The Seven Rays
The Seven Rays
The Seven Rays
Abstract
Introduction
33
Will or Power
LoveWisdom
Active Intelligence
Early Hints
Although detailed knowledge of the seven rays
has only recently become available, hints of
their existence can be found in ancient tradition, writings and scripture.
The number seven has always had profound
occult significance. Seven, the largest prime
less than 10, was known to antiquity as the
heptad. This virgin number was sacred to
the Goddess Athena and was associated with
creation and eternity. The ancients knew of
seven planets. And there are seven spectral
colors, and seven notes of the diatonic musical
scale; the lyre of Orpheus had seven strings.
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Winter 2007
The Greek alphabet contains seven vowels.
There are seven spatial directions, including
the sacred center. There are seven days of the
week. Classical scholarship consisted of the
seven liberal arts. There were seven wonders
in the ancient world. Esoteric Judaism counted
seven Elohim. And in Christian doctrine there
came to be seven churches of Asia, seven sacraments, seven cardinal virtues, and seven
deadly sins. The notion that the divine essence
emanates first as three and then as seven has a
numerological metaphor insofar as there are
seven possible combinations of three elements;
for example: A, B, C, AB, BC, CA, ABC.6
The emanation of the seven rays from a level
below the Trinity is foreshadowed in the book
of Revelation. There we read of seven Spirits
which are before [Gods] throne, seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne, and
the seven stars.7 Sitting on the throne, God
held a book with seven seals.8 The Gnostic
text Pistis Sophia relates that the risen Christ
cast forth many rays of light and the light
was of many kinds.9
Additional hints can be found in The Celestial
Hierarchies, the standard text on Christian angelology. The text was long believed to have
been written by Dionysius the Areopagite,
mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles.10 But
most scholars now agree that the real author,
the Pseudo-Dionysius, lived no earlier than
the fourth century CE.11 The Celestial Hierarchies described nine choirs of angels, arranged in three ranks of three. The highest
rank, consisting of the seraphim, cherubim and
thrones, is identified as the threefold system
of the Divine Ray.12 The author adds that it
occupies a more exalted place than all the
others, being immediately present with God;
and because of its nearness, to it are brought
the first revelations and perfections of God. It
would not be difficult to argue that the PseudoDionysius was referring to the rays of aspect.
Significantly, he refers to the seraphim as the
Glowing Ones and the cherubim as the
Streams of Wisdomand we remember that
the second ray of aspect is Love-Wisdom. The
third choir, the thrones, symbolizes openness
to the reception of God.13
Work of the
Theosophical Society
Helena Blavatsky
Contacts at Adyar
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Ray
Characteristic
Characteristic
Magic
Fohat-Shechinah
Wisdom
Akasha
Birth of Horus
Fire
Incarnation of
Deity
T. Subba Row
In 1886 Tallapragada Subba Row (18561890)
gave a series of lectures to Theosophists in
Adyar.33 The lecturer was not only an acclaimed Vedantic scholar but was considered
by Helena Blavatsky as having greater occult
knowledge than herself. The two collaborated
for a while, until a rift occurred when Blavatsky asked him to review the manuscripts of
The Secret Doctrine.34 By the time of the lectures Blavatsky had left Adyar. Subba Row
also served as one of Leadbeaters teachers.35
The lectures focused on many aspects of traditional Hindu and Buddhist thought, but Subba
Row wove in references to the seven rays. The
tenor of the lectures demanded a high degree
of occult knowledge, and we do not know how
much his audience understood. He spoke as
Copyright The Esoteric Quarterly, 2007.
Charles Leadbeater
We do not know to what immediate use, if any,
Charles Leadbeater put the information on the
seven rays gleaned from the Tibetan Masters
visit or from Subba Rows lectures. Nor are
we told whether the Tibetan provided further
information to Leadbeater during the remainder of his esoteric training or thereafter. By
the end of 1885 the Theosophical Society had
decided no longer to bear open witness to the
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38
Ann Bailey
The Science of the Sacraments identified locations within a church with the rays. For example the high altar is associated with the second
ray. Leadbeater expressed a preference for
devotions performed at these locations rather
than the Stations of the Cross found in Roman
Catholic churches. He also identified the rays
with the candles on the altar and with seven
jewels embedded within it.47
Charles Leadbeaters most extensive teachings
on the seven rays appear in The Masters and
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Characteristic
1
2
Strength
Wisdom
Adaptability or Tact
6
7
Aspiration
I will be strong, brave, persevering in His service.
I will attain that intuitional wisdom which can be developed only
through perfect love.
I will try to gain the power of saying and doing just the right thing at
the right momentof meeting each man on his own ground, in order to help him more efficiently.
So far as I can, I will bring beauty and harmony into my life and
surroundings, that they may be more worthy of Him; I will learn to
see beauty in all Nature that I may serve Him better.
I will gain knowledge and accuracy, that I may devote them to His
work.
I will unfold within myself the mighty power of devotion, that
through it I may bring others to Him.
I will so order and arrange my service of God along the lines which
He has prescribed, that I may be able fully to take advantage of the
loving help which His holy Angels are always waiting to render.
Ernest Wood
Ernest Egerton Wood (18831954) assisted
Charles Leadbeater in completing The Masters
and the Path. The same year that it appeared,
Wood published his own book: The Seven
Rays.59 Wood was born in Britain but went to
Adyar in 1908 and stayed for 13 years. He
served as secretary to Annie Besant and
Charles Leadbeater and was also engaged in
the Theosophical Societys educational activities. This latter work earned Wood the title of
the professor.
Ernest Woods book was written with Leadbeaters encouragement,60 and it contained the
same fragmentary information that Leadbeater received from the Tibetan Master in the
1880s. However Wood had already received
detailed teachings on the rays while in India:
Sometimes there had been a voice, but generally ideas had, as it were, insinuated into
my mind, quite distinctly with the feeling of
the presence of an intelligence other than my
own. In this way I had accumulated a quantity of notes on the subject. I had been
speaking on it occasionally at theosophical
gatherings in America.61
Wood makes frequent reference to Hindu and
Buddhist teachings; and Subba Rows influence may also be detectable, although the two
never met. Leadbeater acknowledged that
Woods book is presented from quite a new
angle.62
Wood initially used the term principles
rather than rays. He identified seven principles, each identified with a Hindu or yogic
concept such as Jnana (knowledge) or May
(matter). And for each principle he identified
divine qualities or human ideals and their expression in everyday affairs (Table 4). The
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Principle
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Ichchh
(will)
Jnana
(knowledge
or wisdom)
Kriy
(action)
May
(matter)
Sattwa
(law)
Rajas
(energy)
Tamas
(inertia)
Qualities of
God and
Ideals of Men
Expressions
in Human
Affairs
Freedom
Government
Unity
Philanthropy
Comprehension
Philosophy
Harmony
Truth
Interpretation
(imagination)
Science
Goodness
Religion
Beauty
Art
Geoffrey Hodson
After 1925 little further attention was paid to
the seven rays in the Theosophical literature.
However, in 1952, Geoffrey Hodson (1886
1983) published a short work entitled The
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Human Characteristics
Positive Exemplars
he Tibetan contacted Alice Bailey in November 1919. In her autobiography Bailey records that she heard a voice which said in
stilted English: There are some books which
it is desired should be written for the public.
You can write them. Will you do so?72 Being skeptical of psychic phenomena she refused. But after two more encounters she
agreed to serve for a couple of weeks or a
month as the Tibetans amanuensis. As it
turned out, the relationship lasted the remaining 30 years of her life, and the result was 24
books, amounting to more than 10,000 printed
pages of esoteric teachings. Bailey died in
1949.
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Periods in history are influenced by the cyclical manifestation and pralaya of the rays.
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Key Concepts
Force
Consciousness
Adaptation
Vibration
Mentation
Devotion
Incantation
Energy
Expansion
Development
Response
Knowledge
Abstraction
Magic
Ray Characteristics
The characteristics of the seven rays, discussed
throughout Alice Baileys books, are in substantial agreement with what Charles Leadbeater and Ernest Wood had reported. Table 6
shows the ray characteristics, as they relate to
disciples. This table appeared in Initiation:
Human and Solar and was repeated in two
later books.84 It is interesting to note that the
first-ray disciple, according to this tabulation is
the occultist, and the third-ray disciple is the
magician. Magic is more commonly identified
with the seventh ray, and the first ray more
commonly associated with leadership.
The first volume of Esoteric Psychology lists
the virtues and vices associated with each ray
and includes virtues to be acquired.85 The
data are summarized in Table 7. It will be
noted that, in this presentation, Bailey used
alternative names for some of the rays. For
instance, the third ray is described as Higher
Mind instead of the more familiar Active
Intelligence, and the fifth ray is described as
Lower Mind rather than Knowledge or Science.
The first volume of Esoteric Psychology also
provides a table of Ray Methods of Teaching
Truth (Table 8). Here white magic is
shown as a seventh-ray expression, while the
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Exemplar
Action
Initiation
Evolution
Expression
Science
Idealism
Ritual .
Occultist
True Psychic
Magician
Artist
Scientist
Devotee
Ritualist
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Special Virtues
Vices
Virtues to be
Acquired
1. Will, Power
Tenderness, humility,
sympathy, tolerance,
patience.
Over-absorption in
study, coldness, indifference to others, contempt of mental limitations in others.
Intellectual pride, coldness, isolation, inaccuracy in details, absentmindedness, obstinacy,
selfishness, overmuch
criticism of others.
Love, compassion,
unselfishness, energy.
Serenity, confidence,
self-control, purity,
unselfishness, accuracy, mental and
moral balance.
Reverence, devotion,
sympathy, love, widemindedness.
2. Love
Wisdom
3. Higher
Mind
4. Harmony
through
Conflict
5. Lower
Mind
6. Devotion
7. Ceremonial
Order or
Magic
Sympathy, tolerance,
devotion, accuracy,
energy and commonsense.
Realisation of unity,
wide-mindedness,
tolerance, humility,
gentleness and love.
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not apply to disciples and initiates who, we
read, are liable to build vehicles of any type
of force to meet the emergency, the need or the
service of a particular life.91 Bailey revealed
the rays of the Buddha and the Christ themselves:
The Buddha had a second ray soul, a first
ray personality and a sixth ray minda very
rare phenomenon. The Christ had a second
ray soul, a sixth ray personality (which accounted for His close relationship with the
Master Jesus), plus a first ray mind.92
The Christs rays seem to have been within the
normal range, but we note the Buddhas independence from the stated restrictions. We
recall that Subba Row identified the second ray
as the Buddhist ray.
The notion of personality and egoic rays applies also to groups, institutions and nations.
For example, the United States is stated to
have a sixth-ray personality and second-ray
soul; France has a third-ray personality and a
fifth-ray soul; and Russia has a sixth-ray personality and a seventh-ray soul.93
Concluding Remarks
Higher Expression
The science of statesmanship and government.
The process of initiation as taught by the
Hierarchy of Masters.
Means of communication or interaction.
Radio, telegraph, telephone and means of
transportation.
Masonic work, based on the formation of
the Hierarchy and related to Ray II.
The science of the Soul. Esoteric psychology.
Christianity and diversified religions.
Note relation to Ray II.
All forms of white magic.
Lower Expression
Modern diplomacy and politics.
Religion.
The use and spread of money and gold.
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into the consciousness of esoteric students
throughout the world.
Aside from issues of the teachings origins, the
charge has sometimes been leveled that the
source of Alice Baileys work was not the
same Master Djual Khool who visited Adyar
in the late 19th century. Such a charge is
based on pure speculation, and it could just as
easily be claimed that the real Master Djwhal
Khul never visited Adyar. Interestingly, one
individual who made the charge distanced
himself not only from Bailey but also from
Charles Leadbeater, whose work he dismissed
as pseudo-theosophy.98
Antagonism among the various partieswhich
has been slow to healis a matter of great
sadness to the worldwide community of esoteric students. It is time to lay mutual suspicion and accusations to rest and focus on what
has been achieved. Esoteric teachings are not
proprietary to one group or another but belong
to the whole of humanity.
The most important conclusion from this case
study is that knowledge of the seven rays increased steadily during the 60-plus years of the
Tibetan Masters teaching mission. The players in this story entered and left at different
times; and some made larger contributions
than others. Members of the Theosophical
Society laid important groundwork on which
Alice Bailey could build to provide the extensive body of teachings we have today. Despite
the transfer of responsibilities, the end-product
was surprisingly consistent and coherent. Perhaps the Tibetan had to make difficult choices
to find suitable intermediaries to whom he
could communicate the teachings. It is not our
place to question his strategy or tactics. What
we can do is applaud the effectiveness and efficiency with which the work was performed.
We are enormously indebted to the people involved, includingif we may venture to make
such a commentthe Tibetan Master himself.
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The author is indebted to Dr. Zachary Lansdowne for constructive criticism of an early
draft of this article. However the views expressed in this article are the authors alone.
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There is no record that the Baileys every resigned their membership of the Theosophical
Society itself.
The Lucis Trust was originally known as the
Lucifer Trust.
This article devotes more space to the dissemination of teachings by Theosophical writers because Alice Baileys work on the seven rays is
better known today.
Bailey, Initiation: Human and Solar, p. 3.
Ibid, p. 47.
Ibid, p. 107.
Ibid, p. 49. Organization charts were relatively
new at that time. The theory of bureaucracy,
which (among other things) studies the organizational charts of business enterprises, dates
from around the turn of the 20th century.
Bailey, Esoteric Psychology, I, p. 334.
Ibid., pp. 343, 412.
Ibid., pp. 357ff, 411.
Alice A. Bailey. Initiation: Human and Solar,
p. 80; Esoteric Psychology, I, p. 412; The Destiny of the Nations. Lucis, 1949, p. 145.
Bailey, Esoteric Psychology, I, p. 200-212.
William Booth and his wife founded the Salvation Army.
Ibid., p. 237.
Alice A. Bailey. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire.
Lucis, 1925, p. 579.
It is stated that All egos found upon the fourth,
the fifth, the sixth and the seventh rays must
eventually, after the third initiation, blend with
the three major rays, or monadic rays. Bailey.
Esoteric Psychology, I, p. 402.
Alice A. Bailey. Esoteric Psychology, II.
Lucis, 1942, p. 288. See also Glamour a World
Problem. Lucis, 1950, p. 92.
Alice A. Bailey. Discipleship in the New Age, I.
Lucis, 1944, p. 336.
Alice A. Bailey. The Destiny of the Nations.
Lucis, 1949, p. 38.
Bailey. Esoteric Psychology, I, pp. 382-383.
But see the comment in note 3.
Alice A. Bailey. The Rays and the Initiations.
Lucis, 1960, p. 250.
Helena Blavatskys and Subba Rows rudimentary understanding of the rays raises further
questions.
Charles Leadbeater and Ernest Wood explained
where they had obtained the information. These
explanations demand some consideration.
Nicholas Weeks. Theosophy's Shadow: A
Critical Look at the Claims and Teachings of
Alice A. Bailey. Fohat, Summer 1997. See
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