And
souls only understand souls."
Undoubtedly
one of the greatest achievements of astrological technique is the power
one acquires, through mastering it, to see in a birth-chart the blueprint
of a total personality. We have already seen how one can isolate and
interpret the individual and collective factors which constitute, as it
were, the warp and woof of personality. But the pattern of the tapestry is
to be apprehended only by studying those astrological entities which are
foci of color, foci of activity, foci of significance. These entities,
considered in their infinite correlations and not as isolated dots, make
all together the design of the life-tapestry. They reveal the personality
as a pattern of multifarious behavior, symbolizing from the most matter of
fact to the most exalted or transcendental modes of physio-psychological
activity.
These
astrological entities come under two general categories. First, the
planets themselves, including Sun and Moon; second, abstract points
derived from the relationships between either the orbits of the planets
(nodes) or the positions of said planets in reference to horizon and
meridian (parts). This chapter will be devoted to a brief analysis of the
basic significance of planets in terms of personality-analysis; the next,
to a study of the nodes and of the most important among the parts.
We
shall, however, once more have to divide our field of study, and to
classify the planets in at least two essential manners. The first type of
classification deals with the motivating power and the source of the
activities symbolized by the planets. We shall distinguish between planets referring to the conscious and planets referring to the
unconscious — using the terms "conscious" and
"unconscious" as used by C. G. Jung, and as defined in a
previous chapter (Cf. p. 85, Astrology and Analytical
Psychology). Outside of these two categories we shall place
the Sun as the symbol of the integrating energies of the Self, which is
described by Jung as the "center of the totality of the psyche." The
psyche includes both unconscious and conscious contents. To integrate
these contents — that is,
consciously to assimilate the contents of the unconscious
— is the essence of the process of
individuation, of which the Sun is the active symbol.
The
Sun as Integrator
Astrology, being a system of symbolic interpretation of significant
astronomical facts, must obviously differentiate strongly between the Sun
— a life
— and light-giving star
which is the center of the astronomical system to which we belong
— and planets which are merely reflectors or transmitters
of light, and of which the Earth itself is one. If we refer to the ego as
"a complex of representations which constitutes the center of my
field of consciousness and appears to possess a very high degree of
continuity and identity:" it is clear that the astrological symbol
thereof is the Earth itself as seen from the birth-place of the
native. The continuous field of consciousness of any man
is what is contained within the boundaries of his horizon, and by
implications what, though below the horizon, will emerge into the field
of his consciousness.
In
other words, the quadrature of the astrological chart (horizon and
meridian — and especially
Ascendant and Mid-Heaven) represents the form of the field of
consciousness. The ego may be considered as the birth-point itself, the
center of the chart — or, in an even more
accurate symbolization, the apex of the pyramid built on the four angles
of the chart. The ego is not the integrator because it is only an
abstract point. Neither are Ascendant nor Mid-Heaven integrating factors,
for they too have only structural implications. They determine the form which will have to be taken by the process
of integration. They do not symbolize the quality of
energy by the release of which this process will, or may,
ultimately be completed.
Building
the field of consciousness as a clearly formed structure
centered accurately in the ego is like building a perfect
eye with the power of precise focalization through the lens and the eye's
muscles, so that the image reflected upon the retina falls exactly on the
"yellow spot" of the retina which alone is endowed with full
sensitiveness to light. It is what the great eye specialist and
philosopher, Dr. Bates, called "central fixation"; and this
operation requires muscular practice and visualizing or imaging
practice, including relaxation.
In
a psychological sense, "central fixation" refers to the use of
the intellect — the mechanism of conscious focalization — according to
the laws of logic and formal thinking. Much, if not all, of classical
and post-classical Greek philosophy (especially since Aristotle) and all
Western science (especially since the Renaissance) and modern scientific
philosophy (for instance, Bertrand Russell) constituted and still
constitute a vast collective training in mental "central
fixation." In the psychic-spiritual realm certain types of esoteric
practices, some derived from the Buddhistic world-viewpoint in the East,
others from the Pythagorean philosophy, aimed at a similar "central
fixation" of the soul-energies within a formed structure of "I
Am-ness." As already said, it was around the sixth century B.C. that
this problem of mental focalization began to dominate the outlook of the
elite of mankind. This process of "central fixation" in the
field of the conscious has been going on throughout the European cycle
(especially since Abelard), and has produced the Western man, with what
Jung called so graphically his "cramp of the conscious."
Just
as Dr. W. H. Bates asked his patients to relax their eyes by imagining a
perfectly black spot, so Dr. Jung asks his to relax their conscious
intellectualism by "letting things happen" and by practices of
psychic relaxation, such as the use of spontaneous creative "phantasy."
If
thus the chart-axes represent the structure of the field of consciousness
— the structure of the
"eye," symbolically —
the Sun stands for the 'light" releasing the energy (the photons) by means
of which vision is made possible. In a real sense the eye as an organ of
vision is molded structurally by the nature of the light. Likewise the ego
— the conscious "I" — is molded by the
power emanating from the Self. Fittingly therefore, it is said that the
Ascendant and the other "angles" of the chart distribute the power of the Sun, as we shall see
in the next chapter. The Sun is the life-energy. The chart's axes are
channels for the distribution and "transformation" of this
solar energy within the field of consciousness.
The
Sun, however, should not be considered as the symbol of the Self. It
represents the power of the Self; but the Self
itself is not only power. It is power in relation to form. It is power
operating through a form and regenerating substance. In other words, the
Self, if its nature can at all be ascertained astrologically, is the
relation between the Sun and the axes, horizon and meridian.
More
accurately still, it is the relation between the significance of the
zodiacal positions occupied by the Sun and the four angles — significance in terms of zodiacal signs (or sign subdivisions), of
degree, and of angular relationship between these positions. The latter
refer to the aspects between Sun, Ascendant and Midheaven; but even more
so to the house-position of the Sun.
This house-position of the Sun denotes the phase of individual selfhood
and the period of the life in and through which the integrative power of
the Self will be the most strongly operating. By referring to our previous
tabulation of the meanings of houses, and to the schedule of the 28-year
cycle, these two elements of personality and destiny can be easily
ascertained — provided of course the exact birth-moment is known. The
zodiacal position of the Sun (and its degree position) will show the
quality of this integrative power in itself.
Take
for instance Einstein's chart. The Sun is in the twenty-fourth degree of
Pisces in the tenth house. Therefore the quality of the integrative power
of his Self will be: synthesis, consummation, meditation and
introspection. But the Sun being in the tenth house of public activity,
profession, and of thinking (as a function of the individual selfhood),
this power will operate through these tenth-house characteristics. The
Sun's position also indicates that an intensification of the significant
power of his destiny occurred when Einstein was in his twenty-second year,
i.e., in 1901. Then he became inspector of patents in Berne,
Switzerland; and it is probably about that time, a little after Planck's
papers on the quantum theory were published, that at least the rudiments
of the theory of relativity were developed. It was brought to the
attention of the scientific world in 1905
— when Einstein's "point of self"
came in conjunction with Pluto. Moreover the Sun's degree, which, as we
already said, "gives a clue to the inherent creative significance of
all activities and all focalizations," carries this most fitting
symbol: "A small island in the midst of the ocean; its happy
inhabitants have created a world of their own." What could be more
significant in the chart of the man who even wrote of "island
universes" and did create new cosmic vistas!
As
another illustration we can give Queen Victoria's chart, which symbolizes
not only a personality, but, by implication at least, also the era which
carries her name. The Sun had just risen at birth and it was about an hour
after the new moon in Gemini. Here we have a personality of rare
intellectual gifts (Gemini), an era which had all the rigidity and narrow
viewpoints of overemphasized intellectualism; which, moreover, saw the
amazing growth of means of transportation and of travel — and of nervous
disturbances. The twelfth-house meaning is shown in the fact that after
her husband's death Queen Victoria lived in practical seclusion for most
of her long life, and that she acted best when behind the scenes and
through some great Prime Minister, as for instance Disraeli. The symbol of
the Sun's degree gives the meaning of aristocracy and efficient strength
of individuality. We may say that the whole Victorian era is a typical
twelfth-house manifestation — a summing up, a period of karmic
precipitation, the tail-end of a cycle prior to a strikingly new
beginning, perhaps now about to manifest.
The most significant moment in her life came when, at the age of 56, plans
were definitely made for the consecration of the British Empire and as an
initial gesture her son was sent to India. Then her "point of self" had
come to her Sun, and her personality had truly become a worldwide symbol,
fully manifesting the power of her destiny
— thus of
her true Self. Her consecration as "Empress of India" came a
year later, as the "point of self" was trine Jupiter, and in her
first house. This and the Diamond Jubilee of 1897 (when "point of
self" came to conjunction Jupiter in the tenth house) were the outer
gestures of power. But the Queen's true selfhood is not to be found in
them, but in the more concealed "backstage" moves which the
twelfth-house lunation so aptly symbolizes.
Planets
Referring to the Conscious
We
are now considering the realm of the particular ego, which is the field of
consciousness centered around the realization: "I am this or
that." This realization by the conscious "I" that he is
that particular being and no other is the first basic factor in the
conscious life. Every living entity must first be itself
as a definite exclusive form. This is the Saturn aspect. Then it must maintain itself, and such a factor of
self-maintenance works out through the principle of compensatory action
which is the foundation of all organic life. This is the Jupiter aspect.
Finally it must reproduce itself through some
sort of creative action — which refers astrologically to Mars.
These three planets (Saturn-Jupiter-Mars) are to be considered as the
three positive or "masculine" planets, and for reasons which we shall
consider later on, are paired with three other planets which are
considered as negative or "feminine" planets: respectively
—
Moon, Mercury and Venus. The terms "masculine" and
"feminine" are not particularly fortunate. It would be better to
say that Saturn, Jupiter and Mars initiate life-processes. They act as causal agents; while the Moon, Mercury and Venus
establish or vivify, complete or bring to definition these same processes.
We shall therefore consider these six "planets of the conscious"
as being three pairs, each pair being connected with one of the three
basic life-operations above mentioned. The reason for this procedure
will be explained more fully later, as to do so now would complicate
matters unnecessarily.
Saturn-Moon.
Saturn, in Greek mythology, is the ruler of the Golden Age, the first
age of childhood and innocence. It refers to the first process whereby the
universal life-force becomes differentiated, limited, particularized as a
living cell — as the initial seed. Such a process of differentiation is
the absolutely necessary condition for individual existence, that is,
existence as a separate self-sufficient entity. Psychologically speaking,
Saturn symbolizes, therefore, that process which leads to the realization:
"I am." This may not be, however, such a simple realization as
it may seem and has seemed to many. Thus the modern psychologist speaks of
the "ego-complex," as previously defined: "A complex of
representations which constitutes the center of my field of
consciousness."(1)
Within
the "field of consciousness" life flows; in
other words, changes take place, energy is released in actions and
reactions. This "psychic energy" which is contained and operates in the
field of my consciousness (within the boundaries of my ego, set
symbolically by Saturn) is represented astrologically by the Moon. The
Moon is that portion of the Sun which is enclosed by Saturn
— if such an
astronomically peculiar sentence may be allowed. It is that portion of the
life energy of the total being which I am aware of as myself, as the
conscious ego which I am. Saturn refers to the abstract structure of this
ego. The Moon pours into this structure "psychic energy"
— and
the result is a conscious entity, a particular living entity. The relation
Saturn-Moon is therefore the relation: form-to-energy. Form conditions
energy, though there is really a deep reciprocal action, which would be
too long to discuss in such a brief survey.
Jupiter—Mercury.
Jupiter is a much more mysterious symbol than most astrologers seem to
believe. Its reputation as a sign of unalloyed good fortune does not
appear to stand the test of psychological analysis, even though, in an
abstract sense and ultimately, the process it symbolizes is always
leading to an increase and expansion of consciousness — but at times
through very dire ordeals. Jupiter is ordinarily opposed to Saturn as
expansion is opposed to contraction. Saturn differentiates the particular
entity out of the universal matrix of life. Jupiter brings to the bound
ego that which will compensate its one-sidedness, and thus will make it
once more whole and universal.
Jupiter's
function can be best expressed in practical or analytical psychology by
the term "compensation." The self-compensatory character of the
psyche, as an organism, has been mentioned in our chapter dealing with
analytical psychology. Jupiter refers thus to the anima
and animus of Jung's theory. But it means more.
It is the function of compensation in all its possible aspects. Marc Jones
defines Jupiter as "the point of the soul's precipitation out from
itself into tangible life and definite being." It shows "the
point of expression of true selfhood, of the purpose of incarnation." This means also "compensation" in a
metaphysical sense. Because the soul may be regarded as that which
constantly strives for harmonization and integration, and the
"purpose of incarnation," as the neutralization of past
disharmonies and failures toward the establishment of harmony at a fully
conscious level.
Jupiter is thus the power in us of right action, the voice of our true
Destiny. Our conscious ego (Saturn-Moon) is the result of our past, the
synthesis of our limitations and our ancestry. It is the present as the
sum total of the past. But Jupiter is the future, pulling this present
onward. It is the destiny which is to be ours, the destiny which will
balance our past inadequacies, and fulfilling which we shall become whole.
The soul and the ego are the two poles of a relation which operates by
compensation. Thus for a masculine consciousness the soul, if projected as
an image, is normally a woman — the Muse, the Eternal Feminine drawing us onward,
etc. For a feminine consciousness the soul is the hero, the Christ-image,
the Adonai, Siegfried the victorious, etc. It is always that which
completes us, which makes us whole. It is also, for the devotee, the
incarnate God, the savior, the spiritual teacher or guru: that divine personage who comes to us as
representative of the Whole, however we may imagine this wholeness.
Therefore Jupiter is God's path toward men. It is religion. It is
ceremonial. It is also the King, as a symbol of the wholeness of the
State, he whose justice and strength (ideally) compensate the weakness and
failures of the citizen. In a Democratic state it is the Constitution.
Mercury
makes the Jupiter function operative. And therefore it is intelligence,
the vehicle of the soul. But alas! a vehicle which often throws off the
divine Personage it carries and runs amuck, goaded by the moods of the
Moon, or dominated by the separative crystallizing power of Saturn.
Mercury as ruler of the nervous system brings sensation to the ego, that
the ego may learn the lesson of relationship to the objects of the outer
world. It unifies the reactions of the body. It is the servant of
Zeus-Jupiter — but so often an unworthy messenger and a thief. The Moon,
the feminine pole of Saturn, has moods and constantly changes. Mercury,
which holds a similar relation toward Jupiter, is ever restless and
molding itself upon the object of the sensation or the thought. Hindu yoga is largely a system of concentration by
means of which the Jupiter function subdues the Mercury function.
If Jupiter assumes the position of an avenging God
— if there is no other way
to counteract Saturn's crystallizations
— Mercury is likely to
turn equally destructive and to shatter the Moon's tides; for Mercury is
always more or less inimical to the Moon
— unless Saturn has turned subservient
to those functions of the unconscious which we shall presently study.
Mars—Venus.
With this pair we deal with the centrifugal and centripetal forces of
experience. Mars "shows the tendency of the life in expressing
itself, moving from itself outward without particular regard for
external conditions." It is "the first impulse of being in all
outer revelation of self" (Marc Jones). In other words, it is the
desire to move away from the center, the primordial Eros, the libido, as it flows outward through the psyche.
It symbolizes all beginnings, all initiating impulses; self-projection as
a release of sheer energy.
That
which goes out from the psyche as Mars, returns to it as Venus. Venus is
the effect experienced as a result of the way in which the outer world
reacts to our Martian outgoing. The Martian impulse returns home filled
with experiences, probably with bruises and possibly with wisdom. Venus is
the end of the experience and what we have gathered as a result of it;
thus it is the purveyor of consciousness, of knowledge and wisdom to the
ego. It is symbolized by bees, because bees bring back to the hive the
honey gathered from the flowers which are also the last product of the
plant. It is therefore the symbol of all arts, of all social wisdom, of
all that is matured out of experience. It also means emotions; because
we get emotions, or effects, as a result of our outer contacts. Out of
relationship arise joy or pain, songs or despair, art or sensuality. The
soul of relationship is love. Mars-love is the love that is desire,
self-projection, brute force toward self-reproduction in and through
others, but with no regard for the others. Venus-love is the love that is
wise, the love that arises from true interchange, from altruistic
companionship: love-wisdom.
This,
then, is the outline of the conscious trinity of basic life-powers, each
active and reactive, which astrology symbolizes as Saturn-Moon,
Jupiter-Mercury, Mars-Venus. Every living entity must first be itself as a definite form (Saturn); then it
must maintain itself as a self-compensating
system (Jupiter); finally it must reproduce itself
through creative action (Mars). "Being" manifests through
feelings (Moon); "maintenance" operates through intelligence or
instinct (Mercury); "self-reproduction" is demonstrated in the
power to bear children or ideas (Venus).
Thus
the sphere of the conscious. We come now to the process whereby the
conscious transcends or destroys itself.
Planet
Referring to the Unconscious
The Personal Unconscious
The
way in which the planets Neptune and Pluto have been discovered serves as
a symbolical illustration of the relationship between conscious and
unconscious. It was found that certain anomalies in the behavior of Uranus
could be explained only by postulating the influence of another planet
beyond its orbit. Such an influence was carefully measured, and the place
of Neptune was approximately determined; after which astronomers were able
to find this planet at the place thus analytically discovered.
The existence of many psychological anomalies, neuroses and supernormal
states likewise led some psychologists to attempt to chart an unknown
psychological realm the existence of which we have apprehended so far
mostly by the way it upsets conscious behavior. It is apparent that our
conscious ego is not always master of its house, that at times powers
which seem to well up from nowhere or from some ancestral mist overwhelm
our consciousness. Gone are our small categories and barriers; forgotten
are our sense of self- preservation and our social training
— and we move
bewildered, swayed by deep commands, which are voiced by unrecognized
forces.
C.
G. Jung was perhaps the first of modern psychologists to recognize that the
realm of these unknown forces was really a twofold one. In this he was
merely following (unconsciously, perhaps) the ancient Kabbalistic
tradition which speaks of a "memory of Nature," an "astral
light" which is also twofold, lower and higher, deceitful and
ensnaring in its lower portions, celestial and pure in its higher. Jung's
interpretation of the personal and the collective unconscious is naturally
very different outwardly from the occult teaching concerning the astral
light; yet the latter may prove necessary some day to sustain and deepen
the former.
As
we have already seen, the personal unconscious is the sum total of
repressed or submerged contents of a man's psyche. Freud began a study of
this realm in which are hidden the seeds of neuroses, and to which we
relegate all the feelings, thoughts, impressions which we refuse to admit
to the shrine of our conscious being, and from which we shrink in fear,
disgust or suppressed hatred. Life brought to us these psychic facts and
filled them with vital energy; but instead of allowing this vital energy
to spend itself in correlation with our ego, within the sphere of our
conscious thinking, feeling and behavior, we turn back, as it were, the
flow of this energy and push the disturbing thoughts or feelings,
impressions or intuitions into dark caves where memory can no longer
call them to the light of the conscious. There they may fester and decay,
sending poisonous emanations into the conscious; or the subterranean
pressure they exert may lead us unaware to deeds and thoughts bewildering
to our conscious ego.
Astrology
has probably no way of checking up these hidden and repressed contents of
the personal unconscious, yet it contains in its symbolism certain
factors which enable us to discern and analyze the action of the
repressive tendencies which twist and dam up the normal flow of
psychological functions. In other words, it can detect the backwash of the
psychic energy from the conscious to the unconscious as it occurs in the
psyche. It can determine the polarity of psychological functions, some of
which act in a repressive and inward direction, others which operate in
the normal way, from the center outward.
Here
we come to the factor of planetary retrogression. Due to the fact that on
the Earth we see the solar system from a somewhat peripheral point and not
from the center, the other planets of the system move in apparently
irregular manner. At times they appear to stand still, at others to move
backward in the direction opposed to that of their normal course around
the Sun. In the first case we speak of a stationary planet; in the second
case, of a retrograde planet. Otherwise the planet's motion is direct.
These geocentric characteristics of the planets (Sun and Moon not
included, for they are always direct) are of great importance
psychologically. Direct, retrograde, stationary: This trinity of modes
of planetary motion corresponds to some very basic elements of what we may
call psychological dynamics. Back of these types
of motion we find the still more general factor of planetary
speed (apparent speed, in this case). From the point of
view of the earthly observer, the speed at which the planets move across
the sky is constantly changing. These variations of speed correspond to
variations in functional intensity of the psychological factors symbolized
by the planets. The functional intensity varies as a result of many
causes; but the speed-variations are at least one of these causes,
symbolically speaking. This is especially demonstrable when we consider
the speed-variations of Mercury and the Moon, but it applies to all
planets.
The
faster the speed, the more rapid the flow of psychic energy in and through
the function considered. When the planet becomes stationary, the speed, of
course, equals zero. The function symbolized is shown to have extreme
stability. A peculiar kind of doggedness may well describe this condition.
That particular factor in the conscious make-up of the person will not let
go. It will resist change. It will offer a tremendous power of inertia. As
it was in the beginning, so will it be ever after. Persons born with
stationary planets will always present a characteristic of this nature.
This of course will be emphasized if the stationary planet is also the
ruler of the chart, or strongly placed. The corresponding psychological
factor will quietly but stubbornly hold its own within the consciousness,
whatever may happen.
Many
examples could be given, but the difficulty is that usually the
psychological characteristics depicted by a stationary planet are not
obvious, except from the point of view of psychological analysis. The
Saturn stationary in Richard Strauss' chart is a good illustration of
strong egocentricity and of an equally strong sense of form. Its being in
Libra gives an added artistic significance.
A
stationary planet is said to be "stationary direct" or
"stationary retrograde" according to the direction of its
subsequent motion. In psycho-astrological analysis a planet can be
considered stationary within a few minutes of the exact point at which it
changes the direction of its course. The speed factor here involved is
purely relative, and practically all that is required or useful to
consider is whether the planet's speed is above average (in which case it
is fast moving) or below average (slow moving).
Retrograde
planets symbolize the turning back of the libido (psychic energy or
life-force) from the conscious into the unconscious. If a planet is
retrograde, the function it represents is not activated for conscious
operation. The psychic contents related to this function, instead of
emerging directly in the conscious and thus influencing directly our
behavior, are thrown back temporarily into the unconscious. This does not
mean necessarily that they are divested of their energy. They merge with
other unconscious contents, and then reappear later in the consciousness
through the agency of one of these functions of the unconscious, which we
shall study presently. The latter correspond to the planets Uranus,
Neptune and Pluto.
We
may consider at first the planet Saturn, builder of the ego-complex.
Through differentiation and isolation Saturn sets apart a certain amount
of life-energy and binds it into a form. It builds walls to protect and
differentiate the particular entity thus conditioned and isolated from
its surroundings. Saturn, in other words, sets up a system of defense
against the outside world by emphasizing the separate characteristics of
the ego. "I am this particular attribute, and no one else is, or can
touch it."
If Saturn is retrograde at birth, the native will not naturally and
spontaneously experience or feel this. He will not feel it to be true
especially with regard to the outer world. His Saturnian defense-mechanism
will not be directed against the encroachments of the outer world
— at
least, not immediately and spontaneously. He will not feel himself
fortified against the outer world — because the pattern of his conscious
being is not very rigid. He will yield easily to external influences which
will constantly tend to blur this pattern of his consciousness. He will be
somewhat defenseless with regard to external contacts, and will appear
shy, introverted, uneasy, and unself-assertive — or else he will take an
arrogant attitude to shield his weak stand. His manners may then be
abrupt and explosive.
Saturn
retrograde will direct this pattern-crystallizing and will-making power
inward. Self-assertion will be against inner influences. The person will
yield outwardly, but show a great power of resistance against inner,
unconscious suggestions. He will fortify himself spontaneously against
impacts coming from the collective unconscious, from race tradition and
collective standards. He will develop a sense of destiny, separating him
inwardly from his fellowmen, while he will often be unable to resist the
pressure of demands made upon him by friends and foes alike. He will be
obdurately self-centered in his innermost self, while he may be unable
to resist anyone asking favors or gifts.
It
may also be that a man with Saturn retrograde finds himself mostly
preoccupied with building or strengthening his growing individuality. The
differentiating function then works inward, strengthening the magnetic
field of the Self and crystallizing its contents into a form as yet
unconscious. He will yield without, only
to be better able to endure within. Such an astrological factor is found
in persons who have to guard their individuality against psychic or
religious or racial influences which are particularly strong in their
immediate family environment. The enemy is in the unconscious, pressing
from within. The past is menacing the present. The first psychological
task is therefore one of inner self-protection
and self-assertion. Thus the Saturn function operates inward, and its
effect will usually be felt only indirectly in the consciousness and in
the behavior, blended with other unconscious elements. Nicholas II, the
last Czar of Russia, had Saturn retrograde. Ramakrishna, the great Hindu
mystic, and the seer, Swedenborg, furnish other examples.
In
such cases the Moon (polar opposite of Saturn) finds herself, as it
were, unprotected. The Moon can never be retrograde; but because of moving
around the Earth she is either within or without the Earth
orbit. When within (nearer a solar conjunction), she
operates more in connection with the solar energy of the Self. When
without (nearer a solar opposition), the feelings are more
"extraverted" or dominated by the objective mind. It might be
said also that outside of the Earth's orbit the Moon follows the
centrifugal pull of Mars, the planet of all beginnings; when inside, she
gives in to the centripetal attractions of Venus, the planet of
consummation and fulfillment. If the Moon is inside the Earth's orbit
and Saturn is retrograde, the feelings are directed inward; we have a
clear case of introversion. Love goes to an inner image rather than to
actual and real persons. The feelings are in any case somewhat
unprotected when Saturn is retrograde. They are not firmly anchored in,
or they may cause much trouble to, the conscious ego.
When
Jupiter is retrograde the function of soul-compensation is turned inward,
affecting the consciousness almost exclusively through the unconscious,
that is, by means of dreams and similar projections. If at the same time
Uranus is strong, these projections from the unconscious can become
extraordinarily vivid. If Jupiter is weak by sign position, this may
mean that the compensation function is
endowed with little energy; but if at the same time it is strong by house
position, the compensation, though weak, is brought out constantly to the
consciousness by the power of circumstances. This remark applies more or
less to all planets. Aspects to other planets may, however, introduce
other and contrary factors. Jupiter in an angular house (first, fourth,
seventh, tenth) is typical of strength by house position. If direct, the
native is consciously ruled by his Destiny, usually for a group-purpose.
He may experience this inner power in the form of some great Personality
leading him to appointed ends.
This
may be so especially if Jupiter is retrograde. If stationary, the native
is almost wholly subject to this ruling power. The Emperor of Austria,
Francis Joseph, whose rule seems to have been the very center of
precipitation of the karma of Europe, had, according to Alan Leo,
Jupiter retrograde in the fourth house, square Mars on the Descendant. His
was altogether an extraordinary chart. Bismarck also had Jupiter
retrograde. Aristide Briand, the famous French Premier, had Jupiter and
Saturn retrograde conjunct in his fourth house.
Mercury
retrograde symbolizes a mind inwardly turned, either because of a mystical
trend or because of a congenital slowness of perception and an inability
to project thoughts outward. According to Marc Jones, the position of
Mercury before and after the Sun represents respectively mental eagerness
or deliberateness. "Mental chemistry" can be shown by linking
these positions of Mercury together with the speed of the Moon's motion.
Paul Clancy traced a parallelism between quickness of mind and the speed
of Mercury's motion. Outwardly a retrograde Mercury may give a slow mind;
but by no means necessarily so. It may just as well be a mind preoccupied
mostly with the collective unconscious, the mind of a seer. Abdul Baha,
whom the Bahai consider as a divine Personage, had Mercury and Saturn
retrograde and in trine. Mercury was in Gemini six degrees ahead of the
Sun; the Moon, in conjunction with the great star of Persia, Regulus, also
trine Neptune in Aquarius. In other cases, we have the basis for peculiar
mental complexes. An example of a vacillating mind is given by Louis XVI,
the French king executed by the revolutionists. He had Mercury
retrograde in exact conjunction with the Sun, also Saturn and Uranus
retrograde.
Mars
retrograde indicates that impulses to action do not flow outward from
the ego into spontaneous expression, but move back to the unconscious
where they become united with some unconscious contents (often collective
images). It is the power inherent in the latter which really impels the
native to action. Action does thus not arise from spontaneous, clearly
conscious impulses, but from a more or less unconscious motivation. Among
the several retrograde planets in the chart of Annie Besant, late leader
of the Theosophical Society, we find Mars. Her acts often arose from
motives hidden in the unconscious, whether personal or collective.
Such
a condition may affect the sexual forces. They may be thrown back into the
unconscious, forming complexes and neuroses. On the other hand, we may
deal with a definite attempt to sublimate the desire-nature, as in the
various yoga disciplines. In the case of Annie
Besant, we note also that she became known first as an apostle of birth
control.
With
Venus retrograde we get a condition in which the fruits of experience are
not brought to the conscious ego and normally assimilated or released
through various types of emotions. There is often a strong lack of
adjustment to the conditions of outer living. The emotional life is
unsatisfied, and unconscious contents disturb the natural flow of
consciousness and love. At times a strong emphasis on artistic creation is
found, but this is usually colored by abnormal feelings. A desire for
intoxicants may be connected with this. The romantic poet Alfred de
Musset had Venus stationary retrograde.
Retrograde
planets must not be asked to tell too much, for the reason that they
indicate only the direction in which some psychological functions
operate, but not what happens as a result of this backward flowing motion,
which is to be judged on the basis of the chart as a whole. A boy and a
girl instead of going to work at the factory, take the train and go to the
city. We may know they have gone to the city; but that will not tell us
how they will behave and what they will encounter in this city. Likewise
we know that when a planet is retrograde the function it symbolizes does
not operate in the so-called normal way. The psychic energy used by this
function goes in the direction of the unconscious. What will happen to it
there depends upon all the other factors of the chart.
The Collective Unconscious
In
the planets studied so far we have found a means of analyzing the make-up
and constitution of the individual human being as he functions in the
midst of the collectivity of which he is a part. Family, nation, race,
religious group, club, trade union and factory are various types of
collectivity. The individual acts in their midst and may help to create or
transform them. But they also act upon the individual. If he shrinks from
contacts and experiences within the collectivity, he becomes inhibited and
acquires complexes or special attitudes which retrograde planets,
together with other astrological elements, help us to analyze.
If
the individual faces normally his group and society in general, then
society influences him. The collective in him, that which is identical in
all the men of his group, imposes upon the individual its ageless
standards. Society gets hold of the individual through his instincts and
traditions. Primordial images beat upon the inner walls of his
consciousness, asking admittance. These images may be divine or they may
be devilish. They are the voice of wholeness compelling the individual
parts of the whole to take heed. The undertones of this collective voice
are dark and possessive; its high overtones are vibrations of light,
songs of liberated souls that draw upward toward the final goal of Man.
This
voice of the collective, insofar as it acts upon individuals, is
symbolized by the trinity of remote planets: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. It
is significant that these have become publicly known
at a time when humanity is breaking through isolating barriers of creeds
and dogmas, and, materially if not yet spiritually, all men flow into
the ocean of a common humanity. Uranus became known as the American and
French Revolutions broke the weight of feudalism and medievalism; Neptune,
as humanitarianism and a rebirth of the religious spirit (or of its
opposite pole, materialism), swept the world; Pluto, as mankind is getting
on its way toward new structures of social relationships.
In
the life of the individual these planets act in various ways and in
widely varying degrees of intensity. The more universal or
"whole-ward" the consciousness, the more constructive and
effective the action of these planetary agents of wholeness. In the
unregenerate they may either remain individually ineffective, or else
become symbols of the destruction of the enshelled ego. In any case
they come to the individual ego as forces from the beyond of
consciousness, bearing messages, striking blows, or causing in him whom
the gods have condemned spiritual blindness and insanity. They may
symbolize the spiritual apex of collective humanity
— whether it be
called the Church Triumphant, the assembly of the Blessed, or the White
Lodge of Initiated Adepts. They may also stand for what the newspapers
call "society," or else for the power of the mob. They may be
the agents of those collective forces which men learn to know under the
name of religion. They may even speak of cosmic events beyond our solar
system, and bring to the initiated tidings from our galaxy and forebodings
from the spaces beyond. In any case they are wholeness speaking to
the individual particles.
If
we limit ourselves to the psychological approach and the relationship of
the collective unconscious to the particular ego, we say that Uranus is
the projective power of the unconscious,
Neptune, its dissolving power, and Pluto, its regenerating power. Uranus brings to the
conscious symbolical representations and impulses. This may occur in
dreams or in waking consciousness. Under Uranus come the inspirations of
the poet, the artist, the inventor, the scientist, the statesman, and
the religious reformer. Uranus is characterized by its image-forming
power. It regenerates the conscious by bringing to it vistas of the
whole, images and ideas of the universal Mind. Strictly speaking, it does
not "regenerate." Instead, it projects images and ideas which
have the power to transform, which are seeds
of the new consciousness. Transformation and creation are keywords of this
revolutionary planet which constantly pours new dynamic quanta into the
heart of the ego upsetting, stimulating, stirring, disrupting, the soul
of divine discontent, the madness of the anarchist and of the lawless.
Genius or insanity; inspiration or perversion.
Neptune acts in more subtle and mysterious ways. It eats up like a strong
acid the crystallizations of the ego, ever calling the particular and the
bound to the limitless state of the universal. It is the insistent,
compassionate, overflowing love of the whole for the separate part which
may not even know it is a "part" — a love which can be most tender, yet
which usually is so filled with cosmic horizons and universal dispassion
that our limited, narrow feelings recoil before it in subtle awe. Neptune
is the man transfigured by the Christ within; but he may be also the man
lost in an "artificial paradise," asking of drugs that he be led
beyond the jail of normal perception and daily routine into the realm of
dreams and visions.
Every
force which denies limitations and tends to make us whole, which saps the
strength of the particular viewpoint and injects into it the fluid of
unearthly desires; every agency which dissolves crystallizations and puts
the lens of the ego out of focus, which stirs us with divine longings
through days of second puberty and enravishes us away from family and home
into the snow-white peace of convents or to the living fermentation of the
jungle — all belong to the Neptune symbol.
Physiologically
speaking, the bodily part ruled by the zodiacal sign in which Neptune is
posited lacks differentiation and focalized growth. It appears
undeveloped. The life-energy did not succeed in making itself concrete
enough. Where Uranus is placed we often find, on the contrary, abnormal
growth, over-fullness of a sort; not so much an abundance of life-force as
a peculiar tension of energy which creates genius or freaks. Neptune is
the symbol of the sea, of the undifferentiated, of cosmic matter in the
prenatal stage, or of nirvana and infinite
compassion. It shows how society acts upon the individual; whereas Uranus
indicates more the fecundating power of the individual, how he acts upon
society, constructively or destructively. Neptune's keynotes are
redemption, universalization, or unfocalization.
Pluto
is the planet of the second birth, ruler of the Mysteries — of every type
of group-assembly, of parliamentary organization in which new policies are
decided upon for the collectivity, or of ceremonial through which the
individual and society are readjusted according to the outworking of a
new law of being. Jupiter deals also with governing bodies and with
religious ceremonies — but within the limits set by
Saturn. In other words, Jupiter symbolizes racial gods and
religion based upon kinship and blood relationship. It stands for
hierarchy and autocracy —
political or religious — this, because Saturn
has first of all set the ego, the One, as a ruler within certain
boundaries. Jupiter acts within these boundaries. The rule of Zeus follows
that of Chronos-Saturn. Jupiter as the guru, the
spiritual teacher or religious guide, involves elements of personal
relationship.
On the other hand, Pluto is strictly impersonal and recognizes no personal
God or King; only an elected chairman, as it were. Its King is the Law. It
is ruthless and absolutely just — but just in terms of a Law which often
transcends our limited understanding, and may seem cruel. Pluto relates
the ego to a greater center of being, part conscious, part unconscious. It
leads to what C. G. Jung calls the Self, the totality of the being. It
symbolizes the final stage of the process of individuation, the second
birth, the "making perfect," initiation, the "birth of
the Living God." For Pluto is God-in-the-depths, God made concrete
and actual within and at the center of personality. Thus the personality
becomes transfigured into a Living Person. In this sense Pluto is the
symbol of the Incarnation of God, of the Apostolic Brotherhood, reflection
of the cosmic zodiacal order; of the White Lodge on Earth.
Pluto
represents the Law of the whole-Self in opposition to the law of the
particular ego (Saturn-Jupiter). His reign comes after this ego has been
impregnated with Uranian seed-ideas and archetypes, and has lost all its
resistance and its pride through the Neptunian baptism. Then Pluto, having
judged the ego in the scales in which are balanced conscious and
unconscious, concrete and abstract, particular and universal, initiates it
into the Company of the Perfect. His keynote is therefore rebirth; also the concretization of the All
into the universal One.
Of
all the astrological signs which have been suggested as symbols (or
causes) of the Great War, only one seems valid. Pluto was in conjunction
with the summer solstice in June 1914, and had apparently come to his
first conjunction for a brief time during September, 1912, at which time
the Balkan War was being planned. The summer solstice is the point of
cosmic fecundation. Life becomes concrete in the womb. The mystery of the
"shedding of blood" may also accompany vast cosmic
fecundations — or initiations.
Pluto
was entering Capricorn in 1761-62. It was close to the time which
Swedenborg mentioned as being that of the descent to earth of the
"New Jerusalem." From this time on the American Revolution was
taking shape. In 1938 Pluto will enter Leo. This could mark the beginning
of a new era. According to the Pyramid number-symbolism this era began
September 16, 1936.
The
fact that the coming upon the astrological scene of Neptune and Pluto
corresponded to the time when different aspects of the unconscious gained
public recognition is interesting. Pluto was discovered exactly 84 years
(cycle of Uranus) after Neptune (1846). In 1848 Europe witnessed a great
revolutionary upheaval. It is the date of Marx's Communist Manifesto. It
marks the beginning of the spread of Spiritualism. The great spiritual
movement, Bahaism, was initiated in 1844. In every way it was a time of
religious enthusiasm and of humanitarian ideals — truly a Neptunian time.
Likewise, Uranus became known in the midst of the revolutionary era that
aroused all the Western world to a realization of new archetypes of social
relationship. Pluto was sighted January 21, 1930, as the Sun entered the
sign of Aquarius. The decade thus ushered in promises to vie in importance
with those which made Uranus and Neptune known. The ideals of the New Deal
are typically Plutonic, insofar as we have in this New Deal an attempt at
including all social classes in an integral type of organization in which
the two factors of individualism and collectivism will be harmonized.
Neptune makes whole, but it also leads to formlessness. Pluto brings the
message of concrete form, of organization. If often we see it as
disorganization, it is because we can discover only the first stage of the
process. The Great War meant disorganization; yet it tested the power of
men to organize on a scale never dreamt of before. It taught efficiency
and precision. It created the machinery which man may use constructively
if he so desires.
It
is not at all improbable that under the regime of Pluto, as Paul Clancy
suggests, concrete and scientific proofs of human immortality will be
forthcoming. Alice Bailey announces the same; and there is no doubt that
Pluto deals with all the concrete manifestations of the new order.
Uranus, Neptune, Pluto symbolize processes which bring the unconscious and
its subliminal powers to the threshold of the consciousness and the ego.
They are thus intermediaries between the Solar system proper and the
galaxy. Comets are also intermediaries, but of a more fleeting quality. We
can conceive the unconscious in terms of an accumulation of both personal
and collective conscious contents; in fact we must do so, if we consider
consciousness as bound to physical organisms. But the occultist will of
course claim that the collective unconscious is the product as much of
superhuman and super-terrestrial Beings as of the past generations of men.
He will consider the fixed stars astrologically as symbols of such cosmic
entities as the awakened intuition may dimly sense beyond the realms known
to human minds. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto are thus links between the stars
and the intra-Saturnian planets — between the
"gods" and men.
There
remains one more point to be touched upon: What is the significance of the
three remote planets when retrograde? It is probable that what is
indicated is a return-action of the collective element to the
collectivity, but with the added power of the individual to make it
effective in a new way. To put it more clearly: Sooner or later races and
groups always degenerate. The individuals composing these collectivities
fail to act in accord with the deepest instincts and the archetypal truths
which belong to mankind, biologically or spiritually. Out of all the sum
total of these particular failures comes a general perversion or decadence
of the collectivity. A race or nation or religious group falls into evil
ways, crystallizes or disintegrates. What individuals caused, individuals
must readjust. Reformers arise who proclaim the ancient forgotten truths,
probably under a new garb. These men are led by the living spirit of
collective humanity to reform the sick body of the collectivities of
which they are parts. This reforming action of the collectivity by the
collectivity, through the individual, is symbolized by the retrograde
motions of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
Uranus
"direct" reforms or rather transforms the conscious ego; when
"retrograde," what is symbolized is the reform of the
unconscious, of the hidden depths from which the ego emerges. In some
cases it may mean that all the dark closets are being aired and family
skeletons are being thrown out; in others, it means that the man is
actually the agent for some sort of reforming impulse which is to change
the mind of his race or group. The Uranian images he projects are
impregnated first of all with an iconoclastic energy. They will not only
challenge the conscious of the race, but generate storms in the
unconscious. Neptune retrograde is found often where religious shams are
unearthed and denounced; where inner subconscious pride is subtly
annihilated. Mystics often have such a factor prominent in their charts,
especially if they stand positively against beliefs of their day. As for
Pluto retrograde, one can only surmise that it would tend to let loose
organized destruction — this, in an individual chart, might be
connected with a peculiar protest against the established order of
society.
The
Solar System As Personality
Our
approach so far has dealt with purely psychological factors, and we have
considered planets as symbols which would enable us to chart the three
main types of activity characteristic of any life-organism: activities
determining what the organism is, how it
maintains itself, how it reproduces itself. Then we studied problems
arising from the repression of natural organic activities as symbolized in
retrograde planets. Lastly we analyzed the three modes of activity by
means of which the particular ego is able to transcend itself and to
partake of the character of universality. The Saturn-image which is the
foundation of particular ego-hood then fades into a type of representation
Plutonic in character. The Jupiter mode of compensatory activity gives
way to a Neptunian process of sublimation. The Mars type of
self-reproduction is superseded by Uranian creativeness.
If,
however, we approach the subject from a reverse direction, that is,
starting from an analysis of the solar system as a whole and projecting
the result thereof into our physio-psychological experience, we get a
more logical and more ordered picture. Our concept of personality broadens
and assumes cosmic perspectives. The whole solar system, seen as a complex
life-organism, becomes a cosmic personality. However, we must carefully
avoid the mistake of losing our base of operation: the Earth.
"Cosmic" as we may be, we are always and forever rooted in the
Earth. The only solar system we know is that which is seen through the
Earth atmosphere and by means of earthly senses and instruments. We
know nothing in fact beyond the Earth and the reactions which the Earth
experiences from outside. We must always remain Earth centered, because
as long as we operate through Earth-born vehicles of consciousness,
refined as these may be, all our experiences are conditioned by the
quality of our planet, and all the vital symbols
which we may conceive, being necessarily interpretations and extensions
of these experiences, must be grounded in the viewpoint of the Earth and
of Man as a planetary being.
If,
therefore, we speak of the solar system, it is as it appears to the
scientific investigator, spreading on each side of the path described
yearly by the Earth. There are celestial bodies within the confines of the
Earth's orbit and there are some outside of it. It is true that the Sun is
demonstrably one of the foci of this elliptical Earth-orbit, and also of
all other planetary orbits. But all it means is that we, human observers,
are not at the center of the system to which, we know enough now to
realize, we belong as a mere planet. This fact of our knowing that the Sun
is the center of the system, and not the Earth, does not make a truly
heliocentric point of view legitimate. We know this fact intellectually,
yet all our experiences are necessarily Earth-centered. In other words,
I, the ego, know now that the field of my consciousness (my own Earth) is
not the center of my total being. I assume that there is a Self which,
Sun-like, is the center of this total being. Yet I do not experience as a Self, but only as an ego. I
postulate the possibility of an identification of this ego with the Self.
But if I did experience such an identification
I would no longer be an ego-centered personality. I would be a divine
Personage — with a solar
vehicle of consciousness — whatever it may
mean. It may be that there are divine Personages operating through an
Earth-born body, but if so, the personality rooted in that body and
perceived by ordinary man is not their true Personality. And thus we
cannot profitably discuss a "Solar Personality" which we as
Earth-beings will never experience fully; neither is there any validity
in assuming a Sun-centered point of view as the basis of a system of
symbolical life-interpretation. Our cosmic flights must start from and
end on the Earth — or else they must remain dreams and speculations
without vital meaning.
Let
us, therefore, consider the solar system, from the point of view of the
Earth and of Man, as a planetary whole. We shall divide the solar system
into that part which is contained inside of the Earth-orbit and that part
which is outside of the Earth-orbit. Inside the
Earth-orbit we find the inner planets Venus, Mercury and the Sun; outside of it, the outer planets
Mars-Jupiter-Saturn and Uranus-Neptune-Pluto. The relative positions of
these planets within these two celestial realms will give to each planet
its essential symbolical meaning; for, let us repeat it again and again,
the basic meanings of the planets belong to them by the logic of
their positions in relation to the Earth and by virtue of their
astronomical characteristics, such as speed of
revolution and rotation, mass, color, number of satellites, etc. In other
words, Venus has a certain basic meaning simply because it is the first
planet between the Earth and the Sun. Likewise there can be no doubt as to
the basic meaning of Pluto, because this meaning is derived from its
position, orbital characteristics, etc. Of course such a meaning is both
very basic, and very abstract or general — as abstract or general
almost as the meanings of the numbers 2 and 3. Therefore, in applying this
meaning to the interpretation of particular nativities, statistics and
accumulated experience are absolutely invaluable. They do not, however,
give birth to the basic meaning.
This
is particularly important when we consider the Moon as an astrological
factor. For the ancients, the Moon was the handmaid of the Sun, the
secondary "light" that shone by night. The entire symbolism of
Sun and Moon was built on these data of experience concerning the light
of Sun and Moon, and the physio-psychological correlations established
between sunlight (day, warmth, etc.) and moonlight (night, mystery, fear,
etc.).
Such
correlations are no longer the main generators of significance in terms
of modern scientific knowledge and behavior. For one thing, artificial
light has changed night into day, and modern city living has made of
office-days a sort of night. But deeper than this, the attribution of
meaning to the planets (and to all astrological factors) must now be
established upon what, to us modern men, is our basic knowledge —
scientific, intellectual knowledge.
From
this astronomical point of view, the Moon occupies a special place indeed
as the satellite of the Earth. Revolving monthly around the Earth, it is
found half of the time within the Earth-orbit, half of the time outside
of it. As a result of this the Moon is the link
between the inner and the outer realms of the solar system; between the
inner and the outer planets. Because of this function of linkage it
appears constantly changing in its aspects. It has phases, waxing and
waning tides; a definite dualistic rhythm. At New Moon, the Moon is at its
innermost point within the Earth-orbit. At Full Moon, it is at its
outermost point outside of the Earth-orbit
— subjectivity and
objectivity.
Previously,
as we studied the planets in pairs, we said that the Moon was the feminine
counterpart of Saturn. But such a statement, while true in a certain
sense, must not be taken as definite. There is a
"mystery" connected with the Moon, and it has to do with the
change which took place (potentially at least) at the close of the archaic
ages (around 600 B.C.). If, now, we study the solar system from the point
of view of the Earth-orbit, and if we proceed to pair the outer and the
inner planets, we shall have the following result:
Mars and Venus standing on each side of the Earth become polar opposites;
so do Jupiter and Mercury; then Saturn and
— the Sun. Before we discuss what the
Sun signifies here, let us repeat that the outer planets are positive in
the sense of referring to the causes of the
activities represented by the pairs; while the inner planets refer to
results, and are thus called negative. Mars symbolizes the initiating
and impulsive power that starts all life-activities; Venus, the
consummating, concluding, fruit-bearing energy which closes up all cycles
of activity. Jupiter symbolizes the power of circulation within every
organic whole and that which expands them from within and which makes them
whole. Mercury is the nervous system, and later the power of thought
which consolidates and becomes the vehicle of the Jupiterian power. Saturn
is the original power which starts every life-manifestation by isolating
from the undifferentiated ocean of life a particular fragment thereof, and
which, by building a wall around this fragment, enables it to be a
separate independent entity.
Then
what of the polar opposite of Saturn? Logically it ought to be the Sun.
But there has also been a great deal of talk about, even an ephemeris of,
an intra-Mercurial planet, Vulcan. We do not know whether or not Vulcan
exists. But one cannot base astrological significance on merely possible
astronomical facts. Vulcan may exist. But, whether it exists or not,
what it stands for, as significance, can be attributed much more
satisfactorily to the photosphere of the Sun. Occultists
have said that we do not know the real Sun, that what we see is only, as
it were, the light that comes through an open window. This light
constitutes what may be called the surface of the Sun, the actively
radiant part of the Sun. Actually it is all that we know of the Sun,
sensorially and physically. It is the source of "solar
vibrations;" and those mean to us, life and light. Saturn sets the
boundaries of every particular living organism and thus helps to focalize
within these boundaries, as if through a lens, the diffuse light of
interstellar or galactic space. The Sun is, in a sense, the lens itself.
The photosphere is the totality of the light and heat rays which are
focalized and which fill in the boundaries of the living organism. Saturn
differentiates. The photosphere makes the differentiated entity alive.
Thus we have a two-fold trinity of inner-outer planets. Each of these
planets stands for a polarity of triune life: three positives and three
negatives. What is the "seventh"? — for, we are told in all
philosophies, the great number of all life-manifestations is 7. The
seventh is that which correlates the opposite polarities. It is that
which, moreover, collects these polar energies and distributes them
through a cyclic tidal process to the living organism. It is the Moon.
Without
the Moon, there would be no interchange, no relationship between the
inner and outer planets. There would be no flow of energies within and
through the Earth. On each side of the Earth, the planets stand. But it is
the Moon which collects their energies as it shuttles back and forth
between innermost and outermost. Having collected and blended them, it
distributes them to the Earth. It feeds the Earth with these energies.
Thus the Moon is the womb and the mother of the Earth. It is the lymphatic
fluid. It is the watery flow, the sap within the plant. It collects all
cosmic forces and distributes them to the embryo within its womb. It
collects all mineral salts of the soil and distributes them to the entire
plant. It is the placenta orbitally surrounding the Earth, as the placenta
surrounds the embryo. The Moon may indeed be called "she"
— the mother. She is the mother-force,
the waters of life. But she is also the possessive mother-love that
stifles and enwombs the child, drawing him back to the cradle,
psychologically: — the
mother-complex, the thralldom of feelings and sentimentality.
Yet
we have touched only the fringe of the garment. Is there only one inner
planet and one outer planet? Here the "mystery of the Moon"
begins to open. For there must, of course, be one "Moon," one
linking agency, for every polar duality. We saw that there are three pairs
of planets, three basic powers of life (being a self; maintaining oneself;
reproducing oneself) in every living organism. Then there must be three
"Moons," and our physical Moon is only the agency which links
the closest planetary pair, that of Mars and Venus. Because it is the
closest it is the most visible, the most obvious, the most outwardly and
consciously compelling; the source of our most patent desires and
feelings. But there must be also a "Moon" to correlate the
couple Jupiter-Mercury and distribute their harmonized energies to the
Earth; and again a "Moon" to distribute to us the correlated
energies of Saturn and the photosphere.
But
where are those "Moons"? — the reader may ask. Perhaps there
are no actual celestial physical masses of
substance which would fill the office of the two "higher Moons"
above mentioned. Perhaps they exist in an invisible state, reflecting
light too much toward the infrared or ultraviolet to be visible. Perhaps
it is these "higher Moons" which "clairvoyants" have
seen and have taken for planets revolving around the Sun. Perhaps the
"mystery-planet" behind the Moon is the next "higher
Moon." There are many "perhapses." But what of it?
What
we are speaking of are cycles of motion and of distribution of
energy. One of these cycles is operating with or through
our visible Moon, and is approximately a 28-day cycle. Another of these
cycles is beginning to be known as a 40-month cycle, affecting financial
changes and the heat of the Sun. Another cycle is the well-known
"sun-spots cycle" of eleven years plus. All such cycles are
really cyclic paths of circulating energy (or abstract correlations of
motion — if one prefers to be more abstract). Whether they operate
through the agency of a physical body such as our Moon, or through some
flow of magnetic particles tidal in its effects — there is no difference as far as astrological symbolism is concerned.
What counts in the cyclic activity is the flow of "something" that the
astrologer can relate symbolically to a life-function (collective and
social as well as individual). What the "something" is, whether a solid
planet or a tide of electric particles, or even an abstraction pure and
simple — this should be but of slight importance to
the astrologer. It belongs to the astronomer to find out all the
scientific facts about it.
The
following sketch may help to make clear how and where schematically of
course — the "Moons" operate. The first (our physical Moon)
links the orbs of Mars and Venus, and has a period of approximately 28
days. It refers to the realm of physical action and physiological
procreation. It represents all the "feelings" connected with
that realm. It vitalizes all things, even those most remotely connected
with sex, and all creative activity insofar as such activity has a
material concrete basis of manifestation through bodily motions (all fine
arts, as they involve muscular activity of one kind or another). It
vitalizes therefore, almost exclusively, the man and woman functioning at
an instinctual and physiological stage. It operates, moreover, in and
through the cycle of growth and decay of all biological organisms.
The
second "Moon" links the orbs of Jupiter and Mercury, collects
and distributes their energies to the Earth. The period of this activity
is probably 40 months. The number is significant and links the cycle with
the gestation cycle of 40 weeks. This number 40 is found most frequently
in Biblical symbolism, and refers to a period of tribulation and interior
formation (as the gestation period is, of course). Even of late, Abdul
Baha, leader of the Bahai cause, is said to have been imprisoned in Akka
(which means "womb") for 40 years: a symbol of the formation of
the new spiritual era entered in after his death, or at his birth.
It
seems that the 40-month cycle has two meanings, just as Jupiter has two
meanings: 1) spiritual
— referring to processes
of Soul-growth and psycho-mental development or "initiation"; 2)
financial — as a mean cycle of 20 months up and 20
months down, accounting for movements in prices and volume of transactions
(Cf. T. O. McGrath, "Solar Radiation and Business Activity," in
the Bulletina
April-May-June, 1934).
Interestingly enough, the Jupiter symbol is really a number 4 figure. It
might also be added that the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter might be
the result of the explosion of such a "Moon" to which some
traditions perhaps refer as "Lucifer."
The
third "Moon" links the orb of Saturn and the photosphere of the
Sun. It refers to the "sun-spot cycle" of 11.2 years. According
to H. P. Blavatsky, this cycle measures the heartbeats of the solar
system, its "blood-circulation." This cosmic-magnetic
"blood" flows from the photosphere to Saturn (the limit of the
solar system considered as a strict unit) in five years; comes back to
the photosphere in five more years, and circulates within the Sun itself
for one more year. The 11-year cycle refers to definite magnetic changes
in the human body — to conditions within the spine. It probably refers
also to the process of dynamic spiritual integration, known in Eastern
occultism as "the Kundalini process." It links
the Saturn center at the base of the spine to the multi-petalled "lotus"
on the top of the head —
the "halo" of saints and buddhas — truly a photosphere or corona of the "spiritual
sun" within the head.
We
must come now to consider the outermost planets, Uranus, Neptune and
Pluto. If we still take the Earth orbit as a hinge, we shall see that
these universalistic planets are balanced only within the very "heart
of the Sun."
In our previous discussion, "The Sun as Integrator," we wrote that the Sun
represents the power of the Self —
not the Self itself. This integrating power of the Self operates first of
all, during the development of Man's psyche, within the Saturn-defined
boundaries of the conscious. Saturn plus Sun-power (photosphere)
constitute the "I am" —
Saturn is "I" and Sun-power is "am"
—
always considering our Earth-centered solar system as a "cosmic
personality."
Then
the Saturnian "I" becomes transcended through the triune life
process symbolized by Uranus-Neptune-Pluto. These three planets represent
what Jung calls the "Not-I," that which must be assimilated by
the "I." As this assimilation takes place, the "cosmic
personality" expands; better still, it experiences a repolarization
or "conversion." Within the "heart of the Sun" arises
a transfigured "I," and this "I" finds his
"am" in the power of the trinity Uranus-Neptune-Pluto. This
planetary trinity constitutes the process by means of which the
"cosmic personality" finds itself linked to
the vaster astronomical whole, let us say, the galaxy.
One might ask: But what is really meant by the "heart of the Sun"? It is
the Self. And the Self is the wholeness of the fulfilled and integrated
personality — an abstraction. And yet even this abstraction
is susceptible of being concretely symbolized in terms of the next vaster
whole. We might thus say that the "heart of the Sun" in terms of
the (Earth-centered) galactic whole is the star which (within our galaxy)
is located exactly behind the Sun. This, however, has hardly any practical
significance for us, ordinary men!
What
has significance, however, is the idea that there is a cycle of linkage
between the Uranus orb and the "heart of the Sun:" a fourth
"Moon." This cycle is the 28-year cycle of individual selfhood,
which, repeated three times (once for each of the three outermost
planets), give the time of the symbolical "building of the Temple of
Sol-o-Mon" (the Sun of Man): 84 years — the period of Uranus'
revolution around the Sun. Two 28-year cycles (one 56-year) constitute,
according to Mr. McGrath, the major business cycle. This cycle equals
three nodal cycles of 18.6 years each and five sunspot cycles of 11.2
years each. Such correspondences throw light upon the significance of
Neptune, when fully understood; as the sidereal period of Neptune equals
three 56-year periods.
All
these cycles, which can be considered as higher "Moons," are
most important in the study of "cosmic personality:" for they
symbolize "functions of linkage" between the soul-energies
which, when fully integrated, are the substance of this "cosmic
personality:" so conveniently symbolized for us by the complex
pattern of the solar system as understood from the Earth. Such
"functions of linkage" were held esoteric and mysteriously
sacred in archaic cosmo-psychology. Thus the "mystery of the
Moon."
This
mystery, for the ancients, resided in the attribution of the Moon as a
polar opposite to Saturn. When mankind was functioning purely at the
physiological level, and mind was hardly an independent
factor or a basis for the focalization of life-energies, then it was
indeed the Moon which, as the Mother-force, animated the egos (the
Saturnian boundaries) of men. Men are still, psychologically, within the
womb of the Mother — and this at the
physiological-instinctual (Mars-Venus) level of operation. But as men
become mentally polarized and rise out of the psychological Mother-womb
into the realm of pure energy and independent thought, then they become
progressively filled with the power of the solar photosphere. Their
Saturnian egos become illumined, and the ''higher Moon:'' Lucifer
(i.e., Light Bearer), "bears light" to them, the light of the
correlated Jupiter and Mercury. A next step in spiritual development will
make them illumined by the power of the Kundalini
Moon (Isis?) linking Saturn and the solar photosphere; another step will
see them vitalized by the correlation Uranus-Sun (Osiris?). We believe
that the "mystery-planet behind the moon" was no planet, but this second
"Moon" which we called Lucifer —
the Jupiter-Mercury link. The asteroids are the remnants
— or are they not rather
the prenatal condition? — of this Lucifer. May not the myriads of asteroids
be a symbol of the scattered state of men's psycho-mental energies, or
soul-forces? The Great Work of the spirit is the integration of these
scattered soul-forces into a spiritual organism, a "temple of the
living God." Thus every man must integrate within himself these
"asteroids" and make them into a "Moon" through which
the power of soul (Jupiter) and the power of mind (Mercury) will be
correlated and made cyclically operative.
After
this preliminary work of psycho-mental integration, concentration, or yoga,
will come a further stage — symbolized by Kundalini-Isis. The veil of Isis is then to be
lifted by the candidate to initiation. Man finds himself surrounded by
the halo of the living God, by the multi-flamed radiance of the Corona.
Finally man himself becomes a Sun. His heart beats in unison with the
"heart of the Sun."
The physical moon represents normal mankind today. The three "higher
Moons" stand for the three stages of Masonic initiation: Apprentice
— Companion
— Master. These stages
symbolize ritualistically the three basic phases of the process of
personalityintegration — of the
gestation of the "Living God," the Christ-child, within the
psyche.
1.
Psychological Types, p. 540.
The
Astrology of Personality
