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Etheric body
Subtle bodies
Causal plane: Causal body
Mental plane: Mental body
Astral plane: body, projection
Etheric plane: Etheric body
Physical plane: Physical body
The 7 Worlds & the 7 Cosmic Planes
The Seven-fold constitution of Man
The Ten-fold constitution of Man
Cosmology
Sufi cosmology
Tanazzulut
Ray of Creation
The Laws
Three Centres
Five Centres
Plane (Dungeons & Dragons)
Inner Plane
Prime Material Plane
Outer Plane
The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, or vital body is one of the subtle bodies in theosophy and 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 term "etheric" in this context seems to derive from the writings of C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant (Adyar School of Theosophy). It is given an almost identical meaning by Barbara Brennan, who describes it as the first (lowest) layer in the "human energy field" or aura.
Rudolph Steiner 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. According to him, it can be perceived by a person gifted with clairvoyance as being of "peach-blossom color".
According to Adyar Theosophy and Alice Bailey, the etheric body and the etheric plane correspond to the three higher subplanes of the physical plane. Steiner however 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.
The prana-maya-kosha (sheath made of life-force) of Vedantic thought could be considered equivalent to the etheric body.
According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, this body, composed of four ethers, is called the "Vital Body" since 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.
Other names given also to the vital force are "N-rays", after the city of Nantes where the radiations were observed by physicist René-Prosper Blondlot in 1903, and the "Odic fluid".
See also
- Etheric plane
- Esoteric cosmology
- Aether theories
- Aether (classical element)
- Aether and general relativity
- Aetherometry
- Luminiferous aether
- Timeline of luminiferous aether
Other related archivesAdyar School of Theosophy, Aether (classical element), Aether and general relativity, Aether theories, Aetherometry, Alice Bailey, Annie Besant, Astral plane, Barbara Brennan, C.W. Leadbeater, Cosmology, Esoteric cosmology, Etheric plane, Five Centres, Inner Plane, Luminiferous aether, Max Heindel, Mental body, Mental plane, N-rays, Nantes, New Age, Odic fluid, Outer Plane, Physical body, Physical plane, Plane (Dungeons & Dragons), Prime Material Plane, Ray of Creation, René-Prosper Blondlot, Rosicrucian, Rudolph Steiner, Subtle bodies, Sufi cosmology, The 7 Worlds & the 7 Cosmic Planes, The Laws, The Seven-fold constitution of Man, The Ten-fold constitution of Man, Three Centres, Timeline of luminiferous aether, Vedantic, aura, body, etheric plane, evolution, man, physical body, physical plane, projection, subtle bodies, theosophy
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