"The fundamental simplicity of astrological symbolism has the deep-reaching effect on our consciousness that it does have because of its archetypal quality; hence its messages — through planets, signs, houses, and aspects — reach us continually as we ourselves unfold our resources of wisdom and perception."
The five prior volumes of this series of
astrological interpretations have been received with such an enthusiastic
welcome by so many astrology students everywhere that we are pleased to add
No. 6 to the series. Elman Bacher's profound knowledge of and devotion to
the spiritual aspect of the stellar science, along with an uncanny
understanding of human nature, made it possible for him to present
illuminating astrological treatises which undoubtedly place 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 into the higher realms in the
early 1950's, 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 articles made available to the public in this convenient form, 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 diseases, 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 Point, The Line, and the Circle
For a long time it has been one of the author's most deeply-rooted personal convictions that astrology is humanity's supreme
interpretative art. "Supreme" because its elements of structure and symbolism
composite the structural and symbolic elements of the other arts. It is the
symbolic picturing of cosmic principles "expressing humanly;" as such, it
pictures everything which humanity itself seeks to express in the fine arts.
It is the patterning of actions and reactions and these two words together are
the macrocosm of what we call "human experience" which, in turn, is the
"distillation of spiritual consciousness." Art, in whatever form, serves to
intensify and vivify Man's awareness of himself, other people, and the world
around him.
The fundamental simplicity of astrological
symbolism has the deep-reaching effect on our consciousness that it does have
because of its archetypal quality; hence its messages — through planets, signs,
houses, and aspects — reach us continually as we ourselves unfold our resources
of wisdom and perception. All artists, universally considered great, are
considered so because of an unusually high development in at least one branch
of their particular art; the great astrologer is one who has effected a
harmonious integration of intellect with love and intuition. He is, by nature
of his talent, an intellect and an instrument, a stimulator and a reflector, a
parent and a brother. He knows darkness but his awareness is centered in
Light; he serves to illuminate the consciousness of others regarding their
real identity as expressions of the Law of Cause and Effect, which is cosmic
polarity in action through the human archetype.
This introductory discourse on the "point, line,
and circle" is for the purpose of mental preparation for consideration of the
analogies between the fine arts and astrology. Any work of art is a
chemicalized organization of elements, abstract and concrete, which serves to
embody an archetypal idea. The conception of the idea is the action of the
artist's feminine polarity; it represents his functioning as a"focus-er" of
inspirational powers and as a perceptor of the archetype, by intuition. By
exercise of will-power and technical skill (the masculine polarity) a
vibratory fusion takes place which makes possible the gestation of the
embodiment — the archetype is condensed and objectified through the particular
artistic medium — the inherent perfection of the archetype is relatively
manifested in tone, color, designs, movement, gesture, words, etc. The fusion
of intuition with will is the exercise of bi-polarity — the artist is, at one
and the same time, the "father-mother" of his work. Human beings do not and
cannot — create tones, colors, designs, movements, gestures, etc. We do,
however, have the faculty of becoming aware of the existence and nature of
archetypes, and our talents permit us to manifest our concepts of the
archetypes, which are, and always have been, resident in Divine Mind. We as
individuals, simply give individualized expressions of them. The transcendent
quality of the work of a truly great artistic genius has its resource in the
clarity with which he perceives the archetype and the efficiency with which he
gives it expression. Think about this in connection with those works of art
which you love most deeply and which have inspired you the most intensely.
They live always in your consciousness and they serve to symbolize inner
realities to you. Your response to them is part and parcel of your soul body;
their essence will live in it as long as you exist. They are, in whatever
form, vibratory statements of truth. The "creativity" of the artistic
manifestor is the originality with which he embodies the archetype.
A few examples — to illustrate the archetypal
quality of great art: The music of Johann Sebastian Bach; the singing of
Marian Anderson; the dance-arts of Isadora Duncan, Vaslav Nijinsky, and Mary
Wigman; the acting of Eleanora Duse and John Barrymore; the dramas of
Shakespeare; the sculpture of Rodin; the novels of Pearl Buck; the
architecture of ancient Egypt; the poetry of Verlaine, etc.
Without the "point, line and circle" there can be
no astrological picturing. Without understanding the archetypal significance
of these three we cannot understand the archetypal significance of either a
work of art or a horoscope. In the composite of "point, line and circle, " as
a sequence, is seen the symbol of emanation — macrocosmic and microcosmic,
divine and human. Have you ever wondered what to do to create a symbol of
"nothing?" Simple enough. You abide by the meaning of the word and do nothing.
You leave the paper blank. The instant you have indicated anything on the
paper, you have given embodiment to a "something." The most fascinating
factor in symbology is the study of the point — because the point is the start
of all outpicturing. Can you draw a line "all-at-once"? No — you have to start
with a point. To counter with "but I can use a stamp and draw the line all at
once" is equivocation; the stamp (made to draw a line) was itself made by
process.
People — most people — are inclined to think that a
zero (circle) is the symbol for "nothing." The mere fact that a zero is a
"drawn thing" automatically invalidates such an interpretation. ("One and
zero" — as a drawing — is not "one" but "ten.") Let us consider the nature of a
"zero-circle" from the standpoint of how it is essentially made; from that,
perhaps, we can attain a clearer perception of what it essentially symbolizes.
(Note that, in addition and multiplication, our "numerical results" emanate to
the left — just as the Ascendant-line "emanates" from the center of the Great
Mandala in specific time-space. The number farthest to the left in the
arithmetical result is analogous to the Ascendant-point.)
The instant your pencil-point touches the paper
you have established the point. By sequence of movement in time-space, you
draw the line from that point. The point, then, is the source of the line, as
far as representation is concerned. Polarity is represented here: your will
and mind impose themselves on the material substances of the pencil and paper;
the thought of drawing the line is your subjective action; the drawing is the
objective action which results in the manifestation of the line. Of the two
instruments, the pencil is masculine because its substance is qualified to
make the mark; the paper is feminine because its nature is to "receive" the
impress of the pencil-point and reflect back the picturing of your idea. By
correspondence, you are (in this action) God; the pencil and paper are matter
and the line is the specific result of the action of your will on the material
substance; by correspondence again — just as Father-Mother God (creative Will
and Imagination) utilizes the material universe to manifest archetypes — and
those archetypes might be "humanity, ""cat," "oak tree," or "humming bird"
(human, quadruped, vegetable, or bird). The action of the pencil-point on the
paper is analogous to the action of cosmic polarity on and through the
material universe. resulting in a specialized manifestation.
Just as you, as an "emanation" of
Father-Mother God, are the source of your expressions, so the point you have drawn is the
source of all lines, planes and (theoretically) solids which can, or might,
emanate from it. As such, it is the abstract symbol of infinite subjectivity;
from that point lines can be drawn in infinite space and infinite time.
Because the line "lives" is evidence that the point exists; because we are
sustained in manifestation is evidence that our source exists. The line, then,
is specific effect from a specific cause; the drawing of it is a chemicalizing
process; the measurement of it is the exercise of your will to manifest
perfectly the archetype in your mind. (An indefinite line is unfulfilled
manifestation of the archetype; a measured line is specifically, definitely
qualified as an archetypal outpicturing. ) Actually the point is a "filled-in
dot;" abstractly, and we are now dealing with abstractions, it symbolizes the
pure composite of all dimensions. Give the word "archetype" a great deal of
thought — it could be made the subject of a life-time study for it is one of
the most fascinating and illuminating of words.
The point is now seen to be — as an abstract
symbol — the archetype of source: God, cause, subjective essence, nucleus,
seed, etc. The line, correspondingly, is the first emanation of the
potential — source because no other line was, as yet, drawn from the point. When the line
is completed by specific measurement it is fully "chemicalized" and it is
qualified, by its attributes of fineness" to emanate planes and solids.(just
as a child, "emanated" by his parents, possesses the attributes of becoming a
parent himself when he matures; his maturity, of body and emotion, qualifies
him for a specific identity — parenthood — as the measurement of the line specifically qualifies it.
Applying to the subject of this discourse, the
point is the archetypal idea of the artist. The drawing of the line is the
action of manifesting the archetype. The measured line, complete, is the
finished work now qualified by its attributes to be seen heard, and enjoyed —
responded to. In the Great Astrological Mandala the center-point is the
inherent Divinity of the archetype humanity; the line drawn to the left is the
abstract ascendant, Aries, the "I am" of all human-beings. In the horoscope of
the individual human the central point is his "God-spark," his individualized
"portion" of Divinity, the chemicalization of which is the line drawn
horizontally to the left from the point; its contact with the circumference of
the circle is his physical birth — the objectification of his "I am. " Since
there is only one radius of any circle, this "Ascendant-line" is the composite
of the human's four basic identities: male and/or female; complementation (and
these two comprise the sexual identity); masculine and feminine gender (these
two comprise the identities of being Causers and Effects of
Causes or Expressors and Reactors).
The word "Art" corresponds to the word "Artist"
as the word, "Humanity" corresponds to the composite word "Man-Woman."
There are many forms of Art — expression just as there are various types of
human beings. Art, as an archetypal word, means: the manifestation of
archetypes through the media of tone, color, substance, word, and movement and
the abstract elements of design and rhythm."Humanity" means: manifestation, on
this planet, of an archetypal idea of Father-Mother God; it is expressed
through the two media of male and female sex appearing in the "evolutionary
dimensions" of unfulfillment and relative fulfillment of Divine potentials.
Now, the emanations of the line — as, in itself, a "source":
Just as the Archetypal number is "one," so there
is only one center to any horoscope and one radius — though, consequently, two
diameters. The artist possesses — manifestively and/or interpretatively — one
artistic endowment and that is his ability to perceive archetypes and to
manifest them. But there may be many ways by which he can exercise his
artistic "I am" — both by participation in different art-forms or in different
phases of one particular form There are in astrology three expressions of the
four basic identities which were previously mentioned. In each of these twelve
identities, the human expresses his specialized potentials; in each of the
phases of the artist's endowment (the genders of which, masculine and
feminine, are manifestor and interpreter, respectively) he expresses his
specialized artistic potentials; the playwright expresses through various
dramatic forms and the actress learns to interpret various types of roles; the
musician deals, or can deal, with different instruments and musical forms; the
architect and the sculptor learn to adapt different substances to give
embodiment to their ideas. The artist fulfills the " radii of the wheel "with
each satisfactory demonstration of his manifestive and/or interpretative
endowment; the human individual fulfills "his radii" when he becomes aware of
the spiritual principles involved in his experience-patterns and expresses
that realization in his daily living. How is the "end" of all this symbolized?
Let us consider the fulfillment of the point — the circle:
The ineffable beauty of a perfect circle is mankind's supreme symbol of spiritual realization and perfect fulfillment of
potentials. Subsequent to realization and potential-fulfillment comes perfect
releasement, in perfect timing, from bondage to form. "Form" can mean a
specific relationship, a specific experience-pattern on a particular octave, a
specific state of manifestation, or a specific evolutionary cycle. To
illustrate:
On a paper draw the next simplest geometric form — an equilateral triangle. The mid-points of the sides are the three points
that are closest to the center (of the figure). As you move along the
triangle from anyone of these three points you recede from the center until
you come to the next angle-point. Do the same with the square — the
mid-points
of its sides are the four points closest to the center and the angle-points
are most removed from the center. All three-or-more-sided enclosed figures are
crystal symbols — they represent static states. Movement around them, though
rhythmic in equilateral figures is not constant in relationship to the center.
In this respect, the circle differs from all other enclosed figures. Trace
your pencil-point from any place on the circumference of a perfect circle
around the wheel and back to the starting-place: your pencil-point was the
same distance from the center at all times. Hence, the "spiritual perfection"
of the circle and its esthetic perfection (a continuous, perfectly controlled,
"flow" from a given point) represents the ideal of rhythmic, harmonious
expression of potentials and their perfect fulfillments in Love-Wisdom.
Since the equilateral triangle —
the "Grand
Trine" — is the next most significant as a spiritual symbol (because of the
"closeness" of its mid-points to the center) we have, in it, the picture of
the relative perfection of the human being exercising, from time to time, the
highest and best of his attributes. He doesn't — being human — stay at those
high points (those closest to the center — and they have an analogy to the mid-points of a horoscopical diameter); he tends to recede from his Center toward
the next angle-point — which symbolizes a new identity for further releasements
of Love-Wisdom powers. Study the four generic trines, each one enclosed in a
circle, with the mid-points of the sides connected to the center — to picture
the "closeness." The angle-points, being furthest from the center, are in each
of the four symbols, the triune power of identity (cardinal) to be expressed
and fulfilled through love (fixed) and wisdom (mutable). The enclosing of a
smaller circle by the three mid-points represents the"returning" of
individualization (Adam-and-Eve) to unity (Paradise) by redemption through
Love-Wisdom (the Christos). Continuing this process of creating smaller
circles in the same way would eventually, from an abstract symbolic
standpoint, reduce the original circle to its original Center-point, the
conclusions of the experience of a manifested archetype: from "Subjectivity
through Objectivity and back to Subjectivity." To conclude:
The circle is not a "chemical symbol." it is
manifestation of the inherent perfection of a chemicalized expression. It is
the ideal of perfect objectification and of perfect realization. It is the
infinity of perfect effect as the center-point is the infinite perfection of
the archetype. The circle of the horoscopical wheel is the human archetype
to be manifested (Mastership); it is the truth, the goodness, and the beauty —
the inspirational power — of the fulfilled work of art. It is the refined and
sensitized consciousness of the artist as manifestor — interpreter — and"
interpreter "means "teacher" as well as "performer" — and the fulfillment of
his sacred endowment as a spiritual instrument. The circle's center-point is
the divine source of manifestation — on all planes, octaves, and cycles.
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