Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington – The Projection of the Astral Body

There are several variations of the flying dream, almost as many as there are positions for the astral body to assume and movements for it to make, as it oscillates in the air,  over the physical body or on the surface of the ground. ….

One variation of the flying dream is the " swimming dream" with or without motion of the legs and arms. This always occurs while the astral body is worming along,  lying in a horizontal position in the air.

Another variation is that in which the dreamer is standing upright, and is moving at great speed over the surface of the earth, or along a street, etc. One is actually doing this in the dream-body, during many such dreams, ie moving at the intermediate speed.  I have awakened in this dream several times, to find myself doing this in reality in the astral. Usually this dream is pleasant.

Again there is the “giant stride” dream in which the dreamer seems to be moving over the surface of the earth, in giant strides – very gracefully, almost gliding along ludicrously at times….. although there is motion of the limbs he is being moved by the subconscious will [the composer]. Thus every step covers a great distance, for it is not the actual step which drives the body forward.

Did you ever see a runner shown in slow motion pictures?  I know of no better example of the ‘giant stride’  than one sees here; the gliding effect, the gracefulness, the apparent lack of weight etc – as if the runner were sustained by the air, each step covering a great distance.

A typical " inside cord-activity range” dream is the body flapping dream. In it the dreamer prances round, while his body seems to be very lax, and flaps upward and downward, much as the body and arms of a horseback rider flap upwards and downwards when the horse is on the run.

In this dream the body seems very light and the jumps are often graceful, coming at regular intervals, in rapid succession.  Often the dreamer will advance along a street, or some other path, in a like manner. At other times it seems to be only the head of the dreamer which does the flapping and jerking, and this very pronouncedly.