Good evening friends. Welcome to this Festival in Aquarius. We are working with extremely important energies tonight because Aquarius is, as you know, not only the current sign in the yearly cycle, it is also the sign which will strongly influence and impact human consciousness over the next two thousand years. And most significant of all, it is the sign in which the Christ will reappear and awaken humanity to a new revelation of Life as it is known beyond our three dimensions of consciousness. It will be a revelation focused primarily on the energies of the Will of God, and the power of the Will to break through the veil of illusion that is now blinding the human mind to the Reality of Life beyond the form.

But Christ will need the help, not only of the spiritual Hierarchy, but of tens of thousands of human beings who are open and sensitive to the energies of the soul and the kingdom of God, the Hierarchy and Shamballa. This sensitive group helping to prepare the way for the Christ is of course the new group of world servers. And in relation to this group, this year, in December, we will be celebrating the Festival of the New Group of World Servers, a Festival that occurs every seven years. It is a way of helping to strengthen the hands of this universal bridging group of souls and servers. Their work, and our work, will help to create a bridge in consciousness from the outer physical world to the inner world of the soul and Spirit.

Now since we work subjectively in meditation we are able to take our place in the heart center of this serving group. So let us visualize our group as a brilliant point of light, linked with many other groups and points of light around the world in a huge network radiating light and love into human consciousness. As we visualize this network let us know that our work in group meditation is strengthening the hands of the new group of world servers.

May the power of the one Life pour through the group of all true servers.
May the love of the one Soul characterize the lives of all who seek to aid the Great Ones.
May I fulfill my part in the one Work through self-forgetfulness, harmlessness, and right speech.

This mantram of the new group of world servers outlines three distinct stages for human evolution: the stage of Life, the stage of the development of the soul, and the stage of individual activity and service. These three stages are closely related to the work we must carry out in Aquarius with its keynote: "Water of life am I, poured forth for thirsty men." It is the task of the new group of world servers to share and distribute the water of life throughout the world.

It is said that the Aquarian influence is "all pervasive and inter-penetrating", and that this pervasiveness produces a great subjective potency with extensive results that are not always readily apparent. It is a potency that works on human consciousness primarily, so its effect is deeper and therefore longer lasting. And because the impact is so inter-penetrating it has the effect of drawing out the loving energies of the soul. It is the soul that enables the water of Life to be poured forth to serve the needs of humanity. It was the water of Life that the Christ was referring to when--looking far into the future--He said "I have come to give you life more abundantly". He knew that the coming Aquarian age would be a time when human consciousness would be awakened sufficiently to understand the deeper significance of the one great Life of God. We now know that that Life is far more extensive than that energy which animates a human being. It is the same one great energy that also gives life to this planet and everything upon the planet; there is just one Life abundantly available for all living things. But it is the consciousness of the Christ, of the soul, that enables us to now understand this deeper relationship with the Life of God.

The human mind has grown in sensitivity and is capable of breaking through the barriers of the lower mind to the more refined realm of the soul. That is where the abundance of the Life of God is clearly felt and seen. It is the loving and sharing qualities of the soul that enable a more even distribution of the energies of Life. And the dynamic Will embodied in the Life of God produces a more vibrant vitality to the human creations of the soul. As the soul's presence is felt, it produces a vibrant, dynamic human life. This infusion of dynamic energy is being made possible because of all the pervasive, inter-penetrating influence of Aquarius. It enables the water of Life to be poured out in greater abundance, bringing sustained sustenance to humanity.

The inpouring energies of Aquarius will have a very transformative effect on human consciousness over the next two thousand years. These coming changes are described in the three keynotes of Aquarius:

1. The service of the personality, the lower self, which eventually transmutes itself into the service of humanity.

2. Superficial and selfish activity which changes into a deep and active intention to be active on behalf of the Hierarchy.

3. Self-conscious living which changes finally into a sensitive humanitarian awareness.

The quality of these keynotes changes from a petty and superficial nature to one of deep purpose and profound conviction. The low grade and undeveloped Aquarian upon the Mutable Cross manifests through a superficial self-awareness. This matures in Leo and becomes a deep-seated self-consciousness and a profound interest in the self and its needs and wishes. As the interplay goes on between Leo and Aquarius (for they are polar opposites) there comes a deepening of all qualities and the superficialities disappear until—upon the reversed wheel—the intensive self-consciousness of Leo expands into the group awareness of Aquarius. The individual becomes the universal. Man, alone and separative, becomes mankind in his reactions and awareness and yet, at the same time, preserves his individuality; he is no longer just a human being, individually self-centred and separative, but becomes humanity itself, losing his personal identity in the good of the whole yet retaining his spiritual Identity. From self-service, he proceeds to world service and yet is always the individualised Son of God" (EA p. 135-36).

It is said that these three keynotes are easy to understand, but when the note demanding change is heard by the individual it become very difficult for him or her to actually make those changes and adapt to a new way of thinking and living.

In a very general sense, humanity is now facing the most difficult stage of the path of evolutionary change. A vision of a new way of living is becoming clear and desirable, but taking the first tentative steps toward liberation is very painful. Selfish individualism has ruled human life for thousands of years. But is has imprisoned the human soul is a perpetual state of illusion and glamour. This condition is symbolized in the signs of Pisces and Aquarius. As it is said: "There is an astrological relation between the band of stars in the constellation Pisces, which unites the two fishes, and the quality and nature of Aquarius which relates and binds together into one working and synthetic whole. The Aquarian recognises the bond which holds all together subjectively and in truth, while in Pisces the energy of relationship constitutes an imprisoning band which confines and holds captive".(EA pp 136-37). In other words, the Piscean age created a type of bondage in the selfish personality nature that often led to separative and hateful thought and actions. But in Aquarius, individuals and groups will be bound together subjectively, allowing the loving qualities of the soul to bind together in a spirit of loving relationship and goodwill. Two types of bondage: one in the illusion and glamour of separateness, and the other expressing the oneness of the truth of the soul. The age of Pisces produced a glamorous sixth ray devotion to a multiplicity of ideals and separative political and religious ideologies. The Age of Aquarius and the growing power of the seventh ray are reorganizing the old structures of world thought to reflect a new consciousness of universality.

Several powerful rays are impacting human consciousness today and are enabling great changes. We need to be aware of these ray energies and try to identify the effect they are having on human thought and actions. Most prominent in Aquarius is the seventh ray of organisation and order, the second ray of love-wisdom, and the fourth ray of harmony through conflict. As it is described: "The seventh ray brings into expression upon the physical plane the major pairs of opposites—spirit and matter—and relates them to each other, producing eventually one functioning whole. The second ray gives soul expression and spiritual consciousness and also the power to pour out love and wisdom upon earth while the fourth ray indicates the field of service and the mode of attaining the goal. This mode or method is that of conflict and struggle in order to reach harmony and thus express all truly human characteristics, for the fourth ray and the fourth Creative Hierarchy constitute essentially one expression of truth" (EA p. 137).

In the past one hundred years we have seen a tremendous expression of conflict of all kinds; but often resulting in harmonious resolutions and a reorganized way of thinking about relationships, particularly among the nations of the world. A good example of this reorganization of thought is seen in the founding of the United Nations Organization in 1945. This awakening in consciousness has been strongly supported by the growing power of the second ray energy of love-wisdom and goodwill. It has led to a universal way of thinking about human rights, world trade and economic and religious freedom. The power of the seventh ray, relating spirit and matter is also serving a new, dynamic function. "The seventh ray is, in the last analysis, the focused differentiated energy of Ray One as it expresses the will of the first aspect of divinity on earth through the power to relate and bring into objective manifestation—by an act of the will—both spirit and matter" (EA p. 138). The seventh ray enables the first ray of Will and Power to reach down to the lowest material level; it is having a dramatic impact on the consciousness of the mass of humanity today, producing strong political changes in national governments. Everywhere there is still much political and economic conflict, but from the larger perspective, it is all to the good. Major changes are coming in human consciousness in the new age and a new pathway of light has to be created. This is where the "bridge of souls and servers" in the world come in to serve; working with them is the basis of our subjective work.

"Water of Life am I poured forth for thirsty men." Christ is the highest example we have of one Who brings forth the divine essence of the energy of Life. As He said, "I am come that you may have life more abundantly." Water of life refers to the great stream of Life, that essential electrical energy which flows through and sustains every living form down to the tiniest atom. And it demonstrates or is expressed in the word livingness, which might be define as the degree that the Life of God is manifesting in the world. In other words, how much of the intent of God is shining through His Creation. Receiving life more abundantly is like receiving more of God’s essence—His qualities, His Light and Love and His Will-to-Good. These are the divine qualities that the new group of world servers must demonstrate and share with the world in Aquarius.

FESTIVAL IN AQUARIUS
New York February 7, 2012
Dale McKechnie