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It is a matter of common knowledge among mystics that the evolutionary career of mankind is indissolubly bound up with the divine hierarchies who rule the planets and the signs of the Zodiac, and that passage of the Sun and the planets through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, marks man's progress in time and in space. Therefore it is not to be wondered at, that in the course of their investigations into the spiritual development of mankind, the writers have also encountered much that deals with the Zodiac which is the boundary of our evolutionary sphere at the present time. So much has been perceived in the memory of nature that sheds light upon obscure passages of the Bible, that notes have been made from time to time of different points, but how to collect and collage these dissociated writings into a united whole, has been a great problem for a long time. Even now, the writers know and feel that what they are bringing forth is only a very, very weak attempt to set before the students that great body of facts which have come to them through the memory of nature. They feel, however, that this will give a new and more profound meaning to the old symbols, and that by passing on what has been found they put themselves in line to receive more light.
Concerning the future evolution of planets; the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception teaches, (click/touch here), that "when the beings upon the planet have evolved to a sufficient degree, the planet becomes a Sun, the fixed center of the Solar System. When the beings there have evolved to a still greater degree, and consequently it has reached its maximum of brilliancy, it breaks up into a Zodiac and becomes, so to speak, the womb of a new Solar System. Thus the Great hosts of Divine beings who, until then, were confined upon that Sun gain freedom of actions upon a great number of stars whence they can affect, in different ways, the system which grows up within their sphere of influence. The planets or many-bearing worlds within the Zodiac are constantly being worked upon by these forces but in various ways according to the stage they have reached in evolution. Our Sun could not have become a sun until it set out from itself all the beings who were not sufficiently evolved to endure the high rate of vibration and the great luminosity of the beings who were qualified for that evolution. All the beings upon the different planets would have been consumed had they remained in the Sun. This visible Sun, however, though it is a place of evolution for beings vastly above man, is not by any means, the Father of other planets, as material science supposes. On the contrary, it is itself an emanation fron the central Sun, which is the invisible source of all that IS in our solar system."
"Our visible Sun is but the mirror in which are reflected the Rays of energy from the Spiritual Sun, the real Sun is as invisible as the real man."
From this teaching it is apparent that the great spiritual hierarchies which are now guiding our evolution, have had their training for this path in previous schemes of manifestation, also that what they are now doing, we shall some day do for others. Already the foremost among our human race are treading the path of initiation, and have thereby advanced into stages, far beyond the general status of our present humanity. It has been learned that those who have gone through the Mercurial School of the lesser Mysteries, and have graduated from the School of the Greater Mysteries are now preparing human evolution for the Jupiter Period. They have entered the planet Jupiter, by way of one of the Moons, which serves as a stepping stone. Others there are, unfortunately, who have gone the other way. We read in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, that even as the whole population of the earth was at one time expelled from the present Sun because of their inability to keep up with the vibrations of the beings thereon, thus hindering them and being hindered themselves, so also it becomes necessary in the Lemurian Epoch, to expel a number of the stragglers from earth. Thus the Moon was cast out into space to revolve as a Satellite around our present planet. Those unfortunates are gradually degenerating and the time will come when they will all go to the planet Saturn, which is the door to Chaos. Thence they will be expelled to inter-planetary space to await the time when, in a new system, there will be a favorable condition for their further evolution.
Thus the Zodiac and the planets are as a book in which we may read the history of Humanity during past ages, and they also give a key to the future which is in store for us. In the famous Zodiac in the Temple of Denderah, Cancer is not pictured as we have it in modern days. There it is a beetle, a scarab. This was the emblem of the soul, and Cancer has always been known in ancient times, as well as among modern mystics, to be the sphere of the soul, the gate of life in the Zodiac whence the spirits coming into rebirth, enter our sub-lunary conditions. It is therefore aptly ruled by the Moon which is the planet of fecundation, and it is noteworthy that we find Capricorn, which is its opposite, ruled by Saturn the Planet of Death and Chaos, who is mystically depicted as "the reaper with his scythe and hour glass in hand." These two opposite signs are therefore turning points in the soul's career. Cancer and Capricorn respectively mark the highest ascent of the Sun into the Northern Hemisphere, and its lowest descent into the South. We observe that during the summer when the Sun is in the sphere of Cancer and allied signs, fecundation and growth are the order of the day. But when the Sun is in the South, in Capricorn, we have winter, when nature is dead. The fruits of the summer are then consumed and assimilated by us. As a circle dance of the Sun among the twelve signs determines the seasons of the year when direct, causing the germination of myriads of seeds cast in the earth, also the mating of the fauna, which then makes the world alive with the sights and sounds of manifested life, and at another time leaves the world dumb, dull and drear in winter's gloom, under the sway of Saturn, so by the slower backward movement, known as the Precession of the Equinox, does it produce the great changes which we know as Evolution. In fact, this precessional measure of the sun marks the birth and death of races, nations and their religions, for the pictorial Zodiac is a symbolical presentation of our past, present and future development.
Capricorn, the goat, is not a goat at all as we know that animal, but part fish and part goat. Its Saturnine rulership, and the fact that it receives the Sun at the dawn of each New Year, naturally by analogy associates it with the beginning of precessional epochs. It represents the stage in evolution covering transition from fish, through amphibia to the mammalian form. The belligerency of the goat is well known, and an apt symbol of the struggle for existence, in which the weak perish unless able to outdistance their foes. This phase of the matter is sometimes expressed in the symbol, when drawn as part fish and part antelope. Jacob, in the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis, pronounces blessings upon his children, which symbolize the twelve signs. There he speaks of Naphtali as a "hind" let loose; thus a very apt symbol of Capricorn, for when the Sun is there at each winter solstice, it is starting a race through the circle of twelve signs, which it must complete in a given time — a year.
When the Sun leaves Capricorn, by precession, it enters the sign Sagittarius, and this is pictured in the symbolical Zodiac as a Centaur, part horse and part man. Thus it shows aptly, the fact that we have evolved through the animal stage into the human. The centaur is in the act of drawing his bow, showing that there is something for which the human spirit, on its pilgrimage through matter, is seeking, that it aspires to something that lies beyond it, as a lofty ideal, for the bow points upward to the stars.
The next step in human unfoldment is not so much along the physical lines as along the mental. Its nature is shown by the Sun's passage through the sign Scorpio, which is pictorially represented as a serpent or scorpion, emblems of cunning and subtlety. It is plain from this symbol that the faculty of the mind evolved by infant humanity was cunning, and we still see that that is a characteristic trait among the lower natures even among many of our present-day humanity.
But, when the Sun enters the sign Libra, 'The Scales,' by precession, the balance of reason gives him a new start upon the evolutionary path. Under the care of divine instructors man had at that time advanced to the point where because of this new faculty, reason, he could be made fully responsible to nature's laws, and thus reap what he had sown, that he might learn the lesson of life by actual experience, be able to reason out the connection between cause and effect and in time learn to govern himself so as to progress further upon the path.
Thus, under the guidance of the spiritual hierarchies, focused through the signs of Capricorn, Sagittarius, Scorpio, and Libra, were his physical, moral and mental attributes acquired, and he was equipped and mental attributes acquired, and he was equipped to commence the spiritual side of his evolution. The germ of this progress is hidden in the celestial virgin, the sign Virgo, which is the vehicle of the immaculate conception, the heavenly mother of Christ; not of one Christ only, but of many. This is one of the most sublime signs of the Zodiac and one of the most mystical, so fraught with hidden meaning that its full import cannot be fully understood save when viewed by the internal light of spiritual illumination. Yearly, at the winter solstice, the immaculate Madonna is ascendant at midnight, when the new born Sun commences to rise to the task of growing the grain and grape, to save humanity from the cold and famine, which would inevitably result were he to remain in the southern declination. The Sun is therefore an apt symbol of the Savior, born to feed his flock on the spiritual bread of life. But, as we must have eyes attuned to light to see the sun, so must the Christ be born within before we can perceive spiritual light. As Angelus Silesius says:
Therefore, by the precessional passage of the Sun through the sign Virgo, the germinal impulse was given towards the birth of Christ within man. The mystic marriage of the lower self to the higher, the immaculate conception, and the divine motherhood, which nourishes deep in its bosom, unseen by a scoffing world, "the new born Christ," are actual experiences of a growing number of people. And without the celestial prototype, fructified by the solar precession, this would be an impossibility; neither has this ideal been realized in such fullness during the past ages as today. The reason of this will appear when we take up the joint consideration of opposite signs of the Zodiac.
A great future is in store for this offspring of the celestial virgin. Listen to the wonderful prophecy of Isaiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end."
Humanity is to rise to a wonderful spiritual height and this is symbolized by the Sun's precessional passage through the royal sign Leo, pictorially represented by the king of beasts, the lion. this is an apt allusion to the King of Creation, who will then embody the three great virtues of the Master Man, Strength, Wisdom and Beauty.
It is wonderful to trace the various phases of the religions given to the pioneers of the Atlantean Race from the time they were "called out" in the latter third of the Atlantean Epoch, to the end of the Aquarian Age, when a new humanity will have been definitely born. This aspect of the Zodiac will form the subject of the following sections. It will shed light on many of the most obscure passages of the Bible, as only study of this Cosmic Science can.
When we consider the Zodiac in its religious as well as its evolutionary aspects, by means of the six pair of opposite signs into which the twelve may be divided, we also commence with Cancer and Capricorn, for the reason given in the previous article, namely: that these are the solstitial points where the Sun reaches its highest and lowest declination.
Considered in this manner, we find that there are two sets of three pairs of signs, the first being Cancer and Capricorn, Gemini and Sagittarius, Taurus and Scorpio. In these pairs of signs we may read the history of human evolution and religion, in the early, the middle and the latter third of the Atlantean Epoch. This is also divisible into three distinct periods, namely: the Aryan Age, from Moses to Christ, which comes under Aries-Libra; the Piscean Age, which takes in the last two thousand years under Pisces-Virgo Catholicism; and the two thousand years which are ahead of us, called the Aquarian Age, where the signs Aquarius and Leo will be illuminated and vivified by the solar precession, for the upliftment of the Son of Man (Aquarius), by the Christ within, the Lion of Judah (Leo), to the estate of Superman.
It must not be thought, however, that the Atlantean Epoch only lasted while the Sun by precession went through Cancer, Gemini, and Taurus, a period of only six thousand and a few hundred years; far from it; but there are spirals within spirals and recapitulation takes place in the epochs, so that we may know what is the general destiny by looking at the Sun's passage through these signs and therewith taking this import and symbolism into consideration. It may also be said that the further we advance the smaller do the spirals become, the shorter the time in which a given improvement is made, because of the proficiency we attained in former ages, and therefore it is extremely probable that this present is the last lap, that the coming Aquarian Age is the final preparatory school day which will fit us for the new age, the Sixth Epoch, and that this will begin when the Sun by precession enters Capricorn.
This, of course, would mean that the Second Advent must take place just before that time, and though it seems to us that so many signs point that way, still it is a mere surmise and may not have any truth in it at all. Thousands of people have been misled during all the ages that we know of, to think that Christ would soon be here; it is, however, better that we are looking forward to it than if we should say with some, that it will never take place. In that case the Great Day would find us unprepared and we should find ourselves among the stragglers who are unfit to attend the wedding feast of the Higher Self to the lower because lacking the "soul- body," the "wedding garment," necessary to enfold them.
The Sun's passage by precession through the sphere of Cancer with its opposite sign Capricorn, designates the early third of the Atlantean period, which was intensely watery as the whole earth was covered by a dense, drenching fog. The Niebelung, or "Children of the Mist," lived then in the basins of the Earth. Cancer was not then represented by the same symbol as today; in ancient times it was pictorially figured as a beetle or scarab. This was the signature of the soul, for then mankind was much less body than soul.
The sign Cancer is watery in its nature, and the fish part of Capricorn, the opposite sign, also helps to symbolize this state of life under water when the Sun went through the watery sign Cancer by precession. The Moon, the planet of fecundation, points mystically to this period of germination, when mankind first commenced to exercise the Creative function at the dictates of desire inculcated by the Lucifer Spirits. Thus mankind opened the Gate of physical Life through Cancer, and strayed into the terrestrial sphere, but opposite stood Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, ready to slay them with his scythe, and usher them through the Gate of Death back into the spiritual realms where they are at home.
Capricorn was the opposite of Cancer and embodied the ideal that as the goat climbs the mountains, so man must leave the basins of Atlantis and come up from the mist.
Our condition during the middle third of the Atlantean Epoch is illustrated in the Sun's passage through the sign Gemini, the twins, which aptly represent infant humanity. During this age the division of soul from soul by the veil of flesh, which we call the body, became more noticeable, for the atmosphere had already cleared to a considerable extend, and the faculties of the spirit had become more focused in its physical instrument. With this delusion of the personal self, there came at once the idea of "me" and "thee," "mine" and "thine," our individual interests commenced to clash with those of others, so that a tragedy such as that recorded between Cain and Abel became possible. Nor was the shedding of blood confined to human beings, for we learn from the Bible that "Nimrod was a might hunter". This savage ideal was expressed in the Celestial Centaur, Sagittarius, with his bow and arrow.
But both of these pairs of opposites, Cancer-Capricorn and Gemini-Sagittarius, may be considered pre-historic hieroglyphics of a development accomplished in Sidereal years, long past, though none the less important on that account. Our own times, with the development prescribed for them, are symbolically represented in the two pairs of signs within the fixed cross, the Bull, the Lion, the Serpent and the Man.
For that reason the two pairs of opposites comprising the fixed signs, Taurus-Scorpio and Leo-Aquarius, are mentioned in the Bible, and we shall find that our modern systems of religion are full of allusions to the three pairs of opposites. Aquarius-Leo and the two adjacent pairs of signs, Aries-Libra and Pisces-Virgo. These three pairs of opposites are, as already stated, emblematic of the development in the entire Aryan Epoch. In the early third of this Epoch, the Sun by precession went through the sign Aries, the middle third of its find the Sun in Pisces, by precession, and during the last third the Sun will go through the sign Aquarius. Then the solstitial point Capricorn will see the inauguration of a new cycle or age.
The spiritual preparation for this development commenced about thirteen thousand B.C., when the Sun by precession, was in the sign Libra, the Balance, the last time. Different phases of this germinal impregnation of people then living were carried on during the precessional travel of the Sun through Virgo, Leo, and culminated in Cancer about eight thousand B.C. when the last of Atlantis was destroyed by water, substantially as related by the Egyptian priests to Plato. We shall see presently how the germinal ideals, given to humanity in those far. by-gone days have grown and flowered into factors of human development and spiritual standards of the greatest importance.
In the latter third of Atlantis, egoism had developed to a far greater degree than before, the spiritual sight had been lost by the large majority of the people who then lived entirely on the material plane and gloried particularly in their material possessions.
The Bull was very properly worshiped by them, being an emblem of strength necessary to conquer the material world. It was, on account of its prodigious strength, an invaluable aid in all their work. The proverb about "the flesh pots of Egypt" has remained illustrative to the present day, to show how abundantly that animal supplied their physical need of food, the milk of the female being also an important article of diet. The possession of many cattle was therefore ardently desired by the ancient infant nations, and the worship of the Bull was inaugurated under the solar precession through Taurus during earlier Great Sidereal Years, and continued to the comparatively modern times, when the Sun by precession went through the sign of Celestial Bull for the last time.
At that point when the Sun entered the sign of the Lamb, Aries, the post-Atlantean Fifth Epoch religions were inaugurated. The religion of the Lamb is to hold sway for the next Great Sidereal Year, while the Sun by precession passes around the twelve signs of the Zodiac, as the religion of the Bull has held sway during the previous celestial year from the time the Sun entered Taurus, until it left the same sign on its next passage.
New religions, however, are not revealed in their fullness at the beginning; they are started and go through a period of gestation long before the religion which they are to succeed ends its material existence, and similarly, and ancient religion about to be abrogated survives along after the religion which succeeds it has become the official source of upliftment for humanity. The Atlantean pioneers, chosen to inaugurate the worship of the Lamb, Aries, during the Fifth Epoch, were taken from "Egypt," the home of the Bull "Taurus." Not our modern Egypt however. The story of Pharaoh, who endeavored to prevent their emigration and was drowned, has reference to Atlantis which was submerged thousands of years before Moses is supposed to have made his escape with the Israelites through the "Red Sea." The facts underlying the story are that a multitude of people left the land where the bull "Taurus" was worshiped, (Atlantis or Egypt) whose inhabitants were then drowned, to seek a :promised land" beyond the water which had engulfed an "ungodly nation." There they were dedicated to the worship of the "Lamb" Aries which had been slain in "Egypt" (Atlantis); through its blood these pioneers had been preserved from death, and it was thus "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the (present) World" which we call the Fifth Epoch. Noah's escape presents another phase of the same occurrence relating that the mists which had enveloped Atlantis condensed to rain, and flooded the basis of the earth, leaving a clear atmosphere in which the Rainbow was seen for the first time at the opening of the New Age, the current post-Atalantean Fifth Epoch, where a new Covenant was made with the pioneers of the polity then ushered in.
Atlantis was the home of the Bull, Taurus, and when the Sun, by precession, was leaving that sign the last time, the Religion of the Lamb Aries was definitely ushered in. Thenceforth, the worship of the Bull was abrogated and when any of the pioneer humanity, brought out from the ancient Atlantean dispensation by the blood of the Lamb, Aries, backslid and worshiped the Taurean "Calf," they acted contrary to the law of progress and were therefore "Idolaters," and an abomination to the divine hierarchs whose task it was to guide them during the ages preceding the advent of Christ.
Apart from the Astrological key, the Bible is truly a closed book, but with this key, the matter is different. In the Old Testament reference is made of two classes of animals: Bulls, which were Taurean, Sheep and Goats, which were Arian. These alone were used as Sacrifices. (Turtle doves were permitted as a concession to poverty). All the principal characters of the Old Dispensation were shepherds (Arian) and Christ also announces Himself as the Great Shepherd.
In the New Testament we find another animal, the Fish, attaining great prominence, and the apostles were called to be "Fishers of Men," for then the sun by precession was nearing the cusp of Pisces, the Fishes, and Christ spoke of the time when the Son of Man (Aquarius) shall come. Thus our evolutionary journey is mapped out in the hidden astrological allusions of the Bible.
The student now has a line on the march of events, which it is well to keep in mind.
Jesus taught the multitudes in parables but explained the mysteries of the Kingdom to His disciples. Paul gave spiritual meat to the strong, but the milk of doctrine to the multitude, for there has always been an esoteric and an esoteric side to every religion. Taking Taurus, the sign of the Bull, to symbolize the worship of that animal as practiced in Egypt, Persia and other countries at that time, then we shall find that the opposite sign, Scorpio, symbolizes the esoteric doctrine if the priesthood, who were the guardians of the ancient Atlantean Mysteries.
In this connection we will note first that the sign Scorpio is represented in the pictorial Zodiac by a Scorpion or Serpent, and we wish to impress particularly on the student's mind that the Scorpion has its sting in the tail, while the Serpent has the venom in its teeth. This is very significant, as well shall see presently.
On looking up the word "serpent" in the Bible, we shall find that there are about seven words that have thus been translated; but one of them, which was borrowed from Egypt, is Naja. This word is found on the old tablets in the ancient temples of Egypt where Osiris, the Sun God, is hailed when arising from the primordial deep. He was then crowned with glory and has the Uraeus Naja, an emblem of cosmic wisdom. The Uraeus was a part of a serpent's body, with its head depicted as protruding from a point in the forehead just above the nose, where the human spirit has its seat; and Christ therefore referred to the ancient Serpent-Initiates, when He said: "Be ye wise as serpents."
In ancient Egypt the King wore a crown adorned by a double serpent, Uraeus or Naja, which seemed to protrude from his forehead when the crown was placed upon his head. This was to symbolize the fact that he held the double office of King and Priest by virtue of his sublime wisdom. In India, also, the guardians of the Mystery Teachings were called Nagas or Serpents. In the Icelandic "Eddas," the Northern Vedas, Siegfried, the truth seeker, slays the serpent, tastes of its blood and them becomes wise. Nor, to elaborate on the statement made above, is it necessary to go outside our own religion for proof that the serpent is the symbol of wisdom, for the Christ Himself said: "Be ye wise as serpents." The serpent is certainly not sufficiently sagacious to warrant a literal meaning of this saying; but when we understand that when the creative fire is drawn upwards through the serpentine spinal cord it vibrates the pituitary body and the pineal gland, connecting the Ego with the invisible worlds by opening up a hidden sense, the allusion is perfectly clear.
There is, however, a lower phase of spiritual development, symbolized in ancient times by placing the Uraeus or serpent at the naval, to show that the mediumistic faculties in the solar plexus had been developed. Mediumship is a negative phase of spiritual sight or hearing possessed by a person who, under the control of an outside intelligence, prophesies. This undesirable phase of seership was represented in the Zodiac by the symbol of the Scorpion, which has the sting in its tail. In the Serpent, Initiate the Creative Cosmic Fire was drawn upward through the head to serve as a spiritual end; in the Medium the creative energy is expressed for selfish, sensual ends through the procreative organ ruled by Scorpio.
The point between the eyebrows, whence the serpent of wisdom protrudes, is the seat of life, whereas all that opens the womb is subject to the sting of death, contained in the Scorpion's tail.
If we now turn with this information to our Bible, we shall find that a great many things, previously obscure, will become clear. As said, the Egyptian word for this Uraeus or serpent is Naja and it was borrowed by the Israelites who expressed the negative faculty of mediumship by affixing the feminine ending "oth," giving Naioth; while those able to function consciously in the spiritual worlds were given the positive, make plural ending "im," and were called Naim. If we read the nineteenth chapter of first Samuel with this understanding we shall readily see that the incident there narrated was of a mediumistic nature. David had become afraid of Saul and he went with Samuel to "Naioth." This is supposed by Bible translators to be a place, and maybe a village was so named. But if that was the case, it was because the people who lived in that place were Naoith, or mediums. They were called prophets in the chapter before us, and it is significant that as soon as anyone came within their camp, he commenced to prophesy or speak under control. Even Saul, who came there, anxious to get David away that he might slay him, was seized by the spirits and prophesied, to the amazement of all present.
In the New Testament we are told that the Christ went to the city of Nain and there raised the Son of a Widow. In the Latin Testament, this city was not called Nain, but Naim. And it is very significant that all three, Naim, Naioth and Endor, where the sorceress that assisted Saul is supposed to have lived, are in the same locality by Mount Tabor.
Every Freemason knows that the brethren of that Order are called "Sons of the Widow." And it is stated in the Bible that Hiram Abiff, the Master Builder of Solomon's Temple, was the Son of a Widow, a cunning craftsman. We cannot in the present article repeat the Masonic Legend which tells the reason why. This we have given the book on "Freemasonry and Catholicism" and also in our books on the Rosicrucian Philosophy. But suffice it to say that in the Bible story to which reference has been made, we have one of the Naim, a Widow's Son or initiate of the old Serpent School, for the priests of Egypt were "phree messen," children of light. Each had within, the ancient Serpent Wisdom. But a new religion was being inaugurated, and it was necessary to raise the ancient Initiates to the Mysteries of the Coming Age. Therefore the Christ, the Lion of Judah, Lord of the New Kingdom, went to the Widow's Son of Nain and raised him up by the strong grip of the Lion's paw. And we may here emphasize that the first Initiate under the new system was Hiram Abiff, the highest Initiate of the old system, who by this new initiation given him by the Christ, became a Christian, pledged to bear the Rose and the Cross, which were the symbols of the New Mystery Teachings of the Western World and he was then given the symbolical name, Christian Rosenkreuz.
Thus from the time when the Sun entered the sign Aries by precession, it became a crime for the pioneers of humanity to worship the bull exoterically, or to partake of the esoteric Serpent wisdom. And for a similar reason it is atavistic when people of the West take up the Eastern religions and kindred teachings. For in the current Fifth Epoch, only the Western Religions, the religions of the Lamb, have the proper effect on human evolution. All previous systems are detrimental to the Western people; and in time those also who are now in the East will be compelled to embrace this religion, or be left far behind in evolution.
The post-Atlantean Fifth Epoch may be divided into three eras; but they are all served by the religion of the Lamb. The first division covers the time when the Sun, by precession, went through the sign Aries, the Lamb. Jesus was born when the Vernal equinox was in about seven degrees of Aries; so the twenty-three degrees which lie on the other side belong to the Old Testament period, when the pioneering people were in captivity and lost in the wilderness of the world; the new religion had not then found its place. Then the Christ came and inaugurated this new teaching definitely. He came not to destroy the old prophecies and the law, but to give us something higher when they shall have been fulfilled. The sign opposite Aries is Leo, the scales or balance of Justice; and therefore we are told in the new religion that there will come a day of judgment, when Christ shall appear to give to every man according to the deeds done in the body.
Christ was the Great Shepherd, but He called His disciples to be "fishers of men," for the Sun by precession was then leaving the sign of the Lamb and entering Pisces, the sign of the fishes. Therefore a new phase of the Aryan religions was opening up. The Bishop's miter is also in the form of a fish's head.
The New Testament, therefore, does not mention the Bull or the Lamb, but references to the fishes are numerous. We also found the celestial virgin prominent and the wheat ear of Virgo is the Bread of Life, to be gained only through immaculate purity. Thus Christ fed the multitude of fish (Pisces) and loaves (Virgo).
Before the time of Christ, the new religion of the Lamb (Aries), could get no foothold. Moses, the erstwhile leader, could not bring the chosen people to the "promised land." That was reserved for Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua is the Hebriac for "Jesus" and the Hebrew word for "Nun" means "fish" (Pisces). It was thus foretold that the religion of the Lamb would attain prominence during the precessional passage of the Sun through the sign Pisces, the fishes.
This prophecy has been fulfilled, for during the two thousand years which have elapsed since the birth of Jesus, the Western religion has been taught by a celibate priesthood, worshiping an immaculate virgin, symbolized by the celestial sign Virgo, which is the opposite of Pisces. This same priesthood has also enjoined the eating of fish and forbidden the use of flesh on certain days. When the children of Israel left the flesh pots of Egypt, where the Bull was slain, they left it by the blood of the Lamb. But in the Piscean dispensation no shedding of blood is enjoined and flesh eating is condemned as a sin at certain times, for man is now taught to forsake the lusts of the flesh and also lusting after the flesh.
This ideal was tried under the Aries dispensation, when the pioneering people were yet in the Wilderness, so called, but without success; they would not have the heavenly manna. Now, however, man is being weaned from the cannibalistic practice, and in the seven hundred years which remain before the Aquarian age is definitely ushered in, we will, in all probability, have made great strides, both in overcoming the lust of the flesh and the lust after the flesh. For Virgo, the immaculate celestial virgin, and the ears of wheat contained in the sign, show both these ideals as profitable to soul growth at the present time. Jupiter, the planet of benevolence and philanthropy, which rules Pisces, has been a prominent factor in promoting altruism during the past two millennia.
It is often said, and rightly so, that the boy is father of the man. And on the same principle we may say that the Son of Man is the Super-Man; therefore, when the Sun by precession enters the celestial sign Aquarius, the water-bearer we shall have a new phase of the religion of the Lamb, exoterically; and the ideal to be striven for is shown in the opposite sign, Leo.
The Moon, which is the habitat of the autocratic Race Ruler and Lawgiver, Jehovah, is exalted in Taurus, the sign of the Bull, and all Race religions, even the Mosaic phase of the Fifth Epoch "Aries" religion of the Lamb, demanded a sacrificial victim for every transgression of that law. But the Sun is exalted in Aries, and when the great Sun spirit, Christ, came as High Priest of the Aries religion, He abrogated sacrifice of others by offering up Himself as a perpetual sacrifice for sin.
By looking to the mother ideal of Virgo during the Piscean Age, and following the Christ's example of sacrificial service, the immaculate conception becomes an actual experience to each of us, and Christ, the Son of Man, Aquarius, is born within us. Thus, gradually, the third phase of the Fifth Epoch religion will be ushered in and a new ideal will be found in the Lion of Judah, Leo. Courage of conviction, strength of character and kindred virtues will then make man truly the King of Creation, worthy of the trust and the confidence of the lower orders of life as well as the love of the Divine Hierarchs above.
This, the mystic message of Man's evolution, is marked in flaming characters upon the field of Heave, where he who runs may read. And when we study the revealed purpose of God, we shall in turn learn to conform intelligently to that design, thereby hastening the day of emancipation from our present cramped environment to the perfect liberty of free Spirits, risen superior to the law of Sin and Death, through Christ, the Lord of Love and Life.
It is for us to decipher this message, and solve the Riddle of the Universe.
When judging a horoscope it is of prime importance that we take into consideration the social standing of the individual, for configurations which are of great significance in the horoscope of an educated individual, may mean little or nothing in the figure of his or her uneducated and uncultered counterpart. Neglect of this factor would inevitably lead to false conclusions, as we shall now explain.
It is a mystic maxim that the lower in the scale of evolution a being is placed the more certainly it responds to the planetary rays, and conversely the higher we ascend in the scale of attainment the more the man conquers and rules his stars, freeing himself from the leading strings of the Divine Hierarchies through the planetary aspects in such a manner that we do not hurt ourselves beyond recovery in the experiences of life.
But coupled with this guidance there is of course the measure of Free Will, which grows as we evolve. The child in our midst has really very little free will, being the subject not only to its parents but to the servants, if such there be in the household, and to everybody with whom it is associated, all exercising control over it for its own good. As the child grows, this measure of restraint is by degrees relaxed, and in the course of years the child will learn to exercise its free will. This method has been followed by the Divine Hierarchies in the case of man. Infant humanity was absolutely guided by Divine rules without having any Will at all; "Thus shalt thou do, or not do," were injunctions laid upon them which must be implicitly obeyed, otherwise the Divine displeasure was at once shown by such strenuous manifestations as appealed to infant humanity's mind, namely, lightning, thunder, earth-quakes and great visitations of plagues. This was for their collective guidance, for individual restraint there were strict laws, commandments and ordinances. Tribute must be paid continually to the Divine Leader and offered up on the altar as sacrifices, and for every offense against the law a certain sacrifice of material goods must be made. Fear was the dominant keynote of that dispensation: for "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of righteousness." This regime was carried on under the planetary conditions of Mars and the Moon. Mars, being the home of the dominant Lucifer Spirits, gave to mankind the energy necessary that evolution may be accomplished; this martial energy was of the very greatest importance, particularly of course in the earlier stages. The Moon, which is the home of the Angels, under their Divine Leader Jehovah, gave to infant humanity that child-like brain-mind which is amenable to rulership, and bends itself readily before authority.
These with Saturn were the only planetary rays which affected mankind as a whole during the Lemurian Epoch, and if a horoscope were erected for any of the people who lived then, it would be unnecessary to enter the places of the other planets, because they could not respond to their rays. Even today a great part of mankind has not evolved very far beyond that point, a large portion of our western world being dominated principally by these planetary rays. Under their impulses they act with automatic certainty in a specific manner, and it is possible to predict exactly what they will do under a certain aspect of these planets, because they live entirely in their emotions and are scarcely, if at all, responsive to the intellectual vibrations of Mercury. Neither can they appreciate such emotions as signified by Venus or its octave, Uranus,; they respond solely to the lower nature, the animal passions. They move under the impulses of Mars and the Moon respecting sex and sustenance. Their pleasures are of the lowest and most sensual nature, they live like animals altogether in the physical, and their creed is "eat, drink and be merry." Their desires run chiefly to "wine and women," for they have not as yet awakened to the charm of song; Neither has beauty had a chance to enchant the savage heart at this stage of development for that comes from the Venus rays which are beyond such people. Woman is to the man of that stage only a beast of burden and a convenience.
Meanwhile "Father Time" represented by the planet Saturn, keeps the score, and wields over them the whiplash of necessity to drive them forward on this evolutionary path, meting out to each the fruits of his labor at the harvest time between lives. When the man has cultivated the savage virtues of bravery, physical endurance, etc., he dreams in the post-mortem existence of new field to conquer, and sees where he was lacking and why his desires were frustrated because of lack of implements. Gradually the constructive martial ray and the Saturn cunning fertilize the lunar brain which he is building, so that in time he learns to make the crude implements necessary for the attainment of his primitive ambitions. Even today we see the same cunning traits of character, the same crude crafts displayed in and by many people for the purpose of irrigating land, mining ores or milling grain. All those earliest implements were the result of the planetary rays of Saturn, Moon and Mars, impinging on the primitive brain of infant humanity.
A little further along the path of evolution, in the Atlantean epoch, the Lords of Venus and the Lords of Mercury came to the earth for the purpose of giving a further impulse to the mental and emotional development. It was the task of Venus to combat the lower emotions and raise the brutish animal passion of Mars to the softer and more beautiful Venus-love. She was to add beauty to strength, and to attain that ideal the Lords of Venus fostered the plastic arts, painting and sculpture. These were not taught men of the general public at that time; the ideals which are to be developed in humanity are always first taught to the most advanced ones in a mystery temple, and at that time initiation included no spiritual instruction, but consisted of an education in the liberal arts. Sculpture taught how the beautiful may be incorporated in physical form. It called attention to the body and idealized the softly curved lines. The result is now incorporated in our own human body, for it should be thoroughly understood that in an mystery school an ideal is not taught today simply to be forgotten tomorrow or in the next generation, but ideals are inculcated so that in time they may become a part of the very life, soul and body of humanity.
It may be objected that we are degenerating compared with what is shown in the Hellenic Arts, but that is positively not so; it is rather that we have not yet attained to that highest ideal. In ancient Greece the mystery temples occupied a much more prominent position than today; the beautiful form was idolized to the detriment of the mind notwithstanding the fact that Greece had a Plato and a Socrates. The Lords of Mercury who had charge of the development of mind, at the time when the Lords of Venus exercised their great influence on the emotions, had not then been able to make a universally strong impression on the early humanity. We are well aware even today that it hurts to think, but it is easy to follow the emotions. At the present time the middle class of the West is much further advanced than the ancient Greeks because of the influence of these two planetary rays in our lives. Woman naturally excels in the highly imaginative Venus faculty, because of her part in the creative function which aids in molding the body of the human race. On that account her figure has the graceful curves which naturally express beauty, while man has the worldly-wise intellect fostered by the Lords of Mercury, and is the exponent of reason, the creative agency of physical progress in the world's work.
We always long for, admire, and aspire to what we lack. In days of savagery when kicks and cuffs were her daily fare woman longed for a caress from her lord. The Venus ray gave her beauty and made her an adept in the feminine arts which have conquered the masculine heart, so that now man plays the role of protector on the plea that woman is not mentally competent meanwhile he is becoming that which he admires in her; he is more gentle and kind, Venus is conquering Mars, but the Mercury delusion of intellectual superiority needs another influence to conquer it. And this, woman is now supplying by her aspiration. As she mastered martial brutality by Venus beauty, so also, will she free herself from Mercurial bondage by Uranian intuition.
To primitive man, driven by the whip-lash of Saturnine necessity, when not by the animal lust and passions of Mars and the Moon, the world looks gloomy. Fear is the key-note of his existence: fear of animals; fear of other men; fear of the nature forces; fear of everything around him. He must ever be watchful and on the alert, vigilance is eternally the price of safety. But when evolution makes him amenable to the influences of Venus and Mercury; they will soften his emotions and brighten the mentality; he begins to regard love and reason as factors in life. The Sun also begins to brighten his outlook upon life, and sunshine in the nature of man during this phase of his evolution partly dispels the gloom of Saturn. Thus, by degrees, as man evolves and becomes responsive to the music of the spheres, one string after another in the celestial harp strikes the kindred chord in the human soul and makes him amenable to its vibrations, so that as a tuning fork which is struck, awakens the music in other tuning forks of even pitch within reasonable distance, so the planets in our solar system have in evolutionary succession struck various chords that have found an echo in the human heart.
But the strings on the celestial Lyre of Apollo are not all in harmony, some are in actual discord, and while man responds to some he must necessarily remain, at least partially, unresponsive to others. In fact, before it is possible to respond perfectly to the rays of Venus it is necessary for man to conquer Mars to a considerable degree, and bring him under control so that certain undesirable martial traits in his nature will be kept in the background, while others, which may be valuable, are retained. The Venus love which is willing to give all for the loved ones cannot dwell side by side in the heart with the Mars ray which demands all for self. Therefore the savage must learn to conquer himself in a certain measure ere he may become the more civilized family man of modern times. Under the unrestrained passionate rays of Mars and the Moon, parents bring children into the world and leave them to take care of themselves almost as animals do, for they are products of animal passion. The females are brought and sold as a horse or cow or else taken by force and carried away. Even so late as the mediaeval dark ages, the knight often carried away his bride by force of arms, practically in the same manner that the male animals battle for the possession of the female at mating time.
Thus we see that the first step toward civilization requires that a man conquer one or more of the planets to a certain degree at least. Unbridled passion such as generated by the primitive Mars rays is no more permissible under the regime of modern civilization, neither is the tenet that "might is right" any longer admissible, save in wars when we return to barbarism. The Mars quality of physical prowess, that at one time made it a virtue to attack others and take away property, is no longer admired in the individual. It is punished by various means, according to law, thought it is still effective as far as nations are concerned, who go to war under this primitive impulse for purposes of territorial aggrandizement. However, as said, Mars has been conquered to a great degree in civil and social life in order that the Venus love might take the place of the Mars passion.
As previously noted, the children of primitive man were left to their own resources, as soon as they had been taught to defend themselves in physical warfare. With the advent of Mercury another method is observable. The battle of life nowadays, is no longer fought with physical weapons alone. Brain, rather than brawn determines success. Therefore the period of education has been lengthened as mankind advanced, and it aims principally at mental accomplishments because of the Mercurial rays which accompany the Venus development of modern civilization. Thus man sees nature from a more sunny side when he has learned to respond to the Sun, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Moon and Saturn, even if only in a very slight measure.
But although these various stages of evolution have gradually brought man under the dominance of a number of planetary rays, the development has been one-sided, for it has aimed to foster interest solely in things over which he has a proprietary right: his business, his house, his family, his cattle, farm, etc., are all vitally important, and must be taken care of. His possessions must be increased, if possible, no matter what happens to the possessions, family, etc., belonging to anyone else, that not being his concern. But before he can reach to a higher stage of evolution it is necessary that this desire to appropriate the earth, and retain it for himself if possible, must give way to a desire to benefit his fellowmen. In other words, Egoism must give way to Altruism, and just as Saturn by yielding the whip lash of necessity over him in his primitive days brought him up to his present point of civilization, so also Jupiter, the planet of altruism, is destined to raise him from the state of man to superman where he will come under the Uranian ray in respect to his emotional nature, where passion generated by Mars will be replaced by Compassion, and where the childlike consciousness of Lunar origin will be replaced by a Cosmic consciousness of the Neptunian ray. Therefore the advent into our lives of the Jupiterian ray marks a very distinct advance in the human development. As taught in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, we are to advance from our present Earth period into the Jupiter period, and therefore the Jupiterian ray marks that high stage of altruism which will then be a prominent factor in our relations, one with the other, and it will be readily understood that before we can really respond to the rays of Jupiter we must in a measure cultivate altruism, and conquer the egoism that comes through the Mercurial reasoning power. We have learned to conquer some of the phases of Mars and the Moon, we may have also learned to conquer some of the lower phases of Mercury and Venus; the more we have overcome these the better we shall be able to respond to the highest vibratory forces emanating from these planets; yes, if we strive earnestly we shall some day be able to overcome even the highest stage of the Venus love, that always attaches itself to an object which is owned by us. We love our children because they are ours; we love our husbands and wives because they belong to us; we take pride, Venusian pride, in their moral characteristics or Mercurial pride in their accomplishments; but Christ set a higher standard: "Unless a man leave his father and mother he can not be my disciple." The idea that we should neglect our fathers and mothers or that we must hate them in order to follow Him was far from His mind, of course, but father and mother are only bodies; the soul that inhabits this body of the father and mother is to be loved, not the mere physical garment. Our love should be the same whether the person is old or young, ugly or beautiful. We should look for the beauty of the soul, for the universal relationship of all souls and not mind so much the relationship of the bodies. "Who are my mother and my brothers," said the Christ, and pointed to his disciples, those who were at one with Him in His great work. They were closer to Him than any brother could be on account of mere physical relationship. This attitude constitutes an upward step from the Venus love which places the emphasis on the physical garments of the love ones and leaves out of consideration the soul that is within. The Jupiterian love on the other hand takes cognizance only of the soul, regardless of the body it wears. The Mercurial or reasoning phase of mentality is also changed by response to the altruistic Jupiter. Cold calculation is out of the question. One who feels the expansive ray of Jupiter is big hearted where his emotions are concerned, his love; big hearted where all things of the world are concerned. "A jovial fellow," is an apt expression. He is welcomed and love by everyone he meets because he radiates not the common selfishness, but a desire to benefit others that breeds in us a feeling of trust, diametrically opposed to the sense of distrust we instinctively feel when we come in contact with a Saturn-Mercury man.
It is a matter of actual experience to astrologers endowed with spiritual sight that every man's planetary rays produce certain colors in his aura. The man with the thin, sickly blues of a commingled Saturn and Mercury, is to be pitied rather than censured for the avarice and gloom which are his constant attitude of mind; he sees everything in the world through the auric mirror which he has created around himself; he feels that the world is cold, hard and selfish, that therefore it is necessary for him to be more selfish and more cold in order that he may protect himself. On the other hand, when we see the divine blue ray of Jupiter tinted with perhaps the fine gold of the Uranian nature we realize how differently such an exalted individual must view the world from the other's sordid way of seeing things. Even those who have the faintest Jupiterian tinge are in a world filled with sunshine, flowers blooming, everything in nature gay and glad. Any by looking at the world through such an atmosphere they call forth from other sources a similar response, as the tuning fork previously mentioned generates a vibration in another of an even pitch.
After what has been said it will not be difficult to understand that the Uranian characteristics, where love becomes compassion, give wisdom that is not dependent upon reasoning, a love that is not fixed upon one object alone, but includes all that lives and moves and has its being' being similar to the characteristics that are to be evolved by humanity during the Venus period when perfect love shall have cast out all fear, when man shall have conquered all the lower phases of his nature and love shall be as pure as it is universally inclusive.
When these Uranian vibrations are felt by advance in the higher life through aspiration, there is great danger that we may throw away the fetters of law and convention before we are really ready to govern ourselves by the law of Love divine, that we may disregard the laws that are in the world, that we may not render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, whether in obedience or coin, that we may not be careful of avoiding the appearance of evil, that we may think that we have so far transcended the ordinary stage of humanity that we can live as super-humans, that the passion of Mars has in our cases been changed to Uranian compassion, which is sexless. Under such misapprehensions, many people who endeavor to tread the path disregard the laws of marriage and enter into relationships as soulmates and affinities. They feel the Uranian ray, but cannot quite respond to its sublime purity, therefore they experience a counterfeit Venusian sensation which usually ends in adultery and sex-perversion, so that instead of the natural animal passion of Mars having been transmuted to the compassion of Uranus it has as a matter of fact, degenerated into something that is far worse than the fullest sex expression of the martial rays committed in a frank and proper manner. This is a danger that cannot be too strictly guarded against and it behooves every one who endeavors to live the higher life not to try to aspire to the Uranian rays until he at first becomes thoroughly imbued with the altruistic vibrations of Jupiter, for more misery is brought into the world by those who have aspired too high and fallen low, then by those who are not sufficiently aspiring. "Pride goeth before a fall," is an ancient and very true proverb, which it behooves every one of us to take to heart. The Christ took part in the marriage at Cana. Marriage is a regular Christian institution, and must exist until abolished in the kingdom to come; there the bodies we have will not wear out and therefore there will be no need of marriage to generate new ones.
Let it also be understood that the minister who marries cannot truly mate people, therefore the presence of the basic harmony for true marriage should be determined before the marriage ceremony.
As we have seen in the foregoing, Mars, Venus and Uranus mark three stages in the emotional development of man. During the stage where he is only amenable to Mars, animal passion reigns supreme and he seeks unrestricted gratification of all his lower desires in the intercourse with his fellowman but particularly with the opposite sex; during the stage where he becomes amenable to the rays of Venus, love softens the brutality of his desires and the animal passions are somewhat held in leash, he is even, under the higher phases of this planet, ready to sacrifice himself and his desires for the benefit and comfort of the loved ones. When he has evolved to the point where we can feel the rays of Uranus, the passion of Mars gradually turns to compassion; there the love of Venus which is only for one particular person, becomes all inclusive so that it embraces all humankind regardless of sex or any other distinction, for it is the divine love of soul for soul which is above all material considerations of whatever nature.
The mentality also evolves through three stages according to the amenability of the person to the vibrations of the Moon, Mercury and Neptune. While man is only amenable to the lunar influence, he is childlike and easily guided by the higher powers, which have led him through the various stages mentioned in our previous sections. Under the stellar ray of Mercury he gradually develops his intellectual powers and becomes a reasoning being. As such, he is placed under the law of cause and effect, made responsible for his own actions, so that he may reap what he has sown and learn thereby the lessons that human life has to teach him under the present regime. Being inexperienced, he makes mistakes in whatever direction indicated by the afflictions to Mercury in his horoscope and consequently he suffers a corresponding penalty of sorrow and trouble. It he has not the mentality to reason on the connection between this mistakes and the sad experiences growing from them, during his life times, the panorama of life, which unfolds in the post-mortem state, makes this clear,and leaves with him an essence of "right feeling" which we know as "conscience."
This conscience keeps him from repeating past mistakes, when the feeling generated has become sufficiently strong to overbalance the tendency to yield to the particular temptation which caused him suffering. Thus he gradually develops a spiritual consciousness which is above and beyond human reason, but which nevertheless is also connected with reason in such a manner that when the result has been reached, the man who has this Cosmic Consciousness knows the reason why such and such a thing is and must be, or why he ought to take a certain action. This Cosmic Consciousness is developed under the ray of Neptune and differs from that intuitional right feeling developed under the ray of Uranus in the very important fact that while the person who has developed the Uranian quality of intuition arrives at the truth instantaneously without the necessity of thinking over the matter or reasoning, he is unable to give anything but the result; he cannot connect the various steps of logical sequence whereby the final result was reached. The man or woman, however, who develops the Neptunian faculty, also has the answer of any question immediately and is able to tell the reason why that answer is the proper and right one.
The faculty of intuition built up from the Martial base of passion, through the Venusian stage of love, and the Uranian rays of compassion, depends upon the ability of the person involved to feel very intensely. By love and devotion, the heart is attuned to every other heart in the universe and in this way it knows and feels all that may be known and felt by any other heart in the universe, thus sharing the divine omniscience that binds Our Father in Heaven to His children and through the direct heart to heart touch with that omniscience the person obtains the answers to whatever problem is placed before him.
The noblest men of all ages, Christian saints of the most transcendent spirituality, have attained their wonderful development through the spiritual rays of this planet because of the intense feeling of Oneness with the divine and with all that lives and breathes in the universe.
But there are others who are not thus constituted and they are not able to walk that path. These, through the Moon, Mercury and Neptune have developed their intellect and attained the same results plus the Neptunian power of idealization.
This is very important point and it is only brought out in the Western Wisdom Teachings tell us that there is in addition a third factor in universal advancement, namely, Epigenesis; the faculty whereby the spirit may choose a course that is altogether new and independent of what has gone before. We see the expression of this in all kingdoms relative to form, but in the human kingdom, epigenesis expresses itself as genius, a creative instinct, which makes man more akin to the divine than any other of his accomplishments. This is developed under the Neptune ray when that planet is well placed in the horoscope. There is of course also such a thing as an evil genius, a destructive faculty developed under an afflicted Neptune.
Only the most sensitive people in the world feel the rays of Uranus and Neptune at the present time. To feel these vibrations the connection between the dense physical body and the vital body, which is made of ether must be rather loose for where these two vehicles are firmly interlocked the person is always of a materialistic turn, and cannot respond to the higher and more subtle vibrations from the spiritual world. But when the stellar rays from these two planets impinge upon a person whose vital body is loosely connected with the physical, we have what is called a sensitive. The direction and quality of this faculty depends upon the placement and the aspects of the two planets mentioned, however. Those who are particularly under the domination of an adverse aspect of the Uranian ray, usually develop the more undesirable phases of clairvoyance and mediumship. They easily become the prey of entities from the invisible world who have no regard for their victims' desire, even if in a weak manner these should protest. Such mediums are generally used in simple trance communications and in a few cases known to the writer have lived very beautiful and happy lives because of implicit belief in the spirits that dominated them. In these cases the spirit-controls were of a better class than usually met with. But as this Uranian faculty is built up through Mars and Venus, passion is prominent in such natures and under the influence of obsessing spirits many of these people are driven into gross immorality. Vampirism and kindred disreputable practices are also engendered by the perverse use of the Uranian ray in mediums.
Neptune may be said to represent the invisible worlds in more positive aspects and those who come under the evil rays of this planet are therefore brought in touch with the most undesirable occupants of the invisible worlds. Actual obsession whereby the owner of a body is deprived of his vehicle takes place under the ray of Neptune and no materializing seance could ever be held if it were not for this stellar vibration. Magic, white or black can never be put to practical use save under and because of this Neptunian vibration. Apart from this ray it will remain theory, speculation and book learning. Therefore the Initiates of every Mystery School, Spiritual; Seers who have full control of their faculty, and Astrologers are amenable in varying degrees to the ray of Neptune. The Black Magician and the Hypnotist, who is a twin brother to him, are also dependent upon the power of this stellar ray for use in their nefarious practices.
The highest human development at the present time, namely, the soul unfoldment which is undertaken in the mystery temples through initiation, is directly the result of the Neptune ray, for just as evil configurations lay men liable to assault by invisible entities, so the good configurations of Neptune are particularly required to enable a man to unfold by initiation his whole soul powers and become a conscience agent in the invisible worlds. Let us remember, however, that good or evil configurations are not the result of chance or luck, but are the product of our own past acts; the horoscope shows what we have earned by our past living and therefore what we are entitled to in the present life.
Moreover it should always be kept in mind that the stars impel but do not compel; because a man or woman has an evil configuration of Neptune or Uranus it is not unavoidable that they should go into active evil Mediumship and Black Magic and thereby makes life harder for themselves in the future. Their opportunity to do so and the temptation will come at certain times when the heavenly time markers point to the right hour on the clock of destiny. Then it is time to stand form for the good and for the right; being forewarned through a knowledge of Astrology one is also forearmed and may the easier overcome when such an aspect culminates.
Thus we have seen that man is amenable to the planetary rays in an increasing measure as he advances through evolution, but the more highly he becomes developed spiritually the less he will allow the planets to dominate him, while the younger soul is driven unresistingly along the tide of life in whatever direction of the planetary vibrations impel him. It is the mark of the advanced soul that he keeps the true course regardless of the planetary vibrations. Between these two extremes there are naturally all graduations, some amenable to the rays of one planet, some to another. The bark of life of men and women is often driven upon the rocks of sorrow and suffering, that they may learn to evolve within themselves the will power that finally frees them from all domination by the ruling stars. As Goethe, the great mystic, said,
And it may be asked, have we run the gamut of vibrations when we have learned to respond to all the seven planets which are mythically represented as the seven strings on Apollo's Lyre? In other words is Neptune the highest vibration to which we shall yet respond? The Western Wisdom Teachings tell us that there are two more planets in the universe which will be known in future ages and that these will have an influence in developing qualities of so transcendent a nature that we cannot now understand them. The number of Adam, man or humanity, is nine, and there are nine rungs upon the stellar ladder by which he is ascending to God; up to the present time he has climbed only five of these rungs; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and not even the vibration of these has he by any means learned; Uranus and Neptune are slowly coming into our lives; they will not become active in the same manner and to the same degree that for instance, the Moon and Mars are at the present time until many ages have passed. But even when we have learned to respond to them there are two more which we shall know something later on; it is the opinion of the writers that these are probably not felt by any except those who have graduated from the Greater Mystery School and by the Hierophants of that sublime institution.
In conclusion to this article on the Amenability of Man to Planetary Vibrations we quote from the Rosicrucian Mysteries the article on Light, Color and Consciousness.
"Truly, God is One and Undivided. He enfolds within His Being all that is, as the white light embraces all colors. But He appears three-fold in manifestation, as the white light is refracted in three primary colors, Blue, Yellow and Red. Wherever we see these colors they are emblematical of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three primary rays of Divine Life are diffused or radiated through the Sun and produce Life, Consciousness and Form upon each of the seven light bearers, the planets, which are called the 'Seven Spirits before the Throne.' Their names are, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Bode's law proves that Neptune does not yet belong to our solar system and the reader is referred to "Simplified, Scientific Astrology" by the present writer, for mathematical demonstration of this condition.
"Each of the seven planets receives the light of the Sun in a different measure, according to its proximity to the central orb and the constitution of its atmosphere, and the beings on each, according to their stage of development have affinity for some of the solar rays. The planets absorb the color or colors congruous to them, and reflect the rest upon the other planets. This reflected ray bears with it an impulse of the nature of the beings with which it has been in contact.
"Thus the divine Light and Life comes to each planet, either directly from the Sun, or reflected from its six sister planets. and as the summer breeze which has been wafted over blooming fields carries upon its silent, invisible wings the blended fragrance of a multitude of flowers, so also the subtle influences from The Garden of God bring to us the commingled impulses of all the Planetary Spirits and in that vari-colored light we live and move and have our being.
"The rays which come directly from the Sun are productive of spiritual illumination; the reflected rays from other planets make for added consciousness and moral development and the rays reflected by way of the Moon give physical growth.
"But as each planet can only absorb a certain quantity of one or more colors according to the general stage of evolution there, so each being upon earth, mineral, plant, animal and man can only absorb and thrive upon a certain quantity of the various rays projected upon the earth. The remainder do not affect it or produce sensation any more than the blind are conscience of the light and color which exist everywhere around them. Therefore each being is differently affected by the stellar rays, and the science of Astrology, a fundamental truth in nature is of enormous benefit in the attainment of spiritual growth."
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