CONSCIOUSNESS SEPARATED FROM PHYSICAL BODY

under X-rays. Finally, not seeing anything else of interest, I decided to transfer the consciousness to another dimension and visit a friend. I stepped on to the balcony, and with a light leap found myself in the street. I had not gone fifty yards before an irresistible pull drew me back, and I was forced to re-enter my body. I opened my eyes, wrote down the details of the experiment and, looking up, noted that the piece of paper had not moved from the chest of drawers where I had originally put it.

Towards three o'clock in the morning I attempted a third projection. This time the atmosphere was still more luminous. Although the shutters were closed I could see a fine blue sky through them. I once again began my experiment. I blew on that decidedly recalcitrant piece of paper. I examined my arms and, as on the previous occasion, found them to be solid to the touch and surrounded by a grey aura just as in an X-ray photograph. Then, to finish up, I re-entered my body. The piece of paper had not moved at all.

Ever since I began these experiments I have noted the possibility of projecting a double whose density would vary considerably, bringing in its wake all sorts of experimental powers and possi- bilities.

During another exercise of the same kind I became aware of myself by a definite slowing down of the breath, followed by the sensation of trying to squeeze through a narrow space. Then I felt more free and was no longer cramped. This time the room seemed rather dark. I contemplated without enthusiasm my physical body, whose shape showed through the bed-covers. I touched it; eemed

soft. I kissed myself and came away with the feeling of having kissed someone who had only been dead a short time. In the midst of this rather trans- parent darkness this tepid body, limp and inert, has a rather lugubrious appearance. However, I brought back to mind my original intention in pro- jecting myself, which was to travel to a spot some twelve miles away, in order to visit a friend. With this purpose I went towards the window. As I tried to pass through it I was met by a resistance which I could not conquer. I thought that my pro- tected double must be too material, and therefore made pretence of opening the window and flung myself into space thinking of the person I wished to visit. My journey was quite speedy. Repeatedly I felt fatigued and was forced to stop, but after having prayed, strength flowed back to me and I arrived at the end of my journey without difficulty. I kissed the person in question, who pointed out to me that I possessed neither stomach nor feet. I answered, telling her that in this dimension one only kept the appearance of the upper portion of the body. I noticed that talking was trying me a great deal. As soon as I stopped speaking, strength seemed to come back. At last I came back to my body, calmer and stronger than when I began the experiment.

With regard to the question of "time" it should be noted that its value is in an inverse ratio to the radio-activity of the stratum in which one projects oneself. Time becomes instantaneous in the pure essence of the higher worlds. Prayer, too, is a word from which we should strip all its superstitious dressing. In the invisible worlds prayer is synonymous with calling, with asking for help and protection.

CONSCIOUSNESS SEPARATED FROM PHYSICAL BODY 73

The following is another projection accomplished with a body whose vibrations were still more subtle.

Without preliminaries I simply thought about projecting myself. I became aware of myself in the very act of projection. I had both the feeling and the vision of lying face down on a table. My arms were stretched out in front of me and I was pulling on the edges of this imaginary table to free myself from something. I had the impression of being in a sack whose narrow opening was no more than a crack. At last my efforts were crowned with success and I found myself standing next to my body in full possession of all my faculties. For a while I watched myself sleeping. Then I kissed my wife and children and went off towards the East. For some time I floated in a normal position; that is to say, standing up in an atmospheric medium, my body leaning forward slightly, my head well forward with my face turned towards the horizon, if I make myself clear. All of a sudden I felt a pull which put me on my back, and drew me, feet first, in an unknown direction. Without losing my self- control I let myself go, at the same time redoubling my attention. I came to a place in space which was represented by a room. Several people were sitting round a sleeping man. I was told the name of the sick man and invited to sit down, when I chatted with my neighbour on different things. I then left the company and re-entered my body in order to put down notes of what had happened. The topics of our conversation, however, disappeared from my memory.

74 PRACTICAL ASTRAL PROJECTION

I then saw my Guide to whom I put several questions, the answers to which, this time, I remembered. Finally, instead of going, as usual, straight back into my body, I stopped in my room in order to notice the difference between a fairly condensed projection and a far more rarefied substance such as the one I had just been using. The surrounding atmosphere of the room was far more luminous than usual. I saw my wife turn over in bed without having the slightest reflex. Then I practised going in and out of my physical envelope. The tenuity of the exteriorized form allowed me to do this without effort. This double followed the impulse of my thoughts with amazing facility. I hardly formed the idea that I wanted to return to my body when, immediately, I clearly felt the bed on which I was lying. The weight of my limbs, the difficult and feeble breathing, the cold air, the thousand-and-one street noises, all told me that I was back again in my physical form. Did I wish to leave it? Like a flash all those feelings disappeared. I could see my body stretched out on the bed, and could walk about the room with greater ease than usual. After I had repeated this exercise as many times as I wished, I opened my eyes, which act in no way hindered the detailed precision of my observations.

C H A P T E R I X