what exactly is the astral?

[Soulfire]

Hi,

Different people have slightly different definitions for this term.  Generally, an "astral experience" is when your consciousness is seperated from your physical body.  Many times you feel like you have a body in the astral state, but some people have reported being just a floating point of consciousness or other similar phenomenon.  Most of the time (for various reason I will not go into here) your body in the astral is experienced as being very similar to or even totally indistinguishable from your normal physical body.  Most physical laws are not "enforced" in the astral however.  You may feel at first that you are bound by gravity but you can fly or float if you choose to.  You can pass through walls and doors.  All of this generally assumes that you believe or are at least open to the possibility that you can do these things.

When most people refer to the term "astral", they are talking about a very small fragment of the spiritual planes that closely mirrors the physical plane that we are currently living in.  I use the term somewhat more loosely than most, and to me the "astral" is everything that exists beyond the level of physical matter.  This is mostly due to laziness on my part as there are more precise terms used for various parts of the spiritual world that I have simply not bothered to learn as I don't feel the need to label them.

One element of the astral and all the spiritual planes I have experienced or read about is that they are much more thought responsive than the physical world.  What I mean by this is that thoughts have the power to instantly create or "manifest" whatever you are thinking (or feeling) about in these planes.  Focus and intensity of your thoughts and emotions generally determines the "quality" of what you create.

I hope this helps.  

--Soulfire

[jc84corvette]

??