The exoteric and the esoteric planetary rulers of Capricorn are the same, and Saturn rules the career of the man in this sign, no matter whether he is on the ordinary or the reversed wheel, or whether he is on the Mutable or the Fixed Cross. When he has taken the third initiation and can consciously mount the Cardinal Cross, he is then released from the ruling of Saturn and comes under the influence of Venus, who is governor or ruler of the Hierarchy which is that of the Crocodiles. A reference to the tabulation heretofore given will show this. It is only when a man is upon the Cardinal Cross that the significance, purpose and potencies of the Creative Hierarchies become clear to [164] him and the "doors of entrance" into all of them stand wide open. On the Mutable Cross and on the Fixed Cross we have the so-called green ray, controlling not only the daily life of karmic liability upon the path of evolution,, but also controlling the experiences and processes of evolution. The reason for this is that Capricorn is an earth sign and because the third and fifth rays work pre-eminently through this sign, embodying the third major aspect of divinity, active intelligence plus that of its subsidiary power, the fifth Ray of Mind. These pour through Capricorn to Saturn and to Venus and so reach our planet, the Earth. Saturn is one of the most potent of the four Lords of Karma and forces man to face up to the past, and in the present to prepare for the future. Such is the intention and purpose of karmic opportunity. From certain angles, Saturn can be regarded as the planetary Dweller on the Threshold, for humanity as a whole has to face that Dweller as well as the Angel of the Presence, and in so doing discover that both the Dweller and the Angel are that complex duality which is the human family. Saturn, in a peculiar relation to the sign Gemini, makes this possible. Individual man makes this discovery and faces the two extremes whilst in the sign Capricorn; the fourth and fifth Creative Hierarchies do the same thing in Libra.

Through Saturn and Venus, therefore, Capricorn is connected with Libra and also with Gemini and Taurus, and these four constellations - Taurus, Gemini, Libra and Capricorn - constitute a potent quaternary of energies and between them produce those conditions and situations which will enable the initiate to demonstrate his readiness and capacity for initiation. They are called the "Guardians of the Four Secrets." [165]

• Taurus - Guards the secret of light and confers illumination upon the initiate.
• Gemini - Guards the mystery or secret of duality and presents the initiate with a word which leads to the fusion of the greater pairs of opposite.
• Libra - Guards the secret of balance, of equilibrium and finally speaks the word which releases the initiate from the power of the Lords of Karma.
• Capricorn - Guards the secret of the soul itself and this it reveals to the initiate at the time of the third initiation. This is sometimes called the "secret of the hidden glory."

The third and fifth rays are peculiarly active upon the Path of Discipleship, just as the sixth and fourth are dominant upon the Path of Evolution and the first and seventh upon the Path of Initiation. The second ray controls and dominates all the other rays, as you well know. [166]