> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://seeingbeyond.tech/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Afterlife Journey - by Axel Burkart - URL: https://seeingbeyond.tech/the-afterlife-journey-by-axel-burkhardt/ - Published: 2026-10-26T09:00:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-26T21:20:09.000Z - Description: The first four stages take place within the Moon sphere, followed by Mercury, Venus, and the Sun. Together these constitute seven stages of the soul world. Beyond the Sun begins a different order of existence. - Author: Seeing Beyond (Philippe Lheureux) - Tags: #Spiritual Science, Spiritual Science Axel Burkart—a life-long researcher and presenter of Steiner's work—describes the journey after death as a gradual passage through the planetary spheres, in which the human being first sheds earthly attachments and limitations, then enters an increasingly spiritual existence. The first four stages take place within the Moon sphere, followed by Mercury, Venus, and the Sun. Together these constitute seven stages of the soul world. Beyond the Sun begins a different order of existence, associated with Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the higher spiritual world. An important distinction in his account is that the first seven stages are predominantly concerned with purification, whereas beyond the Sun the human being has shed the astral body and enters a more purely spiritual mode of existence. Also,it is not about the physical "sphere" of a planet which the deceased goes through, but the entire "globe" constituted by the orbit of the planet, forms that sphere. ## I. The seven stages of the soul world Before entering these stages, Burkart describes two transitions: the physical body is laid aside at death, and during approximately three days the human being experiences the life tableau, seeing the meaning and interconnectedness of the life just completed. The etheric body is then shed, and the journey through the astral world begins. ### The four levels of the Moon sphere — Kamaloka ![Large full moon seen in detail over the darkness of night](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/zTsx8ayDWKRbYg_OASjAT1G4PHI38vPaXT6zECtbzZlXZ3_BOyrquN289HioR7xWiAzbPJX8VO4E5-bj_9vKvIjtzFEmlqC8uKBez8p8ZRd61dqi5WgYt2XXX4zhECK9ipiTa1ffiQ9ir0P37GspxVhD2I1DFdjxLKmLcC1Xk1gFqBlvmL-MTnJXETAoUk0O?purpose=inline) Note, it is not about the physical "sphere" of a planet which the deceased goes through, but the entire "globe" constituted by the orbit of the planet. ### 1\. First Moon sphere — Attachment to sensory experience The soul must overcome its dependence on physical sensations: taste, smell, touch, seeing, eating, drinking, and the pleasures stimulated by sensory perception. Burkart calls this the flood of desires. The longing remains, but the physical organs through which it could be satisfied no longer exist. The soul gradually recognizes that it cannot continue living through earthly sensations. ### 2\. Second Moon sphere — Earthbound thinking and indifference Here the soul works through habitual thinking restricted to material concerns, together with an attitude of indifference or lukewarmness toward life. Burkart describes people who have passed through life without genuine engagement, interest, or enthusiasm. Their thinking remains occupied with trivial earthly circumstances. What must be overcome is not thinking itself, but thinking that cannot free itself from the material world. ### 3\. Third Moon sphere — Emotional wishes and desires This level concerns the emotional attachments that still bind the soul to earthly existence. Unfulfilled wishes, personal longings, the desire to possess something or experience something again, and the feeling that certain earthly things would still bring satisfaction must gradually be relinquished. The soul learns to cease orienting its emotional life toward what it has left behind. ### 4\. Fourth Moon sphere — Attachment of the will to bodily pleasure This final lunar purification concerns the will, especially the impulse to pursue bodily satisfaction and pleasure. Burkardt distinguishes this from emotional wishing. Here the deeper drive toward pleasure itself must be transformed, including identification with the physical body. The soul must finally release its dependence upon physical embodiment. These four levels are not punishments imposed from outside. In Burkart's account, the suffering arises from the soul's own attachments. Kamaloka is therefore an internally experienced process of purification. ### The three remaining stages: Mercury, Venus, and Sun ![Mercury](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/g-HOcy9kMnKZOln_6mLVGge7b1C0Y47MuuCcekHa-PI2dj8W0SGuuP8JM9WMSQE_JlsvzGKClTtgPoAGM9wiygdtO7rSbMeeMbPk7yh-UQ1lE-N5Y4CdZsu4aarlI_re3NDTH5nv9vs04clCM2cWS9XwzVLAypkXPc1NtwjlHjM?purpose=inline) ### 5\. Mercury sphere — Overcoming selfishness, rigidity, and antipathy Mercury is described as a lively, flexible sphere of light. Here, rigid thinking, selfishness, lack of appreciation for nature, and antipathy toward other beings create spiritual isolation. The soul experiences a kind of self-created imprisonment because its own disposition prevents communion with surrounding spiritual beings. The task: Develop flexibility, sympathy, openness, and genuine interest in other beings and nature. ![NASA Picks Twin Missions To Visit Venus, Earth's 'Evil Twin' | WUSF](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/T-igdbII1gBI02C_mSxSEuDpcQULczxesKBWslVXbZ2_DoiZGkQeMAItjZbhQgGK5imhlSzFMDMU2T7xs7hPNxqnEsvgJ8c0DlNwOPExLwP387SY-ZDnBEs5Onz3P_Kl7dpTC_-95kPl2YYDoVEBphoarYl5ZsI_BHDQXnbQNTM?purpose=inline) ### 6\. Venus sphere — Religious feeling, love, and reconciliation Venus is the sphere of love and religion. According to Burkart, a person lacking religious feeling or spiritual openness can experience profound isolation here, unable to form relationships with angels and other spiritual beings. During this part of the journey, the soul also experiences the suffering it has caused others. This awakens the desire for forgiveness, reconciliation, and karmic restitution. The task: Overcome spiritual estrangement and develop love, religious feeling, and the capacity to form relationships with spiritual beings. ### 7\. Sun sphere — Universal understanding and liberation from earthly identity The Sun marks the culmination of the purification of the soul. Burkart emphasizes the necessity of overcoming religious exclusiveness, hostility toward other faiths, and identification with the physical body, bodily beauty, material success, or suffering. The soul must develop genuine spiritual self-confidence grounded in the I, rather than in anything external. The task: Achieve a comprehensive understanding of others, transcend earthly identification, and become capable of entering the spiritual world proper. An especially significant element of Burkart's description is that these spheres are not simply distant places. **He regards them as spiritual realities that interpenetrate our present existence. We already establish connections or barriers within them through our thinking, feeling, and willing.** ## II. Beyond the Sun — the spiritual world proper Here Burkart makes a fundamental transition. The human being has already discarded the physical and etheric bodies. At the threshold beyond the Sun, the remaining astral body is also shed. He calls this the third little death. The human being now exists essentially as an I, a spiritual individuality, rather than as a soul still clothed in the astral body. ![Does Mars have a moon? | Live Science](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/nwQfP4UK_SU3Q7utT1Cmv-3rduydLLKmdlasntuFihFQsxiOk2fm80XlRwsVQPY0vhPjyJRT2dVZGkOqRAfXXD7ecKUEXBq__wAbFfP1yAm4LEjYlw1GLVNHTuG1VDPDSnjjiCPdM7iIivjT84ZC_oZ4Gr2bd0fobfvsVnDi3Fs?purpose=inline) ### 8\. Mars sphere — Entrance into the spiritual world Mars marks the beginning of a new journey, beyond the predominantly astral realm. The soul has completed the shedding of its earthly coverings and begins to experience existence as a spiritual I. Burkart does not elaborate a distinct Mars-specific task in this lecture. He mainly presents Mars as the threshold of the higher spiritual world. ![Jupiter - NASA Science](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/UfPA89XrlavTXvPHI_gytRn5okw2_4PaI-R7uTWbh_PKAevnaw4QR3pkKDjHo8xUyjiXgYTZkRKb_Xo0Ki9mjYAd_C2YnWGTHEAfkait7Tsjxb6v0ghrbKY4nXegZe9K6cLIeRVReXuS5OcQE_aLCpf1Cqro4TyiVqUU0oOiYjw?purpose=inline) ### 9\. Jupiter sphere — Wisdom and overcoming prejudice Jupiter is explicitly called the sphere of wisdom. The principal obstacle here is prejudice. Every preconceived judgment restricts our capacity to encounter reality and other spiritual beings. Burkart describes prejudices as creating spiritual prisons. The soul must overcome these limitations to participate in the wisdom of this sphere. He connects this directly with Steiner's exercise of cultivating openness and freedom from prejudice. The task: Develop unprejudiced understanding, spiritual receptivity, and wisdom. ![Staring at Saturn - NASA Science](https://images.openai.com/static-rsc-4/4csg4s4luxGWkpISWqyjVQ6Na3PPyBpVD0arw1om8xux_SQtwnF5yBMu_y72Q2IhFpouIiZ9wgSW5vLpskhd4S7g8GK-6j-OeKtNuZzvtn7Kdu-61BzQi6kDlBBcZ9d6ftNFPi1PU8iRCNgCFVw9JYcCR6I2SDRMkbFmrmZDE9Q?purpose=inline) ### 10\. Saturn sphere — Further passage into cosmic existence Saturn is named as the next sphere, beyond Jupiter, on the journey outward into the cosmos. However, Burkart does not describe a specific Saturn process in the supplied lecture. It would therefore be misleading to assign a particular purification or developmental task to Saturn on the basis of this transcript alone. ### Beyond Saturn Burkart indicates that the journey continues outward into the cosmos and refers to the seven heavens of the spiritual world. He does not, however, enumerate the remaining higher spheres individually or explain their distinctive activities in this particular lecture. His emphasis is on the transition from purification to spiritual existence, the human being's participation in the spiritual cosmos, and the eventual preparation for another earthly incarnation. ## III. The entire journey at a glance | Sphere | Principal work or transformation | | ------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | 1\. Moon I | Liberation from sensory cravings | | 2\. Moon II | Liberation from earthbound thinking and indifference | | 3\. Moon III | Liberation from emotional wishes | | 4\. Moon IV | Liberation from bodily pleasure and desire | | 5\. Mercury | Overcoming rigidity, egoism, antipathy | | 6\. Venus | Developing love, religious feeling, reconciliation | | 7\. Sun | Universal understanding; liberation from earthly identity | | 8\. Mars | Entrance into spiritual existence as an I | | 9\. Jupiter | Overcoming prejudice; developing wisdom | | 10\. Saturn | Further cosmic journey; not explained in detail | | Beyond Saturn | Higher spiritual spheres; not individually described | ## IV. One particularly important observation There is an interesting distinction running through Burkart's account. The four Moon stages concern primarily our relationship with earthly existence: sensory experience, thought, feeling, and will. Mercury, Venus, and Sun concern increasingly our capacity to enter into relationships with other beings. And beyond the Sun, the question changes again. It is no longer simply one of purifying our soul but of becoming capable of existence and participation as a spiritual individuality. Burkart also stresses that the passage through these spheres involves experiencing our deeds from the perspective of those affected by them. The suffering we have caused becomes our own experience. This awakens the desire to make amends, contributing to the preparation of future karma. He connects this with the Christ impulse: rather than an external judge imposing karmic consequences, the human being increasingly becomes their own judge through self-knowledge. That may be one of the most consequential aspects of the whole lecture: the afterlife journey is not merely a process of leaving the Earth behind, but of transforming what we have become on Earth into capacities for a higher existence. One qualification is important: Burkart's description represents an anthroposophical spiritual-scientific account, not an empirically established map of the afterlife. Also, his description of the seven soul-world stages is considerably more detailed than his description of the higher spiritual spheres. Here is the full lecture, in German, with English subtitles available: