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Collector's Library of the Unknown
The Projection of the Astral Body
The Projection of the Astral Body is the most comprehensive and detailed study ever written on the subject of astral projection. First published in 1929, it has come to be recocognized , through its many printings, as the definitive work in its field.
Dr. Hereward Carrington, one of the world's foremost psychic researchers, brought his vast knowledge and experience of scientific investigation to bear in editing the remarkable account of Sylvan Muldoon's out-of-the-body experiences.
Mr. Muldoon began projecting involuntarily at the age of twelve. He was fascinated by his experiences and began to experiment with the phenomenon. This book is a result of those experiments. The astral cord, traveling speeds and ranges, types of flying dreams - the fundamental laws and sensations of the astral world and its inhabitants - are all recorded in abundant detail. Mr. Muldoon also provides the clearest instructions to students in the techniques of projecting the astral body as well as various "do's" and "don'ts" of the astral world.
The Projection of the Astral Body, so complete in its description of the phenomenon of astral projection and the astral world, is an exciting guide for both amateurs and serious researchers.
242 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1929
86 people are currently reading
700 people want to read
About the author
Sylvan Muldoon
6 books11 followersSylvan J. Muldoon (February 18, 1903 – October 1969) was an American writer on the subject of Astral projection, a paranormal or occult term which usually refers to a consciously induced out-of-body experience or OBE.
He claimed to have his first OBE when he was just 12 years old and often in a state of catalepsy. The experiences continued into his adult life. In 1927 he contacted Hereward Carrington after reading a book Carrington had written on astral projection, in the letter he states "What puzzles me most is that you make the remark that M. Lancelin has told practically all that is known on the subject. Why, Mr Carrington, I have never read Lancelin's work, but if you have given the gist of it in your book, then I can write a book on the things that Lancelin does not know!". This resulted in a partnership and work on The Projection of the Astral Body, which was published in 1929.
He claimed to have his first OBE when he was just 12 years old and often in a state of catalepsy. The experiences continued into his adult life. In 1927 he contacted Hereward Carrington after reading a book Carrington had written on astral projection, in the letter he states "What puzzles me most is that you make the remark that M. Lancelin has told practically all that is known on the subject. Why, Mr Carrington, I have never read Lancelin's work, but if you have given the gist of it in your book, then I can write a book on the things that Lancelin does not know!". This resulted in a partnership and work on The Projection of the Astral Body, which was published in 1929.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
September 4, 2011
This is the book on the subject. Muldoon's explanations of his own experiences and what you might expect are extremely pragmatic and lack the usual esoteric New Age woo-woo of more current-day works. He was a Spiritualist of the old-fashioned, sensible type which regarded such things in an ambience of experimentation rather than dogma.
For people who might be put off by the cover art, rest assured it has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter.
For people who might be put off by the cover art, rest assured it has absolutely nothing to do with the subject matter.
February 5, 2023
I re-read this book (after a fashion) that I first read while in my late 20s. It’s a classic of the genre, originally published in 1929. However, I actually simply re-read chapters & other passages in the book that attracted my interest for this re-read.
Muldoon experienced his first conscious OOBE, spontaneously, at age 12 and had many involuntary experiences of this sort — but gradually learned a considerable degree of control. With a sort of scientific curiosity, he became a Lookie-Lou of the OOBE world. As a writer he worked with psychic-investigator Hereward Carrington and continued writing for several decades.
Muldoon experienced his first conscious OOBE, spontaneously, at age 12 and had many involuntary experiences of this sort — but gradually learned a considerable degree of control. With a sort of scientific curiosity, he became a Lookie-Lou of the OOBE world. As a writer he worked with psychic-investigator Hereward Carrington and continued writing for several decades.
June 5, 2017
یقینا مرگ نیست که نفرین است، بلکه زندگی است؛ زندگی با درد ها و رنجهایش، با شگفتیها و سختیهایش نفرینی است که به بشریت ارزانی شده است. هیچگونه وضع خوش در آینده ارزش این را ندارد که برایش رنج ببریم. هیچ چیزی نمیتواند درد ها و رنجای زندگی را دیگر بار بهببود بخشد.شخص باید به راستی خویشتندار باشد تا در سطح دیگری در شادی به سر برد.
May 28, 2025
I thought this was great.
Sylvan Muldoon might be considered a natural among so many learned astral projectors.
He might have the same effect on his contemporaries as Mozart or Beethoven.
He might also be very misunderstood by most.
I wanted to learn his way of doing things because he was a natural.
Throughout this book, it felt like I was learning not from his methods, but from him personally.
I watched his successes and his shortcomings, and learned from both.
I managed to establish a method of my own from reading this book.
I even experienced my first conscious projection while reading this book and absorbing his perspective.
It might not be for you.
These natural psychics are hard to understand as people, perhaps even less so as teachers.
Sylvan Muldoon might be a natural psychic, but he’s no teacher.
Nonetheless, five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sylvan Muldoon might be considered a natural among so many learned astral projectors.
He might have the same effect on his contemporaries as Mozart or Beethoven.
He might also be very misunderstood by most.
I wanted to learn his way of doing things because he was a natural.
Throughout this book, it felt like I was learning not from his methods, but from him personally.
I watched his successes and his shortcomings, and learned from both.
I managed to establish a method of my own from reading this book.
I even experienced my first conscious projection while reading this book and absorbing his perspective.
It might not be for you.
These natural psychics are hard to understand as people, perhaps even less so as teachers.
Sylvan Muldoon might be a natural psychic, but he’s no teacher.
Nonetheless, five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
September 8, 2021
فکر در دنیای اختری خلاق است
برون فكنی كالبد اختری ، سيلوان مولدون /هرواردكرينگتون، برگردان مهران كندری – تهران ميترا ، 1380
ص 345
برون فكنی كالبد اختری ، سيلوان مولدون /هرواردكرينگتون، برگردان مهران كندری – تهران ميترا ، 1380
ص 345
April 25, 2020
I decided to read this after seeing a reference to it in a book about lucid dreaming. Although I don't really believe in astral projection, I have sometimes had lucid dreams that fit into a pattern that others describe as out of body experiences. Since I always figured that cases of so-called astral projection were most likely misinterpreted, semi-lucid dreams, I thought this book might be worth reading because it purports to teach techniques to induce astral projections, and I might be able to apply those to lucid dreaming.
Unfortunately I didn't find much of value. Whatever useful techniques he gives are already well known and summarized in better form elsewhere, and the rest of the content did not make worthwhile reading. This book represents typical garbage occultism, with its reliance on pseudo-scientific terminology to attempt to put a veneer of respectability on what is really a mess of fantasy connected by faulty leaps of logic.
Perhaps there would have been some slight value and interest in reading Muldoon's personal experiences, but in fact he seems to prefer extensive theorizing to narration, and only gives occasional examples from his own astral adventures in order to illustrate his theories. His theorizing, then, makes up the bulk of the book, and it is annoyingly repetitive, often self-contradictory, and full of speculation disguised as scientific reasoning.
I don't recommend reading Projection of the Astral Body unless you have some particular interest in it as a historical example of occult literature.
Unfortunately I didn't find much of value. Whatever useful techniques he gives are already well known and summarized in better form elsewhere, and the rest of the content did not make worthwhile reading. This book represents typical garbage occultism, with its reliance on pseudo-scientific terminology to attempt to put a veneer of respectability on what is really a mess of fantasy connected by faulty leaps of logic.
Perhaps there would have been some slight value and interest in reading Muldoon's personal experiences, but in fact he seems to prefer extensive theorizing to narration, and only gives occasional examples from his own astral adventures in order to illustrate his theories. His theorizing, then, makes up the bulk of the book, and it is annoyingly repetitive, often self-contradictory, and full of speculation disguised as scientific reasoning.
I don't recommend reading Projection of the Astral Body unless you have some particular interest in it as a historical example of occult literature.
November 1, 2020
On a positive side this book has some good techniques on dream control and pulse control. It is also somewhat interesting from a historical perspective.
On the negative side, however, it is a little tedious and repetitive.
On the negative side, however, it is a little tedious and repetitive.
December 17, 2017
Definitely a unique read, but a little too redundant or something. I become bored with it after the first few chapters. I don't think it was necessary for it.to be that long.
April 28, 2019
An excellent all-round introduction to the phenomenon of astral projection by one who had extensive experience with it.
September 15, 2019
Pretty old. Interesting as a study into the area from an earlier perspective
February 12, 2023
Amazing, one of the best book around about it in my opinion, it explains everything he knows even about techniques and hows and whys! Great lecture, absolutely suggested
November 6, 2022
It feels like many years ago that I found this book (it was probably about six). It was in the basement of The Strand Bookstore (NYC) with the rest of the esoteric section - “Projection of the Astral Body” by Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington (1929) - At that particular time, I was not nearly as interested in occult subjects as I am now, but even then I had a passing familiarity with the concept of Astral Projection (mostly from the album “The True Story of the Bridgewater Astral League” by World/Inferno Friendship Society) and it fascinated me enough that I bought this book. If nothing else, I thought it was a unique curiosity from another time. Published in 1929, it was a collaboration between Svlvan Muldoon (apparently an early American figure in this particular esoteric field) and Hereward Carrington (British by birth, but spent most of his life in America as a prolific paranormal investigator)
In literally every other book review I post, I’ve read the entire book. This is a point of pride for me, and I've made it through much more 'atiquarian'-style books than this. And yet... Full disclosure here – I’ve tried twice to read this one cover-to-cover and have not made it through. I’ve probably read about half and skipped around in the rest. The writing style is so dry it makes A.E. Waite look exciting. But hey, it’s a product of its time, and the writers may try too hard to elevate their style in attempting to legitimize their content toward the realm of scientific acknowledgement. I found some cool sections and ideas amidst all the repetitive parts, that made it worthwhile though. On my instagram I pictured a page that talked about the Tibetan Book of the Dead (which gave me major Twin Peaks vibes) and another about Yoga and ‘Prana’ – which I think must be related to a vintage Yoga book I recently found called ‘Pranayama’(will post a review of that too, eventually!) – This book also has some dreary gothic illustrations that I love. So aesthetic.
Muldoon is the one who claims to have all the ability (and a majority of the expertise) where astral projection is concerned. But when he first contacted Carrington in 1927, Muldoon had no reputation to speak of. Carrington however, had already been writing voluminously in the field for well over a decade (in fact, I found a cute little article Carrington wrote called “The Strangest Man I Have Ever Known” as a portrait of Aleister Crowley written after they met “soon after World War I started”)… So therefore, Muldoon and Carrington mutually benefited from a partnership. This was their first time working together, but apparently the two worked on several more books together through the 1950s. For my part, this is all I've read by either man and I doubt I'll seek more, based purely on their style of writing. Still, I think this is a worthy book to keep on my occult shelf for all the ideas and images it contains which stimulate my imagination.
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In literally every other book review I post, I’ve read the entire book. This is a point of pride for me, and I've made it through much more 'atiquarian'-style books than this. And yet... Full disclosure here – I’ve tried twice to read this one cover-to-cover and have not made it through. I’ve probably read about half and skipped around in the rest. The writing style is so dry it makes A.E. Waite look exciting. But hey, it’s a product of its time, and the writers may try too hard to elevate their style in attempting to legitimize their content toward the realm of scientific acknowledgement. I found some cool sections and ideas amidst all the repetitive parts, that made it worthwhile though. On my instagram I pictured a page that talked about the Tibetan Book of the Dead (which gave me major Twin Peaks vibes) and another about Yoga and ‘Prana’ – which I think must be related to a vintage Yoga book I recently found called ‘Pranayama’(will post a review of that too, eventually!) – This book also has some dreary gothic illustrations that I love. So aesthetic.
Muldoon is the one who claims to have all the ability (and a majority of the expertise) where astral projection is concerned. But when he first contacted Carrington in 1927, Muldoon had no reputation to speak of. Carrington however, had already been writing voluminously in the field for well over a decade (in fact, I found a cute little article Carrington wrote called “The Strangest Man I Have Ever Known” as a portrait of Aleister Crowley written after they met “soon after World War I started”)… So therefore, Muldoon and Carrington mutually benefited from a partnership. This was their first time working together, but apparently the two worked on several more books together through the 1950s. For my part, this is all I've read by either man and I doubt I'll seek more, based purely on their style of writing. Still, I think this is a worthy book to keep on my occult shelf for all the ideas and images it contains which stimulate my imagination.
--------------------------------------
follow mother_lachrymarvm on instagram for occult content and more...
https://www.instagram.com/mother_lach...
February 18, 2014
It's been a few years since I've read this book, and I may update this review if I ever get around to re-reading it. From what I remember, the book was more an account of the authors personal experiences with astral travel, and his thoughts on the subject, as well as some helpful tips for those attempting astral travel.
To me the book did not really seem to be a step by step guide or instruction manual as to "how-to" Astral Travel. This was somewhat disappointing, but for me lent some credibility to Muldoon's claims of his own personal ability to Astral Travel. The truth is there is no way to definitively prove whether or not Muldoon's accounts were genuine, or merely fanciful stories created to sell a book. Regardless, I found the book to be easy to read and understand, as well as interesting and entertaining.
However, Muldoon didn't seem to claim to be able to guarantee that he could teach others how to astral travel as others do. I must admit I have a couple of these instruction manual/ guide books on astral travel which are currently collecting dust on my bookshelf unread.
I was skeptical of these other books with claims to be able to teach people how to astral travel before buying them, but my curiosity got the best of me. I found that the other books seemed to make their concepts about astral travel to be very complex and complicated while at the same time claiming their instructions were easy to follow and their ideas were simple. This was a red flag for me that the authors may be full of crap, and made me doubt whether the author actually had the ability to astral travel themselves, much less teach anyone else. If they could, why make it so difficult to understand? I got the impression that the author made it seem that if a reader was unsuccessful in Astral Travel after reading the book it was fault of the reader rather than the author.
To me the book did not really seem to be a step by step guide or instruction manual as to "how-to" Astral Travel. This was somewhat disappointing, but for me lent some credibility to Muldoon's claims of his own personal ability to Astral Travel. The truth is there is no way to definitively prove whether or not Muldoon's accounts were genuine, or merely fanciful stories created to sell a book. Regardless, I found the book to be easy to read and understand, as well as interesting and entertaining.
However, Muldoon didn't seem to claim to be able to guarantee that he could teach others how to astral travel as others do. I must admit I have a couple of these instruction manual/ guide books on astral travel which are currently collecting dust on my bookshelf unread.
I was skeptical of these other books with claims to be able to teach people how to astral travel before buying them, but my curiosity got the best of me. I found that the other books seemed to make their concepts about astral travel to be very complex and complicated while at the same time claiming their instructions were easy to follow and their ideas were simple. This was a red flag for me that the authors may be full of crap, and made me doubt whether the author actually had the ability to astral travel themselves, much less teach anyone else. If they could, why make it so difficult to understand? I got the impression that the author made it seem that if a reader was unsuccessful in Astral Travel after reading the book it was fault of the reader rather than the author.
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August 20, 2018very interesting book!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews