The 12 Creative Hierarchies

The Secret Doctrine says that: It is on the Hierarchies and the correct number of these Entities that the mystery of the universe is built.

twelve is the number of completed work, as witness the twelve labors of Hercules, another Son of God. [ROC.28]

Let us bear carefully in mind, that the Rays are the positive aspect in manifestation and pass down into negative matter, deva or hierarchical substance, thus causing certain evidences of activity. The Hierarchies are the negative aspect as far as the Rays are concerned and are responsive to Ray impulse. But within each Ray and each Hierarchy in this system a dual force again will be found. The Sons of God are bisexual. The deva substance is also dual, for the evolutionary devas are the positive energy of the atom, cell or subhuman form, for instance, while the electrons or lesser lives within the form are negative. [TCF.704]

These seven hierarchies are veiled by the Rays, but each is found behind the veil of every ray, for in their totality they are the informing lives of every planetary scheme within the system; they are the life of all interplanetary space, and the existences who are expressing themselves through the planetoids, and all forms of lesser independent life than a planet.

There must not be confusion as to the distinction between the hierarchies of Beings and the seven Rays, for [TCF1195] though there is close connection, there is no resemblance. The "Rays" are but the primordial forms of certain Lives who "carry in their Hearts" all the Seeds of Form. The Hierarchies are the manifold groups of lives, at all stages of unfoldment and growth who will use the forms. ³¹ The Rays are vehicles and are, therefore, negative receivers. The Hierarchies are the users of the vehicles, and it is the nature of these lives and the quality of their vibration which under this great Law of Attraction brings to them the needed forms. These are the two primal distinctions, Life and Form, and these two are the "Son of God," the second Person of the Trinity in His form-building aspect. They are the Builders and equally exist in three groups with their lesser differentiations. It is not necessary here to place these groups on certain planes in the solar system.

Here comes the opportunity to make clear something that is oft lost sight of in the general fog surrounding this subject. The human and deva units on the upward arc, who are the cells in His body, go to the formation of the centers, and not to the remainder of the cellular vital substance of His vehicles. Man has a body made up of matter which is applied to different uses, yet which forms a unit. In this unit there are certain areas of more vital importance than other areas from the standpoint of energizing force. Such an area as the heart may, in this connection, be considered and compared (as regards force value) with such an area as the calf of the leg. The entity, man, utilizes both, but the heart center is of paramount importance. Thus is it also with a Heavenly Man. The two great Hierarchies - deva and human - are force centers in the body of a planetary Logos; the other evolutions of an involutionary nature extant within the scheme, and the remainder of the active substance of the globes, and all contained therein, go to the content of the remainder of His body.[TCF.356]

The Twelve Creative Hierarchies. Students are often puzzled in trying to account for the "twelves" in the cosmos. A correspondent sends the following suggestion: In a Study in Consciousness, the three, by an arrangement of internal groupings, show seven groups; these may be represented as ABC, ACB, BCA, BAC, CAB, CBA, and a seventh, a synthesis in which the three are equal. A second six would be represented by (AB) C, C (AB), A (BC), (BC) A, (CA) B, B (AC), the two bracketed being equal and the third stronger or weaker. The two groups of six, and the group in which the three are equal, would make thirteen. "This thirteen may be arranged as a circle of twelve, with one in the center. The central one will be synthetic, and will be that class in which all three are equal. The physical correspondence of this will be the twelve signs of the Zodiac with the Sun at the center, synthesizing all of them. The spiritual correspondence will be the twelve Creative Orders with the Logos at the center, synthesizing all." The arrangement is quite legitimate.
- The Theosophist, Vol. XXIX, p. 100.

The first Logos embodies the "will to live" and it was through His instrumentality that the Manasaputras came into objective existence in relation to the human and deva hierarchies. In this system, the blending of the Divine Ray of Wisdom and the Primordial Ray of intelligent matter forms the great dual evolution; back of both these cosmic Entities stands another Entity Who is the embodiment of Will, and Who is the utilizer of forms - though not the forms of any other than the Greater Building devas and the human hierarchies in time and space. He is the animating principle; the will-to-live aspect of the seven Hierarchies. Nevertheless these seven Hierarchies are (as says H. P. B.) the sevenfold ray of wisdom, the dragon in its seven forms. ^{66, 67, 68} This is a [147] deep mystery, and only a clue to it all can be found at this time by man in the contemplation of his own nature in the three worlds of his manifestation. Just as our Logos is seeking objectivity through His solar system in its threefold form of which the present is the second, so man seeks objectivity through his three bodies - physical, astral and mental. At this time he is polarized in his astral body, or in his second aspect in like manner as the undifferentiated Logos is polarized in His second aspect. In time and space as we now conceive it, the sum total of jivas are governed by feeling, emotion, and desire, and not by the will, yet at the same time the will aspect governs manifestation, for the Ego who is the source of personality shows in manifestation the will to love.

[TCF444] We might at the same time consider the type of force wielded by a particular hierarchy. [TCF1229]

These groups are seven in number and pass into [TCF1184] manifestation through what is for them a great door of Initiation. In some of the occult books, these seven groups are spoken of as the "seven cosmic Initiates Who have passed within the Heart, and there remain until the test is passed." These are the seven Hierarchies of Beings, the seven Dhyan Chohans. They spiral into manifestation, cutting across the fourfold cross, and touching the cruciform stream of energy in certain places. The places where the streams of love energy cross the streams of will and karmic energy are mystically called the "Caves of dual light" and when a reincarnating or liberated jiva enters one of these Caves in the course of his pilgrimage, he takes an initiation, and passes on to a higher turn of the spiral.

The difficulty lies in the inability of the finite mind to grasp the significance of this threefold manifestation, but by thoughtful brooding over the Personality and its relation to the Ego, who is the love aspect and who nevertheless in relation to manifestation in the three worlds is the will aspect likewise, will come some faint light upon the same problems raised to Deity, or expanded from microcosmic to macrocosmic spheres.

Each hierarchy manifests a triple energy or an aspect of each of the above, and that necessitates a ninefold differentiation, for the two first are triple as is the third. [TCF.1199]

If the student bears in mind that the nature of the form is dependent upon the quality of the incarnating Life, he will have also to bear in mind the distinctions between the various groups of Hierarchies, for the Lives in those groups are of a quality diverse to each other and the forms through which they manifest are equally distinct and diverse. Therefore, we must distinguish between:

1. The involutionary groups.

2. The evolutionary groups.

3. The seven groups of lives which we call the lunar Fathers:

   1. Three incorporeal who are the elemental kingdoms.

   2. Four material who are the forms of the four kingdoms on the upward arc.

   3. The seven hierarchies of Lives.

   4. The seven groups of solar Angels.

There must not be confusion as to the distinction between the hierarchies of Beings and the seven Rays, for [1195] though there is close connection, there is no resemblance. The "Rays" are but the primordial forms of certain Lives who "carry in their Hearts" all the Seeds of Form. The Hierarchies are the manifold groups of lives, at all stages of unfoldment and growth who will use the forms. ³¹ The Rays are vehicles and are, therefore, negative receivers. The Hierarchies are the users of the vehicles, and it is the nature of these lives and the quality of their vibration which under this great Law of Attraction brings to them the needed forms. These are the two primal distinctions, Life and Form, and these two are the "Son of God," the second Person of the Trinity in His form-building aspect. They are the Builders and equally exist in three groups with their lesser differentiations. It is not necessary here to place these groups on certain planes in the solar system.

These hierarchies of Beings Who come in on the Ray of Light from the center are the seeds of all that later is and it is only as they pass out into manifestation and the forms which they are to occupy are gradually evolved, that consideration of the planes becomes necessary. The planes are to certain of these hierarchies what the sheaths of the Monad are to it; they are veils for the Life indwelling; they are media of expression, and exponents of force or energy of a specialized kind. The quality of a [1196] Ray is dependent upon the quality of the hierarchy of Beings who use it as a means of expression. These seven hierarchies are veiled by the Rays, but each is found behind the veil of every ray, for in their totality they are the informing lives of every planetary scheme within the system; they are the life of all interplanetary space, and the existences who are expressing themselves through the planetoids, and all forms of lesser independent life than a planet. Let me briefly give certain hints concerning these hierarchies which may serve to elucidate that contained in the Secret Doctrine concerning them.

What is here imparted is not in itself new, but is the synthesizing of much already known and its gathering together in the form of brief enunciated facts.

Each of these seven hierarchies of Beings Who are the Builders or the Attractive Agents are (in their degree) intermediaries; all embody one of the types of force emanating from the seven constellations. Their intermediary work, therefore, is dual:

1. They are the mediators between Spirit and matter.

2. They are the transmitters of force from sources extraneous to the solar system to forms within the solar system.

Each of these groups of beings is likewise septenary in nature, and the forty-nine fires of Brahma are the lowest manifestation of their fiery nature. Each group also may be regarded as "fallen" in the cosmic sense, because involved in the building process, or the occupiers of forms of some degree of density or another.

When he becomes an initiate, this range of vibrations is rapidly increased and he becomes receptive to those energies which we have tabulated under the term hierarchical and which have reference to the twelve Creative Hierarchies. The forces of these Hierarchies (neither planetary nor systemic), then sweep into and through the initiate and awaken those major group responses which eventually give him systemic consciousness and make him a world server in Aquarius and a world savior in Pisces. A hint is here conveyed to you anent the world period into which we are now entering and it will be increasingly apparent to you (if you reflect upon my words) why we are progressing into a sign wherein the ranks of initiates will be greatly augmented. In the stage of initiation, the energies of the signs and their constellations (shall I say attendant constellations - it expresses the situation more accurately than the usual mode of saying it) come through in a purer form and in a more direct line than upon [EA.269] the Path of Discipleship and the earlier stages of evolutionary development. The initiate is responsive to planetary, systemic and certain cosmic influences and becomes - if I might so express it - a lens through which "the many lights which are energy itself" can stream and thus be focused upon our planet. To these energies, the initiate tunes his consciousness and thus becomes a planetary server.

Each of these groups of beings is likewise septenary in nature, and the forty-nine fires of Brahma are the lowest manifestation of their fiery nature. Each group also may be regarded as "fallen" in the cosmic sense, because involved in the building process, or the occupiers of forms of some degree of density or another.

Hierarchy I. The first great Hierarchy LEO is emanated from the Heart of the central Spiritual Sun. It is the Son of God Himself, the First Born in a cosmic sense, even as the Christ was the "Eldest in a vast family of brothers," and the "first flower on the human plant." The symbol of this Hierarchy is the Golden Lotus with its twelve petals folded. The Secret Doctrine Vol. I, 233-25O and Vol. III, 565.

It should be remembered that this Hierarchy is literally the sixth, for five hierarchies have passed on, being the product of the earlier system, that wherein Intelligence or Manas was the goal. The five liberated Hierarchies are in their totality the sumtotal of manas.

It is the Hierarchy which is the fifth in order CANCER , and which we are told is in [39] process of achieving final liberation, or taking its fourth Initiation, which is the cause of certain phenomena upon our planet which has merited our planet being called the "Star of Suffering." There is a karmic link between the animal kingdom and the fifth Creative Hierarchy of the earlier system which makes itself felt in man in the necessary crucifixion of the animal physical nature, particularly along sex lines. We must remember that the Hierarchies work under the Law of Attraction; it is the law of the Builders.

This first (sixth) LEO Hierarchy has for its type of energy the first aspect of the sixth type of cosmic electricity, and wields special power, therefore, in conjunction with the lowest fire, or "fire by friction," as it makes itself felt on the sixth plane. These lives are called "the burning Sons of Desire" and were the Sons of Necessity. It is said of them in the Old Commentary: "They burned to know. They rushed into the spheres. They are the longing of the Father for the Mother. Hence do they suffer, burn, and long through the sixth sphere of sense."

Hierarchy II. VIRGO

The second Hierarchy is closely allied with the Great Bear. We are told that They entered through the second ventricle within the Sacred Heart, and are (as we are told in The Secret Doctrine) the prototypes of the Monads. They are the source of monadic life, but They are not the Monads; They are far higher.

This Hierarchy, which is literally the seventh, is the influx into our system of those Lives who in the first solar system remained on their own plane, being too sinless and holy to find opportunity in that very material and intellectual evolution. Even in this, they will find it impossible to do more than influence the incarnating Jivas, imparting to them ability to realize the nature of group consciousness, the quality of the seven Heavenly Men, but not being able to express [40] themselves fully. Some clues to this mystery will come if the student carefully bears in mind that in our solar system and our seven planes, we have only the physical body of the Logos, and that that physical body is a limitation of the expression of His threefold nature. The first (sixth) Hierarchy might be viewed as endeavoring to express the mental vibration of the solar Logos and the second, His emotional, or cosmic astral, nature.

This second (seventh) Hierarchy has for its type of force the second aspect of the seventh type of force from out of the many. Some idea of the relative point in evolution of the solar Logos may be gained by study of the varying aspects of force which He is demonstrating in this particular incarnation. It is this energy which drives the Monads through into physical incarnation, for it makes itself felt on the seventh plane. The energies which are functioning are those which the Logos has unfolded, and are the gain of previous incarnations. Gaps necessarily occur, and certain types of force are lacking because He has as yet much cosmically to gain.

It is the energy of this Hierarchy which results in the manifestation of the Divine Androgyne, and in the seven centers of force which are the seven Spiritual Energies

Hierarchy III. LIBRA

The third Creative Hierarchy (or the eighth) is a peculiarly interesting one. They are called "the Triads" for They hold in themselves the potencies of triple evolution, mental, psychical, and spiritual. These Triads of Life are inherently the three Persons of the Trinity and the flower of the earlier system from a certain angle. From another angle, when studied as the "flower of the earlier Eight, "They are the eightfold points awaiting opportunity to flame forth. They are the devas who are ready for service, which is to give to another Hierarchy [41] certain qualities which are lacking. This Hierarchy is regarded as the great donors of immortality whilst Themselves "standing aloof from incarnation." Lords of Sacrifice and Love are They, but They cannot pass out of the logoic etheric body into the dense physical vehicle.

How can they be devas, when the deva hierarchies are 5 and 6?

This third Hierarchy wields the third aspect of electric force of the first type of cosmic energy. They stand for a recurrent cycle of that first type symbolized by the number  8. The formulae for these electrical energies are too complicated to be given here, but the student should bear in mind that these Hierarchies express.

Each Hierarchy manifests a triple energy or an aspect of each of the above, and that necessitates a ninefold differentiation, for the two first are triple, as is the third. It is the rejection of the Triadal lives by units in the fourth Hierarchy, that of the human Monads, which precipitates a man eventually into the eighth sphere. He refuses to become a Christ, a Savior and remains self-centered.

We have dealt with the first three Hierarchies which are regarded as ever "seeing the Face of the Ruler of the Deep," or as being so pure and holy that Their forces are in realized contact with Their emanating source.

We now take up for brief consideration two Hierarchies which closely concern ourselves, the human self-conscious entities. These two groups are literally three, as the fifth Hierarchy is a dual one, and it is this which has led to some confusion and is the occult significance behind the ill-omened number thirteen. They are the "Seekers of satisfaction" and the cause of the second fall into generation, the fact [42] behind the taking of a lower nature by the Ego. The fourth and the fifth Hierarchies are the ninth and tenth, or the "Initiates" and the "Perfect Ones." All human beings, or "Imperishable Jivas," are those who evolve through a graded series of initiations, either self-induced or brought about on our planet with extraneous aid. They achieve through a "marriage" with the order next to them, the fifth. They are then completed or perfected, and it is owing to this occult fact that the fourth Hierarchy is regarded as masculine and the fifth as feminine.

Hierarchy IV. The fourth Creative Hierarchy is the group wherein the highest aspect of man, his "Father in Heaven" finds place. These lives are the points of fire who must become the flame; this they do through the agency of the fifth Hierarchy and the four wicks, or the two dual lower hierarchies. Thus it can be seen that where man is concerned, the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh Hierarchies are, during the cycle of incarnation, his very self. They are the "Lords of Sacrifice" and "Lords of Love," the flower of Atma-Buddhi.

In studying these Hierarchies, one of the most valuable lessons to be learned is the place and importance of man in the scheme. The Hierarchy, for instance, which is the essence of the intangible Life of Spirit, the principle of Buddhi, is the esoteric cause of the cosmic marriage of spirit and matter, based on the love and desire of the Logos, but each Hierarchy also expresses itself through one particular manifestation which comes to be regarded by the finite mind of man as the Hierarchy itself. This is not so, and care must be taken to distinguish between these Hierarchies.

They are latent germs of force centers and manifest subjectively; they warm and vitalize groups of forms; they [43] flower forth and express themselves through the medium of a form, or another Hierarchy. These Hierarchies are all interrelated and are negative or positive to each other, as the case may be.

As is stated in The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, 238, this Hierarchy is the nursery for the incarnating Jivas; and it carried in it the germs of the Lives which achieved the human stage in another solar system, but were not able to proceed beyond that owing to the coming in of pralaya, which projected them into a state of latency. The condition of the Hierarchy is similar, only on a cosmic scale, to the condition of the seeds of human life held in a state of obscuration during an interchain period. The three other Hierarchies dealt with (first, second and third) were those who have (in previous kalpas of logoic manifestation) passed beyond the human stage altogether. They are, therefore, the arupa or formless groups, as the remaining are the rupa groups or those having forms.

The fourth Creative Hierarchy, or the ninth, must ever be regarded in this solar system as occupying what might be considered as the third place,

• First, the Lives or the three Persons of the Trinity.

• Second, the Prototypes of man, the seven Spirits.

• Third, man or the lowest manifestation of the self-conscious Spirit aspect.

This needs to be carefully considered and has no reference to the form aspect but solely to the nature of the Lives expressing themselves through other lives who are also self-conscious, or fully intelligent. This, certain of the Hierarchies are not.

The four lower Hierarchies are all concerned with [44] manifestation in the three worlds, or in the dense physical body of the solar Logos. They are Those who can discard or pass through the etheric body of the solar Logos and take forms composed of either gaseous, liquid, or dense substance. The others cannot. They cannot fall into physical generation.

Students must bear in mind that from the standpoint of the Logos, the solar Angels on the mental plane (the fifth subplane of the cosmic physical plane) are in physical incarnation, and what is called the "second fall" applies to this. The first fall has reference to the taking of a form of cosmic etheric matter, such as is the case with the Heavenly Men, the prototypes of the human jivas. In this latter case the bodies used are called "formless" from our standpoint, and are "vital bodies," animated by cosmic prana. In the case of ourselves and the remaining groups, the forms are composed of substance of the three lower planes (that which the Logos does not regard as a principle) and, therefore, matter responding still to the vibration of the earlier system. This means that the four lower Hierarchies are links between the life of the past and of the future. They are the present. They had not finished their contacts with the active intelligent principle of the preceding kalpa, and so must continue such contacts in this. They will work out of it in this system, the four will become the three and they will then be the three higher arupa Hierarchies of the next system.

Before continuing our consideration of the particular Hierarchies, it is necessary to point out that in these Hierarchies, certain of them are termed "dominant hierarchies" and others "subsidiary hierarchies." By this is meant that certain of them are expressing themselves in this solar system more fully than the others, and this necessarily entails [45] the consequence that their vibration is more to be felt than that of the subsidiary groups. The dominant groups are the second, fourth and fifth, and this because:

1. The second is the great expression of duality, of the Son as He vitalizes the Sun.

2. The fourth is the Hierarchy of human Monads who are the mediators or the synthesizers; they express the gain of System 1 and the goal of System 2.

The fourth Creative Hierarchy is essentially the Hierarchy of manas. This is no play on words, but a statement of deep occult significance. The statement has been made with entire accuracy that five Hierarchies out of the twelve have passed out and that seven remain. Of these seven, our human Hierarchy is the fourth, making it literally the ninth when counting the entire twelve. In this connection it would be well to link up the statements that have been made to the effect that the five Kumaras or Heavenly Men Who definitely embody the manasic principle (or the five Rays over which the systemic correspondence to the Mahachohan presides) [TCF364] developed manas in an earlier system; They passed out of the wave of manasic influence as far as Their own Nature is concerned.

Hierarchy V. The fifth Creative Hierarchy is, as we know from study of The Secret Doctrine, a most mysterious one. This mystery is incident upon the relation of the fifth Hierarchy to the five liberated groups. This relation, in connection with our particular planet, which is not a sacred planet, can be somewhat understood if the history of the Buddha, and His work is contemplated. This is hinted at in the third volume of The Secret Doctrine.

The relation of the fifth Hierarchy to a certain constellation has also a bearing upon this mystery. This is hidden in the karma of the solar Logos, and concerns His relationship to another solar Logos, and the interplay of force between Them in a great mahakalpa. This is the true "secret of the Dragon," and it was the dragon-influence or the "serpent energy" which caused the influx of manasic or mind energy into the solar system. Entangled closely [46] with the karma of these two cosmic Entities, was that of the lesser cosmic Entity Who is the Life of our planet, the planetary Logos. It was this triple karma which brought in the "serpent religion" and the "Serpents or Dragons of Wisdom," in Lemurian days. It had to do with solar and planetary Kundalini, or Serpent fire. A hint lies in the fact that the constellation of the Dragon has the same relation to the ONE greater than our Logos as the center at the base of the spine has to a human being. It concerns stimulation, and vitalization with a consequent coordination of the manifesting fires.

? Mars, earth, Mercury as kundalini active, latent, and ? not respectively

A clue to the mystery lies also in the relation of this fifth group to the two contracting poles. They are the fivefold Links, the "Benign Uniters" and "the Producers of the At-one-ment." Esoterically, they are the "Saviors of the Race" and from Them emanates that principle which - in conjunction with the highest aspect - lifts the lower aspect up to Heaven.

When these mysteries are carefully studied, and due application made to the lives of the greatest exponents of the at-one-ing principle, it will become apparent how great and all-important is their place in the scheme.

It is for this reason that the units of the fifth Hierarchy are called "The Hearts of Fiery Love"; They save through love, and in Their turn these lives are peculiarly close to the great Heart of Love of the solar Logos. These great redeeming Angels, Who are the Sons of Men on their own true plane (,???  So human hierarchy is not sons of men … ) the mental, are ever, therefore, pictured as taking the form of twelve-petalled lotuses - this symbology linking them up with "the Son of Divine Love," the manifested solar system, which is said to be a cosmic twelve-petalled lotus, and with the logoic causal lotus, equally of a twelve-petalled nature. [47]

We have, therefore, a direct stream of energy flowing through:

1. The logoic twelve-petalled egoic lotus, cosmic mental plane.

2. The solar twelve-petalled lotus.

3. The planetary logoic heart, also a twelve-petalled lotus.

4. The twelve-petalled human egoic lotus on the mental plane.

5. The twelve-petalled heart center in a human being

Or, to word it otherwise, energy flows direct from:

(not given like this – but who is relevant to a, above, the logoic lotus on cmp?)

1. The solar Logos, via three great cosmic centers:

1. The central spiritual Sun. --

2. The heart of the Sun.

3. The physical Sun.

2. The heart center of the planetary Logos, situated on the fourth cosmic etheric plane (our buddhic plane).

3. The egoic lotus of a human being on the mental plane, which is literally a correspondence to the "heart of the Sun." The monadic point is a reflection in the human system of the "central spiritual Sun."

4. The heart center of a man on the etheric plane of the physical plane, which is in its turn a correspondence to the physical Sun.

Thus the tiny atom is linked with the great central Life of the solar system.

This fifth Hierarchy is equally, under the law, a distributor of energy to the fifth subplane of each plane in the system, only it must be borne in mind that, in the three worlds, it is the fifth subplane counting from above downwards, whilst in the worlds of superhuman evolution, it is [48] the fifth counting from below upwards. This Hierarchy wields, its we know, the dual aspects of manas, one in the three worlds and one which makes itself felt in higher spheres.

It is necessary to bear in mind that all these groups are (even when termed "formless") the true forms of all that persists, for all are in the etheric body of the solar Logos or planetary Logos. This is a point requiring careful emphasis; students have for too long regarded the form as being the dense physical body, whereas to the occultist the physical body is not the form, but a gross maya, or illusion, and the true form is the body of vitality. Therefore, these Hierarchies are the sumtotal of the vital lives and the substratum or the substance of all that is. We might regard the subject as follows:

1. The four superior groups are the Hierarchies expressing themselves through the three cosmic ethers, the second, third and fourth.

2. The two lowest groups are the lives which are found functioning as the involutionary matter (organized and unorganized) of the logoic dense physical body, the liquid and gaseous, with the living substance of the four higher subplanes of the systemic dense physical body.

3. The fifth Hierarchy has an interesting position as the "mediating" body between the higher four and those which are found on the lower three subplanes. There is a vital and significant correspondence to be found between the seven head centers and the seven groups of egos on the mental plane, and there is an occult analogy between the three head centers (pineal gland, pituitary body, and the alta major center) and the expression of these seven groups of egos in the three worlds. This is [49] a most esoteric fact, and all students meditating upon the laws of at-one-ment must take this analogy into consideration.

It is useful to remember the place of these Hierarchies in the scheme, and to realize that upon the sumtotal of these vital bodies is gradually gathered the dense manifestation which we regard as the evolutionary matter. The forms are built (from the form of all atoms to the body of the ego, from the form of a flower to the vast planetary or solar lotus) because the Hierarchies exist as the aggregate of germ lives, giving the impulse, providing the model, and procuring, through their very existence, the entire raison d'être of all that is seen on all planes.

The other point upon which I might here touch is that certain of the rays express themselves through two planets.

For instance, the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict reaches us both through the Moon and through Mercury, whilst the first Ray of Will or Power reaches us through Vulcan and through Pluto. The real reason for this is one of the secrets of initiation and is hidden in the destiny of the fourth Creative Hierarchy and in the will-to-manifest of the Lord of our Earth, Who is Himself upon the third Ray of Active Intelligence; of Him it is said that "when the third great energy is related to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the mystery of the perfected Seven will be understood." One of the more obvious of the significances of this statement is to be found in the unfoldment of intelligence and love in the initiate, at which time of manifested expression and at the last major initiation, he will be responsive to the synthesis of energies which emanate from the "seven spirits before the throne of God." These are the representatives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear and Their other pole, the seven Sisters of the Pleiades, symbolically recognized as the seven wives of the Rishis of the Great Bear. Here again, in relation to our solar system, do we find another great triangle of energies, of which the focal points on our Earth are the seven Spirits before the Throne. With this triangle we shall later deal; I simply want to refer to it here: [270]

1. The seven Spirits responsive to the seven sacred planets. They are:

1. Expressions of divine life upon the Earth.

2. Focal points for the Lords of the seven rays.

3. Rulers of the seven planes of consciousness and manifestation.

4. Representatives because responsive to

2. The seven Rishis of the Great Bear Who are:

1. Expressions of the life of the One About Whom Naught May Be Said.

2. The positive focal points for the seven major cosmic energies.

3. Rulers of the seven Creative Hierarchies.

4. Related as positive poles to

3. The seven Sisters or the seven Pleiades who:

1. Are expressions of the dualism of manifestation in their relation to the seven Rishis.

2. Provide the negative pole to the positive aspect of the seven Rishis.

3. Fuse with the positive energies of the Great Bear and, unitedly, work through seven of the zodiacal signs.

Here again the complexity of the forces playing upon our planet and increasing in their number and their potency as the vehicles of response upon our planet become more highly developed and sensitive and are, therefore, capable of a truer reaction and a more rapid response to the many forces impinging upon our planetary forms of life. It has been remarked by a profound astrological expert Who [271] works with the Masters of the Great White Lodge that "when humanity comprehends the distinction between the signs and the constellations, understands the nature of the polarity of energies and responds to the three cosmic Realities, the twelve cosmic Energies and the seven planetary Impacts and the interplay of the twelve Creative Hierarchies, then and not till then, will a radiant light be seen and the destiny of our solar Logos be finally determined." Behind this statement are to be found three meanings: one for average intelligent man, another for disciples, and a third one for initiates above the third degree.

As we work and study over these matters, let us bear in mind always the fact that we are considering the seven rays and their interrelations in the cosmic process. We are concerned esoterically with:

1. The seven rays and the twelve signs of the zodiac. [26]

2. The seven rays and the twelve Creative Hierarchies.

3. The seven rays and the planets as they govern the twelve houses of expression.

As we ponder and think and as we correlate the various aspects of the teaching, we shall find three propositions emerging which govern the inflow of life to the planet and to the individual man. These have been laid down earlier in A Treatise on the Seven Rays but it might profit us to state them here:

Proposition One - Every ray life is an expression of a solar life and every planet is therefore:

1. Linked with every other planetary life.

2. Animated by energy pouring into it from the seven solar systems, of which ours is one.

3. Actuated by three streams of force:

   1. Coming from solar systems other than our own.

   2. Our own solar system.

   3. Our own planetary life.

Proposition Two - Each one of the ray lives is the recipient and the custodian of energies coming from

1. The seven solar systems.

2. The twelve constellations.

Proposition Three - It is the quality of a ray life - manifesting in time and space - which determines the phenomenal appearance.

Before we penetrate further into the consideration of our theme, I would like to emphasize two points:

• First of all, that we are considering esoteric influences and not astrology, per se. Our subject is the seven rays and [27] their relationship to the zodiacal constellations - or - in other words - the interaction of the seven great Lives which inform our solar system with the twelve constellations which compose our zodiac.

• Secondly, that we have necessarily to study these energies and their interplay from the angle of their effect upon the planet, and incidentally, their effect upon the forms in the various kingdoms of nature and particularly in connection with the fourth kingdom, the human, and with individual man - average man, the disciple and the initiate.

We shall enter into no definitions in connection with technical astrology, nor shall I use the many technical terms. If, in the presentation of this vast subject, and in the process of indicating the attitude of the Ageless Wisdom to this new and coming (yet very ancient) "science of effective energies," as it has been called, I may present a new approach, or point out an unsuspected relation and from the standpoint of the Ageless Wisdom correct what are deemed errors by the Teachers on the inner side of life, I am hoping that some astrologers may be found who will be sensitive to that which is new. I am believing that there are investigators along astrological lines who will be open-minded enough to recognize possible hypotheses and then to make fair experiment with them.

May I repeat: I am not writing a treatise upon astrology, but one upon the seven rays and their equivalent and corresponding energies, upon the effects of ray energy and the interplay of these energies with, and their effect upon, the various planetary forces, particularly those of the Earth. I am looking for these fair-minded astrologers to make due experiment with the factors and suggestions which I may indicate. With this in mind, let us proceed. [28]

Eventually the energies of the twelve constellations [53] and - at a final stage of experience and development - of the three great constellations which condition the solar Logos are blended with the innate energies of the seven rays or of the seven planetary Logoi. This marks a point of perfection. These extraneous energies (I refer here to those of the major constellations) are relayed to the Earth via the seven sacred planets and the five non-sacred planets, and when there is the complete fusion of the related energies and, therefore, full expression, a great world period comes to an end. For a long time during this cycle of reincarnations and periods of manifestation, the human being is conditioned almost entirely by the activity of the non-sacred planets. These, as you know, are five in number:

• The Sun (veiling a planet)

• The Moon (veiling a planet)

• The Earth itself

• Mars

• Pluto

Man - speaking symbolically - is the "five-pointed star and, at the fiery points, the forces of the man pour out and upon each fiery point appears a center of reception." This is of course pictorially expressed, but the meaning is clear. However, as man nears the Path of Discipleship the influence of the sacred planets becomes increasingly effective, until after the final and fifth initiation the non-sacred planets have no effect, though the initiate wields their energies potently as they pour into and through his vehicles of reception, of response and of expression, for all three activities and purposes must be noted.

The energies of the twelve constellations are blended with those of the twelve planets, but their power to evoke response, and to be consciously received, recognized and [54] employed, is dependent entirely upon the type of response mechanism of the planetary Life and of the individual man. It has been rightly said that consciousness is dependent upon the vehicles of consciousness, upon their point of development and upon the ability of the individual to identify himself with the energies and impulses which are reaching him, and is not dependent only upon that which is already a recognized part or aspect of himself. It might be said that the higher response to the realities and qualities revealed and made possible by the impact of energy from the zodiacal signs is somewhat dependent upon the waning influence of the planets to hold down the consciousness aspect of the man. Ponder upon this, for it embodies a deep esoteric truth.

Thus, two potent streams of energy - cosmic and systemic - reach man via the conditioning planetary centers of force (the seven planetary schemes in the solar system and their corresponding seven centers in the planet on which we live) and pour into the symbolic "twelve houses" through their medium. It is for this reason that our solar system is spoken of as one of "intrinsic duality" (love-wisdom) and that the major task of man is the "regulation of the pairs of opposites." The theme of duality, therefore, runs through the whole story of man's development. Upon all the three planes of human unfoldment the reconciliation goes forward.  [EA.54]

Three Creative Hierarchies condition the man in incarnation, the 4th (or 9th) the 5th (or 10th) and the 6th. These, in collaboration, create man and, at the same time, constitute the field of his expression. Man is consequently a blend of electric fire, being a divine Flame, and becomes eventually responsive to the three major controlling influences; he is also solar fire, being a solar Angel in manifestation. He then becomes increasingly responsive to the influences of the twelve constellations. He is likewise fire by friction and comes under the influence of the planets. The tabulation below may make this somewhat clearer:

I. Electric Fire - Path of Initiation - 4th Hierarchy;
full soul expression; monadic life.

Goal: Identification with the Monad. Produces responsiveness to the three constellations.

II. Solar Fire - Path of Discipleship - 5th Hierarchy;
full life experience; soul life. [58]

Goal: Identification with the Soul. Produces responsiveness to the twelve zodiacal constellations.

III. Fire by Friction - Path of Evolution - 6th Hierarchy;
life experiment; human life.

Goal: Identification with the Personality. Produces responsiveness to the planetary influences.

Three hierarchies in particular are concerned with objective manifestation in etheric matter, the fourth, or strictly human hierarchy, and the fifth and sixth or the deva hierarchies. The other hierarchies fulfil other purposes connected with the life of the Spirit in the higher forms in the cosmic ethers, but in connection with our present subject these three hierarchies work on the lower levels of the cosmic physical plane the subplanes of which we call the mental, astral, and physical planes. When the five and the four are perfectly blended, we shall have achieved the nine of a major initiation, and when the six is added we shall have the resolution into one of the groups embodied by a Kumara, as has been hinted earlier. [TCF399] This marks the resolution of the six-pointed star finally into the five-pointed star; this is a great mystery, and concerns primarily the Heavenly Man of our scheme, and only incidentally the groups within His body of etheric manifestation.

In the process of treading that Path and of achieving the goal, man is resolved into the five-pointed star, finally into the triangle of Spirit. Between these two stages is [400] a mysterious esoteric stage wherein he is resolved into the four, - not this time the four of the lower quaternary, but a higher four. He becomes part of the consciousness of that occult group hinted at in various places which stands next to the three Logoi, the four great Maharajahs, the dispensers of karma, the repositories of cosmic purpose, who are reflected (but only reflected) in the logoic Quaternary, or in those four Heavenly Men Who embody (with their synthesizing third) logoic manas. These four with the synthesizing one are in Themselves the sumtotal of manas, the Brahma aspect, or Intelligence in activity. Karma works through manas, and only as the six-pointed star (or the sumtotal of concrete mind in its various divisions) becomes the five-pointed star, or the synthesis of the lower into the abstract or higher, is the transmutation into the three, or the Spiritual Triad, made possible via the four, or the formless repositories of karmic purpose; thus is liberation achieved, thus is man set free, and the microcosm attains BEING without the necessity of form-taking. A hint here in connection with the microcosm may help: When the microcosm has transcended the three worlds of matter and has become the five pointed star, he passes into the consciousness of the Monad, or pure Spirit, via the fourth plane of buddhi. For him the buddhic plane is the plane of karmic correspondence. On it he enters into the sphere of conscious cooperation in the working out of karma for a Heavenly Man, having completely worked out his personal karma in the lower three spheres. The student whose intuition suffices can work out the planes which correspond to the buddhic plane, for a Heavenly Man and for a solar Logos. This will only be possible if the concept is extended to cosmic levels and beyond the systemic.

Through the ideas here imparted it may be possible for the student to think out, for himself, some aspects of the [401] place of manas in cosmic evolution. It necessitates a somewhat synthetic viewpoint, and the steady holding of the thought of PURPOSE in all activity, whether cosmic, systemic, planetary, or microcosmic. It is the fire of divine impulse permeating all forms and driving those forms to certain action and achievement.

The fire of matter earlier dealt with is the dynamic fire of motion, which keeps in activity each atom of matter. The fire of mind is the coherent impulse and purpose, driving the forms (built up of active matter) in a specific direction, and along certain destined paths. It is consequently karmic impulse, originating cause, and operating will. It is likewise the result or the effect of this action in time, and only as the Triad comes into play, via the esoteric four, are the fires of both mind and matter burnt out and the fire of Spirit set free.