Aries 2014: Creativity. Ideals. Revolution. Songkran.

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Keynote
“I come forth and from the plane of mind, I rule.”
_{(Full Moon: April 15, 2014. 8.42 am. London, Britain.)}

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Aries: The Beginning of a Creative Process
Impractical Idealism of the Aspirant
Rage and Revolution
Aries Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

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Aries: The Beginning of a Creative Process
As the door to the New Year opens, Aries brings in the theme of creativity and direction,

“Aries is the sign of beginnings – the beginning of the creative process, the first step of the soul … towards incarnation, the beginning of recurring and constant cycles of experience, the beginning of the period wherein the soul changes its direction, its purpose and its method, and finally enters upon that definitely defined process which we call spiritual regeneration and initiation.”1

Spiritual regeneration. After the purging process in the previous zodiac sign of Pluto-ruled Pisces, our revitalised essence is ready to embrace the new cycle, transformed and a little wiser than the previous year.

Aries is the initial spark of mind, the fiery manas that holds within it infinite creativity, like the continuous nuclear reactions that take place in the Sun; it is for this reason that the Sun is “exalted” in Aries,

“… [The Sun] standing for the life of the spirit which comes to full expression as the result of the great evolutionary process, initiated in Aries. The life of God which in this sign is “swung into activity” eventually achieves consummation.”2

In other words, Aries stands for the highest potential of a liberated human being, invoked anew each year when the Sun moves into this sign. Or on a daily basis, to use a solar analogy, at the rising of the Sun – the new day, a new possibility, a fresh canvas to colour.

The soul enters into a collaboration with the divine and becomes a co-worker in the Plan, a builder of the dawn. Taking the seeds from the harvest of the previous annual cycle, Aries sets about sowing a new generation better than the last. These seeds may well bear fruit by the time the Sun reaches Libra, Aries’ polar opposite, where the consequences of initiated activity begin to precipitate and make themselves apparent.

This highest human potential is symbolised at Easter, where Christ’s disciple Jesus made the final crucifixion of the lower self, became an Arhat – a more “permanent” member of that renown “Band of Brothers” who guide humanity, The Great White Brotherhood. (See the Master’s Gallery here.)

The 1^st ray of will or power pours through Aries; it is ruled by Vulcan, the divine smithy who forges ahead, fashions his creative idea upon the anvil, hammers out the new design, creating tools or “weapons” that will see the Aries idea manifest into matter; this all takes place in the realm of thought, of ideation.

Aries ruler Mars aids this process, its jurisdiction is the iron anvil; it is the red hot glow within the anvil-fire, and in that which is being forged, allowing the atoms to coalesce and be shaped into Vulcan’s vision. The fiery activity within the Sun is reflected in the forge – as above, so below:

“[Vulcan] … is the one who goes down into the depths to find the material upon which to expend his innate art and to fashion that which is beautiful and useful. Vulcan is, therefore, that which stands for the soul, the individual, inner, spiritual man; in his activity we find the key to the soul’s task upon the eternal round of the wheel of life.”3

Mars is the red heat of manifested desire in the sexual centre, the sacral chakra; its glyph is the upright phallus, hence Mars is the desire to physically procreate, but also to mentally create. The sacral centre is the manifesting principle for the throat centre – which is the seat of the mental body, where ideas are organised into thoughtforms.

Hence, in the soul conscious creative individual, these forces create a continuous flowing circuit between the throat and sacral – without undue emphasis upon either. (It is always handy to remind oneself of these relationships, as in the following diagram.)

Mars also rules the solar plexus, seat of the astral body and the origin of all desire; it is the passion that feeds sexual desire, but also the intensity and idealism that fans the fire of an idea. Fire is a symbol of the mind, as water is to the emotions.

Mars pushes the seed shoot buried in the dark earth to penetrate the surface and emerge into the light. Martial idealism and physicality are always needed to bring an idea into manifestation, into the light of a new day. Likewise humanity penetrates into a higher reality from the world of the unreal, this is sex for the soul – where there the human mind meets the divine mind. We are told that,

“The power of ideas is only today beginning to be understood. The potency of ideation, the forms which ideas must take, and the promotion of the cult of right ideas is one of the major problems to be tackled in the New Age. It is in this field that the Masters work and in which They call Their disciples to be active.”4

The “New Age” is Aquarius, the sign of leading edge ideas, ruled by Uranus, also the hierarchical ruler of Aries, representing the fount of ideas. Note also, that Uranus rules the sacral centre where those ideas manifest – a curious relationship. It is through the various planetary rulerships that hidden relationships emerge between the zodiac signs.

With these new ideas, old ideas will change, for instance history, with its account of the evolution of nations in the outer world of appearances. DK tells us that,

“… there is a history which today is slowly being formulated which is the history of the seed of consciousness in nature and the growth of the power to recognise ideas and to push forward towards their fulfillment. This is the new history which – as might be expected – is carrying us steadily into the world of meaning and revealing to us gradually the nature of those impulses and tendencies which have led the race steadily forward from the densest point of concrete, primitive life into the world of sensitive perception.”5

Aries: Impractical Idealism of the Aspirant
The 6^th ray of devotion and idealism is much-written about in these missives, as it is such a powerful and difficult influence in the world at the end of this Piscean Age. Several powerful nations have it prominent in their make-up; it is the most prominent ray that conditions human astral bodies; it is the ray ruled by Mars, also the ruler of Aries, so it is timely discussing it during this Aries period.

The idealism needed to bring an idea to birth – in this zodiac sign of emergence, can also be extremely impractical. Idealism gets stuck on the astral plane, in an astral billabong6 if you will, proceeding no further into expression.

All of us as aspirants upon the path are influenced by the 6^th ray, in fact it could be called the major influence behind the energy of aspiration, idealism and devotion. Many of us have this force brimming over, it is at once our strength and our Achilles Heel. 6^th ray energy, aspiration and idealism are strong at the start of the new astrological cycle in Aries, it is needed to drive forth the new impulse.

When one aspires, one idealises to reach a higher understanding; it can be intoxicating because of the higher forces that are invoked in reaching upward. The solar plexus centre becomes a momentary doorway to a more refined consciousness that is heard in the heart. Yet many aspirants fail to materialise that which they have contacted, so the ideal stays an ideal, a fantasy, a pipe-dream; the initial idea and the idealism with which it was clothed remain unrealised.

The failure to bring the idea into a physical, practical, working reality is because certain sacrifices within the personality are required. These sacrifices cannot be made because in many there is an intransigence, unwillingness, selfishness or laziness to respond to the prompting of the soul’s conscience. Yet another influencing factor is that the sacrifice petals of the heart centre are not yet sufficiently stimulated. It is worth bearing in mind that,

“The trouble has not lain in lack of idealism or even in a lack of intelligence and sincerity, it consists in the failure to sacrifice the personality at all times in order to make the intuitive realization demonstrate its realities.”7

Rage and Revolution
Aries is the yearly revolution and Aries’ highest or hierarchical ruler is Uranus – the planet of revolution – in Aries for the first time in 84 years, promising radical change. Currently it is at the same position it occupied in 1930, the time of the Great Depression, the discovery of Pluto and the build-up of fascism in Europe.

In the 1930’s Uranus was square to Pluto, just as now Pluto and Uranus are repeating this pattern for another two years. And of course, as discussed in the past few newsletters, these planets occupy two arms of the 2014 Grand Cross, present during this Aries full moon period, reaching exactitude and hence full power about a week later, April 22-24.

Mars as ruler of Aries is the rage of the common man oppressed by forces from which he is struggling to free himself. And Mars is part of this grand cross configuration, but its force is well-tempered by its position in Libra, offering struggle and devotion to the peace process, détente and dis-armament.

Hence, the world will witness ongoing struggles in the Middle East, Ukraine and elsewhere, as the consciousness of humanity becomes further empowered and rises up against oppression in its many forms. In these often more difficult times of trying to figure out what is going on behind the outer façade of lies and misrepresentations, its timely to also invoke the energies of Aries, esoteric ruler Mercury, transmitter of the true intuition, that can bypass all the muddled propaganda.

Mars and Aries are about meeting these critical problems with courage and forthrightness – a willingness to make a stand and fight like a true warrior. Running battles upon the mental plane in the war of ideas, ideologies that threaten to engulf and control the planet.

Aries Songkran Festival in Chiang Mai, Thailand
As I prepare to leave Thailand for Britain soon, the Songkran festival is celebrated as the traditional New Year’s Day from 13 to 15 April. Songkran literally means “astrological passage”, that is, the start of the new year in Aries, in the sidereal system, anciently adopted from the Sankranti Hindu festival.

The most famous celebrations in Thailand are in Chiang Mai, where it can run as long as six days. This year it coincides with the Aries full moon period. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand for immersion in another culture – and immersion in plenty of water! Songkran is celebrated by throwing of water upon others. Originally it was,

“… a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this “blessed” water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder … it is also when people go to a Buddhist monastery to pray and give food to monks.

They may also cleanse Buddha images from household shrines as well as Buddha images at monasteries by gently pouring water mixed with a Thai fragrance over them. It is believed that doing this will bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year.

In many cities, the Buddha images from all the important monasteries are paraded through the streets so that people can toss water at them, ritually “bathing” the images, as they pass by on ornately decorated floats.

… Some people make New Year resolutions – to refrain from bad behavior, or to do good things. Songkran is a time for cleaning and renewal. Besides washing household Buddha images, many Thais also take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning.

… Nowadays, the emphasis is on fun and water-throwing rather than on the festival’s spiritual and religious aspects, which sometimes prompts complaints from traditionalists. In recent years there have been calls to moderate the festival to lessen the many alcohol-related road accidents as well as injuries attributed to extreme behavior such as water being thrown in the faces of traveling motorcyclists.”8

The symbolism of water is interesting, having just transited from water-sign Pisces to Aries, and here is an indication of the overlapping nature of the signs. Also, as discussed earlier, Mars as ruler of Aries, rules the solar plexus, seat of the watery astral body, so there is a link here too.

Water cools the fire of Aries during this hottest month of the year when temperatures regularly reach 40°C. The following passage relates to these factors but also contains something far more profound,

“The Old Commentary says in relation to these two characteristics of man something that conveys much of beauty, couched in symbolic language …

“The assuaging waters cool. They slowly bring relief, abstracting form from all that can be touched. The quivering fever heat of long repressed desire yields to the cooling draught. Water and pain negate each other. Long is the process of the cooling draught.

The burning fire releases all that blocks the way of life. Bliss comes and follows after fire, as fire upon the waters. Water and fire together blend and cause the great Illusion. Fog they produce and mist and steam and noise, veiling the Light, hiding the Truth and shutting out the Sun.

The fire burns fiercely. Pain and the waters disappear. Cold, heat, the light of day, the radiance of the rising sun and perfect knowledge of the Truth appear.

“This is the path for all who seek the light. First form, and all its longing. Then pain. Then the assuaging waters and the appearance of a little fire. The fire grows, and heat is then active within the tiny sphere and does its fiery work. Moisture likewise is seen; dense fog, and to the pain is added sad bewilderment, for they who use the fire of mind during the early stage are lost within a light illusory.

Fierce grows the heat; next comes the loss of power to suffer. When this stage has been outgrown, there comes the shining of the unobstructed sun and the clear bright light of truth. This is the path back to the hidden Centre.

Use pain. Call for the fire, oh, pilgrim in a strange and foreign land. The waters wash away the mud and slime of nature’s growth. The fires burn the hindering forms which seek to hold the pilgrim back and so they bring release. The living waters, as a river, sweep the pilgrim to the Father’s Heart. The fires destroy the veil hiding the Father’s Face.”9

The rest of this newsletter was originally part II of Malaysian Airlines MH370 LOST. The complete analysis (parts I & II) can be found here.

Phillip Lindsay © 2014.
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1. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.106. [↩]
2. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.104. [↩]
3. Esoteric Astrology, Alice A. Bailey. p.385. [↩]
4. Esoteric Psychology II, Alice A. Bailey. p.255. [↩]
5. Esoteric Psychology II, Alice A. Bailey. p.255. [↩]
6. An isolated pond that is left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. Billabongs are called oxbow lakes in other parts of the world. [↩]
7. A Treatise on White Magic, Alice A. Bailey. p.137. [↩]
8. Click here. [↩]
9. Discipleship in the New Age I, Alice A. Bailey. [↩]