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| Simplified Scientific Christianity |
We congratulate you on the successful completion of the first 25 Astrology Independent Study Modules, for we are confident that the knowledge which you have gained through it, if rightly used to help others as well as yourself, will be a great blessing to you and a great aid to your more rapid evolution.
We have 26 additional Astrology Independent Study modules dealing with the esoteric and higher aspects of astrology, which we believe you would find to your advantage to pursue. On this web page you will find data sheet graphics containing the necessary information for the construction of a test horoscope. For this you will require an ephemeris for the year 1911.
Hoping that we may continue to number you among our students,
Your sincere friends,
Fellow Students of Contemporary Mystic Christianity
Neptune may be said to represent the invisible worlds in their more positive aspects, and those who come under the adverse aspects of this planet are, therefore, brought into touch with the most undesirable occupants of the invisible worlds. Actual obsession whereby the owner of a body is deprived of his vehicle takes place under the ray of Neptune, and no materializing seance could ever be held were it not for this stellar vibration. Magic, white or black, can never be put to practical use save under and because of this Neptunian vibration. Apart from this ray it would remain theory, speculation, and book learning. Therefore the Initiates of every Mystery School, spiritual seers who have full control of their clairvoyant faculty, and astrologers are amenable in varying degrees to the ray of Neptune. The "black magician" and the hypnotist, who is a twin brother to the former, are also dependent upon the power of this stellar ray for use in their nefarious practices.
The highest human development at the present time, namely, the soul unfoldment which is undertaken in the Mystery Temples through Initiation, is directly the result of the Neptunian Ray. For just as evil configurations with Neptune lay men liable to assault by invisible entities, so the good configurations with Neptune are particularly required to enable a man to unfold by Initiation all his soul powers and become a conscious agent in the invisible worlds. Let us remember, however, that good or evil configurations are not the result of chance or luck. The horoscope shows the tendencies of the coming life; it shows what we have earned by our past living and therefore what we are entitled to in the present life.
Moreover, it should always be kept in mind that the stars impel but they do not compel. Because a man or woman has an evil configuration with Neptune or Uranus, it is not unavoidable that they should go into active, evil mediumship or black magic and thereby make life harder for themselves in the future. Their opportunity to do so and the temptation will come at certain times when the heavenly time-markers point to the right hour on the clock of destiny. Then is the time to stand firm for the good and for the right. Being forewarned through a knowledge of astrology, one is also forearmed and may the easier overcome when such an aspect culminates.
Thus we have seen in the three continued articles on this subject that man is amenable to the planetary rays in an increasing measure as he advances through evolution; but the more highly developed he becomes spiritually, the less he will allow the planets to dominate him, while the younger soul is driven unresistingly along with the tide of life in whatever direction the planetary vibrations propel him. It is the mark of the advanced soul that he keeps the true course regardless of planetary vibrations. Between these two extremes there are naturally all gradations. Some are excessively amenable to the rays of one planet, and the bark of life of such men and women is driven upon the rocks of sorrow and suffering that they may learn to evolve within themselves the will power that will finally free them from all domination by the ruling stars. As Goethe, the great mystic, said:
It may be asked: Have we run the gamut of vibrations when we have learned to respond to all the seven planets which are mythically represented as the seven strings on Apollo's Lyre? In other words, is Neptune the highest vibration to which we shall ever respond? The Western Wisdom Teachings tell us that there are two more planets in the universe which will be known in future ages, and that these will have an influence in developing qualities of so transcendent a nature that we cannot now understand them. The number of Adam, man or humanity, is nine, and there are nine rungs upon the stellar ladder by which he is ascending to God. Up to the present time he has climbed only five of these rungs, namely, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and even the vibrations of these he has not by any means learned. Uranus and Neptune are slowly coming into our lives; they will not become active in the same manner and to the same degree that, for instance, the Moon and Mars are at the present time, until many ages have passed. But even when we have learned to respond to them, there are two more of which we shall know something later on. It is the opinion of the writer that these two are probably not felt by any except those who have graduated from the Greater Mystery School and the Hierophants of that sublime institution.
In concluding this article, on the amenability of man to planetary vibrations we quote from The Rosicrucian Mysteries a part of the article on "Light, Color, and Consciousness".
"Truly, God is One and Undivided. He enfolds within His being all that is, as the while light embraces all colors. But He appears threefold in manifestation, as the white light is refracted in three primary colors, blue, yellow, and red. Wherever we see these colors they are emblematic of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These three primary rays of divine life are diffused or radiated through the sun, and produce life, consciousness, and form upon each of the seven light bearers, the planets, which are called the "Seven Spirits before the Throne." Their names are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. Bode's Law would indicate that Neptune does not belong to our solar system, and the reader is referred to Simplified Scientific Astrology by the present writer for mathematical demonstration of this contention.
"Each of the seven planets receives the light of the sun in a different measure according to its proximity to the central orb and the constitution of its atmosphere. The beings on each, according to their stage of development, have affinity for some of the solar rays. They absorb the color or colors congruous to them, and reflect the remainder upon the other planets. These reflected rays bear with them an impulse of the nature of the beings with whom they have been in contact.
"Thus the divine light and life come to each planet, either directly from the sun or reflected from the six planets. As the summer breeze which has been wafted over blooming fields carries upon its silent, invisible wings the blended fragrance of a multitude of flowers, so also the subtle influences from the Garden of God bring to us the mingled impulses of all the Spirits, and in that vari-colored light we live and move and have our being.
"The rays which come directly from the sun are productive of spiritual illumination; the reflected rays from other planets make for added consciousness and moral development; and the rays reflected by way of the Moon give physical growth.
"But as each planet can absorb only a certain quantity of one or more colors according to the general stage of evolution there, so each being upon earth — mineral, plant, animal, and man — can only absorb and thrive upon a certain quantity of the various rays projected upon the earth. The remainder does not affect it or produce sensation any more than the blind are conscious of light and color which exist everywhere around them. Therefore each being is differently affected by the stellar rays; and a knowledge of the science of astrology, a fundamental truth in nature, is of enormous benefit in the attainment of spiritual growth."
Besides the stellar vibrations which we have discussed in the foregoing there is one of vital importance to which all mankind is responsive, namely, that of the lunation or new moon. The progressed planets may be regarded as the hour hand of a clock. They mark the year when certain events are due according to their positions and their aspects and our amenability to their vibrations. By them the destiny or opportunity in store for mankind is forecast; but unless the moon, which corresponds to the minute hand in our illustration of the clock of destiny, moves along through the houses of the horoscope by progression and gives her consent by acting as a focus for the planetary vibrations, these would never take effect upon humanity.
Besides the actual progression of the moon and the planets in the horoscope at the rate of a day for a year, there is, as said in the first paragraph, the lunation, which occurs each month in a different sign of the zodiac by a conjunction of the moon with the sun. Whenever this conjunction occurs within three degrees of an aspect to any one of the planets in the natal horoscope, the effect of the configuration will be felt during the month governed by this lunation, provided of course that the person is responsive and amenable to that particular stellar influence.
The influences of these lunations may be divided into three classes according to whether they affect the Moon, Mars or Saturn at birth, producing physical results; the Sun, Venus, or Mercury, producing social, moral, and mental effects; or Jupiter, Uranus, or Neptune which would act upon the spiritual nature.
The results produced under the vibrations of a new moon will naturally depend upon the aspects. Squares and oppositions give trails and troubles. Sextiles and trines give pleasures of a nature consonant with the planetary aspects.
The ordinary lunation does not produce effects for more than one month. But if the lunation happens to be an eclipse, the effect will be felt for a full year from the time of its occurrence. Every time that year when a lunation falls in square to the place of the eclipse, it will re-awaken the evil, if any, experienced at the time when the eclipse, it will re-awaken the evil, if any, experienced at the time when the eclipse occurred. Similarly, if the original lunation was good, then every formation of sextile and trine to its place will bring correspondingly good results.
(You are welcome to e-mail your answers and/or comments to us. Please be sure to include the course name and self-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. Please erect the horoscope for a child born September 15, 1911, 9:20 P.M., Standard Time, at Chicago, Ill., Latitude 42 N., Longitude 83 W.
Name: Astrology Independent Study Module No. 26
Place: Chicago, IL, USA
Lat.: 42 deg. N.
Long.: 88 deg. W.
Birth Date: September 15, 1911
Birth Time: 9:20 P.M.
[Std. Time]
Std Time:
(Choose One:
Eastern
Central
Mountain
Pacific)
True Local Time:
Calc. Sid. Time:
Nearest Sid. Time:
Greenwich Mean Time:
Adj. Calc. Date:
Asc.:
2nd House:
3rd House:
4th House:
5th House:
6th House:
7th House:
8th House:
9th House:
10th House:
11th House:
12th House:
Cardinal:
Fixed:
Common:
Fiery:
Earthy:
Airy:
Watery:
Essentially Dignified:
Exalted:
Detriment:
Fall:
Angular:
Critical Degree:
Ruler:
Sun:
Venus:
Mercury:
Moon:
Saturn:
Jupiter:
Mars:
Uranus:
Neptune:
Pluto:
Dragon's Head:
Dragon's Tail:
Asc.:
M.C.:
Part of Fortune:
Sun:
Venus:
Mercury:
Moon:
Saturn:
Jupiter:
Mars:
Uranus:
Neptune:
Pluto:
Dragon's Head:
Dragon's Tail:
Asc.:
M.C.:
Part of Fortune:
Birth Hour
according to Standard Time:
(if Daylight Saving Time
in effect, subtract
one hour):
Degrees birthplace is East
or West of Standard Time
Meridian in use at birth:
Multiply this number of
degrees by 4 minutes,
equals:
(Add if birthplace is
East of this Meridian.
Subtract if birthplace
is West of this Meridian)
Gives True Local Time
(T.L.T.) of Birth:
Sidereal Time (S.T.) at
Greenwich for noon
previous to T.L.T.
of birth:
Correction of 10 seconds
for each 15 degrees of
Longitude (10/15 or
2/3 x Long.):
(Add if West Longitude.
Deduct if East Longitude)
Interval between previous
noon and true local time
of birth:
Add correction of 10
seconds per hour of
interval:
Gives Sidereal Time (S.T.)
at birthplace at
birth hour:
Nearest S. T. in Tables
of Houses:
True Local Time of Birth:
Degrees East or West of
Greenwich:
Multiply this number of
degrees by 4 minutes
equals:
(Add, if West Longitude.
Deduct if East Longitude)
Gives Greenwich Mean Time
(G.M.T.):
Interval to nearest noon:
Logarithm for this interval
(Permanent Logarithm):
Sign:
Coming Noon Position
(after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position
(before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
(Direct planets: add to
previous noon position if
G.M.T. is P.M.; deduct
from coming noon position
if G.M.T. is A.M.
Retrograde Planets,
reverse this rule.)
Position of Sun:
House Location of Sun:
Sign:
Coming Noon Position
(after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position
before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
(Direct planets: add to
previous noon position if
G.M.T. is P.M.; deduct
from coming noon position
if G.M.T. is A.M.
Retrograde Planets,
reverse this rule.)
Position of Venus:
House Location of Venus:
Sign:
Coming Noon Position
(after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position
(before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
(Direct planets: add to
previous noon position if
G.M.T. is P.M.; deduct
from coming noon position
if G.M.T. is A.M.
Retrograde Planets,
reverse this rule.)
Position of Mercury:
House Location of Mercury:
Sign:
Coming Noon Position
(after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position
(before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
(Direct planets: add to
previous noon position if
G.M.T. is P.M.; deduct
from coming noon position
if G.M.T. is A.M.
Retrograde Planets,
reverse this rule.)
Position of Moon:
House Location of Moon:
Sign:
Coming Noon Position
(after G.M.T.):
Previous Noon Position
(before G.M.T.):
Travel in 24 hours:
Logarithm of Travel:
Permanent Logarithm:
Sum of Logarithms:
Travel During Interval:
(Direct planets: add to
previous noon position if
G.M.T. is P.M.; deduct
from coming noon position
if G.M.T. is A.M.
Retrograde Planets,
reverse this rule.)
Position of Mars:
House Location of Mars:
Position of Saturn:
House Location of Saturn:
Position of Jupiter:
House Location of Jupiter:
Position of Uranus:
House Location of Uranus:
Position of Neptune:
House Location of Neptune:
Position of Pluto:
House Location of Pluto:
Position of Dragon's Head:
House Location of
Dragon's Head:
The symbols of the circle, its quadrants, the zodiacal signs, the planets and their aspects must be understood to be symbols of life-essences, their purposes and functions, if astrology is to take its rightful place in the family of Illuminations. The approach that anything that is depicted in astrology is essentially bad makes it, relatively, impossible for the constructive work to be adequately fulfilled; further, such an approach has about as much correspondence to astrological truth as has the "hell-fire-and- damnation" version of Christianity to the simple, luminous teachings of Jesus.
"Philosophy" means "love of Wisdom" and man's paths toward the attainment of understanding are many. Since astrology is one of the principle paths by which humanity finds illumination this material is presented so that students may come into a clearer recognition of the three paths which should be traversed by them, in some degree, and must be traversed if they are to fulfill their purposes as "Astro-Philosophers."
The wheel of the horoscope and its "vibratory ingredients" contain the essential secrets of man's patterns of all kinds — and in all degrees and levels. The progress of the wheel, from ascendant through twelfth house — counter-clockwise — opens up to our understanding the "onwardness and upwardness" of evolutionary unfoldment as it expresses the song of "I am" in the four quadrants. Cosmic "Triune-ity" is physically manifested by what we usually refer to as the "three dimensions" of length, width, and height but no one of these three can manifest without the other two. This triune-ity of one composite physical dimension has its astrological correspondence in the triune-ity of each quadrant's division of three houses; the four quadrants are then seen to express the totality of the wheel in twelve houses~-four triune-dimensional levels of consciousness and unfoldment. This is the symbolic picturing of "Pilgrim's Progress."
Since, then, the pattern of the twelve-housed wheel depicts the essential progress of any human unfoldment, it naturally follows that its symbols can refer to our experience as astrologers. In other words, certain specialized faculties and qualities of consciousness, in composite, comprise the "astrologer-part" of our being; and for a certain number of incarnations this realm of consciousness is exercised to a certain way as a factor in our unfoldment.
Our "astrologer-consciousness," because of its specializations, may be likened to a "sub-entity" in the entity of our composite consciousness, similar, shall we say, to "yellow" or "purple" being sub-entities in the composite vibrational entity that we call "color." Each sub-entity has, of course, its principal divisions and they, in turn, their myriads of variational expressions. So it is with the wheel and the signs by division in decanates, degrees, minutes, and seconds.
The "astrologer-part" of human consciousness is a composite of those factors which make us scientist, artist, and priest- teacher. Just as the cardinal color-vibrations are linked to each other by their gradations so do these three human correlatives blend into each other to make the "spectrum" of astrological consciousness. All people who work in astrology may tend, to a degree, to align themselves essentially to one of the three classifications, but we must come to a point of "synthesizing ourselves" with all three if our astrological "chapter of development" is to be complete and well-rounded out.
The essential meanings of the first three houses contain the secrets of the remaining three quadrants, the second, third, and fourth quadrants being "extensions" of the first. It is felt that by "X-ray" consideration of the first quadrant we can unlock the secret of these qualities and capacities of human consciousness which in specialized expression, give definition to our "astrological self" — the sum-total of which pictures humanity as "astro-philosopher."
First House: the Ascendant of every horoscope; the first utterance of "I am"; the physical envelope which instrumentates the consciousness; the awareness of being and of physical manifestation; the awareness of the "being-ness" of all things; the exoteric consciousness which identifies humanity as a factor in the manifested universe; in the beginning, man perceives this manifestation as form exterior to himself; subsequently, in unfoldment from the chrysalis of first-house consciousness, he perceives the multi-dimensionality of life by "esoteric" or "subjective" awareness and realization.
As expression of the first house, the astro- philosopher is "astrologer-as-scientist." His approach to the subject is based on his desire to understand the physical expression of life from a basis that is different from any he has had before. Since his attention is focused on form, he naturally pays careful attention to quality and measurement. He trains himself to scrupulous accuracy regarding the mathematical calculations involved because they are the skeletal form upon which his interpretative abilities will develop. Further, he seeks to unlock the secrets of abstract symbols as they serve to delineate the processes by which the Physical World manifests. He recognizes that humanity functions by its specialized principles as a machine functions according to its mechanical principles. He studies events as they represent the "form-side" of astrological-patterns-in-action. He studies his own chart in terms of synchronizing event with aspect; in early stages of development he identifies his aspects by relating them to vibrational action outside of himself.
Since he is a "first house expression," the astro- scientist is the astrological pioneer. He is a path-breaker in the sense that he "projects" awareness of astrological truths into his circle of acquaintances and associations. He is a "stimulator," bringing knowledge of a "new subject" to his immediate circle or to the world at large.
The developments of the astro-scientist are shown by the first house of the second and third quadrants; i.e. the fourth and seventh houses. It is through these chapters that the astro-scientist begins to develop his subjective awareness, because on these levels he must turn his "astro-scientific eyes" into the charts of those to whom he is drawn in family-pattern and in relationship-pattern. The "scientificness" of his approach urges him, naturally, to try to understand the charts of those who are nearest and dearest to him in personal relationship. The astro-scientist fails at this point if he permits his astrological awareness to be disturbed and distorted by his feelings toward the charts — and their contexts — of those who are close to him. The objective, unemotional, scientific part of him must be trained and disciplined to hold to its own truth, regardless of the feelings he has toward the person whose chart he is studying. Astro- philosophy, in this way, proves its value as an "impersonalizer" of the desire-nature; it makes possible a technique by which the mind may be trained to "see clearly" in spite of the claims of the desire-nature; as astro- philosophers, we must all acquire and maintain this impersonal scientific approach toward all charts.
In his tenth house expression the astro-scientist rounds out his studies by including an understanding of many, if not all, of the patterns of interpretation. He studies horary astrology; he studies the charts of nations and governments, groups, institutions, and events which pertain to many people together. He studies astro-biology and astro-diagnosis; he knows something of how different "systems" present the subject. In other words, this scientificness is extended in scope to include an understanding of the vibratory essentials of any and all kinds of manifestations of the objectified life of humanity. The astro-scientist who keeps his interest in the subject uncommercial has the best chance of unfolding in a rhythmic and natural way.
Second House: abstractly ruled by Venus, the second house is the feminine correlative of the first. It is the first of the fixed houses, its cusp is the starting-point of the trine-symbol and it initiates those levels of consciousness by which the astro-artist is born. Since this is the only feminine sign of the first quadrant, it initiates the two triplicities of the earth and water trines which include the symbolizings of humanity's emotional resources and responsiveness, its urge-to-love and its urge-to-transmute; its urge-to-beauty, with all of that urge's attendant inspirations and aspirations, visions, dreams, and ideals.
The term "astro-artist" is used to designate that part of our consciousness which projects the first house into realms of identity with people, not just of "understanding things." It is from the love-center that all artistry is cultivated, all true service projected, and all refinements realized. The astro-artist sees in astrology a channeling for the releasement of his emotional urges; also, through knowledge accumulated in his "scientific stage," he expresses the desire to harmonize and beautify human life by bringing to people an awareness of the essential goodnesses and beauties inherent in the great Principles of Life as they are designated in symbology.
The essential mainspring of the astro-artist's motivation is sympathy, a basic attribute of the feminine consciousness (second house: Taurus, ruled by Venus, exaltation point of the Moon). The astro-artist wants to help, to encourage, to console, to lift, and to inspire. If he has not grounded himself in the requirements of the "scientific stage" his urge to help and to express his sympathetic feeling, may be, to a degree, impeded because he has failed to train himself in the technicalities of the subject. In other words since he is functioning from the center of feelings — an intensely personal motivation — he must develop the "form side" of the subject so that his interpretations will be made from accurate pictures. By adherence to sincerity of motivation, the astro-artist avoids the pitfalls that may be in the way of all people whose emotional responsiveness is the keynote of their natures. These pitfalls may be sympathy uncontrolled by knowledge, false pity by which the astro-artist tends to turn away from pictures of needed redirection that are shown in the chart, and failure to perceive how each individual can learn to help himself by understanding himself. The "complete" astro-artist cultivates detachment from emotional involvement in the problems of his client; he utilizes his awareness of the Principle of Cause-and-Effect as it manifests in the horoscope and sees the Law in operation throughout. However, his heart, mind, and hands are open to all who need his guidance; by adhering to the truth of astro-artistry he unfolds those transcendent areas of consciousness and faculty by which intuition and inspiration are born.
Third House: in this expression, the astro- philosopher combines the qualities of the first two and adds to them knowledge of the human consciousness that makes it possible for him to interpret the astrological patterns in their most deeply subjective phases. He has skill, a trained mentality, a sound technique. To this he adds a compassionate heart — a consciousness warmly responsive to the inner needs of his fellow-beings. To this, in turn, he adds an inclusive mental grasp of the meaning of astrological symbols and patterns as they picture states of being, states of relationship, and states of evolution — not just events and suffering. Since the third house is polarized into the ninth, we see that the astro-philosopher of the third house type is scientist, artist, and teacher. The compositeness of his consciousness permits him to be designated as priest-teacher or "astro- priest." He is the "elder brother" to all who seek his guidance, because he has traversed the experience-patterns of those who come to him; he understands because he has realized through his own experience.
He knows sex and marriage because he has distilled understanding from his incarnations as male and female; he knows husbandhood and wifehood, passion and sacrifice, childhood and parenthood. He knows that the outer is a reflection of the inner and seeks, always, to bring the minds of people into alignment with this truth. Because he stands as an intermediary between man's ignorance and enlightenment; the astro-priest fulfills the same function in his astrological service that any priest does in a ceremonial religion; as priest, he "sees the problem" from the vantage-point of wisdom. The astro-scientist knows the effect of vibratory forces on individuals and groups; the astro-priest understands the vibratory life of humanity. The scientist is objective, the priest is subjective; the artist may be one or the other, depending on which of the two classifications he aligns himself with most strongly. However, the astro-priest's motivation is not scientific; he includes that level but his extensions include the upper, transcendent levels of both mind and heart.
The unfoldments of the astro-philosopher as priest- teacher are very interesting because the last phase of his "cross" (the mutable signs) is the twelfth house — the "finale" of the wheel. Since he is a composite of the first two types, plus something else, his development stages involve testings and rewardings that are comparatively greater than those of the other two.
The astro-priest, in his "primitive stage" is the moralist, sub-expression of the ninth house. His literal interpretations of principle are necessary because he has not, as yet, had sufficient experience to round out his understanding. In this level, the astro-priest sees the chart as "picturing of good-versus-evil." Since he himself stands as a point of differentiation of these two factors in the minds of his clients — and they are attracted to him by the power of vibratory sympathy — his "moral consciousness" is the focal point of his interpretations. He very often, in this level, cannot perceive the "relativity" of what he calls "good and bad" and reads into the chart of his client his own standards. He may have the best of the first two types, but his own truth is, as yet, unevolved. The polarity of the third house is the ninth and it, in turn, is the result of the quadrant initiated by the seventh house and realized by the transmutations of the eighth house. The resultant understanding is what is represented by the ninth and it is that which the astro-philosopher, as priest-teacher, strives for in his unfoldment, as the door into the fourth quadrant.
The third house comes into its "flowerings" in the seventh and eleventh houses; in these chapters, the astro-priest recognizes his "parallelity" with all people; as his unfoldment progresses by transcendence of experience, he realizes love-wisdom. He recognizes that the human is a suspension of the cosmic in all of its expressions and, in himself, he finds that which reflects the solution of his client's problems. Then it is seen that the composite goal of the astro-philosopher is realization that the worst in his client has been his own worst, at some time in the past; his best is an illumination into the dark corners of his client's conditions and reactions to those conditions. His wisdom and his love become fathomless resources for the re-direction of human patterns.
Government is the "functioning of the Universe in accordance with Cosmic Principles." It is the One Directive which impels the cause of, organizes and harmonizes the effect of, every creative and epigenetic action in the Cosmos. Since it is the expression of the One Will, cosmic government is archetypal Autocracy; it is the root-pattern by which every Logos, microcosmically, orders the life of its manifestation and it is that which, in human terms, we designate as mastery. Rulership, in any octave, is an aspect of the Directive Power symbolized by the Sun; all planetary powers are derivatives of this Unity.
The symbolic design we call the "square aspect" — a square resting on its horizontal base — is the arch-symbol of compressed congestion of potentials. It is made up of two expressions of the dynamic vertical and two expressions of the receptive horizontal; it pictures the juxtaposition of diametric opposites seemingly in contention with each other. A congestion has the effect of gravitational down-pulling, inhibition, suppression of expressive possibilities, slowing up of expressive and responsive action. It pictures an intensification of the tendency-to-inertia which, after a certain point, is death of the form as a vehicle of the Spirit. This pictures the "reign of the Devil," the domination of expression by suppression, the bondage of "on-and-up-going-ness" to "in-and-down-going- ness." The Spirit, Solar Power in its biune expression of Love-Wisdom, seeks always, in human consciousness, to overthrow and disintegrate this "rulership by shadow."
The symbol for government as Cosmic or Archetypal Ordering is the diagonal square. This is the symmetrically balanced square standing on its lower angle. Each of its four lines is a symmetrical diagonal, hence each composites verticality and horizontality. Herein is seen the difference, as symbol of consciousness, between this square and the static square. Therefore rhythmic sequence is pictured by travel around its circumference. When the cross of horizontal and vertical diameters is added within this square, each of the two lines bisects a pair of opposite angles and the polarity of each angle-point is thereby objectified. By this four-fold bisection of angles, the Masculine-Feminine of Male-Female of Immature-Mature of microcosms of any archetype is outpictured. We are concerned with humans as individualizations of the archetype "Humanity," so this diagonal square with its structure cross, pictures macrocosmically the government of this archetype and microcosmically the "government-consciousness," passive and active, of the individual human.
We now transpose this symbol into the octave of astrological symbolism; place the circular symbol of the Sun at the center (the jointure of the two cross-lines) and the symbols for Aries, Capricorn, Libra, and Cancer at the left, upper, right, and lower angle-points, respectively. The result is the Great Mandala without its circumscribing circle — the "skeleton" of Humanity as an evolving — not evolved — archetype and that of the individual human as an epigenetically evolving microcosm. We will discuss the "problems" of "Government of humans by humans" as they specialize in the three basic types of "being governed."
Considering the dynamic essence of Aries-Mars as the "personality" of the incarnated human archetype, we are sensitive to the "controlling agencies" represented by the other three structure-points which are all, generically speaking, more feminine than Aries. The feminine polarity of the Cosmos is that which receives and shapes the dynamic essences. As Aries, through Mars, "blasts forth his energies from the Ascendant-point," Capricorn-Saturn, Libra-Venus, and Cancer-Moon stand as organizers and co-ordinators of the vital expressions. "That which Aries comes from" — as the "thing incarnated" in this mandate — is parentage; by parentage is the individualized form begotten, by parentage is the form sustained, protected, and nurtured. Therefore, Cancer-Capricorn as archetypal parentage is the first coordinator-governor of the individual's expression. The first of these, however, is Cancer — the symbol of Matrix, and the arch-symbol of seed-source. This, in group-terms, is government for the perpetuation and preservation of forces; it is the most primitive form of group-government. The primitive human was subjected entirely to the directive power of the elders of the tribe, and his significance was not as an individual, for himself, but as a factor of the tribal unity. His evaluation to the tribe was physical — his strength, prowess, combative and generative ability were the ear-marks of his value to the life of the tribe. His identity was tribal, his virtue was obedience to the directives of the elders. In relationship to that narrow directive he was "child" and child he remained until he, in time, began to realize an awareness of himself as an individual. To accept external directive unquestioningly, unthinkingly, is to be subject to the parental principle of government, secular or religious. And this applies to people living now as well as those who inhabited the jungles thousands of years ago.
Governments that encourage such attitudes in their people as blind, unthinking adherence, in whatever form, to such a concept as "Mother Church"; fanatic patriotism; dependency on group-opinion and group- feeling for guidance; racial prejudice and hatred; or habitual addiction to governmental bounty for material sustainment are those that are functioning as external moldings of a very limited consciousness. They have their karmic and evolutionary place, and as such they are good. But no government of this kind was, is, or can be a permanent pattern for any group because its essential function is to coordinate and focus a collective primitivity. Evolution serves to transcend primitivity on any octave. Cancer-Capricorn is archetypal structure; it is the symbol of security to the subconscious of Humanity. It symbolizes "that which was," and primitive (ignorant, fearful) people cling to an established external (parents, home, church, nationality-concept, etc.) to realize security. A government that congests on this function is one which discourages individual effort and thought; and in that way lies the path to dictatorship, which is "parental government" that has been allowed to become the tool for an intensely focused negative power-consciousness (of an individual or a group of allied individuals or nations). In primitive times, people thrived and progressed under the protective administration of men relatively wise, but the same basic type of government, in the hands of unprincipled and heartless persons, turns the parental quality into tyranny — by which the collective residues of hatreds, greeds and cruelties become focused in the power-lusts of the ruler who personifies such a nation. This type of government becomes degenerate the moment the welfare of the people at large is disregarded or when the attributes of individual initiative and expression are weakened through over-giving. Too much protection and bounty are as out of line with governmental principles as are cruel suppression and disregard of human rights. No one evolves who copies, in his personal life, the degenerate example of bad rulers; he simply adds negative power to the "power-for-evil" of the ruler and to the collective, congested evil of his fellows. To accept national or government bounty as a "timely assistance" and use it for its purpose (to "get going again") is in keeping with the principle of the type of government; to make a habit of accepting assistance from "Father-Mother Government" is to traduce one's incentives for growth, fulfillment, and maturity. (Parents — governors of your family circles — do you encourage dependency in your children? Or do you encourage the exercise of reason and ability so that your children may rhythmically develop the maturity of self-reliance?) It is true that some adults are so conditioned that they feel they have no reason for existing unless someone is leaning on them; they would rather "feel strong by comparison" than try to encourage the individual abilities of the weaker one. They are functioning, subconsciously, to try to compensate for a guilt (unfulfilled responsibility) complex . They resent any attempt of the "weaker person" to develop his own potentials and they are, in this respect, not too unlike some politicians who promise to give everything in return for a vote. Think about this in terms of present-day conditions. To be prominent and highly placed, to be called wonderful, great, kind, generous, etc., is the be-all and end-all of what they call happiness; and they are conditioned — and willing — to give anything in payment for this kind of approbation. A family formed by two such parents, a nation directed by such a ruler, will achieve pretty much the same kind of results — a parasitic undependable child on one hand, and a parasitic undependable, irresponsible citizenry on the other.
The polarization of this governmental type is Capricorn, the Saturn vibration, symbol of the aristocratic type of government. Its keyword is Hierarchy — it is the first type extended into much more diffusion of expression by many classes which, congested and unregenerate, results in the infamy of caste. Cultivated, it provides the manifestation of cultivation and refinement (externally at least), the exercise of abundance through wealth for artistic and educational purposes. The vice of this type of government is seen in the emphasis of superficialities (ancestry, family background, money) as standards by which the individual is valued. The policy or slogan: "As long as it looks all right it's good" is typical of the surface-evaluation of this type. Ambition to realize place in the hierarchy takes the place of aspiration to realize self-improvement; adherence to crystallized formal standards of conduct, thought and belief may designate the identity of a "member in good standing" but it hardly can be taken as an identity of a person who is exercising his individual values and capacities. Saturn, the condensation of matrix, characterizes this type through the tendency to resist — stubbornly — needed changes; maintenance of established forms becomes so fixated a purpose that improvements which would benefit all are either ignored or disdained. The practice, over long periods of time, of wealth being congested in specific points of the hierarchy breeds corruption, because it discourages individual exercise. The monetary "fluid" — the life-blood of practical exchange — is a means by which humans can realize certain benefits by use of their individual faculties and intelligence. When it is handed down through generations in a relatively limited scope it becomes a karmic testing of individuals to take it and use it without making effort for themselves and so weaken themselves, or it makes possible a material compensation, of a karmic nature, to those who are conditioned to use it wisely for the improvement, progress, and well-being of themselves and others. However, a true aristocrat does not need family-background, this-and-that of ancestry, so much inherited wealth, and such-and-such a "position" to demonstrate the refinement of his nature and inclinations. He graces and beautifies whatever "station God has seen fit to place him"; his influence is one of refinement on all who know him. The aristocratic government that uses the public, but which has forgotten that it too has a pattern of service to fulfill to the public, traduces the best of its qualities. To have the advantages of education and not use them for a more extended good, to have access to large sums of money and congest on triviality, to disdain one's fellowman because of difference of position is no aristocracy — it is only a shadow of a mask of it. And the mask smiles — cynically and unbeautifully. Aristocracy gives humanity the opportunity to observe its collective consciousness of separativeness in action. The study of aristocratic governments throughout various historical periods and in different nations tells us what ultimately happens when, by an illusionary concept, we seek to separate our common destiny-patterns from our fellows. This concept, diffused through the mechanism of organized religions, Christian or otherwise, has resulted in some of the most terrible karmic causation because, by its very nature it seeks to fight against the very thing that all religion seeks to establish — the ever-clarified sense of (God's and Life's) Unity in the human consciousness. The parent, separated in his consciousness from his child as a fellow-human, says: "Do what I say. I am your parent." There is nothing in such a statement to appeal to the reason or heart of the child. It serves to intensify his feeling of inferiority-difference in subservient relationship to his parent instead of increasing fellowship.
The "I am"-ness of Aries as Ascendant of this mandala pictures Humanity as a potential self-ruler because it is, by attribute, an individualized expressor. For the most part, most of us do not have the power- consciousness to rule ourselves, much less to rule others. But, because we are expressors we influence (a microcosmic octave of rulership) others by everything or anything that we think, feel, say, and do. There is only one Ascendant, archetypally or concretely, and since rulership is the ordering of the cosmos we can improve the quality of our influence on other people. It is true, and this is an interesting point, that we cannot rule or influence anyone who is indifferent to us or who is more perfectly organized than we are — we are influenced by those people much more than we affect them. Therefore we have to rule ourselves better if we are going to attract better "rulership-influence" from others. Apply this to the relationship of a nation's citizenry to its hereditary or elected rulers. Look at the story of France's civilization under the reigns of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. The corruption and cynicism of the first two perfectly outpictured much that was degenerate in the general life-concepts of the people. The ineffectuality of Louis XVI made it possible for the disintegrative forces of revolt — he couldn't even stand up for the class he represented — to decrystallize that particular form of aristocratic government and pave the way for the more democratic form.
If our life-purpose requires that we exercise power in public offices, then we know that we have the opportunity to stand as symbols of good influence or of bad influence; we will symbolize whatever we conceive to be the principles of government. We can remain congested in our ignorances of these principles and so reflect the ignorance of the people we represent or we can be adjustable to learn and so symbolize an ever-improving quality of power-vibration.
In consideration of the Great Mandala we see that the Cancer-Capricorn diameter — as the "parentage-line" — exemplifies the pattern of "government of people by people": the two types of government represented are communal (Cancer) and aristocratic (Capricorn). Now to consider the significance of Aries as individual ruler-ship-expression:
The "I am" quality of this sign symbolizes the sense of individualized beingness. Since it is that from which all expression, as personal individualization, is made possible, it is also that by which all octaves of human-rulership are made possible. A ruler — of whatever kind — cannot at any time be any more than he is as an individual human — his rulership expression is projected through his consciousness of himself as a person. Keep in mind that rulership, in the political sense, is an extension of parentage. The same keywords that apply to different types of rulers apply also, in a more localized sense, to different types of parents. This is so because the matrix-quality of the Cancer-Capricorn diameter designates our citizenship in the family-group and the nation-group into which we incarnate by karmic law and vibratory attraction.
The lowest vibratory octave of Mars is seen to be in his office as releaser of Pluto-Scorpio compressions. This is the ruler as autocratic dictator. His "I am" is "I Am a personalized symbol of all the congested ignorances, hates, and greeds of my subjects." The Russian czar, Ivan the Terrible, was a perfect example of this type of ruler; his people were a barbaric, ignorant, and brutish lot and their subservience to his infamously despotic rule was the epitome of slavishness. The next octave — synchronizing with the evolutionary needs of the Russian people — was exemplified in Peter the Great. Every bit as despotic as was "the terrible one," this man functioned on a higher octave of perception and purpose. His will, enormously focused, served to co-ordinate his people, and he worked for years to develop and expand the economic power of his nation and to bring to it at least the vestiges of western European culture. In this type of ruler the characteristics of insensitiveness, forceful brutality, egotism, and lack of compassion arc strongly pronounced. Their egotism does serve, however, a most important purpose — that of welding the nation into a coherent identity and unity. The dormant "I Am" of the national group-vibration is ignited by the personal "I Am" power of the autocratic ruler. The "I Am" of a degenerate aristocratic ruler is exemplified in the character and personality of France's King Louis XV. The vacuity and cynicism of this man, ruler-symbol of one of the most degenerate and corrupt periods in the history of this nation, perfectly out-pictured the crystallized negatives of this type of government — that of hierarchy — the form that provides points of concentration of power within the national edifice. A regenerate example of this type of government — and a remarkable example she was — was the great Queen Elizabeth of England. Cultured, enormously learned, devoted to her country's progress and welfare with every fiber of her being, this brilliant and intrepid woman symbolized the cultural and economic aspirations of her vigorous and enterprising people. She was definitely a cut above many such rulers of class-conscious societies in that her intense patriotic love made warfare and destruction abhorrent to her; she has been considered to be the most humanly motivated and enlightened ruler of her age and one of the outstanding rulers in human history. Her unifying of her country as a world power, under a motivation of intense national pride, emphasized the Capricorn quality of superiority that characterizes this nation — an interesting example of national personality- trait. Further degeneracies of hierarchical concept — and this in a most crystallized form — are seen in the age-old, only recently decrystallized concept of caste in India. This concept (derived from human imagining of Cosmic Hierarchy) provided karmic bondage for millions of humans for many ages.
There have been several remarkable examples of Cancer-government. This is the type of government that is focused on the perpetuity of welfare, material or spiritual. Corruption of this pattern is seen in the giving of money, food, entertainment, etc., to the populace by such individuals as the Roman rulers Nero and Caligula. An outer gesture of concern for the public masked, in these cases, a hideous fear and greed. They exemplified, in their policy of giving, the very worst aspects of this governmental pattern. Regenerate, we see in the government of the humane Quaker religion one of the finest examples of this type in modern times. Their policy of universal pacifism is, of course, a spiritual motivation of tremendous power for good in the world. Their contribution to human welfare has been outstanding. The administration of the Salvation Army is another example. The teaching and healing service performed by certain religious orders represents a fine aspect of this concept of government. Even those who function entirely in what is called "contemplative orders" make, if they are sufficiently evolved, a remarkable redemptive contribution through their work on the inner planes; this service is not perceived or observed by the outer world — it is a vibratory nurture based on renunciation of personality- consciousness. In fact, we may consider that the Jupiter vibration, as significator of the abstract ninth house, is mixed with the Moon-Cancer vibration to designate the essence of rulership by organization of religious authority. You might enjoy a study of biographies of rulers — from the illumined Pharaoh, Akhnaton, down through the ages — and come into a clearer understanding of how rulers, as individual humans, personify the collective unconscious, the collective ignorance and congestion, and the collective evolutionary needs of the populace. It is a fascinating study and one to which every esoteric and philosophical student should give some time and thought.
Now we will undertake to study the principles of government as they are symbolically designated by the exaltation of planets. These represent government by relative mastership — the expression, as rulership, of solar power by highly evolved (kingly) humans which has, as its purpose, the illumination of the consciousness of mankind. This approach to rulership reveals the spiritual attributes inherent in each type as well as the spiritual obligations attendant upon this form of service.
The first of these is the exaltation of the Sun itself in the sign Aries. The identity is "I Am a Begotten Son, or Daughter, of Father-Mother God." This is the identity of spiritual birth and the consciousness of possessing divine attributes. The rulership implied by this vibration is self-mastery which is the source from which all other spiritual government is derived, and from which all expressions of transcendent love and wisdom are emanated. The priest-kings of ancient Egypt, beautifully described by Joan Grant in her lovely book, "The Winged Pharaoh," exemplify this type. These great rulers were spiritually tested for their qualifications to serve as rulers of their people in what was one of the outstanding spiritual epochs in human history. Since specializations are emanated from the One, this exaltation-point of the Sun resources every other type of spiritual government. The ruler of Aries, Mars, is exalted in Capricorn. In this study, Capricorn is seen to symbolize the hierarchical concept of aristocratic government; the specialization of "class" reflects (what should be) the gradations of spiritual evolution. Originally the Brahmanic religion of India was based on this concept; Plato spoke of "the rule by the philosophical elect." The exaltation of Mars in Capricorn, in genetic terms, is the maturity of the male principle in responsibility-fulfillment. Therein is seen the spiritual qualification that designates true rulers in a hierarchical government: the responsibility to keep the spiritual "I Am" alive so that the offices of governing the less-evolved may be carried on with positiveness, courage, and a sense of father-love as the protective love-motivation. To give life is the attribute of parentage; to maintain principles of government that contribute to the general welfare and progress (materially, intellectually, and culturally) is that life which the true aristocratic ruler contributes to his people. His Mars-attribute makes it possible for him to defend himself, and consequently his people, from the crystallizations of prejudice, caste- congestion, and superficial evaluations. It keeps alive in his consciousness — because Mars is the arch-masculine vibration, as a derivative of the Sun — the sense of valuing and appreciating himself as a worker in the world. The vigor, virility, and positiveness of regenerate Mars is health-giving in its effect; exercise of this attribute neutralizes the dangers of congestion on indolence, luxury, and parasitism which seep into a society that is founded on the principle of inherited money, place, and value. Mars in Capricorn is vitalization of the sense of father-love; its exercise demands self-discipline and work.
The Moon's exaltation in Taurus, second earth-sign, raises the instinct to feed and protect the immature into the consciousness of stewardship. The weak are to become strong. The immature are to become mature. The negative of the Cancer-vibration is to over-protect and to over-nurture those who are, at a given point, dependent. The stewardship of the development of the weak and immature is the exalted octave of the Moon's power. To protect the development is a contribution to evolutionary progress; to foster the weakness is to contribute to retardation. England's great Elizabeth had Moon in Taurus, fourth house, and certainly no ruler at any time has ever been more respectfully alert and sensitive to the vigorous evolutionary potential of the ruled nation. A most significant psychological factor is seen in this position: Taurus is the Moon's eleventh house-sign; as such it relates to Moon's Cancer as Aquarius-Uranus relates to Aries. This position of the Moon (an eleventh house-sign relationship to its dignity) imposes on the spiritually mature the necessity to decrystallize the sense of possessing the immature or weak ones. To seek maternally (Moonishly) to possess another is to identify Taurus as the polarization of Scorpio; the two together form the diameter of desire-power. Any individual or any ruler who has the responsibility to nurture through the Moon's position in Taurus is warned to abstain from regarding the weaker, more immature person as a personal possession. The nation and the wealth of the nation are not possessions of the ruling agency. A ruler receives recompense for his work as any other worker does; that recompense should be an expression of exchange from the nation's people in return for his service as a coordinative guardian. The "overshadowing influence" of Uranus to be found in this pattern is the decrystallization of congestion-by-desire-and- possessiveness into stewardship of growth and development by respect for the individual's potentials for growth and fulfillment. Apply this instruction personally or nationally — the pattern is archetypal. The evolutionary aspiration of the Solar Logos Itself masses possible epigenetic action on the part of microcosms — thus the respect of Father-Mother God for Its children is pictured. Solar power released through the Moon principle says: "Let the begotten microcosm grow, develop, express, and fulfill its potentials; help it, guide it, instruct it, feed it, nurture it, protect it but let my power flow through it in ever-increasing strength; do not over-protect it from access to my Creative Stimulus. Encourage always the ever-extending radiation of love by the microcosm; set no barriers to this expression by congestive possessiveness.
Saturn's exaltation in Venus' Libra is the spiritual alchemical fusion of justice with mercy. It is the dissolving of over- strictness and crystallization-of-concept by the exercise of humane impulses. It is also (because Libra in this mandala symbolizes the democratic government concept) the balancing of self-expression in government by the consciousness of responsibility of citizens to each other through their fraternal identity as co-nationalities. The exaltation of Saturn in this sign is the astrological symbol of the concept of justice for all — a law applies to poor and rich, learned and ignorant, and it means that true laws are those which counterpart divine laws in the sense that no one is an exception to them. Laws which protect one at the expense of another represent the degeneracies characteristic of corrupted Saturn-aristocracy — the illusion of caste- superiority and injustices by adherence to evaluations by wealth-possession. In this sense, the administration of a certain world-wide religious government is seen to be, at its best, a devotee of this law of justice for all. Its doors are open to all, its corrective measures apply to all, regardless of worldly placement or possession. At its worst, the Saturn in Libra symbol balances wrongs by material payment. In societies where financial possession is considered to be the standard of evaluation, a spiritual transgression against an individual or a group or the nation itself is considered redeemed if a certain financial transaction is made. This congestion-in-ignorance has played an infamous part in human history — it is one of the most blasphemous actions of which man is capable. It is a congestion in such darkness that life-long karma of the ruler may be required to decrystallize and adjust the unbalance. In human consciousness — that is, in the consciousness of individuals who are rulers — this position of Saturn in the mandala displays the White Light of Saturn when the ruler recognizes his fraternity — as a fellow-citizen — with his subjects. This is the balanced justice and equilibrium of the ruler-citizen relationship. Let no ruler forget this principle; upon it depends the resource of spiritual value of governmental service.
Libra, as a significator of the democratic governmental principle, is the fusion of the principles of marriage with the principles of contributive self-government. In a democracy males and females are privileged to express and this governmental concept is one which, probably more than any other group-pattern, has most served to decrystallize the illusion of superiority and inferiority of the sexes, relative to each other. Marriage is a two-pointed citizenship of mutual exchange, mutual development, and mutual fulfillment. Democracy is a multi-pointed citizenship of mutual exchange, mutual development, and mutual fulfillment. One married couple is microcosm of all males and females in a particular nation; the polarity of the nation is the extension of the polarity of the couple. To incarnate in a democratic government is to realize a result from many incarnations of regenerative effort as an individual; as with the trine-aspect, such realization imposes the responsibility (Saturn) to contribute for mutual good and justice of all.
The exaltation of Venus in Pisces (as ruler of Libra) is the consciousness of spiritual powers as the governing agencies of the affairs of mankind. To perceive the truths that are behind the placement of rulers, the experiences of nations, and the spiritual alchemy which is continually at work to realize the ideal of Humanity makes possible the realization of inter-fraternity between mankind and other earth-life.
The essential nature of Citizenship is "Fraternity localized." As inhabitants of this solar system, our first citizenship- identity is that of (what we will call) "solarians." This identity is derived from the fact that all life-expressions on this planet and all life- expressions on the other planets of this system are microcosms of a common source — our Solar-Logos. If there were some way of identifying our system in its relationship with the other solar systems of our galaxy, we could further qualify our identity as "galactic citizens," then "arch-galactic citizens," then the final identity which we have with all other life-expressions as "Universarians" or "Cosmosians." However, our immediate localization in the Cosmos is by identity with our immediate Creative Source, the Manifestor and Governor of this system. We could designate this Source by a personalized name, for example, "Helios." This could specify the identity of our Source in the interfraternity of other Solar-Logoi of our galaxy. Then our citizenship- identity could be, as members of this system, "Heliosolarians" to differentiate our citizenship-status from other "Solarians" of our galaxy. As an American citizen of Spanish ancestry is a "Spanish American" (the background — derivative — qualifies the localized identity), so we would be designated as "Heliosolarian Earthians" to specify our immediate citizenship on planet Earth of the solar system of "Helios." In our horoscopes the circular traditional symbol for the Sun placed in the center of the wheel is the astrological symbol of "Helios" as our Creative Source; the suggested symbol of "semi-circle on horizontal line" (a symbol-picture of the rising Sun) is our personalized consciousness of the existence and nature of "Helios"; we designate this new symbol simply as "Sun" because it represents a relative comprehension of the nature of "Helios."
The archetypal astrological symbol of democratic citizenship (as the principle of fraternity manifesting in a governmental form) is the sign Libra, seventh house-sign of the Great Mandala and cardinal initiator of the air-trine from which all specifications of fraternity are derived. Because the four cardinal signs indicate the basic specifications of our polaric-generic Being, the mandala with Libra as Ascendant will now be considered as the root of our democratic citizenship consciousness.
As "Cosmosians," the Libra mandala pictures our attribute as "Reactors and Reflectors" — we react to the stimulus of other people's expressions. The esoteric mystery of the positive aspect of the vibratory power of Venus, as ruler of a cardinal sign, is seen in the fact that the action that we express subsequent to a reaction to another person's negative expression can be an expression of transmutative alchemy; we may react with pain but we do not have to re-project according to the pain- reaction; we can re-project in such a way that the friction, disharmony, or negative condition in general is neutralized. Thus, in this mandala, Libra (one of the signs which are focalized by Venus) is the expressor, but its expression, because Libra is the reflective polarity of Aries, is that of counter-active or transmutative alchemy. In this mandala, the "transcendencies" of the signs Libra through Pisces focalize the elements of soul-consciousness in those archetypal experience-chapters which usually pertain to the consciousness of the "separative self." To react and express by transmutative alchemy is to raise the consciousness of separative self into a degree of the octave of the "inclusive self." To the degree that regenerate action follows reaction will the combined vibratory forces of two, or many, people magnetized in relationship be transmuted.
In physical terms, this mandala portrays woman as expressor, man as reactor; it portrays, in a more abstract sense, the expressiveness of soul-consciousness, the reactiveness of self-consciousness. Dynamic expressions of negative selfishness are the things which bombard the receptivity of the Venus-vibration; the reactive expression of Venus is to neutralize the destructive element and thereby establish a greater degree of unified good. In the democratic fraternity of marriage, this Libra-Ascendant pictures not only woman; it pictures the composite soul-conscious-ness of both people; it symbolizes the beauties and perfections which each person sees in the other; it symbolizes the beauties and perfections of each that are ignited in consciousness by the dynamic essence of the other. This is the "raising in love" (not "falling in love") by which two humans, citizens in the world of an intensely focused relationship, are enabled to perceive their soul-elements through mutual ignition of idealities. The transmutative alchemy that takes place in a love-relationship (and all love-relationship is marriage in the realms of consciousness) is Libra as initiator of new life-consciousness and as epigenitor of a new world of experience. Husband and wife — twofold manifestations of lover-beloved — are fraternal citizens in the "democratic country of the union which they establish;" the epigenetic development of each, through physical, mental, emotional, and vibratory inter-fusion, is the purpose of the union; individualized expression of both, mutual respect of individualities, and cooperative action in the love-service of child-begetting and child-stewardship composite the democratic quality of true love-union. Consequently we see that a government based on democratic principles is, of all governments, the one most highly charged with the essence of love- consciousness. Only people who had evolved a high degree of awareness of the unity of love-power were qualified to promulgate democratic governmental principles. They were people who had, to a degree, realized the ideal of interfraternity of humans as Earthians and as citizens of a localized national group. The respect for the individual rights of males and females and the provision of opportunity for individual expression picture the spiritual love- principles of marriage transposed into the extended octave of the "togetherness" of males and females on this planet or in a specific racial type or in a particular national form. The individual human, in the localization of his or her personal family life, proves the type of his ruler- ship-consciousness; as he is in his consciousness, so is he in his family and so is he in his relationship with fellow-nationals.
Now to consider the "childhood of attainment." We refer to the sign Gemini in the Great Mandala as the immaturity of the citizenship-consciousness of Humanity. This is the third house-sign; as a root-sign it is the twelfth house-sign of the matrix-sign Cancer — it is that which "lies behind all parental expression." In this respect, Gemini's relationship to Cancer (and its polarity, Capricorn) is that which impels >parentage; it is the physical sons and daughters to a specific couple of husband and wife; it is the karmic sons and daughters born to a specific polarization of national ancestral background. Cancer-Capricorn, in relationship to Aries-Libra, is "that from which Form (manifestation) is derived." We do not inherit national traits; we are magnetized to parents of specific ancestry by the quality of our consciousness. "National trait" is just another way of saying "vibratory quality concentrated in a large number of people." We have words like "Scandinavian," "Spanish," "Polish," etc., to designate the citizenship of our physical birth or the national background of our parents, but there are many people who are not similar in nationalistic quality to their parentage; in fact they can be unsympathetic to the traditions and nationalistic viewpoints of their parentage. These people prove that, in consciousness, they are citizens of a different ideality — they find their affinity with people whose interests, ideals, and aspirations parallel their own. However, born in the localization known as "The United States of America," all children, by karmic magnetization are brought in contact with the ideals and aspirations expressed by the spiritually-minded founders of this nation; the essence of democratic citizenship is the cornerstone of the national edifice which they established. As Gemini, then, our children are "young, immature, growing Americans."
It may safely be said at this point that incarnation as "American citizen" means that every child (regardless of his karmic or ancestral background) is timed to learn more of the spiritual ideal of democratic living. There have been many great democratically-minded individuals in human history. Democracy does not mean "political party"; it is a state of spiritual consciousness. The immortal Akhnaton, Pharaoh of Egypt almost six thousand years ago, has been called the first democratic ruler in human history; as sovereign of his people he sought to establish the principles of religious freedom, legal equality of the sexes and spiritual education as integral parts of the life of his subjects. He was, by the transcendent quality of his mind, heart, and spirit, a true "Son of Helios": his concepts of rulership included a sense of his basic fraternity with his subjects and that of his subjects to each other. If modern education in this country can teach, or vitalize, an awareness of fraternity in the minds of today's children, it will have fulfilled its esoteric purpose. If modern education can teach the Law of Cause and Effect it will have fulfilled its principal exoteric purpose because understanding of this law is the root of all education. The education of the factual intellect is important, of course, but brilliantly-endowed intellects can, and some do, live in a world which they interpret as chaotic, incoherent, confused, and unintelligible because they themselves are chaotic, incoherent, confused, and unintelligible in their relationship to themselves and to other people. They do not know that they themselves cause the conditions which register as effects in their lives. Gemini natives, then, as specific children born of specific parents in a specific locality, are citizens in the world of learning, the world of home and school. In a democratic governmental administration, the recognition is given to the right of every child to learn, to organize and coordinate his mental faculties, to extend his knowledge (brought over from past incarnations) of the objective world, to unfold his talents and potentialities for work-service and to become more spiritually informed. This recognition is given by virtue of respect for the child's individualized existence on this planet and respect for the good which he, potentially, may do as an adult. The generic essence of Gemini, in such designation, is feminine; the boy-student and girl-student function through the years of their learning-experience as in-takers; they function as receptors of and reactors to educational stimuli which are projected by the dynamic essence of Gemini's planetary polarity, Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius). The Jupiterian polarization of Mercury's Gemini states that all true education is spiritual — knowledge of principles is macrocosm to knowledge of effects; knowledge of cause-and-effect clears the channelings for all other knowledge. The evolutionary instinct to spiritualize the concept of life-service is shown by the Virgo-Pisces vertical diameter of the Gemini mandala; the ideal of perfect personal and impersonal service is that which "gestates" the aspiration to learn. Knowledge (or understanding) that is not used for contributive improvement of human life is, relatively, "dead material." Therefore, as members of family-groups and of school groups, children are citizens in the state of mental maturing. The stewardship principle of this identity is the Cancer-Capricorn diameter on the second and eighth cusps — the "possession of group or national or family citizenship" is to be transposed into the octave of stewardship of the human group by exercise of that which is intellectually and spiritually learned. As long as we incarnate in the human archetype, we have citizenship only as "Earthians"; to congest on possession of American citizenship is to inhibit and constrict the sense of identity as Earth-citizenship. The human archetype is our family, it is the "society" to which we belong, it is the specification of our identity in relationship to our solar logos, "Helios," of whose power we are the highest epigenetic manifestation on this planet. Gemini is ninth house-sign of the Libra mandala — the sense of fraternity distilled from past incarnations represents the wisdom aspect of our focused complementary relationship- consciousness in the present incarnation. Injustices of viewpoint regarding the principles of polarity in human relationship serve to congest the flowering of love-relationship, marital experience, and fraternal citizenship with compatriots and fellow-students-in-life generally.
Aquarius, fixed air-sign, is eleventh house-sign of the Great Mandala and fifth house-sign of the Libra mandala. As the latter, it is the transcendent essence of love-power in human relationships. It is "personal love that knows no barriers of external qualification," it is love that perceives the inner value and the inner reality of human individuality. It is the decrystallization of congested, egoistic aspects of personal Leo- love; it is love as the "heart-aspect" of the Master-ship-consciousness.
The Aquarius mandala shows Capricorn at the twelfth cusp; that which is to be redeemed is crystallization of concept of separative human group-identity. Nations separate and different from each other, competitive against each other in fear and insecurity, are to he, by the Uranus vibration as ruler of Aquarius, re-identified as structure points in the edifice of the total of human society. This mandala, and the placement of Capricorn-Cancer, definitely pictures the influence of the Masters as those who serve by recharging the crystallized concepts of "separate nation- families" by the scope and power of their love-perceptions into a clearer realization of the one nation and the one family. The national placement of a Master — or of one who loves with a degree of Master-love — is the vibratory form into which he incarnates to fulfill his spiritual service; Joan of Arc for France, Queen Elizabeth for England, Kahlil Gibran for the people of Syria, etc. In all of these cases a service of inspired regeneration was performed for specified human groups but the entire race ultimately benefited by that service. If for example, Gibran thought of himself, in a congested way, only as a Syrian, the power of his poetry and painting would have been correspondingly depleted. He was a Syrian only by localized national identity; he was, and he knew it, in reality an Earthian and a "Solarian." The fraternal citizenship symbolized by Aquarius is the most complete picture of democratic principle in action because the scope of its power and influence includes all humans, regardless of outer aspects, background,or parentage. Aquarius, as ninth house-sign from Gemini, is fraternity universalized; as fifth house-sign from Libra it is love-radiation impersonalized and love-exchange spiritualized. All who learn are fellow-citizens and all who love are members of the heart's democracy.
— Supplemental Student Material Reference: Studies in Astrology, Elman Bacher
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