The following is a review of an excellent book, Recits d'un voyageur de l'Astral, by Anne and Daniel Meurois-Givaudan.
Anne and Daniel Meurois-Givaudan are two remarkable people. They write in French and have published quite a few books based on experiences that have come to them through the astral dimension and their spiritual guides. Some of their books have been translated into several languages and have become very popular. Unfortunately only one book has been translated into English, The Way of the Essenes, Christ’s Hidden Life Remembered (Destiny Books, isbn 0-89281-322-9). What makes the their books so unique is that they both have the ability to mentally leave their physical bodies and explore the astral realms, under the supervision of their spiritual guides. This is different than "channeling". In ‘Recits d’un voyageur de l’Astral’ (Reports of an Astral Traveler), one of their guides takes them to the different levels of the astral worlds, and shows them, in spirit form, nature, villages, houses and people on those levels.

The Guide

The book begins with Daniel going out of his body and arriving in the landscape of a forest. He meets his guide who is of medium height, has a long face and long skull, small eyes and a faint bluish skin color. Later in the book his guide explains him that he (the guide) has never lived physically on earth. He did have a physical existence on a far away planet. In his last incarnation, in another era, he took part in a colonization on the planet earth, as an religious adviser. After he arrived on the astral plane (or died) he continued with his work on earth and with its spiritual development.
For now, he guides Daniel on the astral plane, as he was asked to do so by a group of beings who belong to a kind of special commission, its task it is to study all possibilities to spread and to develop certain ideas. His guide is a representative of this group. He explains that in recent years they had pushed his life in a certain direction to prepare him for his task ahead. His guide explains that one of their most important purposes is to make man understand that he has not always reasoned as he does now. At present (most of) mankind believes we are only a physical body. A long time ago mankind had a much greater knowledge and awareness, this was in what is generally referred to as the 'golden age'. We have to go back and find our true past to make an end to our political, philosophical, anthropological and religious mistakes.
 

The Afterlife

On another day, Daniel finds himself in meadow. His guide explains that he has arrived in the world of the deceased. Although we call them deceased or dead, actually they are still living as if they were on the physical plane, but now in an astral world. There are people walking around in different costumes, depending on the time frame of their last lives on earth. After having spent some time on the astral plane, the soul eventually feels itself attracted again to the physical world, because it has not freed itself yet completely from its physical ties. With its re-incarnation it will be assisted by beings who are specialized in this task.
When a person dies he enters the world he expects to find in the afterlife. If the person was an atheist during his life he will find himself in a not always unpleasant black, indefinable substance. Even when a person was religious and had certain expectations, he will have to break the limitations he has made for himself, because the world in which he arrives will always be limited by his expectations and belief system. The more a man has evolved, the quicker he will adjust himself to the new situation after he dies. In general the deceased will be welcomed by his family members and friends who went before him.
Daniel notices that the world he finds himself in contains great beauty and originality. In the astral world it is sufficient to desire something to make it appear, as long as it is not in conflict with the general interest of the beings who are there. Thus anybody can create himself a luxury house or castle by his thoughts.
 

State Leaders

Daniel and his guide walk towards a beautiful building. His guide explains that the building, reminiscent of the time of Atlantis, is a kind of public place, where they study the case of certain persons in this area of the astral world. Their file is being studied in order to orient them for their next incarnation. Daniel and his guide walk up to a group of beings who will be state leaders in their next incarnation. These beings have come together to create a new type of civilization. They are not wise people (present mankind would not accept wise men as leaders), but beings intelligent and without personal ambition. They were chosen because their capacities.
 

Religion

In his next astral projection, his guide explains that astral projection is an active thing in contrast to mediums who are passive. Mediums from spiritism circles focus their energies on the lower astral realms, while holy men or saints, who are also passive, focus on the higher astral realms and even on the spiritual realms.
His guide elaborates on some religious issues. No religion or esoteric group can say that they have the only truth. Each religion or belief system arises in a certain period in relation to the spiritual development of the people, and dependent on their race, geography and climate. At present many religions have lost the meaning of their rituals. This is regrettable because a ritual is meant to come into communication with beings from the spiritual world. For example, people no longer know why it is good to fold the hands together when praying. This is done to close an energy circuit in the body that allows for greater concentration and power. Or why the color a priest wears is important; colors send out their particular vibrations, aside from being symbolic.
 

Life on the Astral Plane

When a slight breeze moves the tops of the astral trees, Daniel expresses his wonder about the fact that there is a wind in the astral world. His guides explains that everything on earth you will also find in the astral world, except for thunderstorms, tornados, or violent weather. The beings in the astral world only want peace and harmony. The human soul generally is attracted by the beautiful and the good. There no wars, no quarrels as no two beings who not in harmony with each other can live in the same astral realm. The souls here want to rest from their previous, physical life. After a while they will get bored with their environment because all their wishes are immediately fulfilled. Then they start to widen their knowledge, to improve themselves and to prepare themselves for another life on earth.
Daniel asks a questions that many people have: Will people who are in harmony, or love each other, find each other on the same astral plane after they died? Yes, but they really have to attuned to each other, not just superficially. Only strong feelings and connections allow souls to stay together in the astral world.
 

The Lower Astral Worlds

The conversation turns to the lower astral worlds. Daniel once had an awful out-of-the-body-experience in which he was traveling through a grey mud of monster-like beings with rooting bodies, evil eyes and awful cries. His guides explains this happened because of fear that can arise when leaving the physical body. Fear lowers the vibration of the astral body and thus it travels through the lower astral worlds. In the lower astral worlds are also the elementals, which are the astral projections of nature forces, like the fairies, gnomes etc. Here you can also find the 'shadows', which are deceased people who are very slow in making their transition. In general it is better not to contact these worlds as there are too many risks involved.
 

Astral Buildings

They walk along and arrive at a mountain. At the foot of this mountain beings meet who govern everything that evolves in the astral world. It is one of their meeting places. They have been trained by other higher beings from past epochs of mankind. They also make decisions about certain astral buildings and hospitals. The astral hospitals are for the recently deceased who need a kind of astral sleep to refresh themselves for their new lives. They are also for the souls who have been drug addicts in their earthly life. Their addiction caused an artificial personality split and a disrupted astral body. The people who work in the astral hospitals usually have been in the medical profession on earth. Here they want to continue and expand their practice and knowledge. The astral body has the same organization as the physical body, it is by way of speaking a double.
 

The Museum

They walk into another landscape where there is a building in the shape of a dome. It contains a part of the history of mankind in the form of statues of many highly evolved beings who have once lived on earth to preach cosmic love emanating from the Divine. The purpose of this 'museum' is the study of the development of religions on earth. Many souls who incarnate with a spiritual task spent some time in this building. The statues are from all races and people on earth. Some of them even date from antediluvian times.
 

The Fall and the Original Sin

Daniel's guide now starts talking about the difference between 'the fall' and 'the original sin'. There are two different things. The fall of man is a cosmic event, while the original sin is an event at a certain time. The fall implies a movement from above to below, from God to what is not God, or from Light to darkness, from more to less, or in other words, spirit became matter. This movement is necessary for the cosmos to bear life. Usually religions represent this movement in the form of a circle. It is a cyclic stream, moving from one direction to another and back, forming the universal motor and source of the entire universe. In come cultures this is symbolized by Ouroboros, the serpent which bites in its tail. The fluid in which the energy circulates is the astral light. Each thought created by God immediately distance itself from Him, moving from the spiritual to the material. This is the fall which is continuous creation. The fall was and is necessary for a being to learn about the material worlds in order to become conscious of its true nature, and to eventually return to its true source.
Original sin was a decision at a certain time, in the history of mankind, making man was able to rebel against the power life had given them. But it also implies the idea of salvation, a progressive purification of the material. To realize this man incarnates again and again in human bodies. Reincarnation was taught in the old world, and Jesus also talked about it. In the first centuries AD the Catholic Church removed all the references about reincarnation (and other teachings) from their scriptures in order to establish itself as a dominant power.
Still in the museum with the many religious statues, Daniel and his guide walk up to a statue made from alchemical gold. The original (the astral statue is just a duplicate of the original physical statue) still exists on earth. Although it was created in antediluvian times, it has been lying for more than ten thousand years under the Atlantic Ocean in the neighborhood of the American Coast. Its half naked body is sitting on a throne and it has a face like a sun radiating immense energy. On its feet are the symbols of the square, the compass and the a square in a circle. On the chest is a simple cross of equal arms. Daniel's guide explains that this is the highest God of the Atlanteans, equal to the Father of the Christians, Brahma of the Hindus and Ra of the Egyptians. He is and never was a particular being, he is the spirit, the principle, the unlimited. Like all the other statues, it should not be idolized, they should only serve as a means of concentration. The square and compass were symbols of the earth and sky well before the freemasons took over these symbols.
 

The Pyramid Hospital

Daniel now finds himself in a huge park with big willow-like trees and meadows full of little flowers. In the park is a hospital, not like we know here on earth, but a place where deceased people can get rest and recharge themselves. It is the form of a pyramid. The shape of a pyramid makes it a condenser of cosmic energies. The most important force thus concentrated is the astral light with its life particles. His guide explains that the pyramid of Cheops (in Egypt) has been built by representatives of another world in cooperation with the Altanteans. When they walk up the building, Daniel notices that it is made out of crystal-like material, resembling aluminum but at the same time shimmering with numerous sparks. They enter through a triangular opening. The corridors are not level, as his guide explains. Everything in the pyramid is functional and does not follow symmetry or rationality, but it all depends on the position relative to the building itself. Due to the concentrated energies within, no two places are the same. Therefore, every room is different and is used for certain types of healing. The most serious damage to the astral body is treated in a room in the top of the pyramid (corresponding to the King's Chamber in the Cheop's pyramid).
Daniel and his guide enter a room. In the middle of the room is a white table in the shape of a parallellepipedum. The walls are of a transparent white and blue. It is a kind of operation table on which the chakras of people are treated by way of colored knobs. The room is also used as a study room for beings who had been a doctor while on earth and who want to perfect themselves in their art. Daniel's guide makes an the image of the chakra system of a human body appear on one of the walls and gives an extensive explanation about the chakras.
Then they go the uppermost room, the one that corresponds to the King's chamber of the pyramid of Cheops. The walls have a transparent golden color. In the middle of the room is not a table but a coffin. On the floor, all around the coffin are twelve small yellow pyramids. The coffin regenerates any heavily damaged organism.
 

The Earth

Daniel goes out of his body again and finds himself in an astral lagoon by a colorful sea. He asks his guide if he has a home in the astral world. No, he says, he usually resides in the astral forest with the giant flowers that they have visited previously. His real home is the light of the soul and the upper astral worlds. He does not need a home. He has chosen the life he is living now for a certain period, then he will go to the Father and to another self. At this time he lives in the higher astral realms of humans. He explains that there is not just one astral world, but many, as each world or planet has its own astral realm. Beings like him, who are from another planet but work here in the earthly astral realm still maintain the connection with the astral world of their home planet.
They move out in space and look at the earth from a distance, watching the earth's aura which is looking mostly grey. Daniel's guide explains that the earth is sick and tired to feed humans who kill each other and continuously send out damaging thoughts into their environment. This hate will make the planet so sick that she will have create catastrophes as it happened with Atlantis. Many present day people were once Atlanteans, and might make the same mistakes as in those times. Man must has to learn to love his planet, and maintain its life and sources of learning, but also for the earth itself, as she also is a living being.
Like the builders of Atlantis, man, at the beginning of the age of Aquarius, will feel himself pulled upwards. the guide tells how a new type of air vehicle will become commonplace. It will happen first indirectly, and afterwards directly, with the help of beings of another planet. The twenty first century will see the arrival of star people. They will unite with humans.
 

The Memory of the Universe

Daniel finds himself reliving the life of another person in a past century. He is reliving an episode from the Russian revolution. Then he finds himself in the astral world again with his guide, who explains what has happened to him. Daniel has tapped into the memory of the universe. One does have to be invited, by higher astral beings, to be able to read the memory of the akashic records as it is also called. Many people would be able to do so, but are not aware of it.
The memory of the universe is only a memory of physical things, historic or geological. The astral light works like a film on which everything that happens in the universe is printed. Whatever one does, his act is recorded forever. In the universe there are special places where it is easier than in other places to read the memory of time; and in the astral world there are more of those places. On earth one can also use the crystal sphere. In total absence of sun light, the crystal ball has the property to receive and concentrate great energy coming from the astral light. The form of the crystal has a hypnotic effect on man who thus is able to contact the memory of the universe.
Daniel and his guide walk through the astral landscape and arrive at a mountain, they enter a corridor that leads them inside. They arrive at a dome-like room illuminated by green light. It is actually a sphere and they are walking on a half transparent floor that marks the division between the two halves. Being in the center of the room one finds himself outside of time. With concentration and practice one can choose a period from the history of the universe and the place on earth one wants to explore through the eyes of a person of that time.
Daniel's guide explains that each person, after his physical death, is taken to similar places where he can see his entire (past) life unfold and thus judge himself as to how he has lived.
 

Extraterrestrial Life

After leaving the mountain the guide turns the conversation to extraterrestrial beings. Humans have always known of extraterrestrial people, and in a certain sense are descendants of them. The earth and humans have been given a lot by other other worlds. In the earliest time of the earth, men from a far distant planet changed the earth's evolution. Man was brought to earth by beings from space. He has never been an ape. He did not evolve from animals or plants, but his physical appearance has not always been the same. The guide leads Daniel back into the mountain and the sphere-like room. Daniel being in the center of the room goes back to a very distant past on earth. He is reliving a scene out of the life of a person at that time. He finds himself in a metal room with other people. Some are naked and some have a cloth around the waist. They are all calm. A sliding door opens and sunlight enters the room. They leave the room and step into a wide green plain with mountains in the distance. Now he notices that the people are short, very pale, but bluish in skin color. Taller beings dressed in orange, and obviously the leaders, lead them in a particular direction. When he looks back he sees that they actually have left an elliptical machine of about two hundred meters (six hundred feet) long. It is grey and smooth and is creating a yellowish halo that is growing more intense, finally the space ship lifts off into the sky with a thundering noise.
Different extraterrestrial creators brought different races to the earth in subsequent waves. These creators are still aware that they are like brothers of God, but man on earth has largely forgotten his extraterrestrial and spiritual origins, resulting in many errors. The guide makes Daniel re-live another scene, this time long ago, even before the height of Atlantis. The people living in what is now called the Gobi dessert (at that time a fertile landscape) had also forgotten their spirituality and destroyed each other with aerial machines throwing light balls and fire on the cities. The memory of this once great civilization has completely vanished.
 

More Teachings about ET's and Humanity

Extraterrestrial beings work harmoniously with the spiritual world, and often it is difficult to say where the spiritual world begins. Some things look spiritual but they are not. For example, antimatter is the opposite of matter but has nothing to do with the spirit. Some manifestations of UFO's, some flying machines, come from a world of antimatter. The earth has its symmetrical twin, and it happens that souls sometimes incarnate in one world or the other.
Extraterrestrial beings have given a lot to humans but there have also been battles against negative forces that encompass the earth. There still will be a very material, physical battle in the intergalactic space with the earth at stake. But mankind should also learn not to deify beings from other planets (who often became the gods of past cultures).
 

The Atlantean Cave

In the astral world again, Daniel's guide asks him to travel (on the astral plane) to a place in South America, to a particular cave. Daniel finds himself in an empty underground room with a trapezium door made from one big slab of stone. Past the door is another room with hundreds of round disks. The disks are 4 to 5 millimeters (3/8") thick and approximately 15 centimeter (6") in diameter. They are made from a metal of which man has forgotten its composition. A fine spiral is carved on their surface. His guide explains that they are a kind of recordings placed here by the last Atlanteans and helped by beings from another world. They contain the records of past civilizations on earth, both of Atlantis and before. They also contain the divine plan for the future of the earth, and contain the names of many masters. The instruments to read those disks are in the Himalayas, but both disks and instruments will only be discovered when man is ready for this knowledge. At present man would not understand it, and might even damage them as the recording method of these disks is totally different then what we presently know.
Daniel asks why the spiritually evolved beings who knew what the future would hold could not do something to prevent certain things that are disadvantageous to the spirituality of the earth. His guide answers that those beings knew the future but only to a certain degree, because the future is only probabilities. They knew the overall picture but at any time an important event can happen that can change the future.
 

The Astral Library

At the end of the book Daniel describes his visit to an astral library. In this library thousands of books are lined up on wooden shelves covering the walls. His guide explains that the books here are originals, that is they came from the physical plane on earth. These books once were physical, but higher astral entities, who have the power to do so, transformed and 'transported' them to the astral level. They change the physical vibrations of the book to the astral vibrations. All the books were chosen because of their intrinsic value. Sometimes they dematerialize a book from the physical world because it is not the right time for that book to appear. Certain knowledge is not appropriate to fall into the hands of mankind when man is not ready for it.
With their last meeting Daniel's Guide explains that limitations only exists because we create them. One needs to go inside oneself to see the Light and go deeper and deeper into it and go back to the source.