Etheric body

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The Holy Grail, illustration by Arthur Rackham, 1917. Pre-Raphaelite art at this time often represented contemporary interest in the "spirit body", "aura" or "body of light".

The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, a name given by neo-Theosophy to a supposed vital body propounded in esoteric philosophies as the first or lowest layer in the "human energy field" or aura.^[1] It is said to be in immediate contact with the physical body, to sustain it and connect it with "higher" bodies.

The English term "etheric" in this context seems to derive from the Theosophical writings of Madame Blavatsky, but its use was formalised by C.W. Leadbeater^[2] and Annie Besant^[3] due to the elimination of Hindu terminology from the system of seven planes and bodies. (Adyar School of Theosophy).

The term gained some general popularity after the 1914-18 war, Dr.Walter John Kilner having adopted it for a layer of the "human atmosphere" which, as he claimed in a popular book, could be rendered visible to the naked eye by means of certain exercises.^[4]

The classical element Aether of Platonic and Aristotlean physics continued in Victorian scientific proposals of a Luminiferous ether as well as the cognate chemical substance ether. According to Theosophists and Alice Bailey the etheric body inhabits an etheric plane which corresponds to the four higher subplanes of the physical plane. The intended reference is therefore to some extremely rarefied matter, analogous in usage to the word "spirit" (originally "breath"). In selecting it as the term for a clearly-defined concept in an Indian-derived metaphysical system, the Theosophists aligned it with ideas such as the prana-maya-kosha (sheath made of prana, subtle breath or life-force) of Vedantic thought.

In popular use it is often confounded with the related concept of the astral body as for example in the term astral projection - the early Theosophists had called it the "astral double". Others prefer to speak of the "lower and higher astral".

[edit] Beings that possess only etheric bodies

In the teachings of Theosophy, Devas are regarded as living either in the atmospheres of the planets of the solar system (Planetary Angels) or inside the Sun (Solar Angels) (presumably other planetary systems and stars have their own angels) and they help to guide the operation of the processes of nature such as the process of evolution and the growth of plants; their appearance is reputedly like colored flames about the size of a human being. It is believed by Theosophists that devas can be observed when the third eye is activated. Some (but not most) devas originally incarnated as human beings. ^[5]

It is believed by Theosophists that nature spirits, elementals (gnomes, ondines, sylphs, and salamanders), and fairies can be also be observed when the third eye is activated. ^[6] It is maintained by Theosophists that these less evolutionarily developed beings have never been previously incarnated as human beings; they are regarded as being on a separate line of spiritual evolution called the “deva evolution”; eventually, as their souls advance as they reincarnate, it is believed they will incarnate as devas. ^[7].

It is asserted by Theosophists that all of the above mentioned beings possess etheric bodies (but no physical bodies) that are composed of etheric matter, a type of matter finer and more pure that is composed of smaller particles than ordinary physical plane matter. ^[8] (See the book Occult Chemistry by C.W. Leadbeater)

[edit] Accounts of the Etheric Body

See also: Subtle body

Linga sarira is a Sanskrit term for the invisible double of the human body, the etheric body or etheric double (or astral body in some Theosophical concepts). It is one of the seven principles of the human being, according to Theosophical philosophy.

Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, often referred to the etheric body (Ätherleib or "Life Body") in association with the etheric formative forces and the evolution of man and the cosmos.^[9] According to him, it can be perceived by a person gifted with clairvoyance as being of "peach-blossom color".

Steiner considered the etheric reality or life principle as quite distinct from the physical material reality, being intermediate between the physical world and the astral or soul world. The etheric body can be characterised as the life force also present in the plant kingdom. It maintains the physical body's form until death. At that time, it separates from the physical body and the physical reverts to natural disintegration.

According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings,^[10] the etheric body, composed of four ethers, is called the "Vital Body" since the ether is the way of ingress for vital force from the Sun and the field of agencies in nature which promote such vital activities as assimilation, growth, and propagation. It is an exact counterpart of our physical body, molecule for molecule, and organ for organ, but it is of the opposite polarity. It is slightly larger, extending about one and one-half inches beyond the periphery of the physical body.

Samael Aun Weor teaches that the vital body is the tetra-dimensional part of the physical body and the foundation of organic life. ^[11][12] He states that in the second Initiation of Fire, which is reached through working with sexual magic with a spouse, the Kundalini rises in the vital body. Then the initiate learns how to separate the two superior ethers from the others in order for them to serve as a vehicle to travel out of the physical body.^[13]

On the Tree of Life of the Kabbalah, the vital body is often related to the sephirah Yesod.^[14]

Some clairvoyants and occultists have produced drawings and paintings that record their perceptions of the etheric body; see Leadbeater's Man Visible and Invisible for one example. The images produced by Kirlian photography bear obvious resemblances to these graphics, showing a spiky-looking energy field extending a few inches around the human body (as well as other biological specimens, like leaves, and objects like coins). The fact that Kirlian photography can capture the acupuncture points of the body links the technology with concepts of prana, qi, bioplasma, and related ideas and theories. For some believers in the etheric body, Kirlian photography provides important supporting evidence—though skeptics are generally not swayed.

[edit] Relation to physics

Modern theosophists sometimes claim that the ideas discussed in this article are related to a contemporary area of fringe science, modern Aether theories. However, there are alternative explanations that some Theosophists may regard as plausible - which includes the conception of the dynamic [mass-free energy] aether,^[15][16][17] possessing a fluid-crystal structure, sub-divided in different levels of density, with density proportional to the density of any physical substance occupying the area of space concerned, increasing around large bodies such as stars and planets, acting as a refracting medium, affecting the speed of propagation of light and conveying electromagnetic forces, etc.—for all the experimental data and astronomical observations currently cited in support of the special and general theories of relativity, including the phenomena known as vacuum energy and other unsolved problems in physics that baffles the current standard theories. Also that the internal inconsistencies and unwarranted assumptions of standard relativity theory have been pointed out by dozens of scientists^{[18][19][20][21]} It must be re-iterated, though, that these ideas should in no way be construed as being indicative of generally accepted scientific opinion on the subject.

[edit] See also

• Subtle body
• Etheric projection
• Esoteric cosmology
• Linga sarira
• Odic fluid, Prana, Qi

[edit] References

1. ^ Brennan, Barbara, Hands of Light : A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field (Etheric body), Bantam Books, 1987
2. ^ Leadbeater, C. W., Man, Visible and Invisible, 1902
3. ^ Besant, Annie, Man and His Bodies, 1911
4. ^ Kilner, Walter J., The Human Atmosphere, or the Aura Made Visible by the aid of Chemical Screens, 1911, reprinted as "The Human Aura" by Citadel Press, NY, 1965, ISBN 0-8065-0545-1. The Aura, by Walter J. Kilner. Introd. by Sibyl Ferguson. New York, S. Weiser, 1973.
5. ^ Hodson, Geoffrey, Kingdom of the Gods ISBN 0-7661-8134-0 — Has color pictures of what Devas supposedly look like when observed by the third eye — their appearance is reputedly like colored flames about the size of a human being. Paintings of some of the devas claimed to have been seen by Hodson from his book "Kingdom of the Gods":
6. ^ Eskild Tjalve’s paintings of devas, nature spirits, elementals and fairies:
7. ^ Powell, A.E. The Solar System London:1930 The Theosophical Publishing House (A Complete Outline of the Theosophical Scheme of Evolution) See "Lifewave" chart (refer to index)
8. ^ Powell, A.E. The Solar System London:1930 The Theosophical Publishing House (A Complete Outline of the Theosophical Scheme of Evolution) See "Lifewave" chart (refer to index)
9. ^ Steiner, Rudolf, Occult science - An Outline. Trans. George and Mary Adams. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1909, 1969
10. ^ Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter IV, The Constitution of Man: Vital Body - Desire Body - Mind), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3
11. ^ Samael Aun Weor, The Pistis Sophia Unveiled, Thelema Press, (1983) 2005
12. ^ Samael Aun Weor, "Death", The Book of the Dead, 1966
13. ^ Samael Aun Weor, The Three Mountains, Thelema Press, (1972) 2003
14. ^ Samael Aun Weor, The Initiatic Path in the Arcana of Tarot and Kabbalah, Thelema Press, (1978) 2007
15. ^ Aspden, Harold, The Physics of Creation: Chapter 7: Aether Structure, 2003
16. ^ Wilcock, David, Light on Quantum Physics
17. ^ Mishin, Alexander M., The Ether Model as Result of the New Empirical Conception, International Academy of MegaSciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (html available)
18. ^ Wilcock, David, The breakthroughs of Russian astrophysicist Dr. Nikolai A. Kozyrev (1908-1983)
19. ^ Louis Essen (1908 - 1997), Relativity and Time Signals, in Wireless World magazine, October 1978
20. ^ Aspden, Harold (PhD. electrical engineering at Trinity/University of Cambridge [1953/4], physicist, MInstP), Physics without EinsteinPDF 1969, 2005
21. ^ Deutsch, Sid (Ph.D. electrical engineering, fellow of IEEE and the Society for Information Display), Einstein's Greatest Mistake: Abandonment of the Aether, ISBN 0595374816, 2006

[edit] Further reading

• Kambhampati, Parvathi Kumar. The Etheric Body (First Edition ed.). Visakhapatnam: Dhanishta. .
• Powell, Arthur E. The Etheric Double