the annual guardian, keeper of heaven

[CFTraveler]

I'm just trying to learn more about the guardians of the gates and how the gates of conscious function.

Since you said 'go for it', I'm going for it.

There are various theories on what these guardians are- they are said to be nonphysical beings, not necessarily 'higher' beings or 'lower' beings that keep you from going into a specific area in the astral- it can be a variety of places, even places you've gone before, for a specific amount of time, depending on what's happening with your life. So even though you may go through to a specific plane or environment, you may need to learn a specific lesson in a specific place, and yet try to go to the 'wrong' one, and then is when you may encounter a 'guardian' that will keep you from going there, and may even 'steer' you into an environment whether you want to go or not.
What almost all projectors (never say "all", lol) have experienced is that these gatekeepers are not too concerned with our comfort- I personally have had some scary experiences (not always scary, sometimes just obnoxious) that eventually turned out to be learning experiences, so in one way you know you are not being harmed, but your 'human' sensibilities' are not respected, even laughed at.
Which brings me to the idea that they are either 'astral higher beings' (by higher I don't mean 'better, or more evolved', I mean intelligent, not like critters) who have a purpose (to recognize what shouldn't get through) and not let them in, and/or to direct someone to whatever lesson is due, whether they know they're due for this lesson. I also think that a lot of this has to do with your conscious awareness- I can remember lessons I had in dream state when I was younger that did not scare me or disturb me because I was unconscious for the exit, and only was conscious for the lesson/experience itself- but when you begin to cultivate awareness, you become aware of the process of 'going' there, and color it with whatever makes sense to you at the time (depending on your age and experience) and that can make a big difference.
Some people believe that these entities are facilitators, that is, entities that may have been human at some time in the past and chose not to reincarnate anymore, and with 'time' lost their human attributes, so that the emotional things that we experience are not part of their reality- so they may not "get" why it's scary to us to be pulled out of our bodies and unceremoniously dumped in a specific environment, or even care if we don't like it. Having experienced some of this myself at times (and more 'human' and emotional beings at other times) this may well just be accurate.

They can also be constructs, that is, not sentient beings at all, but functions of the nature of the astral itself- that is, if you 'can' go somewhere, the environment itself will keep you from going or interacting somewhere, and the image you make is really your interpretation of your inability to do so- it can be a scary looking robed being (very archetypal) that doesn't let you in, it can be a door that doesn't open, a river that you can't cross, etc., and finally the wind that picks you up and deposits you in a specific place.

Some others go with the idea that these beings are actually self-aspects, perhaps 'future' versions of ourselves who keep us in 'safe' environments (and like I said before, what I think of as 'safe' may not be the same thing they think of as 'safe'), which will do whatever is necessary to keep us from going to a place we're not supposed to and to force us to go where we're supposed to.
I sometimes get the impression that these gatekeepers are sometimes self aspects and sometimes not- sometimes I can see myself (not visually) in them, but sometimes they feel so foreign to me that I wonder what they are.
There are lots of writings about this in old-fashioned mysticism, I'm sure you've read some of those.

[watrinh]

That's interesting. In my experience I feel that they are real beings, like they've been assigned to guard the astral. I feel that they're humanoid essentially and always hide their form when a projector is around.

[dobidou]

Quick history:

Egyptian civilisations believed in Ka, that double that survives death, which had to carry a papyrus containing a guide and instruction, intended to this after-life trip, which contains all sort of clues, or tools, or magic formulas, to get thru all sort of gates, being kept by monsters. Anubis was the guy (with a jackal head) driving the souls around through this underworld.

At the end, once they succeed passing all the gates, was the final stage (like in any good seller Nintendo classic game): he places their heart on the Scales of Justice (that's the Judgement...), who succeed can enter eternal realm, thoses who fails are fed to Ammit, the worst monster, the one you can't fight (obviously if you failed).

From my point of view, having listening to documentaries about it, and not having lived it, that was a nice marketing way to sell papirus parchment, which was really expensive, still at a time where more and more people where getting in some kind of "middle class" and can afford a better "underworld trip". But I'm not judging it to be true or false, as I'm shure it has been inspired by guys like you, who bumbep into gate keepers in astral.

...Which brings me to the idea that they are either 'astral higher beings' ... I also think that a lot of this has to do with your conscious awareness... Some people believe that these entities are facilitators... Some others go with the idea that these beings are actually self-aspects, perhaps 'future' versions of ourselves...

I'm wondering about the sligth gap where we wonder "How much ruled is the astral reality (compared to our physical plane)" VS "We are driving a etheral body which projects what we can projects, right from our engine". Thinking using a proud "scientific brain" doesn't makes the edge less blurry.

I'm starting to get used to the idea that any religion, or faith in afterlife, or pure-astral, is really related to a mix of "what we expect"+"subconsciouness fuel". In this theory of "you get what you expected, subconsciously" - for instance - one guy not dont believe in anything, after death, may just see that tunnel with the light, as they explained it to be the electricity of the brain being shutted down, as it may fades out and become black, for eternity... OR, no, you dont believe, it doesn't matter, there is supra-physical rules, and you'll get somewhere, where you can't come back, and only ends up in a state where you feel lost because you haven't listen to any of that after-life stuff, remembering only the "If you dont believe, you go to hell", hahaha, that's not funny

It's too late for me, I've heard about it, and somehow my subconscious may expect it someday. I would like to hear from anyone of you who never heard of thoses gate keepers, and bumped into them, THEN went onto forums and websites to figure out...

[CFTraveler]

On a side note (and not answering your question, I don't have time atm) you may enjoy reading the book "The Unanswered Question" by Kurt Leland. It's an excellent book in which he takes various sources- the Egyptian Book of the Dead (which you described), the Tibetan Book of the Dead, the work of Swedenborg, modern NDE accounts and his own OBE and NDE experiences and reconciles them beautifully.
I recommend it highly.
I finished it and plan to reread it again.