The Projection of the Astral Body

«the writer is well acquainted with the phenomenon, having indulged in hundreds of projections during a period of twelve years—projections both of a pleasant and a disagreeable nature, while completely conscious and partially conscious» — declara su base experiencial: cientos de proyecciones en doce años

«The greater part of the material contained in this work is from his own experience» — y de dónde sale el material del libro

«I noticed a pronounced increase in the resistance of the cable. It was pulling with a stronger and stronger tug» — el cable tira más cuanto más lejos: su doctrina del «cord-activity range»

«I began to zigzag again under this force, and found presently that I was being pulled backward toward my physical body» — y el efecto que describe cuando esa tracción vence

«Again I was in the grip of a tremendous, unseen, directing power» — cómo nombra la fuerza que lo devuelve

«Food is material, like the physical body, and builds up the body because the cosmic force operates upon it ; not because it produces energy in itself» — su teoría de la energía, apoyada en el doctor Lindlahr

«The astral cord always stretches from one body to the other, regardless of the space or distance between them» — la regla que da al cordón: no se rompe ni se agota con la distancia

«The less space that lies between the two bodies the greater is the thickness of the astral cable, the greater is its magnetic pull, and the more difficult to hold the stability of the phantom» — la ley del «cord-activity range»: a menos distancia, más grueso el cable y más difícil sostener el fantasma

«This form of paralysis, called “ noctural paralysis ” by some writers (the present writer contends that it is astral catalepsy» — disputa el término: otros dicen «nocturnal paralysis», él sostiene que es catalepsia astral. «noctural» es errata del original

«As a rule the paralysis lasts but a short time ; should it be prolonged, it excites much mental disquiet. Fatigue, nervousness, general ill-health may provoke it» — la descripción clínica que cita, y sus causas

«1. Falling Dreams. 2. Flying Dreams a. The swimming dream. b. The (upright) flying dream. c. The giant stride dream. 3. The Body and Head-flapping Dream. 4. The Head-thumping Dream. 5. Dream of Moving Toward a Phantasmal Object» — su taxonomía de sueños repetidores, que adjudica a la exteriorización astral

«But my search proved fruitless, and eventually I concluded that I could not find that "some one.”» — Muldoon cuenta en el prefacio que buscó a alguien capaz de producir la proyección a voluntad y no lo halló; de esa falta de maestro sale el método por cuenta propia que el libro expone

«Although we are living in the twentieth century we still have with us the intolerance of the Middle Ages, and I am not optimistic enough to believe that a great many will read without prejudice what I have to say.» — y por qué anticipa rechazo: sostiene que la intolerancia medieval sigue operando en el siglo XX contra este orden de asuntos

«I am well aware of the fact that one must first experience conscious astral projection before he can believe in it, and I confess that I should not accept it as true myself, perhaps, had I not experienced it and know it to be true.» — su regla de acceso, aplicada primero a sí mismo: la creencia en la proyección consciente no precede a la experiencia, la sigue

«You cannot have objective proof. You must experience it, then you will have the proof.» — la respuesta que da a quien le exige prueba objetiva: sostiene que esa prueba no existe y que la única disponible es experimentarla uno mismo

«Thus argument is useless—as useless as arguing the matter of a first cause or a last effect!» — de ahí que declare inútil la discusión teórica, y la empareje con la de la causa primera

«I stand on a clear-cut issue. I say experience it.» — cómo resume su postura: no argumenta la proyección, la manda experimentar

«You want proof, and I say you can have it—but you must experience it.» — y la forma en que ofrece la prueba: la concede, pero solo por la vía de la experiencia propia

«I have related many of my experiences ; however, the experiences I have given do not in any way represent all which I have had ; a book this size could scarcely hold the accounts of all of them.» — reconoce el límite del volumen: los casos que da no agotan los que declara haber tenido

«On the other hand the Materialist believes that it is superstition if anyone believes that the mind can exist apart from the brain.» — adjudica al materialista la posición inversa de la que él denuncia: llamar superstición a la mente separada del cerebro

«The broad, general teaching is that every human being “ has ” an astral body just as he has a heart, a brain and a liver.» — Carrington abre la introducción fijando el alcance de la tesis: el cuerpo astral se posee como se posee un órgano, no como privilegio de algunos

«In fact, the astral body is more truly the Real Man than the physical body is, for the latter is merely a machine adapted to functioning upon the physical plane.» — y le da la primacía sobre el cuerpo físico, al que reduce a máquina adaptada al plano físico

«But it must not be thought that the astral body is held to be the Soul of man either.» — Carrington marca de inmediato el límite de la identificación: el cuerpo astral no es el alma

«It is said to be the vehicle of the Soul—just as truly as the physical body is a vehicle—and constitutes one of the essential connecting-links between mind and matter.» — sino su vehículo, y con eso lo pone a hacer de bisagra entre mente y materia

«To the Materialist, of course, who regards mind merely as a product of certain brain activities, such a theory would appear superfluous and nonsensical.» — reconoce que para el materialista, que hace de la mente un producto del cerebro, la teoría entera sobra

«But the present book is not addressed to Materialists.» — y de ahí el destinatario que Carrington declara para el libro

«It is addressed to those who believe in the reality of certain supernormal (psychical) phenomena, and in the theoretical possibility, at least, of the astral body.» — a quienes ya conceden la realidad de algunos fenómenos psíquicos y al menos la posibilidad teórica del cuerpo astral

«I have concluded either that Lancelin does not project at all, or that his subjects are not in the clear conscious state while exteriorized.» — la disyuntiva con que Muldoon cierra su objeción en la carta que Carrington reproduce: o Lancelin no proyecta, o sus sujetos no están en estado claramente consciente al exteriorizarse

«every last detail that takes place from clear consciousness in the physical, out, into the astral with that same unchanged consciousness and back into ‘ coincidence.’» — lo que Muldoon opone a esa carencia: haber recorrido el trayecto entero sin que la conciencia cambie, de la coincidencia a la salida y de vuelta

«But the thing I marvel at most is that so little is said about the astral cord —the very foundation of the whole phenomenon.» — dónde pone Muldoon el centro del asunto, y es el término que usará todo el libro: el cordón astral como fundamento del fenómeno entero

«Is it possible that none of Lancelin’s subjects ever examined this cord, nor even saw it ? . . . Nothing is told as to how this cord works, how it stabilizes the phantom, or throws it into instability.» — lo que le objeta a Lancelin: que sus sujetos no examinaron el cordón ni se dice cómo estabiliza o desestabiliza al fantasma

«He says that the astral body emerges from the solar plexus —which is anything but true.» — y la corrección de fondo: adjudica a Lancelin el plexo solar como punto de salida y lo niega

«He says nothing of the form the phantom takes ; how it moves in coming out; how a cataleptic state ensues while the phantom is under control of the subconscious mind, and is still conscious.» — la lista de lo que echa en falta, donde asoma ya su propia doctrina: la forma del fantasma, cómo sale y el estado cataléptico bajo control de la mente subconsciente

«I say, and can prove it, that the nearer dead a person is, the easier it is to project.» — su tesis del factor de morbidez, enunciada ya en la carta: cuanto más cerca de la muerte, más fácil la proyección

«I could go on telling you many more things about astral projection ; but I suppose that after all was said you would reply, ‘ Prove it.’ But it cannot be< so readily proved !» — y cómo desactiva de antemano la exigencia de prueba, que da por insatisfacible. *be<* es basura del OCR

«He asserts, merely, that he has been enabled to leave his physical body at will, and travel about in the present, in his immediate vicinity, in some vehicle or other, while fully conscious.» — Carrington resume lo que Muldoon reclama para sí, y lo acota: salir a voluntad, en el presente y en su vecindad inmediata, plenamente consciente

«It need hardly be pointed out that, if this were once definitely accepted, it would enable us to account for a large number of otherwise baffling phenomena very readily—haunted houses, apparitions seen» — Carrington enumera lo que, concedida la premisa, quedaría explicado de un golpe: casas embrujadas, apariciones y fenómenos afines

«Now, quite apart from such collateral evidence, there have always been individuals who have asserted that they could leave the physical body at will, and travel about in some “ astral body ” for a longer or shorter period of time—retaining consciousness throughout.» — y separa esa evidencia colateral de la otra vía: quienes declaran salir del cuerpo a voluntad conservando la conciencia

«The difficulty has always consisted in furnishing proofs of such claims.» — Carrington nombra el obstáculo permanente de esa segunda vía: la prueba

«Should a number of (otherwise sensible !) persons come forward and assert that they too have succeeded in voluntarily projecting their astral bodies, this question would at once assume a very different status.» — la condición que, según él, cambiaría el estatuto de la cuestión: que otras personas sensatas declararan haberlo conseguido también

«Of course, Mr. Muldoon would be the first to admit that the majority of such dreams are due to ordinary psychological—even physiological—causes, and, as examples of “ illusions of levitation ” produced by such purely physiological mechanisms, I cannot do better than summarize the interesting articles of Mr. Lydiard H. Horton, which appeared in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology (April, 1918 ; June, 1918 ; August, 1919), in which he attempted to prove this fact—that such illusions of levitation may be so produced —even without sleep !» — Carrington concede de entrada, y adjudica la concesión al propio Muldoon, que la mayoría de esos sueños tienen causa psicológica o fisiológica

«If the patient can induce this complete relaxation of the muscular system without falling asleep, he will often experience an “ illusion of levitation.”» — el mecanismo que Carrington recoge de Lydiard H. Horton: la relajación muscular completa sin llegar a dormirse produce la ilusión de levitación

«The mechanism underlying the flying dream and the levitation illusion is attributed, mainly, to the functions of the adrenalsympathetic nervous system.» — y a qué adjudica Horton ese mecanismo, según lo resume Carrington

«This of itself does not become the adequate or efficient basis of the illusion of levitation till the vaso-motor relaxation supervenes.» — la condición que Horton pone: la inhibición sola no basta hasta que sobreviene la relajación vasomotora

«Out of the combination there arises the bodily ‘ stimulus ’ (negative in this case) which becomes the foundation of the illusion of soaring.» — de donde sale, en su explicación, el estímulo corporal negativo que funda la ilusión de flotar

«This attempted explanation, it will be observed, differs essentially from that offered by Horace G. Hutchinson (in his Dreams and their Meanings) and also that of Havelock Ellis (in his World of Dreams) which is that “ flying dreams ” are best explained by a combination of respiratory sensations together with cutaneous anaesthesia.» — Carrington consigna que esa explicación discrepa de las de Horace G. Hutchinson y Havelock Ellis, que atribuyen los sueños de vuelo a sensaciones respiratorias

«It is quite possible that some such explanation may ultimately be found for, and will adequately explain, many ordinary flying dreams ; but it must be emphasized emphatically that such dreams are quite different from clean-cut instances of “ projection,” and that any explanation of the latter by such principles is absolutely unjustified —just as unjustified as,» — y el límite con que blinda el asunto del libro: aunque la fisiología explique los sueños de vuelo corrientes, sostiene que no alcanza a la proyección

«In all cases of astral projection, it must be emphasized that clear consciousness of Self is maintained by the subject, while he is outside his body ; he can look back and see his body ; he can view his present surroundings ; he can observe people, and note distant scenes and events just as they are—or are occurring —which he could not possibly have seen and known, but which he was afterwards enabled to verify» — el criterio con que Carrington separa una cosa de otra: en la proyección el sujeto conserva conciencia clara de sí, ve su cuerpo desde fuera y observa el entorno

«This is the distinctly supernormal factor involved, which is the crux of the whole matter ; and for this no purely physiological explanation in any way accounts.» — y dónde pone el nudo del problema: ese factor supranormal, para el que no admite explicación fisiológica

«In his experiments, Dr. Horton succeeded only in producing the illusion of levitation, which is not even a flying dream ; and a flying dream is, according to Mr. Muldoon, again an entirely different matter from a conscious projection !» — la objeción concreta a Horton: sostiene que solo produjo la ilusión de levitación, que no es ni siquiera un sueño de vuelo

«It is hardly necessary to remind the reader that the Egyptians believed implicitly in the ka—which might be said to correspond to our conception of the “ Astral Body.”» — Carrington empareja el ka egipcio con el cuerpo astral, en la línea de precedentes con que enmarca la doctrina

«This ka was not the Soul of man, it must be understood, but its vehicle» — y repite para el ka la misma distinción que hizo para el cuerpo astral: vehículo del alma, no el alma

«Even more striking and important, from our point of view, however, is the recently translated Tibetan Book of the Dead, edited by Dr. W. Y. Evans-Wentz, and published by the Oxford University Press (1927).» — la segunda fuente antigua que declara, con su edición: el Libro tibetano de los muertos de Evans-Wentz, publicado en 1927

«This work—the Bardo Thodol—was probably first committed to writing in the eighth century a.d., and embodied teachings much older.» — la datación que le adjudica: puesto por escrito hacia el siglo VIII y con enseñanzas más viejas

«As the reader may have surmised, it deals with the same general topic as the earlier Egyptian work ; but, from our modem point of view, is far more “ rational,” and many of its teachings correspond, in a remarkable way, with those of Occult and Psychical Science.» — y por qué lo prefiere al egipcio: sostiene que sus enseñanzas concuerdan de manera notable con las de la ciencia oculta y psíquica

«The proper path is that which passes through the Foramen of Monro.» — del ritual tibetano que cita, la ruta que debe tomar la corriente vital al salir

«At this moment, the first glimpsing of the Bardo, of the Clear Light of Reality . . . is experienced by all sentient beings.» — el momento que el Bardo Thodol adjudica a todos los seres: el primer vislumbre de la Luz Clara de la Realidad

«All the time the patient is dying, the Lama urges him to keep his mind tranquil and poised, so that he may see and enter into the Clear Light of Reality, and may not be troubled with hallucinations or “ thought-forms ” which have no objective existence, save in his own mind.» — y el oficio que el texto da al lama: mantener tranquila la mente del moribundo para que no lo perturben las formas-pensamiento, que declara sin existencia objetiva fuera de su propia mente

«It is commonly held that the process (of separation) takes from three and one-half to four days, unless assisted by a priest called hpho-bo (pron. pho-o), or ‘ extractor-of-the-consciousnessprinciple ’ ; and that, even if the priest be successful in the extracting, the deceased ordinarily does not wake up to the fact of being separated from the human body until the said period of time has elapsed.» — el plazo de la separación y el sacerdote hpho-bo, extractor del principio de conciencia, con la reserva de que ni así el difunto suele despertar enseguida

«If the mind of the dying person has not been properly concentrated upon the Clear Light, he is liable to see scores of devils and demons of all sorts I» — la consecuencia que el texto adjudica a la concentración fallida: ver demonios a decenas, que la propia doctrina ya declaró proyecciones mentales

«Unimpeded motion implyeth that thy present body being only a desire body-is not a body of gross matter.» — del Bardo Thodol que Carrington cita, la definición del cuerpo del más allá: un cuerpo de deseo, no de materia gruesa, y de ahí su movimiento sin traba

«Even though thou seekest a body, thou wilt gain nothing but trouble.» — y la advertencia que el texto dirige al difunto que busca cuerpo

«Put aside the desire for a body ; and permit thy mind to abide in the state of resignation, and act so as to abide therein.» — la instrucción correlativa: soltar el deseo de cuerpo y permanecer en resignación

«The sooner he can do this, the sooner is ” liberation ” attained.» — con la liberación puesta como función del tiempo que tarde en hacerlo

«Much has been written, in the past, concerning the Astral Body— mostly in books devoted to " Magic ” and “ Occultism.” I believe that I have gone through the majority of such works carefully, in my endeavour to find some practical information bearing upon this question, but with little result.» — Carrington declara el barrido bibliográfico que hizo y su resultado: mucha literatura mágica y ocultista, poca información práctica

«Thus, there are numerous references to the astral body in e.g. Eliphas Levi’s Doctrine and Ritual of Magic, in his " Key of the Mysteries ” (published in The Equinox, Vol. X); in A. E. Waite’s Mysteries of Magic, and his Occult Sciences ; in Dr. Franz Hartmann’s Magic, White and Black, and in the various writings of Paracelsus.» — la lista de autoridades que declara haber revisado: Éliphas Lévi, A. E. Waite, Franz Hartmann y Paracelso

«In the older works upon Sorcery and Witchcraft there are, of course, frequent allusions to astral projection.» — y el otro depósito que reconoce, sin llamarlo doctrina: las obras viejas de hechicería y brujería

«Theosophical literature is full of this subject, but even here I have been unable to find anywhere precise information—any practical instructions as to how the projection of the astral body is to be accomplished.» — la objeción central que dirige a la teosofía: abundancia sobre el tema y ninguna instrucción de cómo hacerlo

«This is true not only of the older works, such as Leadbeater’s The Astral Plane, and Annie Besant’s Man and his Bodies, but also the newer and more voluminous treatises, such as those of Major Arthur E. Powell—The Etheric Double, The Astral Body, The Mental Body, etc.» — y los títulos concretos sobre los que hace pesar esa objeción, de Leadbeater y Besant a Arthur E. Powell

«In all these books, much theoretical information is given (of course, from the strictly Theosophical point of view) but very little practical advice.» — con la acotación de que lo que sí dan es teoría, y desde el punto de vista teosófico

«The same criticism applies to D'Assier’s book Posthumous Humanity : A Study of Phantoms.» — la misma censura para el libro de D’Assier sobre los fantasmas

«An interesting historic study of this subject is given in G. R. S. Mead’s Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition, in which he summarizes the views of the early Fathers, as well as the later conceptions.» — el único estudio histórico que salva, el de Mead, por resumir a los Padres y las concepciones posteriores

«the very striking case of Dr. Wiltse (Proceedings, VIII, pp. 180-194) is, of course, classical.» — y de las actas de la S.P.R. rescata el caso de Wiltse, que declara clásico, con su referencia exacta

«But, as I have said, with these exceptions, I have found practically nothing of value in the entire literature of the subject ; and this criticism is especially true when we come to the most important and central theme of all, viz. how to project the astral body experimentally and retain consciousness within it.» — el saldo del barrido, y dónde lo hace pesar: en cómo proyectar el cuerpo astral por experimento

«Upon this vital theme our authorities are especially silent!» — la frase con que cierra el balance de la literatura previa

«Of course, the vast majority of such attempts end in failure ; successes are extremely rare.» — la reserva que pone Carrington sobre los intentos experimentales: la mayoría fracasa y los éxitos son rarísimos

«Or the subject may be “ seen ” by some individual at the locality in question, and remain quite unconscious of his apparent success.» — y la forma de éxito que puede pasarle inadvertida al propio sujeto: que lo vean en el lugar de destino sin enterarse

«A good illustration of this may be found in a recently published book entitled My Travels in the Spirit World, by Caroline D. Larsen, where we read :» — el testimonio que reproduce a continuación, con su fuente declarada: el libro de Caroline D. Larsen

«The overpowering oppression deepened, and soon numbness crept over me until every muscle became paralyzed.» — de ese relato, la fase previa: opresión, entumecimiento y parálisis muscular completa

«My mind, however, was still working as clearly as ever.» — con la conciencia intacta durante la parálisis, que es el rasgo que el libro exige para hablar de proyección

«I recognized every line of that familiar face, pale and still as in death, the eyes tightly closed and the mouth partly open.» — la testigo describe su propio rostro visto desde fuera, pálido y con los ojos cerrados

«But there was no need for illumination, for from my body and face emanated a strong whitish light that lighted up the room brilliantly.» — y la luz que dice emanar del cuerpo tendido, que le ahorra la iluminación de la pieza

«No words can describe the exhilaration and freedom that I experienced.» — el registro afectivo del relato: exaltación y libertad

«No words can describe the clearness of mental vision.» — y la agudeza mental que la testigo declara

«After what seemed to be quite a long time, I was able to move, got up from the bed and drest myself, and went down to breakfast.» — el regreso, contado sin ceremonia: recobra el movimiento, se viste y baja a desayunar

«I know that many people may think that the statements recorded here are simply the result of an active imagination or perhaps a dream, but they are neither the one nor the other.» — y la objeción que ella misma se adelanta a rechazar: ni imaginación ni sueño

«With all the interest of a physician I beheld the wonders of my bodily anatomy, intimately interwoven with which, even tissue for tissue, was I, the living soul of that dead body.» — del caso clásico de Wiltse que Carrington reproduce, la frase en que el médico se ve a sí mismo entretejido tejido por tejido con el cuerpo que abandona

«His head, however, remained clear, and he experienced the sensation described by Dr. Wiltse of passing out of his body and remained attached to it by ‘ a kind of elastic string.» — y del caso del reverendo Bertrand, el rasgo que le interesa al libro: quedar unido al cuerpo por una especie de cuerda elástica

«These, as I have said, are much rarer, and—apart from a few scattered cases (possibly) in Phantasms of the Living—are limited more or less to Mr. Fox’s records» — Carrington acota lo escaso del material experimental: fuera de algún caso suelto de *Phantasms of the Living*, lo reduce a los registros de Fox

«I may, however, give a brief summary of the findings of M. Durville, as given in his book Le Fantome des Vivants.» — la otra fuente francesa que resume, con su título declarado

«The subject of the experiment is constantly en rapport with the “ double ” through the intermediary of a fluidic cord, capable of elongation. . . . Usually this is cylindrical, but may sometimes appear to be a sort of ribbon.» — de Durville toma la pieza que su propio sistema necesita: un cordón fluídico capaz de alargarse, cilíndrico o acintado

«Various sense-impressions are conveyed to the body by means of the astral cord (p. 235).» — y la función que Durville atribuye a ese cordón, que es la que Muldoon desarrollará: transmitir las impresiones sensoriales al cuerpo

«The question of temperature is important; and too much light has a detrimental effect upon the astral body.» — las condiciones que Durville declara relevantes, y que reaparecen luego en el método del libro: temperatura y exceso de luz

«Experiments with the dynamometer showed that the muscular strength (grip) of the subject was always greater after projection than before (p. 152).» — la medición con dinamómetro que Carrington entresaca: más fuerza de prensión después de la proyección que antes

«Calcium sulphide screens were then placed at some distance from the subject, and the suggestion was given that the phantom should approach one or other of these screens. As it did so, the screen in question glowed up with added brilliance as the result of the proximity of the astral body (pp. 275-280).» — y el experimento con pantallas de sulfuro de calcio, que Durville lee como efecto de la proximidad del cuerpo astral

«Projection of the astral body is a certain fact, capable of being demonstrated by means of direct experiment. This also demonstrates to us that living force is independent of matter, and that our Individuality is composed of a physical body and an intelligent Soul —and a vital link, the astral body.» — la primera conclusión de Durville tal como Carrington la traslada: la individualidad repartida en cuerpo físico, alma inteligente y cuerpo astral como vínculo vital

«Since this phantom can exist and function apart from the physical body, it may also exist after death. That is, Immortality is a fact which is thus proved scientifically.» — y la segunda, que salta del hecho experimental a la inmortalidad

«This apparently little-known work of M. Durville is full of curious and interesting material, and if one could be assured that the results attained were all scientifically accurate, would constitute a treatise of first-rate importance.» — la reserva con que Carrington recibe ese salto: el tratado sería de primer orden si constara que los resultados son exactos, y esa condición la deja sin cumplir

«The first step (says Mr. Fox) consists in acquiring a certain dream-control—but not the same kind of dream-control as that detailed in the present book.» — y la distinción que introduce al llegar a Oliver Fox: su control onírico no es el mismo que este libro detalla

«The mental effect of prolonging the dream produced a pain in the region of the pineal gland—dull at first, but rapidly increasing in intensity—and I knew instinctively that this was a warning to me to resist no longer the call of my body.» — del relato de Oliver Fox que Carrington reproduce, el síntoma que él lee como aviso: dolor creciente en la región de la glándula pineal al prolongar el sueño

«In the last moments of prolonging the dream, and while I was subject to the above pain, I experienced a sense of dual consciousness.» — y la conciencia doble que Fox declara en esos últimos momentos

«Of course, as Mr. Fox wisely remarks, the last three of these would be scorned by the orthodox scientist.» — Carrington consigna que el propio Fox da por despreciados ante la ciencia ortodoxa tres de los peligros que enumera

«Though the eyes are closed, the room is plainly visible ; and the atmosphere also, so that one gets an effect rather like particles of dust illuminated by the sun—or roughly a golden glow, very variable in its intensity.» — cómo describe Fox la visión en ese estado, con los ojos cerrados: un resplandor dorado de intensidad variable

«In this condition one is liable to any imaginable hallucination or sight or sound; or, to voice the other view, one is both clairvoyant and clairaudient.» — y cómo deja abiertas las dos lecturas del mismo estado, sin elegir: alucinación de cualquier orden, o clarividencia y clariaudiencia

«He always felt that some one, or something, was holding him back.» — la resistencia que Fox declara sentir al salir, atribuida a alguien o algo que lo retiene

«It was like getting past the ‘ Dweller on the Threshold.’» — que empareja con el Morador del Umbral

«I had to force my incorporeal self through the doorway of the pineal gland, so that it clicked behind me.» — el paso mismo, en los términos de Fox: forzar el yo incorpóreo por la puerta de la glándula pineal hasta oír el chasquido detrás

«The sensation was as follows : my incorporeal self rushed to a point in the pineal gland and hurled itself against the imaginary trap-door, while the golden light increased in brilliance, so that it seemed the whole room burst into flame.» — la escena completa de ese empuje, con la luz dorada creciendo hasta parecer que la pieza arde

«If the impetus was insufficient to take me through, then the sensation became reversed ; my incorporeal self subsided and became again coincident with my body, while the astral light died down to normal.» — y qué ocurre cuando el impulso no basta: la sensación se invierte y el yo incorpóreo vuelve a coincidir con el cuerpo

«Often two or three attempts were required before I could generate sufficient willpower to carry me through.» — con la cuenta de intentos que Fox declara necesarios

«It felt as though I were rushing to insanity and death ; but once the little door had clicked behind me, I enjoyed a mental clarity far surpassing that of earth-life.» — el precio y la ganancia que Fox pone uno junto al otro: la sensación de correr a la locura y la muerte, y del otro lado una claridad mental superior a la de la vida terrena

«Mr. Fox, with admirable scientific caution, warns his readers against faking what he has said about the pineal gland too literally; but he asserts that these are the exact sensations, and he believes that what he has said is not far from the truth.» — Carrington recoge la cautela con que Fox acota su propio lenguaje: pide no tomar al pie de la letra lo de la pineal, pero sostiene que las sensaciones son exactamente ésas

«In the vast majority of his experiences, Mr. Fox asserts that there was a break in consciousness (seemingly, for only a few moments) between his attempt to enter the “ pineal door ” and his fully conscious state, outside the physical body.» — la reserva sobre la continuidad: Fox declara que en la enorme mayoría de sus casos hubo un corte de conciencia entre la puerta pineal y el estado consciente fuera del cuerpo

«He did ultimately succeed, however, in attaining a number of projections, fully conscious from the beginning.» — con la excepción que también declara: proyecciones plenamente conscientes desde el principio

«I may perhaps conclude this section by giving a brief account of a few attempts of my own, made some years ago, at " astral projection.”» — Carrington pasa entonces a sus propios intentos, hechos años antes

«Most of these attempts were apparent failures, but on three occasions she awoke suddenly and saw me standing in the room or sitting on her bed.» — y el resultado que declara: fracasos en su mayoría, con tres ocasiones en que la destinataria dijo verlo en su cuarto

«Of course, while these may have been actual unconscious projections, they may also have been purely subjective experiences — perhaps telepathically initiated.» — con la alternativa que él mismo deja abierta y no cierra: proyecciones inconscientes reales, o experiencias subjetivas de origen telepático

«However, I shall not press the point, being content to record it, as illustrative of the curious results one is able to obtain while experimenting in this baffling field.» — cómo cierra el episodio: lo consigna sin forzar la conclusión, como muestra de lo que se obtiene experimentando en este terreno

«As we have seen, other experimenters have had far more striking and convincing results.» — y dónde deja su propio caso frente a los ajenos

«I have tried it, and I find that one cannot keep from interiorizing, because of the very close range.» — de las cartas de Muldoon que Carrington reproduce, la razón por la que dice no poder tocar su propio cuerpo físico: a esa distancia tan corta, la interiorización se impone

«You have asked me, too, if I have ever seen anything while in the astral which I did not know existed, and later verified by seeing it in the physical.» — la pregunta que Carrington le hace y que ordena el resto, sobre ver en el astral algo ignorado y verificarlo después en lo físico

«The only way I ever was able to see astrally was in the astral body.» — su respuesta sobre el órgano de esa visión: solo ha visto astralmente estando en el cuerpo astral

«Seeing inside a box would be no trouble, although I have never tried to do so, while exteriorized.» — con la acotación de lo que no ha probado, dicha como límite y no como capacidad

«Now there is no possible way in which that device can start itself ; further, it has stood on the table for months without being used.» — del episodio del metrónomo, lo que descarta primero: que el aparato pudiera arrancar solo

«Were it not for the time element, I should be inclined to think that I started this in the dream body — which, of course, is the astral body in a partially conscious condition.» — la explicación que le tienta, con su definición de cuerpo de sueño como cuerpo astral parcialmente consciente

«But it did not start until I was awake in the physical— though I started it, in the dream, an instant before.» — y el dato que la estorba, que él no oculta: el aparato no arrancó hasta que ya estaba despierto en lo físico

«The only way to tell the true direction of movement is by the sense of sight.» — de la proyección accidental con la dirección invertida, la regla que saca: solo la vista corrige el sentido del movimiento

«When I stop to think about it, it seems very hard for me to believe that conscious astral projection is not universally known.» — Muldoon declara su extrañeza de fondo: que la proyección astral consciente no sea de conocimiento común

«When one is consciously projected, there is no question about it; one knows it; l know it—just as well as I know I am sitting here writing this letter.» — y el tipo de certeza que reclama para ella, que es de primera persona y no transferible

«I have never had a conscious out-of-the-body experience when I was not here on the earth plane, just as much as I am right now.» — el límite que se pone a sí mismo, y que lo separa de la literatura de viajes a otros planos: nunca ha salido del plano terrestre

«Most projectors who claim to be able to do this are so egotistical that they imagine they will at once wake up, after death, in some higher plane.» — con la crítica a los proyectores que sí lo reclaman, a quienes adjudica egotismo

«I would not have the cheek to tell others that a thing is too dangerous for them to try, but is not too dangerous for me to try—because I do not think that I am so much wiser than they are.» — y la objeción a quienes reservan la práctica por peligrosa: se niega a atribuirse más sabiduría que sus lectores

«Psychic research, too, has long ago established the belief that within every material being is a non-material " double,” a cryptic entity coinciding, with minute exactitude, with the physical mechanism in every centre and cell.» — Muldoon abre el cuerpo del libro adjudicando a la investigación psíquica el doble no material, coincidente centro por centro y célula por célula con el mecanismo físico

«Records are numerous, coming from many trustworthy scientists, which substantiate the claim that this non-material being—the “ astral body ” as it is commonly termed by them—is capable of separating from its physical counterpart, and of existing entirely outside its material abode, intangible to the beings surrounding it.» — y la segunda mitad de esa adjudicación: que ese doble puede separarse y existir fuera de su contraparte

«This enigmatic occurrence will be spoken of as " astral projection,” or " astral exteriorization,” both terms being synonymous.» — los dos nombres que declara sinónimos para el fenómeno, y que usará todo el libro

«For exteriorization of the astral body is, in fact, the first step into that mysterious realm called " death,” which sooner or later all of us must enter.» — la tesis que ordena el volumen entero: la exteriorización es el primer paso de la muerte, no un fenómeno aparte

«To the vast multitudes who have never met with this phenomenon, and even to those who have in some manner acquainted themselves with it, it must necessarily be placed in the category of " theories ” ; but to the conscious astral projector himself,» — cómo reparte a sus lectores entre quienes solo pueden tenerlo por teoría

«non-material counterpart of the physical is a great reality, as self-evident as the fact that he is consciously alive.» — y quien lo ha hecho, para el que la contraparte no material es tan evidente como estar vivo

«The Materialist, of course, will reject the very idea of Astral Projection as nonsense.» — la posición que adjudica al materialista frente a la proyección

«He revels under what he terms “ the divine torch of reason.”» — y la fórmula con que nombra su criterio

«There is only one trouble with this divine torch—it doesn’t shed much light on the mysteries of life !» — la objeción que le hace: sostiene que esa antorcha alumbra poco los misterios de la vida

«Life itself is beyond comprehension by the mind of man—to say nothing of its appealing to reason.» — con la razón de fondo, que él extiende a la vida misma

«We may examine everything, examine anything, analyze till Doomsday, yet there will always loom up the Inexplicable.» — y el residuo que declara irreductible por mucho que se analice

«There is no point in the Occult Teachings better established, longer held, or more thoroughly proven,” says William Walker Atkinson, “ than that of the existence of the Astral Body.» — la autoridad que invoca para la doctrina, William Walker Atkinson, y el rango que éste le da dentro de las enseñanzas ocultas

«The Astral Body, belonging to every person, is an exact counterpart of the perfect physical body of the person.» — de Atkinson toma también la definición del cuerpo astral como contraparte exacta del cuerpo físico perfecto

«In ordinary cases, the detachment of the astral body from its physical counterpart is accomplished only with great difficulty, but in the case of dreams, great mental stress, and under certain conditions of occult development, the astral body may become detached and sent on long journeys, travelling at a rate of speed only less than that of light-waves.» — y las condiciones en que Atkinson admite el desprendimiento: los sueños, la tensión mental fuerte y ciertos estados del desarrollo oculto

«If this link were to become broken, the person would die instantly, but this is an almost unheard-of occurrence in the ordinary planes of action.» — con la consecuencia que Atkinson adjudica a la ruptura del vínculo, y su acotación de que casi nunca ocurre en los planos ordinarios

«The astral body exists a long time after the death of the physical body, but it disintegrates in time.» — la persistencia que le atribuye tras la muerte, y su límite: se desintegra con el tiempo

«The astral body of a dying person is often projected to the presence of friends and loved ones a few moments before the physical death, the phenomenon arising from the strong desire of the dying person to see and be seen.» — la aparición del moribundo, que Atkinson deriva del deseo intenso de ver y ser visto

«It also leaves the body during what are known as Psychomantic dreams ; or under the influence of anaesthetics ; or in some of the deeper phases of hypnosis ; when it visits strange scenes and places, and often holds mental conversation with other astral bodies, or else with disembodied entities.» — y los otros estados en que, según Atkinson, el cuerpo astral sale: sueños psicománticos, anestesia y fases hondas de la hipnosis

«I have assumed that the reader has already convinced himself of the reality of the phenomenon, or is occultly interested enough to accept it.» — Muldoon declara el supuesto desde el que escribe, y con ello el lector que da por dado

«We call ourselves physically alive, but in reality the material part of us is as dead as a door-nail.» — su inversión de los términos corrientes: lo que llamamos vivo físicamente lo declara muerto

«Nerves themselves are not'alive—if they were, we have buried many a living body—it is the neuric energy which animates, and the astral body is the condenser of the nervous energy you are using right now.» — con la doctrina que la sostiene: no son los nervios los que animan sino la energía néurica, y el cuerpo astral es su condensador

«Many have been the authorities upon this subject of astral projection, and many are under the impression that the astral body is formed by a mental process, which is not the case.» — la corrección que dirige a otras autoridades del asunto: el cuerpo astral no se forma por un proceso mental

«The astral body coincides with the physical throughout. Both bodies being “ substance,” it is obvious that both will be identical in shape ; and the phantom is, in appearance, an exact duplicate of the physical body..» — la coincidencia punto por punto de los dos cuerpos, derivada de que ambos son sustancia

«When the astral phantom (whose eyes you are using even now in reading this) becomes tuned up —which it can be—those eyes will be able to see other things besides the familiar surroundings, and the astral body will be able to get out of the physical.» — y de dónde saca la posibilidad de salir: son los ojos del fantasma los que ya están leyendo, y afinados ven otras cosas

«It is erroneous to believe that the astral being has a super-mentality.» — la reserva que pone contra la mistificación del asunto: niega al ser astral una mentalidad superior

«There is, however, the Subconscious—that vast, unfathomable super-intelligence which is wellnigh omnipotent and inherent in all ; yet we do not conceive this as the individual, as we do the Conscious.» — la distinción con que la sostiene: la superinteligencia está en el Subconsciente, y ésa no la concebimos como el individuo

«It is logical to suppose that, at birth, the astral body—the Ego —was brought into being by the omnipotent intelligence which is, was, and always will be ; while the conscious mind of this body was in the form of a blank—ready to receive impressions, learn and grow.» — y su hipótesis del origen: el cuerpo astral, que iguala al Ego, traído al ser en el nacimiento con la mente consciente en blanco

«The fact that the eyes, after projection, are capable of seeing earthly and other astral beings too shows that the range of vibration has increased.» — la regla de la vibración con que explica lo que se ve al proyectarse

«A peculiar fact about this phenomenon is that one can be conscious, yet unable to move.» — del relato de su primera proyección consciente, a los doce años, el rasgo que dará nombre a su catalepsia astral: conciencia sin movimiento

«Eventually the feeling of adhesion relaxed, but was replaced by another sensation equally unpleasant—that of floating.» — la secuencia que describe: la adherencia al lecho cede y la releva la flotación, igual de desagradable

«I tried to move, but still could not—as if I were in the grip of some cryptic and super-powerful directing force.» — y la fuerza que adjudica al control de esa fase, que llama críptica y de dirección

«Things seemed hazy at first, but were becoming clearer. I knew well where I was, yet could not account for my strange behaviour.» — la mezcla que declara mientras ocurre: sabe dónde está y no puede explicarse su propia conducta

«It was too unnatural for me to understand, yet too real to deny— for, being conscious, being able to see, I could not question my sanity.» — el argumento con que descarta el delirio, y que es el mismo del prefacio: ser consciente y ver

«It was difficult to convince myself that this was real, but consciousness would not allow me to doubt what I saw.» — la reserva que él mismo deja escrita sobre la realidad de lo que vio

«I attempted to open the door, but found myself passing through it.» — el detalle con que fija la naturaleza del cuerpo proyectado: la puerta no se abre, se atraviesa

«called to them, tried to shake them, but my hands passed through them as though they were but vapours.» — y el fracaso de todo contacto con los durmientes, cuyas manos atraviesa como si fueran vapor

«I wanted them to see me, but they could not even feel my presence.» — con el saldo de la escena, que es la asimetría que el libro repetirá: quiere ser visto y no lo perciben

«Although repetition naturally brings about greater perfection, this is probably one of the most unusual first projections on record, so far as consciousness is concerned—eclipsing in its clarity many of the best efforts of adept mediums.» — cómo sitúa su propio caso, con el *probably* a la vista: entre las primeras proyecciones más inusuales registradas

«Since the adventure I have just related took place, I have experienced hundreds of other projections, with countless deviations from the given sensations, but with the corporal movement always clinging to the same route as that which I have described.» — y lo que declara constante en los cientos de proyecciones posteriores: cambian las sensaciones, no la ruta del movimiento corporal

«While it is my personal opinion that I naturally possess a hidden power to project the inner being from my body, I also credit the extraordinariness of this first conscious exteriorization to the fact that several remarkable mediums slept in rooms adjacent to the one which I occupied.» — a qué adjudica lo extraordinario de aquella primera vez, sin renunciar a la disposición propia: varios médiums dormían en las piezas contiguas

«It is, however, not always that such is the case—this being the exceptional and not the commonly-met-with occurrence.» — con la acotación de que esa concurrencia es la excepción y no lo corriente

«The elementary stages—the subconsciously controlled catalepsy, zigzagging and floating—are not pleasant to experience consciously (although one soon becomes hardened to them).» — Muldoon describe las fases elementales de la salida y las declara desagradables de vivir conscientemente, con la costumbre como único alivio

«When a person is physically cataleptic, he is in that condition because he is astrally cataleptic.» — su inversión de la causalidad médica: la catalepsia física la explica por la astral, y no al revés

«Even though the astral body be cataleptically controlled, the conscious mind can function, or partially function ; but usually it does not function until the spell is removed.» — con la acotación de que la mente consciente puede funcionar bajo ese control, aunque de ordinario no lo haga hasta que el hechizo cede

«A completed projection could not be considered so unless the phantom were liberated from catalepsy.» — y el criterio con que da por completa una proyección: que el fantasma se haya librado de la catalepsia

«When such is the case, the body will always be unstable, swaying to and fro, from side to side, forward and backward.» — la inestabilidad que atribuye al cuerpo mientras no lo consigue

«There are three kinds of projection which may be classified as: conscious—partially conscious—unconscious.» — la clasificación con que ordena el fenómeno: consciente, parcialmente consciente e inconsciente

«The only difference between the unconscious motive and immotive types, and the conscious motive and immotive types, is that, in the latter, the subject is awake.» — y qué separa dentro de ella los tipos motivo e inmotivo: solo que el sujeto esté despierto

«It is a state of unconscious projection more advanced than the unconscious, immotive state.» — el lugar que da al sonambulismo astral en esa escala

«It has been my most common experience to gain consciousness, and find myself astrally somnambulating.» — que declara además su modo más frecuente de recobrar la conciencia

«At scattered intervals, throughout astral somnambulism, the dormant, conscious mind may become active for an infinitesimally short time, or partially conscious for a longer or shorter time.» — las interrupciones conscientes que describe dentro de ese sonambulismo, de duración variable

«It is easily seen that if the body be somnambulating while the flashes of consciousness are participating, it will be passing through a changing environment, which will tend to bemuddle the registration upon the memory.» — y por qué el recuerdo sale confuso cuando ocurren: el entorno cambia mientras la conciencia destella

«While, if the body be in the immotive condition, the registration will be more single and specific.» — frente al registro más nítido que atribuye al estado inmotivo

«Not all that we call dreams are caused by conscious interruptions, although some of them are.» — con el límite que pone a su propia explicación: no todos los sueños salen de esas interrupciones

«Conscious interruptions, during astral projection, are by no means confined to the somnambulating state, for they can take place while in the unconscious, immotive stage too.» — y la extensión del fenómeno al estado inconsciente e inmotivo

«The future, contemplating, subconscious mind sometimes projects the astral body to places which the subject, later, visits in the physical.» — la proyección a punto distante que atribuye al subconsciente que contempla el futuro

«Far more often, however, it is clairvoyant vision, and not projection, that does this.» — con la reserva que la acota, y que él mismo antepone: más a menudo es visión clarividente y no proyección

«The astral body separates from its physical counterpart, and travels to some far-away place during the state of unconsciousness, although sometimes becoming conscious, for an interval, at that place.» — cómo describe ese viaje: separación durante la inconsciencia y conciencia solo por un intervalo en el destino

«On awakening again, he is aware of having been at the desired place, but scarcely ever has any recollection of having made the trip.» — con la asimetría del recuerdo, que retiene el lugar y no el trayecto

«In such a case, the actual distance covered is not recalled, because the flight is seemingly made with the speed of light, and is always unconscious.» — que explica por la velocidad, que da por la de la luz, y por ser siempre inconsciente

«No less an authority than William T. Stead has told of a lady of his personal acquaintance who was especially gifted with the ability to project afar and there materialize.» — la autoridad que invoca para el caso: William T. Stead y una dama de su trato capaz de proyectarse lejos y materializarse allí

«Popular opinion seems to have it that perfect material co-ordination (health) is an essential requisite to the production of the phenomenon of astral projection ; but I hope to discredit this belief by quoting experiences, and pointing out specific reasons for believing that the contrary is.» — Muldoon nombra la creencia corriente que se propone desmontar: que la salud perfecta sea requisito de la proyección

«It is a fact that the more weakened, languid and enervated the physical becomes, the more easily the astral member detaches itself from it;» — y la ley contraria que sostiene, el factor de morbidez: cuanto más débil y enervado el cuerpo, más fácil el desprendimiento

«It may take place when the subject is in practically any state of unconsciousness.» — con el alcance que le da: cualquier estado de inconsciencia sirve

«In times of sickness — especially that sort of sickness which is staid or sedative— astral projection can and often does take place.» — y la enfermedad sedante como ocasión declarada

«Undoubtedly, at the time of death, many people are already erect in the astral body before the final breath of the physical body is taken — although they may not be conscious of the fact.» — lo que deduce para la agonía: muchos estarían ya erguidos en el cuerpo astral antes del último aliento, sin saberlo

«It is my firm belief that physical debility is an incentive to most kinds of mediumship, for the less material co-ordination a person has, the less material will be the influences to overcome by the subconscious resources.» — su creencia sobre la mediumnidad, dicha como creencia: a menos coordinación material, menos resistencia que vencer al subconsciente

«A violent blow, especially upon the head, or any extreme shock, wherein unconsciousness ensues as a consequence, is another common cause of instantaneous astral projection.» — el golpe fuerte o el choque con pérdida de conciencia como causa común de proyección instantánea

«He said, when he told me of the accident, that no sooner had he landed upon the ground than he was conscious of standing up and seeing another “ himself ” lying motionless near the road, face down in the snow.» — el caso del vecino que le cuenta haberse visto a sí mismo boca abajo en la nieve tras el accidente

«Such a manifestation as this not only shows how unchanged the individual is, when apart from his physical body, in everything but substance and composition, but it also demonstrates that the astral body is a component part, the very Self, of earthly existence ; that it is the seat of the conscious mind and is not created by the will of the individual.» — lo que Muldoon lee en ese caso: que fuera del cuerpo el individuo no cambia salvo en sustancia, y que el cuerpo astral es el Yo mismo

«The duration of such an instantaneous projection depends upon the severity of the concussion causing it.» — la regla de duración que propone para esas proyecciones instantáneas

«It may easily be seen that the more prolonged the unconsciousness the longer-lived could be the exteriorization.» — y su corolario sobre la inconsciencia prolongada

«The astral phantom is so much our very Self that we do not realize how bound up in it we are ; we do not seem to comprehend that we are using it this very moment.» — la tesis de identidad con que insiste: no advertimos que estamos usando el fantasma astral en este mismo momento

«It is our life, this astral body, and when it permanently severs from the physical body, that physical is of no account.» — y la consecuencia con que la remata: la vida está ahí, y el cuerpo físico separado no cuenta

«Concussion to the extent of injury is not the only way in which an instantaneous separation is often produced, for even an unexpected shake or jar of the physical will sometimes throw the phantom out of coincidence.» — el umbral bajo que declara para la separación: basta una sacudida inesperada, sin lesión

«Many are they who marvel at the thought that astral separation can be accomplished—yet I dare say almost everyone has already had this very thing occur to himself in some mild form, whether he knows it or not !» — de donde saca que casi cualquiera ha pasado ya por ella en forma leve sin enterarse

«A material body, moving in a given direction, if suddenly and unexpectedly colliding with the inert body, will cause the physical member to move slightly out of coincidence in the given direction.» — la mecánica que propone para esos casos: el cuerpo físico se desplaza fuera de coincidencia por el choque

«It must be remembered that this is but a short-lived and shortdistance separation, and takes place with lightning speed—almost too swift for the subject experiencing it to become unconscious, although he does feel a spurt of bewilderment as it occurs.» — con la acotación de que es una separación corta y velocísima, que no llega a producir inconsciencia

«When the automobile stops quickly, throwing the occupants vigorously and unexpectedly forward, it is the ephemeral disharmony of the two bodies (astral and physical) which causes the breath-taking sensation.» — y el ejemplo cotidiano con que la ilustra: el vuelco de estómago al frenar un automóvil

«It must be understood that it is not the conscious mind which causes projection, but it is the subconscious Will.» — la corrección que ordena todo el método: no proyecta la mente consciente, sino la Voluntad subconsciente

«When the body moves unconsciously, it is the subconscious Will which moves it.» — Muldoon fija quién mueve el cuerpo cuando se mueve sin conciencia

«IF THE SUBCONSCIOUS WILL BECOMES POSSESSED OF THE IDEA TO MOVE THE BODY (COINCIDING BODIES) AND THE PHYSICAL COUNTERPART IS INCAPACITATED, THE SUBCONSCIOUS WILL MOVES THE ASTRAL BODY INDEPENDENT OF THE PHYSICAL.» — y enuncia con eso la regla que el libro entero desarrolla, impresa en versales: si la Voluntad subconsciente se posee de la idea de mover el cuerpo y el físico está incapacitado, mueve el astral con independencia del físico

«And it is not an effect which can be brought about by a mere thought or half-hearted trial, although there are positive, certain methods which can accomplish this.» — con el límite que le pone de inmediato: no lo consigue un pensamiento suelto ni un intento a medias

«Putting these causes into being, with astral projection in mind, I succeeded in producing the phenomenon at will—long before I ever read one word on the subject from the books of others.» — y cómo declara haber llegado al método: poniendo esas causas él mismo, antes de leer nada de otros sobre el asunto

«It will not be out of place, however, to state here that “ suppressed desire ” is by far the greatest single factor inciting unintentional projection.» — el factor que declara mayor de todos en la proyección involuntaria: el deseo reprimido

«The stress grows so great that you are at war with yourself.» — el estado que el deseo obstruido produce, y que él llama estrés

«At this point the subconscious Will is “ all set ” to move, the minute you try to hinder it no more.» — con el punto en que ese estrés se descarga: cuando cesa el estorbo consciente

«Now, if the sleeping subject were physically incapacitated, the astral body would be projected.» — y la condición que falta para que el resultado sea proyección: que el durmiente esté físicamente incapacitado

«What do I mean, physically incapacitated ? Simply that the physical body is not in an active enough condition to respond, the instant the subconscious Will begins to move.» — con su definición de esa incapacidad: que el cuerpo físico no esté lo bastante activo para responder

«We know not even the bounds, the nature or the locality of the conscious mind.» — la ignorancia que Muldoon declara en medio de su propio sistema: no se sabe qué es ni dónde está la mente consciente

«These are questions which cannot be answered by the most sagacious of occult philosophers, and they no doubt always will remain but material for speculation.» — y a quién extiende esa ignorancia, sin exceptuarse

«That the mind is, is self-evident; but what becomes of it during coma remains unfathomable !» — que aplica al coma: da por evidente que la mente es, y por insondable qué se hace de ella

«Some contend that it is the senses, and not the conscious mind, which makes the exit ; that without sense-functioning there would be no consciousness.» — la tesis rival que consigna sin adoptarla: que salen los sentidos y no la mente consciente

«But how is it that the subject is not always aware of being exteriorized in the astral body, at every intervention of oblivion, if this were true ?» — la objeción con que la deja pendiente

«There can be but one reply, “ We do not know.”» — y la respuesta que se da a sí mismo

«I f we could but determine what opens and closes the door of consciousness, then we could also determine why some astral projections result in consciousness, and some do not.» — lo que condiciona: determinado qué abre y cierra la puerta de la conciencia, se sabría por qué unas proyecciones son conscientes y otras no

«Walsh says : “ Before going to sleep we must pass through an unnoticed stage of half-waking, half-sleeping, termed the hypnagogic state.» — la autoridad fisiológica que cita para el estado hipnagógico, el doctor Walsh, con su definición de fase intermedia entre vigilia y sueño

«Usually the hypnagogic state lasts but a few seconds, but it may be prolonged for as much as fifteen minutes.» — y su duración, con el margen que Walsh admite

«It is not difficult to understand that, if consciousness is desired throughout a complete projection, the hypnagogic state is the ideal place for the egression to begin.» — por qué ese estado es el lugar del método: si se quiere conciencia a lo largo de toda la proyección, ahí debe empezar la salida

«It is exactly the same as walking. Once you are in motion, the subconscious Will is in control, but the moment you give a conscious suggestion that you will stop, you stop. When you are consciously in astral catalepsy, if you then suggest that you wish to become physically active again, that is what will result.» — la analogía con que Muldoon explica cómo se manda sobre la Voluntad subconsciente: como al caminar, la sugerencia consciente basta para cambiar lo que ella ejecuta

«It is the very law. It is the same law we use every day of our lives when we walk about, directing the power that does the walking by conscious suggestion.» — y el rango que le da a esa analogía: no es figura, es la ley que él dice usar a diario

«The following rule may well be applied to this phenomenon: emotions of unpleasantness, ALARM, FEAR, ETC., ARE VERITABLE SUGGESTIONS TO THE SUBCONSCIOUS WILL, THAT THE SUBJECT WISHES TO BE NORMAL, OR PHYSICALLY CORRECT.» — la regla que enuncia sobre las emociones, impresa en versales: alarma y miedo son sugerencias a la Voluntad subconsciente de volver el cuerpo a lo normal

«To be sure, it is no easy matter for one to prevent himself from becoming emotional at the supernormal, especially when he himself is in the grip of it ; but, like all things supernormal, conscious projection soon loses its awe, as one becomes more accustomed to it.» — con la concesión de lo difícil que es no emocionarse ante lo supranormal, y el remedio que ofrece, que es la costumbre

«It also may seem contrary to received opinion that nervousness is a factor favourable to detachment, and that the emotions must be calm ; still, this too is true !» — la paradoja que él mismo señala en su doctrina: el nerviosismo favorece el desprendimiento y a la vez las emociones deben estar calmas

«Conscious astral projection never will be accomplished by anyone who cannot control his emotions.» — y la condición que pone a cualquiera que pretenda proyección consciente

«I BELIEVE that this is the first time that any writer has ever definitely declared that the subconscious Will ejects the phantom in a specific route, and that the position of the physical body at the time of ejection invariably governs the direction in which the “ double ” will move out of it.» — Muldoon reclama para sí la novedad de la tesis, y la enuncia: la Voluntad subconsciente expulsa al fantasma por una ruta que gobierna la postura del cuerpo físico

«When the body is in a lying-down position, or horizontally at rest, the astral advances from the body in an upward direction, rigid, remaining strictly parallel to the material body.» — la ruta que describe para el cuerpo tendido: ascenso rígido y estrictamente paralelo al cuerpo material

«Usually the progress upward in this manner is slow, the astral body advancing only an inch or so at a time, and many times falling back again.» — con la lentitud y los retrocesos que declara en esa fase

«After approximately one foot of separation it begins to zigzag, much like a snagged stick zigzags back and forth in the current of a stream.» — y el zigzagueo que aparece al pie de separación, comparado con un palo trabado en la corriente

«There are times when the subconscious control does not upright the phantom directly over the shell, but, after raising it to a height of about five feet, will begin to force it along in the air, still horizontal, for some distance, and then bring it down to the vertical.» — la variante que también consigna: elevado a unos cinco pies, el fantasma avanza horizontal por el aire antes de enderezarse

«If the sense of sight be functioning, a variegated aura can be seen from the very beginning.» — el aura variopinta que dice verse desde el comienzo, si la vista funciona

«While the astral body movements are alike in death and in exteriorization, there is one element present in the latter phenomenon which is absent in death—a vital line of force connecting the physical body with its astral counterpart.» — lo único que, según él, separa la exteriorización de la muerte, y es la pieza central de su sistema: la línea vital de fuerza que une los dos cuerpos

«It is easy to tell a patient that “ nerves ” cause such peculiar happenings, but telling him how nerves cause these happenings is a horse of another colour.» — la objeción que dirige a la explicación médica corriente: decir que son los nervios no dice cómo

«What is dizziness ? It is a condition of looseness of the astral body.» — y la explicación que pone en su lugar: el mareo como aflojamiento del cuerpo astral

«Regardless of the cause, dizziness indicates that the astral body is not bound tightly to the physical.» — con la generalización que hace de ella, sea cual sea la causa

«Whirling will cause dizziness, since it loosens the astral body; and, in this connection, it is interesting to note that the Fakirs often resort to " whirling ” to accomplish astral exteriorization.» — de donde deriva su lectura del giro de los fakires, que empareja con esa técnica

«The track of sight-sensation came from the conscious mind in the body above you—where you really were—and travelled through the astral cable to the physical eye.» — su doctrina de la visión dual, en la respuesta al lector que cree haber visto desde el cuerpo físico: la sensación viaja por el cable astral hasta el ojo

«Mr. Prescott Hall, in his work on Astral Projection, summarized his own experiences in this connection as follows :» — la autoridad que cita en este punto, Prescott Hall y su obra sobre proyección astral

«The most definite objects seen were a Greek profile and the head and shoulders of a Hindu in a turban.» — con lo que Hall declara haber visto, que Muldoon reproduce sin apropiárselo

«Nearly every student of spirit phenomena professes to know that the astral cord is an elastic-like structure, connecting the astral body with the physical; and this seems to be the extent of knowledge so far given to the world, concerning this schematic astral organism.» — el estado de la cuestión tal como lo describe: todos dan el cordón por elástico, y ahí se acaba lo sabido

«On the other hand, most persons who do project, do not maintain consciousness clearly, if at all.» — y quien sí proyecta rara vez conserva la conciencia con claridad

«Some become possessed of temporary awareness at a distance from the physical body ; and still others are so absorbed in the wonders met with that the thought of investigating causes never enters into their minds at the time.» — con las variantes de esa segunda falla, incluida la de quedar absorto en la maravilla y no investigar nada

«It is estimated that about 15,000 persons now living “ see ” more or less on the astral plane ; and that about fifty persons can go out into that plane at will.» — la estimación de cuántos ven en el plano astral y cuántos salen a voluntad, que da como estimación

«Many times, while consciously projected, I have succeeded in intimately examining and observing the peculiar action of the astral cable.» — frente a ellos, lo que reclama para sí: haber examinado de cerca la acción del cable en proyección consciente

«Its erratic action always made a very profound impression upon me, and at times I was almost led to believe that it actually was intelligent.» — y hasta dónde llega esa observación, dicha con su reserva: la acción errática casi lo lleva a creerlo inteligente

«Where it comes from, on the outgoing of the phantom, where it disappears, when the phantom coincides, are too deep mysteries for me to fathom.» — con lo que declara no poder desentrañar, que deja como misterio y no como respuesta

«Its elasticity is far beyond the imagination, and is not comparable to any material object in its stretching qualities.» — la elasticidad que le atribuye, sin comparación con objeto material alguno

«When slightly out of coincidence, the cord is the diameter of a silver dollar.» — el calibre que le mide cerca de la coincidencia, del diámetro de un dólar de plata

«This is the maximum calibre of the cord itself, yet the aura surrounding it gives the impression to the eye that it is about six inches in thickness at this point.» — con la distinción entre el cordón y su aura, que abulta la impresión a la vista

«The diameter decreases in proportion to the increase of separation» — y la ley de proporción inversa entre diámetro y separación

«From immediate separation to the distance when the astral cord assumes its minimum calibre there is always much activity present in it.» — la actividad que declara constante mientras el cordón no llega a su calibre mínimo

«I wished, naturally, to determine how far this " range of cord activity ” extended, for it had an important bearing, I found, upon the projection of the astral body.» — de donde sale la pregunta que ordena el capítulo: hasta dónde llega el rango de actividad del cordón

«I noticed that, when I was not feeling as well as usual, the range of resistance, or cord-activity, was less than when I was in better physical condition.» — lo que Muldoon dice haber observado en sí mismo: peor estado físico, menor rango de resistencia del cordón

«The more healthy the subject, the more energy is stored in the condenser (astral body), the stronger will be the flow of energy through the astral cable—if he succeeds in projecting at all—and the longer will be the cord-activity range.» — la ley que deriva para el sujeto sano: más energía en el condensador, más flujo por el cable y más largo el rango

«The more enervated the individual becomes, the less energy is stored in the condenser, the less tie it has on the physical, and the shorter will be the range of cord-activity.» — y su simétrica para el enervado, con la acotación de que también lo ata menos al físico

«And I say again that the more one searches into this phenomenon of astral projection, the more certain one will become that material co-ordination is a powerful, negative, influencing factor in the result.» — con la insistencia en el papel negativo que asigna a la coordinación material

«You may think you are a living body, but you are, as Moses said, “ a living soul.”» — la corrección de vocabulario con que sostiene su antropología, apoyada en Moisés

«When the astral body moves out of coincidence, you are physically dead—unless the astral cable, running from the energetic body to the physical body, is intact.» — la definición de muerte que se sigue de su sistema: salir de coincidencia es morir, salvo que el cable siga intacto

«When consciously exteriorized, one can suspend his breath at will, just as he can while in coincidence ; but this is not a wise thing to do, especially for the amateur, as physical congestion is liable to set in and cause death.» — con la advertencia práctica que añade contra suspender el aliento fuera del cuerpo

«If you can imagine some mighty giant holding you by the back of the head, with a steady grip, at arm’s length, pushing you slowly away from him, drawing you back toward him, moving you from side to side, yet always maintaining a steady hold upon your head, and in that very grip you could feel a regular pulsation; then you can imagine how it feels to the conscious projector within cord-activity range.» — la imagen con que hace sentir la tracción dentro del rango: un gigante que sujeta por la nuca y no suelta

«Once you can advance beyond it, however, you will be as free as a permanently detached phantom.» — y lo que promete al que rebase ese rango

«There is but one way to combat this resistance, and that is by wilful effort—actually to exert all your will to move away from the physical counterpart.» — con el único recurso que admite para vencer la resistencia: el esfuerzo deliberado de la voluntad

«On the other hand, the speedier and stronger the heart-beat, the greater the cord-resistance.» — la relación que establece entre latido y resistencia del cordón

«Although suspending the breath, while consciously exteriorized, will weaken the cable resistance, it is not advisable to practise it, to enable one to get out of cord-activity range ; for, as I have pointed out before, the physical would become endangered for want of oxygen, as it is already in a weakened condition.» — y por qué desaconseja el atajo de suspender el aliento, aunque reconozca que debilita esa resistencia

«And although these two opposing forces are always present, the helpful influences must necessarily be slightly greater than the opposing ones, or outward advancement will cease.» — la condición de equilibrio que pone para que el avance continúe

«Although the astral " line of force ” can be likened to a rubber cable, it is in one sense unlike it.» — con la reserva sobre su propia comparación del cordón con un cable de goma

«The force working in the cord is not produced by it. The force itself remains mysterious.» — y el límite que deja escrito: la fuerza que trabaja en el cordón no la produce el cordón, y sigue siendo misteriosa

«If the negative factors predominate, while in coincidence, projection cannot be accomplished.» — la regla de los factores negativos en coincidencia

«If the negative factors begin to grow stronger, while the phantom is projecting (within cord-activity range) they interfere with the orderly procedure.» — y dentro del rango de actividad, donde estorban el orden del proceso

«When the positive factors overbalance the negative factors—projection progresses in an orderly and well-controlled manner.» — frente al caso en que los positivos pesan más

«The force working in the astral cable will govern itself according to the balance of positive and negative factors, which are always present.» — con la fórmula general en que resume el gobierno del cable

«the one hand is the psychic experimenter who, if not capable of projecting himself, can only form his conclusions from the statements of others.» — y las dos razones que da de esa ignorancia: el experimentador psíquico que no proyecta depende de lo que otros le cuenten

«I took the tape and measured the range of cord-activity, and found it to be fifteen feet. For some time I thought that I had the distance calculated correctly ; but when I again tried the experiment, to verify the first finding, I met with a different result. This time it was but eight feet.» — la medición que declara haber hecho con cinta métrica, y el resultado discordante de la segunda vez, que él consigna en vez de suprimirlo

«The astral body repercusses, shocking the physical—although it might not have been separated more than a few inches from it.» — la represión del fantasma y su vuelta brusca, que Muldoon llama repercusión: sacude al físico aunque la separación fuera de pulgadas

«The Doctor calls this " nerves,” but that explains nothing.» — con la misma objeción de siempre a la explicación médica

«but speed is the more important of the two ; for even at a distance of separation of only one foot, if the return to the physical is with intense velocity, the physical will undergo a violent shock.» — la ley que da para la intensidad del choque: pesa más la velocidad del regreso que la distancia

«This more severe effect is not experienced so frequently as " jumping,” for the reason that most people do not have extensive separations.» — y por qué el caso severo es raro, que él achaca a la escasez de separaciones extensas

«Whether there be any danger in this painful repercussion of the astral body I am not prepared to say, but it is probable that such happenings are more unpleasant than harmful.» — la reserva expresa sobre el peligro de esa repercusión: se abstiene de afirmarlo y solo la da por probablemente más molesta que dañina

«When the return is governed, as it should be, by the subconscious—with positive balance—the re-coincidence is not felt by the subject.» — el caso en que el regreso no se siente, gobernado por el subconsciente con saldo positivo

«Should the student, in attempting to develop this phase (projection), meet with severe bodily repercussions, it is a symptom that projection has been accomplished to some extent, but that the negative factors are strong.» — cómo lee la repercusión severa en el aprendiz: síntoma de que algo se proyectó y de que los factores negativos pesan

«One severe repercussion is likely to write “ finis ” on the production of further extensive projections, for the subject will be in dread of the shock, and this suppressed fear will always induce an emotion at the very first flash of consciousness, and will shoot the body back into coincidence— only causing a repetition of such repercussions.» — y el círculo que describe, donde el miedo reprimido al choque corta el desarrollo posterior

«On the other hand, if one is really anxious to project extensively, and undergoes bodily repercussion, he must look upon it, not from the standpoint of painfulness (which is but temporary), or fear it as dangerous ; but accept it as evidence that he is succeeding, and that it is harmless, and that he doesn’t care a rap whether he repercusses or not !» — con el consejo correlativo: tomar la repercusión por evidencia y no por peligro

«Sounds, sensations and emotions cause bodily repercussions— providing the phantom is within cord-activity range.» — la lista de disparadores de la repercusión corporal, con su condición: que el fantasma esté dentro del rango del cordón

«Emotion is probably the fundamental cause ; sounds, sensations, etc., are contributory factors.» — y el reparto de causas que propone, con la emoción como fundamental

«Astral projection of the unconscious type is of such a nature that it will promote sensations !» — el circuito que cierra su explicación: la proyección inconsciente promueve las sensaciones que luego la interrumpen

«You may call this “ reasoning in a circle.” In a sense it is ; yet, such action is the same as in dreams—e.g. irritation of or sensation in the bladder, will cause a dream of emptying the bladder.» — que él mismo llama razonamiento circular, y defiende con el ejemplo del sueño de la vejiga

«Usually the sensations promoted by astral body activities bring about " aviation type ” dreams, which we will next discuss.» — con el tipo de sueño que atribuye normalmente a esa actividad

«A superstition has it that if the dreamer falls to the bottom of the precipice, or what not, death will occur.» — del bloque de Walsh que Muldoon reproduce, la superstición sobre el que llega al fondo del precipicio

«In dreams of falling, we awaken always before we touch bottom ; this is because we are on the road to awaking at the time of the dream, and awake before its completion, or because the emotions excited by the dream are sufficiently strong to cause the awakening.» — la explicación que Walsh da del despertar antes del impacto, en el pasaje citado

«These persons are of a nervous type, though fatigue or slight deviation from good health may predispose to the sensation.» — el temperamento que Walsh adjudica a los propensos, con la fatiga y el mal estado como predisponentes

«The use of a firm, hard bed often prevents the sinking sensation, in the hypnagogic state, and may thus prevent certain falling dreams.» — la recomendación práctica que Walsh ofrece, y que Muldoon reproduce: la cama dura previene la sensación de hundimiento

«The chief explanation for these sensations in the waking state is a fall of blood pressure.» — la explicación de Walsh para esas sensaciones en vigilia, que es la caída de presión arterial

«A fall of blood pressure occurs not infrequently during sleep, occasioned by slight physical disturbances ; this fact may also explain some falling dreams.» — con su extensión al sueño

«I can say with certainty that the usual cause of the falling dream is interiorization of the projected phantom.» — frente a lo cual Muldoon opone su propia causa, y sin reserva: la interiorización del fantasma proyectado

«W. “ Dreams of falling are far from pleasurable.” It is for this very reason that intense emotion stimulates and repercusses the body more vigorously.» — al comentar línea por línea a Walsh, Muldoon convierte lo desagradable del sueño en pieza de su mecánica: la emoción intensa repercute con más fuerza

«W. ‘‘ Generally they cause a shock that awakens the sleeper.” That is " repercussion ” of the astral body.» — y traduce el sobresalto que despierta al durmiente a su propio término

«When a dream of flying precedes a dream of falling, as it usually does, the floating or flying sensation is first noted because the astral body is actually floating above and to one side or the other of the physical.» — el orden que declara entre sueño de vuelo y de caída, con el cuerpo astral flotando de verdad a un costado del físico

«Most authorities agree that the subject always awakens before hitting bottom, in a falling dream. This is not true.» — la contradicción expresa a las autoridades: sostiene que no siempre se despierta antes de tocar fondo

«One may take strychnine, and positively prevent a projection, because, by regulating the heart’s action, unusual passivity of the physical is prevented.» — su lectura de la estricnina, que invierte el sentido del dato de Walsh: regular el corazón impide la pasividad y con ella la proyección

«Unusual physical passivity is always governed by the heart.» — la regla que enuncia sobre esa pasividad

«Fatigue, nervousness, etc., always promote astral body separation.» — y qué papel da a la fatiga y al nerviosismo

«Many times we had tried to go on to the roof-porch, but each time my friend’s mother foiled our plans.» — del recuerdo de infancia con que explica su propio sueño repetidor, el porche prohibido al que no lograban subir

«I grew dizzy and seemed impelled to jump or fall to the ground.» — y lo que sintió al asomarse, que es la emoción de la que hará depender todo

«I would dream that I was floating directly over my friend’s home—always directly over the spot where I had crawled from the centre to the edge of the porch.» — el sueño que se le repitió después, siempre sobre el mismo punto exacto del tejado

«When conscious enough to understand; I found that I was projected in the astral body, and was lying in the air directly above the physical body, approximately three feet over it.» — y lo que dice haber hallado al recobrar conciencia: proyectado a unos tres pies sobre su cuerpo físico

«It will not be out of place to add here that one can move downward m the dream a great distance, apparently, but in reality the drop of the astral is but a very small part of that distance.» — la corrección de escala que introduce: el descenso del astral es una fracción mínima de lo que el sueño hace caer

«You will notice that the astral body was not actually in the place where I thought I was, in the dream ; but that it was conducting an activity which resembled the action taking place in the dream.» — y la relación que propone entre sueño y actividad astral: no coinciden en el lugar, sino en la clase de acción

«So, to go back to where we started ; astral body activity can incite a dream (of floating, flying, falling) and the dream can stir up the emotions ; the emotions will activate the physical and cause cable-pull, interiorizing the phantom.» — el circuito completo tal como lo resume: la actividad astral incita el sueño, el sueño mueve la emoción, la emoción tira del cable e interioriza al fantasma

«The common explanation given by psychologists for flying dreams is that they are caused by the rising and falling of the chest; but Ellis, and others, point out that such dreams cannot be accounted for by respiratory action alone, maintaining that one would have to lose the sense of contact with that on which one reclined.» — la explicación respiratoria corriente de los sueños de vuelo, y la objeción de Ellis que Muldoon recoge

«Walsh says : “ Epileptics sometimes have the sensation of lightness and of rising into the air.» — la sensación de ligereza que Walsh atribuye a los epilépticos

«A patient asserted that, just prior to a convulsion, she felt as if she rose ' right into heaven.’» — con el caso de la paciente que la declara antes de la convulsión

«One individual’s dying words : ' Don’t let them take me ; keep me down,’ were probably occasioned by this sensation.» — la lectura que hace de unas palabras de agonía, atribuidas a la misma sensación de ser llevado hacia arriba

«Another prevalent belief is that the “ falling ” of the falling dream merely symbolizes a " fallen woman,” a " fallen soul,” etc.» — la interpretación simbólica corriente del sueño de caída, que consigna para rechazarla

«The underlying cause of most " aviation type dreams ” is found in astral body phenomena.» — y la causa que pone en su lugar para los sueños del tipo aviación

«If you will keep in mind the route the phantom takes in exteriorizing, it will be much easier to grasp the relation of astral projection to the aviation type dream.» — con la clave de lectura que le pide al lector: tener presente la ruta del fantasma al exteriorizarse

«However, after a while, his mother will come after him and bring him home again.» — la comparación con que explica el regreso: una madre subconsciente que deja alejarse al niño y va por él

«The kite represents the astral body and the string represents the astral cord.» — y la segunda comparación, la del papalote, donde el cordón astral hace de hilo

«The straight fall- results in a violent repercussion, for the astral body drops straight down into the physical mechanism.» — de las tres caídas que distingue, la recta, con la repercusión más violenta

«In the spiral drop the astral body falls with a spiral motion and, while there is repercussion, it is not of the more violent type, such as accompanies the straight drop.» — la espiral, cuya repercusión declara menor

«In the spiral drop, the head of the subject often seems to be spinning more pronouncedly than the body.» — con el detalle que le atribuye, la cabeza girando más que el cuerpo

«In the slow, vibratory drop, there is a balance of factors, and the controlling power has everything perfectly under control.» — y la vibratoria lenta, donde da por equilibrados los factores y por completo el control

«It will not be out of place to mention here that exteriorization is of three kinds also, that is, there is the straight rise, the spiral rise and the normal, slow, vibratory rise.» — la simetría que establece del otro lado: también la salida es recta, espiral o vibratoria lenta

«What causes these different " falls ” ? This question came to my mind many years ago, and, through sheer experience, I discovered that the conscious will can cause the astral body to become more subject to gravitation, if exercised in that direction, and less subject to gravitation, if so willed.» — lo que declara haber descubierto por experiencia sobre la causa de esas caídas: la voluntad consciente puede volver al cuerpo astral más sujeto a la gravitación

«It is obvious that, in the first two drops, something has upset the perfect control of the guiding intelligence—e.g. emotion or fear, in a dream.» — y a qué adjudica las dos primeras: algo, emoción o miedo en el sueño, alteró el control de la inteligencia que guía

«In the spiral drop, the emotion, as a rule, will cause the astral body to be pulled by gravity a moment before it hits the physical, but the repercussion has been offset to a great extent by the preceding spiral.» — con la mecánica que atribuye a la espiral, donde el giro previo compensa buena parte del golpe

«In the spiral rise, we have the push in the cable, while the body is affected by gravity.» — y la fuerza que reparte en la subida espiral entre el empuje del cable y la gravedad

«Now, I discovered long ago that one can break a falling dream, merely by “ letting himself go.”» — la técnica que ofrece contra el sueño de caída, y que declara haber descubierto hace mucho: dejarse ir

«Do not fear hitting the bottom ; just let yourself fall, and the repercussion, if any, will be slight.» — con la instrucción concreta que la acompaña

«It is a curious fact, but nevertheless true, that several others to whom I told this secret recalled it, while falling, and “ let themselves go.”» — y la comprobación ajena que declara haber recogido de quienes la aplicaron

«Every one of them testified that the repercussion was then almost insignificant.» — con el resultado que esos terceros le reportaron

«Fear causes many falling dreams. One can be lying horizontal in the air» — el papel que reserva al miedo en la producción de estos sueños

«It will not be out of place to state here that all dreams cannot be accounted for by prior states of consciousness.» — el límite que Muldoon opone a la explicación onírica corriente: no todos los sueños salen de estados de conciencia previos

«It should be understood, also, that I do not contend that all of the dreams which I have mentioned are caused by astral body activities, but that many of them are.» — y el que se pone a sí mismo, que acota su propia tesis: no sostiene que todos los sueños mencionados vengan de actividad astral

«The ordinary psycho-analyst (belonging to the school which maintains that all dreams are the results of prior states of consciousness) might tell the subject that this dream had its origin in the fact that at one time he (the subject) had seen a man beating a child over the head, and that this scene had made a deep impression upon him.» — cómo describe la explicación del psicoanalista, con la escuela nombrada, para separarse de ella

«This dream is usually caused by “ cord-activity ”—the push and pull in the cable causing the dream-body to jerk to and fro.» — la causa que da al sueño de aleteo: la actividad del cordón sacudiendo al cuerpo de sueño

«The head-thumping dream is brought about, as a rule, by the pronounced pulsations of the heart, transmitting through the cable, -which makes its point of contact at the back of the head in the dream-body.» — y la del sueño de golpes en la cabeza: las pulsaciones del corazón transmitidas por el cable, que en el cuerpo de sueño hace contacto en la nuca

«Nine times out of ten when a projector becomes conscious within cord-activity range, he feels the pulsations in the astral cable, in the medulla oblongata region, even before his consciousness is clear enough to tell him what is happening.» — con la observación que le sirve de apoyo: al recobrar conciencia dentro del rango del cordón, siente esas pulsaciones en la médula oblongada antes de entender qué pasa

«This dream is not unlike the falling dream in so far as its causes are concerned, the difference being that, in the falling dream, the dream-body moves downward, while in this dream the body comes in from the side.» — la relación que establece entre este sueño y el de caída, que difieren en la dirección del movimiento

«A friend tells me that, when she has this type of " repeater ” dream, two monstrous eyes seem to be staring at her, and these eyes advance toward her steadily, growing larger and larger as they approach, until at last she is swallowed up in them and» — el sueño repetidor de una conocida, con los ojos monstruosos que se la tragan, que él recoge como testimonio ajeno

«I have inquired extensively concerning this dream, and find that most of those who have experienced it have done so about the age of puberty.» — y la regularidad que dice haber encontrado al preguntar por ese sueño: aparece hacia la pubertad

«Whether there be any significance in this I do not know.» — con la abstención expresa sobre qué significa eso

«In many dreams persons and objects appear as they actually are, while in many they appear to be very different.» — su explicación de por qué en el sueño las cosas se ven distintas de lo que son

«There is a constant association of ideas and impressions taking place in the cryptic chambers of the mind while we sleep.» — que apoya en la asociación continua de ideas mientras dormimos

«To the dreamer, a man with a long beard might invoke the impression of a hairy animal.» — con el ejemplo que da: la barba larga evocando un animal peludo

«The man in the dream would then turn into an animal; in other words, the dreamer would be under a delusion.» — y el nombre que le pone al resultado

«One may be travelling in the astral body, dreaming, and on awakening find that many things apparently seen in the dream were but delusions.» — la consecuencia para su propio sistema, que él mismo consigna: se puede viajar en el astral y recordar delusiones

«If the subject, on awakening, remembered only that part of the dream in which he was being shot, he would say that he had a dream to that effect.» — con el caso del recuerdo parcial, que al despertar se cuenta como sueño entero

«Also, in our dreams, we have exaggerations as to time and distance.» — y las exageraciones de tiempo y distancia que atribuye al sueño

«For example, in the “ flapping dream,” it sometimes seems ages between one “ flap ” and the next, while in reality it is but a very short time.» — con el ejemplo del aleteo, donde el intervalo parece siglos

«And, in the falling dream, we often seem to fall a very great distance, while the actual drop of the astral body is not to be compared with this distance.» — y el de la caída, donde la distancia soñada no se compara con el desplazamiento real del cuerpo astral

«I HAVE found that, as a rule, the subconscious frees the phantom from catalepsy at the end of cord-activity range.» — la regla que Muldoon da sobre cuándo el subconsciente libera al fantasma de la catalepsia: al término del rango del cordón

«When motivity is restored to the projected body within this range, it is almost certain that interiorization will come instantly (for one» — y qué pasa si recobra movilidad antes de ese punto

«Now, if the phantom were endowed with its motive powers here, it would act very much like a staggering drunkard or like a child learning to walk, being thrown from one side to the other.» — con la imagen que usa para describirlo: un borracho que se tambalea, o un niño que aprende a caminar

«Emotions would be stirred; the phantom would become cataleptic again, pulled into the horizontal, over the physical, and drop into it.» — y la cadena que sigue: emoción, catalepsia otra vez, horizontal sobre el físico y caída dentro

«However, the subconscious tries, and usually succeeds, in holding the phantom in catalepsy until it has advanced beyond cord-activity range.» — de ahí la función que atribuye al subconsciente en esa fase, con el *usually* a la vista

«It should be remembered that most of these functions take place within cord-activity range, where the phantom is apart from the physical, yet not free from the physical.» — y la fórmula con que define el rango entero: aparte del físico y sin embargo no libre de él

«I am of the opinion (this is not original with me, however) that the unbalancement of the mind—i.e. insanity in any form—is caused because the etheric is not bound tightly to the physical.» — su teoría de la locura, con la nota de que no la reclama como propia: el desequilibrio mental viene de que el etérico no está firmemente atado al físico

«The Ego can safely withdraw from the physical body, and the Etheric Body—which is the link between the physical body and the Ego —must be shuffled off as one ‘ sheath ’ and left together, united. Then the physical suffers no harm. The trouble in ' madness ’ is that a separation has taken place between the two» — del autor anónimo de *The Maniac*, la nota al pie que Muldoon cita en apoyo: en la locura la separación se produce entre el cuerpo etérico y el físico

«If some panacea could be found-either in medical science, mental science, or any other science-which would accomplish the result of creating a stronger tie between the two counterparts, what a godsend it would be to humanity.» — el remedio que se desea en este punto, un lazo más fuerte entre las dos contrapartes. El OCR corrompe el pasaje y empalma la frase dentro de la nota citada, de modo que el facsímil no decide si la firma Muldoon o el autor de *The Maniac*

«I am acquainted with one woman who became gifted with unusual clairvoyant powers about the same time when she became a victim of epilepsy.» — el caso de la mujer que, según declara conocer, ganó clarividencia al enfermar de epilepsia

«Again, some outstanding figures in history have been epileptics, such as Caesar, Napoleon and Socrates.» — y los epilépticos históricos que alinea: César, Napoleón y Sócrates

«Just why abnormalities of the mind bring about specific results in specific cases is a matter of which we know little.» — con la ignorancia que declara sobre por qué la anormalidad mental produce en cada caso un resultado distinto

«The senses, within cord-activity range, function so capriciously that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to give an entirely satisfactory account of what might, and might not, happen» — lo caprichoso que declara el funcionamiento de los sentidos dentro del rango del cordón

«The best that can be done, at least the best that I can do, is to tell of these curious sense-functionings, as I have experienced them.» — y a qué reduce por eso su propia exposición

«When we are in coincidence, and conscious, we see only those objects which agree in vibration, or are within the range of vibration, to which our eyes are attuned — unless we are clairvoyant.» — la regla de vibración que rige la visión en coincidencia, con la clarividencia como excepción

«When we move out of coincidence, and are conscious, the sense of sight does not always restore itself immediately ; but when it does, the range of vibration has increased, and we are then able to see not only the material things, which we formerly saw, but astral things as well.» — y lo que cambia al salir: la vista no vuelve enseguida, y cuando vuelve el rango de vibración ha aumentado

«The subject will see the phantom from the physical eyes (although they are closed) moving, standing, lying, in the air, etc.—in the room.» — la escena de la visión dual tal como la describe: el sujeto ve al fantasma desde los ojos físicos cerrados

«There is another, still more complicated, more mystifying phenomenon than astral vision, however, and that is dual astral vision, which occurs when the projector apparently sees from the physical eyes, and at the same time sees from the eyes of the astral body, where he really is.» — que declara más complicada y desconcertante que la visión astral misma

«But we have already learned that the conscious mind is not a part of the physical body, but operates in the astral body.» — y la doctrina en que la apoya: la mente consciente no es parte del cuerpo físico y opera en el astral

«Now, there are authorities who are of the opinion that it is possible to produce dual consciousness, or consciousness in the physical and the astral simultaneously.» — Muldoon consigna la opinión ajena de que hay conciencia doble, física y astral a la vez

«For my own part I cannot say that this is impossible ; I have seen too many mystifying things to deny that such dual consciousness can be produced.» — y su abstención expresa: no la declara imposible

«However, I do not believe that I have ever experienced it—now that I understand the dual action of the senses, which I formerly thought was double consciousness.» — pero niega haberla vivido, y reinterpreta como acción doble de los sentidos lo que antes tomaba por conciencia doble

«I have made the remark, and I again make it—that I have seen too many wonders to deny that dual consciousness is possible ; so, although I do not contradict Dr. Van Eeden’s claim in the least, I wish to point out the striking similarity between what the Doctor believes to be dual consciousness and what I believe to be dual vision.» — la fórmula con que trata el caso del doctor Van Eeden: no lo contradice y a la vez señala la semejanza con lo suyo

«There is to me something about dual consciousness which seems undesirable, even if it were a possibility.» — con un reparo que no es de hecho sino de deseo

«If consciousness can, in fact, multiply itself ; if it can be in the physical body in the absence of the spiritual body, then the claims which have been advanced— that the consciousness operates through the non-material counterpart alone—are fallacious.» — y la consecuencia doctrinal que le ve: si la conciencia puede estar en el físico sin el cuerpo espiritual, cae lo sostenido sobre que opera solo por la contraparte no material

«It is my own idea—and I have good reason for believing it to be true—that what is supposed to be dual consciousness is in reality an accessory track of astral vision located in the astral “ line of force ” and working concurrently with the phantom’s eyes.» — su propia explicación, dicha como idea propia: una vía accesoria de visión astral alojada en la línea de fuerza

«Dropping this matter of dual consciousness for the present, we will go back to our discussion of dual vision, for it is certain that the latter exists within cord-activity range on many occasions.» — con lo que sí da por cierto dentro del rango del cordón

«However, I would advise the reader not to concentrate too long on those things which I have spoken of as the unusual features of projection, lest these crystallize in his mind, and by doing so influence his development ; for in the astral “ as one thinks, he is.» — la advertencia que dirige al lector sobre concentrarse en estos rasgos, porque en el astral el pensamiento cristaliza e influye en el desarrollo

«I wanted to find out if Jack could see me, while I was exteriorized in the astral body ; so I gave him sleeping-quarters in my own room.» — el experimento que monta con su perro Jack para saber si lo vería exteriorizado

«I do not believe that he even sensed that I was not in the shell.» — y el resultado, que declara negativo

«But the most amazing part was that as the dog curled up against the physical—it felt to me as if he were actually curling up against my side in the astral, and I could feel his weight against me in the side of my astral body until physically active again !» — con el hallazgo colateral que sí le interesa: sintió el peso del perro contra el costado astral

«In other words, if you feel anything material, while in the astral body, you must be within cord-activity range, and what you will feel will have to touch the material counterpart; then it is transmitted over the “ line of force ” into the astral body, and that is where you really feel it.» — la regla que saca de ahí: sentir algo material fuera del cuerpo sitúa al proyector dentro del rango, y el contacto llega por la línea de fuerza

«But this is only an idiosyncrasy of the sense of touch—just as the sense of sight acts in an erratic manner, and occurs (so far as I know) only within the range of cord-activity.» — con la acotación de que es una idiosincrasia del tacto, y solo dentro de ese rango hasta donde él sabe

«We have seen, too, that even movement, in the physical, can duplicate itself in the astral, as it did when the physical rocked up and down from the jar of the dog’s weight, as he jumped upon the bed.» — y la duplicación del movimiento que declara en el mismo episodio

«Thus, after the inner body has been to some extent loosened, I have pricked this body with a needle ; and, though the prick was some inches distant from the surface of the real, material body, the subject, nevertheless, felt the prick as if it were on her real body.» — del experimentador que cita, la aguja clavada en el cuerpo interior a pulgadas del material y sentida como en el cuerpo real

«I pricked the surface of the etheric body, that is, distant some six or eight inches from the material body, but, by a phenomenon known to psychical students as ‘ repercussion ” (of sensibility) it rebounded or reacted upon the material body in such a way that the subject felt the pricks actually in the body itself.”» — con el nombre que ese experimentador da al efecto, repercusión de la sensibilidad

«If, however, I am a medium, and I place my hand at a distance of half an inch from the match-box, and then will that the box shall be moved, it really is moved—the theory being that, in this case, I can project from my fingers an energy which bridges the gap between the fingers and the box—and so moves it.» — y de Carrington, en *Higher Psychical Development*, la exteriorización de la motividad: la caja de cerillos movida a media pulgada por una energía proyectada desde los dedos

«Although I have long known that, at times, when the projected phantom is within cord-activity range, any touch on the physical member is felt on the same spot of the astral member, the reverse was " news ” to me.» — lo que Muldoon reconoce nuevo para él: sabía que el toque en el físico se siente en el astral, no al revés

«I must confess that I cannot understand how a needle can prick the astral body, and be felt, when that body is intangible and impervious to material things.» — y la objeción que le hace a la repercusión de la sensibilidad: no entiende cómo una aguja pincha un cuerpo intangible

«Although the separations were not extensive, I did pass through the board without the least tinge of feeling.» — con el dato propio que le opone, atravesar una tabla sin sentir nada

«I readily admit, however, that I may be wrong in this idea.» — y la reserva con que lo dice

«But I wonder if this same repercussion of sensibility would occur if the operator suggested that it would not be felt, as he pricked the space occupied by the astral counterpart ?» — la prueba que propone y no hace: sugerirle al sujeto que no lo sentirá, y pinchar

«Thus, even though the pain be imagined it would be as real to the subject as if it were not imagined, and, through duplicate sensation, would be felt in the physical body.» — la explicación alternativa que ofrece, por vía de la sugestión: imaginado o no, el dolor sería igual de real y pasaría al físico por sensación duplicada

«All that I have undertaken to say, however, in connection with repercussion of sensibility, is nothing more than speculation.» — cómo califica todo lo que ha dicho sobre esa repercusión

«I have never met with repercussion of sensibility, from the astral to the physical, caused by the contact of any material object with the astral body—although repercussion of the astral body itself is very common.» — con lo que declara no haber encontrado nunca, y lo que sí

«This would be logical, consistent ; whereas pricking a needle into the non-material form and having it felt, when the needle does not make contact with the astral, seems (to me) to be very inconsistent.» — y por qué le parece inconsistente lo que los franceses declaran

«However, it would be the height of folly for me to say that repercussion of sensibility (as claimed by the French authorities) is impossible, especially when such notable men proclaim it to be true.» — la abstención con que cierra: se niega a llamarlo imposible frente a autoridades notables

«There is one thing of which I feel certain, however, in this connection—which is that, if repercussion of sensibility takes place, it does so while the phantom is within cord-activity range.» — y lo único que da por cierto, que es una condición y no un hecho: si ocurre, ocurre dentro del rango del cordón

«it is a state when, although the phantom is separated, it is still bound to the physical counterpart—through the medium of the “ line of force ” more or less firmly, according to the individual who is the projector.» — su definición del rango de actividad del cordón como estado, con el grado de atadura variando según el proyector

«Most mediums, believing the astral body to be immune to pain, have, while in communication with such tormented phantoms, told, them that they (the phantoms) were dead, in a body immune to pain and that the Ego, in the astral, is suffering from pain which is purely imaginary.» — lo que adjudica a la mayoría de los médiums: decirle al fantasma atormentado que está muerto y es inmune al dolor

«What really happens in such a case is this : The phantom, at the time of death, was exteriorized and within cord-activity range, while sensibility was transmitted from the physical body to the astral body—just as I, while exteriorized and within cord-activity range, could feel the weight of the dog in my side, while in the astral body.» — frente a lo que él sostiene que pasa: al morir, el fantasma quedó dentro del rango y la sensibilidad seguía transmitiéndose del cuerpo físico

«It is not merely a condition of mind which puts the phantom in this predicament ; it is the actual transference of sensation across the “ line pf force,” transference of the actual pain» — y la insistencia en que no es cosa de la mente sino transferencia real de sensación por la línea de fuerza

«And, in this madness, the victim is often constantly living through—even for months afterwards—the death he experienced ; in other words, he continues to experience the death and its painfulness.» — con el cuadro que describe: la víctima reviviendo su propia muerte durante meses

«He could not understand that he was dead and in the astral body.» — del caso del maquinista, lo que Muldoon adjudica a su estado: no entender que estaba muerto y en el cuerpo astral

«But, fortunately, factors at the time of death are not always as unfortunate as they were in this case.» — con la acotación de que no todas las muertes dejan al difunto en esa condición

«Do not think for one minute that this pain in the astral is not genuine.» — la insistencia con que sostiene la realidad del dolor astral

«It is, I realize, hard to conceive of sensibility existing apart from the nerves of the body; but merely because it seems incredible is no reason why it cannot do so.» — y cómo desactiva la objeción de que la sensibilidad no puede existir sin nervios

«Perhaps this in some manner explains why some persons who have had arms, or legs severed, claim to be able to feel the arm or the leg after the stump has healed.» — con el fenómeno que ofrece como paralelo, el miembro amputado que se sigue sintiendo

«But his main concern was that the bayonet was hurting him (he had been run through by a German, on Christmas Day) and he wanted it removed.» — del soldado canadiense, la bayoneta que dice seguir sintiendo clavada después de muerto

«How do you account for the bayonet ? Surely there was no bayonet sticking in the phantom’s astral body.” But there was ! Not a physical bayonet, but an astral form of the bayonet, created by the mind of the phantom.» — y la respuesta a la objeción obvia: no una bayoneta física, sino una forma astral creada por la mente del fantasma

«Because it was ultimately eliminated by the mind does not prove that the pain did not exist.» — con el argumento que le sirve de defensa: que la mente la disipara no cancela que el dolor existiera

«I firmly believe that, while projected and within cord-activity range, if I could obtain some tangible ‘‘ grip ” upon a physical object, the force in the cable could move that object, even though the latter weighed a ton» — lo que declara creer sobre la fuerza del cable, con el *if* que lo condiciona: agarrado a un objeto físico podría moverlo aunque pesara una tonelada

«From my experience, I have good reason to believe that a “ free ” cable can extend outward from the body» — la noción de cable libre que introduce a partir de su experiencia

«Granting this to be true, it would be possible for the “ motivity ” of the subject’s body to shift outside the body» — y lo que se seguiría: la motividad desplazada fuera del cuerpo

«It has often been noted that a medium has been in this condition of powerlessness when “ raps ” were produced.» — con el fenómeno mediúmnico que le sirve de apoyo, los golpes producidos en estado de impotencia física

«I recall very distinctly waking one morning, and finding myself minus my motivity !» — su propio caso, la mañana que despertó sin motividad

«And I did will with determination that a rap should come on the dresser.» — y lo que dice haber querido con determinación en ese estado

«As a rule, however, when one gets into this condition of exteriorized motivity, he becomes too excited ever to think of doing such a thing» — con la razón por la que casi nadie lo intenta, que él atribuye a la excitación del momento

«Motivity can " shift ” across the astral body, just as sensibility can.» — la simetría que establece entre motividad y sensibilidad

«With this condition of duplicate motivity, a move of the astral arm will produce a twitch in the physical arm—much as a dog’s legs will twitch in his dreams.» — y la motividad duplicada, con el brazo astral que hace temblar el físico como las patas del perro que sueña

«It is present in the unconscious and the dream state more than in the conscious state.» — con el estado en que declara más frecuente ese efecto

«Here is a mystery which is too deep for me ; but I know it to be the truth» — y la ignorancia que declara sobre el mecanismo, sin retirar la afirmación

«All of which reminds me of what Sir Oliver Lodge has stated, in discussing the phenomena produced by Eusapia Paladino.» — la autoridad que invoca para el caso, Sir Oliver Lodge sobre Eusapia Paladino

«The fact . . . that the medium’s body undergoes sympathetic or corresponding movements or twitches is very instructive and interesting.» — y lo que Lodge declara instructivo: que el cuerpo de la médium sufra movimientos correspondientes

«When I say that one can dream of moving a physical object, and that (if the object be moved) it is not moved in reality until about two seconds after one has dreamed that he has moved it, I mean just what I say, regardless of the fact that common sense would deny this.» — la afirmación sobre el retardo que él mismo reconoce inverosímil: el objeto no se mueve hasta unos dos segundos después de haberlo soñado

«If the psychic cable be severed, while the astral body is projected, death to the physical body is the result.» — la consecuencia que Muldoon adjudica al corte del cable psíquico con el cuerpo astral proyectado

«Should this happen (and it does) what would the sceptic say ? He would pronounce the manifestation a fraud, and insist that he had examined the medium’s flesh-and-blood body.» — y lo que anticipa que diría el escéptico ante una forma materializada herida

«I am well acquainted with an old occultist, Carl Pfuhl, who told me that, on one occasion, a little girl who was sleeping in a hammock, outside the stance room, while a materialization seance was in process inside, materialized in the seance room, and claimed to be the daughter of a member of the circle—who had a spirit daughter about the same age.» — el caso que le atribuye al ocultista Carl Pfuhl: la niña dormida en una hamaca fuera de la sala, materializada dentro

«We know that thought can affect the form of the astral body, and it might be possible for some spirit, wishing to manifest, to impress the unconscious astral body of the medium into a form like its own, and then talk through it.» — la hipótesis con que cierra, dicha como posibilidad: un espíritu que imprime su forma sobre el cuerpo astral inconsciente de la médium y habla por él

«I suppose you will say, “ If this were true we should have known it before.” However, I tell you that every time you sleep your astral body moves slightly out of coincidence—perhaps only a fraction of an inch, perhaps more.» — la tesis de la discoincidencia, enunciada contra la objeción que Muldoon se adelanta a poner: cada vez que dormimos el astral sale de coincidencia, aunque sea una fracción de pulgada

«Thus we have so-called “ chemical theories,” which endeavour to account for sleep by assuming that certain poisonous substances are formed in the body during waking hours and are eliminated during sleep.» — la teoría química del sueño que consigna antes de descartarla

«All of these theories have been shown insufficient to explain the facts.» — y el veredicto con que la despacha, junto con las demás

«We do not know how unconsciousness is brought about.» — la ignorancia que declara sobre cómo se produce la inconsciencia

«We do not know where the conscious mind seemingly evaporates to.» — y sobre adónde parece evaporarse la mente consciente

«We do know, however, the purpose of sleep.» — frente a lo único que reclama saber

«And why do they ? Because the astral always moves into the zone of quietude, or slightly discoincides, during sleep, for the purpose of charging» — que es la carga: el astral se mueve a la zona de quietud durante el sueño para cargarse

«It is usually in the hypnagogic state that this occurs, and, as I have said before, the subject is seldom aware of it, seldom feels it—although at times he does so.» — con el estado en que ocurre y la advertencia de que casi nunca se siente

«The theory then advanced was that the human body more nearly resembles the electric motor than it does the steam-engine ; and that the ordinary theory (that chemical combustion of food supplies the vital energy of the body) is a mistake ; rather, the nervous system is re-charged with vital energy during the hours of rest and sleep, and that food merely supplies broken-down tissue.» — la teoría que Carrington aporta en este punto: el cuerpo humano se parece más al motor eléctrico que a la máquina de vapor, y la combustión del alimento no es la fuente de la energía vital

«Arguments in support of this theory were then advanced, drawn from (a) fasting cases, and (6) daily observation—which shows us that, no matter how much food we eat, there always comes a time, nevertheless, when we must rest and sleep in order to restore this energy, and that no amount of food will take the place of sleep— thus differentiating the human body from all other machines.» — con las dos vías por las que Carrington dice sostenerla, los casos de ayuno y la observación diaria de que hay que dormir por mucho que se coma

«Mr. Muldoon’s idea—that the astral body is the " condenser " or accumulator or vehicle of this energy, is an extension of this view, postulating the astral body as the link between the nervous system and the Cosmic Reservoir of Energy, from which the energy is drawn.» — y cómo Carrington sitúa la idea de Muldoon dentro de la suya: el cuerpo astral como condensador que enlaza el sistema nervioso con el reservorio cósmico

«Our theories dovetail together with the greatest nicety, and I cannot but feel that the teachings of orthodox physiology.must ultimately be modified, somewhat along these lines, in order to include supernormal physical phenomena, and also the reality and intermediary-functioning of the astral body.—H.C.» — con la consecuencia que Carrington espera de ese encaje, dicha como expectativa y no como hecho

«The subject, of course, thinks that he is in the physical body, while the truth is that he is a fraction of an inch discoincided from it.» — lo que Muldoon adjudica al sujeto en ese estado: se cree en el cuerpo físico y está a una fracción de pulgada de él

«These conditions do not develop suddenly, but creep over one almost unnoticed, and the subject must be very impressionable to catch them at all.» — la advertencia sobre lo tenue de esas condiciones, que exige un sujeto muy impresionable

«Of this subject Hereward Carrington says : " There is a practical experiment which may be conducted, by which ' true dreams ’ can be induced.» — el experimento de sueños verdaderos que atribuye a Carrington, citándolo

«It was during that very brief moment of “ unknowingness ” that the subconscious Will moved the phantom.» — y el momento exacto que declara decisivo: el brevísimo instante de no saber en que la Voluntad subconsciente movió al fantasma

«When you have learned to do that, then construct before yourself, mentally, a definite scene, which you must hold firmly in mind.» — la instrucción que da para el control de sueños: construir mentalmente una escena definida y sostenerla

«and in this way you have a perfect continuity of thought ; there is no break in the consciousness ; you step into the dream picture and go on dreaming consciously.» — con el resultado que promete, la continuidad de pensamiento sin corte de conciencia

«Now, the nature of the dream to be produced is important, and should be built upon lines of action which correspond to the actions which the astral phantom naturally follows on exteriorizing, so that» — la condición que pone a ese sueño: debe correr por líneas de acción que correspondan a las que el fantasma sigue al exteriorizarse

«the sensation in the dream will agree with the sensation produced by the action of the phantom, should that phantom awaken.» — para que la sensación soñada concuerde con la que produce el fantasma

«the neurotic types, not being bound so strongly to the physical body, are the best subjects for projection—although other types are not to be considered immune.» — el tipo que declara mejor sujeto, sin excluir a los demás: el neurótico, por estar menos atado al cuerpo físico

«A word of warning ! If you are neurotic, easily influenced, lack " will,” and are fearful; if you have any reason to believe yourself susceptible to obsession ; if you live in an atmosphere of discord— do not try to practise astral body projection.» — y la advertencia con que acota su propio método, dirigida a quien reúna esos mismos rasgos

«If you are this type, never “ think within yourself ” and never “ watch yourself in the process of falling to sleep ’ ’; turn toward physical culture rather than psychical culture.» — con la recomendación alternativa para ese lector

«The right or suitable temperament must be chosen for the experiment ; and if this be not found, the experiment is liable to fail, or only succeed partially.» — de Carrington toma la exigencia del temperamento adecuado, y el riesgo de fallar sin él

«There are four chief types of temperament—nervous, bilious, lymphatic and sanguine. Of these, the nervous temperament is the best suited for psychic experiments of all kinds ; the bilious is the most receptive ; the sanguine is liable to hallucinations, both subjective and objective ; while the lymphatic is the least suitable of all, from every point of view.» — la clasificación de los cuatro temperamentos que Carrington ofrece, con el nervioso como el más apto

«Of course, one’s temperament is usually a compound of all of these, which are rarely found in their ideal state ; but the predominantly nervous temperament is the one best suited for this test—as for all other» — y su acotación de que en la práctica se dan mezclados

«Now, there is at all times a certain outflowing of nervous force, or ‘ externalization of neuricity,’ as it is called, in all individuals, but this becomes very pronounced in certain types of individuals known as ‘ mediums ’ or ‘ psychics.’» — con la externalización de la neuricidad que Carrington adjudica a todos y declara pronunciada en médiums y psíquicos

«Some authorities believe that a projector can become lost, while out of the body. This is not true.» — la creencia ajena que Muldoon niega de plano: que el proyector pueda perderse fuera del cuerpo

«In fact it is subconscious power that speeds the phantom to distant places and back again, even though consciousness be never missed» — y a qué adjudica el viaje de ida y vuelta, aun sin conciencia de por medio

«Naturally one who has never projected may seize upon this idea ; but he will find, when he attempts to stay away too long from the physical body, that he cannot retain consciousness.» — lo que responde a quien pretenda quedarse fuera mucho tiempo

«It is plain that the subconscious has an eye on the condition of the physical body, as well as everything else, and that the condenser of cosmic energy—the phantom —is brought back to charge up the physical through the medium of the cable, which has increased in size as the bodies approach one another, and is carrying over a stronger line of force.» — con la función que asigna al subconsciente: vigilar el cuerpo físico y traer de vuelta al condensador para cargarlo por el cable

«In his book Higher Psychical Development Carrington has said : " This question of the projection of the astral body is a very important one, because, in the first place, it is one of the most interesting of all psychic experiments ; and is, in one sense, the object of attainment of all three schools—the Yoga, the Occult and Psychic.» — la importancia que Carrington reclama para el asunto en *Higher Psychical Development*

«When the Yogi has obtained the degree of perfection in which he can project his astral body at will, he can travel to great distances and see and hear distant events—which accounts for the Hindus’ extraordinary power of knowing things which are happening at a distance ; and also renders possible voluntary interment for long periods of time—burial, and so forth—the astral being removed from the physical.» — y lo que Carrington atribuye al yogui perfecto: viajar lejos, ver y oír sucesos distantes

«The body of sensation being entirely gone, the physical body merely keeps up its vegetative functions, for the time being, sufficiently to allow life, in some sense, to remain in it.» — con lo que queda del cuerpo físico entretanto, reducido a sus funciones vegetativas

«But, you see, the physical body is supported, on this theory, by a continuous life-current, which travels to it from the astral body,» — sostenido, según esa teoría, por una corriente vital continua que le llega del cuerpo astral

«Astral exteriorization is not dependent upon “ spirits ” in any way, yet they (spirits) can assist.» — la tesis de Muldoon sobre el papel de los espíritus en la salida: no depende de ellos, y aun así pueden ayudar

«From this we learn (and it is true) that friends in the invisible realm can and many times do lend a helping hand to the projected medium ; which naturally is a great asset in conquering this phase.» — con lo que sí concede a los amigos del reino invisible

«There is one inconsistency found in this testimony of Mrs. Richmond, however, which is that her guardian spirit is credited with imbuing the senseless body with “ breath.”» — la inconsistencia que le señala al testimonio de Cora Richmond: atribuir a un espíritu guardián el insuflar aliento al cuerpo

«It is probable that Mrs. Richmond, beholding a friend watching over her, assumed that what she has said was true.» — y a qué la adjudica, con la cautela de un *probable*

«Further searching into Mrs. Richmond’s experiences reveals the fact that she was, after all, aware of this line of force operating between» — con el dato del propio testimonio que él lee a su favor: que ella sí percibía la línea de fuerza entre los dos cuerpos

«He need never suppose that, in undertaking his development, he is entrusting his life to the conscious intelligence of anyone —either mortal or spirit—although he should be thankful for any aid others may render him.» — la instrucción que da al estudiante para no entregar su vida a inteligencia ajena, mortal o espíritu

«It is the super-intelligence within him which handles the situation and if he even forms the idea that he must depend upon others in the spirit, he will probably never achieve his aim.» — y la razón: la superinteligencia está dentro, y depender de otros probablemente impide el logro

«There are, of course, exceptions to all rules, but in following the usual course of life we depend upon the general trend, and not upon the exceptional; and although the subconscious, during a projection, almost invariably carries itself with omnipotent dignity, there is always the possibility of some complication.» — con la salvedad de las excepciones, que él mismo consigna

«So, if there are recorded cases of mediums having met with unfortunate results, or even death, it is because of the exceptional.» — y adónde manda los casos de médiums con desenlace desgraciado

«Although these performances may strike the average spectator as almost unbelievable, such demonstrations are by no means uncommon in the Orient, and hundreds of similar cases have been reported by travellers returning from India, Egypt, and other Eastern countries.» — los enterramientos prolongados de Oriente, que declara comunes y respaldados por centenares de reportes de viajeros

«It is obvious that, during an extensive and prolonged projection the material counterpart might assume the characteristics of a corpse, and the temperature drop exceedingly low—even to such an extent that the misunderstanding people of the world would pronounce the subject " dead.”» — y lo que deduce de ellos: en una proyección larga el cuerpo puede tomar los caracteres de un cadáver

«I have concluded, as the result of a study of this subject, that the heart may actually cease beating for some time, and yet the astral cord may not be disconnected.» — la conclusión que declara haber sacado del estudio: el corazón puede pararse un tiempo sin que el cordón astral se desconecte

«“ There can be no doubt,” says this authority, “ that many hundreds of persons have been buried alive, during the centuries which have preceded us.» — la autoridad médica que cita sobre los enterrados vivos a lo largo de los siglos

«It is probable that we exercise too much haste in soliciting the services of the undertaker, when some one is pronounced dead, and, as the saying goes, “ not allowing the corpse to get cold.”» — con lo que Muldoon saca de ahí sobre la prisa en llamar al enterrador

«There are many records of people who have been pronounced dead and returning to life, and there is always such a possibility, if the astral cable be still intact, even though it be exceptional.» — y la regla que enuncia, con su excepcionalidad declarada: el que revive es el que conserva intacto el cable astral

«If Lazarus were actually dead and the astral cable disconnected, then Christ did perform a miracle ; but if the cable was still engaged, it was an apparent miracle, and the resurrection was merely a resuscitation.» — la disyuntiva con que trata la resurrección de Lázaro, sin decidirla: milagro si el cable estaba cortado, resucitación aparente si seguía en su sitio

«Christ first of all told his followers that Lazarus was not dead : " This sickness is not unto death.”» — con lo que aduce del propio texto evangélico a favor de la segunda rama

«How much truth there may be in this account I do not know.» — y la reserva que deja escrita sobre el episodio entero

«If the persons were literally dead—if the line of force had actually been severed—and still they were brought back to life, is it not a wonder that more were not likewise revived ?» — el argumento de la escasez con que cierra: si de verdad se cortó la línea de fuerza y aun así revivieron, extraña que no revivieran más

«It may readily be seen that, although sickness is an incentive toward projection of the astral body, one should not be in too subnormal a condition, physically, when attempting a prolonged projection.» — la advertencia que Muldoon pone a su propio factor de morbidez: la enfermedad incita la proyección, pero una condición demasiado subnormal la vuelve peligrosa en una proyección larga

«It has always occurred to me as inconsistent for the sceptic to refer to birth as natural, and astral projection as supernatural, when he can explain neither.» — la inconsistencia que le imputa al escéptico: llamar natural al nacimiento y sobrenatural a la proyección sin poder explicar ninguno de los dos

«The supernatural, undoubtedly, does not exist.» — y la tesis que sostiene en su lugar

«A grain of sand is as mysterious as a planet; a physical body as mysterious as an astral body ; the umbilical cord as mysterious as the astral cord.» — con la serie de equivalencias en que la apoya, y que empareja el cordón umbilical con el astral

«One authority holds that the astral cord adheres to the physical body at the solar plexus, situated just behind the stomach. Another maintains that the spot is low down on the forehead, between the eyes. And still others (and they seem in the majority) maintain the belief that the point of contact is at the medulla oblongata. I believe that the latter is true, and that the evidence for this outweighs all evidence to the contrary.» — el estado de la disputa sobre el punto de contacto, con las tres posiciones y la que él toma: la médula oblongada, que dice mayoritaria

«If all these claims can be vindicated, then the controversy lies only in the opinions of their originators ; the truth is that the cable can extend from any of the several vital centres of the body.» — y la salida conciliadora que también ofrece, y que desactiva la disputa: el cable puede salir de cualquiera de los centros vitales

«One well-known authority on the subject, who ranks second to none, and whose word carries much weight, is a staunch adherent to the belief that the astral cord finds its point of contact at the solar plexus— i.e. of the physical body.» — la autoridad de peso que sostiene el plexo solar, a la que no nombra

«Surely, if it does so, the conscious astral projector must find himself in a clumsy condition when within cord-activity range !» — y la objeción práctica que le hace

«I have never found the cable making contact with the physical body at the solar plexus, but I have observed it to do so at the front, side, and back of the head.» — lo que él declara haber observado en el extremo físico: nunca el plexo solar, sí el frente, el costado y la nuca

«But, with me, the astral end has invariably adhered to the medulla oblongata region of the phantom.» — frente a lo invariable en el extremo astral

«that the experimenters who hold to the solar plexus point of contact use suggestion to that effect while developing.» — con la sospecha que insinúa sobre los experimentadores del plexo solar: que la sugestión les fija el punto durante el desarrollo

«Be that as it may, the reason why the astral cable fastens at different spots of the physical head is because of the position of the physical body at the time of projection.» — y la explicación que da a la variación del extremo físico: la postura del cuerpo al proyectarse

«On the other hand, if the physical be facing downward while lying in the horizontal position, the astral body will emerge facing downward.» — con el caso del cuerpo boca abajo

«If this experience could be considered typical, it would appear that “ lying upon one’s back ” is the ideal position for projection.» — y la postura que declara ideal, si el caso pudiera darse por típico

«This experience proved conclusively to me that the astral cable is always attached at the medulla oblongata region of the astral body, for there never would have been a better time for it to have been attached elsewhere ; yet it made contact at this point, which on this occasion was not an ideal arrangement!» — lo que dice haberle probado un episodio de caída y giro: que el cable se ata siempre en la región de la médula oblongada del cuerpo astral

«There are four large nervous or psychic centres in the body— four brains of man they are sometimes called—the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the medulla oblongata and the solar plexus.» — los cuatro centros nerviosos que enumera, llamados los cuatro cerebros del hombre

«It is well known that, within the medulla oblongata, are located certain nerves which have control over the functions of respiration.» — y por qué le importa la médula oblongada: ahí sitúa los nervios que gobiernan la respiración

«I leave it to the reader’s judgment whether this would not be an ideal spot for the astral “ line of force ” to connect with and thus deliver the “ force ” of respiration.» — con la conclusión que deja al juicio del lector en vez de imponerla

«Swami Bhakta Vishita states : “ The pineal gland is a mass of nervous substance which is found located in the brain, in a position near the centre of the skull, almost directly above the extreme top of the spinal column.» — de Swami Bhakta Vishita toma la descripción de la glándula pineal y su sitio en el cráneo

«The Oriental occultists claim that the pineal gland, with its peculiar arrangement of nerve-cell corpuscles, and its tiny grains of brain sand, is intimately associated with certain forms of transmission and reception of waves of mental vibration.» — y lo que los ocultistas orientales le atribuyen, con la arena cerebral incluida

«Western students have been struck with the remarkable resemblance between the pineal gland and a certain part of the receiving apparatus employed in wireless telegraphy, the latter also containing small particles which bear a close resemblance to ‘ brain sand' of the pineal gland.» — con la comparación occidental que recoge: el parecido de la pineal con el receptor de la telegrafía sin hilos

«The pituitary body, situated in front of and below the pineal gland, is another organ regarded as having an occult significance.» — el cuerpo pituitario como segundo órgano de significación oculta

«There is a connecting link between the two bodies, the pineal gland and the pituitary body, over which, it is claimed, a subtle force operates.» — y el vínculo entre los dos por el que operaría una fuerza sutil

«Considering the important functions of any or all of these vital centres, one would be perfectly safe in asserting that the astral cable can deliver the " breath of life " into any one of them, while the phantom is projected, and that the energy would be properly distributed ; for after all the nervous system is in tune, one part with another, throughout the entire physical mechanism.» — lo que se sigue para su sistema: el cable puede entregar el aliento de vida por cualquiera de esos centros

«Some authorities have found that concentration upon the pineal gland (properly concentrated thought, of course) will facilitate the projection of the astral body ; and there is little doubt that a line of force will be created at the spot upon which the subject concentrates.» — y la técnica que recoge de otros: concentrarse en la pineal facilita la proyección

«The force is not created by the physical nervous centre; the physical nervous centre is operated upon by force.» — la corrección de fondo que dirige a toda fisiología: el centro nervioso no crea la fuerza, la fuerza opera sobre él

«None of the vital bodies mentioned in the foregoing can create the force which operates through them ; they are but its distributors, rectifiers, transformers ; the complicated mechanical arrangements that the energy of life works through and upon.» — con la función que deja a esos órganos, reducidos a distribuidores y transformadores

«Because the physical body can be destroyed, that in no sense destroys the force behind the body—any more than breaking an electric bulb would destroy the energy operating through it.» — y el corolario sobre la muerte, con el símil del foco eléctrico roto

«Physiologists do not believe that the vital energy—consciousness, sensibility, motivity—can exist apart from the physical mechanism —believing that the material body itself creates the energy.» — la posición fisiológica que Muldoon consigna para discutirla: que la energía vital no existe fuera del mecanismo físico, que sería quien la crea

«But it cannot be proved that the physical body does create its energy either ; therefore there is no foundation for that belief.» — y la objeción simétrica que le opone, que es de carga de la prueba

«The physical body itself cannot even hold the energy of life, that energy being held in the astral condenser, and poured through the physical, during projection, by means of the line of force, running to a vital centre of the physical mechanism.» — con la doctrina que pone en su lugar: la energía se guarda en el condensador astral y se vierte al físico por la línea de fuerza

«To discuss astral phenomena—even life itself—without discussing the energy which is behind it all would be like building a house without a foundation ; like discussing electrical appliances and ignoring the force which operates them.» — por qué hace de esto el fundamento y no un apéndice del tratado

«Perhaps it has never occurred to you that the energy you are using is cosmic, present everywhere, that it is not created by you, but is attracted by you and condensed in your astral body—which, as you have already learned, does its recharging during sleep, and therefore has an important bearing upon astral projection.» — y el carácter cósmico que atribuye a esa energía: no se crea, se atrae y se condensa

«You must realize, also, that food and diet constitute an important factor in the phenomenon of astral body separation.» — el papel que reclama para el alimento y la dieta en la separación astral

«The ordinary belief concerning energy is that it is created by the body—that to eat " so much ” food will produce " so much ” energy.» — la creencia corriente sobre la energía, que enuncia para refutarla

«If this idea were true, we could easily substitute food for sleep, and the minute we felt ourselves becoming tired, weak, or enervated, simply eat more food, and thus never need sleep.» — con el absurdo que le encuentra: si fuera cierta, el alimento sustituiría al sueño

«If this were true, the more food we injected the more energy we should create; but scientific investigators have found that to " stuff ” the invalid only makes his condition worse.» — y el dato clínico que le opone, cebar al enfermo lo empeora

«Doctor Henry Lindlahr, world-famous food scientist and exponent of nature cures, has to say in answer to the question» — la autoridad que trae para el asunto, el doctor Henry Lindlahr

«It may be said that, while abstaining from food, the body lives upon itself— that it consumes its own tissues ; this, however, does not account for the production of all the heat and energy expended during the fast.”» — con la objeción que Lindlahr hace a la explicación por autoconsumo de los tejidos durante el ayuno

«All that they can do is to furnish the materials to keep the system in such a condition that vital force can manifest in and through it.» — y la función que Lindlahr deja al alimento: suministrar materiales para que la fuerza vital se manifieste

«Plainly, different foods bring about different conditions in the body, some seeming to supply more energy, some less—depending, no doubt, upon the way in which they attract or repulse the vital energy which is cosmic, and which is held by the astral body— the condenser of cosmic energy.» — lo que Muldoon deriva de ahí sobre por qué unos alimentos parecen dar más energía que otros

«It is probable that the negative and positive charges in foods, in some unknown manner, affect the astral body.» — con las cargas negativas y positivas de los alimentos, dichas como probabilidad y con el mecanismo declarado desconocido

«There is an occult doctrine regarding food,” says Carrington. " It is that a vegetarian diet tends to make the molecules of protoplasm shorter and more sensitive to shorter wave-lengths.» — la doctrina oculta de la alimentación que atribuye a Carrington, con la dieta vegetariana acortando las moléculas del protoplasma

«We know that a bar of iron becomes ‘ magnetized ’ when all the molecules of its structure are, as it were, ‘ pointed ’ in the same direction.» — y la analogía magnética con que Carrington la sostiene

«If you strike a magnet of this type a sharp blow with a hammer, or heat it red-hot and allow it to become cool again, it will be found to have lost its magnetism.» — con lo que basta para deshacer ese magnetismo, en la misma analogía

«It is possible that something of the same sort takes place in the body ; and that its molecules, when finely attuned by rhythm, and acting in unison, may allow a flow through the body of energies which would otherwise be limited or altogether restrained in their action.» — y su aplicación al cuerpo, dicha como posibilidad

«Mr. Prescott F. Hall, in a most interesting article in the Journal of the American Society of Psychical Research, says : " A vegetable diet tends to loosen the vibric matter of the astral body ; and vegetables, fruits and prunes make the blood able to attract spiritual power.» — de Prescott F. Hall, publicado en el Journal de la American Society of Psychical Research, la dieta vegetal que aflojaría la materia víbrica del cuerpo astral

«Fasting often helps the liberation of the astral body.» — con el efecto que atribuye al ayuno

«It is enough to say that food is one of the most vitally important factors of life, but it is as necessary to eat the right kind of food as it is to eat at all.» — y la moderación con que cierra el capítulo dietético

«And this is one of the reasons why fasting is promotive of astral projection : When the fast is in progress, one of the secondary sources of energy is cut off; and in order to retain in the system the needed amount of energy, the astral body at night is thrown further out of coincidence, in order to collect a greater charge of cosmic energy to balance the loss.» — la explicación que da del ayuno como favorecedor de la proyección: cortada una fuente secundaria de energía, el astral debe salir más lejos a buscarla

«The answer is that it does not depend upon the length or duration of sleep, but upon the distance of separation of the astral and physical bodies during sleep.» — la respuesta que da a por qué unos descansan durmiendo poco: no es la duración del sueño sino la distancia de separación

«Remember that the astral body discoincides from the physical during sleep for the purpose of recharging, and the further out of the physical it emerges, the more easily does it condense the cosmic force.» — con la regla que la sostiene: cuanto más lejos sale el astral, más fácil condensa la fuerza cósmica

«The more profound the sleep, the more inactive the body (or the more incapacitated) the greater will be the distance which the astral counterpart will move out.» — y de qué hace depender esa distancia

«The Orientals grasped the significance of this cosmic force long ago.» — el crédito que da a Oriente por haber captado antes esa fuerza

«Prana is very much akin to the ‘ human magnetism ’ of the Western occultists, and the properties attributed to the latter are really those which the Orientals for centuries past have held to be among the essential properties of prana ; so, at the least, there is found a practical agreement here between the Oriental and Western schools of occultism, respectively, in spite of their differing terminology.”» — con la equivalencia que establece entre el prana y el magnetismo humano de los ocultistas occidentales

«When ailing, if you take a fast, you not only assist nature in clearing the poisons from the body, but you automatically increase the inflow of cosmic energy— the curative energy.» — y el doble efecto que atribuye al ayuno en el enfermo

«America’s foremost authority on Yoga, Hereward Carrington, states in his Higher Psychical Development that: “ The Hindus have a whole mythical system of physiology.» — la autoridad que invoca sobre yoga, Carrington, y la fisiología mítica que éste adjudica a los hindúes

«If you take a scalpel or a knife, and dissect the human body, you will not find these centres.» — con la acotación de que esos centros no aparecen al bisturí

«I assert—in spite of what other authorities maintain —that morbidity is a positive factor in projection.» — la afirmación que hace contra las autoridades, y la marca como tal: la morbidez es factor positivo de la proyección

«In the individual of nervous temperament, this extemalization is very pronounced, and that is the reason why the individual is neurotic.» — la externalización de energía que adjudica al temperamento nervioso, y de la que hace su causa

«If you could cut off the excessive extemalization of energy in the neurotic individual, the nervous temperament would disappear.» — con la contraprueba que propone

«It is easily seen that persons of nervous temperament require more recharging, during sleep, than individuals of other temperaments.» — y lo que se sigue para ese temperamento durante el sueño

«It has been discovered that fear will fill the blood-stream with poisons, almost instantly.» — el dato sobre el miedo que recoge: llena la sangre de venenos casi al instante

«I am going to tell you why fear weakens, and this is the first time anyone has made this claim : Fear externalizes the neuric energy from the astral body, automatically weakening the victim.» — y la explicación que reclama como primicia suya: el miedo externaliza la energía néurica del cuerpo astral

«If it were true that energy is “ burned up,” there could be no condition of “ instantaneous enervation ”—such as we have when in the grip of fear.» — con el argumento que le opone a la energía que se quema: no habría enervación instantánea

«Energy is omnipresent and indestructible ; it is not created, nor is it burned up, it is internalized and externalized, and it is condensed in the astral body.» — y la doctrina energética que enuncia en su lugar

«I told you that fear causes instantaneous externalization of neuric energy, and true enough, we always feel the effects of fear in the solar plexus.» — con el sitio del cuerpo donde dice sentirse el efecto del miedo

«Since we are speaking of energy being cosmic, and not produced wholly by the foods we eat, let us recall what Christ said of food: “ Man does not live by bread alone.”» — la autoridad escrituraria que suma sobre la comida

«The astral body—the condenser of energy—always discoincides from the physical during sleep, for the purpose of recharging, and during a fast must take in (condense) a greater quantity of prana to make up for the deficiency caused by the fast.» — y la cuenta que hace del ayuno: el astral debe condensar más prana para cubrir el déficit

«Hence, during a fast, it moves out further into the stream—which means nothing more than that it projects further than the zone of quietude (normal sleep).» — de donde sale que en ayuno se proyecta más allá de la zona de quietud del sueño normal

«Consciousness (merely being awake) uses up energy, just as exertion uses it up.» — con lo que atribuye a la conciencia misma, que gasta energía como el esfuerzo

«If you project the astral and retain consciousness all the time, you will not recharge the astral body ; unconsciousness is a necessary factor in conjunction with separation.» — la regla que se sigue, y que él pone como condición de su propio método: proyectarse conservando la conciencia todo el tiempo no recarga el cuerpo astral

«I am convinced, for my part, at least, that spirits in the lower planes must become unconscious, for consciouness uses up energy, no matter whether one be in the astral body or in the physical body.» — y hasta dónde extiende la regla, dicha como convicción propia: también los espíritus de los planos bajos habrían de quedar inconscientes

«ALTHOUGH, in the majority of cases of astral projection, “ consciousness ” is chiefly a matter of chance (that is, it seems to be chance, whether or not consciousness be present), there is little doubt in my mind that schemes could be worked out, or influences brought to bear, which would have some effect in bringing full consciousness to the projected entity.» — cómo Muldoon abre el capítulo del método: la conciencia en la proyección parece cosa del azar, y él sostiene que puede provocarse

«Of course, it is possible to be conscious from the very beginning of exteriorization, but this is not usually the case ; and, in many projections in which I have become conscious, I have analyzed the causes which (I believe) aroused consciousness.» — con la excepción concedida y el trabajo que declara haber hecho sobre sus propios casos

«Unless consciousness be present from the very beginning of a projection, it will first begin to manifest itself in the form of a dream.» — la regla de aparición que enuncia: si no está desde el principio, la conciencia empieza siempre como sueño

«It seldom comes suddenly, but slowly, when the phantom is projected—a dream always preceding it, and it works itself out of the dream.» — y la gradualidad con que dice manifestarse, saliendo del sueño

«If the dream corresponds to the action of the phantom, consciousness is more likely to appear—that is why dream control is such an important factor.» — de donde saca la importancia del control de sueños

«When the dream corresponds to the action of the astral body, it will always cause that body to exteriorize.» — la ley que formula sobre la correspondencia entre sueño y acción del cuerpo astral

«Concerning dreams, there is one rule which one must remember : WHEN THE ACTION OF SELF, IN THE DREAM, CORRESPONDS TO THE ACTION OF THE ASTRAL PHANTOM, THE DREAM WILL CAUSE THE PHANTOM ACTUALLY TO EXTERIORIZE.» — que repite en versales como la regla del capítulo

«The sceptic may say, “ How do you know that, if the action of the self in the dream corresponds to the action of the phantom while projecting, it will cause projection ? ”» — con la objeción escéptica que él mismo formula

«There is but one answer—experience proves it.» — y la única respuesta que da

«Considering only the last case, had I been within cord-activity range, when this banging and fearful Indian fighting commenced, an interiorization would have resulted, because of the emotion.» — el papel de la emoción en el caso que analiza: dentro del rango del cordón, el estruendo soñado habría interiorizado el fantasma

«You can readily see how consciousness is faintly functioning in a dream, and that it is but a step from a dream to complete awakening.» — la continuidad que establece entre soñar y despertar

«When you are dreaming you are not really in the same world as when you are conscious—in the physical —» — con la tesis de los dos mundos, que sostiene el método entero

«The fact that you stay in the zone of quietude does not make you any the less in the astral world.» — y la aclaración de que la zona de quietud ya es el mundo astral

«When you are asleep, your vibration-reception-ability is greater than when you are physically awake.» — con lo que atribuye al dormido: mayor capacidad de recibir vibración que despierto

«The dream state lies between complete consciousness and complete unconsciousness ; so you can see that, once projected and dreaming, it is but a step into complete consciousness.» — y el lugar que da al sueño entre conciencia e inconsciencia completas

«Instigation of dreams cannot be credited to any single cause ; the influences which bring them about are so numerous, cryptic, and subtle that it is doubtful whether we shall ever understand the true significance of nocturnal phantasy.» — la reserva que pone sobre la causa de los sueños, y que él mismo no levanta

«Now, accepting this as true, all that it is necessary to do is to be able to “ dream true,” which can be done, keeping in mind the route which the phantom takes, and moulding the dream in accordance with it.» — la instrucción que se sigue: soñar verdadero, moldeando el sueño según la ruta del fantasma

«The mind is partially conscious during a dream, and the dream acts as a " suggestion ” to the subconscious will—the power which actually moves the etheric counterpart.» — con el mecanismo que la explica: el sueño actúa como sugerencia a la voluntad subconsciente, que es la que mueve la contraparte etérica

«Recall the fundamental law of projection : when the subconscious WILL BECOMES POSSESSED OF THE IDEA TO MOVE THE BODY (COINCIDING BODIES) AND THE PHYSICAL BODY IS INCAPACITATED, THE ASTRAL BODY WILL MOVE OUT OF THE PHYSICAL.» — y la ley fundamental que vuelve a citar, otra vez en versales

«If you ask me which is the most pleasant way to promote astral projection, I should answer by saying " dream-control.”» — la vía que declara más agradable de todas

«The proper dream suggestion is as certain to project the astral body as a conscious suggestion to “ walk ” will start you walking subconsciously, when physically awake.» — con la certeza que le atribuye, comparada con la sugerencia consciente de caminar

«Remember : the dream must be constructed so that your are going to be active in it; and further, it must be constructed so that the action you go through will correspond to the route taken by the phantom when projected.» — las dos condiciones que pone al sueño construido: que el soñador sea activo en él y que su acción corresponda a la ruta del fantasma

«I have stated that this was the dream I constructed for the purpose of inducing the astral body to emerge from the physical.» — el sueño concreto que declara haber usado, el del ascensor

«Now, it is important to use the same dream over and over again ; for if you try first one dream and then another, the subconscious will not be impressed with the construction (of the dream) as strongly as if you repeat the same one over and over each night, as you are entering sleep.» — con la razón de repetir siempre el mismo, para que la construcción quede impresa en el subconsciente

«The dream is a suggestion to your subconscious Will, and that Will acts accordingly.» — y la fórmula que resume el mecanismo

«If one can project oneself by dream control, and move some distance away, and then become conscious, one should never know that cord-activity range exists.» — lo que se sigue para quien lo consiga: no llegaría a saber que el rango de actividad del cordón existe

«Remember that the dream consciousness is not the true consciousness—although you can remember the dream.» — con la distinción que insiste en mantener entre conciencia de sueño y conciencia verdadera

«Now, it is not necessary to employ the dream I have mentioned ; you can construct your own dream, making it appropriate in every respect—in action and sensation.» — la libertad que concede al lector para construir el suyo, con la condición de acción y sensación

«When I first experimented along this line, I found that repercussion (of the body) would take place, at times, but that was always because I had dreamed that the elevator descended too quickly.» — la causa que adjudica a las repercusiones de sus primeros ensayos: haber soñado que el ascensor bajaba demasiado rápido

«I found also that I could produce repercussion of the astral body at will, merely by imagining myself falling from a high building, as I entered sleep.» — y la repercusión que dice poder producir a voluntad imaginándose caer de un edificio

«But the big problem, I repeat again, is : How can one project and possess true consciousness while projected ?» — el problema que declara pendiente pese a todo lo anterior

«The main action, of course, is the upward movement, in getting the phantom “ out ” ; so, even though the sideway action is not equally realistic, always have the upward movement of Self vividly pictured in the mind ; and, if possible, with the body (in the dream) lying in a horizontal position, as it moves upward.» — la instrucción sobre qué parte del sueño cuidar: el movimiento hacia arriba del Yo, aunque lo lateral salga menos realista

«Plan your dream as you would plan an important matter in daily life ; the mere fact that it is “ but a dream ” does not lessen its significance in moving the phantom.» — con la seriedad que le exige al ejercicio

«See a mental image of yourself in a mirror—your own picture.» — el ejercicio del espejo, verse a uno mismo en imagen mental

«On the other hand, for one who likes water—bathing, swimming, floating—a better exercise could hardly be constructed, for the action of the Self is correct and the sensation would be pleasant.» — y el del agua, para quien la disfrute, porque la acción del Yo es correcta y la sensación agradable

«However, if the subject has a fear of water, such an exercise is not advisable.» — con la contraindicación que le pone

«You will recall what I told you formerly, i.e. that dizziness is merely a condition of looseness of the astral counterpart.» — el giro como ejercicio, apoyado en su doctrina del mareo como aflojamiento del astral

«Epileptics usually begin to whirl just as a “ spell ” is coming on, often making several complete revolutions of the body before catalepsy begins.» — y el dato que le sirve de refuerzo, el giro del epiléptico antes de la catalepsia

«for the instant you are about to " rise ” to sleep, your head begins to fall, which at once arouses you slightly.» — el truco del brazo levantado, apoyado en la caída natural de la cabeza al entrar el sueño

«It is not at all unusual, when trying this exercise, for the subject to feel breathless in the region of the stomach (just when the arm is falling) and he will jump slightly to stop it.» — con el síntoma que declara común en ese ejercicio

«Even subjects most unadaptable to projection can experience what I have just described—can actually feel the astral moving— by following this formula.» — y el alcance que le atribuye, incluso para los sujetos menos aptos

«It is true that some people never have a consciousness of going to sleep, in fact most people do not; but until the subject can experience the “ consciousness of going to sleep ” he will never be able to dream true.» — la condición previa que exige a todos: sin conciencia de estar durmiéndose no hay soñar verdadero

«It is not as difficult to cause the projection of the astral body by the dream-control method as you might think.» — lo que sostiene sobre la dificultad del método

«The whole “ trick ” lies in the proper start—in the proper condition of the mind at the “ take-off.”» — con el punto donde lo hace descansar entero

«You do not have to start the body, it will start itself as you enter sleep—but you must get into the dream and keep the body moving onward.» — y la instrucción precisa: no hay que arrancar el cuerpo, sino meterse en el sueño y mantenerlo en marcha

«The astral naturally moves out of coincidence at the moment of sleep ; it naturally starts itself, and that is just the moment when you must mentally project yourself into the upgoing elevator (or whatever the dream may be) and “ keep going.”» — con el instante que declara decisivo, el de dormirse

«The “ dream body,” of course, is nothing more nor less than the astral body in a partially conscious condition.» — y la definición de cuerpo de sueño que ordena todo el método

«A properly constructed dream is as sure to move the astral body out, as the dream of falling is to move it in.» — la simetría en que resume su doctrina onírica: el sueño bien construido saca al astral como el de caída lo mete

«It is natural for the inexperienced investigator to say that the dream might begin by holding true to the plot and then divert from it; but it never will; the dream holds the astral activity true, and, being a reality, the dream is true.» — y la objeción que se adelanta a rechazar, con la razón que da: el sueño es una realidad, y sostiene fiel la actividad astral

«It is no idle phantasy, but a tried and proven method.» — cómo defiende el método frente a la sospecha de fantasía

«You will find that if, before retiring, you read a story or article which is fascinating to you—which holds you in suspense—a story of men who work at great heights, a story of daring aviators— such as Bird’s flight to the North Pole—you will strengthen your efforts to project by the dream method.» — la técnica de lectura previa que recomienda, con los ejemplos de relatos que propone

«The very night after I took my first aeroplane trip I experienced a dream of it, and, awakening from that dream, found myself projected.» — y el caso propio que aduce, la noche siguiente a su primer vuelo en aeroplano

«So you see that an impressive activity—along the lines of your plotted dream—during the day, even though it be but the reading of a thrilling aviation story, will bring forth positive results by night.» — con la regla que saca: una actividad impresionante del día, en la línea del sueño trazado, rinde de noche

«Either the phantom will awaken by chance—the reason for the awakening beingunknown —or else some means must be devised by which you bring true consciousness about.» — la disyuntiva que deja abierta sobre el despertar del fantasma

«It will be found that the more one projects the more liable consciousness is to intervene, of its own accord.» — con la tendencia que declara haber observado, a más proyecciones más conciencia espontánea

«There are many, many people who are " out ” in their astral bodies —somnambulating—every night. But they do not know it !» — lo que sostiene sobre el sonambulismo astral ajeno: mucha gente sale cada noche sin saberlo

«Now, as the astral body moves forward—if it is in a dream state —the environment along its pathway will influence the dream.» — con la influencia que atribuye al entorno del trayecto sobre el sueño

«I wager that the world would be greatly surprised if it knew how common unconscious and partially conscious astral projection really is.» — y la apuesta con que cierra sobre lo común del fenómeno

«This is the most certain way of bringing consciousness to the projected phantom, even though it does involve a study of your dreams.» — la técnica de sugestión localizada que declara la más segura, con el costo que reconoce: estudiar los propios sueños

«I have a friend to whom I gave these instructions. He was quite successful in producing the proper dream, but when the suggestion (to» — el caso del amigo a quien dio las instrucciones, que le sirve para mostrar el fallo y no el éxito

«Although the proper kind of dream—the aviation type—will seldom fail to “ pull out ” the dream body in practically all cases, the nervous, temperamental person is so susceptible that he will often be projected spontaneously, while asleep ; and while one temperament can have a dream (not necessarily of the aviation type, but just an ordinary dream) in which his dream body does not move out of the zone of quietude, the nervous type might have a similar dream, and his dream body would move out and enact the dream.» — la reserva sobre el sueño de tipo aviación: rara vez falla, y aun así el nervioso se proyecta con cualquier otro

«In other words, while the aviation type of dream will usually “ pull out ” the dream body with all types of people, even an ordinary dream will often project the dream body in the nervous type.» — con la formulación de esa misma diferencia por tipos

«When this occurs, one can never tell what the phantom will do ; but its action will always be found to sustain some relation to the dream.» — y lo que declara imprevisible en ese caso, salvo la relación con el sueño

«But this is not because of their adaptable temperament alone.» — la corrección que Muldoon hace a su propia doctrina del temperamento

«The subconscious Will must first decide to move the body, for otherwise even the subject of nervous temperament will not project.» — y lo que exige antes que cualquier disposición: que la Voluntad subconsciente decida mover el cuerpo

«Recall the fundamental law of astral projection : WHEN THE SUBCONSCIOUS WILL BECOMES POSSESSED OF THE IDEA TO MOVE THE BODY (COINCIDING BODIES) AND THE PHYSICAL BODY IS INCAPACITATED, THE SUBCONSCIOUS WILL MOVES THE ASTRAL BODY OUT OF THE PHYSICAL.» — la ley fundamental que vuelve a citar al abrir el capítulo, en versales

«The subconscious Will, therefore, is not so mysterious after all—we are using it every day.» — el desmitificación con que trata a esa Voluntad

«The subconscious Will does not constitute the entire realm of the subconscious mind ; the latter is so vast that it can work within itself,» — con la distinción entre la Voluntad subconsciente y el subconsciente entero

«Remember, the subconscious " mind ” and the subconscious “ Will ” are two different things.» — que insiste en mantener

«Students have said that there is “ spontaneous ” projection of the astral body, yet there is always some underlying cause.» — la objeción que dirige a quienes hablan de proyección espontánea: siempre hay una causa subyacente

«Ordinary habit and ordinary desire, although they will sometimes bring about projection, in the proper temperament, will as a rule not impress the subconscious mind so strongly.» — lo que niega al hábito y al deseo ordinarios: impresionar con fuerza suficiente al subconsciente

«Suppressed desire, broken habit and routine are the three outstanding factors that “ stress ” the subconscious mind and cause unintentional projection—provided, of course, other factors are favourable.» — y los tres factores que declara sobresalientes, con la condición que les pone: deseo reprimido, hábito roto y rutina

«But if, suddenly, you break the routine, you will feel the urge within you.» — con el efecto que atribuye a romper de golpe la rutina

«Now it may seem a little strange that if we adhere tenaciously to a routine it will strengthen the “ stress ” of it ; and to break the routine will also strengthen the “ stress ” of it; but a little reflection will show you that this is true.» — y la paradoja que él mismo señala en su doctrina: sostener la rutina y romperla refuerzan las dos el estrés

«And, incidentally, this agrees in part with the findings of Dr. Charles Lancelin, a French scientist of note, who uses “ tenacious routine ” to develop astral projection.» — la coincidencia parcial que declara con Charles Lancelin, que desarrolla la proyección por rutina tenaz

«However, we both agree that “ tenacious routine ” brings about the result.» — y en qué coinciden exactamente

«I beg to disagree with Dr. Lancelin when he states that the success of the experiment depends upon the power which the subconscious Will possesses ; for I maintain that it is the power of the " stress of expression ” in the subconscious mind which suggests to the subconscious Will, that one must develop the “ stress,” and not the subconscious Will itself.» — con la discrepancia que sí marca: para Lancelin el éxito depende del poder de la Voluntad subconsciente, y él lo pone en el estrés de expresión

«This is not true ! The subconscious Will is super-powerful at all times I It is the “ stress of expression ” which is strengthened and bursts forth—it is not the subconscious Will itself.» — que enuncia como corrección: la Voluntad subconsciente es superpoderosa siempre, y lo que crece es el estrés

«One of the simplest is to repeat to oneself many times just before dropping off to sleep, ‘ I have will —I have energy ! ’» — la fórmula que Lancelin recomienda repetir al dormirse, citada por Muldoon

«This will give the subconscious Will a force that nothing else can equal.» — con el efecto que Lancelin le atribuye

«Naturally I believe Dr. Lancelin is mistaken in his belief that the subconscious Will is strengthened.» — y la creencia de Lancelin que Muldoon declara errónea

«If it were true that it was dynamized so powerfully that it could not hold itself back, the subject would surely be in a predicament during his waking hours, for his suggestions would then amount to naught.» — con el argumento del absurdo que le opone: así dinamizada, la Voluntad dejaría sin efecto las sugerencias de la vigilia

«Remember this : it is the suggestion which bursts forth—not the subconscious will.» — y la corrección que enuncia

«It is no more necessary to dynamize the subconscious Will so that it will move the astral body than it is to dynamize the subconscious Will so that it will move the physical body.» — con la simetría en que la apoya: mover el cuerpo astral no exige más dinamización que mover el físico

«If the subconscious Will had to be hyperdynamized before it could move the astral body, then how could that Will ever move the physical body ?» — y la pregunta con que cierra el argumento

«If there is anything which needs to be strengthened it is the conscious Will, so that we shall stick steadfastly to our routine and force its impression upon the subconscious mind.» — lo único que concede que haya que fortalecer, y es la voluntad consciente

«Everything we do is impressed upon the subconscious mind, and these impressions are constantly “ suggesting ” themselves ; or at least we can recall these impressions (unless we are victims of amnesia).» — con la doctrina de la impresión en que se apoya, y la salvedad de la amnesia

«One must not conclude that a suppressed desire is no longer a desire ; for the suppression is merely by the conscious mind and the real desire is present in the subconscious.» — la aclaración sobre el deseo reprimido: la supresión es de la mente consciente y el deseo sigue en el subconsciente

«You know this without my statements ; if you do not, the next time you get thirsty try to suppress the desire and notice how the desire within you accumulates, until eventually you can endure it no longer!» — con la prueba doméstica que le propone al lector

«So, if your physical body be “ incapacitated ” (in a condition where it will not instantly respond the moment the subconscious Will is exercised) the astral body will be moved out of the physical.» — y la condición que hace falta para que ese deseo saque al cuerpo astral

«Fasting exerts a double positive influence upon astral projection.» — la doble influencia positiva que atribuye al ayuno

«If the suggestion of “ routine ” come to the surface of the subconscious mind, while we sleep, and we project in the astral body, unless we become conscious and direct our movements, the phantom will go through the movements of the routine.» — la serie de reglas con que ordena la proyección inconsciente, empezando por la rutina, que el fantasma ejecuta si nadie dirige

«If the suggestion of any deep-rooted habit comes to the surface of the subconscious mind, while we sleep, and we project in the astral body, unless we become conscious and direct our movements, the phantom will enact the habit.» — el hábito arraigado, que el fantasma representa igual

«If a dream (suggestion) of moving upward through the air comes to the surface of the subconscious mind, while we sleep, and we are not conscious enough to direct our movements, the phantom will act out the dream.» — el sueño de ascenso, que el fantasma actúa

«If the suggestion of an intense desire comes to the surface of the subconscious mind, while we sleep, and we project in the astral body, but do not become conscious and direct the movement, the phantom will try to appease the desire.» — y el deseo intenso, que el fantasma va a saciar

«For instance, we may have a habit of doing a certain thing, we may also desire to do it, and we may also dream of doing it.» — con la posibilidad de que los factores se acumulen sobre una misma acción

«It requires very little reflection to demonstrate that the most powerful suggestion which could " burst forth ” would be from an impression caused by more than one factor being involved in making the impression.» — y lo que concluye de esa acumulación

«Again think of the subconscious Will as a locomotive and the " suggestion ” as the engineer. The engine obeys the manipulations of the engineer, and the subconscious Will obeys any suggestion from the subconscious mind, in a similar manner.» — la comparación que resume su mecánica: la Voluntad subconsciente es la locomotora y la sugerencia el maquinista

«If, however, a partially conscious projection results, the phantom will perform the action (according to the suggestion it receives) and the subject will dream—a dream more or less similar to the action.» — lo que ocurre cuando la proyección es parcialmente consciente: el fantasma actúa y el sujeto sueña algo parecido

«The suggestion of either hunger or thirst, if active during sleep, not only impels the subconscious Will to " go forth ” and appease the desire, but very often starts the phantom dreaming ; thus» — con el hambre y la sed, que además echan a soñar al fantasma

«Thus we read in Isaiah xxiv, 8 : "It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold, he eateth ; but he awaketh and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold, he drinketh ; but he awaketh, and behold, he is faint.”» — y el pasaje de Isaías que aduce para ese sueño

«Now, do not think for one minute that every time you dream, the astral body projects, or that every time you project, the astral body dreams.» — la advertencia contra la lectura fácil de su propia doctrina

«A strong desire may come to the surface of the subconscious mind and cause a non-projecting dream, for, although the desire to move " out ” is in the subconscious Will, other factors may not be favourable.» — con el caso del sueño que no proyecta, por faltar otros factores

«Yet the conscious mind must be partially functioning, or you would not have the dream.» — y la condición que sí exige el sueño

«On the other hand, a strong desire might come to the surface during sleep, project the phantom, and the subject might not dream of it.» — el caso inverso, la proyección sin sueño

«Strong desires and habits come to the surface of the subconscious mind every night, but the conscious mind is not functioning, even partially, so no dream results—yet a projection might result, and this very often happens.» — que declara muy frecuente, con la mente consciente sin funcionar

«In other words, during an unconscious projection, the phantom is actually sleeping, yet, strange as it may seem, the phantom can be walking about, standing still, or lying in the air.» — con la paradoja que él mismo consigna: en la proyección inconsciente el fantasma duerme y a la vez camina o queda tendido en el aire

«Knowing how sexual desire becomes active during sleep, it might be thought that this would be a strong activating factor, and that it would assist the body to project ; yet this is a " stress ” which works against itself, so far as projection of the astral body is concerned ; for such an intense desire would become emotional; the blood in the physical body would begin to circulate more rapidly, and " incapacity ” of the physical body would not be present; consequently the astral body would not project ; in fact it would be drawn more closely into the physical body instead of moving outwards from the zone of quietude.» — el deseo sexual, que niega como factor y declara estrés que trabaja contra sí mismo

«The subconscious mind does not conceive of appeasing such a desire otherwise than in the physical body ; for it has been accustomed to this and to the body being, at such times, in a reclining position ; so, suggestion, in this case, when coming to the surface of the subconscious mind by night, would pull the astral body into, rather than away from, the physical body.» — con la explicación que da: el subconsciente no concibe saciarlo fuera del cuerpo físico

«" Where is my body ? ” I wondered, " I want to find it ! ” But scarcely had I thought of finding my physical body than I was back in the room—at my aunt’s—where it was.» — el episodio en casa de su tía, donde pensar en el cuerpo físico basta para volver a él

«In any projection, the astral body will always " project ” with much more ease to a familiar place than to a strange place ; in fact the astral body, when exteriorized and unconscious, will be found to meander about in the subject’s familiar haunts, very much of the time—going through activities which have become habitual to the subject.» — la regla que saca sobre los destinos: el astral va con mucha más facilidad a un sitio familiar, y sin conciencia deambula por los del sujeto

«And this applies not alone to temporary, projected phantoms, but to permanently disembodied phantoms also (phantoms of the dead).» — con la extensión de esa regla a los fantasmas de los muertos

«Phantoms of the dead, for a time, after entering the astral plane, do not conduct themselves in a manner differing from projected phantoms of the living.» — a los que no distingue, por un tiempo, de los fantasmas de los vivos

«The astral plane coincides with the physical plane, just as the astral body coincides with the physical body.—S.M.» — con la nota firmada S.M. sobre la coincidencia de los dos planos

«Some remain unconscious for a time ; others are conscious even before the astral cable snaps ; and others roam about in a dream, or partially conscious.» — el reparto de estados que describe entre los recién muertos

«While in either the unconscious or partially conscious condition the phantom is under the stress of habit or desire, and does not deviate from it as long as the “ suggestion ” remains active.» — y lo que gobierna al fantasma mientras dure la sugerencia

«But, once conscious, he can, if he wills to, break off the continual appeasing of desire and the routine of habit.» — con la salida que reserva a la conciencia

«Yet, as a matter of fact, the stress is so strong that the phantom in many instances loiters about its familiar haunts, submitting to the urge of the stress—even while conscious.» — y la reserva que él mismo pone a esa salida: el estrés retiene al fantasma aun consciente

«After death, habits are unbroken, desires are unappeased—and the “ stress ” of them remains.» — la fórmula con que explica el apego terrestre, que no es moral sino de hábito y deseo

«Under the stress of deep-rooted habit, routine, the subconscious Will becomes, on some occasions, actually determined—it uses powerful “ motivity ” in every action, and this motivity, while performing a habit, is much more powerful than at other times.» — la motividad reforzada que atribuye al hábito arraigado

«This is the reason why phantoms of the dead—while under the stress of habit, in their accustomed haunts—often move objects, which their conscious Wills could not move.» — de donde explica que los fantasmas muevan objetos que su voluntad consciente no movería

«Many haunted house investigators have noted that certain manifestations occur at certain times, regularly. This is because the phantom is under the stress of habit.» — con el dato de las casas embrujadas que aduce en apoyo: manifestaciones a horas regulares

«The projected phantom was under the stress of habit, and the “ motivity ” in such a case is powerful.» — del caso del anciano que sigue encendiendo la estufa después de muerto, la lectura que hace: el fantasma bajo el estrés del hábito

«Enervation is really a bodily condition. It is an aid to projection of the astral body.» — la enervación, que define como condición corporal y declara auxiliar de la proyección

«Now, if you repeat to yourself over and over again, “ I have energy—I have energy—I have energy,” day after day—as some authorities maintain that you should do, to promote projection—instead of aiding projection, you are actually binding your astral body tighter to the physical, for the more energy you store up the less inclined will the astral condenser be to move to a greater distance during separation.» — con la consecuencia contra la fórmula que otros recomiendan: repetirse que se tiene energía estorba en vez de ayudar

«If the nervous temperament be the best suited to projection, then is it not inconsistent to say that to build up the energy is the best method of attaining projection ?» — la inconsistencia que imputa a ese consejo, apoyándose en su propia doctrina del temperamento nervioso

«The astral body does not separate from the physical body at night, during sleep, because it has too much energy—but because it has not enough ; that is the reason why we go to sleep.» — y la inversión con que explica el sueño mismo: el astral sale porque falta energía, no porque sobre

«Now I have the greatest of respect for all of my contemporaries in this field, but I believe that their theories of “ good health ” and “ accumulation of energy ” are honeycombed with inconsistencies ; and I am dogmatic in my “ subconscious stress ” theory.» — con la fórmula en que reconoce el peso de lo que afirma, y se declara dogmático

«Second, thirst must be appeased; the subconscious knows this, and will resort to anything to get the body to water—so it will move the astral out with determination, if it cannot move the physical.» — la razón por la que Muldoon elige la sed como estrés: el subconsciente sabe que hay que saciarla y mueve el astral si no puede mover el físico

«We know that the subconscious Will does not only have to become possessed of the idea of moving the body, but that the physical body must be “ incapacitated.”» — con la segunda condición, que él no deja fuera

«That factor is " incapacity,” and there is a specific method of bringing it about at will.» — y el factor sobre el que promete método

«The cause, as has been pointed out, is, in both cases, the rising to the surface of the subconscious mind of an impression» — la causa común que adjudica al sonambulismo físico y a la proyección

«The movement of the somnambulist is so certain that, if observed, one would be struck by the controlling intelligence.» — lo que declara notable en el sonámbulo, la inteligencia que lo gobierna

«If the somnambulist encounters a person, he will either pay no attention to him, or-at once that person will become a part of the dream» — con lo que le atribuye al encontrarse con alguien

«One writer has stated that he knew of a man who went to bed, wondering if he had locked the door of his shop ; and that the man was subsequently stopped by a policeman close to the shop;» — el caso del hombre de la tienda, tomado de otro autor

«You may say: “ This is not a case in which the impression is caused either by desire, habit or dream.” But it is !» — y cómo responde a la objeción de que ahí no hay deseo, hábito ni sueño

«Even though, by studying the actions of the sleepwalker, one can find no clue which leads him to accept this belief, there is somewhere to be found the clue which leads to desire, habit or the proper dream.» — con la salvedad de que a veces la pista no se encuentra estudiando al sonámbulo

«The subject is always dominated by the strongest suggestion in the mind at the moment.» — la regla que gobierna al sujeto en cualquiera de los dos casos

«If the subject were not physically incapacitated—and did not become conscious—he would begin to somnambulate.» — y la bifurcación que decide cuál de los dos se produce

«If he were physically incapacitated he would project—under the dominant suggestion “ food.”» — con el caso complementario

«Walsh writes : “ In certain persons the sleepwalking attacks vary very little.» — lo que Walsh aporta sobre la constancia de los ataques de sonambulismo

«Should the attack be terminated abruptly the dream-drama will, with the next attack, begin at the point where it was broken off.» — y el drama onírico que, según Walsh, se reanuda donde quedó

«Thus we see that physical somnambulism and astral projection rest substantially upon the same foundation.» — la conclusión con que Muldoon empareja sonambulismo físico y proyección astral

«Before retiring, I would force myself to swallow about an eighth of a teaspoonful of salt. This was an ordeal, as you may well imagine, but think of the " stress ” which was put upon the mind by doing» — y el procedimiento concreto que declara haber usado para instalar el estrés de la sed

«I was thirsty, but could find no place to get a drink.» — del sueño provocado por esa sed, el arranque

«There was a windmill ! I hurried as fast as I could to the tank below it—but it was dry !» — y el molino con el tanque seco, que prolonga el deseo en lugar de saciarlo

«Remember that when you once become conscious in a certain place in the astral, you will probably again become conscious in the same spot, under similar conditions.» — la regla que saca del episodio sobre la repetición del lugar de la conciencia astral

«He concluded that it was the desire for drink which caused the man» — del caso clínico que cita, la causa que el observador adjudica al sonambulismo del enfermo

«A physician who was called to observe the case pronounced it a “ nervous affliction,” but his tonic for the nerves did not stop the sleepwalking.» — con el diagnóstico médico que no lo resolvió

«By curing the gastritis the man’s intense desire for water disappeared, and the nocturnal activities also ceased.» — y el desenlace, que Muldoon lee como confirmación de su doctrina del estrés

«Walsh says : “As a rule the acts of the sleepwalker are harmless and in accord with his experiences or inner nature. Somewhere I have read» — lo que Walsh sostiene sobre lo inocuo de los actos del sonámbulo

«And Dr. Walsh is correct ; it is the suggestion which bursts forth while the subject sleeps, and whether the subject projects in the astral body, or whether the physical body clings on to the astral, during the performance, depends solely upon one factor—“ incapacity.”» — y en qué le da la razón, con la bifurcación que él añade: proyectar o que el físico se aferre al astral

«Several prominent Spiritualists, to whom I wrote, informed me that no one knew any specific causes for astral projection ; that it was a gift; that the Hindus were especially gifted with the ability, etc.» — lo que le respondieron varios espiritistas destacados a quienes escribió, y que él consigna como el estado del saber que encontró

«And to experience such a reality and yet find no one who would believe me—that was the dismaying part I My associates—yes, even members of my own family—ridiculed the very suggestion of such an “ impossibility,” as they called it.» — con lo que declara más desalentador de su experiencia, la incredulidad de los suyos

«He . gave me a box of strychnine—a cardiac stimulant—assuring me that this would correct the condition.» — el estimulante cardíaco que el médico le dio

«And here is the reason why a heart stimulant will relieve the condition : The heart activates the physical body.» — y la explicación que Muldoon da a su efecto: el corazón activa el cuerpo físico

«If the heart be slow, the body (when at rest) becomes more passive than when the heart-beat is normal or fast.» — con la relación entre pulso lento y pasividad

«Now, if the heart be below normal, the physical body becomes passive enough for the astral body to move out of it shortly before consciousness is lost» — que es la que permite al astral salir antes de perderse la conciencia

«Give the subject a cardiac stimulant, and the physical body will not become inactive enough to allow the astral to rise until long after unconsciousness has intervened ; and, further, the stimulant holds the astral body very near the physical body.» — y el efecto inverso del estimulante, que además retiene al astral cerca del físico

«A heart-beat below normal has the same effect as enervation—it allows the astral body to move out of coincidence before the subject has lost consciousness.» — con la equivalencia que establece entre pulso bajo y enervación

«I stated that before taking the cardiac stimulant, which I procured from my doctor, I had experienced a projection in some form almost every week, and the primary stages of projection every night.» — la frecuencia de proyecciones que declara antes de tomar el estimulante

«I could control my pulse-rate by means of my mind !» — y lo que dice haber aprendido después: gobernar el pulso con la mente

«It was not long before I succeeded in keeping the heart at its normal rate, without the use of the stimulant ; but the ability to reduce the pulse-rate also enabled me to induce complete “ incapacity ” of the physical body at will.» — con lo que eso le dio, la incapacidad física a voluntad

«But, while realizing that the two major factors of astral projection are " proper stress of suggestion ” and " physical incapacity,” you will, while concentrating upon these essentials, realize that there are numerous minor factors which contribute to the two major ones, and will learn to include every possible promotive element.» — los dos factores mayores que fija, y el aviso de que hay menores

«If the temperature in which you attempt development be too cool, you will harbour a mental disquietude.» — con la temperatura entre ellos, en su versión fría

«If it be too warm, you will likewise be uncomfortable—thereby preventing passivity and relaxation.» — y en la caliente

«If you have formed the opinion that the mind must be calm, in order to produce projection of the astral body, you will be forced to revise this idea, for passivity of mind is a sure way to prevent projection.» — la corrección que Muldoon hace a la expectativa corriente sobre la calma mental

«If, in fact, the mind were calm, no suggestion would come forth during sleep; consequently no projection of the astral body would be brought about.» — con la razón: la mente en calma no deja salir sugerencia alguna durante el sueño

«I have noticed that it is the unusual sound which usually awakens the phantom.» — lo que declara haber notado sobre el ruido: despierta al fantasma cuando es inusual

«Anything and everything which contributes to the comfort and relaxation of the body which can be instituted, during the attempt at astral body projection, should be put into use.» — la regla general de comodidad que da para el intento

«It is advisable to use as little bed-covering as possible, for sometimes extra weight upon the body will induce peculiar psychological effects during sleep.» — con la ropa de cama al mínimo, por los efectos psicológicos del peso

«Observation convinced me that this sensation, of being under a great weight (while projected and within cord-activity range) was caused by the weight of the clothes resting upon the physical body.» — y la observación en que la apoya: la sensación de estar bajo un gran peso venía de las cobijas sobre el cuerpo físico

«It would not be advisable, however, for any one to endeavour to produce a projection of this sort at will—by trying to smother himself into a desire for air—for in trying it, he might “ take the air ” permanently !» — con la advertencia que pone contra provocar el ahogo a propósito

«Tight fitting clothing is most undesirable, for it is not only uncomfortable but shuts off the blood circulation.» — la ropa ceñida, que rechaza por incómoda y por cortar la circulación

«It is not that the astral body cannot pass through the clothing or bed-covers, for it can easily pass through a brick wall or a steel vault, but clothing and other such restrictions produce a psychological effect which is not altogether desirable.» — con la aclaración de que el estorbo no es material, porque el astral atraviesa un muro de ladrillo

«With little or no clothing covering the body, during the experiment, a psychological effect of “ freedom ” and “ lightness ” is produced, which is a powerful factor in strengthening the sensations peculiar to projection.» — y el efecto que busca en su lugar, ligereza y libertad

«Projection of the astral body can take place while the subject is seated in a chair—but lying in the horizontal position is greatly to be preferred.» — la postura horizontal, preferida sobre la silla

«One of the most certain ways of insuring the projection of the astral body, and especially a projection which is conscious from the outset, is for the subject to go to sleep, sleep several hours, and then begin to project in the astral body, just as he is becoming conscious—that is, while he is in the hypnagogic state emerging from sleep.» — el modo que declara más seguro de todos: dormir varias horas y empezar entonces

«It is only natural that this should be so, for during sleep the physical body becomes less active ; further, the outside world is more liable to be in a state of quietude, after midnight.» — con la razón que da, física y ambiental a la vez

«Lying upon the right side or upon the back are the two positions best suited to astral projection, although it can take place regardless of the position of the body.» — las dos posturas que declara mejores, sin excluir las otras

«The sensation of floating and of rising upon the air are more easily produced by lying upon the back.» — con lo que atribuye a dormir boca arriba

«One reason for this is that the blood is prevented from circulating freely along the spine, with its many nerves, thus deadening one’s feeling of contact with the bed.» — y la explicación circulatoria que ofrece

«The sensation, regardless of where it primarily originates, is decidedly what is wanted for producing astral body uprising — provided, of course, you enjoy the sensation.» — con la condición que le pone a esa sensación: que se disfrute

«Many people cannot go to sleep while lying upon their backs for this very reason—because they have the sensation of floating just as they are about to lose consciousness, and have slight repercussions.» — y el reverso del mismo hecho, la gente que por eso no puede dormirse boca arriba

«If you are one of those who “ just cannot sleep ” upon your back, because of unpleasant sensations such as those mentioned, there is a good chance that you will experience conscious projections.» — lo que Muldoon promete a quien padezca esas sensaciones

«It is not as easy to achieve success if you lie upon the left side or upon the stomach.» — con las posturas que declara menos favorables

«The striking thing about these sounds is the way in which they can be felt—yes, actually felt—moving about inside one’s head ;» — los ruidos de la salida, y lo que le parece notable de ellos: que se sienten moverse dentro de la cabeza

«One is here reminded, of course, of the " head snapping,” so frequently noted in the case of Mrs. Piper, just as she emerges from trance.» — que empareja con el chasquido de cabeza reportado en la señora Piper al salir del trance

«It was as if my ears had been projected, and I could feel the sound of the barking inside my (astral) head.» — con el caso propio del ladrido oído dentro de la cabeza astral

«I personally know a man who seems to have the ability to see out of his forehead.» — y la visión extraocular que declara conocer en un hombre

«The astral body will separate from the physical with much greater ease in total darkness.» — la regla de la oscuridad total, que facilita la separación

«Although " light ” has a tendency to bind the astral to the physical more securely, it is true that projection can be accomplished regardless of this fact; but, as a rule, only the most advanced student will be successful in doing so.» — con la función que atribuye a la luz, que ata el astral al físico

«Perhaps, knowing this, you may believe it best to attempt development in total darkness, and it is true that many occultists advise this; but, for my part, I should never offer such advice, for there are many reasons why total darkness is not the most suitable condition for the amateur.» — y la advertencia que hace contra el consejo de muchos ocultistas de trabajar a oscuras

«No, that is not the reason, for once you are exteriorized, and your sense of sight working, the room, which was dark to your physical eyes, is no longer dark» — con la razón que descarta primero: exteriorizado, el cuarto ya no está oscuro

«When you go to sleep, the astral body rises out of the physical, and can he at a different angle than the physical.» — la explicación que sí da: dormido, el astral puede quedar en un ángulo distinto del físico

«The senses, during sleep, are keen, and impress the fact upon the mind that the body is lying at a different angle.» — y los sentidos que registran ese ángulo

«When you awaken, in the physical, the impression made by the astral body having been at an angle to the physical is in the mind, and of course you think that you are lying at a different angle than you really are, and, being unable to see, you cannot prove or disprove the matter.» — con lo que queda impreso al despertar, que produce la ilusión de posición

«Thus, you get up and start toward the spot where you think the door is, and run into the dresser instead, etc.» — y su consecuencia doméstica

«He opened the drawer of the dresser and tried to crawl into it, thinking that he was opening the door !» — con el caso del que trató de meterse en el cajón de la cómoda creyendo abrir la puerta

«Another way of explaining this point : Stand a person in the middle of the street, blindfold him, and yet he will know which way he is going—because he was conscious of the direction before being blindfolded.» — la analogía del vendado que sabe hacia dónde va

«But blindfold him and whirl him around, and he will lose his sense of direction.» — y el giro que le quita esa certeza, que es lo que él atribuye al movimiento del astral

«If one in this condition of mind—thinking he is in a different position to the one he really occupies—has an extensive projection, and suddenly something happens which starts the astral speeding back to the physical, the subconscious will land the astral body at the spot where the subject thought he was, and not directly into the physical mechanism.» — lo que teme de esa desorientación combinada con una proyección extensa

«Should a faffing dream accompany the fall of the astral body, the subject will think he has been smashed into pieces and have a terrible nightmare—before the subconscious mind can discard the suggestion which it took from the conscious mind and realize the fact (within itself) that the conscious suggestion was a mistake, and that the physical body was not lying in that particular spot.» — con la pesadilla que puede seguir mientras el subconsciente no descarta la sugerencia

«I believe there are a few cases on record where persons have experienced falling dreams in which they were smashed into pieces on hitting the ground or what not.» — y los casos registrados de sueños de caída con impacto, que consigna con reserva

«I have experienced a few of these particular dreams myself, and attribute the causes to what I have just pointed out.» — junto a los propios, que adjudica a la misma causa

«Still another undesirable result of developing in total darkness is a sort of reluctance in the subject’s mind ; and this is markedly true if he has ever undergone the terrifying experience of having a violent repercussion in total darkness, with his sense of direction missing.» — con el otro inconveniente que atribuye a desarrollarse a oscuras, la reticencia que deja una repercusión violenta

«My advice, especially to the beginner, and more especially to the subject of high nervous temperament, is always to permit enough light to enter the sleeping chamber, so that you can immediately discern your true position, in relation to other objects in the room, the instant you awaken.» — el consejo que da en su lugar, dirigido sobre todo al principiante y al nervioso

«If there is anything you do not want to do, it is to lose your sense of direction, for this not only has its physical effects, but often affects the astral body as well, and can even influence the subconscious mind.» — con lo que quiere evitar a toda costa, y el alcance que le atribuye

«You will find, I am sure, that a dim twilight is the best possible light condition for the practise of astral body projection.» — y la condición de luz que declara óptima

«And down went the astral into the physical with a “ zing ” and a repercussion.» — el efecto de la luz excesiva sobre el regreso, con el zumbido que lo acompaña

«If this had happened but once we might call it coincidence, but when it happens repeatedly there is some foundation for the belief that the mind of another person can influence the movement of the astral body.» — la cautela con que trata el experimento telepático: una vez sería coincidencia, y funda la creencia en la repetición

«I am firmly convinced, for my part, that almost any two people can produce this repercussion, by doing exactly as I have said ; and if the subject, attempting astral projection, wishes to have some sympathetic friend try to assist him, I believe that this would be the best possible exercise to attempt first, as it “ registers,” we» — con la convicción a que llega, dicha como convicción propia

«There must be no tension in the mind of the assistant ; he must merely visualize, in an unconcerned manner, the astral body of the subject moving out of the physical to a distance of three or four inches—just as the subject is “ rising ” to sleep—and he must not try to force the thought» — y la condición que pone al asistente: sin tensión, visualizando de manera despreocupada

«However, my advice is to attempt astral projection without the assistance of anyone, once you know exactly what to do.» — el consejo final, trabajar solo una vez sabido qué hacer

«I have always found it difficult to project when there were others near me.» — con lo que declara haber encontrado siempre en presencia ajena

«In fact, that is what I have always done, and I believe that any truthful projector will admit that he has a mistrust of anyone who approaches his physical body, while he is projected.» — y la desconfianza que adjudica a cualquier proyector veraz frente a quien se acerca a su cuerpo

«Do not talk to others of what you are trying to accomplish. This is a valuable tip.» — la recomendación de no hablar del intento con otros

«If it is necessary for you to have a “ seer ” partake in the experiment, let the seer stay in the next room, and have it understood by everyone that they are to keep “ hands off.”» — con el arreglo que propone si hace falta un vidente

«DURING natural sleep, we know that the physical body is “ incapacitated ” more or less ; but in order to make this incapacity more pronounced, the heart-beat must be slowed down.» — la condición sobre la que monta el método del capítulo: hacer más pronunciada la incapacidad frenando el latido

«If you cannot possibly tolerate lying upon your back, then he upon your right side.» — con la postura de recambio que ofrece

«It is very essential to feel the relaxation of the solar plexus so that you can consciously feel that it ‘ opens ’ like a flower—just below the spot where the ribs divide.» — la relajación del plexo solar que pide sentir, con la imagen de la flor que se abre

«The plexus itself is like a great octopus ; it is the biggest nervecentre in the body, aside from the brain, and is the ruler of the ‘ sympathetic system,’ the digestive and other vegetative functions ; so, for that reason, the stomach should not be full when these» — y la descripción del plexo que toma de Carrington, con el pulpo y el mando sobre el sistema simpático

«Now, concentrate upon your heart, not with tension of mind, but think of that organ with relaxed thought.» — la instrucción sobre cómo concentrarse en el corazón, sin tensión

«These are the same pulsations which you feel in the back of your head, when you are projected and within cord-activity range, and they are, in fact, the only genuine physical feelings you possess, while projected, unless you feel the weight of the bed-covering over you, etc.» — con la equivalencia que establece: son las mismas pulsaciones que se sienten en la nuca al estar proyectado dentro del rango

«After you have acquired the ability to lie still, and both feel and hear your heart-beat within your chest (which you will, no doubt, acquire in one or two trials), your next step is to be able to feel and hear the pulsations in any part of your body—by concentrating upon that particular spot.» — el paso siguiente del ejercicio, oír y sentir el latido en otras partes

«It is also possible, by proper concentration, to withdraw the blood from different parts of the body.» — con lo que dice también posible por concentración

«If you are a victim of heart disease, do not attempt astral projection, for the heart is a vital factor, and often runs very low during a projection ; and, as you know, the welfare of the physical mechanism, during the projection of the astral body, depends upon the function of respiration.» — la contraindicación expresa para el cardíaco

«Now that you have the knack of feeling your heart’s pulsations in any part of your body, through concentration, the next step is to be able to reduce the speed of the pulsations, which is not difficult to do.» — el paso de reducir la velocidad del latido, que declara no difícil

«What is desired, in astral projection, is a slow and steady heart-beat.» — con lo que busca, un latido lento y parejo

«The heart is controlled by an intelligence behind it, the subconscious intelligence.» — y la doctrina en que lo apoya: el corazón lo gobierna una inteligencia subconsciente

«If you concentrate upon it, thinking that it is beating slower and slower, or faster and faster, as the case may be, and it obeys your suggestion, then you know that your suggestion has reached the controlling intelligence.» — con el criterio para saber que la sugerencia llegó

«Many people become annoyed when they think that their subconscious mind will not obey the very first conscious direction it is given.» — la impaciencia que atribuye a muchos

«But think a minute ! What would happen if the controlling intelligence did act upon the very first affirmation ?» — y el argumento con que la desarma

«Fortunately, the subconscious mind is not so easily controlled ; yet it is not very difficult to persuade it to slacken or speed up the heart-beat.» — que convierte la resistencia del subconsciente en una ventaja

«Do not stop concentrating in order to determine whether or not the heart is obeying your suggestion, for you will be able to know this fact in your mind.» — con la advertencia de no interrumpir la concentración para comprobar

«One cannot say definitely how slowly the heart should beat in order to induce a fair degree of physical " incapacity.”» — la abstención sobre cuánto ha de bajar el pulso

«This speed could never be considered dangerously slow, and yet it brought about passivity of the physical to an unusual degree.» — y la cifra que sí da de su propio caso, sin llamarla peligrosa

«Naturally, the greater the incapacity the greater the chance of success ; and it is for this reason that I have given the instructions for producing more profound incapacity.» — la relación que establece entre grado de incapacidad y probabilidad de éxito

«As a rule, the phantom moves upward more and more as sleep becomes more and more profound.» — con la regla que da sobre la profundidad del sueño y la salida del fantasma

«As one “ rises ” to sleep, the phantom may rest but two inches out of coincidence; but, after sleeping for several hours, the phantom may be one foot out of coincidence, because the physical body had gradually become more passive.» — y las medidas que le adjudica, dos pulgadas al dormirse y un pie tras varias horas

«After you have gained the knack of slowing down the speed of the heart, you will be surprised at the way in which that organ responds to your directions, and you will be able to reduce your pulse-rate in a few moments.» — lo que promete al que domine el control del corazón

«You will be amazed to find that this organ will keep going at this speed, until you tell it to do otherwise.» — con la permanencia del ritmo así fijado

«But do not give the heart this direction, then grab your watch and say, “ I don’t believe it is doing it,” as you time it to see, for this offsets the suggestion you have just given it.» — y la advertencia de no comprobarlo con el reloj, porque anula la sugerencia

«Heart control is, as far as I know, the only sure way in which voluntary “ incapacity ” can be produced, and in practising it you are unconsciously promoting “ consciousness of self ”—one of the most essential requisites in projection of the astral body.» — el rango que da al control cardíaco entre sus técnicas, con el *as far as I know* a la vista, y lo que añade de paso: la conciencia de sí

«You do not have to look ninety-two million miles away at the sun in order to find something to marvel over ; the sun is no more mysterious than you are» — la fórmula con que la funda: el sol no es más misterioso que uno mismo

«In astral projection, a “ consciousness of self ” is highly important; so begin now to study yourself.» — y la instrucción que se sigue

«Here is an exercise which I believe brought me successful results, and you will find it invaluable as an aid to astral projection :» — el ejercicio del espejo, que declara haberle dado resultado

«In your mind, you are to believe that the reflection in the mirror is the real you.» — con lo que pide creer frente al reflejo

«This delusion of self “ rattles ” the astral body, for it puts the idea in the subconscious mind that the reflection is the real You; and after you go to sleep the suggestion to that effect is often strong enough to “ possess the subconscious Will ” to move the astral body over to the place where the innate mind thinks you really are.» — y el efecto que le atribuye: la delusión sacude al astral y sugiere al subconsciente que el Yo está en el reflejo

«Remember, it makes no difference how true the suggestion coming from the subconscious mind really is; if the mind is deluded by the belief that you are at the spot shown in the reflection, it impresses the subconscious Will to that effect.» — con la regla que la explica y que vale para todo su método: al subconsciente no le importa si la sugerencia es verdadera

«One of the strongest aids to projection of the astral body is “ realization of astral body phenomena ” ; that is, an understanding of the true facts—of the actions of the astral body, the causes for these actions, etc.» — el auxilio que declara de los más fuertes, entender de veras el fenómeno

«Remember, I am now telling you of another method of causing the astral body to project, that is "by stressing astral projection in your mind.” This is the direct method; and when it becomes a part of the subconscious mind, the mind is obsessed by the knowledge that the astral body can exist apart from the physical, as well as in coincidence with the physical, and the mind sees, therefore, no reason why the astral body should not be outside the physical.» — con el método directo que abre a partir de ahí, estresar la proyección en la propia mente

«Mark this—if you ever begin to dream of astral projection (that is, dream that your astral body can and does do these things) you are positively sure to experience a projection of the astral body.» — y la certeza con que la anuncia: soñar con la proyección la produce

«I know, positively, that dreaming of astral projection will cause the projection of the astral body.» — que repite sin matiz al abrir el asunto

«Even a dream of projection, brought about by the fear of projection, will pull out the dream body.» — con la variante que también admite, el sueño de proyección nacido del miedo a proyectarse

«When I first experienced conscious projection of the astral body, I’ll admit, I used to be afraid, not during the projection—that is the strange part—but before going to sleep.» — su propio caso, con la asimetría que él subraya: el miedo estaba antes de dormir y no durante

«I somehow conceived the idea (mostly as the result of hearing others tell about it) that fiends, murderers and all sorts of devils lurked on the astral plane, waiting to get into people !» — y de dónde declara haber sacado ese miedo, que atribuye a lo oído a otros

«And what did this fear do ? It made me project all the more, for my mind was so saturated by the knowledge of what took place, and intensified by fear—fear which externalized my neuric energy, as it does everyone else’s, making me still more subject to extensive separations—that, no sooner would I fall asleep than I would be dreaming of projection.» — con el efecto que tuvo, según su doctrina de la energía néurica: el miedo lo hizo proyectarse más

«The reader can rest assured that the actual projection of the astral body is anything but what the imagination believes it to be.» — la corrección que dirige a la imaginación del lector sobre lo que es en realidad la proyección

«No doubt this is true of permanent projection (death) also.—S.M.» — con la nota firmada S.M. que la extiende a la muerte

«After a while I became so accustomed to projection that I began really to like it ; the devils and astral fiends did not seem to be so concerned about me after all, and they were not, so far as I could see (when I did happen to see anyone), very different from the people I had always known.» — y el desenlace de su propio miedo, que se disipó con la costumbre

«This latter statement is very important, and I have found that once the mind is dynamized, it is one of the best possible forces tending toward success.» — la dinamización de la mente, que declara de las mejores fuerzas hacia el éxito

«But you could not have done this before, for no one had ever before told you the route which the phantom invariably takes in projecting, until you read it in this book.» — con la novedad que reclama para el libro: la ruta que el fantasma sigue invariablemente

«A lot of nonsense has been written about the cultivation of the Will.» — lo que dice del cultivo de la Voluntad tal como se ha escrito

«We have a habit of thinking that ‘ to Will ’ means making oneself do something, getting into action, effort.» — con el hábito de pensamiento que corrige

«William James points out that this is all Will amounts to - ATTENTION - simply to hold the attention upon a certain thought or idea until it fills the mind, and crowds all other ideas out of the consciousness.» — y la definición que toma de William James, con la Voluntad reducida a atención

«After you have acquired this “ dynamization of projection,” after you have your subconscious mind completely saturated with the knowledge of and the desire for projection of the astral body, then your hardest task is over.» — lo que promete a quien logre la dinamización de la proyección

«But remember, above everything else, that your mind must be dominated by this knowledge of and desire for that which you seek ; then the stress of it stays at the surface of that mind, while you sleep.» — con la condición que le pone, que el estrés siga en la superficie de la mente al dormir

«The easiest way to produce such a dream is to have the understanding of and desire for projection take such a grip on your mind that you cannot go to sleep without thinking about it.» — y la vía más fácil para el sueño buscado

«many occultists have seized upon the idea that the withdrawal of the astral body is the cause of unconsciousness. But this is a mistake.» — la corrección que hace a muchos ocultistas: la retirada del astral no es la causa de la inconsciencia

«It is true also, that we can be unconscious in the physical body for some time before the astral body moves into the zone of quietude.» — con el caso que lo muestra, inconsciencia física antes de que el astral entre en la zona de quietud

«Thus, there are exceptions to the rule as to when the astral body moves into the zone of quietude.» — y la excepción que él mismo consigna a su propia regla

«One can easily see that, in order to have a conscious projection—conscious from the beginning—one should be of the type, or make up, which begins to make the transit into the zone of quietude before unconsciousness sets in.» — el tipo de sujeto que Muldoon declara apto para la proyección consciente desde el arranque

«Knowing that it is the withdrawal of consciousness from the astral body which produces unconsciousness, we might in this manner account for the dream in which one dreams that he is projected in the astral body, but is apart from that body, looking on —because the real consciousness is apart from that body.» — la doctrina de la inconsciencia que sostiene: la produce la retirada de la conciencia del cuerpo astral

«Now, if full consciousness withdraws from the body when the astral body is unconscious, consciousness must be partially withdrawn from the body when it is partially conscious.» — con el paso al caso parcial

«And in a dream of this nature—when one dreams that he is watching the astral body’s movement, and then gets into it—is it not possible that a portion of the consciousness which was withdrawn from the body actually understood ?» — y la conjetura que abre, dicha como pregunta: que una porción de la conciencia retirada haga la observación del sueño

«This would correspond, of course, to the “ mental body ” of the Theosophists, and might be said to afford some direct experimental evidence in favour of the reality of such a body.—H.C.» — con la nota de Carrington, firmada H.C., que la empareja con el cuerpo mental de los teósofos

«If you will think back, you will recall that I mentioned that one can sometimes see the astral body from the physical eyes, because of the circuit of sight running across the astral cable.» — y la explicación alternativa que Muldoon recuerda, el circuito de la vista por el cable

«The most direct way, and certainly the most sensible way, of creating the proper “ stress ” in the subconscious mind, which will suggest itself during sleep, is the way that I have just pointed out —viz. “ dynamization of projection.”» — el método que declara más directo y sensato para crear el estrés

«Why, I would ask you, should you go to the trouble of saturating your mind with a habit which is unrelated to projection of the astral body, merely because the stress of that habit will impress the subconscious Will, when you can saturate your mind in the same manner with the» — con la objeción que dirige al de la rutina

«However, if you wish to put a stress of routine into your subconscious mind, which will assert itself while you sleep, you must direct all your conscious Will-power upon this routine.» — y lo que exige si aun así se elige la rutina

«If you desire the routine, the subconscious Will will move the body more easily than if you were compelling yourself to perform the routine, through necessity ; which means, simply, that desire plus habit will dominate the subconscious Will more completely than habit alone.» — con la combinación que declara dominante, deseo más hábito

«Dynamization of projection is much easier to put into the subconscious mind than dynamization of a routine, for the routine is too commonplace to " grip ” the mind as powerfully as astral projection—the supernormal—will grip it.» — y la razón por la que prefiere la dinamización de la proyección: la rutina es demasiado común para aferrar la mente

«Dynamization of projection is as far ahead of dynamization of a routine, in the production of astral projection, as the steamboat is ahead of the sailboat.» — la comparación con que jerarquiza los dos caminos

«Yet either will lead one eventually to the destination he is seeking.» — con la concesión que hace enseguida al segundo

«You may think it pretty difficult to project the astral body, after all; but when you stop to think that the very causes of astral projection come about unknowingly at times, it should convince you that to instigate these causes intentionally should not be such an exacting task, after all.» — el argumento con que anima al lector: si las causas ocurren solas sin querer, provocarlas debe estar al alcance

«You will find that, in promoting a “ stress ” of desire, which is not directly for projection, that the desire for drink is the most easily instigated and the strongest possible creation-stress.» — la sed como el estrés más fuerte de los que no apuntan directo a la proyección

«If you think that thirst is not stress-creating, just try and see how long you can go without water!» — con la prueba que propone

«First, deprive yourself of drinking for a considerable period of time before retiring—presuming, of course, that you are attempting the experiment on going to bed at night.» — y el procedimiento, privarse de beber un buen rato antes de acostarse

«It is a good plan to begin in the morning, to deprive yourself of drink, and if the desire becomes too intense as the day progresses, take a sip of water now and then, temporarily to allay the desire.» — con el plan de empezar por la mañana y sorbos que alivien

«The length of time during which you must refrain from taking liquids into the system must be calculated by yourself, as different individuals vary as to the amount of liquid required.» — y la abstención sobre el tiempo exacto, que deja al cálculo de cada quien

«As you fall asleep, keep thinking of the glass of water ; keep thinking of your astral body moving out, and going to the glass of water.» — la visualización que pide al dormirse, con el vaso de agua y el astral yendo hacia él

«But the fact that you cannot go to sleep with ease shows that the stress of thirst is very strong within you ; and this same stress — which is keeping you awake so long—is the stress which will impel the subconscious Will to move the body after you do» — y cómo lee el propio insomnio que provoca: señal de que el estrés está instalado

«I want to tell you that this is an extreme exercise, and will easily move the astral body, for, as a matter of fact, the desire for water alone will move the astral body, and the mind will direct the body over a route to some place where one can drink, without preplanning the route and place.» — lo que declara del ejercicio, que lo llama extremo

«But if you do not, then concentrate upon the fact (while practising the exercise) that when you get to the glass of water, you will awaken.» — con la sugerencia de despertar al llegar al vaso

«If you are a very hearty eater, this method will succeed ; but, on the other hand, if you are one of those who find little concern in eating, the " stress ” created by the fast will not possess your mind so completely.» — la variante del hambre, con la condición del temperamento del que come poco

«You can create your own exercise, while inducing the hunger stress, for if you do not understand the principles involved in the projection of the astral body by this time you are not yet ready to project.» — y la libertad con que cierra, que es a la vez una prueba para el lector

«I believe that I have tried more diets than anyone in the world, for the purpose of loosening the astral counterpart (much to my regret), and I have eventually come to the conclusion that, even if certain foods do tend to loosen the astral body, the effect is too insignificant for consideration.» — la conclusión a que dice haber llegado tras probar más dietas que nadie, y que retira valor a su propio capítulo dietético

«It is the stress in the mind which moves out the body, and no food at all is the way to create the proper stress.» — con lo que pone en su lugar

«I believe that you will only delude yourself if you think you can cause astral projection by certain diets—unless the diet creates hunger, just as a fast will do ; or unless the diet favours incapacity, thus aiding other factors in projection.» — y las dos únicas excepciones que concede a la dieta

«But, instead of projecting to the sink, where the tumbler of spring water stood, I awakened in the astral body right by the spring!» — del experimento del agua del manantial, el resultado que declara: despertó en el astral junto al manantial y no junto al vaso

«The dream allows consciousness to come on gradually.» — con la función que asigna al sueño en la aparición de la conciencia

«I will not reveal the process of actually separating the bodies,” as most adepts of this phase do, under the claim that it would be giving “ dangerous ” information which would lead to “ disastrous consequences.”» — la promesa con que Muldoon abre el capítulo, contra la reserva que atribuye a los adeptos

«I have concluded that the reason why none of these sages have given the detailed process of projection is not because they are concerned as to the dangers involved, but because they do not know.» — y la razón que adjudica a ese silencio, que no es el peligro

«They know that certain practices will insure projection of the astral body, but they do not know why these practices produced the desired result.» — con la distinción en que la apoya: saben qué prácticas funcionan y no por qué

«RARELY does an astral projector ever experience projections which are completely conscious from beginning to end.» — lo que declara rarísimo, la proyección consciente de principio a fin

«I have produced such a projection (conscious from the very beginning) several times, and have experienced unintentional projections of this type on several other occasions.» — con lo que reclama para sí, varias veces y también sin proponérselo

«You will remember that my very first projection was conscious from the outset.» — y el caso propio que ya había contado

«Consciousness grows slightly stronger, and one understands that he is lying upon the bed, before he can see or hear ; and there will be a very noticeable pulsation in the back of the head.» — de los dos estados hipnagógicos, lo que describe al despertar: entender que se está tendido antes de ver u oír, con la pulsación en la nuca

«Presently the subject will realize that he cannot move ; and if he wishes to produce the projection he must have no desire to move physically, but must think of rising into the air.» — y la instrucción para ese momento, que es de abstención: no querer moverse físicamente y pensar en elevarse

«But he cannot try to move up into the air by trying to use effort ; for this would interfere with the power which actually moves the body.» — con la prohibición del esfuerzo, que estorbaría al poder que mueve

«He will be cataleptic, as a rule, until after the power has moved him outside cord-activity range, but he becomes free from catalepsy — sometimes (after the body has uprighted) when within cord-activity range.» — la regla que da sobre cuándo cesa la catalepsia

«But he never becomes free from catalepsy while the body is in the horizontal position—he could not and remain horizontal.» — con el límite que le pone: nunca mientras el cuerpo siga horizontal

«But when the projection occurs during the first hypnagogic state (entering sleep) the astral body rises up so easily that the subject scarcely knows that he has moved upward until suddenly he sees this to be the case.» — y lo que ocurre en el otro estado hipnagógico, el de dormirse, donde el astral sube sin que el sujeto lo note

«No subconscious " stress ” is necessary, in such a case, as the subconscious Will takes the suggestion of moving upward directly from the conscious mind.» — con lo que ahí no hace falta, porque la sugerencia viene directa de la mente consciente

«The reason why completely conscious projections only occur, as a rule, after the subject has been sleeping for several hours, is because the physical body has become " incapacitated ” to a greater extent.» — y la razón por la que las proyecciones plenamente conscientes llegan tras varias horas de sueño

«Brown desires a rise in wages. He has had this desire for some time, but hesitates to ask his employer for more money.» — el ejemplo de Brown y el aumento de sueldo, con que introduce la voluntad pasiva

«But when the next day comes, where has this strong Will, this determination, disappeared ?» — y la pregunta con que muestra su reverso diurno

«If we had the " nerve ” in reality which we had in our nightly imagination (conscious imagination) wouldn’t we be brave indeed ?» — con lo que se sigue de la imaginación nocturna si se sostuviera despierto

«There is a passive Will and there is an active Will, we will say.» — la distinción que Muldoon introduce entre dos voluntades

«The passive Will is the stronger, the more determined, and this is the Will which we have when we awake in the dead of night and plan our air-castles.» — con la primacía que da a la pasiva y el momento en que la sitúa

«The passive Will is the imaginative Will, but is determined and extreme in its Willing; nevertheless, the subject is firmly convinced, while the passive Will, is functioning, that its premises are reasonable.» — la definición de la pasiva como voluntad imaginativa, con la convicción que produce mientras opera

«To shoot off that ten-gauge gun seemed perfectly reasonable in the night, when I thought of it, and many times I said, " I will shoot it off.”» — con la anécdota de la escopeta con que la ilustra

«The active Will and the passive Will can function simultaneously; that is, one can be performing an action dictated by the active Will, and at the same time the passive Will can be Willing something else.» — la simultaneidad que declara posible entre las dos

«When we are day-dreaming we are often using the passive Will.» — con el ensueño diurno como caso corriente de la pasiva

«I am advancing the claim that passive Will, the imaginative Will, can cause the projection of the astral body.» — la tesis que anuncia sobre ella

«In one sense, this is truer than you might think ; but I am not advancing the claim that imagination alone can project the astral body.» — con la acotación inmediata que la limita: no sostiene que la imaginación sola proyecte

«You can call it a process of mere imagination if you wish, but it is not mere imagination, but imagination plus Will to do that which is imagined.» — y la fórmula con que precisa la mezcla

«I do not hesitate to declare that passive Will to project, imaginative Will to project the astral body is one of the big secrets of projecting.» — el rango que le da entre sus secretos

«You can never force the passive Will successfully, for the instant you try to force passive Will, it becomes active Will.» — con la trampa que señala: forzar la voluntad pasiva la convierte en activa

«I have told you how I used to awaken at two o’clock every morning, for many successive mornings, just before a conscious projection.» — su propio caso, el despertar a las dos de la mañana en vísperas de una proyección consciente

«I now know that it was during these periods of nocturnal wakefulness that I was using the passive Will, hyperdynamizing the desire for projection which was already in my mind.» — y lo que dice saber ahora de esas vigilias

«It was thus that the first conscious astral projections were brought about.» — con lo que atribuye a ese proceso

«Yet, by day, I confess that I would modify my Will, and think that I might project fully conscious from the start, that I might appear at such and such a place ; and, even though I had done so before, I doubted that I could intentionally do so again.» — la duda diurna que confiesa, aun habiendo conseguido antes lo que dudaba

«If the stress awakens you in the night, you can take advantage of this to use your passive Will upon it, and thus make it stronger, more dynamic than ever, and some time or other a night will come when consciousness does not appear on time, and the subconscious Will will be in the act of moving the astral body when consciousness does appear ; perhaps it is just on the verge of moving the astral body, and perhaps the body is already projected some distance.» — la instrucción que da para el despertar nocturno

«You must just have the desire to project so strongly within you that it produces passive Will, which in turn builds up the stress of the desire, and convinces the subconscious mind that the visions you imagine concerning projection are perfectly reasonable and possible.» — con lo que pide al deseo: que produzca voluntad pasiva y convenza al subconsciente

«The stress of the mind will do one of three things when it becomes strong.» — y la trifurcación que anuncia para el estrés fuerte

«I have experienced many conscious astral projections, and I have no idea how many times I have been unconsciously projected; yet I have, so far as I know, only experienced two or three physical somnambulisms in my life.» — la comparación de frecuencias que declara entre sus proyecciones y sus sonambulismos físicos

«If this does not awaken you, use an alarm clock until you can form the habit of awakening at the proper time.» — la instrucción práctica del despertador para fijar la hora

«Third, should you awaken in the dead of night with the desire in your mind, exert your passive Will upon this desire—your imaginative Will—and “ rise ” to sleep under the influence of this imaginative Will.» — y el tercer paso del método: aplicar la voluntad pasiva al deseo y volver a dormirse bajo su influjo

«I would awake at two o’clock in the morning, and, while lying awake—conscious but drowsy—I would think of projecting, and of waking in the room of one of my friends, some distance from my home.» — el experimento concreto que declara haber montado, proyectarse al cuarto de una amiga

«This is one of the methods I tried with fair success, remaining conscious from the beginning.» — que declara de éxito razonable, conservando la conciencia desde el principio

«And it worked! I had only repeated this process about one week when I awoke in her (my friend’s) room instead of in my physical body.» — con el resultado que reporta tras una semana

«You may say, “ Why didn’t you try to awaken her while you were there ? ” But I in turn would ask you this : What good would it have done to try the same old experiment—of making contact with things physical ?» — y la razón por la que no intentó despertarla, que él vuelve contra el experimento de contacto físico

«I had often told my friend about projection of the astral body and explained it to her ; but although she would listen, she always had her doubts.» — con la incredulidad de ella, que él consigna

«A queer thing did happen, however. I decided, on the next occasion, to do certain things, which I would not tell her, and see if she could describe to me what I did—provided she admitted seeing me.» — y el control que decide montar, hacer cosas no anunciadas para que ella las describa

«As a rule, the astral body will be found to separate from the physical before the subject awakens, as it did in my case many times, when trying this method—aside from the “ consciousfrom-the-beginning ” cases.» — la regla que saca del conjunto: por lo común el astral se separa antes de que el sujeto despierte

«I concluded that this was very nearly a complete success—even though she were but dreaming ; however, attempts on her part to see me seemed to be unsuccessful.» — el saldo que declara del experimento, con la reserva incluida: casi un éxito completo, aunque ella solo soñara, y sin lograr verlo

«but then, it is no greater miracle for the astral body to be at a spot than for a thought-form to be created and seen.» — con el argumento que opone a la teoría de la forma-pensamiento

«The idea that dreams are all caused by events met with in prior states of conscious every-day life, which are recorded in the subconscious mind, is pure fallacy. Phantoms of the dead and of the living, thoughts of the dead and of the living, can bring about dreams, and also influence the minds of individuals—the latter being quite unaware of the fact.» — y la falacia que imputa a la explicación de los sueños por estados previos de conciencia

«The greater the affection which exists between the projector and seer, the greater the harmony and the greater will be the desire.» — la relación que establece entre afecto y éxito del experimento

«Another factor which will aid in this experiment is that the astral body usually is under the inclination to move back to the place where it is in the habit of residing, and also moves with much more ease from a strange place to a familiar place.» — con el factor de la costumbre del lugar

«I resolved to appear to Z., at some miles distance.» — del caso de S. H. B. que reproduce, la resolución de aparecerse a distancia

«I soon fell asleep, and woke next morning unconscious of anything having taken place.» — y el desconocimiento del propio agente al día siguiente

«I looked intently at you, and then took up a newspaper to assure myself that I was not dreaming ; but on laying it down again I saw you still there.» — con la comprobación que la testigo declara haber hecho, tomando un periódico para asegurarse de no soñar

«The time at which I determined to be there was one o’clock in the morning and I had a strong intention of making my presence perceptible.» — la hora fijada y la intención declarada de hacerse perceptible

«I was living at the time at 23 Kildare Gardens, a distance of about three miles from Hogarth Road, and I had not mentioned in any way my intention of trying this experiment to either of the above ladies, for the simple reason that it was only on retiring to rest upon this Sunday night that I made up my mind to do so.» — con la distancia y el secreto que el agente declara haber guardado

«Mr. Gurney (one of the authors of Phantasms of the Living) became deeply interested in these experiments, and requested Mr. B. to notify him in advance on the next occasion when he proposed to make his presence known in this strange manner.» — la intervención de Gurney, coautor de *Phantasms of the Living*, pidiendo aviso previo del siguiente intento

«The next letter, which was written on April 3, contained the following statement, prepared by the^recipient, Miss L. S. Verity :» — y la declaración escrita de Miss Verity que sigue

«Some occultists would contend that the foregoing case might readily be accounted for as a thought-form ; that is, that the will of the person who determined to appear was so powerful that it created his form at the place ; but as for me, I have undergone too many of these experiences, while conscious, ever to accept the thought-form theory, although I admit its possibility.» — la explicación rival que Muldoon consigna, la forma-pensamiento

«Just why experimenters should try to discard one seeming miracle by substituting another is beyond me.» — con la objeción que le hace: cambiar un milagro por otro

«I have undergone too many of these experiences, while conscious, ever to accept the thought-form theory, although I admit its possibility.» — y su posición, que niega la teoría sin declararla imposible

«Experiences such as these might be passed off as “ telepathic hallucinations,” but to my way of thinking each example given is a typical unconscious projection of the astral body.» — la otra explicación rival, la alucinación telepática, frente a lo que él sostiene

«If you wish to guard yourself from doing evil, you must not only govern your active thoughts, but your passive thoughts, and especially your imaginative Will, as well.» — y la advertencia moral que deriva de su doctrina de la voluntad pasiva

«The Will we use during the day, which we are more or less compelled to use, we shall call the active Will, because we are active in body and mind. The Will we use during the day is the Will which looks back upon the resolutions, the contemplations, of the passive Will, the night before, and now thinks them too extreme. The passive Will is the imaginative Will, but is determined and extreme in its Willing; nevertheless, the subject is firmly convinced, while the passive Will, is functioning, that its premises are reasonable.» — la voluntad activa, la del día, que revisa las resoluciones nocturnas, frente a la pasiva, imaginativa y extrema, que mientras opera convence al sujeto de que sus premisas son razonables

«The reason that the passive, conscious Will is such a powerful factor is because it Wills to the extreme, setting up an extreme " stress ” in the unconscious mind ;» — por qué Muldoon hace tan fuerte a la voluntad pasiva: porque quiere al extremo, y así instala un estrés extremo en la mente inconsciente

«Neither is the controlling intelligence the ordinary subconscious mind, which does not reason, but is a department of the unconscious mind which does reason, analyze and direct.» — la distinción que introduce dentro de lo inconsciente: un departamento que sí razona, analiza y dirige

«Some identify it with the " Superconscious ” mind ; at least the controlling intelligence is thought to be the superconscious mind.» — con la identificación ajena que consigna sin adoptarla del todo

«This department of the unconscious mind has a Will of its own, just as the conscious mind has a Will of its own.» — y la voluntad propia que le atribuye

«And it is this Will, which (for the sake of reducing the explanation to its simplest terms) we have spoken of as the subconscious Will.» — con la simplificación que reconoce haber hecho hasta aquí

«Remember, then, that the intelligence controlling an astral body projection is the “ crypto-conscious ” mind.» — y el nombre que le fija: la mente cripto-consciente

«When such an automatic projection occurs, one can do little to prevent it.» — lo que dice de la proyección automática una vez desatada

«One occultist has grasped the significance of this condition, for he says, writing upon the subject: “ During development the astral seems to get a Will of its own, and may go ahead too fast, even without the person knowing it.”» — con la cita de un ocultista que él lee como reconocimiento del mismo hecho

«When the crypto-conscious mind does execute an astral projection automatically, the laws attributed to ordinary projection—stress, incapacity, etc.—seem to be of little import;» — y lo que ocurre entonces con sus propias leyes de estrés e incapacidad

«I have experienced this type of astral projection, when no physical “ incapacity ” was present, in full daylight, without quietude of environment, and when lying upon the front of my body !» — con el caso propio que las contradice todas, y que él consigna en vez de suprimirlo

«Several times before, I have stated that the controlling intelligence, during an astral projection, seems present—in the very air— in the astral cable—somewhere—I know not where.» — la localización que declara no poder dar de esa inteligencia

«Although one may remain conscious, he often has no control over the intelligence which moves him about at its will.» — y la falta de control que reconoce sobre ella aun estando consciente

«The crypto-conscious mind can execute an endless number of the most dexterous and amazingly clever capers with the astral body ; controlling it as a hypnotist might control his subject; yet the curious part is that one can be conscious all the time he is under the influence of the crypto-conscious Will.» — con la comparación del hipnotizador y su sujeto

«Even the medium himself does not realize that the intelligence, behind the manifestations, is the crypto-conscious mind.» — lo que adjudica al médium, que no advierte de dónde viene la inteligencia de sus manifestaciones

«It is my belief that the crypto-conscious mind often produces effects which amuse sitters, just as they would like to be amused, and haunts a place with “ raps,” etc., merely because human beings residing in that place expect to hear or see “ manifestations.”» — y la explicación que ofrece de raps y bromas de sesión, dicha como creencia propia

«produced by the inner intelligence of the medium, operating upon some vital force, while many are governed by spirits. And this hidden intelligence, which acts so cleverly is the crypto-conscious mind.» — con el reparto que hace entre lo producido por la inteligencia interior del médium y lo gobernado por espíritus

«In fact, this clever manoeuvring of the astral body is one of the most striking—yes, astonishing—impressions which one has, on first experiencing a completely conscious astral projection.» — la impresión que declara más notable de una proyección plenamente consciente

«The first, almost staggering realization is that of being alive, as you have always known yourself, outside your physical body.» — con la primera de las dos, que es estar vivo fuera del cuerpo

«The realization of it, when consciously projected—when looking upon one’s lifeless physical shell—is almost too amazing to be accepted as true, and throws one into an almost ecstatic state.» — y el efecto que le atribuye al mirar la propia cáscara sin vida

«After recovering from this first staggering realization, the second visual miracle is the dextrous controlling intelligence in operation.» — con la segunda, la inteligencia diestra en operación

«First, consider an intentional or unintentional projection which takes place during sleep, when there is a stress—of desire or habit — at the surface of the common, subconscious mind.» — la secuencia que describe para la proyección con estrés

«This “ stress ” is worked upon by a department of the unconscious mind, which we call the crypto-conscious mind, i.e. the unconscious mind works within itself.» — con el trabajo del inconsciente sobre sí mismo

«The crypto-conscious mind begins its consideration of this stress, this problem, and, by a process of reasoning, decides that the way to eliminate or ease the stress which is in the common subconscious mind is to project the astral body and let it work off this stress.» — y el razonamiento que atribuye a la mente cripto-consciente: proyectar el cuerpo para aliviar el estrés

«At any rate, the crypto-conscious mind takes control, directs the subtle “ force ” and causes the projection.» — con lo que hace entonces, dirigir la fuerza sutil

«Be unconscious! When this is the condition, the cryptoconscious Will governs the entire movement of the astral body, shooting it hither and thither about the astral plane, causing it to work off habits, appease desires, etc.» — la primera rama que ofrece al sujeto, quedar inconsciente y dejar que la voluntad cripto-consciente gobierne todo

«Be conscious, and by his conscious Will influence the control of the outward or inward movement. But he can never influence the controlling intelligence to change the route of the exteriorization or interiorization of the phantom.» — y la segunda, con su límite: puede influir en el movimiento, nunca cambiar la ruta

«Thus, one sometimes has control over the crypto-conscious mind, even within cord-activity range ; in fact this holds true most of the time.» — con la acotación sobre dónde tiene control, y con qué frecuencia

«It was, undeniably, a very unpleasant condition : I was conscious, but unable to see, hear, feel or move ; I felt as though consciousness alone existed within me.» — del episodio de proyección automática, la fase inicial: consciente y sin ver, oír, sentir ni moverse

«However, it was pot such an unusual experience for me, and, knowing what was about to happen, I remained calm in mind, ready for another conscious excursion in my astral body.» — con la calma que declara haber conservado por costumbre

«When I advanced outside cord-activity range, I was once more free and normal, and walked through the house for a short time, then outside and into the street.» — y la libertad que recobra al salir del rango del cordón

«No sooner had I got into the street than an almost bewildering scene surrounded me, and I found that I was in a strange house, I knew not where.» — el desplazamiento a una casa desconocida

«I reasoned in this manner : ‘ I will not try to see or understand why I am here. I will just allow the crypto-conscious mind to move me about.’» — con la decisión que dice haber tomado ahí, que es de abstención: dejarse mover por la mente cripto-consciente

«Just before willing that I should go back to my physical body, I took one last look about the place, outside and in, and saw that it was a farmhouse.» — y lo que se llevó del lugar antes de volver

«Six weeks passed ; I had almost forgotten this experience, for it was not unlike many other distant projections.» — el intervalo de seis semanas que declara

«However, I did succeed in talking to her, and, in doing so, told her that I had seen her before, and knew what her home looked like, and even described it to her, to convince her that I had seen her home.» — y la verificación que dice haber hecho, describiéndole la casa a la muchacha

«I have even convinced her that astral projection is possible, for she has since seen me projected into her room.» — con lo que declara haber conseguido después

«She is at the present time, in fact, a very close friend of mine, and is the young lady with whom I have since tried so many experiments.» — y quién resultó ser esa persona en el resto del libro

«Although I have stated that " spontaneous projection ” does not exist, it is nevertheless true that the crypto-conscious mind can produce a projection of the astral body without being stimulated to do so.» — la corrección que hace a su propia negación de la proyección espontánea

«And although we may term this " crypto-conscious, automatic ” projection, it really cannot be considered spontaneous, any more than it would if we performed an act after conceiving it in the conscious mind and carrying it out without any outside suggestion.» — con el nombre que le pone y la razón por la que se niega a llamarla espontánea

«It would be well-nigh impossible for anyone to state exactly how the various departments of the mind will function, even though he can, by study and experience, set down many important functions which do take place within those unfathomable realms.» — la reserva que pone sobre todo el capítulo: nadie puede decir exactamente cómo funcionan los departamentos de la mente

«However, he will also notice that, while this mind controls him to perfection on some occasions, it is influenced by impressions from the other minds on other occasions.» — con la variabilidad que declara del control cripto-consciente

«The crypto-conscious mind can produce a crypto-conscious automatic projection of the astral body, and the subject may be unconscious—the controlling power doing with the body whatever it wishes, independent of any outside impression.» — la primera forma que describe, la automática con el sujeto inconsciente

«The crypto-conscious mind can work upon a “ stress ” from the common subconscious mind ; it can project the body and be influenced by the common subconscious mind’s impressions. This is very common.» — la segunda, trabajando sobre un estrés del subconsciente común, que declara muy frecuente

«The crypto-conscious mind can take a suggestion directly from the conscious mind, and then produce a projection of the astral body. This is not so common, but can be done at times, especially by using the passive conscious Will.» — y la tercera, la sugerencia directa de la mente consciente, que declara menos común y ligada a la voluntad pasiva

«The crypto-conscious mind is doubtless responsible for many psychic phenomena which I shall touch upon soon.» — con lo que anticipa atribuirle en materia de fenómenos psíquicos

«I reached forward to move the wire out of the way. That is all I remember, for the wire was carrying a high voltage and, having no rubbers on my feet, I was immediately knocked unconscious.» — del accidente con el cable de alta tensión, lo último que declara recordar del cuerpo físico

«Of that I knew nothing; but I presently became conscious outside my physical body and saw it lying there, i.e. I saw it from my astral body.» — y el punto en que recobra conciencia, ya fuera y viendo su cuerpo

«I could feel the terrible electricity passing through me, even as I stood some feet away from my physical body, which was in contact with the wire.» — con el dato que sostiene su doctrina de la sensibilidad transmitida: sentía la corriente a varios pies del cuerpo

«My astral body, wherein I was conscious, although upright, was in exactly the same position as the physical body, which was horizontal.» — y la discordancia de postura que consigna, erguido en el astral sobre un cuerpo horizontal

«There I stood, helpless, for several minutes, which to me were like so many years.» — la impotencia que declara durante esos minutos

«Every one whom I have mentioned in this account is still living and would vouch for the genuineness of this occurrence, so far as the physical aspects are concerned.» — con los testigos que ofrece del lado físico del suceso

«The spectators, in fact, presumed that I had been dead for some time.» — y lo que esos testigos supusieron

«All were astonished at the fact that I “ came back to life,” as they said, and the examining physician who was called was likewise baffled, considering the length of time I had been upon the wire and the current it was carrying.» — con el desconcierto que adjudica al médico

«I believe I mentioned before that the victim of a violent death often re-enacts his death, over and over again in the astral; and when we consider this fact it really seems cruel that this should be so.» — la tesis que introduce a partir de ahí: la víctima de muerte violenta reactúa su muerte en el astral

«It is not so much the actual pain which remains as it is the mental terror which the pain has impressed deeply upon the mind (the stress) which has gained control of the victim, unless his conscious mind be functioning perfectly.» — con la causa que le adjudica, que no es el dolor sino el terror impreso, y su condición: que la mente consciente no funcione con fuerza

«To bring the explanation of this home to you, let us suppose for a moment that I had died upon the wire—instead of becoming physically alive again.» — el experimento mental con que la aplica a su propio caso

«The dominating impression made upon my mind (the ‘‘ stress ”) would have me under control; just as the stress of habit compels the projector to enact the habit.» — y la equivalencia que establece con el estrés del hábito

«He is earthbound not because of his morals, but because of his psychic condition.» — la tesis del apego terrestre que sostiene contra la lectura moral

«I have been criticized by Spiritualists, on several occasions, for making this statement, i.e. that the most upright earthly being is just as apt to become a victim of an earthbound condition as the most wicked. Yet it is true that a perfectly innocent person may become earthbound.» — con la crítica espiritista que declara haber recibido por sostenerla, y que no retira

«A mother, desperately longing to clasp her child once more to her breast, will frequent a place for some time after death, will “ haunt ” it, in other words.» — el caso de la madre que ronda un lugar tras la muerte

«The criminal, desiring revenge, will do the same thing I Both are under the influence of the “ stress ” in the mind, and will not only do so while conscious (i.e. when the cryptoconscious Will pays attention to the stress, and ignores the conscious suggestions, as it sometimes does), but will do so while unconscious or in the dream state.» — y el del criminal que busca venganza, que él pone bajo la misma ley

«It is the crypto-conscious mind which has the entity under control at such a time, and it is this mind which does the talking, answers the questions, etc., while the conscious mind is engaged in the dream.» — lo que Muldoon adjudica a la mente cripto-consciente en la sesión: es ella la que habla y responde mientras la consciente está en el sueño

«I have stated that the crypto-conscious mind always controls the subject—projector or spirit—when he is unconscious or in the dream consciousness, even though it may take suggestions from the dream consciousness.» — con la regla general de la que eso se sigue

«Very well, we do not have to go into the astral to prove it. I have stated that the only difference between astral somnambulism and physical somnambulism is that, in the latter case, the physical body clings on to the astral, which is under the control of the subconscious Will, the crypto-conscious Will.» — y la vía terrestre que propone para probarla, apoyada en su equivalencia entre los dos sonambulismos

«Now, the next time you meet a sleepwalker who can talk to you logically—in his somnambulism—speak to him, then wake him and ask him if he remembers what he said. He will say “ No ” practically every time. Yet he talked logically, and acted with instinctive precision (instinct comes from the crypto-conscious mind).» — la prueba concreta que propone con un sonámbulo

«He will say “ No ” practically every time. Yet he talked logically, and acted with instinctive precision (instinct comes from the crypto-conscious mind). Hence, it was not his conscious mind to which you were talking after all.» — con lo que deduce de esa amnesia, que el instinto viene de la mente cripto-consciente

«No, we do not have to go into the Unseen to prove why a projector or a spirit “ haunts ” a place, or why it lives over and over again some tragic event.» — la conclusión metodológica que saca

«It is the impression made—the “ stress ”—put upon the mind by the terror of a violent death which (coming to the surface, when the conscious mind is off guard, or not strong enough to control the stress) influences the crypto-conscious mind.» — el mecanismo que atribuye a la reactuación: el estrés del terror aflora cuando la mente consciente está desprevenida

«The department giving the suggestions to the crpytoconscious is not the department which controls the body, making it actout the drama.» — y la distinción que introduce entre departamentos: el que sugiere no es el que mueve el cuerpo

«The crypto-conscious mind, which controls the movements of the body, takes its suggestions from the strong impression (“ stress ’ ’) in the memory, and works them out in good order.» — con la fórmula en que la resume

«The controlling power is the crypto-conscious.» — y el poder al que atribuye el control

«No, conscious Will is not a vital factor in producing physical phenomena.» — la tesis con que Muldoon abre el capítulo de la telequinesia, contra la expectativa corriente

«Even many experimenters do not seem to know that the astral body is vibrating at a higher rate when two feet out of coincidence than it does when six inches out of coincidence.» — la ley de vibración que enuncia, y que dice ignorada por muchos experimentadores: el astral vibra más rápido cuanto más lejos del físico

«Yet that is true, and it is vibrating at a still higher rate when three feet out of coincidence.» — con la progresión que le adjudica

«It is true, however, that Will-power is the factor behind the manipulation of physical objects.» — la concesión que sí hace a la voluntad, como factor detrás de la manipulación

«All physical manifestations are not produced by the crypto-conscious Will, it is true, but when they are this Will must operate upon some “ force ” in order to do so.» — con el reparto que hace de los fenómenos físicos y la condición que pone

«The Will alone could not move physical objects—it is the “ force ” which the Will operates upon and manipulates.» — y la distinción de la que todo depende: la voluntad no mueve, mueve la fuerza sobre la que opera

«When you are conscious, and in control of your- motivity, you may Will (say) to knock a tumbler off the table, and, by using your motive force, hit the tumbler with your fist and knock it off as willed.» — el ejemplo del vaso sobre la mesa con que la ilustra en el cuerpo físico

«Force must be aroused by the inner mental process.» — con lo que exige del proceso mental interior

«Just how the mind (either mind) does this is not known.» — y la ignorancia que declara sobre cómo lo hace la mente

«It is easy to say that, in the physical body, your arm lunges out and knocks the tumbler off the table—because an impression runs along the nerves from the brain and contracts the muscles in such-and-such a manner.» — la explicación fisiológica que sí puede darse

«But to explain how the impression originated, and in what it consists, is impossible at the present time.» — con el punto en que declara imposible seguir explicando

«There are several conditions of the Will—the crypto-conscious Will —each affecting the “ force ” in a different manner.» — los estados de la voluntad cripto-consciente que distingue

«If you merely Will in a half-hearted manner to knock the tumbler to the floor, your Will affects the “ force ” but slightly, and you knock the tumbler off the table in a half-hearted manner, akin to the way in which you Willed the action.» — con el querer a medias y su efecto sobre la fuerza

«If you had Willed with determination, to knock the tumbler to the floor, you would have hit it vigorously.» — frente al querer con determinación

«If it Wills with determination, or in a hyperpositive manner —the “ force ” it sets into work becomes what we might call “ solid.”» — y el término que reserva para la fuerza así movida, que llama sólida

«But when the crypto-conscious is determined, seldom can the conscious Will affect it!» — lo que ocurre entonces con la voluntad consciente

«And even during that part of the time when the crypto-conscious mind is not determined, it will not usually respond to conscious suggestion.» — con la acotación de que ni siquiera fuera de ese estado responde de ordinario

«I am frank to confess that I have never moved a physical object, by conscious Will, in all my projections.» — y la confesión que él mismo antepone a su tesis: nunca movió un objeto físico por voluntad consciente en ninguna de sus proyecciones

«It is my contention that astral projectors, earthly mediums, and earthbound entities can and do move physical objects by means of the crypto-conscious Will—the Will which controls them— whether they are aware of it or not.» — la tesis que sostiene pese a eso, y que la marca como contención suya

«On two different occasions I have dreamed of moving objects in my home, and on awakening have found the objects moved accordingly.» — con los dos casos propios que aduce, soñados y hallados cumplidos al despertar

«Dr. Burns tells of a gentleman who, in a dream, pushed against the door of a distant house so strongly that those in the room were scarcely able to resist the pressure !» — y el caso ajeno que suma, tomado del doctor Burns

«And this is the reason why the earthbound entity, the “ haunter,” can move physical objects—at least why he often does move them.» — lo que explica con ello del fantasma que ronda una casa

«What we call insanity is not a far cry from the dream state, either !» — con la vecindad que establece entre la locura y el estado de sueño

«Permit me to call attention to the difference between the “ power ” of the crypto-conscious Will and the conscious Will itself.» — la diferencia de potencia entre las dos voluntades, que Muldoon pide atender

«I know a young man, far from strong ; any ordinary man could handle him when his mind is running along in conscious balance ; but when he gets into one of his insane tantrums, he becomes a giant;» — con el caso del joven débil que se vuelve gigante en el arrebato

«All insane spells of the kind are doubtless cases of crypto-conscious control; this is exactly the same principle as that involved in the cases we are now considering—viz. the “ force ” generated by the crypto-conscious Will, and how it produces physical manifestations.» — y lo que adjudica a esos arrebatos, control cripto-consciente, con el *doubtless* a la vista

«And let me assure you that the desire is increased tremendously when the entity cannot appease it—thus often hyperdynamizing the stress of the desire more and more in the subject’s subconscious mind—impelling the crypto-conscious Will to act with determination, resulting in the force becoming " solid,” and producing the physical phenomenon.» — el papel del deseo insatisfecho, que hiperdinamiza el estrés

«We can now see the reason why an individual “ haunter ” can often move physical objects, when a higher spirit—whose desires and habits have worn off, and whose mind is settled—cannot do so.» — con lo que explica de la asimetría entre el fantasma terrestre y el espíritu elevado

«Accepting all this as true, if the haunter be subject to spells of insanity (in which condition his crypto-conscious Will is dynamic) he should be able to move physical objects with comparative ease.» — y la consecuencia condicional que deriva para el fantasma con accesos de locura

«Unable to help myself, I called several times for my mother; but, as she was sound asleep, she did not hear me.» — del episodio del dolor de estómago, la llamada a la madre que no oye

«I soon recovered consciousness again, and, by exerting all my will power, managed to advance a few feet further ; but, having been confined to my bed for almost a month, the exertion was too much for me, and I fainted again.» — y el desmayo tras el esfuerzo, después de un mes en cama

«Naturally I wanted to look at my physical body—which is always the first thing one does —but my thought to that effect had no influence upon the» — con lo que declara ser siempre el primer impulso al salir, mirar el propio cuerpo, y la falta de control sobre él

«Advancing up the stairs, I went through the wall of my mother’s room and saw her, and my small brother, lying upon the bed, sound asleep. This impression was very distinct, but at this point a gap came in my consciousness.» — la escena que dice haber visto atravesando el muro del cuarto de su madre, y el corte de conciencia que sigue

«If occurrences such as these can take place during the nocturnal hours (when the subject actually finds himself involved in them), I wonder how many similar occurrences take place which are attributed to the dead, but which should be credited to the projected» — la pregunta que deja abierta a partir de ahí: cuántos fenómenos atribuidos a los muertos vendrían de vivos proyectados

«I said to him, " By gosh, Home ! You surely had that levitation act down pat !» — del sueño con D. D. Home, la frase con que le habla de su levitación

«HE explained to me just what to do. Unfortunately I do not remember what he said !» — y lo que declara no recordar de la explicación recibida, que él no suple

«But in this I failed, for when I had advanced to within a distance of about four feet from my physical body, I lost control of myself and dropped down into coincidence.» — con el fracaso que reporta al intentarlo

«But the way in which the “ force ” is manipulated by the cryptoconscious Will is what we do not know ; how the crypto-conscious Will gets hyperpositive, while working within itself, is another mystery; but when it does, or when it gets hyperpositive by working upon an impression from another department of the mind, the " force ” it manipulates becomes, so to say, solid,» — la ignorancia que declara sobre cómo la voluntad cripto-consciente manipula la fuerza y cómo se vuelve hiperpositiva

«Wallace called this a “ modern miracle.”» — del testimonio sobre las levitaciones de Home, el juicio que Muldoon adjudica a Wallace

«Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has stated that Home’s performance had much to do with his interest in the occult.» — y lo que atribuye a Conan Doyle sobre el peso de Home en su interés por lo oculto

«Think of the energy which the crypto-conscious mind must be manipulating in order to cause the mass of the physical body to float !» — con la energía que la levitación obligaría a manejar, según su propia doctrina

«When the crypto-conscious Will gets into an active mood, and the subject is free from his physical body, he will move as that Will moves him, and it is not unusual to bound here and there, unable to put the “ brakes ” on the controlling power.» — y lo que declara nada raro cuando la voluntad cripto-consciente se activa: rebotar sin poder frenar

«I have been asked on several occasions—even by spiritists who should know better—whether or not one retains his organs of sex in the astral body. Certainly !» — la pregunta sobre los órganos sexuales en el cuerpo astral, y su respuesta sin rodeos

«the astral counterpart is the exact duplicate of the physical body, in every centre and cell.» — apoyada en la duplicación exacta que sostiene desde el principio

«We know that the physical body is shaped, is affected, by physical laws to which we must conform.» — con la ley que reconoce sobre el cuerpo físico

«For aught we know, this may be the purpose of the physical body—to shape our spirit.» — y la finalidad que le propone, dicha como conjetura: dar forma al espíritu

«Christ said : “ The body is the temple of the spirit.”» — con la autoridad escrituraria que suma

«Again, Davis says : “ Spirit is substance and, although not unlike matter, it obeys the law of gravity.» — de Andrew Jackson Davis, la afirmación de que el espíritu es sustancia y obedece la gravedad

«However, the fact that I do not know the composition of my astral body should in no way discredit what I have said concerning it.» — la ignorancia que Muldoon declara sobre la composición de su cuerpo astral

«The truth is that I do not even know the composition of my physical body, and I have had infinitely more opportunity to study it than I have my astral body !» — con el argumento que le opone al que quisiera usarla contra él

«The common belief is that it is not unlike matter—the difference being only in the arrangement of its atoms.» — la creencia común sobre esa composición, que él consigna

«Saint Paul said : ‘ There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body,’ he stated an actual fact in nature.» — con la autoridad paulina de los dos cuerpos

«Therefore, spiritual matter is to spiritual sight and touch just as real and substantial as physical matter is to our physical sensory organs.» — y la equivalencia sensorial que se sigue para la materia espiritual

«From the foregoing arguments we conclude that modem science verifies the wisdom of Pythagoras, who taught, twenty-five hundred years ago, that all matter is made up of three elements— substance, motion and numbers.» — la doctrina pitagórica de sustancia, movimiento y números que recoge como verificada por la ciencia moderna

«Although, at the present time, the exact composition of the astral body is not known with certainty,-most occultists are of the opinion that the time is near at hand when science will solve this interesting problem conclusively.» — con la expectativa que atribuye a la mayoría de los ocultistas sobre una solución científica próxima

«But it will have to be solved in the laboratory, and not, as many think, by a mere projector examining it, while consciously projected.» — y la condición que él le pone, que la marca contra su propio método: será en el laboratorio y no por un proyector que se examine

«A few years ago, at the International Convention of Spiritualists, at Paris, it was stated humorously that the spirit of a man had about as much weight as a flea’s whisker !» — la broma del congreso de París sobre el peso del espíritu

«For my part I do not believe that the weight of man’s “ double ” is known, absolutely.» — con su propia abstención sobre esa cifra

«However, being substance, the astral body must have some weight.» — y lo único que da por seguro

«The body is capable of contraction and expansion, under the action of the Will—that is, the Will of the astral body—the expansion being about 1.26 mm., or about 1/40,000,000 of its own volume» — de los holandeses Malta y Zaalberg van Zelst, la contracción y expansión medidas del cuerpo astral

«It is thus subject to the law of gravitation.» — con la sujeción a la gravedad que le adjudican

«These results, I may say, agree more or less with certain experiments conducted by Dr. Duncan McDougall—of Haverhill, Mass.— some years ago» — y la concordancia que Muldoon les encuentra con Duncan McDougall

«It also seems to show us that the astral body is, in a sense, a material thing —very tenuous, probably, but still material in one sense.» — de donde saca que el cuerpo astral es material en algún sentido, con el *probably* a la vista

«One of the (negative) arguments often employed by sceptics is that the phantom is clothed— the seers usually describe the attire of the entity—therefore (they say) it was but hallucination» — el argumento escéptico de la ropa del fantasma, que consigna para responderlo

«But one thing is clear to me—the clothing of the phantom is created, and is not a counterpart of the physical clothing.» — y lo único que declara claro: la ropa se crea, no duplica a la física

«It would be safe to say that, if the testimony of every person who had died could be given us, the majority of them would state that, on awakening in the astral body, they thought they were in the physical body» — lo que apuesta que dirían los muertos si pudieran declarar

«All this must, of course, be governed by some superior Intelligence within the individual.» — con la inteligencia superior a la que remite el gobierno de todo eso

«I have noticed that, as a rule, if my physical body were clad in a certain garb, my astral counterpart would be clothed in an identical garb.» — la regla que declara haber observado en sí mismo sobre la ropa astral

«But again, there have been many exceptions to that rule—which demonstrates the eccentricities of the controlling intelligence !» — con las excepciones que él mismo consigna, y que atribuye a las excentricidades de la inteligencia que controla

«In fact, it is my belief that the clothing is formed from the aura.» — la materia de la que dice formarse la ropa, dicha como creencia

«In fact, the whole astral world is governed by thought.» — con la tesis general que la sostiene: el mundo astral entero se gobierna por el pensamiento

«Thus, it is evident that the same portion of the subconscious mind which establishes duplication also causes the clothing to be brought into being, from astral substance.» — y la parte de la mente a la que atribuye las dos cosas, la duplicación y la vestidura

«It is created by the inner mind, as thought-forms are created—even by the conscious mind.» — que empareja con la creación de formas-pensamiento

«As to the process of the actual creation itself, I know nothing, for the same reason that I know nothing as to how physical matter was created.» — con la ignorancia que declara sobre el proceso mismo

«She always described the clothing I had on at the time, and although, as I have said before, the phantom is usually garbed in raiment which duplicates that which the physical is wearing, she did not know, on many occasions, which suit of pajamas I had on, and she verified her impression afterwards.» — el control ajeno que aduce: ella describía su ropa sin saber cuál llevaba

«One can awaken, from unconsciousness, in the astral, and find that he is already clothed !» — y el caso de despertar ya vestido en el astral

«Some contend that nude spirits do not exist. This is folly.» — con lo que responde a quienes niegan la existencia de espíritus desnudos

«Investigators who saw the scene stated that the entity appeared to be dreaming, yet he occasionally conversed with them as logically as any conscious person would. When this occurs, the impressions composing part of the “ stress ” are stronger than the impressions composing the rest of the " stress.”—S.M.» — el caso del fantasma que pelea con su enemigo imaginario y a la vez conversa con lógica; la nota firmada S.M. lo explica por el desnivel interno del estrés, y el libro imprime esa misma nota dos veces, aquí y en la p. 302

«All this reminds me of another point—perhaps the most difficult of all to comprehend concerning the phenomena of astral projection : It is that everything in the astral plane seems to be governed by thought—by the mind of the projector.» — lo que Muldoon declara más difícil de comprender de todo el fenómeno: que en el plano astral todo se gobierna por el pensamiento

«Most of the time, however, even before you can complete a thought, you have already attained what you are thinking about.» — con la anticipación que le atribuye, el resultado llega antes de completar el pensamiento

«It seems almost unbelievable, but the subconscious Will can bring about the result before the conscious thought is completed.» — que carga a la Voluntad subconsciente

«The subconscious Will naturally gets the best of the projector much of the time, but the more one projects—which also means the longer one remains in the astral —the more his conscious Will becomes its own master again.» — y la recuperación del mando que atribuye a la práctica prolongada

«It seems that the mind creates its own environment—yet the environment is real!» — la fórmula con que sostiene a la vez las dos cosas: la mente crea su entorno y el entorno es real

«You could no more get out of this condition by incorrect thinking than you could " buy ” your way out with money ; for your wrong thoughts create their own environment.» — con lo que se sigue del purgatorio que describe: de ahí no se sale pensando mal

«So far as higher astral conditions are concerned, I know nothing of them.» — la ignorancia que declara sobre las condiciones astrales superiores

«No one understands the astral world ! No one could understand it.» — que extiende a todo el mundo

«The general belief is that the astral plane is composed of seven planes and seven sub-planes.» — con la creencia general que consigna, los siete planos y sus subplanos

«I make no apology for admitting that I know nothing whatever about the truth of this sevenfold scale of planes, which are said to represent the One Astral Plane.» — y la abstención expresa que opone, sin disculparse

«Many projectors assert that “ guides ” show them and explain all these things to them.» — lo que otros proyectores declaran sobre sus guías

«In every conscious out-of-the-body experience I have ever had, I have never seen anyone but the earthly things I have always seen.» — frente a lo que él declara haber visto en cada salida consciente

«I have seen astral phantoms among the earthly, but none whom I would choose for a guide !» — con la única presencia que sí concede, y a la que no daría el papel de guía

«I believe that practically everyone will awaken, in the astral, in the earth’s atmosphere, which I call*' purgatory.» — el término que reserva para la atmósfera terrestre, donde sitúa el despertar de casi todos

«There is one thing I do know, however, which is that, in the earth’s atmosphere—in this purgatory of the dead—are the astral entities who haunt the earthly ; that is, there are many phantoms of the dead living on the earth plane, but they are intangible to physical things.» — y lo único que declara saber de ese purgatorio: ahí viven los fantasmas que rondan lo terrestre

«Modem Spiritualism holds that the Spirit merely sojourns in the astral, and that it will continue to progress ever onward, into higher and higher realms.» — con la doctrina espiritista que consigna al lado, sin adoptarla

«The subconscious Will regulates the weight of the astral body, causing it to rise, to fall, or to remain at any given elevation.» — la función que da a la Voluntad subconsciente sobre el peso del cuerpo astral

«He is independent of the floor; he does not make contact with the floor at all.» — y lo que se sigue para el contacto con el suelo

«All this can never be explained by mortal mind—how thought creates or makes “ reality ” in the astral world.» — con el límite que pone a toda explicación mortal de eso

«It has become a habit with us to look, before crossing a thoroughfare, and wait for approaching vehicles to pass.» — el hábito de mirar antes de cruzar la calle, que él usa para mostrar cómo la costumbre sigue rigiendo al proyectado

«Earthbound phantoms are not as numerous as one might suppose.» — la corrección que hace a la expectativa corriente sobre el número de fantasmas terrestres

«Usually, one never sees a spirit during projection.» — con lo que declara habitual en la proyección

«There are no words to express the feeling of “ prodigiousness ” which overwhelms the projector,» — la sensación que declara inexpresable en el proyector

«One might project and encounter one condition, interiorize again, and think he knew all about the astral; yet he would know only about that particular condition which he experienced.» — la reserva que pone a cualquiera que generalice desde una sola salida

«Because of these innumerable conditions, many stories concerning the astral world are contradictory ; what one medium sees and hears» — con lo que explica de la contradicción entre los relatos de médiums

«Sceptics may say that this was a nightmare ; but I know when I am conscious, and I know what is real when I am conscious.» — del encuentro con el espectro de F.D., la respuesta que da a quien lo llame pesadilla

«It was no nightmare ! It was real! It was as real as any tussle with a flesh-and-blood devil could be.» — y la insistencia con que sostiene su realidad

«I do not know whether this be true or not; but I doubt it.» — con la reserva que él mismo pone a lo que le habían contado del personaje

«Prof. Wm. James said, shortly before his death : “ The refusal of modern enlightenment to treat obsession as a hypothesis to be spoken of as even possible, in spite of the massive human tradition based on concrete experience in its favour,» — la autoridad que Muldoon invoca para la obsesión, William James poco antes de morir

«Prof. J. H. Hyslop, in his Life after Death says : “ I have asserted that the explanation of this case is obsession, spirit or demoniac obsession, as it was called in the New Testament.» — y J. H. Hyslop en *Life after Death*, con la obsesión demoníaca del Nuevo Testamento nombrada

«The chief interest in such cases is the revolutionary effect in the field of medicine.» — con el efecto que Hyslop espera de esos casos en la medicina

«St. Paul, too, believed that evil spirits could influence earthly beings as well as good spirits.» — la autoridad paulina que suma sobre la influencia de los espíritus malos

«Some phantoms obsess intentionally ; others do so unknowingly.» — la distinción que él introduce entre fantasmas que obsesionan a propósito y sin saberlo

«Often the phantom is himself obsessed, as in the case of “ 89.”» — con el caso del maquinista, que él declara obsesionado a su vez

«The greatest objection which I have heard advanced against the practice of astral body projection is that, while the phantom is exteriorized from the body, a foreign astral entity might be able to inhabit the physical mechanism, and prevent the real owner (the projector) from getting back into his own body again !» — la objeción mayor que declara haber oído contra su práctica: que una entidad ocupe el cuerpo vacío

«What the probability of this type of obsession is I confess I cannot say ; however, it is my belief that somewhere there is a flaw in this contention, which is so often advanced by spiritists, and that there is a reason why this type of obsession is not likely to occur.» — y su respuesta, que es de creencia y no de prueba: da por defectuosa la contención sin poder decir dónde

«While psychologists ascribe all cases of dual or even multiple» — la explicación psicológica de la doble personalidad que consigna

«But the psychologists, it appears, cannot always give a satisfactory explanation as to how this secondary consciousness develops ; and some of the explanations advanced by them are anything but plausible.» — con lo que le objeta

«It is to be remembered that even orthodox psychologists and the most scientific investigators have, at times, had doubts as to the sufficiency of the ordinary psychological explanations of such cases.» — y el apoyo que busca en las dudas de los propios psicólogos ortodoxos

«We know, of course, that all so-called “ obsession ” is not necessarily spirit obsession, and that the subject’s own mind can at times obsess him, in itself.» — con la concesión que él mismo hace: no toda obsesión es de espíritus, y la mente puede obsesionarse a sí misma

«In all my conscious projections, however, I have seen only the present —just as I see only the present (but remember the past) as I write this account.» — lo que declara haber visto en sus proyecciones, que acota su alcance al presente

«It is claimed that, somewhere in the plane of forces, there is a record of everything which has ever been said or done, and that, under certain conditions, one can “ read ” this Record.» — la doctrina del registro que consigna en boca ajena

«Although I have never seen them—the Akashic Records, as they are called— and although I have never seen the future either, while» — con su abstención expresa: nunca vio los Registros Akáshicos ni el futuro

«The Akashic Records are not contained within some great Book, but are impressions of every word, scene and action which has ever occurred, in the Universal Ether or “ Astral Light.”» — la definición que da de esos registros, como impresiones en el Éter Universal y no como libro

«Dissect the brain, and you find no trace of what we call “ memory ” ; yet, every time you recall a past event, you have proof that somewhere this record lies hidden and invisible.» — con la analogía de la memoria en que la apoya

«Now, if you were looking at the sun, you would see it at that moment (apparently) but you do not see the sun as it is now, but as it was eight minutes ago ; and you do not see the sun as it is now until eight minutes hence ; so that, if there were a horse galloping on the sun, and you could see it, you would not see that horse galloping until eight minutes after he finished the race !» — y la del retardo de la luz solar, que le sirve para volver presente el pasado

«The universal ether is said to have a true record of everything which has ever been ; and the Hindus say that if one were developed properly, he could read these records.» — lo que atribuye a los hindúes sobre la lectura del registro etérico

«Swami Panchadasi, who is said to be a master of the art of astral projection, says: “ By travelling to a point in time, on the fourth dimension, you may begin at that point, and see a moving picture of the history of any part of the earth from that time to the present—or you may reverse the sequence by travelling backward.» — y de Swami Panchadasi, el viaje por la cuarta dimensión que permitiría ver la historia como película

«As a matter of strict truth, however, I must inform you that the real records of the past . . . exist on a much higher plane than the astral, and that which you have witnessed is but a reflection (practically perfect, however) of the original records.» — con la corrección que el propio Panchadasi introduce: lo visto en el astral es un reflejo y no el registro verdadero

«It requires a high degree of occult development in order to perceive even this reflection in the astral light. . . . An ordinary clairvoyant, however, is often able to catch occasional glimpses of these astral pictures, and may thus describe fairly well the happenings of the past.» — y el grado de desarrollo que exige incluso para ese reflejo

«So, if you could get far enough away in space, there would always be a time, theoretically, when you could see that action, being recorded in the ether.» — la consecuencia que Muldoon saca del retardo de la luz, dicha en teoría

«We still see the record of stars which went out of existence hundreds of years ago.» — con el caso de las estrellas ya extinguidas

«So that every stone put in place on the Great Pyramid is now being put there—at a certain distance in space.» — y el de la Gran Pirámide, que él lleva al extremo

«I dreamed that I came out of the front door of my home and started to walk up the street, on my way to school.» — del sueño que se cumplió, la salida de casa camino a la escuela