Alice Ann Bailey (16 June 1880 – 15 December 1949) was a British and American writer. She wrote about 25 books on Theosophy and was one of the first writers to use the term New Age. She was born Alice La Trobe-Bateman, in Manchester, EnglandAmerican Astrology magazine, September 1937 and moved to the United States in 1907, where she spent most of her life as a writer and teacher.
Bailey's works, written between 1919 and 1949, describe a wide-ranging neo-theosophical 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 Wisdom, initially referred to only as "the Tibetan" or by the initials "D.K.", later identified as Djwal Khul.Bailey 1951 p.1. From the Preface by Foster Bailey.
Her writings bore some similarity to those of Madame Blavatsky and are among the teachings often referred to as "Ageless Wisdom". Though Bailey's writings differ in some respects from the Theosophy of Blavatsky, they have much in common with it. She wrote on religious themes, including Christianity, though her writings are fundamentally different from many aspects of Christianity or other orthodox religions. Her vision of a unified society included a global "spirit of religion" different from traditional religious forms and including the concept of the Age of Aquarius.Bailey 1951. pp.233–234.Jenkins 2000. p.87. "Writers of the 1920s and 1930s presented themselves as advocates of a New Age of occult enlightenment, and Alice Bailey did much to popularize the dual terms 'New Age' and 'Aquarian'"
Biography
Childhood and early life Bailey was born into a wealthy middle-class British family and, as a member of the Anglican Church, received a thorough Christian education.Bailey 1951. pp. 9, 12.
Her autobiography states that at the age of 15, on 30 June 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 he planned for her to do.}Keller 2006. p.65. This turned out to be the creation and publication of 19 books, together with educational and meditation work that reached "practically all the countries of the world".
At the age of 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 Episcopal priest.Keller, Rosemary Skinner. Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. Indiana University Press. 2006. p 762 The marriage did not last, and Bailey pushed for and received a divorce. She left with their three children after their formal separation in 1915. Then followed a difficult period in which she worked in a sardine cannery to support herself and the children.
With the Theosophical Society
Bailey discovered the Theosophical Society and the work of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The Theosophical Society states that Bailey became involved in 1917.Mills, Joy, 100 Years of Theosophy, A History of the Theosophical Society in America, 1987, p. 62 Theosophist Joy Mills states that in 1918 she became a member of the Esoteric Section of the society.Meade, Marion, Madame Blavatsky, the Woman Behind the Myth, Putnam, 1980, p. 468 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."Campbell, Bruce, F., Ancient Wisdom Revived, a History of the Theosophical Movement, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1980, p. 151 In 1919, Foster Bailey (1888–1977), who was to be her second husband, became National Secretary of the Theosophical Society. They married in 1921.
The Theosophist published the first few chapters of her first work, Initiation, Human and Solar, (p. 762) but then stopped for reasons Bailey called "theosophical jealousy and reactionary attitude".Campbell, Bruce, F., Ancient Wisdom Revived, a History of the Theosophical Movement, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1980, p. 151 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".Ransom, Josephine, A Short History of the Theosophical Society, Adyar, 1938, p. 452 She outlined her vision for the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society; however, her efforts to influence the society failed, and she and her husband were dismissed from their positions.Ross, Joseph E., Krotona of Old Hollywood, Vol. II Joseph Ross, 2004, p. 346
According to historian of religion Olav Hammer, Bailey's early writings on 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".
Lucis Trust
Alice and Foster Bailey founded the Lucis Trust in 1922. Its activities include the Arcane School, World Goodwill, Triangles, a quarterly magazine called The Beacon, and a publishing company primarily intended to publish Bailey's many books. The Arcane School gives instruction and guidance in meditation via correspondence based on the ideas in Bailey's books. World Goodwill is intended to promote better human relations through goodwill, which they define as "love in action". That "action" included the support of the United Nations.
The "Triangles" are groups of three people who agree to link up in thought each day and to meditate on right human relations, visualizing light and love pouring into human minds and hearts, followed by the use of the Great Invocation (see below). It is not necessary for each person to link in thought at the same time each day and it only takes a few moments of time. Alice and Foster Bailey founded "Lucifer Publishing Company" ("'Lucifer' and 'Lucis' come from the same word root, lucis being the Latin genitive case meaning of light).
After the first two or three years, the name was changed to "Lucis Publishing Co."Initiation, Human and Solar. Copyright 1922 by Alice A. Bailey. First Edition. Lucifer Publishing Co., 135 Broadway, New York City The Theosophical Society also used the name "Lucifer" for its early magazine. In 1923, with the help of Foster Bailey, Alice Bailey founded the Arcane School, which is part of Lucis Trust. This school provides educational correspondence, meditation instruction, and guided study based on her writings.
Bailey continued to work up until the time of her death in 1949.Judah, Stillson J. "History and Philosophy of Metaphysical Movements in America" (1967), Westminster Press, pp.119–131, and Campbell, Bruce, Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement (1980), pp. 150–55, University of California Press, Berkeley, , as cited in Beekman, Scott, William Dudley Pelley: A Life in Right-Wing Extremism And the Occult (2005), p.196, Syracuse University Press,
Main ideas
The seven rays of energy Bailey's writings includes a detailed exposition of the "seven rays" which are presented as the fundamental energies that are behind and exist throughout all manifestation. They are seen as the basic creative forces of the universe and emanations of Divinity that underlie the evolution of all things. The rays are described as related to human psychology, the destiny of nations, as well as the planets and stars of the heavens. The concept of the seven rays can be found in Theosophical works.Wood, Ernest, The Seven Rays, Theosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, Illinois, 1925 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.
Esoteric astrology
Esoteric astrology is part of Alice Bailey's "Ageless Wisdom" teachings, which she said were relayed by her Tibetan Master Djwhal Khul.
The esoteric astrologers who follow the teachings of Bailey typically base their work on her five-volume Treatise on the Seven Rays, particularly volume three which focuses on astrology. Her esoteric astrology deals with the evolution of soul consciousness and the obstacles to that evolution.
Esoteric healing Bailey's teaching on healing primarily concerns the relationship of soul to personality, of the spiritual to the material nature. In her view, all disease has its ultimate root in some type of blocked or inhibited soul life. Therefore, healing consists of releasing the soul, that is the establishing of a right relation between the soul and the personality where the personality is defined as the instrument of soul expression. Eliminating obstructions and congestion, the source of a major part of disease. The whole process of healing is directed by thought, the mind of the healer and sometimes emotional synergy to inhibit causes of disease. Healing becomes automatic where the practitioner no longer is directed by energies, currents, centers, that include the nadis as one area of focus, the abstract is related back to the practices where appropriate but healing is directed without effort.
The constitution of man In line with previous Theosophical teachings,Leadbeater, C. W., A Textbook Of Theosophy, The Theosophical Publishing House, India, 1914, chapter I Bailey taught that man consists of Monad (spark of God, true Self) Soul (higher mind, Love nature, higher consciousness) Personality consisting of three aspects Lower mind (intellect) Emotions or astral nature Physical and etheric body
Each of the three aspects of the lower nature is described as a "body" or aura of energy and seen as partial expression of the real self or soul. The soul is regarded as the reflection of the real self that works through or uses the three aspects of personality.Bailey, Alice A. Esoteric Healing. Lucis Trust. 1953 p 564Bailey, Alice A. Initiation Human and Solar, Lucis Trust. 1922 p IV, chart III She also speaks of these as "vehicles" or "sheaths", and alternately as the "mental body", "astral body", or "physical body". The "etheric" body is most directly related to physical health and is seen as the vital energizing agent for the individual while in physical incarnation. (p. 172) (p. 33) See also: Subtle body. The mind and emotional nature are seen as auras.Jurriaance, Aart, Bridges, " Bridges Trust, South Africa, c. 1978, p. 130, 77, 91, 105 or energy fields of which brain activity is a secondary effect. (p. 411)
The Great Invocation The Great Invocation is a mantra given in 1937 by Bailey. 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 expressing the ideas of love, the return of The Christ (Maitreya) and of men acting in accordance with the plan of God. Historian of occultism Mitch Horowitz has observed that, "Bailey's capacity to introduce an occult-inspired universalistic prayer into Western culture, The Great Invocation—recited over the radio by no less than Eleanor Roosevelt—attests to the iconoclastic messenger’s inroads.