Introduction

The out-of-body experience (OBE) is a multifaceted experience whose core characteristic is a first personal perspective in which the “self,” “himself,” or “center of consciousness” is experienced as spatially separated from the body (Carruthers, 2015; Metzinger, 2005; Terhune, 2009). This particular state of consciousness attracts much interest spanning from the philosophy of mind, to neurophysiology, and to the study of consciousness in general (see Alvarado, 2009; Cardeña & Alvarado, 2014, for a review).

Usually, such an experience occurs either as an uncontrolled, spontaneous event (Blanke & Castillo, 2007; Braithwaite, Samson, Apperly, Broglia, & Hulleman, 2011; Cardeña, 2005) and are all based on the participants’ verbal reporting obtained by questionnaires or interviews carried out after and not during this experience.

The possibility to induce real OBE using hypnotic inductions, with the possibility to interview participants during their experience, offers a unique opportunity to investigate in detail this state of consciousness for a prolonged time in a controlled way.

Hypnotic induced OBE (Cardeña, 2005; Nash, Lynn, & Stanley, 1984; Tart, 1998; Tressoldi & Del Prete, 2007) are rare, given the necessity to recruit expert hypnotists and in particular participants willing and ready to face such a special experience.

In a related article, Tressoldi et al. (2014) investigated the accuracy of perceiving distant and the first-person phenomenological experience of five selected participants with respect to the minimal phenomenal selfhood (MPS) as defined by Blanke and Metzinger (2009) and the similarities with the characteristics of spatial and temporal perception reported in near-death experiences (NDEs).

The first-person reports of all five participants suggested the existence of a disembodied personal selfhood (DPS) characterized by the experience of being a distinct, holistic entity with self-control and learning capabilities implying the concept of ability to experience and participate in events, without a body or location in space–time. This entity is able to perceive simply by an act of will without the physical limitations of eyesight, is able to move about in the environment instantly, and exists in a sort of three-dimensional world with no perception of time.

During the participants’ training, the hypnotist noticed that some of them perceived a type of secondary body, an intermediate between the physical body (Pb) and the DPS. It was therefore decided to investigate this presumed new non-Pb using a semistructured interview.

In this article, we report the first-person verbal reports of how those participants plus a new one, described this body, which was simply named “subtle body” (Sb) to differ it from the Pb and from the center of consciousness or first-person perspective we named “psychic body” (Ψb) plus the interaction among them.

The literature about the identification of different bodies in OBE is mainly based on some autobiographical reports (see Alvarado’s (2012) analysis of Robert Crookall work), survey literature, and other questionnaire studies that give some information about the bodies perceived by people during OBEs (e.g., Alvarado & Zingrone, 2015). Consequently, the models to explain these bodies have not been developed in terms of testable hypotheses up today. Given this situation, our study has to be considered as an exploratory investigation aimed at bringing a further contribution to the knowledge of this fascinating phenomenon.