THE SEVEN RAYS AND THE LIFE CYCLE

Richard Bryant-Jefferies

At the very heart of the more esoteric Soul, and which has also been described as the psychology presented in the writings of Alice Self. The whole process of evolution as she Bailey are the seven rays. Her system regards sees it places consciousness as the primary each individual as being qualified by particular factor. The physical, emotional and mental qualities of energy. The seven rays are: realms she regards as being the fields within and through which consciousness develops. The First Ray of Will or Power They may therefore be seen as secondary. The Second Ray of Love- The life cycle is seen to be divided into The Third Ray of Active Intelligence various stages. At a point approaching mid-life, The Fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict if the necessary development has taken place, The Fifth Ray of Concrete Mind the Soul nature will then begin to exert a The Sixth Ray of Devotion and Idealism growing influence over the developing The Seventh Ray of Ceremonial Order individual consciousness leading to fusion and a staged entrance into realms of consciousness Each ray energy uniquely expresses an more inclusive and universal in nature. This is essential quality of Life. These qualities again a simplification and a generalization. interact and interweave to generate the rich She acknowledges that there are individuals in tapestry of expression through form and which the Soul takes control at a much earlier consciousness that we see in the world. All that age, stimulating profound thought and has been created expresses ray quality, creativity in many forms. It is also a fact that whether we speak of the individual human many visionary thinkers gained their greatest being, a kingdom of nature or a nation of the insights at an early age, a first touch of Soul world. upon a mechanism that is already sensitive The first, second and third rays are called and receptive. Child genius may also, in some the “Rays of Aspect”, the fourth, fifth, sixth cases, result from an early connection with the and seventh are called ”Rays of Attribute”. It is Soul nature, or a connection that was not outside the remit of this paper to expand on broken in the process of coming into this division. The reader is referred to Esoteric incarnation. Psychology Volumes I and II. One point that is Each stage in the individual life cycle worth drawing attention to, however, is that involves both development and crisis. She within the evolutionary process, when suggests the following critical periods: considered on a macrocosmic or universal scale, the Rays of Attribute are synthesized 4-7 year appropriation of the physical into the third ray. There is then a further body synthesizing tendency with the second ray and 7-14 years appropriation of the emotional finally with the first ray. So each life is a body kaleidoscope of differentiation yet the life cycle 21-25 years appropriation of the mental contains a tendency towards a synthesis. body For , each life is part of a 35 years personality prepared for the greater process of spiritual development in Soul which individual consciousness opened up to 35-42 years Soul appropriation of and became absorbed into a higher state of personality consciousness which she referred to as the 49 years pathway of life service should 1

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 have been defined recommended to read her writings. The two 56-63 years decision by the Soul as to volumes of Esoteric Psychology are a good whether life will continue place to start.

Bailey also indicates other periods of Appropriation of the Vehicles of significance, mainly in relation to the “co- Expression ordination" of the vehicles as opposed to The life cycle contains a series of "appropriation”. Appropriation follows co- appropriations as vehicles of expression are ordination. We coordinate the mechanism developed and brought into activity. At each through our experiences in life and it is then, if stage of appropriation, the energy of the it is sufficiently integrated and oriented particular vehicle being appropriated will have towards the higher values, that the Soul may a dominant influence upon the development of appropriate it for its use as a vehicle of that individual's consciousness. So, for expression. instance, in the early years of life the ray of the If these stages are worked through and physical vehicle will be a major factor in development takes place then by thirty-five a shaping the child's psyche. Much of the personality mechanism will have been learning that will stimulate conscious growth developed that is suitable for the Soul to work flows from the physical environment. Later, as out its own purpose. It may not be a rounded the emotional vehicle is appropriated, then it's out personality for the Soul may require a ray quality will become the primary impulse certain imbalance in order to fulfill certain shaping the child's world of experience. People demands that will be made upon it. It is who remain with an emotional focus through important to differentiate at this point their lives will be largely qualified by this between the personality mechanism and energy. This is not to say that all facets of this personality consciousness. The aim is for the person's life will be wholly conditioned in this personality consciousness to be fused with that way, but energy associated with the emotional of the Soul. The mechanism remains as the nature will be a major influence. vehicle for Soul-infused expression. There are For the person whose mind nature is other significant factors linked to the age of stimulated and awakened, then the ray of the thirty-five years and these will be described mind will be brought into expression. At first, further on. thought will be largely shaped by emotional It should be noted that Bailey's ideas reactions, but in time thought itself will stretched beyond the concept of there being dominate. The individual's consciousness just one life. She saw a progression of lives becomes more firmly established within the involving a continual reincarnation through mental nature. A further stage sees the which consciousness developed. For many, integration of the personality nature with its personal integration is not possible, or a goal distinctive ray energy having a conditioning for a particular life. For others it will be. Also, influence over all the three vehicles that make many conditioning factors that emerge within up the personality. This ray energy can be an individual life to shape that person’s directed towards extremely selfish ends, or psychological growth may also stem from towards altruistic endeavors. As consciousness karmic influences from past lives that are continues to expand to touch the realm of the being used in the present life by the Soul to Soul, even in some small measure, a trend attract necessary experience. To go deeply into from separateness to universality is this is outside the scope of this article which stimulated. As the Soul's nature is allowed to seeks to look specifically at the life-cycle within unfold and response to its influence increases, an individual life, For the reader who wishes to it's ray energy will also work through into learn more of Bailey's wider vision you are expression, often seen most clearly as 2

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 qualifying a person's sphere of service. presents, as the first phase of a two phase From the esoteric perspective we might process. The latter stage, occurring later in life, reflect upon the possibility that what is also she describes as a crisis of expression that occurring is that the Soul is seeking to take a concerns tests and trials in relation to the firm hold of its mechanism. According to Bailey demonstration of the use of Soul energy. She there occurs "a crisis between the thirty-fifth emphasizes that whereas other tests may have and forty-second years, wherein conscious occurred with a focus on a particular level, the contact with the soul is established; the crisis of expression occurs on all planes at once. threefold personality then begins to respond, This may well be linked to something she says as a unit, to soul impulse”.' Could it be this further on in the same volume concerning how that drives unconscious content to the surface, an individuals’ life of service should be clearly its perfection driving imperfection to the defined by the age of forty-nine and that surface? Could it be the light of the Soul that " is often taken ... after passing the breathes new life into the individual, inspiring milestone of half a century". him or her into a new direction? Some will From the angle of esotericism, there is an respond, others will seek deeper immersion important point reached around the age of 56 within their personality natures to avoid the too. Bailey writes that: "unless a certain discomfort of the Soul's influence. measure of fusion [of Soul and personality] is There is also another interesting insight to established by the time fifty-six years of age is be offered in the light of esoteric psychology. attained, it is seldom established later. After Bailey suggests that the first thirty-five years that age, a man may hold to the point achieved of life are essentially a recapitulation of the and foster his aspiration but the dynamic stages of consciousness reached during human submergence of the personality to the will of evolution. At thirty-five years old individuals the soul is rare after that time.” 4 This point of should, ideally, have reached a stage in which crisis leads into a period of seven years they can affirm in themselves "the stage of according to which, Bailey goes on to suggest intelligent disciple".2 So the individual, at "will depend the future usefulness of the around thirty-five, should ideally be ready to person and whether the ego continues to use shoulder the burden of intelligent discipleship, the vehicles on into old age, or whether there is ready and able to respond to the directing light a gradual withdrawal of the indwelling of the Soul in ways that have been described entity".5 above. Where the Soul has taken hold of its In another passage, Bailey emphasizes the personality mechanism to some degree, then importance of the period around the age of the individual should be increasingly engaged thirty-five in relation to the precipitation of a in service. Service, Bailey suggests, is the crisis of opportunity. She acknowledges that spontaneous effect of Soul contact. Identity there are many choices made between the ages may also be expanding in a way that of twenty-five and forty relating to an transcends the individual self. The Soul is said individuals life work, place of living and to transcend separation. Sensitivity to the Soul associates. However, the crisis of opportunity brings the individual into a more inclusive and that she is concerned with is one that "relates universal identity. ever to life service”. She continues by saying So throughout life there is a constant that "it is true in spite of karma or environing movement with fresh ray energy being drawn conditions. It is not a choice of the personality, into the individual life expression. The ray based upon expedient or earthly motives, energies qualifying each vehicle serve a necessity or anything else. It is a choice based definite purpose both in terms of the working upon the relation of the soul to the personality out of individual karma and in meeting the and only confronts disciples".3 This, she requirements of a particular life to ensure a 3

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 balanced development of consciousness. This during this stage is upon the appropriation of balance may not be achieved in a single life, the emotional vehicle and there is a real rather it emerges over a series of lives. The affinity with the energies of the astral . It experience can be very much like that of is a time when many children experience swinging on a pendulum, over developing one phenomena suggesting that they are side of your nature, and then developing its open to astral contact. The child also learns to opposite. It is an ongoing process in which the differentiate his or her own feelings and to own general movement is towards balance and them for themselves. Here, the sensitive or mastery over the ray energies with which one abused child will repress feelings too painful to is brought into contact. The way that different own, burying them within their astral natures ray energies can be seen working out through where they continue to exist and to affect that particular vehicles is explored in the two child, then and as an adult, until the knot of volumes of Discipleship in the as well painful feeling is released. as in the two volumes of Esoteric Psychology. Such feelings may also be held at bay during the stage of early adulthood, which sees the development of the thinking principle, The Rays Governing Specific Stages in Here we can see a clear connection to the the Life Cycle influence of the fifth ray of concrete thought. There is another possibility for the Mind becomes the focus of attention and this influence of the seven rays upon individual can often be at the expense of the feeling development that links them more directly to nature. Feelings are denied though they do not the life cycle. The esoteric thinker may find it go away. Not everyone will respond to the of value to reflect upon the hypothesis that impulse of the fifth ray and many will remain each of the seven rays may have an locked within their feeling natures, unable to overarching qualifying influence over different achieve some measure of mental polarization. stages of the individual life cycle. This is Consciousness gets stuck, held back by an speculation but there is much to support it. absorption in the thrill of feeling and emotion. Consider, for instance, the first years of life as The stage that follows from this is the being conditioned by seventh ray influence crisis of mid-life, the period in which opposite with its innate tendency to link spirit and tendencies meet, in which past experiences and matter and to encourage anchorage in future expectations conspire together, often substance. The seventh ray is very much stimulating inner conflict. Is this not a period linked to the . Could this energy characterized for many as a struggle to find play the major role in driving the spark of greater harmony, to learn to work with the consciousness down into matter, into physical inner nature and to find ways of expressing form and holding it there? "The seventh ray themselves that harmonize with the way they produces fixation upon the exoteric level of are? We might also think not only of the experience and 'anchors' ... the ray forces into tendency of the fourth ray to establish form, producing concrete expression of the harmony through conflict but also how this ray subjective realities or power.” energy is on what is called the 2-4-6 line. It is The idea is that each of the rays in the feeling line and it may be that its influence sequence conditions or governs, to some degree during mid-life also allows earlier feelings to and in a way that we cannot fully explain, the bubble to the surface once more. Yet repressed stages in the lifecycle. So, for the period of and suppressed feelings may not emerge to latency that follows the earliest years where confront the mental focus achieved during the focus is largely upon physical development adult life. Can a more whole person emerge? and control, sixth ray energy would be the Can harmony be found? Can some measure of major qualifying influence. The emphasis personal integration be achieved? 4

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 We would expect, if this hypothesis is should be possible to bring them closer, correct, to see third ray energy of active especially if one considers that there is a intelligence qualifying the individual life- common energy line linking young people expression following the midlife period. (sixth ray) with those responding to the second Perhaps the scope for truly intelligent activity ray impulse at this stage of later life. is most likely at this time for those who have The final stage of life, which leads up to negotiated mid-life and established within death, is to be seen to be largely shaped by the themselves a tendency towards greater energy of Will. Is this not the goal of a full life, wholeness. From their integrated state and to align with Will? Not everyone reaches this. with increasing responsiveness to the Soul We all find our natural level and carry that nature, they can carry their life forward with energy into the rest of our lives. But for those intelligence. who arrive at this period with the capacity to The third ray is linked to the plane of the respond to Will, it is truly a life of fulfillment. higher mind. If midlife has seen the And, of course, what is it that finally breaks achievement of some measure of Soul contact the connection and allows the individual then the potential is there in that life to extend consciousness to pass through the transition the individual thought life to the higher levels which the world calls death but which the wise of the mental plane. This is facilitated by third know as entrance into ‘life more abundant’? ray influence at this time. It is worth The energy of Will. reminding ourselves, too, of the tendency Like all that has been considered in this towards synthesis mentioned earlier. The fruit paper, the idea of the rays governing periods in of past experience and development is the life-cycle in sequence is a model to help us synthesized, ray qualities that have become understand what happens and why we may 'fixed' within the individual are in some way experience and act as we do at different stages. blended with the third ray quality now seeking Of course, this outline of ray .influence on the greater expression. life-cycle assumes progressive development for As we move towards late life, love-wisdom, the individual leading to some measure of the energy of the second ray, provides a major spiritual awareness. What of those who have stimulus. Who do we see as the wise ones? not been fortunate to reach this stage or to Those who have experienced life, who have respond in a way that is characterized by such worked through the earlier stages and gained an expansion? Do they also come under the knowledge and understanding and whose influence of the ray energies in their sequence? consciousness has moved on through the Perhaps, yet in a way that stimulates not different stages of growth. They will have had spiritual development so much as a personal much to assimilate and to synthesize into the focus. If there is not an expansion of second ray at this stage. Those who have much consciousness towards the Soul nature, to bring into this process at this time of life perhaps the ray energies manifest more fully will blend their intelligence and knowledge in their lower expression. Consider, for with love and guide others by their wisdom. instance, the latter half of life. The third ray They will have understood their experiences in might be seen as more manipulative, devious the light of the Soul. They will provide others and selfish in its expression. It may not with light on their paths through words of stimulate a raising of thought to the plane of wisdom. the higher mind, but rather stimulate any It is perhaps a great tragedy of Western crystallizing tendency that has begun within life that there is little respect from the young the individual thought-life. The second ray for the elderly. A bridge across the generations energy as it influences later life might be is desperately needed; a blending of youthful distorted into greater self-love or even self-pity, idealism with the wisdom of experience. It particularly if despair obscures any measure of 5

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 experienced ego-integrity. It may also be directed towards a love of the past or towards the expression of sentimentality. The final The third ray of Active Intelligence -- higher stage may then see a powerful self-will expression manifesting. It may be positive, driving the The manipulation of energy in order to reveal individual on in a constant and at times beauty and truth desperate struggle to retain physical life. It The use of forces intelligently for the may turn in on the individual, driving them furtherance of the Plan towards an even greater self-centred focus Ordered rhythmic activity in cooperation with before the final release. the Whole Desire for right revelation of Having said the above, do not think that it divinity and light is quite so distinctive. The extreme expressions Adherence to right action may well occur, but there is going to be a good The revelation of glory and goodwill mixture of ray expression within each individual, some positive and Soul qualified, The second ray of Love-Wisdom -- lower some conditioned by personality reactions of a expression separative nature. Only an achieved state of The power to build for selfish ends perfection can hope to provide a vehicle for Capacity to sense the Whole and to remain carrying ray energy into its fullest and most apart positive expression. Few are perfect. We all The cultivation of a separative spirit ray impulse by our imperfections. The hidden light The realization of selfish desire Higher and Lower Expression of the Longing for material well-being Three Rays of Aspect Selfishness, and subordination of all soul It is worth considering, in tabulated form, powers to this end some of the lower and higher expressions of these three ray energies. In the final analysis, The second ray of Love Wisdom -- higher the lesser expression leads to the higher expression though this may not necessarily work through Building wisely, in relation to the Plan in an individual life. These expressions or ray Inclusiveness energy are described by Bailey. The following, A longing for wisdom and truth taken from her writings, provides a flavor of Sensitivity to the Whole the different ways ray energy may manifest Renunciation of the great heresy of through human attitudes and activity. Only separateness the three Rays of Aspect are included here, but The revelation of light the Rays of Attribute are also described by True illumination Bailey. Right speech through generated wisdom

The third ray of Active Intelligence -- lower The first ray of Will or Power -- lower expression: expression Force manipulation through selfish desire Dynamic one-pointedness Intelligent use of force with wrong motive Destructive energy Intense material and mental activity Power realized selfishly The realization of energy as an end in itself Lovelessness Longing for glory, beauty and material Isolation objectives A longing for power and authority Submergence in illusion, glamour and maya Desire to dominate Expressed strength and self-will 6

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 Ideas are built up in mental substance, yet The first ray of Will or Power -- higher when they lose their relevance they are broken expression up and the 'mind-stuff, as it has been called, A dynamic use of energy for the furtherance of returns to the general storehouse of mental the Plan substance. It could be argued that certain The use of destructive forces in order to obsessive tendencies and the condition of ‘idee- prepare the way for the Builders fixee’, or over intense emotional devotion, can The will to power in order to cooperate be the result of a thought-form that has been Power realized as the major weapon of love created and has been allowed to grow in Identification with the rhythm of the Whole potency to an extreme degree when it might The cessation of isolation have been more appropriate for it to have been broken up. So there exist destructive forces Some of the above needs explanation. What along with the constructive building forces. is meant by the Plan? The Plan is best Many of life's challenges revolve around described as the energy pattern of light and controlling these forces and using them wisely love, existing at a deep level (some might think and appropriately. of it as being at an archetypal level) which It is clear that thoughts and feelings can provides the blueprint of, and for, evolutionary dominate an individual life and continue to achievement. As the individual opens their exert an influence even though they may no consciousness more fully to the impulse of the longer be appropriate. In terms of Soul, the life expression tends increasingly understanding the life cycle, it is of value to towards cooperation with the Plan. At first, consider the forms that have been created in this is an unconscious urge. Later, as the the past and whether it is of value to carry individual's mind expands and the Soul-mind- them into the future. brain connection is strengthened, it becomes a more conscious process. Where a Life is Cut Short As far as the individual is concerned, the What happens where a life is cut short? In Plan contains their next step and the next step cases of accident or disaster in which the for their group, nation or humanity as a whole individual life is shortened in a way that cuts upon the Path of conscious growth and through the lifecycle, then certain stages will development. Our minds cannot grasp the not have been experienced and perhaps may be whole Plan, but we can, in our highest extended in a future life as compensation. moments, touch it to a degree that enables our Where a life has a kind of natural shortness, path to be illumined, even though it may be perhaps the stages are more concentrated but briefly. rather than some simply not taking place. It Who are the Builders? They are those seems likely that through a natural life, whose orientation is towards constructive whether long or short, each energy phase will activity in terms of carrying the Plan through occur, though it may have widely differing into expression and towards fulfillment. The effects. And certain stages may be lengthened universe is full of constructive and destructive or shortened to promote balance or growth, or forces. Both are vital. The individual human even to take advantage of the availability of being is also subject to the play of these energies from other sources. It also seems opposing forces. Yet they actually work in reasonable to avoid setting definite time cooperation. Where would we be if all form periods for these ray influences. Their cyclic were indestructible? For a start, the planet flow has to be seen in relation to consciousness would be jammed full of physical bodies. But and not to the time-bound form. not only are physical forms subject to these If the ray energies do govern particular forces, so too are our thoughts and feelings. stages in life, we must remember that the 7

The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992 individual vehicles are also governed by ray energy. So care must be taken when seeking an understanding of psychological development. To appreciate the subtlety of this view of psychology does not call on the intellect as much as it does upon the intuition. There is a role for reason and for feeling. To discriminate between the subtle energies that shape us requires great sensitivity. It also requires us to be sensitive to a more universal perspective upon our lives. The life cycle may be broken dawn into stages, but in truth it can only be understood when seen as a whole, and in its context of a series of lives. For the individual who seeks deeper understanding and self-knowledge, there is only one psychological reality -- the here and now. As we learn to know ourselves more fully in the present moment, whatever stage of life we may be at, we open doors and touch the unrealized possibilities that are the seeds of our psychological future. An appreciation of the role of Ray energy will help us to understand what may be taking place in our psychological development and what unrealized potential exists, seeking expression in and through our lives and relationships.

R ichard Bryant-J efferies has been involved with the Ageless Wisdom teachings for m any years and previously worked at the Lucis Trust in London. He is a Counselor with particular interest in the seven rays and m editation. R ichard can be contacted at 18 Barataria Park, Pennycourt Lane, R ipley, S urrey GU23 6DR , England.

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The S even R ays and the Life-Cycle J ournal of Esoteric Psychology • Volum e 8 • N o. 2 • 1992