Breath is the swing of the pendulum, which, swinging out of duration through the planes in time, breathes forth, draws in, breathes out, breathes in the worlds on all these planes.

—The Zodiac.

THE

WORD

THE ZODIAC

V

THE zodiac is to be viewed and understood from many standpoints. When the circle of 360 degrees is represented by its twelve signs without any figure within, it is to be considered as a complete whole or one, as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 5 shows the zodiac in its dual aspect. The upper half of the circle symbolizes the unmanifested and the lower half the manifested universe. The upper half remains the unmanifested universe, while the lower half of the circle represents the universe in manifestation, being noumenal and phenomenal. Figure 5 shows, therefore, the signs aries (♈︎), taurus (♉︎), pisces (♓︎), gemini (♊︎) and aquarius (♒︎) are the unmanifested signs, and that the manifested signs are leo (♌︎), virgo (♍︎), libra (♎︎ ), scorpio (♏︎), and sagittarius (♐︎). The signs cancer (♋︎) and capricorn (♑︎) belong to both the manifested and the unmanifested universe, because by means of cancer the mind-breath, the unmanifested, comes into manifestation, and because through capricorn, individuality or mind, the manifested universe passes into the unmanifested.

Figure 6 shows the manifested to be reflected into the unmanifested universe. Thus substance (♊︎), which is unmanifested, is reflected in life (♌︎); and it is by means of life that substance manifests duality and becomes matter in its involution.

Motion (♉︎) is reflected in form (♍︎).

Consciousness (♈︎) is reflected in sex (♎︎ ). Humanity, as the highest development of conscious sex function, is the best expression of consciousness in the physical world.

Desire (♏︎) in the manifested world is the reflection of will (♓︎) in the unmanifested world. It is through desire that the will is induced to action and the object of desire is attained.

Thought (♐︎) in the manifested world is the reflection of soul (♒︎) in the unmanifested world. It is through thought that the will shows the relationship existing between all things, and it is through thought that man learns how to identify himself with the soul of things.

Figure 7 shows the planes of the several signs.

Motion (♉︎) and will (♓︎) are here seen to be on the same plane; substance (♊︎) and soul (♒︎) are on the plane below; breath (♋︎) and individuality (♑︎) are in the central plane; life (♌︎) and thought (♐︎) are on one plane in the manifested world; form (♍︎) and desire (♏︎) are on the plane below.

Consciousness (♈︎) and sex (♎︎ ) are the only signs not on planes. Sex (♎︎ ) is the lowest phase of material life. It has no plane, but is under the plane of desire-form (♏︎–♍︎).

Consciousness (♈︎) is on no plane, as it is above and beyond all things, though it exists through all things, and all things depend on it for their being.

Figure 1 gives the signs of the zodiac, with the names of the signs.

Figure 2 shows the zodiac, with the signs and the names of the characteristics of each sign.

Figure 3 shows the signs, with the names of the signs and their characteristics. In this figure the triangle indicates the three quaternaries, each point of the triangle being the first of the four signs which make up its quaternary.

Figure 8 shows the signs of our present manifested universe. The sign (♋︎) cancer, breath, is the beginning of the manifested universe, and is on the highest plane of the manifested universe. As described in the editorial “Breath” (The Word, July, 1905), the Great Breath breathes all things into existence. It is that through which homogeneous substance becomes differentiated and comes into the second sign, life.

Life (♌︎) leo, is the great ocean of matter beyond the immediate senses. It is the dual spirit-matter which precipitates and builds itself into form.

Form (♍︎), virgo, is that design according to which life is precipitated and moulded. Form reaches its most concrete expression and its highest development in the physical world through sex.

Sex (♎︎ ), libra, represents the lowest point of the involution of breath, life and form, and the beginning of the evolution of individuality.

This evolution begins with desire (♏︎), scorpio, which is on the same plane as form (♍︎), virgo, but on the upward arc of the circle. It is this desire principle which the breath incarnates into and on which the mind-breath acts, producing thought.

Thought (♐︎), sagittary, is that which brings out the latent possibilities of desire and raises desire to the plane of thought. Thought is on the same plane as life (♌︎), leo, but life is on the downward arc, whereas thought is on the ascending arc of the circle. Through thought the individuality is expressed and built, and individuality (♑︎), capricorn, completes the evolution of the breath. Breath (♋︎) and individuality (♑︎) are on the same plane.

We have a concrete example of the involution and evolution just described in physiological facts and psychological evidences, as described in the editorial by that name (“Breath”).

Breath is of many kinds, the physical airs being the vehicle by which the psychic and mind-breath incarnate. The breath is the swing of the pendulum of the dual mind and ticks off the life of man. The breath, as it is inbreathed into the lungs and the heart, stimulates the blood and starts the tides of life (♌︎), leo. The life blood surges through the body and precipitates its essences into form (♍︎), virgo, which is the form of the body, and with this precipitation every cell of the body having sex is impressed and stimulated. Thus desire (♏︎), scorpio, is awakened, and desire arouses the sex (♎︎ ), libra. It is at this junction that it becomes possible to raise the desire by thought; and from the parts of sex, as it has been shown, the germ which is there developed and elaborated may be raised through the terminal filament, representative of the ascending thought (♐︎), sagittary, to the spinal cord proper.

The individuality (♑︎), capricorn, is, as before said, on the same plane as breath (♋︎), cancer, but on the upward arc of the circle.

(To be continued)