According to the many sources of angelology (the study of angels), heaven is crowded! The biggest contributors to angelology are the Kabbalah and Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772). According to these sources heaven is VAST with many levels. The number of heavens has been taught to be a range from 3 to 100+, with 7 being the most popular figure.

There are several large documents of the Hekhalot, such as Hekhalot Rabbati (in which six of the seven palaces of God are described). There are also hundreds of small documents, many little more than fragments, which address the concept of heavenly realms (palaces, firmaments, planes) and describe methods for traversing them (though this is dangerous and requires much practice and skill—as well as a pure heart and a clear and focused mind).

Among various Gnostic groups and some early Christian ones, the meditative journey through the seven heavens was also known and practiced, always secretly.

The disciple Paul revealed this, too, when he wrote, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knows), was caught up even to the third heaven.” (2 Corinthians, 12:2)

In the Koran (the first portion was dictated to Mohammed by the archangel Gabriel) it is written, “See you not how Allah has created the seven heavens one above another, and made the moon a light in their midst and made the sun a lamp?” (Sura 71)

In most teachings of the Kabbalah, the seven heavens are listed, from lowest to highest, as:

Veil (Vilon)–the curtain, the veil of heaven (Vilon Shemaim); taken from Isaiah 40:22.

1. Firmament (Raki’a)–the firmament, the canopy, the expanse of heaven, which are the stars, moon, and sun; mentioned in Gen 1:14-18.
2. Cloud/Sky (Shehakim)–the clouds from which the manna from heaven fell to nourish the seekers. Here is where the well of the water of life is and the fountain of gardens; taken from Psalm 78:24-26.
3. Mansion (Zebul)–the lofty dwelling, “mansion of holiness” (zevul kodshekha), considered the temple-mansion in the “Golden City”; taken from 1 Kings 8:11-13.
4. Dwelling (Ma’on)–the refuge, a place of peace from the struggles. Home of the ministering angels; mentioned in Deuteronomy 26:15.
5. “City of God” (Makon)–the changeless, perfect residence, containing the template for all life forms. This is the storehouse of good, eternal treasures; taken from 1 Kings 8:39.
6. “Vast Plains of God” (Aravot)–the highest heaven, the vast expansive plains of God, Infinity, the Eastern “Void”; empty, still, silent, a dimension of pure contentment. This is the Divine Womb from which all life originally came into being; taken from Psalm 68:4.

Notice that the first three heavens are associated with physical life, the second three with mental dimensions of consciousness, and the last with Infinity, a quality that human beings would have difficulty knowing directly because of their finite nature. Yet, through sequential passage through each of the dimensions during deep meditation, the seeker can rise to a state of consciousness in the Infinite Mind of God.

The most important heaven is the lowest one, the Veil, or Curtain, because if we can perceive it and develop a conscious awareness of it, then we have made the first big step toward total spiritual awakening. Despite what you may think, we know this veil well and are familiar with the qualities of our mind on both sides of this veil. To again use a familiar example, how many times have we had a dream that impressed us (either scared us or inspired us), and as we came closer to waking, we noticed that our bladder was full, so we decided to go empty the bladder and then reflect on the dream when we returned? Yet, when we returned to our bed, the dream was completely gone! We had no recollection of it. How is this possible? We just experienced the veil, a most subtle yet opaque veil! When in the dream, we were in our soul mind and were quite comfortable there. We knew it as a part of ourselves. Then, as we engaged our body to walk to the bathroom, we passed through this veil into our outer mind, which is in charge of moving the body. However, our outer mind did not have the dream! It has no content of the dream, only a sense that the inner mind has content that is going to be reviewed. But it does not contain that content. Now we see just how subtle and yet opaque this veil is. We do not even notice when we pass through it, and yet, once on the other side, we cannot see back through it.

Fortunately, that’s only partially true, because if we practice becoming more aware of subtle aspects of consciousness, we will come to perceive the movement through the veil and what side of the veil we are on at any given time.  We expand our consciousness as we awaken spiritually. Awakening includes reflection because the heavens are within us, within levels of consciousness. “No one ascends to heave that did not first descend from heaven.” (John 3:13) We know heaven for our souls came out of heaven into this world. Another practice that spiritualizes us is the Fruits of the Spirit, and we naturally become more spiritual and spiritually conscious. (Galatians 5:22-23)

Reflections that lead to our deeper minds, which have awareness of heavenly realms. Mind is the way. Then, daily living the Fruits of the Spirit.