E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Astral Body (The).
The noumenon of a phenomenal body. This “spirit body” survives after the death of the material body, and is the “ghost” or “double.” Macbeth’s dagger was an astral body; so, in theosophy, is the “kama-rupa” or mind body; and in transubstantiation the veritable “blood and flesh” of Christ is the astral body of the accidents “bread and wine.”
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Man is supposed to consist of body, soul, and spirit. The last is the astral body of man.
