astraladj.n.
/ˈastrəl/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of, connected with, or proceeding from the stars; consisting of stars, starry.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > star > [adjective]
starry1543
sideral1545
astral1605
siderean1613
stellary1623
sidereal1639
astrean1650
asteristic1652
stellar1656
sidereous1657
siderous1658
stellate1694
asteriala1708
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke i. iv. 14 Those things which are simply formall are astrall and spirituall.
a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1660) x. iii. 464 There needs no Fatal necessity or Astral impulses.
a1861 F. Palgrave Hist. Normandy & Eng. (1864) III. 331 Astral showers covered the heavens.
1862 G. Rawlinson Five Great Monarchies I. vii. 139 The religion was to a certain extent astral.
b. astral spirits n. those formerly supposed to live in the heavenly bodies, variously represented as fallen angels, souls of dead men, and spirits originating in fire.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > [noun] > other types of spirit
fury1574
astral spirits1647
ardour1667
presence1667
Willa1718
rolling calf1845
Stella Maris1876
tommyknocker1895
1647 H. More Philos. Poems Notes 143/2 Neither Astrall spirit nor Angel can prevail against one ray of the Deity.
1769 J. Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 358 All his [Glanvill's] talk of ‘aërial and astral spirits’ I take to be stark nonsense.
1851 T. Carlyle Life J. Sterling i. viii. 77 Who could..as the Alchymists professed to do..distil you an ‘Astral Spirit’ from the ashes.
2. Star-shaped, star-like. astral lamp n. one resembling an Argand lamp, with the oil contained in a flattened ring, and so contrived that uninterrupted light is thrown upon the table below it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > angularity > specific angular shape > [adjective] > star-shaped
starlike1578
star fashion1597
starry1597
star-shaped1646
asteristic1652
stellaceous1657
stellate1661
stellated1661
stellar1670
astral1672
stelliform1794
stellular1796
asteroid1854
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > [noun] > oil-lamp > astral lamp
astral lamp1831
astral1838
1672 N. Grew Anat. Veg. iv. App. 126 Sometimes they [sc. the Hairs] are Astral, as upon Lavender.
1831 Encycl. Americana VII. 398/1 In the astral and sinumbral lamps..the oil is contained in a large horizontal ring.
1834 I. Taylor Saturday Evening iv. 47 Shines only with an astral lustre.
1852 N. Hawthorne Blithedale Romance xix. 191 The glow of an astral-lamp was penetrating mistily through the white curtain.
3. Theosophy. Pertaining to or consisting of a supersensible substance considered to be next above the sensible world in refinement and held to pervade all space. So astral body, the ethereal counterpart or shadow of a human or animal body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [adjective]
fantastic1483
fantasticalc1485
spectrical1609
sprightlya1616
spectrene1652
spectrous1652
shadowy1681
visionary1697
ghostly1753
faerie1767
spectry1796
spectral1816
spectrish1822
apparitional1824
phantasiastic1830
spooky1854
astral1877
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [noun] > astral body
astral body1877
astral1880
a1692 R. Kirk Secret Commonw. in M. Hunter Occult Lab. (2001) iii. 83 That what the Low-countrey-Scot calls a Wreath..is only exuvious fumes of the Man approaching death, exhal'd and congeald..and called Astral Bodies, agitated as wild-fire with wind.]
1877 H. P. Blavatsky Isis Unveiled in Secret Doctr. (1888) II. 74 When those circulations—which Eliphas Levi calls ‘currents of the astral light’—in the universal ether..take place in harmony with the divine spirit, our earth..enjoys a fertile period.
1880 Anna Kingsford in Maitland A. Kingsford (1913) I. 401 In man the astral fluid becomes transformed into human life at the moment of conception.
1880 Anna Kingsford in Maitland A. Kingsford (1913) I. 401 All they whose bodies have decomposed leave, or have left, their shadow in the astral space.
1881 A. P. Sinnett Occult World 162 Even our astral bodies, pure ether, are but illusions of matter so long as they retain their terrestrial outline.
4. Cytology. Of or pertaining to an aster.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > genetic activity > genetic components > [adjective] > chromosome > other structures in mitosis
astral1896
1896 E. B. Wilson Cell ii. 74 The contractile elements are formed by certain of the astral rays which grow into the nucleus.
1901 G. N. Calkins Protozoa iii. 82 In others they [sc. the rays] are focussed in a central or ‘astral’ granule (Gymnosphæra, Actinophrys, Sphærastrum, etc.), which in some cases has been seen to divide like a centrosome and to form an amphiaster.
1901 G. N. Calkins Protozoa viii. 278 In some cases this structure resembles the astral system of Metazoa.
1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 714/2 The remaining radiations at the two poles of the spindle are the ‘astral rays’.
B. n.
1. An astral lamp. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > [noun] > oil-lamp > astral lamp
astral lamp1831
astral1838
1838 Knickerbocker 12 57 As she drew the flowers on the centre-table more under the light of the astral.
c1860 J. G. Whittier Maud Muller xlvii The weary wheel to a spinnet turned, The tallow candle an astral burned.
1883 N.Y. World in Glasgow Weekly Herald 9 June 8/3 An ordinary tin can..in which astral oil is sold.
2. An astral body.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > ghost or phantom > [noun] > astral body
astral body1877
astral1880
1880 Anna Kingsford in Maitland A. Kingsford (1913) I. 400 The Astral is not an entity, for it cannot reproduce itself. It is an imprint only, a shadow, a reflect, an echo.
1888 H. P. Blavatsky Secret Doctr. (ed. 2) I. 639 Our more intimate astral, or inner man.
Draft additions January 2010
Special uses Relating to sense A. 3.
astral plane n. (in various forms of mysticism) a realm of immaterial existence, esp. one posited as an ethereal or eternal counterpart to physical or bodily reality; (Theosophy) the plane (plane n.3 6) of existence immediately beyond the physical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > existence > materiality > immateriality > [noun] > spirituality or being incorporeal > spiritual state or condition > particular mode or phase of
statec1300
astral plane1882
1882 A. Kingford & E. Maitland Perfect Way ii. 94 While in the celestial plane all things are persons, in the astral plane they are reflects, or at most impersonal.
1885 A. P. Sinnett Purpose of Theosophy iv. 50 The higher parts of the human soul itself would, at the death of the human being, cling to the astral form, and with that slowly disintegrate on the astral plane.
1956 T. L. Rampa Third Eye x. 153 This is not spiritualism. It is instead a belief that during sleep, or after death, we are free to wander in astral planes.
2003 I. MacDonald People's Music 145 Tattva symbols which use ‘flashing’ complementary colours to alter consciousness, ushering the magical aspirant into the Astral Plane of heightened vision.
astral projection n. (in various forms of mysticism, and later Parapsychology) a paranormal phenomenon in which an individual's consciousness is said to leave the physical body temporarily or to move at will into some ethereal realm; an instance of this (cf. out-of-body experience at out-of-body adj.). Also: the individual consciousness viewed as an immaterial entity.
ΚΠ
1887 Mohammed Benani ii. xxi. 215 Alas! to have so nearly attained the possibility of astral projection... I might possibly have flown to Helena, soothed Ludwig's burning brow.., and swept aside the veil which wraps Eftomah's fate in impenetrable mystery.
1891 J. Drake in Catholic World 52 310 You should have sent your astral projection ahead of you from Europe to prepare her for the change.
1903 F. W. H. Myers Human Personality I. App. 668 d I had..been studying..various cases of astral projection in Phantasms of the Living..making up my mind..to try..to accomplish a projection of myself by force of will-concentration.
1956 T. L. Rampa Third Eye x. 141 In Tibet we travel much by astral projection.
1983 S. MacLaine Out on Limb xiv. 194 Could it be that certain dreams were astral projections of the soul?
2004 Time Out N.Y. 11 Mar. 59/3 As class levels progress, subjects get more in-depth and esoteric—among other topics, astral projection, trance work and reincarnation are introduced.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adj.n.1605