Studies in Astrology
by
Elman Bacher
Volume V
Chapter IV
Involuntary Military Experience
Since the beginning of our incarnated experience,
strife on any level or involving any quantity of persons has never been
anything but a dramatization of the individual's struggle to evolve. The
destruction, pain, and sorrow which the entity, humanity, has inflicted on
itself has never been anything but an expression-in-action of ignorance of
life-principles. This ignorance has always basically been--how could it be
otherwise?--an individual matter.
Until certain self-directives have been established
mankind functions primarily by response to stimuli to the collective thought,
collective instinct or collective subconscious feeling. In this way, Nature
provides that karmic return may be experienced collectively. A group of
individuals--tribe, nation, or alliance of nations--are enabled to meet a
pattern of karmic return all together, rather than in individual timing. All
persons, in a given situation, who are at-tuned to a particular vibratory
negative--such as the sadistic frenzy of the lynching party--sympathetically
respond and express "en masse." Since we, as individuals, fall far short of
ideal expression we are, to some degree or other, "tied in" to certain
patterns of unfulfillment. This is due to our ignorance of principles and our
having expressed in action according to ignorance in past incarnations.
Expression--cause--implies its own effect. One of the most phenomenal effects
in modern times has been the global scope of warfare such as we have seen
since 1914. The opposition between Uranus in Capricorn and Neptune in Cancer,
preceding the outbreak of World War I, was the vibratory condition by which
human beings in national groups met collective karmic return through warfare
experience. This opposition was the "Full Moon pattern" from the conjunction
of Uranus and Neptune in Sagittarius-Capricorn during the last years of the
eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth century. It was the
timing for universal decrystallization in order that universal progress could
be made. A few moments of reflection are all that are needed to realize that
the entire entity, humanity, was affected in drastic ways by this
conjunction and its resultant opposition. New octaves of Power and Wisdom were
released through the incarnations of many people who, during the past century
and a half, functioned as "trail-blazers" toward the transcendence of the no-
longer-needed. The powers expressed by these great persons affected our
experience on all planes--intellectual, religious-philosophical, scientific,
and artistic.
A "life-wave" of incarnations was made in the early
years of this century when the opposition of Uranus to Neptune was not only
itself "white-hot," but was squared by the opposition of Saturn in Aries and
Jupiter in Libra. This life-wave--focalizing the square of Saturn to both
Uranus and Neptune--came in at a most precarious timing. That vibratory
pattern was, in the opinion of the author, the arch-challenge of
crystallization to progress. Perhaps the most important single factor in the
life-experience of those people was the choice, in consciousness, of clinging
to the old or of moving on in progress through individualized unfoldment. A
critical evolutionary point, indeed! The outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion and
the establishment of republican government in China during this era pictured
that planetary pattern applying to the evolutionary status of a great
civilization--an interesting example of the tremendous significance of those
years--and of that aspect.
We have a recorded history of many centuries of
experience from a study of which we may find--just as we may in our present
day experiences--the principles underlying the relationship between individual
and collective causes and their effects. In these days people are asking:
"After two global wars in much less han a half-century, do we have to have
another one?" The answer comes back: "If we do, it will be because we have not
applied ourselves sufficiently to learn from previous experiences about the
principles which concern mutual good between national groups." In short, the
effect--as it always does--will describe and identify its own cause.
Consider the foundation of the Great Astrological
Mandala: a circle with a dot in the center; a horizontal line emanates from
the center to the left, touching the circumference; the symbol for the sign
Aries outside the circle at that point. This much of the Mandala is the
essential picture of the potentials of each human being appearing in the
infant body at the dawn of incarnation. In this radius are implied all other
possible ways of expressing the individual I AM during the ensuing lifetime.
Now add the following with light pencil line: the upper vertical--Capricorn;
the horizontal to the right--Libra; the lower vertical--Cancer. From the
center of the left radius--the Aries line--draw three-quarters of a circle
clockwise (backward) through Capricorn and Libra, ending at the middle of the
Cancer radius. This is a "motion picture" in reverse--from birth to
conception--nine months of human gestation. All four generic points are
included in this picture: moving forward from Cancer to Aries--through the
three quadrants--we see a resume of the generic qualities distilled from the
past to the present. This is the simplest way we have of "gathering" the
karmic residues from past incarnations for redemption in the present because
the incarnation structure-points--the Cardinal signs--are all represented in
sequence, from most feminine to most masculine, and each Cardinal composites
the Fixed and Mutable of its particular generic Element.
Since our experience is dual: dynamically masculine, a
projection from our generic consciousness; and, reflectively feminine, a
perception by our generic consciousness, we have in this simple mandala the
essential sum-total of "I AM-ness" of the individual when he came into this
particular incarnation. That means his "I AM-ness" of unawareness, fear-
hatred, and ignorance as well as his "I AM-ness" of power, love, wisdom--the
residues and spiritual accomplishments, respectively, of his past incarnations
as male and as female. His magnetic attraction to his parents outpictures very
significant factors of his generic relationship consciousness; his at-tunement
to his race-nationality outpictures much of his collective >karmic residues.
In the latter is found the reason why he has been--or may be--called into
military service during this time of universal mutation; it is, in short, a
residue of unfulfilled service and unfulfilled understanding of principles.
To the mandala now add the radius representing the
cusp of the twelfth house--place the symbol for Pisces at the cusp-point.
Connect the Pisces and Aries radii by a straight line with an arrowhead
pointing downward and touching the Aries cusp. This is the simplest way we
have, in astrology, of picturing the emanation of the past into the present.
Since every radius of an astrological wheel is an emanation of the one radius,
this shows that the "I AM" of now is an emanation of the "I AM" of the
past. The cusp of the second house would, in relationship to that of
the first, symbolize the "I AM" of the future, the emanation from the present.
Hence the dynamic essence of the Aries radius--the "I AM NOW"--symbolizes the
potential, the impulsion and the necessity for putting into action in this
incarnation the sum totals of our "I AM's" from the past. This means action as
expression of ignorance of principles as well as of understanding of
principles; such action, from either level, emanates effects for the future.
Now, to speak of the question on the minds of most
people these days, how long are we, individually and collectively, going to
continue to set in action causes that will have warfare as their objectified
effects? How much longer is it going to take us--individually and
collectively--to recognize that certain actions--causes--objectify in warfare,
crime, suffering and disintegration? This question--and its answer--has
nothing whatever to do with any particular nation, political ideology, or form
of government. This question is asked, sooner or later, by every human being.
Its answer, and its understanding, are derived by each individual as a result
of his evolutionary unfoldment. Change the quality of causes by learning from
experience and go into action from the basis of new wisdom.
Since every radius in the horoscopical wheel is one
factor of a twofold polarity pattern, let us now extend the Pisces radius in
the above mandala to make a complete diameter; extend the line to the opposite
point and form the diameter of Pisces-Virgo--cusps of the twelfth and sixth
houses. A diameter is the unfolded picture of the potentials of a radius since
it shows both polarities. Thus with the Pisces-Virgo diameter we have the
feminine signs of the mutable cross. Virgo (Earth) is male; Pisces (Water) is
female. With reference to our subject, these two signs symbolically portray
the two types of people who engage in military service. (1) Those who enlist--
serve voluntarily--express a service consciousness from the dynamic--or
generically male--level; this quality is pictured by Virgo which, in
essence, is love-service. (2) Those who are drafted--serve under compulsion--
are moved into military service by external forces; in other words, they are
acted upon by karmic forces which are objectified by the representatives of
governmental and military authority. This type of experience represents the
generically female polarity of the service diameter; it is not only passive
but the lack of self-direction implied makes this kind of experience a
possible source of great suffering to the individual unless--repeat
unless--he makes an adjustment to the situation in his consciousness
and agrees to it within himself, moves with the karmic forces and fulfills his
responsibilities to the utmost every step of the way. Let us consider a proof
of this pattern as it has objectified in recent experiences of many persons:
The draft action of the recent war was a "mutation
point" in the life of everyone who was affected by it; just as, on a more
universal scale, those who incarnate under the vibrations of certain major
planetary aspects "tie in" with evolutionary turning points. Since mankind
basically tends to inertia--preferring adherence to that which is established
as a symbol of security--most people need to be moved by karmic forces in
order to elasticize their approaches to experience and to open up new levels
of consciousness of qualities and capacities. The authorities in charge of the
last draft organization did much to try to determine the qualifications of
individuals for suitable service. The fact that many men were assigned to
lines of work that were entirely new to them was the outpicturing of karmic
agencies at work on their lives. Their deep inner needs for elasticization of
consciousness magnetized them to specific organizations, specific branches of
service, and specific localities to fulfill responsibility patterns that may
have been, from a time standpoint, ages old. One thing is certain: the draft-
service opportunity that came to each man was the direct effect of default-
causes which he himself set in motion in the past. To be incarnate implies the
assumption, voluntary or otherwise, to serve life by improving the quality of
vibrational output and response; we can never improve anything unless we gain
a clearer and greater understanding of our realities. One of our basic
realities is to attain mastery of individual destiny; this is proven in our
possessing the faculty of choice. We can choose to make any experience a
"mutation point" of up-turning or down-turning depending on the quality of our
reaction to and action upon a given situation. We can learn how to make better
choices to the degree that we become unemotionally aware of the quality of
effects.
If we have failed--and we all have--to serve
according to principle in the past, then we recognize that life, through
consciousness, provides the opportunity to redeem the quality of deficient
service by at-tunement with group experience so that the combined
consciousness of the group may add power to the regenerative effort, and each
person who is constructively conditioned then serves all others who are
similarly conditioned to the furtherance of progress. Military service is one
of the most conspicuous examples, in time of "global stress," by which life
makes this opportunity possible, and each person is thereby placed where and
with whom his karma (self-generated destiny) decrees.
Your horoscope is a variation of the Great Mandala,
but your twelfth and sixth houses are in the same place as those of everyone
else. Study the signs on the cusps of your Mutable Houses--third to ninth,
sixth to twelfth--as the vibratory cross that, in your chart, corresponds to
the Mutable Cross of the Great Mandala. Focus your attention on the planetary
rulers--their placements, aspects, and generic quality--of two houses: 12th
and 6th. Study with great care all squares and oppositions involving your
twelfth house and its ruler. The ruler of your twelfth house gives you the key
to your at-tunement with karmic forces; its regenerate aspects will picture
your deep superconscious spiritual strengths to meet and transcend the "tough
experiences" represented by its unregenerate aspects. In such an experience
you will "tangle" with much that represents the negative astral in human
consciousness--your negative twelfth house vibratory conditions picture
your magnetization to the people thus represented who will serve as challenges
to your deep desire for redemptive action and expression. Inform yourself
of the principle of this planet and the principle of every planet that
aspects it; you will--because you need it--be tested mightily at that
point. Know that "Planets are People." Your chart, in every respect, will
be out-pictured beautifully or otherwise by the people you will have to
associate with in this period of "redemptive service."
In time of planetary conflict the individual can take
one of four choices: (1) an uncompromising abstinence from participation in
any form; (2) abstinence from combat but willingness to serve in another way;
(3) voluntary enlistment as a "self-propelled" gesture of service; (4) letting
oneself be drafted and taking what is dished out. Of these four, the last
requires the maximum of adjustability to the directives of karmic forces,
since it is symbolized by the Pisces-point of the Pisces-Virgo diameter.
Conscientious fulfillment of "everything that is dished out" is the keyword to
keep in mind to neutralize resistances and resentments--because in that
attitude of fulfillment, the service will be done--and that is the purpose
behind the whole thing. By an expansive exercise of intelligence and
expression of abilities as they are required will the person find himself
growing in an amazing way because he will be called upon to consider many
problems and situations that he never dealt with before. The Pisces vibration
symbolizes the need and necessity of the drafted man to keep himself at-tuned
to his own and everyone else's best; he must "alert" his ideality and seek to
perceive the best potentials of all and recognize every opportunity to project
his best; to encourage and hearten when it is needed; to elasticize his
appreciation of the value of each factor in the experience as an opportunity
to learn.
Students--it is worse than futile to congest on
resentment if this experience comes to you. Your life goes on through it--
though in ways which you may never have consciously planned or expected. No
one can make you waste your time if you utilize your time-material. No one can
make you waste your talents if you exercise your abilities and let yourself
become aware of deeper resources of physical, mental, and spiritual strength.
The whys and wherefores of this experience are
pictured in your horoscope. In ways which you may not even imagine, you can,
if you must and will, become more aware of who and what you really are for the
improvement of your entire incarnation and for your relationships with people
in the future.