You in no way have to be religious or have any beliefs of an afterlife, life beyond the physical, or really any beliefs at all. What you probably do need to have is a desire to project and be open to its possibility. Patience and practice are going to be a big plus as well.
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Welcome to the Astral Pulse 2.0!
If you're looking for your Journal, I've created a central sub forum for them here: https://www.astralpulse.com/forums/dream-and-projection-journals/