MaKaRa hosts the Collected Works of Michael D. Robbins
Petal 1 | Petal 2 | Petal 3 | Petal 4 | Petal 5 | Petal 6 | Petal 7 | Petal 8 | Petal 9
(in progress, May 2014)
c. Petal 3...Sacrifice on the physical plane.
Colours: Orange, yellow and indigo. (TCF 822)
1. Major Sign in Series Beginning with Aries in Counter-Clockwise Order. If Aries represents the first petal, then Taurus represents the second and Gemini the third.
a. Gemini. The following factors associated with Gemini can be reasonably related to the experiences of the third petal.
i. Intelligence: This is the Knowledge/Sacrifice petal, the third in the outer circle of petals. The number three is directly related to the third ray and to the intelligence aspect of divinity.
ii. Mercury is preeminently the planet of intelligence with the Three/Five Monad; IV Soul and R3 personality (the Monad and personality hypothesized). It is the orthodox ruler of Gemini and within thee Hall of Ignorance (which the outer petals represent) the orthodox ruler would most prominently apply. Most importantly, since this is the first of the five sacrifice petals (one for the physical plane, another for the emotional plane and three for the mental plane) it is significant that the fourth ray which Mercury expresses through its soul nature is the ray which conditions that law of the soul called the Law of Sacrifice!
iii. Mental focus. If the first petal could symbolically be called the ‘Lemurian Petal’ and the second, the ‘Atlantean Petal’, then the third petal can mark the at least the beginning of the ‘Aryan’ Phase. A number of petals of the egoic lotus (Petals 3, 4, 5 certainly, and perhaps Petal 6) correlate with the Aryan phase of consciousness. Such petals unfold far faster than the first two which develop over millions of years of human experience. Of the twenty-one million years that man as man has been on this planet, only the last million or so are designated as Aryan.
The key feature of the Aryan root-race is the development of the concrete mind and the third petal is definitely associated with this lower aspect of mind, used in the Hall of Ignorance—the Hall in which any inner sense of the higher of the pairs of opposites (the inner Self) is missing. There is not yet the sense of soul and the attention of the consciousness is still turned outwards. It is extroverted—turned towards circumstance.iv. Gemini represents the relation between lower and higher mind, but only when a certain point of evolution is reached. In the beginning, Gemini represents the concrete mind gradually increasing in skill and versatility but not, for a long time, in ‘vertical extension’. The lower mind does not yet bridge towards the soul. This development must await petal unfoldments in the second circle.
v. The sign Gemini often indicates manual dexterity by the means of which mentality is demonstrated in the physical plane.
1. As this petal unfolds there is a growing ability to accomplish manual operations, technical operations, intelligently and with skill.
2. We may think of the Primary Lotuses who came into incarnation during the Aryan root-race from another planet (probably Vulcan but possibly Mercury as well). They have the first and third petal unfolding so they are concretely intelligent and physically oriented, but relatively devoid of ‘feeling’.
3. Thus the concrete, selfish scientific type or technician will emerge here. As for understand the moral imperative of how intelligence should be applied, this may have to await the development of petals in the second tier.
vi. A degree of material inventiveness is found as this petal unfolds. Gemini grasps ideas and can express them through the manipulation of materials on the physical plane. It is the third sign and possesses the third ray, inherently, though the second ray is now emphasized.
vii. Thus we find a petal in which mechanical ability demonstrates. (There is much to be said about the rays and planets involved, but this will have to be left for another series.)
viii. In general the mind is still serving the powerful astral body and is not questioning the origin of that which is presented to consciousness. As the mind becomes sharper, however, there will come the ability to approach inner things (the incipient awareness of an existential duality) which begins to be demonstrated in the fourth petal.
ix. As Gemini represents the first flickers of intuition (intuiting in this case the “inner Self” and thus leaving the Hall of Ignorance for the Hall of Learning), there may come through forced sacrifice (for which the processes of this petal are renowned) faint intimations of the higher member of the Pairs of Opposites.
2. Major Sign in Series Beginning with Aries in Clockwise Order. If Aries rules the first petal, then proceeding in a clockwise manner, Aquarius rules the third.
a. Aquarius: the following traits related to Aquarius also are characteristic of third petal processes.
i. Scientific application through the lower expression of Uranus, ruling orthodox science. Mars will also enter here as the ruler of the five senses and the concrete mind, but more on that when the planets are taken into discussion specifically.
ii. Under Aquarius we will have a synthesis of knowledge as it applies to the dense physical plane, mostly. Every third petal (in every tier) synthesizes with its own processes the processes occurring in the former two petals of its tier.
iii. Aquarius will produce a knowledgeable attitude to the outer world but not to the realm of psychology or spirituality.
iv. The “driving forces of circumstances” forces the sacrifices found in Petal 3 processes. In Aquarius one is often swept along in the energies which are overtaking everyone else, but Aquarius will conduce to the community spirit or incipient group spirit which will promote acquiescence in those required sacrifices.
v. We recall the Evolutionary Mantram for Aquarius: “Let desire in form be ruler.” We also note the importance of desire in forcing the kinds of sacrifices which are required for the unfoldment of this petal. Aquarius represents those inner forces which sweep the physical body towards a sacrificial destiny, even if the true causes remain unregistered. This is, in a sense, ‘involuntary service’ which some register as servitude. It is being forced to carry burdens (Aquarius the Water Carrier) which the personality may not, under normal circumstances, choose to carry.
vi. During the processes of Petal 3 one’s will is not one’s own. Something higher or larger is forced upon one and most often, without understanding, one just has to “go along”.
3. Major Sign in Series Beginning with Pisces in Clockwise Order. (If Pisces rules the first petal then Capricorn will rule the third).
a. Capricorn: the following traits related to Capricorn also are characteristic of third petal processes.
i. Capricorn is a sign much associated with the “driving force of circumstances”. One is locked into surroundings and events from which one cannot escape.
ii. Capricorn is known for the principle of enforcement. In this case, a greater authority (the state, the church, society, leaders, etc.) demand sacrifice. It is forced upon the individual. The individual does his job, his duty, a note to which Capricorn frequently responds. One’s function must be performed as one upholds one’s place in society. One does what one’s position requires. From this perspective, there is no escape from sacrifice.
iii. We note that, according to the Tibetan, it is the “physical body” which is offered up on the altar of desire. This physical sacrifice correlates well with the meaning of Capricorn in which the Moon (the dense physical body) is in detriment! So often under the Capricornian influence one must do what one must rather than what one desires to do. The welfare of the lunar nature is sacrificed to larger issues.
iv. The individual can be a “civil servant” upon whom many practical responsibilities fall. There is no room for creativity. One does what one must, routinely, without much creativity.
v. Capricorn is the sign of conformity. Human beings are ‘herded towards sacrifice’ in the unfolding of this third petal, and their tendency to conform to the requirements inherent in the prevailing circumstances brings on the sacrifice.
vi. Capricorn represents that type of personal ambition which often causes an individual to drive himself to the point of destruction. He sacrifices all for his objective to ‘rise in life’.
vii. Capricorn, like the other earth signs, deals with economic issues. Economic pressures can force as much sacrifice as the pressure of war and other national, political, social calamities.
viii. Capricorn in relation to this petal indicate the many “nice, good people” controlled by the mass consciousness which still prevails in the Hall of Ignorance (cf. EP II 205) who are being forced to work very hard and sacrifice much as they try to do their duty and simultaneously fulfill their desires, often including their desires for the welfare of those who are close to them. This inevitably involves sacrifice.
ix. The early Capricorn dynamic here signals “having to” rather than “willing to”. These processes are frequently met with resignation, and the plaintive refrain: “Well, what can you do!?”
x. Under Capricorn, if the second petal is closed as in the case of Primary Lotuses one could have cold but intelligent materialism.
xi. With respect to this petal, it is usually not how one feels about the necessary sacrifice. It is simply necessary, if certain objectives (one’s own or those one is forced to serve) are to be achieved.
xii. Eventually the intelligent mind may begin to understand the reason that sacrifice is demanded. This will signal a bridging process into the second tier of petals.
xiii. This third petal is not yet a petal through which a distinctive personality emerges. In fact, personality integration lies ahead in the second tier. The mass consciousness is still very powerful but one serves that which the kama-manasic consciousness and ‘thinks and feels’ with a growing intelligence characteristic of the number three.
4. Other Signs Implicated and Meaning of Petal 3 Processes:
a. Gemini, from another perspective, signifies bondage to the altar of Busiris, the false teacher in The Labours of Hercules. The limited concrete mind thinks that knowledge comes from only one direction. There is not a great deal of “rounding out”
Without the influence of earlier and later petals, the third petal is not inclined towards the well-rounded attitude. Intellect alone can be one-sided and tyrannical. There can be much skepticism and the perception of a narrow world bounded by the limited concrete mind. At the same time under the influence of the concrete mind, one can be quite sure of one’s opinions. Maya and lower illusion reign.
We find thinkers here, but not original thinkers. One can believe in someone else’s thinking, but this does not make one a spiritual aspirant.
A further indication of Gemini is the tendency to search the external world for answers but with an incapability of listening to the intuition (the encounter with Nereus, ignored, as in The Labours of Hercules). It was in relation to the intuition (Nereus) that Hercules failed his first test in Gemini. The unenlightened concrete mind still functions in the Hall of Ignorance no matter how ‘smart’ it may be in material terms.
Gemini can also be a sign of cleavage in which that which is ‘above’ is apparently severed from that which is ‘below’. We see this often in the contradictory behavior of Gemini individuals, as if at least two people are ‘at home’ in the same individual and operating very differently. More appositely, we see the concrete mind divided from any enrichment which might come from viewing the larger picture.b. Aquarius, from another perspective, introduces the dimension of horizontality. The concrete mind becomes a great leveler. The mind testifies to the ‘fact’ that there are no interior worlds and that that which is seen is all there is to be seen.
We also have in Aquarius the ability to adapt to circumstances for selfish purposes. There is the need to fit in; the need not to be an individual or different from others. There is a Third Stage of Adaptation which correlates to a degree with the processes of Petal 3. It is somewhat Aquarian in nature:
3. A conscious and purely selfish adapting of oneself to the environment. In these cases, the man is definitely aware of his motives; they are consciously thought out and recognised, and the man makes "the best of his circumstances". He forces himself to live as far as possible harmoniously in his surroundings. In this there is really good motive, but principally the man is governed by a desire for comfort—physical, emotional and mental—to such a degree that he will discipline himself into such a condition that he fits wherever he may be and can get on with anyone. (EP I 323)c. Sagittarius correlates with “offering up of the physical body upon the altar of desire” whether low desire or, later, aspiration. Sagittarius also represents the physical body which is sacrificed. Of the three fire signs, it is the one most closely related to the physical vehicle. We remember that Sagittarius is esoterically ruled by the Earth.
d. Virgo, a Mercurial and intelligent sign, for this Mercurian and intelligent petal, is a sign of sacrifice, of giving up one’s will for a higher will—not necessarily, at this time, a spiritual will.
It is significant that the Armed Forces are ruled by Virgo. In Virgo one “enters the service”, gives up one’s will, and is told what to do. Obedience is expected. One gives up his will initially to a more powerful will.
This idea of involuntary service reminds one of the servitude of the Army of the Voice, which must respond to every word, feeling and thought generated by man.
The factor of business enters here and all the sacrifices one must make to make a living. Business signifies working with the mind in matter for material gain—both mind and matter being themes for the Virgo individual before the Christ/soul potentials of this sign are revealed. Being a “slave to one’s business” is frequently found. Capricorn is involved in a similar meaning but the significance shifts more towards a career rather than the state of being an employee as in Virgo. Still one gives everything to “stay in business” or “fulfill the demands of one’s responsibility”..
The materially synthetic quality of Virgo also fits for this petal summarizing the lowest tier.e. Pisces is also a sign of sacrifice. An outer will is forced upon one and one is “resigned to one’s fate” One has no choice but to be sacrificed. The direction which is forced upon one is not one’s own. A degree of faith, however, may compensate for the enforced sacrifice.
f. Scorpio signifies the privation of the physical body in intense circumstances. One is forced to detach, often voluntarily, from what one, as an individual, values in life. There is struggle unto the death, but one has not necessarily chosen to be in this struggle.
g. Issues of Capital and Labor are felt in relation to the processes of this petal. Usually, those who do not have much opening of the higher petals, are part of the labor force, though they may be mentally skilled workers. It is frequently the Earth-chain people who say, “I owe my soul to the company store.”
h. What of Aries, Cancer, Leo, Libra? Probably connections can be found for all but not major ones:
i. Aries givens the zeal of immoderate desire leading the sacrifice of health and even life.
ii. Third ray Cancer represents the will to use one’s intelligence to sacrifice for family and the “near ones”. It is also a sign upon which a superior will is often imposed—though not in the case of two famous first ray Cancerians—Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. They certainly, however, brought about the driving force of sacrificial circumstances for many millions!
iii. Leo emphasizes the concrete mind and the pride one begins to feel as one masters circumstances through intelligence. The ahamkara force begins to build as the concrete mind becomes stronger. Leo, we know, expresses the fifth ray along with the first.
iv. Libra in relation to this synthetic petal for the first tier, may offer the opportunity to find a reasonable accommodation between the body, emotions and mind. One applies the factor of harmonization for personal gain. One “gets along”. One ‘waits’ (without realizing that one is doing so) for something of a deeper nature to appear. Perhaps there are intimations of the higher of the Pairs of Opposites.
In Libra we frequently have the sacrifice of the individual to the collective to maintain the status quo. Aquarius too suggests collectivism. The soul sign of Russia is Aquarius.
Communism, for instance, has difficulty working if too many people have unfolding petals in the second tier, but it can regiment those whose focus is the outer tier only. It has difficulty dealing with the true individual, unless such individuals become the leaders/dictators.
The Libran energies correlate with much that is said about the Third Stage of Adaptation—selfish accommodation.
And Libra suggests opportunism—making the most of one’s circumstances, without thinking of anything higher. Libra has the third ray and this is the third petal.
A kind of ‘reversal of procedure’ will be found under Libra. We have the poise or stasis which comes before going inwards to a more subjective attitude in Petal 4.5. Signs Implicated on the Basis of Color:
a. Orange—Leo [Justifies the knowledge sought in this mental petal.]
b. Yellow—Gemini and Virgo (Yellow is a color associated with both harmonization and sacrifice. It is a fourth color and the fourth ray rules the Law of Sacrifice.)
c. Indigo—Libra The Balancing of forces before the opening of the next tier. A lower sattvic position is reached before moving on. Choice and decision are present but the causes of sacrifice are largely unconscious.
d. A thorough analysis of the colors of each petal will be made in another series. (Synthesis of it all will come at the end! J)
6. The Knowledge Tier is an Earth tier basically. It involves the physical plane. The seemingly best way to divide the three earth signs amongst the three petals is:
a. Petal 1 –Capricorn
b. Petal 2 – Taurus
c. Petal 3 -- Virgo
7. It is not easy to determine which is the major sign for any petal. If this can be done, and there are at least a few worthy candidates for the major sign position, the other zodiacal influences can be considered as subtones.
8. What is important is to know where one stands; one one’s ‘petal task’ currently is; and what ray and astrological energies one can work with to accomplish that task.