Astral Guide: Starter Pack

Astral traveling has been a part of my path since the first day I started and has only grown. I am able to meet and speak with the spirits and gods I work with, do spell work, do healing, and a large amount of other work in the astral. I worked almost every night before bed, unknowingly to me at first, to get where I am at now. I was going to make a long “how to” on astral travel, but simplicity is better. If you have any questions or need me to elaborate on anything, please don’t be hesitant to send me an ask. I could write ten pages to better explain how I work in the astral but no one will read that, so asking for me to elaborate is definitely fine with me!

Before you start:

Easy starter method for dipping your toes into astral traveling:

Yes, that’s literally it. It is truly that simple. Get used to visualization and get used to wandering around a space in the astral you have created. For instance, the forest you were just in within that exercise is yours. These are the foundations you need to learn and get comfortable with. Soon you can visit places that truly exist in the astral, rather than creations of your own.

What can you do in the astral?

You can create a sanctuary, visit with spirits, heal your own energy - the amount of things you can do is unlimited. Do you want to do a spell in the astral? Craft the ingredients out of the energy around you. Yes, this seriously works! Spells done in the astral are just as potent (if not more potent, if you know what you’re doing) than spells we do on our physical plane. The most important thing is to not doubt what you are doing and have true intent. I have done some heavy spell work in the astral that worked extremely well to gain results on our physical realm. The exciting thing about doing spells in the astral is that you can actually have your spirit companions or gods visually next to you to aid you. You can also craft up offerings and altar spaces for your gods and spirit companions there. You are not limited while you are in the astral. You can take on any form you want in the astral (this is called your vehicle). You can surround yourself with the elements and weather you want in the astral. Do you need it to be storming while you do a spell? You can make it storm. The stronger your visualization skills are, the more you can do. That’s why you have to work at it often. Within your own created space, you can allow spirits to visit. You can ward your sanctuary and allow your spiritual guides and friends to visit. There are no limits! Just be smart about it.

Useful links to further illustrate what I’m talking about:

Tips and extras:

When traveling outside of a space you created yourself (aka the whole wide world of the astral), tread carefully and be smart.

You remember cats, i talked about this spiritual bilocation thing? Yeah. Here it is right there in the definitions of this post. Astral travel vs astral projection. Fuck yes. This post makes me so happy.

lucid dreaming & astral travel

This post will cover the intersection between lucid dreaming and astral travel or projection, the differences, and how one can use lucid dreaming as a bridge between the waking world and the astral planes.

Lucid dreaming and astral travel are Not the same but they are both generally placed under dream work or dream witchcraft. Many dream witches who are able to lucid dream can use this ability to astral travel or more rarely, astral project.

Lucid dreaming creates a state of elevated consciousness where we are able to control our actions in a non-corporeal or non-physical form. We are more aware that we are not in the physical plane and instead in a dreamscape. This dreamscape however, is not the astral and we have more control over our surroundings here than in the astral. However, we can use this to our advantage when it comes to entering astral travel or projection from lucid dreaming.

Lucid Dreaming VS Astral Travel

1. Control over surroundings

In a lucid dream, once you gain control over your dream awareness (knowing that you’re in the dream), it grants you almost full control over what’s going on in your surroundings. You can change the whole dreamscape, grow random things around you, just morphing the whole place with a thought. 

During astral travel or astral projection, unless you’re in your own astral space or a quasi-astral realm or mindspace (where you’ll have more control over your surroundings than the rest of the astral), you won’t be able to change your surroundings at will. Try to grow a tree, or change the color of the sky, or raise a mountain in an astral plane and you will find that you won’t be able to.

2. Energy usage

In a lucid dream, you don’t really use a lot of energy. You’re asleep, and energy usage is more controlled and your physical body is most likely unaffected by whatever you do in your dream. Even when you’re doing a lot of morphing and shifting and changing in the dreamscape, you still won’t be using so much energy that it takes a physical toll the next day when you wake up. 

During astral travel or projection, you are aware that you are entering the vibrational state usually required for it. You are aware of the whole transition process that you most likely initiated yourself, and when you move around or perform rituals or create things in the astral you are using energy. The amount of energy used for travel or projection can be enough to have a physical effect the next day or when you finish travelling or projecting.

3. Encountering things or other beings you won’t expect

In a lucid dream, you can control the actions of the people or living things in your dream whether consciously or subconsciously. They’ll be puppeted by you and the responses will either be flat or expected or created by you. So will the rest of the dreamscape.

During astral travel or projection, you will meet other beings that you will not be able to control or maybe not even expect to see. You will have encounters and conversations that can teach you new things, or you can learn new information from. You will not be able to control their actions or dialogue. 

Why should I use lucid dreaming to astral travel or project?

When you are in a lucid dream, your consciousness is placed on a non-physical level of control and awareness. This means that you will already be used to being conscious without being in a physical state. Compared to if you just transition your consciousness from the waking world to the astral planes, the transition will require much more effort and adjustment for your consciousness to go from your physical body to your astral body. Dreaming is sort of the in-between state, you’re not exactly in your astral body but you’re also not in your physical body.

In a lucid dream, you’ll get used to seeing your surroundings in a non-physical state, so when you astral travel or project from your dream, most likely you’ll have a higher clarity in your astral sight or find it easier to transition into your astral senses. Using a lucid dream to get into the astral has been proven to provide more vivid senses of your surroundings. [SPG inserted]

How do I go about doing it?

this is only one of the many ways you can astral travel or project by lucid dreaming, you can experiment to see what works for you.

1. Center yourself and make sure you have enough energy for the night.

2. Use one of the various lucid dreaming methods to induce a lucid dream.

3. Once in the dream, try to change your surroundings or see how much control you have over the dreamscape.

4. If you have most if not full control of your dream, practise shaping your surroundings. Make random things appear, grow a tree, change the sky color, manifest animals, etc.

5. Once you get used to making things appear in your dream, create a door. This door is going to be your entrance into the astral. Create the door with the intent of going into an astral plane.

6. When the image of the door is stable and you’re satisfied with it, walk towards it and open the door. When you open it, tell yourself you will step through it and end up in the astral.

7. Step through the door to the other side.

8. See if you’re in an astral place you know, or if it’s somewhere unfamiliar, use the differences checklist above to gauge if you have successfully made it.

thank you @curselord for the post idea.

you can support me on ko-fi or paypal.

- Raven

Good post OP

What is the astral realm? Why would we go there?

Essentially, the astral realm is what we think of when we refer to the "dream world." When your spirit leaves your body, this is where it goes. Many cultures have different names for it, but essentially it is the "other" world which is ruled by mind and spirit rather than body and matter.

Existing in their incorporeal (non physical) state, many spirits and other life forms reside in the astral realm. This could be why you seek to astral travel. Many people have experiences with deities, guides, ancestors, etc in the astral realm. However, it is worth mentioning that just as in our physical realities, there are malicious beings alongside the benevolent ones. It is important to be protected. (I'll talk about that more in the "Tips and Tricks" part of this post.)

So... how do you astral travel?

It's a fairly easy concept if you're already familiar with being mindful of your energetic body. (Energetic body=spirit, soul, etc.) It is simply separating your energetic body from your physical body.

Start by focusing on your breath. Deep breaths in, gentle breaths out. It is important to stay relaxed- the less relaxed you are, the more difficult the entire process will be. You'll want to focus on your body for a moment- notice the way it feels, notice what sensations occur and where they occur, begin to become aware of your energetic body rising and falling with your breath. Focus your awareness to your energetic body. Notice sensations on the subtle energetic level, begin to feel the limits of your physical body. Move past them. Move past the barriers. I think of it as "stretching" my aura, almost. More commonly, this phenomena is described as "floating" or "lifting." This is the point many people may experience seeing themselves lying in their meditative state. Remember: at it's core, astral travel is just shifting your conscious awareness to sit in your energetic body rather than your physical body.

Tips and Helpful Tricks

Don't be discouraged if you don't make it very far your first few attempts! Don't be discouraged if they aren't successful at all! This stuff takes time and practice, I believe in you :)

Technique For Astral Traveling

Hey guys!

So I’ve finally decided to post my technique for astral traveling. I’ve been keeping it to myself mostly as a protective measure, but I’ve decided that I’m safe revealing it; besides, I think a lot of people could benefit from it.

Before I begin it is very important to distinguish; this is astral TRAVELING, not astral PROJECTING. Knowing the difference is a very big part in actually doing it. Astral projection is when your soul/spirit, while connected by a thread, leaves your body. Your entire being/consciousness is flying through and exploring the astral world and other planes. This is what most people think of when they think of astral traveling, and I did too when I started out; as a result, I got super frustrated when I couldn’t do it.

Astral traveling is not the same. When you are astral traveling, your soul/spirit remains in your physical body. Your consciousness, or rather part of it, is what is going up and joining your astral self, which then can travel the astral plane. Again, this is important. You aren’t going to leave your body completely. A part of your consciousness and awareness will be in your physical body; this is normal.

Alright. Now that we understand the difference, we can begin.

Step 1: Relax and Lie Down

I usually like to do some light stretching and whatever else I like to do to relax before beginning. Always make sure that your body is relaxed and your mind is calm; if you are tense or wound up, it could become a block for you.

I recommend lying down while you astral travel, as I find it easier to relax and I don’t have to devote as much energy to stay sitting up. The only downside is that sometimes you might find yourself dozing off! But try both, and then do what works best for you.

Step 2: Enter a Meditative State

However you like to do this is up to you. Deep breathing is a must. I like to use meditation beads, or do a little bit of energy work before hand.

Step 3: Count and Climb

Okay, so now we begin. You’re going to want to count down. I recommend picking 50 or 60 if this is your first time doing this. For the purpose of this tutorial, I’ll just say 50. So you are going to slowly count down, from 50, in increments of 10.

At the same time, you are going to imagine a ladder hanging above your body, that climbs up so high that you cannot see the end of it. Imagine yourself sitting up and forward out of your body, and grabbing the first rung of this ladder.

Now this is where the counting comes in. You are going to count down from 50, imagining that you are climbing up this ladder, one rung at a time, per number. When you hit an increment of 10 (40, 30, 20, etc) you are going to imagine that you climb up to a ledge. Imagine yourself hoisting yourself up onto the ledge. The ladder continues rising above you.

Continue doing this until you get to 10.

Step 4: The Door, and Establishing Sensation

Once you get to 10, imagine that the ladder ends, and before you is a staircase, with a ledge at 5 and 0. As you get to 5, you look up and you see a faint light, that grows brighter as you climb, eventually reaching the top of the staircase.

At this point, you are going to want to open up your mind/intuition. Don’t picture anything in your mind, don’t try and force something that you want to look, just open your mind, push out any thoughts, and then go with the first thing that pops into your head, even if it seems odd or weird.

With your mind open, observe the hall in front of you. There should be a hall that is about 10 feet long, with light along the walls. At the end of the hall is a large door, or 2 doors.

How this looks can and will be different every single time. I’ve come up cobblestone steps to find torches lining the walls and a weathered, iron-reinforced oak door. I’ve come up marble steps to find lightbulbs lining the walls and finding glass doors. It’s going to be different, and that is completely okay.

Once you’ve taken in as much as you can about this hallway/door, you’re going to stop and stretch. At this point, and this might be a weird concept/sensation, but part of your consciousness should be in this body/form that is standing in this hallway. Hold on to that feeling as best as you can, as you do some stretches to solidify the feeling.

Rub your hands together very quickly, feeling the sensation of rubbing, and then the heat from the rub as you pull your hands apart. Shake them out. Stomp your feet on the ground, and then slowly stomp in a circle. Jump up and down a couple of times.

And then breathe. Breathe in deeply, holding, then releasing. Repeat 3 times. Repeat again, this time on the inhale raising your hands up in front of you all the way up above your head, then bringing them down on the sides of your body on the exhale. Repeat 3 times. Repeat again, this time on the inhale raising your hands up along the sides of your body to the top of your head, then bringing them down the front of your body on the exhale.

At this point, you should be feeling very “present” inside your current body. This is your astral form. You can also take note of what you are wearing/what you look like, as I’ve found that this also changes every time that I go.

Step 5: Enter Into Your Astral Space

At this point, you are ready. Approach the door, and open it. As you do, again, clear your mind and open your intuition; this is how you see in the astral plane. This I’ve found is actually the hardest part of astral travelling, is the first step. But go with the first thing that pops into your head, even if it seems strange or it’s not what you would think it is.

Imagine like a large courtyard, with walls surrounding the perimeter. This is your astral space. Allow your intuition to fill it in, as to what it looks like. Step into your astral space, and let your astral travels begin.

Step 6: Leaving The Astral

When you are ready to leave, you are essentially going to do everything in reverse. Leave your astral space through the door you came in. You will find yourself back in the hallway. Take some deep breaths, relaxing. Then, climb down the steps, and then descend down the ladder, stopping at the ledges when you come to them. When you finally reach the bottom, lie back down in your body, move your fingers and toes, and then your hands, and then open your eyes.

It’s very important that when you leave the astral, you reverse everything that you did to get there. If you don’t, you run the risk of not completely leaving the astral and endangering yourself.

Tips, Tricks, and Observations

The biggest and best tip I can give you is to try everything; no one thing is going to work for everyone. Try different things, get out of your comfort zone, and do what works best for you. This is how you learn and grow.

If you are having a hard time seeing in the astral plane, then you need to spend some time working on your visualization. Also, working on developing your clairvoyance is huge.

You might feel like you are just using your imagination, and that’s okay. One of the biggest blocks I had to astral travelling is that I expected it to be some very huge, big thing, that would like dramatically separate my consciousness from my body. Again, this isn’t astral projection, and once I released this thought, it became easier.

Going off of the last one, at first you might find yourself struggling to discern what is real and what is your imagination. If you are having doubts about something you are seeing/experiencing, continue with it, even if you have a doubt. Eventually, you will experience something that you can absolutely 100% say was independent from you, and then from there discernment will become easier.

So for me, when I am astral traveling, I am seeing myself in 3rd person, like I am seeing myself from an outside perspective moving around and interacting. I’m actually not certain as to what the most common perspective is, so try both 2nd and 3rd person and do what works best for you.

When I am ascending the ladder, I actually rotate between going up a ladder and going up a flight of stairs. It keeps things fresh and present and prevents you from falling into a habit.

Going to the astral plane takes up a lot of energy, so when you first get into it, even if you are excited and bursting at the seams, limit yourself to once a day. If you are not careful and conservative you will fry your energy and then you won’t be able to go at all until you recover.

I think that’s it for now!! I will edit this post if i think of more tips, and i’ll reblog it with fixes if i need to. But i hope that you guys find success with this technique. It works really well for me, and i think you’ll find that it will work well for you, too.

Blessings!

Deities of Death in Various Mythologies and Cultures

I’ve recently been really interested in death magick, so as part of my research, I’ve written a list of deities associated with death in their cultures. This is by no means all of them out there, so I’d love it if someone could share in the replies what kind of death gods they have in their culture and mythology and their experience working with death spirits.

Egypt

Anubis: Jackal-headed god who presides over the embalming process and accompanies dead pharaohs in the afterlife.

Osiris: God of the underworld and symbolizes death, resurrection and the cycles of the Niles floods.

Greek

Hades: God of the dead and ruler of the underworld. He is also sometimes referred to as the god of riches and wealth.

Thanatos: Personification and god of non-violent death.

Persephone: Goddess of spring and ruler of the underworld.

Hekate: Goddess of magick, witchcraft, the moon, ghosts and necromancy.

Hindu

Yama: A Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh deity of death, dharma, the south direction and the underworld.

Kali: The dark goddess of time, doomsday and death. She is also commonly associated with sexuality, violence and motherly love.

Shiva: One of the most important gods in the Hindu pantheon, Shiva is the god of destruction and creation.

Norse

Freya: Goddess of love, fertility, magick and beauty, but also of battle and death.

Hel: Goddess of death and ruler of Helheim, the place where people who did not die in battle go.

Aztec and Mayan

Au Puch: God of death, darkness and disaster, but also of childbirth and new beginnings.

Coatlicue: Earth goddess of duality, of both creation and destruction, and mother of gods and mortals

Mictlantecuhtli: Skull-faced god of the underworld and the dead.

Other Cultures and Mythologies

The Shinigami: Gods or spirits who invite humans towards death in certain aspects of Japanese religion and culture.

The Grim Reaper: A personification of death popular in Europe who is often portrayed wearing a hood and carrying a scythe.

Maman Brigitte: Deity of death and cemeteries in the Voodoo religion, she is also a spirit of fertility and motherhood.

Santa Muerte: Also known as Lady Death, she is a goddess and saint of death popular in Mexican and Latinx culture.

The Death Witch’s Personal Graveyard

I think at least some of us have been in this situation; you want to practice death magick but you don’t have access to graveyard. Don’t worry! I’ve come across the perfect solution. Simply make your own!

Step 1: Figure out where you want your graveyard to be. It’s going to be small so you don’t need that much space. My graveyard is in a glazed clay box my grandma made for me, but you can also make it outside.

Step 2: If you’re doing yours in a box like me, pour dirt into the bottom of the box and flatten it out. If you’re graveyard is outside, make sure you’re satisfied with the dirt.

Step 3: Find a flat rock that fits in your graveyard. This is the headstone. If you want, you can write a message on it or a rune, but I left mine blank.

Step 4: Decorate! You can add crystals, rocks, herbs, statues and plants! Whatever you think should go in your graveyard.

Step 5: Dedicate your graveyard to any wandering, grave-less spirits. This is a place for them to live and take refuge. If you want, you can set rules for them and bar certain spirits.

Now, whenever you need graveyard dirt, you can just go to your graveyard and ask any spirits living there and leave an offering.

(coming from a closeted witch of 3-4 years)

and remember: your craft is uniquely your own. don’t let anyone tell you what is and isn’t required to be a valid witch. i’ve had to be subtle about my practice for years and it’s taken a while for me to realise that i’m just as much of a witch as someone who openly practices.

blessed be <3

u ever get those weird sentences that make no sense that come to you way past your bedtime? 

[id: a 4-panel comic page in 3 rows; the first row contains two panels, and the other two rows contain one wide panel each. the first panel shows a person with dark, curly hair and dark skin lying on their back on their bedroom floor, half on a purple rug, arms spread out. the second panel zooms in on the person’s face as they close their eyes, and a ghostly set of oversized eyes are superimposed over their face. the third panel is outside a row of houses in the evening, surrounded here and there by dark trees and windows glowing yellow against the purple sky. the fourth and final panel pans up from the third, showing just the tops of trees below the sky, and four eerie outlines of figures with strange eyes floating up there. the text, split up between the third and fourth panels, reads, “where were you, while i was astral projecting with the girls?” end id.] 

☁︎ 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐫𝐞

before naming think about:

a note before the name ideas. spice up your book's name by adding of magick/magicks, of witchcraft, the, my, and [insert name]'s book to the beginning or end of it.

book names other than grimoire:

things to name your book:

Dark cottagecore

Witchy Things You Probably Did Before Learning/Realizing You Were A Witch:

There are plenty more examples, these are just a few that I could think of on the spot 🤓, please reblog or comment with your own 😬🦋🧿🔮🌙🍃

You have always been a witch, you just didn't know it yet. ☽🧿☾

Kitchen forest witch aesthetic 🪴🧄🍄

bye imma move into a hut and become a forest witch 🧙‍♀️