The Law of One (The Ra Material)
The Ra Material (known as the The Law of One in later editions) is a collected series of transcripts, of more than 100 sessions, reputedly authored by a non-human intelligence named Ra, claimed to be a group of individual souls at a "higher level of spiritual evolution" that were "channeled" by Carla L. Rueckert (McCarty) in the early 1980s. The series presents commentary and transcripts of dialogue between Don Elkins and Ra, and was published between 1982 and 1998 by Schiffer Books. The publishers attribute the authorship to Don Elkins, Jim McCarty, and Carla L. Rueckert.
The material makes further claims of Ra being of "extraterrestrial" origin, and that Ra had once visited ancient Egypt and assisted in the construction of the pyramids.
The material offers its own metaphysical, cosmological and epistemological views based on its claim of the "Law of One".
Overview
Ra is claimed to be from the "Confederation of Planets in the Service of the Infinite Creator" and the books give an outline of a New Age description of evolution of consciousness; the concept of the soul (spirit, essence) is said to be reincarnating through these different levels or "densities:" 1st density being "mineral consciousness", 2nd density being "vegetable consciousness and animal consciousness", and 3rd density being human life, self-reflective consciousness.
The book argues that the goal of a soul is to "polarize" in one of two possible directions: "Positive polarization" (labeled as "service-to-others") through identifying with others empathetically, or "negative polarization" (labeled as "service-to-self") through "separating" the self from others. Souls are said to "harvest" and proceed to the next level once they are properly "polarized". Being one of the main themes from the series, the time of such a harvest was interpreted as imminent in the decade of 2010 and above.
It is said that the levels continue in "polarization" and "harvests" until the 6th density where life aims for "total reunification with all".
Reception
Jay Kinney, editor of Gnosis: A Journal of the Western Inner Traditions, wrote that it was worth having a look at for its version of "higher worlds":
"Admittedly, channeled information from aliens tops most people's list of dubious sources, and I am not touting it as a revealed truth demanding our allegiance. Nevertheless the system is worth at least a few minutes' attention for its sophisticated version of the general doctrine of higher worlds".
Kinney also criticized the material as open to ethical misuse:
"The drawback of the Ra schema is that it is readymade for paranoid or moralistic abuse, inviting the too neat division of people into positive or negative categories, and projecting those polarized values in even starker fashion onto immaterial realms that are, for most of us, vague intuitions at best".