Esoteric Astrology

by Alice A Bailey

  [360] The influence of Mercury, as it relates Aries and Gemini to our Earth, establishes in time and space a unique situation, for it incites to trial efforts or initiates a series of beginnings in order to relate opposing forces and produce certain planned and definite effects upon our planet, thus influencing the kingdoms in nature or an individual soul-in-form. A conflict is thus initiated which leads finally to balance.

  This leads to an intermediate consummation in Libra.

  The influence of Mercury as it relates Virgo and Gemini is to condition the soul within the form and subject it to those influences which will lead to the intensification of the ordinary evolutionary process and the consequent waxing of the soul light and the waning of the light in matter itself. This initiates the struggle which, in a human being, is consciously realised as being between soul and personality.

  This leads to a final stage in Capricorn.

  The influence of Mercury as it relates Scorpio and Gemini is to inaugurate that final stage in consciousness which will place the soul within the form surely in the place of power, swinging the earlier achieved balance and control definitely into the realm of the soul. It is this which, in the Scorpio experience, produces the terrific experience of the disciple and which, at this time, is one of the predisposing causes of the present world conflict. It is of interest to note that the struggle is going to be conditioned primarily by decisions arrived at in London (which is ruled by Gemini) and in the United States (which is also governed by Gemini). Humanity is now upon the Path of Discipleship as I have frequently told you and Scorpio rules that path; Gemini governs the way of many changes which conditions the struggle which began in Aries, focussed in Cancer, is brought to [361] a crisis in Scorpio and ended in Capricorn. When Gemini, Scorpio and Mercury are correctly related we shall see the United States moving also on to the Path of Discipleship through a release from its present self-centred policy, its well-meaning evasion of responsibility and its innate fears and distrust. When the focus of the power in London is also rightly oriented and is released into increased effectiveness by drastic purification of motive, then the united effect of both these clarifications will be human liberation. These facts are being slowly realised in London, ahead of the realisation which is more slowly awakening in the States.

  These potencies, when effective, lead to true service in Aquarius.

  All this activity is intensified by two facts: one is that the Earth is the hierarchical ruler of Gemini and the other that Venus is the esoteric ruler. This intensifies all that goes on and leads to the unfoldment upon our planet of the consciousness of universality—to which the word “Hierarchy” is the key. Venus is also the Earth's alter ego, as it is called in the occult literature, and its true supplementary and complementary planet. You have thus established a double dual relationship: that of Gemini itself, the two brothers, and that of the Earth and Venus. The Earth is peculiarly related to the “brother whose light is waning,” for it is not a sacred planet, as you know, and to that aspect of divinity which is material or substantial; Venus is closely related to the “brother whose light grows stronger cycle by cycle” and thus to the soul whose nature is love. It is this Gemini-Venus situation which lies behind the fact that our Earth is uniquely the “planet of releasing sorrow and of purifying pain,” the energy producing these releasing factors being focussed through Mercury and Venus upon our Earth. You will see, therefore, the significance of that triangle of planets [362] (at which I hinted in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire): the Earth-Venus-Mercury. From certain angles, these are related to the Personality of our planetary Logos:

  1. The Earth—planetary vital body.

  2. Venus—planetary astral vehicle, or Kama-manas.

  3. Mercury—planetary mind.

  The Earth itself is, on a small scale, also an intermediary or a relating planet, because it is found ruling both Gemini and Sagittarius and is potent, therefore, only within the line of this dual relationship, existing between this particular pair of opposites. In the Earth a great balancing process is going forward between two great streams of cosmic energy, emanating the one from Sagittarius and the other from Gemini. This condition, aided and influenced by Mercury and Venus, produces the somewhat unusual situation in our planet.

  Venus also establishes an interplay between Taurus, Gemini, Libra and Capricorn, which again (because the Earth is one of the rulers of Gemini) produces the “desperate conflict of the imprisoned soul upon the astral plane” which characterises our planetary life. These four-fold influences and relationships produce the minor initiations of the astral plane which ever precede the major initiations in Capricorn, in their turn prepared for in Scorpio. Taurus pours the energy stimulating desire, via Venus, onto our Earth; Gemini, via Venus, awakens in humanity (the focal point of our planetary effort) the sense of duality which is the basic factor in the conflict between desire and spiritual will; in Libra this reaches a point of balance wherein the one who struggles sees the issues clearly and achieves a desirable point of equilibrium through the wise use of the Mercury-Venus mind, ensuring the success of its final efforts in Capricorn. [363] You will note, therefore, how necessary it is to realise accurately the point in evolution of the soul.

  The three planets ruling and conditioning Gemini (through out-drawn activity, though not through their own influence) are in this third sign effective in constituting this dual sign a working triplicity; it is the aid they give to our Earth which produces the appearance in form of the dual energies of soul and the subjective psychic personality. Ponder on this. It is the energies of the fifth, fourth and third rays, pouring through Venus, Mercury and the Earth, which are productive of the eternally recurring, divine triplicity and its work of releasing the soul from the influence of form.

  We have here considered the rays which directly affect our planet, the Earth, which are focussed through the three ruling planets and which emanate from certain of the constellations. In the last analysis, the planet is the result or the effect (should I say, resultant effect) of the ray influence, just as in the human being the physical body is the effect of the governing rays. Through the planets certain potencies manifest. These are three in number, and I might here point out that the sacred planets—so-called—are those ray potencies which are expressive of soul and spirit, with the personality ray of the great informing Life, the planetary Logos, subordinated to the two higher rays, such as is the case with the man after the third initiation. A non-sacred planet, such as the Earth, is still subject to the ray of the personality of the informing Life, and the correspondence to the esoteric monadic ray is non-effective.

  Indirectly, Gemini is ruled by the rays transmitting those potencies which, with Gemini, constitute the Mutable Cross. These are the Moon, Jupiter, Mars and Pluto. They transmit energies expressive of the fourth, second, sixth and first [364] rays. Only one ray is, therefore, lacking where Gemini is concerned, and that is the seventh Ray of Organization, Ceremonial Magic and Ritual. This accounts for the instability and the fluidity of the Gemini influence, and is largely responsible for the frequent failure of the Gemini person to express the beauty, ideals, etc., which are sensed so that they materialise upon the physical plane. The seventh ray produces fixation upon the exoteric level of experience and “anchors” (if I may use such a term) the ray forces into form, producing concrete expression of the subjective realities or powers. Six forces meet in Gemini and, for this reason, the double triangle or King Solomon's seal is one of the subjective symbols of this sign, linking it again with the Masonic tradition and indicating also again the essential dualism of this sign.

  All the inner potencies are, therefore, present and only the stabilising seventh ray energy is omitted from the dowry of the man born in Gemini. Thus we can easily account for the versatility of the Gemini subject. The effectiveness of Mercury is also enhanced in its interpretive aspect because the Gemini person can always find points of contact with people on nearly every ray. This is an interesting point to remember if yo
u will realise that the great Masonic ritual was inaugurated under the influence of this sign, and yet—the ray of ritual was omitted. This is due to the fact of reaction, producing opposition and therefore interplay and struggle. Hence the tests and trials of the Masonic procedure.

  The indirect influence of the Moon as it symbolically embodies the fourth Ray of Harmony through Conflict provides Mercury with the dual tendency to struggle, which is characteristic of this sign, and also the dual tendency to harmony which is the inevitable result of all spiritual conflict. [365] In connection with the duality of conflict, you should bear in mind that there is a conflict of the evolutionary process, leading finally to the conflict upon the Path. These are the two aspects of struggle: unconscious and under the direction of the form; and conscious, or under the direction of the soul. There is also the harmonising of the personality and the achieving of personality integration; this is a consequence or goal of the first conflict, and then there is the attaining of harmony between soul and form; this is arrived at by the struggle upon the final stages of the Path.

  Thus again the essential dualism of this sign becomes apparent. When the Jupiter influence becomes strong and powerful in this sign, it indicates the initiate and the rapidly attained “dualism in synthesis” of soul and spirit. Through the activity of Mercury, the man whose Sun is in Gemini is aided to attain the synthesis of soul and form; through the activity of Jupiter, the man whose rising sign is Gemini is enabled to attain the conscious integration of soul and spirit. Note these two points for they are of real significance. The conflict which produces these stages in consciousness is fostered by the indirect influence of the planet Mars. Mars carries the war into the very depth of circumstance, environment and being, and confers at the same time such devotion to the visioned objective—as seen at any particular point upon the path—that final failure is rendered impossible. Towards the end of the evolutionary process, the disciple begins to respond consciously to the fourth indirect influence—that of Pluto, producing the death of the hindering factors and of all that prevents synthesis. Pluto, as it affects Gemini, brings about the death or the finish of the separative, instinctual nature, for this is the factor which lies behind all dualism; it is inherent in what The Secret Doctrine calls the principle of ahankara or the awareness of the [366] separative, isolated ego; it is inimical for aeons to the aspiration of the imprisoned soul, focussed within or identified with some aspect of the personality, and, in a later stage, with the personality itself.

  In this analysis of the various signs I have not given much time to the consideration of the effect of the zodiacal signs upon the physical body. This is a science in itself and is closely tied up with the entire theory of spiritual healing. I would like, however, to touch upon the relation of Gemini to the physical form, for it is so truly symbolic of the processes of divine unfoldment and therefore most timely.

  Gemini rules the arms and the hands, indicating the service which the two brothers must render to each other in producing the dissolution (under Pluto) of the separative relation which exists for so long between them. It is the health unto life that is here to be considered, and for this reason Gemini governs also the oxygenation of the blood, leading as a result to life activity and to the free interplay and circulation of the spirit-soul aspect throughout all the complex organisms within the corporate form. Where there is the free flow of the life force and no impediment to the circulation of the life fluid, via the blood, there will consequently and normally be the presence of perfect health. It is the understanding of this law which produces in the initiate the condition of controlled health and chosen immortality which is the stated objective of many schools of mental healing. These are as you know (without exception), so purely mystical and unscientific that their achievements are practically nil. They uphold the ideal but fail of the consummation.

  Gemini also governs the nervous system and the fluid reactions of the entire nervous organism. Hence you have, in this sign and its activity, the tendency to the eventual control [367] of the two aspects of the soul to which I have made such constant reference in my books: the life aspect seated in the heart and using the blood stream as its mode of interplay and of life-giving expression, and the consciousness aspect, seated in the head and using the nervous system as its mode or condition or process of expression. To these must be added both the direct and the indirect effect of the rays which rule the sign. It is through the understanding of life and consciousness, as governed by Gemini, that the final release can be mentally achieved. Ponder upon this statement, for in Gemini, the disciple can come to some intelligent grasp of what we might call the consciousness-mechanism and of the life processes which enable man finally to be what he is. Gemini also rules the thymus gland which is inactive at present in the adult person, owing to the fact that the heart centre is unawakened in the majority. It will, however, become active when “the immortal brother floods the mortal brother with the light and life of God.” Then the heart centre, with its correlating activity of consciousness (group understanding and group love) will function freely. The mystery of the sign is in reality concerned with the secret of the response which should and eventually will exist between the two brothers, between the two poles—soul and form—and between the mortal self or personality and the immortal self or soul. Sensitivity and quick reaction are characteristic of people born with the Sun in this sign or with Gemini rising. This leads in the earlier stages and with the undeveloped person to a fluid versatility; in the later and more advanced stages it leads to an equally fluid but analytical understanding of men and of circumstances. This is brought about through the constant activity, the ceaseless movement and the unending changing conditions which are inherent in the sign itself; these “pulsate between [368] the two aspects” of this dual sign, and are enhanced by the fact that Gemini is the most important aspect of the Mutable Cross, setting or determining the changes and their rate of progression.

  In the polar opposite of this sign, Sagittarius, the interplay between the two brothers or between the lower and the higher selves, is focussed or conditioned into one united and directed effort. The versatile changeable man becomes the self-directed disciple, one-pointed in effort, yet preserving all the versatility earlier developed but controlling and governing the tendency to fluidity, to lost motion and to misdirected change. I dealt with much of this when we were studying the sign Sagittarius, and it is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat it here.

  It is of great interest to the initiate or to the advanced disciple to realise that in this sign no planet either falls or is exalted. The clue to this mystery lies hid in the fact that, in the intermediate stage between Gemini and Sagittarius, equilibrium, balance, fusion and blending are the objectives of the struggling and almost blinded conscious entity. He must achieve harmony with a consequent avoidance of all extremes. The seven signs—inclusive of Gemini and Sagittarius—are of extreme importance where humanity is concerned:

  Gemini.— Subjective in nature. Vital. Is not focussed upon the physical plane. Is focussed upon the mortal brother.

  Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio — Are strictly human signs with their recognition of duality, emphasised in the central sign Virgo.

  Sagittarius.— Subjective in nature. Vital. Is not focussed in consciousness upon the physical plane. Is focussed upon the immortal brother.

  [369] In Sagittarius the same condition is found. No planet is exalted and no planet falls. Mercury is, however, in detriment or its influence is lessened. In Gemini, the above is true of Jupiter. Why this is so, is, esoterically speaking, one of the secrets of initiation. The clue to the mystery lies in the basic, spiritual dualism of Jupiter in contradistinction to the body-soul dualism of Gemini; in Sagittarius, the dualism of Mercury as it expresses itself in the lower-higher mind is transcended by the universal or spiritual mind. More than this hint is not at this time possible.

  In connection with the decanates and their rulers, it is interesting to find that Sepharial and
Alan Leo give entirely different ruling planets, and yet both are right. Uniquely for him, Sepharial gives the three planets of Jupiter, Mars and the Sun, and thus indicates those which are the esoteric rulers of the sign upon the wheel of discipleship. Usually his choice is exoteric and not esoteric. Leo, in this case, gives Mercury, Venus and Saturn, and these three govern the wheel of ordinary life. Between them, they cover the wheel as it turns in both directions. You will note how two out of the governing planets of the decanates in the case of the ordinary wheel serve to enhance the planetary rulers of the sign, Gemini with Saturn offering at a certain fairly advanced stage the opposition needed to bring about a basic revolution. Note this phrasing. The entire question of the revolving wheel with its dual action and its dual effect upon consciousness (and therefore the whole problem of the three decans and their rulers in each sign of the zodiac) must remain a difficult and abstruse problem until [370] such time as astrologers have developed a four-dimensional consciousness and know the true meaning of the Biblical phrase: the “wheel turning upon itself.” In reality, the wheel does not turn like a wheel in a car either forward or the reverse. It turns every way and both ways simultaneously. This fact is, as yet, an impossible one for the human consciousness to grasp. The complexity involved in the progress through the decans—conditioning also the rulers—is to be found to be based upon this multiple action of the wheel. The wheel, therefore, moves not only clockwise, but both ways at once and also at right angles to itself.

  The obviousness of the meaning of the two Words for this sign requires from me no elucidation. For the ordinary man the Word goes forth “Let instability do its work” but for the disciple the Word is uttered by the soul itself: “I recognise my other self and in the waning of that self, I grow and glow.”