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The Chord
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be
broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then
shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who
gave it. Ec 12:6
By: Alfred Ballabene (alfred.ballabene@univie.ac.at)
Nomenclature:
In literature and in the news the terms "silver cord" and "astral
cord" are used without making any
difference. I have split the two terms into two different meanings, assigning silver-cord
as a term
for the etheric cord phenomenon and astral cord as a term for the astral cord phenomenon.
Below experiences and speculations are presented, underlining the use of two different
terms.
Silver Cord
Function of the silver cord:
The etheric "substance" penetrating the physical body has been experienced (by
occultists) as
connected to vitality. A lack of etheric substance in human body is postulated to cause
weakness
or sickness. On the other hand an accumulation, induced by a number of exercises in Yoga,
Taoism, Kung Fu etc., seems to lead to mediumistic and paraphysical abilities. While
OBE-ing
(etheric OBE) a part of the vital body separates, forming a fog-like double, the etheric
body. To
prevent a permanent loss of etheric substance, bound to the double, there seems to be a
"saving"
mechanism, in which the silver cord takes part, connecting the dissociated ektoplasm to
its source
in the physical body. Thus a separation of etheric matter with no return is prevented.
Threads observed when separating:
In my OBE´s performed by the technique "stepping out in trance" my subtle body
seemed to be
tied by many elastic cords to the physical body as if being attached by gluelike stringy
material.
By rocking I enlarged my swinging motions, and at last I was able to rupture these cords
(at least
that was what I sensed). It may be that only part of the strings were torn and another
part,
situated in a somehow favoured region and more densely arranged, were assembled to a
single,
stronger "string", the so called "cord" I am dealing with. In this way
statements of some authors
may be interpreted, in which the base of the silver cord is described to be of rootlike
character or
to be composed of many cords. See: Robert Monroe 1), p.164. Further Yram 2), p.75:
Where the cord joins the double it consists of thousands of very fine,
elastic threads, which seem to suck the double into them.
My experiences of the silver cord:
Several years ago I once experienced the silver cord when
"stepping-out-in-trance". Out of the
body, at a distance of about 1m or 1,5m I turned around, face to the physical body. As
usual in
near-body distance I was without visual perception and in absolute darkness. Feeling a
touch on
my breast I reached out for it and felt something with smooth surface formed like a cone,
diameter at the basis (breast) ca. 15 - 20cm, getting smaller to a diameter of about 5cm
at a
body-distance of about 30cm. At this diameter (5cm) it transformed to a cord, leading in
direction
of the physical body. In all other OBE's of the type of "stepping-out-in-trance"
I paid no attention
to the silver cord, but at a certain distance (ca. 50m) I felt a pull. Then I was stopped
as if tied
and fixed at my backside. Instantly I was retracted to the physical body. This happened
very
often and reduced my expeditions to a short duration, frustrating me.
Location:
While I have been moving away from the physical body, the silver cord has been connected
to the
backside of the subtle body; turning around, face to the physical body, the bais of the
silver-cord
has been sensed at the frontside. It seems that the root of the silver cord always is
directed
towards the physical body. The most frequently described locations of the root of the cord
are
back and breast respectively and back of the head and forehead respectively. The position
is
affected by the focus of consciousness being either body centered or mental centered.
Pulsations and vibrations of the cord:
In this respect I have no personal experiences. In literature (see Crookall) pulsations
and
vibrations of the silver cord are mentioned. Mostly these pulsations are interpreted as
vitality
transport and life-impulses towards physical body for breathing and heart beat. I prefer
another
interpretation: Pulsations and vibrations are very common experiences before starting body
separation. Why not should such pulsations extend and spread over the silver cord. I think
there is
no need to attach importance to this detail.
Length And Thickness:
Concerning the length of the silver cord very different observations are reported. There
seem to
be great individual variabilities. Diameter and length are correlated. S.J. Muldoon (3),
p.29 writes:
The "cord" is described as relatively short and thick when the
"double"
is within a few feet of the body and getting thinnner and thinner as
they separate, until it is like a spider's web.
Astral Cord
The Astral Cord interpreted in Theosoph´s tradition:
The Theosophs initiated modern esoteric insights and their theories are accepted all over
the
esoteric groups. Regarding this valuable research critisicsm seems retentious but
nevertheless
may be useful, if we don't want to stick to dogmas. At the end of the 19th century the
most
important impulse for civilization was the invention of a new way to send informations in
"no time"
by means of electrical signals conducted in cables. It was logic to refer to the new
development
when creating a modern esoteric science, specially since cable-like features were found,
connecting subtle body to physical body. The social-religious paradigm of this era was
hierarchical. In the same way as god was controlling world, the overself was controlling
the
physical body, passing on its orders to the latter by means of the information cable
"astral cord".
Control was thought to be complete, even in details like breathing and heart-beat.
Technique was
not as far developed as to allow ideas like autoorganization and selfregulation.
A second and additional idea was the association of the cord with the umbilical cord, the
mother
aspect being associated to the physical body, the embryo to the subtle body. Birth was
linked to
death: In birth the umbilical cord is cut and the newborn enters daylight as individual;
in physical
death the silver cord breaks and the soul is set free. Resulting from this philosophy a
break of the
silver- (astral-) cord was thought to cause death.
Personal observations:
I have never seen a cord in astral plane. Experiences:
Stepping out in false awakening: For several times I turned in direction to the physical
body to
check the existence of a cord by touch and sight and had no positive cord observations. In
all
these experiences there were no mediumistic signs, no threads registered and stepping out
was
easy and without problems.
Spontaneous astral travellings:
I very often turned around in astral travelling, mostly to gain better orientation. I have
never seen
a cord and I have never felt a direction in which the physical body could have been. I
rather felt
to be in another plane. In this case the cord would have had to cross planes. I doubt if
this is
principally possible for any matter, even if it is a subtle matter considering that every
plane has its
own kind of "matter" and organization.
Literature:
Reviews of published experiences of the cord:
1) Robert Crookall: "The techniques of astral projection". Liverpool: The
Aquarian Press,
paperback ed. 1981, pp. 48-52
2) Robert Crookall:" Out-of-the-body experiences". New York: University Books
Inc., 1970. pp
59-67, 144-168.
Experimentators:
1) Monroe, Robert: "Journeys out of the body". German Ed. 1972
2) Yram: "Practical Astral Projection"; New York: Samuel Weiser, Inc.; 3rd
Impression, 1977,
paperback
3) Muldoon, S.J. (and H. Carrington): "The projection of the astral body". Rider
1929
Alfred Ballabene (alfred.ballabene@univie.ac.at)
