Esoteric Astrology

by Alice A Bailey

  [571] The second stanza was given out later and was intended to be a test and a “decision point in a time of crisis.”

  Let the Lords of Liberation issue forth.

  Let Them bring succour to the sons of men.

  Let the Rider from the Secret Place come forth,

  And coming, save.

  Come forth, O Mighty One.

  Let the souls of men awaken to the Light,

  And may they stand with massed intent.

  Let the fiat of the Lord go forth:

  The end of woe has come!

  Come forth, O Mighty One.

  The hour of service of the saving force has now arrived.

  Let it be spread abroad, O Mighty One.

  Let Light and Love and Power and Death

  Fulfil the purpose of the Coming One.

  The WILL to save is here.

  The LOVE to carry forth the work is widely spread abroad.

  The ACTIVE AID of all who know the truth is also here.

  Come forth, O mighty One, and blend these three.

  Construct a great defending wall.

  The rule of evil NOW must end.

  It was offered, under this test, to the masses, but was intended primarily for the use of those aspirants and disciples who are not only mystics but who have made at least some small progress in their attempt to tread the occult way. They are mentally focussed in their attitude; the higher way is recognised by them; the vision has been seen and they are now ready for something closer and more real. The last stanza given is primarily, therefore, for the use of those who have mounted, or are in process of mounting, the Fixed Cross.

  It is for this reason that the use of the second part of [572] the Great Invocation was relatively limited. It was repudiated (almost violently sometimes) by the emotional type of person who could see no further than the beauty of peace—the goal of expression upon the astral plane. Their vision of the greater whole and of the evocation of the will-to-good (which is not the will-to-peace) was exceedingly limited and this through no fault of their own. It simply indicated their place upon the ladder of evolution and marked a relatively useful point of service, but one which is in process of being transcended. The people in the world today are coming to realise (through suffering and its consequent reflection) that there is something greater than peace and that is the good of the whole, and not just individual, peaceful conditions or national peace. This re-orientation of the human consciousness is brought about by the determined attitude of the souls of men, massed and blended, organised and focussed by the vision of the general welfare of humanity.

  It was, however, essential that these distinctions in attitude should appear in their clarity and, therefore, we gave out the two stanzas of the Great Invocation separately and at different times. You learnt thereby the difference of attitude between the mass of well-meaning people in the world, and the correctly oriented attitudes of the intelligent aspirants and disciples. This was necessary before wider action could later take place. I would pause here and remind you that both groups are necessary: the first group—emotional and idealistic—have a part to play in focussing the mass fluid aspiration. Their responsibility is to the general public. The other group of trained thinkers and people who are animated primarily by the will-to-good (which is of more importance in this world cycle than the will-to-peace) have a function to carry out in evoking hierarchical response in [573] reply to the aspiration of the first group. They focus this aspiration on the mental plane, create a thoughtform embodying the objective and project the “call” which may reach the ears of the Lords of Liberation.

  The blended invocation and the united call from the different levels of the human consciousness will bring a mighty appeal to bear upon the hidden Centres of the “Saving Force.” It is this united appeal which you must now organise. Thus the mass of humanity will be stimulated to move off the Mutable Cross on to the Fixed Cross and the new world cycle, beginning in Aquarius (one arm of the Fixed Cross) will be definitely inaugurated by humanity itself.

  It might be said, therefore, that the Great Invocation as first given out was for the use of those who are crucified upon the Mutable Cross, the Cross of change, whilst the second invocation is for the use of those who are crucified upon the Fixed Cross, the Cross of right orientation. It is for the use of those men and women whose aim is the will-to-good, who think in terms of world service and who are oriented towards light—the light of knowledge, the light of wisdom and understanding and the light of life itself.

  Upon the Fixed Cross, the united influence of its four streams of energy, when expressing themselves fully through an individual disciple and through the Hierarchy, produces likewise three emerging conditions:

  1. There is a vast experience of group life, group activity and group awareness. The self-conscious man in Leo becomes the group conscious man in Aquarius.

  2. There arises in the consciousness of the disciple a vision of the “endless Way of which Nirvana is but the beginning.” [574]

  3. He recognises his task of mediatorship which is the major task of the Hierarchy, mediating between Shamballa and Humanity. He knows that he must carry forward the dual task of invocation and evocation simultaneously—the evocation (through right invocation) of the will-to-good of the world thinkers and aspirants, and also the will-to-save of the Shamballa Lords, via the Hierarchy, which he is in a position directly to approach. I touch here on grave mysteries.

  There awakens in him, therefore, a vague determination at first which gives place in time to an evocation of the will in himself. This eventually puts him en rapport with the will aspect of Deity as it emanates and is stepped down from Shamballa, via the Hierarchy, into which spiritual organisation he is being gradually integrated through experience upon the Fixed Cross. It might here be pointed out that:

  a. Experience upon the Mutable Cross integrates a man into the centre which we call Humanity.

  b. Experience upon the Fixed Cross integrates the disciple into the second planetary Centre which we call the Hierarchy.

  c. Experience upon the Cardinal Cross integrates the initiate into the primary planetary Centre to which we give the name Shamballa.

  He eventually becomes a radiating centre of spiritual will, affecting humanity and evoking its will-to-good; he blends this into the Hierarchy as far as he can, fusing this human will into hierarchical activity in an effort to evoke response from Shamballa. [575]

  3. The Cross of the Risen Christ.

  More upon this subject I may not give to you, nor will it profit for me to enlarge upon the conditions which emerge in the consciousness of the initiate upon the Cardinal Cross. My words would be meaningless. Most of you are in the transition state wherein you are stabilising your individual will, and are attempting increasingly to express it in the will-to-good. I would have you deeply realise that if the will-to-peace is conditioning you, then you are still working on emotional levels and your work will then have to be with the first stanza of the Great Invocation and with its distribution to the masses. If it is the will-to-good which influences and directs you, then to the awakening of mass aspiration you must add the task of evoking the response to world need in the thinkers and aspirants through the medium of the second stanza, blending the two approaches in an effort to evoke—via the Hierarchy—the will-to-save of Shamballa.

  CHAPTER VII - The Rays, Constellations and Planets

  (As per Tabulation X)

  [579] We come now to our last discussion upon the zodiac and its relation to the seven rays. We have been occupied with the signs and their effects, and with the new and deeply esoteric astrology which will gradually supersede the present mundane astrology. By the end of this century, it will have won its rightful place in human thought. One thing you must constantly bear in mind. Now that the war is over, and that time of acute trial and tribulation has come to an end, a great spiritual awakening (of a quality and a nature quite unpredictable today) will arrive. The war will have taught humanity
many lessons and have torn the veil of self away from many eyes. Values which have been hitherto expressed and understood only by those whose “eyes are on God” will be the goal and the desire of untold thousands; true understanding between men and between nations will be a longed for objective. What humanity determines to have, it ever succeeds in achieving. This is an occult law, for desire is as yet the strongest force in the world; organised, unified desire was the basic reason for the appalling early successes of the Axis. The only factor which can successfully oppose desire is Will, using the word in its spiritual connotation and as an expression of the first great divine aspect. There was little of that organised, spiritual will shown by the [580] allies; they were animated naturally by desire for victory, desire for the arrival of the end of this all-engulfing world cataclysm, by desire for peace and the return of stability, the desire to end war once and for all and to break its constantly recurring cycle, and a steadily mounting desire to bring to a finish the terrible toll of suffering, of cruelty, of death, of starvation and of fear which is gripping humanity by the throat in the attempt to strangle out its life.

  1. The Nature of the Will––Underlying Cosmic Purpose.

  But all this determination is in most cases simply the expression of a fixed and united desire. It is not the organised use of the will. The secret of the will lies in the recognition of the divine nature of man. Only this can evoke the true expression of the will. It has in fact to be evoked by the soul, as it dominates the human mind and controls the personality. The secret of the will is also closely tied in with the recognition of the unconquerable nature of goodness and the inevitability of the ultimate triumph of good. This is not determination; it is not whipping up and stimulating desire so that it can be transmuted into will; it is not an implacable, unshakable, immovable focussing of all energies in the need to triumph (the enemies of the Forces of Light are adept at that). Victory for the allies did lie in the effort to produce this focussing with better effect than the enemy. The use of the will is not expressed by an iron fixation to stand steady and not yield to evil forces. Determination, the focussing of energy and the demonstration of an all-out effort towards victory were only (where the allies are concerned) the expression of a one-pointed desire for peace and for an ending of [581] the trouble. This type of effort is something which the masses can give and which they did give on both sides in this conflict.

  There is, however, a plus, a something else, which swung the tide of victory on to the side of the Allies. It came through an unrealized effort to understand and express the quality of spiritual Will; it was the manifestation of that divine energy which made the first divine aspect of will or power what it is; it is that which is the distinctive feature of the Shamballa force; it is that peculiar and distinctive quality of divinity which is so different that even Christ Himself was unable to express it with facility and understanding. Hence we have the episode in Gethsemane. It is not easy for me to express its significance in words. Two thousand years have gone since Gethsemane and since Christ made His initial contact with the Shamballa force and by this means, and on behalf of humanity, established a relationship which even at the close of twenty centuries is but a thin frail line of connecting energy.

  This Shamballa force is nevertheless available for right usage but the power to express it lies in its understanding (as far as may be possible at this midway point in human evolution) and its group use. It is a unifying, synthetic force, but can be used as a regimenting, standardising force. May I repeat those two key words to the use of the Shamballa energy: Group Use and Understanding.

  Mankind has had much difficulty in comprehending the significance of Love. If that is so, their problem in relation to the Will will naturally be still more difficult. For the vast majority of men, true love is still only a theory. Love (as we usually interpret it) works out as kindness but it is kindness to the form side of life, to the personalities of those around us, and fulfils itself usually in a desire to carry [582] out our obligations and not to obstruct in any way those activities and relationships which tend to the well-being of our fellowmen. It expresses itself in a desire to end abuses and to bring about happier, material, world conditions; it shows itself in mother love, in love among friends, but seldom as yet as love among groups and nations. It is the theme of the Christian teaching, just as Will, divinely expressed, will be the theme of the coming world religion and has been the impulse lying behind much of the good work done in the fields of philanthropy and human welfare, but, factually, love has never yet been expressed—except by the Christ.

  You might ask, why, if this is so, do you emphasise this highest divine aspect? Why not wait until we know more about love and how to manifest it in our environment? Because, in its true expression, the Will today is needed as a propelling, expulsive force, and also as a clarifying, purifying agent.

  The first recorded utterance of the Christ was spoken to His mother (the symbol of the substance aspect of divinity) when He said: “Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” That business, related by Him to the first divine aspect, the Monad or Father aspect, was the fulfilment of purpose and the carrying out of the intention, the will and the purpose of God. His second utterance came at the time of the Baptism in Jordan when He said to John, the Baptist: “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Here, in this second initiation—which symbolises the conquest of desire—He passes on into the realm of fulfilment, of the completion of planned righteous activity. For His Own personal desire (necessarily of the very highest order on account of His high point in evolution) He substitutes the divine Will. Again at [583] the close of His life, in the Gethsemane experience, He cries out: “Father, not my will but Thine be done.” Even then and even for Him, the achievement of the full expression of will seemed well-nigh impossible; He was conscious still of the inherent dualism of His position and of the contrast between His will and God’s will. In these three utterances, He demonstrates His recognition of the three emerging aspects of the Shamballa life, quality and energy:

  1. The Will which conditions the life aspect.

  2. The Will which brings fulfilment of right human relations.

  3. The Will which finally conquers death.

  These three aspects are all related to the three divine expressions of spirit, soul and body, of life, consciousness and form, of life, quality and appearance. This phase of Christ’s life expression has never been properly studied, yet even a little grasp and understanding of it would aid humanity to drive evil (individual, group and planetary) back to the place from whence it came and would aid in the release of humanity from the terror which is today stalking abroad, defying God and man.

  The Shamballa energy is, therefore, that which is related to the livingness (through consciousness and form) of humanity; we need not consider its relation to the rest of the manifested world; it concerns the establishing of right human relations and is that condition of being which eventually negates the power of death. It is, therefore, incentive and not impulse; it is realised purpose and not the expression of desire. Desire works from and through the material form upwards; Will works downwards into form, bending form consciously to divine purpose. The one [584] is invocative and the other is evocative. Desire, when massed and focussed, can invoke will; will, when evoked, ends desire and becomes an immanent, propulsive, driving force, stabilising, clarifying, and—among other things—finally destroying. It is much more than this, but this is all that man can grasp at this time and all for which he has, as yet, the mechanism of comprehension. It is this will—aroused by invocation—which must be focussed in the light of the soul, and dedicated to the purposes of light and for the purpose of establishing right human relations which must be used (in love) to destroy all that is hindering the free flow of human life and that is bringing death (spiritual and real) to humanity. This Will must be invoked and evoked.

  I am not referring here to the use of either of the two Great Inv
ocations or to the third which has lately been given. I refer to the focussed consciousness of the men and women of goodwill, whose lives are conditioned by the will to carry forward the purposes of God in love, who seek selflessly to understand those purposes, and who are fearless of death.

  There are two great handicaps to the free expression of the Shamballa force in its true nature. One is the sensitivity of the lower nature to its impact and its consequent prostitution to selfish ends, as in the case of the sensitive, negative German people and its use by the Axis nations for material objectives. The second is the blocking, hindering, muddled but massed opposition of the well-meaning people of the world who talk vaguely and beautifully about love, but refuse to consider the techniques of the will of God in operation. According to them, that will is something with which they personally have naught to do; they refuse to recognise that God works out His will through men, just [585] as He is ever seeking to express His love through men; they will not believe that that will could possibly express itself through the destruction of evil with all the material consequences of that evil. They cannot believe that a God of Love could possibly employ the first divine aspect to destroy the forms which are obstructing the free play of the divine spirit; that will must not infringe upon their interpretation of love. Such people are individually of small moment and of no importance but their massed negativity was a real detriment to the ending of this war, just as the massed negativity of the German people and their inability to take right action when Hitler’s purposes were disclosed made possible the great inflow of ancient and focussed evil which has brought the present catastrophe to man. Such people are like a millstone around the neck of humanity, crippling true effort, murmuring “Let us love God and each other,” but doing nothing but murmuring prayers and platitudes whilst humanity is dying.