posted March 01, 2004 10:41 PM              

The Esoteric Astrologer Newsletter
 ~ Commentaries on Living through the Science of Esoteric Astrology and the Seven Rays ~
www.esotericastrologer.org

March, 2004.

Full Moon  Pisces 2004

Friends and fellow students of Esoteric Astrology,

        We come around again to the last part of the cycle for the spiritual year in Pisces, the Fishes. In entering these signs continually year after year one would think that it has all been said before, in terms of the keynote of the signs and this is true to a degree. But the fact remains that the signs are infinite in penetrating further into their understanding. We can know something theoretically about a sign, but do we really understand it from the experiential viewpoint? Can we really comprehend a sign’s energetics both from the theoretical as well as the experiential?

As we are all at various stages of our unfoldment upon the Path, with varying karma – personal and group, we will be responding to the planetary rulers of the signs at a personality or soul level – or both, or even high at the ‘spirit-level’ if you will excuse the pun – (how ‘truly’ do we build the causal body?)

Each year at any of the full moon festivals, the archetypal forces of the signs will always be modified by the planetary patterns in the heavens at that time. And of course the world and ourselves are not the same as we were a year ago. We may have better equipped ourselves to respond (or not) to these astrological influences, which are in reality great groupings of angelic lives that make up the zodiac. Pause for a moment to consider this. These angel hierarchies or signs are the livingness which transmit the energies of the rays and planets to our Earth; they guide and help direct human evolution; they are separate to human evolution, yet we are intimately associated with them.

These basic facts of occultism show us how much there is to learn about the mysteries of astrology – most of us know intuitively and mystically that ‘it works’, yet occultism and the ageless wisdom show us the ‘nuts and bolts’of how it operates.

As we approach the end of this 2,160-year Age of Pisces, humanity will be shifting its thought from the mystical Piscean approach to the far more Aquarian scientific and occult. Basically we can correlate the watery emotional-astral and heart-centred consciousness with Mysticism, whilst the fiery mental head-centered consciousness equates more with Occultism - both streams need to be balanced within like the simplicity of the yin and yang that underlies all life.

The Age of Pisces saw much idealism, indeed this sign is a major conduit for the sixth ray of the same name. Of course ideal and reality can be worlds apart, so there can be a dichotomy – pointing to Pisces as a major expression of duality, symbolised by the two fishes.

In religion, the essential interpretation of the ‘ideal’ is the sensing of that direct emotional experience of God, of that which transcends the everyday world - “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Of course the theology of god is the millions of words and books written that have created a barrier of the lower mind to any direct intuitive or sensed experience of ‘god’ via the soul.

This is a temporary problem peculiar to the current unfoldment of human consciousness. On the one hand we all aspire to a direct experience of god or soul, yet the developing mind of humanity wants to understand that in more concrete terms as well. It is the very development of this mind that will eventually contribute to an overall understanding.

This fundamental duality expressed through the heart or head finds its expression in religion and science. Both areas relate to the department of the Christ and the Mahachohan respectively. In Religion it is expressed all the way from blind emotional devotion through to the mystical visionary. Religion also has a ‘scientific’ side through the theology created by the lower mind. The combination of both can bring about a very powerful adherence to ideas which are really ideals and of course, the development of fanaticism and fundamentalism.

In Science it is expressed mostly as a concrete mental focus that accepts tangible evidence and denies the intangible – the seen versus the unseen. It also has a ‘religious’ side through the powerful emotional defence of those ideas as ‘reality’; everyone must bow before the great god of science.

This has created a temporary imbalance in the world, yet we have been told that eventually the ‘proof’of the soul will be bought about scientifically - by a nation that has the fifth ray strong in its make-up (France, 5th ray soul).

Yet in the days of old the Masters tell us, there was no split between science and religion. H.P. Blavatsky says in Isis Unveiled:

“…religion and science were closer knit than twins in days of old; that they were one in two and two in one from the very moment of their conception. With mutually convertible attributes, science was spiritual and religion was scientific … The fruit of the Tree of Knowledge gives death without the fruit of the Tree of Life. Man must know himself before he can hope to know the ultimate genesis even of beings and powers less developed in their inner nature than himself. So [it is] with religion and science; united two in one they were infallible, for the spiritual intuition was there to supply the limitations of physical senses. Separated, exact science rejects the help of the inner voice, while religion becomes merely dogmatic theology -- each is but a corpse without a soul.”[1]

Several major religions have come forth in Pisces, if we count Buddhism which technically came forth in Aries, but nevertheless, under the influence of a long cycle of the sixth ray, which it shares with Christianity and Islam. The more pacific expression of Neptune and the sixth ray seems to have stayed with Buddhism, whilst the martial expression of the sixth ray has been the major force with the latter two.

Currently Mel Gibson’s film (released during Pisces), The Passion of the Christ, is making waves around the world, focussing on the last twelve hours of His life. The major furore seems to be on two themes (this author has not seen it) – (a) A focus on the physical suffering of Jesus, and (b) Jew-blaming.

With the bloody and apparently quite shocking violence, one is reminded of some comments by the Master D.K.:

“… the influence of Mars upon Christianity, making it a definitely militant religion, oft cruel and sadistic (as witness the murders and tortures carried out in the name of Christ, who was the outstanding Representative of God's love). Throughout the teaching of Christian theology, the theme of blood runs ceaselessly and the source of salvation is laid upon the blood relationship and not upon the life aspect which the blood veils and symbolises. It is the creed of a crucified and dead Christ which rules Christianity and not that of the risen Master. One of the reasons for this travesty of the truth has been that St. Paul, that great initiate, prior to taking the third initiation which he did at the time he was functioning as related in The Acts of the Apostles, was potently under Martian influence and was born in Scorpio; a study of his horoscope would demonstrate this were you in a position to study as can we who are connected with the Hierarchy. It was he who gave the Scorpio-Mars slant to the interpretation and exposition of the Christian teaching and deflected its energy into channels of teaching which its Founder had never intended.”[2]

A look at Mel Gibson’s chart is most telling, with a Mars-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio and his progressed Sun having just entered Pisces - in the ninth house of philosophy and religion. Transiting Uranus criss-crossed this progressed Sun for most of 2003 when the movie was being made.

Gibson also has sixth ray ruler Neptune in the first degree of Scorpio – at the point of a T-square from Uranus and a Mercury-Chiron conjunction. This says much about his devotional qualities that have made him embrace the particular form of Catholocism he epsouses. (He also played an ex-catholic priest in Signs) It also tells us somewhat of maya and how the blind can lead the blind. Both Neptune and Scorpio in exoteric and esoteric astrology relate primarily to the glamours of the astral plane.

Neptune is also the esoteric ruler of his Cancer rising sign and both planet and sign can be quite mediumistic. Indeed, Gibson did make a remark about the ‘Holy Ghost’ working through him whilst making the movie.

Mel Gibson

This T-square also points to Gibson’s great popularity and success in the Neptune-ruled movie business. And of course, the powerful Mars-Saturn in Scorpio have given us Mad Max and Braveheart.

Gibson’s Sun in Capricorn sits directly opposite his rising sign, a position hinted at by The Tibetan as pointing to the first degree initiation or around that period:

“It might then be possible to discover whether the particular life in which a man carries forward the process of reversal …It would also be interesting to make an analysis of those particular incarnations and their horoscopes wherein the polar opposites both appear in relation to each other—one as the sun sign and the other as the ascendant, for these lives usually express some degree of either equilibrium or of consummation; they will not in any case be negative lives or lacking in direction, event or purpose.”[3]

There is no question about Gibson’s aspiration, sincerity, deep devotion and faith. He is well informed, albeit in a very doctrinaire way. This process of being informed relates very much to the Pisces-Virgo axis pairing and using right discrimination.

In Pisces there is the intuitive, mystical apprehension of an idea quite often through a profound experiential event in one’s life. It could be a vision, the voice of God speaking within the heart and so on. Earth-sign Virgo (exoterically) provides the analytical and discriminating mind through which that experience is anchored. And herein lie some problems.

One can be too polarised in Pisces and not be anchored in discrimination. (Edgar Cayce was a good example of this) Or, too polarised in Virgo and block out any intuition through the over-rational mind. (Witness the mountain of Christian theology!) This relates also to the earlier discussion about mysticism and occultism and to the whole realm of maya, glamour and illusion.

How ‘purely’ have we perceived the original idea via the intuition? It is interpreted through all the filters within our as yet, nowhere near ‘redeemed’ astral and mental bodies, plus our cultural and family conditioning.

Having perceived the original idea, how far have we gone in informing ourselves via the concrete, judicial, weighing mind? Anything that does or does not ring true is ever relative to our level of informed-ness. Hence the importance of mainstream media and alternative media, discussed in another newsletter around this time last year. Are we going to believe the latest conspiracy theory just because a respected commentator said so? Are we going to follow up that line of enquiry for ourselves or leave it on the back-burner for now? Or will we simply toss off uninformed opinions and become opinionated, i.e. ‘obstinate or conceited with regard to one's opinions; conceitedly dogmatic’.

The glamours surrounding religion are immense. We grow up being indoctrinated by their distortions of the truth yet it must be acknowledged that we also pick up some fundamental positive essences. Nevertheless, informed groups have the potential to clear away the maya that darken Humanity’s lighted goal, through the power of thought.

One initiative in this direction is the University of the Seven Rays’ annual conference in Phoenix this March - on the theme of the New World Religion. This author has been generously sponsored to attend and will be presenting material on religion in general, the esoteric interpretation of Genesis, astrology and one main area of inquiry, The History of the Jewish Race: From the First Solar System to Israel.

This is one of the most contentious areas for students of occultism and lay people alike. There has been so much misinformation, propaganda and distortion around this theme which results in some of the debates that we see with Gibson’s new movie, the rise of anti-Jewish sentiments in Europe and the Middle East. Prominent Jews however have acknowledged that the movie and Gibson are not in their opinion anti-Jewish - it just has the potential to inflame wider world events they say.

Frequently those who purport to be students of the Tibetan Master, D.K., outrightly dismiss his comments on the Jewish race, saying all manner of things (influenced from cultural or media conditioning to ‘political correctness’), including that it must have been Alice Bailey’s personal bias. Any serious student of these teachings will recognise that DK praises equally as he criticises – all nations and cultures. Again, it comes back to our filters, our level of informed-ness or believing what we want to believe.

Nevertheless, it is appropriate that this topic will be discussed at the USR conference during Jewish Passover and Christian Easter, the Aries full moon. Uta Gabay, a student of the ageless wisdom, is a German Jew who has chosen to live in Jerusalem and who has initiated a wisdom school. Her presence and perspective at this conference will be invaluable as one who straddles both worlds.

On another note, the orgy of the Oscars has just run its course of self-congratulation and ‘glamour’. It is probably most appropriate that the new date for the ceremonies has been moved to Pisces. As an Aussie marooned on the shores of New Zealand these past few years, one cannot resist a little vicarious pride in seeing the great success of the Lord of the Rings come forth from the heart of this nation. Oscars host Billy Crystal cracked toward the end, ‘there’s no one left in New Zealand to thank!’

Director Peter Jackson (Oct 31, 1961, Wellington, NZ. Time unknown) has been the wizard who has coordinated this breathtaking project through his team of ‘hobbits’, yet his genius probably cannot be fully appreciated. Jackson has Sun and Neptune conjunct in Scorpio creating somewhat of the master visionary. It is possible that he is Cancer or Taurus rising, and if the former, like Gibson, would have Neptune as esoteric ruler. Also, like Gibson, he has Mars in Scorpio and essentially the trilogy is a war movie depicting the most awesome battles and triumph over evil.

As may have been remarked in a previous newsletter, Tolkien seems to have tapped into the racial memory to conjure up these tales that have a distinctly Atlantean flavour to them. That war, upon which the Hindu Mahabharata epic is based and from which the Bhagavad Gita derives, essentially details the war between the forces of darkness and light. Giants, goblins, trolls and orcs were probably still quite extant in those days, esoterically over a million years ago. New Zealand is one of the few surviving remnants of ancient Lemuria (pre-Atlantis) – whether that is relevant or not is unknown, but certainly lends itself well to the mystique of these movies.

A Virgo personality is the New Zealand ‘can do’, DIY, craftsperson, hobbit – all pairing nicely with polar-opposite Piscean movie themes - and probably the guarantee of many more projects. As Gemini is the soul ruler of this nation, media of all kinds is its spiritual purpose and these movie initiatives are part of that.

A few famous personalities with Sun in Pisces: Albert Einstein, Alexander Bell, Johnny Cash, Edgar Cayce, Meher Baba, Michelangelo, Curt Cobain, Mikhael Gorbachev, Manly Palmer Hall, Lou Reed, Rudolph Steiner, George Washington.

Natasha
Taurus