For you all fans of sci-fi/fantasy-themed movies, literature, Animes, Mangas, Novels, RPGs, JRPGs and other games seeking the thrill of actually using special attacks, techniques and abilities (and even equipment, armors, weapons, etc.) used by your favorite characters for yourself or using various weapons and armors, or wielding powerful magics (either to defend yourself or to test your mettle (as-in a martial arts sparring) against other entities or astral projectors), this is one of the thrills Astral Projection can provide you; containing not only enjoyment but also a practical, self-defense usage.

it's as simple as imagining and WILLING that thoughtform to do something specific for you, in other words, you can add properties (i.e. Elemental Properties or Specific/Special Effects) and features to it by just willing it, you can even talk to it and tell it to do -this- and -that- for you, essentially "programming" it (i.e. making an Astral Armor deflect enemy attacks or absorb the energetic force from impacts towards it and use that energy to further improve its defenses, or program an Astral Shield to automatically defend you from attacks especially on your blind-spots (if you have one), etc.,) the Astral Planes should be fluid enough for this to be possible.

Along with the astral weaponry and armory in this section, you can also employ various combat techniques that you learned in this life, such as various martial arts, and even magickal/spiritual protection/self-defense methods such as utilizing.]

You can also use the Sword Mudra and trace sacred symbols in the air to deter/attack enemies, symbols such as the Norse Runes and even the Pentagram (the symbol of humanity, traced in a similar fashion as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram.

Aside from that, you can even copy/rip-off/get ideas for astral defense-methods based on the special moves/techniques and etc., from the characters in any fantasy works, literature, shows and games; imagination, creative experience and your ability to focus are your limits here.

Another method of defense is to ask for aid and protection from your Spirit Guides/Guardians, the Archangels/Angels and any Deity/Deities that you work with/believe in, ask them to protect you, guide you, and even accompany you in your travels, all the while repelling and protecting you from any influence/energies/entities that are low vibrational, malevolent and up to no good.

Your Astral Body (Projected Double) is very powerful; it has the ability to forge (manifest) anything the Astral Projector focuses their mind into, that also means one can manifest weapons, armors, or energy bullets to defend oneself. In addition, through focused will and intent, one can also change their Astral Body's appearance, shape, size and so on (more on Shape-shifting section) to help defend oneself and/or scare any negative entities who want to mess with you.

-You may not be able to directly affect other material in the Astral Planes with your mind alone, however, you can manipulate and influence energies that are a part of you; the concept of manifesting Astral Weapons and Armors owes to the fact that these materials contain an energetic essence that came from you, therefore the Astral Weapons and Armors/Shields that will be presented in this section can also be perceived as parts of yourself, or an extension of yourself.

Astral weaponry and ammunition of any kind that is "programmed" to cause damage has tangible and noticeable effects in the Astral Plane, for these manifested weaponry is made of the same substance as the Astral Plane itself, thereby making it as solid as everything else in the Higher Planes. This mechanism is also the same with Shape-shifting (i.e. a dinosaur's claws coupled with its "physical" strength in place of your human hands can still cause large damage to the target).

Ever heard of a phrase in Martial Arts: "The Sword is an extension of oneself"? The concept is similar when it comes to Astral Self-defense and Astral Combat, albeit can be perceived a bit too literally, for the equipment of any shape and form you will manifest contains a part of you, an energetic essence that came from you, this can also include additional/different body parts you will have should you decide to do Shape-shifting.

What makes the Astral Body even more powerful than some non-physical entities is the fact that you have your Physical/Etheric Body CONSTANTLY supplying your Astral Body with Energy, a direct confrontation with a non-physical entity and an Astral Projector with a living physical body can, and will almost always result in the victory of the Astral Projector due to this mechanism.

The property, durability, strength and duration of a manifested weapon/armor/object can depend on the Astral Projector's creative strength, skill and experience, as well as the dimensional level they are in (i.e. it takes more effort to manifest and maintain the durability of a weapon in the Real-time Zone compared to the higher Astral Planes).

Astral Weapons, Armors and Ammunition are also essentially "Thoughtforms" or "Astral Constructs", which also happens to contain a part of your own energetic essence

Another factor that determines the duration and durability of the manifested thoughtform is on how long the user can FOCUS on the thoughtform; this means that while using something like an Astral Sword, one must also, at the back of their mind, still focus on the shape, the appearance of the Astral Sword itself.

The way that thoughtforms like Astral Weapons can "damage" non physical entities or targets of your choice in the Astral Planes is through disrupting their substance and draining them of energy, because once again, your thoughtforms can have direct effect towards others in the Astral environment, due to their substances (i.e. Energetic Vibration) being quite similar in nature, which is "non-physical", meaning "non-3D".

How to form and create the weapon

To create a thought-form object, clear your mind and focus completely on what you are creating.

Construct and hold the desired object with your imagination and see and feel this object as if it were already in existence.

Hold its image firmly in mind at all times; fill your mind with the shape of the desired object and hold this while it forms, feeling a part of yourself flowing into it.

WILL the object into existence and keep focused on it until it is fully formed.

In the astral dimension, a created object will spring into existence in very short order and with little conscious effort. Creation in the real-time zone, however, requires more effort and time. A created object will tend to fade into sight over several seconds, depending on the projector's effort and creative skill.

If the desired item tends to melt away quickly, more effort will be required to hold it in existence, just as with shape-shifting.

If a more-lasting object is planned, one that can be used during every projection, some time should be spent re-creating the same object at the start of every projection.

In the beginning, keep created objects as simple as possible and use exactly the same mental recipe every time. Created objects — thought forms — slowly become more solid and take less time and effort to create every time they are remade.

In time, you will find your created items waiting there for you whenever you project, or you will be able to call them into existence with a simple thought when required. They will then stay in shape, requiring little conscious effort to hold them in existence.

An interesting phenomenon associated with sword, armor, and weapons creation is that fine detail and workmanship often appears on them, as do variations in size and style from what is actually imaged during the creative act.

The end product may look quite different from the mental recipe it sprang from. It is fairly easy to hold the basic shape and details of a sword in mind while creating it, but delicately etched patterns, filigree, complex runes, scripting, diagrams, elaborately bejeweled handles, and sparkling energy fields are most definitely not.

These additional details appear to be provided by something other than the mental recipe the creation sprang from.

There are two possible reasons, I think. It is quite possible the projector's subconscious mind plays a part in this, prettying up a created sword as it forms. This seems unlikely, however, because if the subconscious mind were at work here it would most likely create the whole sword in the first place. The creation would then be much more durable and have less of a tendency to fade away.

More likely, the projector creating the sword (totally unawares) actually owns the sword that appears. The projector may have a long-term association, possibly through past-life connections or long-term astral ownership, with that particular sword. This same sword is thus summoned into existence by the projector's attempt to create a sword from scratch.

Receiving a sword and armor when requested is the sign that a projector has long-term connections in the astral planes and higher, of which they may be totally unaware.

It may also mean they have in some way passed the test and been promoted to active astral duty, so to speak. Asking for your sword should ideally be done at the very start of a real-time projection, after moving away from your physical body.

You should raise your hand and ask aloud, with deep sincerity and reverence, for your sword. If you are ready for it, you will receive it. It is as simple as that. If your first request is not answered, try again the next time you are out, and keep on trying until you are ready.

~Astral Weapons, Armors and Ammunition (Thoughtforms) Examples and Usage Techniques~

NOTE: Let your imagination run wild; a good amount of inspiration and ideas for these as well as their respective properties can be obtained from fantasy/sci-fi themed movies, literature, Animes, Mangas, novels and games.

~Energy Bolts, Astral Firearms, Projectiles, and other Ranged Weapons~

A good basic one to use on an urgent basis are Energy Bolts; manifesting (imagining) several balls made of energy (possessing any color you want or elemental property you want) and is programmed to shoot at the target at light-speed and explode upon contact. It can be done in a split second with minimal focus because it will travel quickly and explode on contact to the target anyway, compared to a melee weapon.

You can also manifest a firearm like a rocket launcher or gun or a bow, containing these Energy Bolts as ammunition that, when fired, will proceed towards your target at light-speed and explode very powerfully upon contact (can even make them homing).

If you're feeling a bit like a Ninja, you can even have exploding (and homing) Shurikens and Kunais and other throwing weapons, up to you.

~Astral Swords, Spears, other Melee Weapons~

As with the instructions above, after manifesting your melee Astral Weapon/s, you can add various properties on it, let your imagination run wild, you can even rip-off some of its properties from the games, novels and shows that you play, read and watch. However I advise that you let it take the form it wants to take, because that weapon will be an aspect of you, therefore making it original only to you (and who knows you may even actually own that weapon)

After manifestation, while doing something else, multitask your mind so that in the back of your mind, you are still focusing on maintaining the shape of your weapon; over time as you accumulate experience and expertise, maintaining your weapon's form should require less and less conscious focus.

It is also possible to launch flames, elemental-based damaging energies or energy bolts from the tip of your melee weapon (you see those energy-wave slashes that reaches great distance as used by some characters from those fantasy-themed games? Kinda like that.)

You can also be like Gilgamesh or Emiya Shirou from the Fate/Stay Night series and summon these Melee Weapons from a wormhole/white hole of sorts or having them float in midair, and instead of using them as a melee weapon, you fire them instead as projectiles that explode and damage the target upon contact (and even home in on them), while still carrying your pre-programmed properties on them (i.e. homing, burn or freeze them upon contact, etc.). [I used this method once on a negative dragon-like entity about 11 years ago with Elemental Spears, pretty cool. - u/AzureLeaves]

~Astral Armors and Shields~

Pretty self-explanatory; just have it attach to your body (like how you see those characters "transform" or equip their armors), and program it to defend you against negative and unwanted energies, energetic/magickal/psychical/"physical" attacks.

You can also program them to absorb the energies from attacks and use it to strengthen your own defenses , or have it deflect or reflect attacks back to the attacker.

You can also program an Astral Shield to automatically defend you from attacks especially on your blind-spots (if you have one), absorb damage, reflect attacks and so on.