Greetings!
This is a subject that has been misconstrued and misunderstood for some time.
Astral Projection is basically an OOBE (out-of-body-experience) that involves the use of your astral body.
There is another, more prevalent OOBE, which is Mental projection that involves the users transfering of conciousness mentally without the use of the astral body.
Most Lucid dreaming is when you become aware of yourself actively whilst in a dreaming state. This is a gray area. Not all Lucid Dreams involve Astral Projection yet almost always are a form of Mental Projection.
The news that most people who claim to have had an Astral Projection is, sadly, not true. A lot of Mages become very adept using Mental Projection when they are interacting with the Astral plane. I know that this is true, at least, for myself. I have, upon rare occurences, experienced spontaneous Astral Projection and a few actual willed Astral Projection. The waters get very muddied with other terms and authorities who go on at length about Dreaming Bodies, Etheric/Mental Bodies, Astral Bodies, The Fetch, etc. To dismiss any of these things is to do a grave injustice to it all!
I've found that when in my Astral Body, if I get injured, the damage is transfered back to the physical body! This is not necessarily the case whilst using the Mental/Etheric Body! This is explained by some basic physics involved with the astral. Astral matter is a finer degree of matter than what is evidently quite apparent in the physical world. There is the 'silver cord' that connects us to the physical body. Transference of energy takes place through this conduit. Cut it and you will find yourself disconnected and haemorrhaging astrally until you can realign. After sundering this is a very slim chance for survival. Mental travel takes place with a further rarified energy/matter. It falls in the realm of the mind and its tenets. You do not have the silver cord connection but you will have a strong mental bond. This is not easily sundered (nor is the silver cord) but damage done on this level tends to manifest as psychological problems and lesser so than the overt physical damage.
This is just a quick blurb on a subject that could take volumes to write out. There will be many that will outright refute my words. OK. Let's hear from you so that we can start getting a better view. I'm always open to new ideas! You can also google the subject and/or look in our Library! Agree or not I wish you well! (IMG:
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