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Virgo Compilation By NN
From Esoteric Astrology, by Alice A. Bailey

See Michael Robbins' Tapestry of the Gods, Volume III

 

Virgo is a triple sign

10. Virgo is a triple sign.

11. Scorpio is also a triple sign, closely resembling the symbol of Virgo.

These two signs are crucial in the experience of the human being, indicating as they do the function of the triple form and the liberation of the man imprisoned in the form, through the tests in Scorpio wherein he proves to himself and to the world the reality of that which Virgo has veiled or hidden. (EA p53)

 

Virgo relating to Aries via Ray 4 planets

4. Aries and Virgo, through Mercury and the Moon, are related to Ray 4. Harmonising the cosmos and the individual through conflict, producing unity and beauty. The birth pangs of the second birth.

                        The Cosmic and Individual Christ (EA p67)

 

Virgo related to Leo via Ray 2 planets

a. Ray 1—Taurus and Pisces, through Vulcan and Pluto.

b. Ray 2—Leo and Virgo, through the Sun and Jupiter.

c. Ray 3—Gemini and Libra, through the Earth and Saturn.

d. Ray 4—Scorpio and Aquarius, through Mercury and Moon.

e. Ray 6—Cancer and Sagittarius, through Neptune and Mars. (EA p68)

 

Aries leads to Virgo

Mercury, therefore, leads Aries to Virgo (again speaking symbolically) where the idea or Word of God begins to take form, and consequently the latent life in Aries comes to the "crisis of the birth hour," prior to the birth of the Christ, cosmically considered, though the birth of the individual Christ takes place in Capricorn, at the close of the needed gestation period. (EA p 100)

 

The crisis of the birth place in Virgo

2. The crisis of the birth place in Virgo, brought about through the activity of Mercury, leading through Leo to the birth of the Christ in Capricorn. The self-conscious individual in Leo becomes the Christ-conscious Initiate in Capricorn. (EA p101)

 

Stabilisation in Virgo

When the individual man enters upon his cycle of incarnations, and emerges in the sign Cancer, which is found in the Cardinal Cross, he metaphorically mounts the Mutable Cross and his long term of imprisonment in form begins and the lessons of servitude must be learned. He goes on learning until he has transformed servitude into service. He alternates between the pairs of opposites, both from the astral, emotional angle and from the point of view of the four arms of the Mutable Cross. The fluid, sensitive temperament in Pisces—mediumistic and psychically polarised—must be stabilised in Virgo, in which sign mental [Page 118] introspection and critical analysis become possible and serve to arrest the fluidity of Pisces. These two signs balance each other. (EA p117-18)

 

Virgo on the Mutable Cross

3. Virgo—In Virgo, the man who was fluid in Pisces and emotionally selfish and full of desire in Sagittarius, begins to focus still more intently and to reason and think. The latent soul is becoming interiorly active; a germination process is proceeding; the hidden man is making his presence felt. The intellect is awakening [Page 119] and instinct—after passing through the emotional stage—is being transmuted into intellect. (EA p118-19)

 

Virgo on the Fixed Cross

Virgo—The mind, under the influence of Virgo, which has been analytical and critical, changes to that quality of mind which is best described by the words, illumination and revelation. The Christ to whom the Virgin must eventually give birth is recognised as present in the womb, though not yet born. Life is recognised. The process of the revelation of the Christ consciousness is carried intelligently forward and the selfish aspirations and experiments of the undeveloped man give place to the selflessness of the illumined and intuitive disciple. (EA p120-21)

 

Virgo mind used in mediatorship

2. Whether those mediums who are becoming more positive and more self-controlled and who are beginning to get a glimpse of the higher correspondences in their work—mediatorship and interpretive activity—have not got Virgo appearing somewhere with real potency [Page 125] and activity. This might indicate the awakening of the mind, in the first instance, and eventually that there was a shift in the influence controlling them, from the orthodox planetary rulership to that of the more esoteric planets. It might be added that spiritualism and the work of the spiritualistic movement are under the influence of Pisces with Cancer rising, or in some stages with the reverse—Cancer with Pisces rising. (EA p124-25)

 

Virgo and the mystery of the Sphinx

The mystery of the Sphinx, connected with the relation of Leo and Virgo, and tied up with the secret of the solar Angels. This is not the mystery of soul and form, but the mystery of the higher and the lower mind and their relation to each other. (EA p154)

 

Virgo and the ancient zodiacs

1. In Lemurian days, during the early period of animal man and before humanity appeared on earth, in the interim period of development, eight signs influenced the planet and the kingdoms of nature found upon it. There was no response to the influences of Leo and Virgo. The mystery of the Sphinx did not exist and these two signs were not then part of the zodiacal wheel. Then individualisation took place and the seed of Christhood was planted in man and these two signs began to influence humanity, and gradually that influence was recognised and the zodiac was then known to have ten signs. The Mutable Cross dominated, but it was then the Tau, for Pisces was lacking and only Gemini, Virgo and Sagittarius were evidenced. Aries to Capricorn marked the circle of experience.

2. In Atlantean days, man had become so responsive to the planetary and solar influence that the door of initiation into hierarchical experience was opened and two more signs were added. These two signs were the higher correspondences of Leo and Virgo and were the polar opposites of these two: Aquarius and Pisces. Their influence became active and effective and thus they formed part of the zodiacal wheel because man began to respond to their potencies. It then became possible for the Fixed Cross to function esoterically in the life of humanity, and the first reversals of the wheel in the life of the advanced men of the period took place.

It was this reversal which was the true cause of the great contest or battle between the Lords of the Dark Face (as they are called in The Secret Doctrine) and the Lords of Light—a contest which is today persisting. Certain men then reached the stage of discipleship wherein they could consciously mount the Fixed Cross and be prepared for a major initiation. This the Forces of Materiality and of Obstruction (as they are sometimes called) fought and the battle was fought out and conditioned in the sign Scorpio.(EA p159-60)

 

Virgo and the Path of Evolution

Path                 Rays                      Planets                    Constellations

Evolution          6 and 4             Mars. Mercury             Aries. Gemini. Cancer.

                                                                                                Virgo. Scorpio

Discipleship      3 and 5             Venus. Saturn               Gemini. Sagittarius.

                                                                                                Capricorn.

Initiation           1 and 7             Vulcan. Uranus.            Taurus. Libra. Pisces.

                                                 Pluto. (EA p166)

 

Virgo and the second ray

Second ray influences and potencies are abidingly present and pour into our planetary sphere and life, via the Sun (veiling a hidden planet) and Jupiter. These sweep the forces of Leo, Sagittarius, Pisces, Aquarius and Virgo into and through our entire planet and all its kingdoms in nature. (EA p167)

 

Power of Neptune and Jupiter lessened in Virgo

It should be noted that both Neptune and Jupiter are exalted in Cancer, the great sign wherein the desire for incarnation finds its fulfilment; the power of both is lessened in Virgo, wherein the first signs of the Christ consciousness are felt; both fall in Capricorn, when the Christ life and consciousness come to full fruition. (EA p171)

 

Unevolved and aspiring man in Virgo

Virgo—Material life. The cherishing of an idea.

… Virgo—The mother of the Christ Child. Gestation. (EA p182)

 

The polarity of Virgo and Pisces

it is interesting to note that the Twins set apart and unattached in Gemini become the Centaur, the man-beast, in Sagittarius, whilst Virgo, the Virgin, becomes the Fish goddess in the polar opposite, Pisces. (EA p182)

 

Jupiter in Virgo and the Purpose of the Cosmic Christ

I would point out also that, through Jupiter and its influences, Sagittarius is related to three other great constellations:

1. Pisces—Exoterically, indicating the final goal for man.

2. Aquarius—Esoterically, indicating the purpose of all [Page 189] material evolution and the objective of all incarnating processes.

3. Virgo—Hierarchically, indicating the purpose of the Cosmic Christ. (EA p188-89)

 

Virgo and the third aspect

3. Virgo is the focal point for the expression of the third aspect, that of active intelligence. In that sign the highest function of matter is symbolised. (EA p194)

 

Virgo, Neptune and the second initiation

Neptune is known esoterically as the Initiator. In certain ancient formulas, the great Teacher of the West and the present world Initiator, Christ, [Page 220] is spoken of as Neptune, Who rules the ocean, whose trident and astrological symbol signifies the Trinity in manifestation and Who is the ruler of the Piscean Age. The formula runs as follows, speaking esoterically: "... the fish goddesses who have leapt from earth (Virgo) to water (Pisces) unitedly give birth to the Fish God (Christ) who introduces the water of life into the ocean of substance and thus brings light to the world. Thus does Neptune work." This is, however, a great mystery, revealed only at the time of the second initiation in which the control of the fluidic astral plane is demonstrated. (EA p 219-20)

 

Virgo with Leo and Libra

In the days before Leo-Virgo were divided into two signs, Libra was literally the midway point.

… the dual development of the soul-body, or the subjective and objective consciousness, and the God-man in Leo-Virgo.

… In this world period we have the division of the sign of the Sphinx into two signs (the Lion and the Virgin, soul and form) because the state of human evolution and conscious realisation is that of a recognised duality; it is only at what is called the "final judgment" that another fusion [Page 231] will take place and Virgo-Libra will form one sign, for then man's sense of antagonistic dualism will be ended and the scales will have been turned finally in favour of that which the Virgin-Mother has hidden from expression for aeons.

… First, that there was a time, as you have heard, when there were only ten signs, and in those ancient days as in the present time, there was a divergence of opinion among the astrological scientists; they differed as to which the ten signs might be and in this connection there were several schools of thought, but mainly two of importance. One group fused or made one sign out of Leo-Virgo and perpetuated their belief in the Sphinx; the other omitted Gemini and Libra altogether. They were of an earlier date than the latter who in reality had a zodiac of eleven signs. (EA p230-232, 242)

 

Virgo, Aries and the Cosmic Christ

The other signs in their consummation carry man beyond the stage of [Page 243] ordinary humanity and produce the following states of consciousness:

1. Aries and Virgo.—The Cosmic Christ. Universal and individual. (EA p242-43)

 

The quickening in Virgo

The power of Mars is lessened in Libra; this is the sign of interlude and Mars is temporarily quiescent, prior to gathering his forces for a renewed effort in Scorpio or for the "quickening" of the spiritual life in Virgo, according to which way the wheel is turning for the man. (EA p250)

 

Jupiter influence in Libra opens the door in Virgo

The true rulers of the decanates in Libra are Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury. I need not enlarge upon their effect except to point out that the result of the Jupiterian influence is to "open the door of the womb" in Virgo—a planet which we shall consider when we study that sign of the zodiac, which is our next undertaking. (EA p251)

 

Virgo and the goal of the evolutionary process

The sign Virgo is one of the most significant in the zodiac for its symbology concerns the whole goal of the evolutionary process which is to shield, nurture and finally [Page 252] reveal the hidden spiritual reality.

(EA p251-52)

 

Virgo is closely related to Gemini

Gemini and Virgo are closely related but Gemini presents the pairs of opposites—soul and body—as two separate entities whereas in Virgo, they are blended and of great and supreme importance to each other; the mother protects the germ of the Christ life; matter guards, cherishes and nurtures the hidden soul. (EA p252)

 

The Virgo keynote

The keynote which embodies the truth as to the mission of Virgo most accurately is "Christ in you, the hope of glory." There is no clearer or more adequate definition of this sign than that; (EA p252)

 

The many names of the Virgin Mother

In all the great world religions, the Virgin Mother appears and this a study of any book upon comparative religion would prove. I cannot trace for you at length this universal recognition of the task of Virgo; it is needless for me to do so as it has been adequately done by many research scholars. I would, however, point out that four of the names whereby the Virgin is called are familiar to all of us, and tell us much as a whole concerning the form nature of which the Virgin is the symbol.

The word Virgo itself is a descendant of and a corruption of an ancient Atlantean root name which was applied to the mother principle in those far off times. This Virgin was the founder of the matriarchate which then dominated civilisation and to which various myths and legends bear evidence and which have come down to us concerning Lilith, the last of the Virgin Goddesses of Atlantean times; the same thought is also to be found in the traditionary accounts of the ancient Amazons, whose queen Hercules defeated, wresting from her what he sought. This is an allegory, teaching the emergence of the spiritual man from the control of matter.

Three of these goddesses are Eve, Isis, and Mary. They are of peculiar and significant importance where our civilisation is concerned for they embody in themselves the symbology of the entire form nature, which, when integrated and functioning as a whole person, we call the personality. This personality is (as far as humanity is concerned) the developed and qualified expression of the third aspect of divinity, that of God the Holy Spirit, the active intelligent and nurturing principle of the universe. This aspect we shall study in Leo and see there the unfoldment of that self-conscious entity and personality which in Virgo becomes the mother of the Christ child.

Eve is the symbol of the mental nature, and of the mind of man attracted by the lure of knowledge to be gained through the experience of incarnation. Eve, therefore, took the apple of knowledge from the serpent of matter and started the long human undertaking of experiment, experience and expression which was initiated—from the mental angle—in our Aryan times. Isis stands for this same expression down on to the emotional or astral plane. Eve has no child in her arms; the germ of the Christ life is as yet too small to make its presence felt; the involutionary process is yet too close;

but in Isis the midway point is reached; the quickening of that which is desired (the Desire of all nations, as it is called in the Bible) has taken place and Isis consequently stands in the ancient zodiacs for fertility, for motherhood and as the guardian of the child. Mary carries the process down to the plane or place of incarnation, the physical plane, and there gives birth to the Christ child.

In these three Virgins and these three Mothers of the Christ, you have the history of the formation and the function of the three aspects of the personality through which the Christ must find expression. The sign of Virgo itself stands for a synthesis of these three feminine aspects—Eve, Isis and Mary. She is the Virgin Mother, providing that which is needed for the mental, emotional and physical expression of the hidden but ever present divinity. These three expressions are brought to the needed perfection in Leo, the sign of the individual, developed self-consciousness and personality unfoldment.

(EA p253-54)

 

Virgo and the relation of the opposite poles

Virgo is, therefore, the opposite pole of spirit and stands for the relation of these two after they have been brought together originally in Aries and have produced a recognised duality in Gemini. (EA p254)

 

Virgo as the oldest sign of the zodiac

Virgo is, therefore, the cosmic mother because she represents cosmically the negative pole to positive spirit; she is the receptive agent where the Father aspect is concerned. In a previous solar system, this matter aspect was the supreme controlling factor, just as in this solar system it is the soul or the Christ principle which is of paramount importance.

Virgo is, from certain angles, quite the oldest of all the signs, which is a statement I am quite unable to prove to you. In that first system, the faint symptoms (if I may use such a word) of the duality which is a proven fact in this system are to be found, and this truth is preserved for us in the words that "the Holy Spirit overshadowed the Virgin Mary." The life of the third divine aspect played then upon the ocean of quiescent matter and prepared that substance (over untold aeons) for its work in this solar system. (EA p255-56)

 

Virgo and the second half of the first solar system

Another sign of the zodiac which is also closely related to the previous solar system is Cancer; it might be said that Cancer is an expression (in the stage of great advancement) of the first half of the life cycle in solar system one, whilst Virgo is an equally advanced expression of the second half. In an effort to grasp the situation, it should he remembered that the consciousness aspect, as we understand the ability to be aware, was lacking entirely except in such an embryonic manner that the whole process resembled the stage of the embryo in the womb, prior to the quickening at the middle point of the gestation process. (EA p256)

 

Virgo and the six-pointed star

This is the sixth sign and of it the six-pointed star is the ancient symbol, portraying as it does the process of involution, and also that of evolution, carried to the point of balance, expressed for us in the relationship of Virgo to Libra. You will note, if you consult the dictionary, that astronomically Virgo is regarded as occupying the place in the heavens where Libra is to be found. This is all part of the great illusion which astrology finds hard to grasp. (EA p256)

 

Virgo in the evolution of the soul

II. Virgo.

1. The period of the hidden germ of spiritual life.

2. The period of the active germ of spiritual life.

a. Gestation in the early stages.

b. The stage of quickened life.

            The stage of Probation or Awakening.

(EA p258)

 

The service in Virgo

In Virgo, matter or substance exchange or interchange their service and each serves the other. In Sagittarius, we find emerging the service of the One Life in terms of the service of the Hierarchy, the planetary expression of the idea of service, whilst in Pisces, there appears—as a result of the entire evolutionary process—the dedicated, trained and tested world Server or Saviour. It has been said that Virgo "involves the service of the immediately present" or in other words that God immanent evokes reaction from the form side and is thereby served. (EA p258)

 

The Virgo incentive

2. Virgo.—Incentive behind discipleship (Goal). Desire for expression, spiritual desire.

                        The Hidden Light of God (EA p259)

 

Virgo and the light of Wisdom

All these express desire as it merges into aspiration and in the process brings light and life to man. In Virgo, the purpose for which form life exists begins to be realised and the desire for personality satisfaction begins to change and the desire of man for interior recognition of the indwelling Christ begins to assume increasing control until the inner spiritual reality is eventually released from the thralldom of matter and becomes manifest in its own true nature in the world.

Putting the same thought in other terms, the light of knowledge of which Taurus is the custodian gives place to the light of wisdom of which Virgo is the guardian, and yields finally to the light of initiation in Capricorn. All this, however, takes place and must take place upon what is esoterically called "the radiant surface of the earth," the plane of form; the assumption or glorification of the Virgin has not yet taken place and the raising up of substance is not yet realised.

(EA p259-60)

 

Virgo and the valley of deep experience

Virgo symbolises depths, darkness, quiet and warmth; it is the valley of deep experience wherein secrets are discovered and eventually "brought to light"; it is the place of slow, gentle and yet powerful crises and periodic developments which take place in the dark and yet which lead to light. It is the "blinded stage" which is found in Masonic rituals and which ever precedes the gift of light. Virgo stands for the "womb of time" wherein God's plan (the mystery and the secret of the ages) is slowly matured and—with pain and discomfort and through struggle and conflict—brought into manifestation at the end of the appointed time.

Today it would seem (curiously and convincingly) that we are entering into the eighth month of the gestation period; this is almost literally the case where humanity is concerned for—counting from Virgo to Aquarius, the sign into which we are now entering—we find that there are just eight signs: Virgo, Leo, Cancer, Gemini, Taurus, Aries, Pisces and Aquarius, and this is surely the guarantee that the birth of the new age, of the new consciousness and the new civilisation and culture is inevitable and sure. (EA p260-61)

 

Re-orientation of the ancient anti-clockwise wheel in Virgo-Leo

1. The passage or progress of humanity around and around the zodiac from Aries to Pisces, via Taurus, until in Virgo-Leo (for these two signs are regarded esoterically as inseparable) the mass movement releases the individual to a life of self-conscious progress and a changed mode of progression around the wheel of life. This lies far in the past. (EA p261)

 

Virgo, the Virgin, stands for the womb of time

Virgo, the Virgin, stands for the womb of time and passes the personality-soul (Leo-Virgo) through the three above stages or cycles. She stands also for the womb of form and for the nurturing mother, guarding the Christ principle within her own material substance until in "the fullness of time" she can give birth to the Christ child. There are three principal signs connected with the Christ principle in this world period:

1. Virgo.—Gestation—governing nine signs from Virgo to Capricorn, including Virgo. (Nine petals unfolding)

2. Capricorn.—Labour—three signs from Capricorn to Pisces, until the third initiation, including Capricorn. (Three synthesis petals unfoldings.)

3. Pisces.—Birth—appearance of the world Saviour. (Birth of the spirit)

(EA p262) (Mother, Virgo, giving birth to the spirit)

 

The planetary rulers of Virgo

The rulers of this sign are three in number:

1. Mercury.—This is the orthodox ruler. It signifies the versatile energy of the Son of Mind, the soul. It is interchangeable for the Sun (Son) and stands for the Mediator or intermediary, between the Father and the Mother, between Spirit and Matter, and yet is the result of the union of these two.

2. The Moon (Vulcan).—This is the esoteric ruler. The significance of this is similar to that of the orthodox ruler. The Moon (or fourth ray energy) is here seen as an expression of first ray energy, manifesting through Vulcan. The Moon rules the form and it is the will of God to manifest through the medium of form.

3. Jupiter.—This is the hierarchical ruler and rules the second Creative Hierarchy, that of the Divine Builders of our planetary manifestation. (See the tabulation re the Hierarchies.) This is the seventh Creative Hierarchy as well as the second, if the five unmanifesting Hierarchies are counted; in the significance of two and seven much of the mystery underlying these Hierarchies will be revealed.

(EA p263)

 

The rays of the planetary rulers in Virgo

Through these three planetary rulers the energies of the fourth ray pour, governing the mind through Mercury and the physical form through the Moon; the energies of the first ray, expressive of the will of God, begin their control of the self-conscious man (unfolded in Leo) and the energies of the second ray, embodying the love of God, pour through into manifestation. Will, love and harmony through conflict—such are the controlling forces which make man what he is and such are the governing and directing energies which use the mind (Mercury), the emotional [Page 264] nature, love (in Jupiter) and the physical body (the Moon, or esoteric will) for purposes of divine expression and manifestation.

(EA p263-64)

 

Virgo and the number Nine

Virgo is definitely related, through the medium of the various planetary rulers, to eight other signs of the zodiac and it is, therefore, with these eight signs that we are concerned because they produce an inter-related synthesis of nine signs (including Virgo). In this inter-related numerical synthesis and fruitful inter-relation lies hid the entire history of human progress and the secret of the process of divine manifestation. It is of value here to remember certain points which are:

1. Nine is the number of man. The fourth Creative Hierarchy is in reality the ninth, if the five unmanifested Hierarchies are included in our enumeration. The human Hierarchy is only the fourth among the seven which are in active or manifested expression.

2. Nine is the number of initiation as far as humanity is concerned.

(EA p264)

 

Virgo in the triangle of the Mother aspect

2. Cancer-Virgo-Pisces.—Constitute the triangle of the Mother or matter aspect, conditioned by intelligent activity. They indicate points of opportunity of an inner kind where consciousness is concerned, and therefore you have the recognition of mass, individual and group consciousness.

A close study of the above ideas will prove fruitful in establishing methods and relationships; they should also indicate the key which astrologers can use when seeking to work with mass horoscopes.

…As I earlier pointed out to you, the sign Virgo is related to nine constellations and in this fact lies both prophecy and guarantee. That which this sign veils and hides is potentially responsive to nine streams of energy which—playing upon the life within the form and evoking response from the soul—produce those "points of crisis" and those "moments of demonstrated development" to which we have referred in speaking of Leo-Libra-Capricorn. (EA p266, 271)

 

Mercury in relation to Virgo

When Mercury, the divine Messenger, the principle of illusion and the expression of the active higher mind, has performed his mission and "led humanity into the light" and the Christ-child out of the womb of time and of the flesh into the light of day and of manifestation, then the task of that great centre we call humanity will be accomplished.

Ponder on this for the significance of esoteric astrology will emerge more clearly in your minds if you can understand this fourfold activity of Mercury and the inter-relation of these four signs of the zodiac—connected as they are with the logoic Quaternary. (EA p272-73)

 

Virgo, the Moon and the Christ

It is in this sign also that the Moon in its own right of antiquity and of ancient thoughtform control, and also as veiling both Vulcan and Neptune, connects the force of Virgo with the energies of Taurus, of Cancer and of Aquarius. This is of peculiar importance for it relates the form building aspect with the consciousness aspect which, at a high stage of development, produces the manifestation of the Christ principle or Christ-child. It has been said esoterically that four of the names by which the Christ Avatar is ever called are:

1. The Desire of All Nations . . . Taurus . . . Fixed Cross.

2. He Whom the masses sense or He Whom they anticipate . . . Cancer . . . Cardinal Cross.

3. He Who is, for Her, the purpose of existence . . . Virgo . . . Mutable Cross.

4. He Who shows the light and gives the water . . . Aquarius . . . Fixed Cross.

(EA p273)

 

Virgo, Vulcan and endurance

Virgo is related to Taurus through Vulcan which brings in what might be called the endurance aspect of the will-to-be which carries the incarnated Son of God through the experiences of the dark time wherein the personality becomes the Mother in the stage of gestation, through the period of infancy upon the physical plane and through the stage of adolescence until the initiate attains full maturity. This necessitates persistence, endurance and continuity of effort and is one of the characteristics imparted or stimulated by energies pouring from Vulcan.

You can realise that these are first ray attributes and are the reverse side of those usually emphasised, namely, death or the activity of the Destroyer aspect. Taurus is an expression of the third unmanifested Hierarchy and of this Hierarchy we know nothing beyond the fact that it is concerned with the light which liberates from death. Therefore, you have:

Taurus—Illumination.

Vulcan—First ray or endurance.

Third Creative Hierarchy—Liberating Light.

Virgo—The Christ-life, latent and unexpressed (as is the 3rd Creative Hierarchy).

The Moon—The form nature, the substance of the flame which lights the way.

(EA p251)

 

The established relations of Virgo through the Moon and Jupiter

Through the Moon and also through Jupiter, Virgo is brought into relationship with Aquarius which means, in this case, with the seventh Creative Hierarchy, or with the atomic substance out of which the dense body of manifestation has to be constructed if the Christ life (which the Virgin nurtures) is to be brought to successful manifestation.

The cause of manifestation is, esoterically speaking, the stimulation of the "dead lives" (the so-called inorganic substance) into activity and into usefulness to the positive Christ life, which is the agent of the stimulation. Hence the Moon is the symbol of the response of the dead lives to the outer spiritual impact. The central idea of occultism that even the smallest atom of substance has in it the germ of that which can respond to spiritual energy is preserved for us in the teaching anent the influence of Jupiter, the second ray agent of the Christ spirit.

In connection with Jupiter, as might be expected from a study of the rays, Virgo is related both to Sagittarius and to Pisces. This is an exoteric impact but produces a constant stimulation of the life of the indwelling Christ. (EA p277-78)

 

The relation existing between Virgo and Pisces

The relation existing between Virgo and Pisces (between the Virgin Mother and the Fish Goddesses) is well known, for they are polar opposites and their functions are interchangeable in a peculiar manner. In the revolution of the ordinary wheel, Aries and Scorpio mark the beginning and the end, and consummate in the rounded out and equipped personality. They are, exoterically, Alpha and Omega. In the life of the disciple, Virgo and Pisces stand in the same relation. Pisces consummates the work carried forward in this major world cycle. Some idea of the creative story above indicated can be gained if the tabulation of the nine constellations with their signs is studied.

1. Aries            Beginning          Cardinal Cross.

2. Gemini          Relation            Mutable Cross.

3. Taurus          Desire              Fixed Cross.

4. Cancer         Movement        Cardinal Cross.

5. Scorpio        Test—Trial       Fixed Cross.

6. Sagittarius     Direction          Mutable Cross.

7. Aquarius       Service             Fixed Cross.

8. Pisces           Salvation          Mutable Cross.

9. VIRGO        THE MOTHER            MUTABLE CROSS.

(EA p278)

 

Virgo identified with the third aspect of divinity

As I have told you, Virgo is regarded by the esoteric teachers of the Hierarchy to be identified with the third aspect of divinity, with the mother principle and is believed to be the director of the energies, developed and recognised in the first solar system. It is for this reason in this solar system that Virgo is subjected predominantly to the influence of the second, fourth and sixth ray energies through Jupiter (second ray) the Moon and Mercury (fourth ray) and Neptune (sixth ray). The Moon and Mercury together indicate the activity of the higher and lower mind and are, therefore, related to the third Ray of Active Intelligence which controlled the first solar system. (EA p280)

 

Planetary dignities in Virgo

In this sign, Virgo, the place and the mode of expression of the planets are of paramount interest, though most esoteric in implication and most difficult to understand.

Mercury is exalted in this sign because the mother is necessarily ruled by her son, the Son of Mind who is also the Son of God. Of this son, she is the protector and is responsible for his development and slowly acquired experience. Mercury, being the Messenger of the Gods and the Agent of Their applied control, is therefore the agent of the third aspect (active intelligence) from one point of view, and of the second aspect (love-wisdom) from another. He is regarded as embodying in himself both these aspects of the mental principle, the expression of the concrete and the abstract mind of God. The lower concrete mind was unfolded in the first solar system and the higher abstract intuitional mind, the pure reason, is unfolding in this system. Mercury is the synthesis of manas-buddhi, mind-wisdom which expresses itself through the human soul; Mercury rules the bridge or the antahkarana. In Virgo, Mercury reaches his full power, for Virgo is intelligence and the hidden Christ is wisdom or pure reason.

Venus, pure love-wisdom, falls into generation in this sign and occultly "descends to earth" and stands (as The Secret Doctrine has so carefully pointed out) for the gift of mind and of divinity, embodied in the Son of Mind and thus for the descent of the Christ principle into generation or into matter. Virgo and Venus are together two aspects of intelligence. The symbolism of the descent of Spirit into [Page 282] the womb of the Virgin mother is preserved for us in the astrological fact that Venus falls in this sign; esoterically, she disappears from view and vanishes into the darkness. Neptune, the expression of the sixth Ray of Idealistic Devotion, is naturally rendered more impotent in this sign and simultaneously his "power is lessened," for the drive and urge of devotion and desire give place in this powerful sign to the natural processes of form production and to the silent activity which is going on within the womb of time and space.

Jupiter, in spite of its latent power, is also "lessened" in influence at this time because of the second principle or second aspect of divinity, the Son or the germ of the Christ Who will come, the Son of Mind, descends into the depths and is temporarily veiled or hidden. (EA p281-82)

 

Decanates of Virgo

According to Sepharial, the three decanates into which Virgo is divided are governed by the Sun, Venus and Mercury, whilst Alan Leo gives us Mercury, Saturn and Venus. I would remind you here of a point which is oft forgotten by astrologers; this is that, in the case of the disciple, Mercury and the Sun are interchangeable terms. When the disciple becomes aware that he is himself Mercury, the Son of Mind, and therefore one with the universal Christ, the "Sun and yet the Son of God" (as it is esoterically called), he is then an initiate.

Therefore, Leo's assignment of rulers is the truly esoteric one. When the disciple knows Saturn as the God who offers opportunity and does not only feel him to be Deity who brings disaster, then he is on the path of discipleship in truth and in deed and not just theoretically. When Venus is the source of wisdom and the expression of the transmutation of the mind into intuition and of intellect into wisdom, then he is ready for initiation. He is rapidly achieving liberation.

The weakness of the rulers of the decanates as given by Sepharial lies in the fact that as both Mercury and the Sun are one, the choice is therefore redundant; he omits Saturn and because of this omission, esoterically speaking, the "door is not open." (EA p284)

 

Keynotes of Virgo

Again, the keynotes of this sign convey their meaning clearly and there is no need for me to elucidate. On the ordinary wheel, the command goes forth in the following words which institute the activity of Virgo: "And the Word said, Let Matter reign." Later, upon the wheel of the disciple, the voice emerges from the Virgin Herself and she says: "I am the mother and the child. I, God, I, matter am."

Ponder upon the beauty of this synthesis and teaching and know that you yourself have said the first word as the soul, descending into the womb of time and space in a far [Page 285] and distant past. The time has now come when you can, if you so choose, proclaim your identity with both divine aspects—matter and Spirit, the mother and the Christ. (EA p284-85)

 

Virgo, Leo and the Sphinx

Leo is a part of the Sphinx, and upon this I need not enlarge as we have touched upon this elsewhere. This is a great mystery. Virgo and Leo together stand for the whole man, for the God-man as well as for spirit-matter. It is important to have this in mind, for when the nature of the world is revealed, then the mystery of the Sphinx will no longer exist. (EA p288)

 

Virgo and five signs of Discipleship

There is also a significant relationship between five signs which are deeply esoteric in their nature and their effects when swept into this particular interplay. They are only called into activity during the return half  (mid career) of the wheel of life or the "wheel of living action or of conscious undertaking" as it is called in the Old Commentary.

This name is given to the wheel as it turns anti-clockwise from Aries to Pisces via Taurus. This fivefold relationship is only established upon the Path of Discipleship and is brought about by the esoteric linking of Cancer-Virgo-Scorpio-Capricorn-Pisces.

In the future horoscopes of disciples, this significant interplay of forces will be recognised as dominating the chart at a particular and peculiar stage of discipleship. In this case, disciples will be born in one or other of these signs or with one of other of these signs rising.

... You have two signs of water and earth (Cancer and Virgo) in the stage of sub-conscious emphasis wherein everything is latent and hidden. Human consciousness is only embryonic in Cancer, for it is the mass mind which dominates and not the individual mind. In Virgo, the Christ life or consciousness is hidden and the Christ Child is as yet embryonic in the womb of matter and of time, and during this stage, the emphasis is upon the form which veils and hides the reality. The human soul and the divine soul (the essential duality) are there but their presence is not easily detected.

… 1. In Cancer, the influence of the human Hierarchy begins to make its presence felt and to include the dualism of man. This emerges clearly in Virgo. Soul and body are closely related and knit together in one form. Man is a conscious personality, and this is a result of the Cancer experience, consummated in Virgo. (EA p318)

 

Virgo is related to Cancer and Aquarius via the Moon

The Moon, however, relates Cancer to two other signs and these form a cosmic triangle. They are Cancer-Virgo-Aquarius. In this combination, you have the sign of mass-consciousness, the sign of the Christ-consciousness and the sign of universal consciousness very closely related to each other and all of them through the medium of the influence of Neptune, which the Moon veils. (EA p321)

 

Virgo influence after high aspiration is attained

Once that awakening of desire and its transmutation into the higher aspiration has taken place, then the Virgo influence comes in and the responsive soul—developed by the five indirect influences of the Cardinal Cross—begins its active conscious participation in the drama of life. (EA p323)

 

The Light of Virgo

6. Virgo.—The blended dual Light. Two lights are seen—bright and strong, the light of form; one faint and dim, the light of God. This light is distinguished by a waxing of one and the waning of the other. It differs from the light in Gemini. (EA p329)

 

Development and keynote of Virgo

6. Virgo            The germinating energy.            The creative force.        The Christ activity.

                                    The Mother.                 The Protector.                          The Light.

            Keynote: Virgo hides the light which irradiates the world in Aquarius.

…

Keynote: Aquarius releases Virgo from her load. (EA p332)

 

Virgo and the Mutable Cross

3. Through a study of the Mutable Cross—Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces—he can arrive at the significance:

a. Of disciples.

b. Of group activity.

c. Of the second initiation.

(EA p335)

 

 

The Virgo-Pisces axis of polarity

6. Virgo-Pisces.—Virgin matter attracts the soul and the divine Mother becomes more important than the son. The life of the soul is hidden.

… 6. Pisces-Virgo.—The form reveals and releases the indwelling soul. The Saviour of the world appears and nurtures the hidden souls in Virgo. (EA p338-39)

 

Virgo and gestation

Virgo.—This is the nurturing force of substance itself, subject to the nine cyclic changes of the cosmic gestation period; it fosters and protects the embryonic Christ life, preparing for manifestation or a divine incarnation. (EA p345)

 

The effect of Mercury in Virgo

This effect is most powerful in Gemini owing to the fact that the two arms of the Mutable Cross are thus related, and the result of the activity of Mercury as it rules Gemini is to produce a steady pull between the pairs of opposites; in Virgo it produces that interior struggle between the exoteric not-self and the esoteric self, between the form-consciousness (planetary, human and subhuman) and the soul within all forms.

… The influence of Mercury as it relates Virgo and Gemini is to condition the soul within the form and subject it to those influences which will lead to the intensification of the ordinary evolutionary process and the consequent waxing of the soul light and the waning of the light in matter itself. This initiates the struggle which, in a human being, is consciously realised as being between soul and personality.

This leads to a final stage in Capricorn. (EA p358, 360)

 

Virgo as a sign of duality

The seven signs—inclusive of Gemini and Sagittarius—are of extreme importance where humanity is concerned:

Gemini.—Subjective in nature. Vital. Is not focussed upon the physical plane. Is focussed upon the mortal brother.

Cancer |

Leo      |

Virgo    >          Are strictly human signs with their recognition of duality,

Libra    |           emphasised in the central sign Virgo.

Scorpio|

Sagittarius.—Subjective in nature. Vital. Is not focussed in consciousness upon the physical plane. Is focussed upon the immortal brother.(EA p368-69)

 

Virgo and the Christ life

The earthly triplicity of Capricorn, Virgo and Taurus form a triangle of material expression which is of profound interest as one studies it either from the angle of the ordinary round of the zodiac, followed by average and undeveloped humanity, or from the angle of the disciple wherein the path of zodiacal progress is reversed. In the first case, Capricorn marks the point of greatest density and concrete expression and shows the life divine as deeply imbedded in substance. This is the true state of death as far as the life is concerned; it is captivity in form.

In Virgo, however, that life makes its inner pressure felt and the movement—faint yet real—of the hidden life begins to pulsate within the concrete form, producing in Taurus that reaction to desire and that onward rush and powerful movement which distinguishes the evolutionary progress of the individual, working under the impulse of desire. Forget not, that the first thrill or response of the Christ life is to the pull, urge or suggestion of the form nature wherein it finds itself.

Then later, when all the resources of the form nature (drawn out through desire), are exhausted and the Christ life is exceedingly strong and ready to reveal itself through the death of the Mother, the form, then and not till then is the progress of the wheel arrested and "revolution" takes place with the life aspect reversing itself upon the wheel.

Then the disciple (an expression of the Christ life in its early manifested stages), having transmuted desire into aspiration, begins his career—objectively and in full consciousness—in the sign Taurus and "on the wings of aspiration" proceeds towards Virgo and "being both the Mother and the Child enters into the House of Labour." From that house, the disciple in due time arrives at Capricorn where he finally subdues matter, form or concrete expression to divine uses and purposes, and thus demonstrates the triumph and the potency of the Christ life.

(EA p379-80)

 

Virgo and the cave experience

Do you grasp the significance of this statement, and its fundamental simplicity? Let me give you a hint. The earthy triplicity has been designated by astrologers as embodying the idea of plains (Taurus), of caves (Virgo) and of rock (Capricorn). It might be stated that these caves exist in the rocks, deep under the plains.

I am speaking figuratively and symbolically. Out of the rocky cave, the Christ emerged and walked again upon the plains of Earth and from that time "the woman knew Him not." Form had no further hold upon him for He had overcome it in the depths. Into the cave of Initiation, the light of resurrection streams when the stone at the entrance is rolled away. From life in the form to the death of the form—deep in the rocky place, down in the crypts of the Temple—the human being goes. But into that same place, the new life streams, bringing fresh life and liberation; old things pass away and the darkness becomes light. (EA p384-85)

 

Virgo involved with the Astrology of the Form

The exaltation of the form, ruled by the Moon, can be traced throughout the entire zodiac and provides in itself an interesting and progressive story with which I have not at this time the intention to deal. It is told by the various women who figure in the different constellations and around them some day the astrology of the form will be built. There is Cassiopea, Venus, Coma Berenice, Andromeda and one or two others, as well as Virgo, the Virgin, the most important of them all. I can only indicate here a field of thought and of astrological investigation hitherto untouched but I have not time for the interpretation of this vast and profitable field of knowledge. "Our Lady, the Moon" is related to all these and before the great disruption in an earlier solar system which led to the Moon becoming a dead planet, the energies of these stars and certain of the planets which were produced through their activity, were all focussed in and transmitted by the Moon in a most mysterious yet powerful manner. Through desire translated into terms of spiritual will, the form is esoterically "exalted" and of this fact the exaltation of the Moon in Taurus is a symbol. To this the ordinary astrological symbol of the Bull's horns testifies. This is the crescent Moon and also the symbol of the destructive nature of the form life of the Bull. Forget not that in this connection the destruction or death of the form and the ending of form influence thereby is the goal of the process which changes desire into aspiration. (EA p400)

 

Virgo as custodian of that which shatters eventually the synthesis and the lower unity

These three constellations are Leo—Virgo—Pisces. They are spoken of esoterically as "the Producers of that which knows, the Informers of that which is awakened and the Constructors of the modes of fusing Wisdom. They produce a unity; They shatter that which They have produced only again to produce it in greater beauty and in wider fullness." These words are clear. This triangle is, at this time, an inverted one with the Leo energies in the closest contact with our planetary life. …

There is the development of self-consciousness to be fostered and this is the major effect—as well you know—of the force of Leo. The influence of this constellation aids in the manifestation of individual will, individual love, and individual intelligence; it fosters the "ahamkara" or egoistic principle; it produces the emphasis upon the "I am" attitude which is so necessary a stage before the individual can merge himself as a conscious Self-respecting unit in the Whole.

But behind this influence and pressing through into manifestation is the force of Virgo (the mother or custodian of the Christ-consciousness) which shatters eventually the synthesis and the lower unity already produced by the Leo energy; it stimulates the soul within the form as well as the soul within each atom in the form, because the genius and uniqueness of Virgo is that it produces the form as well as stimulates the life within that form and, therefore, nourishes and energises two lives simultaneously.

It is a powerful dual energy, a potent expression of the anima mundi or the soul of the world. It was the recognition of this which made the ancient astrologers merge Virgo-Leo into one sign. Then as the dualism of the human spirit (spirit-matter) became a fact in the consciousness of man, the sign was divided into two signs and the war of the pairs of opposites became a "war with purpose" and is, incidentally, reaching its climax today. This fact will be obvious to all true esotericists.

Another stream of energy is also pushing through and producing effects upon those in the human family who not only respond to the Leo force and are consequently individuals in their own consciousness but are responding also to the steadily expanding Christ-consciousness; of this they are becoming increasingly aware in their own individual experience. This is the higher aspect of the energy of Pisces; it is awareness of the group, of the whole and of the universe. It is the energy of buddhi, the higher aspect of the lower psychic nature; it is the aspect of the mediator in contradistinction to the medium. It is intuitional control instead of the intellectual overlordship of Leo and the limitations of Virgo.

These three energies are today playing potently on humanity, producing:

1. The self-consciousness of man, as he emerges out of the mass.

2. The recognition of the Christ life and nature, as the aspirant for the first initiation emerges out of the group of world individuals.

3. The awareness, universal in nature, of the initiate, as he emerges out of the ranks of the world disciples. (EA p470-71)

 

Virgo and the Crises of the Soul

Crisis                                        Quality                         Constellation     Cross

1. Crisis of Incarnation  Individualisation            Cancer             Cardinal

2. Crisis of Orientation  Reversal                       Aries                Cardinal

3. Crisis of Initiation                  Expansion                     Capricorn         Cardinal

4. Crisis of Renunciation           Crucifixion                    Gemini              Mutable

5. Crisis of the Battlefield          Conflict                        Scorpio            Fixed

6. Crisis of the Birthplace          Initiation                       Virgo                Mutable

7. Crisis of Burning ground        Liberation                     Leo                  Fixed

(EA p472

 

Virgo as one of the Seven constellations

1. Seven constellations

Cancer, Aries, Gemini, Scorpio, Capricorn, Virgo, Leo, which bring the man from the stage of individualisation to the Path of Discipleship.

2. Eight constellations (which include three out of the seven) which bring the disciple from the stage of selfhood to that of the self-initiated and perfected soul.

(EA p475)

 

Virgo a triple sign

The astrological symbols for Virgo and Scorpio are triple in nature—the only two which are. When the disciple grasps the meaning behind this triplicity, he will be ready to grasp the significance of this abstruse science and to work with the new astrology. Virgo and Scorpio are two signs connected with the growth of the Christ consciousness; they mark critical points in the soul's experience—points of integration wherein the soul is consciously at-one-ing itself with the form and at the same time with spirit. I said the soul's experience, not the experience of the man upon the physical plane.

When the experience undergone in Virgo is consummated in Pisces and the tests of Scorpio have led to illumination in Taurus, then the effect of these four energies (Virgo, Pisces, Scorpio, Taurus) will be to make man the true triangle, expressing the three divine aspects or energies as they come from the three major conditioning constellations: the Great Bear, the Pleiades and Sirius. (EA p480-81)

 

The rays of Virgo

Ray I                Aries                Leo                  Capricorn

Ray II               Gemini              Virgo                Pisces

Ray III             Cancer             Libra                Capricorn

Ray IV             Taurus              Scorpio            Sagittarius

Ray V              Leo                  Sagittarius         Aquarius

Ray VI             Virgo                Sagittarius         Pisces

Ray VII            Aries                Cancer             Capricorn

…

Ray II.—Virgo: This constellation produces the increased activity of the Christ principle in the heart of humanity.

…

c. Gemini is only found in the triangle of Ray II and at this time, Virgo and Pisces are carrying the major task of transmitting second ray energy. Today the world is focussed (spiritually or materially) and the fluctuations of the pairs of opposites are much lessened temporarily. Gemini, therefore, is the inactive point of the triangle, though still potent from the esoteric angle of the individual disciple or initiate. (EA p489, 490, 491)

 

Virgo on the Mutable Cross

1. Gemini—the presentation of duality.

2. Virgo—the presentation of blending life and form.

3. Sagittarius—the presentation of focussed energy.

4. Pisces—the presentation of a blended radiance.

(EA p562)

 

Virgo in the life of Jesus

when in Virgo, he will know that opportunity to bring the form more under the influence of the hidden Christ is possible and that, in Pisces, sensitivity to the higher impression is his right and privilege. All these four possibilities, in regard to the advanced initiate are beautifully demonstrated for us in the life of Jesus, the Master on the sixth ray.

The Gemini aspect of His life is shown in the perfect fusion of the basic duality found in humanity: the human and the divine.

The Virgo aspect came into expression in His twelfth year when He said: "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business," thereby indicating the subordination of the form life to the will of the indwelling Christ; this was consummated when "divinity descended upon Him" at the Baptism.

(EA p564)

 

Virgo in the 2^nd ray line of distibution

                                                |           Gemini,

                                                |           Virgo    working through the medium of the five

RAY II. Love-Wisdom.            |                       planets: Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, the

                                                |                       Moon, Pluto.

                                                |           Pisces.

(EA p622)

 

Virgo bringing together the 2^nd and 3^rd aspects in one form

2. VIRGO is the constellation which is symbolic of the second stage of the relation between the pair of opposites. Here we have, as you know, the Mother of the Christ Child and the fostering process of interchange which brings about life, love and their united manifestation in one form.

This second ray is, therefore, closely related to Virgo and its lowest aspect is mother love with its instinctual care of that which must be nourished and guarded. Its highest aspect is the incarnated, manifested Christ. Then instinct is transmuted into wisdom and with that the will-to-manifest and bring into the light of day the hitherto Hidden Christ.

This sign and this second ray Will have a mysterious relation to Time, to process and to the sustaining life of the Mother (matter) which, throughout the gestation period, nourishes and cares for the rapidly developing Christ Child. The Moon has also a peculiar function which can only be expressed in the idea of death—the death of the relationships between the Mother and the Child because the moment comes when the Christ Child will emerge from the womb of time and of matter and stand free in the light. This will have been due, necessarily, to many inherent factors but primarily to the sustaining will of the Mother, plus the dynamic will of the Christ Child. Here again is an aspect of the curious and mysterious relation between the first and the second rays.

… In time and space and from the angle of humanity, the triangle of constellations is Virgo, Gemini and Pisces and not the order as here given, which is Gemini, Virgo, Pisces; the latter is the angle from the standpoint of Shamballa.(EA p628, 629)

 

The Word and Mantram for Virgo

7. Virgo.—And the Word said: Let matter reign.

6. Virgo.—I am the Mother and the Child. I, God, I matter am.

(EA p653, 654)

 

Virgo and the Pleiades

5. "One of the most esoteric cycles is based upon certain conjunctions and respective positions of Virgo and the Pleiades." (II. 454.)

… "Virgo is inseparable from Leo and the Pleiades and the Hyades." (EA p657, 679)

 

Names of the Virgin Mother

"It would seem more than a chance that so many of the Virgin mothers and goddesses of antiquity should have the same name. The mother of Bacchus was Myrrha; the mother of Mercury or Hermes was Myrrha or Maia; the mother of the Siamese Saviour—Sommona Cadom was called Maya Maria, i.e. `the Great Mary'; the mother of Adonis was Myrrha; the mother of Buddha was Maya; now, all these names whether Myrrha, Maia or Maria, are the same as Mary, the name of the mother of the Christian Saviour. The month of May was sacred to these goddesses, so likewise is it sacred to the Virgin Mary at the present day. She was also called Myrrha and Maria, as well as Mary...."37 (FBTC p59)

 

The Virgin Mother in antiquity

"These events are reproduced in the lives of the various Solar Gods, and antiquity teems with illustrations of them. Isis of Egypt, like Mary of Bethlehem, was our Immaculate Lady, Star of the Sea, Queen of Heaven, Mother of God. We see her, in pictures, standing on the crescent moon, star-crowned, she nurses her child Horus, and the cross appears on the back of the seat in which he sits on his mother's knee.

The Virgo of the zodiac is represented in ancient drawings as a woman suckling a child—the type of all future Madonnas with their divine Babes, showing the origin of the symbol. Devaki is likewise figured with the divine Krishna in her arms, as is Mylitta, or Istar, of Babylon, also with the recurrent crown of stars, and with her child Tammuz on her knee. Mercury and Aesculapius, Bacchus and Hercules, Perseus and the Dioscuri, Mithras and Zarathustra were all of divine and human birth."41 (FBTC p61)

 

Virgo and the determining of Christmas Day

It is apposite to recall that the cathedral of Notre Dame [page 62] in Paris is built upon the ancient site of a Temple of Isis, and that the early Church very frequently availed itself of a so-called heathen opportunity to determine a Christian rite or a day of sacred remembrance. Even the establishing of Christmas Day on December 25th was so determined.

Annie Besant tells us that:

"He is always born at the winter solstice, after the shortest day in the year, at the midnight of the 24th December when the sign Virgo is rising above the horizon; born as this Sign is rising, he is born always of a Virgin, and she remains a Virgin after she has given birth to her Sun-child as the celestial Virgo remains unchanged and unsullied when the Sun comes forth from her in the Heavens. Weak, feeble as an infant is he, born when the days are shortest and the nights are longest...."43 (FBTC p61-63)

 

Virgo and the astronomy of Christ’s Birth

At the time of the birth of Christ, Sirius, the Star in the East, was on the meridian line, Orion, called "The Three Kings" by oriental astronomers, was in proximity; therefore the constellation Virgo, the Virgin, was rising in the east, and the line of the ecliptic, of the equator and of the horizon all met in that constellation. It is interesting also to note that the brightest and largest star in the constellation Virgo is called Spica; it is to be found in the "ear of corn" (sign of fertility) which the Virgin holds. Bethlehem means the "house of bread," and there is therefore an obvious connection between these two words. This constellation is also composed of three stars in the shape of a cup. This is the true Holy Grail, that which contains the life blood, the repository of the sacred and the holy, and that which conceals divinity.

These are astronomical facts. The interpretation of the symbolism attached from ancient days to these constellations is as old as religion itself. Whence came the signs, and how the meanings and symbols associated with them came into being, is lost in the night of time. They have existed in men's minds and thoughts and writings for thousands of years, and are our joint heritage today.

The ancient zodiac of Dendera (antedating Christianity by several thousand years) is ample proof of this. In the sun's journey around the zodiac, this "Man of the Heavens" eventually arrives at Pisces; this sign is exactly opposite the sign Virgo, and is the sign of all world Saviours. We have already seen that the age of Christianity is the Piscean Age, and Christ came to the Holy Land when our sun transited into that sign. Therefore that which was started and had its being in Virgo (the birth of the Christ Child) is consummated in Pisces when that Christ Child, having attained maturity, comes forth as the world Saviour.

One other astronomical fact is of interest in this connection. Closely associated with the constellation Virgo, and to be found in the same section of the Heavens, are three other constellations, and in these three there is portrayed for us symbolically the story of the Child which shall be born, suffer and die and come again.

There is the group of stars called Coma Berenice, the Woman with the Child. There is Centaurus, the Centaur, and Boötes, whose name in the Hebrew language means the "Coming One."  First, the child born of the woman and that woman a Virgin; then the centaur, ever the symbol of humanity in the ancient mythologies, for man is an animal, plus a god, and therefore a human being. Then He Who shall come looms over them all, overshadowing them, pointing to the fulfilment which shall come through birth and human incarnation. Truly the picture book of the heavens holds eternal truth for those who have eyes to see and the intuition developed rightly to interpret. Prophecy is not confined to the Bible but has ever been held before men's eyes in the vault of heaven.

Thus as "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handiwork,"46 we have the prophecy [page 65] of that world event which took place when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the "house of bread," and Virgo rose above the horizon, whilst the Star in the East shone forth. (FBTC pp64-65)

 

Virgo eventually reveal God

There is another interesting point in connection with the constellation Virgo, upon which we might touch. Mary, the Virgin, in the symbolism of the ancient wisdom, stands for Virgin matter, for the substance which nurtures and nourishes and hides within itself the Christ child, the Christ consciousness. In the last analysis, it is through form and matter that God stands revealed. That is the story of the divine incarnation. Matter, overshadowed by the Holy Ghost, the third Person of the Trinity, brings to the birth the second Aspect of the Trinity, in the Person of Christ—cosmic, mythical and individual. (FBTC pp66-67)

 

The Holy Spirit and the waiting Virgin Mother

The Holy Spirit, the One Who overshadows and Who implants the germ of life in the waiting acquiescent Virgin Mother or matter (causing her to awaken and to commence her great work of producing the divine incarnation) is a primary factor from the standpoint of the second solar system.  In a way incomprehensible to modern thinkers, the Mother, or the divine Aspirant to the mysteries of the cosmic marriage, was (in a previous system) the dominant factor.  In this system in connection with substance it is the Holy Spirit. 

The work, therefore, on etheric levels, and the energy and activity originating therefrom, are the factors that primarily are responsible on the physical plane for all that is tangible, objective, and manifested.  The accretion of matter around the vital body, and the densification of substance around the vital etheric nucleus are in themselves the result of interaction, and the final interchange of vibration between that which might be called the residue from an earlier manifestation, and the vibration of this present one. (TCF p916-17)

 

Jewish people with Virgo rising

The personality ray, the material form ray of the Jewish people, is the third ray.  Their egoic ray is the first.  Their astrological sign is Capricorn, with Virgo rising.  Mercury and Virgo play a prominent part in their destiny.  These clues should suffice to give to the advanced student and astrologer those salient points which will give him light upon their strange history.  Because of this third ray influence, you have the tendency of the Jew to manipulate forces and energies, and to "pull strings" in order to bring about desired ends. As a race, they are natural law makers, and hence their tendency to dominate and govern, because their egoic ray is the first.  Hence also the constant appearance of the goat in their history, and their teaching about the Virgin mother who should give birth to the Messiah. (EPI p394)

 

Virgin Mother is the fore-ordained custodian

The following Virgo life will be either one of a personality, materialistic nature, lived under the influence of the material aspect of Virgo, the Mother, or there will be evidenced a slowly emerging soul vibration, indicating that hidden spiritual life of which the Virgin Mother is the fore-ordained custodian. (EA p227-28)

 

Virgo and the stage of Meditation

Libra can also be spoken of in terms of the meditation process as taught both in East and West. It can, therefore, be regarded as the "interlude between two activities," which is the explanation given to that stage in meditation which we call contemplation. In the five stages of meditation (as usually taught) you have the following: Concentration, meditation, contemplation, illumination and inspiration. These five stages are paralleled in the five strictly human signs of the zodiac:

1. Leo—Concentration—Soul life focussed in form. Individualisation. Self-consciousness. Undeveloped and average man. Human experience.

2. Virgo—Meditation—Soul life, as sensed in man, the gestation period. The stage of the hidden Christ. Intelligent man. Personality, as hiding the Christ life.

3. Libra—Contemplation—Life of soul and form is balanced. Neither dominates. Equilibrium. An interlude wherein the soul organises itself for battle and the personality waits. This is the probationary path. Duality known.

4. Scorpio—Illumination—The soul triumphs. Experience in Taurus consummated. Astral glamour dissipated. Soul light pours in. The Path of Discipleship. The Disciple.

5. Sagittarius—Inspiration—Preparation for initiation. Soul inspires personality life. Soul expresses itself through personality. The Initiate.

I would here remind you that, though initiation is taken in Capricorn, the man is an initiate before he is initiated. This is the true secret of initiation. (EA p228-29)

 

Virgo with Leo and eventually with Libra

In this world period we have the division of the sign of the Sphinx into two signs (the Lion and the Virgin, soul and form) because the state of human evolution and conscious realisation is that of a recognised duality; it is only at what is called the "final judgment" that another fusion will take place and Virgo-Libra will form one sign, for then man's sense of antagonistic dualism will be ended and the scales will have been turned finally in favour of that which the Virgin-Mother has hidden from expression for aeons. (EA p230-31)

 

Virgo as a “sign of reception”

The relation existing between Virgo and Pisces (between the Virgin Mother and the Fish Goddesses) is well known, for they are polar opposites and their functions are interchangeable in a peculiar manner. In the revolution of the ordinary wheel, Aries and Scorpio mark the beginning and the end, and consummate in the rounded out and equipped personality. They are, exoterically, Alpha and Omega. In the life of the disciple, Virgo and Pisces stand in the same relation. Pisces consummates the work carried forward in this major world cycle. Some idea of the creative story above indicated can be gained if the tabulation of the nine constellations with their signs is studied.

1. Aries            Beginning          Cardinal Cross.

2. Gemini          Relation            Mutable Cross.

3. Taurus          Desire              Fixed Cross.

4. Cancer         Movement        Cardinal Cross.

5. Scorpio        Test—Trial       Fixed Cross.

6. Sagittarius     Direction          Mutable Cross.

7. Aquarius       Service             Fixed Cross.

8. Pisces           Salvation          Mutable Cross.

9. VIRGO        THE MOTHER            MUTABLE CROSS.

One point of interest emerges: All the four arms of the Mutable Cross are represented in this interrelation, indicating the completed activity of the Mutable Cross or of the preparatory stage of evolution which has successfully prepared the man for mounting the Fixed Cross. The personality is prepared to be the mother of the Christ.

If we consider the two solar systems (the past and the present) as a unity, it might be said that:

1. The Mutable Cross governed the first solar system. In that system and in this solar system, and to humanity en masse, this Cross rules or governs the path of probation (which in reality is the entire life experience, prior to treading the path of discipleship).

2. The Fixed Cross governs the present solar system and corresponds to the path of discipleship.

3. The Cardinal Cross will govern and rule the next solar system and in this system governs the path of initiation, which is trodden by the flower of the race.

The fact that all four energies of the Mutable Cross, three of the Fixed Cross and two of the Cardinal Cross pour into the sign Virgo in relative degrees and potencies indicates the fundamental importance of this "sign of reception" as it is called. All nine energies are required to bring a man to the point where the world and influence of the two solar systems have done their task in:

1. Preparing the vehicle of reception and protection, which is the personality, the form, the self-conscious man.

2. Bringing into manifestation thereby the hidden man of the heart, the Christ within, the soul, the group conscious man. (EA pp278-79)

 

Virgo a powerful sign

Venus, pure love-wisdom, falls into generation in this sign and occultly "descends to earth" and stands (as The Secret Doctrine has so carefully pointed out) for the gift of mind and of divinity, embodied in the Son of Mind and thus for the descent of the Christ principle into generation or into matter. Virgo and Venus are together two aspects of intelligence. The symbolism of the descent of Spirit into the womb of the Virgin mother is preserved for us in the astrological fact that Venus falls in this sign; esoterically, she disappears from view and vanishes into the darkness. Neptune, the expression of the sixth Ray of Idealistic Devotion, is naturally rendered more impotent in this sign and simultaneously his "power is lessened," for the drive and urge of devotion and desire give place in this powerful sign to the natural processes of form production and to the silent activity which is going on within the womb of time and space. (EA pp281-82)

 

Virgo representing nature itself, the mother of all forms

1. The feminine aspect in manifestation, symbolised for us in many of the world religions as a Virgin mother and in the Christian religion as the Virgin Mary. It is that substance which enables Deity to manifest.

2. Nature itself, the mother of all forms.

3. The moon also, who is the symbol of the generative, creative life which gives birth to forms and is therefore the symbol of the form nature.

4. The concentration of the feminine force in nature in some individual in female form who is then called the "World Mother."  Such an individual has never existed in our particular planetary life, though the avatars of a previous solar system, expressing itself through planetary life, always took this form.  But not in this solar system. 

The tradition of such appearances is purely symbolic, inherited from the previous solar system from which we inherited the matter of which all manifested forms are made.  This symbolism has come down from the far-off period of the Matriarchate, which had a religion that recalled the ancient ways of the earlier system and in which period of time Lilith symbolised the World Mother, until Eve took her place. (EH p362-63)