Robert Crookall. The Study and Practice of Astral Projection. New Hyde Park: University Books, 1966.
First American Edition, stated (240 x 160) pp. 234 + adverts, embellished with woodblock-style illustrations. Bound half calf-style with red and black fabric, with title in faded gilt along spine. Top edge in Armenian clay-style color. Staining on covers, potential insect damage to top for edge. Extremities frayed and rubbed. A sad state of an otherwise very cool book—perhaps a candidate for rebinding. Overall FAIR condition.
In this influential work of mid-twentieth-century psychic research, Robert Crookall (1890–1981), a geologist turned psychical investigator, compiles and analyzes numerous accounts of out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Drawing on case histories and testimonies, Crookall examines the reported separation of an “astral body” from the physical body and attempts to classify different types of projection experiences. The book discusses the theoretical framework of astral travel, its purported mechanics, and methods by which practitioners claim to induce such states through relaxation, meditation, and heightened mental awareness. Although widely read in metaphysical and parapsychological circles, the phenomena described remain unverified by mainstream science, which generally attributes similar experiences to neurological or psychological processes.