"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."
The first four volumes of this series of astrological
interpretations have been received with such a warm welcome by so many
astrology students that we are pleased to present Volume V.
Mr. Bacher's profound knowledge of and devotion to the
stellar science, along with an uncanny understanding of human nature, made it
possible for him to present material which undoubtedly places him among the
best of modern esoteric astrologers. As the truth and value of his spiritual
interpretation of astrology become more and more generally accepted, his
presentations will serve increasingly to help people know themselves and
fulfill their highest destiny.
Before passing in the early 1950s Mr. Bacher expressed
a keen desire to have us publish his articles in book form, and although we
deeply regret that he did not live to see his publications made available to
the public, we are happy in knowing that his wish is being fulfilled.
Introduction
To the Rosicrucian student astrology is a
phase of religion, basically a spiritual science. More than any other study it
reveals man to himself. No other science is so sublime, so profound, and so
all-embracing. It portrays the relation between God, the macrocosm, and man,
the microcosm, showing them to be fundamentally one.
Esoteric science, investigating the subtler forces that
impinge upon man, the Spirit, and his vehicles, has charted their effects with
no less definiteness than has academic science the reactions of sea and soil,
plant and animal to the solar and lunar rays.
With this knowledge we may determine the astrological
pattern of each individual and know the relative strength and weakness of the
various forces operating in each life. To the degree that we are in possession
of such knowledge we can begin systematic, scientific character building — and
character is destiny! We note times and seasons cosmically advantageous to
unfolding undeveloped qualities, correcting faulty traits, and eliminating
destructive propensities.
The divine science of astrology reveals the hidden
causes at work in our lives. It counsels the adult in regard to vocation, the
parent in the guidance of children, the teacher in management of pupils, the
physician in diagnosing disease, thus lending aid to each and all in whatever
position they may find themselves.
No other subject within the range of human knowledge
appears to hold for this day and age the possibilities open to astrologers for
helping people to their own dignity as gods-in-the-making, to a greater grasp
of universal law, and to a realization that we are eternally secure within the
caressing fold of Infinite Life and Boundless Being.
The Astrologer as Scientist, Artist, and Priest-Teacher
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.
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