What is Astral Travel ?

Astral Travel is said to be an attempt to have and Experience of being Outside the human body - while Conscious and Alive - preferable awake or during sleep, dreams or very deep Meditation - the Spirit leaves the Physical body and takes excursion on its own. This involves traveling on the Astral or Spirit Plane. This occurance is refer to as OOBE - Out of Body Experiences

Astral projection is a term which though widely used in the New Age,actually means different things to different people.Some suggests stepping out of the physical body to function like a ghost,passing through walls and doors while generally invisible to those still in their physical bodies.To others it is the projection of consciousness into another world altogether,the fabled Astral Plane Although carrying the same label and frequently confused in occult literature,these two experiences are quite distinct.The 'astral projection' during which one functions like a ghost is more properlty called 'Etheric Projection'

True Astral Projection, by contrast comes closer to visionary experience and is believed by many occultists to be experienced nightly, by everyone during dreams.A number of techniques have been develped to stimulate conscious projection of the Astral Body,including the use of a specially created body of light which can also be used to simulate Etheric Projection Trance states,including Hypnosis - are a considerable aid to Astral Projection, but one of the most popular approaches involves the use of so-called Astral Doorway

info sources:

Astral Projection-Richard Craze