I built up the fire a little more. The fire was part of the ceremony, but I also needed it to keep warm. Below-freezing temperatures are not conducive to the kind of focus required by the ritual, especially since I was naked. The only thing I was wearing was my talisman. I needed that to make the connection with the particular spirit I was trying to communicate with.

I looked up. The moon was full and at it’s zenith. It was time. I knelt in front of the roaring fire, closed my eyes, and began to meditate.

As always, I felt the doors to the other worlds open before me. I opened my eyes and steadied myself. Unlike astral travel in the movies, you don’t cut yourself off from the real world. You see the astral world as an overlay to reality. Not too bad at the start, but when your astral self moves and your physical self doesn’t, it can get a little disorienting.

I found the door I needed and stepped through. The path before me was long and straight. This was the easy part.

The hard part was yet to come.