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Yes, it is entirely safe - you cannot get hurt while consciously in the Astral Plane any more than you can while dreaming 'normally'. Astral Projection and Lucid Dreaming are natural experiences reported in every culture and society of the world. (However, anyone who has acute psychological problems should probably avoid it until such issues are resolved. Normal dream therapy may be far more beneficial in such cases.)

Lucid Dreaming is obviously no more dangerous than 'normal' dreaming, and Projection is no more dangerous than sleep - probably the safest activity around. So you could say Astral Experience is the safest of sports! It's certainly fun, and you will always be able to return to your physical body whenever you wish. Again, whenever we sleep, our consciousness is out of our physical body anyway, we just usually aren't aware of it. Just as we return to our body after sleep, we do the same after projection.

The surprising thing is that it can be difficult to stay out of the body. Getting back into your body is pretty instantaneous and automatic, but staying out longer can require some training. But you can rest assured, you will always return 'home' from your journeys away from the physical. To repeat, there is zero need for any worries at all as Astral Experience is as safe as sleep.

Some people will try to tell you there are reasons to be afraid of Astral Travel for example, that there are 'demons' or 'negative entities' to be wary of. I suppose these people have never had a nightmare? What is the difference? Neither your dream body nor astral body can be 'hurt', as they are composed of energy. With this in mind, don't you find the idea of being faced by a big scary monster who can't hurt you in any way whatsoever rather funny? I certainly do.

And if you think about it, what's disturbing about a nightmare? The contents, or the emotion of fear? And we are generating both! Consider these words from the psychic Jane Roberts, who in all her years was never bothered by such 'negative' experiences. It doesn't take a genius to work out why:

"Because we were so innocent about psychic literature, we weren't hampered by superstitious fears about such phenomena. I didn't believe in gods or demons, so I didn't fear them. I wanted to learn."
- Jane Roberts, Seth, Dreams and Projections in Consciousness p.84

And similarly, you can't be possessed by other entities while projecting either, any more than you can during normal sleep. The process is exactly the same, it is simply that you are doing it consciously. Your astral body is always connected to your physical body by a Silver Cord, which stretches infinitely, it sends messages between one body and the other. This ensures that you - and no one else - can always get back in. Your body remains your own, and a portion of your consciousness always remains with it anyway, so there's no need to be concerned over this at all.

While we're on the subject, we can note that spirit mediumship requires an invitation, opening, and agreement on the mediums' part. Channels can temporarily make their bodies available for the transmission of information, however this process is quite different to projection, as it is done with that specific intention in mind. Some channels can project while channelling (eg. Edgar Cayce) others can remain 'cohabitants' or project (eg. Jane Roberts) and still others receive the information direct to their conscious mind (eg. Ken Carey.) So channelling and projecting are independent phenomena, though it is possible for them to occur at once. Further than this is beyond the scope of this book.

Astral Experiences will lead to madness or insanity either. A spontaneous experience is not a sign of psychological problems (to many peoples relief.) For those interested, there is a book call 'With the Eyes of the Mind' by Gabbard and Twemlow that contains an in-depth study of the psychology of OBEs. Compared with other psychological phenomena, an OBE shouldn't be grouped with psychological disorders such as dissociation, schizophrenia, autoscopy and other 'body boundary' disturbances. Those reporting their experiences are fully capable of living 'normal' lives, which is how most people define 'sane' I suppose!

On the other hand, you may end up finding, like many others before you, that overall, astral projectors and lucid dreamers are often both more sane and spiritually engaged than they were before they started. Self-reflection is really quite a natural part of learning, so there is plenty of opportunity to grow and expand with these experiences.