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Amy Thinks Deep

philosophy for the curious soul 

Imagery and Imagination in Etheric vs. Astral Projections

Spiritual explorers may be familiar with the concept and activity of astral projection, as it is an incidental practice that holds much mystery of control. Astral projection experiences tend to happen without will-power being the only factor. Though they can hold a pattern of under what circumstances they occur, it usually cannot be performed at will. Astral and etheric energies are experienced yet there are other factors at play to help them appear a certain way. Indeed, much of the imagery in an etheric projection can be influenced by our imagination.

First, I want you to imagine yourself before you were born. What form were you when you were without a physical body? Many who believe in an afterlife or a "life between lives" assess that a part of them exists without a physical body. Many call this consciousness or spirit. However, the consciousness still presents itself as a form, though it has been known to be fluid. The essence of a spirit has many levels of form, and being without material constituency, it is not bound to only appear as one. Some people see orbs, some people see aura-like forms, and some see human-like projections (i.e. let's say, for example, your late grandmother appears to you in her prime of adulthood, but you still recognize her because that is how you remembered her most - she was not bound to her earthly image).  

The etheric body precedes the physical body; it is linked to the physical nature, establishing the blueprint for the physical form. Beyond that, we have an astral body, which holds a little bit more fluidity. For example, the etheric body can appear as a ghost after death - seemingly very physical, but not quite fully material; this is because they are still holding onto what they can from a physical nature, even though the physical nature is expired and uninhabitable. On the other hand, an astral presence does not usually appear as a form of visible light or physical, but it is recognized in a different form. The astral presence possesses a more malleable factor of energy, able to change form/appearance/feel according to what the viewer's brain is capable of conceiving. While astral projections are less visual-natured, they are more about the detection of energetic presences through feeling.

Each degree of identity apart from the physical body is a different experience. The etheric is like a home-base for physical existence (many refer to it as a blueprint/model). In this theory, the etheric body would change for every incarnation and develop more and more with each. For the astral body experience, it is very emotion based; it explains why emotions can be both physical sensations and non-physical sensations: because it is another degree of separation from the etheric/physical nature. "Your emotions are less tangible and less dense than your physical body" says Jill Leigh. Astral experiences are in essence emotional experiences. Come to think of it, I have not heard of an astral experience that displayed zero emotional value.

When we astral project, we project our own presence of consciousness to another location for what feels like an out of body experience. And so it can be understood. In an astral  experience, we may visit someone/somewhere meaningful and/or otherwise have an emotional experience. This enlivened state of being is a profound experience where we are mildly disconnected from the physical nature and we understand ourselves to be there. And we are there, because our astral mind is there; indeed, it is our emotional being that is there.

But what if we detect a presence that is visiting us in their astral vehicle? Indeed, be it your friend or whoever, is astrally projecting themselves to you. In this experience, they are connecting with you in a meaningful way. Now, distinctly, these experiences are heart-based and not mind-based. The experiences within an astral realm are not concerned with mental composition. However, when an astral body appears to have a form in your presence, how does it appear to have a visual form when their physical body is not present in your location? 

This is where the personal imagination takes place. What happens in our brains when we experience something non-visual is a very programmed way of thinking and living. It is how our brains are designed to understand the world. The brain wants to assign physical form when it detects another form of energy. Let's say you are in a group of friends, and you are blind-folded. A friend is assigned to quietly come up to you. You must guess which friend comes closer to you. Could you guess correctly? It would be a test of how well you know your friends' energies. Being blind-folded would give you the opportunity to use other senses (including the energetic sense) to try to formulate which friend came closer to you.

However, what if you are alone and an astral presence projects to you? You have no physical sense, only their energy to read. As an astral presence, a person may project an emotional energy to the viewer and the viewer would then perceive it through the understanding that the viewer's brain formulates. The formula thus involves the astral being (as the stimulus) + the physical body viewer's brain (as the active participant for interpretation), which would therefore generate an image to help define the experience. This is all done in the moment very quickly, as fast as lightning. 

Before the brain forms a significant amount in childhood, babies are much more inclined to engage with energetic qualities. In fact, they just came from a world without physical capabilities and are much more familiar with energetic factors than we adults may be aware of. As our brains develop in early childhood, we envision a world of imagination before we grow apart from it. That world of imagination is our brain's way of understanding the energetic realms, such as astral. As children, we reveled in this astral connection as a very natural playscape. In order to communicate our "imaginative" playscape to others and to continue to play in it as the body grew, the mind and brain worked together to form words, labels, and imagery. Wasn't childhood the best, when you could effortlessly engage in both worlds?

This principle of mental imagery is how the physical body tries to understand an energetic presence such as an astral projection visit. We may not quite understand yet in what sense the locus of control influences the astral imagery - whether the image is generated more from the projector's (emotional) influence or more from the viewer's (mental) influence. This blog hopes to establish that it could very well be a mix of influences, where the locus of influence is discovered in the moment within both projector's and viewer's connection. It is within the connection - the moment and space between two beings - that reality is built.

 

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I hope you enjoyed reading this blog piece. It was inspired by a conversation within the Discord community server called Soul Connexion, where we journey together discovering our true spiritual nature. Come join us for this fascinating journey!

 

 

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