Alice Bailey

© Photo: The Lucis Trust
Alice A. Bailey, c. 1920

Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949) was born as Alice LaTrobe Bateman, in Manchester, UK, but moved to the United States in 1907 where she spent most of her life. She wrote twenty-five books, most of which she claimed had been telepathically dictated to her by a "Master of the Wisdom" whom she referred to as "The Tibetan". Writing on spiritual, occult, esoteric and religious themes, Bailey was among the first to popularize the terms New Age and Age of Aquarius, and her writings expound a system of esoteric thought that includes subjects such as meditation, healing, spiritual psychology, the destiny of nations, and prescriptions for society.

Bailey's writings have much in common with those of Madame Helena Blavatsky, a medium and spiritualist who claimed to have psychic powers. Her vision of a unified society includes a global "spirit of religion" but is fundamentally different from traditional religious forms, which she regarded as largely divisive human creations.

Life

Alice Bailey was born to a wealthy British family, and, as a member of the Anglican Church, received a Christian education. She describes being uncomfortable in the "well-padded, sleek and comfortable world" of her youth and in a "Victorian" society that she was out of sympathy with and that she came to see as rooted in a false theology. She wrote that, at age 15, she was visited on June 30, 1895, by "...a tall man, dressed in European clothes and wearing a turban." She first supposed this individual was Jesus but later identified him as a theosophical master, Hoot Koomi.

"He told me there was some work that it was planned that I could do in the world but that it would entail my changing my disposition very considerably; I would have to give up being such an unpleasant little girl and must try and get some measure of self-control."

At age 22, Bailey did some evangelical work which took her to India where, in 1907, she met her future husband, Walter Evans. Together they moved to the United States, where Evans became an Episcopal 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 divorced, and left with their three children in 1915, working for a time as a factory hand to support herself and the children. Bailey's break was not only with her Christian husband, but with Orthodox Christianity in general. In her autobiography, she wrote that “a rabid, orthodox Christian worker [had] become a well-known occult teacher.”

In 1915, Bailey discovered the Theosophical Society and the work of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and in 1918, she became a member of the Esoteric section of the society. While there, she claimed to recognize Koot Hoomi, the master that had visited her in her childhood, from a portrait in the Shrine Room of the Society. . Bailey wrote much about 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. She 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 that, in 1919, she was contacted by a teacher she called "The Tibetan" (Later, she identified him as the Master Djwhal Khul):

“I heard what I thought was a clear note of music which sounded from the sky, through the hill and in me. Then I heard a voice which said, 'There are some books which it is desired should be written for the public. You can write them. Will you do so?' Without a moment's notice I said, 'Certainly not. I'm not a darned psychic and I don't want to be drawn into anything like that.'"

She states that she was persuaded to write down the communications from this source, and between 1919 to 1949 she wrote 24 books. .

In 1919, Foster Bailey (1888-1977), who was to be her second husband, became National Secretary of the Theosophical Society

The Theosophist, published the first few chapters of her first book, Initiation, Human and Solar, but then stopped for what Bailey believed was "theosophical jealousy and reactionary attitude." She objected to the neo-Theosophy of Annie Besant, and worked led, together with her husband Foster, a "Back to Blavatsky" movement. She outlined her vision in an article annunciating ideals of tolerance and brotherhood. However, her efforts to influence the society failed, and she and her husband were dismissed from their positions.

In 1923, with Foster Bailey, Bailey founded the Arcane School, which gives a correspondence course based on her books. They also organized an International Goodwill Movement.

Teachings

"...Bailey can only be described as a 'post-Theosophical' theorist... Her third book, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire (1925), is not only dedicated to Blavatsky but even reproduces the apocryphal 'Stanzas of Dzyan' upon which Blavatsky's own text had supposedly been based..."

Her first book, Initiation Human and Solar, was at first well received by other theosophists, but her claims to be the recipient of ageless wisdom from the Masters soon met with opposition. The conflict is understandable since her works voiced criticisms of what she saw as dogmatic structures within the Theosophical society, while questioning the pledges of loyalty to Theosophical leaders that were required.

She believed her works were part of an unfolding revelation of ageless wisdom. Her writings have much in common with Theosophy. 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. From one essential energy, divinity, proceeds seven rays that underlie and shape the evolution of human life and the phenomenal world. On a cosmic level, she saw these seven rays as the creative forces of planets and stars. On a microcosmic level, she saw them as the creative forces conditioning the physical, psychic, and spiritual constitution of man. The concept of the rays can also be found in earlier Theosophical works.

The constitution of man

In line with Theosophical teachings, Bailey taught that man is a soul working through a personality where the personality consists of mind, emotions, and body. Mind and emotions are conceived as psychical energies that are part of the aura or inner constitution of individuals. She uses the traditional Theosophical terms for these of etheric body, astral body and mental body. These auric aspects of the human being are defined as partial emanations or expressions of the 'soul'. In her terminology, "Soul" is the synonym for evolving consciousness. In Bailey's writings, evolution is a process of personality integration and alignment of personality with soul, and it is this transformation that leads toward right human relationships and spiritual revelation or awakening. Steps on the spiritual path are "initiations," which is to say an evolution that is an entering into new and wider fields of consciousness, relationships, responsibilities, and power

The spiritual hierarchy

She wrote that, behind all human evolution stands a brotherhood of enlightened souls who have guided humanity throughout history. The stimulating and uplifting influences of religions, philosophies, sciences, educational movements, and human culture are conceived by her as the result of this relationship. She elaborates on this in her teaching on "Discipleship in the New Age." In this, all awakening souls stand in a relationship to a particular "Master of Wisdom" that is conditioned by karma, by evolutionary status, and by the potential for work to be done on behalf of humanity. This "service" aspect is emphasized in Bailey's writings. She downplays the devotional and aspirational aspects of the spiritual life in favor of service or work on behalf of humanity.

Unity and divinity of nations and groups

Underlying Bailey's writings are the concepts of unity and divinity. "Every class of human beings is a group of brothers. Catholics , Jews, Gentiles, occidentals and orientals are all the sons of God." She believed that an individual's primary allegiance is to humanity and not to any subgroup: "I call you to no organizational loyalties, but only to love your fellowmen, be they German, American, Jewish, British, French, Negro or Asiatic." She emphasized the equality of man: "World democracy will take form when men everywhere are regarded in reality as equal; when boys and girls are taught that it does not matter whether a man is an Asiatic, an American, a European, British, a Jew or a Gentile but only that each has an historical background which enables him to contribute something to the good of the whole, that the major requirement is an attitude of goodwill and a constant effort to foster right human relations." She believed that all religions originate from the same spiritual source, and that when humanity comes to realize this, it will result in the emergence of a universal world religion, "Then there will be neither Christian nor heathen, neither Jew nor Gentile, but simply one great body of believers, gathered out of all the current religions. They will accept the same truths, not as theological concepts but as essential to spiritual living; they will stand together on the same platform of brotherhood and of human relations..." Bailey envisioned a "new group of world servers," of all races, classes and creeds who serve the Plan, humanity, the Hierarchy and the Christ.

On orthodox Christianity

Bailey believed in the return of "Christ" but her concept had little in common with that of the orthodox Christian churches. She saw Christ as essentially the energy of love and his "return" as the awakening of that energy in human consciousness. The new Christ might be "no particular faith at all"  :

"He may appear as an Englishman, a Russian, a Negro, a Latin, a Turk, a Hindu, or any other nationality. Who can say which? He may be a Christian or a Hindu by faith, a Buddhist or of no particular faith at all; He will not come as the restorer of any of the ancient religions, including Christianity, but He will come to restore man's faith in the Father's love, in the fact of the livingness of the Christ and in the close, subjective and unbreakable relationship of all men everywhere."

Bailey's new age Christ belongs to whole world and not to Christians or any nation or group. She was critical of orthodox Christianity, "..the so-called heathen have demonstrated historically less of the evil of vicious conflict than has the militant Christian world. These criticisms are part of a larger criticism of all forms of fanaticism and intolerance.

Races and politics

For Bailey, the matter of prime importance was not race or religion but the evolution of consciousness She criticized many nations, groups and religions for violations of the spirit of unity and brotherhood. For example, in the United States and France she saw political corruption. She regarded talk of a free press as an illusory ideal: "… particularly is it absent in the United States, where parties and publishers dictate newspaper policies." She believed the source of human problems is the spirit of separation: "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."

Influence

In Perspectives on the New Age we find "The most important—though certainly not the only—source of this transformative metaphor, as well as the term "New Age," was Theosophy, particularly ... by the works of Alice Bailey." (Sinclair, Sir John R (1984) The Alice Bailey Inheritance Turnstone Press Limited)

In a book on history of the Bollingen Foundation and its pervasive influence on American intellectual life, William McGuire wrote:

"In 1928 Olga[1] built a lecture hall on her grounds, overlooking the lake, for a purpose not yet revealed to her, and a guest house which she named Casa Shanti in a Hindu ceremony. A year or two later, she went to the United States and sought out Alice A. Bailey, in Stamford, Connecticut, a former Theosophists who led a movement called the Arcane School. Mrs Bailey, whom Nancy Wilson Ross has described as a woman of great dignity, kindness, and integrity, aimed like Olga Froebe at the raising of consciousness and the bridging of the East and West. She lived with a mystic presence, ‘the Tibetan,’ presumably one of the Theosophical Masters, who used her as an instrument to write a number of books devoted to Higher Truth…”

Controversy

Bailey's writings stirred controversy because she spoke against orthodox Christianity, American isolationism, nationalism, Soviet totalitarianism, fascism, and Nazism. She believed Zionism was contrary to the lasting good of mankind. In 1947, in outlining 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 and which would force them to accept the offers made by Great Britain, Canada, Chile, Belgium and many other lands.

At the same time, she spoke out against hatred of the Jews. In her autobiography, she stated that she was on Hitler's "blacklist," and believed it was because of her defense of the Jews during her lectures throughout Europe. Bailey also criticized the cruelty of the Gentile for his treatment of the Jews, "God has made all men equal; the Jew is a man and a brother, and every right that the Gentile owns is his also, inalienably and intrinsically his. This the Gentile has forgotten and great is his responsibility for wrong doing and cruel action." (Bailey, p. 401) Nevertheless, her criticism of what she saw as their separative nature evoked claims of antisemeticism For instance, Victor Shnirelman, a cultural anthropologist and ethnographer wrote that "… racist and antisemitic trends are explicit, for example, in the occult teachings of Alice Bailey (founder of the New Age movement)."

Prophecies and obscurity

Stephenson analyzed the prophecies contained in the Alice Bailey works, breaking them down into dated and undated prophecies, prophecies confirmed, and non-determinable. While some some her prophecies appear to have been accurate, others do not. For instance, Bailey states, "From the chair of the Pope of Rome, the Master Jesus will attempt to swing that great branch of the religious beliefs of the world again into a position of spiritual power and away from its present authoritative and temporary political potency."

Roberts criticizes Bailey's writings as not empirical, naturalistic or humanistic but rather romantic and symbolic with a bewildering variety of terms.

Conflicts with competing schools of thought

Writing from a Christian church perspective, Bromley says:

"After World War II, Eastern thought was filtered through (and more or less distored by) the likes of Manley Palmer Hall, Alice Bailey, Baird T. Spaulding, and Edwin Dingle. Possibly more important than their individual teachings, however, occultists as a group hammered home the central idea, 'The East is the true home of spiritual knowledge and occult wisdom.'

Bailey has been criticized by religious writers who see her writings as contrary to Christianity.

Bailey's books have also been criticized by mainstream Theosophists who say that a great many of her ideas were borrowed from Theosophy while also including perspectives that were not part of the original teachings of Blavatsky.