On Reflection:
On reflection, it is obvious that Calvin and his followers were also strongly influenced by the idealistic quality of the sixth ray. It was an ideal that many of the common people could understand and live by. It did establish a more somber church without all the trappings of the Catholic service. But the impact of the ideal also led to a large amount of fragmentation in the Protestant faith. While the Catholic clergy worked hard to maintain its strict code of thinking as a way of maintaining its power, the spread of the Protestant ethic raised a formidable challenge to its authority. Therefore, between 1545 and 1563 Pope Paul III opened the first of twenty-five sessions that formed the Council of Trent, which marked the beginning of the Counter-Reformation and the return of the Roman Inquisition. Over a period of 18 years the Council sessions focused on clarifying and establishing a strict adherence to: “the creed, the catechism and missal, the exclusive use of the Vulgate version of the Bible, and the guidelines governing The Index of Prohibited Books”.12 These guidelines were designed to counter any heresies which were frequently appearing in the Protestant writings, like those of Copernicus, Bruno and Galileo.
This preoccupation with heresies seems to be indelible in human consciousness, as it was in the 16th century and still is today. And this point counter-point, left and right style of discussion will continue ruling human thought as long as consciousness sees only the duality of human life; that is, between soul and form or spirit and matter, left and right. With this divergent focus of thinking there is no middle path between the polar opposites. Thanks to the continuing power of the sixth ray each side’s ideal is seen as the only way to go. The opposite ideal is non-negotiable. This is what happens when a ray influence begins to fade out—a hardening of old ways of thinking and doing takes hold. With the overlapping of the third ray influence in the 15th century the rise of conflicting lines of thought was inevitable but necessary if evolution was to move forward. Without this period of creative tension the Renaissance may never have happened. Would Luther have remained a quiet, obedient monk? Would Copernicus have been too afraid to question the circle of the sun? Would Columbus have stayed on his side of the Atlantic? Would Gutenberg have been content with hand written copies of manuscripts? Probably all of these initiatives would have occurred eventually. But it is important to think beyond the individual effort, for without there being a group of working souls in that part of the world at the same time, these initiatives might have passed unnoticed. Consider also: these initiatives all occurred within the space and time of one hundred years. The timing was significant for the spiritual Hierarchy; it had a time line to consider. The organizing power of the seventh ray and the Aquarian Age energies were on the horizon.
If we in the human kingdom are ever to reach that stage of “subjective synthesis” in consciousness, as required by the Plan, then we must transcend this endless focus on duality and seek the middle way. Only there will we find the path leading to liberation from the strangle hold of material existence. Otherwise the focus of living will simply shift back and forth, left and right, with no forward movement. But the consciousness of the one universal soul on its own plane holds the key: merging the outer personality with its loving soul quality will unlock the gate to a new day, just as it did during the Renaissance. It is time for a new rebirth. The goal of subjective synthesis in human consciousness still lies ahead. “When the world of thought is unified, then the outer world will fall into a synthetic order”.13 Allow Aquarius to rule.
12 Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence, p. 38
13 Alice Bailey, A Treatise on White Magic, p. 402
