About this episode

The episode explores the scientific, cultural, and historical contexts of Out of Body Experiences with guest Samantha Lee Treasure.

What are the contents of Out of Body Experiences? How closely do they map the actual physical world? Is it possible to induce them purposefully? How do modern practices compare to indigenous shamanic ones? In this Episode we look at the scientific, religious, cultural and historical contexts of Out of Body Experiences, also known as astral projection - so the experience in which an individual appears to leave their body and be able to travel around the world and into other dimensions, often meeting other worldly entities, similarly to DMT psychedelic experiences, (see Episode #73, “ DMT Entity Experiences ”). So, we get into the phenomenology- the various things people experience; potential neurobiological explanations; and the possibility of inducing the experiences on purpose and of exploring alternate realities; we get into indigenous traditions of ‘Shamanic flight’ and which people might be predisposed to these alternate states of consciousness; and we end up talking about a potential connection between OBE, sleep paralysis and ludic dreaming. To discuss this slippery topic, we have a researcher who is also a lifelong experiencer, who has devoted her career to trying to…

People in this episode

Host: Freddy Drabble

Guest: Samantha Lee Treasure

Topics covered

• Out of Body Experiences
• astral projection
• indigenous shamanic practices
• neurobiological explanations
• alternate realities
• sleep paralysis
• ludic dreaming

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SOAS university, University of Liege

Books & works: Out of Body experiences

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