The Message of the Stars[2]
[PAGE 30] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
CHAPTER II
THE MEASURE OF AMENABILITY TO PLANETARY
VIBRATIONS
When judging a horoscope it is of prime importance that we take into con-
sideration the social and racial standing of the individual, for configura-
tions which are of great significance in the horoscope of an educated Cauca-
sian, may mean little or nothing in the figure of a Chinese coolie and vice
versa. Neglect of this factor would inevitably lead to false conclusions,
as we shall now explain.
It is a mystic maxim that the lower in the scale of evolution a being is
placed the more certainly it responds to the planetary rays, and conversely
the higher we ascend in the scale of attainment the more the man conquers
and rules his stars, freeing himself from the leading strings of the Divine
Hierarchies through the planetary aspects in such a manner that we do not
hurt ourselves beyond recovery in the experiences of life.
[PAGE 31] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
But coupled with this guidance there is of course the measure of Free
Will, which grows as we evolve. The child in our midst has really very
little free will, being the subject not only to its parents but to the ser-
vants, if such there be in the household, and to everybody with whom it is
associated, all exercising control over it for its own good. As the child
grows, this measure of restraint is by degrees relaxed, and in the course of
years the child will learn to exercise its free will. This method has been
followed by the Divine Hierarchies in the case of man. Infant humanity was
absolutely guided by Divine rules without having any Will at all; "Thus
shalt thou do, or not do," were injunctions laid upon them which must be im-
plicitly obeyed, otherwise the Divine displeasure was at once shown by such
strenuous manifestations as appealed to infant humanity's mind, namely,
lightning, thunder, earth-quakes and great visitations of plagues. This was
for their collective guidance, for individual restraint there were strict
laws, commandments and ordinances. Tribute must be paid continually to the
Divine Leader and offered up on the altar as sacrifices, and for every of-
fense against the law a certain sacrifice of material goods must be made.
Fear was the dominant keynote of that dispensation: for "The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of righteousness." This regime was carried on under
the planetary conditions of Mars and the Moon. Mars, being the home of the
dominant Lucifer Spirits, gave to mankind the energy necessary that
[PAGE 32] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
evolution may be accomplished; this martial energy was of the very greatest
importance, particularly of course in the earlier stages. The Moon, which
is the home of the Angels, under their Divine Leader Jehovah, gave to infant
humanity that child-like brain-mind which is amenable to rulership, and
bends itself readily before authority.
These with Saturn were the only planetary rays which affected mankind as
a whole during the Lemurian Epoch, and if a horoscope were erected for any
of the people who lived then, it would be unnecessary to enter the places of
the other planets, because they could not respond to their rays. Even today
a great part of mankind has not evolved very far beyond that point, a large
class, particularly among those we speak of as the lower races, and even the
lower classes of our western world being dominated principally by these
planetary rays. Under their impulses they act with automatic certainty in a
specific manner, and it is possible to predict exactly what they will do un-
der a certain aspect of these planets, because they live entirely in their
emotions and are scarcely, if at all, responsive to the intellectual vibra-
tions of Mercury. Neither can they appreciate such emotions as signified by
Venus or its octave, Uranus,; they respond solely to the lower nature, the
animal passions. They move under the impulses of Mars and the Moon respect-
ing sex and sustenance. Their pleasures are of the lowest and most sensual
nature, they live like animals altogether in the physical, and their creed
[PAGE 33] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
is "eat, drink and be merry." Their desires run chiefly to "wine and
women," for they have not as yet awakened to the charm of song; Neither has
beauty had a chance to enchant the savage heart at this stage of development
for that comes from the Venus rays which are beyond such people. Woman is
to the man of that stage only a beast of burden and a convenience.
Meanwhile "Father Time" represented by the planet Saturn, keeps the
score, and wields over them the whiplash of necessity to drive them forward
on this evolutionary path, meting out to each the fruits of his labor at the
harvest time between lives. When the man has cultivated the savage virtues
of bravery, physical endurance, etc., he dreams in the post-mortem existence
of new field to conquer, and sees where he was lacking and why his desires
were frustrated because of lack of implements. Gradually the constructive
martial ray and the Saturn cunning fertilize the lunar brain which he is
building, so that in time he learns to make the crude implements necessary
for the attainment of his primitive ambitions. Even today we see the same
cunning traits of character, the same crude crafts displayed in and by the
lower races for the purpose of irrigating land, mining ores or milling
grain. All those earliest implements were the result of the planetary rays
of Saturn, Moon and Mars, impinging on the primitive brain of infant human-
ity.
A little further along the path of evolution, in the Atlantean epoch, the
[PAGE 34] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
Lords of Venus and the Lords of Mercury came to the earth for the purpose of
giving a further impulse to the mental and emotional development. It was
the task of Venus to combat the lower emotions and raise the brutish animal
passion of Mars to the softer and more beautiful Venus-love. She was to add
beauty to strength, and to attain that ideal the Lords of Venus fostered the
plastic arts, painting and sculpture. These were not taught men of the gen-
eral public at that time; the ideals which are to be developed in a race are
always first taught to the most advanced ones in a mystery temple, and at
that time initiation included no spiritual instruction, but consisted of an
education in the liberal arts. Sculpture taught how the beautiful may be
incorporated in physical form. It called attention to the body and ideal-
ized the softly curved lines. The result is now incorporated in our own
race body, for it should be thoroughly understood that in an mystery school
an ideal is not taught today simply to be forgotten tomorrow or in the next
generation, but ideals are inculcated so that in time they may become a part
of the very life, soul and body of the race. Compare the race body of the
modern civilized man with that of the Indian, the Bushman, the Hottentot,
etc., and you will find that there is indeed beauty added to strength.
It may be objected that we are degenerating compared with what is shown
in the Hellenic Arts, but that is positively not so; it is rather that we
[PAGE 35] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
have not yet attained to that highest ideal. In ancient Greece the mystery
temples occupied a much more prominent position than today; the beautiful
form was idolized to the detriment of the mind notwithstanding the fact that
Greece had a Plato and a Socrates. The Lords of Mercury who had charge of
the development of mind, at the time when the Lords of Venus exercised their
great influence on the emotions, had not then been able to make a univer-
sally strong impression on the early humanity. We are well aware even today
that it hurts to think, but it is easy to follow the emotions. At the
present time the middle class of the West is much further advanced than the
ancient Greeks because of the influence of these two planetary rays in our
lives. Woman naturally excels in the highly imaginative Venus faculty, be-
cause of her part in the creative function which aids in moulding the body
of the race. On that account her figure has the graceful curves which
naturally express beauty, while man has the worldly-wise intellect fostered
by the Lords of Mercury, and is the exponent of reason, the creative agency
of physical progress in the world's work.
We always long for, admire, and aspire to what we lack. In days of sav-
agery when kicks and cuffs were her daily fare woman longed for a caress
from her lord. The Venus ray gave her beauty and made her an adept in the
feminine arts which have conquered the masculine heart, so that now man
[PAGE 36] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
plays the role of protector on the plea that woman is not mentally competent
meanwhile he is becoming that which he admires in her; he is more gentle and
kind, Venus is conquering Mars, but the Mercury delusion of intellectual su-
periority needs another influence to conquer it. And this, woman is now
supplying by her aspiration. As she mastered martial brutality by Venus
beauty, so also, will she free herself from Mercurial bondage by Uranian in-
tuition.
To primitive man, driven by the whip-lash of Saturnine necessity, when
not by the animal lust and passions of Mars and the Moon, the world looks
gloomy. Fear is the key-note of his existence: fear of animals; fear of
other men; fear of the nature forces; fear of everything around him. He
must ever be watchful and on the alert, vigilance is eternally the price of
safety. But when evolution makes him amenable to the influences of Venus
and Mercury; they will soften his emotions and brighten the mentality; he
begins to regard love and reason as factors in life. The Sun also begins
to brighten his outlook upon life, and sunshine in the nature of man during
this phase of his evolution partly dispels the gloom of Saturn. Thus, by
degrees, as man evolves and becomes responsive to the music of the spheres,
one string after another in the celestial harp strikes the kindred chord in
the human soul and makes him amenable to its vibrations, so that as a tuning
fork which is struck, awakens the music in other tuning forks of even pitch
[PAGE 37] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
within reasonable distance, so the planets in our solar system have in
evolutionary succession struck various chords that have found an echo in the
human heart.
But the strings on the celestial Lyre of Apollo are not all in harmony,
some are in actual discord, and while man responds to some he must necessar-
ily remain, at least partially, unresponsive to others. In fact, before it
is possible to respond perfectly to the rays of Venus it is necessary for
man to conquer Mars to a considerable degree, and bring him under control so
that certain undesirable martial traits in his nature will be kept in the
background, while others, which may be valuable, are retained. The Venus
love which is willing to give all for the loved ones cannot dwell side by
side in the heart with the Mars ray which demands all for self. Therefore
the savage must learn to conquer himself in a certain measure ere he may be-
come the more civilized family man of modern times. Under the unrestrained
passionate rays of Mars and the Moon, parents bring children into the world
and leave them to take care of themselves almost as animals do, for they are
products of animal passion. The females are brought and sold as a horse or
cow or else taken by force and carried away. Even so late as the mediaeval
dark ages, the knight often carried away his bride by force of arms, practi-
cally in the same manner that the male animals battle for the possession of
the female at mating time.
Thus we see that the first step toward civilization requires that a man
[PAGE 38] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
conquer one or more of the planets to a certain degree at least. Unbridled
passion such as generated by the primitive Mars rays is no more permissible
under the regime of modern civilization, neither is the tenet that "might is
right" any longer admissible, save in wars when we return to barbarism. The
Mars quality of physical prowess, that at one time made it a virtue to at-
tack others and take away property, is no longer admired in the individual.
It is punished by various means, according to law, thought it is still ef-
fective as far as nations are concerned, who go to war under this primitive
impulse for purposes of territorial aggrandizement. However, as said, Mars
has been conquered to a great degree in civil and social life in order that
the Venus love might take the place of the Mars passion.
As previously noted, the children of primitive man were left to their own
resources, as soon as they had been taught to defend themselves in physical
warfare. With the advent of Mercury another method is observable. The
battle of life nowadays, is no longer fought with physical weapons alone.
Brain, rather than brawn determines success. Therefore the period of
education has been lengthened as mankind advanced, and it aims principally
at mental accomplishments because of the Mercurial rays which accompany the
Venus development of modern civilization. Thus man sees nature from a more
sunny side when he has learned to respond to the Sun, Venus, Mercury, Mars,
[PAGE 39] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
Moon and Saturn, even if only in a very slight measure.
But although these various stages of evolution have gradually brought man
under the dominance of a number of planetary rays, the development has been
one-sided, for it has aimed to foster interest solely in things over which
he has a proprietary right: HIS business, HIS house, HIS family, HIS
cattle, farm, etc., are all vitally important, and must be taken care of.
HIS possessions must be increased, if possible, no matter what happens to
the possessions, family, etc., belonging to anyone else, that not being his
concern. But before he can reach to a higher stage of evolution it is nec-
essary that this desire to appropriate the earth, and retain it for himself
if possible, must give way to a desire to benefit his fellowmen. In other
words, Egoism must give way to Altruism, and just as Saturn by yielding the
whip lash of necessity over him in his primitive days brought him up to his
present point of civilization, so also Jupiter, the planet of altruism, is
destined to raise him from the state of man to superman where he will come
under the Uranian ray in respect to his emotional nature, where passion gen-
erated by Mars will be replaced by Compassion, and where the childlike con-
sciousness of Lunar origin will be replaced by a Cosmic consciousness of the
Neptunian ray. Therefore the advent into our lives of the Jupiterian ray
marks a very distinct advance in the human development. As taught in the
[PAGE 40] MESSAGE OF THE STARS
Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, we are to advance from our present Earth
period into the Jupiter period, and therefore the Jupiterian ray marks
that high stage of altruism which will then be a prominent factor in
our relations, one with the other, and it will be readily understood that
before we can really respond to the rays of Jupiter we must in a measure
cultivate altruism, and conquer the egoism that comes through the Mercurial
reasoning power. We have learned to conquer some of the phases of Mars and
the Moon, we may have also learned to conquer some of the lower phases of
Mercury and Venus; the more we have overcome these the better we shall be
able to respond to the highest vibratory forces emanating from these plan-
ets; yes, if we strive earnestly we shall some day be able to overcome even
the highest stage of the Venus love, that always attaches itself to an ob-
ject which is owned by us. We love our children because they are ours; we
love our husbands and wives because they belong to us; we take pride,
Venusian pride, in their moral characteristics or Mercurial pride in their
accomplishments; but Christ set a higher standard: "Unless a man leave his
father and mother he can not be my disciple." The idea that we should ne-
glect our fathers and mothers or that we must hate them in order to follow
Him was far from His mind, of course, but father and mother are only bodies;
the soul that inhabits this body of the father and mother is to be loved,
not the mere physical garment. Our love should be the same whether the
[PAGE 41] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
person is old or young, ugly or beautiful. We should look for the beauty of
the soul, for the universal relationship of all souls and not mind so much
the relationship of the bodies. "Who are my mother and my brothers," said
the Christ, and pointed to his disciples, those who were at one with Him in
His great work. They were closer to Him than any brother could be on ac-
count of mere physical relationship. This attitude constitutes an upward
step from the Venus love which places the emphasis on the physical garments
of the love ones and leaves out of consideration the soul that is within.
The Jupiterian love on the other hand takes cognizance only of the soul, re-
gardless of the body it wears. The Mercurial or reasoning phase of mental-
ity is also changed by response to the altruistic Jupiter. Cold calculation
is out of the question. One who feels the expansive ray of Jupiter is big
hearted where his emotions are concerned, his love; big hearted where all
things of the world are concerned. "A jovial fellow," is an apt expression.
He is welcomed and love by everyone he meets because he radiates not the
common selfishness, but a desire to benefit others that breeds in us a feel-
ing of trust, diametrically opposed to the sense of distrust we instinc-
tively feel when we come in contact with a Saturn-Mercury man.
It is a matter of actual experience to astrologers endowed with spiritual
sight that every man's planetary rays produce certain colors in his aura, in
[PAGE 42] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
his aura, in addition to the basic color which is the stamp of the race to
which the man belongs. The man with the thin, sickly blues of a commingled
Saturn and Mercury, is to be pitied rather than censured for the avarice and
gloom which are his constant attitude of mind; he sees everything in the
world through the auric mirror which he has created around himself; he feels
that the world is cold, hard and selfish, that therefore it is necessary for
him to be more selfish and more cold in order that he may protect himself.
On the other hand, when we see the divine blue ray of Jupiter tinted with
perhaps the fine gold of the Uranian nature we realize how differently such
an exalted individual must view the world from the other's sordid way of
seeing things. Even those who have the faintest Jupiterian tinge are in a
world filled with sunshine, flowers blooming, everything in nature gay and
glad. Any by looking at the world through such an atmosphere they call
forth from other sources a similar response, as the tuning fork previously
mentioned generates a vibration in another of an even pitch.
After what has been said it will not be difficult to understand that the
Uranian characteristics, where love becomes compassion, give wisdom that is
not dependent upon reasoning, a love that is not fixed upon one object
alone, but includes all that lives and moves and has its being' being
similar to the characteristics that are to be evolved by humanity during the
[PAGE 43] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
Venus period when perfect love shall have cast out all fear, when man shall
have conquered all the lower phases of his nature and love shall be as pure
as it is universally inclusive.
When these Uranian vibrations are felt by advance in the higher life
through aspiration, there is great danger that we may throw away the fetters
of law and convention before we are really ready to govern ourselves by the
law of Love divine, that we may disregard the laws that are in the world,
that we may not render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, whether in obedi-
ence or coin, that we may not be careful of avoiding the appearance of evil,
that we may think that we have so far transcended the ordinary stage of hu-
manity that we can live as super-humans, that the passion of Mars has in our
cases been changed to Uranian compassion, which is sexless. Under such mis-
apprehensions, many people who endeavor to tread the path disregard the laws
of marriage and enter into relationships as soulmates and affinities. They
feel the Uranian ray, but cannot quite respond to its sublime purity, there-
fore they experience a counterfeit Venusian sensation which usually ends in
adultery and sex-perversion, so that instead of the natural animal passion
of Mars having been transmuted to the compassion of Uranus it has as a mat-
ter of fact, degenerated into something that is far worse than the fullest
sex expression of the martial rays committed in a frank and proper manner.
This is a danger that cannot be too strictly guarded against and it behooves
[PAGE 44] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
every one who endeavors to live the higher life not to try to aspire to the
Uranian rays until he at first becomes thoroughly imbued with the altruistic
vibrations of Jupiter, for more misery is brought into the world by those
who have aspired too high and fallen low, then by those who are not suffi-
ciently aspiring. "Pride goeth before a fall," is an ancient and very true
proverb, which it behooves every one of us to take to heart. The Christ
took part in the marriage at Cana. Marriage is a regular Christian institu-
tion, and must exist until abolished in the kingdom to come; there the bod-
ies we have will not wear out and therefore there will be no need of mar-
riage to generate new ones.
Let it also be understood that the minister who marries cannot truly mate
people, therefore the presence of the basic harmony for true marriage should
be determined before the marriage ceremony.
As we have seen in the foregoing, Mars, Venus and Uranus mark three
stages in the emotional development of man. During the stage where he is
only amenable to Mars, animal passion reigns supreme and he seeks unre-
stricted gratification of all his lower desires in the intercourse with his
fellowman but particularly with the opposite sex; during the stage where he
becomes amenable to the rays of Venus, love softens the brutality of his de-
sires and the animal passions are somewhat held in leash, he is even, under
the higher phases of this planet, ready to sacrifice himself and his desires
[PAGE 45] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
for the benefit and comfort of the loved ones. When he has evolved to the
point where we can feel the rays of Uranus, the passion of Mars gradually
turns to compassion; there the love of Venus which is only for one par-
ticular person, becomes all inclusive so that it embraces all humankind re-
gardless of sex or any other distinction, for it is the divine love of soul
for soul which is above all material considerations of whatever nature.
The mentality also evolves through three stages according to the amena-
bility of the person to the vibrations of the Moon, Mercury and Neptune.
While man is only amenable to the lunar influence, he is childlike and eas-
ily guided by the higher powers, which have led him through the various
stages mentioned in our pervious chapters. Under the stellar ray of Mercury
he gradually develops his intellectual powers and becomes a reasoning being.
As such, he is placed under the law of cause and effect, made responsible
for his own actions, so that he may reap what he has sown and learn thereby
the lessons that human life has to teach him under the present regime. Be-
ing inexperienced, he makes mistakes in whatever direction indicated by the
afflictions to Mercury in his horoscope and consequently he suffers a cor-
responding penalty of sorrow and trouble. It he has not the mentality to
reason on the connection between this mistakes and the sad experiences grow-
ing from them, during his life times, the panorama of life, which unfolds in
[PAGE 46] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
the post-mortem state, makes this clear,and leaves with him an essence of
"right feeling" which we know as "conscience."
This conscience keeps him from repeating past mistakes, when the feeling
generated has become sufficiently strong to overbalance the tendency to
yield to the particular temptation which caused him suffering. Thus he
gradually develops a spiritual consciousness which is above and beyond human
reason, but which nevertheless is also connected with reason in such a man-
ner that when the result has been reached, the man who has this Cosmic Con-
sciousness knows the reason why such and such a thing is and must be, or why
he ought to take a certain action. This Cosmic Consciousness is developed
under the ray of Neptune and differs from that intuitional right feeling de-
veloped under the ray of Uranus in the very important fact that while the
person who has developed the Uranian quality of intuition arrives at the
truth instantaneously without the necessity of thinking over the matter or
reasoning, he is unable to give anything but the result; he cannot connect
the various steps of logical sequence whereby the final result was reached.
The man or woman, however, who develops the Neptunian faculty, also has the
answer of any question immediately and is able to tell the reason why that
answer is the proper and right one.
The faculty of intuition built up from the Martial base of passion,
through the Venusian stage of love, and the Uranian rays of compassion,
[PAGE 47] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
depends upon the ability of the person involved TO FEEL VERY INTENSELY. By
love and devotion, the heart is attuned to every other heart in the universe
and in this way it knows and feels all that may be known and felt by any
other heart in the universe, thus sharing the divine omniscience that binds
Our Father in Heaven to His children and through the direct heart to heart
touch with that omniscience the person obtains the answers to whatever prob-
lem is placed before him.
The noblest men of all ages, Christian saints of the most transcendent
spirituality, have attained their wonderful development through the
spiritual rays of this planet because of the intense feeling of Oneness with
the divine and with all that lives and breathes in the universe.
But there are others who are not thus constituted and they are not able
to walk that path. These, through the Moon, Mercury and Neptune have devel-
oped their intellect and attained the same results plus the Neptunian power
of idealization.
This is very important point and it is only brought out in the Western
Wisdom Teachings tell us that there is in addition a third factor in univer-
sal advancement, namely, EPIGENESIS; the faculty whereby the spirit may
choose a course that is altogether new and independent of what has gone
[PAGE 48] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
before. We see the expression of this in all kingdoms relative to form, but
in the human kingdom, epigenesis expresses itself as genius, a creative in-
stinct, which makes man more akin to the divine than any other of his ac-
complishments. This is developed under the Neptune ray when that planet is
well placed in the horoscope. There is of course also such a thing as an
evil genius, a destructive faculty developed under an afflicted Neptune.
Only the most sensitive people in the world feel the rays of Uranus and
Neptune at the present time. To feel these vibrations the connection be-
tween the dense physical body and the vital body, which is made of ether
must be rather loose for where these two vehicles are firmly interlocked the
person is always of a materialistic turn, and cannot respond to the higher
and more subtle vibrations from the spiritual world. But when the stellar
rays from these two planets impinge upon a person whose vital body is
loosely connected with the physical, we have what is called a sensitive.
The direction and quality of this faculty depends upon the placement and the
aspects of the two planets mentioned, however. Those who are particularly
under the domination of an adverse aspect of the Uranian ray, usually de-
velop the more undesirable phases of clairvoyance and mediumship. They eas-
ily become the prey of entities from the invisible world who have no regard
[PAGE 49] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
for their victims' desire, even if in a weak manner these should protest.
Such mediums are generally used in simple trance communications and in a few
cases known to the writer have lived very beautiful and happy lives because
of implicit belief in the spirits that dominated them. In these cases the
spirit-controls were of a better class than usually met with. But as this
Uranian faculty is built up through Mars and Venus, passion is prominent in
such natures and under the influence of obsessing spirits many of these
people are driven into gross immorality. Vampirism and kindred dis-
reputable practices are also engendered by the perverse use of the Uranian
ray in mediums.
Neptune may be said to represent the invisible worlds in more positive
aspects and those who come under the evil rays of this planet are therefore
brought in touch with the most undesirable occupants of the invisible
worlds. Actual obsession whereby the owner of a body is deprived of his ve-
hicle takes place under the ray of Neptune and no materializing seance could
ever be held if it were not for this stellar vibration. Magic, white or
black can never be put to practical use save under and because of this
Neptunian vibration. Apart from this ray it will remain theory, speculation
and book learning. Therefore the Initiates of every Mystery School,
Spiritual; Seers who have full control of their faculty, and Astrologers are
amenable in varying degrees to the ray of Neptune. The Black Magician and
[PAGE 50] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
the Hypnotist, who is a twin brother to him, are also dependent upon the
power of this stellar ray for use in their nefarious practices.
The highest human development at the present time, namely, the soul
unfoldment which is undertaken in the mystery temples through initiation, is
directly the result of the Neptune ray, for just as evil configurations lay
men liable to assault by invisible entities, so the good configurations of
Neptune are particularly required to enable a man to unfold by initiation
his whole soul powers and become a conscience agent in the invisible worlds.
Let us remember, however, that good or evil configurations are not the re-
sult of chance or luck, but are the product of our own past acts; the horo-
scope shows what we have earned by our past living and therefore what we are
entitled to in the present life.
Moreover it should always be kept in mind that THE STARS IMPEL BUT DO NOT
COMPEL; because a man or woman has an evil configuration of Neptune or
Uranus it is not unavoidable that they should go into active evil Mediumship
and Black Magic and thereby makes life harder for themselves in the future.
Their opportunity to do so and the temptation will come at certain times
when the heavenly time markers point to the right hour on the clock of des-
tiny. Then it is time to stand form for the good and for the right; being
forewarned through a knowledge of Astrology one is also forearmed and may
the easier overcome when such an aspect culminates.
[PAGE 51] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
Thus we have seen that man is amenable to the planetary rays in an in-
creasing measure as he advances through evolution, but the more highly he
becomes developed spiritually the less he will allow the planets to dominate
him, while the younger soul is driven unresistingly along the tide of life
in whatever direction of the planetary vibrations impel him. It is the mark
of the advanced soul that he keeps the true course regardless of the plan-
etary vibrations. Between these two extremes there are naturally all
graduations, some amenable to the rays of one planet, some to another. The
bark of life of men and women is often driven upon the rocks of sorrow and
suffering, that they may learn to evolve within themselves the will power
that finally frees them from all domination by the ruling stars. As Goethe,
the great mystic, said,
"From every power that holds the world in chains,
Man frees himself when self-control he gains."
And it may be asked, have we run the gamut of vibrations when we have
learned to respond to all the seven planets which are mythically represented
as the seven strings on Apollo's Lyre? In other words is Neptune the high-
est vibration to which we shall yet respond? The Western Wisdom Teachings
tell us that there are two more planets in the universe which will be known
in future ages and that these will have an influence in developing qualities
of so transcendent a nature that we cannot now understand them. The
[PAGE 52] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
number of Adam, man or humanity, is nine, and there are nine rungs upon
the stellar ladder by which he is ascending to God; up to the present time
he has climbed only five of these rungs; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and
Saturn, and not even the vibration of these has he by any means learned;
Uranus and Neptune are slowly coming into our lives; they will not become
active in the same manner and to the same degree that for instance, the Moon
and Mars are at the present time until many ages have passed. But even when
we have learned to respond to them there are two more which we shall know
something later on; it is the opinion of the writers that these are probably
not felt by any except those who have graduated from the Greater Mystery
School and by the Hierophants of that sublime institution.
In conclusion to this article on the Amenability of Man to Planetary Vi-
brations we quote from the Rosicrucian Mysteries the article on Light, Color
and Consciousness.
"Truly, GOD IS ONE AND UNDIVIDED. He enfolds within His Being all that
is, as the white light embraces all colors. But He appears three-fold in
manifestation, as the white light is refracted in three primary colors,
Blue, Yellow and Red. Wherever we see these colors they are emblematical of
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. These three primary rays of Divine Life
are diffused or radiated through the Sun and produce LIFE, CONSCIOUSNESS AND
[PAGE 53] PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
FORM upon each of the seven light bearers, the planets, which are called the
'Seven Spirits before the Throne.' Their names are, Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Bode's law proves that Neptune does not
yet belong to our solar system and the reader is referred to 'Simplified,
Scientific Astrology' by the present writer, for mathematical demonstration
of this condition.
"Each of the seven planets receives the light of the Sun in a different
measure, according to its proximity to the central orb and the constitution
of its atmosphere, and the beings on each, according to their stage of de-
velopment have affinity for some of the solar rays. The planets absorb the
color or colors congruous to them, and reflect the rest upon the other plan-
ets. This reflected ray bears with it an impulse of the nature of the be-
ings with which it has been in contact.
"Thus the divine Light and Life comes to each planet, either directly
from the Sun, or reflected from its six sister planets. and as the summer
breeze which has been wafted over blooming fields carries upon its silent,
invisible wings the blended fragrance of a multitude of flowers, so also the
subtle influences from THE GARDEN OF GOD bring to us the commingled impulses
of all the Planetary Spirits and in that vari-colored light we live and move
and have our being.
"The rays which come directly from the Sun are productive of spiritual
illumination; the reflected rays from other planets make for added con-
[PAGE 54] THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
sciousness and moral development and the rays reflected by way of the Moon
give physical growth.
"But as each planet can only absorb a certain quantity of one or more
colors according to the general stage of evolution there, so each being upon
earth, mineral, plant, animal and man can only absorb and thrive upon a cer-
tain quantity of the various rays projected upon the earth. The remainder
do not affect it or produce sensation any more than the blind are conscience
of the light and color which exist everywhere around them. Therefore each
being is differently affected by the stellar rays, and the science of As-
trology, a fundamental truth in nature is of enormous benefit in the attain-
ment of spiritual growth."