"Our emotional reaction to another person identifies him as a symbol to us. If the reaction is one of envy, jealousy, hatred, fear, etc., he has served to stimulate one of our inner congestions,
confusions or unfulfillments; the person we 'hate' (wish to destroy) serves,
by the stimulus of his vibration, to remind us of a past very serious, as yet
unadjusted wrong. We do not ever 'hate' another person; we can hate only our
unfulfillments and we can destroy them only by regenerated expression. If our
reaction to another is one of harmony, joy, love, admiration, inspiration,
etc., then, whoever, or whatever he maybe, his vibration has served to remind
us of our own inner regeneracies."
The development of motion pictures as an
entertainment-art has been one of the most remarkable phenomena of this age.
It has brought drama, comedy, music, color, dance, travel, news, educational
advancement, and a pronounced cultural influence in its best forms, into the
lives of millions of people who might not, otherwise, have actually
experienced these things. We are concerned in this discourse not with the
technical development but with the esoteric significance of motion picture
acting and its effect on the minds and consciousness of today's people. As in
any other art, there are the pioneers who dared to blaze the trail toward a
more extended cultural advancement. Then there are those workers who adapt
the findings of the pioneers and develop them on a larger and more perfect
scale as time goes by. Then there are those motion picture manifestors not
particularly interested in or even aware of cultural advancement who "give the
public what it wants" in terms of maintaining that which has been established
as standards of entertainment-value. The latter group is that which most
conspicuously "feeds the public's escapist-tendency;" the first two groups
serve to improve, extend, and regenerate the public taste and appreciation and
it is they who, for the most part, are responsible for the highest quality of
artistic value to be found in this work.
Many times motion pictures have been referred to
as "an escape-mechanism," a "panacea" which serves to help people forget
themselves and their troubles. Such an interpretation displays a lack of
understanding. The motion picture art is not essentially an escape-mechanism
even if some people use it as such. A psychological approach to this "quirk"
in human nature should devolve on the human factor, not on the motion-picture
factor. The names of "escape-mechanisms" are legion; let us consider their
essence. Astrologically speaking, the vibration of unregenerate Neptune in
combination with any square or opposition aspect is a potential for
escape-mechanism. The square and opposition aspects are points of inner division,
congestion of potentials, tendencies to disintegration, points of ignorance,
confusion of identities, lack of self-awareness, lack of self-confidence,
inhibitions through fear-hatred, etc. The unregeneracy of Neptune is,
among other things, our potential to give power to illusions. And, we all do
that, in some form or other, until the consciousness is flooded with the light
of understanding and clarified perception as the result of learning through
disillusionment. When we suffer from any of these negative conditions and we
don't know why we suffer, we tend to identify inner truths with something, or
someone, outside of ourselves. This is what is, essentially, meant by
"escape-mechanism" — the attempt to escape from the pain of inner congestions
and confusions.
If humanity can be said to be motivated by one
common objective, that objective is certainly the realization of ideals. The
ideal is a music that, once heard, cannot be resisted. The search to realize
this ideality is the great evolutionary surge; we have followed this "music,"
consciously or unconsciously, ever since we first manifested. The realization
of ideality is the fulfillment, through regenerated expression, of potentials.
Until we fulfill our own as individuals, we tend to be driven to seek its
outpicturing in someone or something else. Evolution is dependent on
expression; to "not express" or to "not do" is to "not evolve." Even a person
who lives in terms of what we call "criminality" is evolving because he is
expressing his potentials; he sets up causes which will react as karmic-return
from which he may, ultimately, learn more about principles. The possession of
money is many people's symbol of life's greatest good and they stop at nothing
to realize this ideal; however, in time, and through experience, they learn
what money really is and then they are conditioned to adjust their
consciousness and actions according to a clarification of principle in their
own minds. Gibran said: "Even faltering speech strengthens a weak tongue; " to
cease searching for the ideal is to die, in consciousness; to continue to
express, as a means of searching for that which is most valued and cherished,
is to evolve.
Our emotional reaction to another person
identifies him as a symbol to us. If the reaction is one of envy, jealousy,
hatred, fear, etc., he has served to stimulate one of our inner congestions,
confusions or unfulfillments; the person we "hate" (wish to destroy) serves,
by the stimulus of his vibration, to remind us of a past very serious, as yet
unadjusted wrong. We do not ever "hate" another person; we can hate only our
unfulfillments and we can destroy them only by regenerated expression. If our
reaction to another is one of harmony, joy, love, admiration, inspiration,
etc., then, whoever, or whatever he maybe, his vibration has served to remind
us of our own inner regeneracies. This explains why people faith-fully and
deeply love those who may mistreat and hurt them; the magnetic tie of karma
provides the loving one with "pabulum" on which to pour his love. We love the
ideal that another person represents to us and that "personalized ideal" is
always a pattern of our own deep "dream of perfection." The financially
successful older criminal may be an "ideal" to the younger, inexperienced one
who has determined to exercise himself in what we call " criminal ways." Yet,
in his anti-social, destructive, and unprincipled actions he still expresses
in his deep urge to emulate the symbol of the older man. In justice to those
who are ignorant and unevolved, let us remember that the person we designate
as "criminal" may express a deep devotion to those he works for or with and
within his particular limitations of consciousness, he may deal honorably with
those of his "profession," and he may utilize much of his "ill-gotten gain" to
be truly helpful. No one is entirely a criminal because everyone is seeking
to realize an ideal. The parasitic "do nothing" is a worse traducer of his
own nature than the active criminal is of his. A thief or what not at least
can possess a modicum of courage. The "do nothing" hasn't even that and he
is, by his very nature, non-contributory. He will have to make intensified
effort in future to compensate for his deficiencies in the present.
So, the person whose potentialities are not being
satisfactorily expressed or who has conditioned himself out of line with his
inner ideal may, and often does, turn to motion pictures and the players who
work in them, to attain a living, if artificial, contact with his personal
ideals. It is not the purpose of this discourse to criticize or judge the work
of specific players except as an evaluation pertaining to this subject; but
certain players will be mentioned because of the remarkable archetypal quality
of personality and physical appearance, plus a certain level of technical
skill, by which they exercise the power of living symbolism on the
subconscious of individuals or groups. Of the many who have exercised a
long-lasting influence over the public subconscious we will consider four men, of
contrasting type, whose work in American motion pictures represents
outstanding examples of symbolic archetypal personality: Lon Chaney, Bing
Crosby, Rudolph Valentino, and Clark Gable.
Mr. Chaney, whose work in silent pictures ranked
him as the greatest make-up artist and one of the greatest pantomimists in the
American theater, fulfilled, as an archetype, the universal, instinctive
impulse of humanity to desire to transcend the hum-drum monotony of "everyday
experience." His characterizations were, almost without exception, of
deformed bodies and twisted personalities. He gave to audiences a
satisfaction of their subconscious attraction to the weird and the horrible.
His characterizations resulted in great emotional impact, he had great
projective powers and the best of his performances, such as Quasimodo
in Hunchback of Notre Dame, were unforgettable dramatic experiences.
He epitomized the "quirks of Fate" by which humanity suffers through physical
malformation and terrible frustrations of normal, natural urges. In short,
his esoteric purpose was to bring to movie-audiences an awareness of the tragic
in dramatic art. He was not an "entertainer" at all, either in purpose or in
type of characterization. To have responded truly and whole-heartedly to Mr.
Chaney 's remarkable work meant an intensified awareness of the pathos of
human suffering. His esoteric purpose was aimed directly at stimulating
compassion in the human heart.
The author has long felt that the work
of Mr. Bing Crosby on the screen is one of the most remarkable spiritual influences in the world. (1951). With much in present-day organized religion in a state of
unrest and mutation, the vibration and talent of this man serves to bring,
through song and light comedy, a "gently expressed" but powerfully
far-reaching stimulus to humanity's ideal of simple goodness and natural
friendliness. His vibration, from an astrological standpoint, is strongly
Venusian — having Libra as Ascendant, Sun in Taurus, and Moon trine Mercury and Venus. And who personifies more perfectly the ideal of constructive
non-resistance? To exercise a (possibly) fanciful analogy, he might be called the
"twentieth century 's St. Francis of Assisi," so compelling is the goodness
and sincerity of the archetype he represents. Words are written and actions
planned but he, in himself, has the specialization of consciousness that
projects this archetypal quality. Others act and sing, they are enjoyable and
command the respect of the public, but there is only one Bing Crosby, the
"world's troubadour" and, archetypally, the friend of all whom he contacts.
Who would not love to possess the friendship power that he symbolizes? He
melts the hardest hearts and, with his complete lack of tension — his are the
most effortless of performances — he symbolizes the un-congested personality,
expressive, kindly, persuasive rather than forceful, with a perception of the
good that is inherent in all. If people who flock to his pictures would
recognize that they, as individuals, need only to emulate this archetype and
decrystallize residues of malice, envy, jealousy, hurtful impulses, etc., they
would not only enjoy his performances even more but they would be taking his
example to heart. Mr. Crosby personifies truths of the regenerated human
nature — his work is a series of sermons-through-acting-and-singing. People
the world over love him because he outpictures their own inner best potentials
of heart and spirit. Do you regard Mr. Crosby — on the screen — as an
"imagination-figment" completely remote from you and your life, or do you
recognize that he holds up a mirror that reflects aspects of your own innate
gentleness, friendliness and harmony? Think this over carefully.
Mr. Valentino, a Latin-European of extraordinarily
fine appearance, personified in his time a romantic ideal which superseded in
power that of any other actor of his type. Psychology could say much
concerning the hold that this man exercised over the subconscious of American
women. It is true, un-pleasant as it may be to say so, that the miasma of
puritanism has been an influence of blight on the minds and hearts of people
for many years, and this influence has deflected people — millions of
them — from realizing the ideal of spontaneous fulfillment of
love-relationship. The
archetype represented by Mr. Valentino was the complete antithesis of this
false, materialistic, corruptive, and subnormalizing "philosophy." The
composite factors of ardent Latin temperament, plus handsome face and
physique, plus a great skill in projecting the intensities of sexual
magnetism, made it possible for this actor to effect a focused archetype of
masculine personality which outpictured, to the feminine subconscious, an
ideal of love-complementation. Under the spell of his vibration, women
re-found their basic, instinctive womanhood — the desire to be conquered, overwhelmed, and transfigured by the projective power of the skillful, cultivated
male. Nothing in this man's vibration and personality was at all "American;"
he represented a personality-type of masculine graciousness, courtliness,
amatory skill, and the cultivated charm of an older civilization. There may
or may not be others on the screen today who compare favorably with this man's
particular vibration and ability, but he was, in his time, archetypal of that
which many if not most, women seek as an ideal love-partner. No one suggests
that any man pattern his life after that of Mr. Valentino, but what he
symbolized could be thought about and learned from by many men who have
permitted their concepts of man-woman relationship to be congested through
gracelessness, ignorance, puritanism — with its guilt complexes and lack of
perception of that which is true beauty in woman. In his
screen-representations, Mr. Valentino paid homage to the ideal of feminine beauty.
In personal vanity, many women seek to compel the homage of men by tricks and
artifices but man pays homage, ultimately, to his ideals, never to masks and
bricks. There is a lesson to be learned, by men, in consideration of the work
of this actor. For man to perceive, and to ignite by perception, the true
beauty of woman so that woman might become and be the beauty that inspires,
was the esoteric purpose of this actor's work on the screen.
Mr. Gable, a personification of the
Mars-Saturn-Mercury type, is probably the greatest American counterpart of that which, Mr. Valentino represented as a European. He has been designated, and with
justice, the greatest archetype of masculine personality on the screen today.
He is all men to all people — his Moon in Cancer designates his esoteric
faculty to "feed the collective subconscious," and his work is attended as
enthusiastically by men as it is by women. It is easy to think of him, in his
screen-portrayals, as fulfilling a form of "priesthood" in so far as a priest
in ceremonial religion is a personification of life-principles. Far-fetched
as it might at first seem, the esoteric significance of this actor's work is
profoundly religious because he ignites in the subconscious of people an
intensified perception of masculine principles of personality.
Students may not see any connection between the words "religious" or "spiritual and Mr. Gable's tough, hard-hitting, usually unsubtle, and earthy characterizations; but his person and vibration convey a symbol of resourcefulness, endurance, self-reliance, physical strength, genial good humor, and, above all, the quality of courage, which is the archetypal regenerate quality of the Mars-vibration. (He has Mars in the Ascendant-sign,
making four major aspects, disposited by the ruler of the chart and trine both
Jupiter and Saturn.) People, at times, tend to "sicken inside" with their own
futilities, incompetencies, and weaknesses and those of others around them.
Mr. Gable presents to their attention the actuality of patterns of great
strength of body, mind, and character. His vibration certainly ignites an
ideality-pattern since courage, self-reliance, endurance, and physical power
are Mars-archetypes, and as such they represent qualities which we are all
seeking to realize in ourselves. The trinity of Moon, Mars, and Saturn is the
planetary base of each evolutionary cycle; Moon-Saturn, as rulers of the
structure-diameter of Cancer-Capricorn, represents the parental source of the
"I Am" of Mars as well as its fulfillment in maturity. A strong,
well-integrated maturity presupposes a well-integrated Mars and the strongly
individualized dynamic qualities of the Mars-archetype which Mr. Gable
symbolizes is a vibratory essence which we all, men or women, have as a
potential to be fulfilled and expressed. The universal appeal of his
characterizations is pictured in the composite of two distinct patterns in his
chart: Cancer-Moon and Capricorn-Saturn, with Sun and ruler in Aquarius
sextile to Uranus; the twelfth house placement of his Ascendant-Mars gives us
a key to the esoteric significance of his vibration as an archetypal
personality-symbol.
If you are one who has felt "compelled" to "find yourself through motion-picture representations" and you wish to free
yourself from this symbolic imprisonment, make a copy of your chart with no
degree-numbers; this is what the author calls your "White-Light" chart — it is the symbolic portrait of yourself as an archetype. Study it with an eye to
determining what your vibratory focal-points are (forget square and
opposition in this study) and start doing something to organize your life so
that you can give fuller and freer expression to your essential vibratory
potentials. Study the work of the actor and/or actress whose work on the
screen "fascinates" you and recognize that something in their personality or
vibration is in you too. It is your right and duty to find the truth of you
as an individualized expression of the archetype humanity. When you commence
this reorganization, you will find yourself gradually freed from the
compulsion to identify yourself through another — and your enjoyment of
theatrical art and entertainment will take on a greater sincerity because you
will be more and more able to enjoy it and appreciate it for its own sake.
The art of living is to find out who and what we realize of ourselves.
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