1. From the standpoint of commencement in Aries until the man - through many turnings of the wheel of life - reaches the point of reversal and reorientation. The man progresses from the point where, in Cancer, he forms a part of the mass with the mass consciousness, [61] inchoate and unfocused, and with no recognition of objective (except the satisfaction of instinctual desire) until in Scorpio he becomes the triumphant disciple, having found himself in Leo. Then comes the Crisis of Reorientation which may take a long time and constitute an interlude of many lives of struggle.
2. From the standpoint of the man upon the probationary path, seeking the light, struggling through the signs (as the Old Commentary expresses it when considering this point):

   "He turns from right to left, and then again from left to right. He revolves in giddy fashion upon an axis of desire. He knows not where to go or what to do. The sky turns black."

   At this point, the sign Gemini begins potently to play its part in the life of the disciples, with Sagittarius gradually "piercing the heart with his arrows, and then upon the flight of the arrow, the man reaches Capricorn." Then comes the Crisis of Renunciation.

3. From the standpoint of the pledged disciple and initiate who traverses again the Path of the Sun and finds that that which he has discovered himself to be in Leo finds its crown in Aquarius. The separate individual consciousness becomes the group consciousness in Aquarius, and he begins to comprehend the significance of that basic combination of signs, that "triangle in the consciousness" of humanity:

There are one or two points which must be dealt with in order to enable you to study with certain definite ideas clearly formulated in your minds. I have hinted at them in some of my earlier books but it will be of service to refer to them again and to expand the ideas somewhat. I would have you carry them in your minds as you read and study.

I have frequently referred to the fact that the entire science of astrology is based upon a non-existent condition. It has no basis in material fact and yet is eternally based on truth. The zodiac is, as you well know, the imaginary path of the Sun in the heavens. It is therefore largely an illusion, from the exoteric point of view. But at the same time the constellations exist, and the streams of energy which pass and repass, intermingle and interlock throughout the body of space are by no means illusions but definitely express eternal relationships. It is the misuse of the [63] various energies which has created the illusion. This illusory path is consequently as much a reality to humanity today as are the personality illusions of any individual. These illusions are due to the polarization of the individual upon the astral plane.