THE SEVEN RAYS are
the original divine qualities of the Absolute. Each individual human
soul is an essential part of one of the Seven Rays, and through a
succession of lifetimes the qualities of that Ray are developed and
refined, to further the evolution of Humanity.
THE SEVEN RAYS are
an ancient tradition which is increasingly relevant today as the Aquarian
Age begins to unfold, because the Rays work together to make for completeness,
and Humanity - by becoming aware of the Ray energy working through
the soul - should strive for the same ideal.
The philosophy of
the 7 rays demonstrates how people of different spiritual inclinations
can tread the same spiritual path, united in purpose to help the world
without changing their own beliefs. ht
"My religion is very simple. My religion
is kindness." ~ Dalai Lama
To navigate THE SEVEN RAYS TODAY you can use these menus
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The rest of this page explains
the basic concepts used on this site (go here
for printable version)
This is a copy of the article
I wrote for Prediction magazine in 1978. It serves as a good introduction
to the Seven Rays because it marked an early point of my ongoing
research.
(Opens in new window)
THE SEVEN RAYS ~ AN OVERVIEW
The Seven Rays are the seven attributes
of God the Absolute, and exist as the natural division of
all earthly manifestation, from the finest to the densest.
We can define the Seven Rays as the seven
natural and precise divisions of any singular reality, which
together make the completeness of the Absolute.
So the Seven Rays exist as the various conditions of energy
and matter, taking the last two terms as different aspects
of the same reality: the highest or finest state of energy
or matter is its First Ray manifestation and the lowest
or most dense state is its Seventh Ray manifestation.
According to the Ancient Wisdom, the objective existence
of the Absolute began with just three aspects, His Will
or Intention, His Love or Consciousness and His Form. This
was the origin of three evolutionary life forms, the Lords
Of Flame, The Lords Of Mind and the Lords of Form, which
correspond to the Absolute's three principles.
To continue
the process of evolution, each of His three life forms were
again divided by three to allow them to adopt these principles
independently from each other, and then into a further four
categories to create what we know as physical reality:
The Lords of Flame are Elemental gods
who are responsible for the seven divisions of the Absolute's
Will into the Seven Kingdoms;
The Lords of Form are Devas who are responsible for the
seven divisions of the Absolute's Form into the Seven
Planes;
The Lords of Mind are Humans who are responsible for the
seven divisions of the Absolute's Consciousness into the
Seven Rays.
These are
the only three evolutions of life in the entire cosmos ~
and by mutual co-operation they are responsible for the
creation of the Absolute's existence, and our total reality.
The basic conditions necessary for
every type of existence in the cosmos are the life-force, the
consciousness and the form, which are based on the original principles
of the Absolute and function through the first three Primary Rays.
In our physical reality, the highest representations of the Elemental
evolution are galaxies; the highest representation of the Deva
evolution are planets, and the highest representations of the
Human evolution are stars.
This hierarchical division of life is the function of the Absolute's
First Aspect, His Divine Will, whose task is to divide all categories
of life into seven archetypal Kingdoms. The highest Kingdoms in
our physical reality, the galaxies, stars and planets, can only
be experienced through one of our senses, sight - which through
its association with light is related to the Second Primary Ray
of Consciousness. The lower four kingdoms we can relate to through
all of our senses: because the fourth Kingdom is Human life as
we understand it; the fifth Kingdom is the animal realm, the sixth
Kingdom is the vegetable realm, and the seventh Kingdom is the
mineral realm.
Life exists independently
in each of the life evolutions, but all life requires something
from all three to exist, the predominant third being responsible
for deciding through which evolution each individual life
will exist. Therefore an Elemental will be predominantly
composed of energy with a lesser amount of form and consciousness
than a Devic being, who will be predominantly form, and
a Human being who will be predominantly conscious.
All life is subject to three basic properties:
the will to live or the life-force; the condition of being
alive or consciousness; and the vehicle for life or bodily
form. Where these three constituents are active the process
of life is being fulfilled. These conditions are the three
Primary Rays of Manifestation, the First Ray of Will, the
Second Ray of Consciousness, and the Third Ray of Form.
This is the minimum requirement for life, although to explain
the variety of life forms in existence on Earth, the Third
Ray is divided into a further four, called the Rays of Attribute,
because form could exist as a single cell, an ocean teaming
with life or a planet: the last four Rays put form into
perspective.
The Rays working through
Elementals act as a sevenfold division of archetypes, through
the Devas as a sevenfold division of form, and Humans as
a sevenfold division of consciousness. We can appreciate
the existence of the Elemental and Devic evolutions because
together they are responsible for the Seven Planes.
The Seven Planes exist as the archetypal
collection of graded impulses stemming from the Absolute’s
Divine Will. As such, they are beyond any concept of duality
so they alone are aware of their existence, which is their
natural condition of beingness. They are the First Primary
Cause, the Elemental Lords of Flame. For the Planes to be
useful to the Absolute and to aspects of His creation, the
Elementals have to be organised into life by the Devic Lords
of Form, to create an appearance that can be used by the
Human Lords of Mind in their quest to manifest their quality.
This demonstrates that the Planes are a combination of Devic
and Elemental life, which can only function as part of our
reality when balanced with the qualities of the Human Seven
Rays.
The Seven Planes are the seven divisions of energy and form,
which we confuse with levels of consciousness just because
our awareness is able to access them. For example, the Astral
Plane exists whether we are conscious of it or not ~ it
has its own independent reality which the Elemental and
Devic lifestreams are responsible for. Our consciousness
can be aware of it through the medium of the Seven Rays,
but the Astral Plane is there for purposes other than for
us to dream on, it is a reality for other beings existing
on other lifestreams as much as the physical Plane exists
through our own concept of reality.
Each of the Seven Planes is divided into seven sub-planes,
and each Plane and sub-plane relate to the Rays as do their
counterparts on the Physical Plane. Our reality exists on
the seventh sub-plane of the seventh Plane.
Our normal physical environment is related to the Seventh
Ray, because it is composed of solid tangible matter. This
is how we are aware of it, through all our senses, from
sight to touch. We also know the physical world is composed
of intangible forms of matter called molecules, atoms and
sub-atomic particles. We can equate these three states of
matter, which can only be detected with scientific instruments
rather than our own senses, with the first three Primary
Rays.
Sub-atomic particles are present throughout the universe
and have no barriers; they pass straight through everything,
including the planet Earth, and we only recognise their
existence through their interaction. These particles form
the primordial essence of the entire universe, because they
belong to the Elemental Kingdom. They exist in their pure
unmanifest condition on the highest level of physical reality,
but because they are responsible for all physical manifestation
they are also the substance of the lower four levels which
require co-operation from the Devic Kingdom to produce a
physical reality which Human beings and other forms of earthly
life can interact with through the agency of the Human quality
of conscious awareness.
The difference between the Elemental existence on the highest
sub-atomic level and the four lowest levels is that on the
highest level the Elemental beings have a separate existence
which we can only understand through the idea of archetypes.
The First Primary is the level at which the archetypal ideas
of physical forms exist, which is the energy that ensures
every cat will look like all other cats, to use a simple
example. This is the first sub-plane of the Physical Plane,
the sub-plane of archetypes, the level of the Absolute’s
Divine Will. The lower four levels of Fire, Air, Water and
Earth then become the arena through which the Absolute’s
Divine Will is made manifest. On these lower four levels
the archetypal idea translates into a type of manifestation
unique to each level, so that the Fourth level contains
form which fits the archetypal category of energy, the Fifth
level gases, the Sixth level liquids, and the Seventh level
solids.
Atoms have a more permanent and tangible existence. They
are the basic forms of all physical matter, and group together
to form molecules that have entirely different qualities
to the atoms of which they are composed. We know that nuclear
energy holds them together in a stable condition and that
when they are "smashed" they produce a chain reaction which
causes other atoms to break down into sub-atomic particles.
We also know they have certain qualities which we can use
to determine their actions, such as the way they can be
grouped into "families" according to the Periodic Table,
how these elements can be described by colour through spectrum
analysis and by using this method we can determine the elements
of distant stars. This ties them in with light and colour,
which is the esoteric reason light is used to describe the
Second Primary realm of atoms.
Next are the molecules, the basis of our physical existence
and of life itself, because DNA is a molecular substance.
This makes it easy to see how molecules relate to the Third
Primary. The difference between molecules and atoms is that
molecules can easily be transformed through chemical reactions,
whereas atoms can not. Translating this into esoteric terminology
we can see how Second Primary atoms are permanent and dependent
only on the First Primary of sub-atomic forces, whereas
Third Primary molecules, as a manifestation of angles, are
subject to continual change, whether they manifest as genes
or something more tangible like flesh and blood.
Therefore the Devas of the Third Primary, which equate with
the molecular world, organise the Elementals of the First
Primary, which equate with the world of the sub-atomic particles,
into appreciable forms through the lower four levels to
create physical matter which Humans can interact with through
the Second Primary of consciousness awareness. This is accomplished
on an atomic level, so that the atoms responsible for our
physical form hold the key to our understanding of our physical
existence. Atoms are composed of sub-atomic particles, and
form into molecules which are responsible for life as we
understand it, because they are the physical manifestation
of the Primary Rays.
However, before the Elemental, Devic and Human life-streams,
acting as the three Primary Rays, can experience life, they
have to unite and create a temporary reality as a vehicle
of expression, which they do on the fourth or middle sub-plane.
This fourth state is the energy field related to the etheric,
the element of Fire, and the plasma condition of matter.
On this level all three life-streams can unite to act out
their role in providing experience for the Absolute.
If further experience is required, from this fourth state
of existence three more states can be added, each relating
more particularly to one of the life- streams, and which
approximately mirror the higher three states which are unable
to manifest physically without the co-operation of the other
life-streams. These extra three states are the elemental
worlds of Air, Water and Earth: Air relating to the Third
Primary of form, Water to the Second Primary of consciousness
and Earth to the First Primary of will. The fact that the
highest condition of life which exists as the First Primary
is also inherent in the most dense state of solid matter,
the seventh sub-plane related to the Seventh Ray, is a good
example of the Quabbalistic concept of Kether in Malkuth.
Human beings are part
of the Second lifestream, and are governed by the Second
Primary of Love or Consciousness. This shows that basically
we are creatures of consciousness, a fact that every great
religion and philosophy has preached, and a fundamental
spiritual truth.
What we consider to be our normal everyday selves, our personal
awareness, is our personality. This can be affected by many
various subjective influences, hardly any of which originate
from our Higher Self - which only works through the Seven
Rays. Therefore the Rays are not applicable here, and the
nearest we get to understanding the variety of personality
types is through astrological influence, acting as a link
between the Rays and the influences our personalities are
able to interact with.
It is the Human soul which exists as part of one of the
Seven Rays, giving each person the ability to act as a channel
for one of the Rays, once a certain amount of soul contact
has been established. The soul Ray is responsible for our
spiritual evolution by training our personality in the use
of the individual Ray energies available to us.
It is the Devas and Elementals who are responsible for our
reality. They work together to form the physical existence
which we take for granted, but which we Humans are also
partly responsible for because it is our awareness of our
surroundings which gives these surroundings their objective
existence. As Human beings we are machines used by the Absolute
for the evolution of all three life-streams, and although
ultimately we are conscious Human beings, we are also composed
of Devic and Elemental essences which are responsible for
our physical bodies and life energies respectively.
The Seven Rays interact with a Human being through the medium
of the seven major chakras which form links between each
of man’s bodies that exist on higher sub-planes above the
physical. Our chakras are numerically related to both the
Seven Rays and the Seven Planes, so that the lowest, the
Base Centre, relates to the Seventh Ray, and the highest,
the Crown Centre, relates to the First Ray.
The highest three chakras, the Crown, Head and Throat, work
mainly with Elemental, Human and Devic energy respectively,
giving us our life-force or will, our consciousness, and
our form or physical body. This ties in with our spirit,
soul and personality. In real terms, the Third Ray is responsible
for our mental faculties, the Second Ray is responsible
for our awareness, and the First Ray is responsible for
our physical motivation. The lower four chakras work with
the four Rays of Attribute through the medium of the four
elements which correspond to the lower four Planes. These
Planes are formed out of the substance of Elementals ~ which
is why they are alluded to as the "elements" ~ and are organised
into realities perceivable by Human consciousness through
the interaction of the Devas.
In a Human being, the Earth element governs the solid form,
from skeleton to skin; the Water element governs the liquid
form, from the water content of the body to the bloodstream;
the Air element governs the gaseous form such as the breath;
and the Fire element governs the energy form such as the
nervous system.
Although each person belongs fundamentally to just one Ray,
we also possesses minor qualities of other Rays which help
to mould the individual character. This is similar to the
situation in astrology, where every individual with a Leo
sun sign will also have traits taken from other zodiac signs
dependent on planetary placings and his Ascendant. There
the similarity ends. It is not possible to ascertain a person's
Ray type from a study of the horoscope, because the energies
of the Seven Rays which manifest on Earth originate from
the realms of the stars far beyond our own solar system,
and their energies are scaled down even before they reach
the stars which comprise our zodiac signs.
So the Seven Rays, besides being a way of classifying and
relating all manner of things both spiritual and mundane,
also show that there are seven different approaches to spirituality,
as each individual’s soul or Higher Self functions on just
one of these Rays. Above this is our spiritual essence or Monad, which
does not function through the Seven Rays but only through
the three Primary Rays.
The relationship between
each of the Seven Rays and how these energies work into
physical manifestation introduces the concept of angles.
Angles are non-physical energy connections that underlie
all physical reality. They are the common denominator of
everything that exists in the physical world and beyond,
because they form the actual blueprint of all physical existence,
both living and inert.
Just as the Seven Rays are the seven natural divisions of
any reality, angles are the subjective relationship between
two or more objective realities. Angles do not have an objective
existence of their own, and operate as subjective connections
between apparently unrelated forms. They are the result
of the co-operation between the Devic and Elemental life
evolutions, and function beyond our earthly Human objective
awareness.
Although the idea of a relationship implies a connection
we can understand with our logical minds, the truth is that
everything in the universe is connected directly or indirectly
to everything else. A lot of connections are obvious, such
as your hand is connected to your arm, or a strong wind
is responsible for leaves falling from trees, and in these
instances the connection is objective, because we appreciate
the connection. However, there are many indirect connections
between things that are not obvious, because for anything
to exist in the physical world it has to be connected in
some way to the reality of physical existence. We cannot
understand such connections because they are subjective
and involve angles.
Every variety of manifestation on our planet owes its origins
to angles through their intimate connection with form. They
are symbolically assigned two of their own attributions,
"intention" and "substance". "Intention" is produced by
the Elemental Lords of Flame, and "substance" is produced
by the Devic Lords of Form, who are also responsible for
the construction of angles, using the medium of the archetypal
Elementals as co-operative ingredients. This why the Devas
are known as the "builders of the universe".
Angles are not form and only become so when the third ingredient
is added, which is conscious energy or love. This is the
attractive and creative force in the universe that stimulates
angles into producing form on the lower four planes of manifestation.
This joins with the two attributes of angles making a temporary,
non-evolving life form which exists until consciousness
ceases to be applied, and the life form returns to being
a mere angle. When angles are activated and become temporary
life forms they have a threefold existence of life-force,
consciousness and form. Angles are not living beings: they
do not evolve or belong to a particular Kingdom of evolution,
but are a natural product of the Devic evolution, who create
angles like we think.
Devas produce angles to give structure to the archetypal
energy fields of the Planes - the basic state of the Elemental
archetypes, by converting them into a condition that can
be utilised by the Second Primary of consciousness. Once
they have been activated, they fulfil their particular role
through the angular structure of the etheric sub-planes
of the lower Planes of Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Each
Plane and sub-plane is of one element only, and therefore
consists of only one type of Elemental being.
Angles are not part of any occult or spiritual system, but
exist in a variety of specific forms that appear to be totally
unrelated until you understand the concept of angles. Ancient
tradition recognised angles but chose either to personify
them, or call them specific names depending on which of
their numerous functions was being described. A few examples
are the aka threads of the Huna religion of Hawaii; the
cords of the spider's web in European mythology; acupuncture
meridians that distribute chi energy through the body, the
similar nadis of yoga; plus the ‘elementals’ of medieval
magic.
In real terms, you cannot give specific examples of angles,
you can only have what angles represent in each situation.
This is because once you limit angles to any kind of definition,
this becomes the concept that has been arrived at via angles,
and so angles remain constantly subjective and beyond description.
Angles do not have any kind of form of their own, even in
the most abstract sense, but should be thought of more as
potentialities of form after a definite archetypal pattern.
As the necessary ingredient of form, they exist in conjunction
with manifestation on all Planes and sub-planes from the
cosmic Third Plane downwards, which is the highest level
on which form of any kind can exist.
In addition, angles always consist of the energies or substance
peculiar to the Plane or sub-plane on which they function,
although they also form connections between Planes. This
is because "intention" works through a particular sub-plane
that corresponds to the most suitable form or "substance"
for a particular idea; so that when the circumstances surrounding
the manifestation become ideal, creating the opportunity
for Human involvement, the Deva is bound to create the angle
out of the Elemental life of this sub-plane.
Individual Humans also owe their existence to angles. The
Lords of Karma, evolved Devas associated with the planets,
are responsible for creating Human angles before birth.
The individuality of each person is based on the interpretation
of the karmic necessity earned in previous existences, which
determines the structure of the angles to be used as the
vehicle for Human consciousness.
Angles also produce the natural environment without which
there would be no life on Earth, and which people need to
gain experience of life. Devas co-operate with the Elementals
of each Plane or sub-plane to produce our normal surroundings,
together with the variety of environmental effects which
have the ability to affect our lives. Weather patterns are
a good example of angles in operation, from earthquakes
and volcanic eruptions on the earth sub-plane, to storms
and tidal currents on the liquid sub-plane, to hurricanes
and storms on the air sub-plane, and lightning on the energy
sub-plane. The ancients were more aware than modern people
of the hidden forces that caused these changes in the environment,
and learnt how to work with these natural forces of the
planet, who they knew as gods.
Angles link a Human being to his natural life environment
via his etheric sheath or vital body. The etheric sheath
acts like a scaffolding for the physical form, much like
a spider's web. Each thread of the web acts as a channel
that connects the pranic life-force of the higher sub-planes
to the seven major chakras.
These lines of the spider’s web are one representation of
angles. They form connections between every part of a Human
being, because they form the blueprint of his identity,
of his essence and of his potentialities. Every aspect of
Human existence depends on one of these lines or angles
making a connection to the rest of his form.
Angles, as the fabric of consciousness, are the framework
through which we have conscious experience. Through the
application of our conscious energy - often outside of our
normal awareness - we inject them with the third balancing
force, and once their three ingredients are in balance,
their "intention", "substance" and "consciousness", the
angle is activated.
This process demonstrates how they are responsible for a
person's attributes, likes, manners, dreams, experiences,
abilities, senses, intelligence, thoughts, emotions, pride,
passion, love, compassion, health and energy. Absolutely
everything concerning a human individual, even before birth
and after death, is dependent on angles.
If we consider a person as an angle, the First Primary is
the will, which works as the archetypal energy which make
us Human, the Second Primary is our consciousness, representing
our condition of awareness and the Third Primary is our
angular form, representing our body and physical shape.
The sum total of a person's angles, that have been imbued
with consciousness and therefore brought to life, could
be seen as a single Devic being: our personal guardian and
provider, our Holy Guardian Angel. This is the Devic life
who exists through the accumulation of awareness that is
linked to our angles, and whose role is to sustain the balance
between form and consciousness.
However, the Human etheric angular structure is only one
representation of angles in man's natural environment: EVERY
manifestation on our planet owes its origins to angles through
their intimate connection with form, because angles are
the subjective relationship between ANY two objective realities.
Angles are responsible for the interpretation of every reality
we are normally able to experience, because they originate
with universal energies that have their origins in the delicate
balance and interaction of the planets in our solar system.
The highest representations of angles in our reality are
the astrological aspects between planets. These planetary
angles are in continual motion but always retain a permanent
existence, as the relationship between individual planets
varies their intensity and influence over time. On Earth,
we interact with angles like these because they have a subtle
effect on various levels of electromagnetic frequencies,
which are tuned to our Human sensory apparatus working through
our chakras.
As the original angular set exists in the relationship between
the planets in our solar system, these angles can be determined
approximately from a horoscope. More than this, each individual
is part of a huge angular structure that ties us in with
all forms of life in the universe, from planets and stars,
to Devas and Elementals. Humanity as a whole is an angle
as much as each individual is a smaller angle within the
group collective, and the constituent parts are all based
on the same original design: as above, so below. This is
the origin of the idea of archetypes, or in a mythical sense
that "man is made in God’s image", because all Human beings
are archetypal man with the same basic angular set.
(see DIAGRAM 1 - THE THREE PRIMARIES)
