Belief in the astral plane is part of the common heritage of occult
philosophy which is shared by witch and ceremonial magician alike.
The word ‘astral’ is derived from the Latin astrum, a star. It was used
by medieval occultists to designate that super-physical medium by
means of which the influence of the heavenly bodies was conveyed to
the earth, and affected all things upon it.
In brief, the astral plane is part of the super-physical world, a world
composed of finer essence or of energy at a higher rate of vibration,
than that of the physical world. It is not higher in the sense of being
above in heaven. On the contrary, everything in the visible world of
matter is surrounded and permeated by its astral counterpart. Occultists
see the universe as a great scale of vibrations, of which our physical
plane is only one ; the one to which our physical senses respond.
Because the writings of such nineteenth-century Theosophical authors
as Madame Blavatsky, and the many books on modern Spiritualism,
have tended to familiarise readers with the idea of the astral plane, it is
not always realised that this is in fact a very old magical concept. Nevertheless, Francis Barrett in The Magus, published in 1 801 (one of the
classics of ceremonial magic), explains it as one of the fundamental
ideas upon which magical practice depends. Eliphas Levi, another
great nineteenth-century magus, treats extensively of this concept,
which he calls ‘the Astral Light’.
One of the chief claims made by occultists about the substance of
the astral plane is that it is responsive to thoughts and emotions. Hence
the astral body of man, the double, doppelganger or ‘fetch’, is called
by the Hindus the Kama Rupa, or ‘desire body’. It is a remarkable fact
that all ancient occult philosophers, even though they lived continents
and centuries apart, have had these ideas and beliefs. The Ancient
Egyptians, too, believed in the human double, which they called the Ka.
Old Norse legends tell of the Scin Laeca, or ‘shining body’, the apparition of the human being surrounded by ghostly light. If the beliefs of
occultism are a mere chimera, why does the same mythical beast gallop
through the minds of men, from one race and one time to another ?
The astral body is the means by which man functions upon the
astral plane, and which survives the death of the physical form. He can,
however, visit the astral plane, and perceive visions in the astral light,
while still incarnate upon this earth. This clairvoyant travel is one of the
attainments sought by the witch. It is the reality behind the wild stories
of witches flying through the air. The flying witch is not in her physical,
but her astral form.
This was realised by Henry More as long ago as 1 647. More was a
Platonist and a student of occult philosophy. In his Poems (University
of Manchester, 1 931 and AMS Press, New York, 1 878) published in
that year, when witchcraft was still a capital offence in Britain, occurs
the following significant passage :
And ’tis an art well known to Wizards old
And wily Hags, who oft for fear and shame
Of the coarse halter, do themselves withold
From bodily assisting their night game.
Wherefore their carcasses do home retain,
But with their souls at these bad feasts they are,
And see their friends and call them by their name,
And dance about the Goat, and sing har, bar,
And kiss the Devil’s breech, and taste his deadly cheer
More, as a Christian, regarded the witches’ Sabbat as being diabolical
but his occult studies had enabled him to penetrate to the truth behind
the tales of popular fantasy, namely that astral projection is one of the
secrets of witchcraft.
This is also the explanation of the old belief that a witch or wizard
casts no shadow. If one saw them in their astral form, of course the
double, not being of physical matter, would cast no shadow ; and such
was the superstitious terror engendered by the Church’s ban on any
use of psychic powers, that a person who could project their astral
body was automatically regarded as a witch.
The astral plane and its related phenomena constitute such a vast
subject that whole books could be and have been written about it. Any brief sketch such as this must necessarily omit many interesting and
important points. Many occultists divide the astral plane into seven
gradations, or sub-planes, from the lowest to the highest ; though it
must be remembered that in this connection the terms ‘lowest’ and
‘highest’ do not refer to position in space, but to different states of
being.
The higher gradations of the astral plane are regions of beauty
transcending that of earth ; they are the ‘Summerland’ of the Spiritualist.
The lowest regions of the astral, on the contrary, are the dwellings of
spiritual darkness; but this darkness proceeds from the debased and
vicious souls of their dwellers. The mind creates its own surroundings;
this is even true of the physical world, and still more so of the astral.
Like attracts like ; and the soul after death is drawn to that region which
is its natural affinity.
These ideas are by no means the invention of modern Spiritualists or
Theosophists. They are as old as Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, and
probably older. Even Neanderthal Man buried his dead with gravegoods, indicating a belief in a continuing life in the Beyond.
Beside the discarnate human souls who dwell upon the astral plane,
there are many orders of other spirits which are not human. There are
the souls of animals, some of whom have achieved individuality, while
others belong to a group soul of their species. There is the vast kingdom
of nature-spirits, which contains many ranks, some lower than humanity
and some much higher. The nature spirits were divided by medieval
occultists according to that element of Nature with which they had
affinity. The earth spirits were called gnomes, the water spirits undines,
the air spirits sylphs, and the fire spirits salamanders.
These spirits of the elements should not be confused with the semiintelligent entities called artificial elementals. The latter are formed
from the elemental essence of the astral plane, by the power of human
thought and desire acting upon that essence. Hence they may be
beautiful or hideous, protective or menacing. Their life depends upon
the power of the thought which calls them forth. Most people are quite
unconscious of the power of their thought, and what it can do ; but the
occultist uses this power deliberately, to create artificial elementals and
thought-forms. This power of thought is another of the fundamentals
of magic, which have been known all over the world, throughout the
ages. It is known in the East as Kriyashakti.
Artificial elementals and thought-forms may be perceived by one
whose power of astral vision is opened, intentionally or otherwise. They
account for many of the fantastic visions seen by people who rashly
experiment with so-called ‘psychedelic drugs’.
Beyond the astral plane are still higher and more spiritual levels of
being. To attain these is the goal of the true occultist and magician, so
that he may master the astral light, instead of being mastered by it