Esoteric Astrology

by Alice A Bailey

  The relation of Leo to Cancer, through Neptune, has already been touched upon above and is, of course, easily apparent to you if you have the slightest understanding of the consciousness aspect of evolution. There is, first of all, the mass consciousness; then the consciousness of the dramatic, isolated self, and finally again group consciousness, which is, in reality, the highest forms of group consciousness and individual consciousness combined together in the service of the Plan. Reflect on this definition, for it will stimulate you to understanding.

  The peculiar significance of Leo in the general evolution of consciousness, particularly in the human family, is determined by the control of those two mysterious planets, Uranus and Neptune; in the man who is ready for initiation you have, therefore, a dual control, i.e., the Sun itself and also the Sun as it veils the influences of these two planets, or rather, as it focusses and transmits them with intensity. This produces the following developments:

  1. The Sun—Full self-consciousness. This—through the influence of the physical Sun and the “heart of the Sun”—produces awareness of the relation of the higher self and the lower self. Man becomes aware of his essential duality.

  2. Uranus—Occult consciousness or that intelligent, fusing condition which produces the scientific at-one-ment of the two factors, higher and lower self, through the intelligent use of the mind.

  3. Neptune—Mystical consciousness or that innate sensitivity which leads unerringly to the higher vision, to the recognition of the inter-relation involved in man's [307] essential duality during the process of manifestation, plus the activity of the mediator.

  You have, therefore, the conscious, integrated Self, functioning with full occult knowledge and also with mystical perception when the influences of Leo, focussed through the Sun, Uranus and Neptune, have been carried adequately forward in the life of the advanced disciple. This is one of the reasons why Leo is a sign of such paramount importance and why the intelligent Leo subject can usually attain his goal, once he accurately perceives that objective.

  This sign has frequently been described as the “battlefield of the Forces of Materialism and the Forces of Light.” It is occultly regarded as one of the most material signs, in-as-much as selfish desire for possession of material objectives can be peculiarly present and the display of the possessive spirit can violently control; yet, at the same time, the advanced Leo person can function as the “inspired spiritual Sacrifice.” He is then sensitive to world conditions and freed from personal desires.

  Before individual man can achieve initiation, he must be fully self-conscious, mystically oriented and occultly developed. He must be aware of himself as he essentially is—a soul involved in form which is itself developed and unfolded through soul activity; he must be a developed mystic, capable of pure vision, motivated by spiritual intent and able to perceive the uses of inherent sensitivity; he must also be a trained occultist, mentally polarised and profoundly aware of the realities, forces and energies of existence and, therefore, free from the ordinary glamours and illusions which colour the reactions and life of the average man. He is then governed by the physical Sun, motivated by the energies pouring from “the heart of the Sun” (via [308] Neptune) and bringing about at-one-ment through the forces which are reaching him (via Uranus).

  Beyond these two distant planets, lies another planet as yet undiscovered, though speculation is rife about it, owing to certain unexplained movements of the planet Neptune. It is through this planet that the Forces (as they are related to Leo and Aquarius) are focussed in one potent stream of force; these pour into our planetary life during the month of August, and distribute themselves, via Uranus and Neptune. You have, therefore, in this connection:

  LEO AND AQUARIUS

  The physical Sun Heart of the Sun Central spiritual Sun.

  /

  The undiscovered planet.

  /

  Uranus and Neptune.

  /

  The human Hierarchy.

  /

  The animal Kingdom.

  Charts of the cosmic lines of directed forces such as the above can be given for all the energies of the constellations and planetary forces, but this is the only one I choose, at this time, to indicate, because it is of major importance to humanity; the others might prove misleading, given man's present point of intelligent understanding and influence.

  I would here call to your attention that, through these directing planets, the following rays are controlling factors in the chart of the Leo subject:

  1. The Sun—2nd ray—love-wisdom.

  2. Uranus—7th ray—organisation or directed manifestation.

  3. Neptune—6th ray—idealistic one-pointedness. Devotion to an objective.

  [309] In the perfected Leo, the loving self-conscious soul (2nd ray) carries its power of expression straight through from its own plane to the plane of exterior manifestation, but preserves at the same time its interior control (Uranus) and from that point of achievement, proceeds to make its ideal objective (Neptune) a fact in consciousness, through sensitivity to the higher vibration and directed intelligent service of the Plan. Ponder on this summation.

  When Uranus controls, the Leo person is significantly the true observer, detached from the material side of life, but utilising it as he pleases. His spiritual consciousness is capable of great expression and he can be (as has oft been pointed out by astrologers) both an electric, dynamic leader, a pioneer in new fields of endeavour and also a magnetic centre of a group whether the group is small, as in a home, or vast as in a nation. He is then polarised above the diaphragm, for the lower more material aspects of life have really no great appeal to him; he is then profoundly conscious of his own identity, and this makes him dwell definitely in a state of self-awareness, with its consequently abstracting powers. He is instantly aware, once he is spiritually awakened, of his motivating impulses, and this leads him to an imposed self-discipline—the thing the Leo subject sorely needs and which must always be self-imposed and self-applied for he brooks no disciplinary measures which others may seek to impose. Discipline imposed by people upon the Leo person leads invariably to revolt and rebellion and the expression of that which the discipline is intended to eradicate. Discipline imposed by himself leads to the perfection of which he is notably capable. It is this innate ability to control which frequently gives the Leo subject an apparently negative attitude to life; he inevitably believes that his destiny is determined and that all that he has to do [310] is simply to be; he refuses often then to change or to take action, and when this is carried too far it leads to an unexpectedly futile life. The “lion must emerge from its lair,” and this injunction is badly needed by Leo aspirants. It will, when followed, lead the self-centred Leo consciousness into the decentralised, selfless Aquarian awareness. It will alter the self-service of Leo into the group service of its polar opposite, Aquarius. It might appropriately be added here that the prayer or voiced aspiration of the true Leo person can be expressed in the words of Christ, so well known to all of us: “Father, not my will but thine be done.”

  I would also call your attention to another interesting fact in connection with this sign. No planet falls in Leo and no planet is exalted in this sign, whilst the power of both Uranus and Saturn is somewhat lessened, except in the case of the initiate who responds powerfully to the esoteric influence of Uranus. The same basic teaching is here conveyed as was taught by the Sun ruling exoterically, esoterically and hierarchically. Leo in its consciousness is the dominant self-aware agent and has therefore the control and can—because of this—remain uninfluenced. This fact will be increasingly understood as the advanced Leo subject makes his appearance. He will be distinguished by his personal freedom from outside control. He knows innately that he is king of himself, the ruler of his own life and, therefore, no planet is exalted and likewise no planet falls. The power of the mind, as symbolised by Uranus, is lessened, for it is not the mind which in reality controls but the Self, or Soul, using and controlling t
he mind. The man is not then conditioned by his surroundings or life events but rules them with deliberation, bringing out of circumstances and environment that which he requires. Saturn, therefore, the Lord of Karma, has his power lessened in [311] this sign. It is for this reason that Sepharial is incorrect when he gives Saturn as the ruler of the first decanate. The three decanates are given by him as being ruled by Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Alan Leo is, however, nearer the truth when he gives us the Sun, Jupiter and Mars.

  Self-rule through initial conflict, carried to a successful issue and blessed by the beneficence of Jupiter, is the true history of the advanced Leo aspirant, and this thought and the objective result of this realisation is summed up for us in the two word mottoes of this sign:

  1. And the Word said: Let other forms exist. I rule because I am.

  2. I am That and That am I.

  I Am—the Word of the self-conscious, selfish, individual Leo.

  I Am That—the Word of the Leo subject who is rapidly gaining the higher consciousness and preparing for fresh and universal expression in Aquarius.

  CANCER, THE CRAB

  This sign is not an easy one for the average student to understand for it is the polar opposite—psychologically speaking—of the state of group consciousness towards which humanity is, at this time, tending. It is difficult for the casual student to distinguish accurately between mass consciousness and group consciousness. Human beings stand today at a midway point, generally speaking, between these two states of mind, though perhaps it might be more correct to say that a fairly large minority are becoming group conscious, whilst the majority are emerging out of the mass conscious stage and becoming self-conscious individuals. [312] This accounts for much of the present world difficulty and for the clash of idealisms. The two groups bring a different approach to the world problems as we now find them. We have, therefore, three signs which (from the angle of consciousness) are closely connected yet are widely separate and different in effect.

  1. Cancer—mass consciousness—instinctual awareness.

  2. Leo—self consciousness—intelligent awareness.

  3. Aquarius—group consciousness—intuitional awareness.

  With much of this we have already dealt and there is no need for repetition as we study the polar opposites of the signs already considered. I do not intend to refer unduly and in detail to points with which you are already familiar, save to bring to your attention the beautiful and synthetic unfolding of the divine Plan.

  This sign is, as you already know, one of the two gates of the zodiac because through it souls pass into outer manifestation and to the appropriation of form, and subsequent identification with it for many long cycles. It is “the gate which stands wide open, broad and easy to pass through and yet it leads unto the place of death and to that long imprisonment which precedes the final revolt.” It is allied with material nature, and with the mother of forms, just as the other gate, Capricorn, is allied with spirit, the father of all that IS.

  In this sign lies hid the whole problem of the Law of Rebirth. Reincarnation is implicit in the manifested universe and is a basic and fundamental theme underlying systemic pulsation. There are certain things which I would like to make clear in connection with reincarnation.

  This sign, Cancer, being concerned primarily with the world of causes, has about its inner meaning much indefiniteness [313] and an apparently vague subtlety which proves most elusive to the ordinary thinker. This also is true of all the signs which go to the forming of the Cardinal Cross of the Heavens. In the last analysis, it is only the initiated disciple who can fathom the true meaning of these zodiacal influences as they pulsate throughout the manifested universe, because they are primarily the expression of spirit or life more than of soul or body. Therefore, until after the third initiation—as you have oft been told—there is little to be known or said about that “mysterious essence which is divinity in motion.” When you, for instance, read that the keynotes of this sign can be expressed in the Biblical phrase “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” does it, in reality, mean anything specific to you? You might reply by saying that it means, God moved in substance and produced by moving the outer tangible forms. But does that truly convey to you an intelligible truth? In Cancer, God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. In these words, you have established the relation which exists in the mind of God between spirit (the breath of life) the soul (consciousness) and man (the form). However, does that statement convey an intelligible concept to your mind? I think not, because the synthesis of the final relation is beyond the average grasp and its `linking' or essential unity (lying as it does outside of consciousness and known reality) takes place first of all in this sign—one of the most ancient of the signs and one of the first to be recognised and established as an influencing factor by ancient humanity.

  I state a basic truth—vaguely acknowledged by you—that in Aries the essential substance of manifestation awoke to renewed activity under the impact of divine desire, impelled by the divine Breath, by divine Life or Spirit. In [314] Cancer this living substance assumed a triple differentiated relationship to which we give the names of Life (Aries) of Consciousness (Taurus, the next sign to Aries) and manifested duality (Gemini, the sign preceding Cancer) and these three, blended together, came into outer manifestation in Cancer, thus completing an esoteric quaternary of great importance. Here the first major fusion, inchoate and unrealised, took place. In Libra, these reach a point of balance and of a somewhat static equilibrium (later to be disturbed in Scorpio), so that this essential triplicity appears clearly in relation to each other. In Capricorn, the sign of initiation, this basic triplicity begins to return to the earlier state of the “breath of spirit” but, this time, with full awareness and properly fulfilled organisation, so that form is a perfect expression of the soul and the soul is sensitive and responsive to the pulsations of the One Life, as that Life reveals, through its activity, the perfect will of the Logos.

  The secret (so-called) of the Cardinal Cross is the secret of Life itself, just as that of the Fixed Cross is that of the soul or the mystery of self-conscious entity, whilst the Mutable Cross holds hid the mystery of form. In these words, you have the key to the secret of manifestation as a whole and to that mystery which was revealed to Christ at the final crucifixion and to which He testified His understanding reaction in the triumphant utterance recorded in The New Testament: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me.” He then left the Fixed Cross and the Identity which has hitherto been His and identified Himself with that which was then revealed. To these words, thus translated somewhat inaccurately in the Christian Bible, there are three meanings or true significances. The translation hinted at in The Secret Doctrine (S.D. II. 613), [315] “The robe, the robe, the beautiful robe of my strength no longer serves” expresses the inner revelation of the Mutable Cross, as it was revealed to the Saviour, looking at life from the angle of the soul. In the words quoted above “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me,” the mystery of the Fixed Cross was shown to Him and the secret of the Cardinal Cross was, for the first time, held before His eyes. The words, embodying that central mystery, have never yet been given out. One of the factors which distinguished the Christ from all preceding world Saviours was the fact that He was the first of our humanity Who, having achieved divinity (and this many have done), was permitted to see the “golden thread of light and of living life which links the light within the centre of all the manifested Crosses”; He was allowed to know the meaning of life as it expressed itself in the Cosmic Crucifixion, which is an episode of cosmic life and not of death, as is generally supposed.

  Hercules comprehended the true meaning of the Mutable Cross and, with full knowledge, mounted the Fixed Cross, with all its attendant difficulties and labours. The Buddha comprehended, through complete illumination, the meaning of both the Mutable and the Fixed Crosses, for the secret of revelation in Taurus was His, just as the secret of
directed energy in Scorpio was the source of the strength of Hercules. But the Christ, knowing both the above secrets, also understood with a living comprehension, the mystery of the Cardinal Cross, because the light of the Transfiguration (undergone in Capricorn) revealed to Him the glory and transcendent mystery.

  There are two words also which convey the purpose and intent of expression upon the Cardinal Cross. They give the reason why the two “Doors of the Zodiac” open [316] wide to the impulse and demand of the divine Spirit. One is the word “self-preservation” which leads to the impulse to incarnate in Cancer, which is the Door to the physical plane expression of spirit. This impulse (when the form is the prime object of the attention of the soul and that with which it primarily identifies itself) brings about the stage of static concretion in the earth sign Capricorn. The other word is “immortality” which is the divine aspect of self-preservation; it is the major conditioning factor in the creative process and leads to the whole revelation of evolution, to the recurrent appearance of life in form, and to the revelation of life in form. In Capricorn, at the third initiation, this life aspect assumes primary importance.

  You will see, therefore, why the Cardinal Cross is so mysterious; also why both Cancer and Capricorn are so little understood by modern astrology and why, in the last analysis, only the initiated Sons of God can grasp the significance of the four signs which comprise the Cardinal Cross, or understand the relation which exists between the four major divine energies which—pouring through the four arms of this Cross—produce the vortex of force (a synthetic force) which constitutes that “pool of pure, fiery light” through which all those who take the higher initiations must eventually pass. Those taking the first two initiations must tread the Path as it passes through the Burning Ground. Those taking the higher initiations have to plunge into the sea or pool of fire which is essentially the fire of God as it has been cleansed from every aspect of the material form through the complete purification of desire.