The spirit world is the world or realm that is inhabited by spirits. Spirits are simply people/souls who have died on earth and lost their coat of flesh. Every person will eventually die and become a spirit. Being a spirit is no different than being a mortal in terms of who you are, your beliefs, interests, etc. The only thing that has changed is that you no longer have a physical body. But you continue to live on with your spirit body in the spirit world.

The spirit world consists of seven spheres. The second, fourth and sixth spheres are designed for spirits who have pursued and desire to advance in their mental and moral qualities. By contrast, the third, fifth, and seventh spheres are for the spirits who are seeking the development of Divine Love in their souls.¹

First Sphere

The first sphere, otherwise referred to as the earth plane, is where the large majority of spirits find themselves when they cross over. Within this plane are many sub-planes, some higher or lower than others. When a spirit finds itself in the earth plane, its condition is not much different from what it was on earth. The same ideas of right and wrong, beliefs, affections and desires remain. Life in the earth planes can be considered an extension of the earth life, and this is good, because spirits usually need time to adapt to their new life in the spirit world.

Second Sphere

The second sphere, sometimes referred to as the sphere of decision, remains hidden and outside the range of perceptions to those in the earth plane until the spirit is ready to progress. It can be thought of as kindergarten, preparing for authentic spiritual life. The inhabitants learn how to use their spiritual powers, all under the surveillance and instruction of more developed spirits, who come from higher spheres to teach in the institutions of the second sphere.

In the second sphere spirits take their first insecure steps. They learn how to modify their clothes. Their houses are no longer built by hand or machines like in the earth plane, but rather given form by spiritual forces. All this provides a freedom that is, until then, unknown to those spirits, and it raises them to a state of enthusiasm, or almost euphoria. These are unforgettable experiences, and for that reason many spirits remain there for a long time which is not necessarily a bad thing. There is not need to travel through the spheres at top speed.

In regards to the name “sphere of decision”, it relates to the process that the spirit goes through in deciding which spiritual path to take. This decision is often influenced by their earthly experiences and the higher spirits whom the new arrivals encounter and learn from. For example, a spirit of the fourth sphere with its moral development will praise all the achievements that may be obtained by pursuing the path of moral development. Similarly, a spirit from the third sphere with its soul development in the Divine Love will educate the spirit about the Divine Love path. The spirit in the second sphere will take in all this information and decide which path it wishes to pursue.

In some ways the second sphere appears like heaven, with immense happiness and faculties for study undreamt of on earth. However, it is only the beginning of a fascinating journey.

Third Sphere

In the last plane of the second sphere, spirits become aware that they have to fulfill some assignments, always helping others. They call this work an “atonement task,” because according to their understanding, it is what they have to do in part to pay for their sins, and in part to repay the help that they have received and continue receiving. Spirits of the third sphere become fully qualified in helping spirits who inhabit the lower spheres.

Progression is a law of the spirit world. All progression depends on the help that comes from outside the mind or soul of the spirit. Of course, when this help comes, the spirit has to cooperate, but without the help, there would be nothing to cooperate with, and no progress could be made. If a spirit only depends on itsown powers it will never progress. Therefore, for spirits to progress, they must be educated by more developed spirits. Those in the third sphere start “giving back” and helping less developed spirits. Through the Law of Activation, they also start receiving communication from God as to His desires in helping His children.

Tasks that the spirit may be engaged in usually relate to something they did on earth, often with serious sins, in the sense of guiding other spirits or mortals along better paths than they themselves had chosen. It may also be a work of “un-learning” or “un-teaching” falsehoods, in order to rectify what they have done consciously or unconsciously on earth. For example, a preacher may try to influence his old parishioners to accept the truth and forget the false teachings which he had given them on earth.

For Divine Love spirits the third sphere constitutes a very special experience. Although some of them may have obtained a small portion of Divine Love on earth or in the previous stages of their spirit life, it is here where for the first time they “live” this Love. They display their light and try to be living examples of the Father’s Will.

Fourth Sphere

Many spirits of the fourth sphere work as teachers in the educational and scientific institutions of lower spheres. They also act as spiritual guides. In this sphere spirits also develop astonishing healing abilities. The fourth sphere is an intellectual sphere and spirits on the Divine Love path do not spend much time here.

The spirits from the fourth sphere, in their work as guides and humanity’s helpers, frequently visit the earth planes and the earth itself. They are very interested in the affairs of earth. But that interest gradually disappears as they spiritually progress within this sphere and their earthly bonds weaken. While they lose interest in earthly affairs, that does not mean that they are not dedicated to helping humanity. On the contrary, because of their great soul development, they offer guidance and assistance with enthusiasm and as a labor of love. They embrace the fact that all humans are their brothers and sisters and that all share the same loving relationship with God. This realization is a huge step in the purification of the natural love.

Fifth Sphere

The fifth sphere is a soul sphere which offers many opportunities for soul development and growth on the Divine Love path.

Spirits following the natural love path do not spend much time here. They have already achieved almost everything that they are going to and simply lack the total purity of their souls. Their goal is to eliminate the last traces of sin from their souls and any remaining false beliefs out of harmony with God’s laws. The ultimate goal for spirits on the natural love path is natural heavens in the sixth sphere. They, therefore, strive to pass through the fifth and reach paradise in the sixth sphere without distraction.

Those on the Divine Love path achieve the purification of their natural love in this sphere. To have arrived in the fifth sphere, they already have a considerable amount of Divine Love. Therefore, they do not need much time to purify their soul from sin and false beliefs.

Some of them progress to the sixth sphere only to return to the fifth sphere to develop their souls in the Divine Love to a greater extent so that they may pass through the sixth and enter the seventh sphere. The reason for this is that the sixth sphere has little opportunity for those seeking at-onement with God through the transformation by Divine Love. The spirits that they encounter give them little credence when they discuss the wonderful experiences on the Divine Love path. Therefore, with so little attention and credibility, the spirits return to the fifth sphere to focus on receiving a greater amount of Divine Love.

The criterion for entrance into the seventh sphere is the disappearance of the material mind and the ascendancy of the soul’s mind. This requires a lot of God’s Love and substance in one’s soul, which is what the spirits on the Divine Love path in the fifth sphere seek to obtain.

Sixth Sphere

The sixth sphere is a purely intellectual sphere because despite of the great spirituality there, the zeal of its inhabitants is focused on increasing their knowledge, while they live in harmony with God’s laws. It is where science has reached its pinnacle, the intelligence of its inhabitants is supreme, and absolute fraternity exists. Religion plays an important role, but the fact that there are many diverse religious beliefs, demonstrates that the inhabitants are not yet in possession of the absolute truth (in reference to the Divine Love).

There are great inventions and scientific discoveries in this sphere. Wonderful social events and amusements provide the spirits with great happiness. This is the paradise that the Hebrews dreamt of and about which the Christian churches and the spiritualists teach.

Spirits coming from diverse cultures live in separate communities with little comingling. Inside these communities are subgroups, based on special interests. It is a paradise of immense happiness, where partial truth reigns, and the only possible progress is the accumulation of intellectual knowledge. In God’s universe, however, there is only so much that we may know. Therefore there is no higher sphere for those on the natural love path. They keep accumulating intellectual knowledge and, for some, their happiness wanes. They start feeling that there must be more and begin a search to find answers on the Divine Love path.

Seventh Sphere

The seventh sphere is the antechamber to the Celestial Kingdom. Only those spirits whose soul’s mind dominates their material mind may enter therein. The material mind has not necessarily disappeared completely, but during development in this sphere, it decreases and finally ceases to exist. So while humans lose their physical bodies during death on earth, spirits lose their material mind and the last traces of their natural souls in the seventh sphere. The great experience of the New Birth happens in this sphere, except when a person has already experienced this on earth, as in the case of Jesus. It is a rare and exceptional event, but it can be done.

The duration of the last stage of transformation varies. It may be a relatively short time, but many spirits stay longer in this wonderful paradise. Like tourists they are taking their time to explore the last corner of their unknown world rather than like runners moving along at full speed.

There is a law in the spirit world called the Law of Compensation. It works on the conscioiusness of one’s soul and leaves a bitter flavor to memories of deeds done on earth that were not in harmony with love. The bitterness in the earth planes and hells is very strong and almost leads to despair. By the time a spirit has progressed to the fifth sphere, there is almost nothing left of this bitterness, and in the seventh sphere, it disappears completely. Many spirits use the time in the seventh sphere to meditate on their lives on earth, and primarily, on what has happened during their voyage through the spheres.

With progression to the seventh sphere comes an incredible amount of Divine Love and much soul knowledge. The wisdom of spirits in the seventh sphere grows unimaginably.

It is in this sphere that the spirits’ souls finally become Divine. When the gates of the Celestial Heavens open, there comes a doubtless knowledge that the spirits are owners of immortality, that they are Divine beings, and that they can no longer call themselves humans. They are angels. That transformation is greater than the mortal’s transformation into a spirit, because in that step they only lose their physical bodies, while in the New Birth, they lose the “humanity” of their souls and acquire “Divinity,” the supreme principle of all existence.

Celestial Spheres

The celestial spheres are heaven for those of God’s children who have been redeemed by His Divine Love – who have prayed for and received God’s Love in such an abundance that their soul has been transformed into divine substance and the material mind has been absorbed by the soul. It is a place of incredible beauty and the atmosphere is saturated with God’s Love. It contains all the things that respond to God and His Love. As a result, spirits who have not had the proper soul development (or “wedding garment” as Jesus puts it) are not allowed entrance. Even if they were allowed in, their condition would fail to respond to that which gives happiness to the true children of the Father. As a result, they would be most unhappy, and heaven would not be a heaven to them.²

A Celestial spirit describes her home as follow: “My home is of a material that you have no faint counterpart of on earth, and it is furnished with everything that is suited to make me happy and more thankful to the Father for His Love and kindness. The spirits here are so much more beautiful than those of any other sphere. They are more ethereal and their garments are all shining and white – not one little speck reminds one of the earth or the grosser spheres of the spirit world. The music is entirely divine and of such a great variety – all telling of the great Love of God, and sung in His praise and adoration.³

“My house is a beautiful white one of a substance that you might think of as alabaster, and two stories in height, with rooms on each side of a wide, beautiful hall. The rooms are very large and filled with the most beautiful furniture. The walls are all hung with satin coverings, and between them are lovely pictures. The parlor, as you would call it, is filled with the most exquisite and comfortable couches and chairs, and with beautiful tables and bric-a-brac, and also many pictures of landscapes and fruits and flowers. I don’t know who painted them, but they give me much delight, and satisfy my love for paintings and pictures. There are also many little curios that would make the heart of an aesthetic person rejoice and feel glad. My music room has in it instruments of various kinds, wonderful in sound and construction. I play some of them and also sing in my weak way, as you say on earth. But I enjoy the music more than I can tell you, and so do many spirits who call to see me.”⁴

“I live in a city that is wonderful in its beauty and magnificence, and filled with structures that surpass anything that you can conceive of. It is inhabited by spirits who have a wonderful soul development, and are capable of understanding the deep truths of God, which are not given to mortals or spirits in the spiritual spheres.

This may seem strange to you, but it is true: It would be utterly impossible for spirits of the lower spheres, or mortals, to understand these higher truths. They cannot be comprehended with the intellectual faculties or the mind, but can be only understood by the soul’s perceptions, developed to such a degree that nothing material can have an abiding place in that soul.

The mind stops in its progress at the sixth sphere, and after that only the soul progresses. But this does not mean that the spirit who makes progress in the Celestial Heavens does not increase in knowledge and understanding. It does and, to a greater extent than it would be possible for the mere mind to progress. However, this progress of a spirit in knowledge and understanding is a progress of the soul perceptions. The faculties of the soul are far above the faculties of the mind as are the heavens above the earth.⁵

*Note: The editors would like to thank Geoff Cutler for allowing us to share material from his web site.