Is astral projection fake?

I believe it to be real, although I've never experienced it myself.

I never gave it much thought, until my (then 7 year old) son told me something incredible one day.

A little backstory: I have always been extremely empathetic. I catch other people's feelings like most people catch a cold or germs.. I'm able to feel their feelings or vibes exactly the way they do, like, in my gut. Sometimes it's more intense than others and will leave me feeling quite drained. This is something I've dealt with since childhood, as early as I can remember. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I learned not everyone has this. When casually talking about it with a friend of mine one day, she looked utterly confused and I realized then I was different.

Aso, as a child i clearly remember telling my mother about a wonderful conversation I had just had with my grandmother. It upset her and I couldn't understand why. She forbid me from talking about anything related to that subject and dismissed what I had told her as me having an active imagination. My grandmother had passed away the year before i was born.

Realizing i was different from other people early on, i kept things to myself.

Now, many years later, I have my own children and I notice they're special in their own ways.

My daughter was 4 years old at the time. It was Christmas and we were spending it in Mexico with my inlaws. My beautiful, innocent little girl came running to me to tell me something she was obviously quite excited about. The conversation went like this:

Daughter: "mommy! Do you remember when I had a sister?"

Me: "No mama.. you have brothers silly girl!" (I'm thinking, with a half smile, this should be interesting) while trying to change the subject since the entire, super religious family was there.

Daughter: "no mommy.. not my brothers! Last time, when I had a sister!"

Me: "No my baby.. go play with the kids mama it's almost dark out then you'll have to come inside"

Daighter: Looks more serious now "Mommy! Remember? I had a sister and my old mommy with the black hair!"

By now the entire family has her attention. They look quite interested in what she's saying and I'm trying my best to divert her attention. She's not having it. She's set on telling me.

Me: "No my love, I'm your mommy!" With a smile pretending I don't already know where this conversation is heading.

Daughter: Sighs. "No, mommy. Remember? I had a sister and she was small like baby Oscar (her baby brother) and I had my old mommy with the black hair and one day I DIED AND WAS COVERED IN BLOOD"

Me: Puts my head in my hand thinking 'here we go'

The whole family immediately starts making a fuss, praying and carrying on.. My poor girl doesn't get what the big deal is. After all, she was just sharing a memory with me. We had the talk after that and I explained to her that she's special and not everyone will understand so it's best if she only shares her memories of her old life with just me. She's happy with that.

Now, onto my son.

I'm changing the sheets and blankets on his bed and we're talking about China. He's been obsessed with China since I can remember. He wants our next vacation to be there. I ask him why and he says "it's beautiful mommy! You have to see it for yourself." I look at him and say "Oh? Is that so? Tell me about it"

He proceeds to tell me of buildings and temples and the people.. so I ask "How do you know so much, son? Have you been without me?" And he replied "I go all the time! You know how you go to sleep and get out of your body and go wherever you want? As long as you come back before you wake up!"

I was kind of taken back, but didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I didn't want him to feel bad or ashamed like he was doing something wrong. So I said "Oh of course! You're so lucky! I don't know how to do that, maybe you can visit some place cool and tell me all about it then?" He didn't understand that not everyone can do it. Not everyone can just go to sleep and leave their body to travel the world. And was happy that he was special in that way.

So, yes. I do believe astral projection is real. Sorry for such a long winded answer! If you've read this all the way, thanks!