An out of body experience, also called astral travel is characterized by the sensation of floating outside of the body and at times viewing the body while outside of it, known as Autoscopy. 10% of people openly admit to experiencing this event at least one time in their lives. At times, such experiences occur spontaneously, but more often then not they are linked to dangerous circumstances, near death experiences and use of recreational, psychedelic drugs.
Since prehistoric times, shamans, or witch doctors across the globe used different methods to go into trances to gain access to the unseen world of answers through a sort of out of body experience. In Northern European countries, these holy men noted the reindeer would dig through the snow to uncover a certain mushroom, an unscheduled fungus called Toadstool (fly agaric). Because it was dangerous, the holy men would drink the urine of the reindeer after it had ingested the mushroom and often reported “flying through the sky with reindeer” (perhaps the origin of Santa’s flying reindeer). Amazon priests would also partake of hallucinogens to break down the conscious mind, using the unscheduled Diviners Sage (Salvia divinorum). In South America, holy men would use Yage (Banisteriopsis caapi) (Also known as Ayahuasca, Caapi, Death Vine and Vine of the Gods) to the same means.
In modern times, the equivalent to these spiritual journeys are induced with often-illegal dissociative drugs such as phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, over-the-counter cough suppressants containing dextromethorphan hydrobromide, methamphetimines and laughing gas (nitrous oxide). Like the plants and fungi previously mentioned, these dangerous drugs block external stimuli, thus putting a person through sensory deprivation where depersonalization and derealization occurs, allowing for such experiences. All of these dissociative drugs, plants and fungi, however, are very capable of depressing the central nervous system, essentially stopping the heart and lungs.
One religious system whose practices have fallen away in some circles is Gardnarian Wicca (named after Gerald B. Gardner who founded the religion in 1953) that noted the profound effects of sensory deprivation. Initiates to the religion would be wrapped in linen with only an opening for the mouth and suspended from a tree until they would astrally project. This, however, is a far cry from traditional witches who would mix up potentially deadly, hallucinogenic herbs into a salve and anoint their bodies to reach the same outcome.
Some people have connected astral projection to hypnogogic hallucination, where a person feels they are falling when they are going to sleep; 37% of people admit this has happened to them at least once in their life. Indeed, many people who report an out of body experience feel they snap back into their bodies, and are connected to their bodies by a silver cord.
Another type of out of body experience is the near death experience some people report after being clinically dead and later revived. They later report floating outside of their body, moving towards a light and meeting deceased relatives.
The fight or flight response is a survival mechanism left over from prehistoric times that causes us to either fight or flee from perceived danger. During a traumatic event, if neither one is an option, the mind usually dissociates. Perhaps some people’s minds create a mirror image of the world around them with uncanny accuracy so that a person believes they are out of body when actually they are dissociating. In fact, most people report out of body experiences during traumatic events.
The Native North American Lakota Indian Sundance Ritual seems to support this theory. A young male as young as 11 can have two hooks threaded through the skin of his chest and be hoisted up to the ceiling or hung from a sacred pole or tree and be suspended there for hours. Why would anyone subject themselves to such horrific practices? When the pain becomes unbearable, the Indian will leave his body and can be given spiritual enlightenment.
