PISCES 19th February to 20th March

 PISCES

19^th February to  20^th March 

Spectrum: Sardonyx, jade. Blue-green colour.

PISCES: is a mutable sign of the negative or receptive element of WATER. This is the sign of adaptable water, that is, it is constantly on the move and reflecting all that passes by. Fluid and free flowing liquid can fill any vessel or channel or space of containment. Water is boundless, sometimes tranquil and sometimes a powerful and raging storm.

In particular, the Water Sign of Pisces is true to its symbol of duality in being often pulled in two directions by life; that of the physical needs and that of the spiritual calling. Sacrifice of self and helping other people is a driving force of the Piscean, they know how to do it from a natural drive to ‘be all things to all people’ and to follow the rhythmic ebb and flow of life with ease. Instinct, intuition and emotion drive a Piscean expression ‘to be’. As with the previous sign of Aquarius, the sign of Pisces has two planetary lords or rulers; this time it is Jupiter and Neptune. Jupiter brings a joyous and optimistic note to our watery brooding Piscean nature and Neptune allows contact with the mystical world of spirit, that undefined energy of the cosmos. The combined planetary influence adds a great note of expansion to everything done and thought, one has to be careful under such an influence, not to let things get out of control in a limitless desire for what is not really possible. This Piscean time of year is one of letting go to a certain degree so that we may touch those dreams and inspirations of the soul. In an odd way the previous solar cycle is dissolving now and we must prepare for the coming Aries Equinox, when a new input of cosmic energy can be felt. This is a time for cultivating greater understanding of people close and afar, of their trials and tribulations, and where possible, offers a helping hand. Others must bring their dreams and inspirations down to the Earth plane and communicate their thoughts to those around ,through paintings, poetry, writing, music and scientific solutions found. You too can join the flow by finding some relaxation in dancing and swimming or simply observing our aquatic friends, or even buying a new pair of shoes for our feet according to Piscean rulership. To be impressed is easy, to give those impression useful application takes a little more work of practical reality.

Now Hercules enters upon his 12^th and final labour of the solar cycle. It is a labour of love and summing up all his trials to squeeze from the long year of experience as much conscious growth as possible. This 12^th Labour is to acknowledge and accomplish a dissolution of situations that have bound you, such as bad habits and foolish thoughts. It is a time to become less judgemental and to see yourself as but part of the whole. The result is a new unification of all thought, feeling and action so that as a ‘new’ person you can take a further step forward with the coming new astrological year at the Aries Ingress. Some call this the ‘Alchemical’ process. A temporary obliteration of the personality may occur and can be beneficially allowed to happen. How does one allow this to occur in a happy way so that a new light or awareness can be achieved in readiness for the coming new cycle of action and being?. Submerging the personality for a short time allows the spirit to soar unhampered to the spiritual realm or the realm of the inner and true self. In this 12^th Labour Hercules must gather up the Red Cattle of Geryon, as a summary of his journey, before returning home himself. Help to accomplish this chore comes in the form of a magical golden chalice that fell from the sky. And so our hero gathers up the wayward energies symbolised by the Red Cattle and delivers them back to the sacred city as an offering to Athene the goddess of wisdom.

The Lady in the Sky during this part of the year is known as the constellation Andromeda. She is a goddess in disguise because her wisdom was abused. She waits, chained to a rock, as the monster Cetus draws nigh for she is to be sacrificed as compensation of other’s bad behaviour. But in the nick of time a gallant hero, like Hercules, but in the form of Perseus, comes to the rescue. It is forever the struggle to bring together in harmony the two sides of our nature and of the natural world, the positive and negative, the mind and body, the soul and spirit, the male element and the female element, in order that life may function more truly along the lines that it should be. Cetus, the same sea-sky monster who threatened Andromeda, also swallowed Biblical Jonah. Jonah spent three days in the whales belly. In such quiet isolation, he was able to discover more about himself before being regurgitated back into the world. Such self-sacrifice of the physical wants and sense satisfaction is to be an underlying theme of the new solar journey approaching and which underpins such festivals as Easter. The Hindu god Vishnu, as the white horse Kalki, will also celebrate this coming festival of the Aries Equinox or time of Equal Day and Night. Essence and Life cannot be seen but they are contained in the Light of Heaven which is symbolised by the Golden Flower of Buddhist philosophy, and must be allowed to circulate unimpeded, as the breath flows.

AAL’S LABYRINTH HISTORY An Alternative Viewpoint…..contd. #64

 

Ahuramazda/Ormuzd, Persian deity of Zoraster

[E. Pike 1961]

536 BCE          NEHEMIA as an official of the Persian Court, together with the Jewish priest Ezra, become leaders of a revived Judean centre following the conquering of Babylon by Cyrus the Great. He gave the Jews their freedom and Palestine to rule. Jewish exiles return to Judah from Babylon and rebuild their Temple. As Jerusalem is rebuilt, spiritual life is consolidated by allegiance to the Torah or Law of Moses. Leadership of the Jewish people continues to be provided by priests descended from Aaron, brother of Moses. (102)

                       When the priest Ezra returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon be brought with him ‘The Book of the Law of the Lord’, (198)

 

c536               AKIBA. About 50 years after the destruction of Jerusalem, this rabbi recorded in writing most of the oral wisdom tradition in his book ‘Sepher Jezireh’ or the ‘Book of Creation’, which is the oldest known book to be of reference to the  future Medieval Kabbalists. Akiba’s disciple Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai, wrote down the rest of the knowledge in the books of the ‘Zohar’. (22a).  These books are at the foundation of the Kabala system of knowledge whose purpose is the study of the hidden meaning of the scriptures recording esoteric knowledge of man, nature and the universe.

 

c525               The Persians capture Egypt, and the Roman Republic gets going with its ideals of democracy. Persian conquest of Egypt dramatically increased the influence of Mesopotamia in that country and of the Chaldean star knowledge. (29)

525                 PYTHAGORAS (c582-500 BCE) settles in Croton, Sth Italy and establishes a school of Italic philosophy and a religious brotherhood. Born on the island of Samos, the son of a gem-engraver, he is said to have studied under the Magi (wise men) of Persia and the priests of Thoth in Egypt for 20 years, in particular with the priest Oenuphis of Heliopolis. Pythagoras did not conform to the atomic theory of Democritus (430 BCE) or the dichotomy of religion and reason as per the Eleates, but maintained a synthetic approach to knowledge and established the principles of maths and physics on which modern science is based. He also established the principles of music and the ratios of musical tones and the theorem of geometry. Pythagoras established the famous theorem that the square on the longest side of a right-angled triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides, an important discovery for the world of mathematics. (12. 114). Pythagoras explains the properties of matter in terms of numbers, knowledge that he inherited from the Chaldeans and Egyptians and probably the Indians. Pythagoras’ doctrine of numbers is the basis for modern numerology. [206.350]

 

c524               XENOPHANES (c570-480BCE) Greek Philosopher, born at Colophon, Ionia.  He travels extensively, perhaps spending considerable time in Sicily.  He attacked traditional Greek conceptions of the gods, arguing against anthropomorphism (attribution of human characteristics to God) and polytheism (belief/worship of many gods). (13)

 

523                  NINEVEH LIBRARY founded by Assyrian King Assurbanipal [650 BCE] holds a tablet showing advanced calculations of relative positions of sun and moon, dates of moon and planetary conjunctions, planetary zodiac positions.  This is an early Ephemeris. It is the oldest known document of scientific astronomy of the Chaldeans. (14).

AQUARIUS SUN

 

AQUARIAN WATERS

AQUARIUS: is a fixed sign of the positive or active element of AIR. The element of Air has an abstract quality to it that suits the idea of intangible things like thinking and wave formations. Air is hard to grasp or contain but is almost a magical medium for carrying subtle things and influences, thus allowing them to circulate freely. Air is refined and communicatory, so it is associated with intelligent activity and human cooperation and interaction. In particular the Air sign of Aquarius loves the freedom of such activities, the more involved the merrier. However, Aquarius can be a little awkward in wanting to stay independent and not get too emotionally involved with the group. This is the sign of independent people yet also of the stubborn. Perhaps this has something to do with the double rulership of the sign Aquarius. This time of the year has the continuing influence of the planet Saturn. We met Saturn in the previous sign of Capricorn and noticed his demand of care and organisation and getting things done. Now Saturn is joined by the planet Uranus as co-ruler and who wants to do everything differently, to break away from those previous formalities and set rules, in order to discover the new and exciting. Chaotic confusion comes to mind! 

The Aquarian time of year is a time to get the ‘little grey cells’ active, to break out of the rut of winter [or the too hot summers of the southern hemisphere]. Leave behind conventions for the time being and seek out what is different but try not to rebel too much if you wish to keep life relatively on track. This is the time of year to utilise that little flash of genius that we can all experience and which can keep life interesting. Is there a new way of doing the same old same old? Is there a new Uranian discovery to which you can give Saturnian boundaries in a practical application of the airy idea? Be warned though, that once a path has been chosen the Aquarian force doesn’t give up easily and may push you beyond what you can comfortably handle. A time of year to enjoy your friends and group associations or the freedom of the club down the road.

‘The Wing’. Ken Kelleher.

Aquarius is the month of the 11^th Labour for the Solar Hero Hercules. As the Hero of the Solar Trail, Hercules must now clean out the Augean cattle stables where the muck of centuries has been allowed to accumulate. The king of Augea had never meet anyone willing to serve without recompense and so suspected Hercules to be after his throne in offering to complete such an unpleasant task. To protect his possession, the king bargained with Hercules. He said that if Hercules could clean the stables in just a day he would win 1/10 of the royal cattle; if he could not do this then Hercules was to forfeit his life. Hercules went on to accomplish his task by diverting the rivers Alpheus and Peneus through the stables and thus flushed them out in one swift action. Of course the king was not happy to lose his cattle and turned face to refuse the gift to Hercules. It was the rivers and not Hercules who accomplished the task, said the king, and banished Hercules from his kingdom.

The cosmic ‘Age of Aquarius’, an astrological period of approximately 2000 years, is symbolised by the constellation of Aquarius, which has a resonance with the zodiac sign of the same name. This new age of evolution is now upon us and according to one author actually began its influence around the year 1750; that was just before the French Revolution as people craved for Liberty, Freedom and Equality, and were prepared to die for it. These are themes very much dear to the heart of the true Aquarius nature, whether individuals or of a social era of history. As the new great age of 2000 years gets underway, more and more people will become awakened or aware of greater possibilities in life for this freedom of intellect that Aquarian influences can bring to Earth. The symbol of this sign and constellation is that of the cleansing and purifying power of water; at an individual level and a cosmic level. Light is said to travel through the heavens in a wave form and may be termed the ‘waters of heaven’. Today we use these light waves to carry communications at great speed around the world. Are we utilising these waters to cleanse and purify or to pollute our minds and the planet Earth. As ever it is the choice presented to the human will. This time of year, we should meditate upon these possibilities.

The Hindu god Vishnu first manifested to man as a great fish who came in the nick of time to tow man’s life raft and save some human’s from the world ‘Deluge’ that came as a purifying force to humanity. A similar god, by the name of Oannes is recorded in the mythology of the ancient Babylonians. More recently, Jesus or Joshua was called NUN the son of the fish god but you won’t hear of this beyond the fish shaped mitre helmet of the church priest.

At night in the cool, under the influence of the moon, the air becomes impregnated with moisture. This moisture, known as honey-dew, collects the essence of the early morning light and allows us to breath in the cosmic essence or energy for our benefit. Get up early and hail the new morning Light, Life and Love; then share your new energies with others as you trundle through your day.  Look beyond the wants of self and willing share what you know and have so that the group you belong to can benefit, whether family, interest group or company. Silently and quietly aid in the cleansing of the world of its grief and pollution. The standing lake is a limited force, the power is in allowing the waters to follow their natural path says the I Ching.

Vega new cycle 2025

 On this day the Sun is in alignment with the great star Vega/Wega of the constellation Lyra.

From the Southern Hemisphere, Cygnus flies up from the North. ]

Vega of the Lyre is in the sky in alignment with the Sun.

The star Vega was anciently known as the ‘Messenger of Light’. It is the star towards which our Sun is slowly travelling. This day is the day that the three wise men were lead to the Christ in the manger on the 13^th day of his birth, to present him with 3 gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh and Gold. It is the day that reveals an aspect of God or the Christos as incarnate in the man child Jesus.

In mythology, the constellation Lyra, the Harp of the Sun god Apollo, is closely linked with the great constellation known as Cygnus, the Swan, who in turn may be related to the ancient Egyptian concept of ‘MAAT’.  MAAT stands for justice, equilibrium, love and harmony, something we all hope for as we travel through the beginning of a new solar cycle. 

 

The Harp of the Sun god Apollo has 7 strings and plays out the cosmic song of creation to assist in raising human consciousness from Earth to Heaven. This is an echo of yesterdays’ 'Day 12' of the historical Christmas tide, a time when the 12 Drummers beat out the rhythm of creation in accordance to the song of the 12 days of Christmas.

 

The constellation Lyra, the Harp, is also closely associated with a celestial Eagle who holds the Harp in his claws. The Eagle is a symbol of the Sun god.

 

The Vulture or Eagle carries the Lyre

This is the Theosophical New Year’s Day when the ‘Mysteries’ are revealed to those prepared. It is the mystery of the life cycle of birth death and resurrection as encapsulated in the stories of Jesus-Mary and before that of Osiris-Isis and in between, the Greek Mysteries of the Mother goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. It is the day of fulfilment of Hercules 12 Labours and the preparation to the start of a new cycle of ‘Being’, to find its celebration in the ‘Easter Tide’ following the Aries Equinox. 

 

This 13^th day of Christmas commences a tide of energy which reaches its culminating point in 40 days’ time at what we now call ‘Valentines’ day on the 14^th February.

Sun aligned with the star Vega