The 9 Heavens & God's Realm of Pure Energy
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Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. Today's video dives into the celestial spheres of Heaven as they are depicted in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.Alright, let's get into it.The Divine Comedy is a monumental epic poem from the 14th century penned by Italian author Dante Alighieri. Comprising three components: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, it charts an allegorical journey through the afterlife - Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven - offering reflections on human morality, sin, and absolution.Our protagonist, Dante, finds himself astray in a gloomy forest, a metaphor for spiritual bewilderment. Guided through Hell and Purgatory by the Roman poet Virgil and later through Heaven by his beloved Beatrice, Dante's voyage examines the assorted rewards and punishments souls receive contingent on their earthly deeds and spiritual development.In Paradiso, the last part of the poem, Dante and Beatrice journey through the nine celestial spheres of Heaven. Dante encounters various saints and scholars, exploring the nature of divine love, wisdom, and the celestial hierarchy.The nine celestial spheres, as depicted in Dante's Divine Comedy, represent a hierarchical structure of Heaven based on the Christian cosmology and the teachings of the Catholic Church. Each sphere is associated with a celestial body (such as the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, and the Primum Mobile).The structure of the spheres is such that it reflects the spiritual progression of souls from lesser to greater states of blessedness and closer proximity to God. The journey through the spheres begins with the First Sphere of the Moon, inhabited by those who were faithful but inconsistent in their vows. As Dante ascends through the spheres, he encounters souls that have achieved higher states of virtue and understanding during their earthly lives. The ascent culminates with the Primum Mobile, or the "First Moved," which symbolizes the pure love and will of God that drives all creation. Beyond the ninth sphere lies the Empyrean, the realm of pure light and divine presence, where God resides. The celestial spheres, therefore, provide a structured, hierarchical framework for understanding the various levels of spiritual attainment and divine proximity in Dante's interpretation of Heaven.