The eight prior volumes of this series of astrological interpretations have been received with such an enthusiastic welcome by so many astrology students everywhere that we are pleased to add No. 9, the final one, to the series.

   Elman Bacher's profound knowledge of and devotion to the spiritual aspect of the stellar science, along with an uncanny understanding of human nature, made it possible for him to present illuminating astrological treatises which undoubtedly place him among the best of modern esoteric astrologers. As the truth and value of his spiritual interpretation of astrology become more and more generally accepted, his presentations will serve increasingly to help people know themselves and fulfill their highest destiny.

   Before passing into the higher realms in the early 1950's, Mr. Bacher expressed a keen desire to have us publish his articles in book form, and although we deeply regret that he did not live to see his articles made available to the public in this convenient form, we are happy in knowing that his wish is being fulfilled.

   To the Rosicrucian student astrology is a phase of religion, basically a spiritual science. More than any other study it reveals man to himself. No other science is so sublime, so profound, and so all- embracing. It portrays the relation between God, the macrocosm, and man, the microcosm, showing them to be fundamentally one. Esoteric science, investigating the subtler forces that impinge upon man, the Spirit, and his vehicles, has charted their effects with no less definiteness than has academic science the reactions of sea and soil, plant and animal to the solar and lunar rays. With this knowledge we may determine the astrological pattern of each individual and know the relative strength and weakness of the various forces operating in each life. To the degree that we are in possession of such knowledge we can begin systematic, scientific character building-and character is destiny! We note times and seasons cosmically advantageous to unfolding undeveloped qualities, correcting faulty traits, and eliminating destructive propensities. The divine science of astrology reveals the hidden causes at work in our lives. It counsels the adult in regard to vocation, the parent in the guidance of children, the teacher in management of pupils, the physician in diagnosing diseases, thus lending aid to each and all in whatever position they may find themselves. No other subject within the range of human knowledge appears to hold for this day and age the possibilities open to astrologers for helping people to their own dignity as gods-in-the-making, to a greater grasp of universal law, and to a realization that we are eternally secure within the caressing fold of Infinite Life and Boundless Being.

   "Complementation" is the most important single word in the study of human relationships because it is a word-symbol of the archetype of the vibratory exchanges that make relationship what it is. Its life is polarity; its two basic macrocosms are masculine and feminine. All basic human relationship patterns (marital, fraternal, parent-child, etc.) represent a specific pattern of complementation in action as "ignitions" of human vibratory consciousness.

   The person whose vibratory qualities do not contain anything that we respond to, in our subconscious feelings, is the person to whom we are indifferent; in such casual contacts we meet such a person only in the dimension of time-space. The absence of mutual vibratory ignition takes everything from the contact that could result in relationship. Ignition by one person on the vibratory body of another causes the person who is "ignited" to react with subconscious feeling; he, by his reactions, subconsciously identifies the contact by some sort of relationship-word. Lacking mutuality, the "relationship-quality" exists only in his own feeling.

   However, when we meditate on the subject of our subconscious reaction-faculty, we recognize a remarkable thing: we, as "reacting mechanisms," do react to some degree to almost every other human being. Walking down a busy city-street, we pass, and are passed by, innumerable people; unless we are intensely preoccupied with some focused mental picture, we fleetingly react to impressions of faces, features, bodies, clothes, walks, deformities, beauties, and actions of others; even a deep preoccupation can be jolted when we come into the vibratory field of someone who coincides with one of our inner relationship pictures in a marked way — our attention "snaps into awareness" of such a person and we experience a feeling- reaction. That feeling-reaction is relationship-awareness because one of our subconscious relationship-pictures has been, for a moment, at least, "ignited." That person — an otherwise perfect stranger whom we may never see again — is an outpicturing of a facet of our subconscious relationship-resource, and as such is related to us in a vibratory way. This "relationship" will be pleasant or otherwise depending on the basic quality of our "inner picture."

   We become so accustomed to our basic relationship-patterns that we seldom recognize their true source or quality. We just react and react and react. The Art of Human Relationship — the greatest of all arts — is the harmonization of our reactions toward people so that we bring ourselves into a clearer and clearer perception of the ideal which is the archetype of each person. It is truth that the reality of any person — to you, at any point in your evolutionary timing — is the quality of your reaction to the person; change your reaction and you change the quality of the relationship, for better or for worse.

   This is not just a theory; prove it for yourself by mentally rehearsing your own changes of reaction-quality toward people who have figured in a significant way in your experience during this incarnation. Did you ever love someone deeply and then find your reaction changing into a feeling of dislike or aversion? Did you ever fear someone and then, with clarified understanding, come to regard him as a valued friend? Have you ever experienced a congestion-disintegration by becoming more appreciative and loving toward one of your parents? or toward a brother or sister? Did you ever hate someone so deeply that you felt a desire to destroy him or to hurt him in some drastic way and then experience so marked a change of heart (significant phrase!) that you "came into" a feeling of deep respect and admiration? Were you ever apparently quite indifferent to someone who figured in your experience for a long time and then underwent such a change of feeling that you fell in love and married the person? All of these types of inner changes represent the realities of relationship-transformation by "modulation into different octaves and keys " — and into different patterns. Love-Wisdom nurtures the archetype reality of all relationships between people.

   In this discussion of "complementation" we are not concerned with the houses of the horoscope, primarily; the houses are the spatial (physical) description of experiences and relationships. We are concerned with the vibratory qualities, generic qualities, focalization of generic qualities by the planets and the generic patterns represented by the planetary aspects. Try an elasticization to prepare your mind for this study: make a copy of your natal chart without the house-cusps; simply place the planets in their (relatively) accurate positions in the wheel by sign and degree-position. This is so you can keep in mind the aspects made by your planets to each other.) Now make a list of the planetary rulerships of the twelve signs; suggest: Mars for Aries, Venus for Taurus-Libra, Mercury for Gemini-Virgo, Moon for Cancer, Sun for Leo, Pluto for Scorpio, Jupiter for Sagittarius, Saturn for Capricorn, Uranus for Aquarius, and Neptune for Pisces. Learn this listing so that you are perfectly familiar with it. It is the planetary rulership of the zodiac. Also learn the planetary dispositorship of the zodiac: all planets in Aries are disposited by Mars, all in Taurus-Libra are disposited by Venus, all in Gemini-Virgo are disposited by Mercury, all in Cancer are disposited by the Moon, etc. In other words, planets in a given sign are disposited by the ruler of that sign; the planetary ruler of a given sign disposits all planets in that sign. Acquire fluency on these points.

   Now, for further clarification, enclose by a circle all planets in each particular sign in the "cuspless" wheel you've made. This gives your eye a chance to group your planets by sign-position, regardless of their house-position; list your planets by sign-position and bracket each group by the planetary dispositor; this listing is the vibratory grouping of your horoscope — you should learn it thoroughly. Now, in the cuspless wheel, draw a diameter: the starting-point will be the planetary ruler of your natal horoscope; the sign which contains the opposite point is your complementation sign; its ruler (whatever planet it is) focalizes that vibration and thus is your essential complementary vibration. Thus we see that the dispositor of your Ascendant-ruler and the ruler of the sign opposite to the one which contains your Ascendant ruler are the two basic points of your complementation patterns in this incarnation. The sign which contains your "complement planet" and its ruler will be the chief qualifying vibration of your complement. Study your Ascendant-ruler-dispositor and its planetary complement from every conceivable standpoint; in them is found the inner secrets of your relationship-consciousnessin this incarnation; they represent the focalized vibrations or inner picture of "yourself " and the inner picture of your "other self."

   Now to create the first of your two "generic charts." This one is derived directly from your natal Ascendant. Make a copy of your natal horoscope, correct in every detail, using, as Ascendant, the cusp carrying the sign which contains your Ascendant-ruler; do not change anything in the wheel. The sign that now appears as Ascendant (containing, either in twelfth or first house, your natal ruler) is your vibratory Ascendant. The planet that rules this sign is your vibratory ruler and its position by sign, elemental trine (fire, earth, air, water), structural cross (cardinal, fixed, mutable), and planetary aspects gives the picture of your inner recognition of yourself; your natal ruler is the "outward" of you-how you think of yourself consciously and how you most directly appear to other people. Remember that the ruler of your natal Ascendant is projected into the wheel from the Ascendant and by its house-position it indicates your self-recognitions in terms of space/time and activity. The vibratory ruler, however, is projected from the sign that it rules and its relationship to the body of the wheel is in terms of extension from its own sign of dignity. If the vibratory ruler is in the same element as is the sign it rules (the vibratory Ascendant-sign) then it is the Power or Love or Wisdom expression of your inner nature which is focalized to indicate your basic spiritual power. If the vibratory ruler is in a sign which refers to the same structural cross pertaining to the sign it rules, then it is "square" or "opposition "its sign of dignity and this represents an evolutionary turning point — analogous to the "turning points" of the cardinal, fixed, and mutable squares (or "crosses") of the Great (or Abstract) Mandala.

   Your chart, as it now stands (with the vibratory Ascendant) is the basic generic variation of your natal chart. The generic quality of the vibratory ruler, the sign it's in, and the quality of its dispositor will serve to identify the basic generic quality of your natal chart, since this variation is derived from the sign-position of the ruler of the natal Ascendant. Synthesize carefully by reference to generic spectrum and remember that this variation is not a picture of your Being as "male" or "female;" it is the basic masculinity or basic femininity of your inner nature. Since this variation is derived directly from the natal horoscope, consider this thought: What house, in your natal chart, contains your vibratory ruler? This house, whatever it is, will picture the physical, or "space-time" focus of this particular vibratory flowering. In other words, the "where-and-when in your incarnation you will find perfection of this basic inner quality of your nature." What does your chart show concerning this?

   If you are at all philosophically or psychologically inclined (and of course you are or you wouldn't be reading this), you will recognize that you and only you are the determining factor of your relationship-experiences. Philosophers do not, as a rule, plough blindly through their incarnations making the same old mistakes in the same old way, over and over; they seek enlightenment toward improving their inner conditions and thereby learn how to improve the quality of their expressions. Philosophers do not spend their time in blame or accusation of others because they know that it is not people but their own negative reactions which cause their pain. So now, as philosophers, we will enjoy a study of the basic generic chart as it serves to picture the "inner" of our relationship-consciousness. Another variation.

   From the chart as it now appears as "basic generic," turn it (or make another copy) so that the sign opposite to the one containing the natal ruler appears as the Ascendant. This is — or we shall call it — your "complementation Ascendant;" its planetary ruler is your "complementation ruler."

   Now this planet, whatever it is, is the distillation of your complementary relationship-consciousness — way down deep. It is the essential vibratory portrait of your "other self" and, inversely, it is the portrait of the enemy you carry around inside of yourself; this "enmity" is, of course, qualified by the regenerate aspects made by this planet, but its congestions (squares and oppositions) are, in the opinion of the author, more important to understand than any other factor of your astrological make-up because each one of these congestions is the "mote in your own eye" by which you see evil in another.

   Each congestion to this complementation-ruler represents, actually, a deep, dark ignorance of a specific Life-principle. Stimulations of these congestions will cause "other people to hurt you the most intensely " — your reactions to them, by this stimulation, at different timings, is what you feel when Life, in her Wisdom, uses a knife to do a little surgery on your congested, crystallized inner conditions. As long as you live these patterns reactively you will suffer through your reactions to the persons represented by the aspects; but when you enlighten your consciousness as to the nature of the principle represented by this particular planet you will recognize that you must consciously align yourself to make this principle a constructive expression in your life; to the degree that you do this, you will "take hands with the enemy inside and make him your friend." The Great Teacher said: "Resist not evil;" did He mean: "I get up on this fretting and stewing about what other people do — spend your time in straightening your own consciousness and live accordingly?" It is suggested — because this particular point is of urgent importance — that you make as detailed a study of this "complement-ruler" as you can. Study its placement and meaning in relationship to the Great Mandala; study its generic meaning, its relationship meaning. What does it represent as a spiritual principle and, from a karmic standpoint? What did you do in the past to create the present congested aspects? How many people (whose charts you have) have "points" that synchronize with this planet in your pattern? What has been their influence and effect on you and your life? What has been your influence on them, please? Do you tend to blame them for "doing things to you" and then turn right around and do those same things to others? It is felt that in no other astrological factor does the student need to get his thoughts, feelings, and reactions out in the open, honestly and squarely, than in those matters pertaining to this particular planet.

   Charts, of course, vary considerably as far as vibrational quality is concerned. Perhaps this "complementation ruler" in your chart has no congestions — just sextiles and trines; then it is suggested that you compare this planet with your "vibrational ruler." Which one gives you the most "advantage," which one represents the free-est expression of Power as Love-Wisdom, which one acts most effectively as a "decrystallizer of congestions," which one represents a principle that you are the most clearly aware of in your conscious being, which one represents the more clearly an ideal that you see outpictured in others, or an ideal that you, yourself, outpicture to others? There are many questions you can ask of your Higher Self pertaining to these things but they must be asked honestly — excuses, self-justifications, and blamings have no place in this kind of analysis. The "complementation ruler" can, of course be studied from an additional factor: the quality of the planet that disposits it — that planet might be very congested even if the complementation ruler itself is not; if such is the case, then learn from your relationships (the good outpicturing of other people) how to deal with that particular congestion. You will see something wonderful in other people that you wish you had yourself; try to determine what this principle is and put it to work in your daily living. This is what "life-learning" really means.

   So now we have the natal horoscope and its two basic generic variations. (Suggest complete copies of all three for reference). The cardinal signs focalize the vibratory relationship-structure, and this focalization is represented by the sign-positions and aspects of the structural planets: Mars, Moon, Venus, and Saturn. The generic grouping of the planets will serve to determine which of the two "variations" is the "masculine generic chart" and which is the "feminine generic chart" and from this synthesis you can determine the generic qualitv of your basic relationship-patterns. Which relationships focalize your masculine expressions and which focalize your feminine expressions; which focalize your reaction-patterns; what kind of relationship-pattern serves to bring to you your most needed spiritual lessons; to which one — or two — do you naturally contribute your best in love and wisdom?

   One comes into a realization of astrological values through much study, meditation, observation, and experience; it is impossible for all these subtle factors to be "put in words" at a single sitting. But when a student of astrology is also a philosopher who keeps his mind open to new octaves of realization he "ignites" his Inner Wisdom bit by bit until deep levels of realization are lifted to the surface of consciousness for practical application. We have come into awareness that it is useless to center our attention on people as being only "male and female" — the "repolarization process" has been in effect for too long a time to make this approach essentially valid. We are realizing that the truth of human relationships is cosmic polarity. Masculinity and femininity — "expression and reflection" — are expressed by all people, regardless of their physical bodies and their generative purposes and capacities.

   So, in more clearly alerting ourselves to the symbolic values of Mars, Moon, Venus, Saturn, and the other planetary bodies that focalize the generic value of the zodiacal signs, we see in every horoscope the manhood/womanhood of every human being. We must learn — it is our principal purpose here — the ways to express and reflect the Generic Principles of Life; our "school" is Humanity; our "classrooms" are the sum-total of all of our relationship-experiences, as male and female, in all of our incarnations. Nothing less than this could provide pabulum for complete realization of the human ideal.