reply to post by Penumbra
Etheric:
The etheric body can leave the physical, but when it does, I don't think it goes any great distance. I think its role is a "life energy" body. When
the body goes to sleep, the etheric expands, the chakras open, and we receive energy and restore our depleted supply. This is why it is also referred
to as the vitality sheath or health body. When I'm tired and drained, I can lay down for half an hour, enter a trance like state and wake up feeling
totally refreshed. This is not the projection of the astral body, but a charging of the etheric. If the etheric projected a great deal, our bodies
would feel drained, not refreshed, upon return. When I astral project, my etheric is doing its job of replenishing my body, and when I come back, I am
refreshed. The two are independent.
When people experience "duality" aka mind splitting (where the consciousness resides at two locations) I believe one part of the consciousness is in
the etheric and another one is in the astral.
There are also a lot of discrepancies on the silver cord. I personally have never seen this cord (but I haven't really looked for it either). Is has
been suggested that the cord is related to etheric projection, not astral. If the cord was associated with just astral projection, then we would see
it every time we astrally projected.
I remember once leaving my body and out of curiosity I looked back towards my physical body. I saw a body, but it was in a totally different position
than my physical! It was the etheric body that I was seeing. In the astral, we see the astral counterparts of the physical, but I think we can also
see our etheric shell (this explains why I saw the etheric body, and not the physical).
On several occasions, during meditation, I have been able to see the ceiling through my physical eyelids. This is also not astral projection.
People who are sickly have reported more OBEs. I think this is because the etheric is weak and the astral is able to separate more easily. Both our
physical and etheric bodies are magnetic in nature and influence the pull of the astral.
When objects are moved, I think it is more from the influence of the etheric body, rather than the astral which does not share the same vibrations as
objects in the physical. The etheric is of a higher vibration than the physical, but lower than the astral.
Link to the above statement.
This site should answer most of your questions you may have in relations to this and more.