Spiritwalker

"Spiritwalker" is a single by the English rock band The Cult and was released on 4 April 1984. "Spiritwalker" is the lead single from the Dreamtime album, although it was released nearly five months before the album was released.

Song Origins

"Spiritwalker" was written while the group was still Death Cult. It was never recorded by the group but was integrated into their set list during their second United Kingdom tour in late 1983. The song, musically, was much different, but, lyrically, it was nearly the same as the final recorded version.

The song has its origins with Ian Astbury's earlier group, The Southern Death Cult. On 29 October 1981, at the group's second live performance ever, The Southern Death Cult played Queen's Hall in Bradford, England. During their set they performed an untitled song (later referred to as "The War Song") that featured many of the same lyrics as "Spiritwalker". The song was never performed by The Southern Death Cult again.

Apparently Astbury incorporated the lyrics of "The War Song" into the creation of "Spiritwalker" but no credit was ever given to the other members of The Southern Death Cult, and it is unknown whether they contributed to the writing of the original version.

Astral projection

Astral projection (or astral travel) is an interpretation of an out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. Astral projection or travel denotes the astral body leaving the physical body to travel in an astral plane. The idea of astral travel is rooted in common worldwide religious accounts of the afterlife in which the consciousness' or soul's journey, or "ascent", is described in such terms as "an... out-of-body experience, wherein the spiritual traveller leaves the physical body and travels in his/her subtle body (or "dreambody", or "astral body") into ‘higher’ realms." It is frequently reported in association with dreams, and forms of meditation.

Some patients have reported perceptions similar to the descriptions of astral projection, induced through various hallucinogenic and hypnotic (including self-hypnotic) means. There is no scientific evidence that there is any manifestation of a consciousness or soul which is separate from neural activity. There is no scientific evidence that one can consciously leave the body and make observations. Claims of scientific evidence of astral projection are pseudoscientific.