Astral Projection Workbook

The

ASTRAL

PROJECTION

Publishedin 1990_by

Sterling

PublishingCo., Inc. 387 Park Avenue South NewYork, NewYork 10016

Copyright

©_J. H. Brennan 1989

All_RightsReserved. No_partofthis_publication may bereproduced, storedinany retrieval

system, ortransmitted, in_{any form}or_byany

means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying,

recordingorotherwise,withoutthe_prior

permissionof_{Sterling Publishing} Co., Inc. ISBN0-8069-7306-4

First_publishedintheU.K. in 1989_byThe_AquarianPress This edition_{published byarrangement}withthe

Thorsons_{PublishingGroup,}

_{Wellingborough, England}

Thiseditionavailablein theUnitedStates, Canada and the

_Philippine

Islands

_only.

Printed in theU.S.A.

Libraryof_{Congress Cataloging-in-Publication}Data Brennan,J. H.

The astralprojection workbook: howtoachieve_out-of-body

experiences/_J. H. Brennan. p. cm.

ISBN 0-8069-7306-4

1. Astral_projection. 2. Astral

_{projection—Problems,}

exercises,

etc. I. Title. BF1389.A7B74 1989

133.9—dc2O 89-29668

CI?

Introduction The Two

_Types

_of

_Projection

7 PART_{ONE: ETHERIC}

_PROJECTION

1. The

_Living

Ghosts 11

2. What

_Happens

WhenYou Leave Your

_Body

17 3. The SilverCord 23

4.

_Dangers

of

_Projection

29

5. What

_Helps

You Leave Your

_Body

37 6. Howto MakeaWitch’s Cradle 45

7. Scientific

_Projection

50

8.

_Preparing

to

_Project

56

9. The

_Body

of

_Light

62

PART TWO: ASTRAL PLANE

_PROJECTION

1.

_Descriptions

ofan Otherworid 69

2. AModel of the Astral Plane 74 3.

_Imagination

and itsInfluence 79 4.

_Introducing

Your Astral

_Body

84 5. Lucid Dreams 90

6. Astral

_Doorways

98 7. The Astral I

_Ching

106

8.

_Working

the

Qabalistic

Tree 113 9. Guided Tours 120

PART THREE:

_PROJECTION

IN PRACTICE

1.

_Techniques

of

_Projection

127 2. The Ultimate

_Projection

134

Appendix: Questions

and Answers 139 Index 157

Introduction

‘Astral

_{Projection’}

isone of thoseterms

which,

_{though widely}

usedinesoteric

circles,

actually

meansdifferent

things

todifferent

_people.

To someit

_suggests

stepping

out_{of your}

_{physical body}

tomake_{your way}inthe world likea

ghost,

passing

through

walls and doors while youare

(generally)

invisibletothose still locked into solid flesh. To

others,

it is the

_projection

of consciousness into

another world

_altogether,

the fabled Astral

Plane,

where the normal laws of

physics

no

longer

apply

and all sorts of

_interesting

weirdness _may be

experienced.

Although

carrying

the same label and far too often confused in occult

literature,

these two

_experiences

are

_quite

distinct. Ihave

managed

both— the

latter farmore often than the former—and

they

_seemto _me

actually

toinvolve

different mechanisms.

_Certainly

the

_techniques

usedtostimulate themare

quite

different.

Inthis

workbook,

Iwifi deal with both forms of astral

_projection.

Buttoavoid theold

_confusion,

I_proposetocall the former

(where

you wanderthefamiliar world like a

ghost)

etheric

projection

or

projection of

the

phantom.

The latter

experience

(where

you enter a

totally

different

world)

I wifi call Astral Plane

projection.

You should be aware that skill inone form of

_projection

is no

_guarantee

of

expertise

inthe other. Thereareetheric

_projectors

towhom the Astral Planeis

as

_mysterious

and alienasthe far side of the moon. Andthereare Astral Plane

projectors utterly

unable to

_separate

the

_phantom

inthe

_physical

world. One

benefit of thisis_{that you need}

_only

_practise

the

_type

of

_projection

thatinterests

you- there isno

pressure on_you todo both.

The first section of the Astral

_Projection

Workbook deals with the

_projection

of the

_phantom.

_{It wifi introduce you} to the

_concept

of subtle

bodies,

_{show you}

how these bodies

_separate

on death

(and

partly

_separate

during sleep)

then

teach you how

_they

_{may be}

_{consciously separated by}

_{almost anyone without}

going

tothe trouble of

_dying

first.

The second sectiondealswithAstralPlane

_projection.

Itdiscusses the Astral Plane

itself,

itsnatureand

location,

then shows how_youmayenterit

_by

means

ofvarious

_{techniques, including}

the

_specially

constructed astral

_doorways

which

Finally,

having

tried to_{clear up} someofthe confusion thatexists

_concerning

the two

_types

of

_projection,

I feel

_obliged

to add to it

_{by mentioning}

that an

etheric

_projection

cansometimes

_{inadvertently}

cause_youto

_slip

ontothe Astral Plane.

_By

the time_youhave finished this

workbook,

_{you will}

_hopefully

know

Part

One

The

_Living

Ghosts

In

1845,

a Livonian

language

_expert

named Mademoiselle Emilie

Sagee

was

sacked from

_yet

another

_teaching

_post.

No one

questioned

her

abilities,

qualifications

or

skill;

itwas

just

that she

_upset

herstudents. . .who could often

see two of her. The second Mlle

_{Sagee might}

be

_standing

nearthe first beside

the

blackboard,

or

eating

thesameschool dinner. Sometimes the second

figure

would sit

_quietly

in a corner,

watching

the first atwork. Sometimes it would leave herto

_get

onwith the lesson whileitstrolled

through

the school

_grounds.

Thiswasalltoomuch forthedirectorsofthe School for

_Young

Ladiesnear

Riga.

In the face of

_parental

_{complaints, they suggested}

Mile

_Sagée

should

_pack

her

bags.

. . as 18 other School Boardshad

already

done beforethem.

Mile

_{Sagée might}

have had betterluck

_teaching

in

Africa,

where theAzande

Tribe believe that everyone hastwo

souls,

one of which - the mbisimo-leaves

the

_{body during sleep.}

Or in

_Burma,

where the second soul is likened to a

butterfly.

Or among theBacairis of South

America,

who talk

(like

the

_Azartde)

ofashadow which travelsoutof the

_body

whenwefall

_asleep.

In

fact,

when you

get

right

down to

_research,

it is

_{quite surprising}

to find Mile

_Sagée’s

talent caused any consternation at all. A _{survey has shown that} no fewer than 57

cultures hold a firm beliefin some sort of second

_body

- and the list does not

pretend

tobe definitive.

One _{of my earliest}

_published

short stories was called House

Haunting

and

described howa_young

couple

discovered the home of their dreams

_only

tofind

it was onthe marketata

_suspiciously

low

_price.

When

_{they quizzed}

theestate

agent,

he

_reluctantly

admittedthereason wasbecause the housewas

haunted,

but

added,

_{‘Don’t worry, Madam}-

you’re

the

ghost.’

The

_story

drew ona factual_case; andonethatis

particularly

instructive. The

woman

_(on

whomthe fictional wife was

based)

had been obsessed about her

dream house for many years,

creating

and

_recreating

it inher

_mind,

_imagining

herself

_{walking through}

itscorridorsandrooms.

When,

with her husband and

the

_hapless

estate

_agent,

she discovered the house

_actually

existed,

she was

able to describe the interior to the estate

_agent

_{before entering.}

Her

_description

wasaccuratein_{every detail}

_except

one: she

spoke

abouta_{green door which did}

not

_actually

exist. The

_agent

was,

however,

abletoconfirm that suchadoorhad

existed,

_{but had been bricked up}afew years earlier.

The Astral

_Projection

Workbook

As a novice

author,

I withheld several of the more bizarre details from my

fictional account. I was convinced

they

would

destroy

the

credibility

of the

story.

Inthose

_days

Iwas notawarehow

widespread

thissortof

_phenomenon

actually

was.

Back in

1886,

three

_founding

fathers of the

_Society

for

_Psychical

Research,

Gurney, Myers

and

Podmore,

published

a

comprehensive

tome entitled Phantasms

_of

the

_Living

which detailed 350cases. In

1951,

Sylvan

Muldoon and

Hereward

_Carrington

added another 100 in their Phenomena

_of

Astral

_Projec

tion. Three years

later,

HornellHartwas

_examining

288casesinthe

Journal

of

the

American

_{Society for}

_Psychical

Research.Another

_psychical

_researcher,

Robert

Crockall,

entered the lists in 1961 and between then and 1978

_published

no

fewer thanninebooks ofcasehistories. ThescientistCelia Green

appealed

for

information on the

subject

in the late

1960s,

and had 360

replies

from

people

with

_personal

_{experience. John}

_Poynton

added 122 more in 1978. And

doubtless

_by

the time this book is

_published,

even more material wifi have

become available.

Typical

of the sortofcase

investigated

isan incident which occurred in 1863

when an American manufacturer named Wilmot was on board the

City of

Limerick when the

_ship

hit amid-Atlanticstorm.

_During

the

_night,

he dreamed his wife visited him in her

_nightdress

and kissed him.

_Although

he had said

nothing

of the

dream,

his cabin-mate teased himthe

_following

_morning

about his

_midnight

visitfroma

lady.

When he arrived homein

Bridgeport,

Connecti

cut, hiswife atonce askedhimif he had receivedavisitfrom her inthe

night.

She

had,

she

said,

been worried

_by

_reports

of

_shipwrecks

anddecidedto

_try

to

find out if he was safe.

Consequently

she visualized herself

flying

over the

ocean,

finding

the

ship

and

going

tohiscabin. Amaninthe upper berth looked

straight

at

her,

but she went ahead and _{kissed her husband anyway.}

_(Steve

Richards makes the

_intriguing

_suggestion,

in his Traveller’s Guide to theAstral

Plane,

that she had

_planned

todomorethan kiss

him,

butwasrestrained

by

the

presence of an

audience.)

When

pressed,

she was able

accurately

to describe the

_ship,

the cabin and the manwho had sharedit withMrWilmot.

Although

this is the sort of evidential

_case-study

which finds its _way into the

textbooks,

it is _{very clear that} a

_great

_many

people

have

out-of-body

experiences

of a less

spectacular

_type

— the sort of

thing they might

find

personally impressive,

but which would have

_nothing

in it to convince an

outsider.

Several years ago, for

example,

Iwasinbed

preparing

for

sleep

whenIfound

myself standing

at a crossroads about half a mile from my home. I

glanced

aroundinsome

confusion,

then returnedto _my

_body

witha substantial

jerk.

I

am

_quite

satisfied the

_experience

wasneitheradreamnora

hallucination,

butit

is, of course,

quite

uselessas evidence.

In this

instance,

minor as it was, I had at least the

_advantage

of some

theoretical

_knowledge

of etheric

_projection.

Othersarenot

_always

so

lucky.

On one occasion Iwasvisited

by

an

18-year-old

womanrather

desperately seeking

advice on the treatment of

_epilepsy.

Her

_{‘symptoms’}

were those of

_sponta

when shewas

eight

_yearsoldand shehadbeen

receiving

regular drug therapy

eversince.

Whatis

_happening

here?

_Why

shouldawoman’s

brooding

cause an

image

of

herselfto_appearinthe cabin ofa

ship

at sea, orinthehouse shewas

thinking

about? How could Mlle

_Sagee

_appear in two

_places

at once? What is the

mbisimo ofthe

Azande,

the

_butterfly

of

Burma,

the andadura shadow of the South American Bacairi? And is the whole

_thing

some sort of

_pathology,

the manifestation of

_epileptic

brain

_patterns

as _{my visitor’s doctor believed?} For

answers, wehaveto venture intothe

_daunting

realms of occult

_anatomy.

Whatever the cultural statistics

_quoted

earlier,

Western

_thought,

_by

and

large,

assumes_{you have}

only

one

body

-theonethat is

holding

thisbookatthis

moment.Even

_religious

doctrinesof soul and

_spirit

tendto

_conjure

_{up formless}

abstractions farmore

readily

thanconcrete

_pictures.

In Ancient

_Egypt,

_however,

itwas acommonconceitthat

_humanity

hadthree

souls. Thesewereknownas the

ba,

theka andtheib. The bawas the

bird-soul,

the ib was the

heart,

but the

ka,

interestingly,

was known as the double.

Egyptians

believedittobeamirror

_image

ofthe

_{physical body,}

but

_composed

of finer matter. The ka, under a

_variety

of differentnames, would be

recognized

instantly by

yoga initiates of

India,

Tibet and China.

Many

yoga

systems

actually postulate

awhole series of subtle

bodies,

onewithinthe

other,

likeaset

of Russian dolls. This

notion,

carried into

_Europe

and America

_by

Madame

Blavatsky

and her

_{Theosophists,}

has taken firm root in Western esoteric

thought.

How many bodies you

actually

have

_depends

tosomeextentonthe

particular

sub-system

you are

studying,

but most authorities include an etheric

_(some

times called astral or desire

body),

a mental and a

spiritual.

Each has its own

characteristics,

functionand

_sphere

of

_operation.

Each is

_composed

_{of progress}

ively

finer material.

Inthis section, the

_{only body}

we willbe

dealing

with is the

etheric,

_although

we wifibe

_returning

briefly

to the others when we reach Section Two of the

workbook

_dealing

withthe Astral Plane.

While it is true to _say that science in

_general

does not

_recognize

the etheric

body,

som&scientists

_certainly

do - and a few of the more

open-minded

(or

perhaps

merely

eccentric)

have triedtofindoutmore aboutit.

Inthe

1920s,

for

_example,

amacabre seriesof

_experiments

wascarriedout

_by

Dr Duncan

_McDougall

of

Haverhill, Mass.,

who decided to

_weigh

those of his

patients

who were in _{the process of}

_dying

from tuberculosis. To do so, he

placed

them— bed and all — on a

delicately

balanced scale

. . . and waited. As

death

occurred,

he

discovered,

in four out of six cases, a

weight

loss

varying

between two and two-and-a-half ounces. The conclusion drawn was that

something

vacated the

_body

on death and that while

obviously

invisible and

intangible,

it was atleast

_sufficiently

solidto have measurable

_weight.

Dr

_{McDougall’s approach}

had an

elegant simplicity,

but I am not aware of

many scientists who have

attempted

to

_duplicate

his

_experiments

—

possibly

duetothe

_difficulty

of

_finding

areliable

supply

of terminal

patients.

Therewas,

The

Astral

_Projection

vvunwuuic.

differentroute —theDutch

physicists

DrsMalta and

Zaalberg

VanZelst.

Working

out of the

_Hague,

theVanZeists invented —

again

inthe 1920s — a

very curious instrument called a

dynamistograph.

This

_apparatus,

which had a

pointer

on alettered dial atthe

_top,

was, soits inventors

claimed,

abletomake

direct contact with the

_spirit

world. Left in a room

by

itself

(and

observed

through

a small

window)

the machine would be

manipulated by spirits

who

spelled

out

_lengthy

_messages. I am not

entirely

clear how the Drs Van Zelst

used this devicetomeasurethe etheric

body,

but

they subsequently

claimedto

have discoveredit was

capable

of

expanding

by

about

1/40,000,000

ofits own

volume and

_{contracting by}

some

1/6,250,000.

It was

composed

of

‘extremely

small and

_{widely separated’}

atoms, had a

density

176.5 times

lighter

than air

and

_weighed,

on _average, 69.5 _gr, or

two-and-a-quarter

ounces.

The

_{dynamistograph}

sounds so like one of those ‘futuristic’ radio sets

featured in the old Flash Gordon movies that it is difficult to take it

_seriously.

And while Dr

_{McDougall’s}

work was

interesting, perhaps

even

important,

his

methodology

was

distinctly

bizarre.

Only

a decade or so

later, however,

anotherAmericanscientist, DrHarold SaxtonBurr,

anatomy

professor

at

Yale,

embarkedon aseries of

_{experiments altogether}

more

_convincing.

Burr was interested in the electrical

potential

of

living things,

an area of

research even more

unpopular

in the 1930s than it is

today.

He set _up

measuring

equipment

which would be considered crude now, but was

nonetheless able todetect electrical field

_phenomena

associatedwithtreesand other

_plants,

_many

animals,

including humanity,

andevenslime moulds. Such

fields are not static. A voltmeter attached to a tree

will,

for

_example,

indicate fluctuationsin_responseto

_light,

moisture,

storms,

_sunspots

andmoon

phases.

Overa

period

of years, Burrcametobelieve intheexistenceofa

life-field

which,

in the words of Dr

_Lyall

_Watson, ‘holds the

_shape

of an

_{organism just}

as a

mould determines the

_shape

ofa

pie

or

pudding.’

Inhis

_Blueprint

_{for Immortality,}

Burr

remarks,

‘Whenwemeetafriendwehave not seenforsix

months,

there isnot one molecule inhis face whichwas there

when we last saw him. But thanks to his

_controlling

life-field,

the new

molecules have fallen into the

_old,

familiar

_pattern

and we can

recognize

his

face.’ Dr Burr’s theories were

largely ignored

by

the scientific establishment

throughout

much of his

_working

life,

even

though they

went a

long

_way

towards

_explaining

one of the most

_{persistent mysteries}

of cellular

_biology.

Simply

stated,

the

_mystery

is how certain cells in _your

_body

‘knew’ how to

grow into a

kidney,

while others grew into a brain. Pancreatic tissue

grafted

onto_yournosewifineverresultinthe

growth

ofa new_pancreas on_{your face.}

Sponges

sieved

_through

silkto

_separate

theirconstituentcells will nevertheless reform as

they

were before. More

impressive

still,

the cells of two

_different

sponges may be sieved and mixed

together

without

disrupting

the process

-they

willre-formas

_separate

individuals.

Ithas

_long

been evidentthat some sortof

_organizing

_principle

isinvolvedin

living

matter and scientists have devoted substantial time and effort ina vain

attempt

to isolate chemical or other

triggers

of the _process. In the absence of

far been

_greeted

with little scientific

enthusiasm,

there is still some

empirical

evidence fora‘mould which holds the

shape

of the

organism.’

Certain lizards are

capable

of

shedding

and

regrowing

their tails. Others

-notably

the little salamander - _can

regrow whole limbs.

(In

one

unpleasant

experiment,

a _{young salamander} was

persuaded

to

_replace

all of its

_legs

six times inathree-month

period.)

In

1958,

an

orthopaedic

_{surgeon named Robert}

Becker tried tofindout

_why

a salamander could do this whena

frog,

a similar sortof

_amphibian,

couldnot. Carefulmeasurementsenabledhimtodetermine that the ends of both animals’ limbs were

charged

with a

negative

current of 0.000002_amps—_analmost undetectable flow. Becker thenwent_onto

amputate

the

_right

forelimb of both

_frog

and salamander. When the

_operation

was

complete,

he discovered there was still a

tiny

electrical flowinthe

_stump,

but

the

_polarity

had reversed.

As the

_frog’s

wounds

healed,

forming

scar

tissue,

the

_positive

_polarity

gradually

reverted to the

_original

_negative

flow. The salamander showed an

entirely

different

_pattern.

The electrical

_potential

of the limb first

_dropped,

then

roseto three times its normal

level,

turning

negative

in_{the process. This}

_high

negative charge

was maintained until a whole new limb was

regenerated,

insideafew weeks.

As a _{surgeon, Becker} was less concerned with pure research than

practical

application

- he had embarked _on his

experiments

in the

hope

of

finding

out

why

fractured bones sometimesrefusedtoknit.

_Consequently

he

_developed

a

tiny

battery

which

_produced

acurrent

_mimicking

that of the salamander. When

implanted

inthe

_stump

ofa

frog

_amputee,

it

regenerated

theentirelimb

exactly

as the salamander had done. In

1972,

the first mammal

(a

laboratory

rat)~

succeeded in the

_partial

_regeneration

of a limb

using

a similar device. Since

then,

Becker has shown that the

_right

sortof

_applied

currentcan

actually

close

holes inthe

_{heart, regenerate}

nerve tissueand inhibit infection. Thousands of

patients

world-wide have had the benefit of

_{battery implants}

to aid bone

healing

in difficult fractures. Thousands more,

including

_my

wife,

have used

electrical stimulationtoinhibit chronic

_pain.

While orthodox science stifi seems reluctant to discuss the

_{theory, practical}

experience

has very

clearly

established anelectrical

_aspect

tothe human

body.

Technology

has advanced so far since the time that Dr Burr first tried to

measurealife-field thataninvestmentoflessthan£100wifi

buy

_you

_equipment

sufficiently

sensitivetodetect fluctuationsinthe electrical

_potential

oftheskin.I

haveone such device whichisno

larger

thanaball

point

_pen.

Occultists have a

special

interest in the work of Burr and

Becker,

for

the notion of a life-field which holds the

shape

of an

organism

runs _very

close to some_{very old ideas about}asecond

body.

The use of the word double

to describe the

_phantom

is

_deceptive,

for it

_suggests

_{something patterned}

on

the

_{physical body.}

_{But many occultists} - and

particularly

Qabalists

- have

long

believed

_just

the

_{opposite. They}

have

_thought

of the

_phantom

as

the

_foundation

of the

_physical,

the

_pre-existent

_pattern

into which it _grows.

Esoteric doctrine is

_quite

clear on this

point,

forit holds that inthe case of an

The Astral

_Projection

Workbook

why

some

_amputees

feel

_pain

or

itching

intheir

_missing

limbs.

There seems to me _{very little difference between Burr’s life-field and the}

occultnotionofan etheric

body,

_except,

_perhaps,

inone

_important

_respect.

Dr Burr

_suggests

the fieldisan

integral

_part

ofa

living

creature, a

phenomenon

of

living

matter,

possibly

eventhe factor

which,

_ultimately,

differentiates between

that whichis animate andthat which isnot.

Occultists,*

however,

believe that the life-field may — in the _case of human

beings

at least — be

temporarily

separated

from the

_{physical body}

without

_causing

harmto either. And in the process, the life-field may become the vehicle ofconsciousnessand

_perception.

*Or some occultists. Dr

Douglas

Baker believes the etheric

body

cannever _separate

from the

_{physical body during}

life and considers an even moresubtle

body,

the true

What

_Happens

When You Leave

Your

_Body

Although

members of theHermetic Order of the GoldenDawn

_(an

institution founded in

₁₈₈₇₎

were

taught

a method of etheric

projection, they

were sworn

to _{secrecy about the}

_{technique. Consequently,}

as late asthe middle

1920s,

the

psychic

researcherDrHereward

_Carrington

wasunableto_{find any information} atallonthe

subject beyond

some

experimental

work carriedoutinFrance. The French

_experimenter

was a M. Charles Lancelin who was interested in the

effects of ‘animal

_magnetism’

a

sadly

confused

subject

now

largely

dismissed not

_{only by}

science, but

_by

occultists aswell.

The

_history

of animal

_magnetism

dates back to the famous Franz Anton

Mesmer,

who believed asubtle fluid

emerged

both frommetallic

_magnets

and

thehuman

_body;

andcouldbe usedtocurea

variety

of ifinesses.He

developed

a

technique

of

‘magnetizing’ patients

sothat

they

fellinto aconvulsive trance,

from which

_they

often

_emerged

free of former ailments. As a

healer,

Mesmer was

conspicuously

successful and for some time _{very fashionable.} But when

the French

_Academy

of Sciences was moved to

_investigate

his

claims,

the

committee discovered

_nothing

that ‘couldnotbe

_{explained by imagination.’}

Butwhat

_really

_put

_paid

toanimal

_magnetism

wasnotthe frantic efforts of the

Establishment,

but the

_{entirely sympathetic}

work of a Mesmer admirer who

was

trying

tofollow his

example.

The

_Marquis

de

_Puysegur

triedto

_magnetize

a

shepherd boy

andfound the

lad fellintothe

_type

of

_passive

trancewe nowcall

hypnotic.

This

development

so confounded the historians of science that it is stifi

quite

common to find Mesmer referred to as the father of

hypnosis,

even

though

his

techniques

produced

a

totally

different kind oftrance.

M.

Lancelin,

it_seems,wasnotconfusedand

_{‘magnetized’ subjects exactly}

as

Mesmerhad done.Intheir

_magnetized

state, hewasableto_extract,soto

speak,

the etheric

_body

from the

_{physical body}

andset_upanumber of

ingenious

tests to show when this had been achieved. He believed a certain

_type

of

_tempera

ment was _{necessary for} success but his discussion of

sanguine, lymphatic,

nervous, and bilious

subjects

seems

outmoded,

even

_quaint,

_today.

. . as, of

course, does the useof

_{‘magnetism’}

itself.

Dr

_Carrington

summarized Lancelin’s work inabook called Modern

Psychical

The Astral

_Projection

Workbook

ment. Headmitted he found thematerial inbothbooks‘most

_{inadequate’,}

butit

represented everything

he could unearth at the time. Better

_days

_were,

however,

_just

around the corner.

InNovember

1927,

Dr

_Carrington

receivedaletter fromanindividual named

Sylvan

Muldoon,

who claimedtohave

_forgotten

moreabout etheric

_projection

than Lancelin ever knew. He

enlarged

on a number of

_points

Lancelin had

made and took issue with him on several others.

Everything

he said was, he

claimed,

drawn from

_personal

_experience.

Muldoon was 25 _{years old}in 1927.

He had had his first

_out-of-body

_projection

atthe_{age of}12.

Carrington

was

impressed.

Hevisited Muldoon

and,

despite finding

himso

seriously

ill that his conditionwasconsidered

terminal,

conducted

_experiments

to test his

claims,

then

_encouraged

him to write a book on his

_experiences.

Muldoon

did,

from his

_sickbed;

and The

_{Projection of}

the Astral

_Body

_(which

credits

_Carrington

as

co-author)

became a classic which is now in its fifth

reprint,

and

_helping

trainathird

_generation

of

projectors. Despite

theuseof the

termastralinthe

title,

Dr

_Carrington

makes clearinhis introductiontothe book that Muldoonis

_dealing

withwhat I have termed etheric

_projection.

‘Ishould like todraw the reader’s attention

_particularly

tothe fact thatno

wild or

_preposterous

claims are

anywhere

made in this

book,’

he wrote,

‘as to what has been

_{accomplished during}

these “astral

_trips”.

Mr

Muldoon doesnotclaimtohave_{visited any distant}

_planets

-and returned

totell us in detail their modes of

life;

he does not claimtohave

explored

any vast and beautiful

“spirit

worlds”;

he does not

pretend

to have

penetrated

the

_past

or the

future;

to have re-lived _any of his

_past

“incarnations”;

to _{have read any “Akashic}

Records”;

to have travelled back

_along

thestreamoftime and reviewed the

_history

of mankindorthe

geologic

eras of ourearth. He asserts

_merely

that he has been enabled to

leave his

_{physical body}

at will and travel about in the

_present,

in his immediate

_vicinity,

insome vehicleor

other,

while

fully

conscious.’

Muldoon himself remarked in a

letter,

‘I have never had a conscious

out-of-body experience

whenI wasnothere ontheearth

plane,

just

as much as I am

right

now. Iwouldn’t know wheretolookforthe

_{higher planes!~*}

Despite

Dr

_{Carrington’s}

difficulties

_only

a _year or two

before,

Sylvan

Muldoon was not the

_only

one to claim a detailed

knowledge

of etheric

projection.

The Occult Review of 1920 had

_published

two articles on the

subject by

an

engineer

named OliverFox. Their titleswere ThePineal

Doorway

and

Beyond

the

Pineal Door. The

_{pineal gland}

is a small

body

situated within the brain some

distance behind that

_spot

on the forehead where Hindus

_put

the caste mark. Occultists believe it is the remnant of the fabulous Third

_Eye

and the seat of

psychical

abilities. Scientists are not so sure about the

psychical

abilities,

*Later in this workbook, you will be told whereto look for the

_higher

_planes

_{if you}

although

thereissomeevidence that the

gland

remains

_light

sensitive_{and may}

be an

evolutionary

remnant. It secretes a substance called

_serotonin,

whichis

associated with

_growth

_and,

_just

_possibly,

with

_{visionary experience.}

For Mr Fox, itwas theexit

point

through

which his second

body

vacated his first.

Around

1902,

while Fox was a technical

student,

he had a

_spontaneous

experience

of

_leaving

his

_{physical body.}

Ratherlike_myownfirst

_projection,

he

found himself

_standing

outside his home. The

_experience

wasvivid and

real,

but therewerecertain minor

changes

in his environmentthat

_persuaded

him he

was

dreaming.

The realization didnotcausehimto_{wake up. On the}

_contrary,

the ‘dream’ became morevivid andhe wasfilled

by

a sensationof

well-being.

Hewas sotaken

by

this that he decidedto

_experiment

inaneffortto

_bring

such

dreams under conscious control. His

_early

_attempts

to do so

triggered pain

in

the

_pineal

area.

Withtime and

_practice,

he

_managed

toachieve the results he

_sought

andwas

eventually

abletoleave his

_body

atwill.His

_experiences

thereafterseemtohave

been amixtureof etheric andastral

plane

_projections.

Carrington

himself had discovered

_yet

another source of information

by

the

time he came to edit Muldoon’s

_manuscript.

This was the

publication,

in

France, ofabook called Le Fantôme des Vivants

(loosely

translated as The

Living

Phantom)

by

M. Hector Durville. Like

Lancelin,

Durvile was interested in

projections resulting

from

_{‘magnetic’}

trances anddescribeda

fascinating

series

of

_experiments

which included

_attempts

to

_photograph

the etheric

_body.

What

was

happening

to these

people

and to _{the many others} in more recent _years

who have claimedtobe able to

_{separate themselves,}

more orless at

will,

from their

_physical

bodies?The first-handaccountscan differ

susbstantially, leading

to a real

degree

of confusion among those who

_approach

the literature for the

firsttime.

Look atthesetwo

_{descriptions:}

‘Idozed offto

_sleep

aboutten

_thirty

o’clock. . .and

slept

forseveral hours.

At

_length

Irealized I was

slowly

awakening,

_yet

I couldnot seem todrift

back into slumbernor furtherarouse.

‘Gradually

. . . I became more conscious of the fact that I was

lying

somewhere. . . and

shortly

I seemedto know that Iwas

reclining

upona

bed . . . I tried to move . . .

only

to find that I was

powerless

. . . as if

adhered to that on which I rested. . . If conscious at the

beginning

of an

exteriorization, one feels

fairly glued

down,

stuck

fast,

in an immovable

position.

‘Eventually

the

_feeling

of adhesion

relaxed,

butwas

replaced by

another

sensation

_{equally unpleasant}

-that of

floating.

. .

My

entire

rigid body

-I

thought

itwas_my

physical,

butitwas_{my astral}-commenced

vibrating

at

a

_great

rate of

_speed

in an _up and down direction and I could feel a

tremendous pressure

being

exerted in the back of_myhead in the medulla

oblongata region.

This _pressurewas _very

impressive

and camein

regular

spurts,

the forceof which seemedto

_pulsate

_myentire

_body...

The Astral

_Projection

Workbook

‘Whenableto see, Iwas morethan astonished! Nowords could

_possibly

explain

my wonderment. I was

floating!

I was

floating

in the very air,

rigidly

horizontal,

afew feet above the bed. . .

Slowly,

still

zigzagging

with

the

_strong

_pressure in _{the back of my}

head,

I was moved towards the

ceiling,

allthe while horizontaland

_powerless...

‘Involuntarily,

at about six feet above the

bed,

as if themovement had

been conducted

_by

an invisible force

_present

in the _very air, I was

uprighted

from the horizontal

_position

to the

_{perpendicular}

and

_placed

standing

upon the floor oftheroom. ThereI stoodfor whatseemedto me

abouttwo_minutes, still

_powerless

tomoveof myown

accord,

and

staring

straight

ahead.

‘The~n the

_controlling

force relaxed. Ifelt

free,

_{noticing only}

the tension in_{the back of my head.} Itooka

_step,

when the pressure increased foran

interval,

_{and threw my}

body

out at an acute

_angle.

I

_managed

to turn

round.

‘Thereweretwoofme! Iwas

beginning

tobelieve

_myself

insane. There

was another “me”

lying quietly

_{upon the bed!} Itwas difficulttoconvince

myself

that thiswas

real,

butconsciousnesswould notallowmeto doubt whatI saw.’

Thiswas

Sylvan

Muldoon’s first etheric

projection

at_{the age of}12 inaroomat

the camp of the

Mississippi Valley Spiritualists’

Association in

Clinton, Iowa,

where his mother had taken him in an

_attempt

to

_satisfy

her

_curiosity

about

spiritualist

claims. Bizarre

_though

it is, the account is at least

_{straightforward}

enough.

Butcontrastitwith the

_following,

whichis Oliver Fox’s

_description

of

how he achievedan

out-of-body

condition:

‘I hadtoforce

_{myself through}

the

_doorway

of the

_{pineal gland..}

. Itwas

done,

whileinthetrance

condition,

simply by concentrating

onthe

pineal

gland

and

_willing

toascend

_through

it.

‘The sensation was as follows: my

incorporeal

self rushedto a

_point

in

the

_{pineal gland}

and hurleditself

_against

the

_{imaginary trap-door,}

while the

_{golden light}

increasedin brilliance so that it seemed the wholeroom

burst intoflame.

‘Ifthe

_impetus

was insufficient to take me

through,

then the sensation

became

reversed;

_my

incorporeal

self subsided andbecame

_again

coinci

dent with my

physical

body,

while the astral

_light

died downtonormal. ‘Often two or three

_attempts

were

required

before I could

_generate

sufficient

_wifi-power

to_carryme

through.

Itfelt as

though

Iwere

_rushing

to

_insanity

and

death;

but once the little door had clicked behind me, I

enjoyed

amental

clarity

far

surpassing

that of earth-life. And the fearwas

gone. . .

Leaving

the

body

thenwas as easyas

getting

outof bed.

Having

left the

_body,

however,

Fox’s

_experiences

convinced him he was