[VonErmad4]

It could be OBE but my guess would probably be an 'astral' pre OB experience. Most of the stuff sound like hypnagogia and astral noise, and in my experience the sound effects go away when I'm completely out. (not the visuals, though). The only thing I can say is when I'm ready to OB these effects get really strong- as if my batteries are getting ready to discharge.

[Cogebrego]

Scymitar, I believe you are getting close to OBE, you WILL know beyond doubt when you in fact go OBE. I am relatively new to all this too, it is very exciting!! If you want too, read "russmi3 AP log" in the OBE forum. I update all my experiences there.

You are absolutely correct that the pre-OBE experiences are breathtaking and "a real trip" I have had many ( I have projected 5-6 times now). I have heard my son talking, my wife, others, music, whooshing, cellophane being crinkled, etc.

For your info, from my reading this is "hypnogogic"

Between being awake and falling asleep, your mind enters the hypnogogic phase. In this stage you begin to lose touch with the world around you without showing the physiological stages of sleep. Pictures form inside our heads like still or moving pictures and although you may have never noticed them, they are there.

The opposite of this, the sleeping to awake period is "hypnopompic"

Have fun!!! Keep in touch if you like.....

[lodsemelf]

Like russmi said: Between being awake and falling asleep, your mind enters the hypnogogic phase. In this stage you begin to lose touch with the world around you without showing the physiological stages of sleep. Pictures form inside our heads like still or moving pictures and although you may have never noticed them, they are there. It's the stage where you actually start to dream but are still awake- you will see pictures in front of your eyes (as opposed to in your imagination) and if you focus on them you'll be pulled into then as a regular dream. In this state you still can pull back your mind to stay out of the dream, or jump in and fall asleep. You can "watch tv" or dream. This is the phase, which can bring you into the OBE state. Or fall asleep.

[VonErmad4]

IMO they're all projections- some internal, some external (OBE). There are lots of technical terms, but I won't bother with them- I'll just describe what I go through, and you decide how you want to classify this.
First, I'm a spontaneous projector, all through my life, and this year I started doing it deliberately (through MAP.). So here is an example of an OBE.
I am reclining (this works best for me)never sure if I'm paralyzed, but usually I am, I start to feel as if I'm rocking/spinning/disconnected but in my body. Sometimes I'll feel the vibrations, I'll hear some sort of astral noise, like a mechanical/electronic noise (slow like a lawn mower up to fast like buzzing or humming-usually loud.) At this point I have astral sight- I can see through my eyelids. It looks like my environment in the dark/twilight, sometimes a bit distorted. I will then attempt an exit technique. If I'm rocking, I'll try to rock (launch) myself away from my body- if not I'll try a 'standard' exit technique (rope, net, etc.) Depending on how stuck to my body I am, I may hear a loud 'pop' or 'crack' (like a firecracker going off). Then I'm off. Now the trick is to get away from your body as fast as possible. This can be easy or difficult (it's always a different experience). You may find yourself floating. At first it's weird to be floating, because you have to learn to 'navigate'. After a while you don't even think about it anymore. It's because your will takes you where you want to go- But when the experience is new, things like floating become a big wonderful awesome thing and you can spend a lot of time learning to do it. From then on, a lot is intention- do you want to go around your house? to an 'alternate/astral/other plane/fill in the blank' then you go from there.
In my experience when you do this for the first time, you will see the 'real time zone' which is a 'shadowy' version of physical reality. You may see other people, but usually they are your guides or someone that was there anyway and are not really paying attention to you.
About scary things: All experiences are different to everyone- I am 48 and only have seen scary things in the last 10 years of my life. In other words, I've been projecting since 7-8+ and only have seen scary things in the last 10 of about 40. That's 30 years of happy-go-lucky traveling. So this may give you an idea of how it is for me. However, I have had sleep paralysis with scary apparitions, ghostly apparitions, and hypnopompic hallucinations. (Which are probably all the same, anyway.) They don't happen while I OBE and are probably a product of how my mind works.
The other type of projection (I call it Astral there, for they start as OBEs and end up as a different type of experience). I get out, then see a whirpool/doorway/portal or guide, go through it and end up in a different realm. Usually they are gardenlike, with lakes and fantastic views. Ocassionally there may be a building where I go in, but usually it's a cartoonlike/Computer-animated looking place, and it's main characteristic is that there is no sound (usually). These are probably projections into the 'astral' or 'mental' or even 'dreams' but I don't know. In these is where the majority of my interactions are, and sometimes I have encountered not-so-friendly inhabitants.
For the baddies: I have only encountered them in transitional phases: When I'm in the RTZ and going astral, or while in the astral (see above) and going back to the RTZ or another 'astral' realm.

[CoiI8XIj]

How do you deal with the fear? I've seen/felt some creepy things today while trying to sleep, i think i was in trance. It was so real I would swear I was being possessed or something. As a normal reaction I was always getting scared and waking up everytime these things appeared to bug me.
Ufff...horrible night sleep...
Is this only creation of my mind? I get scared before I can convince myself it's only illusions...and it messes up the trance...How can I control this?

[dAy2EWlg]

Just a couple of extra thoughts on fears/evil entities:

I have only encountered 1 weird thing in 1 OBE. It was a "black dog??" It was growling at me, I threw something at it, and then upon my thought to get away I was back in body.

1. Don't dwell on running into bad things before trying. ( I focus on good things I have seen and want to explore more).

2. Don't try to project if you are in a bad mood or had a bad day.

3. I now look forward to the sensations of pre OBE, they are freaky, but also neat and I keep that in mind. (Tough but it helps). The sounds, buzzing and lofty feelings are brief, just get by them.

4. I have not read anywhere of actual physical injury to anyone. And most attacks by entities can be either fought off, left by moving on, or just coming back to body. (Yes, some have had entities attach to them, but I haven't........yet............that I know of ).

[lodsemelf]

How do you deal with the fear? I've seen/felt some creepy things today while trying to sleep, i think i was in trance. It was so real I would swear I was being possessed or something. As a normal reaction I was always getting scared and waking up everytime these things appeared to bug me.
Ufff...horrible night sleep...
Is this only creation of my mind? I get scared before I can convince myself it's only illusions...and it messes up the trance...How can I control this?

When you OBE (as in dream) you can create whatever you give energy/emotion to, and it's immediate. So if you're already afraid of something you can bet you'll create it and experience it in 'front of you' which is more impressive than having a dream or a thought. There are a few ways around this: 1) Don't give anything negative strenghth. Don't fear it. Is it possible? To some, not necessarily to me. 2) Perform a ritual to tell you you're safe. Pray, (whatever your religion is). Use wards, holy water, whatever it takes to feel safe. And 3) Know yourself really well- look at whatever you fear and get used to it and stop fearing it, not by hiding or running away, but by knowing what you're afraid of. This helps but takes time and effort.
The thing is that it may just be illusions, but they're illusions created by your subconscious, who knows you better than you do, and to create peace in your inner journey you have to be ok with every aspect of yourself, even the aspects you don't like, or are afraid of. Is this easy? Hell no. But it's worth it.