Dictionary of all Scriptures & Myths

WORLDS, FIVE

A symbol of the five planes of manifestation in the universe and the soul.

"I will adduce Plato, who says the World is one, but if there be other worlds around this, and this be not the only one, they are five in number, and no more. Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Æther." - PLUTARCH, On the E at Delphi, § XI.

"The Five Worlds' of the Sufis. These five worlds are not five different localities, but five different planes of existence which loses in true Being as it descends; they are consequently often spoken of as the Five Planes' (Hazrat-i-Khamsa). Above and beyond the universe, yet compassing all things, and the Source of all things, is the World of Godhead,' of This nothing can be predicated, and It is not reckoned among the Five. The first of these is called the 'Plane of the Absolutely Invisible,' or the Plane of the Nebulosity,' and its world is the World of the Fixed Prototypes,' that is to say, the existences that people it are the Fixed Prototypes. The Second Plane is that of the Relatively Invisible,' and its world is the 'World of the Intelligences and the Souls'; (that is, of the Celestial or Spheral Intelligences and Souls), these are sometimes called the Spirits of Might,' and so this sphere of being is known also as the World of Might' (Alem-i Jebirut). (NOTE. The terms Jeberut and Jeberutiye convey the idea of constraining,' as though the beings of this World exercised some constraining power over those below them.)

"The next plane is called the ' World of Similitudes,' or the 'Angel World.' The Fourth Plane is the Visible World,' which is often called the World of the Kingdom,' i.e. the Physical World; it is the world in which we move, and is the antithesis of the 'Absolutely Invisible.' (NOTE. It is also called the 'Sensible World,' the World of Form,' the World of Generation and Corruption,' and so on.)

"The Fifth Plane is the World of Man,' which sums up and comprises all the others; for Man, as we shall see, is the Microcosm epitomising in himself the whole universe." - E. J. W. GIBB, Hist. of Ottoman Poetry, Vol. I. pp. 54–6.

Above, beyond, or deep within the planes of the manifest, there is affirmed to be the Godhead, the Absolute, the unmanifest Source of all beings. The First Plane of manifestation is that of Atma (Absolutely Invisible), in which are the Monads of life and form (Fixed Prototypes). The Second Plane is the Buddhic Plane (Relatively Invisible), in which is the higher causal-body of all souls, also the ideals and highest qualities of being (Spirits of Might), which constrain and bring about the transmutation of the lower qualities. The Third Plane is the Mental plane (Man) which focalises the other planes because on it the human consciousness resides. The Fourth Plane is the Astral plane (Similitudes) containing the forms of growth which take up physical matter in the next plane, and also the forces of desire. The Fifth Plane is the Physical plane (Sensible) which is perceived by the senses.

The Mental plane is apparently displaced in the Sufi system, probably to emphasise its peculiar significance in relation to humanity and the Soul.

The Sufi exposition of the Five Planes of Manifestation, is, perhaps, the fullest that has been derived through inspiration in the past from the One Source of all Truth. Every country, from America and Iceland eastward to Japan, and including New Zealand and Polynesia, has received the same information, but in a less explicit form.

Sometimes only four worlds, planes, or elements are indicated, in which case the Divine Being is implied as presiding above all as the highest state of manifestation, thus counting as a fifth plane or "world of Godhead." The four worlds or four planes below atma constitute the quaternary, the arena of life, underworld, samsâra, tuat, tartarus, etc.

See Also

ABSOLUTE
ÆTHER
ARENA
ASTRAL PLANE
ATMA
BUDDHIC PLANE
CAUSAL-BODY
COSMOS
CREATION
DAYS (five)
ELEMENTS (five)
FIVE (number)
GATHA DAYS
GODHEAD
GOLDEN AGE
HIGHER-LOWER (World)
IMAGE OF GOD
MACROCOSM
MICROCOSM
MONADS
PLANES (five)
Pragâpati
PROTOTYPES
QUATERNARY
REINGA
RULERS (five)
SAMSÂRA
SEASONS (five)
SIMILITUDES
TARTARUS
THIEVES (five)
TUAT
UNDERWORLD
WORDS OF POWER