The Nature of the Etheric Body

....There are six major propositions which govern all consideration of the etheric body, and I would like to present them to students as a first step:

1. There is nothing in the manifested universe - solar, planetary or the various kingdoms in nature - which does not possess an energy form, subtle and intangible yet substantial, which controls, governs and conditions the outer physical body. This is the etheric body.

2. This energy form - underlying the solar system, the planets and all forms within their specific rings-pass-not - is itself conditioned and governed by the dominant solar or planetary energy which ceaselessly and without break in time, creates it, changes and qualifies it. The etheric body is subject to ceaseless change. This, being true of the Macrocosm, is equally true of man, the microcosm, and - through the agency of humanity - will eventually and mysteriously prove true of all the subhuman kingdoms in nature. Of this, the animal kingdom and the vegetable kingdom are already evidences.

3. The etheric body is composed of interlocking and circulating lines of force emanating from one or [143] other, or from one or many, of the seven planes or areas of consciousness of our planetary Life.

4. These lines of energy and this closely interlocking system of streams of force are related to seven focal points or centers to be found within the etheric body. These centers are related, each of them, to certain types of incoming energy. When the energy reaching the etheric body is not related to a particular center, then that center remains quiescent and unawakened; when it is related and the center is sensitive to its impact, then that center becomes vibrant and receptive and develops as a controlling factor in the life of the man on the physical plane.

5. The dense physical body, composed of atoms - each with its own individual life, light and activity - is held together by and is expressive of the energies which compose the etheric body. These, as will be apparent, are of two natures:

a. The energies which form (through interlocked "lines of forceful energy") the underlying etheric body, as a whole and in relation to all physical forms. This form is qualified then by the general life and vitality of the plane on which the Dweller in the body functions, and therefore where his consciousness is normally focused.

b. The particularized or specialized energies by which the individual (at this particular point in evolution, through the circumstances of his daily life and his heredity) chooses to govern his daily activities.

The etheric body has many centers of force, responsive to the manifold energies of our planetary Life, but we shall consider only the seven major [144] centers which respond to the inflowing energies of the seven rays. All lesser centers are conditioned by the seven major centers; this is a point which students are apt to forget. It is here that knowledge of the egoic and of the personality rays is of prime usefulness.

It can be seen, therefore, how exceedingly important this subject of energy becomes, because it controls and makes the man what he is at any given moment, and likewise indicates the plane on which he should function, and the method whereby he should govern his environment, circumstances and relationships. If this is grasped by him, it will enable him to realize that he will have to shift his whole attention from the physical or the astral planes on to the etheric levels of awareness; his objective will then be to determine what energy should control his daily expression (or energies, if he is an advanced disciple). He will realize also that as his attitude, attainment and comprehension shift to ever higher levels, his etheric body will be constantly changing and responding to the newer energies. These energies he will be wilfuly bringing in; this is the right use of the word "wilful."

It is not easy for the average seer or clairvoyant to distinguish the etheric body from its environment or to isolate its particular type of energy or livingness, for the reason that its automaton, the physical body - being composed of vibrant energetic atoms - is itself in constant movement, and such movement involves a necessary radiation as a consequence; animal magnetism is an illustration of this radiation. This emanation from the dense physical body normally and naturally mingles with the energies of the etheric body, and thus only the trained seer can differentiate between the two, particularly within the physical body itself. [145]

From one point of view the etheric body can be looked at in two ways: first, as it interpenetrates, underlies and occupies the entire physical organism and, secondly, as it extends beyond the physical form and surrounds it like an aura. According to the point in evolution will be the extent of the area which the etheric body covers beyond the outside of the physical body. It may extend for a few or many inches. It is only in this area that the vital body can be studied with relative ease, once the emanatory activity of the physical atoms is offset or allowed for.

Within the physical body, the network of the etheric body is to be found permeating every single part. It is peculiarly associated at this time with the nervous system, which is fed, nourished, controlled and galvanized by its etheric counterpart. This counterpart is present in millions of tiny streams or lines of energy, to which the Eastern occultist has given the name "nadis." These nadis are the carriers of energy.

They are in fact the energy itself and carry the quality of energy from some area of consciousness in which the "dweller in the body" may happen to be focused. This may be the astral plane or the planes of the Spiritual Triad, for none of the energies can control the physical body from any plane, no matter how high, except in this manner.

According to the focus of the consciousness, the psychic state of awareness, the potency of aspiration or desire, and the point in evolution or the spiritual status, so will be the type of energy carried by the nadis, passing from them to the outer nervous system.

This general proposition must be accepted, for the whole subject is as yet too intricate, and the mechanism of observation of the student too undeveloped, for me to enter into greater detail. This will suffice as an initial hypothesis upon which to work.

...The amount of energy and the type of energy controlling any aspect of the nervous system is conditioned by the [146] center in its immediate area. A center is a distributing agency, in the last analysis. Even though that energy will affect the entire body, the center most responsive to the quality and type will potently affect the nadis, and therefore the nerves, in its immediate environment.

It must always be remembered that the seven centers are not within the dense physical body. They exist only in etheric matter and in the etheric so-called aura, outside the physical body. They are closely related to the dense physical body by the network of nadis. Five of the centers are to be found in the etheric counterpart of the spinal column, and the energy passes (through large and responsive nadis) through the vertebrae of the spine and circulates then throughout the etheric body as it is interiorly active within the physical vehicle.