Seven Rays

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General description

H. P. Blavatsky quotes a "verse from the Esoteric volumes":

“Space and Time are one. Space and Time are nameless, for they are the incognizable THAT, which can be sensed only through its seven rays—which are the Seven Creations, the Seven Worlds, the Seven Laws,” etc., etc., etc.

Mme. Blavatsky identifies the "first seven rays" with the Primordial Seven, Dhyāni-Buddha or Ah-hi:

The Ah-hi are the primordial seven rays, or Logoi, emanated from the first Logos, triple, yet one in its essence.

Further, from this manifested Logos will proceed the Seven Rays, which in the Zohar are called the lower Sephiroth and in Eastern occultism the primordial seven rays. Thence will proceed the innumerable series of Hierarchies.

They [the “luminous sons of manvantaric dawn”] are the primordial seven rays from which will emanate in their turn all the other luminous and non-luminous lives, whether Archangels, Devils, men or apes. Some have been and some will only now become human beings. It is only after the differentiation of the seven rays and after the seven forces of nature have taken them in hand and worked upon them, that they become cornerstones, or rejected pieces of clay. Everything, therefore, is in these seven rays. . .

Further, each of the Primordial Seven, the first Seven Rays forming the Manifested Logos, is again sevenfold. Thus, as the seven colors of the solar spectrum correspond to the seven Rays, or Hierarchies, so each of these latter has again its seven divisions corresponding to the same series of colors. But in this case one color, viz: that which characterizes the particular Hierarchy as a whole, is predominant and more intense than the others.ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Collected Writings vol. XII (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980), 567.</ref>

These seven rays are the origin of everything, including "the seven Principles in Nature". Accordingly, humanity can be divided as belonging to one of these seven rays:

There are seven chief groups of such Dhyan Chohans, which groups will be found and recognised in every religion, for they are the primeval SEVEN Rays. Humanity, occultism teaches us, is divided into seven distinct groups and their sub-divisions, mental, spiritual, and physical.

The “triads” [Monads] born under the same Parent-planet, or rather the radiations of one and the same Planetary Spirit (Dhyani Buddha) are, in all their after lives and rebirths, sister, or “twin-souls,” on this Earth. This was known to every high Initiate in every age and in every country: “I and my Father are one,” said Jesus (John x. 30).‡ When He is made to say, elsewhere (xx. 17): “I ascend to my Father and your Father,” it meant that which has just been stated. It was simply to show that the group of his disciples and followers attracted to Him belonged to the same Dhyani Buddha, “Star,” or “Father,” again of the same planetary realm and division as He did.

Seven Solar Rays

The names of the Seven Rays—which are, Sushumna, Harikesa, Viswakarman, Viswatryarchas, Sannaddha, Sarvavasu and Swaraj—are all mystical, and each has its distinct application in a distinct state of consciousness, for occult purposes. The Sushumna, which, as said in the Nirukta (11, 6), is only to light up the moon, is the ray nevertheless cherished by the initiated Yogis. The totality of the Seven Rays spread through the Solar system constitute, so to say, the physical Upadhi (basis) of the Ether of Science; in which Upadhi, light, heat, electricity, etc., etc.,—the forces of orthodox science—correlate to produce their terrestrial effects. As psychic and spiritual effects, they emanate from, and have their origin in, the supra-solar Upadhi, in the ether of the Occultist—or Akâsa.

Syarâj (Sk.). The last or seventh (synthetical) ray of the seven solar rays; the same as Brahmâ. These seven rays are the entire gamut of the seven occult forces (or gods) of nature, as their respective names well prove. These are: Sushumnâ (the ray which transmits sunlight to the moon); Harikesha, Visvakarman, Visvatryarchas, Sannadhas, Sarvâvasu, and Svarâj. As each stands for one of the creative gods or Forces, it is easy to see how important were the functions of the sun in the eyes of antiquity, and why it was deified by the profane.

Sushumnâ, (Sk.). The solar ray--the first of the seven rays. Also the name of a spinal nerve which connects the heart with the Brahma-randra, and plays a most important part in Yoga practices.

According to C. W. Leadbeater

The Mystical Seven, the great Planetary Logoi, who are life-centres in the very Logos Himself . . . are the true Heads of our Rays-- the Heads for the whole solar system, not for our world only. Out through one or other of that mighty Seven every one of us must have come, some through one, some through another.
They are the Seven Sublime Lords of The Secret Doctrine, the Primordial Seven, the Creative Powers, the Incorporeal Intelligences, the Dhyan Chohans, the Angels of the Presence . . . because They stand ever in the very presence of the Logos Himself, representing there the Rays of which They are the Heads-- representing us therefore, since in every one of us is part of the Divine Life of every one of Them.
For though each of us belongs fundamentally to one Ray-- the channel through which he, as a Monad, flowed forth from the Eternal into Time-- yet has he within himself something of all the Rays; there is in him no ounce of force, no grain of matter, which is not actually part of one or other of these wondrous Beings; he is literally compacted of Their very substance-- not of one, but of all, though always one predominates. Therefore, no slightest movement of any of these great Star Angels can occur without affecting to some extent every one of us, because we are bone of Their bone, flesh of Their flesh, Spirit of Their Spirit; and this great fact is the real basis of the often misunderstood science of Astrology.

When, then, that primordial matter or spirit, which in the future was to become ourselves, first emerged from undifferentiated infinity, it issued through seven channels, as water might flow from a cistern through seven pipes, each of which, containing its peculiar colouring matter, would so tinge the water that passed through it that it would for ever after be distinguishable from the water of the other pipes.

From all that I have said above it follows that these seven types are visible among men, and that every one of us must belong to one or other of the Rays. . . It is, however, by no means an easy matter to discover to what Ray an ordinary man belongs, for he has become very much involved in matter and has generated a great variety of karma, some portion of which may be of a kind that dominates and obscures his essential type, even perhaps through the whole of an incarnation; but the man who is approaching the Path ought to be showing in himself a definite driving impulse or leading power, which has the character of the Ray to which he belongs, and tends to lead him into the kind of work or service which distinguishes that Ray; and it will also bring him to the feet of one of the Masters upon it, so that he becomes enrolled, as it were, in the College of which the Chohan of the Ray may be regarded as the Principal.

The Rays and the Adepts

In the members of the Adept Brotherhood the distinctions of Rays are much more clearly marked than in others, and are visible in the aura; the Ray to which an Adept belongs decidedly affects not only His appearance, but also the work that He has to do. . . . It must be understood that we can here mention but the merest outline of the qualities that are grouped under each of the Rays, and but a fragment of the work that the Adepts on those Rays are doing; and care must be taken also to realize that full possession of the qualities of one Ray in no case implies a lack of those of the other Rays. If we speak of one of the Adepts as pre-eminent in strength, for example, it is also true that He has achieved nothing less than human perfection in devotion and love and every other quality as well.

Below is a list of Adepts heads of Rays (Chohans) and a brief reference to their work according to C. W. Leadbeater:

• First Ray: Master Morya. "He stands with all the unshakable and serene strength of His Ray, playing a great part in that work of guiding men and forming nations."
• Second Ray: Master Kuthumi. "Ray of Wisdom, which gives great Teachers to the world."
• Third Ray: The Venetian: In this Ray "there appears very strongly the characteristic of adaptability [with] great tact, and a rare faculty for doing the right thing at the right moment. Astrology is connected with this Ray."
• Fourth Ray: Master Serapis. "Harmony and beauty, and people who belong to His type are always unhappy until they can introduce harmony into their environment . . . Art counts for much on this Ray."
• Fifth Ray: Master Hilarion. "His influence is upon most of the great scientists of the world, and people well advanced along His Ray are notable for their ability to make accurate observations, and be absolutely dependable where scientific investigation is concerned."
• Sixth Ray: Master Jesus. "This is the Ray of the devotional saints and mystics of every religion."
• Seventh Ray: Comte de St. Germain. "He works to a large extent through ceremonial magic, and employs the services of great Angels."

Further reading

• Seven Rays at Theosopedia

Additional resources

Video

• The Seven Rays: Keys to World Peace and Personal Wholeness by John Algeo