Astral projection rests on the much older esoteric idea of a subtle or "astral" body, a non-physical duplicate of the physical form capable of independent action, with roots reaching back through Neoplatonic philosophy and various mystical traditions. The concept took its distinctly modern, practice-oriented shape through nineteenth-century Theosophy, whose writers, especially Charles Webster Leadbeater, described detailed cosmologies of astral and other subtle planes and offered instruction on deliberately projecting consciousness into them, treating the ability as a trainable skill rather than a rare spontaneous gift. The idea spread through twentieth-century occultism, incorporated into ceremonial magic, some strands of Spiritualism, and later the broader New Age movement, where instructional books and courses promised to teach astral projection through relaxation, visualisation, and hypnagogic techniques practiced at the edge of sleep.
Unlike the closely related near-death experience, astral projection is typically framed as a deliberately sought and repeatable practice rather than a rare crisis event, and practitioners often describe visiting real, checkable locations while projecting, a claim that, unlike the general sensation itself, is directly testable.