ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY

SCORPIO 2009
Labor of Hercules
Slaying the Lernaean Hydra

On knees to lift the evil writhing Hydra into wind and light — the mystical 9th head of power buried under a Rock. Kundalini with Fire of Mind and Spirit conquer the entrenched reptilian instincts to become Asklepios and Healing Shaktipat; Scorpio wrestles again with Antares (cf. Gemini) as Ophiuchus and Hercules; Victory when Hydra seen as unit.

Motto: Warrior am I and from the battle I emerge triumphant.
(Scorpio stages the release of Leo)

The Crises of the Soul — Battleground, Birthplace/Labor, and Burning Ground — All Testing is self-engineered, no matter how clouded one’s apprehension. All initiation is self-administered, otherwise it would not be fully conscious. With Capricorn, Scorpio rules the Twelve Labors of the Sun God Hercules, and particularly the Hydra’s Nine Tests of psychological hygiene(!) In Scorpio we find how spiritual values and life are anchored in daily ephemera.

Scorpio and the Present Planetary Project
Scorpio very basically represents the planetary project at present in relation to Humanity. Mars and Mercury are the two rulers of Scorpio, both ‘stars of conflict.’ One fights and competes physically and kama-manasically ‘on the street’ or on ground level. The other (Mercury) purely mentally through disputation and the introduction or initiation of ‘unpopular’ or, should I say, unpopulist ideas. It is clear that Mercury represents the goal set before Humanity. It must be kept in mind that all the signs but Libra and sometimes Aries evolve only by meeting crisis and turning it to good purpose. Humanity has the bad habit of not utilizing its thinking apparatus until faced with an obstacle, crisis or conflict of interest or values. Humanity is crisis addicted.

Mercury represents the hermetic transmutation of the human animal into the Hermes or Christ nature. Physiologically this involves the transmutation of the human body through the eventual union of the Three Fires of Spirit, Mind, and Matter. It is assessed and diagnosed by the state of integration of Kundalini, or the matter aspect, with the refinement of the mind and the capacity for application of Spirit — to one’s own self-possession and to the world situation; the will of Spirit/Life to condition and not be conditioned by the Not-Self.

Mercury represents the ultimate goal of human incarnation, which is to prepare vehicles of response for one’s latent 5th, 6th and 7th kingdom natures (as distinct from strictly 4th kingdom human nature). Of course, discussing such matters is generally ‘unpopular.’ It threatens the status quo of the Mars approach of self-interest, aggression/self-assertion, competition, and ambition to succeed in societies based and ruled by competitors in a juvenile popularity contest, the path of least resistance for mediocrities based in lack of self-possession, a wavering sense of identity (identity necessarily dependent upon a clear sense of human responsibility or generosity as an autonomous individual), and general feebleness of reflective rationality or pure reason (budhi, bodhicitta).

This internal war of Mars and Mercury, or human and divine natures (for that is what it essentially amounts to), is reflected in many ways. We know Mars and Neptune rule the low and high use of the solar plexus nature, the difference between lower animal psychism and purely human higher psychism. It is the choice we all face of the heart being tyrannized by and obsessed with solar plexus concerns, versus solar plexus self-interests of comfort and stasis (represented by the 9 Tests in Scorpio) consistently being subjugated by the heart and the clear recognition of human collective (communitarian) responsibility (Neptune-Venus). Gutbrain psychism and instinct must work under the supervision of the Heart’s higher psychism (academic and mystical), and eventually under a mentally-polarized Intuition subjugating lower mental method, habits and approaches (Uranus-Mercury).

In a large planetary sense Mars rules the human forms (‘lunar’ pitris or ancestors) dumped on the planet from previous cycles of solar and planetary evolution. This is expressed in Buddhism by the Five Skandhas (‘heaps’ or ‘dumps’) which are transformed into the 5 wisdoms associated with the five dhyani bodhisattvas and Dhyani Buddhas. Mars can be viewed as the five senses, and also as the 4 subplanes dominated by the mental unit and supervised by the soul or causal body, or simply the mental unit combined with whatever modicum of purely distinct consciousness exists in the psychological makeup.

In society we see the conflict between self-interest and service ethics, between Kantian and Utilitarian world views, more subtly between Aristotelian and Platonic approaches to knowledge, and in the U.S. between citizenship and consumership assumptions (the distinction ‘jammed’ by media background-noise of purely rhetorical back-and-forth based on black-and-white polarized formulaic ‘thinking’ – no spectrum, only a two-sided dualistic universe of liberal/conservative, rep/dem, good/evil, blah-blah-blah). Truly there is a distinction between the gutbrained solar plexus “sun of the personality” and the winged solar caduceus of the ajna uniting body and soul.

For hundreds of years, intelligent forerunners have distinguished between the power of brawn and brains (as distinct from guile), between barbarian aggression and chivalrous principles, between knights of the sword and knights and masters of the pen. Contemporary society still remains somewhat feudal, with horrendously higher kill rates over territory, resources, food and water rights, not to speak of the right to the dignity of good works. One difference is that the mass killing takes place behind a joystick from a great distance with little concrete information to prevent indiscriminate mayhem. The Joy of Combat and the glory of courage have become a sick joke, with the proof of rising suicide and mental disease by unwitting participants in remote ‘droid wars’ where courage and pride take tenth place to efficient killing of humans who might be more easily convinced by intelligent interaction. These new warriors may finally begin to see themselves as pawns of their moral, intellectual and spiritual inferiors.

This inner warfare (the true ‘Armageddon’) is inherent in the human constitution. While conquering Duality –seeing the end from the beginning– seems possible only to a Creator, we are cells in the body of that deity and must undergo the experience of the journey of realization. Polarization of dualities and projection on to others is generally the rule. And while polarization is found in all the six pairs of opposite signs, polarization is a force to be reckoned with particularly in Libra and Scorpio. Libra is the one sign that achieves and evolves not through conflict, but by arriving at a point of balance, or ‘Interlude.’ It is faced (in a somewhat passive sense) by the polarization of values, world views and particularly the choice between status quo attachments and evolutionary imperatives. In other words, Libra and Scorpio both face a choice between the true livingness of the human soul and the mediocrity of the human personality.

Scorpio uses polarization to dramatize to itself basic distinctions and often inflicts these verbally-constructed distinctions on others. It often gets lost in a black-and-white, or x-ray negative view of the world, until it recognizes that the dualities or polar opposites are essentially two sides of a coin or sphere, essentially illusory when seen in a larger arena. This tendency to polarization and projection is found developed in technical, engineering, and the formulaic thinking associated with the project-oriented or building process. It is then assumed that this applies to human, social and world relationships. Formulaic or logical thinking is often confused with actual or original thinking, keeping in mind that formulaic thinking tends to be cumulative, if not entirely ‘borrowed’ in nature.

These lower types of rank intellect are very often paired with intense emotional investment in their technical interests and projects (and remuneration), but such emotional or psychic investment does not provide proof or convince in and of itself. This type of quasi-schizophrenic emotionally-charged mental enforcement proceeds merrily along in most academic institutions and is still convincing to the dull and uninformed public at large, who have no real interest in the life of the mind. In fact, there seems to be evidence that various neuroses are now avidly collected by some academics as brand insignia and significators of unusual intelligence, used to protect position and prestige. The life of the mind tends to get buried by the transient and perennial self-absorbed survival or comfort interests of human societies at large.

In this context it is interesting that Scorpio rules death by suffocation (collapse of the form nature in upon itself). In Scorpio, the sign of death by burial in Earth, or by the “heat of the mother” earth, provides the beneficent suffocation that releases the disciple (disciplined heart, mind and spirit) from the pain of the Fixed Cross, and opens the door to Hierarchy. This is a Plutonian death-and-rebirth associated esoterically with the solar pair of Pluto and Aries ruling the solar head center, and the planetary pair of Uranus and Pisces ruling the planetary heart center, Hierarchy.

This process of ‘suffocation’ can be illustrated by some of the more vile behaviors and attributes of undeveloped Scorpio types –the dangerous and ambitious animal. Of course unregenerate behaviors can be found in all the signs — “it is all about Us,” the small ego, until we can see clearly or recognize what it is that has conditioned us, our Soul. The psychological afflictions or ‘poisons’ can only be neutralized by proactively taking a stand in the Light. Even suicide might seem tempting in our self-pity or desperation until we recognize that all our reasons for considering it are due to our external conditioning, not to our core, our Soul or Spirit. Scorpio eventually learns to fight for that core, determined not to be conquered by the extraneous, not to be conditioned by the Not-Self.

Scorpio’s first task is to use the mind to govern the emotions, kama-manasic attitudes and psychism (and their lower order motives). Its second task is to distinguish between lower and higher mind, so as to throw a light on to both outer and inner worlds of the mind — initially to dispel delusional attitudes and thinking (glamour) and subsequently to participate in the inner and telepathic (initially psychic) society of the mind. It is often in Taurus and Scorpio that an individual develops the mental capacity and strength to penetrate into the mental plane itself and realize that all creative and conscious work and identity comes through that window or door (or ‘presence of mind’) to the mental plane. It is good to keep in mind that the soul or causal body is composed entirely of mental or manasic substance, albeit surrounding a jewel or fiery sphere of buddhi from the next plane up. The work of the Triad transcends that of the soul and is ruled by Mercury rather than by Venus, but it presupposes a full and stabilized union of the Three Fires of Matter, Mind, and Spirit. (The associated Triangle of Mars-Earth-Mercury vividly and symbolically portrays kundalini latent, semi-developed, and fully awakened.)

Scorpio covers a full spectrum of the mind nature — at first concealed by gutbrain instinct, then by kama-manasic ‘attitude,’ then by rank technical intellect, and on to the world of logical fallacies. It progresses through intelligent academic disputation and dialogue, the world of reflective rationality and discovery, through the society of responsible intelligentsia, to the society of illumined minds that functions as a beacon guide to world society, and on into more abstract and spiritual fields of activity and work.

Scorpio’s nature is to ground mind and perennial values in matter. This can take place either as passive entrenchment, or as a proactive anchoring of great Ideas, projects of improvement, or spiritual initiatives on earth (in a sea of kama-manas).

PART TWO

How do individuals whose constitutions are are composed of subrays of Ray 1 and 2 deal with those majority who are constitutionally conditioned by inherited Ray 3 subrays? Ray 3 and the lords of materialism have great influence and effect in ‘running the world,’ so to speak. Scorpio rules the IVth CH of monads. Monadically Ray 3 is not a majority accurately speaking, however, the Ray 3 personality of the Earth planet has a predominant conditioning impact through the vast bulk of probationers, integrated personalities and the masses, whose lives for the most part are conditioned by this Ray 3 environment and not vice versa. Ray 3 also has impact through what part of one’s esoteric nature one identifies with – soul or personality for starters. We know that Kingdoms in Nature are not identical with Creative Hierarchies and that while we as humans are composed of at least three Creative Hierarchies, we also identify with different Kingdoms in nature, the 4th and 5th. There are 6th (planetary) and 7th (solar) kingdoms present in the planetary constitution and over time it is possible to identify on those levels.

Scorpio is primarily a sign based in the matter aspect and thus ruling semi-conscious conflict and crisis through Mars and Mercury. We are told of the constant oscillating process between Taurus and Scorpio on the Fixed Cross which has dramatic psychological effect (on all Crosses) throughout many lifetimes. Taurus rules the Body as Light. Scorpio discloses the degree of integration of the light of matter (Kundalini) –associated with our (incarnational) life aspect– with the Lights or Fires of Mind and Spirit. Taurus ruled by Vulcan is One with the Sun, as is Mercury, the hierarchic ruler and Goal of Scorpio. This is one of the basic meanings of the Triangle of Taurus-Leo-Aquarius related to Knowledge and significant to the IVth Creative Hierarchy. (290, 488) The quality of expression of Scorpio is the indicator of stage of development and of consciousness. The presence of the Triangles Taurus-Scorpio-Capricorn and of Sagittarius-Cancer-Leo can be of use in this context.

The result of Taurus achievement takes us from the Fixed to the Cardinal Cross of initiation. At this point, the Triangle Gemini-Libra-Aquarius takes over as initiate-consciousness or the Mind as Illumination (composed of integrated instinct intellect, and intuition) becomes more significant in one’s work and life. (495)

Ray 3 can be seen to have considerable Inertial power. Human society and its institutions are still basically feudal, despite all the language used for human aspirations (and the last gasps of rhetoric from the juvenile social set of hypocritical and reactionary politicians). It is only human and social Unity that brings about lasting change and reorientation. If one looked to appearances (media) one might think the only exception to be the ‘latest flavor’ accepted as ‘popular wisdom’ – basically a lower Scorpio formulaic black-and-white cliché.

Scorpio and Ray 3 also rule the reptilian mind and the ancient value of Resistance in the psychodrama and panorama of survivalism. Those factors are convincing to unthinking masses and to those who do not think without a conflict or crisis on their hands. Despite all this, as a Tibetan lama of the Milarepa lineage has pointed out:

Ignorance is perfectly pure, therefore forms are perfectly pure. — (Prajnaparamita Sutra on the defilements)

Ignorance and Enlightenment are equality, free from all conceptuality....

— Dombi Heruka

Without benefit of intelligence or judgment, it is the persistent deeper core of our life, our Being and Be-ness, that brings about knowledge, change, evolution of consciousness and eventual illumination, symbolized by the Sun and Leo, on the vertical arm of the Fixed Cross of Light. So Ignorance is perfect undiluted Enlightenment – but it is how we understand and approach this in consciousness that enables us to serve in the world.

It is the perceived extremes faced in Scorpio on the Fixed Cross which make it such a powerfully creative sign and give it hope. But the extremes must be faced and it is dogged perseverance that enables full unfoldment of creative results.

Inspiration: Alice A. Bailey, Esoteric Astrology, and her 24 books on esoteric studies. NY: Lucis Publishing Company – website (http://www.lucistrust.org/en/publications_store).