Astral Travelling in the Bible … & Beyond

The topic of astral travelling has taken to the mainstream with the hit Netflix series Behind Her Eyes (2021), but what does the Bible have to say on the activity? Whilst the subject of astral travelling is often perceived as some form of “new age” / occult activity, there do appear to be legitimate cases of it in the Bible and even early Church Fathers like Tertullian advocated it in certain circumstances!

What is Astral Travelling? According to Cheung¹, the ‘astral body’ is part of the consciousness of a person. Astral travelling would be the ‘process of [the astral body] consciously leaving the body and travelling free of physical constraints’². It is classed as part of the wider phenomena of out-of-body experiences (OBEs).

The science of Consciousness Studies is pushing the boundaries of our knowledge regarding human consciousness. The International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) contains many veridical evidential accounts of near-death experiences which seem to show consciousness is not restricted by our physical bodies. Where some choose to use the term consciousness or ‘astral body’, we can think of it as corresponding to the immaterial part of our being known that the Bible calls our spirit.

Astral Travelling in the Bible: Elisha

The Bible records a couple of instances of astral travelling by the prophet Elisha. He is portrayed as quite a psychically gifted prophet (we are using the word ‘psychic‘ to mean a ‘doorway of perception to the spiritual realm‘). We shouldn’t be frightened of the word ‘psychic’ as it is derived from the Greek word psyche, meaning ‘soul’. If we decouple it from any connotations, we can use it sensibly in our explorations of ‘biblical strangeness’. Elisha therefore perceives the spiritual realm through his psychic gifts from God.

Elisha and Gehazi

Those familiar with the biblical prophet, Elisha, will most likely know him for his healing of Naaman’s skin disease in 2 Kings 5:1-19. Naaman was the army commander for the king of Aram and having healed him, Elisha sends him on his way with a blessing.

What happens next with Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, is often overshadowed by the the former miracle. By doing so, we can miss a really interesting piece of information that looks like a case of astral travelling by Elisha:

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, thought, “My master has let that Aramean Naaman off too lightly by not accepting from him what he offered. As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something out of him.” So Gehazi went after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he jumped down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is everything all right?” He replied, “Yes, but my master has sent me to say, ‘Two members of a company of prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim; please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” Naaman said, “Please accept two talents.” He urged him, and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and gave them to two of his servants, who carried them in front of Gehazi. When he came to the citadel, he took the bags from them, and stored them inside; he dismissed the men, and they left.

He went in and stood before his master; and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant has not gone anywhere at all.” But he said to him, “Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you? Is this a time to accept money and to accept clothing, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, and male and female slaves? 

2 Kings 5:19b-26 (NRSV)

Gehazi decided to follow Naaman and lie to him about Elisha asking for donations. Having been miraculously healed by Elisha for free, Naaman obviously wants to return the favour and agrees to give Gehazi the requested amount. This would total approximately 70kg (150lbs) of silver – no small amount – in a couple of bags which were carried ahead of Gehazi by some of Naaman’s servants back to the citadel where Elisha and Gehazi lived.

Gehazi later goes in to meet Elisha, who queries where he’s been. Perhaps Elisha noticed Gehazi’s absence and watched him go out and return to the citadel with some of Naaman’s servants? Naaman’s party had departed only a short distance, so it could be that Elisha saw them physically, but not close enough to determine who got down from the chariot. This could be a natural observation of the departure of Gehazi into the distance, watching whilst the conversation took place, then watching his return.

All fairly normal, everyday observations. But then notice the following words of Elisha: ‘Did I not go with you in spirit when someone left his chariot to meet you?’ What could this mean? Why the curious phrase ‘go with you in spirit’, followed by Elisha recounting what seems to have been the conversation that Gehazi and Naaman had?

Notice how Naaman’s gifts were bagged, and yet Elisha knew exactly what was in them, even the clothes were bagged it seems (Gehazi takes the bags and stores them away).

Given what the Bible records shortly after in the life of Elisha, it seems very sensible to suggest that he had engaged in astral travelling ‘in spirit’ to see what Gehazi was up to.

Elisha the Psychic Spy

Whilst Elisha’s dealings with Gehazi could be explained away (tentatively) with natural observations, the following chapter records not just the miracle of a floating axe-head, but what today we would term ‘psychic spying’ (and no, no goats are killed in this chapter!)

Once when the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he took counsel with his officers. He said, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.” But the man of God [Elisha] sent word to the king of Israel, “Take care not to pass this place, because the Arameans are going down there.” The king of Israel sent word to the place of which the man of God spoke. More than once or twice he warned such a place so that it was on the alert.

The mind of the king of Aram was greatly perturbed because of this; he called his officers and said to them, “Now tell me who among us sides with the king of Israel?” Then one of his officers said, “No one, my lord king. It is Elisha, the prophet in Israel, who tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedchamber.”

2 Kings 6:8-12 (NRSV)

Elisha seems proficient in being able to observe the most intimate details of the Aramean king’s war plans, even in the security of the king’s most secure chamber. This information is being fed back to the king of Israel, help settlements in their territory stay on the alert for attacks.

Nearly 2900 years after Elisha, we read of exploration in the potential for psychic spying by the military of both the USA and the Soviet Union, e.g. Project Stargate. Whilst I am not advocating such activities, it’s interesting to see precedence for such behaviour in this passage.

Jesus ‘Sees’ Nathanael Under the Tree

The Bible records the calling of Nathanael by Jesus in John 1:46-50 and is quite a subtle, yet spectacular account, one which could possibly have an element of astral travelling…

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

John 1:46-50 (NRSV)

Notice that Jesus knows intimately the life of Nathaniel before he meets him. How can this be? Perhaps the answer lies in the curious way Jesus reveals how he obtained that knowledge. Jesus sees Nathaniel under a fig tree, before even Philip calls to him. Now, that in itself is a fairly bland comment by Jesus, just like I could say that I know about you because I saw you at prayer under a tree as I walked by. Nothing special about that. But it is Nathanael’s reaction of calling Jesus the ‘Son of God’, the ‘King of Israel’, which points to this being something more than Jesus’ mere physical observation of him under the tree.

If I said to you that I saw you at prayer, whilst you were standing outside in your garden, would you fall down and proclaim me as the Messiah? I would hope not!

Could it be that God the Father revealed to Nathanael that someone important would say they saw him under the tree? Maybe, but then Jesus himself claims he personally saw him under that tree…

A better explanation would be that Jesus came to him in spirit (astral travelling) and revealed who he was to him, possibly appearing in spirit before him as he was deep in prayer. This would make sense of Nathanael’s ‘light bulb’ moment reaction as he recognised who Jesus was – the very one who had revealed himself to him whilst under that tree!

Paul’s Man from Macedonia

One night, Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia who came to him, pleading for Paul to visit Macedonia and help the church there.

They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

Acts 6:6-10

We have explored this instance in further detail in another article here, but this could conceivably be another case of astral travelling in the Bible, with the man from Macedonia actually travelling to Paul in the spirit realm.

Astral Travelling, Tertullian and Perpetua

In the early Christian Church astral travelling was actually viewed positively! Yes, you read that correctly!

One of the founding fathers of the early Church, Tertullian, wrote this in c. 197 CE to Perpetua and other Christians with her who were held in prison in Rome, awaiting their martyrdom:

The prison does the same service for the Christian which the desert did for the prophet.  Our Lord Himself spent much of His time in seclusion, that He might have greater liberty to pray, that He might be quit of the world. It was in a mountain solitude, too, He showed His glory to the disciples. Let us drop the name of prison; let us call it a place of retirement. Though the body is shut in, though the flesh is confined, all things are open to the spirit.  In spirit, then, roam abroad; in spirit walk about, not setting before you shady paths or long colonnades, but the way which leads to God. As often as in spirit your footsteps are there, so often you will not be in bonds.  The leg does not feel the chain when the mind is in the heavens. The mind compasses the whole man about, and whither it wills it carries him. But where thy heart shall be, there shall be thy treasure. Be there our heart, then, where we would have our treasure.

Tertullian, Ad Martyras, Chapter II 9-11³

For Tertullian, the interface between life and death was not as clear cut as we have tended to think, and is certainly no longer the case with the advent of modern medical resuscitation techniques.

Summary

Many Christians might be frightened of any mention of the term ‘astral travelling’, denouncing it as ‘occult’ and therefore outlawed in the Bible, though there is no mention of this actually being the case. However, the Bible does record some very curious instances where it does appear that characters are engaged in this activity. Are these cases of the feit versions of alleged counterfeit instances of the practice?

The practice of astral travelling is not something to be undertaken lightly or used as a form of entertainment. But, it does seem that there is a reason for these cases being recorded within the scriptures and the early Church tradition, so there must be legitimate uses for those blessed with such a gift. We should not forget though that most of the people in the above examples have spent a great deal of time developing their spiritual life and relationship with God before this gift came along for them to master. To develop this mystical gift without deepening one’s spiritual connection with God risks letting ego become the driver – a dangerous step and one which can lead to the egocentric, counterfeit usage of this activity. A recommended book for beginning the Christian mystical life is Practical Mysticism by early 20th century Christian mystic, Evelyn Underhill, available online here.

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Bibliography

Cheung, T. (2006), The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World, London: HarperElement.

Gonzalez, E. (2014), The Fate of the Dead in Early Third Century North African Christianity: The Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas and Tertullian, Tübingen, Germany: Mohr Siebeck.

Underhill, E. (1911), Practical Mysticism.

Footnotes

1] Cheung, 36.

2] Ibid, 38.

3] Gonzales, 174. A translation of the letter can be read online here: https://www.saintperpetua.com/Groups/1000005173/Ad_Martyras_To.aspx (Accessed 17/10/21)