Theos-Talk Archives (March 2002 Message tt00328)

Bri wrote, "The "astral body" hypothesis is a left-over from 18th century
Mesmerism and is still popular in Theosophical circles..."

The following was posted on the Pythagorean forum. I've talked a little (by
email) with Apollonius, the author of this post. He's not a Theosophist,
and he is very knowledgable about ancient Greek religion and philosophy.
Here is his post in its entirety:


----- Original Message -----
From: "Apollonius" <mclennan@cs.utk.edu>
To: <Pythagorean@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 1:05 PM
Subject: Re: [Pythagorean] "Bodies" of man


In message <a5aaus+la99@eGroups.com>, "gblt" writes:
Some traditions held that man had four bodies: the physical body, the astral
body, the mental body, and the causal body. ...

Neo-Pythagoreans typically distinguish several Vehicles (Okhemata) or
Raiments (Khitones) of the soul: the Material Vehicle (Huliaion Okhema); the
Spiritous or Pneumatic Vehicle (Pneumatikon Okhema, Pneuma, Okhema), which
is the vehicle of the lower soul; and the Luminous Body or Garment
(Augoeides Okhema or Khiton), also called the Aitherial (Aitheroeides) or
Astral (Astroeides) Body, which is the vehicle of the higher soul. (The
material vehicle or gross body may be associated with the elements Earth and
Water, the spirit body with Air, and the radiant body with Fire. See "Air"
in the Ancient Greek Esoteric Doctrine of the Elements
http://omphalos.org/BA/AGEDE.)

The Gnostics thought that man had seven "souls:" ...
Would anyone know of other, similar belief systems?

You might be interested in "The Parts of the Soul (An Ancient Greek System
of Chakras)" http://omphalos.org/BA/JO-TEP.html.

What does the Sacred Tetrad refer to, as in:
"I swear it by the One who in our hearts engraved
The sacred Tetrad, symbol immense and pure,
Source of Nature and model of the Gods."

Well, of course, in Greek it's not Tetrad but Tetractys. Here is my
translation:

I swear by him that gave our family the Tetractys,
which holds the everflowing Fount and Root of Nature.
(Ou ma ton hamatera genea paradonta Tetraktun,
pagan aenaon Phuseos rhizoma t'ekhousan.)

For an introduction to the meaning of the Tetractys, you can look at the
Pythagorean Tarot http://omphalos.org/BA/PT; look under Introduction/Back
Design and under Spreads/Tetractys. The Tetractys represents the levels of
reality as well as the stages in the Ascent to
the One.

Hugieia!
Apollonius





"But before all, thy soul to its faithful duty,
Invoke these Gods with fervour, that whose aid,
Thy work begun, alone can terminate.
Instructed by them, naught shall then deceive thee:
Of diverse beings thou shalt sound the essence;
And thou shalt know the principle and end of All."

"But before all, thy soul to its faithful duty,
Invoke these Gods with fervour, that whose aid,
Thy work begun, alone can terminate.
Instructed by them, naught shall then deceive thee:
Of diverse beings thou shalt sound the essence;
And thou shalt know the principle and end of All."