The traditional name for deliberately leaving the body by means of the astral body.
It is the phrase occultism and Theosophy used, around the turn of the twentieth century, for an out-of-body experience sought on purpose. "Projection" because consciousness is said to move elsewhere; "astral" because it would do so in a subtle body, tied to the stars by its very name. Where OBE names the experience without explaining it, astral projection carries an interpretation: that something of you really leaves the physical body. Practitioners live it as exploration; researchers study it as an experience of the mind.
Where the idea comes from
The idea that part of us can travel while the body sleeps is far older than the name. Its modern form, though, comes from Theosophy, the spiritual movement founded in New York in 1875 by Helena Blavatsky, Henry Olcott and others, which described the human being as a set of subtle bodies. Among them, the astral body was said to move through an "astral plane", a world of emotions and images that could be reached in sleep or through practice.
In the twentieth century, manuals and first-hand accounts turned that idea into step-by-step practices. From the 1970s onwards, the phrase "out-of-body experience" spread as a way of describing the same thing without explaining it, and it is now the term researchers use. Many practitioners still use both, depending on what they mean to say.
The techniques people describe
Nearly every method starts in the same place: deep relaxation, until the body feels heavy and distant, while the mind stays awake. At that threshold many people notice vibrations or a buzzing, which the tradition reads as a sign that separation is close. The next step is to imagine leaving: rolling sideways out of the body, for instance, or climbing an invisible rope hanging above the bed.
Some prefer to try after waking in the night, since dreaming sleep takes up more of the second half of the night. If you do, don't do it every night and don't sacrifice your sleep: rest matters more than any experiment. Researchers point out that all these methods work on the hypnagogic state, the same border between waking and sleep where lucid dreams and sleep paralysis also arise.
Frequently asked questions
Is astral projection the same as an out-of-body experience?
They describe the same experience in different words. "Out-of-body experience" is the neutral term: it says what you feel without saying why. "Astral projection" comes from the esoteric tradition and carries an explanation with it, namely that a subtle body really leaves the physical one. Which phrase someone chooses often tells you how they see it.
What is the silver cord in astral projection?
In accounts of astral projection it is a shining thread that keeps the astral body tied to the physical one, so that return is always possible. The image echoes a verse in Ecclesiastes, in the Bible, about the "silver cord" being loosed at the end of life. Not everyone reports seeing it, and research has found no trace of it: it remains a symbol much loved by practitioners.
Is astral projection dangerous?
Some accounts speak of a fear of being unable to get back into the body, but there is no evidence that this can happen. The real risks are more ordinary: sleeping less in pursuit of it, or meeting experiences such as sleep paralysis with dread. If you are going through a period of severe anxiety or have had dissociative symptoms, it is wiser to talk to a professional first.
Keep a dream journal
Writing your dreams down as soon as you wake is the first step to remembering and recognising them. In the SideraMea journal each dream stays next to the sky of that night.