I have had many interesting experiences on the astral plane. I used to think that these were dreams that called for interpretation, until I discovered that the events that I dreamed about were actually occurring at the time I "dreamed"  that they were occurring.

I recall my awakening to there being something more to these experiences when the following occurred in the 70's. I found myself going through a barbed wire fence, crossing a large field, and entering a place that I thought looked like a monastery. I went into this small simple room. A priest was sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands. I put my arm around his shoulder and whispered words of encouragement to him. He was not aware of my presence, but I could tell that somehow he was responding to my words of encouragement. He began to relax, and appeared less stressed.

When I woke up from this dream I was trying to interpret it in a traditional manner. I was thinking to myself that my spiritual or religious side was symbolically behind a barbed wire fence, felt sad, and symbolized by a Catholic Priest.

This just did not make sense to me. I was in full religious and spiritual statement, why would I dream of being behind a barbed wire fence. Most of all why would I use the symbol of a Catholic Priest when I am a woman, and I am not Catholic. It was very confusing.

A couple of months later I was driving with a friend to the Pacific Coast beach. We went via Boulder Creek to stop by her Mother's house to say "Hi."  After we left her Mother's house, the scene along side the highway began to form a familiar picture. I immediately recognized the barbed wire fence, field, and the Monastery. I turned to my friend and asked her what that place was. She informed me that it was a Priest's retreat.

This gave me goose bumps, and a lot to think about. Of course, this was no proof of anything. I thought perhaps that I had seen this place some time and just did not remember. Even if I saw the place though, how would I know what it was? There were no signs that I could see from the road.

In the late 70's one such experience proved to me that there is more to these experiences than just dreaming. My husband called me at about 3 a.m., ship to shore, as he was a TugBoat Captain, and didn't necessarily have good judgement on time while he was out at sea. When I answered the phone I told him I just had the strangest dream. I was dreaming that a plane of "sports" guys lost altitude in a heavy fog in Ireland. The plane struck a stone wall, and all the people on board were killed. I was there with other spirits, helping the predominantly male group to cross over. I recall cradling a young man in my arms and gently elevating him from his physical body. At the same time I explained to him what had happened. His Guardian Angel was waiting for me to help him adjust. When he recovered from his stunned state, his Guardian Angel guided him to the light.

My husband remarked that it was a strange dream, and we left it at that.

When I arrived at work at Boeing the next morning I recounted this dream to a couple of my co-workers. They just stared at me incredulously. Then they told me that at the same time I had this dream a plane filled with soccer players lost altitude in the fog in Ireland. It crashed into a stone wall. Everyone on board was killed.

I knew then that is was not some coincidence. I started reflecting on many such dreams of working with people that could not see me, and it dawned on me that we do a lot of work on the astral plane but we are usually not aware. We are a lot more complex than we realize.

Many of us want to live more "spiritual" lives. I think that most of us just don't give ourselves enough credit. I see lots of people out on the astral doing good work, encouraging and counseling those in need.

To take these experiences one step further, I have had people report to me that they thought I had spent the whole night, night after night, with them in the hospital. This is not one of two people, but many people. When my poor Mom was in the hospital for a long stay before she departed she was very confused by this. When I came in to see her she would ask if it was really me. The reason is that every night she would see me sitting next to her bed. I often held her hand and spoke words of comfort to her. The nurses told her that she was only dreaming, that I hadn't come in to see her. I want to mention that my Mother was quite a few states away, which prevented me seeing her every night in the physical body.

I figured that all these people were having lucid dreams. Until one experience that really stunned me. My uncle had passed away. I wanted to go to the funeral, but Boeing would not their employees take off for a funeral if the deceased was not an immediate family member. I felt very bad that I could not go to my uncle's funeral. I felt very close to him. About 6 weeks later I was at a family function. When I spotted my Aunt and Cousin I moved toward them to apologize for being able to attend the funeral. Before I could open my mouth, they began telling me how much they appreciated me being at the funeral. They knew it was very hard for me to get off work at Boeing and understood that I could only stay a short time. Then they both said how much my words had comforted them. They were both looking at me with great reverence, something I was not used to from my family. They said of all the cards and consoldences, what I had shared with them helped them the most to deal with their grief. I was so stunned that I couldn't think how to ask them what specifically that brought them such comfort. I wish I knew.

I walked away from that encounter a bit rattled. How can someone be in two places at once? Could they have a dream together that they remember? I don't think so. If I was invisible how did they see me? I asked my Mom and Dad, who were at the funeral, if they recalled seeing me there. Oh that was smart, they thought I was drinking too much wine at the family function. They told me that I couldn't get the day off from work, so I didn't go to the funeral. Two very important people at that funeral saw me. Whatever I said to them, gave them great comfort.

To take this concept one step further, I recall an experience I had at the nail parlor. It was Saturday and the place was packed with women getting their feet, and hands, beautified. A man walked into the shop, his appearance immediately gave cause for concern. He seemed nervous, and had jerky like movements. Everyone there was immediately conscious of his presence, and all reflected a shared tension. He eventually asked one of the employees how much it cost to have his girlfriend's nails done. She told him. He sat down for about 20 minutes. Then he left. He returned in about 10 minutes, and sat again. Thoughts were racing through my mind. I knew that I must have some powerful spiritual tool that I could use, I just couldn't think of one in that moment.

He had been sitting there for about 10 minutes when a unique thought came over me, and I did the following. I imagined that I created an astral body in the shape of a big brown bear. I imagined that the bear going over in front of this guy and making threatening aggressive actions with his paws, claws, and slapping at him to intimidate this guy. The man immediately got up and left in a hurry. The woman that was working on my nails looked up at me and said, "Thank you." I said, "You're welcome." I didn't say any more. I was a bit puzzled. Did she see what I was imaging or imagining?

The next time I went in to have my nails done, I mentioned to her, my curiosity got the best of me. I asked her why she said "Thank you" to me. She said that she knew that I did "something." I asked her if she knew what it was that I did. She said, "No, I just knew that you did something to make him leave."

Okay it could be a coincidence that the guy left when I sent the invisible astral bear over there to threaten his life, but may be not. May be he could feel the bear energetically. Perhaps he felt that he was in danger, and needed to leave. That was really the message I wanted the astral bear to deliver, "Get out or you're dead meat!"

I teach more about astral bodies in my classes. This is a fun and interesting topic for me and for the students.