Leviticus, the book of the first law, closes with a description of conditions similar to those upon the Earth today, wherein the spiritual and the material exist in striking contrast to one another. Deuteronomy, the book of the second law, closes with a vision of the New Earth and the New Race which will inhabit it, as foreshadowed in the cosmic blessings of Moses.

   The blessings Moses bestows upon the twelve tribes parallel in many respects the blessings Jacob pronounced upon his sons. Both are of cosmic import; both correlate to the twelve zodiacal Rays. Yet there are important differences. In the four centuries that had elapsed between the utterance of Jacob, as recorded in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, and that of Moses, as recorded in the thirty-third chapter of Deuteronomy, the race had made much progress. Consciousness had expanded, spiritual insight had deepened. The blessings of Moses reveal more of the higher qualities in man and his universe than do Jacob's. Jacob described the zodiacal influences as they registered in the mass consciousness; Moses expressed rather the reactions of the advanced few.

   Jacob spoke from Egypt, the land of darkness; Moses from Mount Nebo, the heights of wisdom. Both Jacob and Moses gave their blessings just prior to their transition into the beyond, when their spiritual insight was calm and clear, and when their realization of Reality reached beyond ordinary boundaries of earthly awareness.

Deuteronomy 33:1-3,6
And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
And he said, the Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

   Reuben is the Aquarian pioneer. He has learned the glorious lesson of conscious immortality. He does "not die." He embodies the brotherhood ideal of the coming age; "Let not his men be few."

Deuteronomy 33:7
And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people; let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.

   Love will fulfill the law in the Age of Aquaria. It will be sufficient for the New Age man, an effective weapon with which to overcome his enemies. Hear, therefore, the "voice of Judah" (the son of Leo, the heart) "and bring him to his people."

Deuteronomy 33:8-10
And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

   Simeon and Levi are representative of the dual characteristics of Gemini. On the lower plane this sign manifests as division and separativeness; on the higher plane, as polarity. Simeon expresses the former; Levi the latter. Significantly, Simeon is not mentioned specifically in the Mosaic blessing, while Levi is emphasized.

   Jacob, in his blessing to Simeon, refers to the lower aspects of Gemini as digging down a wall and as killing a man. Moses, seeing more clearly the higher operation of the sign of the Twins, addresses Levi only. The quality of equilibrium, which comes only after the trial of Massah and the conflict at Meribah in which the lower nature is subjugated, is expressed in the powers of the Thummim and the Urim. Let these be with "thy holy one," says Moses.

Deuteronomy 33:12
And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.

   Benjamin typifies Cancer, sign of the Initiate whose wisdom is the result of a close and continuous communion with the operations of spiritual law. That law covers "him all the day long"; it dwells "between his shoulders."

Deuteronomy 33:13,14,16,17
And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath.
And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon.
And for the precious things of the earth and fullness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: and with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

   Joseph expresses powers of the higher mind which belong to the office of Sagittarius. He typifies the New Age pioneer in whom the mind has been spiritualized, and the functions of head and heart brought into equilibrium. The glory of such a character is likened to "the firstling of his bullock." His abilities enable him to bring forth the precious fruits of the Earth and Sun and Moon. The "horns" with which he shall "push people together" are the double powers of the illumined heart and mind. When these become active in man the manifold nations and races will be united in bonds of good will and common endeavor.

Deuteronomy 33:18
And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar in thy tents.

   Zebulun relates to Pisces, the last sign in the Zodiac. This sign closes a cycle of experience, after which the soul "goes out." The expression used applies to liberation from earthly experience at the end of an evolutionary period; to freedom from the wheel of birth and death after attaining powers of an Initiate; to release from the physical body at death; or, in a still smaller cycle of life, to entrance of the soul into inner realms during hours when the phsyical body is asleep. Pisces opens on the boundless ocean of life. Jacob refers to Piscean Zebulun as dwelling "at the haven of the sea," and Moses bids him rejoice in his "going out" into the expanse of being that knows neither time nor space. In the ampler consciousness of the race that is yet to come, death will have lost its terrors, and the soul will welcome it as the open door to a larger life to which it will go forth rejoicingly.

   Issachar lives in the mansion of Taurus, where karmic debts are paid by loving self-forgetting service. With this accomplishment comes peace and contentment. There is a realization that divine justice is ever operative, and that man receives as he gives and pays as he earns. Living in harmony with this law removes the stress and strain which violation places upon one's whole nature. The mind, the tent in which consciousness dwells during earthly life, is at ease; it truly rejoices.

Deuteronomy 33:20,21
And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad; he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel.

   Gad expresses the fiery, cardinal, mental qualities of Aries. He stands at the point of new endeavor; "blessed be he that enlargeth" that beginning. The powers of Aries are centered in the head. Utilizing these, Gad carves out a portion: first for himself, and then for others. Jacob says of him "a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last." Mind will ultimately rule supreme over matter.

Deuteronomy 33:22
And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp; he shall leap from Bashan.

   Dan expresses the attributes of Scorpio, sign of form, generation and death. These aspects of human life result from misuse of the love (Leo, the lion) principle. They are its off-spring. Through regeneration the spirit will one day "leap" from the sorrows and limitations it now suffers. It will rise on eagle's wings (higher Scorpio) into a larger freedom.

Deuteronomy 33:23
And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord: possess thou the west and the south.

   Naphtali comes under Capricorn, the sign of enlightenment born of compassion. Jacob referred to him as "a hind let loose , meaning release for a new cycle of soul expression. Filled with "the blessings of the Lord," he is bidden to possess the west and the south points of the earth plane, symbolical of darkness and death. They are for Naphtali's conquest.

Deuteronomy 33:24
And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

   Asher correlates to Libra, the sign which, in the Old Dispensation, divides spirit from matter. In the New it unites the two, and Asher becomes the new Adam in whom the higher forces are operative. Jacob declares, "he shall yield royal dainties;" Moses adds that he shall be blessed with many children (followers). "Let him dip his foot (understanding) in oil (regeneration)." Moses' closing blessing is addressed to the whole of Israel (redeemed humanity).

Deuteronomy 33:16-29
There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee;
and shall say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their right places.

   The time will come when a redeemed humanity (Israel) shall "dwell in safety alone." They will dwell in a land of corn and wine (the balanced potencies of mind and heart). Oppositional forces of the world, which have attained to "high places," shall be under control; and the God of Israel will rule "in his excellency on the sky." The race will live in a consciousness that "underneath are the everlasting arms."

 — Corinne Heline