin, Bellilin, Bellilin! 

Amphora of Salvation 

I would like to be next to you 

Materialism has no strength next to me! 

Bellilin, Bellilin, Bellilin! 

And that's it!! Hopefully that will have gotten you out....

A few extra tips:

1.   If you ever want to return to your body, for whatever reason, whether you've encountered a negative being or your scared or you've had enough... just repeat "I am back in my body, I am back in my body, I am back in my body" over and over until you are. This is sort of an emergency landing and it's not too pleasant because everything happens very fast, and most often than not you will experience sleep paralysis at the other end (where you are aware that your back in your body, but you cant move your body or open your eyes or speak) It'll only last a few moments though so just *stay calm*.
2.   Sometimes, when I am in the getting out part of astral projection, the bit there you are imagining yourself floating towards the ceiling I physically move my eyes to they are crossed *never open your physical eyes though* just go cross eyed, as if you were looking towards your 3rd eye. I find it helps! *Practise now, just to see how it feels - close your eyes right now and cross your eyes gently, bringing them up to look at your third eye in the middle of your forehead, do that for a moment and see what it feels like, for me its like I can automatically feel my astral body, so its easier for me to separate it from my physical body*

3. No matter what, always think positive when you are out in the astral! always always. You have to remember that what ever you think will happen out there. That's how you move from place to place, you have to think "I am now outside the house" and you will be so if you think "what if a scary monster appears!? bah! im scared!" then most of the time......one will!! so if ever your worried or scared, repeat your protective chant and imagine yourself surrounded by positive white light.

I have encountered many negative entities in the Astral and it's not a pleasant experience so make sure you're prepared with protection chants and that you asked for protection before you begin.

I really recommend reading 'Astral Dynamics' by Robert Bruce... I can't express how helpful it has been to me when I was learning but also helps when you've become a bit more advanced. I've read loads of other astral projection books and haven't yet found anything as in depth as this one.

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/products/robert+bruce/astral+dynamics/6863308/

The Witching Hour (and Faerie help!)

12am is the traditional ‘witching hour’  when ghosts, demons and spirits take over our streets, haunt our houses and nibble on our toes as we sleep!

Of course, I don’t believe that it's as fairytale-esque as our imaginations would let us believe.

You can see it now, ghosts and monsters off all shapes and sizes, lined up outside a door, the florescent lit waiting room filled with bored ghouls flicking through magazines and hobgoblins slumped on the floor staring off into the distance. Suddenly, a muffled tanoy announcment crackles through the hall:

‘krrsssk "Door to earth opening in 1 minute, please collect all your belongings. Be reminded that we close at 4am and will not open until 12am the following night. Have a nice night.” krssssk’

Everybody starts standing up, patting down their clothes and polishing their teeth as one by one they dissapear through a portal now visible through the open door, popping out in the streets and bedrooms of our world.

.......At least, hope that's not the case!

Jokes aside, for me there is a very definite ‘thinning of the veil’ feeling around 2am, peeking at 3 and then tailing off by 4am. A really perfect time to practise witchcraft and related subjects!

I often have spiritual experiances around this time, so there must be something going on!

I guess that once, The Witching Hour did begin at 12am as the tradition tells. I suspect that ‘the other side’ were able to filter through a lot easier without all the modern vibrational chaos that we create with electricity and such. As a society we also went to bed a lot earlier, the streets were quieter earlier, our minds switched off earlier... we were not as stimulated with the computer games,  tv and sugary drinks that we have today.  Our bodies and minds were able to atune to energies without so much effort. 

So in turn, people often got the heeby jeebies earlier on at night!

I certainly feel a greater psyhic awareness a few hours after midnight; I regularly experience clairvoyant happenings around this time, hearing as if somebody was talking directly into my head. I even once had a mild channelling of what I think was my grandad (whom I’ve never met) ... that unnerved me greatly and isn't something I’d like to repeat until I understand it a little better, but again, happening all around 3am.

Awareness of my Astral body is quite prominant too, I can feel the energy of it, like static, attached to me but made of a completely different material.

They also say that 3am is a common time for people to die (if they are meant to, of course - don't start freaking out if you wake up then!)

I was with my lovely Nan when she passed away in hospital, the time was 3am when she suddenly woke up after spending days sleeping, she said her loving goodbyes and then passed at 3.30am.

It was a comfort to actually feel the air change in the room, it was thick with a fuzzing energy, like somebody has just opened a door for her, let in some ‘other worldly breeze’ and she went straight on through, closing the door behind her. I felt certain at that point, that we do go on, that there is another world and it doesn't all end with this one.

On a magic working level, it's a great time to add extra focus and energy to a spell when you have a touch of doubt on it's ability to succeed. Everything feels that much more powerful and connected.

Also attempting Astral Projection at this time works well for me.

(I actually want to go into astral projection and how to do it in a future post, it’s a skill that I believe everybody should master and is essential to understanding our true forms away from our earthly bodies)

It’s as if there is a shift during The Witching Hour(s), and everything merges ever so slightly together,  making the vibration of this word more closely matched to the vibration of the other world.

So, my fellow Witches - take advantages of the raised power and set your alarm tonight, even if you don't work a spell, purely cast a circle and meditate in there for 30 minutes and see if you can see the difference too. It's also great to get you more in tune with the surrounding energies if you've not done anything witchy for a while, or you've just moved house.

Now, I quickly just want to talk about the Faeries! I was hoping somebody could impart their wisdom to me concerning this...

I've invoked the energy of nature spirits plenty of times in spell work, but never have I seen a physical manifestation of them.

Something tells me what I'm seeing aren't nature spirits as such.... but they have a very Fae like vibe about them....

They start appearing around 1am. My house-mate and I call them the night faeries (how creative..!)

They look like small, flying shadows but they don’t feel ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ but then they don't feel good either... they seem to be just a neutral energy. We figure that perhaps our human brains just can’t perseve the actual colouring of them.

Normally they are only seen coming in and out of the fireplace (no..they are not soot!) and in the living room where the fireplace is, but they sometimes venture out into the rest of the house, I often get glimpses of them in my bedroom.

They don’t cause any problems (that we know of!) and we don’t get an unsettling feeling from them. They seem to be just going about their own business and arn’t fussed around our presence.

I’d really like to know how to communicate with them but I’m not sure how. I know that when we start talking about them their attention does turn to us – their behaviour stops being so business like and becomes more playful...

They don't stop still long enough to actually see, it's more a fleeting flash out the corner of your eyes but sometimes you can focus on them straight on for a second or two.

My house mate and I often see them at the same time, so we know it’s not our eyes playing tricks (and we don’t do drugs!)

Please suggest something in the comment box below if you have any ideas on what they could be or if you can suggest a way to communicate with them. We’d quite like to know what they are up to!

Soul Medicine

I'm feeling poorly today, so earlier, I retreated back to childhood, pulling on my most comfortable pyjamas, big thick knit socks and made myself a bed on the sofa. 


I have a selection of DVDs that are reserved to numb that special type of wallowing, self-pity that only sickness or boys can cause. They are mostly of the 80's cartoon variety (The Raccoons, Duck Tales, Super Ted, Teenage mutant hero turtles, etc) but today I picked out 'The Worst Witch' (with Mildred Hubble played by a very innocent looking Fairuza Balk) 
I never owned it as a child but we used to rent it from our local 'Video Action' (god love video stores, a small piece of me died when they did) as a treat and it would get repeated pretty much non-stop until it was due back.


So, there I am, snuggled in my duvet, with a piece of tissue plugged up each nostril and a hot cup of lemsip beside me, feeling as if no body has ever felt this poorly in the whole of time when suddenly, the "Growing up isn't easy" opening song begins! My toes happily wiggle in response and for 70 minutes a bubble of delight envelopes me, floating me far from my snotty, feverish world.
I don't know whether it's just the nostalgia casting a rosy haze but it's one of my favourite kiddyfilms. 
So you may need the imagination of a child to see past the graphics of 1986...and yes it would be best viewed before the Harry Potter addiction has been experienced (I would like to point out that The Worst Witch is most certainly pre-potter, the books were written in 1974!)


But you just can't help falling in love with out of place Mildred Hubble and her out of place cat, Tabby as they try to do what they were born to do and 9 times out of 10 fail miserably. Who can't relate? Plus, good old Tim Curry plays the grand wizard, what's not to love!


Being a Bookseller by trade, I should really recommend the books at this point! I actually have no trouble doing so with genuine enthusiasm, they are wonderful for 5-8 year olds and are what got me interested in reading to begin with. The audio book CD's I'd suggest for any age! Soothing narration - perfect to play when despite drinking 3 litres of Horlicks, sleep still evades you or when you've just watched 28 Weeks Later (eek) so you're head is filled with flesh munching, raged humans and you'd like the images to go, pronto!


An interesting ponder on sickness...  It was only last week when I thought to myself, 'I wish I could have some good, quality me time' the kind of time where you're not expected to do anything that requires the use of energy. Unfortunately, that sort of time doesn't often exist outside the Limbo Land of long distance travelling, where you're stuck in some stuffy, cramped  mode of transport for a number of hours and you can only do seated activities. 
Well, you certainly get what you wish for, only my 'me time' came complete with snot, feverish sweats and a head full of bumble bees. 


It would appear that my magic skills are no greater than Mildred Hubble's after all......

Sketch taken from 'The Worst Witch' book by Jill Murphey

It's what's inside that counts!

I wanted my first proper post to be a meaningful one, so I'm going to say a little bit about Spells and why they don't always work (and how to change that!)


It's very easy to cast a spell, it can be a pain, gathering all the items, making sure you are doing it on the correct day or on the correct moon phase but I think it's easy to not pay attention to the most potent of ingredients.... your will.


When I first started on my path, I did everything by the book, down to the last letter. I think that's quite normal, you don't know what you're doing! So you follow the instructions. Like with everything, once you've got the basics you can start to relax, add your own style to the matter at hand. But back then, I was on the instructions and something wasn't right. Spells were either not working at all, or half-heartedly. 

I realised what I was missing......

With all the rigidness of following the instructions, I hadn't left any room to believe in my spells.

I realised that no matter how many ingredients I had, it is what's inside that counts!  that is the only thing that will give your spell that punch. 

Let's say, for examples sake that you are going to cast a 'Find True Love' spell. 

You've gone out of the city to a little dimly lit shop that's hidden in a narrow alley way, where you've brought some exotic sounding incense and several pouches of various dried herbs. You've waited until a Friday of a waxing moon and you're surrounded by flickering pink candles which you've engraved with romantic symbols. You have the list of your 'perfect partner' qualities set out in front of you and you're chanting some come hither words whilst  passing a piece of rose quartz through the flame. You finish up, putting the rose quartz in your coat pocket to carry with you until your spell brings you your love.

You SO want this spell to succeed. You did everything that the spell called for. What can go wrong!?

But all through out that spell, in the of your stomach, perhaps completely unconsciously, you're really feeling "this isn't going to work. I'm still going to be over weight/ugly/too old/too young/poor/unlucky. This magic stuff is for kids, disney and old women with too many cats.....etc etc"

Nooo!! You've worked so hard to get all the right spell ingredients and you're flumping on the MAIN one! Your Intent, your Will, your 'Jedi force'! It's like you've just made a beautiful, rich chocolate cake but used salt in the recipe where it calls for sugar. Blugh, The whole thing is ruined!

It's all about how you feel! That is what will be the deciding factor as to whether or not your spell will work. This is why visualisation is such a huge part of spell casting. When visualising, you're aligning yourself to that which you are wanting to bring forth into your life. You're able to feel what it would be like to have what you want, because you're playing it over and over in your mind - therefore, your feeling is believing, which makes your energy align and then boom - it's yours!

Now, there are very good reasons for using specific herbs and colours etc (it's to do with vibrational frequencies...we'll look into this a little deeper in a future post) but for now, realise that it's creating the magical atmosphere which is so important because it focuses your intent -  and that's the key, we need a magical atmosphere to create that feeling in our stomach, the one that unleashes YOUR magic, not the herbs magic, or the candles, or the crystals, YOUR magic.

It doesn't matter that you can't afford/haven't got the space for/your parents don't want you to surround yourself with Witchcraft paraphernalia. Your magic is inside you! That's all you need. Self belief, knowing that you are a wonderful energy being that just happens to be residing inside a fleshy carcass (yum) for the time being,
to quote Albert Einstein..."Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one”  

Everything is energy, energy cannot die, it can only change form. Working a spell is changing an energy's form. shifting it, moving it, shaping it. 

You have to believe that it will work, it WILL work, or else...well...it wont!

So practise visualising. It's you're most powerful tool (which is also free and you can do it any time, any where, without anyone knowing)

Really get in there and experience what you're visualising or 'day dreaming' about. Don't let any negative things play out though, this is all about living your desire.

So if it's a car that you want to own, feel the cool, smooth steering wheel in your hands,  how the leather of the seat creaks slightly when you shift your weight, the smell of the new carpets, the smooth engine purring as you take it off your drive and down the road. The heads that turn to look at your smug face as you drive past!

If it's a job you want to have, imagine yourself in a smart outfit that makes you feel really confidant (or in the 

uniform that they wear), see yourself doing the job, smiling, being surrounded by friendly co-workers, being praised by your boss. If you've seen the inside of where you will be working, really work hard on picturing yourself in there, going about day to day tasks.

Just what ever it is, play out what you want like you're watching a movie and you're the main character. Do this every chance you have, but never end the day dream with a bitter sweet sigh "ah well, it's fun to imagine"  That's not going to help! you need to end the day dream with a "Ah ha! Yes, I can't wait for that to materialise in my life!" really KNOW that it will, it has to!

I would just like to add, because it's so important...

Don't let your perception of reality hinder your life... We are all (mostly) raised to believe that magic isn't real. That it's just for small children and fairy tales. 

If you need 'scientific evidence'  then, well in truth, you're not going to get it, not yet anyway... Quantum Physics is as close to magic as science has gotten so far so have a research if you think it'll help you believe.

Just know that there is so much more to this world than we realise.

If you remember that everything is merely energy, in different forms, different densities then this whole magic idea is a lot easier to understand and to take part in ;)

Hello and Welcome!

Hello! It's great that you came to visit!

I'm quite excited to get things going and I have rambling tendencies, so I'll make this introduction shortish.

....on a side note, I'm saving to buy some graphic design hardware, so please bare with my elementary doodles for now! I suspect that the look of this blog will change quite often until I find something that suits!

What to expect from my blog posts:  

I'm going to mainly focus on the magical aspect of my life, but I'm sure that normal day to day subjects will fall in from time to time.

I'll be sharing Witchy things that I've learnt so far, mistakes I've made, successes that I've had, techniques I've mastered and so on. I'd like to share some recipes and craft projects too!

A little about me:

Me, cold (hence the red nose!) in Edinburgh, Scotland.

That's me! My name's Jenny and I live in a pretty part of England, not too far from the sea.

I love to travel but can't afford to, I enjoy napping, online 'window shopping', crafting (or at least the idea of crafting, motivation needs improvement) witchcrafting, reading/obsessively collecting books, writing, getting out and about in nature, swimming in the sea (whilst secretly pretending I'm a mermaid) seeing friends and a spot of Saturday night drunken dancing in clubs with sticky floors!

I am vegetarian - I became one for moral reasons, I don't like the thought of an animal being raised and killed (often in horribly cruel conditions) purely so I can eat it :(

I was Christened as a baby (more out of tradition than religion, I presume) but raised in an open-minded sort of 'non-religion' with pagan undertones. 

I officially started practising Witchcraft when I was 13, the first book I bought on the subject was 'Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner' - I still remember buying it at my local Ottakers, I felt such a bag of nerves mixed with exhilaration - walking to the till and feeling as if everybody in the whole store had stopped and was watching me (...which nobody was, of course!) I felt so young, holding a book that was, in my innocent eyes, so powerful and over my head.

That was one of the most exciting feelings I have ever felt. My path was just starting, I didn't know what to expect other than I knew that this was my truth, I knew that all this magic was around me and I was finally going to be a part of it.

I really enjoy the feelings I get, even now, associated with magic. It's almost indescribable and it shocks me every time. There is a sort of electric excitement that rushes through me when ever a Spell succeeds or something happens because I willed it to.

I want to rush up and tell everybody "Hey, I just made *insert cool thing* happen!!!!" but I know that it's best kept to yourself, few would understand and most would just blame coincidence.

I  realised after a year or so that Wicca wasn't for me and instead settled into the broader title of Solitary Witch or 'Eclectic Pagan'. 

I'm not one for Gods and Goddesses, instead I prefer to view everything as Energy - though I do occasionally draw power from the idea of the divine....something I'll explain another day. 

The main thing to remember when reading my posts is that it's all based on my perception of Witchcraft/Magic/Engery etc - so please don't ever feel as if I am preaching or trying to say that what I believe is the *TRUTH* and what you believe are *LIES* because that's not what I'm about at all.  

I do not claim to know everything and I am always open to learning from others. 

Pixie

Tarot

Finally, what Witch's profile would be complete without a little about their cats? 
I have two very lovely rescue cats (please see photographic evidence)
I raised them from tiny, mewing, leg climbing kittens to the big sturdy fluff bombs they are today. In all honesty, they act more like small, rather hairy humans than felines. 
FYI, the photo of Tarot on the left was captured whilst she was yawning, the psychotic-killer-kitty pose has no reflection on her personality, really!

Okay, so feel free to ask me anything else (...within reason!) but for now, I will leave the 'me' part at that and get to posting something a bit more interesting :)

Once again, thanks for stopping by, it'd be great if you could follow, subscribe and 'like', at least then I'd know I wasn't just speaking to myself :P