And the plot thickens

[knightlight]

I have been getting back into practicing astral projection recently and I am starting to wonder............... where is this place?

I have been having a ton of lucid dreams in the past few months but no conscious start to finish OBE's.  I sort of got used to the lucid dreams occurring on their own and enjoyed them so much I stopped trying to OBE.  Now the lucid dreams have cut down to about once a month so I began starting to try to OBE about once or twice a day recently.  I have also been reliving things from the beginning, starting over, doing it old school.

This new chapter started with a series of false awakenings.  I havent had a good freaky crazy false awakening in a while and I had hoped I had gotten over them mostly.  About a week ago I pried my eyes open in the morning after hearing a loud bang.  My door was open a few inches and it looked like someone was standing there.  The more I focused on them the more unfocused they became until finally one of my parents cats leaped onto the bed and over my head.  I sprang awake and sat up so fast I thought I pulled something.  The door was closed.........  Thus it begins.

I went back to sleep knowing I had reopened a door long since closed.  Almost instantly I was in another false awakening this time it looked like someone was peaking at me from over the edge of my bed on my left side.  As usual I began attempting to speak and spewing expletives at the thing, mear whispers came out.  I forced my hand up and did my best to strike at the things head, but my hand fell on a raised part of my blanket and my paralysis broke.  My eyes remained open the whole time...... this used to happen to me all the time.  Paralysis breaking and giving me the impression that I had experienced it ALL while fully awake, not half in a dream.  I closed my eyes and breathed out softly, knowing what would come next.

Herein lies the problem, and an explanation is in order.  Ever since I began OBEing I have on occasion been taken to a place... a place that fully fits the description of FZ or the 3d blackness but it is always accompanied by ice cold dead hands.  Sometimes I would also wake up with a hand on a part of my body or a hand pulling me off my bed.  Of course this was all a false awakening and I would soon wake up.  But where is this black place?    Where do the  hands come from?

2 nights ago I lay in bed having trouble sleeping and began to try to OBE.  I got to the same old spot I almost always get stuck at.  I am deeply relaxed and almost there, I can feel the rush coming and then I feel like I am choking.  I try to regulate my breathing but then it just wakes me up more and I fail my attempt.  After this happened I sighed heavily and rolled over on my side like I always do and try to sleep.  Then it happened.  I went THERE again.

I woke up and felt as if I was submerged in water.  A hand covered my eyes.  A hand covered my mouth.  A hand rested in the palm of each of my hands.  All the hands where as cold as death, like when you lay on your arm and wake up to a cold dead useless hand, it feels bloated and detached and cold.  I felt a twinge of surprise but quickly fell into a very calm state, bobbing in the water.  The hands where completely void of motion, simply holding there place, keeping my eyes closed, my mouth shut and my hands held.  I interlocked my fingers with the hands and waited for motion.  None came, just the feeling of cold bloodless flesh and the gentle motion of the water.... then I woke up.



WHAT IS THIS PLACE?

[Leilah]

Hmm. Not sure if I can answer that question. The being submerged in water with the hands thing makes me think that whoever or whatever was covering your eyes and mouth was doing so (possibly) to teach you to face... death? Maybe even to teach you to be... OK with having no control.

Yeah. I don't even think you asked for an analysis but I thought I might as well.  I've only encountered "the hands" once. They were uhm... massaging my back? It was very random. I wonder if this hands thing is common.

[knightlight]

I'm basically asking for any input at all... the first couple of times I experienced the hands I shrugged it off but now its forming into a pattern, and they arent just randomly touching me in false awakening or something anymore, its like they are bringin me deeper into where they are.

[greatoutdoors]

What type of emotion did the experience bring? Anger, fear, sadness..?

Obviously this is resonating with you somewhere, but it could relate to something in life. Have you watched Lord of the Rings where the Ring Bearer fell into the bog? That sounds very much like what you are describing. Your mind could be using that scene to try and convey a message.

As to meaning, I can only guess. It seems like a kind of sensory deprivation. Being underwater blocks your nose (breathing or smelling things); restricting your hands blocks feeling, eyes (sight) and mouth (speech) This could mean that someone or something wants you to concentrate on listening. Maybe next time try and concentrate on listening and see what happens. But again, this is just a guess

[kiwibonga]

By any chance, is there something you did in your life that you regret greatly, or something that caused you great sorrow that you still haven't come to terms with?

It seems many people end up in places they don't recognize or places they don't want to be in due to some kind of unresolved issue, a state of unrest in your higher self, perhaps...

Heck, it could even be something from a past life.

Next time you experience this, don't panic. Make every effort to communicate, to willfully refuse this movement that is being forced on you, and once you have resisted this force, go into an understanding phase... Ask lots of non-rethorical questions.

Mentally prepare yourself before going, "rehearse" what you're going to do.

It is also quite possible that you are experiencing something similar to sleep paralysis demons -- people actually see and hear beings sitting on their chest or back, preventing them from moving (they are in reality creations of the subconscious mind). Perhaps you are experiencing "astral blindness" and this is how your subconscious reacts.

If that is the case, perhaps you should try to will yourself a bit farther from your body. It seems a lot of cases of astral blindness are due to interference from the physical body, and simply moving away (a few meters) will allow you to experience your full senses.

Hope this helps..

[knightlight]

It doesnt really bring any emotions to me.  Usually I am surprised at first but that goes away really fast and then all there is is the hands.  They dont seem to be aggressive or anything, they seem completely neutral or even as if they are loving in a way.  I get the impression of being shusshed... like all of the hands are holding me and comforting me and telling me to relax and stay calm.  Its just all rather confusing though. I guess I will have to go deeper and find them maybe?  I certainly am not scared of them, atleast not the hands, but who knows what they are attached to!