(A.A. Bailey, Esoteric Psychology - Vol. I, pp. 215-220, 1936 — SECTION TWO, CHAPTER II, The Rays and the Kingdoms in Nature.)

In starting upon a consideration of the relation of the rays to the seven kingdoms I shall refer to the seven kingdoms on the upward or evolutionary arc, and not to the seven kingdoms as they can be enumerated on the involutionary or downward arc. This latter (according to the Theosophical literature) includes three kingdoms—nebulous, relatively formless, and unexpressed—and the four kingdoms as enumerated by modern science. With the involutionary arc we have nothing to do. The understanding of it is well nigh impossible to the finite mind of the average reader. Though these three involutionary kingdoms exist, and though the little known about them in the West has received written form, any real comprehension of the implied truths is entirely lacking. This is quite unavoidable. Their comprehension lies hid in the capacity to "recover" the past and to see that past as a whole.

The kingdoms which we shall consider in connection with the rays may be enumerated under the following terms:

1. The Mineral Kingdom ------------------ VII
2. The Vegetable Kingdom -------------- VI
3. The Animal Kingdom -------------------- V
4. The Kingdom of Men ------------------- IV
5. The Kingdom of Souls ------------------ III
6. The Kingdom of Planetary Lives --- II
7. The Kingdom of Solar Lives ---------- I

These kingdoms might be regarded as differentiations of the One Life, from the angle of:

1. Phenomenal appearance, objective manifestation, or the externalisation of the solar Logos.
2. Consciousness or sensitivity to the expression of quality, through the medium of the phenomenal appearance.

Certain of the rays, as might be expected, are more responsible than certain others for the qualifying of any particular kingdom. Their effect is paramount in its determination. The effect of the other rays is subsidiary, but not absent. We must never forget that, in the close interrelation of forces in our solar system, no one of the seven possible forces is without effect. All of them function, qualify and motivate, but one or other will have a more vital effect than the rest. The following tabulation will give the major effect of the seven rays and the result of their influence upon the seven kingdoms with which we are concerned:

N.		Kingdom	Ray		Expression
1.		The Mineral Kingdom	7º	Ceremonial Organisation	Radio-Activity.
			1º	Will or Power	The basic Reservoir of Power.
2.		The Vegetable Kingdom	2º	Love-Wisdom	Magnetism.
			4º	Beauty or Harmony	Uniformity of Colour.
			6º	Idealistic Devotion	Upward Tendency.
3.		The Animal Kingdom	3º	Adaptability	Instinct.
			6º	Devotion	Domesticity.
4.		The Kingdom of Men	4º	Harmony through Conflict	Experience. Growth.
			5º	Concrete Knowledge	Intellect.
5.		The Kingdom of Souls	5º	Concrete Knowledge	Personality.
			2º	Love-Wisdom	Intuition.
6.		The Kingdom of Planetary Lives	6º	Devotion to Ideas	The Plan.
			3º	Active Intelligence	Creative Work.
7.		The Kingdom of Solar Lives	1º	Will or Power	Universal Mind.
			7º	Ceremonial Magic	Synthetic Ritual.

You will note one interesting difference in this tabulation, and that is the fact that the vegetable kingdom is the expression of three rays, whereas the others are expressions of two. Through these three the vegetable kingdom has been brought to its present condition of supreme beauty and its developed symbolism of colour. The vegetable kingdom is the outstanding contribution of our Earth to the general solar plan. Each of the planets contributes a unique and specialised quota to the sum total of evolutionary products, and the unique production of our particular planetary system is the vegetable kingdom. Other planets contribute forms and appearances which are their specific offering. It is needless for me to enumerate them here, for our language has no equivalent terms, and where there is no equivalent in language there is for mankind no equivalent in consciousness. The Earth, then, contributes the vegetable kingdom, and this is possible because it is the only Kingdom in which three rays have finally succeeded in coalescing, in fusing and blending; they are also the three rays along a major line of forces, 2-4-6. When we come to a more detailed analysis of the rays and their effects on a kingdom in nature, we shall see why this has produced so unique a contribution. Its success is demonstrated in the uniformity of its production of green in the realm of colour, throughout the entire planet.

You will note also that the mineral kingdom and the kingdom of solar lives (the first and seventh kingdoms) are the result of the activity of the first and the seventh rays. There is a close numerological interlocking here. These two kingdoms are respectively at the point of the greatest tenuity and the greatest density, and are produced by the will and the organising ability of the solar Deity. They embody the nebulous plan and the concretised plan. In the case of the seventh or highest kingdom (counting from below upwards) the Will aspect predominates and is the most powerful, whilst in the case of the mineral kingdom, the organisation aspect is of the most importance. This was to be anticipated, for the energy of Will is the first effect of the initiating divine activity, whilst the densest aspect of ceremonial organisation is the counterpart of the initial impulse, its concretisation, if I might so express it. The other kingdoms in nature, as can be seen in our tabulation, are not so related.

It will be of value if we now analyse our tabulation with a measure of care and get a little clearer grasp of the effect and influence of the seven rays.

As long as the true nature of the atom and its internal organisation remains a matter of investigation and of speculation and theory, the reader should regard what I here have to say in connection with this densest of all kingdoms as symbolically and pictorially true, but not to be taken literally. Just as the centre at the base of the spine is the last one to be aroused into full functioning activity, and is thus aroused only when the head centre is awakened and alive, so this lowest of all the kingdoms will be rightly understood only when all the seven kingdoms vibrate in unison. Until such time as this occurs, this kingdom and its life will remain an enigma, except to the initiate of high degree. All I can do is to make such suggestions as will arouse the abstract mind to activity and awaken interest to such a degree that the work of analysis and study will proceed. Conclusions cannot be reached, however, and this must be realised.

Two rays are of prime importance in the Life of God as It pours through this basic substance of our planet. In the work of the seventh ray, we have earthy substance, the solid material of our planetary life, organised into the varying mineral forms. These mineral forms, in their turn, hold latent those sustaining and vitalising elements from which other forms draw their sustenance. It must be remembered that each kingdom in nature is dependent upon and draws life from the kingdom which precedes it in the time sense, during the evolutionary cycle. Each Kingdom is a reservoir of power and of vitality to the next kingdom which emerges under the divine Plan.

The vegetable kingdom, for instance, draws its vital strength from three sources,—the sun, the water and the earth. In the building process it is the mineral content from the two latter sources that is of prime importance. The true structure of all forms is produced by the fabric of mineral products which is gradually built upon the etheric body, and which takes shape and form under a vital etheric urge, desire or impulse. It is the magnetic quality of the etheric body which attracts to itself the minerals needed for this skeleton form.

The animal kingdom, in turn, draws its sustenance primarily from the sun, the water and the vegetable kingdom. The mineral content required for the skeleton structure is therefore offered in a more advanced and sublimated form, being gathered out of the offering of the vegetable kingdom instead of out of that of the mineral kingdom. Each kingdom offers sacrifice to the next succeeding kingdom in the evolutionary sequence. The Law of Sacrifice determines the nature of each kingdom. Therefore each kingdom may be regarded as a laboratory wherein are prepared those forms of nutriment which are needed for the building of ever more refined structures. The human kingdom follows the same procedure, and draws its life (from the form angle) out of the animal kingdom as well as from the sun, water and the vegetable world. In the early stages of human unfoldment, animal food was, therefore, both karmically and in essence, the correct food for man; and for unevolved men, and from the standpoint of the animal form, such food is still right and proper. This brings up the whole question of vegetarianism, and I shall deal with it when we come to consider the fourth kingdom. The situation is not at all what is often thought, or as presented by the thinkers of today, and meat eating—at a certain stage of human unfoldment—incurs no evil doing.

Out of the great experimental school of human existence the kingdom of souls draws sustenance and vitality, and in the interlocking and interrelation of these four divine organisms does the world of form live and move and have its being. ... [220]

The full text is available free of charge online reading on the Lucis Trust website: