[[WARNING: if spirit stuff disturbs you, you may not want to read this particular story.]]

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Have you ever been submerged in water, clear water, and looked up at the surface? You can see what lies beyond in the dry world above but you can also see what is reflected from under the water. Your senses are dulled, except for touch --as you can clearly feel the coldness all around you-- and it is difficult to hear, see, or smell. Taste is near nonexistent (unless you wish to have whatever is in the water in your mouth, that is). You feel as though you are floating and if you release your breath as bubbles into the abyss you begin to sink.

That is how it feels to be in the Spirit Realm, at least for me. It's as if I am floating yet I stand on solid ground, I cannot hear though I can listen, I cannot see beyond the distant fog, and all I can feel is the frigid air that surrounds me. It blows constantly, there is no hope of warmth. In water if you put your hand above the surface it seems to disappear, the same will happen if one stays too long or gets caught up in the callings of the Spirit Realm. You can always hear your name as if there is a broken record somewhere just beyond that cloud of fog.

Everything is a constant blur and there are creatures, things, there that no one else can see. Which can be frightening in itself. You have a near constant urge to seek out what is beckoning to you, be it good or bad is hard to tell, but I must warn you to never do this. Even if it turns out to be something good, it could still be something very different than a lost loved one. With time and experience one can learn to block out these calls (although never fully and moments of weakness are possible) but I would never recommend for a beginner, just learning to astral project or put forth their mind into the Spirit Realm, to ever try so without an experienced person there to help guide them. For they can become lost near forever, body forced into a coma only to wake if their soul or mind ever returns....

But there are also good things to be seen and done there as well. Spirit animals are in abundance, if one knows how to look, and it is also a good tool to tell whether or not someone is lying. For you can see one's aura shining around them as bright as day. The brighter the aura the more magic or magic potential they have and the more rich the color of their aura the livlier they are. (That is to say if you see that someone's aura is dimming then they may be close to joining you in the Spirit Realm, permanently....)

I recall one incident, that taught me well, from my treks through the world of the deceased. It was a several thousand years ago, I had been in search, as I do very occasionally, of any spirit animal willing to so much as come near me without hissing, growling, or screeching in anger or dislike of my presence. (Which I will admit I have never in my days found, much to my severe disappointment....) I had, idiotically, left my body in what I had considered a safe place in the forest then roamed about, though not too far, as a spirit. I searched for a couple hours, as my limit is twelve hours before I feel the effects of staying out of my body for too long (I dare not think of the consequences of doing so longer), before I gave up on my search and went to return to myself.

I had thought nothing of it at the time, as I had been doing this for nearly all my life and had grown out of any wariness, being a "living spirit." (It is merely a term for someone who can do things such as astral projection, any other spirit is considered either supernatural or dead). As I grew closer to where I had left my body I began to get an odd feeling, one that made my blood run cold, that something wasn't quite right. The closer I got the more uneasy I became until I took off in a sprint. When I reached my destination I was both shocked and horrified. A wraith stood mere yards from where my body lay. I couldn't take my eyes off of it even as a close (though human) friend of mine wandered up and, upon seeing "me" resting there, tried to get me to awaken.

The thing looked at me and I fear even my body stopped breathing for a moment. I knew that it had sensed me leaving my body and I wanted to scream but could not. It began walking closer and that simple, although somewhat ghostly slow, movement helped stir me into action. I raced over and returned to myself. My friend, to say the least, was shocked at my suddenly awakening and bolting upright. I grabbed his hand and ran in any direction but where that thing was. I, to this day, swear that I could hear it laughing in the distance. I did explain to my friend why I did what I did, needless to say he was frightened, and he never again went back to that spot.

Since then I have never wandered so far from myself out of fear that it may happen again. Though the incident did stop me from astral projecting for a long while afterwards (I had tried once not too long after seeing the wraith but then I ran into some hellhounds....), it has not stopped me completely. For that was merely one incident, there are many more good things that I have done and found that outweigh the bad. But this did teach me a lesson, and I learned it well. It is the main reason that I do not allow young magic users, or others that can astral project or send their minds into the Spirit Realm, to do so alone or without a proper guide. That goes well for anyone who is weak in spirit, will, or mind.

I have never told any of my siblings either of these moments (referring to the fiendish dogs as well) and honestly don't plan to.... I fear they will make me stop my treks into the Spirit Realm (especially Xoc, as she the hazards of staying away from one's body for too far or too long) and that is something I really do not want....

Though I a think that Xoc suspects something... But my lips are sealed. I only hope they do not ask of me if anything bad has happened during my trips... I am a terrible liar (not to mention unable to lie to my family). Perhaps they will find out one day, I know that is possible, but until then I will continue as I please. For nothing will stop me on my quest for a positive relationship with a spirit animal! Nor my drive to see just what lies beyond the fog....

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[this is another story from Itzli's POV, he speaks of what it's like when he astral projects. But this is only his account, everyone's experience is not the same...]