“This is what happened a short while after I went to bed. After following the method indicated in the Seventh Degree and, I admit, without much belief that I would succeed, I suddenly found myself out of my body. I was thus able to see my husband who was asleep. I was perfectly conscious of being myself, but at the same time I realized that I was in an unusual state. I had the impression of being upright in the room about 50 centimeters from the ground, and I saw things as though I were looking at them from above. “

In an effort to bolster the confidence of any recruits who might doubt the concept of astral projection, the Class Master begins this monograph with a vivid report of one such out-of-body-experience from a self-professed initial skeptic. For anyone who has been privy to similar anecdotes before, the descriptions given by this woman of floating and looking down on her body will strike a note of distinct familiarity. 

In 1971, Robert Monroe produced a definitive book on the subject of OBEs called Journeys out of Body. The book was autobiographical retelling of the various out-of-body experiences the author had experienced across his lifetime. In almost all of these accounts, Monroe described himself as floating and looking down upon his stationary body. 

For Monroe, these incidents inspired him to establish a research and development firm primarily focused on uncovering new knowledge in the fields of human consciousness, and the potential of the sleeping mind. Today, the Monroe Institute in Charlottesville Virginia produces several sleep-learning and relaxation products, as well as publications from well-regarded scientists all over the world. 

So it seems that whether you have previous knowledge of Rosicrucian Order AMORC’s patented techniques or not, at least one aspect of astral projection can be reliably replicated. Let’s see if we can find evidence of further experiences elsewhere.

“And then I thought of a friend, and I immediately saw her at her home, sitting comfortably in front of the television. I saw her very clearly, but she did not see me. I attempted to speak to her, but then I felt myself drawn backwards by an invisible force. Finally, I found myself back in my body. I looked at the time. It was 10 p.m. The next day, I telephoned my friend and deliberately told her that the previous evening, before going to sleep, I tried to imagine what she was doing around 10 p.m., how she was dressed and so on. Absolutely everything coincided down to the smallest details.”

Susan Blackmore is a skeptic and parapsychologist who experimented extensively with both hallucinogenic substances and occult traditions during the period of her undergraduate degree at Oxford University. Blackmore describes one memorable occasion in the early 1970’s, where she underwent a particularly intense out-of-body experience. 

Extremely sleep deprived and significantly impaired by the effects of marijuana, Blackmore had decided to spend several hours testing out the capabilities of her Ouija board; an activity which had apparently left her in a “peculiar state of mind”. 

Next, Blackmore recounts a sudden sensation of floating and a feeling of her consciousness being taken away further and further upwards over the University grounds until eventually she seemed to be gazing down over the entirety of England. The OBE didn’t stop there. Blackmore explains how her consciousness then rushed over and across the Atlantic Ocean until she found herself hovering above an apartment in New York City. Fortunately, Blackmore was able to drift back to her physical body soon afterwards and regain consciousness. 

While Blackmore did initially turn to theosophy and literature on astral projection to cast light upon her experience, ultimately, these avenues didn’t satisfy her curiosity. However, upon finding references to similar experiences in scientific literature, Blackmore decided to delve deeper into the world of abnormal psychology to better explain what had happened to her. Today, Blackmore attributes her OBE to a peculiar brain process, rather than any sort of supernatural ability. 

Thus we have two accounts from reliable sources that seem to line up fairly well with the incident describe in this monograph, yet each individual seems to have derived their own explanation for their OBE. 

Why then does Rosicrucian Order AMORC claim some sort of exclusive mastery over what seems to be a fairly common human experience? For all of the supposed cosmic mastery that Rosicrucian Order AMORC’s teachings are supposed to grant to pupils, it seems that fairly similar abilities can be gained through a simple process of sleep deprivation or drug use. 

In later analyses, we will examine exactly how the Order’s supposedly unique practical instructions stack up against current scientific thought.