Arcane School

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Arcane School

The Arcane School, an occult organization founded by Theosophist Alice A. Bailey and her husband, Foster Bailey, was designed to bring in the New Age by the Great White Brotherhood, the spiritual hierarchy of masters who are believed to guide human destiny. As a young woman, Bailey affiliated with the Theosophical Society, moved into the Krotona community in Hollywood, California, and became editor of The Messenger, the society's journal. She also began to channel material from Djwhal Khul, one of the masters of the theosophical spiritual hierarchy, generally called "The Tibetan." Her channeling activity proved unacceptable to the society, and in 1920 she and her husband departed.

They moved to New York where Alice completed the channeling of two books and wrote one herself. They formed the Lucis Trust as a publishing concern and began a magazine, the Beacon. The Arcane School was founded in 1923 as an organization for students who responded to the books. Over the next years Bailey dictated a series of books that laid out a program for bringing in the New Age.

Among the several programs nurtured by the school was the New Group of World Servers, founded in 1932. The group sought to unite people of goodwill as harbingers of a coming civilization. Five years later the school launched the Triangles program to bring together groups of three people to work together in spiritual service. The primary task of a triangle is to channel spiritual energy from the hierarchy to the world. To assist the triangles, she released what is possibly her most famous piece of writing, a prayer called "The Great Invocation."

Bailey also began to announce the coming of the New Age and the accompanying appearance of the Christ. This coming of the New Age Savior was also encouraged by the repeating of "The Great Invocation."

Bailey taught that certain moments of the year are especially fruitful times for spiritual work because an abundance of spiritual energy is available. Such a time is the monthly period of the full moon, when members of the school gather on the evening of the full moon to meditate and transmit energy. On three full moon dates the great festivals Easter, Wesak, and Goodwill take place. The festival of Easter does not follow either of the Christian calendars, but is celebrated on the full moon in April as the time of the most active forces for the restoration of the Christ. In May, Wesak is the time when the Buddha's forces are available. In June, at the full moon, the forces of reconstruction are active.

Foster succeeded his wife as head of the school following her death in 1949. Their daughter Mary Bailey succeeded to the leadership after Foster's death in 1977. The school publishes several periodicals, including the Beacon and the World Goodwill Newsletter. International headquarters are located close to the United Nations building at 113 University Pl., 11th Fl., Box 722, Cooper Sta., New York, New York 10276. There are also European offices in London and Geneva. Several groups such as the Arcana Workshops, Meditation Groups, Inc., and the School for Esoteric Studies carry on programs similar to the Arcane School, though they are organizationally separate from it.