Ghosts Among Us - James Van Praagh [27]
THE LOWER ASTRAL PLANE
When a person sheds his or her physical body at the time of death, the silver cord that once tethered the etheric body to the physical body is severed. What remains is an exact replica of the physical body, only one that is lighter, subtler, and more vibrant.
The very first dimension beyond the physical realm that a ghost encounters is the lower astral dimension, which vibrates very close to the earth’s realm and is located between the earth and the higher spheres. Many ghosts have communicated that this level is gray and dim and reminds them of the foggy mists of San Francisco Bay. Ghosts usually do not linger in this lower astral level very long. Only the unevolved remain in this dark world.
On the lower astral level, thoughts are heard and seen very clearly. Ghosts cannot hide their thoughts as humans can. In fact, the mentally charged lower astral world amplifies all thoughts and emotions. I often refer to this world as our mental and emotional garbage dump. When ghosts decide to stay in this lower astral dimension, they become a collective creation of aspects of humans that are obsessively tied to unresolved emotions, usually negative in nature, such as anger, depression, desperation, loneliness, guilt, addiction, cruelty, and hatred. The lower astral world is bleak because ghosts seem to feed off the negativity associated with this collective creation. It’s as if ghosts are bound by a very strong mind-hold. Because thoughts remain with us on our journey, our points of view also stay with us. Beliefs, likes, dislikes, and judgments remain exactly the way they were. There are no instant, all-knowing miracles or revelations when we die.
I am often asked, “What if a person doesn’t believe in an afterlife?” A person who doesn’t believe there is life after death will be quite surprised to find that they are still alive. It may take a long time for them to realize what has happened, and during that time they will roam the lower astral realm. Thought controls existence, and so whatever one believes is what one gets.
THE SCREAMS
The lower astral level contains many fragmented, nonhuman, unevolved astral bodies and thought forms created by fear. All thoughts are alive here. Judgments, prejudice, spiritual ignorance, and misunderstandings make up these fragmented thought forms. These thoughts linger in this realm as pockets of dark energy. Many Christians refer to the lower astral level as hell. It is not fire and brimstone, as we are told, but remnants of negative thoughts.
After I decided to devote time to my psychic development, one of the first places I experienced in my exercises was the lower astral realm. I usually tell this anecdote in my workshops, and afterward people come over and share very similar experiences with me.
I had just awakened one Sunday morning and was still in a twilight state, somewhere between the dream and waking states. I remember the feeling of floating down into my body from a very high spiritual place, as if I were falling off a cliff. The sensation was not scary, but more like going down a fast-moving elevator. I can recall it very distinctly because I kept going down into what seemed to be a crevice in the earth, and it became darker and darker until it was almost pitch-black. It was eerie and upsetting. I heard people screaming. I saw and felt arms reaching out of the darkness trying to grab a hold of me. They were not fully formed bodies, so I surmised them to be thought forms and fragmented energies that saw my light and wanted to clutch on to it. I knew these fragmented energies could not hurt me, but still, I felt very uncomfortable. When I opened my eyes, I thought, Oh, my God, that was a scary, dark place. I believe that I was being shown this particular level so that I would know it existed. It was important to be aware of all the places