INTRODUCTION | SPIRIT HIERARCHY (excerpt from "The Spirits' Book")

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 INTRODUCTION 

Each Spirit is unique, and there is an infinite gradient of variations among their levels of advancement which results in different degrees or ranks depending on their level of purification.  The Spirits tell us (in answer to question 97 of "The Spirits' Book") that while "the number of orders can change depending on the point of view from which they're being considered", "if we consider the general characteristics of Spirits, we can reduce them to three principle orders or ranks."

They provide the following explanation of these three orders: "In the first and highest rank are the spirits who have reached the degree of relative perfection; they constitute what may be called pure Spirits. In the second rank are those who have reached the middle of this ascending ladder; they have arrived at a degree of purification in which the love of good is the ruling desire of their existence. In the third and lowest rank, occupying the lower rungs of the ladder, are the less advanced Spirits; they are in a state of unawareness and so tend toward mistakes, wrongdoing, and base sentiments." Note: Not all Spirits in the third category are essentially bad. Within this category, there are spirits who are inactive and neutral, performing neither good or bad; Spirits who are frivolous and mischievous; and still others who are malicious and take pleasure in doing harm. It must be understood that this classification is not absolute; there is no abrupt change from one to the next. At the boundaries from one to the next, their peculiarities blend together like the colors of a rainbow.

Following some notes regarding preliminary observations of this hierarchy, Kardec goes on to present a subdivision of these classes, derived through much observation along with systematic analysis and comparison of Spirit communications. He writes, "Having arrived at this general classification, it only remains for us to bring out, through a sufficient number of subdivisions, the principal differences in the three great classes we have established. We have done this with the aid of the Spirits themselves, whose friendly instructions have never failed to carry us forward in the work we have started." Stating also that this system will help to understand the intellectual and ethical inequalities among the communications and to determine the degree of esteem and confidence to which the communicating Spirit is entitled, he then remarks, "Spirits do not in all cases belong exclusively to such-and-such a class. Their progress occurs only gradually, and at times, inconsistently. As a result, they may exhibit in themselves the characteristics of several sub-classes- a point easily understood and confirmed by observing their language and acts."

The above said, the following is the subdivision of classes derived at through their careful, systematic study of Spirit communications, and with the help of the Superior Spirits.

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 SPIRIT HIERARCHY 

The following was taken as an excerpt from Chapter Five of "The Spirits' Book"

THIRD ORDER - IMPERFECT SPIRITS

General Characteristics
    Influence of matter predominates over spirit. There is an inclination toward wrong-doing. Spirits are unaware, proud, self-centered, and exhibit all the negative sentiments that result from such attitudes.
    They intuit the existence of God, although they have no comprehension of God. They are not all thoroughly bad. In many of them, there is more frivolity, lake of reasoning power, and love of mischief than down-right badness. Some do neither good nor evil, but the very fact that they do no good denotes their lack of advancement. Others, on the contrary, take pleasure in wrong-doing and are gratified when they find an opportunity of working harm.
    Among Spirits of this order, a certain amount of intelligence is often allied with malice and love of mischief. But whatever their intellectual development, their ideas are lacking in elevation, and their sentiments are more or less abject.
    Their knowledge of the things of the Spirit-world is narrow, and the little they know is confused with the ideas and prejudices of the incarnate life. They can give only false and incomplete notions of the sprit world; but the attentive observer can often find in their communications, however imperfect, confirmation of the great truths proclaimed by Spirits of the higher orders.
    Their character is revealed in their language. Every Spirit who betrays a wrongful intention in its communications may be ranked in the third order; consequently, every harmful thought suggested to our mind comes to us from a Spirit of that order.
    They see the happiness enjoyed by good Spirits, and this sight causes them to burn with jealousy and envy.
    They hold on to the memory and the perception of sufferings in the incarnate life, which often creates more painful impressions on them than the reality. They suffer, in fact, both from the ills they have endured themselves and from those they have caused others to endure. And as these sufferings continue for a very long time, they believe themselves to be destined to suffer forever.
    They may be subdivided into five principal classes:

Tenth Class- Impure Spirits
They are inclined to wrong-doing, and make it the object of all their thoughts and activities. As Spirits, they give human beings unwise advice, stir up conflict and distrust, and assume every sort of disguise in order to mislead more effectively. They besiege those with less developed characters, hoping they will accept their suggestions and thus be diverted from the path of progress. They rejoice greatly when these victims give way under the appointed trials of incarnate life. Spirits of this class can be recognized by their language, since they use coarse or trivial expressions- always a sign of an unevolved ethical sense. Their communications show the baseness of their inclinations; and though they may try to impress us by speaking with an appearance of reason and propriety, they are incapable of keeping up false appearances and finally betray their true selves. Certain cultures have regarded them as infernal deities; others give them such names as "demons," "evil genii," or "evil spirits." The human beings in whom they are incarnated are addicted to all the faults brought about by debased sentiments; they are the sex addicts, the rogues, the brutal, the greedy, the insincere. They do wrong for its own sake, without any clear motive. And because they hate all that is good, their targets are generally decent and honorable people. Regardless of their social status, they are a burden to society. Not even the varnish of civilization can hide their true instinctual nature.

Ninth Class - Frivolous Spirits
They are unknowing, mischievous, unreasonable, addicted to mockery. They meddle with everything and answer questions with no regard for truth. They love to cause petty annoyances, raise false hopes of immediate rewards, and deceive people with tricks and hoaxes. The Spirits in this class have the characteristic commonly attributed to goblins, elves, etc. They often work under the orders of other Spirits. In their communications with human beings their language is usually witty and humorous, but shallow. They are quick to discern the oddness and absurdity in people an things, on which they comment sarcastically. If they borrow distinguished names, as they are fond of doing, it is for the fun of it rather than from any malicious intention.

Eighth Class - Pseudo-Authorities
Their knowledge is often considerable, but they imagine themselves to know a good deal more than they really do. Since they've made a certain amount of progress from various points of view, their language has about it an air of importance that may easily give a false impression of their real capacities and enlightenment. Their ideas are generally nothing more than reflections of the prejudices and false reasoning of their earthly lives. Their statements contain a mixture of truths and absurdities, along with easily spotted traces of presumption, pride, jealousy, and stubbornness, from which they haven't yet freed themselves.

Seventh Class - Ordinary Spirits
They are neither advanced enough to take an active part in doing good nor bad enough to be active in doing wrong. They sometimes lean towards one or the other but they are not, ethically or intellectually, above the ordinary level of humanity. They are strongly attached to material things and miss the satisfactions they derive from them.

Sixth Class - Noisy and Boisterous Spirits
Strictly speaking, these Spirits don't really form a distinct class based on personal qualities. They can be found among all the third order classes. Often they reveal their presence by producing sensory phenomena, such as rapping sounds, atmospheric disturbances, the moving and throwing of objects, etc. More than any other class of Spirits, they seem to be attached to matter. They also appear to be active agents in certain environmental occurrences, acting on air, water, fire, and underground phenomena. These phenomena may seem logical, but it is hard to assign them either a random or a physical cause. All Spirits, of course, can produce physical phenomena. Spirits of the higher orders, however, usually leave them to the lower order of Spirits since the latter are better fit to act on matter than to pursue affairs requiring intelligence.  Moreover, when higher Spirits find it useful to produce physical manifestations, they enlist the help of Spirits of a lower degree as helpers.

SECOND ORDER - GOOD SPIRITS

General Characteristics
   Spirit predominates over matter. Spirits desire the good. Their qualities and their power for good are relative to their current level of advancement. Some of them possess scientific knowledge; others have acquired wisdom and charity. The more advanced ones combine knowledge with ethical excellence. Since they aren't completely dematerialized, however, they preserve traces of their incarnate existences that, depending on their level, are more or less noticeable These traces can be seen in their ways of expressing themselves, in their habits, an in some cases, even in characteristic eccentricities and mannerisms which they still retain. Without these weaknesses and imperfections, they could pass into the category of Spirits of the first order.
    They comprehend the idea of God and of Infinity, and they already share in the bliss of the higher spheres. They find their happiness in doing good and preventing evil. The affection that unites them brings them inexpressible delight and they are untroubled by envy, remorse, or any other negative emotions that torment Spirits of the lower degrees. Nonetheless, they still must undergo the discipline of trials until their purification is complete. As Spirits, they instill good and noble thoughts into the minds of human beings, keep them from wrong-doing, and protect those whose life course makes them worthy of aid. They also neutralize, through their suggestions, the influence of lower Spirits on the minds of individuals.
   The human beings in whom they are incarnated are upright and benevolent. They are not motivated by pride, self-centeredness, or ambition; nor do they feel hatred, rancor envy, or jealousy. They do good for its own sake. To this order belong the Spirits who are often popularly called "good genii," "protecting genii", "good spirits." In times of spiritual blindness and superstition, humans have regarded them as beneficent divinities.
    They may be divided into four principle groups:

Fifth Class - Benevolent Spirits
Their dominant quality is kindness. They take pleasure in serving and protecting human beings, but their knowledge is somewhat narrow. Their ethical is greater than their intellectual progress.

Fourth Class - Learned Spirits
They are especially distinguished by the extent of their knowledge. They are less interested in ethical questions than in scientific investigation, for which they have a greater aptitude. However, their scientific pursuits are for the common good. They are entirely free from the negative emotions that mark Spirits of the lower degrees.

Third Class - Wise Spirits
The highest ethical qualities form their distinctive characteristics. Without having arrived a the possession of unlimited knowledge, they have reach a development of intellectual capacity that allows them to judge human beings and situations with insightful clarity.

Second Class - High Spirits
They combine, to a very great degree, scientific knowledge, wisdom, and goodness. Their language, inspired only by the purest benevolence, is always noble and elevated, and often sublime. Their superiority makes them, more likely than any others, to give us just and true ideas about the Spirit world (that is, within the limits our knowledge allows us). They willingly enter into communication with persons who honestly and sincerely seek truth, and who are free enough from material bonds to appreciate their teaching. But when questions are prompted only by curiosity and questioners are motivated more by material than spiritual concerns, they withdraw. When under exceptional circumstances they incarnate themselves on Earth, it is always to undertake a mission that will lead to our progress. In this way they show us the highest type of perfection to which we can aspire in the present world.

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