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Really enjoyed reading this book - thanks for the recommendation as I probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise.

It's very much like Bruce Moen's books with him recounting his time at the Monroe Institute.

I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Moen's or Monroe's books.

Regarding the original post, Milton's Paradise Lost describes the angels rebellion.  Great read too!

Does it really need to be at the same time though?

I remember reading Bruce Moen's books where he does partnered exploration.  I'm sure they meet each other even though they aren't doing it at exactly the same time.

I fall into the catergory of thinking that people inheritently know good from evil, or right from wrong.

An example was given about murder being evil, but killing someone in war is not considered so.  That view holds for society but not for the individual.  Most soldiers returning from war don't see themselves as heroes, though the media may try an sell them as such.  Indeed, they often don't like talking about their ordeal at all, and why would they?  Knowing that killing is wrong, they have gone and done it anyway, all be it at the behest of their Government. 

The Holocaust was sanctioned by Nazi law, so did that make it right to commit genicide?  No, of course not, and the SS that paid for the crimes were essentially told they should have realised so and disobeyed orders.  They should have known inheritently they were doing evil.

Killing is wrong.  War is wrong.  Just because an action is sanctioned by law doesn't make it any less evil.

Meneleus.

I've been thinking about this lately too as in my dreams I sometimes do not resemble my physical self.  I remember being a female one time, a young boy, and sometimes men with different faces (though usually the same age as myself now I think about it).

I also remember a dream where I wasn't in it at all, even as other people.  It was more like watching TV with other characters playing all the roles and realising none of them were myself.  Seemed quite normal so I just went with the flow and didn't worry about it.

I considered the idea it may be past incarnations influencing the unconscious during dreaming, but I don't think that's the case.  Other than being different people I always seem to be in the same time frame of existence - it's not like I'll be in the dark ages or something.

I've never looked into dream interpretations, but I'd hazard the guess it's a normal experience due to the mind being poor at visualisation.  Even in a waking state, it's very difficult to picture yourself accurately in your imagination.  Whenever I look in a mirror, I'll think "Oh yeah, that's how I look."  You can instantly recognise people upon seeing them, but trying to visualise them, or yourself, is another matter entirely. 

So maybe it is just the imagination being limited by the contraint of visualisation.

Meneleus.

It's been a while since I've visited these forums but felt immediately at home after reading this thread. 

About a year ago I had a lucid dream where I was shown previous lives I may have lived.  From that point on I became curious and interested in learning the truth behind reincarnation. 

I don't follow any religion and though I consider myself open minded, my thoughts are governed by logic.  Probably for this reason, I've always found the idea of reincarnation somewhat baffling.

I remember reading that there are more humans in existence at this point in time than have existed in the whole of our history combined.  Therefore, it doesn't make sense that so many of us have past life recollections.  For those that do regressions, I'd be interested to know how many people can't recall anything at all (perhaps from being a new soul) compared to those that can.

What is a person?  Apart from the physical aspect, it is the memories, ideas, hopes, dreams etc that defines a person for who they truly are. Or to put it another way, it is the consciousness that defines their being.  I'm sure most of us would agree this consciousness continues to exist without a physical host (NDEs are good evidence for this) which begs the question: is the soul and the consciousness one and the same?

If this is the case then reincarnation makes no sense whatsoever.  From the authors I've read regarding afterlife exploration (Monroe and Moen) and articles I've read online, all seem to suggest that when you die you only retain the memories you have experienced during your own lifetime.  You don't suddenly become a fountain of accumulated knowledge amassed over several lifetimes.  If you were a bumbling buffoon in life, you'll sure as hell be a bumbling buffoon in death.  Therefore, if advocating reincarnation, it suggests the slate being wiped clean at rebirth (therefore destroying the consciousness that was).  If it wasn't destroyed, then what happens to it? 

Aquarious put forward the idea of the higher self being like a jellyfish with each tentacle being an incarnation of life (a view supported by Monroe and Moen).  Someone else pointed out that these lifetimes are lived concurrently which also makes sense.  However, if both of these are correct, then it could explain the reincarnation phenomena without a rebirth process.

When a person recalls past lives,  they could simply be accessing another strand or tentacle from their higher self.  It isn't a life they have previously lived, but another life their higher self is currently living – two different consciousnesses in possibly two different timeframes accessing information via their higher self.  Or, perhaps all memories from each consciousness are sent to the higher self and accessed directly.  Regardless, no rebirth would be necessary to explain past life experiences.  Aquarious also brought up the point of nobody recalling future lives, but wouldn't future memories explain precognition?

This other point is hard to explain.  As another person stated, the idea of rebirth is linear thinking – a progression of the soul along a timeline.  However, if the Astral has no time (as suggested) it would be non-linear. There would be no past, no future, only the now.  If the higher self is to experience and learn through life incarnations, all of them have to be done at once.  The notion of living a life then being sent back to relive another one implies a past and future, thereby trying to apply linear rules to a non-linear environment.  An impossibility...isn't it?

So my take on the situation is that all incarnations of life from the higher self are lived concurrently but as different consciousnesses.  Recollections of past lives are connections between two consciousnesses connected to the same higher self and there is no rebirth process.  Upon death, each consciousness returns to the higher self.

Take care,

Michael.

Hi,

I've never heard of a Celtic system for doing that, but you can try this site: http://www.druidry.org

They have a good forum and I'm sure they would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Meneleus.

In Bruce Moen's books he describes meetings with Monroe after he passed away (one was even during Monroe's funeral when Moen attended non-physically), and claims others at the institute experience similar such encounters.

Hi StellarCat,

Interesting experience.  It reminds me of the one Robert Peterson talks about in one of his books.  You can read it here: http://www.robertpeterson.org/7cffee.html

Take care,

Meneleus.

Hi Andali,

Religion often starts heated discussions as people have very firm views in this area, and OBEs are widely feared due to humanity's distrust of anything it doesn't fully understand.

It wouldn't surprise me if everyone one this forum had encountered the same problems as yourself.  When I was about 18 I started researching other religions (I still find them interesting though I shun all organised faiths).  Anyway, I remember one time my Mum asked me if I was becoming a witch!  All I was doing was reading a few books!  However, I found the question fascinating.  It's like the inquisition's beliefs are still embedded deeply into the Christian psyche.

Likewise I understand your need to talk to others about your experiences, but I look to these forums for that.  Too many people have a closed mind regarding things.  They don't think outside the box.  

I would suggest replying to your mother by saying you are searching for god in your own way.  Everyone has their own path: you are just trying to find yours.  If she has faith in your character she should know that you wouldn't do anything untoward.

Don't try and bring her around to your way of thinking as that's no different to what she's doing to you.  Ask her to respect your wishes and trust your intuition and judgement.

On a good note, she's doing what she thinks is the right thing for you which shows how much she cares.

Take care,

Meneleus.

Found these on the Internet myself and they are a very good read.  I found the Soul Mate material in his second book especially interesting. It also says a lot about the author that he is prepared to publish his entire book on the Internet for free.  In fact, I enjoyed them so much I ended up buying them from Amazon anyway.

Hi Sarah,

Thank you for taking the time to reply – it's much appreciated.

With it being the first time I had experienced anything like this I started doubting whether I actually had an OBE.  I haven't read before about the consciousness being able to switch between the astral and physical bodies like that, though I remember Robert Bruce explaining how he had experienced two sets of memories for the same time period like you yourself described.  Most disorienting I imagine!  Knowing such things occur to others makes such events seem less strange and more understandable when you finally experience them yourself.

I forgot to mention I didn't use any technique for separating, it was merely myself placing an intent for an OBE.  From then on everything happened automatically and seemed very natural indeed. Hopefully I'll encounter more experiences of this kind as I become more adept.

Take care,

Meneleus.

I've had several occurrences of lucid dreams throughout my life but they were mainly in my younger years before I knew what they were.  At the time I just assumed everyone had them and thought no more about it, but as I have aged so did the experiences lessen.  However, within the last year I have become interested in LDs and OBEs and have since tried to induce both.  All attempts to consciously induce an OBE have failed, though I've had limited success inducing while asleep leading to sleep paralysis and what Mastering Astral Projection classes as internal projection (you experience the etheric body while in your physical body). So far, so good.  

A fortnight ago while asleep I became lucid.  I wasn't dreaming at the time, I simply became aware I was in a sleep state.  My first thought was to project and immediately felt the symptoms of my energy chakras opening.  I've experienced this several times now and wasn't concerned.  To describe the sensation, it starts as butterflies in your stomach that you get when you're nervous, and the feeling then sweeps right to your head like a wave of emotion flowing upwards through your body.  I've never had any other vibrations that people talk about except a time when I heard a buzzing noise, this time however I didn't notice that.

At this stage I felt my consciousness about to separate from my body when I heard a foreboding warning by an unseen voice saying "It's forbidden" or something similar.  Again, I wasn't concerned.  It was as though I was devoid of emotion, and besides I have read enough books and articles on Astral Pulse to know you should just ignore such things anyway and so that's what I did – I merely noted it and continued the process of separation.
 
When separation occurred I seemed to shoot across my bedroom to a picture on my far bedroom wall where I came to an abrupt halt.  My first thought was that I had projected successfully and I realised I was hovering.  This was swiftly followed by a thought that I couldn't fly in reality and with that I plummeted like a rock.  A second later I was back in my body.

I immediately tried projecting again.  This time I heard no voice and projected without difficulty.  At this point I was convinced it was an OBE I was having, but then a strange thing happened.  After I had projected my sight went black and I was back in my body.  I thought I was about to wake up but I concentrated and in my mind's eye I seemed to reconnect to what my astral body would see, lost it again, and reconnected once more.  It was as though my conscious sight was bouncing between my physical and astral forms.

I found myself back in my body, fully aware and somewhat confused.  I wondered if I was imagining everything rather than doing OBE, and was maybe more awake than I realised.  Having read Bruce Moen's books where he vocally recorded his experiences on tape, I tried saying something and with difficulty my body responded by mumbling something incoherent with sluggish lips.  I was vaguely aware of my body but the sensations were dulled considerably almost to the point of being imperceptible.  I'm convinced I was definitely in the Focus 10 state.  

I think I projected several times more after this but I can't for life of me recall it because afterwards I just went to sleep rather than awaken myself up to make notes.

Everything about the experience up to the end suggests it was an OBE, but the last section has left me in doubt as it seems to more indicative of a LD.  Has anyone else experienced losing and re-establishing the connection while OBE?  Does that make any sense?

Cheers,

Meneleus.

I find the best way to realise I'm dreaming is whenever I have a bad dream or nightmare.

There are techniques like Andali explained, but for me that doesn't work.  Best advice is try some techniques and see what works for you.  Be patient though, it may take a while before you get any results.

The real trick is maintaining the dream once you become lucid.  Usually I will become lucid only to either slip back into a dream state or awaken after a few seconds.

Meneleus.

I decided about a month ago to see if I could view auric colours.  I've read several books on the subject and have done about 5 – 10 mins worth of attempts per day, nothing too intensive, but experienced nothing of note other than seeing a colourless outline around the body.

Tonight, I started as normal and saw the usual transparent outline devoid of colour, but then I thought I'd try a test.  A few days ago I started reading a book on chakras called "Wheels of Life" written by Anodea Judith.  In it she mentions a simple way to activate the chakras in the hands by outstretching your arms horizontally and rapidly clenching and unclenching your hands a dozen or so times.

Still viewing my aura, I tried this exercise and immediately saw a violet colour surrounding my hands and extending about 3 inches from the skin.  I realised the violet continued up my arms and shoulders but disappeared at the neck to become the usual colourless aura.  Try as I might I couldn't see any colour extending beyond my shoulders.  

Ten minutes after witnessing this I tried the same test again but had nothing as spectacular.  I sensed the same colour was there, easier to notice now I knew what to look for, but frustratingly I kept getting only fleeting glimpses.

Despite that, the experience of catching only a partial view of the auric colour kind of blew me away.  It's one thing reading about it but quite another experiencing.

Questions I hope some of you can answer are:

Would activating the hand chakras in this manner have influenced my auric colour in any manner, or was it just coincidence?  

Would what I saw be the etheric layer of the aura?  In Barbara Ann Brennan's book "Hands of Light" she mentions the etheric colour to be always blue, but what I saw was more of a violet colour.  Could I have been looking at what she called the emotional layer?

Thanks,

Meneleus.

I've read Astral Dynamics and have started doing the NEW system, and I thought I'd have a go at projecting today and see how I got on.

To start with, it was the same old story – mind drifts or focuses on the sligtest twinge of the body.  Then, I started concentrating on my breathing.  I used a heavy breathing technique that sounded really loud to myself, didn't think it would work, but almost immediately I felt a tingling over my face.

I ignored the sensation and carried on, and it started to spread to my stomach, chest, arms and finally legs.  Then I felt my arms raising and curiously looked to see them physically raising.  With difficulty I forced them to lower and the same happened again.

I tried touching my fingers on either hand and felt little to no sensation, and it was really hard to move any fingers.  With my arms continuing to raise I aborted the projection attempt and stood up.  My body was very sluggish which took a while to clear, but my hands retained the strange feelings for a good few minutes which fascinated me (probably about 10 mins).

At one point I was standing looking at them in amazement - the fingers felt to be moving when they obviously weren't.  Nothing visually appeared out of the ordinary, but it was like I couldn't determine where my fingers were.  It wasn't scary or anything – I was fascinated.  I knew it wasn't a lack of blood flow causing the problem either as nothing had prevented the blood flow to them while I was laying down.

Does this sound normal to anyone?  Were the sensations I felt at the onset of the famous vibrations that everyone goes on about?

Thing is, I'm cursed with being very logical in nature.  There's only two things I think it could be and that's either being light-headed from the breathing or experiencing the onset of projection.  Anyone mind confirming if these feelings are familiar during projection?

Cheers,

Meneleus.

The Writer's Handbook and the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook list publishers, the type of stories they publish, sumbission guidelines, etc.  

You can pick them up here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1405041536/qid=1094469739/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl/202-8084633-6658268

Meneleus.

Hi Nay, thanks for the reply.

Yes, I opened my eyes during the attempt when I felt my arm lifting.
Curiousity got the better of me.  

What really surprised me was how easy it was to get to that state.  Now I know what's involved I'm sure I can do it again without difficulty.  Breathing is the key for me.  

I'll try again tomorrow and see how I fare.

Thanks,

Meneleus.

quote:Yes, there is TONS of evidence that Atlantis existed, but little physical. It's amazing that naysayers can even deny it's existense, for it has been such an integral part of human history and myth for so long, there must be some validity.

That's exactly the problem - people see it as a myth, a simple story from the past, and without physical (archeological) evidence it will always remain so.

The same goes for all these supposed advanced civilisations from long ago (outrageous that people are on about advanced cultures from 100,000 years ago!).  How can you claim something existed without physical, tangible proof?


Meneleus.

Good to see England are back on track after beating the Swiss.  Boring game, but it's the result that counts

Biggest surprise for me so far is Greece making it to the next round.  Deservedly so as well.

Reading books on how to write early on isn't such a bad idea as it can stop you from doing common mistakes and point you in the right direction. But it is from practicing that your own style develops. Everyone has their own unique way of expressing themselves, and that is not something you can learn that from a book. You just have to discover it.

It's the same for me with any form of art, sport, etc.  Learn the basics from others at the beginning, and then develop your technique yourself and stick to it.  There is no right or wrong way to do anything where art is concerned.