The Destiny of the Nations

by Alice A Bailey

  I would here call your attention to the fact that the astrology which I am emphasising is that which is concerned with the effective energies — what they are and from whence they come. I would repeat here as I have often done before that I am not concerned with predictive astrology. The coming emphasis in astrology will be upon the available energies and the use the subject makes of them and the opportunity which they present at any given time.

  I have given you France somewhat in detail so that you can appreciate the extent of the influences which determine any nation and make it for the first time what it is. The combination of Piscean power in the Piscean Age, plus a potent Leo nature, enabled France at one time to express quite phenomenally its innate subjective tendency to save the world (for France is essentially on the Path of a world Saviour); this was aided by the brilliant clear vision of the fifth and third rays with their intellectual bias, plus the opportunity offered by Saturn, ruling Paris. This enabled France to stage the great French Revolution and strike one of the major blows for the release of humanity from bondage. This has twice occurred during the Piscean Ages: once at the signing of the Magna Charta at Runnymede and again at the French Revolution. The recognition of the importance of the rights of humanity, as a whole, came to [76] the world via France. It marked a climax and high point in the evolution of the nation. Since then Capricorn and Pluto have produced crystallisation and the death or obscuration temporarily of the then emerging soul aspect (speaking symbolically) and the note of France has not been a selfless one. The forces of the soul are working, but France is as yet predominantly governed by personality and by the selfish aspects of the Leo influences. France, as yet, matters to herself more than humanity matters and the question is: Can she achieve the terrific task of decentralising herself, of sacrificing herself for the common good and of relinquishing her dreams for France in the vision of the whole and so tread again more fully the Path of a World Saviour? There are as yet no signs of this; when the time to make peace treaties arrives, it will become clearer which way France will go and whether she will work for peace and security of the whole in love and with wisdom, or for France with intellectual brilliance and selfishness.

  Let us briefly look at one or two other countries, so enabling students to make comparisons and understand relationships and future possibilities.

  Germany is ruled by Aries, bringing in the powerful influences of this first sign in combination with its fourth ray soul (the Ray of Harmony through Conflict). The simple interpretation of this is that we are watching the beginning of a new phase and cycle in the history of the country which emerges into prominence through conflict but which is essentially a process of releasing the soul to fuller expression. It is ruled also by Pisces, cooperating with the influences of its first ray personality, which is the Ray of Power and the Ray of the Destroyer. The whole problem of French-German relation is tied up in this fact for the Piscean soul of [77] France and the Piscean personality of Germany must eventually come to terms and it is obvious, is it not, that the real solution lies in the hands of France, which must let its soul control? It is because of this that, at the close of the Piscean Age, this whole relationship has come to a focus. France has an integrated personality whilst Germany has not; France is mental whilst Germany is predominantly astral; France is, therefore, essentially more potent, and its Leo personality can control with force to the detriment of future world understanding, or its soul can control to the furthering of the ends of the Hierarchy. As you know, Berlin is controlled by Leo from the personality angle, and there again comes out the relationship between the countries. They are both powerfully influenced by this sign of self-interest and of individuality as well as by Pisces. They cannot escape this relation. Hence the constant clash of these two countries through the dominating self-interest of Leo (ruling both personalities). Engrossment with present attitudes should not lead to forgetfulness of the past. France should not forget the Napoleonic wars, nor Great Britain the Boer war. All nations have much in the past which is apt to be forgotten, particularly if the lessons of greater spiritual growth have been learnt. The United States must not forget either that she is a section of the entire European continent transplanted across the ocean and that European history, successes, mistakes and sins are here also — a thing that many people are very apt to do, thus shifting responsibility. What is happening in the world today is a world happening, not a continental and local occurrence.

  Germany is therefore controlled by the following energies and forces, and a study of the consequent inter-relations should prove interesting to the detached and open-minded student.

  GERMANY

  1. [78]Aries — with its rulers, Mars, Mercury and Uranus. (Nation)

  2. Pisces — with its rulers, Jupiter and Pluto. (Nation)

  3. Scorpio — with its rulers, Mars and Pluto. (Berlin)

  4. Leo — with its ruler, the Sun. (Berlin)

  5. The soul ray. Harmony through Conflict. 4th.

  6. Personality ray. Will or Power. 1st.

  7. Ray influences of an indirect nature, coming via the planetary rulers:

  a. Ray 6. — Idealism or Devotion, via Mars which rules Aries and is the double ruler of Scorpio. This produces the fanaticism and unreasoning devotion and blind acceptance of conditions, so distinctive of the country at this time. It is virtue misdirected.

  b. Ray 4. — Harmony through Conflict, via Mercury, thus cooperating with the soul ray intensifying the conflicting conditions and leading to a pull between idealism and facts, between France and Germany, and between the groups within Germany itself.

  c. Ray 7. — Ceremonial Order or Ritual, via Uranus. This affects the masses as a whole, as it is the hierarchical ruler and (because of their point of evolution) leads to their facile standardising and regimenting. The 7th ray also focusses or “grounds the first ray” and leads to the power direction which is given them.

  d. Ray 2. — Love-wisdom, via Jupiter and the Sun as the ruler of Leo. Thus the personality ray of [79] the nation and the personality ray of Berlin tend at this stage to express self-love.

  e. Ray 1. — Will or Power, via Pluto as the ruler of Pisces, governing the personality of the nation in cooperation with the death giving power of Scorpio which it rules and which governs Berlin. This tremendous activity of the destroying agent as far as Germany is concerned is offset by the influence of Jupiter. It is not nevertheless very potent.

  Everything tends to show that the German people, not being an integrated race, are very largely victims and should be just as easily guided into right ways as they have been, at present, guided into their present activities. They did, however, provide a good medium through which the ancient Atlantean conflict could be precipitated and brought to the surface, and the ancient feud between materialism and the Forces of Light be finally resolved for this particular world cycle. Germany is mediumistic, as was its dictator, as I have earlier indicated; it is the Aries-Leo influences which produced the dictator. The Piscean personality of Germany (which is the sign governing mediumship) accounts for the apparently fluid grasp of essentials and the inability of its people and ruling government to stand by pledges. The influence of the sixth ray, coming via Mars, martially applied, and the lack of true spiritual love as it is diverted into sentimental personality devotions, account temporarily for the mass negligence to assert itself on behalf of the oppressed and in the interests of the higher principles. The need for this assertion is realised by many in Germany but the negative Piscean personality attitude provides a great obstacle and accounts for what has puzzled all who know and love the German people. At present, the [80] influence of Mars, of Leo and of Pisces in their lower octave or connotations, are dominant. That which can offset this unhappy situation is the influence of Scorpio, the sign of discipleship and one of the death signs in the Zodiac.

  The struggle for the soul of the people and its emergence into control is really taking place today in Berlin and upon the decision of this conflict much depend
s. France whose soul is governed by Pisces, the world Saviour, can do much to release the Piscean personality of Germany. Here lies the crux of the world problem. Great Britain, with her soul ray ruled by Gemini (which understands both the soul nature and the personality nature), can do much to help.

  I cannot elaborate on this further beyond pointing out that both for nations and individuals the first great crisis in Scorpio upon the path of discipleship is determining in its effect upon the future.

  In considering Great Britain, we note first that the ruling sign is Gemini from the standpoint of the soul of the people, and that Taurus governs the material outer form of the nation; it is this factor that has led her people to appear before the world under the symbol of John Bull, expressive of the British personality. It has been thought by certain astrologers that Britain is ruled by Aries, and this is true of it, as far as that small part which is called England is concerned; but I am dealing with the empire as a whole and not with a fraction of it. It is the Gemini influence that has led to the constant movement and restlessness of the British people; which has led them to cross and recross the ocean and to stage a constant going out to the very ends of the earth, to return ever again to the centre from which they came. This is characteristic of the race. It is the Gemini influence which has produced — viewing the [81] work of the nation from the personality or lower angle — the secret and oft devious diplomacy and subtlety which has in the past distinguished Great Britain’s political activity. Gemini people are often distrusted, and the Gemini effect along this line makes of Great Britain no exception. Such distrust has been warranted in the past but is not as justifiable now, for the nation is old and experienced and is fast learning the lessons which she has had to master. As yet, from the higher angle, Gemini does not entirely control, for the soul of Britain is only now struggling for expression. For long ages Taurus has led the way with his material aims, his acquisitive desires, his arrogant will and his blind moving forward towards the possession of that which has been desired. Pervasiveness and movement are two qualities with which Gemini and Taurus have dowered the race. London, the heart centre of the empire is ruled spiritually by Leo and materially by Libra and it is, therefore, the soul factor which links Great Britain to France and which should assist spiritually the Leo nature of the French Personality. It is not, however, the spiritual quality of this sign which dominates British policy, but primarily the Libra aspect. Great Britain regards herself as the preserver of the balance of power among the nations and as the one to mete out justice and indicate the right methods of law and order; yet her Gemini nature at times offsets this, whilst Taurus frequently blinds her to the real issues. It is the Leo aspect also which links London to Berlin, but it is Leo in its more self-assertive aspect and hence some of the difficulty and hence also the close and not to be evaded relationship between London-Paris-Berlin, a triangle of force which conditions Europe most potently. It is between these three that the destiny of the race of men in the immediate future lies, and again the question arises: Will the coming decisions [82] be based upon the good of the whole or upon the good of a part of the whole?

  It was the Leo force in Great Britain which attracted originally the Leo force in France and led to the Norman conquest in the 11th century. I mention this because it indicates relationship and the demonstrated results of such relationships, but not because that past event has any true repercussions at this time.

  There is a much closer relation between the United States of America and Great Britain than between any continental power, for Gemini is the ruling sign of both countries, and they have, in many ways, a synchronous vibration. There is however little of the Taurian influence in the States and consequently you have the attitude of frequent misunderstanding which exists between the two powers. They are very close to each other and the welfare of each means much to each of them, so much so that the tendency to misinterpretation of each other’s actions and motives is not aided by the fluidity of Gemini. Nevertheless, the arrogance and self-will of the Bull must give way to the fluid understanding of the inclusive Gemini consciousness, and this is a hard thing for the British temperament at this time to grasp. They are so sure of their rectitude and so convinced of their wisdom that they are apt to forget that good intentions are oft offset by bad methods. The British are just and wise, but their self-sufficient technique and their blindness to other peoples’ point of view has not aided world peace and is indicative of the control of Taurus. I would add here that the belief of the German race that they constitute the super-race, the intense nationalism of the French which leads them to feel that they have a superior culture to any other race, the sure pride of the British which leads them to regard themselves as eternally in the right, and the [83] noisy self assertion of the United States which leads them to regard their country as the hope of the world have in reality little to choose between them and are all equally indicative of personality control. This is, as you know, a thing to be overcome in all nations and individuals.

  Governing Great Britain, therefore, are the following energies, working through the zodiacal signs and the ruling planets:

  GREAT BRITAIN

  1. Gemini — with its rulers, Mercury, Venus and the Earth. (Nation)

  2. Taurus — with its rulers, Venus and Vulcan.| (Nation)

  3. Leo — with its ruler, the Sun. (Capital)

  4. Libra — with its rulers, Venus, Uranus and Saturn. (Capital)

  5. The soul ray — Love-wisdom. 2nd.

  6. The personality ray — Will or Power. 1st.

  7. Ray influences of an indirect nature, coming via the planetary rulers:

  a. Ray 4. — Harmony through conflict, via Mercury, leading to a definite link with Germany (as a study of the earlier tabulation will show). It accounts for the warlike history of Great Britain, but works out at the present time in the harmony of the Empire.

  b. Ray 5. — Concrete Knowledge or Science, via Venus. It is interesting to note that it is this ray which links Great Britain so closely with France and appears nowhere among the influences which affect the German nation. Venus rules Taurus [84] and Libra as well as Gemini and hence the well developed lower concrete mind of the British nation. The intuitive mind however needs development.

  c. Ray 3. — Active Intelligence or Adaptability, via the Earth and also via the planet Saturn as it appears among the rulers of Libra. Here you have a clue as to why the British Empire covers the Earth, for there is a close connection between the Earth, as a whole, and Great Britain. It links Great Britain also with the third ray personality of France.

  d. Ray 1. — Will or Power, via the planet Vulcan. There is in the first ray — as it expresses itself through Vulcan — very little of the Destroyer aspect as there is in the planetary influence of Pluto, another agent of the first ray. Again you find in this ruler of Great Britain’s Taurian personality, a link with the first ray German personality. It accounts also for the forging of the chains which tie the Empire together, making it a unity through the will of the people.

  e. Ray 2. — Love-wisdom, via the Sun, ruler of Leo which governs the soul of London, and which is also a channel for the soul force of the British Empire which is essentially that of love-wisdom when given real expression and not controlled and dominated by the Libra influence.

  f. Ray 7. — Ceremonial Order or Organised Ritual, reaching our planet via Uranus and giving to the Empire its grounded physical plane control over place and circumstance, its legal fundamentals, in cooperation with Libra, and its love of order and [85] of rule, thus providing full expression for the first ray energies of the British Empire.

  A study of the interplay of these energies and forces will account adequately for Great Britain and her activities; they indicate also certain definite lines of affinity and also point the way to imminent possibilities of adjustment, if the love which is the basic motivating power of the British soul is permitted expression. Hitherto it has been primarily Taurus and Leo as well as Libra which have colou
red British attitudes, decisions and activities. Can Britain change and — preserving the will-to-order and balanced judgment which Libra confers upon her — eliminate the Taurian aspects which have led her blindly to seek that which she desires and because of her powerful personality to gain those ends? There is an ironic fate which determines that this great nation, having in past centuries been one of the major aggressors of the world, should now bring to an end, with the aid of France (which has a very similar aggressive tendency), the period of aggression, and so be used to inaugurate an age of cooperation, of understanding and of mutually shared responsibility. The future of the world lies at present largely in the hands of France and Great Britain, and the happiness of the world is assured if the soul energy of both these countries controls, and personality aims and ambitions are negated.

  I can only most briefly touch upon the energies which motivate and condition the Italian empire and the United States, leaving you to make your deductions and applications. Russia is as yet embryonic and her part lies more in the East than in the West, provided she follows the indicated lines. Her two ruling signs are Aquarius and Leo and her real function in the comity of nations lies far ahead when [86] the Aquarian age is flourishing and the Leo control of the Russian personality has been offset. The planets which primarily influence Russia are the Sun (2nd ray), Uranus (7th ray), Jupiter (2nd ray) and the Moon (4th ray). This makes a most interesting, a most humanitarian and — in the long run — a non-destructive combination. At present, the intensely individualistic Leo force in its worst aspects is dominating, but this will not last as history will eventually prove. The noisy, cruel child can turn into a controlled humanitarian in adult life and the influences potent in the Russian horoscope indicate this.