THE
NATURE OF ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY
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 [Page 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 [Page 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—Hercules, 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 [Page 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: [Page 206]
| 1. Sex—the relation of the pairs
of opposites. These can be selfishly utilised or divinely blended.
(1) | 2. Physical comfort—life conditions,
selfishly appropriated.
| 3. Money—selfishly cornered (if I
may use such a phrase).
| 1. Fear—which conditions activity today.
(2) | 2. Hate—which is a factor in
conditioning relationships.
| 3. Ambition—conditioning objectives.
| 1. Pride—which is intellectual satisfaction, making the mind the barrier to soul control.
(3) | 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 [Page 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 [Page 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 [Page 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 where 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.
(ALICE
A. BAILEY, ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY, pp. 202-209)
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