Projectiology: A Panorama of Experiences of the Consciousness Outside the Human Body

PROJECTIOLOGY: A PANORAMA OF EXPERIENCES OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS OUTSIDE THE HUMAN BODY by Waldo Vieira, M.D. Brazil: International Institute of Projectiology and Conscientiology, 2002. Pp. 1232. $90 (hardback). ISBN 85-86019-58-5

Dr. Waldo Vieira, founder of the International Institute of Projectiology and Conscientiology (IIPC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has produced an erudite compilation of extensive research in the field of so-called "lucid projection" (conscious out-of-body experience). Vieira's perception of projectiology as an integral element of consciousness is reflected in the following statement:

   Projectiology acts exclusively within the scope of essential wisdom,
   or that of conscientiology [study of multidimensional
   consciousness], because it concentrates all of its research,
   without any messianism [belief in a savior or deliverer], in
   the third basic state of the consciousness, or the projected
   state, which is important to the intraphysical consciousness
   [consciousness in embodied human form, incarnate] and
   even to the extraphysical consciousness [consciousness outside
   or beyond human embodiment, discarnate.] (p. 381)

According to the author, the primary intent of this body of research is "to demonstrate that it [the hypothesis of the objective bodyconscious personal observation] is the most adequate hypothesis for explaining a greater series of consciential phenomena (phenomenology) which are currently considered to be parapsychic" (pp. 2-3).

This 525-chapter volume is deemed to be of interest to parapsychology researchers, psychology students, and devout seekers of comprehensive information regarding lucid projection. Data was collected from eight sources with heavy emphasis on the research of the author: (1) projections--over 1,100 self-analyzed, spontaneous, and provoked "consciential projections" (lucid out-of-body occurrences) experienced by the author from 1941 until March 1985; (2) round-table discussions; (3) correspondence; (4) intraphysical consciousnesses; (5) extraphysical consciousnesses; (6) meetings--parapsychic field research and personal meetings conducted in Brazil, the United States, and Europe, with directors, editors, researchers, and members of institutions, laboratories, bookstores, studios, and private and public university and institutional libraries; (7) technical and scholarly works, e.g., manuals, biographies, treatises, anthologies, periodicals, expositions, dissertations, magazines and newspapers; and (8) additions and revisions to the first edition of this book (pp. 1-2). Also included is an extensive International Bibliography of Projectiology (pp. 997-1097). Terms, concepts, techniques, and research are discussed in an outline style that may prove useful as a reference manual for graduate courses in consciousness. Topics for future research are proposed throughout the text.

Although the author stresses that this text is of a highly technical nature, many chapters offer step-by-step instruction, useful to readers with varying levels of experience in lucid projection. An entire chapter is devoted to lucid projection techniques such as psychophysiological self-relaxation (p. 432), rhythmic respiration (p. 435), and remote viewing (p. 439).

This volume reflects the author's strong personal beliefs. As a result, many statements seem strident, even dogmatic. In this reviewer's opinion, the best way to appreciate Vieira's material is to examine it as a phenomenological treatise with applications to the consensual world that necessitate verification or refutation by other researchers. With regard to the existence of the frequently cited silver cord, Vieira states:

   Many projectors, especially novices or those still lacking
   extraphysical agility, imagine that the psychosoma only leaves
   the human body through the solar plexus ... [however] the
   silver cord simultaneously and mainly exits the body through
   the cranium and the extraphysical head of the psychosoma.
   (p. 271)

All illustrations referencing the silver cord indicate only the cranial exit (pp. 1121-1151). Therefore, the author appears to diminish all speculations indicating the exit of the silver cord from the solar plexus.

According to Vieira, "higher animals" (e.g., chimpanzees, cats, and dogs) unconsciously project themselves in an extraphysical vehicle while engaging in natural sleep, analogous to that of the human personality during natural sleep (p. 112). He expresses his conviction that animal projection is due to the animal's proximity to a projecting human with which the animal has affinity, and that the projecting animal remains devoid of awareness of itself (p. 112). In this reviewer's opinion, further research is required in the field of animal projection in order to substantiate these assertions.

Vieira also claims that the holochakra (energetic or pranic body) "always remains invisible to the sight of the ordinary individual ... [and] is still totally unknown by conventional allopathic medicine" (p. 257). While this may have been true at the time of original publication of his book (1986), it has been the experience of this reviewer that although allopathic medical schools do not customarily promote esoteric teachings, some allopathic medical doctors are currently utilizing their own esoteric insights in conjunction with allopathic practices.