We’re approaching an alignment of gravitational fields.  It will come exact on the 20th.  Some would refer to it as an alignment with our Galactic Center.  I know  a lot of us don’t think about it but our sun revolves in its own orbit around another star system and of course, that star system revolves around another…and that’s the way the ‘chain’ works all the way to the central core.  Wheels, within wheels, within wheels.

I’m already ‘getting whiffs’ of this one.  The best I can describe the energy of it is to say “Know”, which also sounds a LOT like “No”, which tells me it’s going to be a flip of the coin.  We can either choose to ‘know’ or get used to hearing ‘no’ to our desires.

You could say the poles are shifting.  For Ages Humanity has been focused and directed towards being sons of Man.  Now the focus of Humanity is shifting to being focused and directed towards being sons of God.  It’s a Whole shift in awareness.

A lot of us have been imagining ‘Oneness’ in laalaa terms of getting something, like “being one with someone” means staking a claim to some fruit of life.  It’s in terms of ‘taking’.  We also tend to understand it in terms of what our personalities desire.  We have not learned the understanding of Desire, nor understand the effects in our pursuit of it, as it relates to Willfullness.  We aspire to achievements and rewards we have yet to achieve.  And we all know the story about the kid who thought he was big enough to drive his father’s chariot across the heavens.  

 What Genuine Oneness is all about, has to do what what we’ve got to give, what we’ve got of inner substance to express.    Not how positive we are but how embracing we are of BOTH negative and positive.  Is our Understanding limited?   Is our Acceptance limited?  Is our Tolerance limited?  Is our Forgiveness limited?  Is our Mercy limited?

Polarity is over.  It’s not about choosing positive over negative.  It’s about being able to embrace both, in understanding, acceptance and tolerance.

The reason we grow a tree that produces sweet fruit is not to feed everyone else who doesn’t know how to grow their own tree.   The reason we grow a tree that produces sweet fruit is to show how it’s done.  So there will be more trees producing sweeter fruits.  No fruit falls far from its tree.  And that applies to the fruits of our experiences having much to do with our seedthoughts.

We don’t feed a man a fish, we teach him how.

(then he’ll spend all day out fishing and drinking beer)

The entire history of the Universe can be written in 4 words: God, Sex, Law and Sin.

God – the Whole.  Sex – the Attraction between parts of that Whole.  Law – the Habits of the Whole.  And Sin – the Revolt of a unit against the Whole.

Aries – The Capture of the Man-Eating Mares

Diomedes, the son of Mars, owned a large number of brood mares.  These mares ran wild throughout the countryside, creating terror wherever they went.  Living on human flesh, they were devastating.  Worse then this though, was the fact they were breeding large numbers of warhorses.  And had eluded all previous efforts to be caught.

Eurystheus, the King of Argos, ordered Hercules to capture the mares as his first labor.  Hercules chose to take his friend, Abderis with him and together then went to round the mares up.  They were successful and, filled with Joy, Hercules left Abderis in charge of them while he ran to tell the king.  Abderis couldn’t hold them and got trampled to death.

Hercules eventually rounds up the mares again but is grieved for the loss of his friend, making his first labor only a partial success.

This is the sign of initiation, of commencement.  The spark plug that starts the engines of desire.  The urge to Create.  The Power that Begins a cycle of Birth.

Hercules rushes in with bravado, initiative and impulse…

The mares symbolize our unbridled mind, the feminine side of our mental nature that gives birth to ideas and concepts, our imaginations.  Which if let loose without Wisdom often leads to ill chosen actions, wrongly spoken words and disasters. 

Hercules gives control of the wild mares to Abderis, who represents his human self but it takes Hercules, his ‘Soul’s Glory’ and Abderis working together, to hold the mares.    

On one level, the tone of Aries carries with it the tone of Mars.  Hercules takes his stand, a warrior, the pioneering and adventuring spirit characteristic of this sign.   

On another level, the tone of Aries carries with it the tone of Mercury. Aries rules the head; it is a mental sign.  Our Soul is called the Thinker.   Everything originates in thought.  The word ‘man’ comes from the Sanskrit root ‘manas’, which means ‘to think’. 

Mercury, as messenger of God, bridges that which is above with that which is below.  Mercury symbolizes all levels of Mind but is not so much active in our concrete mind due to the influence of Mars upon it.  Hercules rushed in to conflict and do battle with the mares.  Was fooled by his pride into thinking them defeated and, ended up killing his friend.  This is the legacy of the mares.  They live off human flesh and breed warhorses when left to run wild, devastating the countryside. 

The more reasoning and abstract side of our Mind and at its highest levels, symbolize our Intuition and ‘pure’ Reason.  Pure reason would be the state where there are no conflicts or contradictions in our thought processes, no separations between aspects or parts of ourselves.  No longer struggling over the choice of either a Child of God OR a Child of Man for they have merged and become One.  AND.   Hercules and Abderis working in Unity to tame and guide the wild mares.     

“The Will of the Father is Mine” would be saying the same thing, conveying the same idea.   We can let our imaginations and emotions run wild with devastating and destructive effects to ourselves and life in general or, we can reign them in.  We can rule them; govern them.  Accept the reins of Sovereignty over our inner kingdom and tame the mares with fresh apples and sugar cubes. 

When Perseus, another son of god and a son of man passed through this first gate, his task was in the form of slaying Medusa.   Again, the head is emphasized, symbolizing that it is the nature of scattered thoughts and rampant emotions to be the bane of men. 

The Tarot card that best represents this essence of Aries, is the Magician.   One hand points up, to above, indicating Creation begins with an idea, a thought.  The other hand points down, to below.  Indicating that all matter is servant to thoughts and ideas.  I add that quantum physicists are now coming to this same realization themselves, as it concerns the operation of the Unified Quantum Field. 

His enthusiasm somewhat subdued by his partial success, Hercules proceeds through to the second gate.   

Taurus – The Capture of the Cretan Bull

Hercules stands at the beginning upon the Way.
 
 “What is your name?” The Watcher asks. 

“I am Herakles, meaning Hera’s Glory”, he answers. 

“Hera’s Glory?” comments the Watcher.  “Hera means Soul, which you have yet to reveal.”

“What is a Soul?” Hercules asks the Watcher, who answers, 

“This you will discover as you do your tasks.” 

Hercules is asked his parentage, to which he replies, “My Father is divine but I know him not, only that I am his son.  My Mother I know well.  She made me what I am.”  Then goes on to say that he has a twin, another self, defining the experience of duality: child of god and child of man.  Part divine, part human.

It is the Path of reconciling the two brothers, mortal and immortal, the spiritual and the physical, which reveals both our Power and our challenges.  It is the tale of Ages:  Cain and Abel.  Castor and Pollux.  Romulus and Remus.  The theme of the Piscean Age, symbolized by the two fish bound together through a golden cord, swimming in opposite directions, is the reconciliation of the brothers.  The Unification of the polarities. 
 
 ‘Herakles’…, “I am the Glory of my Soul.”

Hercules then begins to boast.  He is educated, proficient in all the arts and sciences and skilled in the ways of the world.  He wears the skin of the lion he slew at the age of 18 and confesses he has killed all his past teachers.  He is self-determined and free of obligations.

But the Watcher warns,“Again in Leo you will meet the lion and in Gemini, the teachers you slew, while in Scorpio, you will wrestle with the demons of Desire.”  And with that warning, comes the message that Hercules is to prove himself.

The demigods (lesser buddhas of activity) approach Hercules with their various gifts. 

Minerva brings him a robe, symbolizing a vocation.  Minerva was the virgin demigod of Wisdom, War and Commerce, all ways we extend ourselves to others, through our vocations.  Be they Pure of Heart, for ‘virgin’ means ‘pure’.

The demigod Vulcan brings him a golden breast plate to guard his Heart, symbolic of Spiritual energy, the three-fold Flame of the indwelling Presence, our Sacred Heart.   Vulcan was heaven’s blacksmith, always fashioning forms and gear for the gods.  He symbolizes refinement by persistence…evolution of form.

Neptune brings him two horses, symbolic of the Mastery of Love: sensitivity without being carried away by unbridled thoughts and emotions.

The demigod Mercury brings him a sword, symbolic of the Mind, of our ability in cognitive association, mental analysis, discrimination, association and synthesis. 

And Apollo, the Sun god, brings him a bow of light and an arrow of illumination.  This gift gives him one pointed directedness or focus, on the path the arrow reveals.

Well equipped by the gods, Hercules is made ready to begin.  When he runs into the forest and makes himself a wooden club.  “This is mine.  I made it myself.”  And with the addition of this crude weapon, he begins his path along the Way. He passes through to the first gate. "font-family:Tahoma;">

 Aries – The Capture of the Man-Eating Mares

Esoteric is the study of the transpersonal.  It is perceiving life in the context of an evolving consciousness.  Life then becomes a Spiritual journey.   The founding principle of esotericism is that we are essentially Divinity incarnating in form.  We are not our stories.   We are the Reader of our stories.

There comes a point in all our lives where a Spiritual path is consciously chosen.  Our focus then becomes split, on the ‘dual’ life of our Personality and our Soul.  With our goal to blend these aspects ‘parts of ourselves’ into a unified self expression. 

Just as we each individually unfold higher understanding through life experiences, so does Humanity, as a Whole, become more enlightened.    This development can be traced through the Precessional Ages, in two and a half thousand year cycles.  For example we are moving out of the Piscean era into Aquarius and we can see world thought changing.

There are as many paths as there are branches of a tree but each have experiences in common and recognizable stages along the way.  

I’ll begin with an introduction to the Zodiac by Alice Bailey:

“The Presiding One looked forth upon the sons of men, who are the Sons of God. He saw their light and where they stood upon the Way, which leads back to the Heart of God. The Way sweeps in a circle through twelve great Gates, and, cycle after cycle, the Gates are opened and the Gates are shut. The Sons of God, who are the sons of men, march on. Dim is the light at first. Selfish the trend of human aspiration, and dark the deeds resultant. Slowly humankind learns and, in learning, passes between the pillar of the Gates time and time again …

From out the mass of men, one stood forth in ancient days and caught the presiding Elder’s watching eye…Who is that soul upon the Way of life, whose light can now be dimly seen? Watch over his steps and, when he has an understanding heart, an eager mind and skilful hand, bring him to me.

Again the centuries passed. The great wheel turned and, in turning, carried all the sons of men, who were the Sons of God, upon their way… The watching Teacher saw a man emerge… mount the fixed Cross, demanding deeds to do, service to render unto God and man, and willingness to travel the Way… Obey the Teacher on the Way. Prepare for the last tests. Pass through each Gate and in the sphere which they reveal and guard, perform the labor which befits their sphere. Learn thus the lesson and begin with love to serve the men and women of earth.”

The twelve great gates are the twelve signs of the Zodiac.  The fixed cross mentioned, is one of three.  Each cross is made up of four signs and represents a different stage in the unfolding of our awareness.

The Mutable cross is a cross of flux and change, of adapting to environment and circumstances.  It is the cross of our Personality development and where Humanity, as a Whole, has been focused.

The Fixed cross comes into play when we first become sensitive to larger issues and deeper concerns then just our Personality’s issues.  This is in response to the receptivity of spiritual impulses.  ‘Mounting the cross’ means when we have made the conscious choice to redirect our attention along the lines of our Soul life.  It represents a reorientation; a taking on of a spiritual discipline.  Because of this discipline, one who mounts the cross is called a Disciple.   This is a time of determination.  Sometimes called a time of testing.  Sometimes called a time of labors. 

The Cardinal cross is the cross of Spirit.  It represents an even more expanded stage of awarenessness, one called an ‘Initiate’, who has undergone the self directed ‘initiations’ of the Fixed Cross.

The three crosses represent Body, Soul and Spirit or Appearance, Consciousness and Life.

“Matter is the vehicle for the manifestation of the Soul on this plane of existence, and the Soul is the vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestaton of the Spirit, and these three are a trinity synthesized by life which pervades them all.”  –  The Secret Doctrine  

It’s the Fixed cross that Humanity, as a Whole, is now mounting, now transitioning to.   Because of this, I’m not going to call this a time of testing or a time of labors. I’m going to call it a time for puzzles.  Puzzles are more fun then labors or tests.  Like all puzzles, it’s so much easier to put the puzzle pieces together when you’ve got a picture to look at for reference.

There have been many stories in history of creatures born half god, half man, Divine AND human.  Even Pegasus, the winged horse, could travel both heaven and earth.  The most recent popular story was about a man called Jesus.  But there is a story of a half god half man that is even better known then his.  Of a Hero who lived in an age before. 

This man’s name was Hercules.  He was among the most celebrated heroes of Greek mythology.  The Greeks knew him as Herakles. He is generally known to have had Zeus as his immortal Father and Alcemene as his earthly Mother.  Half Divine and half Man. 

He was instructed by Zeus to submit himself for twelve years to the will of Eurystheus, the King of Argos.  If he fulfilled this requirement, he would become like the Gods, immortal.  At the bidding of the King of Argos, he performed the tasks known as the Twelve Labors.   His is a journey of a Son of God dancing around the twelve signs of the zodiac and in so doing, becoming one with his own divinity.

As he dances round the wheel, he expresses the characteristics of each sign, achieves some fresh insight into himself, knowledge that enables the demonstration of the gift the sign confers.  In each, he surmounts his natural tendencies, and becomes  a Master of his own reality.