From his mid-teenage years, Cometan described experiencing a kind of trance and religious ecstasy following his exposition to the night sky during which he saw visions of the human future among the stars and received revelations in the form of ideations that seemed like they originated from another world. This type of religious experience is what Astronists refer to as an astral ecstasy and it is these ecstasies that have since been responsible for Cometan's ability to write the Omnidoxy and other Astronist texts. In this brand new lecture, Cometan provides an insight into what experiencing an astral ecstasy is like, what the mental and physical aftereffects of an astral ecstasy include and the significance of these experiences in Astronist approaches to epistemology (i.e., theory of knowledge), revelation and theology. Astral ecstasies form a central part of the Astronist experience and are a key type of altered state of consciousness in astrospirituality but still remain somewhat of a mystery as to why, when, how and to whom they occur.
Thank you for watching Episode 18 of Season 4 of A Conversation with Cometan. Stay tuned for the finale of Season 4 when Episode 19 premieres Monday 7th August.
Visit The Official Website of Cometan: https://www.cometan.org
Visit The Official Website of Astronism: https://www.astronism.com
Visit The Online Encyclopedia of Astronism: https://www.astronism.org
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This video remains property of the Astronist Institution.
© 2023 Astronist Institution. All Rights Reserved.
Thank you for watching Episode 18 of Season 4 of A Conversation with Cometan. Stay tuned for the finale of Season 4 when Episode 19 premieres Monday 7th August.
Visit The Official Website of Cometan: https://www.cometan.org
Visit The Official Website of Astronism: https://www.astronism.com
Visit The Online Encyclopedia of Astronism: https://www.astronism.org
Visit Astropedia: https://astronism.fandom.com
Astronism's Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astronismdotcom
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/AstronismOrg
Cometan's Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CometanOfficial
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CometanOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/CometanOfficial
This video remains property of the Astronist Institution.
© 2023 Astronist Institution. All Rights Reserved.
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TechTranscript
00:00:00 [Music]
00:00:26 [Music]
00:00:30 Hello everybody and welcome to season 4 episode 18 of a conversation with
00:00:36 Komi-tan. Of course I'm your host Komi-tan and today I'm going to be presenting
00:00:41 you another lecture in this season's lecture series. This one I'm particularly
00:00:47 excited for. I've called it the mysteries of astral ecstasy and this is going to
00:00:55 be all about, in a way, how astronism was founded really and the sort of
00:01:00 experiences, both spiritual, astral and sort of metaphysical, that I experienced
00:01:09 and the knowledge that I gained to actually found astronism itself. So
00:01:14 hopefully you guys are interested in this and I know that quite a few people
00:01:20 have asked me, you know, what were the experiences that you went through that
00:01:26 allowed you to found astronism and so this lecture is an answer to those.
00:01:32 Okay, so let's get started. So the mysteries of astral ecstasy. Well, I think
00:01:41 first of all we need to kind of explore astronist understandings of the night
00:01:49 sky essentially. So astronist theory interprets the origins of religion and
00:01:56 the history of religious experience as having been heavily influenced by human
00:02:02 observations and subsequent wonderment of the night sky. Okay, so as you can
00:02:08 probably tell, astronism is a cosmocentric but also a astronomical
00:02:15 religion, so it sees the night sky as the kind of portal really between humanity
00:02:23 and divinity. So the astronomical world is that realm through which
00:02:31 astronists engage and come to know God essentially. Okay, and this kind of
00:02:40 points to the origins of not only astral ecstasy but the whole astronist
00:02:47 religious experience. There are many experiences that, or many categories
00:02:55 of experiences, that have emerged both with the founding of astronism but also
00:03:01 before astronism that relate to humanity's observation of the night sky
00:03:08 and these have produced religious experiences in much the same way that,
00:03:14 you know, in Christianity there may be various different kinds of religious
00:03:19 experiences, you know, in relation to Jesus Christ, for example, or in relation
00:03:25 to a particular saint. It's similar in astronism. The source that the
00:03:34 astronomical world is, this sort of source of spirituality, but this also as
00:03:39 well, this source of existential meaning, has produced these different kinds of
00:03:47 religious experience. Okay, so this theory or this sort of interpretation of the
00:03:53 astronomical world has been used really or has been the sort of underlying
00:04:03 theme of human observations of the night sky, even influencing, you know,
00:04:12 scientific advancements as well. We're going to look at sort of astronality,
00:04:17 but I also have explored astronality earlier in the previous season, I think,
00:04:23 but it has also influenced sort of pre-astronist religions, so things like
00:04:29 cosmism, but also even earlier religions like astrology and even astrology as
00:04:37 well. Okay, so it is only in my time when the experience of astral ecstasy as a
00:04:47 form of religious ecstasy was actually kind of solidified. So, yes, there have
00:04:54 been reports throughout history of human beings looking up at the night sky and
00:05:00 going into some kind of, you know, religious experience or trance or sort of
00:05:07 religious ecstasy, if I want a better word. And there are reports of that, and
00:05:13 of course the manifestation of some of these astral cults and religions in
00:05:19 ancient times certainly at the basis of those would have been some kind of, you
00:05:25 know, religious ecstasy based on observations of the night sky or
00:05:30 celestial phenomena. But really I've tried to kind of formalize the category
00:05:38 of astral ecstasy as a distinct form of religious ecstasy, okay, because I do
00:05:46 think that those two things, I do think astral ecstasies are distinct from other
00:05:52 kinds of religious ecstasy, okay. I also interpret there to be two forms of
00:05:59 astral ecstasy. There is the natural or uninduced form, and then there is the
00:06:05 astro-psychonautic form, which is obviously the induced form. I want to say
00:06:11 right now that I've only, myself, I've only ever engaged in the natural or
00:06:18 uninduced form of astral ecstasy. There is quite a lot of debate around, I would
00:06:28 say, which form is superior. I think the position of the astronaut institution,
00:06:35 and certainly my position, is that, you know, we don't discourage astro-psychonautics,
00:06:43 but also at the same time we wouldn't necessarily encourage that either. There
00:06:49 are ways of experiencing astral ecstasy that do not necessarily need to involve
00:06:56 taking some kind of substance. And so, you know, I don't want the institution to
00:07:02 be some kind of promoter of drug-taking or anything like that. So I think there
00:07:10 is that stance there, that clear stance of, we're not going to stop you from
00:07:16 doing it, but at the same time we're not going to encourage you to do it either.
00:07:21 Yes, there is an acknowledgement that if you take certain drugs, if you do take
00:07:27 certain hallucinogenics, psychotropics, you can reach astral ecstasy status and
00:07:36 you can sort of go into these sort of trances and ecstasies from those drugs.
00:07:44 But at the same time, I do think that a natural astral ecstasy is different from
00:07:54 an induced one, just because of the level of dedication you have to have and the
00:08:04 level of astronality you have to master and the sort of understanding you have to
00:08:10 achieve in a way, to achieve or to be granted essentially by God in order to
00:08:19 undergo the astral ecstasy. Just taking a substance and doing that seems to be a
00:08:26 little bit more of a circumvention, really. You're kind of avoiding all of that
00:08:34 work that needs to go into actually experiencing an astral ecstasy, and there
00:08:42 has to be work that is involved in that. So my position on that is more obviously
00:08:51 geared towards the natural uninduced form, because I think that that really is more
00:08:57 astronist, I would say. It's more using our natural astronality and our natural
00:09:09 scope more. So I would encourage anyone to only focus on the natural or uninduced
00:09:17 form. But at the same time, I've spoken to people who have engaged in
00:09:23 astro-psychonautics. I do get emails, communications every so often from people
00:09:30 who have said they've gone into outer space through their psychonautic
00:09:41 experience. So they've seen space exploration taking place or even aliens.
00:09:49 They've seen other extraterrestrial beings through their trips. And that's not
00:09:58 bad. It isn't bad. It's not an immoral thing, I don't think. But I think that's
00:10:06 why I've included it here, that there are those two distinct forms. There are those
00:10:11 two distinct forms, and I think that there are also questions that still kind of
00:10:17 remain a little bit unanswered. Questions regarding whether the afflation, whether
00:10:24 the knowledge, if at all, if you receive any knowledge at all, from an induced
00:10:30 astral ecstasy compares to the knowledge or is comparable to the knowledge
00:10:36 achieved or received through an uninduced or natural astral ecstasy. My position
00:10:43 at the moment is that the natural astral ecstasy, the afflation, the knowledge,
00:10:48 the transcendental knowledge that is gained through that experience is higher.
00:10:54 It is purer and so can be trusted more than one that is induced. Okay. So again,
00:11:02 there are some important epistemological differences between astral ecstasy
00:11:10 that is uninduced and one that is induced. I think that there are some really
00:11:15 important distinctions to make there, particularly because astral ecstasy
00:11:22 and other similar astronist spiritual experiences are essentially serving
00:11:31 the function of providing knowledge. Okay. They are a way for individuals
00:11:41 to receive greater what we call afflation. So afflation is transcendental
00:11:48 knowledge. It is knowledge about the salvific journey of transcension,
00:11:53 which is, of course, the central astronist doctrine. And so the more we can learn
00:12:01 about transcension, the better off we will be. So everyone, all astronists
00:12:07 are encouraged to engage in sort of astronist spiritual experiences,
00:12:12 astral experiences, to try and achieve these astral ecstasies to get more knowledge.
00:12:19 So that is something that is very much encouraged in the astronist religion.
00:12:23 We want you to have these kinds of experiences and we want you to share
00:12:28 the knowledge you receive during these experiences with us. We want you to share
00:12:33 that with us so then it can be interpreted by the institution and redistributed
00:12:40 to the astronist community. So there is this really important concept
00:12:46 in astronism called, sometimes I've called it like shared revelation.
00:12:51 And it's this idea that we're all equal in astronism. Yes, I'm coming to have
00:12:59 founded astronism, but there is no reason why another person couldn't also have
00:13:08 similar experiences to what I have. And there's probably other people in the world
00:13:14 who have been engaging in astral spiritual experience for longer than I have.
00:13:21 And I've always had that kind of humbleness and I've always tried to look
00:13:28 for mentors myself. I'm still young. I'm probably younger than most of the people
00:13:33 watching this video maybe. So I've never tried to say that I have all the answers
00:13:39 and anything like that. My role is to encourage and is to popularize
00:13:48 astral spiritual experience. That's my role. In order to increase the afflation,
00:13:55 this sort of a body of transcendental knowledge that we have. OK, that's my role.
00:14:03 And of course, I've been lucky enough to experience astral exoduses so far in my life.
00:14:11 And they have provided me with the knowledge to be able to write things like the Omnidoxy
00:14:17 or even to, you know, even to write the treatise that I'm doing now,
00:14:21 which is the Astrodoxy, or even to do lectures like this to be able to talk about
00:14:26 and understand transcension in astronism. OK. And even to found astronism itself.
00:14:33 So I think that's really important, this idea of shared revelation,
00:14:38 that in astronism we do have this wonderful sort of community that shares knowledge
00:14:45 with each other. And so it is a big job to decipher through all that knowledge
00:14:53 what is right, what is wrong. You know, is certain knowledge helpful?
00:14:58 Is it progressing transcension or is it not? I'm not saying that all knowledge
00:15:04 that is received through astral ecstasy is relevant to transcension.
00:15:08 It might not be. So there are issues that have to be managed regarding sort of afflation
00:15:17 and the knowledge that is received through astral ecstasy.
00:15:21 And of course, that's the role of the astronist institution, which obviously I'm still the leader of.
00:15:27 So I have a big hand in sort of exploring that knowledge whenever I receive it from someone.
00:15:36 So, you know, that's why I created the institution to kind of manage all of that.
00:15:41 You know, even when I've gone, when I've gone to the stars.
00:15:46 So the point is that, yes, I've had many experiences so far and hopefully I will continue to do.
00:15:57 But you could also too. You could also too. And I'm on the same level as anyone else.
00:16:05 Yes, I'm striving to reach what I call Comitanhood.
00:16:10 Even though my name I've chosen is Comitan, I think that there is also this sort of status of Comitanhood,
00:16:17 which which I think is this kind of ability to manifest astral ecstasy,
00:16:26 to induce oneself into astral ecstasy and to master that experience.
00:16:34 Because as you can imagine, when you enter an astral ecstasy, there's all this knowledge that is flowing through you.
00:16:42 And whether you accurately write that knowledge down accurately later is another question altogether,
00:16:50 whether you can actually handle that experience.
00:16:53 I know when I was writing the Omnidoxy that I was going through quite a difficult time with that because I was receiving all of this knowledge.
00:17:02 And it was very hard to process, very, very difficult to process.
00:17:07 And some people have said that when they've read the Omnidoxy, they've been like, wow,
00:17:11 it just seems like you had so much to say that sometimes it can be quite hard to follow.
00:17:17 And that shows my youth, that shows my naivety, that shows my inability, really,
00:17:25 to master that knowledge right at the beginning of my astronaut's journey.
00:17:30 Hopefully, as I continue through my life, my description of transcension will get better,
00:17:38 will get clearer, and my understanding of transcension will get clearer and better.
00:17:45 And so I'm on that journey. OK, so the key point is, without rambling on, that we have this idea of shared revelation.
00:17:55 And that astronism really is, yes, it is a religion.
00:18:00 Yes, it is a philosophy, but it really actually is a knowledge bank.
00:18:06 It is a knowledge source. It is a knowledge systematizer.
00:18:14 It is organizing this knowledge that we have about transcension.
00:18:19 OK, and that is the main function of the astronaut's belief system.
00:18:25 OK, so anyway, let's get back to what I was talking about.
00:18:29 So we've got here the cometanic experience. So this is what I experienced when from the age of 15 years old.
00:18:37 Some of you will maybe know my story that I, astronism started off as a fictional religion of my character that I'd created called Jesse Millett,
00:18:52 which is a kind of fictional teenage detective. And as my experiences with the night sky intensified,
00:19:02 my connection to the night sky intensified, astronism, as we call it now, I didn't call it that then,
00:19:11 but astronism, as we call it now, was beginning to form. OK, the basic concepts were beginning to form.
00:19:19 Cosmocentrism, early ideas about transcension, for example, were beginning to form around, you know, between when I was sort of,
00:19:29 you know, maybe not 15, but certainly by the age of kind of 16, 17, 18, these things were kind of beginning to form.
00:19:39 But it really did all begin when I was 15. And that was this sort of idea that, yes, I will develop this philosophy.
00:19:47 I had no idea at that time what it would turn into. I had no idea that I would be experiencing astral ecstasies in a couple of years time.
00:19:58 But that's what happened. It just kind of snowballed and intensified.
00:20:03 And obviously the Omnidoxy is a product of that time. OK, so I've described my experience,
00:20:16 my experiences of astral ecstasy as actually lasting only for a relatively short time.
00:20:23 None of my astral ecstasies have lasted for more than an hour. Now, that is different, actually, from some of the people that I've spoke to,
00:20:32 especially those who can kind of who've engaged in induced astral ecstasy or astro-psychonautic experiences.
00:20:41 They've said to me that they've been out for maybe a couple of hours sometimes.
00:20:47 So, you know, there is sort of differences there. A lot of my ecstasies tended to be around 20 minutes to half an hour.
00:20:59 No more than an hour, though. And so when I had my first astral ecstasy, I was on my own.
00:21:09 I was well, one of them that I experienced, maybe not the first one,
00:21:13 but certainly one of the most famous ones that I experienced was not far from here, actually, where I'm filming this.
00:21:20 It was in a sort of an enclosed enclosure, really, like a forest, not forest, a woodland enclosure.
00:21:30 And I could see the night sky above me.
00:21:34 It was late at night and I was walking home and something was just drawing me to this sort of woodland area that I already knew.
00:21:42 I already knew about this sort of opening where you could.
00:21:49 There's a word for it where you've got sort of this grass area and there's trees all around it, but it is kind of an open grass area.
00:21:58 Anyway, you could see up to the night sky. It was kind of this wonderful natural telescope, really.
00:22:05 And I just sort of knelt down. I didn't feel in control of my body, really.
00:22:10 And that was something that I would say to people that just to describe this experience.
00:22:17 I felt that. First of all, that I was being drawn to that area by something that was beyond me.
00:22:31 Yes, it was me who was physically walking there, but I do feel that there was something within me that was pushing me there.
00:22:40 In my rational mind, I probably wouldn't have gone there because if you can imagine, this was at night.
00:22:48 Anything, anyone could have been hiding in the woods or whatever, you know.
00:22:54 But when I think about it now, you know, it could have been maybe quite dangerous, you know, to be on my own there.
00:23:02 But my rational mind wasn't there that night and it wasn't. Something else had taken over, basically.
00:23:09 And I knelt down and then I began to see these visions. I got very emotional.
00:23:18 I think that's one thing with Astral Ecstasy. I got very, very emotional and even starting to get emotional now over it.
00:23:27 But I looked up at the night sky and I was thinking about all these ideas that I had had about transcension and the future of humanity and outer space.
00:23:40 And my absolute love and wonderment for the night sky had become so intense.
00:23:48 If you can imagine that intensity that I experienced.
00:23:55 And I went into some kind of trance, really, some kind of altered state of consciousness.
00:24:02 And I felt that I was in outer space. I obviously wasn't physically. I was still on the ground.
00:24:11 I was still kneeling down. I'll tell you about this in a minute.
00:24:16 But I felt that I was in outer space.
00:24:23 I was having visions of the human future in outer space. So I could see space stations and spaceships.
00:24:34 And the astronomical phenomena were just that celestial objects were just flying past me.
00:24:39 Comets and meteors, those kind of things. There were stars all around.
00:24:44 There was planets nearby. Everything was close. And that's why I describe it as feeling as though I was in outer space, because it did feel like I was.
00:24:55 There was planets here, there was planets there, almost within touching distance.
00:24:59 Obviously, they weren't. But there was this vision that was taking place.
00:25:05 And at this time as well, my mind was being filled with new knowledge.
00:25:16 And this is the key part. My mind was being filled with new knowledge, with what we call afflation or transcendental knowledge.
00:25:26 And new words, new concepts. That's what I mean when I'm talking about knowledge, new words, new concepts.
00:25:38 New doctrines, new ideas, new beliefs.
00:25:41 Yeah. And this lasted. Well, I didn't feel like it lasted for 30 minutes or so, but it did.
00:25:52 I felt that it was in a way much quicker than that, really.
00:25:57 I did feel that it was only maybe a couple of minutes long. But for some reason at that time, time went differently.
00:26:04 I don't know why. Time seemed to go a lot slower in this experience.
00:26:11 But time in the real world here was going as the normal rate.
00:26:17 By the time that I came out of this experience, you can imagine it.
00:26:23 I was gone into this vision experience. I was on my own in this woodland area.
00:26:32 It was at night, obviously, because that's when the stars were out.
00:26:35 That's when I could get into this experience.
00:26:39 And I just kind of collapsed on the floor and my senses began to come back.
00:26:51 That's one thing I would say is that when you're going through this astral ecstasy, your senses completely go.
00:26:58 You have no sense of cold being cold because it was quite cold.
00:27:03 I think it was the particular the ecstasy that I'm particularly thinking about took place in February time.
00:27:11 And it was at night time and it also was a clear sky. So it would have been it was quite cold.
00:27:17 You know, it was quite cold, but I didn't have any experiences of being cold at all during the ecstasy.
00:27:24 It was only when the ecstasy was beginning to tail off, you know, towards the end of it,
00:27:30 that I started to feel some of those senses coming back.
00:27:34 And they hit me very sharply when I got out of the vision, got out of the ecstasy.
00:27:40 And I suddenly felt all of the world return in a way.
00:27:45 This this my senses returned. I suddenly felt very, very cold.
00:27:50 The cold hit me like that, you know, I had been digging my hands into the grass and I'd gone down to this sort of the soil underneath in the mud.
00:28:05 And so there was mud all over my hands. And I could I began to feel that as my ecstasy was was ending.
00:28:14 And, you know, the main thing that I remember coming out of it was how cold I was, how cold I was,
00:28:21 because I wasn't moving for what was half an hour or so.
00:28:27 And I was in this sort of, you know, this cold winter's night, basically.
00:28:33 It wasn't snowing, but it was cold.
00:28:39 And that was the main thing I remember is that coming out of it and think, oh, my goodness, I'm so freezing cold.
00:28:46 I'm really, really cold. And my hands, as I said, were all muddy.
00:28:52 That had happened also previously in previous astral ecstasy that I'd had.
00:28:58 This was this happened. Probably three years ago now, this particular one that I'm talking about.
00:29:07 It is one of the later ones that I had, actually. But, yeah, it happened about three years ago.
00:29:13 And if I'm remembering rightly, the date of this one, I think it was.
00:29:18 Yeah, it was just before Covid. It was just before the Covid lockdown. It was in February 2020.
00:29:23 And now it's now February 2023. So this happened three years ago.
00:29:28 And what I do also remember, the main thing as well that I remembered is that suddenly all of this knowledge that I'd received during this sort of half an hour's worth of ecstasy, religious ecstasy, was then beginning to flow through me, was then beginning to flow through my intellect.
00:29:50 And suddenly I had all these ideas that had been built up that had culminated through the ecstasy.
00:29:56 And so I had to kind of grab my phone that had fallen out of my pocket. It was on the floor.
00:30:02 And I started to quickly write all of this stuff down.
00:30:08 You know, I had to really write all these ideas down really quick because they were kind of just flowing out, flow all these ideas and concepts and new words, new words that I'd never even heard of before.
00:30:23 Some of those I included in this dictionary because that came out the year after. So some of them will be in there.
00:30:31 Some of them have also gone into the astrodopsy as well.
00:30:36 And that's the main thing that I remember. It was the visions that I had, how cold I was and how, towards the end of it, and how my senses started coming back, how I'd lost all of my senses.
00:30:51 I really lost all my senses. I lost my touch. My sense of touch had gone completely. I didn't feel the ground at all.
00:31:03 I did not feel the mud on my fingers. I did not feel the cold, the temperature.
00:31:10 Obviously, I also lost the vision of the material world here. I lost that completely because I was having these visions of being in outer space.
00:31:22 So I didn't even think that I was on this planet anymore. So I completely lost my sort of sense of vision, even though I was seeing these visions taking place.
00:31:38 What else? See, touch, hear again, hearing. I didn't hear them.
00:31:43 There's a dual carriageway that is just beyond where this sort of woodland area is.
00:31:52 And you can hear the cars going past because it isn't that far away, you know, from where you sit, where I was kneeling at this time.
00:32:04 And I didn't hear those at all. The hearing had gone completely. I'm trying to think of all the senses.
00:32:13 See, touch, hear, taste. Well, I didn't really taste much. I don't remember about taste.
00:32:22 And what's the other sense? I can't even think of it right now. See, touch, hear, taste, smell.
00:32:30 Yeah, I mean, yeah, I don't remember. There wasn't any distinct smell anyway when I was before I'd gone into the ecstasy.
00:32:38 But certainly, you know, again, I wouldn't have been able to smell anything either.
00:32:43 So I think that with an astral ecstasy, you do lose all of those senses.
00:32:50 And also as well, something that was interesting that happened was at the beginning and how quickly I was able to get into this state, into this sort of what I call ecstatic state.
00:33:03 It took only really a couple of minutes, only really a couple of minutes, which distinguishes that particular ecstasy with others that I've had,
00:33:14 which have taken longer to kind of achieve that astral ecstasy sort of experience.
00:33:22 So, you know, this ecstasy got going in a couple of minutes.
00:33:28 All I had to do was kneel down in this wooded area and suddenly this started to take place.
00:33:40 And I lost all my sense of all my senses and started to experience.
00:33:45 I was looking up at the night sky and started to experience the movement as well.
00:33:52 That's another important thing. There's so many different aspects. And I've completely gone off the course of my lecture now.
00:33:58 But I think people find this interesting. When I was looking up at the night sky, what began first was the movement of the stars.
00:34:11 That's what I remember first. As the visions were beginning to take hold, there was astronomical phenomena in the night sky that was not there, that was not supposed to be there.
00:34:25 And so the stars began to move, they began to come closer.
00:34:30 And I felt this kind of immersion into the astronomical world, this kind of uplift experience going into the astronomical world.
00:34:39 And the stars began to move and that was kind of the transition, I would say, between me there on the ground on Earth and me experiencing this vision of actually immersion into outer space.
00:34:59 And of course, that was the majority of that vision that took place that night.
00:35:08 So there you go. That's an experience. That's my description of my experience of an astral ecstasy.
00:35:16 So the main thing, though, is that, you know, through these experiences, you get all of this afflation, what I call afflation.
00:35:29 This is transcensional knowledge that can then be taken forward. And of course, it is based on that knowledge that I received, both through astral ecstasy and other types of astronauts religious experience.
00:35:45 That's what I used to develop astronism.
00:35:49 OK, so and it was only after maybe a couple of years of of astronism slowly forming that I was actually able to achieve these astral ecstasies.
00:36:07 OK. Also, what I would say is that, you know, the Omnidoxy, a lot of that was written following an astral ecstasy.
00:36:18 Not all the time, but some of it, not a lot, but probably some of it was written following an astral ecstasy.
00:36:26 Also, at the same time, there is this concept of Indressy, this experience of Indressy, which is not where you see visions of outer space,
00:36:36 but certainly many new ideas and intense sort of series of ideas are brought down to you through the astronomical world and they come to your intellect.
00:36:49 And that is what allows you to produce, you know, these kind of documents.
00:36:54 And so what I would say is, is that astral ecstasy is just one type of astronauts religious experience that can bring about this kind of afflation, this transcendental knowledge.
00:37:08 OK, so and I've just I've just described some of this stuff.
00:37:14 I'd forgot that this slide was right here, but I've kindly included some of the main components of an astral ecstasy from my experience.
00:37:28 As I said before, you know, astral ecstasy is a form of religious ecstasy, but also it's a type of altered state of consciousness, as I just described.
00:37:40 And much like other forms of religious ecstasy, astral ecstasies include a reduction in external awareness.
00:37:48 So a kind of trance. OK, which is certainly what I experienced.
00:37:54 Part of, obviously, that reduction in external awareness is losing your senses for that time, because your senses are how you engage with the material world.
00:38:05 So, you know, reduction in external awareness involves no longer being able to touch or feel things or see the world as it is here,
00:38:18 or even feel, like I described earlier, the coldness of that night completely gone.
00:38:25 I didn't feel that at all. But my body, my body was still there, though, obviously.
00:38:32 My body was still on the ground. My body was still feeling that cold.
00:38:38 And that's one thing I would say, like I said earlier, that was so distinctive, is that by the end of the ecstasy, as it was coming to an end,
00:38:48 I really began to feel how cold I really was. I don't think I've ever been as cold as that.
00:38:56 And even so, even though it was a February night, it wasn't particularly cold.
00:39:02 You know, it wasn't like I said, it wasn't snowing. You know, it wasn't particularly cold.
00:39:08 It was just generally cold for a February night.
00:39:13 But there was something that made it where I was really freezing cold, as if it was snowing, you know, as if it was really wintry.
00:39:27 So I think that's part of that. Well, maybe the outer body experience could be described of as well.
00:39:36 I think there is a part of an element of that there.
00:39:39 So anyway, you've got this reduction in external awareness. You've got an expansion of internal awareness.
00:39:48 So this kind of mental, spiritual, but also I would encompass those two words with metaphysical experience.
00:39:58 You do become more internal aware. What I mean by that is you begin to receive all of this knowledge.
00:40:06 OK, now it's not as though there's a voice. For me, there was no voice that was telling me these things.
00:40:16 And I have spoken to other people who've experienced religious ecstasy and even my own grandfather,
00:40:24 who sadly passed away before I was able to talk to him directly about this.
00:40:27 But he experienced the phenomenon of locution, which is where a voice is actually talking to you and actually giving you this knowledge.
00:40:35 That wasn't my experience and it never has been my experience.
00:40:39 The experience I've had with astral ecstasy has always been what we call an interior locution.
00:40:46 So it is basically you receive this knowledge directly to your intellect and you know it's going in.
00:40:55 You know it's going in. That's one of the things. That's one of the aspects of this.
00:41:00 You know you are receiving this knowledge, but you're not really processing it.
00:41:07 You're processing it only when the vision is finished.
00:41:11 And that's why I suddenly began to have all these ideas when I was walking home that night.
00:41:18 And I had to get to type them all in in my phone as I was walking back home.
00:41:27 The reason why is because that's when my brain was then processing all of this knowledge.
00:41:33 So yes, I had received that knowledge directly to my intellect from, for want of a better word, God, if you will,
00:41:43 through the scope, through, you know, through, well, yeah, scope coming down through the astronomical world,
00:41:50 if you believe in the astronist understanding of it.
00:41:55 Got all this knowledge coming directly to my intellect, but I wasn't really processing it in my brain.
00:42:02 And I think there is a difference there.
00:42:04 I think there is a difference between the brain processing something and you receiving something, you receiving knowledge.
00:42:13 The point of where I was actually writing it down and putting it into words was my brain processing that knowledge.
00:42:21 OK, so that emerges from this expansion and internal awareness.
00:42:26 Yeah. This which is related to receiving that knowledge.
00:42:32 And then you've also got emotional euphoria. There may also be physical euphoria as well.
00:42:38 So, you know, like goosebumps and your hair sort of lifting up on your arm, for example.
00:42:45 I have that experience one or two times, as I mentioned earlier, when you're entering the astral ecstasy experience,
00:42:55 you have this emotional euphoria and I can even feel it a little bit now, even when I think about it, you start crying.
00:43:03 You, you well up, you know, your whole body kind of has this kind of tingling feeling.
00:43:10 So that's kind of more physical. That's kind of interrelated with the emotional.
00:43:16 You're having all of these thoughts, these wonderful thoughts, these wonderful thoughts about the wonderment of the night sky.
00:43:25 The beauty of the revelation of transcension, for example.
00:43:30 The possibilities that await humanity, you know, in the astronomical world.
00:43:40 So you've got all these wonderful thoughts that are racing through your mind at the beginning of the ecstasy.
00:43:47 This causes emotional euphoria and also physical euphoria as well.
00:43:54 OK, and even right now, I'm trying not to cry because I can, you know, I can still.
00:44:02 I can still remember the kind of emotional euphoria that you get when you go through this.
00:44:09 It is amazing, for want of a better word. That doesn't even capture it.
00:44:14 That word doesn't even capture it. But it is it is profound, I would say.
00:44:19 Anyway, so that's that. And then number four is the astral ecstasy is accompanied with both visions, as I mentioned before.
00:44:28 So, you know, the material world, as you see it, begins to transition into a...
00:44:38 I'm trying to think of... this is the part I don't really understand, to be honest.
00:44:43 It transitions into another reality, I suppose.
00:44:49 As I mentioned earlier, at the beginning of the ecstasy that I was that I had in my mind at the time,
00:44:57 earlier on, the stars began to move and there began to be phenomena in the night sky that was not physically there.
00:45:09 But in my mind, in my... I could see it in my vision. I could see it.
00:45:19 I could see these phenomena changing and me being immersed up, upwards, this kind of upward lifting.
00:45:27 And I remember feeling that kind of upward lifting to the astronomical world.
00:45:32 Of course, I wasn't physically going there, but certainly in that maybe metaphysical sense, I was definitely there.
00:45:40 And so you have these visions. You also have prophecies as well.
00:45:46 So, for example, in my experience, I had prophecies about transcension and all of the wonder that transcension will bring,
00:45:59 all of the great rewards that transcension will bring humanity.
00:46:03 And so, of course, that's why transcension has become the central doctrine of the Astronist religion as a result of that.
00:46:10 So certainly the other aspect of astral ecstasy is visions and prophecies as well.
00:46:18 And of course, that's also related to afflation and the knowledge you get from these ecstasies.
00:46:24 But it is ultimately so profound, so, so profound.
00:46:33 It really just demonstrates how not only the truth of Astronism, it solidified my belief in Astronism.
00:46:44 It really did. People think that I have always been so totally dedicated to Astronism, and I have.
00:46:53 But there have been times where I've been doubtful, where I've been wondering, you know, what even is this religion?
00:47:00 Sometimes I feel like it's not even mine, that it belongs to something else, that I'm just kind of some kind of channel
00:47:09 or some kind of medium for something else that is birthing this religion out of me, you know.
00:47:22 And, you know, these experiences of astral ecstasy always kind of rejuvenated my belief in Astronism,
00:47:34 my trust in Astronism, my belief in transcension. They heightened that, they intensified that belief.
00:47:42 Yeah, so I think that there are differences between, you know, as a result of that,
00:47:49 there are differences between an astral ecstasy and a religious ecstasy.
00:47:52 Obviously, the main difference is the source that you are receiving the ecstasy through.
00:48:01 Of course, for astral ecstasies, it is the night sky or a particular astronomical object in general, yeah, that triggers the ecstasy.
00:48:13 And I think I've written there at the bottom, you know, it is also about this involvement of astral transcendence,
00:48:20 you know, this idea that this feeling that you are floating up or you are being immersed into the astronomical world.
00:48:28 And that's what I call astral transcendence. So there are various different aspects to it.
00:48:34 And I hope that more people experience this phenomenon of astral ecstasy.
00:48:40 I really do, because it is absolutely awe-inspiring and just wonderful, just beautiful as well, I would say. Glorious.
00:48:52 So there has been, of course, a particular astronist interpretation of astral ecstasies that has emerged,
00:49:01 particularly with the development of Astronism as a distinct religion.
00:49:08 And so Astronism regards one's experience of astral ecstasy to be a sign of one's heightened scope
00:49:16 and even perhaps a certain sense of chosenness to impart afflation,
00:49:22 which is, of course, as I've said, analytic knowledge or knowledge of transcension to fellow astronists to support the progression of transcension.
00:49:29 So certainly those who have experienced astral ecstasies are regarded in Astronism to have some level of chosenness.
00:49:38 You know, that these people have been chosen, have a certain predisposition for astral ecstatic experience,
00:49:49 which then produces knowledge that can then be given to fellow astronists.
00:49:55 And so there is certainly that element of chosenness there and that really scope,
00:50:02 the complement of scope is at the basis of astral ecstasy experience.
00:50:08 Yeah. So the chosenness that is attributed to a person who experiences an astral ecstasy is called exemplinarianism.
00:50:18 This is to demonstrate that anyone who experiences an astral ecstasy sort of begins their role as an exemplar, as an exemplary astronist.
00:50:32 And obviously the nature of an astral ecstasy is debated in astronist philosophy.
00:50:37 This is something that is of central importance, really, to astronist philosophy, particularly astronist epistemology,
00:50:46 because a lot of the knowledge that has come to found astronism and to develop the doctrine of transcension is that has come from astral ecstasy or related experience.
00:51:03 So it's really important for astronist philosophy and astronist epistemology to get a good understanding of where that knowledge is actually coming from.
00:51:11 And of course, in astronism, it is believed that the knowledge that that is received through astral ecstasy ultimately comes from a divine source,
00:51:22 through divine intervenience in the astronomical world, through scope that is then providing that knowledge to to the human intellect.
00:51:33 OK, so an astral ecstasy is essentially understood as a sapient beings closer connection to divinity through the astronomical world.
00:51:43 And of course, yeah, I agree with that. It is you are closer to divinity than than you are just being a normal person going about your daily life.
00:51:53 In that moment of astral ecstasy, you are closer to divinity. You are closer to, well, you've been immersed into the astronomical world.
00:52:02 And so I think a good way of understanding it, for those who aren't quite sure, is the astronist principle that humanity is here on the ground.
00:52:13 Then you've got the astronomical world in between and then you've got God up at the top there.
00:52:18 And the astronomical world is that intermediary. Now, through an astral ecstasy,
00:52:24 what happens is that the human intellect raises up to the astronomical level.
00:52:32 And so when you get to that astronomical level, you are then closer to divinity.
00:52:38 You are then able to engage with divinity in new and profound ways.
00:52:44 And one of those ways is that you receive that knowledge, you receive that what I call afflation, that knowledge of transcension.
00:52:54 OK, and that's why that's the sort of mechanics behind it, is that you are immersed into the astronomical world.
00:53:05 And because the astronomical world is the intermediary, you then are able to engage with divinity in new and profound ways.
00:53:16 OK, there is also obviously major side-irinical significance of astral ecstasies.
00:53:23 What I mean by that is, is that astral ecstasies play an important and a significant role, particularly the afflation,
00:53:32 the knowledge that we receive through astral ecstasy plays a significant role in the side-irine economy, in the pursuit to achieve transcension.
00:53:43 OK, and this is what we call side-irinical, side-irinical significance.
00:53:51 It is significant because astral ecstasies are a way of producing new knowledge about transcension.
00:53:58 If we didn't have these astral ecstasy experiences or other kinds of astronaut religious experience,
00:54:05 then we wouldn't be able to understand transcension in new ways.
00:54:11 The revelation of transcension is progressive. It's a progressive revelation.
00:54:16 So, you know, that makes astronism different from other religions, particularly the Abrahamic religions,
00:54:22 where they often state that, you know, revelation has ended and there's nothing new that can be found.
00:54:28 No, in astronism, the revelation of transcension is progressive,
00:54:33 and we are constantly finding out new and profound things about transcension.
00:54:39 And obviously, one of the ways that we do that is through this experience of astral ecstasy.
00:54:44 So that's why astral ecstasy has that side-irinical significance,
00:54:49 because it has the potential to progress transcension along through the knowledge that it produces.
00:54:56 OK, so astral ecstasies have the capability to progress transcension, as I just said.
00:55:05 And of course, you know, their significance also emerges in the form of reception,
00:55:11 which is also called transcensional revelation. OK.
00:55:17 And of course, you know, even the idea of the side-irine economy itself was produced through,
00:55:24 certainly through Indrasee, through my own Indrasees, through my own transcensional revelation.
00:55:32 So we wouldn't even know about the side-irine economy if it wasn't for these kind of astral religious experiences.
00:55:40 So that's why transcension is a progressive revelation.
00:55:45 Long after I'm gone, long after I've gone to the stars, will transcension and the revelation that sits at the basis of transcension, that will continue.
00:55:56 OK, new knowledge will form. New knowledge will come through new visionaries, through new astral exorcists.
00:56:08 Not exorcists, that's a different thing. We'll need to think of a word maybe to refer to someone who experiences an astral ecstasy.
00:56:17 Essentially, once I'm gone and long after I've gone,
00:56:23 there will be new people who experience astral ecstasy that will bring about new knowledge regarding transcension,
00:56:30 new understandings for their time and obviously new ways to progress transcension.
00:56:37 OK, so that shows that side-irinical significance there.
00:56:41 I think also as well, of course, there is a very strong relationship between the astronauts concept of astronality and the experience of astral ecstasies.
00:56:52 So for those who don't know, astronauts is a quality in human beings as a sapient species,
00:57:00 as an intelligent species that astronism describes.
00:57:04 It is our ability, it is our capacity to experience, to perceive the astronomical world.
00:57:12 OK, so if we didn't have astronality, certainly we wouldn't be able to observe the astronomical world.
00:57:18 And also, not in the visual sense, I mean in the intellectual sense.
00:57:24 Of course, those creatures, for example, gorillas or orangutans, for example, they can still view the stars.
00:57:33 They have vision to view the stars, but there isn't that connection that relates what they see to their intellect and to their beliefs and to their...
00:57:45 They're not receiving knowledge through the stars.
00:57:49 They're not receiving that knowledge through the astronomical world.
00:57:52 And so that's the difference between sapience and sentience in the astronauts religion.
00:57:57 OK, obviously, human beings then have this astronality.
00:58:03 This is what opens us up to receiving knowledge from the astronomical world.
00:58:09 And of course, through mastery and even and of course, also through chosenness.
00:58:15 Some of us experience astral ecstasy.
00:58:18 And I'm just one person who's, you know, experienced astral ecstasy.
00:58:22 I've been lucky enough to experience it. And I've wanted to kind of systematize, organize my knowledge that came from my experiences.
00:58:34 And that's obviously what has come and emerged into astronism today.
00:58:40 So astral ecstasy is also rooted possibly in William E. Kelly's psychological construct of Not Caledor, which obviously has had a significant impact on astropsychology.
00:58:58 But is itself similar to astronality in the sense that it's about our perception of the night sky and the sort of knowledge that we receive from the night sky.
00:59:10 But it's very much more of a psychological construct rather than a religious construct, which is what astronality is.
00:59:17 It's more of a religious, philosophical construct.
00:59:21 So astrological, astral ecstasy is also a sign of one's mastery or journey to mastering their astronality.
00:59:30 And of course, as I mentioned earlier, the pinnacle of that journey is what I call Comitant Hood.
00:59:36 Even though I am Comitant, I don't feel that I've reached Comitant Hood yet.
00:59:41 Whether I actually ever will retrieve, achieve that is another thing. I'm not sure.
00:59:46 Hopefully I will. Comitant Hood is that kind of satisfaction within the person, that kind of contentment that you have fulfilled your potential in terms of transcension.
01:00:04 That you have received all the knowledge you could from the night sky, that you have done and applied that knowledge, that you have done with that knowledge what is supposed to be done with it in the world.
01:00:16 And that you have progressed transcension along, that you've contributed to transcension.
01:00:21 And we all have different sort of possible levels of what could be Comitant Hood for each person.
01:00:29 But generally Comitant Hood involves experiences of astral ecstasy, indressy, and certainly progressing the transcension in a significant way.
01:00:41 And so I do feel like I'm on that journey, of course, but I do need to live up to my name of Comitant.
01:00:48 I'm a fan. So, you know, I've still got a long way to go yet.
01:00:53 But that's exciting as well. So astral ecstasy is essentially a product of the intensification of one's astronality.
01:01:03 And of course, in the astronaut's view, astronality is crucial to producing ecstasy.
01:01:11 Crucial to producing astral ecstasy.
01:01:14 So I just want to look at some undercurrents now of astral ecstasy.
01:01:19 So as I mentioned earlier during my description of one of my astral ecstasies, I mentioned about this sort of immersion into the astronomical world.
01:01:28 This kind of absorption into the astronomical world.
01:01:32 And of course, that is what takes place.
01:01:34 There is this kind of uplift, this kind of elevation into the astronomical world in a metaphysical way, not in a physical way.
01:01:41 I wasn't physically in outer space, but I was certainly metaphysically there.
01:01:47 And so, of course, this immersion is part of and is certainly causing the astral ecstasy.
01:01:53 And so that's again why I mentioned earlier the beginning of the astral ecstasy experience, my description of it, that, you know,
01:02:03 I began to think and have all these ideas about transcension racing through my mind at that time.
01:02:12 And that's certainly what enabled that immersion, that elevation up to the night sky.
01:02:20 We also have this idea of permeation.
01:02:24 So the external stimuli of the astronomical world have an effect on one's perceptions and behaviours.
01:02:32 So this idea that, you know, the night sky in a way can kind of control what you're doing.
01:02:39 It kind of takes over your body.
01:02:41 And this kind of permeation of your physical body by the astronomical world, by that, well, by scope, but also by astronality,
01:02:53 by all these things working together, certainly that spiritual aspect of the astronomical world.
01:03:00 And since I mentioned that, I'll just go to the bottom aspect there of that astral spiritualism, which certainly is an aspect of this,
01:03:07 you know, this idea that the use of astral ecstasy, sorry, astral energy for the purpose of enhancing or inducing an astral ecstasy.
01:03:16 Yep. So using that spiritual energy that is flowing through the astronomical world, which, of course,
01:03:22 believes in astronism, using that to kind of both enhance, but also to induce one's astral ecstasy.
01:03:31 You also have this thing of elevation, like I said, you know, uplifting to the astronomical world.
01:03:37 And ultimately, this is both an astral experience.
01:03:41 So this is any kind of experience in which astronality is used or invoked.
01:03:47 And also it's an astral transcendence as well.
01:03:50 So this idea that you are actually entering outer space during that astral ecstatic experience,
01:03:59 you are actually entering outer space in a metaphysical way, just not in a physical way, but you are there.
01:04:06 You do feel like you are there. Your mind is there, essentially. Your intellect is there, certainly.
01:04:15 OK, so I think that's the difference. Your physical body, your brain may not be there,
01:04:21 but your intellect is there. Your consciousness is there, shall we say.
01:04:26 Yeah. So there are those different undercurrents taking place regarding astral ecstasy.
01:04:33 Another thing interesting to consider as well are some of the after effects of an astral ecstasy.
01:04:40 And there are both physical and psychological symptoms that I have exhibited during my experience,
01:04:48 after my experiences of astral ecstasy. So the physical symptoms include migraines.
01:04:55 Definitely, I used to get quite a lot of migraines and very, very, very bad ones when I'd experienced an astral ecstasy.
01:05:04 Fatigue, definitely fatigue. Very, very tired afterwards. Really worn out.
01:05:13 Also nausea as well. Huge amounts of nausea, even to the point of being sick sometimes.
01:05:22 So some quite kind of horrible, really, physical symptoms of an astral ecstasy.
01:05:32 Because that's the stress on the physical body that the astral ecstasy demands.
01:05:38 Yes, you are being taken out of your body, in a sense, up to the astronomical world.
01:05:45 But at the same time, you've got all this new knowledge that has been very intensely interjected into your mind,
01:05:55 in a very short period of time. And so I think that that's part of the reason why you have migraines,
01:06:03 why you feel very tired and fatigued. And also as well, why you feel nauseous as well,
01:06:09 following this kind of ecstatic experience. Psychologically, there are symptoms.
01:06:15 And again, I have experienced all of these. Certainly reclusion.
01:06:21 So you can feel as though, you know, the rest of the world is a distraction from your job to bring about transcendent
01:06:35 and to understand this knowledge that you've retrieved, that you've received from the astronomical world.
01:06:41 So there is that element of reclusion. You begin to push to one side other aspects of your life to kind of focus on.
01:06:50 And the knowledge that you've received, and certainly I have definitely been involved in that.
01:06:57 Definitely. That also leads to obsession. So I've definitely experienced obsession over the knowledge that I've received.
01:07:09 But again, that is justified in many ways by the fact that if if you weren't obsessed with with the knowledge you received,
01:07:18 then would it really would astronism itself have emerged? Certainly not in my life.
01:07:25 No, I had to become reclusive. I had to become obsessed with this knowledge that I've received,
01:07:32 with this revelation of transcension in order to be able to understand it, in order to be able to present it to people,
01:07:42 to understand it and to present it. Yeah. So definitely that reclusion element and the obsession element certainly kind of,
01:07:53 you know, interact and intertwine together. And then you also got that third symptom there of impulse.
01:08:02 Certainly when I was, certainly after my astral ecstasies, I would experience sort of impulses.
01:08:13 I would be quite anxious. I would also have these kind of impulses to, you know,
01:08:20 if I ever if I receive knowledge after an astral experience, after an astral ecstasy, sorry,
01:08:26 I would have to write that down immediately. I'd have to stop whatever I was doing and, you know,
01:08:32 type that down in my computer, for example, to actually get that knowledge down.
01:08:37 So that caused a little bit of anxiety as well. So quite horrible physical and psychological symptoms there,
01:08:47 really, of the astral ecstasy, which is kind of sad, really. It really does.
01:08:59 Two things. It really does contrast with the experience itself, which is very euphoric,
01:09:06 very euphoric and wonderful. And there is nothing bad about it when you're going through the experience.
01:09:13 So it very much contrasts with the experience itself, some of these after effects.
01:09:18 What I would also say is, and this is probably an explanation of these after effects for people who are kind of wondering,
01:09:24 well, you know, would a genuine ecstasy, you know, would it cause all these these kind of horrible symptoms afterwards?
01:09:32 Yes. Do you know why? Because you come back to your limited self.
01:09:39 You could say that during an astral ecstasy, you are for a time, not completely unlimited,
01:09:46 but you are less limited than what you are most of the time.
01:09:52 And to come back to your limited body, your limited mind, your limited frame of understanding and perception,
01:10:02 your limited intellect, to come back to that after going to such heights, such astronomical heights,
01:10:13 causes your sort of limited self to really be pushed to the brink, to really be pushed to the limits, to its limits.
01:10:23 And so I think that these physical symptoms and these psychological symptoms are a reason.
01:10:33 They are the reason why you, the limitation of your body and mind is the reason why you experience these physical and psychological symptoms.
01:10:45 So, again, it just kind of reiterates, doesn't it, that pervading law of limitation that I'm always going on about when I'm talking about astronism.
01:10:52 It does, in this very helpful way, I think, in terms of the astral ecstasy experience,
01:11:01 it does really reveal our limitations in that way, because it shows these physical and psychological symptoms we have
01:11:11 just from experiencing that elevation to the astronomical world and our limitation,
01:11:19 or certainly less limitation for a time.
01:11:23 So related practices and also related experiences to astral ecstasy include astral meditation.
01:11:32 So I've been known to do that many, many, many, many times, you know, meditating under a night sky, for example.
01:11:40 And you can reach astral ecstasy from that. But I think it is different, though.
01:11:47 Actually, I think you probably can reach astral ecstasy experience from astral meditation, but I don't think I could.
01:11:56 For me, astral meditation, you are much more calm. You are much more calm.
01:12:02 And astral ecstasy is actually quite chaotic, I would say. Yes, it is euphoric.
01:12:09 Yes, it is. It is wonderful. It is an amazing experience.
01:12:17 But I wouldn't necessarily say that you are calm or that you are at peace, really.
01:12:26 I wouldn't say that at all. I would say that you are being fed all of this knowledge.
01:12:31 And actual fact, it is pushing you to the brink of your limited mind.
01:12:38 And whereas I see astral meditation really more as a sense, as a means of tranquility,
01:12:45 as a means of kind of simplifying your mind, getting getting getting rid of the cobwebs, for want of a better word,
01:12:56 in your mind and trying to kind of simplify things. That's where I see the role of astral meditation.
01:13:03 Astral ecstasy is the kind of complete opposite of that.
01:13:07 You are being fed all of this new knowledge. And because of that, your mind is racing.
01:13:15 Your mind is not at peace. Your mind is not tranquil in that moment.
01:13:22 So actually, what I would say just to kind of fix what I said earlier,
01:13:27 I would say that astral meditation is really a way, is really a good practice to do after you've experienced an astral ecstasy.
01:13:36 Maybe not straight afterwards, but maybe a couple of hours later or maybe even a couple of days later,
01:13:44 to kind of quiet your mind after having received all of this knowledge.
01:13:49 So I would actually place these two experiences of astral meditation and astral ecstasy on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
01:13:59 Really, some people have told me that they've been able to achieve astral ecstasy through meditation.
01:14:07 I don't know. Maybe maybe there's two different types of astral ecstasy.
01:14:10 But I certainly didn't feel at peace or tranquil, really, when I was experiencing my astral ecstasy.
01:14:21 Which sounds like it wouldn't be euphoric, but it was. But there was a lot going on, I mean, at the time of the astral ecstasy.
01:14:28 And so I don't know. I just relate meditation as to being more kind of simplifying everything, you know,
01:14:35 and getting rid of all that extra knowledge that you don't need, you know, and trying to quiet your mind.
01:14:40 Whereas an astral ecstasy is kind of, you know, the epitome of your mind racing, you know, and being noisy.
01:14:51 So I think that's the difference. We've also got the experiences of celestial mode and indressy.
01:15:00 I'm going to do some lectures on those two experiences, maybe even next season now or maybe sometime in the future,
01:15:10 because they are different from astral ecstasy.
01:15:12 What I would say is a general rule is that celestial mode is something that you can induce yourself.
01:15:19 You can put yourself into the celestial mode to receive afflation.
01:15:24 Whereas indressy is receiving afflation in a way that you've not induced yourself.
01:15:32 So in that sense, it does have some parallels with astral ecstasy.
01:15:36 But the difference between an astral ecstasy and an indressy is that there are no visions that accompany an indressy.
01:15:44 OK. And you don't have all of that sort of altered state of consciousness, for example, with an indressy,
01:15:53 which is obviously what you do have with ecstasy there as well.
01:15:57 There's also related practices of wondermentation, which is basically just looking up at the night sky in sort of that wonderment,
01:16:06 in sort of that awe, which is, of course, at the basis of the astral ecstasy experience, isn't it?
01:16:12 And then, of course, you've got philosophising as well, which is something that you do after the astral ecstasy.
01:16:18 That is what you do to kind of systematise that knowledge that you've received.
01:16:23 So the Omnidoxy, the Astrodoxy that I'm writing right now, those treatises are essentially philosophisations.
01:16:33 They are products of philosophising on the knowledge that I've received through astral ecstasy, through my celestial mode, but also through indressy as well.
01:16:44 OK, so the philosophising is something that you do after the astral ecstasy to kind of try to understand all this knowledge that you've received.
01:16:54 So just the final element as well, of course, is that, you know, astral ecstasy plays a really major role in the astronaut's tradition of mysticism.
01:17:05 You are being brought closer to divinity through an astral ecstasy.
01:17:10 And that's a really important point to make. So it's heightening your relationship with divinity, which is, of course, the basis of all forms of mysticism.
01:17:20 You've also got astral ecstasy as being scope itself.
01:17:25 So astral ecstasy is literally scope in effect. It is literally scope and effect in the human intellect.
01:17:33 And so it is entirely the responsibility of the person to act upon the knowledge that is received during the ecstasy for the purposes of both, you know, initiating progress, transcendion and contributing to that process of transcension.
01:17:53 And the whole reason why astral ecstasies even take place at all is all for the purpose of transcension. I think that that is really important.
01:18:03 Astral ecstasies wouldn't take place if transcension didn't exist. Astral ecstasies are for progressing transcension. That is their purpose, ultimately.
01:18:18 So there are sort of attempts, of course, to induce astral ecstasy through astronality.
01:18:23 And, of course, this is the main way in the astronauts religion that we achieve astral ecstasy.
01:18:29 I was speaking earlier about the astral psychonautic tradition, which is the use of external substances to, you know, like hallucinogenic drugs, psychotropic drugs to achieve astral ecstasy.
01:18:43 Again, as I said earlier, you know, astronomers, astronomers doesn't condemn that, but also at the same time, it wouldn't necessarily encourage that because we see that we can achieve astral ecstasy through astronality.
01:18:57 So we don't need to use external substances, essentially. We can do it naturally.
01:19:04 OK, we don't need that external substance. Everything we everything we need to achieve an astral ecstasy is already in us.
01:19:13 OK, and of course, there is an element of chosenness there.
01:19:18 So, you know, you may go through your whole life trying to master your astronality and doing the astronauts practices to try and achieve an astral ecstasy.
01:19:28 And you just don't achieve and you just don't achieve that. You just don't experience that experience, that ecstasy.
01:19:36 And that's OK. You might be disappointed with that. And, you know, you might want to go and do some kind of induced form.
01:19:47 But I would make a distinction, a really heavy distinction between an induced astral ecstasy and a natural astral ecstasy.
01:20:01 And I think, again, as I said earlier, there are epistemological concerns, whether those two things are actually very different.
01:20:08 I think that they are. And I'm going to explore that more on a philosophical, fundamental level as to whether those two types of experience are different.
01:20:21 I suspect that they are, but I need to explore that a little bit more to to kind of understand how they are different.
01:20:31 I may even in the future and, you know, I don't want to have to do this, but I might even have to engage with astral psychonautics in order to understand myself very clearly.
01:20:44 The difference between a natural astral ecstasy and an, you know, an induced astral ecstasy.
01:20:52 OK, because how can I really how can I really tell the difference between those two if I haven't experienced the induced form?
01:21:02 You know, so that is at the back of my mind always.
01:21:07 And I'm always thinking about that, really. And that might be something that I come to in the future.
01:21:12 Maybe not. We'll see. You know, maybe I can sort of speak to someone who's also who's experienced both forms and try to decipher from that.
01:21:21 To decipher from them the differences based on their descriptions.
01:21:25 But, you know, we'll have to see. We'll have to see about that.
01:21:28 But the whole purpose is that, you know, an astral ecstasy is supposed to progress transcension.
01:21:34 And so, you know, for the for the astronauts institution to be to for it for an ecstasy to be to be classified an astral ecstasy, it has to progress transcension in some way.
01:21:47 There has to be some kind of aflational knowledge, some kind of transcensional knowledge that that is produced through the ecstasy,
01:21:58 which then distinguishes a hallucinogenic trip from an astral ecstasy.
01:22:05 And I think that's probably the main difference between the two.
01:22:10 You know, a hallucinogenic trip may not produce any aflation, may not produce any knowledge that progresses transcension or even relates to transcension.
01:22:21 And so that will be the difference. OK, so.
01:22:25 But I'm going to explore that further, probably in the astrodoxy as I'm writing it at the moment.
01:22:30 So I'll explore that in my next treatise. OK, people.
01:22:35 So I hope you enjoyed this lecture. I think it's a really interesting one.
01:22:40 And hopefully you know, you appreciated my my description of one of my astral ecstasy experiences.
01:22:49 I will talk about this more at some point in the future.
01:22:54 You know, it is an interesting area of astronism and astronaut experience.
01:22:58 So, you know, it is something that I want to keep talking about.
01:23:01 And I think it is really important, though.
01:23:05 Take a look at the Astronaut Statement, which is a book I published last year.
01:23:09 For those who haven't already looked at that, take a look at some of my websites, particularly astronism.com and cometan.org.
01:23:18 And I will see you in the next episode of Conversation with Cometan.
01:23:24 Thank you all for listening. And goodbye, everybody.
01:23:27 (Music)