2. The Moon (Vulcan).—This is the esoteric ruler. The significance of this is similar to that of the orthodox ruler. The Moon (or fourth ray energy) is here seen as an expression of first ray energy, manifesting through Vulcan. The Moon rules the form and it is the will of God to manifest through the medium of form.
3. Jupiter.—This is the hierarchical ruler and rules the second Creative Hierarchy, that of the Divine Builders of our planetary manifestation. (See the tabulation re the Hierarchies.) This is the seventh Creative Hierarchy as well as the second, if the five unmanifesting Hierarchies are counted; in the significance of two and seven much of the mystery underlying these Hierarchies will be revealed.
Through these three planetary rulers the energies of the fourth ray pour, governing the mind through Mercury and the physical form through the Moon; the energies of the first ray, expressive of the will of God, begin their control of the self-conscious man (unfolded in Leo) and the energies of the second ray, embodying the love of God, pour through into manifestation. Will, love and harmony through conflict—such are the controlling forces which make man what he is and such are the governing and directing energies which use the mind (Mercury), the emotional [264] nature, love (in Jupiter) and the physical body (the Moon, or esoteric will) for purposes of divine expression and manifestation. It will be obvious to you that the task of Mercury in connection with humanity has gone forward most satisfactorily and has brought humanity to its present point of evolution upon the probationary path; that the energy of Vulcan is potently making its presence felt, and hence the struggles going on upon the planet between the men of will—selfish and ambitious—and the men of good-will who are desirous of the good of the whole. When the human Hierarchy is fully awakened to spiritual and not simply material possibilities, then the work of Jupiter will immediately intensify and this beneficent ruler will lead the human family into the ways of peace and progress.
Virgo is definitely related, through the medium of the various planetary rulers, to eight other signs of the zodiac and it is, therefore, with these eight signs that we are concerned because they produce an inter-related synthesis of nine signs (including Virgo). In this inter-related numerical synthesis and fruitful inter-relation lies hid the entire history of human progress and the secret of the process of divine manifestation. It is of value here to remember certain points which are:
1. Nine is the number of man. The fourth Creative Hierarchy is in reality the ninth, if the five unmanifested Hierarchies are included in our enumeration. The human Hierarchy is only the fourth among the seven which are in active or manifested expression.
2. Nine is the number of initiation as far as humanity is concerned. There are:
a. Five major planetary initiations which a man can take. [265]
b. Three systemic initiations of which Christ has two.
c. One cosmic initiation which relates a man to Sirius.
The relation of Virgo to eight signs has, therefore, a definite bearing on these matters and the nine united potencies play their part in developing the Christ life in the individual and in the mass of men.
From this group of signs and their attendant constellations, three are omitted. These are Leo, Libra and Capricorn. These three signs are all signs of crisis and indicate the progressive influence of the other nine and the situations which evolve out of their activity. They are the testing points in the process of the play of energies from the other nine signs as these energies affect individual aspirants. They are:
1. Leo.—The Crisis of Individualisation. This shows itself in two stages as:
a. Diffused inchoate power.
b. Personality integration.
It signifies the emergence of personality and preparation for the Christ experience. It is self-consciousness and the lower synthesis.
2. Libra.—The Crisis of Balance. The emergence of the sense of self-direction and equilibrium. It is the point of equilibrium between soul and form. It signifies the emergence of free choice. It is consciousness of duality and the effort to balance the two.
3. Capricorn.—The Crisis of Initiation. This exists in five stages and signifies the emergence of the dominating Christ life. It means the higher synthesis and the control [266] of the Christ consciousness which is group consciousness.
There are, therefore, nine signs through which potencies pour which are creative in their effect and which produce changes which are needed in the progress of the soul towards divine expression. You have also three signs of crisis whereby the point in evolution is determined. In this connection it should be noted that:
1. Leo-Libra-Capricorn.—Constitute the triangle of the father or will aspect; they mark points of attainment, through crisis met and triumphant achievement.
2. Cancer-Virgo-Pisces.—Constitute the triangle of the Mother or matter aspect, conditioned by intelligent activity. They indicate points of opportunity of an inner kind where consciousness is concerned, and therefore you have the recognition of mass, individual and group consciousness.
A close study of the above ideas will prove fruitful in establishing methods and relationships; they should also indicate the key which astrologers can use when seeking to work with mass horoscopes.
As we have studied these various constellations, it will have become apparent to you that the main function of the planets is to be distributing agents for the energies emanating from the zodiac as they converge within our solar system and become attracted to our planet. Students need to understand more thoroughly than they do that the basis of the astrological sciences is the emanation, transmission and reception of energies and their transmutation into forces by the receiving entity. The energies of the various signs are attracted by the different planets according to their stage [267] of development and by what is esoterically called “ancient relationship” between the informing entities of the planets and of the constellations. This relation exists between beings and is founded on a Law of Affinity. It is this law of affinity which produces the magnetic pull and the dynamic response between constellations and planets within the solar system and between some particular planet and the forms of life upon another planet and the “impending energies,” as they are called, which are being received from some major source. The capacity to receive and profit by the planetary energies (themselves received as emanated from some constellation) is dependent upon the point in evolution which determines the receptivity and the responsiveness of the mechanism of reception. This constitutes an unalterable law and accounts for the power of certain planets which may have hitherto remained undiscovered and which have therefore had little to do with evolution up to the present, owing to the unresponsiveness of the forms of reception. The planets, the energies and forces have existed all the time but have remained ineffective and consequently undiscovered owing to the non-existence of the needed instruments of response. They will, therefore, have no effect upon the life and history of an individual and only become potent and “magnetically informing” when a man has reached a certain point of development and is becoming sensitive to higher influences and is in preparation for the treading of the path. This readiness indicates that his response apparatus (the threefold personality) is more sensitive than is the case with the average person, and can respond to a higher range of vibrations than would otherwise be possible. Herein also lies the distinction between the sacred and the non-sacred planets. The Lords of the planets (the ray Lives or planetary Logoi) are also, on Their own level, unequally [268] developed and some of them are further advanced upon the cosmic path of spiritual unfoldment than are others; Those Who are definitely upon the Cosmic Path of Discipleship are regarded as informing sacred planets, whilst Those Who are upon the Cosmic Probationary Path are expressing Themselves through non-sacred planets. This point I shall later elaborate when we come to that part of this section in this treatise which is intended to deal with this matter. The point I seek to make here is that it is all a question of developed reception and sensitivity.
U
pon the reversed wheel, through the medium of the planetary rulers (orthodox and esoteric unitedly active), the man upon the path finds himself responsive to a very wide number of energies, coming to him from many angles and directions, and hence the difficulties of the man upon the Path of Discipleship. When he becomes an initiate, this range of vibrations is rapidly increased and he becomes receptive to those energies which we have tabulated under the term hierarchical and which have reference to the twelve Creative Hierarchies. The forces of these Hierarchies (neither planetary nor systemic), then sweep into and through the initiate and awaken those major group responses which eventually give him systemic consciousness and make him a world server in Aquarius and a world saviour in Pisces. A hint is here conveyed to you anent the world period into which we are now entering and it will be increasingly apparent to you (if you reflect upon my words) why we are progressing into a sign wherein the ranks of initiates will be greatly augmented. In the stage of initiation, the energies of the signs and their constellations (shall I say attendant constellations—it expresses the situation more accurately than the usual mode of saying it) come through in a purer form and in a more direct line than upon [269] the Path of Discipleship and the earlier stages of evolutionary development. The initiate is responsive to planetary, systemic and certain cosmic influences and becomes—if I might so express it—a lens through which “the many lights which are energy itself” can stream and thus be focussed upon our planet. To these energies, the initiate tunes his consciousness and thus becomes a planetary server.
The other point upon which I might here touch is that certain of the rays express themselves through two planets. For instance, the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict reaches us both through the Moon and through Mercury, whilst the first Ray of Will or Power reaches us through Vulcan and through Pluto. The real reason for this is one of the secrets of initiation and is hidden in the destiny of the fourth Creative Hierarchy and in the will-to-manifest of the Lord of our Earth, Who is Himself upon the third Ray of Active Intelligence; of Him it is said that “when the third great energy is related to the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the mystery of the perfected Seven will be understood.” One of the more obvious of the significances of this statement is to be found in the unfoldment of intelligence and love in the initiate, at which time of manifested expression and at the last major initiation, he will be responsive to the synthesis of energies which emanate from the “seven spirits before the throne of God.” These are the representatives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear and Their other pole, the seven Sisters of the Pleiades, symbolically recognised as the seven wives of the Rishis of the Great Bear. Here again, in relation to our solar system, do we find another great triangle of energies, of which the focal points on our Earth are the seven Spirits before the Throne. With this triangle we shall later deal; I simply want to refer to it here: [270]
1. The seven Spirits responsive to the seven sacred planets. They are:
a. Expressions of divine life upon the Earth.
b. Focal points for the Lords of the seven rays.
c. Rulers of the seven planes of consciousness and manifestation.
d. Representatives because responsive to
2. The seven Rishis of the Great Bear Who are:
a. Expressions of the life of the One About whom Naught May Be Said.
b. The positive focal points for the seven major cosmic energies.
c. Rulers of the seven Creative Hierarchies.
d. Related as positive poles to
3. The seven Sisters or the seven Pleiades who:
a. Are expressions of the dualism of manifestation in their relation to the seven Rishis.
b. Provide the negative pole to the positive aspect of the seven Rishis.
c. Fuse with the positive energies of the Great Bear and, unitedly, work through seven of the zodiacal signs.
Here again the complexity of the forces playing upon our planet and increasing in their number and their potency as the vehicles of response upon our planet become more highly developed and sensitive and are, therefore, capable of a truer reaction and a more rapid response to the many forces impinging upon our planetary forms of life. It has been remarked by a profound astrological expert Who [271] works with the Masters of the Great White Lodge that “when humanity comprehends the distinction between the signs and the constellations, understands the nature of the polarity of energies and responds to the three cosmic Realities, the twelve cosmic Energies and the seven planetary Impacts and the interplay of the twelve Creative Hierarchies, then and not till then, will a radiant light be seen and the destiny of our solar Logos be finally determined.” Behind this statement are to be found three meanings: one for average intelligent man, another for disciples, and a third one for initiates above the third degree.
As I earlier pointed out to you, the sign Virgo is related to nine constellations and in this fact lies both prophecy and guarantee. That which this sign veils and hides is potentially responsive to nine streams of energy which—playing upon the life within the form and evoking response from the soul—produce those “points of crisis” and those “moments of demonstrated development” to which we have referred in speaking of Leo-Libra-Capricorn.
Through Mercury, Virgo comes into close relation to three constellations—Aries, Gemini, and Scorpio. Here again is a triangle of energies of great importance in the life of the Christ-child which Virgo guards and nourishes and hides within herself. Through Aries and Scorpio, the Christ-life and manifestation is integrated with that of the fourth Creative Hierarchy; herein lies a great mystery which is concerned with the dual manifestation of the Christ principle both in form and—upon its own plane—through spiritual manifestation; it is here also that the true significance of the words found in The Bhagavad Gita appears when Krishna (the Christ principle) says to Arjuna (the world disciple, or developed form aspect): “Having pervaded the entire universe with a fragment of myself, I remain.” [272] There is here an esoteric reference to the essential identity of Son with the Father, the “undying One,” and with the eternal Mother; that is, with spirit and matter. This is the fundamental mystery of Virgo and will be revealed when the energies pouring into Virgo from Gemini, via the planet Mercury, have done their destined work; for Gemini is an expression of the fourth unmanifested Creative Hierarchy—one of the higher group of Lives which stand just beyond the seven Who condition our systemic lives. These Lives have achieved Their goal, but Their energies are still directed towards and focussed upon our planet. They are not unmanifested in the case where such developed planets as Uranus, Jupiter or Saturn are concerned.
In this triple relation of three major constellations, one clear understanding characteristic can be noted, and that is their essential duality—the effect of which is obvious and so dramatically present in Virgo. Aries sees the beginning or initiation of the relationship between spirit and matter. Gemini is definitely a sign of duality and signifies the relation of these two major energies in the human or fourth Creative Hierarchy; this dualism is emphasised in a still more intimate and comprehensible manner in Scorpio, in which the note of the evolutionary cycle which it dominates is “the Word made Flesh.” It is the sign wherein the Christ demonstrates His control over matter in the guise of the triumphant disciple. Spirit and matter (Aries), soul and body (Gemini), the mother and the child (Virgo), the Word and the Flesh (Scorpio)—here are the four signs of creative dualism and inter-related evolution presented and descriptive of the potency and objectives of the fourth Creative Hierarchy. When Mercury, the divine Messenger, the principle of illusion and the expression of the active higher mind, has performed his mission and “led humanity into the [273] light” and the Christ-child out of the womb of time and of the flesh into the light of day and of manifestation, then the task of that great centre we call humanity will be accomplished. Ponder on this for the significance of esoteric astrology will emerge more clearly in your minds if you can understand this fourfold activity of Mercury and
the inter-relation of these four signs of the zodiac—connected as they are with the logoic Quaternary.
It is in this sign also that the Moon in its own right of antiquity and of ancient thoughtform control, and also as veiling both Vulcan and Neptune, connects the force of Virgo with the energies of Taurus, of Cancer and of Aquarius. This is of peculiar importance for it relates the form building aspect with the consciousness aspect which, at a high stage of development, produces the manifestation of the Christ principle or Christ-child. It has been said esoterically that four of the names by which the Christ Avatar is ever called are:
1. The Desire of All Nations Taurus Fixed Cross.
2. He Whom the masses sense or He Whom they Cancer Cardinal Cross.
anticipate
3. He Who is, for Her, the purpose of existence Virgo Mutable Cross.
4. He Who shows the light and gives the water Aquarius Fixed Cross.
All these signs indicate forms of consciousness, which are conditioned and manifested by the energies of these signs, performing cyclically and ceaselessly their appointed task. They, therefore, are primarily concerned with the stage of discipleship and the manifestation of a solar disciple. Hence the two energies which come from the Fixed Cross. This is consequently one of the intermediate crosses which relate the major three and there are many such.
[274] Virgo is related to Taurus through Vulcan which brings in what might be called the endurance aspect of the will-to-be which carries the incarnated Son of God through the experiences of the dark time wherein the personality becomes the Mother in the stage of gestation, through the period of infancy upon the physical plane and through the stage of adolescence until the initiate attains full maturity. This necessitates persistence, endurance and continuity of effort and is one of the characteristics imparted or stimulated by energies pouring from Vulcan. You can realise that these are first ray attributes and are the reverse side of those usually emphasised, namely, death or the activity of the Destroyer aspect. Taurus is an expression of the third unmanifested Hierarchy and of this Hierarchy we know nothing beyond the fact that it is concerned with the light which liberates from death. Therefore, you have:
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