The astral plane, also called the astral realm or the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical (particularly neo-Platonic, where it originated), medieval, oriental, and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions. It is the world of the celestial spheres, crossed by the soul in its astral body on the way to being born and after death, and is generally believed to be populated by angels, spirits or other immaterial beings. In the late 19th and early 20th century the term was popularised by Theosophy and neo-Rosicrucianism.
Another view holds that the astral plane or world, rather than
being some kind of boundary area crossed by the soul, is the entirety of
spirit existence or spirit worlds to which those who die on Earth go,
and where they live out their non-physical lives. It is understood that
all consciousness resides in the astral plane.
Some writers conflate this realm with heaven or paradise or union with
God itself, and others do not. P. Yogananda wrote in Autobiography of a
Yogi, "The astral universe . . . is hundreds of times larger than the
material universe . . .[with] many astral planets, teeming with astral
beings." (p.416) When Alice Bailey writes of seeing "Masters . . . upon
the inner spiritual planes [who]. . . work with Christ and the
planetary hierarchy," she refers to a vision she had of the unseen
astral realm that these and countless other beings inhabit. Christ
being in that realm, it is hard to construe it as a non-heaven.
The Barzakh, olam mithal or intermediate world in Islam is a related concept. In Judaism, it is known as the "World of Yetzirah", according to Lurianic Kabbalah.
History
Dante's heavens and hells symbolised the astral spheres and their associated virtues and vices.
Plato and Aristotle taught that the stars were composed of a type of matter different from the four earthly elements - a fifth, ethereal
element or quintessence. In the "astral mysticism" of the classical
world the human psyche was composed of the same material, thus
accounting for the influence of the stars upon human affairs. In his
commentaries on Plato's Timaeus, Proclus wrote;
Man is a little world (mikros cosmos). For, just like the Whole, he possesses both mind and reason, both a divine and a mortal body. He is also divided up according to the universe. It is for this reason, you know, that some are accustomed to say that his consciousness corresponds with the nature of the fixed stars, his reason in its contemplative aspect with Saturn and in its social aspect with Jupiter, (and) as to his irrational part, the passionate nature with Mars, the eloquent with Mercury, the appetitive with Venus, the sensitive with the Sun and the vegetative with the Moon.
Such doctrines were commonplace in mystery-schools and Hermetic and gnostic sects throughout the Roman Empire and influenced the early Christian church. Paul's Second Epistle to the Corinthians contains a reference to the astral plane or astral projection:
"I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the
third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not
know—God knows."
Among Muslims the "astral" world-view was soon rendered orthodox by Quranic
references to the Prophet's ascent through the seven heavens. Scholars
took up the Greek Neoplatonist accounts as well as similar material in Hindu and Zoroastrian texts. The expositions of Ibn Sina (Avicenna), the Brotherhood of Purity
and others, when translated into Latin in the Norman era, were to have a
profound effect upon European mediaeval alchemy and astrology. By the
14th century Dante was describing his own imaginary journey through the astral spheres of Paradise.
Throughout the Renaissance, philosophers, Paracelsians, Rosicrucians
and alchemists continued to discuss the nature of the astral world
intermediate between earth and the divine. Once the telescope
established that no spiritual heaven was visible around the solar
system, the idea was superseded in mainstream science.
The Astral Plane and Astral Experience
| Planes of existence
Gross and subtle bodies
| |
|---|---|
| Theosophy | |
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| |
According to occult teachings the astral plane can be visited consciously through astral projection, meditation and mantra, near death experience, lucid dreaming,
or other means. Individuals that are trained in the use of the astral
vehicle can separate their consciousness in the astral vehicle from the
physical body at will. The first stage in development, according to Ramacharaka,
is "mastery of the physical body and its care and attention", which
pertains not only to the physical body but also to its double in the
astral. In addition, one must spend time tuning the "instinctive mind".
The first three subdivisions of the instinctive mind are passions,
desires, and lusts. The second stage is the intellect, otherwise known
as the sharpening of the mind. Someone operating largely out of the
instinctive mind would "have only a glimmering of intellect", therefore
those who are centered in the intellect would only have an inkling of
the spiritual. Once both stages are completed the spiritual mind can be
awakened.
In early theosophical literature the term "astral" may refer to the aether. Later theosophical authors such as Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater make the astral finer than the etheric plane but "denser" than the mental plane. In order to create a unified view of seven bodies and remove earlier Sanskrit terms, an etheric plane was introduced and the term "astral body" was used to replace the former kamarupa - sometimes termed the body of emotion, illusion or desire.
Some of those propounding such claims explain their belief that letting
go of desires is spiritual progress by noting that, the more one lets
go of earthly 'desire' feelings, the less tied down to the physical
world, a world of illusion, and the more connected to the astral, where
all is visible and known.
According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, desire-stuff may be described as a type of force-matter, in incessant motion, responsive to the slightest feeling. The desire world is also said to be the abode of the dead for some time subsequent to death. It is also the home of the archangels.
In the higher regions of the desire world thoughts take a definite form
and color perceptible to all, all is light and there is but one long
day.
In his book Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramhansa Yogananda provides details about the astral planes learned from his guru.
Yogananda claims that nearly all individuals enter the astral planes after death. There they work out the seeds of past karma
through astral incarnations, or (if their karma requires) they return
to earthly incarnations for further refinement. Once an individual has
attained the meditative state of nirvikalpa samadhi in an earthy or astral incarnation, the soul may progress upward to the "illumined astral planet" of Hiranyaloka.
After this transitional stage, the soul may then move upward to the
more subtle causal spheres where many more incarnations allow them to
further refine before final unification.
In popular culture
- The astral plane was mentioned in Episodes 4 and 5 of Season 1 in Netflix's series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
- The FX television show, American Horror Story, Season 3 (also known as Coven) and Season 8 (also known as Apocalypse) mention and perform the act of Descensum as a way of traveling to the astral plane.
- The song, "Astral Plane", was featured on the album The Order of Time by Valerie June
- In the FX television show Legion, it is a spiritual plane where Charles Xavier destroys the Shadow King, leading up to the hibernation of Charles' son known as Legion, who finds himself fighting for his humanity in this same realm.
- The song, “Dream Weaver”, by Gary Wright, also mentions “Fly me high through the starry skies / maybe to an astral plane”
- The tabletop role-playing game, Shadowrun, refers to the Astral Plane, also known as Astral Space.
- The song "Astral Plane" appears on the self titled album by The Modern Lovers.
- The song "Over The Mountain" by Ozzy Osbourne mentions "Where did I wander, where do you think I wandered to / I've seen life's magic, astral plane I travel through".
- The Marvel Comics Astral Plane, frequently mentioned in stories featuring both Dr. Strange and the X-men.
- The Astral Plane was featured in the 2016 Marvel Studios Movie Dr. Strange.
- The Astral Plane is the final level of NetHack, where one has to sacrifice the Amulet of Yendor on the correct altar to ascend to the status of Demigod.
- The Astral Plane appears in the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
