The Middle Realm – The Celestial Realm

The Celestial realm is the realm of the visible heavenly bodies: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. With the exception of the Moon and Sun, which can’t help but be in the wrong places in an earth-centric model, the planets are correctly ordered in comparison to their actual, helio-centric placement, with Mercury being the innermost planet and Saturn being the outer. (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are never visible to the naked eye and were unknown in Fludd’s day.)

Nature of The Realm

The Sun's Placement in A Earth-Centric Model

Fludd explained the Sun’s illogical placement by stressing its intermediary nature, which was emphasized by its central position. It was understood that spiritual and material things could not directly connect, which was the reason for this complex hierarchy of layers. The Sun was God’s representative of sorts, burning with both a spiritual and physical light so that life might flourish on earth. To suit this purpose, it had to sit at the halfway point between the two opposites of physicality and spirituality.

The Moon

The moon was seen as the most "earthy" of the Celestial bodies. It has the shortest cycle, correctly implying that it is the body physically closest to us. It also has the most obvious influence on physical reality through the ebb and flow of the tides.

The Stars – The Firmament

Other Names

The Celestial realm is sometimes referred to by a variety of other names such as the Ethereal, Mathematical or Rational realm. Mathematics and rationality are seen as more advanced states than mere physical existence.