The
SEVEN RAYS
& Their Corresponding Qualities
We are told by science that white light contains all the colors in the visible spectrum. This becomes evident when we shine white light through a prism. When we do this, all the colors are dispersed on the opposite side but at different angles. This spreads the colors out so we may see them. The dispersion occurs because each color vibrates at a different frequency. Because they vibrate at different frequencies, each color has a different wavelength and is bent at a slightly different angle than each other through the prism. As a result, we can see a graduating spread of the different colors. We can see this same principle operating in nature as the Sun’s light shines through a wet atmosphere after a rain and creates a rainbow on the horizon.
As there are seven major colors in the visible spectrum, there are seven major influences emanating in the universe called the Seven Rays. For the larger majority of individuals, these energies are not seen in the visible spectrum but are witnessed by a very few as we might see the aura that surrounds every living thing. These energies are the building blocks for everything perceivable in the universe. However, since they are universal energies, the laws they follow, as does everything else in the universe, are the same as those of visible light but on a monumentally grander scale.
As with the earth’s atmosphere acting as a refractory prismal agent, so also is the human body since we are composed of approximately seventy-three percent water depending on specific body parts. As the Seven Rays focus through us, the density and refractory qualities of our light refracting bodies channel these energies into varied forms and expressions accounting for the myriad of each individual’s similarities and differences in their expression.
Each of the Seven Rays have a primary set of qualities dominating their expression. They are arranged in a set of three emanating Rays with the Third Ray offering additional variations. This is very much like the three primary colors combining and producing additional expressions. Each of the Seven Rays are represented by a triangle of three zodiacal signs and the planetary representatives they express through. Let’s take a look at a simplified version of each.
RAY ONE
Shines through the combined signs of Aries, Leo & Capricorn
Sacred Ruler = Vulcan, Non-Sacred Ruler = Pluto
Master of the Ray = Morya, Archangel = Michael
Chakra = Crown Center, Gland = Pineal, Color on Physical Plane = Violet
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Mentalism – “The all is mind; the universe is mental.”
The First Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Will and Power. This is not the will or power that we might perceive a human exhibiting over the environment or each other but that of universal energy literally powering the universe in a “framework“ well beyond our comprehension or expectation. It is the power and ability to create with thought. This energy is primarily unexpressed in our world now due to the fact that its use and expression would create utter chaos as a result of our inability to maintain control of our thoughts and emotions.
Can you imagine what kind of world would occur if everyone’s desires and whims instantly materialized within the blink of an eye? However, we do all have a small inkling of the capability we might have by having seen the accomplishments of a selected few people with indominable wills. As humans, we see this the most in handicap people who are essentially single minded and therefore, tremendously strong. The quality behind this is unity with a laser focus. We’ve also all seen the power of a unified and focused group of people working in concert. This is evident in an elite military special ops group or in mob rule. Both are driven by purpose but with an absent egotistical focus. The military group is focused intention and the mob is a destructive tsunami of overwhelming and irresistible emotion. Our innate empathy makes the mob’s “success” possible. Both can be an irresistible force.
We know that when egotism becomes a component in relationships or in a group, our focus becomes split and the force behind it is diminished. Intention and purpose are powerful motivators and fuels. The planets associated with the First Ray are Vulcan and Pluto. The triangle of signs are Aries, Leo and Capricorn. The aspect most closely related to the First Ray is the conjunction. Read descriptions of the Vulcan and Plutonian energies and the three signs three signs they work through and you’ll see the connections and parallels with First Ray energies. The chakra associated with the First Ray is the crown center and the master representing its qualities is master Morya. Its human representative would be the Warrior. The symbol is the baton.
RAY TWO
Shines through the combined signs of Gemini, Virgo & Pisces.
Sacred Ruler = Jupiter, Non-Sacred Ruler = Sun
Masters of the Ray = Kuthumi & Djwal Kul Archangel = Jophiel
Chakra = Heart Center, Gland = Thymus, Color on Physical Plane = Forest Green
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Correspondence – “As above, so below; as below, so above.”
The Second Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Love and Wisdom. The love depicted by the Second Ray is not the possessive or conditional love exhibited by us humans. It is something much broader and beyond our comprehension. It is the energy of attraction in a way that all matter seeks to pull together. It is a binding force in the universe. On a physical level its best representative might be gravity. Gravity has no preconditions or prerequisites before it creates attraction. It simply pulls everything and everyone together including us.
The wisdom of the Second Ray is a little more difficult to describe. For most people, wisdom has been equated to knowledge. But knowledge does not necessarily embody knowing and doing. This knowing embodies and inner knowing of the spirit. The Chinese say the wise man knows without going out of his doors. He knows without doing, without seeing, without feeling, without hearing. This knowing is centered in our heart. We come into this life with it innately intact. It comes mixed with empathy and intuition.
The awareness of the spirit is much more prolific and profound than our human awareness. We have built this inner knowing over many lifetimes of experience through trial and error. Our inner individuality is colored and compounded by many lifetimes of experience and its accumulation. The biggest challenge for us in this lifetime is knowing when to act on it and when to “let nature take its course.” The best human example of this is when we administer “tough love” in letting a child make their own mistakes allowing both of us to feel the pain or joy in our doing so. As adult to adult, this is reflecting in our love for another by allowing them to be themselves and do what they feel is right and necessary without our interference.
To evolve on the Second Ray, we must learn to allow this occur in ourselves. Self-love is necessary for us to truly love another. In today’s western culture, this choice and accepting its consequences is an almost impossible thing for the average person to do. The insecure and possessive human is virtually unable to allow another to say, do or be anything that might in anyway contradict their need for the self-validation, self-approval and self-respect as a valued and loved person. These qualities embody the possessive and conditional love that we almost always perceive in the average person.
The planets associated with the Second Ray are Jupiter and the Sun. The triangle of signs are Gemini, Virgo and Pisces. The aspect most closely related to the Second Ray is the opposition. Read descriptions of the Jupiter and Solar energies and the three signs and you’ll see the connections and parallels with Second Ray energies. The chakra associated with the Second Ray is the heart center and the masters representing its qualities are master Kuthumi and master Djwal Kuhl. Its human representatives would be the Sage and the Teacher. The symbol is the crossed pens.
RAY THREE
Shines through the combined signs of Cancer, Libra & Capricorn
Sacred Ruler = Saturn, Non-Sacred Ruler = Earth
Master of the Ray = Paul the Venetian, Archangel = Chamuel
Chakra = Throat, Gland = Thyroid, Color on Physical Plane = Sky Blue
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Vibration – “Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.”
The Third Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Active Intelligence. When we speak of intelligence, we normally think of personal thought, memory or something that relates to process or mathematical strategy. The intelligence of the Third Ray pertains mostly to the organization of the universe which is also reflected through the workings of the human mind as a network or matrix. For humans, it is totally abstract. It is also multi-leveled and interwoven much the same way that a spiderweb would be interconnected.
The keywords for the Third Ray are Understanding and Philosophy. The concept of understanding, personal and universal, can be perceived in a wide frame of comprehension including physical attributes, emotional qualities, and sequential thought and how they interrelate and cross dimensions. The Third Ray also envelops the study of philosophy. Here, details, their organization and interactions will contribute to and exemplify an overall picture of how a stratified universe “operates.” The study and application of business and mathematics would also be a good example of the domain that the Third Ray encompasses.
Although I’ve given some essentially tangible examples of the Third Ray’s effect, it should be understood that the organization of the universe and the Active Intelligence that it operates by is well beyond our human comprehension. As our human life passes, first physically, then emotionally, then mentally and “ascends” up through the dimensions, each layer shed allows new light and awareness on how our responsibility and participation are involved in the universe. Our “need to know” is only acquired after each of our levels of awareness are transformed, mastered and then passed. The best esoteric example for the Third Ray is the concept of initiation.
The planets associated with the Third Ray are Saturn and the Earth. The triangle of signs are Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. Read descriptions of the Saturnian and Earth energies and the three signs and you’ll be able to see the connections and parallels with Third Ray energies. The aspect most closely related to the Third Ray is the trine. The chakra associated with the Third Ray is the throat center and the master representing its qualities is Paul the Venetian. Its human representatives would be the business man and the philosopher. The symbol is the spider web.
The Rays of Attribute
As you can see, the Third Ray encompasses many dimensions of universal life. The interaction of all these qualities is divided further into four “separate” rays each with their own contribution of a type of specialized energy and perspective used to organize and activate the universe. Don’t be fooled. These rays are not to be considered as subservient to the Third Ray. They are complimentary to each other and interact on every level with equal intensity and function.
RAY FOUR
Shines through the combined signs of Taurus, Scorpio & Sagittarius
Sacred Ruler = Mercury, Non-Sacred Ruler = Moon
Master of the Ray = Serapis Archangel = Gabriel
Chakra = Root Center, Gland = Adrenals, Color on Physical Plane = Red
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Polarity – “Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pairs of opposites; like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.”
The Fourth Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Harmony Through Conflict. The universe is composed of polarities which are perpetually moving toward rebalancing any inequities left over from the big bang. This action reaches all the way down to the tiny scale of humans throwing things off balance by attempting to assert themselves in accentuating personal differences in order to establish their dominance over each other through creating what they see as the preservation of a "secure" identity. This constant repositioning for dominance creates a struggle between humans acting and over-reacting respectively to the karma they’ve set in motion through their egotistical pursuits. The resulting pendulum effect (Gemini) is the universe’s response toward recreating Harmony Through Conflict in a world where humans constantly reset it off balance. Remembering that Mercury defines the world by separating what is in it (Virgo) only serving to validate his representation of the Fourth Ray.
Although I’ve given a very mundane explanation of how the Fourth Ray operates, we need to understand that its dynamics go much deeper than just our human frailties and struggles. Every dimension of polarization in this world and the more subtle levels above it operate in a similar fashion. Polarities like light and dark, movement and stasis, distant and close, feeling and apathy, sound and silence, thought and detachment, spirit and matter, just to name a few, are part of our polarized universe.
Any kind of conflict or power struggle comes under the heading of the Fourth Ray. Our ability to look past personal gain and focus on a balancing of seemingly conflicting energies is being challenged. Can we contribute to the smooth operation of the world without overcompensating and recreating an imbalance in the other direction? Can we adjust the pendulum of physical, emotional and mental life’s contesting energies so there is more of an ease and simplicity in its performance? Can we resist our libidinous urge toward orienting natural adjustment into personal favor? Can we resist our animalistic urges to control and dominate? Can we go with the flow? Although natural selection and survival of the fittest are natural characteristics of our animal side, are we able work with the more subtle energies and lessen the pendulistic swing of life’s rawest energies? This is what the Fourth Ray asks of us.
The planets associated with the Fourth Ray are Mercury and the Moon. The triangle of signs are Taurus, Scorpio and Sagittarius. The aspect most closely related to the Fourth Ray is the square. Read descriptions of the Mercurial and Lunar energies and the three signs and you’ll be able to see the connections and parallels with Fourth Ray energies. The chakra associated with the Fourth Ray is the root center or base of the spine and the master representing its qualities is Serapis. Its human representatives would be the mediators, sociologists, and artists. The symbol is the balance and the scales.
RAY FIVE
Shines through the combined signs of Leo, Sagittarius & Aquarius
Sacred Ruler Only = Venus
Master of the Ray = Hilarion, Archangel = Raphael
Chakra = Third Eye, Gland = Pituitary, Color on Physical Plane = Indigo
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Rhythm - "Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall; the pendulum swing manifests in everything; the measure of the swing to the right is the measure of the swing to the left; rhythm compensates.”
The Fifth Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Concrete Science. This Concrete Science relates to universal law. This must not be confused with present day human science and the well-known scientific method of which it is a part but which works specifically with the tangible effects that are observable by humans. Concrete Science or universal law regulates the universe and is inclusive from the most physical to the most subtle of energy changes. This includes etheric energies all the way to pure energy without any known attributes. It regulates the spirit and the many dimensions and permutations of our growing consciousness and that of any other entity in the universe. It stretches all the way to the unknowable.
The best reflection of this type of concept can be understood through knowing that as above, so below is the basic tenet permeating the universe showing whatever happens on any level or plane exhibits or exemplifies laws that uniformly affect every facet of the entire universe and its “operation.” Even here, our comprehension of cause and effect has no bearing even though our human understanding expects its function to be present on every level of existence. The fact that existence and non-existence are part of the whole scheme of things makes human understanding of natural law unknowable.
The Fifth Ray encompasses any social organization, movement, culture or race from a scale past any personal egotistical influences. It has domain over its movements, growth, energy, values or any other quality that will in any way affect its action or inaction. This includes any influence of humanitarianism, genocide, extinction, species or race domination and effect, and in what way any living creature may interact with it and to what extent. Please recognize that the Fifth Ray concerns life’s “direction” of movement within these dimensions, however, the Third Ray will maintain its dominion over its structure and the Seventh Ray with have dominion over the order that is present or created.
The planet associated with the Fifth Ray is solitary Venus. The triangle of signs are Leo, Sagittarius and Aquarius. The aspect most closely related to the Fifth Ray is the quintile. Read descriptions of Venus energy and the three signs and you’ll be able to see the connections and parallels with Fifth Ray energies. The chakra associated with the Fifth Ray is the third eye and the master representing its qualities is Hilarion. Its human life representatives would be the medicine, behavioristic psychology and our human capacity to think and construct our world. The symbol is the crucible.
RAY SIX
Shines through the combined signs of Virgo, Sagittarius & Pisces
Sacred Ruler = Neptune, Non-Sacred Ruler = Mars
Master of the Ray = Jesus of Nazareth, Archangel = Uriel
Chakra = Solar Plexus, Gland = Pancreas, Color on Physical Plane = Yellow
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Cause & Effect – “Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause; everything happens according to law; chance is but a name for law not recognized; there are many planes of causation, but nothing escapes the law."
The Sixth Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Idealism and Devotion. It represents our dedication to someone or something and our reasons for doing so. This may happen on many levels. It may relate to our love and felt responsibility toward our pet all the way to our undying commitment and allegiance to a principle or cause.
Here again, on a lower human level, our dedication or commitment to a person or cause may come from a purely selfish motivation. We may love or pledge ourselves to someone because they have the ability or are likely to provide the security that our ego requires to feel in control of the person and/or our situation. Our motivation is the strongest factor in any commitment we may choose to apply ourselves to or profess to others. It is the most human side of cause and effect. On a political level we might call this quid pro quo. Personally, or politically, this motivation may be conscious for us, and therefore strategized and planned, or may be unconscious so our personal ego may not want to face the fact that it’s not “altruistic.” Mind you, many forms of altruism may be personally motivated but removed from the consciousness of its perpetrator for fear of their recognizing them and having to accept the acknowledgement of direct personal benefit or detriment.
The Sixth Ray is the primary ray that our civilization is working to evolve past. Its chakra center is the solar plexus; the human center of possessiveness. Its love and dedication is fraught with conditions and expectations related to our emotional security. It’s lowest form of love is regulated by a personal quid pro quo whether consciously acknowledged or not. Our higher ideal is the unconditional love that everyone demands of others but are unable to offer themselves, or others, as a result of our own self-doubts and insecurity. The solar plexus and the Sixth Ray symbolize the primary originations of our need and wish to control our universe.
The planets associated with the Sixth Ray are Neptune and Mars. The triangle of signs are Gemini, Virgo and Pisces. The aspect most closely related to the Sixth Ray is the sextile. Read descriptions of Neptunian and Mars energy and the three signs and you’ll be able to see the connections and parallels with Sixth Ray energies. The chakra associated with the Sixth Ray is the solar plexus and the master representing its qualities is Jesus the Christ. Its human life representatives would be the religion, ideology and all aspirations toward the “good” and true. The symbol is the chalice.
RAY SEVEN
Shines through the combined signs of Aries, Cancer, & Capricorn
Sacred Ruler Only = Uranus
Master of the Ray = Saint Germaine, Archangel = Zadkiel
Chakra = Sacral, Gland = Gonads, Color on Physical Plane = Orange
Immutable Hermetic Principle = Gender - "Gender is in everything, everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes.”
The Seventh Ray is an energy that embodies all aspects of Ceremonial Order. In the tangible arena this extends from human magical practices to the natural order and structure of nature and the universe. We might also say that Ray Seven is exhibited through the protocols for the “blueprint” of the universe. It is what to be expected in terms of the process of the working universe, its appearance and our awe and reverence of the magnificence in how it manifests. Our best tangible example is the way nature follows a self-sustaining and predictable pattern of life and maintains its renewal. All That Is builds on what is present and has come before and after. Nothing is wasted. Everything has a “purpose.” Everything fits into and through the matrix. To emulate the pattern is to preserve the protocols for creation and the perpetuity of its structure.
In this we can understand procreation and the patterns of creation that are manifested throughout the flow of life. Its smallest examples are the “birds and the bees” and its largest creation is the “big bang.” All the natural laws are the components involved in the creation of life. The Seventh Ray represents and exemplifies the interwoven matrix of protocols for creation.
In human terms we can see this in the chain of command, the protocols for family, tradition, belonging and working with select and private groups, eccentricity, human mating rituals, magical groups, military organizations, government pomp and circumstance, etiquette, and our veneration of our most highly respected people and their positions. Reverence, respect and recognition are hall mark behaviors required of people of “lower” or non-inclusive stature. Its opposite perspective might include human diversity, inclusivity, commonness or any position or status devoid of specialness, effectiveness or reverence. In this listing of qualities and perspectives we can easily see that any involvement of human egotistical attitudes and perspectives can severely twist the meanings and expectations associated with positive manifestations of the Seventh Ray.
The planet associated with the Seventh Ray is Uranus. The triangle of signs are Aries, Cancer and Capricorn. The aspect most closely related to the Seventh Ray is the septile. Read descriptions of Uranian energy and the three signs and you’ll be able to see the connections and parallels with Seventh Ray energies. The chakra associated with the Seventh Ray is the sacral center and the master representing its qualities is Saint Germain. Its human life representatives would be institutions, ceremonies, protocols and rituals. The symbol for the Seventh Ray is the torch.
Note: All quotes were taken from the "Kybalion" by Three Initiates
