2011 Reprint of 1944 Fourth Illustrated Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Alice Ann Bailey (1880-1949), known as Alice A. Bailey or AAB to her followers, was an influential writer and theosophist in what she termed "Ageless Wisdom". This included occult teachings, "esoteric" psychology and healing, astrological and other philosophic and religious themes. Alice Bailey was born in Manchester, England. She moved to the United States in 1907, where she spent most of her life as a writer and teacher. In Bailey's writings, evolution is defined as the process of bringing the "lower nature", that is one's physical, emotional, and mental selves, into integration and alignment with the will of the soul,or higher nature. It is this transformation that leads to "right human relations" and spiritual revelation or awakening. Discrete steps on the spiritual path are called initiations, which is to say that the evolving consciousness is entering into new and wider fields of awareness, relationships, responsibilities, and power. This work explains her philosophy at work. A classic text.