Apparition
Apparition, spiritualistic manifestation of a person or object in which a form not actually present is seen with such intensity that belief in its reality is created. The ancient and widespread belief in apparitions and ghosts (specters of dead persons) is based on the idea that the spirit of a man, or of any object, is endowed with volition and motion of its own. Apparitions, especially particular shapes attached to certain legends or superstitions, are often considered as premonitions or warnings. They may appear in any form and may manifest themselves to any or all the senses. The most evil apparitions are said to be those of persons who have died violent or unnatural deaths, those with guilty secrets, and those who were improperly buried. However, not all apparitions are believed to be dangerous; many, especially those associated with a particular religion, are thought to be signs of divine intervention. Summoning apparitions by means of incantations, crystal gazing, polished stones, hypnotic suggestion, and various other ways is one of the oldest practices of divination.
The astral body refers to the concept of a subtle body which exists alongside the physical body, as a vehicle of the soul or consciousness. It is usually understood as being of an emotional nature and, as such, it is equated to the desire body or emotional body. However, some philosophies conceive that the astral body is a body made of ether (the soul body), built by each individual during the current evolutionary stage (the Philosophers' Stone), which is said to give support to the desire (emotional) body during the astral projection.
Interpretations
Neoplatonism
While Neoplatonists agreed as to the immortality of the soul, they disagreed as to whether the "irrational soul" was immortal and celestial ("starry", hence astral), or dissolved after death. Proclus combined both ideas by positing two subtle bodies or "vehicles" (okhema) intermediate between the Soul and the physical body. These were the spiritual (pneuma) vehicle which he considered mortal, and the astral vehicle which was the immortal vehicle of the Soul.
Theosophy
Blavatsky used the term "astral" to refer to the double (linga sharira)
which was the lowest but one of the seven principles (immediately above the
physical).
Later however, C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant (Adyar School of Theosophy),
and following them, Alice Bailey, equated the astral with Blavatsky's Kama
(desire) principle (the fourth of the seven principles of man, and called it
the Emotional body (a concept not found in earlier Theosophy).
In this way, astral body, desire body, and emotional body became synonymous,
and this identification is found in much of New Age and theosophically-inspired
thought since.
The astral or emotional body here is understood as a sort of psychic body or
aura that is made up of emotions, just as the physical body consists of
matter. In occult thought, emotions are not just subjective qualia, but have
an existence apart from the individual consciousness, and exist on a cosmic
plane of existence, in this case, the astral plane.
Max Heindel
According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, the Desire body is made of
desire stuff from which human beings form feelings and emotions and also it
impels to seek sense gratification. But while it is referred that the Dense
(physical) body and the Vital (etheric) body are well organized, the desire
body is said to appear to spiritual sight as an ovoid cloud extending from
sixteen to twenty inches beyond the physical body; it is seen above the head
and below the feet so that the dense (physical) body sits in the center of
this egg-shaped cloud as the yolk is in the center of an egg. This desire
body has a number of whirling vortices - since a characteristic of
desire-stuff is to be in constant motion - and from the main vortex in the
region of the liver, there is a constant outwelling flow which radiates
toward the periphery of this egg-shaped body and returns to the center
through a number of other vortices. It is said the desire body also exhibits
all the colors and shades, which we know and a vast number of others unknown
to physical sight, and those colors vary in every person according to his or
her characteristics and temperament, and they also vary from moment to
moment as passing moods, fancies, or emotions are experienced by the person.
His writings, called Western Wisdom Teachings, refer that the term "Astral
body" - a vehicle made of ether (from the Vital body), which is lighter than
air and therefore capable of levitation - was employed by the mediaeval
Alchemists, because of the ability it conferred upon the one who has it to
traverse the "starry" regions. The Astral body should not to be confounded
with the Desire body: during the soul flights the desire body molds itself
readily into this prepared matrix; when the individual returns to the
physical body, the effort of will whereby he enters it automatically
dissolves the intimate connection between the desire body and the soul body.
The Astral body is also known as the 'Soul body', the 'Golden Wedding
Garment', the 'Philosopher's Stone', or the 'Living Stone', spoken of in
some of the ancient philosophies as the 'Diamond Soul' ("for it is luminous,
lustrous, and sparkling--a priceless gem"), and will eventually be evolved
by humanity as a whole.
Rudolf Steiner
Rudolf Steiner at first followed Theosophical jargon like astral and Devachan, but after he broke away from the Theosophical society to form his own movement, Anthroposophy, he also adopted a distinct terminology, replacing astral plane with "soul" and devachen with "spirit", and substituting the sevenfold model of man with a fourfold one (physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego). However his description of the "soul world" remained very similar to Leadbeater's description of the astral plane, and his definition of the astral body remained basically similar as well. Unlike Leadbeater however he placed little emphasis on the astral or soul level, being more interested in the evolution of the ego (the immortal spirit principle, not the psychological ego) and the spiritual hierarchies (see for example his Occult Science - An Outline).
Samael Aun Weor
According to the doctrine of Samael Aun Weor the astral body is the part of human soul related to emotions, represented by the sephirah Hod in the kabbalistic Tree of Life. However, because it is stated that almost everyone in the world has yet to actually incarnate their human soul, in place of an authentic astral body, the common person only contains the kamarupa, or body of desire. In this sense, the kamarupa is considered the "lunar astral body," a body related to animal emotions, passions and desires, while the true human emotional vehicle is the solar astral body.
It is through the lunar astral body that the common populace experiences dreaming and astral projection. The solar astral body is crystallized through the sexual transmutation of energies that occur by practicing sexual magic with a spouse. The process of forming this superior astral is said to be represented by the Biblical story of Benjamin. The solar astral body is the first mediator between the Cosmic Christ, Chokmah, and the individual human soul. The superior mediator between the Cosmic Christ and the individual soul is the causal body, Tiphereth.
The Mother
The Mother sometimes refers to the astral body and experiences on the astral plane (see her Collected Works and The Agenda). In this context she also incorporates a lot of ideas from Max Theon. She uses the term "vital" rather than astral, and refers to exteriorisation, whereby one can move out from the physical into the vital ("astral"), and from there to successively higher bodies, twelve in all.
In contrast to theosophical and anthroposophical position, Barbara Brennan in her book Hands of Light distinguishes between the Emotional body and the Astral body. She sees these as two distinct layers in the seven-layered "Human Energy Field" or Aura. The Emotional body pertains to the physical universe, the astral body to the astral world. However the descriptions of both are similar, in that both consist of swirls of colour. (See links for illustration and more description)
New Age
New Age thought incorporates many theosophical ideas, including the concept
of subtle bodies and planes of existence. While there is no consensus
position, the general idea is that the Astral body corresponds to the astral
plane which is sometimes also (ref?) called the 5th dimension.
The astral body is also widely understood here as the subtle body in which
astral projection occurs (see Astral projection). This is one of several
types of out-of-body experiences, or OBEs. The term "light body" is
sometimes used in this context.
Artistic depictions
The emotional and/or astral body is usually drawn in terms of an aura or
consisting of swirling colours. See illustrations in Man, Visible and
Invisible and Hands of Light for examples of this. Other clairvoyants and
visionaries have provided similar representations of the astral body; see
Dora Van Gelder Kunz's The Personal Aura, and Barbara Y. Martin's Change
Your Aura, Change Your Life.
Photographing
Kirlian photography yields images that resemble the depictions that
clairvoyants have given of the etheric body, the spiky-looking energy field
that extends a few inches beyond the surface of the human body; compare, for
example, Leadbeater's Man Visible and Invisible, Chapter XX, "The
Health-Aura." In 1980, American engineer and inventor Guy Coggins developed
a refined type of aura photography that captures on film the larger cloud of
color that visionaries have described and depicted as the aura or astral
body.
Prof. Lindgren states:
"Alas my research in auras and aura photography, after considerable enthusiasm, has proven to be fruitless. I saw no auras and the aura camera proved only good for taking pretty and interesting NORMAL photographs which I entered in numerous photographic contests and shows. I had initially searched this field as a way to assist in healing of cancer patients and non-cancer pain patients. The research was not only a disappointment but a waste of precious time. He has contributed to the books on Aura Awareness and Capturing the Aura.
However, the search for the aura continues. "In small, one-man laboratories, psychic circles, healing sessions, and university parapsychological departments, scientists and psychics are searching for the elusive 'aura'. It is hoped that, within the near future, all individuals will be allowed, whether naturally or through some technological advance, to see, record, and study this inexplicable phenomenon."