The Seven Planets and the Ascent of the Soul

In Hermeticism, the soul traverses these seven spheres to purify itself from the influences of fate.

The Moon: One leaves behind the capacity to increase and decrease (biological instincts and inconstant change)
Mercury: Machinations, deceits, and malicious cunning are abandoned.
Venus: One detaches from the illusions of desire, lust, and emotional attachments.
The Sun: Ambition, arrogance, and the desire for dominion over others are renounced.
Mars: Rash audacity, anger, and destructive impulses are released.
Jupiter: The craving for wealth, greed, and misused power are set aside.
Saturn: Falsehood, malice, and the limitations of material time are abandoned.

The overcoming of the seven planets follows a strict and ascending order.

Steps cannot be skipped, as each sphere represents a layer of “density” or a level of consciousness that must be purified before moving to the next.

This order is based on the speed and distance perceived by the ancients from Earth (the geocentric model).

It is like a ladder leading from the most dense and material to the most subtle and spiritual.

The Order of the Ascent

Moon (The Gateway): The first step. Here, you conquer basic instincts and dependence on constant change.
Mercury: You overcome mental agitation, deceit, and the misuse of the word.
Venus: You purify sensory desires and emotional attachments that bind you to people or things.
Sun: The center of the ascent. Here, you must sacrifice the Ego, pride, and the need to be the center of attention.
Mars: You overcome anger, violence, and the impulse to dominate others through force.
Jupiter: You conquer the ambition for material wealth and the desire for selfish expansion.
Saturn (The Guardian of the Threshold): The final and most difficult frontier. It represents time, old age, and death.

By overcoming it, you leave behind falsehood and the final limitation of the physical world.

Whiy is this order?

In Hermetic philosophy, it is believed that when the soul “fell” to Earth, it descended in this order (from Saturn to the Moon), weighing itself down with “burdens.”

To return to the Source, it must strip itself of those weights in reverse order:

The Descent: The process of incarnation (from the divine to the material).

The Ascent: The process of Gnosis (from the material to the divine).

Once you cross the sphere of Saturn (the seventh), there are no more planets. You enter:

The Eighth Sphere (Ogdoad): The realm of the fixed stars, where you join the divine Powers.

The Ninth Sphere (Ennead): The state of total union with the Mind of God (Nous).
In practical (Psychological/Philosophical) terms, reaching the Eighth Sphere means:

Total Freedom: You are no longer moved by impulses, traumas, or social approval (the planets).

Clear Vision: You see reality as it is, without the filter of matter.

Divine Identity: You understand that you and the Source are the same essence. It is the Hermetic equivalent of “Enlightenment” or “Nirvana.”

Each of these seven spheres has an Archon (a governor).

To pass from one sphere to another, the soul must prove it has conquered the vice corresponding to that planet.

If you haven’t overcome anger, you remain trapped in the sphere of Mars. Only upon crossing the seventh gate (Saturn) do you exit limited time and space.

The Poimandres (a core Hermetic text) states: “This is the happy end of those who possess knowledge: to become God.”

Beyond the spheres, there is no time, space, or body—only the Nous (the Divine Mind). This is a state of Omniscience and Eternity, being outside the cycle of reincarnation.

To pass from Saturn to the Source, the Hermeticist practices: