This young man was born with the supersensitive and advanced sign Aquarius
on the Ascendant. Uranus and Saturn, the co-rulers of Aquarius, are heavily
afflicted. They exercised such a restrictive and destructive influence on
his health and body that they choked the life forces and caused his death in
his early teens. But this probably could have been avoided if good hygiene
had been followed from the start.
Uranus in the first house in Pisces squares both Venus and Jupiter, the
two planets which rule the blood. Venus rules the venous blood and
circulation and Jupiter the arterial. Hence we see at the beginning that
this boy came into his physical vehicle with a restriction of the blood. We
know that the blood is the means by which the Spirit controls its vehicles;
the purer the blood, the greater is the control. With these afflictions, the
individual finds it difficult to eliminate toxins from his body; this, in
turn, keeps his blood impure and hampers the Spirit. Aquarius on the
Ascendant indicates that he came to learn altruism and constructive thinking
and to forget himself for the sake of his friends.
With the Sun in Aries in the second house square Mars in Capricorn and opposition Saturn in Libra, the forces of life and death are at war with each
other. (Notice that the T-square involves three planets in their signs of
exaltation, which increase their power for good or ill according to the nature
of their aspects). This again limits the Ego in its efforts to overcome selfishness. Selfishness prevents the individual from letting go of things,
feelings, or thoughts. In consequence, the body's biological functions follow
the same pattern and the body retains toxins.
There are three major ways to eliminate toxins: through the lungs, through
the excretory system, and through the skin.
The lungs are ruled by Mercury and the sign Gemini. Since Venus is afflicted in Gemini, it produces shallow breathing and poor oxygenation of the
blood. Mercury square Neptune shows a tendency for fragility of the lungs and
susceptibility to drugs and chemicals.
The kidneys are ruled by Venus and the sign Libra. We find in Libra a
strongly aspected Moon and heavy afflictions of the restrictive Saturn.
These obstruct the filtering action of the kidneys, allowing toxic elements
to stay in the blood stream and intoxicate the body. Afflicted Venus shows
that the kidneys are weakened because they are not properly irrigated and
drained by the blood vessels.
The skin is ruled by Saturn and the sign Capricorn. Here again the aflictions of Mars in Capricorn explain the regular bouts of skin infection with
which the boy was plagued. Not finding a natural exit, the toxins would escape
through the skin at regular intervals.
The lymphatic system which works with the circulatory system serves as a
means to drain, filter, clean, and return to the veins the interstitial fluid (lymph) which is fed to the cellular tissues by the blood. Bacteria,
cancerous cells, and other foreign substances are removed from the lymph by
the phagocytes — primarily the macrophages — that are present in the lymph
nodes. During infection, the rate of formation or macrophages is so great
that the lymph nodes swell and become tender. In the case of cancer, the
nodes destroy many of the cancer cells. These days, however, the nodes that
receive lymph from cancerous areas generally are removed surgically because
of the potential danger of cancerous proliferation from cells that were not
destroyed in these nodes and that might contaminate other areas as they
travel through lymph and blood.
At the end of November 1938, the young adolescent had a sore throat and it
began to swell. The doctor treated it, but the swelling did not go away.
After several months, a thorough examination revealed that it was cancer of
the lymphatic glands. Cancer was not very well understood at the time, and
in early May 1939, various injections were tried in vain. By July and August
the infection had reached a peak, and the swelling of the lymph nodes started
to spread, then quickly subsided. At the end of October 1939, swelling and
pain reappeared. After a relapse, an operation was attempted, but the patient
died of respiratory failure during the process on November 16, 1939.
The Healing Department (at The Rosicrucian Fellowship Headquarters) was
contacted only a few months before the tragic operation, and the parents did
not heed the advice against the operation. Had they called earlier, it would
have been possible to prevent a lot of damage produced by wrong living. An adequate diet of fresh fruits and vegetables, filled with ethers, would have
helped counteract the obstruction of the rulers of the Ascendant. Proper exercises and enough sleep in a well ventilated room would have made for better
oxygenation of the blood. Skin brushing every morning would have stimulated
circulation of the blood in the capillaries, and massage of the kidneys
would have lessened their sluggishness. The discipline of regular elimination
would have helped remove some of the toxins. Washing the body daily would
have been necessary to remove the etheric miasma that clogged this young
man's vitality. Following the rules of good hygiene and maintaining bodily
fitness is very important, for it keeps the vital body active in protecting
the physical body from intoxication and infection. This type of cooperation
is necessary to make the work of the Invisible Helpers effective. The
patient's health condition had deteriorated to such a degree that, when
called upon, the Invisible Helpers only could help him make a smooth
transition to the higher worlds.
Exercise: What happened from an astrological viewpoint in November 1938
and in April 1939 and how did that affect this young man's chart? You may
want to check the planetary progressions, transits, lunations, and eclipses around the dates of the various crises to deepen your insight into the
problem and see how it evolved astrologically.
We shape ourselves the joy or fear
Of which the coming life is made,
And fill our Future's atmosphere
With sunshine or with shade.
The tissue of the life to be
We weave with colors all our own,
And in the field of Destiny
We reap as we have sown. — Whittier
How true are the words of this poet, and how ignorantly man is sharpening
the thorns which in future lives are to tear his flesh and try his soul.
This poor woman, in this life, has become conscious of the thorns grown from
past sowing, and her physical body has been a source of continuous pain and
discomfort. Had she formerly possessed the knowledge which has come to her
in this life, and had she been aware of the Law of Consequence, she probably
would have sown seeds which would have brought her health and peace of mind
in this life. But the question confronts us: would she have learned as many
lessons? We are told that we learn most through pain and suffering and that
these lessons are precisely the ones which lift us upward and onward on the
path of evolution.
Why is it necessary that man experience the pain and suffering of these
troublesome periods? Can it not be possible for him to progress on the path
through fulfillment and satisfaction? Yes, he does progress through the satisfactions of life, but only when he finds them in the spiritual rather than
material frame of reference — through helping others and sharing with them.
The pity of it is that men become so intensely interested in self-satisfaction that they are all too prone to close themselves off from others or to
share only with those who appeal to them and who are in the same walk of
life. When a person puts a fence around himself and his friends, his
activities cannot bring much soul growth. Only the fulfillment of
selflessness contributes to soul growth and constitutes the treasures laid
up in heaven.
The horoscope of this woman has the watery, cardinal sign Cancer on the
Ascendant. The life ruler, the Moon is severely afflicted. We find this
luminary situated in the 10th house, conjunct the planet of beauty and art,
Venus. This configuration of itself would be very good and would give skill
in music and art, but both planets are afflicted by squares from Neptune in
the 12th house (restraint) and Uranus in the 6th house (health). The
presence of afflicting planets in the sixth and twelfth houses clearly shows
that the native will at some time suffer ill health if she persists in
breaking the Laws of Nature by, for instance, eating wrong foods or
indulging too strenuously in social activities. This, we find, was the case
with this woman. With the Moon and Venus conjoined in the tenth house she
became very popular, for these two planets attract people who enjoy wining,
dining, smoking, and staying up late in her company. The Sun in Taurus
conjunct Mercury, and Mars in the house of friends square Jupiter in the
sign of friends, indicate that friends have been the cause of the many
excesses that brought her to physical breakdown.
She suffered dreadfully from lung cancer and intestinal ulcers. These
weaknesses resulted from the afflictions in the intercepted mutable signs:
Neptune in Gemini (lungs), Uranus in Sagittarius, and Venus and the Moon in
Pisces. By reflex action digestion and assimilation in the small intestine
(Virgo) was greatly hampered. Saturn, the planet of obstruction is strong in
Capricorn. Its obstructive power also has an effect on the digestion of food
in the stomach by reflex action in the opposite sign Cancer, and hindered on
elimination, producing gravel in the kidneys as it squares Libra (whose ruler, Venus, is afflicted. In addition, her squares between Jupiter in Aquarius
and the stellium in Taurus, and reflex action in Scorpio, influenced the development of several infections in the colon and tumors in the womb which
were surgically removed. Here we have the physical effects working through
the "vicious circles": the fixed signs, the rectum and the womb; the mutable
signs, the lungs and the intestines; the cardinal signs, the stomach and the
kidneys.
With Scorpio on the cusp of the 6th house (health) and afflicted Pluto in
the 12th house (both sign and planet ruling surgery) we understand why she
was so insistent on resolving all her ills through surgery. This procedure,
of course, addresses only the physical effect and does not remove the
spiritual cause of the ailment. It is advisable carefully to consider the
potential spiritual as well as physical effects of surgery before embarking
on this extreme form of physical alleviation. The physical body is the
temple of the Higher Self, the God within, who has worked for eons and eons
to build it meticulously and with tremendous wisdom. Each part, each organ,
each detail in it has its specific purpose, and our spiritual responsibility
is to keep the body in good health.
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