The Law of Seven

The Law of Seven is a very special phenomenon to study within any given process. Based on one of the laws of thermodynamics in its pure form, it is the law of cause and effect. 

“The Law of Seven appears as the law of irreversibility which says that in any exchange something is lost and that eventually all must come to a standstill or equilibrium.”  -J.G. Bennett

In light of this, a new energy must come in to keep something going. We can study how something moves from one state to another within a process with the Law of Seven. Any new possibilities require that something new enters when “the loss of vivifyingness” occurs. The possibility of renewal must be introduced.

This is a law that affects everything. 

For example, the Law of Seven is apparent in frequency of sound, the spectrum of color, the human chakra system, processes of Nature, and the seven stages of transformation. It can be seen in anything we do.

Bennett points out that every complete process has seven different qualities that must be recognized and experienced. Recognizing these qualities of 'sevenfoldness' in our own lives is something that comes from within. One begins to taste these qualities from beyond to understand that there are cosmic laws under which we are all subject. 

From my own perspective and experience, the Law of Seven has been elusive and mysterious. I have pondered its meaning in my life, in my career as a professional classical pianist, as the student of an esoteric system of transformation, and as a facilitator of an esoteric school for twenty years. 

I have learned to recognize certain qualities of 'sevenfoldness' to which Bennett refers that tell me to either push through or allow something to go beyond itself when pushing would only destroy the creation.

Here are the qualities described by Bennett:

1)  Aim - committing to action

2)  Contact - doing it; that which draws us out of the dream 

3)  Reciprocal Action - alchemy; something is responding 

4)  Harnel Aoot - birth pangs of the process 

5)  Moment of Truth - can produce its opposite; one chooses to enjoy it or serve it; we are either masters or slaves

6)  Creation - going beyond itself, i.e. higher bodies, nothing can go further if pushed from behind (as in previous two) 

7)  Result - We have something concrete that serves the creative process

Nothing truly begins without an aim. This comes from a higher frequency than thought or behavior. Aim must be animated by thought and emotion, secondary qualities that move the aim into actual result.

By the third stage, alchemy has occurred. The food gets cooked, a baby is conceived, a piece of art takes on some life of its own. I have seen this quality in action when learning and performing difficult musical masterpieces where the work takes on a life of its own and my relationship to it changes. 

We have been studying the Law of Seven in the weekly groups this last quarter of the year, and many students have given great examples of projects that underwent various recognizable phases, even becoming its own opposite.

The easiest quality to recognize is the “Harnel-Aoot” where one is “stuck in the middle.” The process has gone too far to go back and yet the end is not in sight. This is the birth pang of the process. One might feel hopeless and lost. Certainly in our spiritual life this can look like God has given up on us, or we find ourselves wandering in the desert with no urge to continue. In actual childbirth, this is the most difficult part of labor where the labor cannot be stopped and the baby is not yet born.

Working with the Law of Seven requires us to recognize when to stop trying so hard and when to push through a stuck place. There is much to be said about the fifth quality, the moment of truth, where we have a choice of conscience. We can either choose to serve or try to control the whole thing. One of these choices will certainly result in its opposite. 

“The same thing happens in all spheres of human activity. In literature, science, art, philosophy, religion, in individual and above all in social and political life, we can observe how the line of the development of forces deviates from its original direction and goes, after a certain time, in a diametrically opposite direction, still preserving it’s former name.” -Ouspensky

Bennett points out that one need look no further than the history of religion which in Christianity starts with a gospel preaching love and ends up in The Inquisition. It must have taken many turns in the line of development, unnoticed under the name of progress or evolution, to get to its opposite.

I am careful regarding this quality at the retreats. There is a certain point where I must let go of holding the container for anything to progress further in the right direction. I hold the reins up to a certain point, pushing to increase the energies by helping people to be still, quiet, concentrated, but at a very distinct moment, the work must be picked up by the participants for anything real to transpire. I must become in service to the cosmic law if something is to move forward. 

I saw it clearly when raising my three children. At some point, I had to trust that I did not need to protect them from life and its inherent shocks. I could not do the work for them. My interference would have stunted their growth process. This is the fifth quality, the moment of truth, where we let go of any control. Our work is done and must change at this point.

Finally, something is created and it may look different from our aim.

There is much to be learned from the Law of Seven. Perhaps from reading this, you may question where you are in a process. Think of your own inner work as being subject to the Law of Seven. There may be a recognizable point where what you are doing isn’t working and surrender is the best line of action.

It may also be a time to push harder instead of becoming complacent when a certain amount of success has been achieved. There are subtleties that are recognized through trial and error.

Hopefully, this may help you put into question what is happening in your life. It is something that is not easy to understand, but once you see it, you will recognize it in many things.