Astral Projection or Lucid Dream?

How do you differentiate these two?

I think I may have had an AP, but I am not 100% sure.

My normal lucid dreams I lose lucidity eventually, but this time I didn't. The quality of the dream space seemed a bit different, less hazy, not particularly lucid but more "real." People on the street didn't seem to notice me much. And they seemed to be the "real" versions of themselves. I distinctly thought, "oh so this is the astral" when I was walking down the street. I also woke up, half asleep, and willed myself back into the room that I left off in. I noticed that it was easy to catch the attention of a large group of people -- they all shouted back anything I shouted at them like drones! Also flying wasn't normal. Usually in a lucid dream or dream I can just fly around, but this time I could only fly at like 1 mph.

I had originally went to sleep with the intention of seeing something particular and my "guide" (only saw him for a moment in the beginning) was very uninterested in the request. I knew it was inappropriate, but they showed me anyway after I had forgotten about it.

Also I remembered every last detail of this experience which is pretty unusual in my normal dream state.

So what do you guys think?

I prefer Kurt Leland's term - "adventure in consciousness". It's not how you get to explore nonphysical reality, which can happen by multiple methods, but that you get to explore it. As long as you have the experience, lucidity and recall, it's an "adventure in consciousness".

Oliver

The way I 'officially' differntiate is that if there is an exit (even with phasing) there is projection, if not it's a dream, lucid or otherwise. As Korpo said, they're all projections, but to different states or locales (or levels or whatever you want to call them.)

Ok thanks, so it's technically a dream since I didn't exit at will, although they all lie along the same spectrum.

Kurt Leland seems to have tons of techniques and info. The level of his info seems pretty amazing. Simulations, trigger points, etc.

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Originally Posted by josh

Ok thanks, so it's technically a dream since I didn't exit at will, although they all lie along the same spectrum.

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Will doesn't enter into the equation- if you exit at will it's a conscious projection, if you exit without trying it's a spontaneous projection, if you wake up to it it's a dream.

Astral projection take place outside your physical body; while with a lucid dream you know it's happening in your head.

There's a difference between the two.

Some think an astral projection is just a lucid dream happening outside the body; which may sometimes be true. As I've said before, the only way anyone could test it is to be astral projecting, and find out real things you couldn't have known while just dreaming. If these real things you found out while astral projecting (like, say, what's behind a neighbors couch) are true , while awake, you can rest assured it happened outside your body.

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Originally Posted by RyanParis

Astral projection take place outside your physical body; while with a lucid dream you know it's happening in your head.

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I don't usually say something is 'wrong', but I'm afraid I strongly disagree with this statement.
Location is a matter of time and space, and nothing just happens 'in your head'. Lucid dreams often bring in outside information and sometimes projections feature heavily symbolic features, especially in what are called 'mental' projections, and/or 'void' experiences. So the difference is not so clear cut.
[rant]I have noticed a tendency on the 'fringe' scientific community to attempt to separate the brain/body from 'metaphysical' phenomena, but this distinction is one of prejudice- something physical (i.e. real) can't possibly have anything to do with something metaphysical (i.e. unreal). This attitude is not only nonsensical because regular physics have the accepted notion of the potential expressing as the actual, and this leap seems to be difficult to swallow for some- but existence is existence, no matter what plane, focus level or dimension existence is expressed in.[/rant]
Frankly 'outside' or 'inside' are time-space expressions, and they just don't mean the same when it comes to essential/astral/psychological (subjective) experiences.

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Some think an astral projection is just a lucid dream happening outside the body; which may sometimes be true. As I've said before, the only way anyone could test it is to be astral projecting, and find out real things you couldn't have known while just dreaming. If these real things you found out while astral projecting (like, say, what's behind a neighbors couch) are true , while awake, you can rest assured it happened outside your body.

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But the thing is, that precog dreams happen all the time- so to classify something as projection 'in' or 'out' would mean another subjective classification contingent on belief.

I rarely project, though I have done it (generally by phasing; I never have exit symptoms). I also occasionally have lucid dreams, though not as often as I'd like.

And, I have a third kind of dream, one that I think of as a Significant Dream. These are not lucid when I'm having them, but they have a kind of clarity and exist in a sort of dream space that is just different from everyday, garden-variety dreams. Sometimes these dreams are some sort of precog, but more often they're messages from my own subconscious or from Spirit (or both; I'm starting to really think there's no clear dividing line from where one leaves off and the other begins).

On the occasions when I project, I am always aware that I am focused to/in somewhere other than usual environment. I don't experience it as being "outside" of my body, only that I'm either unaware of my physical self or I'm totally unconcerned about it. I experience it as being in a different kind of reality (a bit like the way you "go into" a really good movie or book, becoming part of the environment, but only a bit like that).

My personal perception is that lucid dreams take place in your own private dreamspace, within your own personal consciousness. Projection takes place in the wider, shared consciousness, and although the two are related and there is some exchange between them, it's the difference between your own back yard and the rest of the neighborhood, metaphorically speaking.

I don't personally think you "go" anywhere when you project, not in the sense of "inside" or "outside" or any side, really. I think you just shift your focus and your conscious awareness to a different area.

I hope that made sense. It's hard to find good metaphors for this, at least for me.