Esoteric Astrology
Page 7
1. The mass of people who conform to orthodox and recognised astrological conclusions.
2. Disciples and advanced individuals, conforming to the conclusions of esoteric astrology.
3. The Creative Hierarchies, giving the interim situation in this world cycle. [66]
TABULATION IV. THE ORTHODOX ASTROLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP
CONSTELLATIONS AND PLANETARY RULERS
In Connection with Ordinary Man
Constellation Ruler Ray Related to
1. Aries Mars
6th ray Scorpio. Same ruler.
2. Taurus Venus 5th ray Libra " "
3. Gemini Mercury 4th ray Virgo " "
4. Cancer Moon 4th ray none.
5. Leo The Sun 2nd ray none.
6. Virgo Mercury 4th ray Gemini " "
7. Libra Venus 5th ray Taurus " "
8. Scorpio Mars 6th ray Aries " "
9. Sagittarius Jupiter 2nd ray Pisces " "
10. Capricorn Saturn 3rd ray none.
11. Aquarius Uranus 7th ray none.
12. Pisces Jupiter 2nd ray Sagittarius " "
a. The non-sacred planets are italicised.
b. All the rays are represented except the first. This is interesting, as the mass of the people move within their horoscopes and the will aspect is latent but unexpressed.
TABULATION V. THE UNORTHODOX ASTROLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP
CONSTELLATIONS AND PLANETARY RULERS
In Connection with Disciples and Initiates
NOTE: In charts connected with the PATH, progress is from Aries to Pisces through Taurus, etc.
Constellation Ruler Ray Related to
1. Aries Mercury 4th ray Virgo Same ray.
2. Taurus Vulcan 1st ray Pisces “ “
3. Gemini Venus 5th ray none.
4. Cancer Neptune 6th ray Scorpio “ “
5. Leo The Sun 2nd ray Aquarius “ “
6. Virgo The Moon 4th ray Aries “ “
7. Libra Uranus 7th ray none.
8. Scorpio Mars 6th ray Cancer “ “
9. Sagittarius The Earth 3rd ray Capricorn “ “
10. Capricorn Saturn 3rd ray Sagittarius “ “
11. Aquarius Jupiter 2nd ray Leo “ “
12. Pisces Pluto 1st ray Taurus “ “
NOTE: In connection with disciples and the zodiacal signs, Gemini and Libra are two constellations which—through their rulers—express 5th and 7th ray energy. For some occult reason, they remain unrelated to any other of the signs.
[67] The relation between the other constellations through the planets, as expressing the rays, is as follows:
1. Taurus and Pisces, through Vulcan and Pluto, are related to Ray 1. Transmutation of desire into sacrifice and of the individual will into the divine will.
The World Saviour
2. Leo and Aquarius, through the Sun and Jupiter, are related to Ray 2. Development of the individual consciousness into world consciousness. Thus a man becomes a world server.
The World Server
3. Sagittarius and Capricorn, through the Earth and Saturn, are related to Ray 3. The one-pointed disciple becomes the initiate.
The Initiate
4. Aries and Virgo, through Mercury and the Moon, are related to Ray 4. Harmonising the cosmos and the individual through conflict, producing unity and beauty. The birth pangs of the second birth.
The Cosmic and Individual Christ
5. Cancer and Scorpio, through Neptune and Mars, are related to Ray 6. Transformation of the mass consciousness into the inclusive consciousness of the disciple.
The Triumphant Disciple
I would call attention to the fact that in Tabulation IV, the relationship is between the planets which rule, and in Tabulation V the emphasis is laid upon the conditioning ray. [68]
TABULATION VI. PLANETARY RULERS IN 3 TABULATIONS
Constellation Orthodox Disciple Hierarchies
1. Aries Mars
Mercury Uranus.
2. Taurus Venus Vulcan Vulcan.
3. Gemini Mercury Venus The Earth.
4. Cancer The Moon Neptune Neptune.
5. Leo The Sun The Sun The Sun.
6. Virgo Mercury The Moon Jupiter.
7. Libra Venus Uranus Saturn.
8. Scorpio Mars Mars Mercury.
9. Sagittarius Jupiter The Earth Mars.
10. Capricorn Saturn Saturn Venus.
11. Aquarius Uranus Jupiter The Moon.
12. Pisces Jupiter Pluto Pluto.
TABULATION VII. UNORTHODOX
CONSTELLATIONS, RULERS AND RAYS
In Connection with the Hierarchies
Constellation Ruler Ray Related to
1. Aries Uranus 7th ray none.
2. Taurus Vulcan 1st ray Pisces Same ray.
3. Gemini The Earth 3rd ray Libra " "
4. Cancer Neptune 6th ray Sagittarius " "
5. Leo The Sun 2nd ray Virgo " "
6. Virgo Jupiter 2nd ray Leo " "
7. Libra Saturn 3rd ray Gemini " "
8. Scorpio Mercury 4th ray Aquarius " "
9. Sagittarius Mars 6th ray Cancer " "
10. Capricorn Venus 5th ray none.
11. Aquarius The Moon 4th ray Scorpio " "
12. Pisces Pluto 1st ray Taurus " "
NOTE: Aries and Capricorn in conjunction with 7th and 5th ray energy stand alone. The other constellations and rays are related in every case.
a. Ray 1—Taurus and Pisces, through Vulcan and Pluto.
b. Ray 2—Leo and Virgo, through the Sun and Jupiter.
c. Ray 3—Gemini and Libra, through the Earth and Saturn.
d. Ray 4—Scorpio and Aquarius, through Mercury and Moon.
e. Ray 6—Cancer and Sagittarius, through Neptune and Mars.
In view of all the above, and starting with the basic fact of the Great Illusion it should be remembered that the [69] accuracy of astrological prediction and interpretation will be based upon three factors:
1. The potency of the thoughtforms which have been built up in connection with the twelve signs. These thoughtforms were originally constructed or anchored upon the mental plane by the Hierarchy in Atlantean days and they have steadily gained in power ever since. They serve as focal points for certain forces and enable the individual, for instance, to be in touch with great reservoirs of energy which then definitely condition him.
2. The intuition of the astrologer. The casting of the horoscope serves to put the astrologer en rapport with the individual, but this is of small service to either party unless the intuition and sensitivity of the astrologer is actively present.
3. The capacity of the astrologer in any specific period to respond to the changes which are all the time taking place, such as the gradual shifting and changing brought about by the precession of the equinoxes, or the slow shift of the pole of the planet. To this should be added that—as man evolves—the mechanism of response or the vehicles of consciousness likewise steadily improve. His reactions, therefore, to the planetary influence and to the energy of the various constellations change with equal steadiness and allowance must be made for this. It is consequently essential that the modern astrologer begin to study the point in evolution of the subject, prior to casting his horoscope. He must ascertain his approximate place upon the path of evolution. To this end, the study of the rays is most necessary through an investigation as to quality and characteristics and life objectives.
[70] Astrologers will eventually be able to cast the horoscope of the soul, which is sensitive to different combinations of forces to those controlling the personality life. The disciple and the initiate respond distinctively to the incoming influences and their response differs from that of the undeveloped man or the self-centred person. This will have to be recognised. Those who “live below the diaphragm” and who react to the incoming energies through the medium of the lower centres will have a very different type of chart to that of the disciple and initiate. It will require a different mode of interpretation. I have referred to this bef
ore and would remind you of some of the points which I made.
1. Disciples upon the Path of Discipleship are strongly influenced by Mercury and Saturn—one bringing illumination and the other offering opportunity.
2. At the various initiations, the influence of the planets affects the candidate in a totally different manner than earlier. Cyclically the energies from the constellations pour through the planetary centres.
a. At the first initiation, the disciple has to contend with the crystallising and destroying forces of Vulcan and Pluto. The influence of Vulcan reaches to the very depths of his nature, whilst Pluto drags to the surface and destroys all that hinders in these lower regions.
b. At the second initiation, the candidate comes under the influence of three planets—Neptune, Venus and Jupiter. The three centres—solar plexus, heart and throat—are actively involved.
c. At the third initiation, the Moon (veiling a hidden planet) and Mars bring about a fearful conflict, [71] but at the end the man is released from personality control.
d. At the fourth initiation, Mercury and Saturn again bring about great changes and unique revelation, but their effect is very different to the earlier experience.
e. At the fifth and final initiation, Uranus and Jupiter appear and produce a “beneficent organisation” of the totality of energies found in the initiate’s equipment. When this reorganisation is complete, the initiate can then “escape from off the wheel and then can truly live.”
All this time the energy of the sun (veiling a sacred planet, hitherto unknown) is steadily and persistently reaching the man via the solar angel.
CHAPTER II - The Nature of Esoteric Astrology
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
[75] It will be apparent to you after studying the foregoing that one of the results which should emerge under the impression of this new approach to astrological diagnosis (as far as the individual is concerned) will be the more correct casting of the horoscope of advanced human beings—disciples and initiates. This has not hitherto been accurately possible. It will only come about, however, if there is wise and right experiment and investigation.
I have posited two sets of rulers for two types of people:
1. The orthodox and generally accepted series of planetary rulers for the undeveloped and average man.
2. A new combination of rulers and constellations for those upon the Path.
It will be necessary to remember nevertheless that there are an infinite number of permutations possible, of complexities and relationships, due to the vast number of possible combinations existing in the path of life of the individual and dependent upon his stage of evolutionary unfoldment. These might be divided into three groups through a broad, but necessarily inadequate, generalisation: [76]
1. Average and undeveloped man, living below the diaphragm and with the emphasis of the incoming energies and forces focussed either in the solar plexus or in the sacral centre.
2. A large number of people who are in an interim stage, with the energies and forces focussed mainly in the lower centre but at the same time playing quite frequently through the throat centre and evoking a faint response from the heart and the ajna centres.
3. People upon one or other of the final stages of the Path, with the emphasis passing rapidly away from the lower centres into the higher triad and with the highest head centre in process of awakening. These people also fall into two major groups:
a. Those who are using the solar plexus centre as a vast clearing house for the incoming energies and who are beginning to work through the throat and the heart centres, with the goal of completely awakening the ajna centre.
b. Those who are using all these centres, but in whom the heart centre is fully awakened and the triangle of force in the head (from the ajna centre to the head centre and from the head centre to the centre found in the medulla oblongata) is beginning to function.
When these centres are all awakening, their simplest combinations are the following triangles. The Science of Triangles underlies all astrological deduction as well as the centres in the human body. This you know, but the four triplicities of orthodox astrology are only the rudiments of this true science, which lies behind the orthodox interpretations. [77]
I. ( 1. Base of the spine.
( 2. Sacral Centre.
( 3. Solar Plexus Centre.
II. ( 1. Throat Centre.
( 2. Heart Centre.
( 3. Ajna Centre.
III. ( 1. Ajna Centre.
( 2. Head Centre.
( 3. Centre in the medulla oblongata.
Unfortunately the organising principle is not as simple as the above tabulation would make it appear, for the emphasis, the focus and the mode of arranging and of vitalisation, and the appearance of these esoteric triangles vary with the ray type. This Science of Triangles of Energy underlies the new esoteric science both in astrology and in the science of laya-yoga or the science of the centres. Both this ancient yoga and the still more ancient astrological science have now to be studied upon a higher turn of the spiral. Up till the present time, the teaching about the centres has been inherited from Atlantean times and couched in the old forms and formulas which are basically unsuited to our present greatly advanced stage of development. The same can be said of orthodox or exoteric astrology. Both these sciences must be reoriented and rearranged, and astrology must be based upon a deeper understanding of the relation of the planets—sacred and non-sacred—to the centres and to certain prominent “cycles of polarisation” emerging as the fore-ordained results of “periods of crisis.” This last sentence embodies a basic and important statement of truth. [78]
1. Centres and Triangles of Force
There are, as you well know, five non-sacred planets, and seven which are regarded as sacred. These twelve planetary lives (with their own cycles, points of crisis and moments of polarisation) are closely related to the seven centres. The five centres up the spine are related to the five non-sacred planets, but in unevolved or average man, are focussed almost entirely upon the astral plane and in the astral body. It should be noted that:
1. Two of the non-sacred planets (the Earth itself and the Moon) are connected with two centres which in the highly evolved man are not of dominating importance:
a. The spleen receiving pranic emanations from the planet on which we live and concerned with the etheric and physical bodies and their physical relation.
b. A centre in the chest related to the thymus gland. This centre becomes inactive in the advanced man but has a connection with the vagus nerve, prior to the awakening of the heart centre.
2. Two of the other non-sacred planets—Mars and Pluto—function in connection with the sacral centre (Mars) and the solar plexus (Pluto). This latter planet becomes active in the life of the man who is “becoming alive in the higher sense, his lower nature passes into the smoke and darkness of Pluto, who governs the lesser burning ground, in order that the man may live in truth in the higher land of light.”
3. The Sun (standing here for Vulcan, which is a sacred planet) governs a centre in the front of the throat which is related to the para-thyroids and not to the thyroid [79] gland, which is related to the throat centre. This centre in the front of the throat falls into disuse as the creative period of throat activity begins. It acts as a “mediator” between the higher and the lower creative organs (between the sacral and the throat centres) and leads eventually to that creative activity which is consciously that of the functioning soul. Vulcan was one of the first creative workers among men. He was also related to “Cain who killed his brother.” The symbolism underlying these ancient myths will be easily interpreted by the intuitive student.
Some of the tasks which I propose to undertake in this section of our Treatise on the Seven Rays are as follows:
1. Consider why five of the seven rays express themselves through two sets of planets—sacred and non-sacred—and also which centres these two groups of rays govern. Thus we shall relate:
a. T
he seven centres in man's etheric body.
b. The seven centres of the fourth Creative Hierarchy of which the seven races are the expression.