Tempo:
II. The OBE Psychophysiology of Robert A. Monroe By Stuart W. Twemlow, M.D., and Glen O. Gabbard, M.D.
Robert Monroe is a businessman from Virginia, now in his sixties, who is one of the most widely known gifted subjects in the OBE literature. He has written a book cataloguing his out-of-body exploits,* and has founded a private institution devoted to the study of such phenomena: the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in Faber, Virginia. He voluntarily submitted himself to in-depth psychiatric and psychological evaluation several years prior to the publication of this book. He underwent intensive psychiatric interviewing and a battery of different psychological tests. Monroe has never had psychiatric treatment of any form. He has performed at a high level of functioning throughout his career as producer, businessman, and entrepreneur. As we delve into his background, we find that he did not have out-of-body experiences until the age of forty-two. He had an orthodox Southern upbringing with high-achieving and successful parents. From an early age, Monroe had a fascination with flying. He built model planes as a little boy and learned to fly airplanes when he was only in high school. Later, he became an accomplished glider pilot. He was also preoccupied with the thrill of movement and has wonderful memories of riding on trains. Tolpin (1974) has related such intense developmental vicissitude to the grandiose fantasy which she calls “the Daedalus Experience.” She takes this name, of course, from the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, who longed to fly over the sea and created wax wings for themselves to accomplish this task. Icarus, the son of Daedalus, became intoxicated with his ability to fly and flew too near the sun. The sun melted the wax on his wings, and he plunged into the sea as his father, Daedalus, continued on his way. Tolpin postulates that this myth and the fascination with flying is intimately connected with a certain developmental period when the infant experiences an ecstatic primal pleasure at being flung about by his mother and father and doting relatives. This archaic grandiose fantasy of defying gravity and flying through the air is normally tamed in the process of maturity and channeled into high
Robert Monroe is a businessman from Virginia, now in his sixties, who is one of the most widely known gifted subjects in the OBE literature. He has written a book cataloguing his out-of-body exploits,* and has founded a private institution devoted to the study of such phenomena: the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences in Faber, Virginia. He voluntarily submitted himself to in-depth psychiatric and psychological evaluation several years prior to the publication of this book. He underwent intensive psychiatric interviewing and a battery of different psychological tests. Monroe has never had psychiatric treatment of any form. He has performed at a high level of functioning throughout his career as producer, businessman, and entrepreneur. As we delve into his background, we find that he did not have out-of-body experiences until the age of forty-two. He had an orthodox Southern upbringing with high-achieving and successful parents. From an early age, Monroe had a fascination with flying. He built model planes as a little boy and learned to fly airplanes when he was only in high school. Later, he became an accomplished glider pilot. He was also preoccupied with the thrill of movement and has wonderful memories of riding on trains. Tolpin (1974) has related such intense developmental vicissitude to the grandiose fantasy which she calls “the Daedalus Experience.” She takes this name, of course, from the myth of Daedalus and Icarus, who longed to fly over the sea and created wax wings for themselves to accomplish this task. Icarus, the son of Daedalus, became intoxicated with his ability to fly and flew too near the sun. The sun melted the wax on his wings, and he plunged into the sea as his father, Daedalus, continued on his way. Tolpin postulates that this myth and the fascination with flying is intimately connected with a certain developmental period when the infant experiences an ecstatic primal pleasure at being flung about by his mother and father and doting relatives. This archaic grandiose fantasy of defying gravity and flying through the air is normally tamed in the process of maturity and channeled into high
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