[XKAgustin]

I don't see them the same way you do, Leyla. Mine are imaged as actual tears in walls or curtains in the astral environment I inhabit or just as an oval shaped hole if viewed hypnogogically/hypnopompically. If I've passed through one I can't remember the experience. It's only just occurred to me recently to do so, so now I'm waiting for the next opportunity.

The following information may interest you. It's not an explanation of your experience but it's worth considering

I am currently reading Kurt Leland's The Unanswered Question (in snatches). He has often experienced a place in the afterlife that he calls "The Holding Zone" (he believes that people interpret the same astral environments differently and they should, therefore, be named according to function). Anyway, before souls can move on to "Immigration" they must be purged of unresolved negative emotions (fear, anger, lust) that are sent back to physical reality. One way to do this is by using living beings, often family members, as "lightning rods." Usually during sleep, a person who is harbouring the same emotion will be selected and the emotion will be purged for the deceased person. The person has an unpleasant dream but it can be helpful to them in resolving the issue and releasing it.

Leland himself experienced the process several times. One time he went to bed angry because a friend he trusted had betrayed him. He found himself out of body with a large black dog approaching. It sat on his chest and he couldn't move. Suddenly there was a rift and a hooded being (he believes they appear hooded because they are beings of tremendous energy and conceal it so as not to overwhelm) appeared and allowed hoards of departed souls (shades) through. While the dog pinned him down, these souls began to dive into him. He was frightened, of course, but he noted the distinct traces of identity in each of these souls. After 8 had gone through, the hooded figure prevented anymore from doing so.

He said this could have been interpreted by another person as a demonic attack and attempted possession but understood that it was not so. He interpreted the dog as representative of loyalty issues. It was on his chest because he had to get it off his chest. The beings that "passed through him" were purging unresolved loyalty issues.