Esoteric Astrology

by Alice A Bailey

  The entire subject of rebirth is but little understood at present. Its modern presentation and the emphasis which has been laid so strongly on small and unimportant details have distorted and diverted the wide sweep of the subject [317] and ignored the true import of the process; the broad general lines of the incarnation process have been largely overlooked. In the debate as to the length of time a man is out of incarnation and in the consideration of foolish items of unproved and unprovable information, and in the puerile reconstruction of the past lives of theosophically inclined people (none of them based on any truth), the real truth and the real beauty of the theme have been lost to sight.

  Cancer is one point of the watery triplicity, and the symbolism which underlies the three water signs is most interesting in one particular direction. You have, as you know, the Crab, the Scorpion and the Fish Goddesses of the sign Pisces. In ancient Lemuria, the symbol of Pisces was a woman with the tail of a fish, and of this symbol the legendary mermaid is the memory. It was only in late Atlantean times (when the conscious sense of duality was becoming present in the minds of the advanced humanity of the period) that the woman part of the symbol was dropped altogether and the two linked fishes took the place of the fish Goddesses. You have, therefore, the Crab, the Scorpion with the sting in its tail and the Fish. The slow moving Crab, identified with its dwelling place and carrying its house upon its back, lives upon the land (physical plane life) and also in the sea (the life of the emotions); the Scorpion is rapid in movement, deadly in its effect upon men around it and is a creature of the land; it is also the symbol of the transformed Crab and the result of the evolutionary process, and indicates the dangerous nature of the man who is not transformed and is therefore harmful and hurtful to others; the Fishes indicate the man from whom the symbol of materiality has been taken by the removal of half of the original symbol, thus indicating freedom from matter. The three water signs give us, therefore, a brief and symbolic [318] history of man's growth and true personality development. It is a picture of the law of cause and effect. These thoughts you can elaborate for yourself and thus arrive at the evident implications.

  There is also a significant relationship between five signs which are deeply esoteric in their nature and their effects when swept into this particular interplay. They are only called into activity during the return half of the wheel of life or the “wheel of living action or of conscious undertaking” as it is called in the Old Commentary. This name is given to the wheel as it turns anti-clockwise from Aries to Pisces via Taurus. This fivefold relationship is only established upon the Path of Discipleship and is brought about by the esoteric linking of Cancer-Virgo-Scorpio-Capricorn-Pisces. In the future horoscopes of disciples, this significant interplay of forces will be recognised as dominating the chart at a particular and peculiar stage of discipleship. In this case, disciples will be born in one or other of these signs or with one of other of these signs rising.

  You have two signs of water and earth (Cancer and Virgo) in the stage of sub-conscious emphasis wherein everything is latent and hidden. Human consciousness is only embryonic in Cancer, for it is the mass mind which dominates and not the individual mind. In Virgo, the Christ life or consciousness is hidden and the Christ Child is as yet embryonic in the womb of matter and of time, and during this stage, the emphasis is upon the form which veils and hides the reality. The human soul and the divine soul (the essential duality) are there but their presence is not easily detected. In Scorpio comes a point of transition, of change and of re-orientation. That which has been hitherto hidden appears and is brought to the surface by means of the experience, the tests, the trials and the “sting of life.” In Capricorn—[319] as a result of the effects of the influences of Cancer, Virgo and Scorpio—the disciple begins to demonstrate the capacity to express the life of two kingdoms, at least in some measure, and is a developed human being and also a citizen of the kingdom of God. Therefore, for an initiate and for a period of three incarnations, the four signs of revelation (Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio and Capricorn) intensify their effect upon him, until in the fourth incarnation he begins to respond to the inner influence of Pisces. He thus demonstrates his ability to react to the Shamballa influence and, when this influence is established, he goes out to salvage and to save. He acts consciously as a world mediator. Therefore, it might be stated that:

  1. In Cancer, the influence of the human Hierarchy begins to make its presence felt and to include the dualism of man. This emerges clearly in Virgo. Soul and body are closely related and knit together in one form. Man is a conscious personality, and this is a result of the Cancer experience, consummated in Virgo.

  Such is the way of humanity. The human centre is active.

  2. In Scorpio, the influence of the occult Hierarchy begins to set its seal on the human being, and his essential duality is put to the test. This is preparatory to a new and higher unity. He is at the miserable stage of being neither the soul nor the form—the stage of transition.

  Such is the way of the disciple. The hierarchical centre is affecting him powerfully.

  3. In Pisces, the influence of Shamballa claims the initiate as its field of activity and the dualism of soul and spirit emerges instead of that of soul and body which has hitherto been of major importance. The power of the [320] form to hold the soul in captivity has been negated and tests and trials of the initiate up to the third initiation are directed to this end.

  Such is the way of the initiate.

  You will note the interesting fact that you have here nine signs which carry a man from the stage of imprisonment in form to the freedom of the kingdom of God, from the state of embryonic consciousness to the full flower of divine knowledge, from the condition of human awareness to the conscious wisdom of the initiated disciple. These nine signs are strictly expressive of human unfoldment—conscious and superconscious, though beginning with the mass awareness of Cancer. There are three signs, preceding these, which provide the subtle or subjective realities of the will-to-be (Aries), the desire-to-know (Taurus) and the establishment of relationship (Gemini), and these constitute the triple incentive to the manifestation of man and of the human kingdom. They correspond cosmically to the logoic, the monadic and spiritual planes to which the higher initiate has access or when dealing with the entire concept on a lower turn of the spiral and in connection with ordinary man, they correspond to the mental, the astral and the etheric vehicles of man. They are, therefore, related to the highest and the lowest expression of human life. I have in the above ideas given you several hints of vital importance. One of the symbols of an initiate of a certain degree is that of the five-pointed star with a triangle in the centre; this is a reference to the energy of the watery triangle with which we have just been concerned and to the fivefold linking which has been established in the consciousness of the initiate.

  We come now to a consideration of the rulers of this sign and to a study of the planets which act as focal points [321] and as distributing agents for certain cosmic energies. Much has been earlier indicated along this line, and a true understanding of the nature of these impacting energies can only be grasped as we continue with our studies and investigate these signs in the relation which they assume as we study them in connection with other signs, claiming the same planetary rulers. There is one point which I would like to make clear and that is that in the two rulers of this sign—the Moon and Neptune—you have the symbols of a close relationship between the Mother of all Forms and the God of the Waters, that is between the two planets. In this esoteric marriage, you have pictured for humanity a major synthesis of form and of desire-sensitivity and, consequently, a true statement of the stage of consciousness which we call Atlantean. There is much of this today and of this stage, mass sensitivity and mass identification with form and with forms is the significant indication and the outstanding characteristic of Cancer and its subjects. The Moon, however, relates Cancer to two other signs and these form a cosmic triangle. They are Cancer-Virgo-Aquarius. In this
combination, you have the sign of mass-consciousness, the sign of the Christ-consciousness and the sign of universal consciousness very closely related to each other and all of them through the medium of the influence of Neptune, which the Moon veils.

  Like Leo, which is ruled in all its three expressions (orthodox, esoteric and hierarchical) by the Sun, Cancer is the only other sign which is ruled by only one planet, though in orthodox astrology, the Moon is substituted for Neptune because it is the form nature which is dominant in the longest stage of human unfoldment, just as esoterically, it is the feeling-sensitive nature which dominates the average man; it is with this stable tendency that the disciple has to [322] wrestle. In the mass mind (of which Cancer is the truest expression), it is fortunate that Neptune is veiled by the Moon and that the form fails to register or step down many of the impacts to which the true man is sensitive. Average humanity is not yet fully equipped to bear the full range of these impacts, to handle them constructively or to transmute them and interpret them accurately. Upon the Path of Discipleship and along the line of esoteric development, one of the major difficulties and great problems of the disciple is his extreme sensitivity to impacts from every side and his rapid ability to respond to contacts coming from “all points of the compass, from every angle of the zodiacal wheel and from that which is within as well as from that which is without, from that which lies above, below, and upon every hand,” as the Old Commentary expresses it. It is also as difficult and hard for the average student of modern times to grasp the mass-consciousness of Cancer as it is for him to grasp the group-awareness or the universal consciousness of Aquarius and to this final development, humanity is hierarchically related by the Moon, veiling Neptune. The average human being is just beginning to grasp the stage of the individual Christ consciousness of Virgo to which he is related by the same planet.

  The unveiled Neptune relates Cancer to no other constellation or sign, and this fact is of very great importance, because it indicates the fact that when a man is an initiate, he does not react to ordinary feeling, sentiment or to personality relations as they express themselves in pleasure or pain. All these are surmounted and eventually the watery life of emotional reaction is superseded by the life of true and of inclusive love. Soul control esoterically “obliterates” the Moon and all traces of Neptunian life. The initiate is no longer ruled by the Mother of Forms or by the God of [323] the Waters. When the “waters break and are carried away,” the Mother gives birth to the Son and that individual spiritual entity then stands free. I would ask you to ponder upon this point.

  These two—the Moon and Neptune—are, therefore, the direct influences which are brought to bear upon the Cancer subject and thus lead to the unfoldment of the form of life and of the emotional-astral body. The supreme usefulness of these aspects will be grasped if you will intelligently realise that without the form and without the ability to bear in mind the need to respond sensitively to the environing conditions and circumstance, the soul would never awaken to knowledge in the three worlds and, therefore, would never know God in manifestation.

  Indirectly, and via the influences of the Cardinal Cross (of which Cancer is a part), the Cancerian subject is affected by or influenced by five other planets, which are Mars, Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Saturn. The Cancerian subject becomes responsive to the uses of conflict (Mars), to the functioning of the light of intuition (Mercury) and to the cosmic pull of Uranus, plus the intellect of Venus and the presentation of opportunity (Saturn). These, however, play subjectively upon the dweller in the form and are not consciously registered as potencies by the individual for many aeons of time and not until the life of the form and the reaction to sensitive emotion-feeling has played an active and an educational part in the awakening of the mind. Once that awakening of desire and its transmutation into the higher aspiration has taken place, then the Virgo influence comes in and the responsive soul—developed by the five indirect influences of the Cardinal Cross—begins its active conscious participation in the drama of life. Thus the direct and the indirect influences of the seven planets play their [324] varied parts in man's unfoldment, and students would find it of interest and of value to relate the effects of these seven planetary forces to the unfolding seven principles of man.

  Let us now briefly consider for a few minutes the effect of the ray influences as they focus through the seven planets upon the man born in the sign Cancer.

  It is here that there will be found certain basic indications as to the nature and the processes of the Law of Rebirth. It would appear that as yet only two rules are posited in connection with the return of an ego to physical incarnation. The first is that if perfection has not been achieved then the soul must return and continue the perfecting process upon the Earth. The second is that the impulse predisposing the ego to such action is some form of unsatisfied desire. Both these statements are true in part and generic in effect but they are only partial truths and incident to larger truths which have not yet been sensed or noted accurately by esotericists; they are secondary in nature and are expressed in terms of the three worlds of human evolution, of personality intent, and of time-space concepts. Basically, it is not desire which prompts return but will and knowledge of the plan. It is not the need for achieving an ultimate perfection which goads the ego on to experience in form, for the ego is already perfect. The main incentive is sacrifice and service to those lesser lives that are dependent upon the higher inspiration (which the spiritual soul can give) and the determination that they too may attain planetary status equivalent to that of the sacrificing soul. It is in order eventually to negate the space-time concept and to prove it an illusion that the door in Cancer opens to the sacrificing, serving soul. Bear this always in mind as you study the subject of rebirth. In themselves, rebirth and reincarnation are misleading [325] terms and “cyclic impulsion,” “intelligent purposeful repetition” and “conscious in-breathing and out-breathing” would describe more accurately this cosmic process. It is, however, difficult for you to grasp this idea, for it necessitates the ability to identify oneself with the One Who thus breathes—the planetary Logos—and the entire theme must therefore remain relatively obscure until initiation has been taken. Esoterically speaking, the point of greatest interest lies in the fact that it is group rebirth which is taking place all the time and that the incarnation of the individual is only incidental to this greater happening. This has been largely ignored or forgotten because of the intense and selfish interest in personal experience and living, evidenced in the speculative details anent individual return given in the current so-called occult books, most of which are largely inaccurate and certainly unimportant.

  An intelligent understanding of the Plan is needed before the real truth anent reincarnation can emerge with clarity in the public consciousness. Groups of souls come into incarnation cyclically and together in order to further the Plan and permit that interplay to proceed between spirit and matter which makes manifestation possible and which extends the working out of the divine ideas as they exist in the Mind of God. When the Plan (as the Hierarchy understands it) is more familiar in its objectives and its mode of functioning upon the outer plane of life, we shall see a complete change in the presentation of the teaching concerning the Law of Rebirth. We shall see more clearly the existent synthesis of:

  1. The divine plan as it manifests in time.

  2. The basic relations as they manifest in space.

  3. The developing effects as they demonstrate in groups. [326]

  4. The evolving understanding as intellect merges into the intuition.

  5. The fivefold nature of the logoic expression as it unfolds itself through the five kingdoms.

  and this, when correctly intuited, will produce a revelation, and a presentation of this abstruse theme beyond anything at this time sensed by man. It is one of the secrets of the first initiation and these secrets are today in process of externalisation.

  It will be found that rebirth is, in truth, a magical and ma
gnetic interplay between the form side of life and life itself. This interplay is consciously undertaken by the soul which is the product of the two related factors. The above statement is, in itself, complex and difficult and far from easy to grasp; it however expresses a significant fact which the Old Commentary phrases as follows:

  “Those who are demanding to be saved have cried aloud. Their voices penetrate into the formless world and there evoke response.

  “Those who in distant aeons have pledged themselves to save and serve respond. Their cry too rings forth and, ringing, penetrates into the dark and distant places within the worlds of form.

  “And thus a vortex is established and kept alive by that constant dual sound. And then a touch is made and for a space and during time, the two are one—the Saving Souls and the Units to be served.

  “Slowly the vision of the Saving One becomes a light which guides the Crying Ones into the place of light.”

  I would suggest to investigators that the entire theme of “cyclic impulse” be approached from the angle of the group, forgetting, as this is done, the glamour of the personality [327] impress. The sweep of known history will aid in this, indicating—as it does—the possibility of clarification and the usefulness of classifying and isolating group activity and character down the ages. When the major reincarnating groups are thus distinguished and their work for the fourth kingdom along many lines is more clearly seen then the whole subject will be better understood, evoking the play of the intuition. This demonstrates a second fact of importance, namely that, as yet, it will only be possible to trace the progress of advanced souls in incarnation and not trace, at this time, the cyclic appearing of the unevolved. They are the “material units” which have to be saved by the more advanced. The theme of service and sacrifice runs, unrecognised, through history. The key to the understanding of these reincarnating, saving factors lies in a coming intuitive ability to recognise the reincarnating groups, as groups and not individuals, through their ray qualities, and it was for this purpose that I gave in Destiny of the Nations a statement as to the rays governing certain nations. Groups are governed by the astrological signs and by the rays just as individuals are, and these rays affect them, via the ruling planets. I have here opened up to you a very wide field of research and I have indicated a most interesting new form of historical investigation and record. The history of the future will be the history of the evolving plans of God as they work out through the serving groups of egos who will come into physical incarnation under the influence of “divine duality” to carry forward the development of the lives which constitute the form through which divinity is seeking full expression. The relation of the fourth ray to the fourth kingdom in nature (which is the fourth Creative Hierarchy) is a predetermining influence in all world conflict up to date and is the cause which has produced the history [328] of war and conflict down the ages. The theme of that ray is “Harmony through Conflict” and it is the lower aspect of the ray energy, producing conflict which has hitherto controlled, and is climaxing now through the impetus of the new incoming Shamballa force. As it exhausts itself (and this is rapidly coming about) there will be a shift of direction and force to that major ray, the second Ray of Love-Wisdom, of which the fourth ray is an aspect. This second ray energy is very potently focussed through the constellation Gemini via the planet, Jupiter. We shall then have the inauguration of a long cycle of beneficent development in which the conflict essential to the interplay between the dualities will be stabilised upon the mental plane and—under the influence of the salvaging, serving egos of the fifth kingdom—entirely change world civilisation.