Review: Astral Projection by Brad Steiger

Review: Astral Projection

by Brad Steiger

 

Today I'm reviewing Astral Projection by Brad Steiger. The copyright is 1982, so it's an oldie for sure. My copy is signed by the author himself, although I don't remember where I acquired it. I've owned it since the 1980s.

Brad Steiger is a good author and he's written many books on many paranormal subjects. His books are both informative and entertaining.

In a few words, this book has a lot of general information about astral projection, coupled with lots of narratives, and you know how much I love OBE narratives. The narratives are cast as stories, so not exactly fictionalized, but more entertaining to be sure. The nice thing about this book is that the vast majority of them contain veridical evidence. In other words, evidence that the OBEs were "real."

Starting in October 2020, I wrote a series of six articles for this blog that presented some of the most convincing "proof." You can find them here:

Part 1, Introduction, click here.
Part 2, Laboratory Experiments, click here.
Part 3, Anecdotal Evidence, click here.
Part 4, Evidence from OBE Adepts, click here.
Part 5, Indirect Evidence, click here.
Part 6, Evidence against OBEs, click here.

Well, most of the OBE narratives with veridical evidence I cited in these articles are not found in this book. Or, to look at it another way, this book contains lots and lots more evidence not included in those articles. I could have done another six-part installment based on this book alone!

So if you're looking for "Proof" this book is for you.

Steiger breaks the book into sections, each describing different circumstances under which the OBEs occurred. For example:

• Projection at the Time of Accident
• Leaving the Body during Intense Pain
• Out-of-Body Experiences during Illness
• Projection during Surgery
• Astral Travel during Sleep
• Projection at the moment of Death
• Conscious Out-of-Body Projections
• Projections during Hypnosis

Steiger spends a lot of time discussing experiments done using hypnosis, and it's fascinating. Especially since many of these contain veridical evidence. For example, they hypnotized a talented friend and instructed her to leave her body and travel to a friend's home that she'd never seen before. She described these people and places perfectly, including some unexpected things that were later proven to be true.

It also includes some stories of remote "out-of-body" healing done through hypnosis.

The book also contains a few narratives from the author himself. For example, when one of Steiger's acquaintances attempts to "prove" OBEs are real by visiting him in an OBE. These are important because, unlike most narratives, they are firsthand from the author.

He writes that his wife, Francie, is an accomplished "mind traveller" and has done it since the age of five. She gives a pretty good description of how she does it. After some necessary prep work and extreme relaxation, she says:

"Next, imagine circles emanating before you. They may be vague at first, then they will become clearer, moving toward you, growing gradually larger, until they can pass easily over your body and completely encircle you." (pg. 186)

Wow, that sounds a lot like what happened the first time I induced the vibrations, as described in chapter 3 of my first book. You can read my account at this link.

He also talks about the "Old Pros" like Sylvan Muldoon, Oliver Fox, Yram, Paul Twitchell, and others. Bear in mind this book was written long before the likes of William Buhlman and many other post-Robert-Monroe authors.

Steiger gives a couple meager OBE induction procedures, but nothing to write home about. One of the more interesting techniques is quoted from an elderly gentleman who claimed to do it since 1905:

"You need total darkness, a mirror,  and a five-watt light. On your forehead, in the center, you place an orange-colored disc. You look at this disc for five minutes without winking, and this is to be practiced every night until you can do this.

"You increase your sitting to six minutes, then seven minutes, and so on, only when you have succeeded in making the previous time. Once while doing this, the wall suddenly disappeared and I found myself in a backyard garden..." (pg. 117)

There are also one or two helpful hints as well, such as:

"You should have some motivation, some reason for going. I think the greater motivation, the easier it is to achieve this thing." (pg. 122)

The book is professionally written and edited, and enjoyable. I didn't notice any grammar or spelling problems. The material is dated, but still very interesting. I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Bob Peterson
18 February 2025

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If you want me to review a book about out-of-body experiences or astral projection, send me an email: bob@robertpeterson.org, but please check the index first to see if I've already reviewed it. Also, I've got a huge pile of books I'm planning to review, so don't expect a quick turnaround.

If you like my work, visit my website, robertpeterson.org, where you'll find lots of other free OBE advice and links.

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