The Astral Plane: is it the home of demons?

This is my sixth article in a recent series throughout which I have been outlining various occult practices which are popular in the modern era.  Although we started with an examination of the more well-known practices, we now land upon something which is somewhat mysterious to the average person: astral projection.  This is the practice through which a person claims they are able to temporarily detach their consciousness from their body in order to interact with entities on the astral plane.  

What is the purpose of astral projection?  As I often say to people, the occult appeals to mankind because of its focus on the religion of “self”.  Through the process of astral projection, practitioners attempt to leave the physical and enter the astral plane (sometimes called the astral realm) where many spirits supposedly wander.  The reasons for doing this are different from person to person, but often it includes seeking to improve oneself or communicate with specific spirits for spiritual gain.  One proponent of the practice believes it can help people expand their awareness, gain new insights about themselves, interpret the world around them in different ways, maybe even make better decisions moving forward.  Again, note the focus – self.

By definition (according to the Cambridge Dictionary) the astral plane is “a place believed by some people to be where a person’s spirit goes between dying and entering the spirit world.”  The website Dictionary.com goes into further detail and describes it as: “a nonphysical level or realm of being, separate from the physical one but accessible from it by means of one’s astral body or by people with psychic powers: believed to be inhabited by angels and other nonphysical beings, including the souls of people who have died or have yet to be born.” 

Although those definitions do not draw a clear line to the occult, one practitioner’s definition clearly does: “The astral realm is a supernatural plane of existence. It has been the focus of mystical practices in Hermeticism, theosophy and ancient forms of magick and witchcraft.  The hermetic rule of ‘as above, so below’ suggests that if there is a physical body of realms below, there must be a duplicate of this body that exists in realms above. Astral travel, also known as astral projection, refers to the flight of the astral body, as it splits from the physical body and journeys across alternative high-frequency planes of reality.”

In adopting the above definitions, we see a problem with this belief.  The Bible tells us that those who have died do not inhabit some ethereal realm. For believers, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8) and for unbelievers, they are immediately confined to Hades (Luke 16:23).  The realm that occultists are in contact with is the demonic realm.  If you listen to the testimony of many who have meddled with astral travel, they will tell you that it opened them up to demonic torment.  For others, they are fooled into believing the astral plane is a beautiful place.

One person who claims she has the ability to travel to the astral plane said this: “It is also (from my experience) a beautiful place to journey to, full of silver-bodied entities, orbs of ethereal light larger than the sun, and a sense of somehow feeling at home – as though this is somewhere you have been before, and will one day, be again.”  In fact, when practitioners supposedly travel from their bodies, they claim there is a silver cord which tethers their physical bodies to their astral bodies.  One occultist claimed that: “The silver cord cannot be cut or broken, unless it is time for the person to die. That is one good definition of death: When the silver cord is broken.”  Though many occultists reject the truth of the Bible, they look to Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 to support their view: Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.  Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.

Now, for comic book fans, here is some news which may shock you.  Keeping in mind the reference made earlier to “silver-bodied entities”, which comic book character can you think of with a silver body?  Norrin Radd – known as the Silver Surfer.  Alarmingly, it is revealed that: “When the Silver Surfer is in astral form he can possess people.”  Furthermore, on the Marvel fan page, we read this: “The Surfer can project his astral form outside of his physical body, when in astral form he can perceive and interact with other beings made of spirit, even causing them harm.  The Surfer claimed that he could not be harmed in the Astral Plane as it was the source of the Power Cosmic.  The Surfer and Mephisto battle in their astral forms.”  Incidentally, according to the Marvel website the “Monarch of Evil, Mephisto rules a fiery nether realm and loves impersonating the biblical Satan. Empowered by the souls of the damned, he often strikes deceptive bargains with the living, making him one of the evilest and most untrustworthy beings in existence.”  The Silver Surfer is not the only Marvel character written with the ability to practice astral projection.  There are eight others, including one of the most popular comic book characters – Dr Strange.  In the Astonishing X-Men #3 there was also a storyline involving Old Man Logan wandering the astral plane in order to stop the elusive Shadow King.  

Satan has fundamentally normalised the occult in our world today.  Even something as traditionally innocent as comic books has now been corrupted through the introduction of characters that obtain their supposed powers through occult practices.  As I often say, the occult is Satan’s counterfeit of divine revelation and power.  Walter Martin used to call the occult the second most powerful force in the world.  He is right.  God’s power is certainly far above anything the occult could offer but the occult is real, it is powerful and it has ensnared billions of people with its false revelation, hope and power.