Spontaneous Astral Projection

I had an interesting experience last night. I woke up about three thirty in the morning and couldn't really go back to sleep,and after about an hour I kind of collapsed, exhausted.

I didn't exactly go to sleep- I was fully conscious and I could tell what was happening. But I wasn't exactly awake, either- I could see an image forming in front of me- I could see a line of cliffs and ocean extending to it, and huge waves which interestingly were coming from the cliffs towards me, outwards and away from the shore line.

This was different from a dream- dreams are really jumpy, first I'm here, then I'm there, then something different happens. This is both in the content but also while they happen- there isn't really a continuous flow or detail- for example if there's water somewhere, I kind of know that this is water, but in a dream I can't sit down and gaze at the way the light sparkles around and how the flow is, it's much more conceptual.

This was different. This was exactly like quietly sitting by the ocean and watching waves. I could see the waves slowly building up, I could feel what they looked like, and my point of view was completely static. It was almost like watching a scene from a slow movie.

Then there was a shift. Suddenly, in place of the waves, I could see an abstract figure- it was like a sheet of plywood, but with no texture, with a geometric shape cut out of it, I think at first it was a kind of polygon, like a triangle but with the tips removed, giving an uneven hexagon. Behind the shape was another board, with a similar shape cut out, and another one behind that one, and another, and another. Those shapes were changing like a kaleidoscope, it was like a tunnel morphing in and out of different kinds of geometry, but it always stayed those board-like objects one behind another, just the shape was constantly changing.

Then I woke up and noticed that this had been different, and then I realized it was probably sleep-induced accidental astral projection. Then my body noticed I was really tired and I conked out and slept properly. Real deep, apparently, I couldn't remember a thing.

Astral projection is a term that is often used to describe this sort of experience- you experience sensory input but your body is still here in this regular world. Also the world you experience is consistent and has the same kind of regular flow that our regular world has, but the rules might be different. It's a little bit like a lucid dream, because in dreams, too, you experience things spontaneously without apparent participation from your body. It's also a little bit like a shamanic journey, but you can direct a shamanic journey, and this experience was really consistent even without actively holding a focus. It's also really similar to the Huna version of astral projection, Magical Flight, which is like a particularly detailed shamanic journey with more emphasis on the experience and the view. But it was distinct from all of those because the subject matter wasn't really chosen and the experience felt more like something that happened rather than something that I was participating in or even creating. And the level of timing detail and consistency was unlike anything I'd ever experienced outside of regular reality.

There was one thing though- it was black and white. For some reason, in most circumstances, that's all I get- darn I would like some color.

Now as for one interesting question that comes up a lot: What does it mean?

I know the answer to that one because I chose it myself: Nothing. Someone I really respect once said that it's equally important not to see Omens as it is to see them. In this case, the experience itself was so remarkable and exciting I decided this could do just fine with no meaning whatsoever attached to it. But I suppose I could see it as a sign of spiritual progress or a cathartic experience if I was looking for something to let it mean, those seemed perfectly fine, but nothing at all suits me just fine for this one.