*
A CLASSIFICATION OF ASTROLOGICAL VIEWPOINTS
Three Types of Astrology
The foregoing study of the three basic types of planetary motion and of their relative significances in terms of astrological symbolism will enable us to bring order into a confused situation which disturbs the minds of most students of astrology. The reason for this confusion is the fact that astrology stands at a turning point; that a generalized attempt is being made to reformulate it in terms of values acceptable to the modern mind; and that in such an attempt no line of demarcation has been established between normally conflicting points of view.
Every phase of life and every type of knowledge can be approached from at least three basic directions, emphasizing respectively the individual, the collective and the creative attitude — the latter being again susceptible of at least a two-fold interpretation. Each of these attitudes, corresponding to definite human types (psychologically and physiologically), stresses its own particular point of view, and forgets about the others or denies their validity. Especially as we enter the realm of such unorthodox types of knowledge as astrology and, we might say in general, occultism or esoteric philosophy, do the conflicting points of view appear still more irreducible, because there is less common experience and common evidence to transform ideas into facts, hypotheses into laws. It is therefore particularly necessary, if chaos is to be avoided, to have recourse to some sort of classification of points of view which will leave room for everybody and somehow relate all individual or group efforts in terms of an all-inclusive pattern inherent in the nature of the things studied.
The realization that astrology deals essentially with the motions of celestial bodies will help us to evolve such a classification. If we recognize three basic types of planetary motion, then we may so extend their respective significances as to be able to characterize in terms of such motions three essential approaches to astrology. One type of astrology will function primarily in terms of axial motion, and stress the individual factor in a man (natal astrology) or in a situation (horary astrology). Another type will emphasize every element connected with orbital revolution, with the Sun and the ecliptic, and stress the collective factor in the behavior of man and in the influence determining this behavior. Still another type — very little developed as yet — will be of a more occult character and deal with vast planetary factors, with the cosmic (spiritual and creative) influence of stars and Divine Hierarchies, — or else with occultly perceived symbols revealing the creative significance of every astrological factor.
Each type should normally and logically evolve its own technique of interpretation, its procedure in the application of general principles to particular cases, its tables of data; and it would naturally stress its own basic factors, even to the point of practically recognizing no significance to the special factors which are strictly the products of the other types' emphases. There is nothing absolutely wrong in such a focalization. Nevertheless, someone ought to have enough philosophical understanding and a broad enough vision to grasp the total situation, and to state, for the benefit of all, the relative significance of the diverse methods, techniques, and theoretical emphases or exclusions.
We cannot hope to achieve this result in a complete and fully satisfactory manner, any more than we could in our distressingly brief survey of the historical background of astrology (Chapter 1) produce an adequate picture of the growth and evolution of astrology in the past. At the same time, we hope to be able to convey in the following a sketchy, yet inclusive idea of the most fundamental characteristics of those branches of present-day astrology which seem consistent, fruitful and valid.
Astrology of the Individual
This includes especially the astrology of the individual human being (natal astrology) and the astrology of the individual situation (horary astrology).
In a way, this is the most inclusive type, at least potentially. As "horary astrology" it can be applied to any kind of situation, and as "natal astrology" it can refer to the "birth" of any entity, atomic, human or cosmic. But more specifically, what we mean by "astrology of the individual" is a type of approach which stresses individual characteristics and an individual interpretation thereof. It will stress values which are related to the axial motion of the earth.
"Horary astrology" is the type of astrological practice in which the astrologer judges the elements of a particular situation, their probable development in the near future, and thus is able to advise his client as to what is the best solution of any problem involved in the situation at hand. It means casting a chart for the time the situation is brought to the attention of the astrologer. The chart is interpreted primarily from the point of view of the "houses" (products of the axial rotation of the Earth), of the planetary rulership thereof, and mostly according to an individual technique. The factor of individual interpretation is all-important. Horary astrology depends for its validity entirely upon the "personal equation" of the astrologer. It is the most strictly individualistic type of astrology — even though it obeys rather rigid rules of interpretation.
"Natal astrology," in the strictest sense of the term, refers to individual birth-moments. It demands as a prerequisite absolute accuracy in the knowledge of the moment of the "first breath" — the moment when the human being reaches the condition of individual or at least independent existence. Such absolute accuracy is necessary to establish beyond doubt the framework of the houses, — the very framework of the native's individual selfhood and unique destiny. It is true, of course, that collective factors, derived from the position of Sun, planets, zodiacal signs, etc., are used; but even those are specifically related to the development of an individual situation: the native's life. Besides, natal astrology presupposes to a large extent a knowledge of the collective environment and nature of the individual studied (just as horary astrology presupposes a "question" establishing the general situation under consideration). For, without such a knowledge, the astrologer has no way of telling whether the natal chart refers to a man or an animal, to a creature of the slums or to a highly cultured aristocrat. Therefore without a general knowledge of the species, race and class of the native, natal astrology can be only very vague, and does not fulfill its function, which is to release and increase the significance of an individual destiny and of a unique personality — thus enhancing its individualness and its uniqueness.
Such a true natal astrology is therefore based essentially on psychological understanding. It deals with subjective interpretation of objective facts. It is a system of creative life-interpretation and creative symbolism applied to an individual personality. Theoretically, it stresses factors derived from the rotation of the earth around the polar axis, just as it studies a human being as a complex of attributes and tendencies centered more or less adequately around an individual axis, the "I am" or ego, the spine and cerebro-spinal system of this human being.
It is this type of astrology which we shall especially study in the remainder of this book.
Astrology of the Collective
This is, generally speaking, "natural" or "mundane astrology," the type which was associated with the birth of human cultivation and culture. It gave birth to an Agricultural Calendar based on a study of the modifications of the life-force — especially of the influences of Sun and Moon. It later became the symbol of an ethical and spiritual Law. As "natural" astrology it refers to changes in seasons, climate, weather; as "mundane" astrology it deals with the rise and fall of kingdoms and nations, and with the determination of vast influences molding the temper of groups and collectivities.
Two points are outstanding in an evaluation of such a type of astrology: 1) It deals with actual influences, with rays and magnetic currents which are said to emanate from Sun, stars and planets, and to produce changes in all Earth-beings. These changes are at first physiological, but they react at once on the psyche — mainly on the emotions. 2) Its approach is thus essentially objective, which makes it amenable to "scientific" treatment. That is to say, it is largely experimental. It develops by means of statistical judgments, and can be checked up by objective tests of a sort and by measurements. Its mode of operation is not essentially different from that of sciences dealing with telluric forces, earthquakes, weather, and all more or less cyclic changes of conditions affecting all biological species on Earth. It deals with the collective moods of men and nations, just as other sciences deal with the secular growth of trees, rocks and continents. It deals with human collectivities, or human psychological changes in the collective.
As already mentioned, the most clear-cut manifestation of such an astrology is seen in the work of T. O. McGrath, in his studies of the cycles of business in correspondence with Sun-spot cycles (11.2 years), with the Moon nodes cycle (18.6 years), and with two other cycles of 40 months and of 56 years respectively. He does not call his work "astrology," because it deals with the heliocentric positions of the planets — which are seen much as triggers releasing solar operations, and because in general, the approach is purely statistical and concrete. Sun, stars and planets are huge magnets; their motions release electrical forces. The solar system as a whole, and the surroundings of each planet in particular, are seen as vast, magnetic fields, interacting upon each other. The whole science is that of "cosmic electro-dynamics."
Edward Johndro, a radio engineer, was perhaps the first to develop this approach to a point of great complexity. He does not entirely leave the field of natal astrology. But even when dealing with individual nativities, he apparently stresses almost exclusively the play of collective and concrete factors within the individual. For instance the geographical location — the place of residence of the person — is made to be of paramount importance: man is seen almost completely as product of an environment, as a mere unit in a vast system of planetary and celestial relationships, a particular example of the genus homo sapiens. Another Kabbalist and astrologer, Paul Counsil, is following the same line of approach; and a number of other workers in that field are developing it steadily.
They specialize, however, in mundane problems: In the determination of earthquakes, the "birth-charts" of cities and nations, and all matters affecting human collectivities. They are usually very proud of being "scientific" or "mathematical" — though, as a matter of fact, they are not "mathematical" in the deepest sense of the term, but rather exponents of an extended system of electro-dynamics, which considers the push and pull of planets upon each other as very real and concrete, even if stated in terms of electrical forces rather than as Newtonian gravitation. They are dealing not with "symbols" — as the most recent type of atomic physics is wont to do — but with "vital forces" emanating from stars and Sun.
In such a type of astrology the Sun occupies normally a most strikingly conspicuous position as the source of the life-force of the whole system. The approach is logically, in most cases, heliocentric. What is studied is, first of all, solar emanations; and the planets act largely as reflectors or stimulants to solar discharges. In the old Ptolemaic astrology the Sun was seen as the focal point of the zodiac, a band of the skies extending over 23 degrees each side of the ecliptic. The zodiac was the realm of the Sun. Within its boundaries all planets appeared to move. Projected on the Earth globe, it was the equatorial belt — also the realm of the Sun. Thus while "astrology of the individual" refers more especially to the polar axis, "astrology of the collective" deals primarily with equatorial forces. In man these forces are those acting through the Great Sympathetic system and mainly the solar plexus (and other centers). In Hindu yoga, these centers are the "lotuses" or chakras. But two systems are to be differentiated: the system that deals with these "lotuses" which are foci of collective consciousness and being; and the system that deals with centers in the spine. A third system of "centers" can also apparently be found within the head — giving us again our three basic terms: collective, individual and creative.
In the new type of "astrology of the collective" the problem is more complex. The Sun is even more the focal point of the study; but a planetary zodiac and a solar zodiac have apparently to be used in order to make matters logical and coherent — defining respectively the magnetic field of the Earth enveloping the Earth, and that of the Sun encompassing the entire solar system. Ptolemaic astrology, nevertheless, still dominates the ordinary present day astrology; and it is obvious that it must do so because of practical considerations as well as because of the level at which most human beings still live — a physiological, equatorial and collective level. First, for the purpose of quick and professionally cheap astrological interpretation, it is evident that nothing more than "Sun-sign readings" can be offered: solar-plexus, emotional-vital, equatorial readings which deal with twelve basic types of racial instincts and of collective focalizations energy. Then, very few persons know their exact birth-moment, which makes an accurate reading in terms of axial-rotation factors (Houses, Ascendant, Parts, etc.) impossible. Thus the strictly individual factor remains in doubt; very often it is a mere potentiality and can be seen only in terms of "pattern of fated circumstances." Collective-equatorial astrology is the one befitting persons who live a purely collective life.
Collective life, in our age of racial and cultural disintegration, means ordinarily a chaotic, hectic life driven at the mad tempo of city-behavior. But in ancient times it meant focalization of a higher collectivity — the collectivity of perfected ancestors in one sense; a vast Celestial Hierarchy, in a still more remote (yet also "ancestral") sense. Such a man became a Mediator between heaven and Earth. Which leads us to a third type of approach to astrology.
Occult Astrology
Occult astrology should not be considered entirely apart from the two preceding types, any more than one can ever consider the creative apart from the individual and the collective. We have seen that the gyration of the Poles is determined by a combination of factors: mainly, the rotation of the planet around its axis and the gravitational pull of the Sun (and the Moon) upon the bulging equatorial belt (which bulging is again a result of the axial rotation and the centrifugal forces it generates). Likewise the occult approach to astrology — or to anything, for that matter! — is determined by the quality of the individual's approach and the level of the collective instincts (inherited vitality) which the individual focalizes.
In archaic times the consciousness of men was centered essentially at the physiological level. Intelligence was then organic instinct made conscious, then progressively abstracted from particular conditions and endowed with universal significance. This process was really what was meant by Initiation. As the result of Initiation man was able to project his conscious and universalized instincts upon the celestial sphere — the Body of God (Macrocosm and Macroprosopus in the Kabbala). But also he was able to receive the Body of God within his own earthly organism. In other words, the universal became particular, inasmuch as the particular had become universal. And the reverse was also believed to be true: Because the universal — God and the Celestial Hierarchies of Builders — had projected Itself upon the Earth, out of this Earth had been evolved a creature made into the likeness of the archetypal celestial world and of its Hierarchies — into the very likeness of God; a microcosm, in potentiality however, not in actuality — until by following the first mentioned process of initiation, the potential "likeness of God" became energized by the creative will of the "I am" latent in every man, and appeared as an actual spiritual fact — the so-called Christ-body.
To explain this double process fully would require an entire volume, which in fact would mean very little until the process itself had been experienced; but the main thing to grasp is that it involves: 1) a structural focalization of the universal as a prototype latent within man's earthly body; 2) an expansion of consciousness from the particular ego-consciousness into an organic universal consciousness. These two processes may be called involution and evolution. Involution means here the building by the Celestial Hierarchies of an "astral" prototype within the earthly man as man's potential form of divinity. On the other hand, evolution refers to the expansion and universalization of man's consciousness, through the efforts of his own individual "I am:" until this "I am:" having assimilated the power of all the divine "virtues" or Rays, becomes self-identified with and an avatar of God.
Occult astrology (when properly understood!) clears up much that is confusing and intricate in these two processes. The involutionary process refers to the equatorial realm and the zodiac; the evolutionary process, to the polar axis and its motions. So far, there has been practically no direct mention anywhere of the astrological factors involved in this occult evolutionary process. All that has been mentioned has been the change of instinctual level of mankind coinciding with the entrance of the Sun, by the precession of the equinoxes, into zodiacal constellations. This, however, is only one half of the story, a consequence rather than a cause. Again let us repeat that the cause of the precession of the equinoxes is the gyration of the polar axis.
The zodiac, in the Ptolemaic system, is a belt of creative fire surrounding the earth, this fire being focalized upon our planet by the disc of the Sun — the Sun being a mere lens through which the zodiacal Whole focalizes its twelve-fold energy upon the Earth. The zodiacal Hierarchies are hierarchies of Builders — Cosmocreatores as they are called. They constitute together the Cosmic Formative Power (Mahat in Sanskrit). In music they are symbolized by the Cycle of 12 Fifths, which rules over the sequence of "tonalities," the cycle of 12 "lyus" which constitute the basis of Chinese music. They are the series of Great Ancestors, the Patriarchs of the Bible and of Hindu cosmogony, the Twelve Gates of the "Holy City" within man's "Christ-body," etc. They refer to the Great Sympathetic system and its "lotuses" (two Hierarchies for each "lotus," as well as two zodiacal signs ruled by each planet — Sun-Moon being symbolically one planet). Most particularly do they refer to the solar plexus and the diaphragm: the equatorial belt within which "tropical" passions, above (heart) and below (sex), centralize. In and through the zodiac, earth-substance becomes Man. But along the path of the polar axis, the "tree" of the "I am," Man polarizes himself in turn to the seven great Rays of the Logos or God. He identifies himself with the seven Rays and the seven Avatars of the Cosmic Christ (or Vishnu) — and becomes the eight — Krishna, the Human Christ, the Living God, Ishvara-in-the-body.
Thus while the zodiacal Hierarchies are, in cosmic symbology, the Builders of the human bodies or vehicles (represented allegorically in the Bible by the "Tabernacle in the Wilderness" and the "Temple of Solomon"), (1) the Stars of the Eternal Abode (North Pole) symbolize the Spiritual Teachers and Avatars who, one by one, according to the principle of the Permutation of Rays, arouse and energize Man's "I am." It is they who personify the great occult energies of the Dragon of Wisdom (the constellation Draco) whose head points to Wega, whose tail separates the Great Bear from the Little Bear, and whose fore-body curves around the pole of the ecliptic — the Great Empty. This is the "Central Palace" of Chinese cosmogony, Tien-ki, whose color is purple.
While on this subject of Rays, which esotericists have so badly mistreated, we may be allowed to quote from The Secret Doctrine, where the teaching apparently first appeared in its modern theosophical form:
"The star under which a human Entity is born, says the Occult teaching, will remain forever its star, throughout the whole cycle of its incarnations in one Manvantara. But this is not his astrological star. The latter is concerned and connected with the personality, the former with the INDIVIDUALITY. The 'Angel' of that Star, or the Dhyani-Buddha, will be either the guiding or simply the presiding 'Angel,' so to say, in every new rebirth of the monad, which is part of his own essence, though his vehicle, man, may remain forever ignorant of this fact. The adepts have each their Dhyani-Buddha, their elder 'twin Soul,' and they know it, calling it 'Father-Soul' and 'Father-Fire.' It is only at the last and supreme initiation, however, that they learn it when placed face to face with the bright 'Image.' . . There are seven chief groups of such Dhayan Chohans, which groups will be found and recognized in every religion, for they are the primeval SEVEN Rays. . . Hence the seven chief planets, the spheres of the indwelling seven spirits, under each of which is born one of the (seven) human groups which is guided and influenced thereby."
The Secret Doctrine, V 01. I, p. 572. First Ed.
The seven "Rishis of the Great Bear" are also often correlated with the seven cosmic Rays and the seven "sacred" Planets; but it is worth noting that the constellation of the Great Bear is outside of the circle described by the North Pole. The symbology of these constellations around and partly inside this circle is in itself a fascinating subject for study. Of all, Draco is presumably the most sacred and mysterious. The body of the Dragon cuts the circle of polar gyration about the place where the North Pole was in 3102 B.C. — the beginning of the great cycle of Kali Yuga, in Hindu cosmogony. This is perhaps to be considered, if not as the beginning of the whole polar cycle, at least as that of one of its main divisions.
In A Treatise on Cosmic Fire, written down by Alice Bailey, there is a great deal which is given out concerning the occult approach to astrology. However, the subject is not studied as a whole, and only somewhat puzzling hints are given concerning such constellations and stars as the Great Bear, Sirius, the Pleiades, etc. We hope that the above may shed some light on a field of symbolism as yet practically untouched.
One thing, however, must be added. For the occultist these constellations and stars are not apparently symbols, but are the manifestations of cosmic Beings, Who influence our planet and mankind. In this, therefore, occult astrology is linked to mundane and vitalistic astrology — which deal with life-force, solar and cosmic Rays, and the like. At the same time, A Treatise on Cosmic Fire is based entirely on the Law of Correspondences — as are all occult works, including the Kabbala and The Secret Doctrine. But to use the Law of Correspondences is another way of using symbolism! If there is a "Correspondence" between macrocosm and microcosm, between the hair of man and the hair of the Great Man of the Heavens (as in the Kabbala) — then either one or the other of the "corresponding" objects can be considered as a "symbol" of the other; or both may be said to be equally symbolic of a purely subjective, unformulatable reality. Thus "occult astrology" is, actually and especially for all philosophically inclined students, a system of cosmic symbolism linking the equatorial and the polar natures in Man to related zones of the heavens around the Earth.
Another form of occult astrology, this time symbolical in a dramatic or actional manner, is that which has brought forth series of symbolic pictures, one for each degree of the zodiac. We shall discuss this phase of astrology at length in a later chapter. Suffice it to say here that it follows in the footsteps of the Yi King and of the whole of Chinese and Tibetan esotericism; and before them, of what is often spoke of as the Primeval Revelation of mankind. We have already considered this matter in the chapter on the "Cyclic Process" when speaking of Primordial Images and Archetypes. All of these are manifestations of the cosmic Creative — as is occult astrology. For the whole Sky itself is but one of the first and most potent Primordial Images. And it can be considered as the Creation of the One Individual, whom some call the Great Architect of the Universe, and others worship as God.
Basic Elements in "Harmonic Astrology"
After having discussed the "logical" foundation of astrological symbolism, and after having isolated the three great approaches to astrological interpretation, the three basic types of astrology, we shall now study this astrological symbolism in relation to the "astrology of the individual." More particularly, we shall show how the universally accepted elements of astrology — such as houses, zodiacal signs and planets — are to be interpreted in a type of astrology which emphasizes psychological values. We have often called such a type of astrology Harmonic Astrology, because it provides a basis for the harmonization and integration of the human psyche. It considers the birth-chart as the life-chord of the individual being and destiny it symbolizes; also we might say as the true Name of this individual being. It realizes that most human beings are living only in parts of themselves, living fragmentary, incomplete and sadly unfulfilled lives. The wholeness that they essentially are, as complete Individuals, is there — potential, archetypal, but expressed or manifested only in bits. This wholeness is the true Chord of their individual selfhood; but only a few notes of the chord are sounding at a time, some never vibrate at all, and there is no intensity or fullness in their whole lifeperformance.
To help man fulfill the wholeness of his being and perform the total score of his Destiny — such is the purpose of Harmonic Astrology. The birth-chart is the key to the wholeness of an individual and of his outer manifestation — his Destiny. It is the score of the symphony which a living man is. It is the archetypal pattern, the symbolical formula, the Signature of the whole being. It is the blueprint of the building that is his perfected selfhood — and it also contains the time-schedule according to which the various phases of the building-operation will proceed in ordered sequence — what we call the Destiny of the man.
Astrology is not merely the study of an interesting system of symbolism; nor is it essentially fortune-telling to satisfy personal curiosity. It is a practical study with a very definite — even if usually not understood — purpose. . . A vital purpose. It is, at least potentially, the foundation of a new technique of living, of a new principle of conduct (or, we might say, a new yoga) — implied already more or less in the technique of analytical psychology (Jung's technique) and hinted at in a previous chapter when we studied the dualism of ideals characterized by the terms ethical and esthetical.
As we then take such an attitude toward astrology we have to confine ourselves largely to the realm of psychological values. It is true that we cannot really separate the psyche from the body. Physiology and psychology are closely interrelated. The ancients knew this fact, but worked out the correlation in terms of subtler bodies (vital and astral, mostly). Modern science is tending to accept the idea of "magnetic field" and "electrical emanations" which — when fully worked out — will probably fulfill exactly the same function — a function of correlation — as that which gave value to the archaic or "occult" concepts.
At present, however, and considering the practical difficulty there is in applying astrology to physiology and medicine, it seems much wiser to focalize astrological interpretation at the psychological level, merely indicating the possibility of physical-organic correlations when such seem particularly obvious and of paramount influence upon psychological development.
We therefore face the human being through his birth-chart mostly as a psychological entity. He is a particular, unique being. There is no other being exactly like him. Yet we realize also that this unique being is a compound of elements which are found not only in him, but in a multitude of other beings — especially those constituting collectively his space-time environment — that is, his surroundings and his ancestors. This unique being is a particular chord, or combination, of collective elements. What is individual therefore is the structural framework within which the collective elements are organized more or less adequately. It is the form of the self. The substance, on the other hand, is of a collective nature. The body of man is made up of molecules which are parts of the vast storehouse of this Earth. The psyche of man likewise can be seen as composed of psychic elements — may we call them psychons? — which are parts of the vast reservoir formed by the collective unconscious of mankind as a whole or of definite groups within mankind (races, tribes, nations, families, churches, etc.).
We saw in the last chapter that the houses of the birth-chart, and all the elements originating from the axial rotation of the Earth, refer to the individual factor in man — to the structure of his individual selfhood. On the other hand the signs of the zodiac, and all the elements originating from the orbital revolution of the Earth, refer to the collective factor, the substance of his being. We shall now add that the planets refer to the energies which are generated by the constantly changing relation of collective to individual factors.
The zodiac is the realm of the Sun and of its planets. It is the general symbol of life-relationships, which can be expressed as gravitation. Gravitation is the symbol of relationship, of attractions and repulsions between members of a group. It is a factor which belongs symbolically to the category of "equatorial." For, as we already saw, the terms equatorial, orbital, solar refer to the same basic factor: the collective. The zodiac is thus truly a background for and an expression of the various orbital motions of the planets. It is a convenient way of patterning and recording the complex interrelationships between planet and Sun, and planets and planets.
Planets are thus, in terms of their zodiacal positions, focal points for collective energies. On the other hand, they represent in terms of their house positions (that is, by reference to the horizon and the meridian) centers of activities within the individual structure of the entire being (and destiny). Thus, as they can be interpreted according to two basic sets of reference (signs and houses) they represent the centers of forces and of activity, whose character, intensity and mode of operation are determined by the constantly changing balance of collective to individual: i.e., the personality.
For instance, Jupiter in Aries refers to a certain type of energization and activation of the type of organic substance and organic function represented by the zodiacal sign Aries. Jupiter in the seventh house refers to the fact that whatever in the consciousness and in the destiny of the individual is symbolized by the seventh house will be affected by a Jupiterian type of activity. As the seventh house refers to relationships and sensations, these will operate according to an expansive Jupiterian rhythm; and the native will have associates and partners who will expand his viewpoint and his sphere of action.
What we call today "personality" is a synthesis of patterns of behavior. It is the sum total of all the outer motions and emotions of the human being: The total rhythm of his life-operations — from the way he walks and twitches his lips, to his behavior on the battlefield or on a concert platform. It is a complex of activities. Without activity there could be no "personality." And personality behavior is obviously a blend of inherited and environmental influences operating within an abstract structure of selfhood — the individual factor. Likewise, the planets are characterized as to their nature by their zodiacal positions, and they operate in particular ways according to their positions in the structure of the houses. The sum total of the planets including the Sun and Moon — the planetary pattern, as we call it — represents thus the personality as a whole.
The reader will probably infer from the preceding that the planetary pattern stands therefore for our third basic term: the creative. It does, but only potentially. It represents activity, first of all. But activity need not have the significance of creativeness. Everybody is active, but how many are creative? Creativeness is the significant activity of a relatively individuated personality. The element of Significance is there to be emphasized and, as we shall see presently, this element is to be revealed by the symbols of the degrees which are energized and brought out by the activity of the planets located thereon. The planet, however, need not, and very often does not, bring out the symbolic significance of the degree, in which case the type of activity represented by the planet is not creative. The human personality has not reached the point of even relative individuation, and the individual has not yet the power to give to his life and destiny a creative significance.
1. Cf. A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A. Bailey, p. 934 and elsewhere.
2. We are no longer mentioning the gyration of the poles and the factors associated with it, for those refer to the planetary Creative and to generic changes affecting Man-in-the-whole, not a particular personality.
