Practice Astral Projection - Robert Crookall

239 Pages·2009·1.15 MB·English

ROBERT CROOKALL
B.Sc. (Psychology), D.Sc, Ph.D.
Late Principal Geologist, H.M. Geological
Survey, London, formerly Demonstrator
in Botany, University of Aberdeen
PRACTICE
ASTRAL PROJECTION
THE CITADEL PRESS
6 5 4
Copyright © 1960 by Robert Crookall
All rights reserved.
Published by Citadel Press
A division of Lyle Stuart Inc.
120 Enterprise Ave., Secaucus, N.J. 07094
In Canada: Musson Book Company
A division of General Publishing Co. Limited
Don Mills, Ontario
ISBN 0-8065-0547-8
Manufactured in the United States of America
PREFACE
RIGHTLY or wrongly - as the reader may decide - the writer con
siders that many, though not of course all, accounts which people
give of having temporarily left their Physical Bodies in some sort of
'Spiritual Body' are basically true.
If true, these experiences are of great importance. In the first place,
they provide material towards the answer to the Psalmist's question,
'What is man?' Secondly, they point unmistakably to man's survival of
bodily death (since they are identical with those given by the 'dead' -
see Appendix V). Thirdly, they suggest that our entrance into the
'next' world is no more (and no less) a religious matter than entrance
into the physical world at birth.
In the various attempts that have been made to date to demonstrate
the reality of out-of-the-body experiences reliance is chiefly placed on
(i) cases in which the claim that a person is exteriorized in a Rouble',
or Psychical Body, seems to be corroborated'by the fact hat his
apparition was seen by others, and (2) cases in which the experience is
repeated experimentally. These evidences have not proved convincing
to many.
On the other hand, we suggest that the cumulative evidence here
adduced, though necessarily of an indirect nature, serves to establish
the reality of out-of-the-body experiences quite as firmly as the theory
of evolution is established (see Appendix IX).
Although a number of authors give methods for inducing astral
projections, the present writer considers that, in general, these or any
other psychic experiences, should not be forced in any way. If they
come naturally and unsought it is a different matter. There is a time
when an egg-shell can break and the chick emerge in comfort and
safety.
Readers who have had out-of-the-body experiences, or who may
encounter additional examples in print, are invited to send details to
the writer. (A stamped addressed envelope would be appreciated.) The
accounts should be exact, nothing being omitted and nothing inserted
in an attempt to make them agree with those already published.
Differences between narratives may be of great significance.
R. CROOKALL
12 Woodland Avenue,
Dursley,
Glos., England.
v
'He that answereth a matter before he heareth,it is a shame and a
folly unto him - Solomon,Proverbs xviii,13.
'A presumptuous scepticism that rejects facts without examination of
their truth is, in some respects, more injurious than unquestioning
credulity' - Humboldt.
'We cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard' - St Peter
and St John, Acts iv, 20.
'How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come?
[In addition to the carnal, or Physical, Body] ... there is a Psychical
and a Spiritual Body' - St Paul, I Cor. xv. 35,44.
'Self-projection is the one definite act which it seems as though a
man might perform equally well before and after bodily death' -
F. W. H. Myers.
'When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon
and the stars... WHAT IS MAN? - David, Ps. viii, 3.
'Nothing is too amazing to be true' - Michael Faraday. (But Faraday
rejected supernormal phenomena: being committed to a sect with rigid
Biblical views, he separated science from religion.)
'Sit down before fact as a little child. Be prepared to give up every
preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever
abysses nature leads - or you shall learn nothing' - Prof. T. H. Huxley.
(And he fulfilled his own prediction, since he failed to adopt his own
advice. Huxley also wrote, 'Supposing the [psychic] phenomena to be
genuine they do not interest me'.)
'Call it a sin to let slip a truth' - Robt. Browning. (But he did it him
self. Browning failed to realize that D. D. Home was as honest as he
himself and that the phenomena he produced were genuine.)
'Neither the testimony of all the Fellows of the Royal Society nor
even the evidence of my own senses would lead me to believe in
thought-transmission. ... It is clearly impossible' - Prof. Helmholtz.
'The very thought of thought-transference is "puerile" ' - Sir Ray
Lankester. (Yet Profs. C. D. Broad, H. H. Price, J. B. Pvhine, Hornell
Hart and many other eminent scholars are now convinced of its reality.)
vi
CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE V
ANALYSES OF CASE HISTORIES 1
A. - NATURAL OUT-OF-THE-BODY EXPERIENCES 3
I. PEOPLE WHO NEARLY DIED, Cases 1-21 3
II. PEOPLE WHO WERE VERY III, Cases 22-30 20
III. PEOPLE WHO WERE EXHAUSTED, ETC., Cases 31-39 24
IV. PEOPLE WHO WERE QUITE WELL, Cases 40-119 36
B. - ENFORCED OUT-OF-THE-BODY EXPERIENCES 118
1. FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS 118
a. Caused by Anaesthetics, etc, Cases 120-145 118
b. Caused by Suffocation, Cases 146-147 131
c. Caused by Falling, Cases 148-152 132
2. ACCOUNTS BY OTHERS 134
a. Caused by Anaesthetics, etc., Case 153 134
b. Caused by Hypnosis 135
CONCLUSIONS 140
APPENDICES 145
I. History of the Subject 145
II. Additional Details (Natural Experiences) 160
III. Incomplete (or incompletely-remembered) Natural 177
Experiences (Cases 154-160)
IV. Certain 'Dreams' as 'Incomplete Natural Experiences' 183
V. Statements of the 'Dead' regarding their Experiences 187
VI. Statements of the 'Dead' regarding our Sleep-state 203
VII. Arnold Bennett's Resume of Theosophical Teachings 210
VIII. 'Thought-forms' 219
IX. Evidence, Direct and Indirect 226
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 229
INDEX TO CASES GIVEN IN THE TEXT 233
vii
THE STUDY
AND PRACTICE
OF ASTRAL
PROJECTION
Analyses of Case Histories
SHAKESPEARE caused one of his characters to mention 'that
undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns'. Yet
the world's literature contains innumerable incidental accounts of
people who claimed temporarily to leave the body, to be conscious
apart from it, and to 'return' and recount their experiences. The person
who takes pride in his 'commonsense' oudook on life naturally regards
such narratives as representing mere dreams. The present writer, who
has studied them systematically over a period of many years, does not.
He invites the reader to compare the accounts given in this book, to
note the comments made [in square brackets] and to consider whether
the concordances and coherences that occur can be explained except on
the assumption that the narratives are, in fact, descriptive of genuine
experiences.
A brief history of our subject is given in Appendix I. Many of these
Case Histories were sent personally to the writer and are new to the
literature. A questionnaire was submitted to correspondents and addi
tional details were obtained (Appendix II). People often have incom
plete (or incompletely-remembered) experiences of this nature
(Appendix III), while many 'dreams' are obviously not fantasies but
partially-remembered, out-of-the-body experiences (Appendix IV).
The writer has studied the supposed experiences of people who had
left the body permanently (i.e., died): he found that those who said that
they died naturally described one series of experiences while those who
said their death was enforced described another, a more restricted,
series (Appendix V). Some of the 'dead' gave explanations of these
differences. Their explanations are reasonable. Moreover, in some
cases, they agree with the findings of psychical science. We therefore
conclude that the accounts of the after-death experiences which we
examined are very probably, indeed almost certainly, genuine. They
are not, as is often supposed, mere products of the 'subconscious
mind'.
The present book analyses the experiences of people who claim to
leave the body temporarily. It is found that those who did so naturally
typically describe one series of experiences, while those whose exterior
ization was enforced typically describe another, a more restricted, series.
It is further found that there is a remarkable correspondence between
i
2 THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF ASTRAL PROJECTION
the accounts of those who claimed to leave the body permanendy and
those who claimed to leave it only temporarily. This correspondence
in independent narratives seems explicable only if both sets of narra
tives are substantially true. No alternative explanation seems possible
(see 'Conclusions', p. 140). We now proceed to the Case Histories.
A. - Natural Out-of-the-Body Experiences
(I) PEOPLE WHO NEARLY DIED
CASE NO. I - Miss Elizabeth Blakeky
MISS BLAKELEY'S narrative was published in Prediction for
.March, 1953. As a child she feared death. Her experience changed
her whole oudook on life. She became certain that, 'The soul exists and
is indestructible'.
Miss Blakeley became seriously ill. One evening she fell into a deep
sleep, awaking to find the room in darkness. She continued, 'This
awakening was not like the usual drowsy wakening from the sleeping state.
The consciousness was strangely calm and clear. I was no longer in pain. ...
Gradually the consciousness, which normally suffuses the whole body, became
condensed in the head. I became all head, and only head. Then it seemed that
'I' had become condensed into one tiny speck of consciousness, situated some
where near the centre of my head.... [Cf. Appendix V, Statement No. 13.]
Then I became aware that I was beginning to travel further upwards. There
came a momentary blackout [shedding the physical body, see Appendix V,
Statement No. 9] and then T was free; I had left my body. I had projected
in space somewhere above the bed upon which still lay my inert body. And I
knew - this is what the world calls the state of death. ... Contrary to
general belief, there was no loss of consciousness. [There was no 'sleep'
until 'the end of the age' - compare Statement No. 34.]
'Again a timeless pause [shedding the vehicle of vitality = the
'second death' - cf. Statement No. 23 - and the cases of Miss Peters and
Mrs Parker] and then before my inner sight there flashed a complete series of
pictures embodying the most important events of my life [ = the review of the
past life, the 'Judgment' - cf. Statement No. 34]. It seemed that I
became both actor and witness in these pictures, for I found that with
clear reason, utterly devoid of all prejudice or hazy emotion, I became
my own judge of my own actions, for good or bad, throughout my
preceding life. This judgment being over, there finally appeared to me only
those people with whom there existed a true bond of love [cf. 'Starr Daily's'
experience]. And then I turned willingly and gladly to embark on tins
new life which was beginning for me. Then came the Light. A brilliant,
white Light, blinding in its unearthly radiance. ...It suffused my whole being,
lifting me to the indescribable height of sublime ecstasy; complete at-one-ment
3
4 THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF ASTRAL PROJECTION
with the Divine Essence, at the all-pervading consciousness of the Cosmic,
of God [ = 'mystical', 'cosmic' or spiritual' consciousness in the Spirit
ual Body].
'Slowly began the return to my body and the world. Gradually I withdrew
into my lifeless body. But the light remained, and, intuitively realizing,
during this delicate operation, that it was of the utmost importance to retain as
much as possible of its radiant life-giving vibrations, I concentrated my whole
attention on it.
'Once again my consciousness seemed to be located in that vital spot
in my head. The life-force slowly infused the benumbed limbs. ... I
had come back to life. ... The wonder of this revelation continues to echo
and re-echo down through the years of my life. Its memory lingers undimmed
in my heart and mind, assimilated into the very depths of my being, beyond
worldly scepticism, beyond intellectual doubt and argument, and beyond
religious dogma.'
CASE NO. 2 - Dr George Kelley
This narrative was first published in The Aquarian Age by Mrs
Kelley, who corroborated those of her husband's statements that were
capable of corroboration. Dr Kelley specifically disclaimed anyknowledge
of psychical matters. He was very ill. He said, "The doctor saw me draw
what he supposed to be my last breath; tests for life were made. He
pronounced me dead. ... There was a momentary darkness [ = while
shedding the Physical Body - cf. Statements No. 3 and 9]. Then I became
aware of another presence in the room: beside me stood my wife's sister
who had passed away several years before [cf. Statement No. 18].
"Come with me," she said. I followed. I tried to inform my wife of
my safety while absent, and to assure her that I would return. I found
communication impossible. I touched my wife, but she seemed unconscious of
my presence [cf. Statement No. 28]. Suddenly I realized that she thought
I still occupied that inert body which was lying on the bed ... I became
aware of a sudden swift movement. I knew then, beyond the shadow of
a doubt, that my soul, free from the Physical Body, was about to enter
another existence, entirely different from that of earth. I was experienc
ing death and realized that it is not a thing to fear. ... We entered a park
[cf. Statement No. 32]. Men and women stood about singly and in
groups. They were beautiful in their glistening soul-bodies. I found
myself face to face with strange people. / was one of them, yet quite apart
from them. [The intensity of his consciousness and the brightness of his
Psychical Body were diminished by the vitality that passed from the
Psychical Body, via the 'silver cord', to the Physical Body - cf. accounts
of Gerhardi and Mrs Leonard, also Statement No. 1b]. I cannot describe
that bright, yet ethereal light - intense, yet without the glare or the heat of