A.E. Powell -- Theosophical Research -- 1925 The Etheric Double The Health Aura of Man
Seat of Kundalini, the Serpent-Fire. Receives dark red and orange vitality from the spleen. Energises sex organs and blood heat. In developed persons, this energy travels upward through the spinal column to the brain.
Centre of feeling and emotional sensitivity. Receives green ray from spleen, vitalising liver, kidneys, intestines and abdomen. Governs vague awareness of astral influences -- sensing friendliness or hostility without knowing why.
The master distributor of Prana. Absorbs Vitality Globules from the atmosphere, breaks them into 7 colour-streams, and dispatches each to its corresponding centre. The only chakram that processes solar vitality directly.
Receives the yellow ray, which permeates the blood and is carried throughout the body. Confers high philosophical and metaphysical thought. Awakening brings conscious awareness of others' joys, sorrows, and physical sensations.
Silvery and gleaming like moonlight on water. Receives violet-blue ray. Light blue vitalises vocal cords; dark blue feeds lower brain for thought; violet floods upper brain for spiritual perception. Develops clairaudience when awakened.
Divided into two halves. Rose-yellow and purplish-blue. Corresponds to the pituitary body. Development brings clairvoyance, ability to magnify vision to atomic scale, or diminish it to encompass vast panoramas.
The thousand-petalled lotus. Most resplendent of all centres -- full of indescribable chromatic effects. Central portion gleaming white flushed with gold. Awakening enables conscious departure and re-entry of the physical body without break in awareness.
Physical matter exists in seven grades of density: Atomic, Sub-atomic, Super-Etheric, Etheric, Gaseous, Liquid, and Solid. The physical vehicle has two well-marked divisions -- the dense body composed of solids, liquids and gases, and the Etheric Body, composed of the four finer grades of physical matter.
The Double is pale violet-grey or blue-grey in appearance, faintly luminous, coarse or fine according to the quality of the dense body it mirrors. Purifying the dense body simultaneously refines its etheric counterpart.
Each grade of etheric matter carries distinct functions: E-1 Atomic is the medium for thought transmission between brains. E-2 Sub-Atomic carries finer forms of electricity. E-3 Super-Etheric is the medium for light. E-4 Etheric carries ordinary electricity and sound.
The Double has two primary functions: absorbing and distributing Prana throughout the body, and acting as an intermediary bridge between the dense physical and astral bodies -- transmitting sense-contacts up, and consciousness down.
An injury inflicted on the Etheric Double will manifest as a lesion on the dense physical body -- the phenomenon known as repercussion. Persons who have lost a limb by amputation can still feel sensations at the extremity because the etheric portion of the limb remains intact and clairvoyantly visible.
Three distinct forces emanate from the Sun: Fohat (electricity, encompassing all physical forces including light, heat, sound, and motion), Prana (vitality, the integrating life-energy not yet formally recognised by Western science), and Kundalini (the Serpent-Fire, entirely unknown to orthodox science). These three forces remain entirely distinct and cannot be converted into one another.
Prana is absorbed by all living organisms. Too great an excess leads to disease; too little leads to exhaustion and death. It is not a product of life -- living organisms are its products.
Prana emanates from the Sun and enters ultimate physical atoms floating in the atmosphere. It does not enter from outside but wells up from a higher dimension -- the fourth -- appearing to clairvoyants as emerging from within the atom itself.
When sunlight is abundant, Prana appears in abundance. During night, its generation is suspended, and we live upon the stock manufactured during the day. Extended cloudy periods noticeably deplete the available supply -- this accounts in part for why so large a proportion of deaths occur in the early hours before sunrise.
The Vitality Globule is formed when a pranic atom draws six other atoms around itself, creating a brilliantly glowing sphere visible to almost anyone who looks for it on a clear sunny day. Face away from the sun, focus a few feet ahead against blue sky, and these darting points of brilliant white light become perceptible.
The Vitality Globule is unique: it is created and held together by force from the Second Aspect of the Solar Deity rather than the Third. This distinguishes it from all other matter combinations.
The Chakrams are situated on the surface of the Etheric Double, approximately one quarter of an inch outside the skin. To clairvoyant sight they appear as saucer-like depressions of rapidly rotating matter, varying from 2 to 6 inches in diameter depending on development.
In an undeveloped person the chakrams glow dully and etheric particles move sluggishly. In developed persons they blaze with blinding brilliance like miniature suns. In a newborn baby they are tiny hard discs the size of a coin, scarcely moving.
Prana wells up into the centre of each chakram from the astral plane, then radiates outward in straight lines -- the "spokes" of the wheel. These spokes divide the chakram into segments resembling flower petals; hence in Hindu texts they are described as lotus flowers with specific petal counts.
The primary inrushing force induces secondary forces that spin circularly around the chakram, weaving over and under the spokes. Each secondary force has its own wavelength and undulatory motion, creating the iridescent, mother-of-pearl quality clairvoyants describe.
There appears to be no connection between development of the etheric chakrams and moral qualities -- the two are entirely distinct. Physical development of the chakrams through Kundalini is a technical matter separate from spiritual or moral advancement.
The spleen centre is unique among all the chakrams. It is the sole centre tasked with absorbing Vitality Globules from the atmosphere, disintegrating them, and distributing the seven component streams of Prana to their respective destinations throughout the body.
The process: Globules are drawn into the centre, broken into seven atoms each carrying a differently coloured variety of Prana, caught by the rotating secondary forces, and each spoken dispatches one colour-stream to its destination.
The Seven Prana Streams| Colour | Destination | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Violet-Blue | Throat Centre | Vocal health; thought; spiritual perception |
| Green | Navel Centre & Abdomen | Digestive system, liver, kidneys, intestines |
| Yellow | Heart Centre | Permeates blood; philosophical thought |
| Orange-Dark Red | Base of Spine Centre | Sexual energy; blood heat; Kundalini seat |
| Rose-Red | Entire Nervous System | Life of the nerves; may be shared healer-to-patient |
The rose-pink atoms are the original central atoms that first drew six others around themselves to form the Vitality Globule. They are dispatched through the hub of the spleen chakram itself and course throughout the entire nervous system.
In vigorous health the spleen operates so generously that surplus Prana is radiated outward -- such a person is a continuous unconscious source of health and strength to those nearby. The reverse is equally true: those in poor etheric health deplete others.
Kundalini, the Serpent-Fire, is the third solar force -- entirely separate from both Fohat and Prana and incapable of conversion into either. To clairvoyant vision it appears as liquid fire coursing through the body in a spiral path like the coils of a serpent. It has been called the Fiery Power, and the World's Mother, as through it all vehicles may be vivified.
Kundalini exists on all planes and has seven layers or degrees of force. Its ancient symbol is the thyrsus -- a staff topped with a pine cone, representing the spinal column. In India, a bamboo staff with seven knots represents it, each knot corresponding to a chakram. Some scholars connect the modern barber's pole (spiral bands and a knob) to this same ancient symbol through the lineage of surgeon-alchemists.
The mastery of Kundalini must be repeated in each incarnation because the bodies are new in each life. However, after it has once been thoroughly achieved, repetition becomes comparatively easy. Age does not appear to affect chakram development through Kundalini, but robust physical health is an absolute prerequisite, as only a strong body can endure the strain.
Between the etheric and astral chakrams, interpenetrating them, lies a web composed of a single layer of physical atoms -- closely woven, much compressed, and permeated with a special variety of Prana. Normal life-force passes through it with perfect ease, but it is an absolute barrier to all other forces that cannot use atomic matter of both planes simultaneously.
The web also explains why most people cannot recall their dream-life: the returning astral body can only occasionally make a fleeting impression on the etheric brain, and each effort to recall it generates physical brain vibrations that immediately overpower the subtler astral impression.
What Injures the Web| Agent | Mechanism | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Emotional Shock | Explosion-like force in astral body | Web torn; possible madness |
| Alcohol | Volatilising matter rushes through chakrams in reverse | Burns away or ossifies web; delirium tremens; obsession |
| Narcotic Drugs / Tobacco | Same reverse-rush mechanism | Deadening of higher feelings; materialism; animalism |
| "Sitting for Development" | Forced opening without preparation | Doors opened that nature intended kept shut |
Two types of injury result: in the first, the web burns away -- producing delirium tremens, obsession, certain insanity. In the second (far more common), the atoms harden and ossify, producing a general deadening: materialism, brutality, loss of finer sensibilities, indifference to others' discomfort.
Prana is amenable to the human will. It is possible to consciously direct vitality outward, augment its natural flow, and channel it into a depleted patient. A healer in vigorous health continually radiates surplus vitality; this process, usually unconscious, can be enormously intensified through deliberate intent.
Most healing works by flooding the patient's system with vitalising energy, or directing flow to a specific diseased area. Merely increasing the circulation of Prana is sufficient to cure many minor conditions. All nervous diseases involve a disrupted Etheric Double. Digestive troubles and sleeplessness share the same etheric root. Headaches are usually etheric or blood congestion -- a strong directed current washes the congestion clear.
The Mesmeric Healing Method: The patient sits or lies relaxed. The operator makes passes over the affected area, willing withdrawal of congested or diseased etheric matter. After each pass the extracted material must be firmly discarded -- shaken off, thrown into water, or directed to appropriate elementals. Failure to do this risks the operator absorbing the patient's condition.
After withdrawing diseased matter, the second stage is pouring one's own vital force and Prana into the patient through positive passes. The healer's own physical health is critical: unhealthy magnetism can be transmitted as readily as healthy, and astral and mental qualities transfer along with etheric matter.
At death the Etheric Double finally withdraws from the dense body. Clairvoyants observe it as a violet mist, gradually condensing into a figure that is the counterpart of the dying person, attached to the dense body by a glistening etheric cord. This cord snaps at the moment of death.
Simultaneously, the buddhic life-web gathers itself in the heart around the permanent atom, rises along the spinal column into the third ventricle of the brain, and exits through the crown. The life-web remains enshrouding the physical permanent atom in the causal body until the time comes to build a new physical body.
The withdrawal of the Double destroys the integral unity of the physical body, leaving it a collection of independent cells. The lower lives (cells) immediately run free and begin decomposition. As Eliphas Levi noted: "The corpse would not decompose if it were dead -- all the molecules which compose it are living and struggle to separate."
The wraith -- the Double hovering over the corpse -- is dully conscious and speechless. It gradually separates from the higher principles, becoming an etheric corpse that disintegrates alongside the dense body. These etheric remnants are commonly perceived in churchyards as violet or bluish-white mists or lights.
Cremation is strongly recommended: it destroys the dense body and rapidly disintegrates the etheric body, preventing any attempt by the departing soul to cling to physical existence, and eliminating certain forms of misuse of the decaying form by those with knowledge of darker applications.
In mixed crowds, near vampire-type people, or in disease-ridden environments, an etheric shell may be deliberately constructed. The shell is formed by an effort of will and imagination in one of two ways: either the periphery of the existing etheric aura is densified, or a new ovoid shell is manufactured from surrounding atmospheric ether. The latter demands far greater will-force.
A shell built before sleep can prevent external thought-currents from entering the sleeping etheric brain and mixing with its own processes -- improving the clarity of astral-plane experience during sleep and improving recall.
Smaller local shields may also be formed for specific contacts -- shaking hands with an undesirable person, or handling objects with unpleasant magnetism. By an effort of will and imagination, a temporary shield can be formed over the hand and arm that prevents a single charged particle from entering.
More advanced shields of etheric matter can be constructed that are entirely impervious to heat -- enabling the fire-walking phenomena witnessed in various traditions. A very thin layer of properly manipulated etheric matter, spread over the hands, feet, or the surface being walked upon, renders it impossible for heat to cause burns.
Note: etheric shells have no effect whatsoever on astral or mental influences. For those planes, corresponding shells of astral or mental matter are required.
Etheric faculties are extensions of ordinary physical senses that allow perception of "vibrations" pertaining to the etheric portion of the physical plane. Two main varieties of clairvoyance exist: the lower variety (sporadic, uncontrolled, found in less developed individuals, associated with the sympathetic nervous system) and the higher (precise, voluntary, exercised through a developed sense organ, associated with the cerebro-spinal system).
With developed etheric sight, physical matter becomes transparent. A brick wall has the consistency of light mist. The contents of a closed box can be accurately described. A sealed letter can be read. One can see to considerable depth underground, perceive burrowing creatures, or detect veins of mineral beneath the surface.
Etheric sight reveals entirely new colours beyond the known spectrum -- indescribable in current language because we have no existing words for them. Two surfaces appearing identical to ordinary sight may appear completely different to etheric vision.
Developed etheric sight allows magnification of vision to the atomic scale. The method involves projecting a flexible tube of etheric matter from the centre between the eyebrows, with a single atom serving as a lens at its tip. This atom can be expanded or contracted at will, and the operator's consciousness can be projected to distant points through it. This faculty was symbolised by the serpent projecting from the forehead in Egyptian Pharaonic headdress.
Various entities become visible through etheric sight that are normally imperceptible: lower orders of nature-spirits with etheric bodies, gnomes that inhabit solid rock, certain fairies that evolve through grasses and cereals, ants and bees before reaching their current form. Many traditional accounts of fairy sightings reflect genuine etheric perception.
Dr. W.J. Kilner (The Human Atmosphere, 1911) investigated the human aura through purely physical means using dicyanin dye screens -- expressly disclaiming any clairvoyant ability. After viewing through a dark screen, an observer can perceive the aura. Kilner found the aura consists of three distinct layers:
| Layer | Width | Structure | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Etheric Double | 1/16 to 3/16 inch | Striated; rose-tinted | Follows exact body contours; transparent; possibly self-luminous |
| Inner Aura | 2 to 4 inches | Granular; striated bundles at right angles to body | Densest portion; diagnostic value; contracts with illness |
| Outer Aura | 4 to 5 inches (variable) | Structureless; nebulous | More variable; wider at sides; narrower with illness |
Kilner found that greater mental vigour produces a bluer aura; deficiency of mental power produces grey. Intelligence corresponds to larger auras -- particularly around the head. In epilepsy, one side of both auras contracts; the Inner Aura becomes opaque and grey. A break in the aura indicates grave malady.
Kilner also demonstrated that aura Rays could be consciously projected by will from any part of the body, and that the colour of a Ray could be changed at will -- blue being easiest to produce, yellow the most difficult.
This work synthesises approximately forty primary sources published between 1897 and 1921, chiefly from the Theosophical tradition. A.E. Powell describes his role purely as compiler and synthesiser, not original researcher.
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