These vast periods of evolution have great beings of enormous stature looking after them. Evolution isn't just a series of random mutations, but proceeds in a co-ordinated Plan. Sub races usually have a spiritual Master incarnate among them to help guide or create a religion. Each Root Race has a great guide called a Manu who among other things incarnates to help set the physical type of each race. Most of these Manus and Masters are known in our history. An entire World Period of its seven Root Races has a great being called the Lord of the World looking after it. Moving up the hierarchy, an entire Round is co-ordinated by a Round Manu, and an entire Chain of seven globes is co-ordinated by several Chain Manus.

Our entire series of seven Chains forms a Scheme of evolution. The one we are in now we call the Earth or Terrene Scheme. There are other Schemes in our solar system which the other physical planets other than Earth, Mercury, and Mars, and many etheric planets belong to. Our solar system is composed of ten Schemes total. Each Scheme goes through seven Chains, and is presently in a particular one of them with its seven globes. Of the ten Schemes, only seven have any physical planets. The seven principal Schemes or planets within them form the "Seven Sacred Planets" and the "Seven Rays" of our solar system. Here is a brief description of each Scheme, which is generally named after its densest planet in its current Chain:

(1) The Vulcan Scheme: Presently in its third Chain, it has one physical globe (the planet Vulcan inside Mercury's orbit), two astral, two lower mental, and two Causal globes.

(2) The Venus Scheme: Presently in its fifth Chain, it also has one physical (Venus itself), two astral, two mental, and two Causal globes.

(3) The Earth Scheme: This is our Scheme presently in its fourth Chain, with three physical (Mercury, Earth, and Mars), two astral, and two mental globes.

(4), (5), (6) The Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus Schemes: All three of these Schemes are in their third Chain, and each of them have one physical, two astral, two lower mental, and two Causal globes.

(7) The Neptune Scheme: This Scheme is in its fourth Chain, and like ours has three physical, two astral, and two mental globes. One of the physical globes is Neptune, while the other two should be outside of its orbit. Pluto is likely one of them, although it has an eccentric orbit unlike all the other principle physical globes. This means there is one and perhaps two physical planets beyond Pluto's orbit which have yet to be discovered. If the Neptune Chain is organized like Earth's, then the far out undiscovered planet would be its globe C, Pluto its globe D (with Charon being perhaps like our Moon and the remnant of Globe D of its third Chain), and Neptune its globe E.

Schemes (8), (9), and (10) are all in their earlier Chains (either first or second) and hence have no physical globes. Scheme eight is usually called the Asteroids Scheme, since its first physical planet in its third Chain will be where the asteroid belt is now, with some physical matter already available to be consolidated for it. Although it isn't known, I believe two of these Schemes are in their second Chain while the tenth is in its first. If this were the case then all ten of our Schemes would be logically organized with one in its first Chain, two in their second, four in their third, two in their fourth, and one in its fifth. It's been suggested that the Uranians, if physical, form an outer asteroid belt, and if so could be like our inner asteroid belt and hence perhaps be the future point for Scheme nine, the "Uranian" Scheme, to physically come in at. However as the Venus Scheme is in its last Chain with any physical globes, there will be room in its orbit for planets from other Schemes to be created at in the future, say the tenth, which for lack of any other name we could call the "Venus II" Scheme.

Looking at all ten Schemes together, and assuming that of Schemes eight, nine, and ten, two are indeed in their second Chains while the other is in its first, we can come up with the following totals for the number of principle planets in our solar system: On the physical plane are 11 planets (two with physical life and the other nine with only etheric evolution). Discounting the Earth, and counting the Moon and the Sun, this gives us our 12 physical planets corresponding to each zodiac sign! On the astral plane are 16 planets (astral project and more than double the number of visible planets in the sky), or 27 also counting the 11 physical planets with their astral counterparts. On the mental plane are 35 planets (19 on the lower mental and 16 on the Causal) which again more the double the number of planets on all the lower planes (with 62 total counting the lower plane counterparts). On the buddhic plane are 6 planets (68 total), and on the atmic are 2 planets. All together we have a grand total of 70 planets in our solar system.

As the Venus Scheme is the only one in its fifth Chain, entities in it are the most highly evolved in the solar system, and have helped out Earth in the past. The second most highly evolved Schemes are our own and the Neptune Scheme. Note that as globe D in the Neptune Scheme is fully physical, it should have physical life instead of etheric, meaning there should be extraterrestrial life on this planet that we can see and physically interact with! Although it wouldn't be remotely like ourselves, I'll be one of the first to propose that there may be life on Pluto about at our level of evolution! The small planetoid Charon with its eccentric orbit is probably not any globe of any Chain, although it could be a remnant from a previous Chain or even globe C or E of the Neptune Scheme.

The Vulcan Scheme, if it is indeed fully in its third Chain, should have a fully physical planet inside Mercury's orbit. As there doesn't seem to be any such readily visible object with physical gravity, it's possible that Vulcan's globe D is fully on the etheric sub planes of the physical plane, unlike the Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus Schemes. Or, as Vulcan's meaning is very similar to the Sun's, the physical Sun itself could be being used as Vulcan's globe D.

Astrologically, one can get a very rough idea of the type of evolution happening on any Scheme, through the influence we have associated with its various physical planets. Our own Terrene Scheme, involving our Earth, Mars, and Mercury forms a general theme which can be described as doing, experience, or will. Note as within the ubiquitous groups of seven, the third generally deals with activity, as in our third Root Race, the fourth with emotion, as in our fourth Root Race and fourth Round, and the fifth with intellect, as with our present Root Race, the same can be applied to globes within our own Chain. Hence globe C, Mars, is focused upon activity, and our globe E, Mercury is focused upon intellect, which is very similar to the astrological meanings these planets have. Our own Earth, globe D, is perceived from other planets as an influence of emotion or wilful feeling, which is similar the meaning we have assigned to our Moon, globe D of our previous Chain. Neptune, and the other planets in its Chain, which may include an undiscovered planet, Pluto, or even Charon have a general theme of aspects of consciousness in its evolution, and in our astrological influences assigned to them.

An entire Scheme itself acts as one great being called a Planetary Logos. This level is the first that touches the Logoic plane and is able to act as a "Creator" and bring forth new life. All the Schemes put together form the greater being of a Solar Logos, which is the spirit of our solar system. Even solar systems form groups through which evolution proceeds in sequence. Looking at all the levels, right now most of us are in the sixth sub race of the fifth Root Race of the fourth globe of the fourth Round of the fourth Chain of the third Scheme of the second solar system.

Evolution proceeds in a grand Plan through all the kingdoms of nature. Each entity in our solar system began its evolution with its monad projecting a "body" of a single atom on the Causal or higher mental plane. Eventually it involves to become a lower mental atom, and after that an astral atom. Finally it enters the physical mineral kingdom and becomes the spirit of rocks. After this it evolves through the vegetable, animal, then human kingdoms, with seven kingdoms total. The length of time any one entity spends in any kingdom is about one Chain, meaning the whole period of ones evolution through all kingdoms is about the period of one planetary Scheme. Many of us who are human now were animals in our planet's third Chain, and individualized and became human in one of its later Rounds, with the advanced people we regard as spiritual masters having entered the human kingdom a Round or so before us. Going back, this means we were minerals in the first Chain of our Earth Scheme, and likely first entered evolution all together in the fifth Chain of some previous Scheme in an earlier solar system.

Note that saying that we were physical minerals in Earth's first Chain isn't entirely sufficient in our case as the lowest globe in any first or seventh Chain is on the mental plane, hence there is no physical or astral matter available for such entities to directly involve in. One can only say that the Great Ones co-ordinating such evolution "think about" their advancement on the higher planes so they progress in a similar manner. This means many of us got a "free ride" when in the astral and physical elemental kingdoms.

Actually it doesn't take us an entire Chain to proceed through one kingdom. That's the time period covered, but we only spend about what sums up to one Round's worth of time active in any one Chain, being in a state of spiritual sleep on the higher planes for the other periods. An advanced human doesn't need to spend time in the earlier Rounds of a new Chain. Many of us who were human in the latter Rounds of the Moon Chain have only just recently entered the Earth Chain, on this very globe, even within the last century in our own race, the earlier rounds not being evolved enough for useful evolutionary progress. Also, as the average evolutionary state in a race, globe, and so on becomes more advanced there are times when less evolved entities get removed, to eventually continue growing in the earlier parts of a future race, globe, etc. These "judgement days" of various degrees and orders form the basis of the Earth Changes and so on one hears about, with a major boundary point for our entire World Period likely coming soon.

Our entire solar system forms one beautiful coherent whole. On the extreme high spiritual planes, the various globes of a Chain are actually connected together through a higher dimension, looking like the petals of a flower. On still higher levels, all the Schemes are connected together, with the entire solar system being one great lotus with planetary Logos as petals or organs in its body. All the above are in an eternal dance with numerous overlapping cycles. What corresponds to these great beings breathing, or their heart beats, and the spiritual energies as projected through the solar system, are what forms the basis of astrological influences. Looking at the movements of the various physical planets can give us at least a clue to these cycles and their meanings.

Groups of groups of solar systems eventually form the spirits of zodiac signs or the arms of a spiral galaxy. All these together form a Galactic Logos which is the spirit of a galaxy and has stars as cells in its body. Galaxies act as organs in the bodies of galactic clusters, which in turn form super clusters. Eventually we have a divine being acting as the entire physical plane, where all the planes together form, at least what we can conceive of, God.

"Who am I, What am I? As I am, I am not. But as we are, I AM. And to you my creation, My Perfect Love is your Perfect Freedom. And I will be with you forever and ever, until the End, and then forever more." - GOD