Etheric Double

According to theosophical teaching, derived from ancient Hindu philosophy, the etheric double is an invisible part of the ordinary, visible, physical body, which it interpenetrates and beyond which it extends a little, forming with other finer bodies the aura. The etheric double is not made of the supposed omnipresent ether of space, but is composed of physical matter known as etheric, superetheric, subatomic, and atomic.

The term double is used because the etheric double is a replica of the denser physical body. The sense organs of the etheric double are the chakras, and it is through the chakras that the physical body is supplied with the vitality necessary for its existence and its well-being during life. The etheric double thus plays the part of a conductor, and a bridge between the physical and astral bodies, for without it humans could have no communications with the astral world and hence neither thoughts nor feelings.

Anesthetics are said to drive out the greater part of the double, and the subject is then impervious to pain. During sleep the double does not leave the physical body; indeed, in dreams the etheric part of the brain is extremely active, especially when, as is often the case, the dreams are caused by attendant physical circumstances, such as noise. Shortly after death, the etheric double finally quits the physical body though it does not move far away from the body, but is composed of the four subdivisions of physical matter alluded to earlier. With the decay of the physical body, the double reportedly also decays.

Those who have claimed experience of astral projection or out-of-the-body travel state that the etheric or astral body is connected to the physical body by a subtle, infinitely extensible cord. Aside from their specialized use in Theosophy, the terms etheric double and etheric body are often used synonymously with astral body.

Sources:

Mead, G. R. S. The Doctrine of the Subtle Body. London: John M. Watkins, 1919. Reprint, Wheaton, Ill.: Theosophical Publishing House, 1967.

Powell, A. E. The Etheric Double. 1926. Reprint, Wheaton, Ill.: Theosophical Publishing House, 1969.