In esoteric traditions, a subtle body that accompanies the physical one and can separate from it.
The idea is an old one: a wrapping for the soul, lighter than matter, that goes with it and allows it to feel and desire. Modern Theosophy called it the astral body and gave it a precise place among the subtle bodies, as the seat of the emotions. It is this body that is said to travel in dreams and in astral projection. Science has found no such body to measure; it remains a powerful image, which many use to give shape to experiences that are real to them.
Why it is called "astral"
The word already says a great deal: astral means of the stars. In late antique philosophy, especially Neoplatonism, the soul was thought to descend from the heavens towards birth through the spheres of the planets, receiving a quality from each like a garment. This subtle wrapping, which the Greeks called the ochema, the "vehicle" of the soul, carried it into the body; at death, on the way back up, the soul was said to hand those qualities back one by one.
It is an idea that speaks the same language as astrology: the sky of your birth found again inside the person. The Renaissance took it up in many forms, and nineteenth-century Theosophy gave it the name we use today. In every version, the astral body is the meeting point between the person and the cosmos rather than an object to be found.
Subtle bodies in Theosophy and beyond
Theosophy describes the person as a series of bodies, from the densest to the finest: the physical body, the etheric double that carries vitality, the astral body, seat of emotions and desires, the mental body and others higher still. In sleep the astral body is said to draw partly away from the physical one; in astral projection it would do so with consciousness awake.
Similar ideas exist elsewhere, such as the subtle body of Indian tradition, described as a series of sheaths around the self. Research notes that the brain is constantly building a picture of the body, and that when this picture shifts you can feel you have a second body, light and separate. For those who believe in subtle bodies, this is the perception of something real; for researchers, it is an effect of how the brain represents the body.
Frequently asked questions
Is the astral body the same as the soul?
Not in Theosophy. The astral body is a vehicle, a kind of subtle garment, while the soul or spirit is the one who wears it. That is why the astral body is said to have qualities, such as the emotions that colour it, and to change over the course of a life. In everyday speech, though, the two words are often used as if they meant the same thing.
What is the difference between the astral body and the etheric body?
In Theosophy the etheric body, or etheric double, is the one closest to the physical: it is said to carry its vital energy and to follow it closely. The astral body is a step finer and is tied to emotions and desires. That is why, in out-of-body journeys, it is said to be the astral body that moves, while the etheric stays beside the physical body.
Can the astral body be seen or photographed?
The traditions say it is perceived with the inner senses, not with the eyes. Photographs passed around as proof, such as those showing coloured haloes around people, capture other things, like electrical discharges or tricks of the light, and have not stood up to testing. Those who speak of it seriously treat it as something to experience, not something to document.
Keep a dream journal
Writing your dreams down as soon as you wake is the first step to remembering and recognising them. In the SideraMea journal each dream stays next to the sky of that night.