We are going to introduce this subject, which is integrating part of the Teaching of the Master D.K. and K.H., by dividing it into three parts. The first part is Elements of esoterical Psychology, then a short essay on the Science of the Rays and finally we will enunciate the main universal Laws. Without this introduction to the terms of the matter it would be impossible to develop any further study. It will be explicative but most of all it must be considered as a work of indicative nature; that is it will be a first stage to orientate among the laws that determine the different energetic qualities forming the mental planes, give them a name and define their main characteristics. Only once we have grasped the basic ideas, we will be able to continue with studies decided by the intentions of the writer and the questions of the readers. Once built a fundamental structure of information we will go into individual details. At that point we will see the Psycho-synthesis by Assagioli. R. Assagioli has been a Disciple of the Master D.K.

Part One: Elements of esoterical Psychology

Esoterical Psychology is the science that studies the ‘word’ of the Soul.

The Soul projects a Ray of qualified energy in its matter, causing the effect called ‘individual mind’. Ray is a conventional term used to express a particular type of cosmic energy; here is highlighted the quality that will characterize more or less the mental physical form that will be originated. The characterization of an individual mind that is more or less responsive to the purity of the Ray depends on the strength of that mind’s response to the qualities of the Ray. A personal attitude closer to the perfection of a Ray will correspond to a more advanced mind. On the contrary, a gross mind will turn the impulse of the Ray into a coarse and poor quality personal attitude. It is better to give you an example. In the advanced man the aspect of will is expressed as will for good, will to realize positively common ideals. In the common man the will becomes violence and aggression, aimed at satisfying passion and personal desires or at affirming one’s egocentrism.

There are 7 Rays and they are the most qualified part of the cosmic Septenary; each of them is different from the others because of the sound it emits. The sound of the Rays is silent for the physical man; it activates material, super-ethereal, ethereal, electric and nuclear natural forces which must operate together with them. Therefore esoterical Psychology is the study of natural forces, Laws, and the cosmic forces, nuclear structures. The esoterical psychologist doesn’t have anything to do with the people who experience astral and mysterious dreams and abuse this title; he works in the worlds of the forces called Archetypes. Archetypes are worlds of energetic quality that have the task to express by reflecting themselves through the world of phenomenal appearances, which are called dense material and energetic Forms.

The 7 Rays are 7 Archetypes of force and they embody the seven qualities of the manifested Deity. The latter, on his turn, is called ‘Prime Cause’ or ‘Archetype One’. We must remember that, whilst the Divine existence is manifested and it shows its desire to manifest through its creation, the Divine essence is not manifested and not knowable. The latter lacks of a Name and the wise men call it: The man who nothing can be said about’. This is enough for any ‘reasonable’ man.

Divinity manifests itself and it is knowable through the product of its creativity, the (physical and metaphysical) universe, the Motion and the Intelligent Activity used to carry out the Work of materializing in the universe, with all its physical and energetic forms. The Motion is the third Aspect of the cosmic Trinity, called the Great Builder or the Great Architect of the Universe.

These 7 Archetypes are seven energetic qualities, which have a seven-fold effect on every planetary and extra-planetary form. They are also the seven-fold correlation that joins them all.

The seven Rays are exoterically known as:

1st Ray: Aspect of Will and Power;
2nd Ray: Aspect of Love and Wisdom;
3rd Ray: Aspect of Motion and Intelligent Activity;
4th Ray: Aspect of the Harmony gained through conflict. Balance and universal Justice. Beauty and art;
5th Ray: Aspect of concrete Knowledge through life experiences (Karma and Dharma). Science, the Tree of Good and Evil;
6th Ray: Aspect of Devotional and abstract Idealism;
7th Ray: Aspect of Ceremonial Order and Ritual.

The 1st Ray is not at present in manifestation, but through the action of rare Disciples of 2nd and 3rd Initiation, which act the Restoration of the initiatory truths hidden in the so-called ‘Old Mysteries’. The 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th Rays are manifested; the 4th Ray will reach its manifestation in the year 2025.

As we’ve already mentioned, the Archetypes irradiate 7 energetic qualities called Rays, which, through Spirit, Soul and Mind, become one with the matter of man, reaching his personality. Here they are expressed through the 7 temperaments that characterize the latter. The 7 human temperaments are an important subject to recognize and understand oneself; for the moment we will not describe them because we will talk extensively about them in a separate work.

On the plane of physical existence (phenomenal world), matter is the vehicle of manifestation of the Soul, whilst on its plane, the soul plane, the Soul is the vehicle for the manifestation of the Spirit (the Monad). Physical, animistic and spiritual Bodies are the Triads of a main Trinity that synthesizes the cosmic Life of the Divinity that pervades them all.

Despite appearances, we can state that there isn’t a substantial difference between the dense forms of the material world and the subtle forms of the metaphysical one. There is only one energetic substance in nature, with several degrees of density and vibrating activity, pushed by a proposition that boosts it and expresses the divine goal. The divine goal can be perceived through the motion of the manifestation and it is obvious that its goal is to materialize Itself at any level of creative intensity. For this reason we say that the divine will is ‘everywhere and anywhere’; the divine goal is the structure itself of every form, from the subtlest to the most dense and material. The divine goal is the Soul of the universe and of every particle of its manifestation. The matter without the divine goal would be the loudest chaos of all and it would mean the end of the manifestation.

All the souls are part of a same universal ‘Supersoul’; only after the 3rd Initiation (by 3rd Initiation we mean the expansion of the ordinary physical conscience until it is integrated with the energies-thoughts that characterize the Soul), we get in contact with the monadic Ray. The latter becomes perceivable to man’s triplicity as a whole, namely: ? spiritual Man = Monad; ? Man as pure thought = Soul; ? Man as feeling or emotion = Physical, when the individual Ray of the Soul starts ruling all the energetic centers of the physical and psychic man. This event is called: the Transfiguration.

The Transfiguration corresponds to the 3rd Initiation and it is the moment of the highest elevation in the physical life of man. Only when he’s not deceived by the appearance of the forms and he is free from the veil of delusion of an exclusively physical existence, man can reach the knowledge of some qualities of the divine Conscience, which he contains in himself and are revealed to him. This inner revelation transfigures the densest elements of the physical man, initiating him to the subtle worlds of the 5th Kingdom of Nature, the so-called spiritual planes.

There are three main elements concurring to the Transfiguration:

1) At first the physical man discovers that he is a mind and then that he is a soul. Using symbolical terms, the constitution of the Soul is the product of the union between the celestial Father (the Monad, the individual divine Spirit) and the earthly Mother (Mater Matter or physical Nature). The Soul is the self-conscience and the quality of the hyper-physical essence, unit of light and energy, tinted with a special vibration of the Ray. The Soul is therefore the physical reflection of the Son of the Father, which is the monadic Spirit or Monad. The Monad, viz. the spiritual Man, is the Son of God, created in his likeness, not the physical man that is Son of Man and Mother Matter, form and appearance. Life, quality and appearance represent then the Spirit, the Soul and the material Body; these three are the essence and existence of man in his physical and metaphysical whole.

We will now use the symbol – O – to indicate the various levels of conscience in man. The first O identifies his material appearance, the second O his animistic quality and the third O his spiritual life.

The three separate entities O – O – O are the sign of non-advanced man. The union of appearance and quality but not of spirituality gives OO – O, which is the sign of the advanced Disciple; the fusion of appearance, quality and life are the sign of the Initiate and the Hierarchy. All the three spheres of spirit, soul and body are placed to form a triangle, symbolizing the Great Triad; the latter is symbolically represented enclosed in a main circle representing the manifested universe: O O O, the Symbol of the three worlds of man.

At the top of his personality, man recognizes the quality of life of his soul and understands the proposition for which he appeared in the phenomenal world (the world of material forms). The Soul controls its instrument, Personality, through Cycles, Cadences and Rhythm. The latter and its intervals assign in the 7th Ray a Ritual of the Ceremonial Order (i.e. the cycles of the four seasons and all that happens in the 4 Kingdoms of Nature, mineral, vegetable, animal and human during this time, are part of a Ceremonial Order, the Great Ceremonial of Nature. Another Ceremonial is the Systemic one, which rules life and the progress of the whole solar system).

2) Potentially man has in himself all the 7 Rays. They are only partially active and express themselves in the physical body and the psyche through the progressive development of 7 energetic ganglia, usually known with the Sanskrit word Chakra. By developing and mastering these energetic Centers, man learns to use every Ray; as a consequence, he also manages to dominate every aspect that the Ray impresses at any material and mental level. Besides man, this Septenary of energetic qualities characterizes all the forms of every Kingdom of Nature, therefore the whole of the Seven Rays make up an intelligent Identity. We will not mention it yet, but it contains the whole of the ‘revelations of the divine proposition’ in the 5 Kingdoms of Nature.

3) The man on the Path of Initiation progresses in his physical cycles, namely material lives, towards the recognition of his inner septenary. At first he gets in contact with the 4 Rays called subsidiary and evolves them (the 4 Chakras of the lower nature), which are the 4th, the 5th, the 6th and the 7th. Then he gets in touch with the 3 Rays of synthesis and evolves them (the 3 Chakras of the higher nature), which are the 3rd (the activity of the higher intelligence); the 2nd (the wisdom of the animistic thought; the animistic thought has a magnetic nature, therefore from the outside it is seen as an attracting element. It reminded the devotionals of a mother’s embrace and they symbolically called it love) and the 1st (the act of will and the power of synthesis of the Initiate). Of course this happens on the accomplishment of the part of individual progress that leads to the 3rd Initiation.

Man is focused on his material existence; the integration between Soul and Personality turns him into a Man ‘re-integrated’ in the 5th Kingdom of Nature, the spiritual plane; he becomes a regenerated Man (the 3rd Initiation is an act of re-birth in the subtle world of spirit). At this point the Initiate grasps the sense (the light) of a Unity that so far he couldn’t even perceive; it is revealed to him as the presence of an inner God that many Mystics confused with God himself. In actual fact this spiritual Unity is the Monad, the Divine intention that lives in all of us.

From the conscience of Self as a ‘resurrected Angel’, the Initiate becomes aware of the mutual relationship existing between the Seven fundamental Powers of ‘our’ universe; from this point on he progresses towards the realization of the Triple Divinity that he Reflects in Himself. At the 5th Initiation the spiritual Man is consciously joined to the divine intention that supports every expression of universal manifestation, reflecting the identity of the Great Builder of the Universe.

The journey of man, from the moment he enters the human Kingdom to the moment he leaves it with the 3rd Initiation and lives free in the 5th Kingdom of Nature or Spiritual Kingdom, is synthesized by three terms:

1) Psychic individualization (constitution of the superior mind).

This is the process of activating the contact with the Soul first and the fusion with it afterwards, through the forma mentis of Personality. This doesn’t happen ‘by developing the characteristics of Personality’ (rather the contrary is true), but through situations of crisis called expansions of conscience. The latter occur in order to focus more and more on the mental plane of the Soul. The lower plane of the Soul that can get in touch with the higher planes of Personality is called Ego or higher Self. The fusion or integration between Ego and Personality allows the Soul to express itself through the various means of its form (physical, ethereal, astral and lower mental) through a new mental module called creative Intelligence at first, and then pure Reason.

2) Initiation (the process through which the higher mental vehicle called Soul dims the lower one).
This is the process where the Soul completes its experiences in the formal life and masters the ability to turn its densest vehicles into physical manifestation; it takes back to the source of one’s life: the spiritual Monad.

Before this happens man goes through 5 stages of identification and domain called ‘Initiations’; the duration of the process in cycles of physical manifestations (incarnations) is affected by the determination and the discipline that the personal self, viz. individual personality, uses to follow the experience of the Soul.

A man needs time and experience before he can manage his boat and overcome any difficulty; he will then become an expert skipper. In the same way Tradition suggests us an average 777 cycles of physical manifestations (incarnations) for the Soul to be able to manage definitely its dense and material counterparts. As we said before, this term is greatly affected by the good predisposition or the slowness of the lower self to follow the impulses of the Soul, which reach him as a push or an inner voice from the higher Ego.

The five main stages of individual progress correspond to the five stages of the development of humankind that assimilates in itself the 5 Kingdoms of Nature represented in the esoterical interpretation of the symbol of Pentalpha.

3) Identification and Crisis (recognition of a superior Model of identification).

Identifying ourselves and the 5 stages that make our nature in the whole is the ‘earthly’ journey of man (those keen on ufology should think about this statement and interpret it correctly) that leads to the complete development of his mind, from the animal impulse up to the pure Reason. In this journey the aspirant (Initiation), the Disciple (2nd Initiation) and the Initiate (up to the 3rd Initiation) identify with psychic Models with higher and higher qualities. These identifications open the mind and originate the (identity) crisis called expansion of conscience. It is impossible, therefore, to determine the quantity or the density of the lower crisis faced individually. They can’t be determined and this depends on the different individual sensitivity. There are 5 major crisis and they go back to the specializations of conscience matured from the five mother Races of humanity. In the end, though, the Races and the levels of conscience matured in them will be 7, like the Rays to mature in the conscience of humankind.

These 5 main crises must be considered as rhythmic Cycles of the personal Ritual of man (the 7th Ray); as we have said, in order to resolve a crisis we might need more lives of intense work, making mistakes and correcting them through painful experiences.

The first crisis occurs during the appropriation of the physical envelope, the animal form; the second during adolescence, when the higher Ego meets the drives of the astral vehicle and tries to dominate its dreams and passion. The third crisis appears between the 21st and the 25th years of age of an undefined life, when the higher Ego tries to dim the mind of the lower ego (personality). When the lower ego stops self-celebrating and being deaf to the inner voice of the Ego (the Self of the Soul) and it starts following its ‘advices’, man can enter the initiatory Path and starts facing the Trials. Once he passes them, he will be recognized as an effective Member (not an aspirant any more) of the Great White Brotherhood.

Once overcome the initial trials the Disciple is free from the bonds of the drives of the lower or animal nature. He can actually and truly express his own Free Will. If this leads him to the spiritual Hierarchy, he will become an accepted (by the Hierarchy) Disciple first, that is a lower initiate, and then an Initiate. What follows is not relevant to this level of divulgation.

To enter the initiatory Path technically means to accelerate, even considerably, the operations linked to individual progress. This acceleration depends on the commitment of man in his inner growth. If personality responds intensely to the inner appeal by integrating with the animistic soul and if it can detach from material phenomena, yet experiences them, the two last crises of growth appear. We have the fourth crisis between the 35th and the 42nd years, when in a certain life, on the higher planes of mind, there is a conscious contact with the Soul. The fifth appears between the 50th and the 63rd years for the complete integration between the soul and its vehicles; this happens through the higher mind (illuminated).

In every occult work we deal with energy, unit of energy, energy incorporated in forms or the flow of energetic currents in spaces apparently empty. This energy gains power in the material world by incarnating through the Words of an Initiate or following the currents of thought emanated by Groups of Disciples (creative meditation). In the area of thought the separation between black and white occurs. Nobody can be a black magician if his will and thought don’t act towards that direction. This means that nobody can enter the dark side of evil, the so-called Path of the left hand and Black magic, until the mental proposition and the creative work of the mind is definitely focused on the will of one’s degradation.

The degree of discipline which a Disciple must undergo is stated by natural and cosmic Laws. The Soul as well is subjected to these rules of life. The progress of the Disciple, though, occurs also thanks to an improved intellectual ability, which can be obtained by increasing one’s abilities in the field of knowledge. This must happen globally and not partially, by specializing in understanding only one subject and forgetting about the rest. The wise man ‘specializes’ in the Sense of life, going through every form of knowledge and joining philosophy with science, art and the comparison between religions. We must remember that knowledge is an obstacle to individual progress until we turn it into wisdom through love and generosity towards the others. Man identifies with appearance and form; both for his appearance and for others’, he will always be subjected to the big heresy of separation. He will remain ‘entangled’ in the toils of egotism, the Great Illusion of the lower ego. The subject of the Great Illusion will be studied further as well.

Through wisdom and understanding, turned into tolerance and then into love, man transforms the individualistic idea of ‘me and the others’ in the universal concept of ‘us and us all’. This new point of view opens the gates of animal separation, setting us free and making us conscious Members of the planetary life.

The cosmic energy differentiated in the phenomenal world (not only our planet or solar system are phenomenal, but the whole physical universe is part of the phenomenal world), in a higher energetic Ternary that Mystics call Trimurti or Trinity. This Ternary, by varying its density, can create any kind of form. Forms of various levels of density show on the whole the intention and the creative desire of the Great Builder. But if desire is illusion and creation is the desire to appear or to let something appear, where does the Great Illusion go to?

The world of appearances receives energy and responds by vibrating to the world of qualities and values of the Archetypes. The world of Archetypes of every form, on its turn, receives its energy from the world of Proposition and divine Will, to which it responds by vibrating. If we consider these vibrations as solar qualities, we have: the dynamic solar fire called Will (1st Ray); the magnetic solar fire called Love (2nd Ray). The motion resulting from their conjugation is manifested as a solar fire by friction; the latter gives shape to the created forms (3rd Ray).

The Science of the Rays

The parts of the initiatory Teaching dedicated to the ‘Science of the Rays’ and to the description of the natural and cosmic ‘Laws’, will become more and more valuable and they will become a necessary consultation instrument, through the further analysis of the esoterical studies in the whole; they will also be necessary to understand the Work of the Masters of the Hierarchy that act each on one of these 7 energetic channels.

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The 7 Rays are considered by the old initiatory Tradition as seven cosmic Entities through whose consciousness, adaptability and intelligent activity, the Divine Plan is working. These 7 cosmic Entities are expressed through seven physical instruments, which are the seven planetary Logos. For this reason the 7 planetary Logos are said to be ‘sacred’ or ‘holy’.

The 7 Rays embody the Proposition and the Divine Will, they express the energetic qualities necessary to materialize it and they create the forms needed for the Divine Idea to be realized. Through the 7 Rays the life Aspect or Spirit flows cyclically through all the Kingdoms of Nature, determining all the states of conscience in every field of consciousness. The manifestation of every human being moves in the wave of the impulse of one of the Rays. It is characterized by the qualities that determine its aspect form. The Ray is the path to follow; when it reaches the 3rd Initiation, it allows him to perceive the proposition of its Ray and cooperate with it.

After the 3rd Initiation man is conscious of his subtle essence; he starts perceiving the synthetic proposition to which all the Rays cooperate. The human Soul is a synthesis of the material energy qualified by the intelligent conscience of a Ray and the spiritual energy, qualified as well by one of the seven Rays. All the other planes as well, physical, ethereal, astral and mental, are characterized by the energy of a Ray that is not necessarily the same.

Each Kingdom of Nature as well reacts to the energy of a specific Life of Ray.

The whole matter beats, resounds and has a color. Every human being is made to emit a specific sound that activates a color. The combination of the two vibrations expresses a frequency, which is its characteristic; each of us belongs to a Ray, therefore everybody has a main color and a certain sound. Man has, among his material vehicles, the ethereal Body that attracts and keeps tied the different elements of nature that make the physical body. These elements are taken from the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdom; the structure of the skeleton originates from the mineral world; the liquids, the lymphatic and blood systems come from the vegetable world and the organs of the physical body from the animal one. We also have the gas formed by the activity of these structures.

The ethereal Body is made by a web of energetic threads; they focus on seven energetic centers, or Chakras, through which the Soul rules its manifestation on the physical plane. Furthermore, the seven senses, hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, intellect and intuition, are the physical correspondent of the seven Rays.

Each Ray is linked to the emission of a certain sound and the emanation of a certain color. According to the traditional Teaching each of the 7 Rays has created its own expression body and from them the seven planets so-called ‘sacred’ originated, which physically manifest their activity in the whole solar system. Besides the Sun, the planets are: Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Mars and the Moon. The planet Earth, like others, hasn’t reached the consecration yet. It is working in order to reach it, under the influence of Venus, the planet of Mind.

The 7 Rays are divided in 3 main Rays of synthesis: the 1st, the 2nd and the 3rd and four minor Rays of attribute: the 4th, the 5th, the 6th and the 7th.

The 4 Kingdoms of Nature respectively embody the four minor Rays: Humankind belongs to the 4th Kingdom of Nature and embodies the 5th Ray; the Animal world belongs to the 3rd Kingdom of Nature and embodies the 6th Ray; the Vegetable world belongs to the 2nd Kingdom of Nature and embodies the 4th Ray; the Mineral world belongs to the 1st Kingdom of Nature and embodies the 7th Ray.

The three Rays of Synthesis

The three big Rays of synthesis (1st, 2nd and 3rd Ray) constitute the whole of the Divine manifestation. These 3 main Rays are, on the whole, the manifest Divinity, the embodied Word, the expression of the creative Proposition and the Synthesis of life in quality and appearance. They are active in every form and in every Kingdom and they determine the general characteristics that rule the energy and the quality of the 5 Kingdoms of Nature, even the 5th, the spiritual one, that undergoes the action of Will and Power.

Through the Rays originate the differentiated forms, express the specialized lives and the several divine agents do their work on the plane of existence they belong to. Along these three currents of force of qualified life the creative means of God can be strongly heard. The interaction of these Rays determines the exterior phenomenal appearance.

1st Ray: Will and Power

It is a Ray with such a dynamic intensity (dynamic electrification) that it is called the Destroying Ray. The key to understand the 1st Ray is in the radium. Its highest strength can be found in the mineral Kingdom. In this Ray the dynamic Idea of God is embodied.

The work of what is called in the West the Christic Principle is to build the forms for the expression of the Divine quality of life. This is the characteristic of the 2nd Aspect of the Divinity. The work of the 1st Aspect of the Divinity is to destroy the forms. Nevertheless the work of the Destroyer is not negative, as the ignorant humankind thinks, making a mistake. Its work is liberatory, it proceeds towards the ‘metamorphosis’ and the ‘transmutation’ of every form of energy. It is the interlude to Renovation, which is as good as building the forms; only the hatred that man has for the death of his animal form, which he identifies with, causes him to consider the work of the Destroyer as inappropriate and hostile to the love of God and the will of his Divine Plan.

Both the work of the Builders and that of the Destroyers are stimulated from the top of the spiritual Planes and it usually happens in unison. The symbols of these two different ways of working are the sword for the Destroyer and the Cross for the Builder.

With regards to other characteristics of the 1st Ray, we need to say that its Word is Power and its light is electric, so much so that the lightning is its symbol (see the bolts that Jove holds in his hands as a sign of his Power). Master M. and M. D. K. work on this Ray.

This Ray is not in its full expression, except when it ends the physical cycles. The proposition of the 1st Ray is to free the energies allowing their progress through metamorphosis. This is made possible by cyclically ending the material forms that imprison them. This is the sense of the physical death. Furthermore, this Ray acts on the 4th Kingdom of Nature, the Human one, because it is also the Ray of the ‘initiatory Path’ in all his Orders and Degrees (See White Freemasonry).

Astrologically its planet is the Sun and its day is Sunday.

The qualities under the 1st Ray are: clear-vision; dynamic power; sense of time; solitude; detachment and unity of proposition.

The Plane of this Ray is the plane of Divinity. On the human plane its higher expression is the science of government and in the West the esoterical Work of the Freemasonry; the lower one is diplomacy and politics. The linked sense is touch. The esoterical color is red, whilst the exoterical one is orange. The corresponding Center is the head. The characteristic virtues of the man of the 1st Ray are strength, courage, steadiness, sincerity, absence of fear, ability to govern, open-mindedness and the management of men and means. Its possible faults are pride, ambition, stubbornness and anger. The virtues to be acquired are tenderness, humbleness, sympathy, tolerance and patience.

2nd Ray: Love-Wisdom

It is particularly active in the vegetable Kingdom, where it produces the magnetic activity of flowers. Its mystery is enclosed in the meaning of their perfume because, like flowers, desire as well is expressed through the attraction and the faculty to attract (magnetic electrification) the object of its desire or what is considered necessary.

The 2nd Ray is essentially love (Law of magnetic attraction); it is the force of cohesion and the principle of magnetic cohesion; under this principle undergoes every creative work that brings to the light of the manifestation forms and appearances through which it is possible to satisfy the loving desire.

The 2nd Ray is the Ray of the Divinity itself and it is characterized by the particular Aspects of desire and love. It takes care of the first formulations of the plane, according to which the Form will have to be built (Divine intention) and the Idea materialized (the Divine project); in this way originate Drawings mathematically precise and geometrically perfect in their structural unity. Here originates the term Great Architect of the Universe that allows the Work of the Great Builders (the 7 Rays are the Great Builders). As John wrote, the Temple will be erected on the basis of figures and forms, numbers and sequences, including and expressing the Glory of the Master.

The 2nd Ray concerns the Masters of Compassion, Love and Wisdom: the Great Instructors of Humanity such as Maitreya, Buddha and Christ. Master I., assisted by MM. K.H. and D.K, work on this Ray. The embodied Avatar is at present Sai Baba in this Ray.

Astrologically its planet is Jupiter and its day is Thursday. The 2nd Ray is the actual ray dominating the whole solar system, included our planet. Therefore its actual influence is very important in the evolution of the humankind.

The qualities under the 2nd Ray are: Divine love, radiance, attraction, power to save, wisdom, expansion and inclusiveness.

Its Plane is the Monad. On the human plane its higher expression is the process of Initiation, whilst the lower expressions are the national religions.

The relating sense is intuition. Its esoterical color is blue and the exoterical ones are indigo and violet.

The corresponding Center is the heart.

The characteristic virtues of the man of the 2nd Ray are: calm, strength of will, patience and endurance; love for the truth, loyalty, intuition, clear intelligence and serenity.

Its possible faults are the excessive importance given to the theoretic study, cold-heartedness, indifference towards the others, disdain for others’ mental limits.

The virtues to be acquired should be love, compassion and altruism.

3rd Ray: Intelligent Activity and Adaptability

The 3rd Ray is the aggregation of the active building forces (electrification by diffusion). It is the Great Architect with Its Builders that organizes the materials, starts the work and, through the progress of the evolutionary cycles, materializes the Divine idea and proposition, under the guide of the 2nd Ray (the Christic Principle). Master V. works on this Ray.

Humanly it is the Ray of the abstract thinker and excellent philosopher. The 3rd Ray had a very long cycle of activity in the solar system ruled by Saturn; it also had a direct effect on the 5th Race, the Arian one, whose material and saturnine Divinity is Yawhè (Jehovah).

This Ray is particularly connected to the animal Kingdom and it provides the tendency to intelligent activity that we can notice in superior animals. The Builders that act under this Ray (the biblical Elohims) produced the individualization of the animal-man, letting him out of the unconsciousness of the animal herd he was subjected to (the permanence in the status of insensitivity and unconsciousness of the animal status is today considered as a period of ‘heavenly’ happiness on earth).

For man and woman it was the end of the peaceful animal irresponsibility and the start of individual responsibility. It is the start of the earthly journey that will lead them, with pain and struggle, to the physical existential self-consciousness first, then to psychic self-consciousness and eventually to the spiritual one. The so-called ‘expulsion from the garden of Eden’ mentioned in the Genesis should be read from this point of view. Adam and Eve, symbol of the new Arian Race that, as the Genesis tells, were ‘dressed in animal skins’ on their ethereal consistency, that is they were given a physical body to start their evolutionary journey on Earth.

In my conversations I always use the example of the ‘expulsion’ of the bird from the family nest where it has always lived, been fed and protected by adults (that for man were the Elohims). There is a time for ‘every young one’ to grow and learn to fly. This could be a good allegory, especially for its positive educational sense, in order to understand the so-called ‘expulsion’ of man from Chronos-Saturn, Yawhè, the Ruler of the 3rd Ray that other devotional in the West called the Holy Spirit.

Astrologically its planet is Saturn (Yawhè, precisely) and its day is Saturday (and Sabbaht is the day that Jews dedicate to their God). The quality under the 3rd Ray are the power to manifest, the power to evolve, mental illumination, the power to synthesize on the physical plane the scientific enquiry and the ability of justice and balance.

Its Plane is the Spirit. On the human plane its higher expression is the use of communication and its means, used to reinstate the Principles of human and Divine Law. The lower expression is the use and diffusion of money and the policy of economical and financial power. Master I and Master R work on this Ray.

The relative sense is sight. The esoterical color is green and the exoterical one is black. The corresponding center is the throat. The characteristic virtues of the man of the 3rd Ray are open-mindedness, ability of abstraction, honesty of proposition, clear intellect, and ability of concentration, patience, caution and at the same time lack of worry.

Its possible faults are intellectual pride, lack of feelings, tendency to isolation, inattentiveness to details, tendency to be absent-minded, stubbornness, selfishness and criticism.

The virtues to be acquired are sympathy, tolerance, devotion to an abstract ideal, accuracy and common sense.

The 3 main Rays act on the creative process whilst the work of the 4 minor Rays is to elaborate and differentiate the qualities of life.

The 3 main Rays produce appearance and give quality. Through the Principle of life, which is the aspect subjected to the Divine Unity, they guarantee continuity of growth until the Divine will is affirmed as Power; it has attracted to itself all that it wishes; it has used the experience of a growing harmony; it has applied with intelligence the result of experience in order to produce more sensitive and more harmonious forms that are more suitable to express the qualities of the Divine life.

The color of synthesis of the 3 main Rays is indigo and each of these Rays is dual in time and space. In their temporary duality, in each of them we can find the mutual action that we call Law of Cause and Effect.

The 1st Ray is the Aspect of Will that, dynamically applied, is manifested as Power. The 2nd Ray is the Aspect of Love working in a magnetic way, manifested as Wisdom. The 3rd Ray is the Aspect of Intelligence existing in power in every substance, causing their activity. You can see the effect of their interaction in the activity of the four minor Rays called subsidiaries or attributive.

The four minor Rays, subsidiaries or attributive

4th Ray: reaching Harmony overcoming Conflicts. Justice and Balance, Harmony, Beauty and Art

This Ray embodies the Principle of Harmony (electrification by harmony); therefore it gives every form what produces the beauty of harmony. This Principle works actively to harmonize all the effects emanating from the world of causes, the Archetypes made by the influence of the 3 main Rays.

Harmony is reached only after overcoming the conflicts appearing with the contact of creative and intelligent will with the chaos of the primordial matter (energy). To simplify the idea, let’s imagine the resistance naturally opposed by a block of clay to the hands of the artist, whilst he wants to mould a harmonious form conceived by his creative and intelligent thought. A preciously graceful form will take shape from those hands; this should give you the idea of the harmony rising through the conflict with the obtuse density of the material world. This Ray will manifest completely from 2025.

The Ray of Beauty and Harmony brings organization in the form. It is the Ray of geometrical precision rather than that of the artist. It basically refines and leads to the search for perfection in any kind of form, especially the forms of thought. This is the Ray that uses the Divine energy to erect in Nature the celestial Temple that will contain the Light. The 4th is also the Ray of color. Master S. works on this Ray.

Astrologically its planet is Mercury and its day is Wednesday.

The qualities subjected to the 4th Ray are the descent into the matter, the double aspect of desire, the power to reveal the Path, the power to express Divinity, Growth, the harmony of the spheres and the synthesis of true beauty.

Its Plane is Intuition. On the human plane its higher expression is the exoterical Work of Freemasonry, that is the search for Justice and Morals. Its lower expression is architectonic building.

The relative sense is smell. The esoterical color is yellow and the exoterical one is cream.

The correspondent Center is at the basis of the spinal cord.

The characteristic virtues of the man of the 4th Ray are tenacious affections, sympathy, physical courage, generosity and devotion; agility of intellect and perception, refined tastes and elegant attitude, search for beauty.

The possible faults are egocentrism, apprehension, carelessness, lack of moral courage, violent passion, indolence and eccentricity.

The virtues to be acquired are serenity, self-confidence, self-control, purity of intentions, altruism, correctness and mental and moral balance.

5th Ray: concrete Knowledge and Science

The 5th Ray has determined what we call science (electrification by crystallization). The true scientist, viz. who is not subjected to the interests of negative powers, being a coordinated personality and working on higher mental levels, is closer to the Ego than the common man. Its action is therefore more unifying than others. In order to explain better this concept, we will take the religious man as an example. He is mainly astral and emotional (the 6th Ray in its less evolved interpretation); on the contrary of the scientist, then, the religious man acts in a separating way and sometimes he is sectarian (I am the true believer, you are not). Indeed, whilst scientists tend to unify their scientific attributes and try to make science a universal principle, men with religious but astral tendencies (practically all of them) tend to diversify their interpretations of faith on the Divine Unity; their faiths become then a separating result of popular culture and national ideology, which usually lead the parts in cause to conflict. National religions undergo an ideological attribute that tends either to separation, pretending tolerance or rather indifference, or the unreasonable domain on the others (religious egotism). These attitudes don’t go back to the principle of unification, neither to universality; these religions are therefore called ‘exoterical’.

This Ray is initiatorily called the Ray ‘Revealing the Way’.

Descending, this Way leads to the world of matter and the understanding of the invisible but true reasons of the cycles of death and reincarnation, whilst ascending it leads to the darkness until the pure light of the Divine Day. Master H. works on this Ray.

Astrologically its planet is Venus and its day is Friday.

The qualities that undergo the 5th Ray are the ability to penetrate every form, the power to make the Voice of Silence heard, the initiating activity of revealing the way, purification through fire (animic or spiritual), the manifestation of the great white Light.

Its Plane is the mental one. In the world of man its higher expression is esoterical psychology, whilst the lower expression is materialistic science, theory and speculation of the lower reason.

The relative sense is the lower intellect (the higher intellect is the thought of the Soul). The esoterical color is indigo and the exoterical one is yellow. The corresponding Center is the center of the forehead.

The characteristic virtues of the man of the 5th Ray are precision in affirmations, perseverance, common sense, honesty, independence and intellectual shrewdness. The possible faults are ruthless criticism, narrow-mindedness, arrogance, difficulty to forgive, lack of sympathy and discretion and prejudice.

The virtues to be acquired are reverence, devotion, sympathy, love or tenderness of feelings and open-mindedness.

6th Ray: Devotion and Idealism

This Ray has not been manifested for more than 200 years but its most undesirable effects are not finished yet. Because of the missing influence by the 5th Ray, it has caused for a very long time the extreme conflicts of nationalisms, faiths, cultures and popular ideologies. A ‘devotion lacking intelligence’ has marked the darkest time of humanity (Vulgar Era), but its results have not rotted yet; they seem to be appetizing to many human organizations amongst the most sectarian and egocentric (such as armies and exoterical churches).

The 6th Ray embodies the principle of recognition of the ideal reality (electrified fluid forms) and this is the Ray where Master Jesus Works. The principle of the ideal reality (Archetype) undergoes the imperfect form that should express it. Despite the imperfection of the form trying to express the ideal, the event, the action, the written text or the word, the lower mind of man is the factor determining the highest imperfection. For this reason the last manifestation of the 6th Ray has been imperfect and sometimes even undesirable.

It is the low evolution of the minds that should have manifested its Ideals, only partially grasped and therefore translated in facts full of egocentric absolutism. The history of the endless genocide committed by the western political and religious nationalism is the most recent and the best example of the worst use of the 6th Ray. The tragic mistake is the unavoidable price for human progress.

To affirm an ideal implies the concentrated application of desire and intelligence, so to express effectively the idea conceived through a perceivable, audible, tangible or visible form. Most of the ideas that have stimulated humanity so far are due to the 6th Ray. Furthermore, during the cyclic manifestations of this Ray occurs more and more efficiently the distinction between appearance and quality, all on the astral level. Astrologically its planet is Mars and its day is Tuesday. The qualities under the 6 Ray are the power to kill desire, the disdainful refusal of what is not wanted, self-immolation and self-sacrifice (too often inopportune, though), endurance and emotional courage, ability of detachment, domain on the waters of astral nature. Its Plane is the astral one. In the world of man its higher expression is the differentiation of ideals up to recognize their matrix, shared by the whole humanity. Its lower expression is devotion to ‘one’s own ideal’ or to a ‘physical person’, seen as the Maximum Chief of one’s cult (cult of personality and idolatry are the symptom of an obscure devotion). Another lower expression is the adhesion to associations organized as political institutions, armies, churches and exoterical religions. They are all examples of an obscure idealism refractory to the Principle of universality. The relative sense is taste. The esoterical color is silvery pink and the exoterical one is red. The corresponding Center is the solar plexus. The characteristic virtues of the man of 6th Ray are devotion and fidelity to the aim he’s given himself, loving sensitiveness and tenderness, inspiration, loyalty and reverence. The possible faults are selfish, jealous and violent love, excessive reliance on others, partiality, self-deception, sectarianism and extremism, superstition, prejudice and preconception, rushed conclusions, anger and aggressive fury. The virtues to be acquired are the ability to abstract from one’s astralism (dreams and illusions), reaching the purity and universality of the Ideal above the parts, strength, self sacrifice, but only if it is justified by facts, purity, honesty, tolerance, inner serenity, balance, common sense and altruistic love.

7th Ray: Ceremonial Order and Ritual

The 7th Ray works mainly on the ethereal planes of physical energy (electrified physical forms). It is the true Magic Work in White. When the 4th and the 7th Rays will embody together, we will have a particular period of Revelation and Illumination. In the West it will be the time for Freemasonry in a spiritual sense. The Lost Word that it hides in its Mysteries will be given back and pronounced so that everybody can hear it. The Master will appear and he will walk among his builders in the full light of the glory irradiating from the East. All the gates will open wide and the human conscience will respond to all the divine manifestations (see what is said on the Work of Master R and on the White Freemasonry of the III Millennium).

By effect of the 7th Ray the brotherhood of the Freemasons, initiated to masonry but not ‘Initiates’ yet, will enter the new initiatory Era, which has a strong spiritual activity. It will then start approaching its true function and the accomplishment of the long foreseen fate for the Master Builders and the Initiates of Humanity.

The Power and the effectiveness of the Ceremonial Work, which is now only symbolically accomplished in the Lodge, will be demonstrated. It will be understood that the true sense of the initiatory Work and the use of Words of Power is hidden in the ‘rhythmic’ regularity of the Rituals and in the motor and sonorous cyclicity (whirls and energetic precipitations) consecrated by the Ceremonial (I’m intentionally using a language that can be clear only to some Adepts, but these hints should stimulate the intuition of many outsiders, who might draw some important conclusions from these words).

The next Era of Work and Group Power, of synthetic and ritually organized Ceremonial activity will act deeply on masons; when the importance of a central and dominating figure will disappear, together with the influence of 6th Ray, the true subtle Work of Freemasonry on the world of astral forms will eventually be revealed. The Masonic Work symbolizes the Ritual Order of the Universe.

The Work of spiritualizing the forms can be considered the main activity of the 7th Ray. This activity is not only relative to the initiatory field, but the process of alignment, coordination, integration, fusion and amalgam among different levels of man’s inner reality is active on ethereal levels every time a part of a Soul embodies (only the physical conscience) and a baby is born on earth.

The 7th Ray hides the secret of the physical color and sound, but it is also the Ray of Law, with its Cadences, Cycles and Rhythms. It is the Ray of Ceremonial, therefore of the Initiator and Great Priest.

The advanced man of this Ray has his most intense relationships with the Brothers of the 2nd and 5th Rays. Astrologically its planet is the Moon and its day Monday. The qualities that undergo the 7th Ray are the ability to create, to cooperate and to think, revelation of the beauty of God, mental power and vivifying power. Its Plane is physical. In the world of man the higher expression is White Magic. The White Magic related to the 7th Ray, though, doesn’t have anything to do with any kind of magic idea or magism of any nature, or even the most mysteric current. It is completely unknown because it is used by the Members of the White Brotherhood from the 3rd Initiation above; profanely, then, it is absolutely not judicable. Its lower expression is the spiritualism of theurgic phenomena (See the meaning of ordinary Theurgy and spiritual Theurgy). The relative sense is hearing. The esoterical color is purple and the exoterical one is white. The corresponding Center is the sacral center. The characteristic virtues of the man of 7th Ray are courage and perseverance, courtesy, great accuracy for detail, sense of rhythm and sense of time and self-confidence. The possible faults are formalism and conformism, bigotry, pride, narrow-mindedness and superficiality in judging, exaggerated presumption and indulgence towards oneself. The virtues to be acquired are the realization of unity, open-mindedness, tolerance, humbleness, kindness and altruistic love.

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The influence of the egoical Ray and of the Ray of Personality determines the mental structure of man. Both these Rays act on his material conscience, penetrating in its formal mechanism through the unity of energy of which it is made. Other influences acting on him are cosmic Factors, solar or astrological Factors and environmental Factors. Furthermore, for each human individual the following Rays must be taken in consideration:

1) The Ray of the solar System (the previous one was of 3rd Ray, the present is the 2nd and the next will be the 1st)

2) The Ray of the planetary Logos (planet Earth’s is 3rd Ray);

3) The Ray of the Human Kingdom (4th Ray for the Ego and 5th for Personality);

4) The Ray of belonging Race (for the Arian Race is the 3rd together with the 5th Ray);

5) The Rays manifested during the Cycles;

6) The Ray of the Nation (the Italian people is 4th and 6th Ray).

7) The Ray of the Soul or egoical Ray. The egoical Ray, or Ray of the soul, in the planes below acts on the physical mind and on the body making them more sensitive and efficient. Through individual progress the egoical Ray prevails on the Personality Ray, which acts ‘only’ on the astral Body. After the 3rd Initiation the Egos of 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Ray will blend with one of the three main Rays to which the Monad belongs.

8) The Ray of Personality. Psycho-somatic illnesses rise in man’s body and mind when Personality is in a conflicting, autonomist and centralist position towards the egoical Ray.

9) The Ray of mind, ruled by the 1st, the 4th or the 5th Ray;

10) The Ray of the emotional (Astral) Body, ruled by the 2nd or the 6th Ray;

11) The Ray of the physical Body ruled by the 3rd or the 7th Ray.

In each Cycle (Era) the Rays rule from five to five (Laws of Cycles). All the Rays manifest their influence but only five are prominent. The 1st and 2nd Rays are mainly the goal of human effort; whilst the 3rd Ray is the aim of angelic evolution (Angel is in the East called Deva, whilst an Archangel is a Builder Deva). The disappearance of a Ray leads to the ‘definitive extinction of a particular form’. We must remember that not only the concrete forms are as such; forms of thought and forms of expression must be counted among the forms that appear and disappear cyclically. An artistic or architectonic movement, a current of thought, a certain way of observing the world, an ideological belief, a faith or a culture; they are all forms subjected to the Cyclic Law and to the influence of the Rays that act on the conscious mind of man coloring its emotions. As a consequence they affect every form he produces with his thought. This happens until the ‘legal age’, namely when the self-conscious individualization of man in his true Self if complete.

The Rays 1st, 4th and 5th determine the mental body in man, the 2nd and the 6th his astral body, the 3rd and the 7th his physical body. The Rays 1st, 3rd and 7th are linked to the form. They affect the evolution of the concrete forms, of the matter and of the form from the lowest to the highest levels (each Plane, such as the ethereal-physical, the astral, the mental, etc., is made by 7 levels of ‘density’). The 2nd, the 4th and the 6th are related to the (inner) life expanded in forms. They are the Rays of motive, aspiration and sacrifice, they express the quality and they act on the spiritual expression developed in the form. The 5th Ray is a central point for the Ego to achieve the lower planes of the mind. It becomes the abode of the Ego once it is embodied in the mental physical plane. At that moment, the 5th Ray becomes the junction point with the integrated Personality and the reflection in the three worlds of the Monad. The 5th Ray develops intuitiveness and it is the link between lower and higher intellect. The higher intellect is the access to intuitive vision. The latter is a form of vertical telepathy.

The Rays that have correspondences among them are: 3rd and 5th / 2nd and 6th / 1st and 7th. The only one without any correspondence is the 4th Ray.

Except for some cases such as a Great spiritual Guide, there isn’t a human being that expresses purely the quality of a Ray. This is because nobody has achieved yet a physical form and a mental structure so advanced that he can express the perfect intensity of a quality of Ray. A Ray attributes particular physical conditions, it determines a quality of the emotional nature, it characterizes a particular gift of the mental body and, finally, it rules the Chakra through which its energy is distributed in the several planes of man. Therefore every Ray rules a Chakra and the latter activates reacting to the development of human conscience and enriches man with its energy.

As we have already mentioned, the Rays are cosmic Entities cyclically manifested. To make it clearer, here are some examples of cycles of manifestation: a) a solar cycle, like the present one, where the 2nd Ray rules and makes all the other subsidiaries to itself; b) a planetary cycle where each Ray, Intelligent cosmic Entity, embodies in a race; its people will think it is their God revealed (See the Entity that worked through Saturn for the Jews and through Jove for the Greeks. They were their physical divinity. Christ too is a cosmic Entity, appeared in the Age of Pisces and he will reappear in the Age of Aquarius); c) the cycles linked to the Zodiac signs and the cycles of activity determined by their numeric symbols. The 12-month Zodiac is an illusion, because in it we ‘see’ the signs passing from the distance, but we don’t ‘transit’ them physically. This ‘seasonal’ Zodiac is therefore only virtuality and its treaty is only academic. The signs of the Zodiac are the symbolic division of the cycles of a small round of 25,000 years c. and of a big round of 250,000 during which the 12 signs are ‘crossed’. The signs manifest every 2,100 years c. (for example, in the first years of the 1970s we entered the sign of Aquarius, where we will stay for more than 2,000 years; these 2000 and over years constitute the Age of Aquarius. This is it. Where is, then, the ‘seasonal’ influence of the other signs if not in the people’s imagination?); d) the cycles of entry and exit from the manifestation (appearance and disappearance of a Universe).

It is symbolically said that Humanity is the Great Treasurer of God. This is the Real Secret of Freemasonry revealed to its rare Initiates. We will only give a brief indication in an allegorical form: in the Human Kingdom the three Divine qualities flourish together.

In man God Father hid the secret of life; in man God Son hid the treasures of wisdom and love; in man God Holy Spirit instilled the mystery of manifestation.

The man of the 5th Kingdom (from the 3rd Initiation and beyond) will reveal the whole Nature of the Divinity and of eternal life.

The Fundamental Laws

After having introduced esoterical Psychology and the Science of the Rays, we will briefly go through the main Laws that rule the inner universe of the Disciple. This review might appear at first as a boring and useless academic exposition. The young student shouldn’t be tempted to ‘quickly glide over it’. The Laws that I am going to list are the Fundaments for those who aspire to Initiation; furthermore, in the subjects treated by the Masters they are often mentioned, therefore they are always an important reference. Even reading their names, for the moment, will bring advantages to the young student. He will have an idea about it and he will be able to conceive its links; even only reflecting on their names will give useful information.

The Laws that rule the universe are divided as follows.

The 3 Main Laws: 1) the Law of Economy; 2) the Law of Attraction; 3) the Law of Synthesis;

The 7 Minor Laws ruling the solar Systems: 1) the Law of Vibration; 2) the Law of Cohesion; 3) the Law of Disintegration; 4) the Law of Magnetic Control; 5) the Law of Fixation; 6) the Law of Love; 7) the Law of Sacrifice and Death.

The 7 Fundamental Laws of the Soul

The 3 higher Laws: 1) the Law of Sacrifice; 2) the Law of Magnetic Impulse; 3) the Law of Service.

The 4 Lower Laws: 4) the Law of Rejection; 5) the Law of Group Progress; 6) the Law of Expansive Answer; 7) the Law of the Four (Lower Quaternary).

The occult meaning of these Laws lays hidden in the high Masonic Degrees of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.

The 7 Laws of the Soul and the Group Life

The ordinary man tends to separation whilst the Laws that rule the life of the Soul tend to cohesion and Group progress. Depending on his extension, this group can be called Hierarchy, Order, Community, Communion and Brotherhood.
The 3 superior Laws:

1)Law of Sacrifice;
2) Law of Magnetic Impulse;
3) Law of Service.

The 4 inferior Laws:
1) Law of Rejection;
2) Law of Group Progress;
3) Law of Expansive Answer;
4) Law of the Inferior Four (Quaternary).

The Law of Sacrifice:

• Exoterical denomination: Law of Sacrifice;
• Esoterical denomination: Law of those who choose to die (in their animal nature);
• Symbol: a pink cross with a golden bird (esoterical symbol of Rose and Cross);
• Energy of Ray: effusion of unifying energy of the 4th Ray (integration of the opposites through Harmonics).

The ‘cohesion’ of these three impulses, Law of Sacrifice, Magnetic Impulse and Service, reached its complete manifestation during the Age of Pisces