Close experiences. Explanations?

[darkdog302]

Hello everyone!

So last summer when I first began trying to Astral Project, I had two very strange experiences. I haven't tried so hard since then, and I've recently started trying again so my memory was jogged. Here are the two experiences. Each were on different days and at different times. I'm not sure what to make of them. I'm fairly sure they both were not OBEs.

The first one happened while I was downstairs on my couch meditating. I had gone in with the intention of astral projecting to meet my spirit guide. Once I became very relaxed, nothing was happening. I tend to get vibrations and sleep paralysis often, but this time it did not happen. What was even stranger was that I could sort of see through my closed eyes. Everything was in different shades of gray. The room was the same, it was just in dull color. However, what peaked my interest was the fact that I saw a tall girl in a long white night gown standing over me. Her hair was black and covered her face. (Her head was down). She somewhat startled me, and I figured I wasn't succeeding anyway, so I opened my eyes to find that she was gone.

I have reason to doubt that she is my spirit guide because for one thing she gave off no vibes to me. To her, I wouldn't be surprised if she neglected to even see that I was there. She just stood still. Second of all, I have a history of hypnagogic hallucinations. Ever since I was about 12(I'm 16 now), as I fall asleep sometimes I'll see people in my room who I have never seen before in my life. They are always comprised of different shades of gray, and when they move the image is almost like a flip-book. They flicker like a candle, and move slowly. After I began to see people with weapons and menacing faces, I took melatonin, a natural sleep hormone that doctors predicted I was not getting enough of. Now I rarely get these hallucinations, but it still happens.

Now for the second experience. I was lying on my bed, and I was going through some before bed meditation to calm my body after a long day of work. After I became very calm, everything fell very silent. I was focusing on my breathing when all of the sudden I heard what sounded like the screeching of tires, and then a huge crash. The sound was so loud that I jolted up, and ran to my window only to discover that there  had been no accident at all. Could this have been an auditory hallucination?

Thanks.

[EscapeVelocity]

I think, in both cases, these were hypnagogic phenomena. They are not the more scary hallucinations of your youth, now they just serve as distractions.

When you are working on an exit or even just experiencing trance, resist the urge to immediately ascribe greater importance to these "Hypnos". Nobody has figured out the exact reason for these, there are competing theories, but if you are still in your physical body, a great variety of hypnagogic hallucinations can and do occur. Even for experienced projectors, they don't completely disappear. They seem to serve as a mechanism or a check on our 'intent' to project. If it scares us back into our body, breaking our trance, or even as a simple distraction to ruin our exit, the purpose seems the same. It's a test of our seriousness, a test of our ability to maintain focus.

If a simple "Boo!" in your ear is enough to ruin your exit, then maybe you weren't ready to go out after all...

Is this an internally generated thing or is it externally generated? I'm still not quite sure...maybe both

Hypnos consist of visuals, audios, tactile sensations, intense feelings.

Sometimes you just have to disregard the Hypnos as best you can and continue with your exit. Ignore them, laugh at them, forget them and they will diminish and fade away.

[darkdog302]

I think, in both cases, these were hypnagogic phenomena. They are not the more scary hallucinations of your youth, now they just serve as distractions.

When you are working on an exit or even just experiencing trance, resist the urge to immediately ascribe greater importance to these "Hypnos". Nobody has figured out the exact reason for these, there are competing theories, but if you are still in your physical body, a great variety of hypnagogic hallucinations can and do occur. Even for experienced projectors, they don't completely disappear. They seem to serve as a mechanism or a check on our 'intent' to project. If it scares us back into our body, breaking our trance, or even as a simple distraction to ruin our exit, the purpose seems the same. It's a test of our seriousness, a test of our ability to maintain focus.

If a simple "Boo!" in your ear is enough to ruin your exit, then maybe you weren't ready to go out after all...

Is this an internally generated thing or is it externally generated? I'm still not quite sure...maybe both

Hypnos consist of visuals, audios, tactile sensations, intense feelings.

Sometimes you just have to disregard the Hypnos as best you can and continue with your exit. Ignore them, laugh at them, forget them and they will diminish and fade away.

Thank you for your response. You could definitely be right about me not being ready. I guess I will see.

[EscapeVelocity]

I hope you haven't misunderstood me, I wasn't trying to say outright or even imply that you are not ready for a serious pursuit of AP. My point was to make you aware that early on and even for more experienced projectors, these Hypnos will occur from time to time. Regardless of how or why the Hypnos are generated, they will catch you off guard at times. When this happens, you have about one to two seconds to get control of your surprise/shock/fear and get back on track. If you can do this, the Hypno will either fade out or shift to something else. Either way, continue with your exit plan and just 'notice' the Hypno with detached curiousity.

As far as you being ready or not, I would say that yes you are. Your opening post is cogent and concise and expresses your ideas intelligently. The fact that you recognize your early SP Hypnos as being more menacing and terrifying but now, four years later, they are no longer menacing but are rather more distractionary, this tells me your perspective has matured noticeably, both on an internal level as well as an external one.

Keep this in mind: You are always safe. Nothing can harm you and there are higher powers looking out for you. You can scare yourself, but it's only your own fears.

By the way, being in the mindstate where you experience Hypnos is also a signpost that you are already there, ready to exit; just take the next step, float up or step out. Ignore the distracting noises.

Take some time to read these Stickies-- Everything you wanted to know about Sleep Paralysis, Szaxx's Astral Blueprint, Xanth's Phasing Primer.

Screeching brakes and tires would have caught me out, also! That's a good one, simple and effective!

Hope that helps some.

[darkdog302]

I hope you haven't misunderstood me, I wasn't trying to say outright or even imply that you are not ready for a serious pursuit of AP. My point was to make you aware that early on and even for more experienced projectors, these Hypnos will occur from time to time. Regardless of how or why the Hypnos are generated, they will catch you off guard at times. When this happens, you have about one to two seconds to get control of your surprise/shock/fear and get back on track. If you can do this, the Hypno will either fade out or shift to something else. Either way, continue with your exit plan and just 'notice' the Hypno with detached curiousity.

As far as you being ready or not, I would say that yes you are. Your opening post is cogent and concise and expresses your ideas intelligently. The fact that you recognize your early SP Hypnos as being more menacing and terrifying but now, four years later, they are no longer menacing but are rather more distractionary, this tells me your perspective has matured noticeably, both on an internal level as well as an external one.

Keep this in mind: You are always safe. Nothing can harm you and there are higher powers looking out for you. You can scare yourself, but it's only your own fears.

By the way, being in the mindstate where you experience Hypnos is also a signpost that you are already there, ready to exit; just take the next step, float up or step out. Ignore the distracting noises.

Take some time to read these Stickies-- Everything you wanted to know about Sleep Paralysis, Szaxx's Astral Blueprint, Xanth's Phasing Primer.

Screeching brakes and tires would have caught me out, also! That's a good one, simple and effective!

Hope that helps some.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful response! I'm very glad that you have taken time out of your day to help me address these "issues". The next time I get close I will keep an open mind, and I will try my best to ignore any disruptions. Thanks again! I will check out those stickies too!

[EscapeVelocity]

You are very welcome darkdog302,

Be sure to share your experiences and we are happy to help with perspective. Any questions that trouble you, please feel free to ask. There is a great amount of knowledge available to you here, both from the older stuff and the current members, make use of it while you can.

I wish I had this resource when I was 16...Lol

16 and exploring the nature of consciousness...my hat is tipped in respect to you...

Good luck and have fun!