Claim: The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was focused on the study of the occult.

Astral projection -LRB- or astral travel -RRB- is a term used in esotericism to describe a willful out-of-body experience -LRB- OBE -RRB- , a supposed form of telepathy , that assumes the existence of a soul or consciousness called an `` astral body '' that is separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside of it throughout the universe .   The idea of astral travel is rooted in esotericism and occultism , and was promoted by 19th century Theosophists -- philosophers who explored the mystical and preternatural origins of the natural world . It is sometimes reported in association with dreams , and forms of meditation . Some individuals have reported perceptions similar to descriptions of astral projection that were induced through various hallucinogenic and hypnotic means -LRB- including self-hypnosis -RRB- . There is no scientific evidence that there is a consciousness or soul which is separate from normal neural activity or that one can consciously leave the body and make observations . Claims of scientific evidence of astral projection are pseudoscientific .