RUberl Cruukall THE TECHNIQUES OF ASTRAL PROJECTION Denouement afterfifty years by ROBERT CROOKALL B.Sc. (Psychology), D.Sc., Ph.D. (Formerly Demonstrator in Botany, University of Aberdeen; Late Principal Geologist, H.M. Geological Survey, London) MemberoftheSorielyfor Psyrhira/Researrh; MemberoftheChurrhet'Fe/lo7fJthipfor Ptyrhifa/ant/SpiritualStllt/iet THE AQUARIAN PRESS Wellingborough, Northamptonshire Firstpublished 1964 Second Impression May 1968 Third ImpressionMarch 1970 Fourth Impression November 1972 Fifth Impression November 1974 © ROBERT CROOKALL 1964 ISBN 0 85030 020 7 Printedand boundin Great Britain by Whitstable Litho Limited,Whitstable Kent CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE ix INTRODUCTION xi HISTORICAL DATA xi HALL'S ANTECEDENTS xvii MRS KEELER'S ANTECEDENTS xviii DR JAMES HYSLOP'S OBSERVATIONS xviii NOTES ON &naFides xx THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASTRAL PROJECTIONSAND TRANCE MEDIUMSHIP xxii SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF THE "COMMUNICATIONS" 25 (A) BEFORE THE RELEASE OF THE "DOUBLE" 25 I. THE TOTAL BODILY CONSTITUTIONOF MAN 25 Corroboration ofthe"communications" l!Y astralprojectors, eft. 26 2. TECHNIQUES THAT FACILITATE THE RELEASE OF THE "DOUBLE" 27 Corroboration ofthe "communications" i?Y astralprojectors, etc. 30 3. BREATHING TECHNIQUES 32 Corroboration ofthe"communications" i?Y astralprojectors, etc. 33 4. THE EFFECTOF STUDYAND CONCENTRATION 34 Corroborationofthe"communications" byastralprojectors, etc. 34 ~. CONDITIONS FAVOURABLE TO PROJECTION 34 Corroboration ofthe"communications" l!Y astralprojectors, eft. 35 (B) THECoNTRASTBETWEENNaturalANDEnforcedRELEASES 36 Corroboration ofthe "communications" i?Y astralprojectors, eft. 36 vi THE TECHNIQUES OF ASTRAL PROJECTION (C) THE RELEASE OF THE "DOUBLE" (ASTRAL BODY)- 11ENTAL FEATURES 40 I. THE "BLACKOUT" CAUSED BYTHE RELEASE 40 Corroboration ofthe"commtmications" ~ astralprojectors. etc. 40 2. "DUAL CONSCIOUSNESS" 41 Corroborationofthe"communications"~astralprojectors, etc. 42 3. DISCARNATE "HINDERERS" AND "HELPERS" (= "DELIVERERS") 42 Corroboration ofthe"communications" ~y astralprojectors, etc. 44 (D) THE RELEASE OF THE "DOUBLE" (ASTRAL BODY)- BODILY FEATURES 46 I. THE PROCESS IS AN INDIVIDUAL ONE 46 Corroboration ofthe"communications" by astralprojectors, etc. 46 2. EXIT IS OFTEN CHIEFLY VIA THE HEAD 46 Corroboration ofthe"communications" byastralprojletors, etc. 46 3. THE COURSE OF RELEASE IS OFTEN SPIRAL 47 Corroboration ofthe"communications" byastralprojectors. eft. 47 4. THE EFFECT OF INERTIA 48 Corroboration ofthe"communications" by astralprojettors, etc. 48 5. THE "SILVER CORD" EXTENSION 48 Corroboration ofthe"communications" ~ astralprojectors, etc. 49 (E) THE FREE "DOUBLE"-11ENTAL FEATURES 53 I. THE APPEARANCE OF SPIRITS TO ASTRAL PROJECTORS 53 Corroboration ofthe"communications" by astralprojectors, eft. 53 2. CREATIVE ABILITIES 55 Corroboration ofthe"communications" byastralprojectors, eft. 56 3. MORAL AND SPIRITUAL CONSIDERATIONS 60 Corroboration ofthe"communications" ~astralprojectors, e~ 61 CONTENTS vii (F) THE FREE "DOUBLE"-BODILY FEATURES 65 I. A FORWARD-MOVING "DOUBLE" MAYLEAVE A TRAIL OF "LIGHT" 65 Corroboration ofIh,"colNlNlI1Iications" ~ aslralproj,clors, ,ft. 65 Z. THB :RELEASED"DOUBLE" ACTS LIKE A CONDENSER OF COSMIC VITALITY 65 Corroboration of/hI"coININllllications" byas/rajproj,clors, ,Ic. 66 3. THE RANGE OF ASTRAL TRAVEL 67 Corroboration ofIh, co11l11lIl1l;cations" ~ astralproj'&lors, U ,ft. 67 (G) THE RETURN OF THB "DOUBLE" TO THE PHYSICAL BoDY 68 Corroboration ofIhI"C01ll11ll/n;cations" by aslralproj'Clors, ,ft. 68 HALL'S OWN OBSBRVATIONS 68 CONCLUSIONS 72 APPENDICES 77 I. SUMMARIZING RBSULTS OF THIS STUDY 78 H. THE CONTRASTBETWEEN Nall/ralAND EnforcedRELEASES OF "DOUBLBS" 80 Ill. CoMPARABLE "CoMMUNICATIONS" 82 IV. OBSERVATIONS MADE AT DBATHBEDS 95 V. THE PuRPOSE AND OBJECT OF LIFE 100 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 109 "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is a shame and afolly unto him."-Solomon. "He that gives reason for what he saith has done what is fit to be done and the most that can be done. He that gives no reason speaks nothing, though he saith never so much."-Btnjamin Whichcole. "The ancient idea that man is a microcosm, or little world in him self, developing in response to the Macrocosm, or Universe, and having its counterpart in his own being, is a far more adequate con ception than the prevailing attempt to envisage man as an evolving animal."-VrJ.PartonMilt/m. "Itisevidentthat, when manycoincide in their testimony(where no previous concert can have taken place), the probability resulting from this concurrence does not rest on the supposed veracity of each con sidered separately, but on the improbability of such agreement taking place by chance. For, though in such a case the witnesses should be considered as unworthy of credit, ... still the chances would be infiniteagainst their all agreeing in the same falsehood."-ArchbiIhop Richard Whate!y. "A mind unwilling to believe ... will insist on taking that evidence to bits and rejecting them item by item. Modernlogic hasmadeitplain thatsimplefacts canneverbe'proved'exceptbytheircoherenceinasystem.But, as all facts come singly, anyone who dismisses them one by one is destroying the conditions under which the conviction of new truth could arise in his mind."-ProfessorF. C. S. Scbiller. "Faithin God should not be a substitute for scientificstudy, but a stimulus to it, for our intellectual faculties are God's gift to us." Archbishop William Temple. "The only road to a fuller grasp of Reality is the exploration of 'super-normal' perception."-Vr Albert Schllleitzer. PREFACE LORDBYRONsaid,"Truthisalwaysstrange, strangerthan fiction." Longfellow declared, "All things come round to him who will but wait." In these pages we shall consider a matter that, if true, is far strangerthan the fictionsin ournovels. It hastaken halfacentury to bring about the denouement. Dr HerewardCarrington,who diedtwo or three yearsago, was one of the foremost psychical researchers in the world and the only one who (until recent years) was active in investigating astral projection (or out-of-the-body experiences). In 1920 he published a book entitled Higher Psychical Phenomena. In this he stated, "I epitomized everything I had been able to unearth deal ing with this important subject [of astral projection]." He (op. cit., p. 284)quotedanumberoftechniques, or exercises,designed for the production of astral projections, and described the paper in which they had been originallygiven, namely,JournalA.S.P.R., X, 1916,pp. 631-60; 679-708,asthe "excellentwork"ofPrescott F.Hall. InpointoffactthesetechniqueswerenotHall's (who was thoroughlyscepticalconcerningallpsychicmatters),buthadbeen received by Hall in "communications"fromsupposeddiscamate SOU!s.1 Hall had two friends who claimed to be able to project their Astral Bodies, or "doubles", at will. He wished to check up upon these claims by obtaining the necessary "know-how" in "com munications" and try them for himself. It may be added that the medium concerned knew nothing, and cared nothing, about astral projection. Since 1916,when these "excellent"communications were pub lished, a number of investigators, including the present writer, 1Hallmerelygavea"digest"ofthe (350pagesof) "communications",arranging the subjects mentionedin alphabeticalorder-and thereby confusing the situation considerably. The language employed was that ofthe "communicators" (op, cit., 1916,p. 640):Hyslop (op.cit., 1916,p. 632)defendedthis procedure,saying, "Itis notamissto usethe terms more or lessastheycamein the records."Hallincluded halfadozen sentencesofpreliminaryandincidentalobservationsonly. The"excel lent work"for which Dr Carrington expressed his indebtedness to Hall must be credited to "communicatorf"! What was their nature? Although this can never be "scientificallyproved",itmaywellbeamatterofpractical certainty. X THE TECHNIQUES OF ASTRAL PROJECTION have collected and studied the testimonies ofastral projectors. It is now clear that Mrs Keeler's "communicators", whoever or whatever they were, knew a great deal more about astral projec tionthanHall, Carringtonor (sofar asweareaware) byanyother living person. Such being the case, they can scarcely have been "sub-conscious"fragments ofthetotalmindofMrsKeeler(orof the sceptical Hall). They claimed, in fact, to be orientals and it should be noted that a number of the techniques they gave (pp. 6~2,682,690)were used centuriesago inancientEgypt,etc. It would seemto be difficultto avoid the conclusionthat these "communicators"wereindeed,asclaimed, orientalswhohad sur vived bodily death. Ifthis isadmitted, thenit constitutesindirect evidence for survival. Some of our castles (e.g. that at Rochester) were apparently impregnable:they successfullyresisted alldirect attacks. Yetmany fell to indirect approach (Rochester for lack of drainsI). The problem of survivalhas proved almost, if notquite, impregnable to direct attack: yetmatterssuch asthosehereconsidered,though constituting evidence of an indirect kind, leave the matter in little, ifany, doubt. R. CROOKALL Woodland Avenue Dursley, Glos.