Max Heindel

“ Thus, by degrees, as he evolves and becomes responsive to the music of the spheres, one string after another in the celestial harp strikes the kindred chord in the’ human soul and makes him amenable to its vibrations, so that as a tuning fork which is struck, awakens the music in other tuning forks of even pitch within reasonable distance, the planets in our solar system have in evolutionary succession struck various chords that have found an echo in the human heart. ”

“ After what has been said it will not be difficult to understand that the Uranian characteristics, where love becomes compassion, give wisdom that is not dependent upon reasoning, a love that is not fixed upon one object alone, but includes all that lives and moves and has its being; it is similar to the characteristics that are to be evolved by humanity during the Venus period when perfect love shall have east out all fear, when man shall have conquered all the lower phases of his nature and love shall be as pure as it is universally inclusive. ”

“ Thus we have seen that man is amenable to the planetary rays in an increasing measure as he advances through evolution, but the more highly he becomes developed spiritually the less he will allow the planets to dominate him, while the younger soul is driven unresistingly along the tide of life in whatever direction the planetary vibrations propel him. It is the mark of the advanced soul that it keeps the true course regardless of the planetary vibrations. ”

“ It is a matter of actual experience to astrologers endowed with spiritual sight that every man’s planetary rays produce certain colors in his aura, in addition to the basic color which is the stamp of the race to which the man belongs. ‘The man with the thin, sickly blues of a commingled Saturn and Mercury, is to be pitied rather than censured for the avarice and gloom which are his constant attitude of mind; he sees everything in the world through the aurie mirror which he has created around himself ”

“ The Venus ray gave her beauty and made her an adept in the feminine arts which have conquered the masculine heart, so that now he plays the role of protector on the plea that woman is not mentally competent; meanwhile he is becoming that which he admires in her; he is more gentle and. Kind, Venus is conquering Mars, but the Mercury delusion of intellectual superiority needs another influence to conquer it, And this woman is now attracted by the aspiration. As she mastered martial brutality by Venus beauty, so also, will she free herself from Mercurial bondage by Uranian intuition. ”

“ Thus we see that the first step toward civilization requires that a man conquer one or more of the planets to a certain degree at least. Unbridled passion such as generated by the primitive Mars rays is no more permissible under the regime of modern civilization, neither is the tenet that “might is right” any longer admissible, save in wars when we return to barbarism. The Mars quality of physical prowess, that at one time made it a virtue to attack others and take away property, is no longer admired in the individual. ”

“ The number of Adam, man or humanity, is nine, and there are nine rungs upon the stellar ladder by which he is ascending to God; up to the present time he has climbed only five of these rungs; Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and not even the vibrations of these he has by any means learned; Uranus and Neptune are slowly coming into our lives; they will not become active in the same manner and to the same degree that for instance, the Moon and Mars are at the present time until many ages have passed. ”

“ The battle of life nowadays, is no longer fought with physical weapons alone. Brain, rather than brawn determines success. Therefore the period of education has been lengthened as mankind advanced, and it aims principally at mental accomplishments because of the Mercurial rays which accompany the Venus development of modern civilization. Thus man sees nature from a more sunny side when he has learned to respond to the Sun, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Moon and Saturn, even if only in a very slight measure. ”

“ And therefore the advent into our lives of the Jupiterian ray marks a very distinct advance in the human development. As taught in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, we are to advance from our present Earth period into the Jupiter period, and therefore the Jupiterian ray marks that high stage of altruism which will then be a prominent factor in our relations, one with the other, and it will be readily understood that before we can really respond to the rays of Jupiter we must in a measure cultivate altruism, and conquer the Egoism that comes through the Mercurial reasoning power. ”

“ The noblest men of all ages, Christian saints of the most transcendent spirituality, have attained their wonderful development through the spiritual rays of this planet because of the intense feeling of Oneness with the divine and with all that lives and breathes in the universe. ”

“ The idea that we should neglect our fathers and mothers or that we must hate them in order to follow Him was far from His mind, of course, but father and mother are only bodies; the soul that inhabits this body of the father and mother is to be loved, not the mere physical garment. ”

“ We have learned to conquer some of the phases of Mars and the Moon, we may have also learned to conquer some of the lower phases of Mercury and Venus; the more we have overcome these the better we shall he able to respond to the highest vibratory forces emanating from these planets; yes, if we strive earnestly we shall some day be able. to overcome even the highest stage of the Venus love, that always attaches itself to an object which is owned by us. We love our children because they are ours; we love our husbands and wives because they belong to us ”

“ Woman naturally excels in the highly imaginative Venus faculty, because of her part in the creative function which aids in moulding the body of the race. On that account her figure has the graceful curves which naturally express beauty, while man has the worldly-wise intellect fostered by the Lords of Mercury, and is the exponent of reason, the creative agency of physical progress in the world’s work. ”

“ Let us remember, however, that good or evil configurations are not the result of chance or luck, but the horoscope shows the tendencies of the coming life; it shows what we have earned by our past living and therefore what we are entitled to in the present life.
Moreover it should always be kept in mind that the stars impel but do not compel; because a man or woman has an evil configuration of Neptune or Uranus it is not unavoidable that they should go into active evil Mediumship and Black Magic and thereby make life harder for themselves in the future. ”

“ The highest human development at the present time, namely: the soul unfoldment which is undertaken in the mystery temples through initiation, is directly the result of the Neptune ray, for just as evil configurations lay men liable to assault by invisible entities, so the good configurations of Neptune are particularly required to enable a man to unfold by initiation his whole soul powers and become a conscious agent in the invisible worlds. ”

“ A little further along the path of evolution, in the Atlantean epoch, the Lords of Venus and the Lords of Mercury came to the earth for the purpose of giving a further impulse to the mental and emotional development. It was the task of Venus to combat the lower emotions and raise the brutish animal passion of Mars to the softer and more beautiful Venus-love, She was to add beauty to strength, and to attain that ideal the Lords of Venus fostered the plastic arts, painting and sculpture, these were not taught men of the general public at that time ”

“ Epigenesis; the faculty whereby the spirit may choose a course that is altogether new and independent of what has gone before. We see the expression of this in all kingdoms relative to form, but in the human kingdom, epigenesis expresses itself as genius, a creative instinct, which makes man more akin to the divine than any other of his accomplishments. This is developed under the Neptune ray when that planet is well placed in the horoscope. There is of course also such a thing as an evil genius, a destructive faculty developed under an afflicted Neptune. ”

“ Our love should be the game whether the person is old or young, ugly or beautiful. We should look for the beauty of the soul, for the universal relationship of all souls and not mind so much the relationship of the bodies. ”

“ Gradually the constructive martial ray and the Saturn canning fertilize the lunar brain which he is building, so that in time he learns to make the crude implements necessary for the attainment of his primitive ambitions. Even today we see the same cunning traits of character, the same crude crafts displayed in and by the lower races for the purpose of irrigating land, mining ores or milling grain. Al those earliest implements were the result of the planetary rays of Saturn, Moon and Mars, impinging on the primitive brain of infant humanity. ”

“ This is a danger that cannot be too strictly guarded against and it behooves every one who endeavors to live the higher life not to try to aspire to the Uranian rays until he at first becomes thoroughly imbued with the altruistic vibrations of Jupiter, for more misery is brought into the world by those who have aspired too high and fallen low, than by those who are not sufficiently aspiring. Pride goes before a fall, is an ancient and very true proverb, which it behooves every one of us to take to heart. ”

“ But although these various stages of evolution have gradually brought man under the dominance of a number of planetary rays, the development has been one-sided, for it has aimed to foster interest solely in things over which he has a proprietary right: his business, his house, his family, his cattle, farm, etc. are all vitally important, and must be taken care of, His possessions must be increased. ”

“ Actual obsession whereby the owner of a body is deprived of his vehicle takes place under the ray of Neptune and no materializing seance could ever be held if it were not for this stellar vibration. Magic, white or black can never be put to practical use save under and because of this Neptunian vibration, Apart from this ray it will remain theory, speculation and book learning. Therefore the Initiates of every Mystery Sehool, Spiritual Seers who have full control of their faculty, and Astrologers are amenable in varying degrees to the ray of Neptune. ”

“ In fact, before it is possible to respond perfectly to the rays of Venus it is necessary for man to conquer Mars to a considerable degree, and bring him under control so that certain undesirable martial traits in his nature will be kept in the background, while others, which may be valuable, are retained. ”

“ As the child grows, this measure of restraint is by degrees relaxed, in the course of years the child will learn to exercise its free will. This method has been followed by the Divine Hierarchics in the case of man. Infant Humanity was absolutely guided by Divine rules without having any Will at all, “Thus shalt thou do, or not do,” were injunctions laid upon them which must be implicitly obeyed, otherwise the Divine displeasure was at once shown by such strenuous manifestations as appealed ta infant humanity’s mind, namely, lightning, thunder, earth-quakes and great visitations of plagues. ”

“ It called attention to the body and idealized the softly curved lines, The result is now incorporated in our own race body, for it should be thoroughly understood that in a mystery school an ideal is not taught today simply to be forgotten tomorrow or the next generation, but ideals are inculcated so that in time they may become a part of the very life, soul and body of the race. Compare the race body of the Indian, the Bush-man, the Hottentots, etc. with that of the modern civilized man, and you will find that there is indeed beauty added to strength. ”

“ This attitude constitutes an upward step from the Venus love which places the emphasis on the physical garments of the loved ones and leaves out of consideration the soul that is within, The Jupiterian love on the other hand takes cognizance only of the soul, regardless of the body it wears. The Mercurial or reasoning phase of mentality is also changed by response to the altruistic Jupiter. Cold calculation is out of the question, One who feels the expansive ray of Jupiter is big hearted, first, last and all the time, and in every respect; big hearted where his emotions are concerned, his love ”

“ The rays which come directly from the Sun are productive of spiritual illumination; the reflected rays from other planets make for added consciousness and moral development and the rays reflected by way of the Moon give physical growth. ”

“ The man or woman, however, who develops the Neptune faculty, also has the result of any question immediately and is able to tell the reason why that result is the proper and right one.
The Faculty of intuition built up from the Martial base of passion, through the Venusian stage of love, and the Uranian ray of compassion, depends upon the ability of the person involved to feel very intensely. ”

“ But as each planet can only absorb a certain quantity of one or more colors according to the general stage of evolution there, so each being upon earth, mineral, plant, animal and man can only absorb and thrive upon a certain quantity of the various rays projected upon the earth, The remainder do not affect it or produce sensation any more than the blind are conscious of light and color which exists everywhere around them. ”

“ The mentality also evolves through three stages according to the amenability of the person ta the vibrations of the Moon, Mercury and Neptune. While man is only amenable to the lunar influence, he is childlike and easily guided by the higher powers, which have led him through the various stages mentioned in our previous chapters. Under the stellar ray of Mercury he gradually develops his intellectual powers and becomes a reasoning being. ”