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The spirit world, according to Spiritualism, is the world or realm inhabited by spirits, both good or evil of various spiritual manifestations. Whereas religion regards an inner life, the spirit world is regarded as an external environment for spirits. Although independent from the natural world, both the spirit world and the natural world are in constant interaction. Through mediumship, these worlds can consciously communicate with each other. The spirit world is sometimes described by mediums from the natural world in trance. According to the book 'Laws of Spirit World' the spirit world is divided into 7 realms. The lowest being Hell and the highest being heaven. Each soul progresses from lowest to higher realms based on the karmic lessons learnt.


History

By the mid-19th century most Spiritualist writers concurred that the spirit world was of "tangible substance" and a place consisting of "spheres" or "zones". Although specific details differed, the construct suggested organization and centralization. An 18th-century writer, Emanuel Swedenborg, influenced Spiritualist views of the spirit world. He described a series of concentric spheres each including a hierarchical organization of spirits in a setting more earth-like than theocentric. The spheres become gradually more illuminated and celestial. Spiritualists added a concept of limitlessness, or infinity to these spheres. Furthermore, it was defined that Laws initiated by God apply to earth as well as the spirit world. Another common Spiritualist conception was that the spirit world is inherently good and is related to
truth Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth 2005 In everyday language, truth is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it, such as belief ...
-seeking as opposed to things that are bad residing in a "spiritual darkness". This conception inferred as in the biblical parable Lazarus and Dives that there is considered a greater distance between good and bad spirits than between the dead and the living. Also, the spirit world is "The Home of the Soul" as described by
C. W. Leadbeater Charles Webster Leadbeater (; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was a member of the Theosophical Society, Co-Freemasonry, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church. Originally a pr ...
( Theosophist) suggesting that for a living human to experience the spirit world is a blissful, meaningful and life changing experience. Yet, John Worth Edmonds stated in his 1853 work, ''Spiritualism'', "Man's relation spiritually with the spirit-world is no more wonderful than his connection with the natural world. The two parts of his nature respond to the same affinities in the natural and spiritual worlds." He asserted, quoting Swedenborg through mediumship, that the relationship between man and the spirit world is reciprocal and thus could contain sorrow. Though ultimately, "wandering through the spheres" a path of goodness "is received at last by that Spirit whose thought is universal love forever."Edmonds, p.345


See also

* Afterlife * Astral plane *
Celtic Otherworld In Celtic mythology, the Otherworld is the realm of the deities and possibly also the dead. In Gaelic and Brittonic myth it is usually a supernatural realm of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy.Koch, John T. ''Celtic Culture ...
* Exorcism * Ghost * Hell * Heaven * List of death deities * Paradise * Shamanism * Soul flight * Spirit possession * Spirit photography * The Dreaming * Underworld/Netherworld


References

{{Spiritism and Spiritualism Afterlife places Spiritism Spiritualism Spirituality