Debating what I would present next, I decided to return to a topic that I have covered on several occasions. The topic is the construction and functioning of our envelopes of incarnation. Why go over this topic again? Because I wish to tackle it in more detail and having exhaustively dealt with the theme of Chains, Rounds and Globes, we are now in a position to understand the genesis of these envelopes, not only from the perspective of a single incarnation, but also when and where they started to develop. As you are now all, hopefully, conversant with our passage through the Moon Chain and then onto the Earth Chain, throughout the next four series of presentations, we will be referring to when, where and how our four principle envelopes of incarnation came into being.
We will start by examining the Etheric envelope, often called the etheric double in early Theosophical literature. We will also look at several phenomena closely allied to it. This information was compiled from scattered sources, encompassing a very large number of books and articles, forty in total. Fortunately, this mammoth feat was done by Arthur Powell, to whom we are all indebted. The usual assortment of diagrams and charts will be presented to help illustrate the concepts being conveyed. It should be noted that these are representational and do not accurately depict the subject matter being presented.
We should all be clear in our minds that humanity functions through a series of envelopes that serve distinct functions and exist in consecutively higher planes of matter, starting with Plane 49, which is the lowest plane. Four envelopes will be discussed in total, including the Emotional, Mental and Causal envelopes. Every plane of matter has seven subdivisions and on Plane-49 these have been described by occultists as Atomic, Sub-Atomic, Super-Etheric, Etheric, Gaseous, Liquid and Solid. These seven sub-planes can be categorised into two groups. The dense body is composed of solids, liquids and gases, and the Etheric Body, consists of the four finer grades of physical matter.
In this series of presentations, we will be studying this Etheric Double; and its nature, appearance and functions. We will also discuss its relationships to the other envelopes, its connection with Prana, or Vitality, its birth, growth and its decay. The etheric envelope also has connections with certain methods of healing, with mesmerism (a form of hypnosis), mediumship and materialisations. This envelope also has powers that it can be made to exercise along with a host of miscellaneous etheric phenomena with which it is connected.
In due course, we will find that the Etheric envelope, while necessary to the life of the physical body, is not, properly speaking, a separate vehicle of consciousness. Instead, it serves as a vessel through which is received and distributes, the vital force, which emanates from the sun and is thus intimately connected with physical health. It possesses Force-Centres, known as chakras. There are seven of these centres and each have a unique function. Actually, there are 10 chakras associated with our bodies but I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole.
It should be noted that this envelope is responsible, mainly, for the memory of our dream life. The etheric envelope plays an important part in determining the kind of physical vehicle that an incarnating monad will receive. This is linked to the “gifts” the lords of Karma and Destiny bestow upon us in every incarnation. Like the physical body, the etheric envelope dies and decays in due course, releasing the focus of the monad for the next stage in its cyclic journey. It is especially associated with what is known as Vital or Magnetic Healing, and also with Mesmerism, whether for purposes of healing, anaesthesia, or trance mediumship. It is the principal factor concerned with the phenomena witnessed in séances; including the movement of objects, production of “raps” and other sounds and materialisations of all kinds. The development of etheric faculties confers new powers and reveals many etheric phenomena, which are beyond the experience of most of Humanity. By the use of the matter of the etheric body, objects may be “magnetised”, much as living beings may be mesmerised and finally, the etheric body provides the material out of which the substance known as ectoplasm is formed. What is ectoplasm I hear you ask? It is a materialisation of etheric matter to a point where it can become visible in a dimly lit room.
The Etheric envelope has been given a variety of names. In early Theosophical literature, it was often called the astral body, the astral man, or the Linga Sharîra. In all later writings, however, none of these terms are ever applied to the Etheric Double, as they belong properly to the body composed of emotional matter, called the Kâma body by the Hindus. In reading the Secret Doctrine and other books of the older literature, you must be on your guard not to confuse the two quite distinct bodies, known today in Hylozoics, as the Etheric envelope and the Emotional envelope.
The correct Hindu name for the Etheric Double is Prânamâyakosha or vehicle of Prâna: in German it is known as the “Doppelgänger”. After death, when separated from the dense physical body, it is known as the “wraith” and has also been called the “phantom”, “apparition”, or “churchyard ghost”. In Râja Yoga, the Etheric envelope and the dense physical body, together, are known as the Sthlopâdhi, or lowest Upâdhi of Âtmâ. Atma is known in Hylozoics as a 45-Self or the 45th World.
Every solid, liquid and gaseous particle of the physical body is surrounded by an etheric envelope: hence the Etheric Double, as its name implies, is a perfect duplicate of the dense form. In size, it projects about one-quarter of an inch beyond the skin. The etheric aura, however, or health aura as it is frequently called, projects normally several inches beyond the skin: this will be described further in a later presentation.
It is important to notice that the dense body and the Etheric Double transform their “qualities” in tandem: hence if you set out to deliberately purify your dense body, you automatically end up refining its etheric counterpart.
Into the composition of the Etheric Double or envelope, you will find all the different grades of etheric matter. Still, the proportions may vary greatly and are determined by several factors, such as race, sub-race and the ray type of the person, as well as their individual karma.
Currently, all we know about the particular properties and functions of each of the four grades of etheric matter is as follows:-
The Etheric Double has two main functions. Firstly, it absorbs Prâna, or Vitality, and distributes this to the whole body, as we shall see in detail presently.
Secondly, it acts as an intermediary or bridge between the dense physical body and the emotional body, transmitting the consciousness of sensory stimuli from the physical body, through the etheric brain to the emotional body and also transmitting consciousness from the emotional and higher levels down into the physical brain and nervous system.
In addition, the Etheric Double develops within itself certain Centres through which a person is able to view the Etheric World and its hosts of etheric phenomena. These powers or faculties will also be described in due course.
It is important to recognise that the Etheric Double, being merely a part of the physical body, is not normally capable of acting as a separate vehicle of consciousness in which a monad can live or function. It has only a diffused consciousness belonging to the body and has no mentality or thinking function, nor does it readily serve as a medium of mentality when separated from the physical body. The etheric envelope is not filled with elemental essences like the emotional and mental envelopes. It is just a conduit for the transference of Prana or Vitality. If it is wrenched from the dense particles of the physical body, to which it conveys the life currents, it is disturbing and unhealthy. In normal, healthy people, the separation of the Etheric Double from the dense body is not easy and the Double is unable to move away from the body to which it belongs.
In people known as physical or materialising mediums, the Double is comparatively easily detachable and its etheric matter forms the basis of many phenomena of materialisation, which will be dealt with more fully in a later presentation.
The Double may be separated from the dense physical body by accident, death, anaesthetics, such as ether or gas, or mesmerism, a form of hypnosis. As the Double is the connecting link between the brain and the higher consciousness of the mental envelope, the forcible extrusion of it from the dense physical body by anaesthetics consequently produces anaesthesia. Pull out the LAN cable and you lose your internet connection; simple as that
Should the etheric matter be forced out, it usually wraps itself around the emotional body and dulls the consciousness of that vehicle also; hence after the effects of anaesthetics have worn off there is usually no memory in the consciousness of the brain of the time spent in the emotional vehicle. It should be noted that when the etheric envelope is forced out of the body, the “Silver Chord” is not broken. That has to remain attached for obvious reasons. The method and consequences of the withdrawal of etheric matter by mesmerism will be dealt with more fully in a dedicated presentation.
In conditions of weak health or nervous excitement, the Etheric envelope may be extruded almost completely out from the physical body. Consequently, the body then exhibits a dull consciousness, seeming to be entranced, according to the lesser or greater amount of the etheric matter extruded.
Separation of the Double from the dense body is generally accompanied by a considerable decrease of vitality in the physical body, the double becoming more vitalised as the energy in the dense body diminishes. So intimate is the connection between the etheric and the physical body that an injury inflicted on the Etheric Double will appear as a lesion on the body, this being an instance of the curious phenomenon known as repercussion. It is well known that repercussions can also occur in the case of the emotional body, an injury to the latter, under certain circumstances, reproducing itself in the physical body. That reproduction often occurs as a cancer.
It must also be kept in mind that etheric matter, though invisible to ordinary sight, is still purely physical and can therefore be affected by cold and heat and also powerful acids.
A person who has lost a limb by amputation sometimes complains that they can feel pain in the extremities of the amputated limb, i.e., at the place where the limb used to be. This is because the etheric portion of the limb is not removed along with the dense physical portion, but can still be seen in its place by clairvoyant sight and therefore, under suitable stimulus, sensations can be aroused in this etheric limb and transmitted to the consciousness.
There are a large number of other phenomena connected with the Etheric Double, its extrusion from the dense body, its emanations and so forth. These will be dealt with in greater clarity at a later stage after we have studied the nature and methods of how Prana, or Vitality function.
See you in the next presentation.