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Energy being

An energy being is a hypothetical entity composed entirely of energy rather than physical matter, often depicted as an intelligent, non-corporeal life form capable of existing independently of biological structures.^[1] This concept has been explored extensively in science fiction as a form of advanced or alien intelligence, where such beings might transcend material limitations through mechanisms like electromagnetic fields or self-sustaining plasma.^[1] In science fiction literature and media, energy beings represent a staple trope for portraying evolved civilizations or otherworldly entities, frequently portrayed as benevolent guides, destructive forces, or enigmatic observers. Early examples appear in E.E. Smith's The Skylark of Space (1928), featuring incorporeal entities, while later works include the Arisians in Smith's Lensman series (1937–1948) as ancient, wise energy-based mentors and Vanamonde in Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars (1956) as a vast, childlike galactic mind.^[1] Cinematic and televisual depictions abound, such as the non-physical aliens in Star Trek episodes like "Errand of Mercy" (1968) or the Vorlons and Shadows in Babylon 5 (1993–1998), who manifest as luminous energy forms to interact with corporeal races.^[1] These narratives often invoke "imaginary science" to rationalize their existence, such as space-time distortions or pure photonic structures, emphasizing themes of evolution beyond flesh.^[1] From a scientific standpoint, the notion of pure energy beings remains implausible under established physics, as energy is not a substance that can independently form complex, self-aware structures without underlying matter.^[2] Astrophysicist Saurabh Jha of Rutgers University explains that while Einstein's E=mc² demonstrates the equivalence of mass and energy, photons (light particles) lack the rest mass and variability needed for life-like organization, traveling at constant speeds without the capacity for intricate computation or adaptation.^[2] In certain spiritual and holistic traditions, the term "energy being" extends to describing the fundamental nature of human existence as manifestations of subtle energies. This perspective posits that recognizing and harmonizing with this internal and external energy—through practices like qigong—unlocks innate wisdom and potential, viewing the body as a vessel for dynamic energy rather than its primary essence.^[3]

Definition and concept

Core definition

An energy being is a hypothetical life form alleged to exist without a physical body, composed primarily of energy rather than baryonic matter, and sustained by structures such as electromagnetic fields, plasma configurations, or other non-material energy patterns that enable self-maintenance and intelligence.^[1] These entities are typically conceptualized as capable of independent existence in space or other environments hostile to biological life, often rationalized through speculative physics involving energy vortices or transferable consciousness equivalents.^[1] The origins of the energy being concept trace to early 20th-century science fiction published in pulp magazines, with seminal depictions emerging in the late 1920s. E.E. Smith's The Skylark of Space, serialized in Amazing Stories from August to October 1928, introduced immaterial alien intelligences explained via imaginary scientific principles, marking an early influential example in the genre.^[1]^[4] The idea proliferated through 1930s pulp literature, including Smith's subsequent Lensman series beginning in 1937, where advanced entities operate as pure energy forms.^[1] By the mid-20th century, stories like Theodore Sturgeon's "Killdozer!" (November 1944, Astounding Science Fiction) featured a malevolent alien entity manifesting as destructive energy.^[1]^[5] Unlike ghosts or spirits, which are often portrayed as ethereal remnants tied to deceased individuals in folklore and occult traditions, energy beings are distinguished by their self-sustaining, autonomous nature as intelligent energy configurations not derived from biological origins.^[1] This scientific framing in fiction and pseudoscientific accounts emphasizes replicable energy-based processes over supernatural persistence, positioning them as potential evolutionary endpoints or alien life forms.^[1] The concept has since extended into paranormal and UFO literature, where alleged encounters describe non-corporeal entities interacting with physical reality.^[1]

Key characteristics

Energy beings are commonly characterized by their non-corporeal form, existing as organized patterns of electromagnetic energy or plasma rather than structured matter, which allows them to transcend the limitations of biological tissues.^[1] This intangibility enables them to phase through solid objects and barriers without resistance, as their essence lacks the molecular density required for physical interaction.^[6] Additionally, they demonstrate rapid energy manipulation, harnessing ambient electromagnetic fields or stellar radiation to propel themselves at high speeds, including near-light velocities, or to facilitate communication through modulated energy pulses akin to telepathic signals.^[6] Due to the absence of organic components subject to decay, aging, or disease, energy beings are often attributed with potential immortality, sustaining their coherence indefinitely as long as sufficient energy sources remain available.^[1] Variations in their manifested forms further highlight their adaptability, ranging from compact glowing plasma orbs that pulse with internal luminosity to elongated humanoid energy silhouettes that mimic corporeal shapes for interaction purposes.^[6] More diffuse configurations, such as expansive energy fields or cloud-like vortices, allow for broader environmental integration, enabling advanced interactions like temporary possession of physical hosts by overlaying their energy matrix onto neural pathways or inducing telepathic links through resonant frequency alignment.^[1] These forms not only facilitate survival in extreme environments, such as stellar coronas or vacuum voids, but also permit shape-shifting to suit contextual needs, such as condensing into dense bolts for defense or dispersing for reconnaissance.^[6] Conceptually, energy beings challenge traditional notions of consciousness by positing that sentience can emerge from stable, self-organizing energy configurations rather than neural architectures, where complex oscillations or standing waves serve as the substrate for memory, decision-making, and self-awareness.^[1] This framework implies a distributed or collective cognition, potentially scalable across multiple energy nodes, allowing for emergent intelligence without the fragility of biological brains.^[6] Such patterns could theoretically persist through energy transfers or replications, preserving individuality or hive-mind structures across cosmic distances.^[1]

Depictions in fiction

Literature and short stories

The concept of energy beings in science fiction literature emerged in the early 20th century as a way to imagine non-corporeal forms of intelligence, often portrayed as vast, immaterial entities transcending physical limitations. In the pulp fiction era of the 1930s and 1940s, energy beings evolved into more antagonistic or enigmatic figures within space opera narratives. E.E. "Doc" Smith's *Lensman* series (serialized from 1937 to 1948), for instance, features the Arisians as ancient, benevolent intelligences who have prioritized mental over physical development, functioning as near-immaterial guardians guiding lesser species against cosmic threats.^[1]^[7] Similarly, Eric Frank Russell's Sinister Barrier (1939) introduces energy-based entities from a parallel dimension that manipulate human affairs invisibly, highlighting themes of hidden influences on reality.^[1]^[8] Fredric Brown's short story "The Waveries" (1945) portrays playful, wave-form intelligences disrupting Earth's technology, blending whimsy with existential peril in a concise pulp format.^[1] These mid-century examples, prevalent in magazines like Astounding Science Fiction, shifted energy beings from abstract philosophy to plot drivers in interstellar conflicts. Thematically, energy beings in literature often symbolize post-human transcendence or god-like detachment, serving as metaphors for humanity's potential evolution beyond biology. Smith's Arisians embody ultimate observers, intervening subtly to foster civilization while remaining aloof, which underscores themes of directed evolution and moral oversight. Such portrayals allow authors to probe philosophical questions about consciousness detached from matter, representing an idealized or cautionary future where intelligence persists as pure energy, free from corporeal decay.^[1]

Film, television, and comics

In the Star Trek franchise, energy beings are frequently portrayed as highly evolved, non-corporeal entities possessing superior intellect and moral authority, often intervening subtly in human affairs to prevent conflict. The Organians, introduced in the 1968 episode "Errand of Mercy" of Star Trek: The Original Series, appear as an ancient race of pure energy and thought, existing beyond physical form and capable of paralyzing entire fleets to enforce peace between the Federation and Klingons.^[9] These beings embody a theme of non-interference, viewing corporeal races as primitive and their wars as futile, which underscores the episode's exploration of ethical evolution. Similarly, the Q Continuum, recurring across The Next Generation and other series from 1987 onward, consists of omnipotent, extra-dimensional entities who manifest in humanoid guises and demonstrate capabilities associated with incorporeal existence, testing humanity through trials that highlight free will and growth.^[10] Beyond Star Trek, Japanese tokusatsu television like the Ultraman series, beginning in 1966, features energy beings in the form of antagonistic "Minus Energy" monsters, which materialize from human negative emotions such as anger and despair. In Ultraman 80 (1980–1981), these kaiju represent a tangible threat born of collective psychic negativity, battled by the hero to restore balance, emphasizing themes of emotional harmony in a serialized format that prioritizes spectacular energy-based combat sequences.^[11] This portrayal contrasts with benevolent energy entities by framing them as chaotic forces that amplify human flaws, influencing the genre's long-running narrative of heroic intervention against intangible evils. In film, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) implies a trajectory toward transcendence through its enigmatic monoliths, alien artifacts that catalyze human advancement from primitive tool-use to a transcendent state. The protagonist, Dave Bowman, undergoes a psychedelic transformation into the "Star Child," a luminous fetal form orbiting Earth, symbolizing humanity's potential ascension beyond physical limitations as guided by advanced extraterrestrial intelligences.) This abstract depiction has profoundly impacted science fiction cinema, inspiring discussions on post-human existence and the role of technology in evolutionary leaps. Comic books often depict cosmic entities with energy manipulation as godlike figures central to multiversal conflicts, wielding immense power in action-driven stories. In DC Comics, the Spectre, debuting in More Fun Comics #52 (1940), functions as a divine supernatural entity embodying God's vengeance, bonded to a human host like Jim Corrigan and capable of manipulating cosmic energies to punish evil on a supernatural scale. Its narratives frequently involve battles against demonic forces, highlighting themes of judgment and redemption through explosive manifestations.) Likewise, Marvel Comics' Living Tribunal, first appearing in Strange Tales #157 (1967), serves as a conceptual cosmic arbiter, an immense golden entity overseeing multiversal balance with authority derived from the One-Above-All, intervening in threats like the Infinity Gems saga to maintain equilibrium among realities.^[12] These characters drive high-stakes plots involving energy manipulation and existential crises, cementing such entities as pivotal to superhero cosmology and their cultural resonance in exploring power's moral dimensions.

Role in pseudoscience and spirituality

Esoteric and occult traditions

In ancient Arabian folklore predating the 7th century, jinn were conceptualized as invisible supernatural entities inhabiting the natural world, often associated with elemental forces and capable of interacting with humans; this tradition was later elaborated in Islamic texts as beings created from smokeless fire, emphasizing their ethereal and intangible nature.^[13] Similarly, in the Vedic texts composed around 1500 BCE, devas were portrayed as luminous divine entities derived from the root div, meaning "to shine," representing radiant powers of light and cosmic order that transcend physical form.^[14] During the 19th-century occult revival, Theosophy, founded by Helena Blavatsky, integrated these ancient ideas by describing "elementals" and "nature spirits" as semi-conscious etheric energy forms inherent to the elements—air, water, earth, and fire—acting as intermediaries between the material and spiritual realms.^[15] Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine (1888) posits these beings as manifestations of the astral light, unevolved forces that could be influenced through esoteric practices, drawing parallels to the luminous devas and fiery jinn while framing them within a universal evolutionary cosmology.^[16] In alchemical and Hermetic traditions, rooted in texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus from the 2nd–3rd centuries CE, energy beings symbolize the archetypal process of transmutation, wherein base matter is refined into spiritual essence through stages like nigredo (dissolution) and rubedo (union), mirroring the soul's ascent from corporeal to divine states.^[17] Practitioners invoked such entities via rituals involving incantations, astrological alignments, and symbolic operations—such as the distillation of quintessence—to harness ethereal intelligences for both material and inner transformation, as detailed in Paracelsian writings that treat elementals as vital spirits animating the prima materia. These invocations underscored the Hermetic axiom "as above, so below," positing energy beings as bridges facilitating the alchemist's spiritual rebirth.^[18]

New Age and paranormal interpretations

In New Age spirituality, energy beings are conceptualized as non-physical entities composed of light or higher vibrational energy, often termed "light beings" or "ascended masters," who guide humanity toward spiritual evolution through channeled communications accessed via meditation and altered states of consciousness. Barbara Marciniak, beginning in the late 1980s, reported channeling a collective known as the Pleiadians, described as multidimensional light beings originating from the Pleiades star system, who convey messages about human potential and cosmic origins to facilitate personal and collective ascension.^[19] These teachings emphasize that humans possess latent energy structures, such as the light body, which can be activated to align with these beings' frequency. Within UFOlogy, energy beings feature prominently in contactee narratives, where extraterrestrials are portrayed as advanced entities utilizing or embodying pure energy forms for interstellar travel and interaction. Swiss contactee Billy Meier, from the 1970s onward, documented extensive encounters with the Plejaren (a variant of Pleiadians), whom he described as humanoid yet capable of manifesting through energy-based beamships powered by light and electromagnetic fields, suggesting a semi-physical, energy-dominant existence.^[20] Abduction accounts in UFO lore further depict energy beings employing non-material probes—often beams of light or vibrational energy—to scan or extract information from abductees, as reported in numerous testimonies compiled since the 1960s, including those involving physiological effects like temporary paralysis or energy infusion. Contemporary practices like aura reading and energy healing modalities, such as Reiki, reinforce the notion that humans are inherently energy beings whose subtle fields can be harmonized to achieve ascension into a light-based form, transcending physical limitations. Reiki, developed in the early 20th century but popularized in New Age circles from the 1970s, involves channeling universal life force energy to clear blockages in the aura and chakras, purportedly preparing practitioners for vibrational upgrades toward an energy-dominant state. These concepts have proliferated through 21st-century online communities, where forums and social platforms share personal accounts of energy activations and ascension symptoms, fostering a global network of believers in human transformation into light beings.^[21]

Scientific analysis

Physical principles and feasibility

The core physical challenge to the existence of energy beings lies in the inherent tendency of energy to disperse without a containing structure. According to the second law of thermodynamics, the entropy of an isolated system increases over time, resulting in the dispersal of energy and a drive toward equilibrium that prevents sustained organization.^[22] For instance, electromagnetic radiation, a common form of pure energy, propagates freely and dissipates rapidly in vacuum or media unless confined by matter-based mechanisms. Einstein's mass-energy equivalence principle, expressed as E = mc^2, underscores that energy and mass are interconvertible, yet it highlights the necessity for stable, matter-anchored configurations to maintain the complexity required for life-like processes, as unbound energy lacks the persistence needed for information storage or processing.^[23] Proposed forms of energy beings, such as those based on plasma—a high-temperature ionized gas and state of matter—fail to overcome these limitations despite occasional self-organizing patterns, as plasma consists of charged particles (ions and electrons) rather than pure energy. Plasma can form transient structures like ball lightning, which exhibits glowing, spherical formations with diameters of 10–20 cm and lifespans typically ranging from seconds to under a minute.^[24] However, these phenomena arise from atmospheric electrical discharges and dissipate quickly due to thermal and electromagnetic instabilities, lacking the longevity, adaptability, or hierarchical complexity essential for sentience.^[2] Experimental recreations in laboratories, such as plasma globes or arc discharges, similarly confirm that plasma configurations revert to disorder without continuous external energy input, underscoring their unsuitability for autonomous, intelligent entities.^[25] From the perspective of quantum field theory, vacuum energy fluctuations—manifesting as virtual particle-antiparticle pairs—represent another potential basis for energy-based existence, but they are fundamentally unstable and incoherent. These fluctuations, governed by the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, occur on Planck timescales (approximately $10^{-43} seconds) and do not persist long enough to form stable patterns or process information without interaction with physical fields or matter.^[26] Coherent structures capable of sustaining life would require a material substrate to mitigate decoherence and entropy increase, rendering pure vacuum-derived entities infeasible.^[27] Overall, these physical principles reveal profound instabilities in any purely energetic form, rendering energy beings incompatible with established laws of physics.^[28]

Hypothetical alternatives in astrobiology

In astrobiology, while pure energy beings remain implausible, hypothetical life forms composed of exotic matter such as ionized plasma (a state of matter) or structured electromagnetic fields have been speculated, potentially existing in high-energy environments where traditional biochemical life would be untenable. This idea draws from observations of complex plasmas—ionized gases that exhibit self-organization under specific conditions, such as those found in space. Pioneering simulations and laboratory experiments have demonstrated that dusty plasmas, consisting of microscopic dust particles embedded in ionized gas, can form stable helical structures capable of replication, metabolism-like energy exchange, and response to environmental stimuli, mimicking attributes of living systems.^[29] These structures arise from electrostatic interactions and Coulomb forces, allowing them to grow by attracting additional particles and divide through bifurcation processes, as shown in computational models of plasma dynamics.^[29] Such plasma-based entities represent an alternative to carbon-centric biochemistries, potentially thriving in non-planetary settings like stellar coronas, interstellar nebulae, or planetary magnetospheres, where temperatures exceed thousands of degrees Kelvin and free energy is abundant from radiation or magnetic fields. For instance, in the rings of Saturn or Jupiter's ionosphere, dust grains charged by solar wind could aggregate into protocell-like formations, utilizing electromagnetic gradients for "metabolism" and information transfer via wave propagation.^[30] Early experimental evidence supports this feasibility; in 2003, physicists generated plasma blobs in laboratory chambers that exhibited growth, replication through fission, and inter-blob communication via electric signals, fulfilling several criteria for primitive life under controlled low-pressure plasma conditions.^[31] Theoretical extensions suggest these forms could evolve Darwinian traits, such as competition for charged particles, in cosmic voids where 99% of visible matter exists as plasma.^[29] Recent research (as of 2025) continues to explore plasma in prebiotic chemistry, such as synthesis of organic building blocks, but remains speculative without empirical evidence for life-like entities.^[32] Despite these intriguing parallels, plasma life remains speculative due to challenges in maintaining long-term stability and complexity without dissipating into surrounding fields. Astrobiologists emphasize that while plasma structures display lifelike behaviors—such as self-repair through ion recombination and adaptation to external perturbations—they lack the informational fidelity of nucleic acids, limiting their candidacy for advanced intelligence.^[30] Detection would require agnostic biosignatures, like anomalous electromagnetic signatures or organized plasma filaments in astronomical data, rather than molecular markers. Ongoing research in plasma physics continues to probe these possibilities, with implications for redefining life's universality beyond terrestrial paradigms.^[29]

References

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Immaterial Alien intelligences have long been a popular sf concept, occasionally "explained" by some form of Imaginary Science such as self-sustaining ...
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It’s a sci-fi trope, but are “beings of pure energy” really possible?
### Summary of Scientific Possibility of Energy Beings
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As energy beings, we have an infinite amount of wisdom and possibility to connect to. Based on the understanding that everything is energy, take a look around ...
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Jul 8, 2024 · ... The Skylark of Space (August-October 1928; 1946) began serialization. Sloane maintained Gernsback's policy of favouring didactic material ...
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... energy being which possesses their Caterpillar D7 bulldozer and sets out to ... pulp ?Magazine using the common pulp size: 6.5" by 9.5". For ISFDB ...
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Aug 24, 2022 · Of course, Energy Beings share many characteristics usually ascribed to concepts such as spirits and souls, often making them an example of ...
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Star Maker - Wikipedia
Star Maker is a science fiction novel by British writer Olaf Stapledon, published in 1937. Continuing the theme of the author's previous book, Last and First ...Missing: energy entities<|control11|><|separator|>
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May 20, 2024 · Transcendence can be considered as a wildcard symbol for what comes after. Thus the general sf consensus is that transcended beings and their affairs cannot be ...Missing: literature post-
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### Summary of Plot Related to Energy Evolution or Beings in *2001: A Space Odyssey*
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The Living Tribunal was a vastly powerful conceptual being, one who had existed since the multiverse came into exsistene. The Living Tribunal's only ...
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Blavatsky's masterwork on theosophy, covering cosmic, planetary, and human evolution, as well as science, religion, and mythology. Based on the Stanzas of Dzyan ...
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