Astral plane
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The astral plane, also called the astral world and astral universe, is a plane of existence according to various philosophies and belief systems.
Although the word "astral" is often associated with New Age ideas, this term was used historically by alchemists. Within the theosophical system, especially as developed by Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, and later Alice Bailey, the Astral is the first metaphysical plane beyond the Physical, but is "denser" than the mental plane. The astral plane is also sometimes termed the "World of Emotion" and the "World of Illusion", and corresponds to Blavatsky's Kamic Plane. Some forms of Theosophy state that the Astral World vibrates its energy through astral atoms that copenetrate the physical world without trouble or confusion; and that all physical things have astral (and other subtle) counterparts.
According to Occult, Theosophical, and New Age teachings, the astral plane can be visited consciously with the astral body through means of meditation and mantra, lucid dreaming, or other forms of occult training and development. Some people would visit the astral plane by accident, simply by getting out of bed while the physical body remains sleeping. Unconsciously, the astral plane is the location of our consciousness while the vital body repairs damaged tissue and processes the wastes of the physical body.
On the one hand, the idea of an astral plane can be regarded as an extension to Descartes' dualism where the physical world is strictly separated from the world of thought and consciousness. The dualist position has long been abandonded by neuroscientists and most of the philosophers studying consciousness.
From the emanationist perspective, the Astral is the universe immediately preceding the Physical, which gives rise to it.
Some equivalent concepts to Astral are the Barzakh or Imaginal or Inter-world in Islamic Esotericism (Ishraqism, Sufism, etc), the World of Yetzirah in Kabbalah (although this sometimes includes the physical plane as well), the "spirit world" in Spiritualism, the "Nervous" State in Max Theon's teachings, and the "Vital" World in the philosophy of Sri Aurobindo and Mirra Alfassa.
Recently, the term 'astral plane' has come to mean a separate plane of existence where otherkin believe their souls reside.
Astral Plane in Popular Culture
In the standard Dungeons and Dragons RPG planar cosmology, the Astral Plane is a dimension coexistent will all others, used as a means of transportation between planes. Color pools on the plane lead to the other worlds it touches.
The Astral Plane is also a location in the world of the X-Men. It is a metaphorical level of existence with ties to the physical world which only psychic entities can visit.