ASTRAL TRAVELS
By The Night Watchman

     Travel writing was always one of those kinds of jobs I thought would be cool to have; traveling the world to detail the points of interest, eat at the well known restaurants in the city, rate the hotels and check out the night life. In other words, be one of those boorish snobs who somehow managed to suck up to some editor of a glitzy magazine who pays the writer to party in some faraway land most of us don't have the time, or the resources to go to. Little did I know that I would be able to write about some of my own travels. Granted, they are astral travels, but travels, none the less.
     I was roughly five or six years old and used to sleep across the hall from my mother and father's bedroom. Prior to sleeping, I usually had the radio on to the station that played "Radio Mystery Theater," hosted by E. G. Marshall. To this day, I love the radio and how it is such an exercise in the imagination. But, I digress.
     Throughout my childhood, I had a recurring dream, or a better definition would be "sleeping event." I can still picture it clearly over 30 some years later. While in my bed, a sudden feeling of vibration would take over my body, leaving my whole body paralyzed. It wasn't as if I were in a dream because I had the sense I was still in my room. As I lay there, paralyzed, I would hear the sounds of footsteps running down the hall and the presence of a hooded entity (some folklore describe it as the "Old Hag) standing at the foot of the bed. It was a frightening scene because I couldn't move or scream. Then, almost immediately, I would come out of that state and things would return to normal.
     These "dreams" came off and on during my early childhood, then eventually, they disappeared. As I continued through my teens and college years, I would occasionally have nights where I experienced some sleep paralysis, but there were no specific events that I can recall taking place during the paralysis. So, I never really thought that much about them for several years. Up until maybe 10 years ago.
     I was listening to late night radio and the topic was astral travel. At that time, I didn't even know what astral travel was, but as I listened, I realized that the show's guest was describing many of the same symptoms I was feeling when the sleeping episodes I was experiencing happened. Since then, I have been working on being more aware during these episodes and will now share and describe a few with you that I've had since then.
     The first notable one came shortly after I heard the radio program on astral travel. At the time, I had been working late nights and got home around three in the morning. After some winding down, I settled into bed. It's hard to say why these happen when they do, but over the years, I have determined that the astral travels occur when I am both mentally and physically exhausted, as if I'm in my own little zone where anything outside it doesn't seem to exist. As I lay there, almost in a lucid state, I began to feel the vibrations circulating all around my body. I could also hear faint sounds, similar to tiny wind chimes in my head.
     The feeling of these vibrations is similar to the ones you get when your foot falls asleep and you try to get the circulation moving again. By the time the vibrations filter through my body, I'm in the paralyzed state. It's weird, and also frightening; to be in a subconscious state and not being able to move, but it's the state at which you need to move on. When I first experienced this, I was so scared and panicked that I immediately snapped myself out of it. With more reading and research on the subject, I've been able to control my anxiety level to a point. But, back to my story.
     When I reached the state of paralysis, I knew I had to "let go" to experience the travel. Once I did this, I had this floating sensation and realized my "astral self" was looking down on my bed. I could see myself sleeping, and by chance, I looked at my digital alarm clock which read 4:34 a.m.
     A rush of fright came through me because this was an experience unknown to me, and suddenly, I shot back into my physical body and awoke. At the time, my memory recalled the incident and I wanted to know if I had actually traveled outside of my body or if it was just a dream. I turned over to look at my clock which was in a position that caused me to have to sit up to see the time.
     The time was 4:35 a.m... a minute past what I'd seen in my astral state. Coincidence? Chance? I can't believe it now. From then on, I knew we were born with souls and I was determined to continue making the best of each astral travel.
     Although it can be a life changing experience, astral travel, at least for me right now, can be very frightening, simply because it's not an every day experience and because I seem to be in another plane.
     One in particular happened to me a couple of years ago. I had retired to bed after a long day. I was so tired that I had not turned off the light, and sometime later, I had that feeling that an astral travel was coming up... the vibrations, the sound and the paralysis. As I continued, I consciously tried to "let it go" to experience the trip. As my paralysis overwhelmed my body, I felt as if someone was lifting my legs off the bed as though trying to drag me. At first I thought this was another way for my astral self to leave my body, but something made me open my eyes. I slowly opened them and saw a strange figure at the foot of my bed. It wasn't anything I recognized like an apparition or figure, just a misty blob that shot away when I came back to consciousness. It was a frightening experience because I didn't know if it was part of my imagination, the spirit world, or something else.
     With each travel, I try to move on to venture further out into the astral plane. According to much of the literature out there, including the Bible, we each have a silver cord attaching our astral selves, or soul if you will, to our physical bodies to keep us safe. But, astral travel, if you are aware you are doing it is a bit disconcerting if you have not experienced it very much.
     Primarily, this is due to our conscious mind trying to stand in the way of the subconscious which allows us to travel. I need to work on moving my conscious mind out of the way to gain more control over my travels. It is difficult for me.
     I have noticed several "dark figures" in my astral travels that have scared me. I've also traveled through tunnels, much like Space Mountain at Disney World, at incredible speeds. And, I've experienced strange sensations throughout my travels... sensations that are hard to explain because they're something you don't experience in the physical world. But, maybe, the more travels I have, the better I might be able to describe what's out there.
     My astral experiences don't have a specific pattern. They seem to just come on at random. As I write this, I have determined to practice relaxation exercises to make the travels more frequent, work harder to control my fears, and pay closer attention to what I experience when they do happen.
     It took many years for me to get an understanding of what I was experiencing. I lacked the courage to tell anyone what was happening and lost a lot of time; time that could have been used to develop this gift. Studies and research indicate that everyone experiences astral travel, but most of the time, we are not aware it is happening. I believe there is a lot we can learn about the other side if we can gather the courage to tell others about these experiences. Granted, most people will likely shrug it off as a "weird" dream, but you might be surprised what can happen when you plant a seed into the mind of a skeptic. As the old saying goes, "Converts are the biggest zealots."

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