The Ray of Creation is an esoteric cosmology

Esoteric cosmology

Esoteric cosmology is cosmology that is an intrinsic part of an esoteric or occult system of thought. It almost always deals with at least some of the following themes: emanation, involution, spiritual evolution, epigenesis, planes of existence or higher worlds , hierarchies of spiritual beings,...

 which was taught by G. I. Gurdjieff. It is a diagram which better represents the place which Earth occupies in the Universe. The diagram has eight levels, each corresponding to Gurdjieff's Law of Octaves.

Levels

The first level is "The Absolute", followed by "All Worlds", "All Suns", "Sun", "All Planets", "Earth", "Moon", and "The Absolute".

This set was created thus:

• The heaviest/last level - "The Absolute",
• Earth's satellite - "The Moon",
• our planet - "Earth",
• all of the planets in the solar system to which Earth belongs to - "All Planets",
• the planets belong to the "Sun" or the solar system,
• the Sun belongs to the Milky Way galaxy or the "All Suns" combined,
• all galaxies put together belong to "All Worlds",
• and all Worlds form a final whole called "The Absolute"

This lineage indicates and compares the construction of all of the levels, matters, and laws of the Universe, placing them in scale with one another.

Laws

It was taught that in "The Absolute" the three holy forces form a whole, and thereby there is only one law (force) in the Absolute (which is the Will of the Absolute). The three forces of this law converge to form "All Worlds", whose level, now, being a part of the whole now has three laws. This level also having three forces, acts in creating "All Suns" in a similar process, and thereby "All Suns" has six laws (three new ones and three of the All Worlds level). Similarly, "Sun" has 12 laws, "All Planets" 24 laws, "Earth" 48 laws, "Moon" 96 laws, and "The Absolute" 192 laws.

Each level after the Absolute has a bigger number of laws which govern it. Therefore, the further the level is away from the Absolute, the more mechanical the living things in it are. By this comparison it is claimed that there are 48 laws governing the life of living beings on Earth, thereby also claiming that the life on Earth is quite mechanical.

Matter

Similarly to the difference of laws on each level, the level (in this case 'density') of matter differs in the same way. "The Absolute" has a matter density of one, "All Worlds" has a density of 3 (one atom of "All Worlds" has a three times the density as one atom of "The Absolute") , "All Suns" 6, "Sun" 12, "All Planets" 24, "Earth" 48, "Moon" 96, "The Absolute" (which in this case represents dead matter) 192.

This way everything in the universe according to this cosmology is classified as matter. (Note that even the matter of density 12 is too rarefied for contemporary science to classify it as matter.)

Higher Bodies

Gurdjieff's classification of Higher Bodies can be better represented on this scale. Physical body has the properties of the "Earth" level (that is, it has a density of 48 and it is subject to 48 laws). In comparison, a higher plane body would have a lighter density and it would be subject to a lesser number of laws (the amount varies on the level that the body falls under).

Other properties

There are many other properties which can be displayed on the Ray of Creation such as: the evolution of the substances in the Universe, analogy between the cosmoses and the human body, etc. In a word, all of the properties of the laws of octaves could be displayed using the Ray of Creation.

Ray of Creation in history

According to G. I. Gurdjieff, some of the ancient geocentric model

Geocentric model

In astronomy, the geocentric model , is the superseded theory that the Earth is the center of the universe, and that all other objects orbit around it. This geocentric model served as the predominant cosmological system in many ancient civilizations such as ancient Greece...

s don't represent an Earth-centered universe at all, but in reality display the Ray of Creation. This confusion was due to a lack of knowledge on the part of those examining the diagrams. Thus, the Ray of Creation is a part of ancient knowledge.

See also

• G. I. Gurdjieff
  G. I. Gurdjieff
  George Ivanovich Gurdjieff according to Gurdjieff's principles and instructions, or the "Fourth Way."At one point he described his teaching as "esoteric Christianity."...
  
   
• Fourth Way Enneagram
  Fourth Way Enneagram
  The Fourth Way enneagram is a figure published in 1947 in In Search of the Miraculous by P.D. Ouspensky, and an integral part of the so-called Fourth Way esoteric system associated with George Gurdjieff...
  
   
• The Fourth Way
  The Fourth Way
  The Fourth Way refers to a concept used by G.I. Gurdjieff to describe an approach to self-development that combined what he saw as three established ways, or schools: that of the body, the emotions, and the mind. Gurdjieff referred to the concept as "The Work," "Work on oneself," or "The System."...
  
   
• Centers (Fourth Way)
  Centers (Fourth Way)
  In G.I. Gurdjieff's Fourth Way teaching, also known as The Work, centers or brains refer to separate apparatuses within a being that dictate its specific functions. There are three main centers: intellectual, emotional, and moving...
  
  

External links

• A description
• A somewhat advanced and multidisciplinary overview of Gurdjieff's cosmology
• Gurdjieff cosmology
• An objective calendar: a yearly progression of the Ray of Creation