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Virgo is one of the Mercurial signs. Mercury was the messenger of the gods, and it is therefore little wonder that Virgo is the House of Service. It is also Mercury's exaltation sign where his influence is most pronounced.
On the longest and darkest night of the year, at the winter solstice, the Celestial Virgin stands upon the eastern horizon at midnight. At that time the Sun commences its new circuit and begins to mount upwards towards the vernal equinox, giving its life for the purpose of saving humanity from the hunger, darkness, and cold that would inevitably ensue were it to stay in southern latitude all the time. The Sun is said to be born of the Celestial Virgin, and the sign Virgo stands as the most sublime symbol of service as well as of divine motherhood, for the greatest service that can be rendered to humanity is the giving of birth to a new Sun each year to be the savior of the world.
Mercury in Virgo or in the sixth house well aspected always shows one who is faithful unto the end. No matter what responsibility may be put upon him he will always acquit himself well. And even when Mercury is in the sixth house and unaspected, there is always a desire to serve, to help somebody.
You will remember that the Christ said, "He that would be the greatest among you, let him be the servant of all." Therefore Mercury in Virgo or the sixth house is really one of the most beneficial positions that anyone can have; not perhaps so far as earthly treasure is concerned, but for those who love to lay up treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt this is a splendid position. Jupiter and Venus in the sixth house or Virgo also have the benevolent tendency to serve others regardless of self. The Sun stimulates growth and it is fortunate for the growth of the character and the soul if he is in Virgo or the sixth house, always provided of course that he is well aspected, for in the final analysis there is no greater luck or better fortune that could happen to anyone in the world than to be a real servant. Compared with this privilege, riches or even comfort are dross.
Saturn is the planet of obstruction, and naturally he has the tendency in Virgo or the sixth house, as elsewhere, to obstruct in whatever line he works. Therefore when in these positions he suppresses all the energy that otherwise might be expressed in service; he makes the person selfish in the very highest degree. Mercury in his exaltation sign, Virgo, expresses service. This is the only place in the zodiac where an unaspected Mercury signifies something definite. The cold hand of Saturn by conjunction or square is the only power that can squelch it here. Saturn's influence is particularly pronounced of course if Mercury is otherwise evilly aspected.
The keyword of Mars is Dynamic Energy. Therefore when he is posited in Virgo or the sixth house he will naturally make the native do something. Virgo people are rather active in youth, but there comes with age a tendency to take things easy. This of course would be effectually counteracted by the presence of a well aspected Mars in Virgo or in the sixth house. The unaspected influence of Jupiter or Venus in Virgo or the sixth house might result in the native only dreaming about what he wanted to do to serve humanity if conditions were favorable, or what he intended to do at some later day. But Mars would always bring action: he never dreams; he does. If he is evilly aspected in these positions, of course it may not be service that will be rendered for the good of others, but it may result in evil agitation as demagoguery, visionary gossip, tale-bearing, or stirring up strife.
It is a well known fact that a machine wears out and gradually deteriorates by use and service. How soon it does this depends upon how well it was built in the first place, and how much service or abuse it has had during the time it has been in use. The body is like a machine, and naturally when it has been in service for a number of years or for a certain time, the defects in it show forth. Therefore the house of service, the sixth house, is also the house of health or ill health. And as the Sun of Life passes the meridian and begins to throw its shadows towards the east, we find in the Virgo people a tendency toward corpulence of body, particularly of that part ruled by Virgo, namely, the abdomen. They neglect to take exercise, and naturally on this account a sluggish condition of the intestines may set in which retains the poisons in the body, robs life of its joys, and makes them indifferent. In this fact lies the greatest danger to the Virgo people. Once they get into the rut of sickness they actually enjoy poor health; they love to talk over their symptoms with other people, and they resent any thought or suggestion given to them that they are not sick or that they can get well.
The presence of Saturn in Virgo or the sixth house accentuates this tendency in the very highest degree, and therefore it is an almost infallible sign that the native will have or be subject to illness, the nature of this disease being denoted by the aspect and the afflicting planets.
The Sun brings light and life wherever it is except in the sixth house and to some extent in the twelfth. The sixth house seems to rob the Sun of every ray of light and to make the native subject to disease with a resistlessness that is almost like the effect of Saturn, unless other configurations in the horoscope enable the native to shake off this influence. When this is the case, the Sun in Virgo or the sixth house gives great ability in chemistry and the preparation of health foods, and makes the person a capable nurse or healer.
Mars in Virgo or the sixth house renders the person liable to operations where sharp instruments are used; also to fevers. As the Moon is an indicator of health for a woman, it is worse in a female nativity to have the Moon in the sixth house than the Sun. Conversely in a male nativity it is worse to have the Sun there than the Moon.
In order to deal successfully with Virgo people when they have once become subject to disease and to get them out of it at all, it is necessary to be firm almost to the verge of cruelty. But though one may seem cruel in enforcing upon them the regime that is necessary to bring them away from themselves this is really the greatest kindness that can be shown, for once these people are in the grip of sickness, they stubbornly refuse to let go; they will resort to the most cunning, even childish schemes to excite sympathy, particularly from strangers, and they will resent any effort to show them that they are not helpless invalids. At the very slightest suggestion of a hopeful nature they sometimes lose their temper in the most unwarranted manner. But when at last they are given the deaf ear by everybody, when people who are in their immediate environment can be persuaded to show them no sympathy, then they may come to themselves. They need a shock to bring them out and away from their condition; and until they get that they never can be cured.
Virgo people who have the mental balance to resist the tendency towards being sick and enjoying being sick make the most excellent nurses one can imagine. They are also splendid housekeepers, although they are rather peculiar in their tastes.
It is really wonderful how the symbology of the signs is brought out in the different kinds of people born under them. Take for instance the sign Leo: the people who are born under this sign always want to be noted; they are aggressive and want to attract attention everywhere they go. They aim to be leaders, never followers. Virgo, on the other hand, has the very opposite character; for while the lion is naturally bold and masterful, the virgin is naturally timid and shrinking. Similarly, the people who are born under Virgo are always afraid to be noticed; they shrink from the public eye; they are timid and afraid. But the lion is bloodthirsty and cruel, and there are no more cruel people than the Leos. On the other hand a maiden is tender and sympathetic. So are the people who are born under Virgo. That is why they make such splendid nurses, if they can keep from taking on the conditions of the patient. the Virgo people never can bear to see bloodshed or to touch dead things. They feel bodily injury to others more than harm done to themselves, and are in fact well described by the word "chicken-hearted."
(You are welcome to e-mail your answers and/or comments to us. Please be sure to include the course name and Independent Study Module number in your e-mail to us. Or, you are also welcome to use the answer form below. You will find the answers to the questions below in the next Astrology Independent Study Module.)
1. If the Moon and Neptune were in Virgo square to Mercury, what do you think would be the result?
To construct a chart for South latitude simply add 12 hours to the Sidereal Time at birth. First proceed according to instructions given in Simplified Scientific Astrology and Independent Study Modules 1 to 5 of the Astrology Course. Then to the calculated Sidereal Time add 12 hours; if the sum is more than 24 hours, subtract 24 hours and the remainder will be the Sidereal Time at birth, for a birth occurring in South latitude. At the bottom of the page in the Tables of Houses you will see the word Houses followed by 4-5-6-7-8-9; these are the houses you use, that is, you start with the 4th house instead of the 10th as usual. For example, if Cancer is on the 10th house, then in a chart for South latitude it will be on the 4th and Capricorn will be on the 10th house.
The reason for adding the twelve hours to the calculated sidereal time of a chart lies in the name of sidereal time itself. Sidereal time may be roughly regarded as the division of a year into a 24-hour "day" beginning near the vernal equinox. Since this equinoctial north of the equator is six months or twelve sidereal hours out of phase with the same event south of the equator, we must make this 12-hour correction for any chart for the south latitudes.
Uranus in Sagittarius: Attraction to the esoteric, intuitive.
Sun in 1st house: Cheerful, courageous, authoritative, physically strong.
Moon in 6th house: Changes in work, success in subordinate position rather than as employer.
Uranus square Moon: Conceited, intolerant, trouble with women.
Uranus trine Sun: Idealistic, original, inventive, progressive.
Uranus in Sagittarius would give an aspiring, original and active mind, with a vivid imagination expressed along individual and original lines. The square to the Moon in the 6th house would have a tendency to make the person overbearing and intolerant of others, and it would also indicate a clandestine attachment either on the part of the native or the marriage partner. The trine to the life-giving Sun in the 1st house would greatly offset this aspect by giving a cheerful and optimistic disposition, as well as great courage and energy. The native might become a leader along some original line of thought in the field of religion, education, esotericism, etc.
The essence of spiritual service of any kind is performed by the person who transmutes the negative areas of his own subconscious, strengthens and disciplines his mental faculties, keeps his heart consciousness alive with love power, and seeks always to be perceptive of the best in others. The perception of the actual or potential good in others is an ignition which sooner or later makes possible the expression of that good. The essence of evolutionary progress is the ever-unfolding awareness of Good; we as individuals make a contribution to the progress of the race as a whole when, by regenerate consciousness, we are able to alert others to a recognition of their higher potentials for the fulfillment of talents and abilities, health, love, and success in any field of endeavor.
The term "white light" is a symbolized expression of this consciousness. White is the composite of all color refractions; in its purest form it stands as a symbol of the vibration of consciousness which is centered in God. The refractions of white light may be referred to, or thought of, as soul qualities, corresponding spiritually to the variations found in the color spectrums. Each of these colors manifests the principle of diversity as an expression of unity, in that each quality has its vibratory ranges from the most primitive, unregenerate aspects to its most regenerate and highly spiritualized aspects. The utmost degree of pure, luminous white composites the best of all visual vibratory expressions as a symbol of consciousness perfected.
The astrologer, in his study of horoscopes of human beings, is actually studying, analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting vibratory patterns of soul qualities representing all possible ranges of development and their reflection, in the world of forms, as experience patterns. The artistic consciousness of the painter, for example, is reflected by what is found on his canvases; that of the musician is manifested by that which comes out of his instrument.
The astrologer, also an interpretative artist, expresses his consciousness by the way he interprets the horoscopes of others; the horoscopes are his instruments — corresponding to the brush, colors, and canvas of the painter, and to the violin of the musician. The astrologer's consciousness of good corresponds to the composite of the artistic perceptions of the esthetic interpreter. Inspiration is the ignition of all consciousnesses that are aligned to truth and beauty; for the astrologer, this ignition is made possible when he charges his consciousness with the desire to interpret a horoscope according to the best of all its potentials. This means that he makes his ultimate interpretative goal that of alerting the client to a recognition of the best and finest of the latter's soul colors and soul tones.
The impersonality of the astrologer's service makes it imperative that, when he is at his work, he lift his consciousness from down- pulling patterns of personal feeling and emotion. We suggest, as a preparatory technique for developing this faculty, meditation on the following mandala: a circle, blank except for a round dot, or spot, in the exact center. This mandala is the most perfectly impersonal representation of a horoscope that it is possible to make. It conveys no experience pattern, emotion pattern, nor friction, sorrow, or difficulty. The dot in the center can stand as the purpose of the astrologer's task. It is one-pointed, condensed, and undifferentiated. That purpose is to be a source of spiritual enlightenment to the client and when meditation on that purpose is, itself, focused and concentrated, personal down-pullings vanish from the consciousness of the astrologer. In this way the astrologer "white lights" himself; his next step is to "white light" the client. He does so by adding to the above mandala the vertical and horizontal diameters; the result is the most abstract and impersonal portrait of a human being that can be made. This mandala is a composite picture of the spiritual consciousness — the central dot; the state of physical incarnation is the cross formed by the straight lines; and the enveloping of the perfect circle is divine power, divine love, and divine wisdom The mandala pictures a human being who is conscious of his spiritual origin and of the spirituality of incarnation. From meditation on this portrait, the white light awareness of the astrologer toward the client is unfolded.
The next step in developing white light awareness is for the astrologer to add the other diameters to the above mandala, thus completing the twelve-fold horoscopical wheel. The mandala now presents the picture of the client as subject to the same general patterns of experience and relationship that are common to all other human beings. These twelve "houses" are the "rooms" of the house in which the entity, Humanity, lives during incarnation. Each is as necessary as all the others, each has its particularized significance in experience, and each is a work-shop for the creation of greater good on all planes of human expression and realization.
The mandala, as it now stands, is the essential pattern of all horoscopes. Meditation on it, as a picturing of human life, can be made by all astrologers so that the realization of evolutionary purpose in human life may become deeper and clearer each day. Every horoscope perceived as a "variation-expression" of this mandala stands a much better chance of being sensitively and intuitively interpreted; without this preparation of "White Lighting" the basic pattern, the astrologer risks mental entanglement among all the complex factors of a natal horoscope. Further — and this is important — since horoscopes represent people, the astrologer develops the response of "white lighting" people automatically when he contacts them in his daily living. This is a natural development from his daily white light meditation on the astrological mandala because he throws out to people an awareness which is being more and more focused on perfections.
From the abstract design we now begin to apply the white light technique to personal variations; we leave the universal pattern to consider particular patterns.
The old admonition, "Charity begins at home," can be restated here in this form: The development of white light technique begins with the astrologer's meditation on his own chart. He, a human being, has the same essential pattern as has any other human being. But his particulars differ to a degree from those of anyone else.
His being an astrologer does not automatically exempt him from patterns of personal feelings in the form of prejudice, resentment, false pride, envy, etc. However, his being an astrologer imposes on him the responsibility of transcending these negatives as soon, and as completely, as possible. His negatives can congeal and crystallize just as anyone else's can; so he, the astrologer, must turn his impersonal consciousness on himself, the human being. This is a truth: to the degree that an astrologer remains fixated in negative reaction patterns he limits his interpretative abilities. In that state he transposes his own negatives into similar patterns which he may find in another's chart. For example: a male astrologer has become fixated on a pattern of aversion to a specific feminine expression of human life. He has, toward that expression, a deep subconscious feeling of dislike or animosity — the result of his reaction to a problem- experience some time in his past. He has never released that frictional feeling from his subconscious. How, we ask, can he adequately interpret and psychologically or spiritually solve a similar condition which he finds in the chart of another male? There are astrologers who, motivated by deep urges toward self-defense and self-justification, fail to interpret correctly certain patterns in their charts which others can see at a glance. A little white light is urgently needed at that point.
We astrologers, as a general thing, find no difficulty in "white lighting" the twelve houses of the chart. The houses stand as picturings of basic experience patterns and, as such, convey a more directly impersonal meaning. But some of us seem to have it in for certain planets and/or planetary aspects. Why? Because the planets are the focalizations of consciousness and some of the patterns they make in relationship to each other picture the friction and testing of consciousness patterns. We tend to regard as bad, evil, or unfortunate any experience pattern which ignites our unregenerate consciousness levels, thus causing us to experience reactions of pain. Those which ignite our regenerate levels of consciousness we interpret as benefic, fortunate, and happy. The symbolic composite we call black — evil, painful or bad — is to be worked on though the alchemicalizations of regenerating experience and transmuted into that which we call white. Why not, then, learn to perceive the whiteness inherent in all planetary qualities and relationships? This comprises the interpretative phase of white light astrology.
The whiteness of any planet is the life principle which is symbolized by that planet. The diversity of expression of any planet is just another way of saying: the diversity of expression of human consciousness. According to your development you are aware of these principles; according to your non-development you are unaware of their meaning and significance. The purpose of white-lighting anything is to become more aware of its spiritual meaning.
However clearly you, as an astrologer, may delineate and understand the chart of another person, it is suggested that a plan be adopted by which you may become more perceptive of your own whiteness. This plan involves meditation on several mandalas abstracted from your own chart; one mandala for each of your planets. These mandalas will not involve the use of numbers in any form since number implies limitation, and whiteness is unlimited. Do not permit a single negative, down-pulling keyword to be used in these interpretations. Use only words which convey levels of spiritualized consciousness.
The mandala for your Sun position will be a circle with the twelve houses: the symbol for Leo on your Leo cusp; the symbol of the Sun placed in the house and sign where you have it; the symbol for your Sun sign is placed on its appropriate cusp. This is the concentrated picture of your Sun seen with white light. Synthesize by spiritual keywords every factor of this picture — it is the spiritualized essence of your Sun consciousness, will-power and purpose, the radiation of creative love.
Your Venus mandala: a wheel like the above with the symbols for Taurus and Libra on the cusps appropriate to your chart; the symbol for Venus — the abstract symbol of the fulfilled feminine consciousness, the refinements of the soul, the esthetic awareness, the capacity for cooperation, etc. — to be placed in the house and sign where you have it, the symbol of the sign containing Venus placed on the cusp appropriate to your chart. And so on — one mandala for each of the other planets.
The impression that is conveyed by each of your planetary mandalas is that of a pure color, a light blazing without hindrance. There are no implied complications or limitations to the ability of the planet to radiate at its fullest.
Your white light horoscope is the composite of all your planetary mandalas: a wheel with your signs on the cusps, your planets placed according to the houses and signs in which you have them. Utilizing the most spiritual principles as key words, you now interpret your chart as a picture of the highest and best that you are capable of experiencing and realizing in this incarnation. Your chart, in this form, is an astrological portrait of your ideal self.
The next step is to abstract a white light mandala, in the same way as is described above, for each of your square and/or opposition aspects; we will call these patterns aspect mandalas. Do not place the planetary degrees in the aspect mandala but meditate with spiritual key words on the two planets involved. Since each planet in an aspect mandala blazes with the sane pure essential light that it does in its own mandala, you are now exercising the faculty of synthesis to white-light a two-fold pattern. Follow out the same plan in application to your compound (involving three planets or more) aspects.
After the white light preparation has been made the squares and oppositions in your natal chart will be clearly and truthfully seen to be the process of experience and reactions to experience by which you regenerate your life on all planes. In conclusion, this statement is offered for your spiritual consideration: Regeneration of consciousness is not for the purpose of making trines for the future, it is for the purpose of unfolding God-consciousness through the expression of your planets according to their spiritualized white light principles.
Jupiter, as the abstract ruler of the ninth house, is the astrological symbol of the teacher. Since a consideration of abstract subjects is assisted by meditation on a drawn symbol, or "outpicturing," it is suggested that four astrological designs be utilized in the pursuance of this material.
The first will be a wheel with the houses numbered; the symbol of Sagittarius on the ninth cusp, the symbol of Jupiter in the ninth house. In the consideration of this design we find our point of concentration to be in the upper hemisphere of the horoscope; or, shall we say, in the soul consciousness part of the life pattern. It is the transcendent expression of its lower polarity, the third house. We could talk about the ninth house and remain "up in the air" forever if we do not "root ourselves" in consideration of the third house which is ruled abstractly by Mercury through the sign Gemini.
To our original design we now add the sign Gemini on the third cusp and in the third house we put the symbol for Mercury. We have now established a "polarity design" by which a point in the lower half of the wheel is directed into the upper half. This design signifies a "path of evolution" by which an aspect of the "separative consciousness" evolves into an aspect of the "impersonal" or "soul" consciousness.
The first house is "I am" — the recognition of individual consciousness, of Being. The second house is "I have" — an emotional identification with Life by the consciousness of "attachment through possession." The third house is the "awareness of Life" through an exercise of the unemotional faculty of intellect. As abstract rulers of the first and second houses Mars and Venus are "emotional expressions;" Mercury, as abstract ruler of the third, is, even in primitive levels, the first awareness of unemotional impersonal consciousness.
Mercury, then, is our capacity for "unemotional identification." By its exercise we give names to things, either concrete or abstract. We also give identification to things in terms of measurement, quality, and function. Mercury is not a means by which we identify ourselves with Life; it is the means by which we relate the objectifications of Life to ourselves for our utilizations and communications.
Seen from this standpoint, Mercury (as ruler of the third house of the first or "ingathering" quadrant of the wheel) is the symbol of all learning. It is the faculty by which facts are transmitted from one person's mentality to another's mentality. It is, correspondingly, the faculty by which facts are comprehended by the mentality receiving the instruction or information. Mercury is language, expressed concretely by the spoken word, gesture, or picture; abstractly, by the written word. It is the symbol of universal relationship of people to each other in terms of mental rapport. It is the symbol of all students, and, as such, esoterically symbolizes the essence of all fraternal relationships. (We are all, regardless of outer relationships, parallel with each other — fraternally — because we are all learners from life experience.)
Further consideration of this design will show that all teaching has its roots in learning, and that development of skill as a teacher is dependent on the faculty of learning being kept alive. The polarity currents (in consciousness) between the lower and upper hemispheres must be kept stimulated if the upper half capacities are to flower. We are never separate from any part of our horoscope; even though we may spend twenty hours out of each day in the profession of teaching, the currents of "intake" must not become depleted or neglected. Learning is an ignition of awareness of facts and identifications; it may be likened to an inhalation of breath. Anyone truly and strongly motivated to teach will keep this "third house faculty" alive. In other words, he will neglect no opportunity to learn further. To stop the "intaking" is to insure an eventual stoppage, of crystallization, of the ability to teach. (Herein lies a lesson in sincerity and humility: teachers take heed.)
If Mercury is the symbol of "mental intaking" then Jupiter — vital, radiant, and dynamic — is the abstraction of "exhalation:" transmission of knowledge or ignition of intellectual awareness amplified and enriched by the maturity of spiritual understanding. Knowledge of facts plus awareness of Principles. In this connection we must add another factor to our design: the sign Virgo on the cusp of the sixth house, creating a T-cross, two arms of which are in the lower hemisphere, ruled by Mercury.
Here the abstract symbol of "fellow students" is expressed in an extended form to represent the "fraternity of workers." Work, spiritually considered, is more than physical labor — it is the service that each person may render as a contribution to the betterment of Life for all.
Virgo, as an earth sign, has a distinctly practical connotation: "I work to make money to sustain my physical life and that of those I love." As long as the attitude toward the service of teaching is "I learn something so that I can teach something so that I can make some money," the square aspect of Gemini-Virgo threatens the unfoldment of the teacher's capacities by keeping him identified in consciousness in frictional awareness of "practical considerations." The redemption of this square pattern is found in the fact that the sixth house is the last house of the lower hemisphere and is the "modulation" into the upper hemisphere of emotional regeneration and spiritual awareness. It succeeds the fifth house, which is that of Love-power; when the consciousness of "money-making-labor" is charged with the creativity of Love and expressed as Service for the betterment of Life it becomes an expression of redemption. Through the experiences of Love-service we gain understanding of our subject that makes mere book learning seem, in comparison, a lifeless shell. This understanding is the thing that a true teacher radiates to his students.
We now complete this design by adding the symbol for Pisces on the cusp of the twelfth house and place the symbol of Neptune therein: the cross of mutable signs. Through the first arm, Gemini, Mercury symbolizes the "learner;" its "exhalation" is Jupiter as abstraction of the ninth house. Mercury, through Virgo, is the "learner" from Service-experience; its "exhalation" is Neptune as the abstraction of the twelfth. Of this, more anon.
To consider the subject more concretely, let us regard some of the problems that are, sooner or later, faced by those who experience the urge to teach.
Since, in the first place, teaching is a dynamic expression of wisdom, the motive must be one of illumination. Anyone who responds to the urge to illuminate must accept a challenge from those patterns of consciousness that represent darkness: mental crystallization, rigid formalism of opinion and attitude, prejudice, the kind of ignorance that forms a basis of indifference toward the impersonal or spiritual needs of students. This experience pattern serves as a challenge to the integrity and courage of the teacher.
The urge to fulfill an impersonal service is, sooner or later, to he tested by the person's own consciousness of economic factors. This testing is one of the most significant points in the evolution of anyone who is spiritually aspiring in any work-pattern. Considering again the design with the mutable signs we see that the opposition aspects are "rooted" by Mercury through Gemini and Virgo. Unregenerate Mercury, in its alliance with the first sector of the wheel, is "practicality," "expediency," "literalness," and "surface evaluation." These key words pertain to levels of consciousness which have not, as yet, touched the impersonal. Persons who are motivated into the teaching profession and who remain in this expression of Mercury are those whose basic attitude is one of self-interest. "Which job pays the most?" "Which job paves the way for the greatest academic prestige?," "earliest retirement," "biggest pension," "pleasantest surroundings," and so on. These considerations are held by everyone for a time in their evolutionary progress, but the point that is being made here is that eventually the attitude toward work must be regenerated into one of Love-service. Until that step is taken the function of teachership cannot be truly fulfilled. Astrologically, the above may be translated in this way: until self-interest is transcended, the cycle starting with Mercury-Gemini cannot find its spiritualized fulfillment in Neptune-Pisces, through Jupiter-Sagittarius.
Since Jupiter, as symbol of the teacher, is found in the upper hemisphere of the wheel, the testings of the truly motivated teacher are much more "inner" than they are "outer." His most significant problems are soul problems. Some of these testings arise from the necessity to regenerate what might be called qualities of negative Jupiter, such as:
Intellectual pride, by which the teacher fixates himself in egotistic levels due to the feeling of having superiority over those he teaches. This tendency can be remedied by a "switch in consciousness" by which the teacher intensifies his awareness that he is not nor never can be, a repository for all the knowledge of his particular subject, but is, in effect, an elder brother to those he teaches — and any one of them may be, innately, his superior in essential wisdom. He recognizes that he is a foreshadowing of the development of his pupils and that he serves as a "modulating point" by which they move from levels of innocence to levels of awareness of their own wisdom. He must never forget that he has, at some time or other, traversed the same path of learning, and, in terms of his own personal development, should still be a learner. In other words he should keep his attitude toward his teaching work fluid and dynamic — expanding, improving, and enlarging. Thus he utilizes regenerative key words of Jupiter to prevent the crystallizations caused by pride.
Self-aggrandizement through desire for recognition and praise is an expression of Jupiter as vanity and greed. In this level, the teacher seeks continually to shine over his colleagues to compensate for his envy of them. He desires the adulation of his students; he utilizes his work to gain the good opinion of people. An urge to improve his skill and enlarge his scope is motivated, basically, by his wish to be well thought of. This "inturning" viewpoint carries the seeds of its own disintegration since it automatically results in an experience which will serve to shatter the fixated, limiting motivation.
The purpose of teaching is not self-aggrandizement but the illumination of the consciousness of others. The teacher who has an attitude based on his integrity as a worker possesses what might be called a healthy humility — he respects the work he is doing; he cultivates his skill in order that the work be improved; he is thankful for all suggestions that are given him and he is willing to give them his consideration. His attitude toward his colleagues is one of appreciation for their value to the work, not one of competitiveness, since he recognizes that each teacher has his own unique contribution to make. He assists each one when he can and he is willing to learn from each of them when he can. In other words, he utilizes the Jupiterian key word of "improvement" and keeps his motivations spiritualized and regenerated.
The true teacher's attitude toward his pupils is never one of "having power over them." It is true that he does have, since they are susceptible to his words and influence, but his motivation is to "alert" them to an awareness of their own powers and abilities and the ways and means by which they may express their best potentials. Motivated by love his attitude toward his pupils is one of benevolence; their progress is his joy. He appreciates the significance of the emergence of his pupils from one level of understanding to a higher one. His desire is to assist growth — never to "keep in submission." His "output" as a teacher is backed up by loving appreciation of his pupils — as students and persons — who, in their turn, will be instrumental in the furthering of the work which is the object of their mutual devotion — the altar on which he and they have lighted their candles.
The symbol of the teacher's path in its most subtly spiritualized expressions is found in the fourth quadrant of the mutable cross: Jupiter in the ninth to Neptune in the twelfth. This is the experience- pattern of the Elder Brother — the illuminator of Souls, the radiation of Wisdom of Philosophies and Arts; universal in its scope of redemptive power. In this sector of development intellectual knowledge has been encompassed and transcended. The pupil is concerned with the Principles of Life and his aspirations — not his desires or ambitions — are fired by contact with the illumined Intelligence and spiritualized consciousness of the teacher.
One more design: Aries on the first cusp, Leo on the fifth, and Sagittarius on the ninth; Mars in the first house, Sun in the fifth, and Jupiter in the ninth. This is the trinity of the fire signs. Mars says: "I am" a manifested expression of the One." The Sun says: "I am the radiating power of Love." Jupiter says: "I am the radiation of wisdom."
This triangular design outpictures the dynamic consciousness; Jupiter as teacher, here symbolizes spiritual parenthood: the father who guides the development and illuminates the evolving awareness of his "children," his "little brothers and sisters." In human terms, Jupiter is here seen to symbolize the spiritual responsibilities of fatherhood — and the responsibility of all parents to provide spiritual as well as physical nurture to those who have incarnated through them.
On impersonal levels, it shows the inherent spiritual parenthood of all teachers to their pupils, who, on mental levels, are their children. Parents should be teachers; all true teachers bring to their pupils a radiation of Love-power that makes for completest fulfillment of their Teaching Service.
— Supplemental Student Material Reference: Studies in Astrology, Elman Bacher
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Contemporary Mystic Christianity |
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