In the Reign of Aquarius

MAN Comes of Age

–To picture the eleventh sign of the zodiac, which in a natural birth-chart rules the
house of friends, the ancients used the figure of a Man. This man, with his left, or
receptive, hand measures the influence of the heavens by means of a 24 hour gauge;
while his right, or executive, hand is engaged in pouring down upon the earth, from
an urn, the flood of wisdom thus acquired. Because Aquarius expresses the highest
type of intelligence developed on the earth the Key-phrase of this section of the
zodiac where the Sun may be found each year from January 20 to February 20 is, I
Know.

It was long believed, and is now in process of being verified, that when the Equinox,
which is the pointer of the Great Cycle of 25,868 years, just as the Sun is the pointer in
the annual cycle of 365 1/4 days; when the Equinox should enter Aquarius, the sign
of Knowledge, that the human race under that influence would make tremendous
strides in science, in philosophy and in practical living. The Equinox moves
backward through the circle of zodiacal constellations, not due to any movement of
the Sun, but due to a wobble of the earth which causes the pole of the equator to move
in a small circle about the pole of the ecliptic.

The earth is known to have five major motions. It rotates on its axis, bringing night
and day. It revolves in an annual orbit around the Sun, producing the seasons. The
Sun, accompanied by the earth, is moving at the rate of twelve and one-half miles a
second toward the dividing line between Hercules and Lyra. The fourth major
motion is that of the whole Milky Way System, or galaxy, which is turning, like a
pinwheel, about its center in Sagittarius. By this motion the Sun and earth traveling at
the rate of 150 miles a second, take 240 million years to complete one orbit about the
galactic center. The rate of travel of the fifth major motion, by which the earth, Sun
and all the billions of stars of the galactic system are carried along, is as yet unknown.

It will be seen that while the Sun. along with other suns, moves around a center in 240
million years, that this has nothing to do with the precession of the equinoxes. The
precession is caused by the pull of the Sun and Moon on the bulging equator of the
earth, which is not in the same plane as that in which the members of our solar system
perform their revolutions. The gyration of the earth’s pole as the result of the pull on
the equator causes the point where the Sun each year crosses the equator to move
backward through the circle of stars.

Signs of the zodiac are always just 30 degrees in extent. The constellations which
picture the signs may be more or less than 30 degrees in extent Cancer, for instance,
covering only about 15 degrees, while Virgo covers about 50 degrees. Furthermore,
there being no exact record of the boundaries of these constellations, they are not
well defined, but only approximate.

When, therefore, the Equinox is said to have backed into the sign Aquarius, that does
not mean that it has moved back to a point where some of the stars in the constellation
Aquarius are located; because no one knows within a degree or two what stars should
be included in the outline of the constellation. Instead, it means that the Vernal
Equinox has moved back 30 degrees from the correspondence of the First of Aries
among the constellations; because the sign Pisces (not the constellation Pisces),
through which it has moved, by its very definition of being a sign, must contain 30
degrees along the ecliptic.

As the whole cycle by which the equinox moves through the 12 signs takes 25,868
years, the date when the Equinox entered Aquarius by the back door and the
Aquarian Age started could be determined precisely by adding one-twelfth of 25,868
years, or 2,156 years, to the date when the First of Aries among the constellations
coincided with the First of Aries among the signs.

Unfortunately, there is no undisputed record of the date when the First of Aries
among the constellations thus coincided with the First of Aries among the zodiacal
signs. We can not, for this purpose, elect the western boundary of the constellation
Aries, because no one knows precisely where that boundary should be, or whether
the picture as it appears on the maps of today is of the same size and contour as it
anciently was. Thus there is no precise astronomical observation by which can be
determined when the Aquarian Age began.

It would appear, however, that the First of Aries among the constellations must lie
very close to the most brilliant and conspicuous star in the constellation Aries. This
star, Alpha Arietis, now has a Right Ascension of 2 hours, 3 minutes. That is, the
Vernal Equinox has moved back not quite 31 degrees since it was on the meridian
occupied by this bright star in the head of the Ram. Calculating at the rate of
precession by Right Ascension, in 1881 the Vernal Equinox was just about 30
degrees along the ecliptic west of the meridian of Alpha Arietis, so that if this star be
used as a starting point for the circle of constellations, the Equinox backed into
Aquarius just about 1881.

In determining the time of the commencement of the Aquarian Age, as it is mere
assumption that Alpha Arietis is the starting point in the circle of stars, we are faced
with a problem similar to that of determining the hour of birth of a person when the
precise time has not been recorded. It is essentially a problem of rectification, such as
all astrologers are familiar with in their natal astrology practice.

Within the time limits which for other considerations seem reasonable, the most
satisfactory method of rectifying a birth-chart is through the comparison of the
events which have happened in the life with the positions found in the chart, and with
the progressed aspects. And by the same token, rather than make calculations from
Alpha Arietis, or from other equally uncertain starting points, it seems better to
ascertain the commencement of the Aquarian Age from a consideration of events
which clearly are not of the type which are characteristic of Pisces, through which for
more than 2,000 years the Equinox moved by precession.

Aquarius is a scientific sign, and during the past 50 years science has made greater
advances than during the 2,000 Piscean years. Its ruler, Uranus, governs invention,
psychology. electricity and the study of the stars. It has been within the past 50 years
that the world has adopted electricity as an important source of power, that
inventions have revolutionized industry, that astronomy has extended its boundaries
from our solar system to the measurement of stars and other universes, and that
psychology has come to be recognized as a subject that should be taught in our
schools.

There is traditional basis also for considering that the Aquarian influence over world
affairs started in 1881; but, as anyone familiar with Aquarius can hardly believe that
present-day activities are actuated by the mere Belief of Pisces rather than by the
Knowledge of Aquarius, to present other evidence would be to use space that can
better be utilized in pointing to the most important developments which, now we are
in the Aquarian Age, shortly will be with us.

Because Religion forms the pattern of human conduct, its significance is even greater
than that of the industrial and scientific advancement now to be seen under way.
Science, which is classified information, gives power to accomplish. But whether
that power will be used for the benefit of the race or will enable the few to subjugate
and exploit the many, is a religious consideration. It depends upon the attitude
toward life whether selfishness shall rule, or the humanitarian spirit which
characterizes the finer side of Aquarius.

Whether we like it or not, now that the world has moved into the astral current of
Aquarius all institutions resting on a foundation of mere Belief will disintegrate. The
orthodoxies of the Piscean Age are irrevocably doomed. Energy spent tearing them
down is wasted, because their falsities already are disappearing, dissolving like the
morning mists, faster than those who are enlightened can disseminate true
knowledge to take their place.

All the facts that material science has to offer must fit snugly into the religion of the
Aquarian Age. Not that the unsubstantiated theories of materialists should be
included; for fashions in scientific theories change as often as do the styles in
women’s clothes. But all those things which have been proved a part of physical
reality must be included.

Yet in addition to the facts accepted by the materially minded there is a vast field of
carefully verified truths relating to planetary influence, relating to the development
and use of other than physical sense organs, relating to the
conditions that are present after the dissolution of the physical
body, and having to do with the basic purpose of life itself. This
information also, however wide its range and varied its character,
and regardless of its conflict with preconceived ideas, must fit
smoothly into the Aquarian religion.

All obtainable information must be organized into a single
consistent structure and made practical in application. And as the
zodiacal sign pictures a Man, this religion must provide man with
the best possible method of meeting every contingency of his life.
There is a best way to act under even circumstance wherein the
individual finds himself, and this religion should be so
comprehensive and yet so explicit that those who adopt it will have
no difficulty in determining what is the best course of action under
the conditions that confront them at any particular time.
Because knowledge of astrology is essential as a guide to such best
course of action, and because astrological relations, through their
correspondence with things on the earth and within the mind are
the avenues to the more comprehensive Knowledge required by
the Aquarian religion, the religion thus formulated should be called The Religion of
the Stars. And as this religion is based on that wisdom which expresses the Aquarian
spirit of altruism, the text associated with the constellation is: Do and Think Unto
Others as You Would Have Them Do and Think Unto You.

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The Significance of Horse Sense

–A horse immediately suggests two things, speed of travel and ability to carry a
rider. The head of a horse, the animal’s body missing, conveys the thought that the
intelligence factor is to be considered rather than the physical propensities. To have
Horse Sense is phraseology with which most people are familiar, even though it is
not a refined expression. It indicates such a correct appraisal of circumstances that
action of practical value can be based upon it. Yet the full significance of the Horse
Head, Equuleus, as a universal symbol employed by the ancients to convey
information, is not apparent until it is remembered that the sign Aquarius rules
astrology, and that Equuleus pictures the astrology-decanate of the sign.

To be more explicit, the planet Uranus rules astrology, and the Aquarius-decanate of
Aquarius is specially under his dominion and thus has an unusually close affinity for
the starry science. Furthermore, individuality and inventive ability, wherever found
in marked degree, denote the Uranus or Aquarius influence. Hence the Key-word for
this section of the sky where the Sun may be found each year from January 20 to
January 30 is Originality.

Those who feel that they have so complete a grasp of the laws and principles through
which nature operates that nothing can transpire not explained by the text-books used
in formal education, jump to the conclusion that astrology is “exploded” merely
because they do not perceive how it works, and because their teachers have so
informed them. Yet such as so glibly proclaim there is nothing to astrology are free to
admit–at least our foremost astronomers have thus admitted–that they have never
tested the science out experimentally, and, in fact, would not know how to go about it
to set up and read a birth-chart. Utterly unfamiliar with the rules, and often attributing
to astrologers claims to omniscience which no well versed astrologer ever makes,
they merely echo what happens to be academic fashion.

Horse Sense, which the general populace often possesses in greater degree than those
who are bound by the tenets of formal schooling, demands that before condemning
anything as untrue it should be tested out in actual experience. Theories are very fine,
but the man in the street who has had numerous practical contacts with life, has come
to realize that the accepted theories of the schools often fail signally in actual
practice. He, therefore, is much less willing than the college professor to
discountenance something just because he has no ready explanation for it. Following
the dictates of experience, his Horse Sense informs him that the best way to find out if
a thing works is not to theorize as to its possibility, or probability, but to actually test
it out in practice.

Thus we find a peculiar situation in our land; the so-called learned schoolmasters
denouncing the public because, more and more, that public is coming to lean on
astrology for help. And the public, in spite of the condemnation of the schoolmasters
who depend merely upon theories in such matters, gaining more and more
confidence in astrology, because they have had the opportunity to test it out through
actual experience. If a thing actually works and is decidedly helpful, the man in the
street is not unduly concerned whether or not it breaks the conventional traditions of
scholastic opinion.

Such gain in the popularity of astrology is made in the face of the unusually severe
handicap that those who know almost nothing of the science, who are really
astrological quacks through their flamboyant advertising are able to draw people into
their clutches and give them misinformation under the astrological banner.

Because the public has had so little opportunity in the face of academic
condemnation, to become informed as to what can and what can not be done with
astrology and as to what constitutes a correct birth-chart, or even that it should be
progressed if the time and nature of events likely to he attracted are to be given, it is
easy for rank charlatans to flourish under the pretense they are astrologers, and to
fleece the public of money. This also makes it very easy for the academic upholder of
conventional tradition apparently to disprove the claims of astrology. All he has to do
is to answer the advertisements of those who for a dime will tell your fortune from the
cradle to the grave. To these he gives his birth day and birth year, such seldom even
asking for the precise data necessary to erect a correct birth-chart. Then when he has
collected a series of readings from these ten-cent advertisers, he has all the evidence
he needs that astrology is false.

He does have, it is true, plenty of evidence that those who advertise to give something
of immense value for almost nothing are charlatans. But he need not go to the
get-rich-quick pretenders to astrology to prove this. He could learn it from a dozen
other types of get-rich-quick advertisements found in the same periodicals from
which he obtains the addresses of the fake astrologers.

But even with an array of such evidence he does not convince the man in the street,
because that man already has learned that if he goes to a doctor, a dentist, or to any
other professional man who makes exaggerated claims, and whose omnipotent
services can be procured for a mere pittance, that he will be defrauded. He has
learned not to expect something for nothing; and that in employing professional
services of any kind it is necessary to consider reliability; and that those who have
established themselves through merit do not advertise in the P. T. Barnum manner.

Primarily the birth-chart is a map of the astral body of the person then born. As a
photographic negative bears the impress of light-waves reflected from the thing
photographed, so the birth-chart pictures what the astral body of the individual then
born contains.

This astral body holds within its organization all the experiences and mental states
that the soul has had up to the time of human birth; these organized into stellar cells
and stellar structures which form the character. The astral body, which the birth-chart
maps, is thus a form built by mental and emotional states; and it is the function of the
birth-chart to convey to the astrologer precise information regarding these mental
factors and their relation one to the other as affecting the abilities and character, and
therefore the destiny.

The relation existing between the most active, or dynamic, thought-built structures in
the finer body, are mapped by aspects between the planets in the birth-chart.
Relationships that are thus so constant and powerful build a line across the astral
form, from one group of mental factors to another, and this line, which is mapped by
an aspect, acts as an aerial to pick up energies which are broadcast from each of the
planets involved in the aspect. Thus are those more pronounced factors of the
character supplied with additional energy from their four-dimensional environment.

Whether that energy when received adds harmony to the astral body, or adds discord,
is determined by the way the mental factors were organized, which is mapped by the
aspect.

Thus from a consideration of the character, which is mapped by the birth-chart, it is
possible to determine the natural abilities, and the normal trend of the events
attracted; for these are shown by the organization of the character. This does not
mean that the individual can not develop abilities other than those shown in his
birth-chart; but that experiences before human birth already have developed certain
types of ability, and he can utilize these natural talents with great ease. To develop
qualities which are not shown in the birth-chart requires great expenditure of energy,
for it means building into the character qualities which have had no previous
existence there.

Furthermore, the birth-chart, in mapping harmonies and discords, reveals whether or
not the individual will attract fortune or misfortune if he engages in a certain
occupation. Thus it is the function of the birth-chart to reveal not only the natural
talents, but also under what surroundings the individual can use them to be of greatest
benefit to himself, and to be able to contribute his utmost to the advantage of the
world.

When, according to definite ratios, the planets in the sky move forward to make
progressed aspects, these release energies within the astral body of man in such a
manner that temporary lines are built across the astral body. These lines act as
temporary stellar aerials which pick up in unusual volume the energy broadcast from
the planets mapped by their terminals. Whether the new energy thus picked up, radio
fashion, and added to the thought-cells of the astral body, are harmonious or
discordant, and to what extent, is revealed by the particular aspect.

As such stellar lines, or aerials, leading across the astral body, terminate in certain
compartments of the finer form, each of which contains the thought-cells relating to
specific departments of endeavor, it can be known what phase of the life will be
affected by this new energy, which gives unusual activity to certain thought-cells.
This does not mean that the individual shall submit to foreshadowed misfortune in
this department of life; but it does indicate that unless he does something about it
things will happen in a certain way.

They will happen in the designated way because the four-dimensional cell-life
within the compartment receiving the additional energy will start working from their
four-dimensional plane to bring events to pass that correspond to the way they feel,
and in relation to their department of life.

A progressed aspect thus indicates, not what will happen, but what will happen if
nothing is done to prevent it; and it also indicates what should be done to prevent the
event thus foreshadowed if the event is not desired, and what to do to get more benefit
from the event if it is of a type which is beneficial.

Common Horse Sense, such as is pictured by the Horse Head, Equuleus, demands
that the individual shall take advantage of all knowledge which will enable him to
make a greater success of his life. The text therefore is: Next to Love, Man’s Most
Useful Companion is Knowledge, and in Particular the Knowledge of the
Manner in which the Planets Influence Human Life and Destiny.

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On the Wings of Pegasus

–The next decanate to the one which relates to the employment of horse sense is also
pictured by the fore parts of a horse. The head, which implies intellect, is pictured;
and in addition the front legs. Unlike those horses of earth which keep their feet upon
the ground, this one also is equipped with wings. The intelligence which it represents
consequently must be such as soars to other than physical realms.

The travel-decanate of Aquarius, where the Sun may be found from January 30 to
February 10 each year, is represented in the heavens by famed Pegasus, the Flying
Horse.When, according to the Greek story, Perseus had slain the Gorgon Medusa and cut
off its head, he mounted on wings furnished him by Mercury, and sped homeward
carrying the awful monster’s head. It was blood which dripped from this symbol of
the imagination falling into the ocean, that is, imagination vitalized by emotion, from
which Pegasus sprang; a powerful steed whose other name is Inspiration.

All poets, it is said, before they can attract the Muse, first must drink at the fountain
created by a blow from the hoofs of Pegasus. It seems that Pegasus in flying over
Mount Helicon struck the ground sharply with his hoofs, and water instantly gushed
forth; the sparkling clear spring of Hippocrene. Inspiration, which is the Key-word
of the Gemini-decanate of Aquarius, pictured by the Flying Horse, does not flow
without a definite contact with the earth. That which the unconscious mind
perceives, before it can come into objective consciousness, must be touched, or
associated with, something already in the objective mind. Only through such
physical association can it be externalized on the physical plane.

Neptune is the planet which rules all forms of dramatic ability. It is related that
Neptune tamed Pegasus and gave him to Bellerophon, son of the King of Ephyre, to
aid him in conquering the Chimaera. This was a sea-monster composed of
incongruous parts, the origin of the word chimera, which signifies foolish or wildly
fantastic creations of the imagination.

If Neptune were to succeed in the production of high art, these incongruities of the
imagination must first be slain. Pegasus, representing Inspiration, aided in
overcoming such vain and discordant fancies, as he is said always to aid those whose
work– poetry, painting, fiction, scenario or music–presents true dramatic worth.

Such drama does not appeal directly to the intellect, but to the emotions. And the
source of the ability to produce it lies not so much with the intellect as with a more
primitive method of thinking which employs feeling rather than ideas. It is the
method of thinking which, because it has been so long in existence, is employed
largely by the unconscious mind.

The use of well-defined concepts, such as commonly are expressed in words, is the
last biological development of earth. It is confined to members of the human race.
Such intellectual processes are not intimately associated with body states, but deal
with relations through the use of special symbols that enable things to be examined
and compared in the mind. These symbols permit of that type of mental activity
called reasoning.

Life, however, existed on the earth hundreds of millions of years before this type of
intellectual endeavor developed. And all that time it was face to face with the
necessity of successfully adapting itself to its environment. New circumstances
continually arose, calling for correct appraisal of conditions, and for appropriate
actions, if it were to survive.

The protoplasmic cell coming into contact with something without itself which
provided food or other advantage, experienced a feeling which in a more developed
state we call pleasure. Coming into contact with an outside condition which tended to
destroy it, there was experienced that which in a more developed state we call pain.

The pleasure or pain experienced under any special condition resulted in action,
more or less appropriate, which gave an advantage or led away from danger. The
feeling also conditioned the organism, so that under the same conditions again it
would move in the same way with even greater alacrity. Pleasure and pain not only
stimulate to initial action, but establish a habit of moving in the same manner when
the feeling is again present.

The soul or character, which now occupies and functions through the body of a
human being, has in its past organized and lived in association with, countless lower
forms of life. Progressively it has learned to handle such forms, advancing from a
simple organism to one more complex as it gained in experience, and therefore in
ability. All of this knowledge, all of this ability, all of this mentality, which it has
acquired through its entire progressive existence, is stored in the astral body, or
unconscious mind.

Since entering human life this unconscious mind has been in contact with the special
symbols used in modern language. It has been trained for only a few short years in the
employment of concepts, and in the process of reasoning. Such use of the intellect is a
very late thing, something which has had opportunity to impress it for a matter of a
few years only. The language of feeling, however, especially that expressed through
the sympathetic nervous system, is as old as its first appearance in any life-form on
earth.

The vegetative functions of the body, the regulation of the ductless glands, and, in
fact, all but a few of our actions, are directed by the unconscious mind not through the
intellect, not through the brain, but through the process of feeling. This language of
feeling is that to which the unconscious mind has been accustomed for ages, and it
employs other symbols than those modern ones which we term words.

If, therefore, we are to tap the reservoir of the unconscious mind, instead of directing
our attention to cerebral processes, we must learn to recognize and interpret the
language of feeling. And the artist who, through any medium of expression, arouses
appropriate response from others must be able to express himself in a manner not so
much to intrigue the intellect as to appeal to the feelings, and this he must do by
employing language which is recognized by the unconscious mind.

To analyze, in terms of the intellect, a beautiful sunset or a musical melody; to pick it
to pieces to discern its ingredients; is to destroy it. Such things appeal to the
unconscious mind and use a language which by its symbolism arouses feeling. We
are moved by feeling because for millions of years it was the only language which
organisms were able to recognize.

Therefore, if we are to make available what the unconscious mind recognizes, or
what it may gain through its exploration of the unseen realms, we must not limit it to
the language of intellect, to which as yet it is so unaccustomed, but must learn to
recognize the language which it preferably uses. By all means, the critical function of
the intellect should not be abandoned; for it is a necessary tool in clear-cut
discernment of reality. But in addition, we should cultivate the ability to recognize
the feeling language of the unconscious mind and to interpret it.

To do this, attention must be paid to impressions, to feelings, and to symbols. When
the unconscious mind is given to understand that dependence is being placed upon it
to gather information, or to perform work, it will make an effort to do as required. It
was accustomed for ages to being the exclusive agent for reporting to the organism
conditions which were important to its welfare. But since it has organized a human
form this function has been taken over almost exclusively by the intellect. It has
formed the habit, therefore, of making no special effort to give reports or to gather
information. But if this duty is turned over to it again in large degree, it will again
become active, and can acquire knowledge to which intellect alone could never
aspire.

Through practice, the nervous system can be made sensitive to vibrations, and to the
impressions through which the unconscious communicates with the conscious mind.
If such states of feeling are closely watched, and their reports later checked against
actual events and conditions, as often as possible, the feeling method of thinking will
again come into use to supplement the intellectual method of thinking. The
unconscious mind will then find an avenue through which it can impart whatever
information it possesses, or can acquire, to the objective consciousness.

Just how much Inspiration owes to what already is within the unconscious mind, how
much to what it gains through astral travel, and how much to disembodied human
beings on the inner plane, who communicate their thoughts, varies with the
individual and with circumstances. Yet all three methods are open to the mind which
habitually uses both intellect and feeling in its efforts.

Those who lecture, or give messages from a public platform, often rely very largely
upon the Inspiration they receive from the audience. The unconscious minds of all
those present constitute a reservoir of information which is widely varied and of
considerable range. If the platform worker is sufficiently receptive, the
thought-waves coming from the various members of his audience enable him to tune
in rather fully on their unconscious minds. He thus has available for his use not only
the information which they are aware of possessing, but vast funds of knowledge
stored in the unconscious mind of each of which the individual possessing it has no
objective knowledge.

In addition to such mundane sources of Inspiration, those who become intensely
absorbed in some subject, in their sleep, or voluntarily without sleep when they know
how, frequently travel to regions on the inner plane where others are interested in,
and engaged in investigating, very much the same thing. In this astral travel they have
the opportunity to exchange news with others more advanced, and the information
thus gained is brought back either consciously, or stored in the unconscious mind to
be drawn upon as their feelings and thoughts, while the attention is directed to the
subject, permit.

The text is: Under Special Conditions, while Still Maintaining Physical Life, it is
Possible for Man to Free Himself from the Physical Body, to Visit the Homes of
the Dead, to Enter the Halls of Learning, and to Bring Back in Full
Consciousness the Knowledge Gained in Higher Spheres.

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The Sad Experience of Jonah

–The legendary stories about giants such as Goliath, the Cyclopes and the Titans
have their explanation in the zodiac in that point where the Sun reaches highest, the
summer solstice; and their application to the life of man in reference to the ruthless
use of reason and the development of selfish greed. These giants, however, are not
pictured in the sky, but are known only through their relation to zodiacal position.
They are destructive attributes which loom large upon the world’s horizon. Yet there
is another attribute which is even more far reaching, which is still more powerful for
evil, and which is even more difficult to vanquish than these various types of
selfishness. Its common name is Discord.

When the ancient wise men sought to picture in the heavens the force, or principle,
which is most inimical to life, which attracts to man failure and disease, and which
places the greatest obstacles in the way of progress, they looked about for some
appropriate symbol. Because it is the emotional, or feeling, element which
determines whether there is harmony or discord, and as water symbolizes the
emotions, it was quite to be expected that they should select some creature living in
the water.

This denizen of the deep, as discord is a distortion of that which is pleasing
and symmetrical, is required to be frightful and unnatural; and because it was to
picture so vast an influence, it must be large as well as terrifying.

Cetus, the Sea-monster, is such a creature, the distortion of a whale; and
commensurate with the importance of the influence it represents, it has been made
the largest of all the constellations.

There are many sources of discord in human life. Planetary influence affords one
important supply. Thus it is quite fitting that the universal symbol of Discord should
picture one decanate of the sign which relates to astrological influences. The
thoughts afford the initial supply of discordant energy to the finer form; and it is thus
again appropriate that Discord be placed in association with the sign of the Man.

From the standpoint of prevalency and potency there is no source of Discord in
human life that can compare with that generated in the nuptial relations. Hence,
recognizing that unions not based on love afford the conditions most favorable to
building Discords into the astral body, Cetus was placed in the sky where it would
picture the marriage-decanate of the sign Aquarius, in which the Sun may be found
each year from February 10 to February 20.

Not in relation to the close association of marriage, which permits the discordant
thoughts of each most readily to reach and affect the finer body of the other, but as
indicating the general effect of Discord, the story of Jonah is enlightening.

Jonah had been given certain work to accomplish which he feared to do. That he
shirked doing it was bad enough, but in addition he also harbored the Discords of
remorse. The emotional disturbance resulting is well symbolized by the sea which
was whipped by a tempest; for Jonah had embarked on a ship in the endeavor to
escape that which God had called upon him to do.

When Jonah had been cast into the sea, a voluntary sacrifice to save the other men on
the ship, the waters immediately calmed. Yet he continued in Discord three days, as
indicated by the three days during which he remained in the belly of the Sea-monster.
If Pisces, in which the Fish swim, be considered the sea wherein Jonah was thrown,
the Sun must pass through its three decanates after the one pictured by Cetus before it
reaches Aries, where the water comes to an end. When Jonah, after suffering from the
Discord of a disturbed conscience, resolved his inner conflict by deciding to do that
which he deemed to be his duty, he was released from the belly of the Sea-monster;
that is, he was freed from Discord.

In the story of Andromeda, it was the boastful pride of her mother, Cassiopeia, that
placed her in a position of distress. As so many in the world today are not responsible
for the Discord which has overtaken them, so was Andromeda the victim of her
mother’s scheming ambition. The rock to which she was bound represents the
materialism which demanded the sacrifice of her own spiritual aspirations to the
false ideals of her associates.

Here we are concerned with Andromeda only to note that the Sea-monster, Cetus,
who was sent by Neptune to devour her, is the type of monster which today destroys
so many of our youths and maidens. It represents the Discords engendered, and fed
from one person into the finer body of the other, when marriage is not a mutual love
union, but a matter of material expediency. She was saved from this horrible death
only by the arrival of her own Prince Charming, by Perseus, who loved her tenderly
and made her his bride. That is, it was the harmony of true love and rightful marriage
that saved her from the destruction of Discord.

On all planes of life Harmony is Life and Discord is Death. The health of the physical
body is determined by the amount of harmony between the dynamic
thought-structures of the astral body. The vibratory relations of the various thought
organizations, one to the other, within the finer body reproduce themselves as
functional and organic strength or weakness within the physical form. Thus it is in
Stellar Diagnosis, to determine the predisposition to disease, the birth-chart is
examined for its heaviest Discords. The most powerful Discord in the birth-chart is
always the disease toward which there is the most pronounced predisposition.

That is, the most powerfully discordant aspect in the birth-chart maps the most
pronounced discordant relation between the thought groups within the astral body.
That such aspects thus reveal the diseases toward which there is a predisposition is
not a matter of theory, but something which has been learned through the statistical
study of thousands of birthcharts. The charts of 100 persons who have suffered from
each disease are collected. Always there are similar pronounced discordant aspects
in all the charts. These when tabulated in terms of percentage reveal the Birth-chart
Constants of the particular disease.

This does not signify that any person in whose birth-chart these constants appear will
inevitably suffer sooner or later from the given disease; but it does indicate that
people who do not have these Birth-chart Constants in their charts will not have the
disease; and that those who do have them will need to exercise precaution if they are
to escape. Precautionary measures usually can be taken to prevent the development
of the disease; but if its Birth-chart Constants are present, that person has weaknesses
in his astral body which are reproduced in his physical body that will cause him to
have the disease under conditions where another person not possessing these
Discords would escape.

In such statistical work, in which the Discords within the finer body are determined
which enable a given disease to manifest, the chart is also Progressed for the date
when the disease first was noticed to be present. In this manner, using charts of 100
persons suffering from a particular disease, the temporary Discord that enables the
disease to develop is also learned. This progressed aspect, which manifests as a
temporary stellar aerial which picks up and adds additional discordant energy to the
cells of the astral body that relate to the disease, then tabulated in terms of percentage,
is called the Progressed Constant.

When the birth-chart contains the Birth-chart Constant of a particular disease and a
time arrives when the Progressed Constant also is present, this warns the individual
that he must use exceptional precaution to avoid conditions under which the disease
commonly develops. and that he must use initiative to develop energies within
himself, and conditions within his environment. which will prevent the disease from
getting a foothold.

It is one of the functions of astrology to indicate just what the danger is, when it will
be most prominently present and what should be done to prevent the affliction which
the Birth-chart Constant and the Progressed Constant indicate is likely to develop.

Disease of the physical body is only one type of affliction to which man is subject.
Yet all the other afflictions. such as financial loss. business failure, loss of loved
ones, antagonisms from others; whatever misfortunes to which the individual may be
heir, in a similar manner are mapped by Birth-chart Constants and Progressed
Constants in his chart of birth.

These constants thus mapped, which show the nature of the misfortunes to which
there is a predisposition. and the times when they are likely to develop. map specific
Discords within the astral body. That is, whatever ill befalls the individual is always
attracted by specific Discords within himself. And if he would free himself from
them, even as Andromeda escaped, he must reorganize these discordant energies into
harmonies.

These birth-chart aspects and progressed aspects merely map mental factors in the
astral body; they are not the cause of the Discords. Furthermore, not only do the
thoughts and feelings which originate with the individual have a power to build
thought-structures such as attract good fortune or misfortune, but the thoughts and
feelings of those with whom rapport is more or less completely established also feed
similar energies into the finer form.

In the married state husband and wife are so closely associated that the thought
energies and emotional energies of each find ready access to the astral body of the
other. Thus they give each other mental treatments under the conditions of a close
association which is most favorable for making the mental treatment effective. The
avenues are open for the most ready exchange of finer energies.

Nor does the mere avoidance of marriage prevent the development of Discord. The
basic urge for reproduction is so strong a factor in all normal life that the attempt to
stifle it commonly leads to that form of Discord denoted by the Key-word of the
decanate, which is Repression. Yet if marriage is to be beneficial the energy
exchange must be harmonious. Hence the text is: The Monster Which Demands
the Sacrifice of the Fairest Youths of the Land is Discord in Marriage.