Etheric plane
Encyclopedia : E : ET : ETH : Etheric plane
| Planes of existence Subtle bodies | |
|---|---|
| Theosophy | |
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Causal plane: Causal body Mental plane: Mental body Astral plane: body, projection Etheric plane: Etheric body Physical plane: Physical body | |
| Rosicrucian | |
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The 7 Worlds & the 7 Cosmic Planes The Seven-fold constitution of Man The Ten-fold constitution of Man | |
| Thelema | |
| Body of Light | Thelemic mysticism | |
| Surat Shabda Yoga | |
| Cosmology | |
| Sufism | |
|
Sufi cosmology | |
| Hinduism | |
| Lokas - Kosas | |
| Buddhism | |
| Buddhist cosmology | |
| Kabbalah | |
| Atziluth - Beri'ah - Yetzirah - Asiyah Sephirah | |
| Fourth Way | |
|
Ray of Creation The Laws Three Centres Five Centres | |
| Popular culture | |
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Plane (Dungeons & Dragons) Inner Plane Prime Material Plane Outer Plane | |
Etymology
See Aether (classical element)
The aether (also written as "ether") was widely accepted in ancient Greek philosophy and science. This Greek concept seems to derive directly from the akasha, its Hindu counterpart. In Greek doctrines it seems that the aether was the celestial fire, the pure essence where the gods lived and which they breathed. In this connection, it seems that aether is radiative heat like that of the sun, which is able to propagate in empty space. The Greek word aither derives from an Indo-European root aith- ("burn, shine"). This root figures in the name of Aithiopia (Ethiopia), which means something like "burnt land".
Alchemy background
Etheric plane in Theosophy
In Theosophy, the etheric plane is related to the Prana principleBlavatsky, H.P., The Key to Theosophy, 1889 and is understood as the vital, life-sustaining force of living beings and the vital energy in all natural processes of the universe. The "Prana" 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 forms but is not itself the Atma or individual soul.
Theosophists C.W. Leadbeater and Annie BesantBesant, Annie. Man's life in this and other worlds, Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1913 (Adyar School of Theosophy), and later Alice Bailey, conceived that the etheric plane constitutes the four higher subplanes of the physical plane.
Similar teachings
It might be argued that the etheric plane is in part equivalent to Sri Aurobindo's concept of the subtle physical.Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry, 1977 In Anthroposophy the equivalent is the etheric formative forces.Lehrs, Ernst, Man or Matter', and Steiner, Rudolph, Occult science - An Outline.'' Trans. George and Mary Adams. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1909, 1969
Etheric region in the Western Wisdom Teachings
According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter III: [The Visible and the Invisible Worlds]), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3 there is - in addition to the solids, liquids, and gases which compose the Chemical Region of the Physical World - a finer grade of matter called ether, which permeates the atomic structure of the earth and its atmosphere. The ether, which is disposed in four grades of density, is considered to be physical matter and responsive to the same laws which govern other physical substances upon the physical world (the blue haze seen in mountain canyons is said to be in fact ether of the kind known to occult investigators as chemical ether). He states that there are various grades of spiritual sight, each suited to the superphysical realm which it opens to our perception: etheric vision, color vision, and tonal vision. Ether is reported to be of four kinds, or grades of density (from the lowest to the highest one)Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (Chapter I.2, [The Etheric Region of the Physical World]), 1909, ISBN 0-911274-34-0:
- the "Chemical ether": both positive and negative in manifestation and it is related to the assimilation and excretion processes;
- the "Life ether": has also a positive and negative pole and it is related to the forces of propagation;
- the "Light ether": the positive pole is related to forces which generate blood heat in the higher species of animal and in the human being and the negative is related to the forces which operate through the senses (passive functions of sight, hearing, feeling, tasting, and smelling);
- the "Reflective ether": the medium through which thought makes an impression upon the human brain and this ether cointains pictures which work as reflexions of the Memory of Nature found at the World of Thought.
Esoteric Christian tradition
According to the Esoteric Christian tradition, Essenian and later Rosicrucian, the next major step in human evolution will be entering and living in the Etheric region of the planet, through a major change which is expected to occur in the Earth's environment ("reserved unto fire") in a future, not identified, time: the "new heavens and a new earth", or the New Galilee Heindel, Max, [How Shall We Know Christ at His Coming?], May 1913 (stenographic report of a lecture, Los Angeles), ISBN 0-911274-64-2. It also teaches that, in order for the human being to be able to adapt to these new etheric conditions, it is necessary to develop a body, named Soul body (the correct translation of Paul of Tarsus' "soma psuchicon") or the "Wedding Garment" as taught in the Holy Scriptures, eg.:
- "The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, (...) And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:" (Matthew 22:2,11 KJV)
- "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:2)
- "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked." (2 Corinthians 5:1-3)
Etheric plane's 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, is disputed by mainstream physics.
Many within the theosophist community do not subscribe to a theory of an etheric plane [[Citing sources citation needed]], and it is certainly outside the accepted view of mainstream physics. A minority of contemporary physicists do use a concept of an ether that today has little understood connection to the mystical concept of an etheric plane [[Citing sources citation needed]]. However, like modern astrology and astronomy, these concepts probably share a common origin. Even the small minority of physicists studying ether, would probably disavow such a relationship, and few if any physicists would recognize the broader field of theosophy as closely related to physics.
Contemporary fringe physicists in in their disputed theory of a dynamic massfree energy aether Aspden, Harold, The Physics of Creation [i.e. Chapter 7: "Aether Structure"], 2003, ([pdf available]) Wilcock, David, [Light on Quantum Physics], sub-divided into different levels of density, present very similar notions to the theosophic understanting about the ether Pratt, David, [The Theosophical Ether]. This conception by these fringe physicists describes how the invisible, not measurable, ether creates, permeates and interacts with all matter. According to this theories, it has a density proportional to the density of any physical substance occupying the area of space concerned, which increases around large bodies such as stars and planets; acts as a refracting medium; and affects the speed of propagation of light and electromagnetic forces, etc Aspden, Harold, Aether Science Papers, ISBN 0850560152, 1996 ([html and pdf available]). However, these claims do not accord with the mainstream scientific understanding of electromagnetism and gravity.
This new conception of the aether in physics Correa, Paulo & Alexandra, [Why Speak of an Aether], 2001 presents what its authors regard as plausible alternative explanations for all the experimental data and astronomical observations currently currently cited in support of the special and general theories of relativity and, simultaneously, they hold, shows the internal inconsistencies and unwarranted assumptions of Einstein's theory Correa, Paulo & Alexandra, [A running commentary on Einstein's "Aether and the Theory of Relativity"], which had been already pointed out by various physicists Aspden, Harold, Physics without Einstein - A Centenary Review, 2005 (first edition Physics withour Einstein in 1969), ([pdf available]) Wilcock, David, [The breakthroughs of Russian astrophysicist Dr. Nikolai A. Kozyrev (1908-1983)] and theosophists Pratt, David, [Einstein's relativity theory vs. the ether], from a Theosophic viewpoint (rev’d 09/05) during the 20th century.
See also
Esoteric Physics- Aether theories
- Aether (classical element)
- Aether and general relativity
- Luminiferous aether
- Timeline of luminiferous aether
References
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