Esoteric Astrology

by Alice A Bailey

  To bring about the full presentation of the choice and to indicate the mode whereby the spirit of man can triumph, the influence of Pisces was called in or rather evoked. It is conditions which evoke, aided at times by voiced Words of Power on the part of the Hierarchy. Pisces, through its ruler, Pluto (ruling both the mass and the disciples esoterically), necessitated the triumph of death—not necessarily physical death—leading to the dissolution of the form of man. It is frequently the death or ending of old forms of civilisations which cyclically come and go; of religious teaching when it does not serve the need of the spiritual nature of the people (as is today the case); of educational processes which fail to educate the developing nature of man and serve only to delude and imprison. When I say this, I mean not the death of religion or of forms of thought. I refer here to death as the Great Releaser, which shatters the forms which are bringing death to that which is embodied. It is to this philosophic death in its lowest aspect that Germany has responded. The destruction of religion which Germany sought to bring about is not a prelude to the establishment of a better approach to divinity but the effort [546] to evoke the ancient gods, to deify the forms of matter and to make the state the supreme end of men’s lives; the spirit of love and of individual right relations are not known—those relations which are so basically characteristic of the Kingdom of God.

  The completely atheistic approach of Russia to the problem of religion at the time of, and during the period of, the revolution is much more sound than the German approach. The spirit of man in its essential divinity can be trusted to arise unhurt from the experience in answer to the call of the undying spirit. This call can sound forth clearly in a void and be evoked by time and circumstance—unopposed if the only difficulty with which it is confronted is the spirit of agnosticism and an attitude of questioning. But the imposition of the ancient myths in an effort to still the demand for truth and the carefully planned attack upon the Christ of the world is dangerous, evil, and will cause retrogression. Of these, the rulers of Germany were guilty. They did not succeed in quenching the spiritual life of the nation because religion in Germany was not corrupt as it was in Russia and needed not such a drastic purification. These are points which thinkers would do well to remember. In mystical Russia, the seeds of the spiritual life are emerging to fresh beauty and a triumphant religious ideal is on its way to manifest; in Germany, ancient crystallised forms of belief are met with something more ancient still and the combination of world dislike and decadent forms will make the lot of the German people one of great tragedy. In the consequent struggle for that which is spiritually alive and in the effort to regain belief in the realities of divine revelation, and in the determination to right the evil wrought by her rulers to the world, Germany may some day regain the expression of soul life. To this end, she must be first released [547] from evil rule and then aided to regain her spiritual standing.

  Pluto, therefore, comes into full force and expression in order to stage the testings of the world disciple and to this end brings in the potency of Scorpio, the sign of discipleship. Under these influences, the death of forms must eventuate leaving the disciple free; the dissolution of old group structures of thought, embodying worn-out ideas and ideals must necessarily supervene; crystallised old forms must dissolve and disappear, but in their place the undying spirit—impressed by revelation and sensitive to the emerging new concepts of truth—will create the needed new forms of appropriate expression.

  Such are the influences which today are dominating the world, finding expression according to the type of vehicle which reacts to their impact. The type of conscious response and resultant activity is—as the occultist well knows—dependent upon the quality of the vehicle which is receptive to the approach of any type of energy. The interplay of the energy and the vehicle then produces consciousness of some kind. This is a basic and unalterable law.

  In the few things which I have been able to say anent these constellations and their relation to our planet at this time, I trust I have made clear and practical something which esoteric astrologers need unceasingly to grasp—the fact that once it has been established which constellations are at any one time influencing our Earth, which planets—exoteric and esoteric—are transmitting their influence and which rays are consequently active, it should be possible to prove then the fact of these distributed energies by the appearance upon Earth and among men of their appropriate results, and the expected response. [548]

  2. Three major planetary influences today.

  Within the solar system itself, three of the sacred planets are peculiarly active. They are:

  1. Uranus. This planet is the exoteric ruler of Aquarius; it is also the esoteric ruler of Libra and the hierarchical ruler of Aries. It is peculiarly active at this time and brings in the energy of the seventh ray. The circulating of its energies can be portrayed by the following symbol or diagram:

  This triple inflow of seventh ray energy, coloured by the force of three great constellations, is potent to effect major changes in our little planet. It is interesting to realise that Aries, the Inaugurator, is rendered effective on the Earth through the organising potency of Uranus. Aries is the source, the beginning and the initiator of the New Age and its coming civilisations, of the appearance of the kingdom of God on earth and also of the individual initiate into the Mysteries. Aquarius is the present Determiner of the future. That which is now initiated in Aries will become manifested in Aquarius, and Libra will enforce the achievement of a point of balance or (esoterically speaking) of the “escape from opposing forces at the midway point between the source and the goal.”

  2. Mercury is the expression of fourth ray energy and this is, as you know, peculiarly related to the fourth [549] kingdom in nature, the human kingdom. It is the esoteric ruler of Aries (hence it “leads into the mysteries”) and is also the exoteric ruler of Gemini, which is the sign of the major opposites as far as humanity is concerned, because it signifies soul and personality, consciousness and form; it is also the exoteric ruler of Virgo, the Mother of the Christ-Child, or the form and that which indwells the form. It is, finally, the hierarchical ruler of Scorpio, which is the sign of discipleship.

  This, therefore, brings into a close relation four great constellations, each of which has a peculiar relation to the dualities with which man has a definite evolutionary concern. These are expressed in a unique manner for humanity through Aries, Gemini, Virgo, and Scorpio and the following diagram is descriptive of the nature of that relation:

  When visualising these diagrams, the symbol should be seen in rapid revolution. Mercury, the Messenger of the Gods, carries to humanity a certain type of force and this precipitates a point of crisis; it brings about the next great revolution which will lead mankind on to new experience, and to the revelation of the divinity which it is the destiny of man to reveal.

  3. Saturn. This planet applies the tests and is so chosen or invoked because the third ray is not only its particular ray but is also the ray of our planet, the Earth. The two notes synchronise. Saturn is also the hierarchical ruler [550] of Libra and, therefore, it brings to the manifestation of mankind and to the various hierarchies involved, a point of crisis to which the clue and the outcome lies in the recognition of balance. As Saturn also controls Capricorn in two of its three expressions or fields of influence, it is powerful in the three fields—exoteric, esoteric and hierarchical—and if you will relate what I here say to what I have said in an earlier part of this treatise re Capricorn, you will see how the sign of initiation hovers over our planet as well as over the destiny of the individual disciple. You have therefore an expression of the third ray force which the following diagram makes clear:

  Saturn rules one of the decanates of Aquarius.

  This makes factual and clear that at this time, the signs of balance and of initiation can be intelligently used to produce effects on our Earth and this they will immutably do.

  These statements conclude what I feel it necessary to say at th
is time. Initiation—characterised by self-initiation—is the demand of man today. The stars declare it and decree it. The Hierarchy therefore intentionally collaborates. The crying demand and aspirations of man indicate appreciation of the opportunity and recognised understanding of the proved necessity. The Spirit of Life enforces this.

  CHAPTER VI - The Three Crosses

  [553] I shall not be able to handle the subject of the three zodiacal Crosses—the Mutable, Fixed and Cardinal Crosses—in any detail, owing to the fact that they are concerned with the wholes or with the syntheses of manifestation and with the unified experience of an incarnating entity, be it God or man. They can, therefore, be truly comprehended only by those with an inclusive consciousness, i.e., with an initiate-awareness. Some general comments can, however, be made.

  These three Crosses are as you know:

  1. The Cross of the Hidden Christ—The Mutable Cross.

  a. This is the Cross of the four major energies which produce the conditioning circumstances which transform animal man into an aspirant.

  b. It is, therefore, the Cross of the personality or of the steadily developing and finally integrating human being. This takes place at first in response to circumstance and later to soul inclination.

  c. It is the Cross of temporal and temporary change, of fluidity and of those constantly altering environments which drive the soul within the form from one extreme of experience to another, so that the life shuttles between the pairs of opposites. [554]

  d. It is the Cross of the responsive form, nurturing and developing the life of the indwelling Christ, the hidden Soul or Lord of Being.

  The four arms of this Cross are Gemini—Virgo—Sagittarius—Pisces. It is sometimes called the Common Cross because it conditions the common herd, the mass of humanity.

  2. The Cross of the Crucified Christ—The Fixed Cross.

  a. This is the Cross composed of the four energies which condition the life of the man who is first a probationary disciple and then an accepted or pledged disciple.

  b. It is outstandingly the Cross of the soul. The man who is upon the Fixed Cross is becoming increasingly aware of its direction and influences and does not respond as blindly as does the man upon the Mutable Cross. He does not “mount this Cross of Right Direction” in a technical sense until he has attained some measure of soul contact and has had some touch of illumination and of spiritual intuition—no matter how fleeting that touch may have been.

  c. It is the Cross of “fixed vision and of that immovable intent which draws the man from points of light to blazing solar radiance.” The man upon the Fixed Cross says: “I am the soul and here I stand. Naught shall remove my feet from off the narrow place whereon I stand. I face the light. I am the Light and in that light shall I see Light.”

  d. It is the Cross whose four energies blend with [555] and transmit the energies of the solar system itself. This it can do because the man upon the Fixed Cross is becoming increasingly conscious of issues which are larger than himself, more engrossing than his previous interests and which concern humanity in its relation to the solar forces and not just to the planetary forces. He is becoming sensitive to a larger whole.

  e. The energies of this Cross continue to evoke response until the time of the third initiation.

  The four arms of this Cross are Taurus—Leo—Scorpio—Aquarius. It is called the Fixed Cross because the man is stretched upon it by the directed choice and immovable intent of his soul. From that decision there is no turning back.

  3. The Cross of the Risen Christ—The Cardinal Cross.

  a. This is the Cross whereon, under the occult paradox and in time and space, the Spirit is crucified. Its four energies govern and direct the soul as it moves forward upon the Path of Initiation. Necessarily, as it deals with so exalted a state of consciousness, there is but little I can say anent this Cross except the vaguest generalities.

  b. It is, therefore, pre-eminently the Cross of Initiation and of “beginnings.” It concerns fundamentally “the beginning of the endless Way of Revelation” which starts when Nirvana is entered and for which all the previous stages of the Path of Evolution have been but preparatory.

  The following quotation may carry understanding and help to illumine this most difficult [556] subject, indicating the significance of this Cardinal Cross as a consummating influence and revealing that which lies ahead of those who attain hierarchical standing:

  “All beauty, all goodness, all that makes for the eradication of sorrow and ignorance upon the Earth must be devoted to the Great Consummation. Then when the Lords of Compassion shall have spiritually civilised the Earth and made of it a Heaven, there shall be revealed to the Pilgrims the Endless Path which reaches to the Heart of the Universe. Man, then no longer man, will transcend nature and impersonally, yet consciously, in at-one-ment with all Enlightened Ones, help to fulfil the Law of the Higher Evolution, of which Nirvana is but the beginning,” (Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines. Page 12.)

  c. It is the Cross of the “widespread arms, the open heart and the higher mind,” for those who lie upon this Cross know and enjoy the significances underlying the words: Omnipresence and Omniscience, and are in process of unfolding the higher phases of Being which we inadequately cover by the word, Omnipotence.

  d. The energies of the Cardinal Cross blend with the energies to which we can give no greater name than cosmic energy even though that word is meaningless. They carry the quality of the One about Whom Naught may be Said and are “tinctured with the Light of the seven solar systems” of which our solar system is one.

  e. The scope and cycle of its influence in the life of the initiate is utterly unknown even to our planetary [557] Logos Who is Himself stretched upon its “widespread arms.”

  1. The Cross of the Hidden Christ.

  Speaking generally, therefore, the Mutable Cross governs the form or body nature, controls the whole life cycle of the individual soul through the stages of the lower experiences of humanity, the strictly human stages, and the integrating processes of personality development until the man stands forth as an aligned person, slowly reorienting himself to a higher vision, a wider horizontal and vertical grasp of reality and thus becomes the aspirant. This Cross governs the lower triad in manifestation and rules in the three worlds of human evolution. The Fixed Cross governs the soul which is now conscious within the human form and in the three worlds, but controls throughout what is called “the five worlds of human attainment”—the three strictly human levels of activity and the two superhuman, i.e., the lower trinity and the Spiritual Triad. It deals with the entire life of soul experience and expression after the Mutable Cross has effectively forced the man on to the Path of Purification and of Discipleship. It is concerned with the integration of soul and personality and their complete blending or fusion. The Cardinal Cross governs the manifestation of the Monad in all its glory and beauty, and this cycle of influence falls into two stages: the one in which the Monad expresses itself upon the six planes of manifestation in “wisdom, strength and beauty” through the medium of the integrated soul and personality. This is a relatively brief stage. Second, the stage wherein—withdrawn and abstracted from those forms of Being—”the ONE proceeds upon the higher Way and passes on to [558] realms unknown e’en to the highest of the Sons of God upon our Earth.”

  It might be added that the Mutable Cross is the conditioning influence in that great planetary centre which we call the human; that the Fixed Cross is paramountly the major controlling set of energies governing, and being transmitted by, the centre which we call the planetary Hierarchy; whilst the Cardinal Cross rules and conditions (in a manner unknown to men) that great planetary centre to which we give the name Shamballa.

  You will see, therefore, how stupendous is my theme. Only those, may I again repeat, who can think in terms of one or other of the three above Wholes, will know whereof I speak; lesser minds will get a general picture or vision of transcendental possibilities which will aid them to an expan
sion of consciousness, but what I say will remain far-off in the realm of the (temporarily) unattainable.

  Will it clarify the subject technically and academically if I point out that—

  1. The Mutable Cross is the Cross of the Holy Spirit, of the third Person of the Christian Trinity, as it organises substance and evokes sensitive response from substance itself.

  2. The Fixed Cross is the Cross of the Son of God, of the second Person of the Trinity, driven through love to incarnate in matter and to be consciously crucified upon the Cross of matter.

  3. The Cardinal Cross is the Cross of the Father, the first aspect of the sacred Trinity, Who sent forth the Holy Spirit (the Breath) because the Mind of God visioned a destiny for matter which had been long in coming. [559] Now that the “time was at hand,” the Son fulfilled the law in cooperation with the Holy Spirit and this in response to the fiat of the Father.

  These three Crosses are, in their totality of manifestation, related to the three basic energies which brought the solar system into being; they constitute the three major and synthetic expressions of the supernal Will, motivated by love and expressed through activity. Upon these Crosses, the ability to see the Whole, purpose-motive-expression, life-quality-appearance, shifts and changes. Upon the Mutable Cross, the crucified man sees naught of the picture. He suffers, agonises, desires, strives, is the apparent victim of circumstances, and is distinguished by a veiled vision and inchoate longings. These gradually take shape until he reaches the stage of acquiescence and aspiration. Then he finds himself upon the Fixed Cross and begins to grasp the whole of the purpose of experience upon the Mutable Cross (as far as humanity is concerned) and to realise that there is a hierarchical purpose which can only be grasped by the man who is willing to be crucified upon that Cross. He reaches the stage of responsibility, self-awareness and right direction. His orientation is now “the spiritually vertical which involves the inclusive horizontal.” At this stage, the Plan of the Logos begins to take shape in his consciousness. Upon the Cardinal Cross, the purpose and the unified consummations of the two earlier crucifixions become almost blindingly apparent and a vision of the unified intent of the three Persons of the underlying Trinity (each upon His Own Cross) emerges with clarity.