Ma'at's note:  Although this text is not my own, I have found it to be the most practical, down-to-earth (if you'll excuse the pun!) article on how to astral project.  Enjoy!

Like I said earlier: really work up to the moment you will start the meditation. If you feel you're not up to it, then don't do it. You will most likely not be able to project and this will only lead to disappointment and eventually break your moral. Always remember that it's a natural process and that you CAN and WILL do it. A few hours before the meditation, open all the windows and  doors in your room and allow fresh air to blow through it. You may want to use the incense I included in this text. Burn it beforehand and then extinguish the fire. Your body will  instinctively react to fire burning somewhere in your room and relaxing will become very hard.

Important notes:

What can I actually do out there ?

You can remodel your astral vehicle with your willpower, to look like anything you wish. Yes, if you miss and arm or a leg, you can still have one in the Astral world (this may explain the Phantom pain phenomena. People who had to miss an arm or leg often experience pain in their missing body part). Your eyesight can be very screwed up. You can at times experience eyes 'at the back of your head'. This 360 degrees vision can be upsetting to some people, and very interesting to others. Making a willed resolution to 'see as you wish', will solve the problem. You may be able to dress up as you wish, you cannot disguise your personality on the astral. Other beings can see your aura very clearly, and if it's no good, you will be treated likewise. You can check on your aura by looking at yourself in streaming water, or a crystal ball (if you know where there is one).

 Moving in astral space can be very difficult at first. Travel speed in astral space equals thought speed. You can move yourself to the other end of the universe by just thinking about it. So, you have to think yourself forward and backward. This may be awkward at first, but you'll soon get used to it. Don't be afraid about getting lost! Just think about your body or your room and you're there. Get a little closer, and you'll snap back automatically. Oh yes, physical obstacles form no barriers!

You can also move in 'lightness' and in time ! Though this is a bit harder, and you may want to really practice to stretch your limits on this. Moving in 'lightness': You can, by an act of will, pull energy along the astral cord from your body, or send back astral energy to your body. Gaining energy causes your astral vehicle to get heavier and more 'to the earth', losing energy makes you lighter and flow upwards, to the higher astral realms. But getting too heavy or too light causes you to 'snap back'.

Through practice, you can get heavier or lighter. If you are at a particular scene that is of interest to you, try making yourself lighter and heavier in turn. At every level you arrive at, something else is revealed about the scene. Getting heavier is useful when you want to heal someone (you'll need the extra energy), when you want to try to lift physical objects (this takes great effort, you can lift about 56 grams), or if you want to try to show yourself to someone (to haunt the living daylight out of him ..grin..)

Someone might be able to take a picture of your astral body this way. Getting lighter is useful for visiting the upper realms, where the higher astral beings hang out. The higher you can get, you more 'enlightened' you are. Moving in time: you can travel in time, about 500 years forwards and backwards. To archieve this, visualize a calender losing it's days, or a clock going formards or backwards.

Three interesting phenomena occur as you do this:

1. You will find that some era's are unreachable, no matter how hard you try.
   
2. When you go back, the images you're getting fade and become colorless. More than 500 years back, almost nothing can be seen. When you go forward, images become more and more vibrant and sharp, until they become painful and unbearable. You cannot interact with the physical level when you're back in time.
   
3. Time elasticity. When you spend a few minutes in the past, you may have spend a whole hour in the present. The further you go back, the more 'present time' you need to spend a time in the past. For going to the future, this is the other way around. You may be out of your body for an hour, and spend a few hours, days or even weeks in the future time. Odd, isn't it ? Traveling to the future opens up interesting possibilities. Yes, try and see if you can find out which horse will win the race next week.

Astral Perception

Since the Astral plane is made up out of emotional energy, you tend to percieve everything in an emotional way. Buildings you find ugly can become unbearable to look at in the Astral plane. Interesting anecdote: Vincent van Gogh, the famous painter, used to drink for 'free' in a certain cafe in Paris. But suddenly, the cafe owner, refused to serve him any longer. They got into a serious fight, and Vincent left the cafe in a rage. He then painted the interior of the cafe as ugly as he could possibly make it, with disgusting browns, reds  and greens. This is a lot like seeing something you dislike in the Astral.

Reading something can be very hard. This has two reasons: 1. You don't have your brain with you 2. You can only read what's emotionally important to you. Talking can be done telepathically. Experiment with your perception. How do you percieve the music you really like ? Can you  smell and taste food ? etc. etc. etc.

The Akashic Records

This is an astral place where all the knowledge is stored and can be studied. To go there, simple imagine a place of study,
learning, students, teachers and books, and you will most probably find yourself back at the Akashic Records. You can ask for teachers, information etc. You will only be able to learn what you can understand. Remember the old saying: 'When the student is ready, the teacher is present.'

The Astral Beings

There are a lot of these. First, there are the elementals. Salamanders (Fire), Undines (Water), Sylphs (Air) and Gnomes/Elves (Earth). You can find them anyplace where their element is overly present (Vulcanos, Rivers, Geysers, Mines, Cyclones etc.), but there's usually one present in your own house. Try to observe them closely. You may learn a lot of astral tricks from them, like astral kissing. If you want to get involved with them closer, keep one thing in mind: they are not particularly 'good' or 'evil', but playful, and most of them have the emotional reactions of a little child.  This is fine of course, but they love imitating humans, and they can get you in serious trouble without them realizing it.

Earthbound Spirits

These are the spirits of dead people. No reason to be afraid of them, they are just like most people around and usually very frustrated. They pin themselves down on some reason to stay 'down here' and not evolve to the upper levels. You may try to talk some reason into them and thus help them.

Your Astral Guide

(S)he's always with you, and (s)he can become a good and warm personal friend to you. They are usually at the same intellectual/emotional level as you are, and they know a great deal about you. You can ask him/her to guard your body, or to come along with you.

There are numerous other astral beings. Angels, archangels etc. Going into  describing them takes a lot of pages more. Read about it! Ask around! Thoughtforms: these can take on various shapes, from stunningly beautiful crystalline formations to clouds of viscious energy. They are a good indicator of what goes on in people minds and you can learn a great deal about
certain people by looking at their thoughtforms. Don't touch them! You have no reason to destroy other peoples thoughts, and you may even take on the negative thoughts of some people! Of course, you can make thoughtforms yourself, through willed action. They can be anything you like, from a pet familiar to a diamond castle!

Astral Sex

At last! Simply put: it is possible to 'melt' with another astral being. What happens then, I leave for you to explore, but... ...it will rock your socks! Study the elementals to learn about this. It's about the only thing they ever seem to do. You can show yourself to other people also while they're dreaming. You can even 'shape' their dreams. This is frowned upon by some people, but if you feel someone needs to 'think about something', this may be a decent way to make sure that (s)he does.

Thoughtforms and Spellcasting

It's a good thing to perform the heavier/  lighter investigation on yourself (your own body). Thoughtforms will show up that affect your life, and you can alter them. Ow ! Is there that memory of the time you went swimming in the sea and lost your bathing outfit in the water, so you had to walk back to your towel all naked ? Does it still affect your life so you won't go swimming in the sea anymore ? Now is a perfect opportunity to erase that thoughtform.

Spellcasting

When a magician casts a spell, (s)he makes an astral imprint (=thoughtform) in order to change the course of his/her life. But it's usually like drawing on a blackboard, blindfolded. When you're out there, you can actually see what you're doing. The change it will bring about in your life will be more radical, better. You can actually ask a higher astral being to make the thoughtform for you. This is like being helped by Rembrandt to shape your thoughtform. Before performing a change, however, always ask yourself these three questions: 1. Is this change really necessary ? 2. How to do it in the best possible way 3. What are its consequences ? This seems easy enough, but people have great difficulty in living up to these rules (consider the environmental problems. Industrial changes were made 1. When they weren't particularly necessary 2. In completely the wrong way 3. without ever considering the consequences. The net result: big trouble).

That's about it! But be patient. It may take many months, even years before you fully master this art. Once you're an experienced traveller, you may try to 'loosen up' on the rules. Try another diet, and see how it affects your astral abilities. And if you're a steel-nerved kinda person, try projecting while being drunk! Only do this if you really know what you can do and how to do it. Oh yes, I almost forgot...:

RECIPE FOR INCENSE TO HELP ASTRAL PROJECTION
(from Scott Cunningham)
Take the following ingredients:
3 parts Sandalwood
3 parts Benzoin
1 part Mugwort (Artemisia Vulgaris, NOT Artemisia Absinthium!)
1 part Dittany of Crete

Dry the ingredients and grind them. You'll have to sand the sandalwood into a granular dust. Grinding the Benzoin can be quite hard, because it can get quite sticky, but practise makes perfect. Then, slowly, thoughtfully, while thinking about the purpose of this incense, mix the ingredients together, one by one. Think about astral projection. See yourself fly. When ye're finished, keep the incense in a dark, airtight jar, and keep this in a dark, cool, dry place. To use it, put some sand in a heat-resistant pot, light a coal (or better, incense coal: a little 'cup' made of coal, which you can buy at a store for Church supplies) and put some of the incense on it. If you're going to use it indoors, experiment with how much smoke the incense will generate. It's hard to relax while you're suffocating!

OK. That's all folks. Always remember to act sensibly, respectful and with common sense. It keeps you out of trouble. And one final warning: regard the Astral Plane as an enrichment of your life, not as a substitute.
~ Edgar van Oostrum, 1995

Astral Projection

~Author Unknown

There are many types of "projections" going by different names the ones I use are;

MENTAL PROJECTION- Where the practitioner projects just his Consciousness to some other place, beyond the physical body. It's similar to a day dream only much stronger. You see a mental picture,like watching a movie, but there are no senses per se, taste, feel, hearing, smell etc.

ASTRAL PROJECTION- This is where the Consciousness & the Astral body separate together from the physical body. The practitioner has use of all fives senses plus those used by the Astral body. You may have a sense of flying or floating. Vivid dreams are often natural AP during sleep. It's perfectly safe. Nothing can enter the physical body while on an Astral projection as only you have the exact key.  At any sign of danger the Astral body is "reeled in" rather quickly.

ETHERIC PROJECTION- This is where the Consciousness, the Astral body & the etheric body separate together from the physical body. The ectoplasm of the Etheric body can been seen other. The physical body is reduced to a state of near catalepsy during the projection and must be protected from sudden shock or disturbance as there is a rare occurrence of physical death.

BILOCATION- This is where the Consciousness, the Astral body, the Etheric body & the Physical body are in TWO different places at the same time. This is only be used by advanced Magi and then rarely. It involves time & place distortion with a host of other things.

Mental projection is by far the easiest. Just focus the consciousness anywhere the will directs.

Astral Projection requires a little more. There as many techniques & systems as there are people. Here are some guild lines & methods:

METHOD 1

In a quiet place. Sit in a straight backed chair, up against a wall or on the floor with spine erect. Relax, get comfortable. Inhale & exhale slowly a couple of times. DO NOT FALL ASLEEP!! Use 2/4 breath to start, that is; empty your lungs, easily, then inhale to a mental count of four<use your pulse as a guide>, hold <using the abdominal muscles,please, not the throat> mental count of two, expel in a four count, pause for a two count, then inhale to a four count etc, etc.

Picture an image in the mind's eye of a yourself in a ball of light about 3-5 feet away from you. Continue, slowly, rhythmically while focusing your attention on the image in the mind's eye see it clearly then shift your consciousness or point of awareness
...awareness of self, selfhood; the observing I etc. to the ball of light. Including the senses first touch, move your Astral feet & arms, then hearing, then smell, then taste & last of all when you have your other senses plugged in open your eyes and look around.

Each sense further focuses you point of awareness in the Astral body.

Astral sight doesn't depend on the physical eyes. The reason it is listed last on the list is practical. Sometimes for novices the act of opening the eyes in the Astral body triggers a reflex of opening the eyes in the physical body, without the other senses to anchor it the consciousness shifts back to the physical body and you lose the AP. Don't worry about your Astral sight at the very start work first on being sure of shifting the consciousness. That is the first step to success. The rest of the senses MUST follow. If you have to break it down even further work on hearing, smell, touch or Small Astral body movements one at a time first. Then work on sight.

METHOD 2

Start a mental projection and will your Astral body along.
 

METHOD 3

Imagine that your Astral body is separating from your physical body out the head chakra. You will sense a rapid vibration with a rising or floating sensation let it happen don't block it. When complete check your five senses in the described order.

~Author Unknown

"Astral Projection" is not one experience but a complicated amalgam of many types and levels of experience. AP experiences can be very sharp and clear, foggy and dreamlike, intense, mild, convincing, and confusing all at once. The common modern view of AP is that is has three (or four) basic forms; Mental, Astral, Etheric, (and rarely Bilocation). However, my experience is that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of variations of typical "astral travel" experiences, and that breaking them up into a few categories is more convenient than accurate.

Two of the most common reasons for not achieving a clear AP are foggy imagery & problems with shifting Consciousness to the Astral body. First the image in the ball of light must be clear & fixed. You must have a clear mental image of the Astral body to begin with. Second, the Consciousness must be fully shifted or transferred from the physical to the Astral body!! It shouldn't be shuttling between the two. It's a very common problem. But you can't drive two cars at the same time! <Grin, at least I can't> This may show up as poor Astral vision or partial or full loss of Astral senses. Sort of like poor TV reception with static & snow. Probably because of uneasiness about the unknown. Relax!! Your physical body will be just fine, really! Remember you can't swim hanging on to the side of the pool!!!! Let go!!! Trust me<grin>.

The single most important factors shaping the nature of the AP experience are practice & "Instructions" for the "voyage" given by very deep areas of the subconscious mind, "co-ordinates", if you will, that the projecting "Selfhood Program" uses for guidance in this journey through all the possible universes. These
"co-ordinates" can be suggested to the one pointed or focused mind through ritual, meditation, visualization, and many other techniques.

Without training, and developing the strength of the "psychic muscles", most people aren't able to give adequate co-ordinates to the focused mind. They are in the position, one might say, of being able to turn their psychic computers on, but they are not yet able to load in a program that takes advantage of the computers powers. The thing just sits there and hums blindly, they have some interesting thoughts or twists of perception while they do their practices, but don't usually make the shift.

The "trick" of astral projection lies in the TRANSFER OF YOUR POINT OF AWARENESS...awareness, selfhood; "the observing I", it is "like" a vortex, an 'atom' of consciousness, which "rides" the physical body. It is not the Ego, not the "higher self"; it is more like a natural force, or quality, in the way that "weight" is a quality of gravity.

One of the keys is focus & intensity. You should become oblivious to everything except transferring your point of awareness, complete & undivided attention, focus or consciousness. Use your other senses as a check list, in the order described. Anxiety or fear of the unknown often causes problems...like swimming or riding a bike,

RELAX. You won't fall or drown! If you tense up it won't happen. This is a natural, easy process. Don't push or force, focus & guide.

When trying to ascertain if you have a true Mental or Astral project check to see if the contrary is true. If the scene you are in is one of a friend reading a book imagine him ironing or doing dishes. If the scene changes immediately to him doing dishes or ironing it not
a true Mental or Astral projection.

If progress or success is occasional or uneven then check the list above and eliminate the cause of the problem.

Try these techniques every day or night for three months. Record all experiences, in detail, in a journal to study later. Stick to the schedule (three months), patients, practice & persistence are the key.

Monroe's Techniques for Astral Projection

Robert Monroe was one of the most widely respected authorities in the field of astral projection. Hope you enjoy the info.

Step one:

Relax the body. According to Monroe, "the ability to relax is the first prerequisite, perhaps even the first step itself" to having an OBE. (out of body experience) This includes bothe physical and mental relaxation. Monroe does not suggest a method of attaining this relaxation, although Progressive Muscle relaxation, coupled with deep breathing exercises (inhale 1, exhale 2, inhale 3....  until 50 or 100) are known to work well.

Step two:

Enter the state bordering sleep.  This is known as the hypnagogic state.  Once again, Monroe doesn't recommend any method of doing this.  One way is to hold your forearm up, while keeping your upper arm on the bed, or ground. As you start to fall asleep, your arm will fall, and you will awaken again.  With practice, you can learn to control the Hypnagogic state without using your arm.  Another method is to concentrate on an object.  When other images start to enter your thoughts, you have entered the Hypnagogic state.  Passively watch these images.  This will also help you maintain this state of near-sleep.  Monroe calls this Condition A.

Step three:

Deepen this state. Begin to clear your mind.  observe your field of vision through your closed eyes.  Do nothing more for a while.  Simply look through your closed eyelids at the blackness in front of you. After a while, you may notice light patterns.  These are simply neural discharges.  They have no specific effect.  Ignore them.  When they cease, one has entered what Monroe calls Condition B.  From here, one must enter an even deeper state of relaxation which Monroe calls Condition C-- a state of such relaxation that you lose all awareness of the body and sensory stimulation.  You are almost in a void in
which your only source of stimulation will be your own thoughts.  The ideal state for leaving your body is Condition D.  This is Condition C when it is voluntarily induced from a rested and refreshed condition and is not the effect of normal fatigue.  To achieve Condition D, Monroe suggests that you practice entering it in the morning or after a short nap.

Step Four:

Enter a state of Vibration. This is the most important part of the technique, and also the most vague.  Many projectors have noted these vibrations at the onset of projection.  They can be experienced as a mild tingling, or as is electricity is being shot through the body. Their cause is a mystery.  It may actually be the astral body trying to leave the physical one.  For entering into the vibrational state, he offers the following directions:

1. Remove all jewelry or other items that might be touching your skin.
2. Darken the room so that no light can be seen through your  eyelids, but do not shut out all light.
3. Lie down with your body along a north-south axis, with your head pointed toward magnetic north.
4. Loosen all clothing, but keep covered so that you are slightly warmer than might normally be comfortable.
5. Be sure you are in a location where, and at a time when, there will be absolutely no noise to disturb you.
6. Enter a state of relaxation
7. Give yourself the mental suggestion that you will remember all that occurs during the upcoming session that will be beneficial to your well-being. Repeat this five times.
8. Proceed to breath through your helf-open mouth.
9. As you breath, concentrate on the void in front of you.
10. Select a point a foot away from your forehead, then change your point of mental reference to six feet.
11. Turn the point 90 degrees upward by drawing an imaginary line parallel to your body axis up and above your head.  Focus there and reach out for the vibrations at that point and bring them back into your body.

Even if you don't know what these vibrations are, you will know when you have achieved contact with them.

Step five:

Learn to control the vibrational state.  Practice controlling them by mentally pushing them into your head, down to your toes, making them surge throughout your entire body, and producing vibrational waves from head to foot.  To produce this wave effect, concentrate of the vibrations and mentally push a wave out of your head and guide it down your body.  Practice this until you can induce these waves on command.  Once you have control of the vibrational state, you are ready to leave the body.

Step six:

Begin with a partial seperation.  The key here is thought control. Keep your mind firmly focused on the idea of leaving the body. Do not let it wander. Stray thought might cause you to lose control of the state.  Now, having entered the vibrational state, begin exploring the OBE by releasing a hand or a foot of the "second body".  Monroe suggests that you extend a limb until it comes in contact with a familiar object, such as a wall near your bed.  Then push it through the object. Return the limb by placing it back into coincidence with the physical one, decrease the vibrational rate, and then terminate the experiment.  Lie quietly until you have fully returned to normal. This exercise will prepare you for full seperation.

Step seven:

Disassociate yourself from the body. Monroe suggests two methods for this.  One method is to lift out of the body.  To do this, think about getting lighter and lighter after entering this vibrational state. Think about how nice it would be to float upward.  Keep this thought in mind at all costs and let no extraneous thoughts interrupt it. An OBE will occur naturally at this point.  Another method is the "Rotation method" or "roll-out" technique.  When you have achieved the vibrational state, try to roll over as if you were turning over in bed.  /do not attempt to roll over physically.  Try to twist your body from the top and virtually roll over into your second body right out of your physical self.  At this point, you will be out of the body but next to it.  Think of floating upward, and you should find yourself floating above the body.  Monroe suggests you begin with the lift-out method, but argues that both are equally efficacious.

Astral Travel Is Simplicity Itself
Matrika #2 @7314

Sun Apr 08 11:58:12 1990

The step by step instructions that I was taught, similar to those in the LLEWELYN Practical Guide to Astral Travel, worked better for me - it took me a lot of practise to get to where I could do it and it seems that for most people it takes practise, although some can do it spontaneously.  In fact it happens to some the first few times with no warning and then, after worrying they have gone crazy for a while, they later learn what it is. But I did just want to say for those like me for whom it does NOT come easy, not to get discouraged but to try working with it one step at a time.

Two interesting points about astral travel for me.  One is that I find it more interesting to explore the astral planes than to explore specific locations on this plane.  However when you are first learning, exploring specific locations on this plane can help.  Laurie Cabot suggests picking a store near you that you have never been in, try projecting to it, immediately on arising write down your impressions of it and then, as soon as you can, visit the store and check out your impressions.  If they are not all correct, don't be discouraged The example she gives is DID YOU SEE RED BEHIND THE CASH REGISTER AND IT'S NOT THERE?   Perhaps the cashier that day or evening was wearing a Red sweater! The longer you wait to visit the establishment, the more likely it is they
will move something or change a display, so go soon after your visit.

the second is that I used to do it as a kid, no problem - right up until my Dad told me it was all in my head and I had imagined it.  Then I couldn't do it anymore.

A note here - My DAD, who used to be a hard-core skeptic, started attending a Spiritualist Church I hung-out at when he married my step-mother.  I find it humorous that originally he went there because it was non-denominational so you don't have to believe everything the ministers teach and because he liked the ministers, but he didn't buy the Psychic stuff.  Well, lately he's changing his mind as he's had some startling experiences.  I'm good, I'm nice, I don't tell him he is imagining things.  But I can't help laughing about it to myself just a little bit.

Oh, some of the stuff the Llewelyn book suggests is to practise opening your chakras first and grounding the energy,  work on that for 1 week to 1 month. WHEN YOU  HAVE IT DOWN PAT (be honest with yourself here or you can forget it) work on projecting a cloud of your energy out through your solar plexus (some
people work better projecting from the 3d eye, I personally project the body through the solar plexus and when I project the consciousness into it, I do it via the 3d eye.  BUT since these are all merely visual aids to doing something non-physical,  I am not sure that it matters IF YOU ARE ACHIEVING VALID RESULTS) and leaving this energy as a cloud only then reabsorbing it.  YOU DO NOT PROJECT YOUR AWARENESS INTO IT.  You absolutely MUST reabsorb it.  That is done for a week or a month or however long it takes.  It is done by creative visualization until you get it to the point where you can feel that it is something more.

Then you do the same thing for a week or a month, ONLY YOU SHAPE THE CLOUD INTO A SIMULCRAM OF YOUR BODY (if you are also trying to heal yourself, use the ideal form you wish to achieve - make it realistic and so it looks like you)  WITHOUT projecting consciousness to it, you send it out to watch a situation you can later check on for yourself.  When it comes back at a prearranged time later on, meditate for a while and write down your impressions AND DO NOT THROW ANY OF THEM OUT AS THEY SEEM SILLY OR IMPOSSIBLE - truth is often stranger than fiction.  Check on these later, DISCREETLY - don't TELL people you sent an astral traveler to them, say I HEARD THAT you went such and such a place today while I was in school so you can say to your mom that someone saw her and told you or something, OR just say it's a hunch or, if you have the impression that your mom called your grandmother while you were in school, just say I WONDER HOW GRANDMA IS DOING? and see if your mother doesn't say, THAT'S WEIRD SHE CALLED ME TODAY.

PEOPLE GET PARANOID IF THEY THINK THAT YOU CAN WATCH THEM - AND THEY ALSO THINK YOU ARE THE CRAZY ONE IF YOU SAY YOU CAN DO THIS.  Interestingly enough science (psychology) tells us that one of the classic symptoms of Paranoia is to think the OTHER person is crazy.

Always be sure to bring the simulcram back at the pre-arranged time and REABSORB IT!

The next step is to project consciousness into it, go out with it, and reabsorb the energy/substance afterwards - but only try this once you have the watcher exercise down pat.