Below you can find the entire second chapter - after the introductory chapter - of my upcoming book "Soul Retrievals by Astral Projection".
Publication will be sometime in 2026, available as a free e-book on platforms or media that are still to be announced.
Publication will be sometime in 2026, available as a free e-book on platforms or media that are still to be announced.
Meeting The 'Dead'
Encounters In The Astral With The Deceased
Don't be afraid. It is not like in the TV show 'The Walking Dead' although they might indeed be caught by us walking around rather aimlessly at times. However, it is not always that grim or even hellish. At best it could be as hellish as their past human life was.
Of course, some souls to be helped (which I call 'retrievees') can even end up in a kind of time loop processing over and over again the bad situations they've gone through. This could for example be a war zone or a site of a fatal accident they had. So we might really have to encounter a soldier on a battle field he just died on. Yes, it is true that you have to go to these places as a 'retriever (helper / assistant)' sometimes but be assured that we do so from a 'higher level' so that there is actually nothing to be feared. It is more like an interactive movie to us. You know it's a movie. And so you know you can't be hurt.
Also remember that in a way these people are not dead because death as such is just the transition from the defunct physical body to the next level. These people have only made it to the very next level which is in 'old-fashioned view' the so-called Etheric or Astral Plane. From there they can even manifest on the physical plane as ghosts and apparitions or cause telekinetic effects (e.g. knocking on walls, overthrowing or moving objects, etc.). Some call the part of the Astral Plane that represents the physical visually and energetically also the Etheric Plane; thus we have what we can call 'etheric' effects.
Normally, however, the recently deceased stay on the astral plane trapped in their own versions of reality which might or might not resemble the human Earth life they just quit. They are in need of help to be reminded or kind of 'woken up' to the fact that there is more to 'life' than this continued dismal (earth- or hell-like) existence.
The 5 main (partly overlapping) reasons for the limiting and self-inflicted state of the (ex-)human astral dweller can be described with the following 'traps', which is why I also created the meaningful acronym 'TRAPS' for them:
T.R.A.P.S. = Trauma, Refusal, Attachment, Prison, Superstition
In detail:
1. Trauma: This happens quite often to people who had to exit fast and often unexpected. They are more or less still in a kind of shock state after a traumatic ending of their life, such as in the case of a violent, sudden and unexpected death (or both). Murders, war casualties and accidents come to mind first and foremost, but not exclusively.
2. Refusal: This type predominantly displays stubborness and ignorance. They have not even realised that they are now 'dead' at all. They cannot accept the 'reality' of their situation and will not move forward. Reasoning with them as a retriever helper can be quite difficult. This type is the kind that also might appear as ghosts on the physical plane once in a while.
3. Attachment: Their preoccupation with all earthly matters and worries for the ones they left behind might blind them to the truth that they at some point must move on. Unlike (2) they might well know that they have recently died. Others simply don't, so there is an overlap with the Refusal-type indeed while this one is still more earth-bound than ignorant. Superstition (5) might also play a role here since some of them are materialists.
4. Prison: As shocking as it might be, there can indeed be other 'entities' or discarnate 'humans' at play. It might happen at lower and 'hellish' levels where groups are gathered around beliefs and 'values. It might also happen in your own personal prison with your own looped thought patterns surrounded by usually dreamed up thought form personalities (like video game NPCs - non-player characters). However, there are also the so-called Belief System Territories (BSTs) on the higher astral levels. These 'communities' are in some cases 'officially' organised by 'religious leaders' of prominent religions and beliefs. These leaders, appearing as priests or gurus or even 'holy' people, also appear to be ex-incarnates although Kurt Leland also mentions other types. Sometimes they are peers or family members who are even less awake and cannot be retrieved (yet). Hence you might encounter them in retrieval situtations when they try to 'hold back' the retrievee who is about to 'wake up' and convince him to stay. They are no danger to you though. I call them also 'background actors'. In my view, these 'BSTs' are also a kind of 'prison camp', although at least they appear less bleak and dreary than the group consciousness environments of the lower astral zones. People can be quite happy in these BSTs living with like-minded 'believers'. Some indeed do so for a long time while others only stay on a short-term basis until they (are helped to) realise their entrapment. In the long run everybody will be 'saved' from there, no matter how long it takes (even if it takes eons). There is still more to be said and therefore this issue will again be discussed later on.
5. Superstition: This point is in some cases linked to (4) but rather deals with the indiviual's viewpoint and psychology. Wrong beliefs held during your earthly life can become (mind) traps in that life itself but also later in the afterlife, especially if they were dogmatically pursued and upheld. It can be religious, atheist/materialist or any kind of philosophical beliefs of the individual about what would happen (or not happen) to them after death. So this is why legions of people also get trapped in these so-called 'BSTs' after death because they are simply 'attracted' to them. It is self-imprisonment without knowing it. In lower astral 'hells' they are also bound together by certain beliefs of how their reality has to be, some even carry on with their earth(-like) existence there which is not always pleasant.
Generally speaking, in the afterlife you go the areas, planes, levels or assume states of being you resonate with. If this is your state of mind after death then you are likely to 'end up' in these 'hollow heavens' (BSTs) as author and projector Wiliam Buhlman calls them:
It's common for humans to continue their beliefs after death. Because of this, every religion on Earth, both past and present, is reflected in the afterlife. Each faith creates their own consensus reality firmly molded by the group thought of the local inhabitants. (...) [M]ost souls will accept the first environment they experience after their death; they know no better.
- William Buhlman, Adventures In The Afterlife, Source: Bibliography
The 19-20th century Theosophist C.W. Leadbeater was one of the authors who also wrote about some of these reasons extensively in his book 'Invisible Helpers'. Note that he mentions 'anxiety' as a cause for what I subsumed under 'Attachment' (3) in my TRAPS system:
[M]any of the dead very considerably retard the process of dissolution by clinging passionately to the earth which they have left; they simply will not turn their thoughts and desires upward, but spend their time in struggling with all their might to keep in full touch with the physical plane, thus causing great trouble to any one who may be trying to help them. Earthly matters are the only ones in which they have had any living interest, and they cling to them with desperate tenacity even after death. Naturally as time passes on they find it increasingly difficult to keep hold of things down here, but instead of welcoming and encouraging this process of gradual refinement and spiritualization they resist it vigorously by every means in their power.
Of course the mighty force of evolution is eventually too strong for them, and they are swept on in its beneficent current, yet they fight every step of the way, thereby not only causing themselves a vast amount of entirely unnecessary pain and sorrow, but also very seriously delaying their upward progress and prolonging their stay in astral regions to an almost indefinite extent. In convincing them that this ignorant and disastrous opposition to the cosmic will is contrary to the laws of nature, and persuading them to adopt an attitude of mind which is the exact reversal of it, lies a great part of the work of those who are trying to help.
It happens occasionally that the dead are earthbound by anxiety - anxiety sometimes about duties unperformed or debts undischarged, but more often on account of wife or children left unprovided for. In such cases as this it has more than once been necessary, before the dead man was satisfied to pursue his upward path in peace, that the helper should to some extent act as his representative upon the physical plane, and attend on his behalf to the settlement of the business which was troubling him. (...)
Another case very frequently encountered on the astral plane is that of the man who cannot believe that he is dead at all. Indeed, most people consider the very fact that they are still conscious to be an absolute proof that they have not passed through the portals of death; somewhat of a satire this, if one thinks of it, on the practical value of our much vaunted belief in the immortality of the soul! However they may have labeled themselves during life, the great majority of those who die, in this country at any rate, show themselves by their subsequent attitude to have been to all intents and purposes materialists at heart; and those who on earth have honestly called themselves so are often no more difficult to deal with than others who would have been shocked at the very name.
- C.B. Leadbeater, Invisible Helpers (1915 edition), Chapter 'Work Among The Dead', Source
Encounters In The Astral With The Deceased
Don't be afraid. It is not like in the TV show 'The Walking Dead' although they might indeed be caught by us walking around rather aimlessly at times. However, it is not always that grim or even hellish. At best it could be as hellish as their past human life was.
Of course, some souls to be helped (which I call 'retrievees') can even end up in a kind of time loop processing over and over again the bad situations they've gone through. This could for example be a war zone or a site of a fatal accident they had. So we might really have to encounter a soldier on a battle field he just died on. Yes, it is true that you have to go to these places as a 'retriever (helper / assistant)' sometimes but be assured that we do so from a 'higher level' so that there is actually nothing to be feared. It is more like an interactive movie to us. You know it's a movie. And so you know you can't be hurt.
Also remember that in a way these people are not dead because death as such is just the transition from the defunct physical body to the next level. These people have only made it to the very next level which is in 'old-fashioned view' the so-called Etheric or Astral Plane. From there they can even manifest on the physical plane as ghosts and apparitions or cause telekinetic effects (e.g. knocking on walls, overthrowing or moving objects, etc.). Some call the part of the Astral Plane that represents the physical visually and energetically also the Etheric Plane; thus we have what we can call 'etheric' effects.
Normally, however, the recently deceased stay on the astral plane trapped in their own versions of reality which might or might not resemble the human Earth life they just quit. They are in need of help to be reminded or kind of 'woken up' to the fact that there is more to 'life' than this continued dismal (earth- or hell-like) existence.
The 5 main (partly overlapping) reasons for the limiting and self-inflicted state of the (ex-)human astral dweller can be described with the following 'traps', which is why I also created the meaningful acronym 'TRAPS' for them:
T.R.A.P.S. = Trauma, Refusal, Attachment, Prison, Superstition
In detail:
1. Trauma: This happens quite often to people who had to exit fast and often unexpected. They are more or less still in a kind of shock state after a traumatic ending of their life, such as in the case of a violent, sudden and unexpected death (or both). Murders, war casualties and accidents come to mind first and foremost, but not exclusively.
2. Refusal: This type predominantly displays stubborness and ignorance. They have not even realised that they are now 'dead' at all. They cannot accept the 'reality' of their situation and will not move forward. Reasoning with them as a retriever helper can be quite difficult. This type is the kind that also might appear as ghosts on the physical plane once in a while.
3. Attachment: Their preoccupation with all earthly matters and worries for the ones they left behind might blind them to the truth that they at some point must move on. Unlike (2) they might well know that they have recently died. Others simply don't, so there is an overlap with the Refusal-type indeed while this one is still more earth-bound than ignorant. Superstition (5) might also play a role here since some of them are materialists.
4. Prison: As shocking as it might be, there can indeed be other 'entities' or discarnate 'humans' at play. It might happen at lower and 'hellish' levels where groups are gathered around beliefs and 'values. It might also happen in your own personal prison with your own looped thought patterns surrounded by usually dreamed up thought form personalities (like video game NPCs - non-player characters). However, there are also the so-called Belief System Territories (BSTs) on the higher astral levels. These 'communities' are in some cases 'officially' organised by 'religious leaders' of prominent religions and beliefs. These leaders, appearing as priests or gurus or even 'holy' people, also appear to be ex-incarnates although Kurt Leland also mentions other types. Sometimes they are peers or family members who are even less awake and cannot be retrieved (yet). Hence you might encounter them in retrieval situtations when they try to 'hold back' the retrievee who is about to 'wake up' and convince him to stay. They are no danger to you though. I call them also 'background actors'. In my view, these 'BSTs' are also a kind of 'prison camp', although at least they appear less bleak and dreary than the group consciousness environments of the lower astral zones. People can be quite happy in these BSTs living with like-minded 'believers'. Some indeed do so for a long time while others only stay on a short-term basis until they (are helped to) realise their entrapment. In the long run everybody will be 'saved' from there, no matter how long it takes (even if it takes eons). There is still more to be said and therefore this issue will again be discussed later on.
5. Superstition: This point is in some cases linked to (4) but rather deals with the indiviual's viewpoint and psychology. Wrong beliefs held during your earthly life can become (mind) traps in that life itself but also later in the afterlife, especially if they were dogmatically pursued and upheld. It can be religious, atheist/materialist or any kind of philosophical beliefs of the individual about what would happen (or not happen) to them after death. So this is why legions of people also get trapped in these so-called 'BSTs' after death because they are simply 'attracted' to them. It is self-imprisonment without knowing it. In lower astral 'hells' they are also bound together by certain beliefs of how their reality has to be, some even carry on with their earth(-like) existence there which is not always pleasant.
Generally speaking, in the afterlife you go the areas, planes, levels or assume states of being you resonate with. If this is your state of mind after death then you are likely to 'end up' in these 'hollow heavens' (BSTs) as author and projector Wiliam Buhlman calls them:
It's common for humans to continue their beliefs after death. Because of this, every religion on Earth, both past and present, is reflected in the afterlife. Each faith creates their own consensus reality firmly molded by the group thought of the local inhabitants. (...) [M]ost souls will accept the first environment they experience after their death; they know no better.
- William Buhlman, Adventures In The Afterlife, Source: Bibliography
The 19-20th century Theosophist C.W. Leadbeater was one of the authors who also wrote about some of these reasons extensively in his book 'Invisible Helpers'. Note that he mentions 'anxiety' as a cause for what I subsumed under 'Attachment' (3) in my TRAPS system:
[M]any of the dead very considerably retard the process of dissolution by clinging passionately to the earth which they have left; they simply will not turn their thoughts and desires upward, but spend their time in struggling with all their might to keep in full touch with the physical plane, thus causing great trouble to any one who may be trying to help them. Earthly matters are the only ones in which they have had any living interest, and they cling to them with desperate tenacity even after death. Naturally as time passes on they find it increasingly difficult to keep hold of things down here, but instead of welcoming and encouraging this process of gradual refinement and spiritualization they resist it vigorously by every means in their power.
Of course the mighty force of evolution is eventually too strong for them, and they are swept on in its beneficent current, yet they fight every step of the way, thereby not only causing themselves a vast amount of entirely unnecessary pain and sorrow, but also very seriously delaying their upward progress and prolonging their stay in astral regions to an almost indefinite extent. In convincing them that this ignorant and disastrous opposition to the cosmic will is contrary to the laws of nature, and persuading them to adopt an attitude of mind which is the exact reversal of it, lies a great part of the work of those who are trying to help.
It happens occasionally that the dead are earthbound by anxiety - anxiety sometimes about duties unperformed or debts undischarged, but more often on account of wife or children left unprovided for. In such cases as this it has more than once been necessary, before the dead man was satisfied to pursue his upward path in peace, that the helper should to some extent act as his representative upon the physical plane, and attend on his behalf to the settlement of the business which was troubling him. (...)
Another case very frequently encountered on the astral plane is that of the man who cannot believe that he is dead at all. Indeed, most people consider the very fact that they are still conscious to be an absolute proof that they have not passed through the portals of death; somewhat of a satire this, if one thinks of it, on the practical value of our much vaunted belief in the immortality of the soul! However they may have labeled themselves during life, the great majority of those who die, in this country at any rate, show themselves by their subsequent attitude to have been to all intents and purposes materialists at heart; and those who on earth have honestly called themselves so are often no more difficult to deal with than others who would have been shocked at the very name.
- C.B. Leadbeater, Invisible Helpers (1915 edition), Chapter 'Work Among The Dead', Source
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