370. Esoteric Psychology - Volume I - 13. Section Two - CHAPTER I - The Seven Creative Builders, the Seven Rays I. The Rays and Life-Quality-Appearance - A. BAILEY

Section Two - CHAPTER I - The Seven Creative Builders, the Seven Rays

I. The Rays and Life-Quality-Appearance

We come at this time to consideration of the rays, which brings us immediately into the realm of psychology and of the various psychological influences.  As we deal with the second of the ray manifestations, with the Quality aspect, we are dealing with those pre-determining factors which produce the myriad differentiations in the phenomenal world.  The quality, the colouring, or the type nature of living energy (which is our inadequate definition of the word "life") settles or determines the aspect assumed and the characteristics expressed by all the forms in the four kingdoms of nature; the individual form emanations are settled thereby, and under the modifying influence of the contact of the living quality with the substance affected and with the kingdom which is the focus of attention, there is consequently produced the characteristic appearance, the specialised activity and the intrinsic emanation of any form in any kingdom.  In my earlier books, I divided the rays into two groups:

Group I...Rays of Aspect, the three major rays.

Group II..Rays of Attribute, the four minor rays.

The three great rays, which constitute the sum total of the divine manifestation, are aspect rays, and this for two reasons:

First, they are, in their totality, the manifested Deity, the Word in incarnation.  They are the expression of the creative purpose, and the synthesis of life, quality and appearance.

Secondly, they are active in every form in every kingdom, and they determine the broad general characteristics which govern the energy, the quality and the kingdom in question; through them the differentiated forms come into being, the specialised lives express themselves, and the diversity of divine agents fulfill their destiny in the plane of existence allocated to them.

Along these three streams of qualified life-force the creative agencies of God make their presence powerfully felt, and through their activity every form is imbued with that inner evolutionary attribute which must eventually sweep it into line with divine purpose, inevitably produce that type of consciousness which will enable the phenomenal unit to react to its surroundings and thus fulfill its destiny as a corporate part of the whole.  Thus intrinsic quality and specific type radiation become possible.  The interplay of these three rays determines the outer phenomenal appearance, attracts the unity of life into one or other of the kingdoms in nature, and into one or other of the myriad divisions within that kingdom; the selective and discriminating process is repeated until we have the many ramifications within the four kingdoms, the divisions, groups within a division, families and branches.  Thus the creative process, in its wondrous beauty, sequence and unfoldment, [159] stands forth to our awakening consciousness, and we are left awestruck and bewildered at the creative facility of the Great Architect of the Universe.

Looking at all this beauty from a symbolic angle, and thereby simplifying the concept (which is ever the work of the worker in symbols), we might say that Ray I embodies the dynamic idea of God, and thus the Most High starts the work of creation.

Ray II is occupied with the first formulations of the plan upon which the form must be constructed and the idea materialised, and (through the agencies of this great second emanation) the blue prints come into being with their mathematical accuracy, their structural unity and their geometrical perfection.  The Grand Geometrician comes thus to the forefront and makes the work of the Builders possible.  Upon figure and form, number and sequences will the Temple be built, and so embrace and express the glory of the Lord.  The second ray is the ray of the Master Builder.

Ray III constitutes the aggregate of the active building forces, and the Great Architect, with His Builders, organises the material, starts the work of construction, and eventually (as the evolutionary cycle proceeds upon its way) materialises the idea and purpose of God the Father, under the guidance of God the Son.  Yet these three are as much a unity as is a human being who conceives an idea, uses his mind and brain to bring his idea into manifestation, and employs his hands and all his natural forces to perfect his concept.  The division of aspects and forces is unreal, except for the purpose of intelligent understanding.

The readers of this treatise who really want to profit by this teaching must train themselves ever to think in terms of the whole.  The arbitrary tabulations, the divisions into triplicities and septenates, and the diversified enumeration of forces [160] which are seen as emanating from the seven constellations, the ten planets, and the twelve mansions of the zodiac, are but intended to give the student an idea of a world of energies in which he has to play his part.  From the standpoint of esoteric psychology, it should be noted that all the schools of psychology go astray in their handling of the human unit, for just this reason; they do not judge a man as a synthetic whole, and—owing to the lack of knowledge, and to the failure, as yet, of the intuitive faculty—the average psychologist seldom enters into the realms of true quality and of the life aspect; the man under investigation is considered more or less objectively, and the true sources of the phenomenal nature are seldom touched.  The determining aspects of the personality ray which produce the sum total of the physical, emotional and mental qualities is in process of tabulation and research and much has been done of a valuable nature.  A man's physical reactions, his emotional habits, and his mental processes—normal and abnormal—are far better understood than they were twenty-five years ago.  Nevertheless, until there is a more adequate knowledge of ray qualities, and until a man's soul ray is determined and the effect of that ray upon the personality ray is charted and known, the true nature of his temperament and the real subjective cause of his varied reactions, his complexes and inhibitions will remain a problem most difficult to handle.  When, for instance, psychologists realise that it is the play of soul quality and energy which determines whether a man in any particular life will function as an introvert or an extrovert, then they will work to produce that balancing of the ray forces which will make the man able to express himself in such a way that the path to the outer world is left open, and that to the inner world is also cleared of obstacles.

What is the real nature of a true mystic or introvert?  He is [161] one whose soul force, ray or quality is too strong for the personality to handle.  The man then finds that the path to the inner worlds of desire-emotion, of mind and of spiritual vision are, for him, the line of least resistance, and the physical plane integration and expression suffer as a consequence.  The "pull" of the soul offsets the outer "pull," and the man becomes a visionary mystic.  I refer not to the practical mystic who is on the way to becoming a white occultist.  The reverse condition can also be true, and then you have the pure extrovert.  The personality ray focusses itself upon the physical plane, and the inner lure of the soul is temporarily offset, sometimes for several lives.  Where this outer condition and "pull" is overstrong, and when all the personality ray qualities are focussed to a point, you will have either a display of exhibitionism, as it is called, or a constructive high grade personality, expressing genius and the creative possibilities of a coordinated physical, emotional and mental expression.  The manifestation of this coordination will be outward into the world of doing, and not inward into the world of being or of the soul.  Both these conditions indicate the "genius towards perfection"; where the equipment is mediocre, you have a thwarted or frustrated complex and a strong sense of inferiority which may diverge towards an abnormal exhibitionism.  Where the equipment is fine and trained, you will have a brilliant worker in the varying fields of human endeavour.  When, as is occasionally the case, you have added to the above a tendency to introvert, with the consequences of soul knowledge and of intuitional development, you then have a leader of men, a teacher from the gods, and a spiritual power.  Hence the value to psychologists in these modern days (temporarily at least) if they will interest themselves in the hypotheses of the school of esoteric psychology.  They may gain thereby, and in any case they lose nothing.

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The four rays of attribute, which find their synthesis in the third ray of aspect, produce the varying qualities in greater detail than do the three rays of aspect.  It might generally be stated, as we endeavour to clarify our problem, that the three rays of aspect find their main expression in relation to mankind through the medium of the three periodical vehicles:

Ray I	Power	Life	Ideas	The Monad
Ray II	Love-Wisdom	Consciousness	Ideals	The Soul
Ray III	Active Intelligence	Appearance	Idols	Personality

They find their secondary expression in the three bodies which form the personality of man:

Ray I	Power	Ideas	Mental body	Purpose. Life.
Ray II	Love	Ideals	Astral body	Quality.
Ray III	Intelligence	Idols	Physical Body	Form.

The rays of attribute, though expressing themselves equally on all the planes and through the periodical vehicles and the three aspects of the personality, find their main expression through one or other of the four kingdoms in nature:

Ray IV	Harmony, Conflict	4th kingdom	Human.
			The Balance.
Ray V	Concrete Knowledge	3rd kingdom	Animal.
Ray VI	Devotion	2nd kingdom	Vegetable.
Ray VII	Ceremonial Ritual	1st kingdom	Mineral.

These are their main fields of influence in the three worlds, and upon this we shall later enlarge.

In relation to mankind, these four rays of attribute find a wide expression in connection with the four aspects of the personality, or with the quaternary.  The relationship is as follows:

Ray IV	Harmony through Conflict	the Physical body.
Ray V	Concrete Knowledge	the Etheric body.
Ray VI	Devotion	the Astral body.
Ray VII	Organisation	the Mental body.

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But again remember that the interrelation and interplay is synthetic on all planes, on the formless levels and also on the planes of form, and in this connection, with all states of consciousness and throughout the created universe.

THE SEVEN RAYS

We are told that seven great rays exist in the cosmos.  In our solar system only one of these seven great rays is in operation.  The seven sub-divisions constitute the "seven rays" which, wielded by our solar Logos, form the basis of endless variations in His system of worlds.  These seven rays may be described as the seven channels through which all being in His solar system flows, the seven predominant characteristics or modifications of life, for it is not to humanity only that these rays apply, but to the seven kingdoms as well.  In fact there is nothing in the whole solar system, at whatever stage of evolution it may stand, which does not belong and has not always belonged to one or other of the seven rays.

The following table may explain the various characteristics of the seven rays:

		Methods of	Planet	Colour.
No	Characteristics	development.  (according to Besant. )
I	Will or Power	Raja Yoga	Uranus    representing Sun	Flame.
II	Wisdom. Balance     Intuition.	Raja Yoga	Mercury	Yellow. Rose
				.
III	Higher Mind	Exactitude in    Thought Higher Mathematics Philosophy	Venus	Indigo. Blue  Bronze
IV	Conflict  Birth of Horus	Intensity of  struggle Hatha Yoga, the    most dangerous    method of psychic growth	Saturn	Green
V	Lower Mind	Exactitude in    action  Practical Science	The Moon	Violet
VI	Devotion	Bhakti Yoga  Necessity for an    object	Mars	Rose.  Blue.
VII	Ceremonial    Order	Ceremonial   observances  Control over    forces of nature	Jupiter	Bright. Clear.  Blue

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It will be clear that each of the kingdoms—elemental, mineral, vegetable, and animal as well as the human—is divided into seven primary types or rays, and as individualisation (i.e. the transition from the animal to the human kingdom) can take place at present only through association with man, it follows that there must stand at the head of the animal kingdom, on each ray, some species of animal susceptible to human influence through which such individualisation can take place.  The elephant is said to stand at the head of the second ray type of animal, while the cat and dog occupy a similar position on the fourth and sixth rays respectively.  We have had no information as to the others, with this exception, that the animals of the first ray are no longer in existence on earth.

Besides regarding the rays as the channels through which all being flows, we must recognise them as influences operating on the world in turn.  Each ray has its period of greatest [165] influence to which all are subject to a considerable extent,

not merely those belonging by nature to that particular ray, but those on all the other rays as well.  The long period of influence of each is divided into seven stages, each of which is qualified by the influence of the greater ray period, being intensified when its own sub-ray period is reached (i.e. the sixth ray influence is greatest during the period of the sixth sub-ray).  We must carefully note that the term "sub-ray" is used merely for convenience to designate the shorter period of influence, not as indicating any difference in the nature of the ray.

We are told that the dominant ray at the present time, though passing out, is the sixth, the Ray of Devotion, and that this ray was already in operation before the dawn of Christianity; also that the seventh sub-ray became the modifying influence about seventy-five years ago (1860), and of course will continue as such.  The first outcome of this seventh subray influence was the Ecumenical Council at Rome (1870), with its declaration of Papal Infallibility. The Tractarian Movement in England started at the same time, whilst the progress of the seventh sub-ray influence, still going on, is marked by the steady increase of ritualism and sacerdotalism in the various churches, and even in the church of Rome there has been a distinct tightening of priestly authority in all matters of dogma and practice.  So much for its influence on religious thought; its other aspects will be considered later.

We have also been told that the religious revival under Wesley and Whitfield in England was under the sixth subray, and I think we are justified in drawing the inference that the rise of Molinos and the Quietists in Spain and Central Europe, and of St. Martin and his band of spiritual philosophers in France and elsewhere, may have also marked the[166] progress of the same period, during which the Ray of Devotion was accentuated by its own sixth sub-ray.

With these few isolated facts before us we may perhaps conclude that the time during which each sub-ray exerts its modifying influence is between one hundred and fifty and two hundred years.

We do not know how often (perhaps seven times?) the sub-rays are repeated successively within the cycle of the great ray.  It must manifestly be more than once, seeing that the great sixth ray was operating before the rise of Christianity.  It is also apparent that Buddhism cannot have been, as was at one time thought, the last outcome of the great second ray period, for the interval between the rise of Buddhism and that of Christianity was only five hundred years.  It seems probable that Buddhism arose under the influence of the second sub-ray of the great sixth ray period.  In attempting to trace back the influence which was the last outcome of the sub-rays, 5.4.3. 2. and 1, it has been suggested that this period of the Alchemists and Rosicrucians may have been dominated by the fifth sub-ray; the epoch of the Flagellants and other fanatical enthusiasts who practised self -torture and mutilation was influenced by the fourth sub-ray; and the time when astrology was widely practised as representing the third sub-ray; while the earlier epoch of the gnostics may have been the outcome of the second sub-ray.  But these are only conjectures, and while the last named is possible, there can be no such correspondence of time in the previous cases, as the Alchemists, Flagellants, and Astrologers were all more or less contemporary during the Middle Ages.

The rise of modern spiritualism is no doubt due to the seventh sub-ray influence, and it may also be a foreshadowing of the great seventh ray still to come.  It is interesting to note that this movement was started by a secret society which has [167] existed in the world since the last period of seventh ray dominance in Atlantean times.

Every great religion which arises is under the influence of one or other of the rays, but it does not necessarily follow that each successive ray should have a great far-reaching religion as its outcome.  We have heard that Brahmanism is the last great religion which arose under first ray influence; we do not know what may have been the religion which was the outcome of the last second ray period; but the Chaldean, the Egyptian and the Zoroastrian religions may be taken as representing the third, the fourth, and the fifth rays respectively.  Christianity and probably Buddhism were the result of sixth ray influence.  Mohammedanism, which numbers so large a following, is also under sixth ray influence, but it is not a great root religion, being a hybrid offshoot of Christianity with the tinge of Judaism.

The rays are sometimes considered as divided into three classes; the first ray by itself, the second ray by itself, and the other five in a group.  When regarded in this way, they are spoken of as the three rays, and typify the various Trinities.  Another suggestive fragment of symbology describes the three rays as using respectively three kinds of fire to light the sacrifice of the altar,—the electric, the solar, and the artificial, or fire by friction.

Before proceeding to consider the virtues, the vices and the special human characteristics which differentiate the individual belonging to one ray from the individual on another ray, it will be well to refer to the origin of the two ray influences which constitute the dominant and the modifying factors in the character of every human being, as well as to the planetary influence, or the ray of the personality, which again modifies these two great influences during any given life.

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We have seen that seven rays are seven differentiations of one great cosmic ray, effected within the very being of our solar Logos before He began His creation.  Now we know that the divine spark, the divine centre of consciousness in each one of us, comes from the highest principle of our Logos; it has therefore within it the potentiality of all the rays, but from the time when our Logos formed within Himself the countless centres of divine consciousness, each one of these centres was coloured by the special attributes of one or other of the rays.  Seeing that the moment each became limited (i.e. separated from the absolute consciousness of the Logos by even the finest veil of differentiation) it must necessarily belong to one or other of the rays, the very essence of our being, the central spark of the divine in each one of us, may thus be said to belong to one or other of the seven rays, and this may be spoken of as a man's primary ray.

It will be remembered that the first great outpouring from the Logos vivified universal substance and caused every atom of matter within the "ring-pass-not" of His system to vibrate in seven different measures of vibration.  The second outpouring caused molecular combinations, thus forming the six subplanes below the atomic on each plane, and produced form.  It was at the time of the second outpouring that each of the divine centres of consciousness put forth a thread of being into an atom of the highest sub-planes of the atmic, the buddhic, and the manasic planes,—atoms destined to be the nuclei of the future bodies, each on its respective plane, the three forming the upper triad so often referred to.  Now every atom is under the influence of one or other of the rays, and the atmic, buddhic and manasic atoms referred to all belong to the same ray; but this is not necessarily the same ray as that to which the over-shadowing centre of consciousness belongs.  In fact, in the majority of cases, the ray of the [169] centre of consciousness and the ray of the triad are different; the one modifies the other, the former being the primary (called by Mrs. Besant the monadic ray), the other being the secondary or individual ray, since the manasic atom is the nucleus of the future causal body in which the individual passes from life to life.  This body is of course gradually built up of particles of matter belonging to the same quality and type as its nucleus atom, and when it is so built through long ages of evolution, the over-shadowing divine centre of consciousness, which has through the ages also evolved individually, unites with it, and the immortal individual Ego starts on its upward climb through the human kingdom.  This is the third outpouring for each soul.  The influence of this secondary or individual ray constitutes the main factor in the earlier stages of evolution, i.e., in the elemental, mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms; but of course the deepest rooted influence must be that which affects the divine centre of consciousness; therefore when the union above referred to takes place, and the entity has become the re-incarnating ego, the primary ray becomes and remains the dominant force.

But there is still another influence to be spoken of.  This is the planetary ray under which each human being is born, It must of course be understood that the so-called influence of a planet is really the influence of the Hierarchy ruling over that planet.  This personal ray is an important factor in the character of a man during the one lifetime of its operation.  I say one lifetime, but it may of course be one or more, if the karmic conditions demand it, for the moment of birth for every individual is fixed in accordance with karmic necessities, and probably all of us—whatever our primary or individual rays—have passed lifetimes again and again under the personal influence of all the seven rays.