This
section compiles a fairly complete information about Cancer.
Sources and further recommended readings are given at the
bottom of this page.
CANCER, THE
CRAB
{excerpts from "Esoteric Astrology" by Alice Bailey
(Pages 311,343)}
Egiptian Crab Myth Jerogliphics.
Basics and Thoughts on Cancer:
Brad
Berg's Basics and thoughts -
Extracted
directly and paraphrased
from Esoteric Astrology, by Alice Bailey
CANCER FULL MOON
Exoteric
ruler: Moon - 4th Ray
Esoteric ruler: Neptune - 6th Ray
Rays 3 and 7 are transmitted through Cancer.
Cancer is the psychological opposite of the state of group consciousness towards which humanity is, at this time, tending.
Cancer - mass consciousness - instinctual awareness
Leo - self consciousness - intelligent awareness.
Aquarius - group consciousness - intuitional
awareness.
In Cancer, God breathed into man's nostrils
the breath of life and man became a living soul.
In these words is established the relation which
exists in the mind of God between spirit (the
breath of life) the soul (consciousness) and
man (the form).
Cancer is a water sign. Cancer, the Crab, carries its house upon its back, lives upon the land (physical plane life) and also in the sea (the life of the emotions).
In Cancer, the influence of Hierarchy begins
to make its presence felt and man becomes a
conscious personality. This process is consummated
in Virgo.
In the two rulers of this sign, the Moon and Neptune, you have the symbols of a close relationship between the Mother of all Forms and the God of the Waters. In this esoteric marriage, you have pictured a major synthesis of form and of desire-sensitivity, and consequently, a true statement of the Atlantean state of consciousness.
Cancer - mass consciousness
Virgo - Christ consciousness
Aquarius - universal consciousness.
Upon the Path of Discipleship, one of the major
difficulties and great problems of the disciple
is his extreme sensitivity to impacts from every
side and his rapid ability to respond to contacts
coming from "all points of the compass, from
every angle of the zodiacal wheel and from that
which lies above, below, and upon every hand."
(Old Commentary).
When a man is an initiate, he does not react
to ordinary feeling, sentiment or to personality
relations as they express themselves in pleasure
or pain. All these are surmounted and eventually
the watery life of emotional reaction is superseded
by the life of true inclusiveness and love.
Soul control esoterically obliterates the Moon
and all traces of Neptunian life.
When the "waters break and are carried away,"
the Mother gives birth to the Son and that individual
spiritual entity then stands free.
The Cancerian subject becomes responsive to:
- the uses of conflict (Mars)
- the functioning of the light of the intuition
(Mercury)
- the cosmic pull of Uranus
- the intellect of Venus
- the presentation of opportunity (Saturn).
Cancer - the Light within the Form. It is the
light awaiting stimulation coming from the soul
light. In the disciple/initiate Cancer person,
the Whole (humanity) is seen as one.
"I build a lighted house and therein dwell."
|
|
Important to note:
It is interesting
to note that during the time we say the sun is in Leo, this
year from July 22 to August 21, 2009, due to the precession
of the equinoxes, and from the earth's perspective, the Sun
is actually traversing the zodiacal constellation Cancer.
Excerpts
mirror to SouledOut.org
Cancer
Building a House for the Soul
In the constellation Cancer, we find a doorway into incarnation
for souls to gain the experience needed for their evolution.
All human lives begin here. Indeed, no soul escapes the need
to incarnate. In Cancer one is bound to be limited within
the form in order to learn from lifes experiences. Ultimately,
we must come to the realization life is beyond the form experience
~ we do not belong in the spiritual sense to the form life
and eventually we orient ourselves to the life of the spirit,
the real everlasting life.
The crab protects itself within its hard shell, even carrying
this defense with it wherever it goes ... therefore the protection
becomes a limitation. The crabs pincers serve as tools
as well as protective defenses. These pincers detangle the
astral currents of the mass consciousness of humanity. Learning
to differentiate between ones own feelings and everybody
elses is a major challenge for the extraordinarily sensitive
Cancer native. This extremely sensitive side can be a great
detriment for those born under the sign of Cancer, resulting
in over-reactiveness, and overly-emotional behavior.
Incarnation also forges many bonds: of love, obligation,
karmic responsibility. The energy of Cancer rules this commonality
of the human experience ... all people belong somewhere, to
the family unit, or a larger group, experiencing to some degree
the sense of belonging we all need to function as human beings.
Ruled by the moon, always the mother of form, Cancer also
controls the waters and the tides, representing the astral
plane, the realm of feelings and emotions. Association with
the past and mother are also seen ~ Mother, as doorway into
life, mirrors the Cancerian doorway into life for souls.
For the unevolved being, Cancer is all about mass consciousness,
the instinctual side of human development, and the opposite
of group consciousness. The average Cancer native is immersed
in the mass experience where instinct rules and the realm
of the subconscious mind and collective imagination; an unconscious
part of the great whole. Yet at the same time, Cancerians
are subject to the urge to lift themselves out of the mass
instinctual life and to develop the intuition. As one becomes
more influenced by the light of the Soul, less and less personality
reaction is demonstrated, until ultimately emotional reaction
is superseded by the life of true and inclusive love indicative
of soul control.
There are no bright stars in the constellation Cancer, so
befitting a sign of retreat and hiding. At the very center
lies a cluster of stars modern astronomers call the Beehive,
perhaps representing the mass consciousness of humanity, the
collective mind.
In the mythology of the Cancer Labor of Hercules, the legend
has Hercules chasing after the doe claimed both by Diana,
the huntress of the heavens, and Artemis, goddess of the moon.
After searching for a lifetime, he finally brought the deer
before the gods to discover it belonged to another yet. The
doe was not Dianas (the intellect), nor Artemiss
(the instinct), but was claimed by the sun god Apollo as the
brilliant shining light of the intuition. The intellect, born
out of instinct, is a means to develop this higher quality,
the intuitive vision of the Soul. For this is a sign of fusion,
in this case the fusion of the physical body and the Soul.
The different stages of this fusion are reflected, for undeveloped
humanity, in the individual unit as blind; in advanced humanity,
as the individual awakens to the energies flowing all around
them; and in the initiate, we find the awareness of the Whole,
seen as one.
The keynote of Cancer is "I Build a Lighted House and
therein Dwell." Again, transcending the watery instinctual
nature to be replaced by the ever increasing light of the
Soul is the evolutionary goal for this sign. To break free
of the protective limitation of the Crabs shell and
to become the radiant, outpouring source of love and light
and service is truly the highest calling for Cancer natives.
And as the magnetic energies of Cancer focus and draw in all
souls on their incarnational process, so too does the polar
opposite of Capricorn draw in all souls on their way towards
relinquishing the cycle of rebirth and through the process
of initiation, ending the need to take form to evolve. To
this sacred duty, Cancer plays its role.
This sign can carry a deep meaning to all of us. You are
in process of incarnation; you are following your our chosen
way. Is the house you are building yet lit? Is it a lighted
house, or is it a dark prison? If it is a lighted house, you
will attract to its light and warmth all who are around you
and the magnetic pull of your soul, whose nature is light
and love, will save many. If you are still an isolated soul,
you will have to pass through the horrors of a more complete
isolation and loneliness, treading alone the dark way of the
soul. Yet this isolation, this loneliness and this separation
in the dark night are all part of the Great Illusion. It is
an illusion into which the whole of humanity is now precipitated,
preparing for unity, freedom and release. Some are lost in
the illusion, not knowing what is reality and truth. Others
walk free in the world of illusion for the purposes of saving
and lifting humanity... step on the path, enter into life
....Service is its own reward ..
Cancer by A Stylianou
.
The Labours of Hercules
Labour IV:
The
Capture of the Doe or Hind ~ by Alice A. Bailey
The
Myth
The great Presiding One, who sits within the Council Chamber
of the Lord, spoke to the Teacher, standing by his side: "Where
is the son of man who is the son of God? How fares he? How
is he tested and with what service is he now engaged?"
The Teacher said, casting his eye upon the son of man who
is a son of God: "Naught at this time, O great Presiding
One. The third great test provided much of teaching sustenance
to a learner such as he. He ponders and reflects."
"Provide a test which will evoke his wisest choice.
Send him to labour in a field wherein he must decide which
voice, of all the many voices, will arouse the obedience of
his heart. Provide likewise a test of great simplicity upon
the outer plane, and yet a test which will awaken, on the
inner side of life, the fulness of his wisdom and the rightness
of his power to choose. Let him proceed with the fourth test."
*
Before the fourth great Gate stood Hercules; a son of man
and yet a son of God. At first was silence deep. He uttered
not a word or made a sound. Beyond the Gate the landscape
stretched in contours fair and on the far horizon stood the
temple of the Lord, the shrine of the Sun-God, the gleaming
battlements. Upon a hill nearby there stood a slender fawn.
And Hercules, who is a son of man and yet a son of God, both
watched and listened and, listening, heard a voice. The voice
came out from that bright circle of the moon which is the
home of Artemis. And Artemis, the fair, spoke words of warning
to the son of man.
"The doe is mine, so touch it not," she said. "For
ages long I nurtured it and tended it when young. The doe
is mine and mine it must remain."
Then into view Diana sprang, the huntress of the heavens,
the daughter of the sun. Leaping on sandalled feet towards
the doe, she likewise claimed possession.
"Not so," she said, "Artemis, fairest maid;
the doe is mine and mine it must remain. Too young until today,
it now can be of use. The golden antlered hind is mine, not
yours, and mine it shall remain."
Hercules, standing between the pillars of the Gate, listened
and heard the quarrel, and wondered much as the two maidens
strove for possession of the doe.
Another voice fell on his ear, and with commanding accents
said: "The doe belongs to neither maid, O Hercules, but
to the God whose shrine you see on yonder distant mount. Go
rescue it and bear it to the safety of the shrine, and leave
it there. A simple thing to do, O son of man, yet (and ponder
well my words) being a son of God, you thus can seek and hold
the doe. Go forth."
Through the fourth Gate sprang Hercules, leaving behind the
many gifts received and cumbered not himself in the swift
chase which lay ahead. And from a distance the quarrelling
maidens watched. Artemis, the fair, bending from out the moon
and Diana, beauteous huntress of the woods of God, followed
the movements of the doe and, when due cause arose, they each
deluded Hercules, seeking to foil his efforts. He chased the
doe from point to point and each with subtlety deceived him.
And this they did, time and again.
Thus for the length of a full year, the son of man who is
a son of God followed the doe from place to place, catching
swift glimpses of its form, only to find that in the fastness
of the deep woods it had been lost. From hill to hill and
wood to wood, he hunted it until close to a quiet pool, full-length
upon the untrampled grass, he saw it sleeping, wearied with
its flight.
With quiet step, outstretched hand and steadfast eye, he
shot an arrow towards the doe and in its foot he wounded it.
Exciting all the will of which he was possessed, he nearer
drew and yet the doe moved not. Thus he drew close, and clasped
the doe within his arms, close to his heart. And Artemis and
fair Diana both looked on.
"The search is o'er", he chanted loud. "Into
the northern darkness I was led, and found no doe. Into the
deep dark woods I fought my way, but found no doe; and over
dreary plains and arid wilderness and deserts wild, I struggled
towards the doe, yet found it not. At each point reached,
the maidens turned my steps, but still I did persist and now
the doe is mine! the doe is mine!"
"Not so, O Hercules," came to his ears the voice
of one who stands close to the great Presiding One within
the Council Chamber of the Lord. "The doe belongs not
to a son of man, e'en though a son of God. Carry the doe to
yonder distant shrine, where dwell the sons of God and leave
it there with them."
"Why so, O Teacher wise? The doe is mine; mine by long
search and travel, and mine likewise because I hold the doe
close to my heart."
"And are you not a son of God, although a son of man?
And is the shrine not also your abode? And share you not the
life of all who dwell therein? Bear to the shrine of God the
sacred doe, and leave it there, O son of God."
Then to the holy shrine of Mykenae, Hercules bore the doe,
carrying it to the center of the holy place and there he laid
it down. And as he laid it down before the Lord, he noted
on its foot the wound, made by an arrow from the bow he had
possessed and used. The doe was his by right of search. The
doe was his by right of skill and the prowess of his arm.
"The doe is therefore doubly mine," he said.
But Artemis, standing within the outer court of that most
holy place heard his loud cry of victory and said: "Not
so. The doe is mine and always has been mine. I saw its form,
reflected in the water; I heard its feet upon the ways of
earth; I know the doe is mine, for every form is mine."
The Sun-God spoke, from out the holy place. "The doe
is mine, not yours, O Artemis! Its spirit rests with me from
all eternity, here in the center of the holy shrine. You may
not enter here, O Artemis, but know I speak the truth. Diana,
that fair huntress of the Lord, may enter for a moment and
tell you what she sees."
Into the shrine for one brief moment passed the huntress
of the Lord and saw the form of that which was the doe, lying
before the altar, seeming dead. And in distress she said:
"But if its spirit rests with thee, O great Apollo, noble
son of God, then know the doe is dead. The doe is slain by
the man who is a son of man, e'en though a son of God. Why
may he pass within the shrine and we await the doe out here?"
"Because he bore the doe within his arms, close to his
heart, and in the holy place the doe finds rest, and so does
man. All men are mine. The doe is likewise mine, not yours,
nor man's but mine."
* * *
And Hercules, returning from the test, passed through the
Gate again and found his way, back to the teacher of his life.
"I have fulfiled the task, set by the great Presiding
One. Simple it was, except for length of time and wariness
of search. I listened not to those who made their claim, nor
faltered on, the Way. The doe is in the holy place, close
to the heart of God and likewise, in the hour of need, close
to my heart also."
"Go look again, O Hercules, my son, between the pillars
of the Gate." And Hercules obeyed. Beyond the Gate, the
landscape stretched in contours fair and on the far horizon
stood the temple of the Lord, the shrine of the Sun-God, with
glistening battlements, whilst on a nearby hill there stood
a slender fawn.
"Did I perform the test, O Teacher wise? The fawn is
back upon the hill where I earlier saw it stand."
And from the Council Chamber of the Lord, where sits the
great Presiding One, there came a voice: "Again and yet
again must all the sons of men, who are the sons of God, seek
for the golden antlered fawn and bear it to the holy place;
again and yet again."
Then said the Teacher to the son of man who is a son of God:
"labour the fourth is over, and from the nature of the
test and from the nature of the doe, frequent must be the
search. Forget this not, but ponder on the lesson learnt."
- The Tibetan (Djwhal Khul)
Synthesis
of the Signs
Cancer is the last of what we might call the four preparatory
signs, whether we are considering the involution of the soul
in matter, or the evolution of the aspirant as he struggles
out of the human into the spiritual Kingdom. Being equipped
with the faculty of mind, in Aries, and with desire, in Taurus,
and having arrived at the realization of his essential duality,
in Gemini, the incarnating human being enters, through birth
in Cancer, into the human kingdom.
Cancer is a mass sign, and the influences which pour from
it are held by many esotericists to bring about the formation
of the human family, of the race, the nation, and the family
unit. Where the aspirant is concerned, the story is somewhat
different, for in these four signs, he prepares his equipment
and learns to utilize it. In Aries, he grips his mind and
seeks to bend it to his need, learning mental control. In
Taurus, "the mother of illumination", he receives
his first flash of that spiritual light which will grow increasingly
more brilliant as he nears his goal. In Gemini, he not only
appreciates the two aspects of his nature, but the immortal
aspect begins to increase at the expense of the mortal.
Now, in Cancer, he gets his first touch of that more universal
sense which is the higher aspect of the mass consciousness.
Equipped, therefore, with a controlled mind, a capacity to
register illumination, an ability to contact his immortal
aspect and intuitively to recognize the kingdom of spirit,
he is ready now for the greater work.
In the next four signs, which we might regard as the signs
of physical plane struggle for achievement, we have portrayed
for us the tremendous battle through the medium of which the
Self-conscious individual, emerging out of the mass in Cancer,
knows himself to be the individual in Leo, the potential Christ
in Virgo, the aspirant endeavoring to balance the pairs of
opposites in Libra, and the one who overcomes illusion, in
Scorpio. These are the four signs of crisis and of stupendous
endeavor. In them all the illumination, intuition and soul
power of which Hercules, the aspirant, is capable, are utilized
to the uttermost. These have their reflection, too, on the
involutionary arc, and a similar sequence of unfoldment can
be traced. The soul achieves individuality in Leo, becomes
the nurturer of ideas and of potential capacities in Virgo,
swings violently from one extreme to the other in Libra, and
is subjected to the disciplining effect of the world of illusion
and form in Scorpio.
In the final four signs, we have the signs of achievement.
The aspirant has worked out of the world of glamor and of
form, and in his consciousness is free from their limitations.
Now he can be the archer in Sagittarius, going straight for
his goal; now he can be the goat in Capricorn, scaling the
mount of initiation; now he can be the world worker in Aquarius,
and the world savior in Pisces. Thus he can sum up in himself
all the gains of the preparatory period and of the fiercely
fought battles in the four signs of strenuous activity; and
in these four final signs demonstrate the gains achieved and
the powers developed.
This brief summation of the signs, as they affect Hercules,
will serve to give some idea of the wonderful synthesis of
the picture, and of the steady progression, and of the controlled
unfolding of the various forces which play their subtle parts
in bringing about the changes in the life of man.
Three words summarize the objective self-awareness or the
conscious aspect of the evolving human being: instinct, intellect,
intuition. The sign which we are now studying is predominantly
the sign of instinct; but the sublimation of instinct is the
intuition. In the same way, as matter has to be lifted up
into heaven, so instinct has to be likewise lifted up, and
when it has been thus transcended and transmuted, it manifests
as intuition (symbolized by the doe). The intermediate stage
is that of the intellect. The great need of Hercules now is
to develop his intuition and to become familiar with that
instantaneous recognition of truth and reality which is the
high prerogative and potent factor in the life of a liberated
son of God.
Meaning
of the Story
Eurystheus, therefore, sent Hercules to capture the golden
horned Keryneian doe or hind. The word "hind" comes
from an old Gothic word, meaning "that which must be
seized", in other words, that which is elusive and difficult
to secure. This doe was sacred to Artemis, the goddess of
the moon; but Diana, the huntress of the heavens, the daughter
of the sun, also claimed it and there was a quarrel as to
ownership. Hercules accepted the charge of Eurystheus and
set out to capture the gentle hind. He was a whole year hunting
it, going from one forest to another, just catching sight
of it and then again losing it. Month after month went by,
and he never could catch and hold it. Success at last crowned
his efforts and he seized the doe, flung it over his shoulder,
"held it close to his heart", and carried it to
the sacred temple at Mykenae, where he laid it down before
the altar, in the holy place. Then he stood back, pleased
with his success.
This is one of the shortest of the stories but though we
are told very little, this labour, when considered thoughtfully,
is one of profound and outstanding interest and the lesson
it holds is of deep import. There is no success for the aspirant
until he has transmuted instinct into intuition, nor is there
right use of the intellect until the intuition is brought
into play, interpreting and extending the intellect and bringing
realization. Then instinct is subordinated to both.
Cancer by J. Wall
Qualities
of the Sign
Cancer is called the Crab and the Greeks tell us that it
was the crab that was sent by Hera to bite the foot of Hercules.
(Again we meet this symbol in the vulnerable "heel of
Achilles".) This is an interesting way of expressing
the liabilities of the incarnation process and of illustrating
the handicaps which beset the soul as it travels along the
path of evolution. It symbolizes the limitations of all physical
incarnation, for Cancer is one of the two great gates of the
zodiac. It is the gate into the world of forms, into physical
incarnation, and the sign wherein the duality of form and
of soul is unified in the physical body.
The opposite sign to Cancer is Capricorn, and these two constitute
the two gates, one being the gate into form life, and the
other into spiritual life; one opening the door into the mass
form of the human family, and the other into the universal
state of consciousness, which is the Kingdom of spirit. One
marks the beginning of human experience on the physical plane,
the other marks its climax. One signifies potentiality, and
the other consummation.
We are told that Christ gave to Saint Peter the keys of heaven
and earth; He gave to him, therefore, the keys of these two
gates. We read:
"Jesus gives to Peter ... the keys to the two principal
gates of the zodiac, which are the two solsticial points,
the zodiacal signs Cancer and Capricorn, called the gates
of the sun. Through Cancer, or the 'gate of man', the soul
descends upon earth (to unite with the body), which is its
spiritual death. Through Capricorn, the 'gate of the gods',
it reascends to heaven."
(E. Valentia Straiton, The Celestial Ship of the North Vol.
II, p. 206).
In the zodiac of Denderah, the sign Cancer is represented
by a beetle, called in Egypt, the scarab. The word "scarab"
means "only begotten"; it stands, therefore, for
birth into incarnation, or, in relation to the aspirant, for
the new birth. The month of June, in ancient Egypt was called
"meore", which again means "rebirth",
and thus both the sign and the name hold steadily before us
the thought of the taking of form and of coming in physical
incarnation. In an ancient zodiac in India, dated about 400
B.C., the sign is represented again by a beetle.
The Chinese called this sign "the red bird", for
red is the symbol of desire, and the bird is the symbol of
that flashing forth into incarnation and of appearance in
time and space. The bird appears quite frequently in the zodiac
and mythological stories, Hamsa, the bird of the Hindu tradition,
"the bird out of time and space", stands equally
for the manifestation of God and of man. Out of the darkness
flashes the bird and flies across the horizon in the light
of the day, disappearing again into the darkness. Our word,
"goose", comes from the same Sanskrit root, through
the Icelandic, and when we say, "What a goose you are",
we are really making a most esoteric affirmation; we are saying
to another human being: "You are, the bird out of time
and space, you are the soul taking form; you are God in incarnation!"
The crab lives half on the earth, and half in the water.
It the sign, therefore, of the soul dwelling in the physical
body but predominantly living in the water, which is the symbol
of the emotional, feeling nature.
Exoterically Cancer is ruled by the moon, which is always
the mother of form, controlling the waters and the tides.
Therefore, in this sign the form is dominant, and constitutes
a handicap. The crab builds its house or shell and carries
it upon its back, and people born in this sign are always
conscious of that which they have built; they are usually
over-sensitive, over-emotional, ever seeking to hide away.
The Cancer native is so sensitive that he is difficult to
handle and so elusive and sometimes so indefinite, that it
is hard to understand him or to pin him down.
The
Cardinal Cross
Cancer is one of the arms of the cardinal cross. One arm
is Aries, the sign of beginning, of commencement, of subjective
life, of the prenatal stage, or involution, and of the first
step, either towards form-taking, or towards spiritual liberation.
A third arm of the cross is Libra, the balance, the choosing
between, the beginning of the treading of the "narrow
razor-edged path", to which the Buddha so frequently
refers. Capricorn, the fourth arm, again is birth, the birth
of the world savior, birth into the spiritual kingdom, birth
out of the world of matter into the world of being. Involution,
incarnation, expression, inspiration, are the four words that
express the story of the cardinal cross in the heavens. (The
cross of the initiate.)
The
Stars
There are no bright stars at all in Cancer, no conspicuous
or brilliant star, because Cancer is a sign of hiding, of
retreat behind that which has been constructed. It is not
a striking constellation. It is interesting to note that there
is no Hebrew word for "crab". It was regarded as
unclean and not mentioned. So is the material form regarded
from the standpoint of spirit, and esotericists tell us that
the physical body is not a principle. (The substitution of
the Egyptian sacred scarab for the crab seems a recognition
of the quality of Cancer in its higher aspects when the native
is an aspirant or disciple, for we go round the zodiac many
times.)
There are eighty-three stars in this sign, the brightest
of which is of the third magnitude, and in the very center
of the constellation there is a cluster of stars; Praesepe,
the manger, called by modern astronomers, "the beehive".
The latter is a marvellous symbol of the collective organization
of the human family, and is one of the reasons why this is
always regarded as a mass sign. In the mass, instinct rules;
therefore, Cancer is the sign of instinct, of herd life, of
mass reaction. It represents the subconscious mind, hereditary
instinct, and the collective imagination. It stands, individually,
for the totality of the life and the consciousness of the
cells in the body, and of that instinctive, collective life,
which is largely subconscious in man, but which always influences
his physical body and, subjectively, his lower mind and emotional
being.
The unevolved Cancer native is immersed in the mass; he is
an unconscious part of the great whole, and therein lies the
problem; for the average Cancer person, as well as for the
aspirant who is performing the labour of this sign, is subjected
to the urge to lift himself up out of the mass to which he
is held, by his instinct, and to develop instead the intuition,
which will enable him so to rise. This sign is sometimes called
"the coffin", by the Hebrews, because it marks loss
of identity, whilst, the early Christians called it "the
grave of Lazarus", who was raised from the dead. In these
words, "coffin", "grave", "crab",
and in the reference which we sometimes find to Cancer as
"the womb", we have the thought of hidden life,
of a veiling form, of potentiality, and of that struggle with
circumstances which will eventually produce, in Leo, the emergence
of the individual and, in Capricorn, the birth of a world
savior. Definitely, therefore, it portrays the struggle that
goes on in the life of the aspirant so that instinct can give
place eventually to intuition.
At-one-ment
with Capricorn
It is interesting to contrast the two signs, Cancer and Capricorn,
for that which is indicated in Cancer is consummated in Capricorn.
Cancer represents the home, the mother. It is personal and
emotional, whilst Capricorn represents the group which the
unit consciously enters, and also "the father of all
that is". The gate of Cancer is entered through the process
of transference out of the animal state of consciousness into
the human, whilst the gate of Capricorn is entered through
initiation. One is inevitable, subconscious and potential;
the other is self-initiated, self-conscious and potent. Cancer
represents the mass form, the collective animal soul; Capricorn
represents the group, the universal soul.
Cancer was originally called the birth month of Jesus. Capricorn
is, as we know, the birth month of the Christ, and on the
twenty-fifth of December down the centuries the birth of the
world savior has been celebrated; but in very ancient days,
the birthday of the infant sun gods was in Cancer. We are
told:
"The birthday of the infant Jesus, being arbitrarily
set by the priests, produces a serious discrepancy, as we
are told he was born in a manger. The manger is found in the
sign of the summer solstice, the constellation Cancer, which
was called the gate of the sun through which souls were said
to descend from their heavenly home to earth, just as at the
winter solstice in December, they were said to return to their
heavenly or celestial home, the constellation Capricorn, the
other gate of the sun. Capricorn was the sign from which sungods
were said to the born at the winter solstice and made sacred
to the sons of light."
(E. Valentia Straiton, The Celestial Ship of the North, Vol.
II, p. 205).
The Symbols
The astrological symbol for the sign Cancer has no relation
at all to the crab. It is composed of two "asses"
tails, and these again link up the gospel story with the story
of the manger. In connection with the birth of Jesus two asses
appear, the one on which the Virgin rode down to Bethlehem,
prior to the birth, and the other on which she rode to Egypt,
after the birth. Close to the sign Cancer are two bright stars,
one called Asellus Borealis, or the northern ass, and the
other, Asellus Australis, or the southern ass. (There is also
the third time, when Christ rode into Jerusalem during his
brief moment of triumph on Palm Sunday seated on the back
of an ass, a symbol of patience and humility the crown jewels
of greatness. So do not decry this symbol.)
Someone has used the following words to express the cadence
of Cancer when first entered: "A sorrowful little voice
underground, a low, half-captured, half-evasive melody."
Not yet has the work been consummated. All that is to be
heard is the note of possible achievement. All that is to
be found is a deep inner urge and discontent which gradually
becomes so strong that it lifts the hidden, struggling individual
out of his environment of stabilized world condition and makes
him the earnest aspirant, who knows no rest until he has emerged
out of the water and climbed steadily on until he finds himself
on the summit of the mount in Capricorn, the birth not the
consummation of the world savior. "Christ was born in
Capricorn, fulfiled the law under Saturn, initiated the era
of intelligent brotherhood under Venus, and is the perfect
example of the Capricorn initiate, who becomes the world server
in Aquarius; and the world savior in Pisces. Cancer admits
the soul into the world center which we call humanity. Capricorn
admits the soul into conscious participation in the life of
that world center which we call the Hierarchy." (Esoteric
Astrology, p. 168)
The
Three Symbolic Constellations
Jesus is often called the Good Shepherd, and he has been
depicted many times as the shepherd leading his sheep. The
thought of the sheepfold has been closely associated in the
minds of people with Christ. Connected with the sign Cancer
are three constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Argo.
The common occidental names for the two former are the Great
Bear and the Little Bear, but it is one of the mysteries of
astronomy as to how the name "bear" came to be associated
with either of these groups of stars, for in the Chaldean,
Persian, Indian and Egyptian zodiacs, no bear is found. The
names most commonly use are those of "the sheepfold",
or "the flock of sheep," and an analysis of the
Hebrew and Arabic names for the stars found in these constellations
will be found to prove the fact that the ancient names signify
"the lesser flock", "the sheepfold", "the
sheep", and "the ship". In the thirty-fourth
chapter of Ezekiel and in the tenth chapter of St. John, is
much that has reference to these constellations.
Ursa Minor is famous because the brightest star in it is
the pole star, the north star. In the symbolism of these two
constellations we have held before us the thought of the mass
or group, which is the significant influence of the work carried
forward in the sign Cancer, and in the symbolism of the north
star we have the thought of a lode star, a magnetic attraction,
which guides the pilgrim back home. Many esotericists hold
the belief that the human family, the fourth kingdom in nature,
gradually came into being during the two thousand years, approximately,
when our sun was in Cancer.
The thought of a mass of animals, of set boundaries within
which these sheep or animals were confined, and the thought
of a magnetic center of attraction, are symbolically portrayed
for us also in the Masonic tradition. In Kircher's Egyptian
Planisphere, Argo is represented by two galleys (as we have
two sheepfolds), whose prows are surmounted by rams' heads,
and the stern of one of them ends in a fish's tail. Note,
therefore, how we have here held pictorially in front of us
the consummation in Capricorn, wherein the goat scales the
mountain top. We also have the portrayal of that greater cycle
which includes the progress of the soul from Cancer to Capricorn,
but which begins in Aries, the ram, and ends in Pisces, the
fishes. A close analysis of the symbolism of the zodiacal
signs deepens in one the strong conviction of the eternal
picturing of truth and the constant holding before our eyes
of the story of the evolution of matter in form, of consciousness,
of spirit and of life.
Argo stretches all the way from Cancer to Capricorn and is
one of the largest of the constellations. It has in it sixty-four
stars, of which the brightest is Canopus. Its symbolism, therefore,
covers the life of the aspirant from the time he takes incarnation
until he has reached his goal. We use the word "ship"
quite frequently in a symbolic sense, speaking of the "ship
of state", the "ship of salvation", and conveying
ever the idea of security, of progress, and of the achieving
of a way out, of the making of a journey and of the carrying
of a vast crowd of pilgrims in search of golden treasure or
a new and freer home.
The pilgrims are equipped with instinct, and as they pass
through the various constellations covered by this immense
sign, that instinct demonstrates as intellect in a human being
as he develops self-consciousness and emerges from out the
purely animal stage, until the time comes when, having progressed
around and around the zodiac, the aspirant finds himself again
in Cancer, faced with the problem of finding that elusive,
sensitive, and deeply occult, or hidden, spiritual intuition
which will guide him in his now lonely journey; the aspirant
is no longer identified and lost in the mass; he is no longer
one of the sheep, safely guarded in the sheepfold; he is no
longer one of the great herd of emigrants, but he has emerged
out of the mass and has started on the lonely way of all disciples.
Then he treads the path of tribulation, of test and trial,
wrestling by himself as an individual, from Leo to Capricorn,
until the time comes when, with the aid of instinct, intellect
and intuition, and driven by the urge of the Christ life,
he again merges himself with the mass and becomes identified
with the group. He then becomes the world server in Aquarius
and has no sense of separateness.
The
Lesson of the Labour
We have seen that the hind or doe, for which Hercules sought,
was sacred to Artemis, the moon, but was also claimed by Diana,
the huntress of the heavens, and by Apollo. the sun god. One
of the things that is often forgotten by students of psychology
and those who probe the unfolding consciousness of man, is
the fact that there are no sharp distinctions between the
various aspects of man's nature, but that all are phases of
one reality. The words instinct, intellect and intuition,
are but varying aspects of consciousness and of response to
environment and to the world in which the human being finds
himself. Man is an animal, and in company with the animal,
he possesses the quality of instinct and of instinctual response
to his environment. Instinct is the consciousness of the form
and of the cell life, the mode of awareness of the form, and,
therefore, Artemis, the moon, who rules over the form, claims
the sacred hind. In its own place, animal instinct is as divine
as those other qualities which we regard as more strictly
spiritual.
But man is also a human being; he is rational; he can analyze,
criticise, and he possesses that something which we call the
mind, and that faculty of intellectual perception and response,
which differentiates him from the animal, which opens up to
him a new field of awareness, but which is, nevertheless,
simply an extension of his response apparatus and the development
of the instinct into intellect. Through the one he becomes
aware of the world of physical contacts and of emotional conditions;
through the other he becomes aware of the world of thought
and of ideas, and thus is a human being. When he has reached
that stage of intelligent and instinctual awareness, then
"Eurystheus" indicates to him that there is another
world of which he can become equally aware, but which has
its own method of contact and its own response apparatus.
Diana, the huntress, claimed the doe, because to her the
doe is the intellect and man is the great seeker, the great
hunter before the Lord. But the doe had another and more elusive
form, and for this Hercules, the aspirant, sought. For a life
cycle, we are told, he hunted. It was not the doe, the instinct,
for which he looked; it was not the doe, the intellect, that
was the object of his search. It was something else, and for
this he spent a life cycle hunting. Finally, we read, he captured
it and carried it into the temple, where it was claimed by
the sun god who in the doe recognized the spiritual intuition,
that extension of consciousness, that highly developed sense
of awareness, which gives to the disciple a vision of new
fields of contact and opens up for him a new world of being.
We are told that the battle is still going on between Apollo,
the sun god, who knew that the doe was the intuition, Diana,
huntress of the heavens, who knew it was intellect, and Artemis,
the moon, who thought that it was only instinct. Both goddess
claimants have a point and the problem of all disciples is
to use the instinct correctly, in its right place, and in
its proper way. He must learn to use the intellect under the
influence of Diana, the huntress, daughter of the sun, and
through it become en rapport with the world of human ideas
and research. He must learn to carry that capacity of his
into the temple of the Lord and there to see it transmuted
into intuition, and through the intuition become aware of
the things of spirit and of those spiritual realities which
neither instinct nor intellect can reveal to him. (And again
and again the sons of men, who are also sons of God, must
recapture these spiritual realities, upon the endless Way.)
The
Labours of Hercules, by Alice A. Bailey, pp. 77 - 94 , Lucis
Publishing Co., New York.
Cancer by J. Bosschart
Sources
and Recommended articles on Cancer:
|