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Alice Bailey
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Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880–December 15, 1949), known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB, was born as Alice LaTrobe Bateman, in Manchester, England--at 7:32 AM GMT, according to Dane Rudhyar. She moved to the United States in 1907, where she spent most of her life as a writer and teacher. She wrote on spiritual, occult, astrological, Theosophical, Christian and other religious themes.
Her works, written between 1919 and 1949, describe a wide-ranging system of esoteric thought covering such topics as how spirituality relates to the solar system, meditation, healing, spiritual psychology, the destiny of nations, and prescriptions for society in general.
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Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880–December 15, 1949), known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB, was born as Alice LaTrobe Bateman, in Manchester, England--at 7:32 AM GMT, according to Dane Rudhyar. She moved to the United States in 1907, where she spent most of her life as a writer and teacher. She wrote on spiritual, occult, astrological, Theosophical, Christian and other religious themes.
Her works, written between 1919 and 1949, describe a wide-ranging system of esoteric thought covering such topics as how spirituality relates to the solar system, meditation, healing, spiritual psychology, the destiny of nations, and prescriptions for society in general. She described the majority of her work as having been telepathically dictated to her by a "Master of the Wisdom," initially referred to only as "the Tibetan," or by the initials "D.K.," later identified as "Djwhal Khul."
Her writings were influenced by the works of Madame Blavatsky. Though Bailey's writings differ from Theosophy, they also have much in common with it. She wrote about religious themes, including Christianity, though her writings are fundamentally different from many aspects of Christianity and of other orthodox religions. Her vision of a unified society includes a global "spirit of religion" different from traditional religious forms and including the concept of the Age of Aquarius.
Controversy has arisen around some of Bailey's statements on nationalism, American isolationism, Soviet totalitarianism, Fascism, Zionism, Nazism, race relations, people of African descent, the Jewish people, and the religions of Judaism and Christianity. Yonassan Gershom and others have described her writings as racist and antisemitic.
According to Robert S. Ellwood, her philosophy and her writings are still applied by the groups and organizations she founded, such as the Arcane School, the New Group of World Servers, and the Full Moon Meditation Groups that follow her teachings.
Biography
Childhood
Alice Bailey was born to a wealthy aristocratic British family, and as a member of the Anglican Church, received a thorough Christian education. She described a lonely and "over-sheltered" childhood and was unhappy despite the luxury of her physical circumstances. Of her early life she wrote that she was appalled at the influences of the Victorian era, especially the wide gulf between the comforts of the upper classes and the struggles of the laboring classes, that those problems were caused at least in part by the unfairness of the "theology of the past," and that in turn those issues led to what she called the "present world war," referring to the years between 1914-1945.
In her autobiography she related that as a child she was unhappy and did not find life worth living, and because of this attempted suicide three times: the first at the age of five, the second at age 11, and the third at an unspecified time prior to age 15. She wrote that after her third attempt, she lost interest in the idea, but that she "always understood the impulse."
At age 15, on June 30th, 1895, Bailey was visited by a stranger, "...a tall man, dressed in European clothes and wearing a turban" who told her she needed to develop self-control to prepare for certain work planned for her to do. She supposed this individual was Jesus, but later she identified him as Master Koot Hoomi.
India, evangelical work, and first marriage
At age 22 Bailey did evangelical work in connection with the YMCA and the British Army. This took her to India where, in 1907, she met her future husband, Walter Evans. Together they moved to America where Evans became an Episcopalian priest. However, this marriage did not last. She stated that her husband mistreated her and in one of his fits of temper, threw her down the stairs. Bailey pushed for and received a divorce. She left with their three children; after formal separation in 1915. Then followed a difficult period in which she worked as a factory hand to support herself and the children.
Bailey's break was not only with her Christian husband, but with Christianity in general. In her autobiography she wrote that “a rabid, orthodox Christian worker [had] become a well-known occult teacher.”
With the Theosophical Society
In 1915 Bailey discovered the Theosophical Society and the work of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Bailey, pp 134–136). Theosophical Society states that Bailey became involved in 1917. Theosophist Joy Mills states that in 1918 she became a member of the Esoteric Section of the society. Theosophist Bruce F. Campbell notes, "She quickly rose to a position of influence in the American Section of the Adyar society, moving to its headquarters at Krotona in Hollywood. She became editor of its magazine, The Messenger, and member of the committee responsible for Krotona."
Bailey claimed to recognize Koot Hoomi, the master who had visited her in her childhood, from a portrait she saw in the Shrine Room of the Theosophical Society. (Bailey, pp 156) . Bailey wrote much about those she called the “Masters of the Wisdom,” which she believed to be a brotherhood of enlightened sages working under the guidance of "the Christ." In part, she stated her writings were an effort to clarify the nature of these Masters, and their work.
"The Tibetan," split from Theosophy, and second marriage
Bailey wrote that, in 1919, she was contacted by a Master known as The Tibetan (later associated with the initials D.K., and eventually the name Djwhal Khul). Bailey stated that after initial resistance, she was eventually persuaded to write down the communications from this source. She wrote for 30 years, from 1919 to 1949. The result was 24 published books on ancient wisdom, philosophy, religion, contemporary events, science, psychology, nations, astrology, and healing. Also in 1919, 32nd degree Freemason Foster Bailey (1888-1977), who was to be her second husband, became National Secretary of the Theosophical Society. (Bailey, p. 157) They married in 1921.
The Theosophist published the first few chapters of her first work, Initiation, Human and Solar, but then stopped for reasons Bailey called "theosophical jealousy and reactionary attitude." Bailey "objected to the 'neo-Theosophy' of Annie Besant" and worked with Foster Bailey to gain more power in the American Section. According to Theosophist Josephine Maria Davies Ransom, she became part of a progressive "Back to Blavatsky movement, led mainly by Mr. and Mrs. Foster Bailey". She outlined her vision for the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society and announced ideals of tolerance and brotherhood. However, her efforts to influence the society failed, and she and her husband were dismissed from their positions.
According to author Olav Hammer, Bailey's early writings of communications with the Tibetan were well received within the society, but society president Annie Besant questioned Bailey's claims of communications with "the Tibetan" and allowed the Baileys to be expelled from the organization. According to Bailey, she had come to see the society as authoritarian and involved with "lower psychic phenomena.". In her writings, however, she continued to acknowledge the importance of Madame Blavatsky's works, and saw her own task as the continuation and further development of Blavatsky’s teachings. (Bailey, pp. 168–177)
The Arcane School and the Lucis Trust
According to the Lucis Trust website, the Baileys founded a quarterly magazine of esoteric philosophy entitled The Beacon in 1922.
In 1923, with the help of Foster Bailey, Alice Bailey also founded the Arcane School (also part of Lucis Trust), which gave (and still gives) a series of correspondence courses based on her heterodox version of Theosophy, which accepted the basic Theosophical views on karma, reincarnation, masters, a divine plan, and humanity's achievement of their original divine status (Bailey, pp. 192–193).
The Lucis Trust website and Alice Bailey's autobiography also state that, together with Foster Bailey, she created the "World Goodwill" organization to promote what she called “Love in Action.” The stated purposes of World Goodwill, according to its sponsoring organization, the Lucis Trust, are: "To help mobilise the energy of goodwill; To cooperate in the work of preparation for the reappearance of the Christ; To educate public opinion on the causes of the major world problems and to help create the thoughtform of solution."
About 100 of Alice Bailey's public talks and private talks to her more advanced Arcane School students are available online. Bailey continued to work up to the time of her death in 1949. Foster Bailey took over as head of Lucis Trust until his death in 1977, while his second wife Mary Bailey ran the Arcane School and after his death became president of the Lucis Trust. Mary Bailey authored a book titled A Learning Experience describing her 33 years of work with the Arcane School and accounts of the early years of Alice Bailey's work with "the Tibetan."
Formerly the school was structured in a series of degrees similar to Freemasonry and its early structure can be compared with the ceremonials of the Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship.
Teachings
Comparison with Theosophy
Theosophists are divided on their assessment of Alice Bailey's writings. For instance, the noted contemporary Theosophical writer Geoffrey Hodson wrote a highly favorable review of one her books, saying, "Once more Alice Bailey has placed occult students in her debt." Olav Hammer writes, "Her first book, Initiation Human and Solar, was at first favorably received by her fellow theosophists. Soon, however, her claims to be recipient of ageless wisdom from the Masters met with opposition." The conflict is understandable since her works contain some criticisms of Theosophy, and at the time of the break she voiced her criticism of what she saw as dogmatic structures within the society, while questioning the pledges of loyalty to Theosophical leaders that were required. "During the annual convention of 1920 in Chicago, there was a power struggle between forces loyal to Besant and the Esoteric Section and others who believed that the ES had become too powerful. Below the surface was a hidden controversy regarding Alice's work with the Tibetan." For a more recent example of Bailey/Theosophy division, see Theosophy in Scandinavia.
Campbell writes that Bailey's books are a reworking of major Theosophical themes, with some distinctive emphases, and that they present a comprehensive system of esoteric science and occult philosophy, cognizant of contemporary social and political developments. Steven J. Sutcliffe points out that both Bailey and Blavatsky's work evoke a picture of Tibet as the spiritual home of the Masters and that Bailey claimed a more-or-less direct lineage to Blavatsky. He describes Bailey as a 'post-Theosophical' theorist, reporting that Bailey received instruction from "former personal pupils of Blavatsky", and notes that her third book (A Treatise on Cosmic Fire) not only reproduces Blavatsky's apocryphal Stanzas of Dzyan, but is dedicated to Blavatsky, as well.
Jon Klimo, in Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources, writes, "As with Blavatsky/Theosophical material, and more recent contemporary channeled material from other sources, we find in the Bailey work the same occult cosmological hierarchy: physical, etheric, astral, mental, causal, and higher inhabited levels of existence." Olav Hammer, in the book Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age, highlights Bailey's Theosophical similarities as well as noting what he thinks are some differences between them: "To a large extent, Bailey's teachings are a restatement and amplification of theosophy of the Secret Doctrine. Bailey inherited from Blavatsky and Leadbeater a predilection for profuse details and complex classificatory schemes. ... Her books have also introduced shifts in emphasis as well as new doctrinal elements."
In contrast to the above, some Theosophical critics have contended that there are major differences between Bailey's ideas and the Theosophy of Blavatsky, such as Bailey's embrace of some mystical Christian terms and concepts and her acceptance of C.W. Leadbeater.
Nicholas Weeks, writing for the Theosophical magazine Fohat in 1997, felt Bailey's assertion that "... her teachings are grounded in and do not oppose in any fundamental way Theosophy as lived and taught by HPB and her Gurus" was false, claiming her books are in fact "rooted in the pseudo-theosophy pioneered by C. W. Leadbeater." He claimed Bailey accepted Leadbeater's "fantasy" of the return of Maitreya, and disparaged Bailey's Great Invocation, a prayer supposed to "induce Christ and his Masters to leave their hidden ashrams [and] enter into major cities" to lead the Aquarian Age. This contrasts with the Theosophy of Blavatsky, he says, which emphasizes reliance on "the Christos principle within each person".
Another principle of Theosophy, the Law of Attraction was discussed in esoteric writings by Blavatsky, Annie Besant, William Quan Judge, and others; and was also discussed in the writings of Alice Bailey, including a whole chapter in one of her books. The term has been embraced, in a simplified form, by the contemporary New Age movement and was recently popularized in the film The Secret.
The Seven Rays of energy
Underlying her writings is the idea that all is energy and that spirit, matter, and the psychic forces intermediate between them are forms of energy. This energy is life itself. From one essential energy, divinity, proceed seven rays that underlie and shape the evolution of human life and the entire phenomenal world. On a cosmic level these seven rays of energy are the creative forces of planets and stars. On a microcosmic level they are the creative forces conditioning the physical, psychic, and spiritual constitution of man. (Jurriaance, p. 73-152)
In Esoteric Psychology I, the first book of A Treatise on the Seven Rays, Bailey writes that the "one Life sought expansion" resulting in seven aeons, or emanations, manifesting in the expression of life, becoming the "seven Rishis of all the ancient scriptures."
She enumerates these seven as:
- The Lord of Power or Will
- The Lord of Love-Wisdom
- The Lord of Active Intelligence
- The Lord of Harmony, Beauty and Art
- The Lord of Concrete Knowledge and Science
- The Lord of Devotion and Idealism
- The Lord of Ceremonial Order or Magic
Although described as "Lords" and "persons", Bailey states that these "great forces" are not to be understood in terms of human personality. She also cautions that any description of such things must be couched in terms of our particular planet, such that humanity can understand it, but that these "pure Being[s] ... have purposes and activities in which our Earth plays only a minor part."
In Bailey's concept the rays and all things manifest in centers of energy and their relationships. All rays and centers are focuses of some type of evolving life or consciousness. (Jurriaance, p. 35-52) This includes everything from atoms to centers or chakras in the human constitution, and upwards through the human aura to groups of humans as centers, and cities and nations as centers. (Jurriaance, p. 79- 90 ) Humanity as a whole is conceived as a center of energy as are the masters of wisdom of which she writes. Likewise, planet Earth as a whole, with all its subsidiary centers of life, is viewed as a center of life within the large life or divinity of our solar system.
The concept of the seven rays can also be found in Theosophical works. Campbell writes that Bailey, "...was the first to develop the idea of the seven rays, although it can be found in germ in earlier Theosophical writings." The seven rays also appear in Hindu religious philosophy.
The constitution of man
In line with previous Theosophical teachings, Bailey taught that man consists of a soul of abstract mental material, working through a personality—a technical term used to describe the physical, emotional, and less-abstract mental bodies considered holistically. She uses traditional terms for these lower three "vehicles" or "sheaths": etheric body, astral body and mental body. These auric aspects of the human being are defined as partial emanations or expressions of the soul, which is itself synonymous with the evolving human consciousness. The mind is not conceived to be simply an ephemeral brain effect, but as the motivating energy responsible for the inner constitution of individuals, and which also manifest as the aura.
In Bailey's writings, evolution is defined as the process of bringing the "lower sheaths" into integration and alignment with the will of the soul—the "at-one-ment" of the personality. It is this transformation that leads to "right human relations" and spiritual revelation or awakening. Discrete steps on the spiritual path are called initiations, which is to say that the evolving consciousness is entering into new and wider fields of awareness, relationships, responsibilities, and power. In terms of her ray concept, the note of the soul is imposed (or superimposed) on the note of the personality.
The spiritual Hierarchy, Sirius, Venus, and Shamballa
Bailey wrote that behind all human evolution stands a brotherhood of enlightened souls who have guided and aided humanity throughout history.For Bailey, the evolution of humanity was intimately bound up with its relationship to this Spiritual Hierarchy. She believed that the stimulating and uplifting influences of religions, philosophies, sciences, educational movements, and human culture in general are the result of this relationship., and though in time humanity debases all these developments, they are all in their original impetus conceived as the result of the Spiritual Hierarchy working in concert with evolving human potentials.
Bailey associated the spiritual hierarchy and its branches with the system of Sirius, the planet Venus, and the mythical land of Shambhala (which she spelled "Shamballa"), the residence of Sanat Kumara, "Lord of the World". Bailey wrote, "The energy of Sirius by-passes (to use a modern word) Shamballa and is focused in the Hierarchy. [...] The entire work of the Great White Lodge is controlled from Sirius...." Monica Sjoo, in an essay about the New Age movement, explained her interpretation that "Bailey taught that the Hierarchy of Masters exists in Shambhala and that Venusians founded this fabled city some 18 million years ago on the sacred Gobi island, which is now in the Mongolian desert." It may be noted here that, in Bailey's concept, "city" is figurative since she states that Shamballa is not physical in the common usage of that word but is rather located in "higher ethers."
The Great Invocation
The Great Invocation is a mantra given in 1937 to Bailey by Djwhal Khul. The mantra begins with "From the point of Light within the Mind of God, let light stream forth into the minds of men." with the rest of the passage reinforcing this idea of men acting in accordance with the plan of God. It is well known by some followers of the New Age movement, where it is used as part of meditation, particularly in groups.
The invocation has been used in the Findhorn Foundation community since the 1970s. In response to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the Great Invocation was used as a central element of a new daily program at Findhorn known as the "Network of Light meditations for peace". Findhorn's use of the Great Invocation later spun off to various other groups they had influenced, including groups interested in new age UFO philosophies.
Rosemary Keller described the Great Invocation as a call for "the Christ to return to Earth" and wrote that Bailey-related groups purchased radio and television time to broadcast the invocation as part of their mission, and that often the invocation was recited in what Keller called "light groups", to accomplish what Bailey's disciples considered to be attracting and focusing "spiritual energies to benefit the planet". Researcher Hannah Newman described what she found to be an antisemitic element in the Great Invocation. According to Newman, "the Plan" named in the invocation refers to the plan authored by "the Hierarchy", that Newman states places "high priority on removing all Jewish presence and influence from human consciousness, a goal to be achieved by eliminating Judaism."
Discipleship and service
Bailey elaborated the relation of humanity to the Hierarchy in her teaching on Discipleship in the New Age. A disciple is an accepted student, or chela, in the spiritual ashram of a Master. In this scheme, all awakening souls stand in some relationship—for a long time unconsciously, but eventually in full conscious awareness—to some particular Master. The integrated personality, coming under the influence of the soul, is simultaneously coming under the influence of this Master. This relationship is determined by karma, by evolutionary status, and (most importantly) by the aspirant's capacity for work to be done on behalf of humanity. This service aspect is strongly emphasized throughout Bailey's writings. In her concept, the greatly increased ("stepped-up") evolution of consciousness that results from this Master–pupil relationship is made possible only in and through service to humanity.
Bailey's writing downplayed the traditional devotional and aspirational aspects of the spiritual life, in favor of serving "the Plan of the Hierarchy" by serving humanity. According to her, this is primary, and everything hinges upon it. For Bailey, discipleship means work—service—and the evolution of those sensitivities and powers that enhance that labor. Disciples will never gain such powers or awareness unless and until they will be used solely for unselfish service. (Bailey, p. 38)
Unity and divinity of nations and groups
Underlying Alice Bailey's teachings are the central concepts of unity and divinity.
Although she often identified groups of people by their race, nationality, or religion, she said the key matter was not race or religion per se, but the evolution of consciousness that transcends these labels. In her writings about the races, she focused on the humanitarian concept of unity and stated that the source of human problems is the spirit of separation that causes individuals and groups to set themselves apart from the rest of humanity. (Bailey, p. 375)
Ross describes Bailey's teachings as emphasizing the "underlying unity of all forms of life," and the "essential oneness of all religions, of all departments of science, and of all the philosophies." Campbell notes that the New Group of World Servers was established for "... promotion of international understanding, economic sharing, and religious unity."
On fanaticism and intolerance
Alice Bailey spoke out strongly against all forms of fanaticism and intolerance. She saw this fanaticism in churches, in nationalism, and in competing esoteric schools. (Bailey pp. 15 & 453) She associated this fanaticism with unintelligent devotion and holding on to old ways and ancient theologies. Bailey indicated that these problems were found mostly in the older generations, that their fanaticism would limit their personal growth and that they would mostly find a solution for that limitation through devotion, and the forward movement of spiritual evolution.
Racial theories
Bailey upheld theories of racial differentiation that posited a division of humanity into races that are on different levels in a "ladder of evolution". For example, she said that the Aryans, as an "emerging new race", are the most evolved people on Earth. In her book Education in the New Age, Bailey made predictions about the use of occult racial theories in the schools of the future, which she said would be based on racial cohorts such as Lemurians (physically adept), Atlanteans (emotionally adept), Aryans (mentally adept), and the New Race with "group qualities and consciousness and idealistic vision." In her The Destiny of the Nations, Bailey described a process by which the "new race" will evolve from Caucasians, after which "low grade human bodies will disappear, causing a general shift in the racial types toward a higher standard."
Her writings in this area were criticized by Victor Shnirelman, a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer, who in a survey of modern Neopaganism in Russia, drew particular attention to "… groups [that] take an extremely negative view of multi-culturalism, object to the 'mixture' of kinds, [and] support isolationism and the prohibition of immigration." He noted that a number of Bailey's books, as well as those of her contemporary Julius Evola, had been recently translated into Russian, and said that "… racist and antisemitic trends are explicit, for example, in the occult teachings of Alice Bailey (founder of the New Age movement) and her followers, who wish to cleanse Christianity of its 'Jewish inheritance' and reject the 'Jewish Bible' as a prerequisite for entering the Age of Aquarius."
Monica Sjöö, a Swedish-born British artist, writer, and supporter of the Goddess movement, wrote that Bailey, through her published teachings, had a "reactionary and racist influence on the whole New Age movement." She also noted what she called Bailey's (and Theosophy's) "pro-fascist religious views," such as the belief in a secret elite of "Masters" who control world events and human minds through occult means and attempt to bring about the evolution of an Aryan super-race.
On the Negro race
Bailey stated that the Negro race contains a large number of "child souls", leading lives of "physical activity motivated by the desire for satisfaction of some kind, and by a shallow "wish-life" or desire nature, and almost entirely oriented towards the physical life." She also wrote of the need for the white races to train the Negroes of Africa so that they will be fitted for true self-government.
She described Negro people as "creative, artistic and capable of the highest mental development when taught and trained -- as capable as is the white man;" and she emphasized the need for the white races to accord the Negro "the respect and the opportunity which is due him", stating that "The future peace of the world depends today upon enlightened, farseeing statesmanship and an appreciation of the fact that God has made all men free."
She wrote that what she described as "the Negro Problem" is divided into two areas: "the problem of the future of the African Negro and the problem of the future of the Negro in the western hemisphere."
On "the Negro problem" in Africa
Bailey considered the indigenous people of Africa to be in the "embryonic stage" of evolutionary development, and wrote that, "Behind the many separative religious cults of that dark land, there emerges a fundamental and pure mysticism, ranging all the way from nature worship and a primitive animism to a deep occult knowledge and an esoteric understanding which may some day make Africa the seat of the purest form of occult teaching and living." She said that "Right human relations must be firmly established between the emerging Negro empire and the rest of the world; the new ideals and the new world trends must be fostered in the receptive Negro consciousness and in this way darkest Africa will become a radiant center of light, ready for self-government and expressing true freedom."
On "the Negro problem" in the Americas
Regarding the relations between the Negro race and other races in the Western Hemisphere, Bailey wrote that it "constitutes a very ugly story, seriously implicates the white man and provides an outstanding disgrace", and that "The white people face a grave responsibility and it lies in their hands to change conditions." She was a vocal advocate of humane treatment and equal rights for the Negro race, acknowledged that they had been subject to much cruelty and exploitation by the white race, but also said that good had come of this for Negroes, and described reason for optimism regarding their future prospects. She advocated improvement in the situation of the Negro in the United States, calling for the people of America to end discrimination, to accept the Negro population as brothers and friends and thereby bring about positive change. She also wrote that in the black peoples attempt to resolve their problem of separation in society, "the spiritual forces of the world are on the side of the Negro."
On the Jewish people
Bailey wrote much about the Jewish people, referring to them collectively as a race, with group karma, characteristics, and behaviors. Specifically, she was of the opinion that Jews embody the characteristics of "materialism, cruelty and a spiritual conservatism" and the "separative, selfish, lower concrete mind."
On the social characteristics of the Jews
Bailey described Jews as "the most reactionary and conservative race in the world", explaining this as a result of their need to preserve their cultural identity as a wandering people under persecution. She wrote that, "People complain (and it is frequently true) the Jews lower the atmosphere of any district in which they reside. They hang their bedding and their clothing out of the windows. They live on the streets, sitting in groups on the sidewalks."
She wrote that Jews "take what they want, to see to it that their children get the best of everything available, no matter what the cost to others"; they "blame the non-Jewish nations for their miseries"; and, "The Jew needs to recognize his share in bringing about the dislike which hounds him everywhere."
She stated that even though the Jews are "possessed of great wealth and influence", they create "dissension among the nations" and "almost abusive, demands for the Gentile to shoulder the entire blame and end the difficulty."
On "the Jewish Problem"
Bailey said that what she called the "Jewish problem" was the result of negative karma accumulated by the Jews due to "acts and deeds there claimed by him as his racial acts and deeds (conquest, terrorism and cruelty)..." and wrote that the solution to this "problem" will come "...when the races regard the Jewish problem as a humanitarian problem but also when the Jew does his share of understanding, love and right action. This he [the Jew] does not yet do, speaking racially."
Before World War II, she wrote: "The major racial problem has, for many centuries, been the Jewish, which has been brought to a critical point by Germany..."; that the Jews "constitute an international minority of great aggressiveness, exceedingly vocal"; and that while they are an ancient, civilized and cultured people, their problems as a "struggling minority" are the result of "certain inherent characteristics", and the "untidy effect they have on any community".
In 1939, as World War II began, Bailey wrote that "the Jewish problem, is definitely producing cleavage as a part of the divine plan... to bring humanity to certain realizations and decisions."
In 1948, after the war and the Holocaust, she wrote that "there are eighty percent of other people in the concentration camps, only twenty percent Jews," and that Jews have not only repudiated the Messiah, but they have forgotten their unique relation to humanity.
Bailey also wrote critically about hatred of the Jews and predicted a future in which Jews would "fuse and blend with the rest of mankind." In her autobiography, she stated that she had been on Hitler's "blacklist," and she believed this had been because of her defense of the Jews during her lectures throughout Europe. She criticized the cruelty of "the Gentile" (non-Jewish people) for their treatment of the Jews, stating "great is his responsibility for wrong doing and cruel action."
Bailey further stated that the Jews were themselves responsible for the bad treatment they received, "Changed inner attitudes are needed on both sides, but very largely on the side of the Jews." She was aware of and accepted the controversial nature of her comments in this regard.
On interracial marriage
Bailey wrote regarding interracial marriage that "the best and soundest thinkers in both the white and black races at this time deplore mixed marriages. They mean no happiness for either party." She also advised against intermarriage between Caucasians and Asians but said that children of interracial unions would be unavoidable following World War II due to the actions of what she called the "inevitable promiscuity" of the armies during that period. She wrote that "children of mixed race, as well as the half-castes and the Eurasians may be the answer to a large part of the problem. There will be hundreds of thousands of these children of mixed parentage, forming part of the world population in the next generation and immediate cycle and they are a group with which we will have to reckon."
While she believed that intermarriage would not solve what she called "the Negro problem," she implied this might change and on this issue, "I make no prophecy about the future."
Her comments on the topic of interracial marriage are conflicting: On the one hand she suggested that mixed marriages have unhappy effects, on the other hand she seemed to view them as positive and contributing to the solution of racial tensions. Elsewhere she wrote that marriages are rooted in soul relationships, and that intermarriage in general is not a solution to racial problems, but that the solution lies in appreciation of the good qualites found groups other than one's own and the killing out of the sense of racial superiority.
On nationalism and nations
Bailey criticized national groups, based on what she believed were their violations of the spirit of unity and brotherhood. She believed that an individual's primary allegiance is to humanity and not to any subgroup within it: "I call you to no organizational loyalties, but only to love your fellowmen, be they German, American, Jewish, British, French, Negro or Asiatic."
On the United States and France
While praising the United States and France in some respects, Bailey saw in them political corruption. She regarded the talk about a free press as largely an illusory ideal and stated, "… particularly is it absent in the United States, where parties and publishers dictate newspaper policies."
On Israel, Zionism, and the U.S.S.R.
Regarding the foundation of the modern nation of Israel after World War II, Bailey said that "The Jews, by their illegal and terrorist activities, have laid a foundation of great difficulty for those who are seeking to promote world peace."
Bailey criticized Zionism, comparing it with the then-current Stalinist regime in the Russian-dominated Soviet Union, writing, "Zionism today stands for aggression and for the use of force, and the keynote is permission to take what you want irrespective of other people or of their inalienable rights. These points of view are against the position of the spiritual leaders of humanity, and therefore the leaders of the Zionist movement, and the group of men who direct and control the policies of Russia, are against the policies of the spiritual Hierarchy and are contrary to the lasting good of mankind. ... The menace to world freedom today lies in the known policies of the rulers of the U.S.S.R. and in the devious and lying machinations of the Zionists."
On the "present world crisis"
Bailey said, "We could take the nations, one by one, and observe how this nationalistic, separative or isolationist spirit, emerging out of an historical past, out of racial complexes, out of territorial position, out of revolt and out of possession of material resources, has brought about the present world crisis and cleavage and this global clash of interests and ideals." In 1947, in listing the causes of world conflict, she citied the fight for oil, and the fight over Palestine, "[...] a fight which has greed and not any love of Palestine behind it, and which is governed by financial interests and not by the humanitarian spirit which the Zionists claim [...]".
On organized religions
Bailey taught a form of universal spirituality that transcended denominational identification, believing that, "Every class of human beings is a group of brothers. Catholics, Jews, Gentiles, occidentals and orientals are all the sons of God." She stated that all religions originate from the same spiritual source, and that humanity will eventually come to realize this, and as they do so, the result will be the emergence of a universal world religion and a "new world order." Bailey described a world where there would be no separate religions but rather "one great body of believers." She predicted that these believers would accept unified truths based on brotherhood and "divine sonship", and would "cooperate with the divine Plan, revealed to them by the spiritual leaders of the race." She wrote that this was not a distant dream but a change that was actually occurring during the time of her writing. (Bailey, p 140)
Despite her focus on unity of religion, Bromley and Hammond point out that Bailey and other "occultists" "...hammered home the central idea, 'The East is the true home of spiritual knowledge and occult wisdom.'"
Author Steven Sutcliffe wrote that Bailey's "World Goodwill" organization was promoting groups of "world servers" to, as he quotes Bailey, "serve the Plan, Humanity, the Hierarchy and the Christ."
On Judaism
Bailey was highly critical of the religion of the Jews. She wrote: "The word 'love' as it concerns relation to other people is lacking in their religious presentation, though love of Jehovah is taught with due threats; the concept of a future life, dependent upon conduct and behavior to others and on right action in the world of men, is almost entirely lacking in The Old Testament and teaching on immortality is nowhere emphasized; salvation is apparently dependent upon the keeping of numerous physical laws and rules related to physical cleanliness; they go so far as to establish retail shops where these rules are kept - in a modern world where scientific methods are applied to purity in food. All these and other factors of less importance set the Jew apart, and these he enforces no matter how obsolete they are or inconvenient to others."
Because of writings like these, the American Chassidic author Rabbi Yonassan Gershom wrote that Bailey's plan for a New World Order and her call for "the gradual dissolution—again if in any way possible—of the Orthodox Jewish faith" revealed that "her goal is nothing less than the destruction of Judaism itself." Gershom also wrote that "This stereotyped portrayal of Jews is followed by a hackneyed diatribe against the Biblical Hebrews, based upon the "angry Jehovah" theology of nineteenth-century Protestantism. Jews do not, and never have, worshipped an angry vengeful god, and we Jews never, ever call God "Jehovah."
On Christianity
Bailey wrote of "the return of the Christ", but her concept had little in common with that of mainstream Christian churches. Bailey almost always used the phrase "the Christ" when not referring specifically to the Christian idea. For her, the leadership of the Hierarchy is an "office" (so to speak), to be occupied by various Masters, including the Master Jesus, in the course of Their unfolding evolution. She saw the Christ as a great "Person", embodying the energy of love, and His return as the awakening of that energy in human consciousness. She also introduced the ideas that the new Christ might be "of no particular faith at all", that he may be from any nation, race, or religion, and wrote that his purpose of returning will be to "restore man's faith in the Father's love" in a close personal relationship with "all men everywhere".
She stated that no one particular group can claim Him—that the New Age Christ belongs to whole world, and not to Christians alone, or to any nation or group. (Bailey, p 109) Bailey was highly critical of mainstream Christianity; she wrote that much of the Church's teaching about Christ's return is directly opposed to His own intentions and that "The history of the Christian nations and of the Christian church has been one of an aggressive militancy" (Bailey, p 110)
Influence
Alice Bailey's influence can be seen on the groups she founded, on a variety of religious and spiritual authors, and on groups that have utilized her writings in their own teachings.
Groups founded by Bailey or her followers
The Arcane School, founded by Alice and Foster Bailey to disseminate spiritual teachings, organizes a worldwide "Triangles" program to bring people together in groups of three, for daily meditation and study. Their belief is that they receive divine energy through meditation; this energy is transmitted to humanity, so raising spiritual awareness. John Michael Greer's New Encyclopedia of the Occult states that the school "seeks to develop a New Group of World Servers to accomplish the work of the Hierarchy of Masters, under the guidance of its head, the Christ."
Influence on the New Age Movement
Bailey made extensive use of the term "New Age" in her books and some writers have described her as the founder of the New Age movement. However The New Age was used as the title of a Journal of Christian liberalism and Socialism, published as early as 1894, predating Bailey's use of the term.
James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton, in Perspectives on the New Age wrote, "The most important—though certainly not the only—source of this transformative metaphor, as well as the term "New Age," was Theosophy, particularly as the Theosophical perspective was mediated to the movement by the works of Alice Bailey."
Sir John Sinclair, in his book The Alice Bailey Inheritance, commented on the seminal influence of Alice Bailey, which, he said, underlies the consciousness growth movement in the 20th century.
Influence on neopaganism
Several writers have mentioned the affinity of some of Bailey's concepts with modern expressions of paganism.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the neopagan author and ceremonial magic ritualist Caroll Poke Runyon published a magazine called The Seventh Ray, its name taken from the writings of Alice Bailey. In the 1990s, two volumes of collected articles from the magazine were published as The Seventh Ray Book I, The Blue Ray and The Seventh Ray Book II, the Red Ray.
Influence on women in religion
Author Catherine Wessinger wrote that Bailey was a liberated woman "… sixty years before it became popular"; that Bailey's books expressed a similar "millennial view" to the works of Annie Besant; and that they were "an important source of the contemporary New Age movement."
According to the Encyclopedia of Women And Religion in North America, several leaders of New Age philosophy have further developed Bailey's teachings, including the well-known personalities JZ Knight (who channels the entity known by the name Ramtha), Helen Schucman (author of A Course in Miracles through the process of telepathic dictation she called "scribing"),and Elizabeth Clare Prophet (who published what she referred to as "dictations from Ascended Masters"),
The "Tibetan" teacher, Djwal Khul, whom Bailey claimed was the co-author of many of her books, has also been claimed as co-author by two new female channelers, Violet Starre and Moriah Marston. Starre claims to have channeled Bailey's old teacher twice: the title of her first book, Diamond Light, Cosmic Psychology of Being, 4th Dimension, 7 Rays & More, owes an obvious debt to Bailey's writings, and is sometimes listed in book catalogues under the full title "Diamond Light, Cosmic Psychology of Being, 4th Dimension, 7 Rays & More (Teachings Similar to Those Given to Alice A. Bailey) by Djwhal (channeled Through Violet Starre) Khul." . The same influence can also be seen in Starre's The Amethyst Light: Djwhal Khul Through Violet Starre, published in 2004. Marston's Soul Searching with Djwahl Khul, the Tibetan, was published in 2006, and according to her publisher, Airleaf Books, "She has been a conscious channel for Ascended Master Djwhal Khul since 1986."
Influence on psychotherapy and healing
In 1930, with the patronage of English-Dutch spiritualist, theosophist and scholar Olga Froebe-Kapteyn, Bailey established the short-lived "School of Spiritual Research" located on Froebe-Kapteyn's estate, Casa Gabriella, in Switzerland. (In 1932 the school was closed due to personal conflict between Bailey and Froebe-Kapteyn, at which time Froebe-Kapteyn replaced it with the Eranos group.) Roberto Assagioli, founder of Psychosynthesis, was a lecturer at School of Spiritual Research. He continued a close association with Bailey during the 1930s; some of his writings were published in Bailey's magazine The Beacon; and he was a trustee of Bailey's organization, the Lucis Trust. He had developed his approach to psychology, called Psychosynthesis, beginning in 1910; his methods were later influenced by some elements of Bailey's work. However, authors John Firman and Ann Gila write that Assagioli kept what he referred to as a "wall of silence" between the areas of psychosynthesis and religion or metaphysics, insisting that they not be confused with each other.
Roger J. Woolger said, in a paper presented to the "Beyond the Brain" Conference held at Cambridge University in 1999, "In Tansley as in Brennan you will find descriptions of a hierarchy of subtle bodies called the etheric, emotional, mental and spiritual that surround the physical body. (Interestingly Tansley attributed the source of his model to Alice Bailey’s theosophical commentary on The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the locus classicus of Hindu teaching.)"
Bailey's influence can be found in therapeutic communities with which she was never directly involved, such as the Human Potential Movement.
Influence on UFO groups
Christopher Patridge wrote that the works of Bailey, Rudolf Steiner, and Theosophy in general all influenced what he called the "UFO religions". He explained that "...Theosophy has several prominent branches, and, strictly speaking, the branch which has had the most important influence on the UFO religion is that developed by Alice Bailey." . Partridge also quoted Gordon Melton, who suggested that the first UFO religion was Guy Ballard's "I Am" Activity, which Bailey described as a "cheap comedy."
Professor Robert S. Ellwood of the University of Southern California investigated a wide range of religious and spiritual groups in the United States during the 1970s, including a nationwide group of UFO believers called Understanding, Inc., which had been founded by a contactee named Daniel Fry. He reported that, "There is no particular religious practice connected with the meeting, although interestingly the New Age Prayer derived from the Alice Bailey writings is used as an invocation."
George D. Chryssides of the University of Wolverhampton, cited Bailey's influence on the ideas of the Order of the Solar Temple and related UFO organisations.
Whereas most modern-day astrology focuses on explaining the personality, or individual identity, esoteric astrology seeks to explain the soul and its desire for spiritual evolution. Esoteric astrology is grounded in Bailey's (Djwhal's) Ageless Wisdom teachings. "The Tibetan Master, Djwhal Khul, has provided a significant foundation for a more Soul-oriented approach to astrology and to the Life it seeks to symbolize and interpret."
Esoteric astrologers typically base their work on Bailey's five-volume Treatise on the Seven Rays. The third in the series, Esoteric Astrology, is considered to be the foundation for esoteric astrologers world wide."
In esoteric astrology the seven rays are applied to the astrological signs and planets, with a corresponding "soul urge," in the following manner (taken from Oken).
- Soul Urge: "The use of spiritual will for the benefit of the collective; power utilized for the purpose of enhancing unity and beauty; the expression of will for the purposes and being of the group." (p. 105)
- Soul Urge: "The urge to bring about a sustaining, loving wholeness to any group or life situation; the ability, through magnetic attraction, to bring about healing; the focus for the stimulation of consciousness, and hence for greater love/wisdom; the ability to see beyond differences into unifying principles." (p. 110)
- Soul Urge: "The birthing of ideas to benefit humanity; the structuring of time and activities to allow for group energies to flourish; inherent, objective intelligence ready to be used in service to humanity in all ways." (p. 114)
- Soul Urge: "The 'Divine Artist' -- one who seeks to raise humanity's consciousness through the realization of the beauty and harmony existing in nature and in the world of forms; the mediator between heaven and earth, God and man; the Priest." (p. 122)
- Soul Urge: "Those who work to be connecting links of intelligence between the abstract world of pure ideation and the concrete world of practical application; precision and exactitude in creating those forms and inventions which allow for the outpouring of Higher-Mind Intelligence." (p. 127)
- Soul Urge: "The urge to transform selfish and personal motivation into selfless, impersonal devotion for the good of all; the bringing about of circumstances which reorient the exclusive to the inclusive for the greater expression of Love/Wisdom." (p. 133)
- Soul Urge: "The urge to gather, formulate, and harmonize various aspects of a given set of life circumstances into an ordered expression for the Will of God; the urge to make 'heaven on earth.'" (p. 139)
The planetary and house rulers differ in esoteric astrology as compared to exoteric astrology. The esoteric planetary and house rulers are to be used when a person is analyzing the soul's purpose or journey through life. According to Djhwal Khul (Alice Bailey), here are the rulers.
| Personality (Mundane) | Soul (Esoteric) | House |
|---|
| Aries | Mars | Mercury | First | | Taurus | Venus | Vulcan | Second | | Gemini | Mercury | Venus | Third | | Cancer | Moon | Neptune | Fourth | | Leo | Sun | Sun | Fifth | | Virgo | Mercury | Moon | Sixth | | Libra | Venus | Uranus | Seventh | | Scorpio | Mars | Mars | Eighth | | Sagittarius | Jupiter | Earth | Ninth | | Capricorn | Saturn | Saturn | Tenth | | Aquarius | Uranus | Jupiter | Eleventh | | Pisces | Jupiter | Pluto | Twelfth |
Alice Bailey wrote in Esoteric Astrology, "The human being in his eventual recognized group relationships is of more importance than appears in his individual life, which the orthodox horoscope seeks to elucidate. It only determines his little destiny and unimportant fate. Esoteric astrology indicates his group usefulness and the scope of his potential consciousness."
Alice A. Bailey in popular culture
Music
- In 1975, Todd Rundgren released an album titled Initiation which has a song called "Initiation" on side one. The title of the album is apparently based on the Theosophical concept of Initiation, taught by Alice A. Bailey and C.W. Leadbeater. The entire second side of the album is taken up by a song called "A Treatise on Cosmic Fire"; the three parts of the song are listed as: "I. The Internal Fire, or Fire by Friction; II. The Fire of Spirit, or Electric Fire; The Fire of Mind, or Solar Fire." The second parts of these three phrases are taken directly from Alice A. Bailey's book A Treatise on Cosmic Fire. In 1977, Rundgren followed up with another Bailey reference with a song entitled "Love in Action" from the album Oops! Wrong Planet, an album by his side-project Utopia. Love in Action was the concept promoted by Bailey's and Foster Bailey's "World Goodwill" organization.
- In 1982, Bailey's influence appeared in pop culture, with the release of Van Morrison's album Beautiful Vision, in which he directly referred to the teachings and the Tibetan in the lyrics of the songs "Dweller on the Threshold" and "Aryan Mist". Morrison also used the phrase "world of glamour", reminiscent of Bailey's Glamour: A World Problem, in the songs "Ivory Tower" and "Green Mansions". The song Ancient of Days from the 1984 Sense of Wonder album appears to be a reference to a Bailey concept found in such books as The Externalization of the Hierarchy. Alice A. Bailey and the Tibetan's Glamour: A World Problem is also directly cited in the liner notes to Morrison's album Inarticulate Speech of the Heart.
Bibliography
The Lucis Trust is the official publisher of Alice Bailey's books. A few books of Alice Bailey that are no longer under copyright are also available online at independent web sites.
Credited to Alice Bailey (works containing the prefatory Extract from a Statement by the Tibetan, generally taken to indicate the book was a "received" work):
- Initiation, Human and Solar—1922
- Letters on Occult Meditation—1922
- A Treatise on Cosmic Fire—1925
- Light of the Soul: The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali—1927 (commentary by Alice Bailey)
- A Treatise on White Magic—1934
- Discipleship in the New Age—Volume I - 1944
- Discipleship in the New Age—Volume II - 1955
- Problems of Humanity—1947
- The Reappearance of the Christ—1948
- The Destiny of the Nations—1949
- Glamor - A World Problem—1950
- Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle—1950
- Education in the New Age—1954
- The Externalization of the Hierarchy—1957
- A Treatise on the Seven Rays:
- Volume 1: Esoteric Psychology I—1936
- Volume 2: Esoteric Psychology II—1942
- Volume 3: Esoteric Astrology—1951
- Volume 4: Esoteric Healing—1953
- Volume 5: The Rays and the Initiations—1960
Credited to Alice A. Bailey alone (works in which Bailey claimed sole authorship of the material):
- The Consciousness of the Atom—1922
- The Soul and its Mechanism—1930
- From Intellect to Intuition—1932
- From Bethlehem to Calvary—1937
- The Unfinished Autobiography—1951
- The Labors of Hercules—1974
- The Labours of Hercules: An Astrological Interpretation—first published 1982
See also
External links
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