Muldoon, Sylvan Joseph

Muldoon, Sylvan Joseph

(religion, spiritualism, and occult)

Sylvan Joseph Muldoon was a pioneer researcher of astral projection and out of body experiences (OBE). At the age of twelve, he went with his mother to a Spiritualist camp at Clinton, Iowa. He was so moved and stimulated by his environment that he experienced spontaneous astral projection, suddenly finding himself floating above his body and looking down on it. His first thought was that he had died in his sleep. He moved through the house, trying to wake members of his family, but without success. Eventually he was drawn back into his body by the silver cord that connected the ethereal double to the physical body. This was the first of many hundreds of projections he experienced over the years.

In 1927, he read Hereward Carrington’s books and found reference to Charles Lancelin. Based on Lancelin’s book Le Fantôme des Vivants, Carrington considered him the expert on astral projection. Muldoon told Carrington that he knew far more than Lancelin and could write a book himself on the subject. This led to Muldoon and Carrington collaborating on the book Projection of the Astral Body (1929), The Case for Astral Projection (1936), and The Phenomena of Astral Projection (1951). Muldoon also wrote Sensational Psychic Experiences (1941) and Famous Psychic Stories (1942).

Sources:

Fodor, Nandor: Encyclopedia of Psychic Science. London: Arthurs Press, 1933 Muldoon, Sylvan J. and Hereward Carrington: The Case for Astral Projection. Chicago: Aries Press, 1936 Muldoon, Sylvan J. and Hereward Carrington: TheProjection of the Astral Body. London: Rider, 1929 Tabori, Paul: Pioneers of the Unseen. New York: Taplinger, 1973