11 ASTRAL PROJECTION & THE CONTROL OF

THE BODY OF LIGHT

Astral projection is one of the most basic magical techniques and one of the

most important to master as you progress on your path. In the system of AA,

the Neophyte is thoroughly tested in the mastery of the Body of Light,

although he or she will likely have been experimenting with such things right

from the outset as a Probationer. In his excellent essay, Notes for an Astral

Atlas, Aleister Crowley writes:

The general control of the Astral Plane, the ability to find ones

way about it, to penetrate such sanctuaries as are guarded from

the profane, to make such relations with its inhabitants as may

avail to acquire knowledge and power, or to command service; all

this is a question of the general Magical attainment of the student.

He must be absolutely at ease in his Body of Light, and have

made it invulnerable. He must be adept in assuming all God-

forms, in using all weapons, sigils, gestures, words, and signs. He

must be familiar with the names and numbers pertinent to the

work in hand. He must be alert, sensitive, and ready to exert his

authority; yet courteous, gracious, patient, and sympathetic.

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General Considerations

Much of the discussion in this chapter will be practical in nature, but I think

its important to discuss a bit of theory about the process of astral projection and

the nature of the astral body itself.

One of the issues that should be clarified right at the outset is the distinction

between the etheric body and the astral body. This distinction can be understood

in terms of the Tree of Life. As discussed earlier in this book, the Tree of Life is

a symbolic representation not only of the process of creation of the material

world but of the component parts of the human psycho-spiritual constitution.

Accordingly, if you look at the way the Sephiroth on the Tree successively
manifest, it is evident that mind manifests before body. The collective spheres of the ruach
form a templatea skeleton of sortsfor the eventual manifestation

of the physical body at Malkuth. Just as the physical body of humans is built on

this astral skeleton of energy, so is the physical world based on a similar astral

framework. The most dense layers of this are more properly called the etheric

world; accordingly, the most dense layer of our energy bodyshort of the

physical body itselfis the etheric body. The etheric body more closely

resembles the actual physical form of the body, whereas the astral body

resembles mind itself. It is more rarefied, and capable of taking on a wider

diversity of forms, not just those which are more closely tied to the physical

forms that are built upon it (as is the case with the etheric body).

The reason Im taking such pains to distinguish between the astral and etheric

bodies is that there are distinctly different sets of practices involved in working

with them when you undertake astral or etheric projection. When etherically

projecting, youre going to be in a body that rather closely resembles your

physical body, and the landscape that youre exploring will be like an energetic

skeleton of your actual physical surroundings. An etheric projection experience

will give you the sensation of leaving your body and walking around the room,

the house, the neighborhood, and so on. An astral projection experience, on the

other hand, will take you to a landscape that is completely different from your

physical surroundings, and quite possibly different from any materially existing

place whatsoever. Remember, this is the realm of mind itselfinfinitely plastic,

and able to shape itself into forms that simply dont exist in the physical world.

Testing Entities and Confirming the Plane

Lets look at a few techniques and tools, so you can begin (or refine) your

experiments. There are a few general procedures you should always observe.

Crowley emphasizes one particular point repeatedly in his writings on this topic:

the importance of testing all entities that you encounter. None of these entities

are going to be offended if you dont believe them about who they are or what

they say theyre trying to tell you. So test them, using signs or formul that you

may know, such as saying, Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law, to
which they should respond with Love is the law, love under will. Or use AA

grade signs, such as the Sign of the Enterer with the Sign of Silence as a

response. You should ask any entities that appear for their names, and the

spelling thereof. Check the gematria of the name, and the nature of the

surroundings that you find yourself in, using your knowledge of magical

correspondences (see 777) to be sure you have arrived in the proper plane. For example, if
youve invoked Jupiter and yet you find yourself in some sort of

landscape that is full of orange-colored hermaphrodites, you may have taken a

left turn into Mercury. (The most likely cause of such occurrences is an

improperly performed invocation, or residual extraneous energies from an

improperly banished space.) If you detect an error, try to discover its source and

start the experiment over from the beginning.

Working Methodology

When preparing to undertake an astral or etheric projection, it is best if you

are not too full of food, especially meat. Excessive fatigue is to be avoided as

well. If you are in the middle of projection and you find yourself feeling

fatigued, either mentally or with (what will feel like) physical fatigue, its best to

end the session then, rather than straining yourself by persisting. I also suggest

you avoid orgasmic release in the day or so leading up to your projection, as it

appears the life energy which would otherwise be discharged via orgasm is a

useful fuel for astral visions.

Set aside a solid hour or so, when you wont be disturbed; choose a quiet

place, preferably the temple in which you are accustomed to working. Start with

a basic banishingI suggest the LBRP or the Star Ruby for this purpose. For

your first experiment, try etheric projection. Settle into a relaxed posture, do

some rhythmic breathing for a few moments, and get as relaxed as you can.

Then, imagine that you are exuding energy out the front of your physical body

(some teachers suggest that you see this emerging from your manipura chakra as

a silvery cord). Shape this externalized energy into a form that corresponds to

your physical body. You have now formed an etheric double. Next, try to transfer

your consciousness into this etheric double, and begin looking around the room
youre in. Begin to see with those eyes, walk around the room, look at objects,

go outside, walk around in your yard, and so on. Just explore the etheric world

and see what you come up with. If you want to test yourself on this etheric level

of work, you could have a friend who is in a location that youve never been to

or dont know very well. Etherically project to that place and see if you can then

tell your friend about details that you wouldnt have had knowledge of

otherwise. Your friend can then either confirm or deny the accuracy of your

description.

Now, lets talk about the tools and techniques of astral projection. It begins

much the same way. Youve banished, youre seated in a relaxed posture, and

then you externalize the energy in front of you. Once again you shape it into a double of
yourself. I think youll find you get better results if you see yourself

robed in magical garments that correspond to your grade, or the specific type of

work youre doing. For example, if you want to visit a particular sephira on the

Tree of Life, you might clothe yourself in the robe of the AA grade that

corresponds to that sephira. Once youve externalized the energy, shaped it the

way you want, and transferred your consciousness into the astral double, then

(and heres where the difference between etheric and astral work comes into

play), begin to rise straight upward in your astral body.

The purpose of this technique is to trick the mind into letting go of its hold on

the physical body using the imaginal device of physically rising higher. Its not

necessarily that your astral body is going anywhere, per se; its just that you

need some kind of device to shake up your perceptions. So rise straight up and

keep going, higher and higher, until you find yourself in some sort of landscape

you can begin to explore. Once youve arrived at your desired destination, its

often useful to perform a LIRP and perhaps also a Middle Pillar ritual, to

energize the astral body for the work thats ahead. Next, call for a guide and

rigorously test it. Get a name, check the correspondences, test with signs and

words, and so on. And then explore the region as best you can.

Once youve done all the exploration that youre going to do, thank and

dismiss your guide. You can then return to your body. Move your muscles
around, and really feel yourself solidly back in your body. You want to avoid so-

called astral bleeding, where all of your energy has not come back to the body

properly; so be sure that this is strongly visualized and that you feel fully

reunited with your physical body. You might wish to very mindfully give the

Sign of Silence, figuring yourself as Harpocrates in the egg. You may also wish

to do another LBRP after youre backjust to be on the safe side, and to come

out of the whole experience without any unwanted lingering influence of

whatever specific region you were exploring.

Troubleshooting

If you get into trouble, such as feeling harassed or threatened by entities you

encounter, try enlarging yourself into a huge towering God-form of Ra-Hoor-

Khuit and powerfully send the entity away. Or you can draw a large banishing

pentagram and project that toward the offending entity. Occasionally, you may

go very deep into a vision of some kind and have trouble finding your way

back to your physical body. One thing Crowley suggests in such circumstances

is to envision yourself in a giant chariot drawn by great steeds, and then command them to
take you back to your body. This may sound a bit silly but it

works. You will doubtless develop other techniques for getting out of trouble as

you gain expertise, but these should get you started.

Testing Your Success

As you will see in the chapter on the methods and tools of AA, the work of

the path of tav during the Neophyte grade of AA involves the development of

control of the astral body. The Superior will test the Neophyte using various

techniques such as scrying a symbol that is unknown to the person being

examined but well known to the examiner. The task is to see if they can detect

the basic nature of the symbol through astral inspection. You can do this yourself

if you have a friend who is fairly magically adept, or at least knowledgeable

enough to pick a sigil or a symbol and grasp its basic meaning. They should pick

a symbol with which you are completely unfamiliar. They can then give you the

symbol, and you scry it by imagining it is inscribed on a large astral door.

Project through the door and see what you find. If youve done well, then what
you find therethe correspondences, the tone of the place, and any information

given to you by entitieswill match the nature of the sigil, and your friend will

be able to confirm this. Another test is to have a friend who is a competent

magician invoke specific forces into a room while you are not present; you can

then go in and explore the space using the procedures Ive described above.

This chapter just scratches the surface of the many possible techniques you

could use to explore the astral and etheric worlds, but hopefully this will be

enough to get you started, and perhaps stimulate you to experiment and see what

you find. As with many other magical techniques, your persistent practice will

be well rewarded.

Recommended Reading:

Denning, M. & Phillips, O. (2010). A Practical Guide to Astral Projection.

Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications.

Muldoon, S. & Carrington, H. (2003). Projection of the Astral Body. Whitefish,

MT: Kessinger Publishing, LLC.