The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven. -Paradise Lost
As I have described in previous posts, the Astral dream world is ruled by the Rajo Guna, which is the mode of activity that is the embodiment of sexual passion. This relates to Venus, the planet of sexual passion, being exalted in Pisces, which is the ruler of the 12th house (the house of dreams and sleep as well as sexual expenditures and energy loss). This plane operates outside the boundaries of space-time & House 12 rules the realm that we enter into when we die, and in this there lies a great secret; occultists understand that one's dreams are just as real as the physical world around us, simply less "dense". When we die, for example, we enter into a paradisiacal fantasy or a nightmare, depending on what our mind dwells upon the moment we die. We dream a dream & enter into it; it becomes terrifyingly real. Depending on how much control you have over your mind, this will either thrill or terrify you. In this realm, all of one's wildest fantasies and worst fears are only a thought a way, and the problem-- we can understand from sexuality & sexual fantasy-- is that the line between pleasure and pain is often excruciatingly and dangerously narrow. The 12th house is not an optional house to engage with; we all have minds and we all let those minds go idle, think and fantasize at times during the day & while we sleep. These daydreams and nighttime activities are actually an expenditure of sexual energy which is why spiritual teachings often place such a strong emphasis on controlling your mind and directing your thoughts-- if you don't direct and control your mind you can be sure that someone or something will begin to begin to direct and control your thoughts & it may not have your best interests in mind. This is why the 12th house relates to asylums or entrapment into one's own distorted mind, or the astral control of other powerful forces & adepts who are immensely skilled on this plane.
In this murky world where fantasy and reality are indistinguishable and understood to be one and the same, extreme caution must be taken, as although sexual pleasure is a sacrament, it must always be performed under one's own will and not out of one's own addiction or enslavement to a vice or bad habit. Just as easily as one experiences a sexual sacrament on the astral plane, one can find oneself trapped in a swamp and swallowed by an alligator or serpent when you thought the water looked clear. It is the plane of illusion and glamour, holding mysteries that reflect the amount of your own darknesses that you haven't explored & overcome. This leads us to the subject of guidance in a spiritual sense. How do you know what is and is not appropriate for you? A guru or figure of light with their glory & promise of comfort through teachings that emphasize a lack of personal responsibility may seem promising, but is really only attempting to enslave you. After all "The Devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape.” When one masters the Astral plane, one sees it for what it really is: a swamp or a paradise of a person's own making, as one is enthroned or entombed in one's own mind for good or for bad. One cannot escape unity & is either married and united with a slimy creature of falsehood, or a beautiful bride of truth. One's spiritual condition, be it good or bad, is a web that is weaved and spun by a one's own design. This leads us to the secret of the Egyptian Ankh, which is a representation of a sandal strap. The feet are ruled by the 12th house and the sandal strap implies motion and lifeforce as opposed to stillness, immobilization, and death. We must always be directing ourselves in a way that we know is beneficial for ourselves, rather than be idle. Directing oneself in one's spiritual practice is the only ward from the potentially draining, addictive, and misleading traps and quagmires that are an ever present danger when exploring the astral plane. It can be used to corrupt or uplift one's soul and it is only the "user" that decides what they see in the "mirror" of the astral.