One of the great unknowns today, at least by the general public, is the existence of a spiritual Hierarchy that oversees and governs the direction of the evolving life on this planet. This group of spiritual beings exists on the highly refined inner spiritual planes of life. Many of the members of this group have gone through the human stage but are no longer required to undergo physical incarnation; they have reached the initiate stage and continue to work with other members of this group and other disciples throughout the world to help guide the evolutionary unfoldment of the millions of souls in the human kingdom. The main responsibility of this highly refined group of initiates is to carry out the evolving Plan of God on earth; to oversee the inflowing energies of Light, Love and Power coming from cosmic sources and to aid humanity in the correct usage of these energies to enable us to eventually “seal the door where evil dwells.” Evil, in this case, means overcoming the imprisoning power of the forces of the dense material plane. Therefore, the members of the Hierarchy focus on improving and refining the quality of human life so that all the incarnating souls in the world have the opportunity to advance up the ladder of initiation and then they, too, can become members of the fifth kingdom, (the refined kingdom just above the fourth or human kingdom) the Kingdom in which the Spiritual Hierarchy works and serves the Plan of God. Needless to say, this is a long process covering many lifetimes, but the process is greatly aided by a steady conditioning of the quality aspect of humanity’s daily life. This conditioning of the forms of humanity steadily alters and adapts the human form as it progresses towards an increasing perfection. “This conditioning process is carried forward through the souls who are returning to incarnation, for just in so far as they are awakened or are in process of awakening, is it possible for the Hierarchy to prevail upon them to regard the time factor as a definitely important matter in considering the subject of incarnation” (Alice Bailey, Esoteric Psychology, Volume II, p. 260).
Now these incarnating souls are not all of the same degree of awakenness; many are still “asleep” in their everyday life. An assessment of the people in any country in the world will show a wide range of intelligence among their citizens. And most are still drawn to the material life. As is pointed out, “The majority of souls in the human family come into incarnation in obedience to the urge or the desire to experience, and the magnetic pull of the physical plane is the final determining factor. They are, as souls, oriented towards earth life” (Ibid p. 260). Then there is a more advanced group of “awakened souls” who are dimly aware of a “higher pull”, meaning they are becoming aware of their higher Self or overshadowing Soul. And the link with this higher Self has become stronger, and therefore allowing that higher quality of soul energy to pour into and condition the quality of life of the lower personality self. “These awakening souls are the ones who can at times be influenced to retard or delay their entry into physical life in order to effect a conditioning of the processes of civilization. Or again, they can be prevailed upon to hasten their entrance into life so as to be available as agents for such a conditioning process” (ibid, p.260).
This presents evidence that there are highly intelligent Beings working in the Hierarchy Who are slowly (in human terms) conditioning and directing the evolutionary unfoldment of human consciousness here on earth. By prevailing upon certain awakened souls to change the timing of their next incarnation to a specific century, for example, the needed changes in the quality of human life can be brought about. By simply following the direction of their own life path, their profession, this group of awakened souls can influence the thinking of the whole society in which they live. And that society as a whole must also contain souls who are ready to respond to change and to recognize the greater beauty that is being presented.
Such a situation occurred around the beginning of the eighteenth century in the United States and in Europe and England. At the Hierarchical centennial gathering 1725 “an effort was determined upon which would bring a more definite influence to bear upon a group of souls awaiting incarnation, and thus induce them to hasten their entry into the life of the physical plane. This was done and the civilization of modern times came into being, with both good and bad results” (ibid, p. 261). Of course one of the good results occurred in the American colonies in the eighteenth century, the history about which we all know. But what is interesting and revealing to see is the small group of awakened souls who seemed to have responded (only they know for sure) to the Hierarchy’s influence to come into incarnation at that time and all in the relatively same physical environment. Just a few examples: Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) George Washington (1732-1799), Samuel Adams (1722-1803), John Adams (1735-1826), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826, he and John Adams died on the same day), Thomas Paine (1737-1809), James Madison (1751-1836), Alexander Hamilton ( 1757-1804). This small group of awakened souls, and many others associated with them, were determined to design and build a free country based on the ideal of democracy—the strongest ideal to be developed at the close of the Piscean Age. It has had a tremendously important conditioning influence on human consciousness throughout the world.
This conditioning influence also occurred in England and in the countries in Europe in the eighteenth century, especially in the cultural field of music. Another group of highly skilled souls were very likely influenced by the Hierarchy at that time to help improve and advance the quality and beauty of music, a quality which is still spreading today throughout the world. A few familiar names: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791), Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827), C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788); then a bit later: Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), Rossini (1792-1868), Donizetti (1797-1848), Franz Schubert (1797-1828). In addition to these highly skilled souls, must be added a large group of artists, writers, poets, educators, scientists, and inventors who also helped enormously to raise the quality of life in the world at a pace never seen before since the beginning of the Enlightenment period occurring after 1425.
In spite of the extensive divisions occurring throughout the world today, one cannot help think that this sudden flowering of human creativity is being skillfully engineered by initiate souls on the inner planes of life, i.e., the spiritual Hierarchy. There is, of course, no tangible way to prove the existence of such an august group of Beings; but like proving the existence of the human soul, the truth (and proof) lies within. One has only to observe the rapidly changing quality of daily life (both good and bad today) to come to the conclusion that there must be some powerful intelligent forces at work behind the scenes which are advancing human consciousness towards greater heights, and bringing forth through the quality of the human heart a new sense of harmony and love that will soon begin to synchronize with the new energies now pouring in of the new Age of Aquarius. One needs only to step back to see the larger picture of the tremendous growth in human creativity that has occurred over the past five hundred years compared to the previous one thousand years to see that such a rapid change in the quality of human life on earth could not happen without some guidance from inner sources; inner sources that have a vision of where human life on this earth is moving and what lies ahead for the future of the human kingdom. A qualitative change in human consciousness is coming and humanity must be ready to accept it. It is so written in the Plan of God. The Spiritual Hierarchy in the Kingdom of Souls stands as a mediating group between God and the human kingdom. Thanks to this spiritual group, change is happening.
