The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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Incarnation on Different Worlds

172. Are all our different corporeal existences lived on Earth?
“No, not all of them. There are many different worlds on which we may live our lives. This world is neither the frst nor the last, but it is defnitely one of the most material and furthest removed from perfection.”


173. Does the soul pass from one world to another for each new life or can multiple lives be in the same world?
“A soul may live in the same world many times, if it is not ready to move onto a higher one.”


a) So, we can live on Earth several times?
“Absolutely.”


b) Can we come back after living on other worlds?
“Of course, you may have already lived elsewhere and on Earth.”


174. Must we live on Earth again? “No, but if you do not advance, you could end up on a world that not only is not better than this one, it could be worse.”


175. Is there any sort of advantage in coming back to Earth?
“There is no special advantage, unless it is to fulfll a mission. In that case, the spirit advances, wherever it may be.”


a) Wouldn’t we be happier to remain a spirit?
“No, no! Because we would remain stationary and we want to get closer to God.”


176. Can spirits come to this world for the frst time after they incarnate in other worlds?
“Yes, just as you may go to others. All the worlds are in solidarity. What is not accomplished in one is completed in another.”


a) So, there are people who are on Earth for the frst time?
“Many, and at various degrees.”


b) Is there any sign marking spirits who are here for the frst time?
“This would not be of any use to you.”


177. To arrive at perfection and supreme happiness, the ultimate goal of humankind, does a spirit need to pass through all the worlds that exist in the universe?
“No, there are many worlds of the same degree where a spirit would learn nothing new.”


a) Then how can we explain multiple lives in the same world?
“A person may fnd him or herself in very different situations each time, which provide the opportunity for growth and experience.”


178. Can spirits live in a world that is inferior to the one in which they have already lived?
“Yes, when fulflling a mission to advance progress. In this case, they gladly accept the trials of such an existence, because these provide them with a means to advance.”


a) Can this also occur as a means of atonement? Can God send defant spirits to lower worlds?
“Spirits may remain stationary, but they never regress. Their atonement is not advancing, and by having to restart their squandered lives under the conditions best suited to their nature.”


b) Who is forced to restart the same existence?
“Anyone who fails to fulfll a mission or endure a trial.”


179. Have all the beings that inhabit a given world arrived at the same degree of perfection?
“No, just as on Earth, some are more advanced, while others are less advanced.”


180. Do spirits retain the intelligence that they possessed in one world, when moving on to another?
“Of course, intelligence is never lost. They may not have the same means of manifesting it, which depends both on their superiority and on the quality of the body they will assume.” (See, Infuence of Body.)


181. Do the beings that inhabit other worlds have bodies like ours?
“Of course they have bodies; a spirit must be clothed in matter to act upon matter. This envelope is more or less material according to the purity of each spirit, and these levels of purity determine the different worlds through which they will be able to pass. There are many dwelling places in our Father’s house, and therefore many degrees among those dwellings. Some know this and are cognizant of this fact while on Earth, others are not.”


182. Can we know precisely the physical and moral state of different worlds?
“As spirits, we can only make revelations according to your degree, meaning that we cannot reveal these things to everyone because some are not equipped to comprehend such revelations, and would be confused by them.”


As a spirit is purifed, the body that clothes it also approaches the spiritual nature. Being less dense, it no longer crawls on the ground. Its physical needs more refned and it is no longer forced to destroy other beings to feed itself. At this stage of spiritual development, the spirit enjoys more freedom and possesses methods of perception that are unknown to us. It can see with its eyes what we see only in thought.


A spirit’s level of purifcation determines the moral excellence of the corporeal beings in which they are incarnated. The animal passions become weaker, and selfshness gives way to the sense of brotherhood.


In higher worlds, wars do not exist. There is no hatred or confict because they are pointless, no one would even dream of doing harm to their fellow beings. Their intuitive foresight and the security resulting from a conscience free of remorse allow them to face death without apprehension. They look upon it without fear and as a simple transformation.


The length of a lifetime in different worlds appears to be proportionate to the moral and physical superiority of each world and this is perfectly rational. The less material the body, the less subject it is to the torments that disturb corporeal life. The purer the spirit, the less subject it is to the passions that undermine it. This correspondence between moral and physical circumstances is proof of God’s compassion, Who aims to reduce suffering.


183. Does the spirit go through a new infancy when passing from one world to another?
“Infancy is a necessary transition everywhere. However, it is not as underdeveloped in all worlds as in yours.”


184. Does a spirit choose the new world it will inhabit?
“Not always, but requests can be made that may be granted if the spirit has earned it. Worlds can only be accessed by spirits according to the degree of their elevation.”


a) If a spirit makes no request, what determines the world in which it will be reincarnated?
“The degree of its elevation.”


185. Is the physical and moral state of living beings on every globe always the same?
“No, worlds are also subject to the law of progress. Like yours, all have started out by being inferior, and the Earth will undergo a transformation similar to what has occurred on countless other worlds. It will become an earthly paradise when the people who inhabit it have become good.”


The human beings that currently populate the Earth will gradually disappear, and will be succeeded by increasingly perfect races. These transformed races will replace the current human race, as the latter succeeded others that were even more rudimentary.


186. Are there worlds where the spirit, having ceased to inhabit a material body, only has the perispirit as an envelope?
“Yes and this envelope becomes so ethereal that, for you, it is as if it did not exist. This is the state of pure spirits.”


a) It seems as though that statement implies that there is no clear line between the state of the fnal incarnations and that of a pure spirit.
“No, this differentiation does not exist. However, as the difference between them continues to diminish, they blur into one another just as the darkness of night fades into dawn.”


187. Is the perispirit the same in every world?
“No, it is more or less ethereal. In passing from one world to another, a spirit dons the matter of each, changing its envelope at the speed of lightning.”


188. Do pure spirits inhabit special worlds, or are they in universal space without being attached to any specifc planet?
“Pure spirits inhabit specifc worlds, but they are not confned to them as people are on Earth. They possess the highest power of instantaneous movement.” (1)



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(1) According to the spirits, Earth and its inhabitants, both physically and morally, is one of the least advanced of all the planets of our solar system. Mars is even lower, and Jupiter is greatly superior to Earth in every respect. The Sun is not inhabited by corporeal beings, but constitutes a meeting place for higher spirits to irradiate their thoughts to the other worlds that they govern through lower spirits, to whom they transmit their action through the universal fuid. In terms of physical makeup, the sun is a center of electricity, and all other stars seem to be identical to ours in nature and function. The size of the planets and their distance from the sun have no bearing on their individual degree of advancement. For example, Venus is said to be more advanced than Earth, and Saturn less advanced than Jupiter. Spirits that have been embodied as many well-known individuals on Earth are said to be reincarnated on Jupiter, a world that is one of the closest to perfection. Learning that individuals who did not merit such placement have been welcomed to such, an advanced planet garnered quite a bit of shock. We do not fnd anything surprising here. First, we must consider that some spirits who have roamed this planet may have been sent here on a mission, despite seeming to hold a low or inferior rank in our eyes. Second, these individuals may have had intermediary existences between their lives on Earth and on Jupiter, during which they made great strides in self-improvement. Lastly, there are infnite degrees of development on Jupiter, just as here on Earth, and there may be as much distance between said degrees as between a savage and a civilized person on Earth. Living on Jupiter does not necessarily imply they have become equal to the most advanced beings, just as an illiterate fool is not considered equal to a philosopher simply because they both live in Paris. The conditions of longevity are different and no comparison can be made between ages. A person, who died several years ago, was contacted and stated that he had been incarnated in a world for six months, a world that is unknown to us. When asked his age in that world, he replied, “I’m not sure because we do not count time the same way you do. Second, our mode of existence is not the same. Our development is much more rapid in this world. Despite only being here for six months, according to your measurement of time, I am about what one usually is at the age of thirty on Earth in terms of intelligence.” Other spirits have given many similar replies, and nothing implausible has been observed. On Earth, many animals acquire full development in only a few months. Is there any reason why the same cannot apply to people in other worlds? We should point out, however, that the degree of development acquired by a 30-year-old man on Earth is only infancy when compared to his destiny. Those who consider humanity, in its current form, as the standard of creation are quite shortsighted. To assume that ours is the only type of existence in the universe is to undervalue God’s Divine power. A.K.

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