Five of the most important books ever written on astral projection are completely free to read right now, their copyrights long since expired. These are not summaries or modern rewrites. They are the original texts, digitized and hosted legally through the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg. Rounding out the list are five modern books, from practical technique guides to a rigorous skeptical investigation, along with one organization still doing structured research in the field.
Free Astral Travel Books You Can Read Right Now
These five titles are all in the public domain, which means the full text is legally free to read or download. No account, no catch.
The Projection of the Astral Body by Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington (1929)
Muldoon documented hundreds of his own attempts at leaving his body over years of trial and error, and this book is still the most granular, session-by-session record available anywhere on the subject. Hereward Carrington, a professional psychical researcher, cross-examined Muldoon’s claims rather than simply taking his word for them, which is a big part of why the book has held up as a primary source for close to a century. If you want the mechanics of astral projection broken down in more detail than any single modern guide can fit, this is the one to read.
Read it free: The Projection of the Astral Body, Internet Archive
The Phenomena of Astral Projection by Sylvan Muldoon and Hereward Carrington (1951)
Muldoon and Carrington returned to the subject more than two decades after their first book, and this sequel expands on the theory itself rather than repeating the earlier case record. It works through the mechanics of the “cord” connecting the physical and astral bodies, addresses criticism the original book received, and folds in cases collected in the years between the two books. Read alongside the first book, it is the closest thing to a complete statement of the Muldoon-Carrington theory of astral projection.
Read it free: The Phenomena of Astral Projection, Internet Archive
Astral Projection: A Record of Out-of-the-Body Experiences by Oliver Fox (1939)
“Oliver Fox” was the pen name of Hugh George Callaway, and this book is the best resource for anyone drawn to the dream-control approach to leaving the body rather than the passive-will method. Fox writes in a genuinely personal, engaging voice about his own gradual discovery of the technique, tracing his dream-recognition process in more depth than most modern guides attempt. It is one of the earliest accounts to treat astral projection as a skill that can be learned rather than a gift that simply happens to some people.
Read it free: Astral Projection by Oliver Fox, Internet Archive
The Astral Plane by C.W. Leadbeater (1895)
Leadbeater’s book is the richest source available on the older Theosophical framework behind astral projection, including its taxonomy of shells, thought-forms, and other entities that most modern guides leave out entirely. If that broader cosmology, and the question of what else might be encountered on the astral plane, interests you, this book goes deeper into it than anything published since. It also works as a historical document, showing how astral projection was understood before the psychical research tradition reframed it as something to be documented and tested.
Read it free: The Astral Plane, Project Gutenberg
Phantasms of the Living by Edmund Gurney, Frederic Myers, and Frank Podmore (1886)
This is the gold standard for documented case histories of out-of-body and apparition experiences, built case by case from accounts that were cross-examined and recorded by investigators rather than simply reported secondhand. It reads less like a personal memoir and more like a formal witness record, which is what makes it the most rigorous version of the historical evidence on this list. Anyone who wants the case for astral projection argued the way a 19th-century researcher would argue it should start here.
Read it free: Phantasms of the Living, Internet Archive
Modern Astral Travel Books Worth Buying
These five are not free, and no legitimate free copy exists since all remain under copyright. They are still essential reading, and worth buying or borrowing from a library.
Journeys Out of the Body by Robert Monroe (1971)
Monroe is the most modern and accessible voice on this list, and this book is where the vibrational technique and rotation method that show up across today’s OBE community were first laid out for a general audience. He was not a psychical researcher by training, and that is part of the appeal. He wrote for ordinary readers curious about their own experiences, and the research that grew out of this book eventually became the Monroe Institute, which still runs OBE training programs today.
Beyond the Body by Susan Blackmore (1982)
Blackmore was a parapsychology researcher who spent years investigating out-of-body experiences from the scientific side, and this book is the most rigorous skeptical treatment on the list. She takes witness accounts seriously without assuming they prove a literal astral body, weighing physiological and psychological explanations against the experience itself. It is the book to read for the strongest counterargument available, made by someone who took the phenomenon seriously enough to study it for years.
Leaving the Body by D. Scott Rogo (1983)
Rogo’s book is a straightforward, well-organized practical guide that sits between the older esoteric accounts and the more personal styles of Monroe and Buhlman. It surveys multiple induction techniques rather than pushing one method, which makes it a useful reference once you have a sense of which approach suits you. Rogo was a working parapsychology writer, and the book reflects that background in how it handles research alongside practice.
Adventures Beyond the Body by William Buhlman (1996)
Buhlman is one of the most cited modern voices in the OBE community, and this book updates the practical guide format for a contemporary audience, backed by decades of his own out-of-body exploration. He puts heavy emphasis on belief and expectation as barriers to projection, arguing that most people who fail are stopping themselves rather than lacking ability. It pairs well with Monroe’s book as a second modern opinion on technique.
Astral Dynamics and Practical Psychic Self-Defense by Robert Bruce (1999)
Robert Bruce writes from decades of personal practice and direct engagement with the modern online OBE community, and these two books are the best resource for anyone interested in the more active, practitioner-focused side of the subject, including protection technique for the negative entities some practitioners call “Negs.” Both go much further into practical technique than most beginner guides attempt, making them a natural next step once the fundamentals are in place.
Other Astral Travel Resources
Beyond books, the Monroe Institute was founded by Robert Monroe and continues to run structured out-of-body research and training programs, making it one of the few organizations still doing sustained, hands-on work in this field. It is worth exploring if a guided, structured approach appeals to you more than working through a book alone.
Between the five free public domain classics and the five modern books, this list covers the full arc of astral projection literature, from its earliest documented case histories to the techniques still being taught and refined today, and includes the strongest skeptical case against the phenomenon alongside the practitioner guides. Start with whichever era speaks to you, and keep this page bookmarked as a reference as your practice develops.