The Seven Rays is an occult concept that has been found in several New Age religions and esoteric groups. Acording to this system, seven rays or energies, are the fundamental divine energies behind life in the universe.  Each individual human soul is an essential part of one of the Seven Rays, and through a succession of lifetimes the qualities of that Ray are developed and refined, to further the evolution of humanity. These rays function as a sevenfold division of many physical realities, including the colors of the spectrum, the notes of a musical octave, and the natural cycle of birth and death. The initialization of every process is governed by the First Ray, and its completion by the Seventh Ray, and the other Rays govern the various stages of growth and decay between these two extremes.

 All of Creation is expressed in Seven Rays - beings, objects, and events.  Today these "Rays" are known as: Will, Love/Wisdom, Form, Harmony, Truth, Devotion, and Completion.

      Founder of Theosophy Madame H.P. Blavatsky wrote in the first book of The Secret Doctrine that the seven rays of the Vedic sun deity Vishnu represent the same concept as the "astral fluid or 'Light' of the Kabbalists," and that the seven emanations of the lower seven sephiroth are the "primeval seven rays," and "will be found and recognized in every religion.

     In this book, Blavatsky discusses the "seven nervous plexuses of the body" and the seven rays they radiate, stating that this idea is found in the Incas, the Chinese Yao, and the Egyptian Osiris, who "when he enters the ark, or solar boat, takes seven Rays with him." She describes the "seven wise ones" of the Veda as "the seven Rays which fall free from the macrocosmic center".

       The third volume of the Secret Doctrine describes the "Seven Primeval Rays" as a group of celestial beings also known as "Gods" or "Angels" or "Powers". Stating that this symbolism was "adopted later on by the Christian Religion as the 'Seven Angels of the Presence.

    In Theosophy, the seven rays are said to be seven major types of Light-Substance (spirit/matter) (waves/particles) that compose the created universes. These are also believed to convey "Divine Qualities.”

       C.W. Leadbeater, an early leader of the Theosophical movement, gave a list showing the characteristic type of magic for each ray. This list indicates what he regarded as the most compatible type of magic to be performed by persons on each ray (although anyone of any ray can do any of these various types of magic).

First Ray: Magic of Will of magician

Second Ray: Magic of Raja Yoga (Development of Mind)

Third Ray: Magic of Astrology (Natural Magnetic Forces)

Fourth Ray: Magic of Hatha Yoga (physical development)

Fifth Ray: Magic of Alchemy (Manipulation of Material Substances)

Sixth Ray: Magic of Bhakti Yoga (Selfless Service and Altruistic Love; agape)

Seventh Ray: Ceremonial magic (Invocation of Elementals, and Devas)

    The Theosophical concept of the seven rays was further developed in the writings of Alice Bailey, Manly P. Hall, They are also found the teachings of Benjamin Creme and his group Share International, and in the philosophies of  The "I AM" Activity, The Bridge to Freedom, The Summit Lighthouse and various other such organizations promoting what are called the Ascended Master Teachings.

     The Seven Rays teachings are vast, and can quickly become complex, but the essence is that each ray, or quality of energy represents a path of spiritual development on the path of spiritual development.  Each of the seven rays of light represents an aspect of life.Through a succession of lifetimes the qualities of that Ray are developed and refined, to further the evolution of humanity.

      According to these teachings, Creation began with just three aspects, Will or Intention, Love or Consciousness and Form. This was the origin of three evolutionary life forms, the Lords of Flame, The Lords of Mind and the Lords of Form, which correspond to these three principles.

    As Creation continued to evolve, each of these three life forms were again divided by three to allow them to adopt these principles independently from each other, and then into a further four categories to create what we know as physical reality.

     The Lords of Flame are elemental gods who are responsible for the seven divisions of everything into the Seven Kingdoms.

     The Lords of Form are devas who are responsible for the seven divisions of all form into the Seven Planes.

      The Lords of Mind are humans who are responsible for the seven divisions Consciousness into the Seven Rays.

    According to Alice A. Bailey in her New Age Psychology, each person has a soul ray that remains the same through all their incarnations, and a personality ray that is different for each incarnation. Each ray is also correspondent with certain Masters of Wisdom, and with particular planets, cycles, nations, etc. Ms. Bailey stated that the seven rays that reach us on Earth have their ultimate origin within the mind of God.

     On the local planetary level, it is believed that the seven rays are transmitted from the Solar Logos through the God of our planet, Sanat Kumara, then through the spiritual hierarchy of our planet which includes the Ascended Masters or the Great White Brotherhood.

     In esoteric astrology, the seven rays are considered to be split into three groups: the first two rays represent Will and Wisdom, respectively, and the remaining five rays together form the group that represents Activity. In the system of Reiki developed by Carolyn E. Jackson the student passes through a sequence of levels by mastering the "key" to each level. The key for the second level is known as the key of "oneness" and is attained by passing through each of the seven rays. 

    According to psychic counselor Samantha Stevens, an individual can use affirmations, candles,  color therapy, vibrational medicines and other methods to contact "archangels," which she defines as the "seven rays."

     A secretive group named "The Keepers of the Seven Rays" has developed. Their philosophy is the human being has seven emanations with which it can connect with the Higher Self. These emanations are extensions of the Higher Self or otherwise called the Higher Will.  They reach out like arms and grasp onto the knowledge needed for the full development of the individual into his/her Higher Potential.  

     Metaphysical philosopher Gurdjieff wrote frequently of his "Seven Rays of Creation". According to Gurdjieff, the Seven Rays of Creation are the seven manifestations of energy in our universe. The first Ray contains the entire universe and all things obey the laws inherent in the First Ray. The First Ray then manifests itself in the 2nd Realm, the realm of Galaxies. From Galaxies to Solar Systems, Solar Systems to Planets. From Planets to Organisms on the planets, etc. Each of the seven rays is believed to be associated with a different kind of occult energy, and a different color

     To those of you who may still be confused by the seven ray concept, we can only say, ”You are not alone.”  The system can work well in spiritual astrology, but other than that exception, Seven Rays is merely a system of categorizing spiritual ideas. There is not necessarily any actual relationship between the elements of the various categories.