Humans are the product of three life-giving energies. The positive male god force from the stars in our heavens reacts on the female goddess form of the planet Earth beneath our feet to produce a consciousness energy field that is finely tuned into the solar system 'body of god' through the agency of the constant regular movement of the Sun ~ the true symbol of man's beingness.

The individual Human being is of one Ray, and one Ray only. The part of the individual that relates to their Ray is the Higher Self, which in turn relates to a Human's true Monadic existence, which is only subject to a threefold rather than sevenfold classification. In the image of this Higher Self is the Personality, which relates not to a Ray but to a Plane through its intimate connection to form. Astrologically, the life impulse of a Human is shown by the Sun's natal position, the consciousness type by the Ascendant, and the form aspect by the natal Moon.

The Sun 'controls' our conscious response to our natural environment through the boundary of our sensory perceptions, and regulates our form through the agency of our own planet's satellite, the Moon. This total environment of a person is bounded only by their sensory perceptions, so the signs of the zodiac have been used to set this limit. The progress of the Sun through the signs demonstrates an individual's conscious interaction with his environment through all its phases, whether it relates just to himself, to his close surroundings and possessions, to his family, his friends, his status, or the rest of Humanity. This is because the Sun, in this instance, is the purveyor of the Second Primary, the passionate attraction that produces the conscious objectivity of a Human being from his surroundings.

The zodiac signs, in their role as the original Creative Hierarchies, are responsible for the transmission of various Ray qualities as the Sun, Moon and planets pass through them; and the planets use these Ray qualities in their own unique ways to affect the inhabitants of Earth through planetary influence.

A horoscope is a map of the angles of a particular place and time, and demonstrates the unique angular influences operating at each point on the surface of the Earth. Anything created at that place and at that time will assume that individual angular pattern for the whole of its natural existence.

This is because the horoscope symbolises an angular form that has been constructed by the movement of the planets through the energy fields of the zodiac: but the reason it relates to a living person is through the agency of the Sun. Without the Sun, the form built from angles would not have the ability to experience human life as we know it, because the Sun signifies the individualised consciousness aspect, the essential ingredient to produce intelligent life out of an angular structure.

At the moment of birth, the Ascendant becomes instrumental in providing the potential consciousness awareness for the Sun to use in its progressive path around the zodiac signs as it builds its capabilities of individualisation. It is the angles of the Ascendant that produce the Second Primary consciousness initialised by the Sun, and the planets build the form by providing the Third Primary.

Human beings react with planetary and zodiacal influence through the seven major chakras or centres, which are energy vortexes that relate to points on the Human spinal column and exist on numerous levels above our normal physical reality and awareness.

The chakras do not relate to the energies associated with the astrological planets. The planets act as centres in the body of solar system, and their influence on Earth and its inhabitants is a secondary part of this process.

The energy that works through the chakras is Ray energy, and by assigning the chakras to symbolic points on the horoscope, we can appreciate how the energies of the Rays work into the life of a human being. Diagram 2 illustrates a simplified form of the horoscope circle, the Celtic Cross.

(see DIAGRAM 2 - THE CELTIC CROSS)

 

The four major points on the horoscope: the Ascendant and its opposite, the Descendant; and the Midheaven or M.C. and its opposite the I.C., are the points which join the equal armed cross to their enclosing circle. They also relate to four of the main chakras of a human being, the Head, Heart, Solar Plexus and Sex Centres.

The symbol of the Celtic Cross has many interpretations, and in this instance can be used to show how the energies of the stars, planets and the Sun are integrated into the Earth's own planetary energy system through the cardinal compass points.

The Ascendant is the eastern point on the horizon and is the gateway for life energies coming from the zodiacal belt of star systems. It is these energies which produce life from the chemical elements of our planet Earth, and so the Ascendant pinpoints the position in both space and time where the form is instilled with the life-force to produce a conscious response: the dawn of a new life signified by the Second Primary of Conscious Awareness.

The Midheaven or M.C. is situated directly above the birthplace and the point of entry of the First Primary of Life-force, which happens at conception. The M.C. also relates to the Sex Centre, which obviously ties in with conception, as well as the superconscious, which is an adequate description of the incarnating ego. In a similar way, the Ascendant relates to the Head Centre, which ties in with the newborn child's first experience of earthbound consciousness.

The M.C. is instrumental in conception, by instigating the form building activities of the planets because the M.C. angle connects a Human being to his own eternal reality that decides the requirements for his future life. The planets may be the Lords of Karma, but karma is only metered out according to the needs of the Higher Self, which is decided by his Monad in conjunction with the Karmic Lords or planets before he is conceived. Then a symbolic plan is produced so that when the planet's positions fit that plan, the soul is born into the world.

Only four centres are shown on the horoscope because conventional astrology deals with two-dimensional space. If the horoscope is viewed as a globe, then two more centres are shown, above and below the middle point of the circle. These two centres are the other head centre, the Crown, and the Base Centre at the base of the spine. The final major centre is shown by the central dot of the horoscope circle, which is the Throat Centre or Daath in quabbalistic terms, the transitional point between 'worlds'. In this way, the central dot of the horoscope or Celtic Cross can be viewed as the axis of a three dimensional circle or globe, one chakra placed above the point, one placed below and one centrally placed.

Only the four centres shown on a normal horoscope are subject to planetary influence. The three central chakras do not function objectively, but require association with one of the other four centres, usually the Head Centre, for us to be aware of their influence.

So in a two-dimensional drawing of a normal horoscope circle, the central point will represent three of these centres, and the difference is only visible on a three dimensional globe or from a different two-dimensional perspective.

To fully understand the relevance of the Celtic Cross to esoteric astrology we have to study it three dimensionally as a sphere, by assuming it is formed from three circles. One joins the Ascendant and Descendant - the blue line on the horoscope in DIAGRAM 2, and this is called the Line of Awareness. One joins the M.C. to the I.C., the red line in DIAGRAM 2; this is the Line of Volition. The last is the conventional circular form of the horoscope, the yellow line in DIAGRAM 2, the path we assume the Sun and planets travel through the signs of the zodiac. This circle represents the Line of Form.

Taking the idea one stage further, and remembering the two lines of the cross represent the circumferences of extra circles, then the line joining the Ascendant to the Descendant relates to the Second Primary, the line joining the M.C. to the I.C. relates to the First Primary, leaving the actual horoscope circle of signs and houses as the Third Primary.

This illustrates how the usual horoscope circle of zodiac signs represents the ever-changing form of Third Primary life environments, which affect both the variety of Human conditions of consciousness, as well as the fluctuating condition of the volition or will. This is made possible because the Second Primary ASC/DESC axis and the First Primary M.C./I.C. axis progress at an equal rate through these 360 degrees every day.

In addition, by viewing the figure as a sphere we are able to see how these three axes relate to each other. Both the Line of Awareness and the Line of Volition connect the Crown Centre to the Base Centre, but esoterically volition consists of positive energy and therefore passes through the Sex and Solar Plexus Centres, whereas awareness is considered negative energy and this passes through the Head and Heart Centres. The interaction of these two, as representatives of the First and Second Primaries, produces the balanced energy of form through the Personality, representing the Third Primary, which connects the four centres we are generally aware of through our normal senses.

The interaction of the three Primary energies work through these four major centres as they represent crossing points of angles. The horizontal axis gives form to conscious thought patterns at the Ascendant via the Head Centre; and to unconscious emotional patterns at the Descendant, the Heart Centre. The vertical axis produces different types of form activity, inspired by the subconscious and instinctual desires at the I.C., via the Solar Plexus Centre; or inspired by worldly drives to succeed at the M.C., via the Sex Centre.

Each centre stands at the point where the circumference of two of the three circles intersect, except the Throat Centre, which occupies a point that could be considered as the connection point of the circumferences of further circles or globes in separate or different realities, as well as being the centre point of the circles of Volition, Form and Awareness. Table B demonstrates how these three circles can interact through these centres.

(see TABLE B- THE HOROSCOPE, CHAKRAS AND THE SEVEN RAYS)

Any centre can work with any Ray energy but each centre will have a strong affinity with a particular Ray. This is because each centre works with a particular frequency range that enables it to access different levels of awareness, giving it the ability to convert Ray energy to activate angles in many different areas of the psyche. So although the Head Centre for example is associated with Second Ray energy, it can use any Ray, but it will use it in such a way as to affect the consciousness aspect of the individual in question, because the Second Ray deals mainly with a person's condition and quality of consciousness. The Rays work in many different ways depending on how they are viewed, so please bear this in mind when considering the following correspondences:

the CROWN CENTRE works with First Ray energy,

the HEAD CENTRE works with Second Ray energy,

the THROAT CENTRE works with Third Ray energy,

the HEART CENTRE works with Fourth Ray energy,

the SOLAR PLEXUS CENTRE works with Fifth Ray energy,

the SEX CENTRE works with Sixth Ray energy,

the BASE CENTRE works with Seventh Ray energy.

By transposing this to a horoscope - we have Second Ray energy at the Head Centre working through the Ascendant; Fifth Ray energy at the Solar Plexus Centre working through the I.C.; Fourth Ray energy at the Heart Centre, working through the Descendant, and Sixth Ray energy at the Sex Centre, working through the M.C.

The complications arise when considering the influences that work naturally through the three hidden centres represented by the central dot of the horoscope, as these influences originate with the Primary Rays, which have a separate existence to the Seven Rays:

the First Primary, acting as the First Ray, works through the Crown Centre;