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I'm surprised that no one has addressed this one key point (other than indirectly by  Astral316)- you seem to believe feeling vibes will cause projection.  As far as my experience, vibrations don't cause anything, they're a side effect that happens sometimes when you're on your way to project.  So even if you can reproduce them perfectly, they ain't gonna shake you loose.

don't take my point too seriously.  i don't mean that you can have an artificial device that will perfectly replicate the feelings of vibrations that will in turn induce projection.  not gonna happen.  i'm just saying that you could potentially use some kind of physical vibration as a kind of memory trigger, just like if i were to use a particular essential oil everytime i meditated or projected.  in time, my brain would create a sense memory of my mind state when i smell that oil.  i know you're fully aware of that concept CFT, so i'm explaining it for others.  this is a very common trick in pretty much every spiritual tradition ever.  you create a habituated response to a stimulus that is designed to help you return to a particular state of mine quickly and easily, based on pairing a particular stimulus with the desired state of mind. 

now the vibrations (which i have felt Astral316, but don't normally), as i said, aren't physical sensations that are actually being perceived by your physical body.  there is no physical force that is actually acting on your body, producing vibrations and ejecting your consciousness from your body.  vibrations are (imo) the perception of the phase shift from physical to non-physical reality.  but in this situation, the nature of vibrations is absolutely irrelevant.  we don't care what they are and what they have to do with AP/OBE.  they are being invoked strictly as a conditioned stimulus paired with the experience of a conscious exit.  VIBRATIONS ARE NOT A CAUSE OF PROJECTION.  THEY ARE A SIDE EFFECT OF THE SHIFT IN PERCEPTION ONLY.  but that doesn't mean that we can't utilize them like we would a particular scent or sense of atmosphere.  so, if we could create a device that simulated vibrations similar to those experienced by projectors, it could, (in theory) replicate natural vibrations enough to activate the conditioned response that the brain has created relative to the vibes.  and what is that response?!  conscious exit (i know that not everyone feels the vibes, but if and when they do feel them, they are almost always paired with conscious exit.  so to address comments like Xanth's, that the vibes are a signpost and signposts are no good; the vibes aren't a signpost at all, they are natural secondary characteristics that people interpret as signposts, but in actuality they have only become signposts through simple classical conditioning, which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

so, again, in principle, an artificial vibration could trigger a conditioned response in the brain that brings about the proper state of mind conducive to conscious exit.

tl;dr

cliff's notes?

Hi all

Got a question that Im hoping somebody can answer coz I carnt think of any reason. OK, I started my dream journal just over a week ago whist I was on holiday in Scotland (makes no diff that I was in Scotland) and I could remember several dreams and wrote them down in my journal. Im now back at home, back at work and have been unable to recall any dreams. How and why is this?

Cheers

Ange x

just keep going.  everything waxes and wanes.  keep at it and remain disciplined and dedicated.  it all works out eventually. 

i know that sounds like a half-assed response but it's really not.  that's the one thing i've taken away from months and years of trying to improve dream recall.  as long as you just keep trying every day and go to sleep with the intent to remember your dreams, it all comes together eventually.

the idea is that control of your conscious awareness is facilitated by energy work.  there are various theories about how or why this happens.  i guess i would say that i think that "energy" functions as something like a medium for consciousness to move through.  so if you had a higher frequency energy, it would be easier for your consciousness to shift focus quickly and effectively.  but i really can't say for sure how or why energy work helps.

what i can say is that through the practice of energy work, my mind has stayed focused on these types of metaphysical topics, which really does help achieving conscious exit.  but more than just AP/OBE, it has increased my day to day sensitivity.  my intuition is much sharper, my mind is sharper, my ability it sense energy is heightened, and i just feel all-around better.

it is not necessarily needed in any way for AP/OBE.  it may facilitate better control of your experience, but is not required and does not directly help (imo).  indirectly, i feel that energy work just makes you more aware in general, which couldn't hurt when you're practicing something that is based on control and degree of awareness. 

i will say though that when i do NoY's violet-flame meditation (which is a kind of energy work) whilst out of body, i find that i become grounded in the projection (rather than in the physical) and it not only prolongs the experience but provides me with a higher degree of control.

you're better off reading books and talking to experienced people. 

the internet is the scum of society.  wheelers and dealers, con-men, illegitimate skeptics, and all around loud mouths who never have anything constructive to add.  oh, and trolls.  there is way more shite online than helpful information.  and its mostly because of what i like to call "wikipedia syndrome".  there's no real accountability online, anyone can say or do anything they want and you'd be hard-pressed to dispute them. 

that's why i trust published authors a little more.  at least they have to get through the publisher/editor and are also subject to review.  though i don't really trust editors or reviewers, it's better than the internet in most cases.  i mean legit peer-review is pretty much non-existent today, but hey at least it's something. 

but by far, the best way to get serious research on this subject (as well as any other) is to talk to someone who knows more than you do about it.  it's not always easy for everyone, but take it from me, sharing ideas and experiences with actual people is a lot more effective than reading nonsense on the internet and books that have been edited so as to not upset the status quo.  i'll take an experienced solitary practitioner of mystical and magical arts over a mainstream-accepted scientific journal almost any day.  in the end, what matters is that you are able to trust your "teacher" (be that the internet, a book, a person, etc.)  and it's a lot easier for me to trust a teacher when i can look them in the eye and read their intent.  you can't get that out of a book or a website (for the most part).

i can't really grow anything.  i live in the middle of a city.  i have no dirt in which to grow something.  i could have an herb garden in the house, maybe even a tomato plant, but nothing near a sustainable garden that i could survive off of.

Do a search for a member named "KurtyKurt42" and look at some of his threads regarding an astral projection device.  he was using technology that i don't understand enough to explain (magnets, electricity, crystals, that kind of thing - i believe his devices are in the same family as what we call orgone generators, though his devices were light years beyond simple orgone devices.), but the basic premise was that his devices could help induce AP/OBE.

it's not new.

it's not from the tropical zodiac (the one used in the western world.  the sidereal zodiac is used in the east, in things like vedic astrology.)

it has absolutely no effect on your zodiac sun sign.

it came from one research study by one guy who doesn't know crap about astrology.

something like this comes up every few years but just doesn't get reported on mainstream media.

the fact that this was reported on mainstream media and considered in a serious tone makes me want to agree with addict.  this is a scam.  i couldn't say what the end goal is meant to be, but it's a scam.

finally, i didn't just pull this out of me bum.  i work with a practicing astrologer who has over 30 years experience.  she's been reading astrology longer than most of the members on this board have been alive.  i trust her understanding of the situation.  i've also been told the exact same thing by numerous amateur and professional astrologers that come into my store.

so this thread can stop right now because there is nothing else to be said.

1. 24
2. yes
3. 5+ years
4. both LD and AP are "out of body experiences".  however, "out of body" is not an appropriate term.  i believe that your consciousness is never really IN the body but rather is non-local and receives sensory input through the human energy system.  so the appropriate term would be "body disassociation" because you are dis-associating your consciousness from the sensory input of the body.
5. i had some lucid dreams as a kid, but it was only within the past 5 years or so that i have actively attempted to achieve these mind-states.
6. rarely
7. 30+ OBE/AP, handful of LD
8. I differ from Xanth slightly.  I see conscious awareness as being prime, but that conscious awareness leads to control.  i feel that control of the experience is how you turn it from a novel experience into a personally/spiritually meaningful experience.
9. Not well, I've had to spend a lot of time training myself to remember dreams.  But even still, when I don't make the intention to remember my dreams clear in my mind the night before, I barely remember any.
10. You could call my reasons spiritual, but to me that encompasses the whole of reality.  I believe that the secret/mystery of reality and existence lies in consciousness and I see these experiences as a way to really explore consciousness.  I even have intentions to utilize things I've learned through AP/OBE/LD practice in my future psychological career.
11. To an extent yes.  You ought to be relatively focused on things of a similar nature in your daily life.  It helps you focus later on when you practice AP/OBE/LD.  However, it's an interesting cycle because practicing these things alters your daily perception which in turn alters your practice.  Kind of a chicken or the egg thing goin on.
12. I'm more aware of the experience, it doesn't seem so abstract and intangible when I've focused my attention.
13. Sometimes more than I want to be.  It makes life difficult when you are forced to contemplate and interact with society at large.  You realize that you just don't have anything in common with "normal" people anymore and the status quo just isn't good enough.  It definitely can make you feel like a tortured soul.  But in the end, you feel better for it.
14. It made the world seem a lot bigger.

not only shamans and gurus, BUT YOU TOO!

they're not special, they've just practiced longer than you. 

i attend a drum circle from time to time that is run buy a shaman that comes into my store a lot.

You're squinting too much 

lol ishi.

i wouldn't worry about it.  it happens to me all the time and at the most random times.  i like to think that an angel is rubbing her [CENSORED] on my head.    

seriously though, when it happens it might be worth taking a moment to reflect on what thoughts and emotions you were experiencing at the time, and maybe even see if you're getting any kind of intuitive message.  i have noticed over time that i can usually correlate the appearance of that tingly pressure with and intuitive message (which normally turns out to be right on the mark).

there are some theories that believe absolutely nothing related to the dream in any way happens in the brain.  instead the brain activity measured during entranced (or sleeping) periods is basically "self-cleaning" mode like on an oven.  during these times the brain is repairing broken neural connections, replaces connections that are no longer needed, regenerating cells, wiring new pathways for new experiences from the day, etc.  so the question has been, is dreaming just a side effect of this house cleaning, or does the brain just instinctively utilize these times of brain synchronization to do some work?  one of these choices makes consciousness a purely secondary characteristic of normal brain function.  the other recognizes the brain as a very very sophisticated machine and "user-interface" and not much else.  i'm of the latter opinion.  i really don't think the physical brain has much to do with most of this stuff.  however, it does benefit from the "side-effects".  for example, someone who meditates regularly or practices AP regularly is providing their physical brain with more down time to effect repairs and updates.  this would imply that those people's brain is potentially operating more efficiently and effectively because it has more time to keep up with daily experience and more daily experiences can be assimilated into the whole. 

but, that's neither here nor there.  there isn't a lot of "scientific" evidence about the role of consciousness relative to the brain and vice versa.  you'd think something as neat as altered states would get a bit more attention these days, but in most orthodox psychology and neurology, altered states are still seen as a pathology, a problem.

You will still be able to grow your own food and buy from private retailers.  these bills are to try and stop farmers markets and that kind of thing.  from what i've read, local markets and that kind of thing will still sell organics.

but the problem is that this is just the first step. 

someone posted something on my facebook the other day about people in India or something burning the GMO seeds that were given to them by their government or something like that.  i thought it was pretty funny.  "we'd rather starve than eat your frankenfood",  nice.

word.  thanks for clarifying cft.

Consecration means to purify and cleanse.

The most effective avenue of psychic protection is psychic development.  If you are psychically stronger then your energy is stronger and more able to prevent attack.  In magical practice, your own power is the strongest tool you possess. 

However, if you lack confidence in your own skills (look up psychic self defense and try some exercises though, you might be surprised at how easy it can be to use your massively strong energy), there are other protective measures.

You can perform all sorts of rituals.  I will often burn white candles as a way to purify my energy and remove any remnants of things i've picked up from other people and whatnot.  Usually once a week.  There are cleansing rituals involving things like sage, cedar and sweetgrass to achieve a similar end.  Though these things are more for removing something that is already there rather than preventing it.

Probably the easiest way to protect yourself (aside from your own power) is to carry crystals.  Any black stone will work.  I'm fond of black tourmaline, but obsidian, onyx, jet, etc. would work as well.  Lately I've also started working more with a stone called Spectrolite, which is supposed to create an energy sheath or cloak around your being, thereby making you effectively invisible to anything around your that would like to get at your energy.

You could use a talisman as was suggested.  The symbol is of less importance than what that symbol means to you.  For example, I wear the 4th Pentacle of Mercury which is primarily for wisdom, but through my intent i made it a protective symbol as well.

You all aren't considering the power of sense memory.

Say that you are the kind of projector who regularly experiences vibrations and it normally happens when you're in a non-ordinary state of consciousness.  There is a memory in your mind and or brain, related to said altered state, of vibration.  Now, even if the vibes aren't a physical sensation you feel them as if they were.  So for all intents and purposes you experiences physical vibration.

So, if you're asleep and begin feeling a vibration, it's not such a big leap for the brain and or mind to recognize that it is in a non-ordinary state of consciousness and feeling vibrations.  Your brain/mind remembers that in the past, this combination of sensation and perception was immediately followed by a separation from the body.  And it induces projection.

It may not work at all, but it seems plausible.  You'd just be tricking your brain.

At approx. 29:00 the guy talks of infinite parallel universes, but I think he's basically talking about the different dimensions, only he gives it a different label

No he's not.  There aren't any physics theories that use infinite dimensions.  String Theory uses 10 dimensions (9 physical, 1 time), that's the largest number of dimensions in a working theory.

There are multiple different parallel universe theories.  He could be talking about any number of them. 

I have experienced a reptilian entity before, but I got the distinct impression that it wasn't a real ET but rather a symbolic representation of my own reptilian hindbrain. 

Oh and thanks a lot...  Now I have "Holotropic Breathwork" on my books to get too..  LOL

lol.  If you like that book then you should check into some more Stanislov Grof.  He's a transpersonal psychologist (which is kind of like a humanist, but self-actualization is a big deal and the approach is more holistic, and really probes the nature of consciousness).  He used to be into the whole "psychonaut" (took hallucinogens for psychological research) thing back in the day with people like Tim Leary and John C. Lily and whatnot.

Sounds like it to me.  They're probably pretend pagans who think it's cool to wear a pentacle when they go to church with their parents. 

Shamanism is THE OLDEST RELIGION IN EXISTENCE.  Literally.  Every other religion owes it's existence to shamanism.  Shamanism isn't a specific religion, it was simply the religion of the tribe.  There are no universal tenets or dogma.  There are no rules.  Shamanism is just a word to describe a whole host of indigenous religions that anthropologists couldn't fit anywhere else.  Pagans of all people ought to recognize the significance of shamanism and the role in played in the foundation of their respective religions.  I mean really.  Shamanism and Paganism go hand in hand.  Shamanism is really the father of all the pagan traditions and is also a pagan tradition in itself. 

And yes, some shamans do drink psychedelic mixtures, but anyone who knows anything about shamanism at all knows that they don't just drink it every day to trip out and "grow spiritually".  Quite the contrary.  The shaman's brew is a special ritual that is typically only ingested by an apprentice as a form of initiation or when a very intense tragedy has effected the tribe and a powerful solution needs to be found immediately (or on very special occasions).  Most of the time, shamans use non-drug induced methods to visit the other worlds.  They recognize the importance of being able to go to these otherworlds at will.  The plants are usually meant to provide a "shock" to wake the apprentice from the "auto-pilot" state of mind that most people tend to live in.  Usually, shamans use techniques such as drumming, singing, chanting, dancing, meditation, etc. to enter altered states.  Most of what they do is done through ritual though, they aren't just always tripping out in some altered state.

It's really a shame when people don't even know the history of the culture that they have adopted.  How can you really claim a tradition if you don't understand it's roots and heritage, let alone it's central focus.

welcome

What makes you think that the 10 Commandments were of a higher order of consciousness?  They seem pretty run of the mill to me.

I haven't watched this yet, but the astrologer that I work with (who's really into conspiracy research and new age stuff) told me I should watch it.  I'm actually kind of excited to see it.  If you haven't already heard about it or watched it, it's supposedly about a guy who is a part of something called "The 33" which is like the elite elite group, the heads of each compartment of the "illuminati" pyramid.  Anyway, the guy apparently was assigned to shut down the Project Avalon and Project Camelot shows and had some change of heart?  I don't know, something to that effect.  Or maybe he's like dying of a terminal disease or something. 

Whatever the background is, I thought it sounded neat, at the very least it may be fun to hear.  I don't know what kind of authenticity we're looking at here, the guy could be totally full of it, I don't know.  I know some of you aren't down with this kind of stuff, so lay into it with your criticisms.  I'm much too easily overwhelmed by fantastic novelty, so I'm not the best person to gauge how legit this sounds.  Lemme know what you all think.

http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?10870-Bill-Ryans-50-minute-video-commentary-on-the-Charles-interview-9-1-11&s=cbcdd665efbf4f0faa14a4d95db67272

It's been a while since I started this thread, I know.  But let me say something to the people that are saying "I loved the Hangover" and "Due Date was great". 

This movie is not about zach galifianakis and it is NOTHING like either of those movies or any other movie that zach has done.  He's barely in the movie.  This movie is pretty much nothing like you've ever seen.  I put it more in line with movies like Pi or Fight Club or Seven or even maybe a little Taxi Driver.  It is not a comedy in the traditional sense (it is a very very dark black comedy).  In all likelihood, this movie is nothing like what you expect and you probably won't like it.  You tend to walk away from it feeling very grungy and confused.  It's a brilliant movie in my opinion, but everyone that has watched it on my suggestion has basically told me that it's crap and never to recommend any movie to them ever again. 

So.

Unless you really appreciate ambiguous and abstract cinema, don't watch this movie, it will just make you feel bad.

I primarily work with two programs, Ableton Live 7 with Reason 4 as a slave.

I work with the pre-loaded instruments in these programs a lot, but I usually tweak them a lot so they don't sound anything like the original sample.  I also work with samples that other people have made that I find on websites like freesound.org.  Sometimes I take samples from already produced songs (the other day I made a loop from "Send Me an Angel", the song that plays in Rad when Crue Jones and Aunt Becky from Full House are having their little bike off deal at the dance, and a track called "One Zero" by a band named Geggy Tah).  However, even when I do use samples, I cut the hell out of them, mix them up, throw all kinds of effects on them, etc.  It's like RJD2 said, "If you can identify the sample I used then I'm not doing my job".

It is difficult though.  People like to act like live bands are better because there is more "intuition" involved, more "getting in the groove" and going with the flow kind of thing.  Conversely, they consider electronic music to be artificial and just all around garbage.  In my opinion, the live bands are the half-assed ones.  Usually, if a band does write their own material, only one or two of the members actually write the songs, the others just play the sheet music.  And that's a big IF, because most bands these days just play songs written by studio musicians who work for record labels, they don't come anywhere near making their own music. 

I see making electronic music like this to be much more difficult and profound.  When I make a song or an album I treat it like a story, a painting even.  I like to create a soundscape that not only elevates my mood and fires up my heart, but also one that elicits strong emotional movement.  My music is comprehensive.  Each piece is thoroughly considered before I complete the track.  And, it's all coming from me.  On rare occasions I might have a producer friend throw a sample they made into my track, but for the most part, my music is MY masterpiece. 

I don't really have any set process.  Normally I just bust out the MIDI Keyboard or my Beat Pad and start playing with sounds until I find something that I like, then I build a song around it.  I'm not terribly good at mastering though.  People overlook the importance of mastering.  For example, Daft Punk's music is relatively simple in structure, but the compression and mastering that they do is what really makes it kick.  That's what I'm not great at.  And I need to learn more music theory.  I've found myself struggling lately with things like bass lines and whatnot because I don't actually play any instruments.  I used to play guitar, but I never really learned the music theory that went with it, I just learned chords and put them together.  What I really want is to learn to play the piano, I think that will really help my process.  I also need to learn more about sound engineering and production.  I need to learn more about how sound waves work and how different effects really work.  I know a lot of basics, but as of now I kind of just play with stuff until it sounds right.  I will often have a generic plan that I build from, but I really want to be able to know how to perfectly replicate a sound I heard in my mind onto the computer.