An age does not change like a light switch. First something stirs in consciousness, thought and aspiration change direction, and only much later do we see the physical results. The Tibetan Master says that over the next two hundred years the old influences under which we have lived will slowly fade, while the new forces make their presence increasingly felt.
Three decanates, three rays, three initiations
In The Destiny of the Nations the Aquarian Age is divided into three parts. Each is ruled by a planet, coloured by a ray, and each prepares humanity for an initiation.
| Decanate | Ruler | Ray | Initiation | Main theme |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Saturn | 3rd ray | First | Choice, testing and opportunity. Paths divide and humanity enters its birthright through conscious decisions. |
| Second | Mercury | 2nd ray | Second | Relationship and brotherhood. Recognition of the one life; an unbreakable link between Hierarchy and humanity. |
| Third | Venus | 1st ray | Third | Synthesis. Soul and personality fuse; aspiration gives way to unshakeable conviction and group purpose. |
Saturn's influence is strongly felt today: a period of discipline, of parting ways and of choices that demand responsibility. Within the long cycle of the third ray there is also an intensified pulse of roughly three thousand years, and that pulse is with us now. We can therefore expect a marked growth of intellectual power and creative work in the coming period.
From Leo to Aquarius: from the individual to the group
Aquarius lies directly opposite Leo in the zodiac. Leo is the sign of the self-reliant, self-expressive individual; Aquarius is where that individuality is fulfilled within the group. The move from service of self to service of the group is the fundamental movement of the Aquarian Age. Humanity has reached a stage where the sense of individuality is sharply defined, and for exactly that reason it is ready to open up to group relationships.
An age of world discipleship
According to Bailey, the Piscean Age emphasised religious values; humanity learned to seek the soul at a single point. The Aquarian Age will predominantly be an age of world-wide discipleship, to be followed by the age of universal initiation in Capricorn.
The same period is expected to see the externalisation of the Hierarchy: for the first time in history disciples, initiates and world disciples will meet on the physical plane and recognise one another and the Master of their group. Aquarian forms of education therefore differ from the Piscean model of a single teacher and an obedient pupil: group work, direct knowledge and an open mind.
In the Aquarian Age humanity enters an expansion of consciousness that will bring out group relationships in place of individual and self-centred personal relationships.The Destiny of the Nations (DON), p. 145, paraphrased
The prayer of the age
The Tibetan Master describes the Great Invocation as the collective prayer of all humanity in the Aquarian Age, and asks every disciple preparing for service to use and distribute it daily. Its power lies in the simple statement of a few truths that are universally accepted.