An Introduction to Controlled Out of Body Experiences(Part One)

I got this information from a astral projection page, so when you read this article it has really happened. The reason I'm putting this article on this page is so that christian can hear and read it from the people who are in the Newage Movement. Read with Caution.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

by James Archer

My qualifications to write this article were gained experientially. I have had a substantial number
of OOBEs, attended numerous training seminars designed to develop OOBE and remote viewing
skills, was involved in interviewing more than one thousand people who claimed to have had
OOBEs, met and been intimately associated with a group of psychics and telepaths who called
themselves "Pathfinders" (no relation to Monroe's Pathfinder program, in which several of us
were also involved), and been involved with joint OOBEs with one or more other people on
numerous occasions.

My involvement with others in the OOBE field began in the early seventies, as a result of a
telepathic merger with Sandy G. in the San Francisco area. This event caused such a deep and
fundamental change in my perceptions of the world of physic potentials, and of the framework of
reality itself that I spent the next five years learning as much as possible about the phenomenon.

When I first met Sandy G. we were both involved with other people. During our initial meeting I
found that I could understand minute flickers of expression that were almost subliminal, yet fairly
shouted their meaning to me.

For example, a slight lip quiver, combined with an almost imperceptible pointing of the chin and a
slight raising of one eyebrow I clearly understood to mean "What are you doing with that
woman?" to which my surprised response was "Where did you learn to communicate like that?".
Her response was "I don't know, where did you learn?". At which point we simultaneously
realized that neither had spoken, perhaps 2 seconds had elapsed, and our respective "partners"
were idly chatting in total oblivion.

In the next 5 or 10 seconds, we had a very long conversation that was completely silent, and
consisted entirely of rapidly changing expressions and facial movements, most so subtle as to be
unnoticeable to an observer. At the end of it we both burst out laughing simultaneously, much to
the amazement of the others. In essence, we had agreed that we were strongly attracted to each
other and would shortly end our respective relationships and become lovers. The entire episode
lasted perhaps 30 seconds.

If you can imagine having learned a foreign language as a child, having total amnesia for that
learning, and at some later period of life discovering that you were fluent in a language you had no
memory of ever having learned, you would have a vague idea of what we went through.

NVC (non verbal communication) is a specific form of communication used by telepaths. That
label was used by Robert Monroe, and further defined in his book "Far Journeys". It was the
recognition of and facility in using NVC that led to Sandy and I recognizing what the other was,
and led to our link, or mental merger.

NVC is a sequence of quicksilver fast flickers of expression and body language that convey
"clusters" of thought and ideas quite accurately. In trying to described the specifics, it is almost
impossible, because the language varies with context and intent. Just as a few hundred words,
assembled in various sequences and patterns have different meanings, so does NVC vary
depending on what is being conveyed.

Overall it is an amplifier and validater of telepathic communication. In the real world, telepaths
use it to augment thought and verify content. "Conversation" is: Did you (verbal) + mental image
of whatever + slightly raised eyebrow + pause + further imagery (possibly of future ramifications
of the query and its result + or (verbal) + slight wrinkling of forehead and look of inquiry mixed
with sympathetic understanding implying "I know you may not want to do it and may not have
done it yet, and may never do it and if so I understand and we will still be friends or lovers even if
you don't and won't but obviously I am interested in you doing it or I wouldn't be asking all these
stupid questions but I really like you so it isn't really important whether you took the garbage out
or not, but at least have the common decency to tell me whether you have taken it out or not, or
whether you intend to do so some time in the foreseeable future, because if you don't I will empty
the garbage myself".

To an observer one person says "did you", pauses for a heartbeat, says "or?" with a slight rise in
inflection, to which the other snaps "NO!", then "do it!". And in inane telepathic conversation
(beginner level), they have just convinced everyone who witnessed the event that they are both
quite mad. Actually, the "conversation" carries several other levels of meaning, regarding the fact
that they are on the verge of ending their relationship, and the meanings contained within the use
of the word "or" add a new dimension that carries an immense amount of commentary. Because
some of the mannerisms and expressions are unique to telepaths, it is very difficult to confuse
them with ordinary "body language".

Sandy was able to separate from her body as easily as most people could take off a shirt. That
night I awoke to find her in bed with me. I could rationally reason out that she was not "really
there", but the sensations were precisely as if she were physically with me. It was not a dream, or
a fantasy. If anything, the fact that she was OOBE intensified the perceptions and physical
sensations.

The next morning I asked her bluntly if it had been her, and her response was to described in
quite graphic detail what had taken place, at what time, in what sequence, etc. There was little
question as to the "reality" of it, from either of us. The only problem was that we were both totally
new at it.

That is, neither of us had ever done it before, and our "meeting" seemed to unlock mental
processes that had been dormant. Neither of us had ever met what we came to call a "full
telepath" before, and the use of NVC was as much a surprise to her as to me.

Several weeks later, we were driving to San Francisco and Sandy put her head on my shoulder. I
thought "I love the way the coarseness of his shirt feels against my cheek" followed by "wait!
wait!" and we merged. It took a monumental effort to stop the vehicle, because I had 4 feet, 4
arms, 4 eyes, and saw "my" view of the world superimposed on "her" view of the world, and
while she was screaming that I had driven her crazy, we were both racing through each other's
minds, memories, and thoughts.

It took quite awhile to sort out how to move. We ended up clutching each other and moving our
respective left feet in unison, then right, then left again, all the while giggling and laughing like
children because for the first time in our lives we were normal. We knew that however odd it
seemed on the surface and however difficult it was at the moment, that state was "normal" for us.
We were not "separate". We were "together", trying to adjust to the very odd sensations of having
2 bodies.

Sandy's "motive" for OOBE was almost entirely sexual. Oddly, we rarely dreamed together, and
it was usually when she woke in the morning that she separated. She said that all she had to do
was think kinesthetically of having sex with someone, and she should be "with" that person, who
would simultaneously experience her presence and more or less "interact" with her fantasy
OOBE. There was clear knowledge of the interaction on both parts, and frequent validation of the
events by other parties managed to dispel any doubt as to whether they were fantasies or OOBE.

I was very much interested in determining if others had had similar experiences, and if so, exactly
what was taking place. I was familiar enough with psi and telepathy in the ordinary sense,
although the merger had taken me completely by surprise. From my perspective, my life up to that
point was irrelevant, and I spent the next several years studying everything ever written about psi,
OOBE, and related subjects, and attempting to locate others who had had similar experiences.

After meeting Sandy, I realized that I was not looking for ordinary people with psi ability, but
rather people with psi ability who were essentially "hiding" among normal people. Once I knew
what to look for, locating others became fairly easy.

The problem is that for the most part, people with psi ability (telepaths, for lack of a better term
and because that is what we call ourselves) tend to have social problems and a great deal of
difficulty in relating to "normal" people. The exceptions are ones who have learned to use their
abilities productively, and generally are quite successful in business or whatever area they
specialize in.

We rapidly established a validation criteria for OOBE that enabled us to distinguish between
OOBE, remote viewing, traveling clairvoyance, dreams, and simple fantasies and hallucinations.

Our criteria for OOBE was that the "projector" interact with those at the target location, and that
the interaction be verified, usually by written descriptions of the content of the OOBE by both
parties. In practice, a number of people became quite adept at distinguishing when an OOBE was
taking place.

The process of validation was instrumental in developing OOBE skills and knowledge, in that it
gave us rapid feedback as to the astuteness or our observations and perceptions. The difficulties
of developing OOBE facility alone are almost insurmountable, and the feedback provided by joint
OOBEs was the most important in eliminating the self doubts and lack of confidence that plague
solo efforts at OOBE.

Central to this issue is a phenomenon called "positive expectation open ended suggestion",
routinely used by Robert Monroe, Milton Erickson, Richard Bandler and many others to elicit
quite sophisticated hypnotic phenomena. It is often combined with a temporal double bind as a
post hypnotic suggestion.

In Robert Monroe's case, a positive expectation set was created ... "the frequency following
response of hemispherical synchronization will lead to OOBE". A series of audio "pulses" at
varying frequencies was declared to cause a "synchronization" between the otherwise divided
hemispheres of the brain.

Lying in a deeply relaxed state in a darkened room, listening to strange sounds through stereo
headphones, in a group of people who were firmly convinced they were about to have an OOBE
and go cavorting around on the astral planes, it was not unusual for several people to describe
"spontaneous OOBEs".

Perceptual distortions indistinguishable from OOBE were rather easily created, through unspecific
suggestions given in light trance or using analogical marking in non-trance states, or during
self-hypnotic sessions.

One of the easiest phenomena for the unconscious to create is that of "exteriorization", which in
an average person is usually assumed to be an OOBE, and when "uncontrollable" it is usually a
symptom of schizophrenia.

During the early to mid seventies, we interviewed over a thousand people who claimed to have
had one or more OOBEs. Most sincerely believed they had "separated" from their bodies and
gave detailed descriptions of their experiences.

The largest group was comprises primarily of people who had had "spontaneous OOBEs" after
ingesting stimulants, from caffeine to benzedrine, and gone for prolonged periods without sleep.
By basic cross-referencing of the descriptions given by subjects in sleep deprivation experiments,
and subjects in various studies of the effects of "disguised hypnosis", it became clear that
whatever phenomena they were describing was similar or identical in all cases. Specifically, the
vast majority of people who thought they had an OOBE had in fact experienced a mild
hallucination, and little more.

Dr. Milan Ryzl, the Czech who developed the very powerful psychokineticist Stepanek, marketed
an audio "training program" that was quite popular and used the same basic techniques that Jean
Houston published in book form as Mind Games. The generic formula was to build a positive
expectation set (something wonderful is going to happen), make it open ended and cement it with
a double bind or a series of double binds, temporally ambiguous (you may find yourself growing
smaller and smaller ... or you may find yourself slowly expanding and floating upward like a
helium filled balloon ... and this may happen quite rapidly ... or it may be more slowly ... and it
may even be several days before this wonderful feeling of ...).

Of the more than one thousand people we interviewed, fewer than 20 had actually had OOBEs
that could not be dismissed as sensory anomalies, mild hallucinations, perceptual distortions
resulting from sleeplessness, the result of ambiguous hypnotic suggestions, or remote viewing. (In
retrospect, I regret we did not explore remote viewing more fully. We had some adept subjects,
but our primary interest was in another area.)

Of the subjects we located who had actually had OOBEs, the term most often used in answer to
the question "What is the one word that most accurately described how you felt during the
experience?" was "normal". Not fearful, apprehensive, curious, excited, or elated. Normal. As if
OOBE were their normal state, and their everyday waking state were the aberration.

It must be stressed that the study was private, not governmental, and the subjects were under no
obligation to participate, nor were they rewarded. Their motivation was to learn about and be
trained in a field that interested them, at no charge. It was felt that offering the training without
cost would alleviate the problem common to other groups, of subjects feeling obligated to
"produce an effect" to justify the expense of the training.

Another point that must be stressed is that I am a telepath, and accustomed to interacting with
others who have psi ability. The subjects we were able to locate would probably not have
responded to a more conventional type of investigation.

Several conclusions generated from that study:

OOBE exists, but is restricted to a very small percentage of the population at large.

OOBE is intimately related to psi faculties in general and we were unable to locate even
one subject who was able to function in a OOBE state who lacked other psi abilities.

Personal perceptions are the absolute worst indication of OOBE.

The "OOBE experience" was interpreted through a frame of personal biases and beliefs
that corrupted the data and rendered it almost useless for investigative purposes.

The exteriorization of the I-consciousness is quite common as a hallucination, and even
more so as the result of direct of indirect suggestions, and, lacking external validation and
verification, were virtually indistinguishable from OOBE.

-- Jim Archer