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Chapter XVII: Astral Shells2259
Chapter XVII: Astral Shells
We would be neglecting the task to which we have set ourselves in this
book, were we to omit all mention of a peculiar phenomenon of the
Astral Plane which causes much confusion to all beginners in the investigation
of psychic phenomena. We allude to what have aptly been called “Astral
Shells,” the worn-out Astral bodies of the souls who have awakened from
the soul-slumber of the Astral Plane. These worn-out garments of the soul
are frequently mistaken for the soul itself, and much confusion has arisen by
reason of this mistake.
Each human entity on earth-life has, in addition to the physical body, a finer
and more subtle form of body, which is called the Astral Body (sometimes
called “the etheric double,” known to the Hindus as the Linga Sharira). This
Astral body is an exact counterpart of the physical body, and, in fact, is the
finer model upon which the physical body is moulded or overlaid. Upon
the departure of the soul from the physical body, it carries the Astral body
with it as its vehicle, and dwells in it during the soul-sleep, discarding it only
when it awakens from the soul-slumber and passes on to the higher states or
conditions of the Astral. The Astral body, thus discarded by the soul, then
becomes what is known to occultists as an “Astral shell.”