The idea of the astral figured prominently in the work of the nineteenth-century French occultist Eliphas Levi, whence it was adopted and developed further by Theosophy, and used afterwards by other esoteric movements. Each succeeding plane of manifestation is causal to the next, a world-view known as emanationism "from the One proceeds Intellect, from Intellect Soul, and from Soul - in its lower phase, or that of Nature - the material universe".
"The rational soul.is akin to the great Soul of the World" while "the material universe, like the body, is made as a faded image of the Intelligible". In the Neoplatonism of Plotinus, for example, the individual is a microcosm ("small world") of the universe (the macrocosm or "great world"). These astral spheres were held to be populated by angels, demons, and spirits. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know-God knows." This statement gave rise to the Visio Pauli, a tract that offers a vision of heaven and hell, a forerunner of visions attributed to Adomnan and Tnugdalus as well as of Dante's Divine Comedy.Īccording to the classical, medieval, renaissance Hermeticism, Neoplatonism, and later Theosophist and Rosicrucian thought, the 'astral body' is an intermediate body of light linking the rational soul to the physical body while the astral plane is an intermediate world of light between Heaven and Earth, composed of the spheres of the planets and stars. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians is more generally agreed to refer to the astral planes: "I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. The final chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes is often cited in this respect: "Before the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be shattered at the fountain, or the wheel be broken at the cistern." Scherman, however, contends that the context points to this being merely a metaphor, comparing the body to a machine, with the silver cord referring to the spine. Judaic and Christian Origins Ĭarrington, Muldoon, Peterson, and Williams claim that the subtle body is attached to the physical body by means of a psychic silver cord. For example, ancient Egyptian teachings present the soul ( ba) as having the ability to hover outside the physical body via the ka, or subtle body. Similar concepts of soul travel appear in various other religious traditions. This image is based on an original found in The Book of the Dead.
There is no scientific evidence that there is a consciousness whose embodied functions are separate from normal neural activity or that one can consciously leave the body and make observations of the physical universe, and astral projection has been characterized as a pseudoscience. Some individuals have reported perceptions similar to descriptions of astral projection that were induced through various hallucinogenic and hypnotic means (including self-hypnosis). It is sometimes reported in association with dreams and forms of meditation. The modern terminology of "astral projection" was coined and promoted by 19th-century Theosophists. The idea of astral travel is ancient and occurs in multiple cultures. Send us feedback.Astral projection (also known as astral travel), is a term used in esotericism to describe an intentional out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of a subtle body called an " astral body" through which consciousness can function separately from the physical body and travel throughout the astral plane. These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'astral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. 2021 Or with astral projection, the more spiritual concept of intentionally creating an out-of-body experience.ī, 18 July 2021 Or with astral projection, the more spiritual concept of intentionally creating an out-of-body experience. 2021 Chavez can travel freely between realities, while Wanda can only astral project to different timelines.Ĭhris Smith, BGR, 1 Oct. 2021 Wanda and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) can only send their astral projections to other realities.Ĭhris Smith, BGR, 12 Oct. 2021 The post-credit scenes showed us Scarlet Witch in astral form reading and teaching herself Darkhold magic. 2021 This is the kind of music to soundtrack a late-night solo swim in a lukewarm pool, a journey through the darkest recesses of the universe, or perhaps a trip to the astral plane. Recent Examples on the Web That’s the scene that precedes the one with the astral projection.Ĭhris Smith, BGR, 18 Nov.