Editing Astral plane (section)

== History ==

[[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]] taught that the stars were composed of a type of matter different from the four [[Classical element|earthly (classical) elements]] – a fifth, [[Aether (classical element)|ethereal]] element or quintessence. In the "astral mysticism" of the classical world the human psyche was composed of the same material, thus accounting for the influence of the stars upon human affairs. In his commentaries on Plato's [[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]], [[Proclus]] wrote the following:

<blockquote>Man is a little world (mikros cosmos). For, just like the Whole, he possesses both mind and reason, both a divine and a mortal body. He is also divided up according to the universe. It is for this reason, you know, that some are accustomed to say that his consciousness corresponds with the nature of the fixed stars, his reason in its contemplative aspect with Saturn and in its social aspect with Jupiter, (and) as to his irrational part, the passionate nature with Mars, the eloquent with Mercury, the appetitive with Venus, the sensitive with the Sun and the vegetative with the Moon.<ref>Quoted in: G.R.S. Mead, ''The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition'', Watkins 1919, page 84 (Slightly adapted).</ref></blockquote>

Such doctrines were commonplace in mystery-schools and [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] and [[Gnosticism|gnostic]] sects throughout the [[Roman Empire]].

Among Muslims the "astral" world-view was soon rendered orthodox by [[Quran]]ic references to the Prophet's ascent through the seven heavens. Scholars took up the Greek Neoplatonist accounts as well as similar material in [[Hinduism|Hindu]] and [[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] texts.<ref>The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad: "There are two states for man &ndash; the state in this world and the state in the next; there is also a third state, the state intermediate between these two, which can be likened to the dream [state]. While in the intermediate state a man experiences both the other states, that of this world and that in the next; and the manner whereof is as follows: when he dies he lives only in the subtle body, on which are left the impressions of his past deeds, and of those impressions is he aware, illumined as they are by the light of the Transcendent Self"</ref> The expositions of [[Avicenna|Ibn Sina]] (i.e.Avicenna), the [[Brethren of Purity|Brotherhood of Purity]] and others, when translated into [[Latin]] in the [[England in the High Middle Ages|Norman era]], were to have a profound effect upon European medieval [[alchemy]] and [[astrology]]. By the 14th century [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] was describing his own imaginary journey through the astral spheres of [[Paradise]].<ref>[[Miguel Asín Palacios]] ''La Escatología musulmana en la Divina Comedia [Muslim Eschatology in the Divine Comedy]'' (1919). Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines'', University of New York Press, ''passim''. Idries Shah, ''The Sufis'', Octagon Press, 1st Ed. 1964.</ref>

Throughout the [[Renaissance]], philosophers, [[Paracelsus|Paracelsians]], [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucians]], and alchemists continued to discuss the nature of the astral world intermediate between Earth and the divine. Once the telescope established that no spiritual heaven was visible around the [[Solar System]], the idea was superseded in mainstream science.{{citation needed|reason=Content unavailable|date=May 2016}}