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).