All Hallows Eve: Astrology for Oct. 30 to Nov. 6

Lauren

WE step through the veil this week, the veil that separates the material world from the more subtle worlds, the world of fairies, magic, and the realms of the dead.

We are now in the thick of Scorpio season. Venus and Mars perfect their conjunction, but we also see something more sublime, more mystical, and inspiring emerging as well.

In addition to our 4 corners of the Zodiac that coincide with the 4 Seasons, and the 4 Cardinal Signs, there are 4 other corners that fall in the middle of the ‘Fixed’ Signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius. All 8 of these correspond to ancient celebrations and traditions throughout the world.

And on October 31st/November 1st, we celebrate Halloween here in the West, and the Day of the Dead as celebrated in Latin American countries.

In pre-Christian Ireland, Samhain, the precursor to Halloween, was celebrated as an agricultural feast when the last of the crops were gathered and the ‘cows came home’ for the Winter. Samhain represented seasonally the veil between the old year and the new. And as such, the spirits of the previous year, that had passed, were celebrated as well.

Halloween

Today the season has morphed into a holiday celebrated with costumed children and treats, where children make their rounds like so many fairies and demons from beyond the veil. In ancient Ireland, burial cairns were aired out on this day, and the dead were made offerings to pacify them and send them on their way. Bonfires were lit in honor of the dying sun and the shorter days. These fires served as a beacon to remind the Sun to return once more from the underworld, in order to light our days once again, here in the North.

The wound is the place
where the Light enters you.

 -Rumi

Venus and Mars perfect their conjunction this week. When the planet of desire and motivation meets the planet of love, sparks ignite. Sometimes these can be good sparks, that bring us closer to our object of desire. But conflict can also arise when these two disparate planets meet. It’s not all desire, lust and romance between these two. And it’s not uncommon for feelings of anger, and agitation to also arise when these two meet. With Venus in Virgo, there can either be an over-willingness to compromise, or resentment for having to, once again, put your own wishes and preferences aside for others. So we can also see this sense of frustration, and conflict, between wanting to make a connection with others, to have some kind of a social life, but also wanting to be able to do what we want, when we want. This can result in all sorts of passive aggressive grouchiness this week.

When you seek Love with all your heart
you shall find its echoes
in the Universe.

– Rumi

We confuse love with attachment, and endow people with all sorts of qualities and expectations, that they can’t possibly possess. So there are bound to be some glitches thrown into the mix because of this. But it is not necessary. For if we love someone, truly love them, what we would want more than anything is for that person to be happy. No matter what. This brings us to the fact that we are currently in Scorpio weather, which can be laden with desires of its own.

But as Sun and Mercury are trine Neptune, this week, the planet of transcendence, ideals, spirituality and compassion, we may have some insights into what that other type of Love, the type of love that Rumi writes of, that involves willing sacrifice, and is unconditional… Well, let’s just say that’s another kind of love.

For the week of October 30 thru November 6, be sure to read your rising sign as well:

Aries

Some of the more interesting manifestations of Venus/Mars in Virgo could be compelling social occasions at work; flirtations with co-workers; or enrolling in a new exercise/dance class, where you can get the blood flowing. But the flip side of that can also occur: Another office party?; jealousy or competition from co-workers; or inappropriate behavior in the work place that needs to be sorted out. Use the energy to get things done, to organize, and focus on those things that bring you the most inner satisfaction, and then set your priorities accordingly.

Taurus

When your ruler meets Mars, it can kindle the passions in romance, or those things which make your heart sing. But it can also be something of a motivator for all areas of your life, compelling you to finally take that first step, or commit to that next project you’ve been meaning to get to, or setting your priorities so that you can have more time for those things that truly being you happiness. This can be very creative and inspiring energy for Taurus. See where your heart is taking you, and what ventures you want to see get off the ground.

Gemini

With your ruler Mercury joining the Sun in Scorpio this week, you could find yourself on something of a mission to organize, separate, and make sense of both your personal and work environments. Mercury being in Scorpio could feel a little like you are on a mission, and this energy could be quite useful for seeing projects through to their completion. This week could also be quite inspiring. Allow your intuition as well as your mind to draw you to investigate some of those leads you are trying to follow.

Cancer

Probably the most compelling aspects this week for Cancer are those being made by Sun and Mercury in fellow water sign Scorpio, to transcendent Neptune. There is magic in the air at this time of year, when the fabric of the veil between the material and other realms becomes thinner. In this way Cancer is being cast with a veil of inspiration, where you are also being beckoned to find some stillness and serenity in your lives. Neptune/Sun/Mercury periods are good for spiritual journeys, spiritual studies, yoga retreats, journeys and explorations with no specific expectations, results or material rewards. The rewards that Neptune brings are of a different realm.

Leo

Pay attention to your dreams, to your intuition: dream, invent, imagine and create. Listen for the whispers in the sound of the silence. We enter the week on a note of profound introspection and meditation, and leave the week with a sense of purpose and resolve. Creatively, I don’t doubt you will probably have one of the more interesting costumes this year, if you are so inclined. On a more practical level, if something needs fixing, this is a great week to get it done. Focus on the work at hand, and you will be amazed at how much you can get accomplished.

Virgo

This is a good week for having the courage to initiate relationships, and/or approach others and make worthwhile connections. Don’t devalue the ability to use charm and friendly persuasion to get what you want. If you do know what you want, allow yourself to take the initiative, and get things rolling. Use the influence of Mars currently traveling in your sign to be more assertive and courageous in social and other situations. This is a good week to take the lead. As your ruler, Mercury, is also entering Scorpio this week, it is safe to say that if you are on something of a mission, this Venus/Mars energy can be quite useful.

Libra

This week could be quite motivating in some ways, but it can also be quite frustrating, especially if you develop impatience for not being able to take the initiative. Recognizing what you do have control over, will be helpful. And some of those things are probably more personal, such as your perspective, and your inner world. One thing that you may become more in tune with, are those things that are priorities in your life, what you truly desire, and also giving yourself permission to not compromise those things. Pay attention to your inner more subtle desires, but also pay attention to what is irking you as well. That is also important.

Scorpio

You are not one to tolerate sycophants and flatterers easily. But on the other hand, associates and allies can also prove to be quite useful in certain situations, and what we are willing to put up with, can bring its rewards later on. See what mutually beneficial alliances can be established this week, within your circle of acquaintances. Otherwise the energy for this week is somewhat subtle, sublime, intuitive, and perhaps even a little magical. It is prime for creative inspiration, as well as matters of the heart. We are in Scorpio season now, with Sun and Mercury in Scorpio: allow yourself to feel the inspiration of the magic in the air.

Sagittarius

There are times when magnetic charm can serve you well and this may just be one of those weeks, provided you use that charm for the greater good and harmony. Impatience and some other demons can also be a signature for this week, especially if certain buttons are being pushed, or emotional triggers being set off. Be particularly wary for issues of jealousy, possessiveness and control. You don’t have time for that nonsense. With Saturn, the planet of respect, traveling in your sign for the next few years, remember you are better than that.

Capricorn

There is a sense of discontent, or perhaps some discomfort arising over the next few weeks. We will address this further as we discuss the relationship between your ruler, Saturn, and Neptune that will extend into 2016. This is a long-term effect, but it will be in the backdrop of many of our lives, and it is just beginning to close in. In the mean time, there are a number of fortunate confluences this week. Not only the influence of Venus/Mars in fellow earth sign Virgo, which brings Capricorn more in touch with their own desires, but also the comfort of being in Scorpio season, which can bring you in touch with the people and situations that will either: bring you a sense of purpose; the sort of confirmation or vindication that brings healing; or a sense of re-empowerment.

Aquarius

There is a not so fine line that can be crossed in either romance or business, that can devolve into control, aggression, and/or frustration. Use your wonderful capacity to keep things in perspective, and objectively look at the feelings, emotions, compulsions, or attractions that arise. Some of these may be quite compelling and worth investing in, others maybe not so much. And when in doubt ask, do the research and investigate. Don’t take anything based on surface appearances. There’s a lot more going on underneath.

Pisces

People can be quite persuasive these days, as many people are keen to seduce us with their wiles as well as their wallets and energy. This may be either entertaining, or quite annoying as you may be also sensitive this week as to where and how you compromise too much in order to keep the peace. You can’t help other people’s feelings, positive or negative. And this can also devolve into passive aggressive actions by others, because they perceive you as being something of a rival for what they want or wish to accomplish. Pay them no heed. They’ll get over it, when they see that you are no threat to them. You are on a higher mission of your own this week, now that we are in Scorpio season. A mission with a much higher purpose.

Visit the site: Astrology by Lauren

♥

“What is Destiny?”

by H. P. Blavatsky

“As understood by the Occultist, it is merely the chain of causation producing its correspondential series of effects. …  every individual is his own creator or his own father, i.e., our future personality will be the result of our present mode of living.  In the same manner our present birth, with all its conditions is the tree grown out of the germ sown in our past incarnations. Our physical and spiritual conditions are the effects of our actions produced on those two planes.

“All our thoughts and actions thus produce the vibrations in space, which mould our future career. And astrology is a science, which having determined the nature of the laws that govern these vibrations is able to state precisely a particular or a series of results, the causes of which have already been produced by the individual in his previous life.

“Since the present incarnation is the child of the previous one, and since there is but that. ONE LIFE which holds together all the planets of the Solar system, the position of those planets at the time of the birth of an individual – which event is the aggregate result of the causes already produced – gives to the true Astrologer the data upon which to base his predictions.

Zanoni

“It should be well remembered at the same time that just as the ‘astronomer who catalogues the stars cannot add one atom to the universe,’ so also no astrologer, no more than the planet, can influence the human destiny. Perhaps the following beautiful passage from that exquisite work of Bulwer Lytton’s – Zanoni – may help to make the meaning still clearer:

‘For the accomplishment of whatever is great and lofty, the clear perception of truths is the first requisite – truths adapted to the object desired. The warrior thus reduces the chances of battle to combinations almost of mathematics. He can predict a result, if he can but depend upon the materials he is forced to employ.’

“This necessitates a consideration of the element of clairvoyance necessary to constitute a true astrologer.”

– H. P. Blavatsky, “Astrology, Numbers and Destiny“

New Spiritual Patterns 2

DURING critical awakening moments in our spiritual development, we sometimes receive timely messages in our personal consciousness.

More often than not they arrive in symbolic form, and in dreams or visions, challenging our brain dominated mind.

This is because, Theosophy says, our inner, reincarnating self is not here alone. It was chosen by the Higher Self to be its “terrestrial abode.”

In the crop formation above, discovered in Northdowns, Wiltshire, UK on August 13, 2010, we can clearly imagine the rays from the Spiritual Sun interacting with the mortal human beings below.

This occult process is described by The Secret Doctrine in metaphysical terms, how our inner child

“is drawn into the one and highest beam of the Parent-Sun.”

It is this spiritual evolution of the inner, immortal — now semi-awakened aspect of our nature, the teaching says — which is the “fundamental tenet in the Occult Sciences.”

The closer our personal self gets to our Higher Self, true occultism says, the more harmonious outcome in life for a human selves.

A direct effect of an increased harmony between the Arjuna and Krishna in us, that altruism eventually becomes the ruling factor in our life. This altruism or unselfishness is an “integral part of self-development,” as described in a previous post, when acceptance is willing and unforced.

New Spiritual Patterns 1

Kids in the first Dutch cropcircle of 2010

ACTIONS that call upon our nobler mind and innate spirituality, will surely spark the growth of true self-knowledge within us.

Old intellect-driven habits of thinking and acting do not work, and naturally fade away of their own accord.

Spiritual motifs become more deeply ingrained in us as we serve others, Theosophy says, and practice genuine compassion for  humanity, and the planet.

“Help Nature and work on with her,” is one important way, says the Voice of the Silence, “and Nature will regard thee as one of her creators and make obeisance — she will open wide before thee the portals of her secret chambers, and

... lay bare before thy gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths of her pure virgin bosom.”

“Unsullied by the hand of matter she shows her treasures only to the eye of Spirit,” says the Voice — “the eye which never closes, the eye for which there is no veil in all her kingdoms.”

Fosbury nr Vernham Dean, Wiltshire, UK, July 17, 2010

“Self-knowledge of this kind is unattainable by what men usually call ‘self-analysis,’ Helena Blavatsky affirms, “it is not reached by reasoning or any brain process:

…it is the awakening to consciousness of the Divine nature of man.”

And “to obtain this knowledge is a greater achievement than to command the elements or to know the future,” she adds …

Hanging by a Thread

This post has been updated and republished at the following link:

Threads of Genius

New Swirled Order

Wiltshire, UK - May 4, 2009 Photo: Steve Alexander

“I produce myself among creatures whenever there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world; and thus I incarnate from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness.”

–Krishna, Bhagavad-Gita IV:31

The power of consciousness itself, is working through each of us, Eckhart Tolle says of the current cycle. Something in the collective consciousness wants that change, and we must try to be open to it.

We have chosen the mysterious crop circle phenomena, this week, as a stimulating reminder of ways that lead towards that change—becoming more consciously aware of the divine within us, and around us.

A Shift in Consciousness

“Mankind–the majority at any rate–hates to think for itself, Blavatsky comments. “It resents as an insult the humblest invitation to step for a moment outside the old well-beaten tracks, and, judging for itself, to enter into a new path in some fresh direction.”

Roundway Hill - April 29, 2009

But, as we establish more secure bonds to our spiritual mind, Theosophy teaches, self-knowledge arises, and old sense-driven habits of thought fade away naturally. These higher links are forged, most securely, through service and love, say the wisdom traditions.

Self-Knowledge

“Self-knowledge of this kind is unattainable by what men usually call ‘self-analysis,’ Blavatsky once said. “It is not reached by reasoning or any brain process—for it is the awakening to consciousness of the Divine nature of man.”

“To obtain this knowledge is a greater achievement than to command the elements or to know the future.”

But without parents, teachers, mentors and friends, “such knowledge—such intuitive and certain knowledge,” would be much more difficult. The odds of losing our way, are often overwhelming.

“That Which Ye Sow, Ye Reap”

Peaks Down - May 9, 2009

All true Masters teach that “self-knowledge is of loving deeds the child.” And we prove this to ourselves every time we help another in need, with no thought of return. Every small effort we make, adds to our inner strength, and to theirs.

“Sow kindly acts and thou shalt reap their fruition,” say the Golden Precepts. “Help Nature and work on with her; and Nature will regard thee as one of her creators and make obeisance.”

“It is the Spiritual evolution of the inner, immortal man that forms the fundamental tenet in the Occult Sciences.”

This shows that the immortal part of us, our True Self, is the Prototype  masquerading as the Humantype in this earthstate of consciousness. As Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “we are spiritual beings having a human experience,” not the reverse. We are ambassadors from spirit whose duty is to help Nature—not injure and abuse her—but to serve and learn from her.

The “circle-makers,” the spiritual Prototypes, are our spiritmates, guides and protectors. They watch and stimulate us from inner planes, but they are invisible to average humanity. In reality, the higher state of consciousness, where they live, is also humanity’s forgotten residence.

We are prodigal sons, and wanderlusting “Self-gods”—Arjunas struggling to win the tests of our existence here—and ultimately to regain full self-consciousness of our heritage and purpose. But, like Arjuna, we are never without the help of Krishna, the Higher Self.  The Secret Doctrine explains:

Spiritual Mathematics

“The closer the approach to one’s Prototype, ‘in Heaven,’ the better for the mortal whose personality was chosen, by his own personal deity (the seventh principle), as its terrestrial abode.

Rutlands Farm, April 23, 2009

“For, with every effort of will toward purification and unity with that ‘Self-god,’ one of the lower rays breaks and the spiritual entity of man is drawn higher and ever higher to the ray that supersedes the first, until, from ray to ray, the inner man is drawn into the one and highest beam of the Parent-Sun.

We Are All One

“Thus, ‘the events of humanity do run coordinately with the number forms,’ since the single units of that humanity proceed one and all from the same source — the central and its shadow, the visible Sun.

“For the equinoxes and solstices, the periods and various phases of the Solar course, astronomically and numerically expressed, are only the concrete symbols of the eternally living verity, though they do seem abstract ideas to uninitiated mortals.

“And this explains the extraordinary numerical coincidences with geometrical relations …” SD 1:639

Dreaming and Waking Symbols

Ridgeway, June 15, 2008

We are, in our ultimate essence, beings of light. This existence, like the dreamless state we enter every night, can only be faintly symbolized on our brain-plane of perception, remembered as symbolic dream ideas on waking.

In our developmental condition, the knowledge of the dreamless state is not accessed through direct recollection or remembrance, but is a “reminiscence.”

“A Sleep and a Forgetting”

As explained in Isis Unveiled 1:xiv, the purpose of deep meditational and sleep states, is to “arouse in us the reminiscence of that higher world that we once inhabited.”

All Cannings Bridge, May 22, 2009

The “us,” referred to, is ourselves as reincarnating Self-gods. The teaching of the differing memory systems we use, is further explained in The Key to Theosophy 123-133:

“Memory is a faculty depending entirely on the more or less healthy and normal functioning of our physical brain; and remembrance and recollection are the attributes and handmaidens of that memory. But reminiscence is an entirely different thing.

“- we call reminiscence the memory of the soul. And it is this memory which gives the assurance to almost every human being, whether he understands it or not, of his having lived before and having to live again. Indeed, as Wordsworth has it:”

“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
The soul that rises with us, our life’s star,
hath elsewhere had its setting,
And cometh from afar.”

The “Seven Sons”

Morgan's Hill, May 2009

Theosophy teaches we are sevenfold beings. In the English and Sanskrit terms: Spirit (Atma-Buddhi) is having a human, (Manas-Kama) experience, aided by the life force (Prana) and pattern body (Astral,) in a molecular body (Silutha Sarira.)

Each of our inner “sheaths,” or states of consciousness, is a “ray” from one of those “seven sons,” symbolized spiritual prototypes, or hierarchies. Actual beings, living within the interwoven consciousness of the Earth.

The Secret Doctrine 1:430, translates this into a uniquely mystical, symbolic language:

It is then only in this “light” (of consciousness) of mental and physical perception, that practical Occultism can throw this into visibility by geometrical figures.

When closely studied, [the light of the Logos] will yield…a scientific explanation of the real, objective, existence of the “Seven sons of the divine Sophia.”

By means of other, yet undiscovered keys, with regard to Humanity, these “Seven Sons” and their numberless emanations, centres of energy personified, are an absolute necessity.

“Make away with them, and the mystery of Being and Mankind will never be unriddled, not even closely approached.”

Roundway Hill, April 29, 2009

An Undiscovered Key

Science will never understand mysteries of the spiritual and terrestrial aspects of human beings, on this plane of life, Blavatsky says, “if it rejects the evidence of the oldest records in the world, and refuses from the hand of the legitimate Guardians of the mysteries of Nature the key to Universal Symbology.“

“The prototypes or ideas of things exist first on the plane of Divine eternal Consciousness,” H. P. Blavatsky wrote, and from there, these are reflected on our Earth plane of life.”

“As Above, So Below”

(Hermes Trismegistus)

Barely visible from the ground, and often appearing in remote fields around the world, the breathtaking geometry, and artistry of the crop circles is fully revealed—symbolically and literally—only from above.

The power and presence of these unusual symbolic events can not be underestimated—because occult wisdom has always been closely associated with geometrical symbols.

“Without the help of symbology (with its seven departments, of which the moderns know nothing) no ancient Scripture can ever be correctly understood.” (SD 1:305)

There will always be hoaxers, of course, so long as there are the cynical among us. Yet it is a proven fact, that the majority of the crop formations are not man-made. (BLT Research Team, Inc.)

Who knows the possibilities of the future?. . .

“An era of disenchantment and rebuilding will soon begin–nay, has already begun. The cycle has almost run its course—a new one is about to begin, and the future pages of history may contain full proof that–

If ancestry can be in aught believed,
Descending spirits have conversed with man
And told him secrets of the world unknown.”

(Isis Unveiled 1:38)

The Sacred Tribe of Heroes

The Secret Doctrine offers proof of the wide dissemination of symbolic teachings, from the Neolithic, Egyptian and Greek secret societies, the Middle Ages, the Age of Enlightenment, to Freemasonry. We see it even in modern physics—represented in Fritjof Kapra’s “The Tao of Physics.”

“The Secret Doctrine was the universally diffused religion of the ancient and prehistoric world. Proofs of its diffusion, authentic records of its history, a complete chain of documents, showing its character and presence in every land, together with the teaching of all its great adepts, exist to this day in the secret crypts of libraries belonging to the Occult Fraternity.” (SD 1:xxxiv)

Synesius, Wisdom of the Egyptians

“Yet you must not think that the gods are without employment, or that their descent to this earth is perpetual. For they descend according to orderly periods of time, for the purpose of imparting a beneficent impulse in the republics of mankind.

For there is indeed in the terrestrial abode the sacred tribe of heroes who pay attention to mankind, and who are able to give them assistance even in the smallest concerns. . .This heroic tribe is, as it were, a colony from the gods established here in order that this terrene abode may not be left destitute of a better nature.”

2009 – April Flowers

Ridgeway, April 14, 2009 - Steve Alexander

The first crop circle formation of 2009 occurred April 14th, in Wiltshire, UK, not far from the Ancient Standing Stones of Avebury.

Avebury

It is situated on the high downs outside the complex above the Avenue, not far from the Ridgeway track. Its appearance has a vibratory resonance to it, as if it is oscillating within the crop of yellow canola flowers! Located next to an ancient mound, we see the ongoing connection to important ancient sites.

Progressive Awakenings

“Whatever plane our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. As we rise in the scale of development we perceive that during the stages through which we have passed we mistook shadows for realities, and the upward progress of the Ego is a series of progressive awakenings, each advance bringing with it the idea that now, at last, we have reached ‘reality;’ but only when we shall have reached the absolute Consciousness, and blended our own with it, shall we be free from the delusions produced by Maya [illusion].” (SD 1:40)

Woodcut 1678

A Verified Interaction Between
Human Consciousness and the Circle Makers

by Janet Ossebaard (Circular Site)

“On 27 July 1999, an interesting experiment took place. Japanese crop circle researcher Maki Massau took a group of 11 Japanese people to the formation opposite Silbury Hill at Avebury (Wiltshire, UK) to carry out a meditation experiment.

“Sitting in the beautiful formation at sunset, the group sent out a prayer, asking the Circle Makers to create a new formation with four clear features. The formation had to appear that night, close to Silbury Hill, slightly to the West, and containing a Japanese element. If such a crop circle was to appear the next morning, they would know for sure their prayer was heard…

“After finishing this meditation, they decided to extend the request. They drove to a formation at Cherhill and sent out their prayer into the cosmos once again. As they did this, they saw a large ball of light suddenly descend from the skies to just above Cherhill. Then the light ascended once again and disappeared…

“After this phase they went on to Oliver’s Castle, from where the prayer was sent out once again. Then the experiment was finished and they went back to their hotel.

“The next morning they drove off to the local airfield, in order to find out if any new formations had been reported yet. Their excitement rose when one of the pilots confirmed that indeed a new formation had been discovered that morning. He too had seen it at Beckhampton, slightly West of Silbury Hill.

“When Maki Massau asked the pilot if he could describe the formation, the pilot explained something about a piece of paper folded over another piece of paper. He was looking for the right word, when a colleague helped him: ‘Just like Japanese origami’ …

“Maki and his group were delighted when – only minutes later – they flew over the formation. This magnificent pattern was their formation all right, beyond a shadow of a doubt. It had all four features: it was located close to Silbury Hill, a bit to the West, it had appeared that night, and it clearly contained Japanese elements: origami, and it also represented a common Japanese family crest.”

Beckhampton, UK, 1999

Crop Circle Documentary 2009

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Eckhart Tolle – Transformation of Consciousness

We should be opening more to what wants to happen on this planet, Eckhart Tolle says, but it can only be realized through each individual person. Each new realization helps others to shift in consciousness, which is necessary at this time. The question for humanity is to either shift and evolve together, or perish together.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Crop Circle Geometry

“Geometry, in the hands of the crop circles, becomes a resonant language of intelligent intent, which both contains the message and teaches the syntax of its meaning.

“The geometry is thus both the message and the meaning, and I feel this geometry to be consistently of a higher order than that which you or I would arrive at. Its simplicity and its ingenuity draws us upwards and subtly encourages an opening up of the mind.” -Allan Brown

TEMPORARY TEMPLES – CROP CIRCLE ARCHIVES