Esoteric Astrology

by Alice A Bailey

  2. The Fixed Cross—a fusion of four major energies, pouring into our solar system, on to our planet and through humanity.

  3. Scorpio—an aspect of the Fixed Cross, of peculiar and specialised potency upon the Path of Discipleship and preparing, with its tests and trials:

  a. The process of re-orientation, whereby a man mounts the Fixed Cross and leaves the Mutable Cross.

  b. The disciple for the first, second and third initiations. After the third initiation, its peculiar testing potency is no longer felt.

  4. The Hierarchy.—The distributing agency to the various kingdoms in nature.

  5. Mars and Saturn.—Both these planets are exceedingly potent in connection with initiation into the life of the Hierarchy; Mars is potent in relation to Scorpio and Saturn in relation to Capricorn. This involves the intensified activity of the 6th and the 3rd rays and their energies, and when these are rightly employed there comes liberation from form control and the release of the conscious individual.

  Again, astrologers would do well to work with this line of fused forces, studying its implications and effects in the life of the disciple.

  [200] Aquarius relates humanity to the Pleiades and therefore to Taurus in an unusual manner. The key to this relation is to be found in the word desire, leading, through the transmutative processes of life experience, to aspiration and finally the relinquishing of desire in Scorpio. Aquarius, Alcyone and Humanity constitute a most interesting triangle of force. Alcyone is one of the seven Pleiades and is called the “star of the Individual” and sometimes the “star of intelligence.” It was potently active during the previous solar system wherein the Third Person of the Trinity was peculiarly omnipotent and active, just as today the cosmic Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, is peculiarly active in this solar system. The energies coming from Alcyone impregnated the substance of the universe with the quality of mind. As a consequence of this most ancient activity, the same force was present at the time of individualisation in this solar system, for it is in this system, and primarily upon our planet, the Earth, that the major results of that early activity have made themselves felt. Two of our planets, the Earth (non-sacred) and Uranus (sacred), are directly the product of this third ray activity. This is of great importance to remember. I would also ask you to link this thought with the teaching that through the divine centre of intelligent activity which we call humanity, the fourth kingdom in nature will eventually act as the mediating principle to all the three lower kingdoms. Humanity is the divine Messenger to the world of form; it is essentially Mercury, bringing light and life to other divine manifestations and of this all divine world Saviours are the eternal symbols.

  This coming process of planetary service through the third divine centre is only truly effective when Aquarius rules and when our sun is passing through that sign of the [201] zodiac. Hence the immense importance of the next 2000 years. Therefore, only when a man is a world server and becoming group conscious can this desired objective of manifestation begin to demonstrate. It is beginning to happen today for the first time in planetary history. It is one of the first fruits of initiation and only in the next root race to our present Aryan race will we begin really to understand the significance of the process and the true nature of the energies to be released through the medium of humanity upon the planet. It is for this reason that Jupiter and Uranus (expressions of the second and the seventh rays) are the exoteric and esoteric rulers of Aquarius.

  You have, therefore, the following line of force to study:

  1. Alcyone—in the Pleiades, the mothers of the seven aspects of form life and the “wives of the seven Rishis of the Great Bear.” They are connected with the Mother aspect which nurtures the infant Christ.

  2. Aquarius—the World Server, the transmitter of energy which evokes magnetic response.

  3. Jupiter and Uranus—planets of beneficent consummation. The second ray of love and the seventh ray which fuses spirit and matter “to the ultimate glory” of the solar Logos are in the fullest eventual cooperation.

  4. Humanity—the focal point for all these energies and the divine distributor of them to individual man and later to the lower three kingdoms in nature.

  Thus you see, that from a generalisation re the exterior constellations (exterior to the zodiac and the solar system itself) we are becoming more specific, showing how certain stars in these constellations are definitely related by direct [202] lines of energy to our planet; these lines of force usually reach us via one of the zodiacal signs and—in rare cases— directly to a planet. The latter case is, however, exceedingly rare. We have also brought into relation to our solar system another constellation, called the Little Bear which is a reflection of or a corollary to the major energies of its greater prototype, Ursa Major, the Great Bear. These facts contain a great mystery connected with the inter-relation of Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and the Pleiades; they constitute one of the greatest and more important of the triplicities to be found in the heavens as far as we have astronomically ascertained the nature of our immediate universe. This is a perfectly unimportant piece of information as far as you are concerned and is only of significance to initiates of the fourth degree. It serves, nevertheless, to add its evidence to the essential integrity and interlocking dependencies of the universe.

  In order the better to understand the nature of discipleship and the processes of stabilisation and right direction, we must precede the Capricornian experience of initiation with a careful study of the spiritual implications of the sign Scorpio and of its function in providing “points of crisis” and “moments of reorientation,” as this will be of the utmost value to the earnest student. Even though I am endeavouring to lay the foundation for the new astrology and to provide some measure of technical information from the point of view of the Hierarchy, my underlying motive is ever the same: to indicate the way of living process and to stimulate that divine curiosity and that sense of outgoing spiritual adventure and eager aspiration for progress which is latent in all disciples and which, when stimulated, will enable them to proceed more serenely and sanely upon the [203] Path of Return. Otherwise the practical value of that which I seek to impart is of no real importance at all; I shall be understood and the new astrology will come into being according to the esoteric capacity of those who read and ponder my words. I am exceedingly anxious that in these days wherein the influence of Scorpio and of the planet Mars is so strongly felt in world affairs that true insight may be cultivated, optimism and understanding developed and the nature of the tests to which the world disciple, humanity, is today being subjected may be estimated at their true value and thus light be shed upon the way of man. Only through understanding will solution come and rectification of error be achieved.

  The tests of Scorpio are necessarily three in nature as they concern intimately the readiness of the threefold personality:

  1. To reorient itself to the life of the soul and later

  2. To evidence readiness for initiation.

  3. To demonstrate sensitivity to the Plan thus becoming the one-pointed disciple in Sagittarius.

  The three major tests are again divided into three stages, and upon the Path of Discipleship the man may find himself passing into this sign for testing and experience nine times. The fact of the three tests each existing in their three stages may convey a hint to esoteric astrologers as to the purpose of the three decanates into which each sign is divided—a point upon which I shall hope to touch when we come to our study of the Science of Triangles. Each test (and therefore each decanate) concerns the three aspects which in this Treatise on the Seven Rays we have called: life, quality and appearance. Thus the three great [204] tests in Scorpio are in reality nine tests and hence the nine-headed Hydra or Serpent which is ever associated with Scorpio and hence also the nature of the stupendous victory achieved by Hercules, the Sun-God, in this sign.

  It is interesting to note that each of the great Sons of God Whose names are pre-eminent in the minds of men—Hercul
es, the Buddha and the Christ—are associated in the archives of the Great White Lodge with three special signs of the zodiac (which in a peculiar manner constitute the “zodiacal decanate”) in each of which They passed from test to victory.

  In Scorpio—Hercules became the triumphant disciple.

  In Taurus—The Buddha achieved victory over desire and arrived at illumination.

  In Pisces—The Christ overcame death and became the world saviour.

  These three constellations, therefore, form a triangle of initiation of profound importance because it provides those conditions and that energy which will test and perfect the three aspects of the personality so that they are true reflections of the three divine aspects; they concern soul and body primarily and therefore their expression is through the Mutable Cross and the Fixed Cross but not the Cardinal Cross. We might add to the above the following:

  1. Scorpio carries the test right down into the physical plane life, and then, when it is faced and handled there, the life of the man is carried up into heaven, and the problem which the test involved is solved by the use of the reasoning mind.

  2. Taurus governs desire and carries the test into the emotional [205] or astral plane, and carries desire-sensitivity up from the form side of life into that world of sensitive perception which we call the intuitional plane.

  3. Pisces carries the test into the region of the mental processes, which is the reflection of the will aspect of divinity; the problem of the initiate in this sign is voiced by Christ in the words, “Father, not my will but Thine be done.” The tests carry the self-will of the personality up into the region of the divine will and the result is inspiration and the emergence of a world saviour.

  Ponder upon the above and learn the lessons of appetite, of desire and of self-will for they are many and useful.

  The three tests in Scorpio also concern the three aspects of the human being as they fuse and blend upon the physical plane. They are, first of all, the test of appetite. This appetite is the natural predilections and tendencies which are inherent in the animal nature and these are mainly three: Sex, physical comfort, and money, as concretised energy. They are, secondly, the tests connected with desire and the astral plane. These are subtler in nature, producing automatic effects upon the physical plane; they are not inherent in the animal nature but are imposed by the desire nature and are again three in number: Fear, hatred and ambition or desire for power. Then there are, thirdly, the tests of the lower critical mind which are: Pride, separativeness and cruelty. Remember that the worst kind of cruelty is not of a physical nature but is more mental in character. Therefore, you have in the category of that which must be tested and proved to be non-existent the following categories, which I am re-enumerating because of their basic importance: [206]

  (1) 1. Sex—the relation of the pairs of opposites. These can be selfishly utilised or divinely blended.

  2. Physical comfort—life conditions, selfishly appropriated.

  3. Money—selfishly cornered (if I may use such a phrase).

  (2) 1. Fear—which conditions activity today.

  2. Hate—which is a factor in conditioning relationships.

  3. Ambition—conditioning objectives.

  (3) 1. Pride—which is intellectual satisfaction, making the mind the barrier to soul control.

  2. Separativeness—which is the isolated attitude and which makes the mind the barrier to right group relations.

  3. Cruelty—which is satisfaction with personality methods and which makes the mind the instrument of the sense of power.

  When these faults are realised and are overcome, the result is twofold: the establishing of right relations with the soul and also with the environment. These two results are the goal of all tests in Scorpio.

  The keynotes of this sign are, therefore, test, trial and triumph. They can also be called struggle, strength and Sagittarian attitudes. Another angle of the experience in Scorpio can be covered by two words: re-capitulation and re-orientation. In Scorpio, two most occult factors emerge from the past and begin to engross the attention of the disciple. One is memory and the other is, as a consequence of the memory, the Dweller on the Threshold. Memory in the sense here involved is not simply just [207] a faculty of the mind, as is so oft supposed, but it is essentially a creative power. It is basically an aspect of thought and—coupled with imagination—is a creative agent because thoughts are things, as well you know. From ancient recesses of the memory, from a deeply rooted past which is definitely recalled, and from the racial and the individual subconscious (or founded and established thought reservoirs and desires, inherited and inherent) there emerges from individual past lives and experience that which is the sum total of all instinctual tendencies, of all inherited glamours and of all phases of wrong mental attitudes; to these (as they constitute a blended whole) we give the name of the Dweller on the Threshold. This Dweller is the sum total of all the personality characteristics which have remained unconquered and unsubdued and which must be finally overcome before initiation can be taken. Each life sees some progress made; some personality defects straightened out and some real advance effected. But the unconquered residue and the ancient liabilities are numerous and excessively potent and—when soul contact is adequately established—there eventuates a life wherein the highly developed and powerful personality becomes, in itself, the Dweller on the Threshold. Then the Angel of the Presence and the Dweller stand face to face and something must then be done. Eventually, the light of the personal self fades out and wanes in the blaze of glory which emanates from the Angel. Then the greater glory obliterates the lesser. This is, however, only possible when the personality eagerly enters into this relation with the Angel, recognises itself as the Dweller and—as a disciple—begins the battle between the pairs of opposites and enters into the tests of Scorpio. These tests and trials are ever self-initiated; the disciple puts himself into the positive or conditioning environment [208] wherein the trials and the discipline are unavoidable and inevitable. When the mind has reached a relatively high stage of development, the memory aspect is evoked in a new and conscious manner and then every latent pre-disposition, every racial and national instinct, every unconquered situation and every controlling fault rises to the surface of consciousness and then—the fight is on. The keynote of Scorpio is, however, Triumph. This is its major expression upon the physical plane. As a result of struggle and of victory, the whole divine man—not yet perfectly expressing himself, if I might word the situation thus—is anchored upon the physical plane with such accuracy and clarity that there is no escape from the environing conclusions of the disciple's family, friends and group that he is a disciple. From that angle he is meticulously watched; he learns the meaning of the word “example”; he is pilloried by those who are onlookers and the first conscious stages toward group awareness and group response, plus group service, are now taken. Such is the outcome and the reward of the experience in Scorpio.

  It is in this sign that the prodigal son comes to himself, and having eaten of the husks of life and having exhausted the resources of worldly desire and ambition—he says: “I will arise and go to my Father.” There are two such major crises in the life of the aspirant:

  1. When the intelligent man of the world comes to himself and then re-orients himself to the soul and its requirements. This leads to the tests in Scorpio.

  2. When the initiate of the third degree—upon a higher turn of the spiral—re-orients himself to the Monad and passes through most subtle tests to certain undefinable [209] and spiritual recognitions. Upon these we need not enlarge.

  There is little for me to add here in connection with the fact that Scorpio is upon one of the four arms of the Fixed Cross. In the study of previous signs, much anent the Fixed Cross has already been covered and there is no need for me to repeat the information here. Desire in Taurus becomes spiritual aspiration in Scorpio. The darkness of the experience in Scorpio becomes illumination in Taurus, for it must never be forgotten that w
here the pairs of opposites are concerned they gain and profit from each other, for there is a direct line of force and of contact between the two. This is a fact which is seldom recognised.

  We come now to a consideration of the Rulers which govern the sign, Scorpio. Their influence is potent in the lives of the average or undeveloped man who responds more easily to the planetary influences in the twelve houses of his personality horoscope than does the more advanced man who is coming under the direct influence of the zodiacal signs. Through these Rulers, two rays are brought into a potent controlling position in Scorpio; they are the sixth Ray of Devotion and the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict, the latter having a peculiar relation to the mode of human development and the former to the methods of the Piscean age which is just passing. Mars and Mercury control and Mars is particularly active, owing to the fact that Mars is both the orthodox planet controlling the personality in Scorpio and also the esoteric planet conditioning the unfoldment of the disciple. Mars is the dominating factor in the tests and trials of the disciple, prior to the experience in Sagittarius and the initiation in Capricorn, and this for the following reasons:

  [210] First, Mars is definitely the planet which rules and controls the physical vehicle. Mars appears first of all as the orthodox ruler in Aries, the sign in which the first move is made towards bringing about objective manifestation, or physical incarnation. In Scorpio, the result of all the struggles carried forward during the seemingly endless pilgrimage around the zodiac or wheel of life is brought to a point of climax, again through the activity of Mars which has not appeared actively in the intervening signs between Aries and Scorpio as far as the reversed wheel is concerned. The disciple has now to demonstrate the strength, character and quality which he has unfolded and developed within himself during his long pilgrimage. He started in Aries with Mars ruling, and the great war between the dualities which constitute the man began. The pairs of opposites were thus brought into relation with each other. In Scorpio, with the same planet ruling his interior life, the war is on and in this case Mars rules not only the physical body but the entire form vehicle, which we call the personality in the three worlds. All aspects of the lower nature are involved in this crisis, for Mars is the esoteric ruler in Scorpio and the tests applied involve the form nature—gross and subtle, integrated and potent. Mars, therefore, rules Aries from the orthodox angle and Scorpio esoterically, and does not again appear in the life of the individual except as that individual responds to mass vibration in Sagittarius, where Mars appears as ruling the sixth Creative Hierarchy, the lunar lords of the form nature who must eventually be sacrificed to the higher spiritual aspect and brought under the control of the solar Angel. The effect of Mars is, therefore, largely mass effect and group results, producing great struggles but leading finally to great revelation. In Aries, it is the final revelation of the nature of knowledge and the purpose of [211] incarnation; in Scorpio, it is the revelation of the vision of liberation and service; in Sagittarius, it is the revelation of the purpose of soul control over the lower kingdoms in nature, via the human centre of energy. It must consequently never be forgotten that Mars establishes relations between the opposites and is a beneficent and not a malefic factor, as is so often supposed. When we come to study the Hierarchies and their relation to the signs, certain points which are at present obscure will be clarified. This we shall do when dealing with our final point in this section upon astrology and the rays. We shall then find that Scorpio rules and governs the fourth Creative Hierarchy, the human from the angle of the soul and not from the angle of the lower nature. The final struggle in Scorpio only takes place when the point of balance between soul and body has been reached in Libra and it is in Scorpio that the preponderance of the spiritual energy is imposed upon the lower personal forces. Scorpio governs “the initiates,” which is the true esoteric name of man, and through its hierarchical planetary ruler, the Sons of Mind, the Messengers of Deity are revealed, but it is through Mars and the Martian activity that the revelation comes about.