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Esoteric Astrology - The Nature of Esoteric Astrology - Spiritual Effects of the Zodiacal Constellations
Venus, pure love-wisdom, falls into generation in this sign and occultly "descends to earth" and stands (as The Secret Doctrine has so carefully pointed out) for the gift of mind and of divinity, embodied in the Son of Mind and thus for the descent of the Christ principle into generation or into matter. Virgo and Venus are together two aspects of intelligence. The symbolism of the descent of Spirit into [282] the womb of the virgin mother is preserved for us in the astrological fact that Venus falls in this sign; esoterically, she disappears from view and vanishes into the darkness. Neptune, the expression of the sixth Ray of Idealistic Devotion, is naturally rendered more impotent in this sign and simultaneously his "power is lessened," for the drive and urge of devotion and desire give place in this powerful sign to the natural processes of form production and to the silent activity which is going on within the womb of time and space.

Jupiter, in spite of its latent power, is also "lessened" in influence at this time because of the second principle or second aspect of divinity, the Son or the germ of the Christ Who will come, the Son of Mind, descends into the depths and is temporarily veiled or hidden. I would recommend to the astrologers of the future a careful investigation of the falls, exaltations and the diminution of power which take place within any zodiacal sign; the whole problem must be viewed in a large manner and not so specifically from the angle of personality horoscopes. When the planets are rightly related to the rays which they are expressing, then the wider theme of the soul's life will emerge; these condition the personality but not in the same sense as material circumstance (physical body and material environment) condition the mass of men. Ponder on this.

In connection with the decanates, I would point out that what I am in this treatise constantly emphasizing is that the astrologer needs to study the horoscope of an individual from the angle of his place upon the wheel of the zodiac and to consider which way he is going. Is he progressing around the wheel as a personality or is he moving forward as a soul? The conflict to which all disciples are subjected can be traced to the fact that the form life of the disciple [283] is influenced in one way by the wheel, and the consciousness aspect in another way or in the reverse direction. The disciple enters the sign under the influence of that decanate which is for him the first but which is the third for the ordinary man. This is interestingly and practically instanced by the constellation which we are now entering.

The three decanates of Aquarius, from the angle of the disciple, are Saturn, Mercury and Venus. It is in this sequence that they affect him and carry him forward on his desired way, thus giving opportunity through conflict, the illumination of the mind and eventually the achievement of brotherly love which is wisdom. Ordinarily speaking, the mass of men would pass through the sign via Venus, Mercury and Saturn, for the undeveloped man is influenced by those qualities which can be best described as instinctual mind or affection (Venus), which is brotherly love in embryo; by the slow unfoldment of the mind through the activity of Mercury; finally, as the result of this unfoldment, conflict supervenes and Saturn offers opportunity to suffer and, through suffering, to learn to choose rightly, to analyze correctly and to decide upon the higher values. These points must be carefully considered by the astrologer. But at this time, we are at a point of crisis and the problem takes wider implications, for the reason that, for the first time in its history, humanity is beginning to mount the Fixed Cross of the disciple, thus reversing its progress upon the circle of the zodiac. Humanity - as a whole and owing to the large proportion of aspirants and thinking idealists - is entering Aquarius, via the open door of Saturn. At the same time, a very large number of men are in the non-thinking instinctual stage and their consciousness is predominantly Atlantean. These enter via Venus and hence the conflict. [284]

According to Sepharial, the three decanates into which Virgo is divided are governed by the Sun, Venus and Mercury, whilst Alan Leo gives us Mercury, Saturn and Venus. I would remind you here of a point which is oft forgotten by astrologers; this is that, in the case of the disciple, Mercury and the Sun are interchangeable terms. When the disciple becomes aware that he is himself Mercury, the Son of Mind, and therefore one with the universal Christ, the "Sun and yet the Son of God" (as it is esoterically called), he is then an initiate. Therefore, Leo's assignment of rulers is the truly esoteric one. When the disciple knows Saturn as the God who offers opportunity and does not only feel him to be Deity who brings disaster, then he is on the path of discipleship in truth and in deed and not just theoretically. When Venus is the source of wisdom and the expression of the transmutation of the mind into intuition and of intellect into wisdom, then he is ready for initiation. He is rapidly achieving liberation. The weakness of the rulers of the decanates as given by Sepharial lies in the fact that as both Mercury and the Sun are one, the choice is therefore redundant; he omits Saturn and because of this omission, esoterically speaking, the "door is not open."

Again, the keynotes of this sign convey their meaning clearly and there is no need for me to elucidate. On the ordinary wheel, the command goes forth in the following words which institute the activity of Virgo:

  • "And the Word said, Let Matter reign."

Later, upon the wheel of the disciple, the voice emerges from the Virgin Herself and she says:

  • "I am the mother and the child. I, God, I, matter am."

Ponder upon the beauty of this synthesis and teaching and know that you yourself have said the first word as the soul, descending into the womb of time and space in a far [285] and distant past. The time has now come when you can, if you so choose, proclaim your identity with both divine aspects - matter and Spirit, the mother and the Christ.
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