SPIRIT HIERARCHY

Introduction |
Spirit Hierarchy  (excerpt from "The Spirits' Book")

Spirit Hierarchy
(an excerpt from Chapter Five of "The Spirits' Book")

 
Part 3 of 3
First Order - Pure Spirits
 

  General Characteristics

  The influence of matter is nil. Their superiority, both intellectual and ethical, is so absolute as to constitute what, by comparison to spirits in all the other orders, can be called perfection.

First and Highest Class

These spirits have passed up through all the degrees on the scale of progress and freed themselves from all the impurities of the material world. Having reached the height of perfection for created beings, they no longer undergo trials or purifications. And since they aren't subject any longer to reincarnation in perishable bodies, they enjoy a life of bliss in the immediate presence of Divinity. In other words, with the desires and needs of material life behind them, they exist in a state of unalterable blessedness. But this state doesn't mean that they rest idly in perpetual contemplation. Rather, they are God's messengers and ministers, executors of the divine will in the maintenance of universal harmony. They exercise a sovereign command over all spirits lower than themselves, help these spirits accomplish their work of purification, and assign to each of them a mission depending on the current state of their progress. They find it congenial, too, to assist human beings in their distress, encourage the love of good in them, and help them overcome the imperfections which hold them back on the road to supreme happiness. They are sometimes spoken of as "angels", "archangels", or "seraphim."
They can, when they chose, enter into communication with humans. But it is a presumptuous person indeed who thinks they can be summoned at will.

Kardec, Allan. "Spirits." The Spirits' Book.  Trans. Allan Kardec Educational Society (translated from 2nd edition in French). Philadelphia, PA. Allan Kardec Educational Society. 1996. 35-44