Serapis Bey, sometimes written as Serapis, is regarded in

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

as one of the

Masters of the Ancient Wisdom The Masters of the Ancient Wisdom are claimed to be Spiritual enlightenment, enlightened beings originally identified by the Theosophy (Blavatskian), Theosophists Helena Blavatsky, Henry S. Olcott, Alfred Percy Sinnett, and others. These Theosop ...

; and in the Ascended Master Teachings is considered to be an Ascended Master and member of the Great White Brotherhood. He is regarded as the ''Chohan'' (or Lord) of the Fourth Ray.Bailey, Alice A, '' A Treatise on Cosmic Fire'' (Section Three - Division A - Certain Basic Statements), 1932, Lucis Trust. 1925, p 1237 C. W. Leadbeater wrote that

Henry Steel Olcott Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Olcott was the first well-known American of Euro ...

was given occult training by Serapis Bey when his own master, Morya, was unavailable.Leadbeater, C.W. ''The Masters and the Path'' Adyar, Madras, India: 1925. The Theosophical Publishing House. page 238 A series of letters to Olcott, alleged to be from Serapis, encouraging Olcott to support Blavatsky in the founding of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

were published in the book ''Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom''.

Incarnations

It is thought that Serapis Bey was incarnated as a high priest in one of the "Temples of the Sacred Fire" on

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

who migrated to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

at the time of the destruction of

. It is also believed that he was incarnated as the Egyptian

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

Amenhotep III (who constructed the Temple of Luxor to the god Amun) and also as

Leonidas Leonidas I (; grc-gre, Λεωνίδας; died 19 September 480 BC) was a List of kings of Sparta#Heraclids, king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the List of kings of Sparta#Agiad dynasty, Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed d ...

, the King of

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

, who was killed in 480 BC defending the pass of

Thermopylae Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...

against the invasion of Greece by Emperor

Xerxes I of Persia Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of D ...

. According to the teachings of

Agni Yoga Agni Yoga (russian: А́гни Йо́га) or the Living Ethics (russian: links=no, Жива́я Э́тика), or the Teaching of Life (russian: links=no, Уче́ние Жи́зни), is a Neo-Theosophical religious doctrine transmitted by ...

, Serapis Bey was in past lives the Roman King Numa Pompilius, the philosophers Confucius, Plato and Lucius Annaeus Seneca. He is referred in the book ''Supermundane'' as "The Thinker".

Ascension

Adherents of the Ascended Master Teachings believe that Serapis Bey, after being killed as Leonidas in the battle of Thermopylae, immediately reembodied as

Phidias Phidias or Pheidias (; grc, Φειδίας, ''Pheidias''; 480 – 430 BC) was a Greek sculptor, painter, and architect. His Statue of Zeus at Olympia was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Phidias also designed the stat ...

(c. 480–430 BC), the greatest of all classical Greek sculptors.Luk, A.D.K.. ''Law of Life - Book II''. Pueblo, Colorado: A.D.K. Luk Publications 1989, Listing of Ascended Masters by The I AM Activity and

The Bridge to Freedom The Bridge to Freedom, an Ascended Master Teachings religion, was established in 1951 by Geraldine Innocente and other students of the Ascended Masters, after she received what was believed to be an "anointing" to become a "messenger" for the Gre ...

He then attained his Ascension, becoming an Ascended Master about 400 BC.

Identification with the Hellenistic deity Serapis

Serapis Bey has been identified by Theosophists and those adherent to the Ascended Master Teachings with the god

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...

who was the

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

used by King Ptolemy I as the deity of his capital city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. Serapis was the patron deity of the Library of Alexandria.

Function in the spiritual hierarchy

C. W. Leadbeater wrote that many artists are on the fourth ray of harmony and beauty, which Serapis Bey is said to oversee as Chohan. In the teachings of

Alice Bailey Alice Ann Bailey (June 16, 1880 – December 15, 1949) was a writer of more than twenty-four books on theosophical subjects, and was one of the first writers to use the term New Age. Bailey was born as Alice La Trobe-Bateman, in Mancheste ...

the fourth ray is called the ray of ''harmony through conflict''. Ascended Master Teachings organizations consider Serapis Bey to be the Chohan of the Fourth Ray of Purity, Harmony, and Discipline.

Skeptical view

The scholar K. Paul Johnson maintains that the "Masters" that

Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, uk, Олена Петрівна Блаватська, Olena Petrivna Blavatska (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian mystic and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 187 ...

wrote about and produced letters from were actually idealizations of people who were her

mentor Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...

s.Johnson, Paul K. Initiates of Theosophical Masters Albany, New York:1995 State University of New York Press Also see the article “Talking to the Dead and Other Amusements” by

Paul Zweig Paul Zweig (July 14, 1935 – August 29, 1984) was an American poet, memoirist, and critic known for his study on Walt Whitman. Biography Zweig was born in Brooklyn on July 14, 1935, and was raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Brighton ...

in the ''New York Times'' October 5, 1980, which maintains that Helena Blavatsky's revelations were fraudulent.

Notes

Sources

* Leadbeater, C.W. ''The Masters and the Path'' Adyar, Madras, India: 1925 Theosophical Publishing House * Prophet, Mark L. and Elizabeth Clare ''Lords of the Seven Rays'' Livingston, Montana, U.S.A.:1986 - Summit University Press