ignorance. I've always had to use my head-I've always had to stretch to my limits. This is no exception.
'I can't just up and make level three with a snap of my fingers without giving up some of my micro ways of thinking. And there's the key, Karl, giving up my micro ways of thinking. If I could just see the situation from a Macro perspective the solution would probably jump out at me.
'I don't know, Karl. I'll go back upstairs and sleep on it. Maybe when I wake up in 2150 I'll think of something.'
When I got to the door I came out of my daze and turned to say, 'Hey.. thanks. Thanks to you both. See you tomorrow.' I closed the evening and did just what I said I was going to do.
When I woke up in 2150, however, I didn't think of anything new.
For the rest of the week I kept making futile attempts to contact Carol and to break out of my suite of rooms in 2150, while back in 1976 I spent my time pacing the floor or discussing this maddening puzzle with Karl and Neda. But in spite of all the hours of thinking and talking, no solution came to me. Then one evening Neda asked me if Elgon's telepathic mind network blocked out all my Macro powers. I responded affirmatively, and that was that.
Later the same evening while I was trying not to go to sleep, so I could postpone waking up in my 2150 prison, I remembered Neda's question and began to review the seven Macro powers. I considered clairvoyance, telepathy, and precognition. Of these the first one worked, but was no help. The second one was blocked, and the third one I had never developed much but doubted whether knowing the future would be of much help to me with this problem. Considering the next three, retrocognition, PK (psychokinesis), and telekinesis, I again drew a blank, for the first one worked but was no help, while the second and third were blocked. This left only the seventh, which was astral projection. Was that, too, blocked? I didn't know because, since it didn't seem very practical, I had never consciously tried it.
For a prisoner, though, surely astral projection, in which one leaves the physical body and its limitations and moves about in an astral body with no physical limitations, could have definite advantages. I could visit Carol, the Macro society, and Lea. I had wanted to talk with these people, and astral projection was the only way left to do it. Or was it? Could I learn to use it, and even if I could, would the telepathic mind net interfere and stop me? I decided that the only way I could answer these questions was to put them to the test, so I immediately began trying to free myself from my physical body. I failed.
After thirty minutes of failure in my attempts to separate my astral body from my physical one I gave up and began trying to remember everything C.I. had told me about this seventh Macro power.
I remembered that my trips into the future had been via my astral body, which was connected to the 1976 physical body by a sort of electrical-energy umbilical cord that had unlimited elasticity. This was the silver cord that mystics throughout the ages had talked about as maintaining the life-giving contact between the astral and the physical bodies. Once this silver cord, made up of very rapid electrical vibrations, is severed, the physical body dies.
When I had first come to 2150 I had been provided with a new physical body and a second silver cord to provide the necessary connection between my astral body and this new physical body. This worked because the Macro society had my twin soul, who shared an identical astral-soul pattern with me. They used this as a model from which to fashion the physical body, the silver cord connection, and to supply the, psychic translation for attracting my astral body through time and space.
If this seems not only complex, but incomprehensible, it is-to the micro self. C.I. had given me a far more lengthy and complex explanation but I had decided that I didn't need to know all about this Macro area so I hadn't paid very close attention. Now I desperately wished that I had. Still, however, the two essential ingredients in all learning were desire and belief, and if I had these, then I could learn astral projection. I certainly believed it was possible because I had already experienced it. The problem, therefore, must lie in the area of desire.
I practiced the Macro pause, in which one instantly expands his perspective from micro to more Macro. It became immediately obvious that, as usual, I had been desiring not to fail in accomplishing astral projection, which meant that my mind had been focused on failure rather than success.
Once I was able to see my efforts from a Macro perspective I could remember that all failure is success (leads to success) and, thus, forgive myself so that I could start again without the interfering load of anxiety and guilt. I began by recalling the sensations I had experienced on my first visit to 2150 when I had awakened in my astral body. Then I began gradually imagining and desiring my astral body to stand at the foot of my bed. The desire built until I began imagining the perspective of my bed and physical body from the foot of this bed.
Suddenly with a sort of snap I was standing looking across the bed at my sleeping physical body.
Again I experienced the marvelous sense of freedom from physical limitations and discomforts. And now, even in 1976, I had two healthy and whole legs. C.I. had said that articles of clothing on the astral level were created as thought forms, so I mentally visualized myself clothed in my 2150 aura tunic. Sure enough, it became a reality so that I could experience the sensation of pulling and tugging on it and having it respond just as my tunic would in 2150.
I now began walking about my room as I would with my 2150 physical body only about a foot off the floor. Levitating this astral body didn't take near the amount of PK energy that I had to expend to levitate my 180 pound physical body. As I approached the door I forgot and tried to open it and had the uncanny sensation of watching my hand disappear through the door. I quickly followed it and found myself out in the hallway. Then instead of walking to Karl and Neda's apartment I visualized myself standing in their living room and instantly I was there.
Walking through the bedroom door and over to where Karl was sleeping, I tried to wake him. Of course, he couldn't hear me and my shaking his shoulder didn't work, as my hand went right through him. I looked at Neda sleeping next to him and tried telepathic contact asking her to wake up. In just a few seconds she opened her eyes and looked about. I immediately used PK to turn on the lamp on her night stand. This startled her, but she didn't look frightened. I used PK to pick up the pencil and wrote the word 'Jon' on the pad of paper which Neda used to record her dreams.
She started to become alarmed so I began telepathically reassuring her that all was well, impressing on her mind the concept of astral projection. I could tell that I wasn't completely successful because she woke up Karl and said, 'I heard Jon calling me and telling me to wake up.'
'When?' Karl mumbled sleepily.
'Just now,' she replied, 'and when I opened my eyes I couldn't see anything at first, but then the.lamp turned on.'
'You must have turned it on,' Karl said. 'You were probably dreaming.'
'That's what I thought at first, but when I picked up my dream notebook to write down the dream I saw this,' Neda responded holding out the tablet for Karl to see.
He looked at the spot where Neda was pointing, saw my name written there in my own handwriting, and was suddenly wide awake and climbing out of bed.
'I'm going up and see if he's all right,' he said as he slipped into his robe and slippers, then started out of the room.
I decided that the quickest way to reassure Karl was to go back and get my physical body-which I did-and met Karl halfway up the stairs. I explained about my experiment with astral projection and apologized for waking him up. He insisted that I come back with him and explain it all to Neda. I did, as quickly as possible, so they could get back to sleep and I could get back to 2150 and try using this new Macro power to solve my problem.
Once back in my apartment I had no trouble getting to sleep and was soon lying under the canopy of my bed in Elgon's palace. My one great concern was that the telepathic mind net might stop me before I could escape from my physical body, or once out of it force me back into it. Therefore, I immediately focused my mind on the end of the bed and again slipped out of my physical body. Once I was completely out of the physical body I visualized the journey back to my Alpha and was instantly there standing in the middle of our Alpha room just as I had visualized it.
The emptiness of the room without Carol punctuated the urgency of her plight and I sought out the rest of our Alpha to ask for their suggestions. It was breakfast time and I found them all in the dining room talking about Carol and me. As I entered the room Steve was the first to become aware of me and he directed the attention of the others toward me. Then everyone was aware of my presence except Adam and Nancy, who were having some temporary difficulty tuning me in. I was pleased to find that I had no difficulty hearing them.
I soon learned that the whole Macro society was aware of all that had happened to Carol and me.
