VIRGO

 

VIRGO the VIRGIN SOUL

22^nd August to 22^nd September

Spectrum: Sardonyx. Navy & Grey

VIRGO as the sixth sign of the Tropical Zodiac, carries the symbol of wheat or the wheat maiden. She is the maiden of the harvest that takes place at this time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere where her symbol originated. Wheat is associated with the Greek Elysian Mysteries of long ago for those interested in a deeper meaning. Virgo is a mutable or adaptable sign like those of Gemini and Pisces, but now we have the element of Earth. The result is a Mutable Earth quality that allows its owner to be practical but also able to adjust to the needs of necessity as they occur. The receptive quality of the sign tends to make its humans quiet and even shy; in circumstances, there may be a holding back until the lay of the land becomes clearer and judged as to whether a threat is to be detected or not, for there is a need to protect one’s physical and mental integrity. The desire of this sign is to give practical and material service where it is deemed of greatest mutual use and benefit. Virgo is most associated with the planet Mercury, the same planet that rules Gemini. This gives the two signs an interesting connection and one may see this in the brain and the bowels talking and responding to each other in an effort to maintain the working economy of the physical body. As the saying goes, ‘you are what you eat’. Both Gemini and Virgo are orientated towards communicating with the world, albeit from different perspectives, one in airy thoughts and the other giving earthy practical expression to such thoughts. 

Virgo is the sign of the worker giving attention to detail and conscientious service. Likewise, observation and exactitude are of importance at this time of year but from a quieter or back-room presence, rather than out front in the limelight like our predecessor Leo. For now we are gathering our harvest in more than one way as we make preparation for the coming Equinox of Libra, one of the four major points in our Solar cycle of the Earth year. During this month, be neat and precise and conscientious, both in practical work and in spiritual commitment, as you prepare for this coming event of change and rebalancing. Spiritual purity is reflected in clean living and this is a time for all to give extra attention to health and hygiene habits which are particularly important to the person with Virgo strong in their astrological chart at this change of season time. Make the home and the work place a happy environment and enjoy what has to be done to make the routine of life and living go smoothly. Be charming and modest without allowing touchy irritability to interfere with making good relationships with others. Help others to be neat and tidy and to enjoy working with their hands, to be creative and productive.

Gina Jacklin ceramic sculpture

exploring the geometric beauty of a barley root.

And so we engage with the SIXTH LABOUR of Hercules as we transit the Sixth Zodiac Sign of Virgo. Now it is time for our Solar Hero to confront the Queen of the Heavens and her lunar aspect. She is Queen Hippolyte leader of the Amazons and who is tricked to give up her girdle of Venus, the sacred symbol of struggle conquered, pregnancy and birthing, of unity. Hercules needed the girdle and the Queen, according to cosmic law, peacefully handed it over. But Hercules slayed her anyway. Why? Hippolyte was the bearer of gifts of love, sacrifice and faith, but Hercules could not see this and would have to atone for his ‘sin’ another day. This day of atonement will come sooner than expected when Hercules has to enter into the belly of a sea monster to rescue the damsel Hesione. This act reinstates the cosmic balance and Hercules is redeemed. Virgo in her two aspects of Hippolyte and Hesione represents the ‘womb of time’ where the soul is nurtured to reveal its hidden spiritual reality. Thus we are indicated to work on our awareness and awaken our consciousness to other realities besides ourselves, as Hercules was forced to do after he failed to see the reality of his first situation with Hippolyte. There was no need to kill Hippolyte, if he had been able to understand her. Hippolyte for her part had to be told to relinquish her prised unity, she acted under compulsion of an order not from love. Intent is of greater import than the act and will fine tune your body as a ‘Temple of the Soul’ rather than for it to be simply a material vehicle of physical pleasure. Virgo as a sign of beginning transformation, requires the cultivation of mind through applying tolerance, compassion and charity, all summed up in the myth of the Mermaid or Fish Goddess or again in the wheat goddess Demeter, measurer of the Earth, gatherer of the corn. 

Wheat Field

Hesione, another aspect of Virgo, is a Trojan princess who is to be devoured by the sea monster Cetus and we recall the mythology of Andromeda and Cetus. Virgo is also associated with the Cup or Holy Grail that carries the spiritual essence of life represented in the constellation ‘Crater’ riding the back of the Hydra. It is the mixing bowl of the Euphratean goddess Ishtar, whose dual nature personifies the planet Venus in its form of morning and evening star. Ishtar is the princess royal who descended through seven hells in order to rescue her lover Tammuz. By the time of the Romans, this mixing bowl or Crater had become the ‘Cup of Apollo’ the sun god who carried the elixir of life.

Lying close in this part of the sky is the Great Mother Bear known as the constellation Ursa Major. It is also known as the ‘Bier’ or ‘Coffin of Lazarus’, followed along by three mourners known as the stars of the bears tail. This constellation is also known as Callisto the daughter of the King of Accadia and ancestor of the Accadian Greek Bear Race. The seven major stars of the Bear send out seven beautiful rays of light spinning and weaving their energies through the galaxy. The Egyptians knew this constellation as Taurt the Hippo and ‘Mother of Birthing’. The Druids worshipped this constellation as Artemis the ‘Great Mother Moon Goddess’ whose other aspects are Ceres, Demeter and Hecate, to name but a few. The tail of the great bear swings around the pole of our Earth and marks out the four seasons for the early sky watches. The tail points to the four Northern cardinal directions according the coming of Spring [East] Summer [South] Autumn [West] and Winter [North].

Helen of Troy by Evelyn De Morgan 1898

The soul of man-woman

https://www.rosicrucian.org 

AAL’S LABYRINTH HISTORY An Alternative Viewpoint…..contd. #68

 Athenian College as depicted by Raphael 16^th century CE

c465               ANAXAGORAS of Clazomenae (c500-428 BCE) Greek Ionian philosopher who teaches at Athens. He is the teacher of Euripides, Pericles and possibly Socrates.  Anaxagoras believes that all matter is composed of ‘seeds’ or minute particles. He explains the true nature of eclipses.  Towards the end of his life Anaxagoras will be exiled from Athens for his ‘impious’ teaching that the sun is a white-hot stone and the moon to be composed of earth and merely reflected the sun’s rays rather than having a light of its own. Anaxagoras believes that matter is infinitely divisible; that any piece of matter, regardless of how small it is, contains portions of all kinds of matter; he believes that order is produced from chaos by an intelligent principle. Anaxagoras posited that the universe is constituted of an infinite number of minute, qualitatively different seeds moved by a transcendent primordial Mind known as ‘Nous’. (12.19.114)

Anaxagoras studies Ecliptic cycles.

c460               EMPEDOCLES (c490-430 BCE) Greek philosopher and poet, born at Acragas, Sicily. He writes ‘On Nature’, a work in which he agreed with Parmenides that there could be no absolute coming into exist or ceasing to exist; that all change in the world is the result of two contrary cosmic forces, ‘Love and Strife’. These forces separate and mix to create four everlasting elements, Earth, Water, Air and Fire. This doctrine of four elements will become central to Western thought for 2000 years through its adoption by Aristotle. (6) Much of Empedocles work derives from ancient Orphic sources. (6.162)

c455               SOPHOCLES (496-406 BCE) a Greek playwright of genius whose tragedies are destined to become looked upon as the high point in Attic drama. His play ‘Oedipus Rex’ is one of the most influential plays ever written and records a powerful conjunction of character and destiny. The relentless recognition of hidden truth, in this work, its paradoxes of human knowledge and ignorance, will provide Aristotle [361 BCE) with his model tragic plot of his ‘Poetics’. Far into the future, the work ‘Oedipus Rex’ will be the inspiration for Sigmund Freud to write, ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ (1900 CE) a work which will give a mythic prototype for Sigmund’s ‘Oedipus’ complex, and a central feature of the future millennium of 20^th century psychoanalytic theory. (102)

Oedipus. Painted by Giroust 18C CE

c454               HERODOTUS (b.c.484 BCE) known as the father of factual history. A Greek born in Asia Minor, he is a great traveller of the known world of his time. He will be remembered in the future as being an authority on the ancient Persian wars and which archaeological research will eventually confirm.  Herodotus gives much information on the customs and practices of the Egyptians of his time. (6) Herodotus is the first major source of Egyptian history from antiquity. His works are based on the viewing of monuments and on interviews conducted. Herodotus said ‘the priests told me it was Men (Menes, meaning the first influx of light) who was the first king of Egypt. (49) Herodotus identifies the Egyptian god Thoth, with the Greek god Hermes. Many Greeks, such as Thales, Solon, and Pythagoras, will take initiation into the Egyptian Mysteries when on their travels to that land. In this way, the ancient knowledge will be transmitted on to the Hellenic world of Greece. (277)

c440               ICTINUS Greek architect, who with others, designs and builds the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Ictinus is also architect of the ‘Temple of Apollo Epicurius’ at Bassae, Arcadia. This is the first appearance of Corinthian architecture. Ictinus also works on the ‘Telesterion’ or ‘Hall of Mysteries’ at Eleusis. (102)

c435               EURIPIDES (c484-406 BCE) youngest of the three great Greek tragedians, the other two being Aeschylus (480 BCE) and Sophocles (c455 BCE). Euripides’ world view reflects the political, social, and intellectual crises of late 5^th-century Athens. (102)

Herodotus, historian & traveller. 

2C CE Roman copy of earlier Greek bust.

To Talk about the Soul

 Sun aligned with the star Dubhe of the constellation Ursa Major. The morning star is Sirius of the constellation Canis Major.

Can we describe the SOUL from an astrological chart?

Soul is a self-perpetuating, self-progressive, self-knowing energy form. Soul is moved by spirit but enmeshes into material conditions to become self-knowing; ‘to know itself’ – as the Delphic Oracle commands. 

The Delphic Oracle of Greece

This knowledge of the self comes through an encounter with the not-self, an encounter with what is opposite to self. We come to know our strengths, not merely by tensing our muscles but by straining against antagonism; by contrasting self with not-self; by pitting ourselves against the oppositions of the environment and other people’s points of view. The vehicle of gaining this soul knowledge is the physical body, challenged by a physical world.

Sunrise across the desert

The reason that we forget that we are a soul in a separate physical body, and yet all of one common origin, is that the challenges of life would be removed if this were the case. If we remembered where we came from and how all is united by thought and energy, what would be the point of fighting and challenging? It seems that real power of growth, knowledge and understanding can only come from combat – in this case by engaging in material conditions. Through the play of hate and love, we come to know ourselves. To remember our primal happiness would be a deterrent to this process. 

The blood of Sekhmet, Egyptian Lion goddess of the constellation Leo.

After a period of refreshment [called death] the impulse towards fresh experience and unfoldment becomes potent once more and the soul again descends to take up residence in a physical body, at a time and place appropriate for experiencing its wishes, choices and aspirations for growth and self-knowledge. AND this will be captured in the horoscope of birth. 

 

[Adapted from C.E.O.  Carter, ‘The Zodiac and the Soul’ 1972]

Sirius rising in Australia on the 8^th day of the 8^th month

Some call it the Lion’s Gate.

When the Sun is in the tropical zodiac sign of Leo and aligns with star Dubhe, then the great star of goddess Isis, called Sirius, can be seen rising before the Sun in the early morning light. Egyptian mythology says that the soul of Isis resides with this star. Isis-Hathor, nourisher of the world and its creatures.

Hymn of Isis

“Behold me, Lucius; moved by thy prayers, I appear to thee;

I, who am Nature, the parent of all things, the mistress of all the elements,

The primordial offspring of time, the supreme among Divinities,

The queen of departed spirits, the first of the celestials,

And the uniform manifestation of the Gods and Goddesses;

Who govern by my nod the luminous heights of heaven, the salubrious breezes 

Of the ocean, and the anguished silent realms of the shades below:

Whose one sole divinity the whole orb of the earth venerates 

Under a manifold form, with different rites, and under a variety of appellations.

The Phrygians call me Pessinuntica, the Mother of the Gods; 

The Aborigines of Attica, Cecropian Minerva; the Cyprians, Paphian Venus; 

The Cretans, Diana Dictyanna; the Sicilians, Stygian Proserpine; 

The Eleusinians, the ancient Goddess Ceres.

Some call me Juno, others Bellona, others Hecate, and others Rhamnusia.

The Aethiopians and the Egyptians, call me by my true name, Queen Isis.

Lucius Apuleius ‘Golden Ass’, Book XI.

Mother Isis

LEO

 

LEO the LION

23 July – 22 August

Spectrum:  Ruby. Yellow-Orange. Gold

LEO: The fifth sign of the tropical zodiac circle is a fixed and stable sign following on from the turn of season with the previous cardinal water sign of Cancer. That new impulse of energy can now be more readily felt and put to use. The fixed quality of expression, giving strength and endurance, is shared with the signs of Taurus and Scorpio, however that fixed quality is now mixed with the element of Fire which adds warmth and light to the character traits of Leo. Fire qualities are shared with two other Fire signs of Aries and Sagittarius. Leo is known as a positive sign in that its activity is directed out into the world, for Leo sees and pursues its heart’s desire. Vital and powerful, Leo burns with enthusiasm, and fixed determination combines this outrushing energy to produce excellent leadership and organising abilities. Regal and affection, the lion parades the success of its kingdom with justifiable pride and if working well, with a gentle hand. These are people to be relied on as faithful, trust-worthy and principled. A little time out from working, to enjoy the pleasure of games and amusement, is most welcome and helps to maintain the balance of life. And so with those who have this sign strong in their natal chart, they are leaders, generous and kind yet powerful and courageous , the lion and lioness of the celestial sphere.

The cosmic body most associated with this sign, as its ruler, is notably the SUN, the hot, fiery and shining orb of daylight and optimism. The Sun only rules one sign of the zodiac and it is the centre and king of our solar system. Woe-betide those who abuse its gifts, no one likes a despot or an inflated ego born of privilege, power and position yet lacking compassion. The Leo time of year is one in which to take a broad sweep of what is required in response to the subtly felt changes in the air. One half of the globe is enjoying the last days of a dying summer whilst the southern hemisphere can smell the excitement of spring not far away. Which-ever side of the globe you are on it is authentic to take a little pride in what you can create and not be shy of a little appreciation and public exposure. Have you something of your talents to share? Take some time out to be with friends, perhaps a party or a theatre ticket, sing and dance for a while in appreciation of all the good things of life, and where these are less than should be, send a prayer to heaven for improvements. It is a time to be joyful for what we do have.

Three together under the trees

We are now at the FIFTH LABOUR for our Sun hero Hercules, and this is to be his conquest of the Nemean Lion. With the courage of a strong heart and having overcome and slaughtered the mythical raging Lion, Hercules flays that Lion and wears its skin to declare himself as invulnerable as the lion or lioness. This is a symbol for having the courage to over-come the hostile trials in life, both external as in the wild beasts, and inwardly of our own- weaknesses, which all contributes to us becoming heroes, whether we are of the Leo sign or not. For some reason the Nemean Lion is associated with a cave of double entrance. Caves are often places of initiation where we become isolated and are forced to go inward and meet our real self in a time of meditation and quiet isolation. The number five is a symbol revealing the divine off-spring of God or the inner spiritual self. But five is only half the equation and we must search out five more virtues to make a perfect ten which symbolises a balance of spirit and matter. First Father spirit and Mother matter must meet and unite to create the Leonine individual strong in their conviction and their valour. On our travels through this stage of development we must attempt to unite the mind and emotions, or the head and heart in order to attain a better expression of our self and reign in wayward personality traits that so often work against us. Like Hercules we must unite the Sun of strength and Moon of caring, in order to become a whole and more balanced person worthy of a rebirth. In ancient Egypt the male lion was pre-dated by the lion goddess who is called Bastet, a mild and watery version of her original fiery self, known as Sekhmet.

Alchemical Lion eats the Sun

During our travels we will pass by the star Dubhe of the constellation Ursa Major. This gives us a link between Mother Bear and this ancient cat, for Egyptian temples of Bastet where aligned to this star when they were built. An ancient ‘Bear Race’ of Greek peoples were thought to have an hereditary link with this great constellation of Ursa Major who is also associated with the goddess Artemis, adored by the Druids of the long lost past.

In the neck of the sky Serpent Hydra, is the star Alphad lying close by to Regulus the heart of the Lion. This Water Serpent contrasts with the fiery heat of the Lion. A combination of Water and Fire is made in Alchemy to brew a creation. Some say that this celestial snake is the great mother serpent Tiamat of Babylonian legend. Others say it is the Kraken of Scandinavian mythology. The star Alphad, lone star of the serpent’s neck, along with Regulus of the Lion Heart, also marks our passage out of the sign Leo into that of tropical Virgo. Are we becoming more enlightened like our Heroes? 

Travelling the Fifth labour with Hercules we are still on the good ship Argo and moving towards the Golden Fleece, a Ram’s coat hung in the forest of the Lord of Aries and our journey’s goal. We are accompanied by 50 heroes and the gods who will help us to achieve our destination as we search along the path between the star Sirius of tropical Cancer and the star Spica in the tropical zodiac sign of Libra. On our way we will pass the Raven and the Chalice sitting on the back of the water serpent Hydra.

The Water Serpent