Etheric body
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The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, or vital body is one of the subtle bodies in esoteric philosophies, in some religious teachings and in New Age thought. It is understood as a sort of life force body or aura that constitutes the "blueprint" of the physical body, and which sustains the physical body.
The prana-maya-kosha (sheath made of life-force) of Vedantic thought could be considered equivalent to the etheric body.
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[edit] Etheric body in Theosophy
The term "etheric" in the Theosophy context seems to derive from the writings of C.W. Leadbeater[1] and Annie Besant[2] (Adyar School of Theosophy). It is given an almost identical meaning by New Age writer Barbara Brennan who describes it as the first (lowest) layer in the "human energy field" or aura.[3]
According to Adyar Theosophy and Alice Bailey, the etheric body and the etheric plane correspond to the four higher subplanes of the physical plane.
[edit] Prana principle
In Theosophy, the Prana principle[4] is understood as the vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and the vital energy in all natural processes of the universe. Its first expounding came in the Upanishads, where it is part of the worldly, physical realm, sustaining the body and the mother of thought and thus also of the mind. Prana suffuses all living form but is not itself the Atma or individual soul.
[edit] Linga Sharira
- Further information: Linga sarira
On the other hand, the "Linga Sharira" is the Sanskrit term for the invisible double of the human body. It has been called by many other names such as etheric body, etheric double (or astral body in the original Theosophical concepts by Blavatsky). It is one of the seven principles of the human being, according to Theosophical philosophy. It serves as a model or matrix of the human body form, thus it is often called the "double" since it has the same shape and appearance as the body. The body conforms to the shape or condition of this double. It is a vehicle of prana or qi, thus its other name, pranamayakosa. Its effusion of energy can be observed through Kirlian photography or Kilner screens. Such glow around the body is called the human aura.
[edit] Life body in Anthroposophy
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, often refers to the etheric body (Ätherleib or "Life Body") in association to the etheric formative forces and the evolution of man and the cosmos.[5] According to him, it can be perceived by a person gifted with clairvoyance as being of "peach-blossom color".
Steiner considers 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.
[edit] Vital body in the Western Wisdom Teachings
According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings,[6] 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, with one exception: it is of the opposite sex, meaning POLARITY. It is slightly larger, extending about one and one-half inches beyond the periphery of the physical body.
[edit] The "Astral body" (Soul body)
These Rosicrucian teachings, called Western Wisdom Teachings, explain that the vital body is the same body as the "etheric double"; this body, through which vital force ingresses, is constituted by four ethers. In order to form the "Astral body" (the two superior ethers) it is necessary a transmutation that can be achieved in a secure (voluntary-conscient-positive) way, becoming an "Invisible Helper", through a spiritual oriented life devoted to altruistic service to mankind and through a careful esoteric training.
However, it is also mentioned that esoteric training should be appropriate to the race substructure of the individual; meaning mainly that spiritual exercises who work efficiently in an individual of an eastern race (as eg. yoga) will not bring great achievements in the spiritual unfoldment of an individual from a western race, and vice-versa,[7] which may even lead to emotional and mental disorders.
The Western Wisdom Teachings explain also that the term "Astral body"—a vehicle made of ether (from the Vital body), which is lighter than air and therefore capable of levitation—was employed by the mediaeval Alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to traverse the "starry" regions. The Astral body should not to be confounded with the Desire body: during the soul flights the desire body molds itself readily into this prepared matrix; when the individual returns to the physical body, the effort of will whereby he enters it automatically dissolves the intimate connection between the desire body and the soul body. The Astral body is also known as the "Soul body", the Golden Wedding Garment, the "Philosopher's Stone", or the "Living Stone", spoken of in some of the ancient philosophies as the "Diamond Soul" ("for it is luminous, lustrous, and sparkling—a priceless gem"), and will eventually be evolved by humanity as a whole.[8]
Another term used for vital force is said to be "Odic fluid".
[edit] Photographing the etheric body
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
Some theosophists held that the vital force could be identified with "N-rays". This notion, named after the city of Nantes where the radiations were "observed" by physicist René-Prosper Blondlot in 1903, have long since been debunked in mainstream physics.
Modern theosophists sometimes claim that the ideas discussed in this article are related to a contemporary area of fringe science, modern Aether theories. Even fringe scientists are likely to disavow such a relation, and few if any physicists would recognize theosophy as closely related to physics.
However, there are alternative explanations that some Theosophists may regard as plausible - which includes the model of the dynamic [mass-free energy] aether,[9][10][11] 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 and affecting the speed of propagation of light and electromagnetic forces, etc.—for all the experimental data and astronomical observations currently cited in support of the special and general theories of relativity, and the internal inconsistencies and unwarranted assumptions of standard relativity theory have been pointed out by dozens of scientists.[12][13] 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.
New experimental research in physics and biophysics,[14] based upon the conception of a dynamic ether (which is a controverial issue to the mainstream science) describes that it has experimentally developed technological equipment capable of measuring etheric fields that are immanent to complex organisms (such as human beings),[15] and with potential applications, among others, in medical diagnostics and in practices of alternative medicine.
[edit] See also
- Subtle body
- Etheric projection
- Esoteric cosmology
- Linga sarira
- Odic fluid, Prana, Qi
[edit] References
- ^ Leadbeater, C. W., Man, Visible and Invisible, 1902
- ^ Besant, Annie, Man and His Bodies, 1911
- ^ Brennan, Barbara, Hands of Light : A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field (Etheric body), Bantam Books, 1987
- ^ Blavatsky, H.P., The Key to Theosophy
- ^ Steiner, Rudolph, Occult science - An Outline. Trans. George and Mary Adams. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1909, 1969
- ^ Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter IV, The Constitution of Man: Vital Body - Desire Body - Mind), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3
- ^ The Rosicrucian Fellowship, Eastern and Western Spiritual Alternatives
- ^ Heindel, Max, Freemasonry and Catholicism, ISBN 0-911274-04-9
- ^ Aspden, Harold, The Physics of Creation (i.e. Chapter 7: "Aether Structure"), 2003 (pdf available)
- ^ Wilcock, David, Light on Quantum Physics
- ^ Mishin, Alexander M., The Ether Model as Result of the New Empirical Conception, International Academy of MegaSciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (html available)
- ^ Pratt, David, Einstein's relativity theory vs. the ether from a Theosophic viewpoint (rev’d 09/05)
- ^ Wilcock, David, The breakthroughs of Russian astrophysicist Dr. Nikolai A. Kozyrev (1908-1983)
- ^ Correa, P & Correa, A, Aurora Biophysics Research Institute - Overview, Akronos Publishing, 2000
- ^ Correa, P & Correa, A, Biological Field and Contact Meter (BAM)
[edit] Further reading
- Powell, Arthur E. The Etheric Double
