When I was a child I used to have spontaneous out of body experiences, although I had no idea what they were until long after I lost the ability to do it.
While psychedelics almost always put me in the out of body state (particularly magic mushrooms which I seem to have a more sensitive reaction to then most people I know), I find it's been exceptionally difficult to master the ability on my own.
When I used to do it as a child, it was almost an every night thing. I'd lay down, go to sleep, and would always have the same recurring dream, or at least that's what I thought it was at the time. I'd suddenly find myself in the kitchen of my house (which was right next to my bedroom fyi), and I'd try to get my mom's attention but she would act like she couldn't hear me. Then I'd go to the living room and try to get my dad to play with me, but he ignored me. Frustrated, I'd climb to the top of the spiral staircase in our house and shout at both of my parents that I could fly and that they should watch me. I'd then leap off the stairs, levitate about six inches from the top of my dad's head (his chair was underneath the staircase I mention), and after only a few seconds of this I could never maintain the levitation and I'd fall into my dad and the shock of that would always cause me to sit up in my bed, fully awake.
OP, if you haven't researched the works of Robert Monroe I highly suggest you look him up. His books on out of body travel have helped me wrap my mind around some of the things I've seen from my psychedelic undertakings, causing me to fully accept that the astral realm from esoteric literature and the psychedelic experience are related in a direct way.
*EDIT* Thought I should add this. Although I don't have much ability to achieve an OBE on my own, I do have quite a bit of experience with guides in the other world. If you follow anything I've posted around here, I have a recurring entity that presents itself to me as my spirit guide, or at least that's how I interpret him. Almost everything I journey he meets me in other world and carries me along, showing and teaching me things. If there is anything I can offer you as far as information about guides I have at least some familiarity with the phenomenon. I specifically wanted to add that because I rarely hear anyone around here talk much about guides from hyperspace and that's a recurring experience for me.
All posts are from the fictional perspective of The Legendary Tek: the formless, hyperspace exploring apprentice to the mushroom god Teo. Tek, the lord of Eureeka's Castle, is the chosen one who has surfed the rainbow wave and who resides underneath the matter dome. All posts are fictitious in nature and are meant for entertainment purposes only.