Thanks much to Bruce for the paper on “The Light of the Monad.” It opens the mind to the Grand Vision. For years I have studied esoteric astrology
from the angle of life on the Path – examining man’s dilemma at the various
stages along the Way. Now, as I read
and absorb the reality of the cosmic schema captured so succinctly in “The
Light of the Monad” I am challenged to link the two worlds: the cosmic circle surrounding the galactic
center” (and all that it contains) and the step-by-step unfoldment of
consciousness within the human psyche (described in the pages of Esoteric Astrology).
There is much to say on this second subject, but first I sense the need
to create a link between the two worlds.
To do so I will try to grab hold of “Ariadne’s Thread” as described by
HPB in her Collected Works. This is The
Golden Thread, which is also the title of a small book written by Natalie
Banks published by Lucis Trust.
To HPB this thread is much more than the thread that ties all spiritual
teachings together (as described by Ms. Banks). It has cosmic dimensions reflective of the Grand Vision presented
by Bruce. The question is posed to HPB:
Q. In what relation does
the Sun, the highest form of Fire we can recognise, stand to Fire as you have
explained it?
A. The Sun, as on our plane, is not even “Solar” fire. The Sun we see,
gives nothing of itself, because it is a reflection; a bundle of
electro-magnetic forces, one of the countless milliards of “Knots of Fohat.”
Fohat is called the “Thread of primeval Light,” the “Ball of thread” of
Ariadne, indeed, in this labyrinth of chaotic matter. This thread runs through
the seven planes tying itself into knots. Every plane being septenary, there
are thus forty-nine mystical and physical forces, [the] larger knots forming
stars, suns and systems, the smaller, planets, and so on. (CW10,
Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge,
VII-VIII, p. 376)
The operative phrase here is “knots of fohat.” (Fohat is related to the Creator, Brahma, the Physical Sun and
manifests as electricity, light and magnetism according to DK.) Knots of fohat on the Golden Thread of
Adriane offer the connecting link needed between the Grand and what I might call, for want of a better word, the gritty – day to day life on the Path. Larger knots form stars, suns and systems
(as described in Bruce’s diagrams and by HPB).
Smaller knots form chakras and lesser wheels of energy and force. They are connected.
The spiritual Path involves re-discovering Ariadne’s thread, guided
along the Way by the sun, the planets and the stars. It involves learning to deal with the knots – consciously, wisely
– building them as conscious points of tension, resolving them through the
fusion of opposites, ascending upward, inward (and, paradoxically, outward),
learning to master ascent and descent along the thread of life-consciousness
(and) co-creation.
The guidance along the way, or the progressive influence of the stars
(and planets) at each stage of the Path, can be traced simply by examining the
“the line of gold” of which the thread is comprised.
When we look in the Alice Bailey compilation for the word “golden” we
find references to:
“. . . the true spiritual sun, Hidden
by a disk of golden light . . .”
(TWM, p.
60)
“The golden-gleaming . . . [I am] . . . of form divine.”
(FBC, p. 149)
“The golden lotus of the heart.”
(DINA II,
p. 73)
From the point of view of astrology, we discover that the light of
illumination of Taurus is a golden
light. The key that Taurus transforms
from a key of knowledge into a key of wisdom is a golden key. The horn of the
unicorn in the sign of initiation (Capricorn) is a golden horn.
This last symbol in gold seems to represent the resolution of the pairs
of opposites into a united focus. If we
follow the progression of “the horned signs” of the zodiac (Aries – Taurus –
Capricorn), as DK advised, we discover a descent into duality (symbolized by
the down-turned horns of the Creator under Aries’ influence). Then we find the horns of the earth sign
Taurus protecting the golden light in the world of duality. These horns turn upward, symbolizing eventual
aspiration to build the golden thread that links the bodies on the Way of
Return. The duality of the horns is finally
resolved in Capricorn with the appearance of the long straight horn of the
unicorn on the Mount of Initiation – surrounded with a golden light. DK describes this progression nicely:
It is interesting to study the three signs in which the animals have
horns: Aries, the downturned horns of the ram, signifying the coming into
manifestation, the involutionary cycle and the experience of the Cardinal Cross
as it expresses the Will-to-manifest of God. Taurus, the up-turned horns of the
Bull with the circle below, depicting the push of man, the Bull of God, towards
the goal of illumination and the emergence of the soul from bondage with the
two horns (duality) protecting the "eye of light" in the centre of
the Bull's forehead; this is "the single eye" of the New Testament
which makes the "whole body to be full of light." Then Capricorn, the
Goat, related particularly and closely to Aries, but hiding (as an esoteric
blind) the symbolism of the Unicorn in which the two horns and the single eye
are blended and depicted by the long straight horn of the unicorn in the centre
of the forehead. (EA, p. 155)
Interestingly enough, the horn of the unicorn is not only single in
nature, it is also spiral-like. It is,
it seems, the blending (the twisting together in fusion) of the opposites –
lifted up into heaven in the Golden Light of the Creator Himself.
This brings us, in principle, if not in fact, to the Golden Triangle
alluded to by Bruce in “The Light of the Monad.” I, for one, will reflect deeply on the relation of the three
points linked in golden light: The
Great Bear, the Pleiades and Gemini – the Father (sevenfold), the Mother
(sevenfold) and the Son.
Contribution – AQU06 - MV