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The facts given out in this article are facts which for eons of time used to be well-guarded secrets of the Mystery Schools, the training grounds for the Initiates on the Golden Path, the aspirants to membership in that Occult Brotherhood which has guarded and guided the evolutionary unfoldment of the Human Race for millions of years on this planet, Those Who are known as Earth's Spiritual Hierarchy (click on "Who Are The Spiritual Hierarchy?"). The teachings of the 7 Rays were an integral part of the ancient and arcane mysteries that were taught to the chelas who were deemed worthy of the knowledge in the Temple Schools of Initiation from time immemorial, knowledge ever overseen by The Initiate Hierophant of the School.
Until the more modern times, when many of the former mysteries began to be disseminated to the public consciousness by Initiate-Disciples of Ascended Masters of The Hierarchy, it was felt that the knowledge/information, if gotten into the wrong hands, could be rendered dangerous to the Divine Plan of Sanat Kumara for the Human Kingdom as well as all the other Kingdoms of Nature on Earth (Mineral, Plant, Animal, and Deva). However, by the 19th Century after the coming of The Wayshower for the Piscean Age (Master Jesus), the mental and spiritual developement of the Race as a whole was considered sufficient for the cautious and gradual releasing of a small portion of the secrets and mysteries which had been imparted solely to the Initiates of all the Mystery Schools. The mind or mental body of the 5th Root Race of Man (the Aryan Root Race) had come of age and could now assimilate and appropriate and more effectively utilize the highly esoteric information for the benefit and advancement of the Race as a whole.
Helena P. Blavatsky was the instrument to be utilized for the preparatory phase of the release of occult teachings held within the ancient archives of The White Brotherhood of Earth. This she did through the publication of "Isis Unveiled" in 1875 A.D. and "The Secret Doctrine" in 1888 A.D. and also through the teachings of the Theosophical Society which she co-founded with Henry S. Olcott, both of whom were Initiate-Disciples of Lord El Morya, Chohan of the 1st Ray. The Instructors for her writings were principally Masters Djwhal Khul, Kuthumi, and El Morya with contributions from a few Others, such as Hilarion and Serapis Bey. The Trans-Himalayan Adepts guided the enterprise.
The second and intermediate phase of the release of occult teachings from Earth's Ascended Masters of Wisdom was accomplished through Alice Ann Bailey during that 30-year period of her mission from 1919 to 1949. She was virtually the pristinely-receptive amanuensis of Master Djwhal Khul for that entire period and gave out to an awakening Humanity the most extensive and the most profound occult works ever given to the Race of Man. She was a 3rd Degree Initiate in total alignment with her Soul and was a Disciple of Lord Kuthumi (Chohan of the 2nd Ray). Djwhal Khul was the highest-ranking Member of the Ashram of Kuthumi (Brotherhood of the Golden Robe) and was asked by His Master to provide those incomparable revelations for the spiritual advancement of the Race. The most extensive and intricate teaching on the 7 Rays is still to be found in the material given clairvoyantly and telepathically to Alice Bailey by The Tibetan Master (see "The Seven Rays Explained").
A third and more advanced phase of previously-secret teachings has yet to be initiated by Earth's Hierarchy (acting through incarnate disciples), and when it comes, those who are known as the Dark Brotherhood will no longer have power and control at the Physical Level on Planet Earth and will be in no position to misuse the occult revelations for the aggrandizement of the self. That time is not far off in the scheme of Earth revolutions around the sun. Of course, only a miniscule fraction of Mankind has come to realize the importance and exquisite nature of these teachings as applied to the evolution of self, but these will lead the effort toward the Collective Initiation of the Race in the brilliantly-lit future of the Race of Man.
So, with relevance to the topic at hand, what have we come to know about this Septenate Universe that has been illumined for us by The Society of Organized and Illumined Minds, The Teachers and Benefactors of the Human Race (and all life on the planet)? To start with, we should start at the Very Beginning. Beyond and behind and above and in back of everything that exists, there is The One Ineffable, Unknowable, Un-nameable, Incognizable Infinite Source of All. This Infinite Source is un-differentiated and un-manifest. No human words or thoughts or qualities can approach, let alone define, It. This is Infinity, Which has no beginning nor end and from Which is derived all of Cosmic Existence. In the mystery teachings, this was designated by a white, ill-defined circle set against a black, impenetrable background (which no intellect could penetrate).
From this Infinite, Unmanifest Source came forth the Infinite, Manifest Source, The First Differentiation or Expression of The Unknowable. And this Manifest Divinity also cannot be known or conceptualized by the human intellect, because it too is infinite. Intellectualization involves linearity of thinking, and infinity is too abstract to find a place on that line. Manifest Infinity produced the infinity of universes and was designated in the arcane schools as a plain perfect circle, whose center was everywhere and whose periphery was indicative of manifestation.
Each of the universes in the infinitude of creation has a Logos or Creator Being, and each of Them would be considered as a Divine Extension of The Manifest, Infinite Source, and because there are an infinite number of Universal Logoi proceeding from Their Infinite Source, there are an infinite number of universes (I know how uncomfortably that sits in the analytical mind). Our particular universe, thought to be all that exists by most physicists, is but one of an uncountable number of universes, and our Universal Logos is The Creator Source of all in this universe, being designated by a circle with a point in the center in the mystery teachings, a circumscribed creation (or universe) with its Central Point or Creative Source at the center of this Playground of Creation.
Now, having narrowed it down to our unverse, The Universal Logos extended forth from within Itself 3 Primary Aspects, Which are known as The Trinity, The Triune Godhead, The 3 Major Aspects of God, and Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma. The One became The Three in One, and then The Three became The Seven or The Great Hebdomad. The reason that this universe and all life in the universe became septenary in its essential nature is because The 3 Primary Aspects became The 7 Aspects of The Universal Logos, and all life at any level of existence became septenary as a reflection of the lower mirroring the higher. As above, so is it below.
The 7 Primary Extensions of our Universal Creator are responsible for all of creation in this particular universe, and They collectively have accomplished that by radiating forth 7 Essential Divine Energies or Streams of Force that are called the 7 Rays in the occult teachings. Each of The 7 Prajapati or Primary Aspects of The Universal Logos is responsible for emanating one of the so-called 7 Rays with its unique divine qualities and potentialities, and it is the intermingling and interaction and inter-relationship of these 7 Forces throughout the universe that has produced every form of life and every manifest thing in the universe (on all the 7 Major Planes of Existence).
When energy is passed through the transforming character of some agent, it becomes a force, so these forces are stepped down and transmuted by a Collective or Council of Co-Creator Beings every step or level along the way as they are passed from the highest Cosmic Plane eventually to the lowest Physical Plane. The 7 Rays or 7 Divine Forces that have been projected by The 7 Primary Aspects are made available and accessible to all life by the stepping-down transformation that is effected by 7 Specialized Co-Creators at every level, making the energies more appropriate and manageable for the next lower level and so forth on down to the densest physical levels. These God-given Forces must necessarily be stepped down and modified at each Level of Existence for them to be tolerable to life at that Level (each of the 7 Cosmic Planes has 7 sub-planes, and each of them has 7 sub-sub-planes).
Our solar system has a ring-pass-not or periphery of influence that is circumscribed by The Creator of this system of planets, The Solar Logos. At the lowest level of the septenary nature of this Cosmic Being, we see that form as the sun in our sky, but that is the lowest aspect of That One, radiating its brilliant light to all parts of the system which It has created. The Source Level or Higher Self of our Solar Logos is The Sirius Logos, which appears in our night sky as the so-called Dog Star or Sirius, and The Sirius Logos is one of The Expressions of The 7-fold Star Constellation that we call Ursa Major or the Great Bear.
In our quadrant of the galaxy, the 7 Rays flow from The 7 Great Stars of Ursa Major (7 Cosmic Entities) to The Sirius Logos and The Great White Lodge or Hierarchy on Sirius, where those 7 Ray Energies are transformed by High Initiates before being passed to a lower level. The Sirius Logos has extended forth from Itself 7 Co-Creator Logoi Who have created 7 systems of planetary evolution, our solar system being but one of them. So, our solar system is an integral member of a 7-fold aggregate of solar systems, and our Solar Logos may be considered as one Incarnate Expression out of 7 for The Logos of Sirius.
After the 7 Rays have been modulated and stepped down by Senior Members of The Sirius Hierarchy, one of each of those 7 Ray Forces is projected to one of The 7 Solar Logoi Who are The 7 Expressions of The Sirius Logos. The Ray that comes to our Solar Logos and our solar system is the Great 2nd Cosmic Ray, the energy and force that is The Love of God for all of God's Creations, the attractive, binding force that holds the universe together (and all of its galaxies). See "The Second Ray" for more information. Only one of the 7 Cosmic Rays infuses and permeates the ring-pass-not of this solar system, and that is the 2nd Ray, so our God (The Solar Logos) may rightly be considered a God of Love.
All of the 7 Rays of this solar system are subsidiary Rays of the Cosmic 2nd Ray, so that each of them is imbued with and qualified by the Divine Love Energy of the 2nd Ray. The 7 Rays for this system are projected by The Solar Hierarchy (after transformation) first to The Planetary Logoi of the 7 Sacred Planets of the solar system and from there to Lord Sanat Kumara on Shamballa (at the highest Aetheric Level) for Planet Earth, and The Lord of the World transmutes and qualifies those energies according to the Purpose of The Planetary Logos (Higher Self of Sanat Kumara) and the developing Divine Plan in the Mind of Sanat Kumara (click on "Who Is Sanat Kumara?"). They are passed to The Great Council of Shamballa, Who then pass them through The Contemplative Nirmanakayas (ever in deepest meditation) to The 3 Great Lords of Hierarchy (The Manu, The Bodhisattva, The Mahachohan). From there, after further modifications, each of the 7 Ray Energies are passed to one of The 7 Chohans of the 7 Rays for Planet Earth (6th Degree Masters and Heart Flames of the 7 Major Ashrams of Hierarchy). For example, 1st Ray to El Morya, 2nd Ray to Kuthumi, and 3rd Ray to Serapis Bey (see "The Seven Rays Explained").
These energies are then utilized in promoting and fostering and bringing into manifest reality the Divine Plan for Planet Earth by way of incarnate aspirants and disciples to The Ascended Masters of Earth's Hierarchy (go to "What Is An Ascended Master, Anyway?"). Free-will expression of Humankind may not be infringed by The White Brotherhood (as established in Law by The Lords of Karma), so all accomplishment must be made by those who have physically incarnated into the human species, and the energies of the Rays are directed accordingly for ashramic purposes in fulfilling certain aspects of the Overall Plan: 1st Ray to politicians and governmental leaders, 2nd Ray to spiritual teachers and higher schools of thought, 3rd Ray to advanced intellectuals of the Race, 4th Ray to transformative artists and musicians, etc.
The Master oversees and is responsible for all ashramic effort and accomplishment, and the inspiration, guidance, and directed energies flow from the Higher Initiate-Disciples in the Ashram to those incarnate members who have developed their telepathic receptivity to an adequate extent. It all goes through the Soul of the individual, and so some degree of Soul contact, orientation, and conscious connectivity must be present.
The Chohan of the 6th Ray is The One we have come to call The Master Jesus (see "The Unknown Nazarene"), but He is more accurately known as Lord Sananda because Jehoshuah Ben Yussef (Jesus) was only one of That One's lives (also see "Lives of The Master Jesus"), though a very important life to Humanity in general and Western Civilization in particular. His 4th Initiation (the Renunciation) was taken at the Crucifixion, and His 5th Initiation of Ascension (the Revelation) was taken in His next lifetime as Apollonius of Tyana. Since that time He has taken the 6th Initiation (the Decision) and become one of The Lords of the 7 Rays, having acquiesced to Sanat Kumara's request that He remain with Earth's Human Evolution for the time being because of the critical juncture of the Aquarian Age approaching. The 6th Ray Ashram (with its 6 subsidiary Ashrams) is superintended by Jesus/Sananda, and the Ray Energies distributed from His Division of The Hierarchy are those of Devotion and Abstract Idealism.
Devotion to a cause, devotion to a guru, devotion to an ideal, and devotion to a religious dogma; these were widespread and rampant during the Piscean Age because the 6th Ray was the dominant conditioning energy for the entire age. Each astrological age of the Zodiac is governed by one of the 7 Rays, and the progression of those Ray influences remains one of the mysteries revealed upon the Path of Initiation, because it offers tremendous insight into the Evolutionary Plan of Sanat Kumara, and that is withheld from all but the Initiate-Members of Earth's Hierarchy at the present time. However, we have been informed by Those Who Know that the nearly-completed Piscean Age was under controlling influence by the 6th Ray Energies and that the in-coming Aquarian Age will be under the dominating influence of the 7th Ray as directed by The Chohan of the 7th Ray, Lord Rakoczi, known inaccurately as Saint Germain (check out "The Seventh Ray").
The 6th Ray reached its heighth of influence during the so-called Middle Ages of Europe and began its slow, diminishing descent in 1625 A.D., while the 7th Ray began its incarnative process in the year 1675 A.D. At the present time on the planet, both of these Rays and their corresponding energies are of nearly equal influence because the planet and all of Man's institutions and societal structures are saturated with the 6th Ray Energies from the past 2300 years, approximately. Each Ray, suffusing Humankind and all the other Kingdoms here, prepares the way for the next Ray and the next phase of the Evolutionary Plan for all life on Earth, so the 6th Ray with its harshly-separative qualities was deemed an important step in preparation for the integrative, synthesizing energies of the 7th Ray. The Planetary Logos, The One in Whom we all live and move and have our being, chooses the sequence of the Ray influences down through the eons in order to manifest the Divine Plan, which arises out of the Divine Purpose for this incarnate expression of our Planetary Logos (the planetary body and all its life-forms).
The qualities of the 6th Ray, which were brought out in Mankind during the overarching period of its governance, were such qualities as idealism and zealotry and fanaticism and submissive, unthinking devotion to religious institutions, king, country, flag, and idealistic causes. If seen from a higher perspective than the numbing repetition of historical events (and figures), the goal was to stimulate the thought-form making capacity of Mankind to formulate the ideals out of the ideas telepathically inserted into the Collective Unconscious by The Hierarchy and to have these mentally-formed ideals become a progressive stimulus to the developement of the lower concrete mind, and from that perspective the 6th Ray was wildly successful.
The mental body of the Race of Man has made enormous strides during the Piscean Age, and the 6th Ray's contribution has been the incessant pursuit of and undying devotion toward the ideologies that have arisen out of the greatly expanded use of the analytical aspect of mind and the unprecedented expansion of the mental body of the Race, the stated goal for this 5th of the Root Races for Mankind. There is a great deal of impracticality to the 6th Ray qualities expressing in the Race, however, because the vociferously and zealously fought for ideals remain as ideals on emotional and desire-filled Astral Planes.
Sixth Ray exponents fight fanatically for the ideologies that they have created but have no interest or capacity for bringing those ideologies into manifest reality at the Physical Level. They remain idealogues, and it is up to the 7th Ray exponents to use their groundedness and practicality and organizational skills to bring the ideology into reality, drawing the thought-form from the Astral Level into the Physical Level.
One might wonder the need for the Human Race to learn separativeness as an outgrowth of the 6th Ray domination of the Piscean Age, but one of the stages of growth for the Human Race has been the learning of self-identity. For millions of years the identity of the individual has been with the group with which he or she was associated. Self-identification, as a component to the developement of personality, was a pre-requisite and a necessary phase. Of course, it's a transitional phase to becoming an integrated personality with harmoniously aligned physical, astral, and mental bodies, which, in turn, precedes the gradual and inevitable identification with Self or Soul (the true identification).
The 6th Ray promoted a more rapid learning of lower-self identification because of its separating nature. If one was a member of a tribe or a kingdom or a religion or a country, one was an individualistic member under 6th Ray impact. Selfishness and individuality were a natural consequence, were a necessary part of the plan and remain as a lingering legacy to the dominant energy of the Piscean Age.
Examples of this Ray influence abound and are too numerous to enumerate. Think of all the dysharmonious clashes of peoples, ideologies, religions, and social structures over the past 2,000 years, and they may be attributed to the idealistic abstractions and devotional zeal precipitated by the 6th Ray. Wars come most readily to mind, and no war could have enlisted the passions of the masses without a liberal sprinkling of this Ray Energy, but every aspect of life on Earth was thoroughly impacted by this Ray, as it was meant to be (by The Higher Ups).
We can skip back and forth through the centuries to witness the influence of this type of energy upon the Race called Mankind. All religious skirmishes, doctrinal clashes, and actual wars have definitely been brought on by this 6th Ray perfusing the Human Evolution, and the Crusades to the "Holy Land", pitting the Christian against the Muslim, were perfect examples of its heavy influence. The caste system of Old Arya Varta (India) with its 4 inflexible categorizations was (and is) a separative manifestation of the 6th Ray, creating barriers and divisions. In fact, the creation of all those barriers that we call boundaries and property lines and borders of every kind, from provincial to national, are the result of this separative energy. The great Religious Reformation that took place in the Christian Lands of Europe and which resulted in the splintering of the Roman Church into Protestant Denominations may be accounted for by this 6th Ray. The irrepressible zeal of all the reformers, from Martin Luther to John Calvin to Joseph Smith (Mormons), was fed by this energy, and most of the reformers had a great deal of 6th Ray in their Ray Structure (to be explained later).
The fanaticism nurtured by this energy becomes nearly obsessional, because the 6th Ray exponent cannot be dissuaded from the idealistic cause to which he is attached. The martyrdom of the Christian believers by the agents of the Roman Empire was an example on both sides of this influence. Kamikaze pilots in WW II were plunged into suicide by the 6th Ray in their absolute and unshakeable devotion to the Japanese Emperor and His Empire. The ideologies of the world have ridden into the minds of men on the wave of the 6th Ray: democracy, totalitarianism, fascism, communism, freedom, slavery, liberalism, conservatism, militarism, new-ageism, capitalism. The ideologies of the Piscean Age have now undergone their experimentation phase in the Collective Consciousness to be selectively omitted or committed to the Aquarian Age at a higher dimensional turn of the spiral by the practically-minded 7th Ray exponents.
Each of the 7 Rays has its negative and its positive attributes as the energies become manifest in Man (and woman), and these are called the vices and virtues of the Ray. Before conscious Soul contact takes place in the incarnational cycle of an individual (thousands of lives), the qualities of a Ray which are expressed are usually the vices, and since the great masses of Humankind have not even come close to contacting the Soul, the expression of the 6th Ray through those plodding, unknowing masses has been in the negative fashion so described. Only the disciples and Initiates of the world have made Soul contact and Soul alignment, and they manifest the virtues of the Ray, but they are a tiny fraction of the billions incarnate on the planet. The 6th Ray is ending its incarnational reign in the early part of the Aquarian Age, but when it next comes to incarnate, only the virtues will be expressed by the 4th Kingdom of Earth (Human).
1. Virtues and Vices of the 6th Ray:
Virtues: potent idealism and idealistic nature, devotion toward a cause, an ideal, or a personage, single-mindedness of purpose, sympathy, reverence, love, loyalty toward object of devotion, intuitiveness, inclusiveness. These virtues are made manifest as a result of Soul influence on the personality.
Vices: zealotry and fanaticism accompanied by violence, intense anger and displays of fiery emotions, sectarianism and separativeness, selfishness, self-deception, partiality and prejudicial nature, suspiciousness, tendency to superstition, jealousy, having an overbearing quality. These are Ray qualities being wrongly expressed by a personality cut off from its divinity at Soul Level due to total engrossment in the illusions of the material world.
Then there are virtues to be acquired by the disciple on the Path in order to overcome the vices of this Ray: self-sacrifice (of personality for the Soul), serenity (to overcome anger and violence), truthfulness (to counter-balance self-deception), tolerance (to mitigate prejudice and partiality), common-sense (to eliminate the fanaticism), and an internal balance and equilibrium (to smooth out the excesses and extremes of the 6th Ray vices).
2. There is what is called a Ray Structure for each incarnate individual on the Earth. There is one governing Ray for each of the following aspects of every person engaged in an incarnate lifetime: Soul, personality, mental, astral, and physical bodies. Consequently, there are 5 Rays that dominate in each incarnation, though some of them may be the same. For example, the Soul Ray and that of the mental body may be the same. The Ray of the Soul remains the same throughout an entire Round of Earth (there are 7 Rounds or Incarnations of this planet, each Round developing 7 Root Races of Man). The other Rays change with each incarnation so that the Soul may acquire all the positive qualities of all the Rays by the end of its incarnational cycle and have them experientially stored in its Causal Body of Manifestation on the highest mental sub-plane (to learn more, click on "The Causal Body of The Soul").
Soul contact (on a conscious basis) does not begin until the incarnational cycle is two-thirds of the way complete (involving 1000's of lives), therefore until that time the lives are lived under the negative influences of the 4 Rays of the personality much of the time. Thereafter, the Ray qualities of the Soul come into increasing domination of the personality the closer the contact with and orientation toward the Soul. This begins on the Path of Discipleship to an Ascended Master and culminates on the Path of Initiation at the 3rd Initiation (the Transfiguration) when the personality is subsumed by the Soul, and there is complete fusion of the personality with the Soul or Higher Self (the Bridge of Antahkarana has been constructed out of mental matter).
I think it is helpful in understanding this 6th Ray to offer some examples of known historical personages who were strongly influenced by its qualities. These are all Initiates of Earth's White Brotherhood of varying degrees, and the higher the Initiate Level, the more Soul influence there was, and when their Soul was that of the 6th Ray, we may see those positive 6th Ray virtues coming through the incarnate personality. Conversely, the lower-level Initiates would have displayed quite often the negative qualities of the 6th Ray when the lower-self personality was taking charge (instead of the Soul). The aspect under 6th Ray governance for the particular lifetime listed will be abbreviated as follows: S, P, M, A, Ph. for Soul, Personality, Mental, Astral, and Physical Bodies. In the higher Initiates, when the Soul and Personality Rays are the same, the 6th Ray becomes powerfully manifest.
William Wordsworth: S, P, A (English poet)
John Wesley: S, P, A (English Founder of Methodism)
Mark Twain: S, A (American writer)
Mother Teresa: S, P, A (Albanian humanitarian)
Saint Teresa of Avila: S, P (Spanish mystic)
Joseph Smith: S, P, M (American Founder of Mormonism)
Socrates: S, A (Grecian philosopher)
Arthur Schopenhauer: S, P (German philosopher)
Thomas Paine: S, P, M (American revolutionary)
Saint Therese Neumann: S, P, A (German mystic)
Guru Nanak: S, P (Indian Founder of Sikhism)
Mother Mary: S, P (Judean Mother of Jesus)
Karl Marx: S, A (German philosopher)
Ignatius Loyola: S, P (Spanish ecclesiastic)
Martin Luther: S, P (German Founder of Lutheranism)
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi: S, M, A (Indian Yogi)
Jack Kerouac: S, P, A ( American writer)
John Knox: S, P, A (Scottish religious reformer)
Saint John of the Cross: S, P, M (Spanish mystic)
George Fox: S, P, M (English Founder of Quakerism)
Epicurus: S, M (Grecian philosopher)
Meister Eckhart: S, P, A (German mystic)
Fyodor Dostoevsky: S, A (Russian writer)
Baha'u'llah: S, P, M (Iranian Founder of Bahaism)
Saint Augustine: S, P (Numidian theologian/mystic)
Saint Thomas Aquinas: S, P (Italian theologian/mystic)
Thomas Becket: S, A (English archbishop and martyr)
Saint Catherine of Alexandria: S, P, M, A (Egyptian mystic and martyr)
Daniel: S, P (Old Testament prophet)
Saint Luke: S, P, A (Apostle to Jesus)
I've listed only those Disciple-Initiates with a 6th Ray Soul and, hence, all Members of the 6th Ray Ashram of Earth's Spiritual Hierarchy. It should be remembered that the Soul is under the instruction of The Master, and the current Heart Flame for the 6th Ray Ashram is Lord Sananda (Jesus). We can see the determined and unwavering idealism in these saints and writers and philosophers and religious reformers. The devotional aspect of these energies may also be seen as a common thread running through the lives of these idealogues from the pages of human history: devotion to The Christ or philosophical principles or reformation of a corrupt Roman Church with erroneous doctrines. Every one of these individuals exemplifies the qualities of this 6th Ray as it is brought through from Soul Level to the personality to a greater or lesser extent. These are prototypical Initiate Exponents of the 6th Ray Energy for Planet Earth.
3. Aside from the ever-present machinations of the Dark Forces that are active on this evolutionary scheme and who are expert in manipulating the negative qualities of the 6th Ray amongst the unawakened masses of Humanity, the great polarity of this universe (duality at all levels) is being played out in this transitional time between the Piscean and Aquarian Age by the contrasting influences of the 6th and 7th Rays. As noted, since 1625 A.D. the 6th Ray has been passing out of manifestation, having been at its peak of power from the 10th to the 17th Centuries, and one may review the historical events of both the East and the West to see its separative, conflictual, antagonistic effects on the cultures of the time. It's hard to find a time or a region where war and savagery were not taken for granted as a normal means of interactive dialogue. Then the 7th Ray of Ceremonial Order has been coming in since 1675 A.D. to succeed the 6th Ray as the Divine Energy of governance in the Aquarian Age (if unfamiliar, go to "The Seventh Ray").
Because the world and all its institutions are virtually saturated with the 6th Ray in its lingering effects, the influence of these two juxtapositioned Rays is roughly equal on the planet despite the incarnation of the 6th being nearly done. The exponents of the 6th Ray are all the die-hard conservatives and reactionary elements around the world. The exponents of the 7th Ray are all the progressives, liberals, and forward-thinking elements of the world. These two approaches to experiencing and expressing reality are responsible for the oppositional tensions in every corner of the globe: in politics, economics, religion, science, and social structuring. The fundamentalists are making their last-ditch stand to preserve the antequated, worn-out ways, and the progressives are fighting them tooth and nail to replace the old with new forms and structures more appropriate to the synthesizing energy of the 7th Ray.
The duality of the Outbreathing/Inbreathing Universe has its own little stage for the unfolding drama on Planet Earth before Aquarius establishes control. The duelling Forces of Light and Forces of Darkness have their analogy in the opposing energies of the 6th and 7th Rays. The selfishness and exclusivity of the 6th Ray runs parallel to the self-serving nature of the Dark Brotherhood. The inclusiveness and uniting energy of the 7th Ray parallels the altruistic, love-suffused nature of The White Brotherhood. We know the outcome after the confrontational duality has played itself out in the waning micro-seconds of the Piscean Age. The conservative dinosaurs of fundamentalism will be shown the "Exit" sign, and the Involutional Forces of Evil will be on the last train out with no return ticket in hand.
It is because the masses of Humanity have been heretofore lowly-evolved that the impact of the Great 6th Ray has worked its way out in sectarianism, patriotism, nationalism, and exclusive narrowness of view in science, religion, philosophy, and governance by those in power. The energy has brought out the separative, individualistic tendencies of Humanity, which has provoked all the battles, conflicts, wars, and genocides staining the pages of history. But at the same time, there have come forth the small numbers of self-sacrificing Initiates of Earth's Hierarchy to incarnate amidst the turmoil, confusion, and bloodletting of the Race, and they have demonstrated the divine virtues of the Ray of Devotion and Idealism to serve as examples to the world.
They have followed the ways of The Christ, The Buddha, Lord Krishna, and the Sufi Mystics of Islam and have promoted the abstract ideals of freedom and justice and brotherhood and love and caring for one another. They have been conduits for the virtues of this Ray, as projected by their Soul, for all the world to see and have been slowly infiltrating and illuminating the Collective Unconscious of the Race. These are the mystics of the East and West, the spiritual aspirants, saints, bodhisattvas, and swamis who have devoted their lives (and sometimes sacrificed their lives) to showing Humanity the ideals toward which they should be aspiring, ideals made possible by the energies emanating forth from the 6th Ray Ashram of Earth's Spiritual Hierarchy.
4. All the countries or nation-states of the world have the guiding influence of 2 Rays out of the 7. Each has a Personality Ray and a Soul Ray. The Personality Ray of the country is expressed by the generally and relatively unevolved masses within the borders of that country and reflects the separative, exclusive, self interests of the nation by comparison with the interests of the world community at large. At the present time on Planet Earth, every single nation is expressing its Personality Ray the great majority of the time, however certain leading nations will express the Soul Ray sporadically and occasionally but only briefly from the standpoint of the broad historical spectrum.
The Soul Ray represents the ideals and foreseen goals of a nation and its citizenry, but the qualities of this Ray Energy are sensed and expressed only by the more evolved members of that country's citizenship, the disciples and Initiates who are under telepathic impression by their Souls and High Initiates of The White Brotherhood. When these incarnate Initiates get into positions of power and leadership and influence, then they can sway public opinion toward the loftier goals of the Soul Ray for the nation.
The Soul Ray remains the same for the entire life of the nation, but the Personality Ray may shift now and then, depending on migration patterns and assundry internal dynamics. For example, the Personality Ray of Poland used to be the 4th Ray of Harmony Through Conflict during WW II (and they experienced conflict on a major scale), but now it is the 6th Ray of Abstract Idealism , reflecting different goals and lessons for the Polish people.
The Ray assignments, if you will, are determined by The Council of Shamballa and The 3 Great Lords of Hierarchy (The Manu, The Bodhisattva, and The Mahachohan) in accordance with the Plan for the Human Race as outlined and conceptualized by Lord Sanat Kumara. Entire regions as a collective have also a Soul and Personality Ray, e.g. Africa, Asia, Europe, Scandinavia. Quite a few of the major nations of both the Occident and the Orient have the 6th Ray as a Soul Ray, its virtuous attributes to be expressed when the citizenry has become more evolved in consciousness and is in alignment with the guiding policies of Initiate Leaders: Spain, Portugal, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Hungary, Romania, and the entire African Continent in the West; Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Philippines, Cambodia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and the Region of Asia as a whole in the East.
A few specific examples may throw some light on how this 6th Ray works out on Personality and Soul Levels in certain countries with this conditioning influence. Both the U.S.A. and Russia have a 6th Ray Personality, which accounted for the fanatical divisiveness and confrontational nature of the Cold War between the two superpowers (U.S.A. and U.S.S.R.). Each, as a national policy, was absolutely convinced of its own idealistic stance: communism and worker equality on the one hand and democracy and capitalism on the other hand. There was and is a fanatical adherence to the ideologies of each culture, and the twain shall never meet until enlightened Initiate Leaders draw the masses up to their level of consciousness and inclusive way of thinking.
The Russian Revolution was a 6th Ray event inspired by idealistic, socialistic writings of such idealogues as Marx and Lenin, just as the American Revolution was ultimately precipitated by the 6th Ray Energies of the American Colonies (at Personality Level). Of course, so many factors can be cited as having played a part in leading up to the revolutions in each case, but the 6th Ray provided the driving, determined, fanatical zeal to pull it off against all odds.
It can be said that the Red Army was propelled by the idealistic, separative forces of the 6th Ray acting through all the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution; and it can be said that all the Initiate Leaders of the American Revolution (Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and many others) conveyed the intense, fervent zeal for freedom from their overlord who lived on a tiny island off the West Coast of Europe. Their zealotry and uncompromising fervor for independence had its origin in the conditioning energies of the 6th Ray, which also pervaded the entirety of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. It can be said also that the out-manned and out-gunned Revolutionary Army was likewise propelled by the 6th Ray desirousness for that ideological state called freedom.
America can be seen as a veritable hotbed of ideological positions because of its fully manifest 6th Ray Personality (look again at the vices and some of the virtues). The Civil War was a most devastating clash of ideologies. Fundamentalists of all stripes are in continual opposition to Liberals of all stripes. The deadlocks and standoffs of the legislative bodies are costume dramas of the Idealism Ray in action, pitting the Democrats against the Republicans with intensity much of the time. Slavery can be considered an ideology based on self-serving lust for money. The Women's Liberation Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Liberation Movement were all energized and supported by 6th Ray Energies, arming the leaders of them all with an unstoppable zeal for making the ideal favorable to the masses.
The westward thrust of the American Pioneers into dangerous, hostile lands in order to follow their dreams for land ownership and a better way of life was fuelled by the in-pouring 6th Ray as they left everything they had known for an unpredictable future. They were compelled to push into the unknown by an energy that intensified the idealistic thought-forms and astral desires for land and a better way. It was as though a wave of 6th Ray Energy had swept over the populations east of the Appalachian Mountains and had scattered and distributed the pioneers in a westerly direction and then repeated its inundating surge multiple times until the West Coast was reached.
So many examples could be given, but as far as America is concerned, the negative qualities of the 6th Ray, such as selfishness, separativeness, violent confrontation, and narrowness of view, are going to be eventually superceded by the qualities of its 2nd Ray Soul (for more, go to "The Second Ray"), such as love, generosity, inclusiveness, and compassion. And then the world community will see the opening of its heart center as it did during the Marshall Plan for Europe after WW II, the opening of its arms to the impoverished, huddled masses in the 19th Century, the sending forth of the Peace Corps to all corners of the Earth, the aid distribution to all points of crisis on the planet, and the provision of a secure home for the United Nations.
Ireland has both a 6th Ray Soul and Personality, which readily explains the attraction of religion and mysticism to its peoples. Christianity, being a 6th Ray Religion, was a natural match for the Irish. Their fight for independence from the cruel, oppressive British was powerfully and continually fuelled by the energy of the 6th Ray as was the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland. It explains the enormous difficulty for the two sides to reach some kind of compromise agreement, as each side held tenaciously to its ideals. It is no accident that millions of destitute Irish migrated to America, both having the same Personality Ray and way of thinking. The same might be said of Italy with its 6th Ray Soul. That forms the common bond for Italians who came in great numbers.
Although many of the countries in that part of the world that we call Asia have a 6th Ray Soul (as does the region as a whole), the energies made manifest by their peoples are oftentimes the negative attributes and characteristics of that Soul Ray, because they are not led by enlightened rulers who would be able to draw upon the virtues of the Ray. It gets filtered through minds which have not made enduring Soul contact.
Afghanistan is a jumble of emotionally-charged factions, competing groups, and fanatics willing to give their life in the cause, courtesy of the 6th Ray wrongfully expressed. Pakistan is not much different as it contends with suicidal fundamentalists riding the wave of abstract idealism with no desire to compromise. The Korean Peninsula is a perfect example of the divisiveness of this Ray when expressed by non-Soul-governed masses. The dividing line separating the north from the south and the militaristic confrontational stance of the two sides can be seen as a direct consequence of mis-applied and mis-directed 6th Ray Energy. The ongoing struggle in the Philippines between the Catholic majority and the Muslim rebel groups on the southern islands is an ideological conflict made possible by negative application of 6th Ray Energy.
By the way, all of the above-mentioned Asian countries have a 6th Ray Soul. This knowledge of the predominant energies governing and conditioning the nations of the world will lend a totally new perspective to the course of history and the inter-actional dynamics of world politics. This is how The Masters view it, and Their refinement and distribution of the divine energies (7 Rays) is dependent on it. Free will is ever paramount in this solar system, and Souls choose which countries to incarnate into and what Ray Structure to give their incarnating aspect of self, so the Ray influences are set for a given lifetime, but there is always freedom of choice for the individual as to how to respond to the Ray Energies which are encountered.
5. Let us try to encapsulate the qualities of this 6th Ray as it works out in the human drama unfolding upon the Earth, and since the great bulk of Humankind are minimally-thinking, emotionally-polarized units of unevolved nature, this 6th Stream of Energy from The Solar Logos will manifest by human attributes which can be considered as negative vices to The 63 Ascended Masters watching over the progress of the Human Evolution (if need be, review "What Is An Ascended Master, Anyway?").
All the tendencies evoked by this Ray are based upon desires (intense desires to be sure) because the Astral Plane is the natural home of this 6th Ray Energy (for Earth), and all desires (and emotions) originate on the Astral Plane by the astral body of the incarnate individual. Desirousness can be said to be catalyzed by the 6th Ray, and that desirousness is of a very personal and selfish nature to the proletariat masses. This astral connection is the reason why the solar plexus chakra is related to and governed by the 6th Ray, because the astral body feeds all of its energies into and through the center called the solar plexus.
This Piscean Ray of Devotion and Idealism affects the entirety of the Human Evolution (and has done so since well before the coming of The Christ and the Christian Era), but those who have this Ray placed strategically in their Ray Structure are most powerfully affected by it. How the energy is actively made manifest is dependent upon one's point of evolution. The aspirants on the Path of Return demonstrate the virtues of the Ray to varying degree, and the sleepwalkers, unaware of an overshadowing Soul, demonstrate the vices. The best of the Piscean disciples have given us the martyrs, mystics, and saints; the worst of the Piscean respondents have given us the bigots, fanatics, and cruelly-sadistic inquisitors (sanctioned by the Roman Church as the Dominican Inquisition of European history).
The negative qualities brought out in Man by this particular type of energy strongly impacting the body of desires (astral) are a militancy and a tendency to oppose all groups not adhering to the same ideal. There is a definite narrowness of view and a short-sighted blindness. Those of like mind are beloved friends, and those of other mind are hated enemies (the infidel). Life will be willingly sacrificed in fighting for the cause, the ideal, the religion, or the patriotic fervor, but this type of individual does not like to fight. He would rather formulate and espouse and promulgate the ideal, however when provoked and rallied to the cause, he will fight courageously and ferociously as one possessed, because there is courage in his convictions (right or wrong, important or insignificant).
This Ray prompts religious impulses and devotions and always intense personal feelings. Nothing can ever be taken even-handedly. Always a position must be taken on every issue, and there's an inability to see anyone else's point of view if it differs from the self-chosen one. There is always a polarity of perception with no go-between: right or wrong, good or bad, desirable or undesirable, friends or enemies, one extreme or the other. It is a great lesson in duality that may persist for hundreds of lives until the inclusive, loving nature of the Soul begins to seep through.
There is suspicion of other people's motives. The object of devotion is always emotionally charged and adhered to with fanatical zeal. The complexities and abstractions underlying the focus of idealism may be bewildering and not fully understood, but the zealotry is undiminished, because the 6th Ray exponent is single-minded with an unwavering one-pointedness that cannot be deterred or compromised. There is one way and one way alone, and everything is taken personally because of the exaggerated orientation toward the self.
Everything in life is either perfect or intolerable, and there's no middle ground for an opinion. Friends are angels and enemies are demons. No one can straddle the fence in the mind of the fanatical devotee to the ideal. When expressed in the unevolved, the 6th Ray takes the human experience of duality (as reflected from Cosmic Levels) to the extreme, so that in the long cycle of incarnations the Soul may come to a profound understanding of this most fundamental way that The Creative Intelligence of this Universe has chosen to express Itself (Days and Nights of Brahma, Light Forces and Dark Forces, Outbreathing and Inbreathing of Manifest Reality, the Two Cosmic Principles of Polarity).
The 6th Ray of Devotion has its field of activity on the Astral Plane and has been the energy which has drawn the minds of the Race over the most recent astrological age toward the formulation of the idealistic thought-forms that have steadily advanced the Race of Man when those ideal visions have been stepped down from the Plane of Desire to the Physical Plane of Manifestation by exponents of the more practical Rays. It has made its mark on Western Civilization more than any other Stream of Energy distributed by The Shamballa Council (see "Shamballa").
Its one-pointed application of desire, fervor, and devotion to the visions has been indispensible to the rapid progress of the Human Evolution, even considering all the bloodletting and destruction left in its wake. We may rest assured that The Planetary Logos knew what He was doing in inserting Ray 6 into the Plan for the Piscean Age at this stage of the 5th sub-race of the 5th Root Race. There was no possibility for passivity and disinterestedness in holding the Race at a standstill with the intense qualities of this Ray permeating all life on the planet.
6. The Human Kingdom is not the only Nature Kingdom on Earth deeply influenced by the incarnating Rays as they cycle through the Great Zodiacal Wheel. All Kingdoms, including the Deva, are impacted, but the Plant Kingdom is especially sensitive to the energy qualities of the 6th Ray because this is the Ray that controls the Plant Kingdom. This is the energy, as absorbed by the plant (or the seed), that virtually compels its upward growth toward the light (which is usually the sun or Solar Logos). The phototropism described by plant biologists is not caused, in some mysterious way, by the sun but is rather the effect of the 6th Ray Energies upon all plants everywhere. It is the demonstration, within the constraints of their particular type of consciousness, of their devotion to The Solar Logos as The Source of all life in this system.
Supplementally, it should be said that this energy is also the cause of the radiant and brilliant colors of the flowers, the perfumed aromas that they generate, and the magnetic auras that attract insects, animals, and people. The 6th Ray allows the Plant Kingdom to fulfill its evolutionary purpose, which is magnetism, by stimulating the developement of beauty and attractiveness toward the higher forms of life on the planet. Thusly, animal and human forms consume it for food, and humans draw comfort, pleasure, and inspiration from the magnificent flora of the world.
The passing out of incarnation of the Devotional Ray will signal and cause the eventual extinction of certain plant and animal forms that have a particular affinity for its energy (as occurs with each of the 7 Rays as they cycle in and out of incarnation), although the extinctions will be gradual and not precipitous. The blue-flowering plants, such as the olive, hyancinth, and bluebell, will be leaving, and the flowering plants of violet and purple coloration will be becoming dominant during the 7th Ray Aquarian Age (for more, go to "The New Golden Age On Earth"). The blues of the Mineral Kingdom, such as sapphire, will become scarce, and turquoise will relinquish its hue.
For the Animal Kingdom the principle influence of the Devotional Ray is upon that human-animal interaction that we call domestication. That is, it has promoted the domestication of such species as horses, donkeys, cats, dogs, and elephants. This is the energy driving those bonds that are established between the kingdoms, and it is expressed by means of devotion of the animal toward the human. More importantly, this is the path for becoming individualized and ensouled for animals. It is only by being in close human contact that an animal may become individualized. All other animals are part of a species or group consciousness that has an Oversoul. Individualization by human agency allows an animal to make the tremendous leap from the Animal Kingdom to the Human Kingdom and to acquire an individual Soul.
7. The Great 6th Ray administered by Lord Sananda is passing out of incarnation, and the Great 7th Ray administered by Lord Rakoczi is establishing its dominance. Below are listed some comparisons and contrasts to facilitate a broader comprehension of the Great Transition that is imminent for Planet Earth. This is a glimpse of God's Plan, which used to be withheld in secrecy for The Initiates of Earth (click on "The Dimensional Shift Of Earth").
a. 6th Ray produced the mystic as the culmination of spiritual aspiration. 7th Ray will produce the white magician in control of the forces of Nature for the benefit of Humanity (refer to "Thought Forms In Magical Work").
b. 6th Ray fostered separativeness, partisanship, nationalism, and confrontation as a part of the Divine Plan for developing individuality and unique personalities. 7th Ray is a blending energy, which will approximate the higher to the lower (Spirit and matter, Soul and personality) and lead to synthesis, unification, and brotherhood.
c. 6th Ray highlighted the duality of all existence and every aspect of life. 7th Ray will bring about personality integration for the masses and Soul Fusion for the aspirants on the Path. The duality of Spirit and matter will be unified, and the warring duality of Light and Dark Forces will be no more as the Dark Brotherhood is banished from the solar system by The Solar Logos.
d. 6th Ray trained and stimulated the Race to foster the idealistic visions which, however, remained on the Astral Levels as desire-laden thought forms. 7th Ray will materialize those visions by its organizational and practical relationship with the Physical Levels.
e. 6th Ray taught personal sacrifice (out of devotion and idealism) to all levels of the Human Race: being kind to others for the undeveloped masses, philanthropy for the probationers of the Path, and crucifixion of the lower self for the Initiates. 7th Ray will bring universal brotherhood to the masses and sacrificial group service to the advanced thinkers and Initiates of the Race.
f. A spirit of individualism was catalyzed by the 6th Ray, but group spirit, group objectives, group consciousness, and group Initiation will result from 7th Ray influence.
g. Separative barriers were erected by the 6th Ray in the schools of human thought: religion, science, philosophy, politics, etc. These manifest as dogmatic differences, classification and categorization of all physical phenomena, exclusivity of doctrinal ideas, and a cult-like patriotism. The New World Religion will be born out of the 7th Ray with an emphasis on unity, goodwill, full moon festivals, meditation, service, and the Path of Initiation. Exclusivity becomes inclusivity; separation becomes unification, and the barriers come tumbling down.
h. The narrow-minded, highly-idealistic religions under the 6th Ray were intended to safeguard the mentally-undeveloped masses while they grew from infancy. The synthesized religions under the 7th Ray will take Mankind to heights undreamed of and provide a scientifically-guided understanding of divine purpose. Belief in but no understanding of the Soul will be succeeded by knowledge and direct experience of the Soul, a destiny set for human life from its tentative beginnings 18 million years ago when Individualization accompanied the Ensouling of the Species.
i. Simply put, the planet of sorrows, suffering, and divisiveness conditioned by the misappropriated energies of the Devotional Ray will be gloriously transmuted into the planet of Christ Love, peacefulness, and unified harmony under the all-pervasive influence of the 7th Stream of Divine Energy projected from The Creator-Logos of our solar system to The Only True King of this world, Sanat Kumara.
Offered in Honor of Lord Sananda and His Great Sacrifice for Humankind
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