Читать книгу How To Judge A Nativity - Alan Leo - Страница 8

A LITTLE practice only is necessary to become proficient in casting horoscopes. The judgment of the map when cast, however, is an entirely different matter, and it may be safely stated that there are very few competent to judge a horoscope, although nearly every one is competent to make all the calculations necessary for that judgment, and while it is true that practice will in time bring a certain amount of proficiency, there will always be a certain number of horoscopes which will baffle the understanding of the student, and the beginner will sooner or later come to a dead wall, so to speak, which for a time bars all further progress. In all probability this will arise from lack of experience, or the failure to blend certain positions and aspects which no reference to text-books or former study will elucidate.

This statement, that anyone can cast a horoscope but few can read it, at once marks the fundamental difference between the astronomer and the astrologer; the former can do all the work of observing, tabulating, calculating, etc., but appears to be quite unable to make a practical application of the observed phenomena.

The secret of this great difference lies in the fact that while the one is careful to study the objective and external state of things, the other pays more attention to the subjective or internal conditions. Now both of these aspects of Nature demand due study, and the true scientist is he who possesses the faculties which enable him to appreciate this truth; but to find these two qualifications in one person is, at our present stage of evolution, a most difficult task. It seems almost impossible to convert an astronomer into an astrologer; for this reason,—that he uses the mind that is confined for its functioning to the concrete brain, and he is thus limited to the objective world for his information. This explains, then, the reason why comparatively few are able to judge a horoscope; for the cause-seeking faculty needs to be developed in the astrologer, whilst the perceptive organs alone need to be well-developed in the astronomer.

None save those who have well-developed reason coupled with clear perception and a good memory, can ever hope to become competent astrologers. The very name of the science suggests such a requirement, for Astrology means the reason of the stars.’ Astron star: Logos = reason.

To those who really think, there is nothing in the least unreasonable in Astrology, but they must think for themselves and not allow others to think for them if they would find out where the reason lies. They must also be prepared to take a far wider view of life than those who are still bound by custom and the personal opinions of others. The why and wherefore must ever be uppermost in the mind, and not the lazy indifference which drifts on aimlessly and carelessly, trusting to fate, or what is so often miscalled Providence, to carry them safely through their difficulties.

It will thus be seen that only those who are awakening to their responsibilities in life are likely to become interested in such a subject as Astrology, and it usually happens that the first step that is taken towards a study of the science is caused by an enquiry concerning the inequalities of life. The awakening soul prompts the question Why? and the mind is sent in search of an answer to the problem. Why am here?—What have I come to this earth for?—Why are some persons born poor, others rich, some weak, others strong?—asks the soul rising above the illusions it sees mirrored on every side. The mind then goes in search of the answers to these important questions. For a time it will find comfort in various ways, sometimes in philosophy or religion, but no answer comes that entirely satisfies, for the simple reason that the answer must eventually come from within the man himself.

The Soul of every human being is immortal; it is a fragment of the eternal Being Who is the spiritual essence at the root of all manifested life, therefore, without an actual beginning or ending. Each Soul in the far past began a pilgrimage through which it was destined to become a separate and fully self-conscious individuality. It has reached the present stage of evolution after many lives spent in various physical bodies, sowing and reaping for the purpose of experience and to become perfectly and fully individualised; so that instead of being at the mercy of circumstances in the future it may guide and direct its own evolution and, rising above the matter in which it has been ensouled, and using the various vehicles it has acquired, consciously and with set purpose, it may eventually transmute all external forces coming from the ONE GREAT LIFE and use them for future development in the grand scheme of evolution that lies before the soul in its upward journey toward self-perfection. Then, possessed of all powers like unto the ‘Father in Heaven’ who sent it forth, it will become eventually like unto Himself, all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving. Each horoscope marks a step in that glorious evolution, and by representing the character and environment of the Soul shows the stage reached by the Ego in that particular birth.

If the fact of reincarnation be doubted the following questions should be asked: Is it not more reasonable to suppose that a soul requires many earth lives in order to learn all that the earth has to teach, rather than to think that one earth life only is necessary to fit it for eternal damnation or everlasting bliss? No person who has ever carefully pondered the matter, can see love or justice in causing a soul to be once born into a wretched, diseased and immoral family, where no opportunity is offered for spiritual development, and then condemning it to unceasing punishment for its unwise actions while in the body. Why should one soul be born of moral and pure parents, and another of evil and corrupt parents, if only one life on earth is given it in which to grow and develop?

In no other system of thought is this problem so reasonably answered as in that known under the title of Astrology. The Sun, Moon, and planets are symbols conveying ideas to those minds able to appreciate what they mean. The symbols connected with Astrology constitute the most simple and beautiful imagery we can conceive, and in them has been preserved from the beginning of our solar system to the present day the truth of man’s past and his future. The Sun is the body of the Lord and ruler over the solar system, therefore not only the symbol of life and light, but the actual source of all vitality, heat and motion in the system of which it is the centre. The planets are the reflections of the seven spirits before the Throne, they are His messengers and the agents who carry out His will. The Zodiac is the medium through which are transmitted the vibrations coming from the Sun as centre and reflected, or modulated, by the planets.

As each soul comes into the world the note which belongs to it is struck upon the celestial harp, and the heavens reverberate with its sound. Not a soul is born but an angel or Deva ministers to its birth, and just as no sparrow falleth to the ground without the Father in Heaven knowing it, so doth the Father know the life and manifestation of each individual. Each soul is attracted unto its appointed place, and each has its own special mission to fulfil and its own particular lesson to learn; all souls are one in essence, fragments of the great Soul; in manifestation all souls are different, some are older in manifestation, some are younger, some have grosser and others finer bodies or vehicles, each taking the one best suited for the work in hand.

Each soul manifests through a body of activity, or Physical Body; a body of feeling and emotion or Astral Body; and a thought or Mental Body. These three bodies St Paul has mentioned in I Cora XV.

The nativity indicates what we have sown in the past and how we shall reap what we have sown. It is a chart which should be used as a guide in life. In it are concealed our capabilities, and our character, therefore our destiny. There is no study so interesting, instructive or useful as this, to those who are blending the objective with the subjective, or to those who would set their feet upon the path of the occultist or mystic, for it dispels all doubts with regard to the evolution of the soul and helps us more easily than any other known method to a scientific comprehension of ourselves and others.

Every student of Astrology should be thoroughly familiar with its symbology, for in the symbology we have all the required aid to help the intuition. Having committed to memory the opinions of the various writers upon the subject, and fully grasped the general meaning of each symbol, the student would do well to concentrate the mind as often as possible upon one of the symbols, trying to extract all the knowledge he can from the thought currents originally set in motion connected with that symbol; then gradually light will come into the mind, and more will be known in this way than can ever be obtained from books.

The first map for a student to study should be his own.