The Law of Seven is the design, or patterning principle, of all functioning holistic systems, from a plant to a human to a solar system to a universe.
For example, the sevenfold composition of a plant consists of the seed, root, stem, branch, leaf, flower, and fruit. The plant then is a fully functioning system which is greater than the sum of these components.
The Law of Seven is in the seven visible colors of the rainbow, the seven notes of the musical scale, the seven planets, the seven Archangels, the seven metals of alchemy, the seven endocrine glands, the seven chakras etc.
Law of the Octave
The Law of Seven is related to the Law of the Octave, the repeating aspect of the Law of Seven, where the fruit of one cycle transforms into the seed for the next cycle.
The octave of the musical scale is organized by the notes DO RE MI FA SO LA SI DO, with intervals between MI and FA and between SI and DO.
In a process of creative unfoldment in accordance with the Law of the Octave, there are always these intervals, or break points. These intervals cause the momentum to change direction, to deviate, eventually circling back to the starting point.
There must be particular effort at these intervals so as to not repeat the same pattern, and to actually develop, change, and move to a higher octave.
Work in the Octave
There is a sevenfold psychology within the human organism consisting of seven centers of function: the sexual, instinctive, motor, inferior and superior emotional, and inferior and superior intellectual centers.
In order to awaken there must be a Herculean work of liberating these centers from their mechanical conditioning within the ego.
Progress along the initiatic path is achieved with the wise application of the Law of the Octave.
The initiatic path requires struggling against entropy, to be able to elaborate the soul of God within.
When we start to walk on the path of inner transformation with practices of mystical death, transmutation, and sacrifice for others, we will find nearly every kind of resistance at these intervals.
For example, to set an intention to meditate every day is starting a project at the note DO. The project passes relatively easily to the notes RE and MI with a few days or weeks of consistent practice.
Inevitably some inner or outer resistance, crisis, lack of motivation, distraction etc. arises, breaking up the consistency and losing the momentum toward a change of inner state.
To achieve an elevation of our level of Being there must be extra effort, persistence, and determination in order to reach the next octave.
Progress to a higher octave brings new perspective, a different level of vibration that will start to change the circumstances of our life.
The Seven Notes
“The keynote, the seven vowels of nature resound in all creation! Each flower, each mountain, each river, has its own particular note, its note synthesis, each world has its keynote. The combination of all the keynotes of the infinite forms the ineffable orchestration of the starry spaces; this is the music of the spheres which Pythagoras spoke about.”
-Samael Aun Weor, Logos Mantram Theurgy
Everything in creation has a keynote, its own particular vibration and sound. The music of the spheres is the “ineffable orchestration” of all the vibrations of nature. The simple seven notes expand into an infinitely complex yet harmonious whole.
Three and Seven in Kabbalah
“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing;
so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
-Genesis 2:2
Just as a beam of white light passes through a three-sided prism, the light of the Absolute passes through the first triad of the Kabbalah to initiate creation.
In accordance with the Law of Three, the light becomes visible, manifest, multiple.
Following that first triad, creation unfolds within the Tree of Life in accordance with the Law of Seven, symbolized in the seven days of creation of Genesis.
There are seven sephiroth on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life which correspond to the sevenfold structure of the soul and the internal God.
This is also seen in the book of Exodus with the ten commandments of Moses. The commandments are divided into two tablets. The first tablet contains the three laws related to God, the second tablet contains the seven laws related to humanity.
The Law of Three governs the act of creation (God), and the Law of Seven governs the functioning of the created (humanity).
Seven in Gnostic Esotericism
“Above all, we must remember that there are seven sublime lords and seven truths, and this invites us to reflect.”
-Samael Aun Weor
Samael Aun Weor teaches of the seven rounds and the seven races, the seven types of human, the seven bodies of the soul, and the seven serpents of both fire and light that must be conquered on the initiatic path.
“The adept who has reached the seventh qualified degree, who has reached the seventh qualified initiation is obviously perfectly handling the seven minds, and after having disintegrated the ego and the personality receives the baptism of fire, and this is transcendental. This is why in the Revelation of Saint John, when arriving at the seventh seal, when the seventh seal is opened, it is stated by the voice of the seventh angel that, ‘the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.’
There are seven seals, seven cups, and seven trumpets; this is something that none of you can deny. Indeed, the Revelation of Saint John is the book of wisdom. It is the book that the Apostle James the Greater has rolled in his right hand. It is the book that guides the alchemists. Without the book of Revelation, the science of the Great Work cannot be understood.”
-Samael Aun Weor, Seven Minds and Seven Truths