3. The Great Wheel and Spiritual Unfoldment Before
I give you the remaining part of the chart which deals with the constellations as
conductors of cosmic energies or as transmitters of their own energy, I would like to
remark that much that I shall say will be based upon:
- The wheel of life and the path of man, the human being, as he passes through the signs
according to the mode recognized by orthodox astrology. He, as well as the planets,
apparently retrogrades through the signs and appears to pass through the constellations
from Aries to Taurus. But this is all part of the Great Illusion.
- The wheel of life and the path of man, the divine or spiritual soul, as he passes
through the signs of the zodiac according to the mode studied by the esoteric astrologer.
This is the Path of Reality as the other is the Path of Illusion. This carries the
disciple around the path from commencement in Aries to consummation in Pisces.
The present method is based upon the temporary truth that ordinary man is subject to
the illusory nature of manifestation and "as he thinks, so is he." When,
however, he becomes Hercules, the Sun God (or solar Angel), he begins to reverse the
process (again only apparently) and a definite reorientation takes place. The Teachers on
the [59] inner side, therefore, study the horoscope only in its relation to the following
three entities:
- The
horoscope of the planet itself as the expression of the life of the planetary Logos.
This involves the studying of the horoscope of the spirit of the planet as well as of the
informing Life and their joint relationship and interplay. The spirit of the Earth is to
the planetary Logos of the Earth, for instance, what the personality (or form nature) is
to the soul of man. The two horoscopes are superimposed and the "planetary
pattern" then emerges.
- The
horoscope of the human family, of the fourth kingdom in nature, regarding it as an
entity, which it essentially is. This is in reality the study of two horoscopes, as in the
above case; the horoscope of the kingdom of souls, of the divine sons of God upon the
mental plane, and the study of the entity which is the coherent life of the form side of
the fourth kingdom in nature. This is again done by superimposing the two charts. These
charts are drawn on a large scale and on a transparent material of which humanity knows
nothing. Upon these charts are noted the pattern which emerges when "soul and
personality are brought together" and present conditions, possible developments and
relationships, and the immediate future objective appear with clarity.
- The
horoscopes of disciples. The Masters do not study the charts of ordinary undeveloped
man. There is no profit in so doing. This involves again the study of the two horoscopes
of the disciple under inspection - one of the soul and the other of the personality. Again
the process of superimposition is utilized. In one horoscope, [60] the new orientation and
the embryonic reorganized inner life will be noted and studied, and in the other the outer
life and its conformity or nonconformity to inner conditions will be the subject of
attention. Thus the life pattern will emerge, possibilities will be indicated, problems
will disappear, and the immediate next step will clearly show forth.
It thus
becomes apparent again to what an extent the "principle of duality" enters into
everything. It is a shifting dualism, according to where the emphasis may be placed, but
this dualism is present until the last and final initiation - present in the later stages
of the evolutionary process, in the adjustment of form relations but not present in
the consciousness of the disciple of advanced degree. That is the major point to be
grasped. |