Wake Up

Exploring the Mind's Reach: Remote Viewing and Astral Travel

• Douglas James Cottrell PhD • Season 2 • Episode 11

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What happens when your consciousness travels beyond your physical body? Can your mind truly perceive distant locations or peek into the future? The boundaries between different psychic abilities often blur in popular understanding, but they represent distinct facets of human consciousness worth exploring.

Dr. Douglas James Cottrell draws from over four decades of metaphysical practice to illuminate the crucial differences between remote viewing, mind projection, astral travel, and clairvoyance. Remote viewing allows you to see specific distant locations as if you're physically present, while mind projection grants greater freedom to move through physical obstacles. The most profound distinction comes with astral travel—when your spiritual body temporarily leaves your physical form while maintaining connection through what mystics call the "silver cord."

Have you ever experienced that startling jolt while falling asleep, where you suddenly "jump" in bed? Dr. Cottrell explains this common phenomenon as your soul rapidly returning to your body after an out-of-body experience. This protective mechanism ensures your spirit remains connected when something disrupts your astral journey. He shares fascinating anecdotes from his practice—helping locate missing jewelry, lost phones, and even individuals in distress through his psychic abilities. Most compelling are the cases where his precise descriptions led to discoveries in unexpected places, demonstrating how psychic perception operates beyond our logical frameworks.

Whether you're curious about developing your own intuitive abilities or simply fascinated by consciousness exploration, this episode provides valuable insights into the mechanics of psychic perception. Subscribe to Wake Up with Dr. Douglas James Cottrell for more illuminating conversations that bridge spirituality and practical wisdom, and visit douglasjamescottrell.com to explore self-development resources that can help you awaken your own intuitive potential.

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Announcer:

Welcome to Wake Up with Dr Douglas James Cottrell, your source for helpful information, advice and tips to live your life in a mindful way in this increasingly chaotic world. For over four decades, Dr Douglas has been teaching people how to develop their intuition and live their lives in a conscious way. His news and views of the world tomorrow, today, are always informative and revealing. And now here's your host, Dr Douglas James Cottrell.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Welcome to the Wake Up, a broadcast where curiosity leads to deeper understanding. I'm your host, Douglas James Cottrell, and my good friend and co-host Les Hubert is here with me, along with editor Jack Bialik, as we delve into the fascinating realms of life, metaphysics, spirituality and the pressing questions that shape our world. Good morning, Les.

Les Hubert:

Hi Doug, good to be with you again. We have a great question from our viewers concerning remote viewing, clairvoyance, mind projection and astral travel. What is the difference between these and can any of them be dangerous?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, you remind me if I forget, because that's a whole book of information there. So the short form is remote viewing means you're seeing something at a distance. You're physically in one place and you're able to project your vision to a faraway place and you can actually like, you're reading something, you're right there, on the spot. Mind projection is something similar, except that your mind is out there. You're like a disembodied mind or like looking, you don't see yourself, so your mind is looking. That mind projection can go through things. Where remote viewing you tend to be going around things. But your mind can go through things like into the ground, looking for whatever, minerals or water or gold.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Well, mind projection being similar, you can go to the universe, you can go anywhere. But you have a reference point, where remote viewing is like, well, if you take your hand and you bring your hand up to your nose, your hand is in front of your face and that's what you're looking at and only that. So you are looking at a specific picture and you are um, they don't have no reference points around it, whereas mind projection you can see yourself taking that trip down the street, around the corner, around to the park, going through the park. So that's the two similarities and difference in a very simplistic way.

Douglas James Cottrell:

What was the other one, Les, that you were asking for?

Les Hubert:

Clairvoyance and astral travel.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Okay, well, astral travel means that you take your spiritual body with you and it's like you can feel everything around you. There is a so-called connection, tether or cord, sometimes called the silver cord, and it connects you now, the disembodied spirit, your soul flying if you will. And that connection, that tether, connects you to your body. And the evidence of that tether, that connection, is that, while you're out there exploring some faraway place, something happens like a sound, a click, something startles you. Well, that tether has been like an elastic band that's been stretched, it's like a bungee cord. And as soon as that fear or fright has happened, it contracts. And our viewers may have had this experience that they jump in bed. Yeah, they hit the bed and they bolt in bed. When that happens, that's when you've had an out-of-body experience. You've been astral projecting, you've been soul traveling. See, I'm giving you the same names for the same thing. And then something happened and it startled you and so, in order to prevent yourself from being disconnected, the tether being cut, the preservation of you, your soul, is to run back and jump in the body. Now, sometimes you see people sleeping and it looks like you can see the outline of their body about two inches. You see a little bit of a shadow or a light. That's the soul body coming up out of the physical body. It's starting to separate. And if you want to have some fun with it, if you have a partner or if you're a parent and you see somebody sleeping on the couch or so, if you go over and you take your hands very slowly and bring them down on their chest as you get to about two inches, you'll feel something. And then, as you continue pushing your hands down, you are actually pushing their soul, their astral body, back in their body. bodyA nd as soon as your hands get down almost to touching them, their eyes will open and they'll wake up. It's because while they're asleep, they're having this levitation, as some people call it, this out-of-body experience, this floating, this feeling of wonderful sensation. Well, you can push them back in their body. Okay, that's how you play with it, that's how you give evidence it's happening. But that tether is important because if you get locked out of your body by somebody putting their hand through that tether or passing a piece of paper over your body, as they did to the late, great Edgar Cayce, your soul becomes disorganized, detached and it has a whole lot of trouble getting back into the body. So this tether is like a lifeline, it's like an umbilical cord and it gets you back in.

Douglas James Cottrell:

So the clairvoyance is a combination of being able to remote view, mind project, and to see in the future as well as the past. So you have like 360 degree vision, clairvoyantly, meaning clear seeing. So is it a combination of remote viewing or mind projection or astral traveling? Yes, it is. But the difference usually associated with clairvoyance is time traveling. You see things in a future time, but you can also go back and you can see things in past times. So clairvoyance means clear seeing. But that's like a snapshot. It's like looking at the background in my video or yours. It's that static shot. Then you can look around and discover more things within the picture, but that you're actually seeing something in time. Now, you can go in other dimensions as well and see things in faraway places, but we usually associate that with dreaming and things that go bump in the night, so that's a little bit different than the mental skills or ability that you asked about.

Les Hubert:

So does one need a target when one is doing remote viewing or astral travel? And if you don't have a target, what happens? You just wander or you just see nothing?

Douglas James Cottrell:

Yeah, it's like a dream. You're just cruising out there in the ethers. So usually that happens in dreams. But if you have some concern, like, say, you're interested in magnetic electrical power, the magnets generating electricity, that's where you'll go. You'll go and you'll see some place where that's happening, perhaps. But if you have a question like: I wonder what's going to happen on Monday when the judge makes his decision, you have a target. You're going there.

Douglas James Cottrell:

And I once had the experience where somebody had a young man and he had a very important case come up. He had been a little naughty and they said is he going to go to jail, is he going to get off? And I said, well, projecting my mind, I said, I see the judge. He has a pair of handcuffs up and he's on his finger and he's waving the handcuffs, swaying back and forth at the fellow, so it looks like he's not going to jail. Time passes by. I talk to the people. I say, whatever happened with that young man in the court case? They said, Douglas, you wouldn't believe it. We thought he was going to jail for sure. The judge picked up a pair of handcuffs and waved them in front of him and said, this is your last chance. If I see you here next time, you'll be wearing these.

Les Hubert:

Wow.

Douglas James Cottrell:

My mind had -- because I was asked, I was given a target: the court, the judge and the time. So I now had accordance of time and location. And because it was the question -- was he going to jail or -- my mind went to that moment when the verdict, decision or the discussion took place. So the more you can narrow something down, the better it is. People ask me, I have helped and participated when somebody goes missing or when somebody has done some self-harm. So you can see the remains somewhere, but not necessarily up close, because it's uncomfortable. So you might see the grassy stuff, the lawn, there might be a stone or a fence, some landmark, and that's what you describe. And then the person doing the searching goes out and they look for that landmark. They see the landmark and then they discover the remains. So you're seeing something that you can identify with -- the landmark, the type of clothing they're wearing, what the position is on the hill or the ditch wherever -- but you don't get up close and personal and see the horror.

Les Hubert:

Can any of these be dangerous to us, Doug?

Douglas James Cottrell:

I don't think so, other than when you go snooping or peeking (when you don't belong) nobody else's welfare. Not allowed, but sometimes you can do it. Now, what do I mean by that? A family comes and, as they did once, they said: my husband is acting a little strange. He hasn't been taking his medication. We don't know where he is. We don't know where to look. He didn't want to be found, he wanted to get away. I saw him underneath a concaved side of a hill. I could see the grass and I could see the vista or the scene in front of the hill. The family went to that exact spot and they looked out over the edge of the grassy area and they couldn't see him. So they went home. He was right under their feet. Oh wow. He heard them, but he stayed there. I was able to give the location, I was able to see him, but they didn't take that extra step of going, of course, down and then coming and looking under the concave part of the hill. But he did come home.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Now, when people ask me to find things, I look, I see something and I might see, as I have one lady who has lost her phone, and I said it's on the floor of your car. Okay, so she went out and looked all around. She drove the car. She got in the driver's side. She looked around, she came back and she said -- either came back or telephoned me -- she said, it's not there. I said I'll look again. I said, it's on the floor. She said no, it's not. I looked all under the driver's seat, whatever. I said, did you look on the other side? No. But she went and had a look and there it was. It was on the other side. So, being able to say it was in the car on the floor, the person just assumed it was in the driver's side, didn't think that it could be both sides. So when you have snapshots of the future clairvoyance, you have to think a little bit, you have to explore. But in most cases we don't believe it. Some would say, yes, your wallet is on the floor underneath the couch. Okay. Then they think, I never sat on that couch, my wallet couldn't be there. And so, they don't look. It doesn't occur to them, maybe their wallet fell out of their pocket on the ground, and then went under the couch all by itself.

Douglas James Cottrell:

One interview at Western University at a radio station, there was people in the sound booth before I was to be on, as a guest and two ladies came out. They heard that the psychic guy was coming on. So, without any how are you or introduction, they said, I lost my ring. Where is it? I said, well, it's nice to meet you too. And I said, well, I see, it's kind of a blue stone, it has a silver setting, blah, blah, blah. I described the reading, or sorry, they described the ring, and she said, yes, that's what it looks like. So where is it? I said I see it on a checkered green and cream colored like a tablecloth or something or a cushion. Looks like it's in the laundry room. Okay, that didn't make any sense. So they didn't find it for some time. And the story that was reported back to me, they went in and they started moving the laundry around and there it was on top of a tea towel. So I would add to this, not frustration, but I would think, how does that happen? Why, when you tell people something, they don't get it?

Douglas James Cottrell:

A very wealthy lady once asked me -- she had five houses in the world -- she said my jewelry, necklace full of diamonds, whatever, is missing. And I said, well, I see it in a shoebox in a closet and it's in the city she lived in. I won't say the name now. And so, nothing happened. And then, as time goes by, the story comes out. The woman's there and her husband. Because she had to fess up to her husband that the jewelry was missing because this was the last day before the insurance wouldn't pay, that they had to tell the insurance it was missing. The lady went into her closet to get dressed, reached up on the shelf, pulled out a pair of shoes and there was the jewelry in the shoes, not the shoe box.

Les Hubert:

Ah, interesting.

Douglas James Cottrell:

That was one that very early on in my career I'll always remember, including just now, and I thought, I mean, couldn't you make the connection, Douglas? You know, like the money or the jewelry was in a shoe box, but it was a shoe, you would think the person would recall, but it's not in their mind. If they don't have it in their mind, they don't see it. And if they don't see it, it doesn't make sense. Then they don't get it.

Les Hubert:

You were going through her mind to see through her eyes, or were you going through--?

Douglas James Cottrell:

No I was looking in the, I was looking in the closet, but this is where the universe plays tricks, this is where the universe throws the curve. I thought about this, and that's a very good observation. I was seeing shoe box and she said it was in her shoes. Now, that was the story. I wasn't in there. I didn't really see whether her shoes were in a shoebox, but that could be. You know, you put the jewelry in the shoes, the shoes in the shoebox. But my take was, I said shoebox, jewelry, in the house, in the closet, in a shoebox, that would be ding! But there was no connection.

Douglas James Cottrell:

The same as other times when I've mentioned things to people. Because it's not in their head yet. You better go to work and get there on time. You don't be late. Well, no, if I go, I'm five minutes late, I work five minutes later, nobody cares. I say, yes, they do. Because they don't see you staying five minutes later. They see you coming in five minutes late. Go to work, be on time. Well, the person didn't, it was a relative of mine. They lost their job and they were so upset because people were complaining they were coming in late all the time. And then I said, yeah, I told you about that, remember. They didn't Didn't believe me because again, I'm staying five minutes later, so I'm okay.

Douglas James Cottrell:

Anyway, the point is that when you're given something prophetically, or an intuitive person sees it, or even yourself, when you have something, it's not in your mind ., It it doesn't make sense ., So so therefore it doesn't register. So when you hear that still small voice, wake up, pay attention and then maybe do a little , r ight., You you have to earn it because Because, I mean, the universe has just given you a ., They've they've helped you find something that you couldn't find, or you know, you've got a gift. You didn't have to pay any ., You you didn't have to do anything.

Les Hubert:

Do they ever use symbolic forms in something like remote viewing? Do they ever speak to you symbolically, or do you see things symbolically, or is it always literal?

Douglas James Cottrell:

No it's literal. I mean, you know, you can see darkly, like you can see something's in a room and you can see it's over there, but you don't see it clearly. But I don't think you'd see something symbolically, like the Jolly G reen Giant means that your garden is going to grow very well. I don't think so. Actually, see your garden would be growing well. Now, for everybody out there who doesn't know who the Jolly Green Giant is, that was a brand, a commercial on TV that the Jolly Green Giant, ho ho ho, would sell. I think he was selling beans and peas at the time, but he would sell canned vegetables.

Les Hubert:

Great commercial. Well, thank you, Doug, for wrapping that up. Hopefully we'll be here again soon. Hopefully people will start to subscribe and to enjoy our podcast and we can continue to share your wisdom with the people out there.

Douglas James Cottrell:

It's great to be here tonight. Subscribe everybody. That's our favor. We appreciate it. Till next time. Peace to everyone. Peace be with you, Les.

Announcer:

Thank you very much for listening to Wake Up. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll be notified when a new episode is posted, and we'd greatly appreciate your review of our show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts to let others know about the great content we're producing. For more about Dr Douglas's self-development classes, books and other related products, please visit his website douglasjamescottrell. com. Until next time, we wish you all of God's blessings: health, wealth and peace of mind.