The Seven Rays

by Robert Wilkinson

Astrology helps us know the timing on events and reasons why things happen when they do. However, it is important to investigate the nature of our reality from other angles of observation to find what energy tools we have to master in order to deal with our experiences effectively. This includes how these are most naturally applied, and how to confirm our progress or note when we need a change in tools or methods. To that end, today we take a look at what are called the 7 Rays.

I was exposed to the Rays first through the Theosophical literature and then learned much more about them from the Alice A. Bailey teachings attributed to the Tibetan Master D.K. (known by other names through many incarnations). I have studied and observed them in operation for many years, and find these 7 energies pervade our world and our Solar system, manifesting in many ways. They can be applied in psychology, art, and many areas of "natural" science. They of course have their correspondences with the 7 colors, 7 tones of the scale, 7 planes of consciousness, the 7 senses, the 7 directions, the 7 Ages of Humanity, the 7 traditional schools of Yoga, and probably even the 7 holes in our heads! ;-)

Today will not be an exhaustive dissertation on the seven Rays, since that would be about 3000 pages of material. In fact, there are at least that many pages written about them already. What we'll do today is explore in brief some of the primary qualities, and how they interrelate.

The First Ray is Power. The Second Ray is Love-Wisdom. The Third Ray is Intelligence-in-action. These are called "Primary Rays," in that they describe the 3 primary attributes of what we call "God." The First Ray corresponds to the natural law we call "Economy of Energy." The Second Ray corresponds to the natural law we call "Magnetic Attraction." The Third Ray corresponds to what we call "Synthesis." The First Ray is "God the Father." The Third Ray is "God the Mother." The Second Ray is "God as Creative Offspring."

The Ray of Power moves and interacts with the energies of the Third Ray, a.k.a Maya, or the Divine Mother-Holy Spirit Matrix from which all forms come and to which all forms return. These infinite interactions result in "the 10,000 things" through the magnetic attraction of Love-Wisdom. God Force expresses through the ever-changing medium of the substance of all form so that which is magnetically attracted through inherent harmony comes into expression. Omnipotence interacts with Omnipresence to create Omniscience. An example of this in the scientific world is the process of "Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis," or "Action, Reaction, and Result." There are many other ways a Primal Triad can manifest in 10,000 ways or more.

The other 4 Rays are said to be "Rays of Attribute," as they are the attributions of the interactions of the Primal Triad. They are the effects of the First, Second, and Third Rays interacting to bring forth 7 forms in all. In number theory, A, B, and C can interact in 7 ways. A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, and ABC. In this are clues to how things interact in our inner and outer self and the world at large.

The Fourth Ray is Harmony Through Friction. The Fifth Ray is Concrete Knowledge. The Sixth Ray is Devotion. The Seventh Ray is Ordered Activity. The Fourth Ray is said to "govern" Art. The Fifth Ray is said to "govern" Science. The Sixth Ray is said to "govern" religion, as well as all devotional exercises, such as the armed services in all nations. The Seventh Ray is the foundation of all disciplines, all ordering, all rituals and all forms of "karma yoga."

The ritualist seeks order. The devotee seeks the object of devotion. The scientist seeks knowledge. The artist seeks to bring harmony, or beauty, out of friction, or the intensity of feelings that infuse all genuine art. That's also why art, science, and devotion can all lead to transcendence, if an ordered discipline is practiced.

As an aside, there is another system of correspondence whereby the Divine First finds expression in the worldly Seventh, the Divine Second finds expression in the worldly Sixth, and the Divine Third finds expression in the worldly Fifth, with the Fourth as the bridge between the Above and below in our existence. This also finds correspondence in the Upper Triad of our Spiritual Body and the Lower Triad of our Earthly vehicle, but these are more advanced discussions for another time.

On a final note, we are told we have a physical Ray, an emotional Ray, and a mental Ray. These are said to be the three subrays of our Personality Ray. Then we have a Soul Ray, a Spirit Ray, a "Monadic" Ray, a group Ray, a racial Ray, a national Ray, and many, many others. These Rays are the shades and tones and subtones of our existence, inner and outer. That's why we harmonize with some at some times, and not at others. Some of these shift at crucial points of evolutionary change in our life, such as when we've learned all we can along one line of response and need to embrace a new "wave form" of expression.

Eventually, we learn to recognize how to use all 7 of these Rays in the right ways and times to assist our evolution toward wholeness, in action, thought, and feeling, to serve fragmented humanity. We learn from both the odd and even Rays through the process of realization, then applying those realizations in a variety of ways, until wisdom born of experience comes out of the interactions. And there are at least 10,000 Ray interactions at any moment in the on-going process of our evolution.

We don't have to know all of them, but it's always good to know what energies are at work, what we have to deal with, how we can use certain energies expertly according to our experience, And beyond all this, it really is about becoming accustomed to finding our Loving Wisdom that we can apply in Intelligent Actions expressing a Divine Power beyond our understanding.

© Copyright 2007 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[DianatheHuntress]

This really fascinating, Robert!

Were the 'Rays' revealed at the ancient Delphi Temple as well? I seem to remember something about this connection.....

Originally teachings brought from Atlantis?

Thank you... "fireflydream7"..lol

[unukalhai]

Nice piece, thanks. As usual for you, simple and right to the point... :D

And yes, many many pages could be written about the rays, and have been! A while ago I found a website, makara.us, which has some of the works of Michael Robbins, who has written some in-depth works on the rays. Volume 1 and 2 comprise 1200 pages, and they've been made freely available via makara.us. I started reading through these a while ago and just haven't found the time, although I've been getting back to it as some time has opened up after the eclipses helped blast away some of the chaff in my life.

For those who might want to learn more about the rays, check out:
www.makara.us/04mdr/mdr_home.htm

[blinded by the light]

Great site Robert,

A monk stated that the white light which emits the rays is 'God', and suggested that I listen to his organization's seven rays meditation cd 24 hours a day!!
(a mercury square neptune diary entry)

[Robert]

Hi Diana - I figured it was time to explore this. It is ancient knowledge, said to have been brought by the 7 Kumaras (Eternals) who brought the ancient wisdom to infant humanity from Venus. The 7 Kumaras of course represent the embodiment of the 7 Rays.

Hi unukalhai - Will check out the site you note. I personally recommend readers to any of the early Theosophical works, or definitely the Alice Bailey material, though it takes some perseverence to wade through what at first are some pretty deep concepts. For "spiritual psychologists" I would suggest getting "Esoteric Psychology Vol. 1" by Alice Bailey to understand the Ray types, individual and group. For healers, "Esoteric Healing." And for all who want to explore those works, please begin at the beginning with "Initiation Human and Solar," a small but important volume that was the first in the series, laying the foundation for all that would follow.

Hi blinded by the light - I agree that Limitless Light is the 3rd Aspect of "God," the emanation that follows Limitlessness, the 2nd Aspect. As for listening to anything 24/7, that sounds like an obsession. There are many ways to get home from here. Better to listen to "the voice of the silence" in stillness, as prelude to effective manifestation in the world. That said, I'm sure that listening to certain things is efficacious in producing desirable results, such as meditating to the Tibetan healing chants of the Drepung Loesling monks.

[kathy]

Hi Robert! What a wonderful overview, more articulate than any material on the rays i've ever come across. Thank you so much for being such an accessible and facile translator of cosmos!

For any who are interested, the Seven Ray Institute is holding its conference in Arizona in about two weeks' time. The link is below.

http://www.sevenray.net/sri_conference.html

cheers - kpd

[Bryan]

Hi Robert,

Could you elaborate on the concept of magnetism. You have referenced it a couple times this month. There definitely seems to exist a chemistry or repulsion among different people.

Thanks,

B.

[Robert]

Hi kathy - Well, I figured it was time to start speaking of metaphysical things that all of us share, whether we know it or not. And there's more to come, on all sorts of things.

Hi Bryan - I probably should do an article on how magnetic attraction works in an astrological sense, since that's the foundation of many things in the craft, especially compatibility between charts. You've actually hit on one of the two questions I had that propelled me into studying the craft back in 1971. Why are we almost instantly turned on by an idea, a person, or a behavior, and instantly turned off by other ideas, people, and behaviors? After years of studying psychology in college and fast-tracked to become a counseling psychologist, I bailed after a number of graduate courses to begin studying astrology and metaphysics, including holistic philosophy in depth, and the rest is history.

[Svetlana]

Robert,the brainwaves/waveforms/thoughforms this material bears can cause a flood in people's blood:)
if you mentioned Venus here-have you ever thought about the reasons of coincidence in the pronounciation with Venice?
With its kanals instead of streets...

[Tamara]

Robert,
I was wondering if you had ever presented at or for the Seven Ray Institute conferences? Your Astrological and metaphysical background is right in synch with them. One of my teachers studied with Michael Robbins, the author of that HUGE set "The Tapestry of the Gods" on the seven rays, and he started this group as well. They are based on the teachings of Alice Bailey primarily.