The Astrological Significance of the Seven Rays

(Artwork byDavid Campa)

Let us remember that ~ Ray~ is but a name for a particular force or type of energy, with the emphasis upon the quality which that force exhibits and not upon the form aspect which it creates. The seven primordial energies are beyond complete, exact depiction in words, or even in thoughts on the planes of this world.

The Seven Rays are divided into two groupings

Rays One, Two and Three are the Primary Rays or ~Rays of Aspects~ that is, the three essential aspects of Divinity.

Rays Four through Seven are called the ~Rays of Attribute~ as they express the attributes of the first three Rays in greater detail of manifestation, and are combinations of the qualities of the Primary Rays.

In actuality, Rays Four through Seven emanate from the Third Ray of Active Intelligence, whilst this Third Ray is actually a product of the energies of Rays One and Two.

These Seven Energies enter our Solar system through the Twelve Gates of the zodiac, and each one of the Seven is primarily focused through three of the signs.  Thus the twelve signs are the vehicles for the sevenfold energies of manifestation representing the Trinity of Life, which is essentially and even One.

The Seven Rays should be seen as being much closer to the basic energies of life than their expressions through the archetypes of the 12 signs which are further differentiations of expression of the Seven Rays.  It is for this reason that a greater understanding of the Seven will lead one to a deeper and more penetrating attunement to the Twelve.

As theosophy teaches that man is a Monad, a sacred flame, an unchanging Monad, but that his ego must unfold through change. Consider yourself then, a human Monad, and indivisible permanent atom on the wheel or rebirth. The divine part of you is responsible for spiritual self consciousness. Through the:

1^st Ray - You have an ~atmic body~ responsible for your spiritual will.

2^nd Ray - You have a ~buddhic body~ responsible for your Soul, and its evolution through enlightenment; your intuition comes through the universal mind.

3^rd Ray - You have ~manas~, the upper abstract mental center. This is your higher mental vehicle for Soul unfoldment through which the Monadic ray manifests itself.

4^th Ray - This is your linking ray. All rays use it for interaction.

5^th Ray - you have a ~mental body~ (lower mental vehicle). This is used for concrete and formal thought, for knowledge seeking and learning objectively. This mental body is the one used for attaining discipleship. Meditation will quicken your consciousness.

6^th Ray - You have an ~astral body~ through which you learn to control emotions and desires. Since mind and desire are entangled they must be separated, analysed, and consciously directed. Self-control is required to check unruly emotions.

7^th Ray - You have an ~etheric double~ which is really part of your ~physical body~. It can be seen clairvoyantly or through highly refined photography, as an electric like outline extending one to six inches around the physical body. This container, really a filtering system, acts as a receiving sac for solar rays which provide (to the degree of your individual frequency) the vital life forces, providing the livingness within your dense physical body. On a far higher level, your etheric double, with its network of chakras and relaying centres, conducts the spiritual inflowing forces.

You have a ~physical body~ for housing the Soul, for personality involvement, and for mastering earthly existence and regenerative powers. Sex, feeling and awareness come into play here. You are on a spiritual sojourn on a non-sacred planet, Earth - and so you were born onto a field of creative tension whereon the battle between spirit and flesh is won through the agency of intellect.

A few points to assist in remembering the function of the different rays within the individual..

One important thing to understand is that there are only three Monad rays, the major first, second and third.

By way of your Monad ray, your spirit must exercise its divine privilege to ~will~. Attune to the will of the Universe and blend yours with it for the blessed upliftment and the bliss of spiritual unity.

By way of your Soul ray, your Soul aspires to know. This explains, therefore, why Soul joyfully manifests on the mental plane.

By way of your personality ray, you are urged to become purified. To assume this self appointed task requires courage and sacrifice. Once your character is purged of negativity, your personality is then happily fit for Soul use.

By way of your astral ray, you strengthen your supernatural powers. By programming yourself to remember dreams, you may eventually recall all the knowledge gained during sleeping hours.

As the rays focus through your aspects of being, divine, Soul, personality, ethereal, astral, mental and physical, you the advancing disciple, are consciously integrating one aspect of your being after another, perfecting your equipment. The personality ray is an exterior urge, untamed motivation for your Soul (which is really the disciple). The astral, mental, physical and etheral bodies are all material bodies according to the aspects of the personality.

The following links offer  more detailed interpretations of the seven Rays - simply click on the Ray Picture next to the Title

    Ray One - Will/Power

  Ray Two - Love/Wisdom

  Ray Three -  Active Intelligence

  Ray Four- Harmony through Conflict

  Ray Five - Concrete Knowledge/Science 

Ray Six - Devotion/Idealism 

Ray Seven -  Ceremonial Order

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Man cannot discover new oceans
Until he has courage to lose sight of the shore~