The etheric body, ether-body, æther body, or vital body is one of the subtle bodies in theosophy and New Age thought. It is understood as a sort of life force body or aura that constitutes the "blueprint" of the physical body, and which sustains the physical body. The term "etheric" in this context seems to derive from the writings of C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant (Adyar School of Theosophy). It is given an almost identical meaning by Barbara Brennan, who describes it as the first (lowest) layer in the "human energy field" or aura.

Rudolph Steiner often refers

According to Adyar Theosophy and Alice Bailey, the etheric body and the etheric plane correspond to the three higher subplanes of the physical plane. Steiner however considers the etheric reality or life principle as quite distinct from the physical material reality, being intermediate between the physical world and the astral or soul world.

The prana-maya-kosha (sheath made of life-force) of Vedantic thought could be considered equivalent to the etheric body.

According to Max Heindel's Rosicrucian writings, this body, composed of four ethers, is called the "Vital Body" since ether is the way of ingress for vital force from the Sun and the field of agencies in nature which promote such vital activities as assimilation, growth, and propagation. It is an exact counterpart of our physical body, molecule for molecule, and organ for organ, with one exception: it is of the opposite sex, meaning POLARITY. It is slightly larger, extending about one and one-half inches beyond the periphery of the physical body.
These rosicrucian

Another term used for vital force is said to be "Odic fluid".

Relation to physics

Some theosophists held that the vital force could be identified with "N-rays". This notion, named after the city of Nantes where the radiations were "observed" by physicist René-Prosper Blondlot in 1903, have long since been debunked in mainstream physics.

Modern theosophists sometimes claim that the ideas discussed in this article are related to a contemporary area of fringe science, modern Aether theories. Even fringe scientists are likely to disavow such a relation, and few if any physicists would recognize theosophy as closely related to physics.

However, there are plausible alternative explanations - which includes the model of a dynamic ether with density proportional to the density of any physical substance occupying the area of space concerned, increasing around large bodies such as stars and planets, acting as a refracting medium and affecting the speed of propagation of light and electromagnetic forces, etc. - for all the experimental data and astronomical observations currently cited in support of the special and general theories of relativity, and the internal inconsistencies and unwarranted assumptions of standard relativity theory have been pointed out by dozens of scientists.

See also

• Subtle body
• Esoteric cosmology

References

1.   from a Theosophic viewpoint (rev’d 09/05)

• Brennan, Barbara Ann, Hands of Light : A Guide to Healing Through the Human Energy Field, Bantam Books, 1987
• -- Light Emerging: The Journey of Personal Healing, Bantam Books, 1993
• C. W. Leadbeater, Man, Visible and Invisible
• Powell, Arthur E. The Etheric Double
• Steiner, Rudolph, Theosophy: An introduction to the supersensible knowledge of the world and the destination of man. London: Rudolf Steiner Press. (1904) 1970
• -- Occult science - An Outline. Trans. George and Mary Adams. London: Rudolf Steiner Press, 1909, 1969
• Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter IV, ), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3

Prâna