Out of body experiences have been happening to people across civilizations for thousands of years. Some of the earliest recorded evidence of out of body experiences dates back to the Egyptians around 5,000 years ago. These experiences were depicted through hieroglyphics as a glowing ball of light leaving the body. Many Philosophers call it the Astral Body, and it was called the ‘Kha’ or ‘Ka’ in those historical inscriptions left by the Egyptian priests. Since then, people still have continued to experience the mysterious out of body experiences.
What happens during an out of body experience?
An out of body experience, sometimes shortened to (OBE) and also known as Astral Projection, is described as a sensation of the self or consciousness temporarily leaving the body and being able to wander around and look at your own physical body from the outside in. It is still not clear how and why this phenomenon occurs, but for some people it’s very real.
Although it is a strange and mysterious phenomenon, it is an enduring one, and for some it can be an utterly life changing experience. There is a whole host of stories and interesting experiments and case studies online of people’s experiences. These stories are fascinating, yet eerie and bone-chilling at the same time. Let’s look at some of them.
A psychological experiment:
A professor of psychology at California University in 1968, Dr. Charles Tart, studied a woman that would later be referred to as Miss Z who asserted that she was able to leave her body at her own will once she had fallen asleep. Dr. Tart decided to investigate this.
He wrote down a random number inside an envelope and placed it on top of a shelf above where Miss Z would eventually be asked to fall asleep while the doctor stayed in the room. The doctor asked her to astral project once she had fallen asleep and read the number inside the envelope and report it back to him after waking.
To his astonishment, she was able to recite the number to him when she woke up. He had been in the room the whole time and the envelope had not been touched, this was a very spooky and bizarre discovery. The psychologist described Miss Z as a mature and wise woman, however she would sometimes lose control and appear to be extremely disturbed psychologically, he thought that maybe she could have been a Schizophrenic.
A hit to the head:
A man called Brian who is now 34, fell from a tree and hit his head when he was 7. As far as he was concerned, he was straight up off the ground dusting himself off, at this point he realised that he wasn’t in his body, but was watching from afar, he saw his Mother run out and pat his face, at which point he woke up inside his body
Near death experience:
A man called Michael aged 39 claimed to have seen his own heart attack happen, he floated above his hospital bed as he saw the medical team scrambling around him, it ended suddenly, and he woke up in the bed with his family beside him. Since then he has the feeling that he is now much more open minded about religion, and the idea that there must be something greater than us out there.
Actually, it is easy to understand the science through perceiving the tangible or physical things and evidence. But thought itself is so subtle that it can’t be grasped. Hence, psychology is a subtle science, explaining the root of human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. If we can think beyond our conventional perceptions we may find that just like there are physical and psychological sciences, there is also the existence of spiritual science which is an intangible but eternal reality of our life. When we will properly recognize these three sciences and will really begin to harmonize them and respect them, we will actually begin to see how they are all interconnected with each other. May be, the traditional knowledge inherited from our ancient ancestors holds such information that is more incredible than the all we can imagine.
Author: Jane Upson, a professional freelance writer with more than 10 years’ experience across many fields. She has a particular interest in issues relating to mental health, fitness, and nutrition.
