Lucid Dreaming or Astral Projection?

I would like to start by stating that I am skeptical when it comes to the premise of such things as Astral Projection but that I am open to all ideas surrounding such occurrences, and that the reason I am posting this is because I had a dream that I have not had in a very long time.

The earliest occurrence of this dream has to have been when I was no more than 6 or 7 years old and by the time I was about 12 these dreams stopped completely until a day ago.

I can vividly remember how these dreams would start, once I was in bed I would get this odd feeling like when you are over-tired and I would close my eyes and feel myself get out of bed and open them I would then be standing over my sleeping self and I could walk around my house freely without having to open doors and I could stand beside my parents while they watched TV and they would never see me, I found that when doing this if I thought about a place say Cairo for example I would feel a slight flying sensation and appear in that place and it would be right in the middle of a busy street near the pyramids and I could feel the warm air, smell and hear everything as if I was actually there but people didn't notice me (they couldn't walk through me but they actively walked around me even though thy couldn't see me) and I was in love with this feeling but eventually I would start to feel very tired and would get a feeling that I couldn't stay where I was and sleep, so I would think of my house and return there to my room and I would crawl back in bed feeling at peace and return to sleep.

I am 21 now and I had this dream again a day ago except this time when I tried to go where I wanted I felt a headache and a force of some sort compelled me to go to a forest and when I arrived there I felt as if I was in extreme danger (note that as a child I never felt afraid or anything when I went somewhere in these dreams) I looked around the forest but I could not see much as it was night and when I tried going back to my house the pain became nearly unbearable but I eventually did, and when I did actually wake up I woke up with a bloody nose.

Its all weird to me the vividness of it all as I have never travelled any where in my life that I could remember the sights and smells as if I were there.

a reply to: The Arbiter of Lies

Not to take away from the seriousness of your OP but this sounds a lot like the premise to Jumper...Except your teleporting through your dreams.

I've never experienced this type of phenomenon before so I can't comment too much on this topic.
Have you ever attempted to induce this phenomenon yourself or does this occur unintentionally?

there is basically no difference. the basic idea is you(consciousness) aren't in your body, youre just perceiving a virtual reality through a body. when you sleep your consciousness is just experiencing a different frame of reality. now an out of body experience is consciousness experiencing the physical world outside of the parameters of your physical body. in this lucid state you can go do whatever you want. you can go into a dream state, make contact with other consciousness, or whatever.

if its real or not is up to you to decide. having similar experiences i mostly believe it. mostly..

a reply to: The Arbiter of Lies

More indicative of an O.B.E. or a repetitive lucid dream than intentional astral projecting. Not the same whatsoever ever.

MS
Astrally projecting /45+years

From what you said it sounds like lucid dreaming and OBE wrapped into one
Not being able to see in the dark?
When i have OBE. The tone usually is dark but more of a grey. I can still see everything that would normally be shadowed.
When i lucid dream, it usually starts off in some random dream. I cue myself that i am dreaming. Doing reality checks may sound mad, but honestly once you get used to doing them everyday multiple times a day, it just comes to you in the dream.
Once i notice im in a dream, then i can usually manipulate my surroundings.

But when i OBE, i always start in my bedroom. Next to my sleeping body. Looking at a very distorted image of myself.

You might begin to have these episodes again. Starting today - as stupid as it sounds, do some reality checks on your self.
Try counting your fingers - if you have a hard time counting them, then your in a dream.
Look in a mirror - if you see yourself perfectly your awake.
try jumping but willing yourself to fly. Sounds dumb but when you jump in a dream - there is a different type of gravity. The mind alters what true gravity is and you will float to the ground or jump higher than normal if in a dream.

Find a reality check that works for you. Sort of like inception and the totems, you can carry something in your pocket at all times. If its not there and you feel the need to look for it but keep getting side tracked... your in a dream.

Like i said, it sounds like a mix of both L.D and OBE.
The sure fire way to know if it was an OBE, is to think of your body. Because you will be back in it just from thinking it.
Once you are able to figure out if its either or - you will have an amazing time.

There was a period in my life about a year ago that when i woke up in the morning, i was excited and eager for bed that night. It was like i discovered a new world.

Your going to have a great time.

The real mind bender will be when you meet someone in your travels.
You can ask questions and get answers that will make sense to you.
When i first found a "guide" so to speak i asked if he was a real person. He told me that it was for me to decide.
Its common for people to perceive this realm as a place all dreamers go to. That each person you run into is an actual conscience being on the other side.
Like i said, your in for an experience!

definitely was an OBE. Remember, in this realm thought creates reality. So if you feel fear, decide for yourself not to fear anything, and know that you are in complete control of everything.

a reply to: The Arbiter of Lies

Do you have any idea where the forest was?

a reply to: The Arbiter of Lies

Right now, I'd vote for a lucid dream. You mentioned getting a "pain", which I don't normally associate with a project/OBE. When dreaming, the body can sometimes include a physical sensation in the dream. For example, if my arm falls asleep in the real world, I might notice I can't move that arm in the dream - were it a projection, in my case, I would still be able to move both "arms".

If you can find the forest in the real world, and you've never seen it before or heard about the place, then it would lend more to the OBE side of the fence.

And without making this a tangent - Lucid dreams and OBE/Projections are different. My experiences indicate this, and I was able to validate in some of the cases where I had a conscious projection.

-foss

a reply to: fossilera

I get similar occurrences. One of the weirdest is when there will be a creaking noise or a sound from the house settling in the middle of the night. And some how it part of my dream at the exact same time. Like my dream was expecting that noise to happen and fit it into the dream at just the precise second.