Muldoon, Sylvan J(oseph) (ca. 1903-1971)

Pioneer American investigator of astral projection, also known as out-of-the-body travel. His first experience was at the age of twelve, stimulated by a visit with his mother to a Spiritualist Camp at Clinton, Iowa. After going to sleep, he apparently awoke to discover himself outside his physical body, looking down at it, and connected by a kind of elastic cord or cable. He thought at first that he had died, and prowled through the house trying to awaken members of his family, but was eventually drawn back into his physical body. This was the first of hundreds of other projections.

In 1927, Muldoon read some books on the occult and psychical science by the famous researcher Hereward Carrington, in which Carrington had stated that the book Le Fantâme des Vivants by Charles Lancelin covered practically all that was known on the subject of astral projection. Muldoon wrote to Carrington, challenging this statement and saying that he could write a whole book on things that Lancelin did not know.

As a result, Carrington invited Muldoon to collaborate on the book The Projection of the Astral Body (1929). The successful collaboration led to two further volumes, The Case for Astral Projection (1936) and The Phenomena of Astral Projection (1951). These books have become classic works of their kind. Meanwhile Muldoon wrote two additional books on his own: Sensational Psychical Experiences (1941) and Famous Psychic Stories (1942). During much of his life, Muldoon suffered from ill health, which may have been facilitated by his frequent separation from the physical body in astral projections. In the latter part of his life, his general health improved, but his ability in astral projection correspondingly decreased and he devoted less time to the subject.

Sources:

Muldoon, Sylvan, and Hereward Carrington. The Case for Astral Projection. 1936. Reprint, Chicago: Aries Press, 1946.

——. The Phenomena of Astral Projection. London: Rider, 1951.

——. The Projection of the Astral Body. London: Rider, 1929.