Happy Birthday Aries
Aries – The Ram
The exuberance of spring is characteristic of the vernal sign, Aries. As nature produces myriads of forms, so the mind of Aries is fertile with ideas, but the forces of other signs are needed to bring them to realization. As the first sign of the Zodiac, it is pioneering, progressive, ambitious, and desirous of leadership. In this sign we find the beginning of things, be they personal, local, national, international, or cosmic. As the first of the fire signs, and the one ruled by Mars, it is enthusiastic, energetic, self-confident, independent, frank, impulsive, militant, and either rash or courageous. This fiery force can ruin or it can retrieve the soul for the Spirit, depending on whether or not the lower Ego is cognizant of the higher self. As the first of the cardinal signs, Aries is extremely active and grows restless under restraint.
Aries rules the head and is symbolized by the ram. The ‘sheep’, in chapter ten of St. John’s Gospel, are not to be thought of a representative of dumb creatures that instinctively follow the herd. The reference is really to masculine sheep, to rams – Aries, the head-forces and the Ego-impulse – that is, to human beings in whom the Ego is active. The idea of self, of human individuality, is strong in Aries. Here is found the archetype of the Ego, the ‘I AM,’ the I-dentity or Ego-hood of man; here is the will-to-be-manifest. Aries imparts initiative to the individual and gives the power to pioneer. The Ram is a leader, not a follower.
Among the most distinguishing characteristics of this sign of primal power and mental head-force are activity and ambition – the desire to be at the head of things. Incessant changeful action is its forte or its folly. When there is essentially manifest a consciousness not yet coordinated by the higher self, the native lacks the balance and harmony which wholeness gives. Then the exuberance of projected energy may produce a riot of rapidity resulting in the will to override and to rule. Too often, and to their hurt, Aries individuals are exponents of speed acting in space, forgetful of the forces of physical form and the limitations of their earthly bodies; then, like a boomerang, there returns to them the fruit of their own ill-conceived, fitful, forceful, outrushing, tempestuous folly.
So over whelming is the force of this sign that it causes chaos and disorder, unless there is a true light and a ballasted purpose. Too often, Aries is vapid and colorless, devoid of direction and accomplishment. One might truly say that the only definite purpose of Aries souls who are not properly balanced is the power of expansive, explosive, disruptive impulsiveness; for the Aries force forever flies off a center to the periphery and beyond, in abandoned centrifugal energy, at last to become scattered in space in mere diffusion. This frequently produces negation and barrenness in the native who is unaware of himself as a being of soul and spirit and who is not cognizant of the purpose of life on Earth. As a result of uncontrolled primal power not focused on a definite purpose, Aries may readily fly off the handle as it were, or shoot like sparks off an emery wheel.
Aries souls often suffer much because of this overload of out-rushing energy, unless fixed signs bring ballast and stability, and common signs bring thought-power and spiritual light, and unless Libra, the Scales, the complementary sign of Aries, brings the needed balance, equilibrium, and poise. It is also because of this excess of uncontrolled force that ideals remain mere ideals, instead of being made the reality that they should become, as actual living things, creative and operative, instant with real power. Overestimation, leading to promise without performance, proves often the bane of individuals born in or under Aries, because intense idealism and vision are carried almost wholly as head or mental force with insufficient will and feeling to turn the vision into a concrete accomplishment. Yet, as the Aries individual rectifies his life by controlling his exuberant force and transmuting his rash impulsiveness, the correction brings into his life the needed balance and reliability that make him a valuable worker in any pioneering venture.
If one would understand Aries, one should be keenly aware of its incessant incitement to impulsiveness and to disruptive excess and extravagance where energy is concerned. When there is a lack of matured consciousness, and when the feeling forces are devoid of purpose and firmness, as a result of one’s failure in past lives and the current one to devote to deep meditation, the Aries person moves through life unaware of the guiding principle and wise direction of the Christ; at least the earthly Ego does not obey the guidance of the higher, spiritual being, the Angel, or the ‘Lord from heaven’. Were the Aries individual aware of this influence and were he obedient to it, he would not have to learn the hard and painful lessons that come in the marriage relationship, where difficulty arises because he himself, or his partner, fails to measure up to the ideal expected.
The Christ, speaking of the man who has become spiritually intelligent, says, ‘Henceforth I call you not servants (earthly Egos blind to truth because of their unlighted brain); for the servant (lower Ego) knoweth not what his lord (Christ-Angel Being) doeth; but I have called you friends’ (St. John 15:15) The time is now here when advanced and evolved souls commune consciously with and act on the guidance of the Christ-Angel, for the servant may now advance to being admitted into the light of ‘the Lord from heaven’. All Aries souls will make definite progress and be accomplishers if they heed these words and unite the lower Ego with the higher Christ-being. Not until such union occurs will the full lesson of Aries be learned and wild impulses and erratic action be ended. So long, however, as the ‘servant’ the lower Ego, remains willful and uncooperative, it can not carry out the requests of the Lord from heaven, the Angel-being who knows the truth.
In the Gospel of St. John, the Christ repeatedly speaks of the ‘I AM’, as in the statements: ‘I AM the light of the world’, ‘I AM the door’, and ‘I AM the way, the truth, and the life’. All these sayings show the depth and the force of Aries as indicating the ‘I AM’ presence, and it would be well for all souls, not only those born in or under Aries, to think about it long and often if they would become alive to and be guided by the higher being of the solar Christ-man within. For egotism and the darkness will only be exchanged for the light of the world and for Christ-altruism as man attains a conscious knowledge of this higher Ego.
‘In the beginning was the Word’. Man, made in the image of divine beings, is revealed in the speech or word of Aries, ruled by Mars. In the ancient Mysteries, it was disclosed that in virtue of the fact that certain Moon-beings were able to gaze on Mars, the capacity for speech was organized into man’s etheric body. The twelve macrocosmic signs of the Zodiac correspond to the twelve senses of man. Aries is correlated with the sense of speech. The inner dynamics of the organs of speech reside in Aries. Man’s capacity to regain and to use the ‘Lost Word’ is contingent upon his becoming holy. When this time comes, he will become god-like and speak life into being, but not before. As we meditate upon this vernal sign, Aries, we realize how essential it is for man to refine himself in his soul, so that, raising his quality to higher octaves of spiritual power, he can release in his speech Christ-constructive building forces.
Today, speech is prosaic, if not profane, yet language is derived from spiritual sources and should be used as an instrument and power of the wisdom of love and the spirit of truth. Man needs to regain awareness of the sacredness of speech. Man, in his full significance and dignity as man, is bound up with speech. To those who know, the human voice tells all, for it is indicative of the whole character of the individual. It is the soul that expresses itself in sound, and one who is alive to it, realizes its strength or weakness, its temperament and talent, in fact, the whole coloration of the soul. The character of a people, likewise, is contained in, and can be known by, the configuration of its special speech or language.
The majority attach to a word some common mental image or degenerated concept, which has displaced the original; true concept derived from spiritual sources, and souls imperfectly developed or unbalanced mistake very easily what the word images for them for the actual idea. This is the reason why so many are lacking in the ability to build up a conceptual world of their own that could raise them to a higher level than that imparted by the common currency of the words of the time. Most people today are slaves of the common quality of the spoken language; they fall prey to the vernacular of the day, and become the victims of the tyranny of community power and dupes not only of slogans, advertising, and authorities, but dupes also of demagogues and dictators, rather than being exponents of the upbuilding illuminating spirit of truth. The destiny and genius of Aries is truth, and the truly balanced Aries soul is content with truth only.
Ill-direction in thought and action, error, a flair for the false and sometimes for the fatuous become the lot and lesson of Aries persons whose nativities show unbalanced factors or inharmonious aspects; yet even these can make the intense idealism of this sign into a growing reality, provided they have the will to search for truth in spite of all obstacles, so that their idealism ceases to be intangible, for Aries is the sign of truth as well as of speech, and without truth no true speech can be formed, for human speech is a mystery of God. While touching on speech, it might be mentioned that a well-aspected Mercury in Aries often makes linguists, for Aries has a flair for language.
In Aries is the element of the primal, undifferentiated consciousness. Out of this virgin element so chaotic, man must derive organization and balanced activity. At first, this outrushing force flings the man about severely through the intensity of desire, which burns in him and sometimes consumes him in that fire. Unique in this sign is the intense instinct factor, a quality more akin to the animal than to man becoming Christ-conscious. It is through this avenue of instinct that Aries expresses itself in abandoned disorder; in outrushing rashness, ram-headed impulsiveness, changeful activity, and digression; in a riot of rude strength and extreme self-will; in excess and extravagance; in explosiveness, combat, and courage; and even in foolhardy militancy and madness.
Willful and headstrong when young, many Aries persons fail to achieve the necessary caution and control even in their mature years and they continue to go to extremes. Self-restraint, calmness, poise, and consideration for the feelings of others are not the virtues of Aries souls, unless they have worked upon themselves for the sake of the soul and spirit. The vigorous riot of life-activity, taking its rise in Aries, can never be adequately or properly utilized until a means of true self-control and self-direction is acquired through the harmony of balance and the ballast derived from the fixed signs conjoined with the mental-spiritual comprehensiveness conferred by the common or mutable signs.
Aries is a sign of male power, and it pushes one forward into positions of power through the pioneering of new fields and purposes; here do we find the quality of initiative. No success will be assured, however, in new ventures unless one has gained definition and direction, for this sign lacks the power of coherence. Equilibrium is the essential element that the person must perforce seek if he would evolve effectively. The forces of Aries are fiery and fast, but unless they are balanced by the influences of other signs, they are devoid of coherence and lacking in definite plan and purpose, thus leading the negative souls in this sign into a high degree of error, inaccuracy, or gross exaggeration. The most evident trait of Aries is intense activity, fired by ambitious, projective energy which must take command and be at the head, for Aries cannot follow, it can only lead.
The fiery, forceful character of this sign may be seen in the vulcanian genius of the dynamic conductor, Arturo Toscanini, whose Sun, Mercury, Neptune, and Part of Fortune were in Aries. The combination of the Sun in Aries, the Moon in Sagittarius, and the Ascendant in Leo- all fire signs – contributed to his intense brilliancy as well as to the powerful dramatic force that he expressed in music.
The influence of instinct, so marked in Aries, is at the root of the disruptive, impulsive explosiveness in its natives whenever there is lacking a proper sense of direction because the spiritual self-consciousness is not yet awakened. It is in this sign that self-consciousness must come to expression, as must a growing power of self-controlled destiny. Aries draws out the awareness of self and shows the sower of the seed who is founding the personality and shaping its particular destiny.
In Aries, the animal nature must become tamed and controlled, so that the Christ may take up residence in the soul, for this is the sign of the Sacrificial Ram and of the Lamb of God slain for the redemption of the world, making possible the eventual reunion of the Earth with the Sun.
It is significant in this respect that the Incarnation of the Christ of Jesus of Nazareth, giving a new direction to the entire evolution of the Earth, occurred when the Sun, by precession of the equinox, was in Aries, marking the turning point of time, from B.C. to A.D. An early symbol of the Christ, arising out of cosmic wisdom, pictures a lamb or ram with its head turned backward, as though looking into itself, indicative of the birth of the Ego-consciousness. Surrounding the head is the Sun-Aureole, with its four directions of space, linking the Christ-Sun-Being with the Creative Powers of the Zodiac.
Today we need to realize that knowledge becomes a positive power only when it is made so by the light of the wisdom of love and truth. This realization comes to active expression in an individual only as he makes an increasingly conscious contact with his own inner Christ-Spirit. Many imagine they are in contact with this higher self when it is only some earthbound, deceiving astral human soul, or their own Luciferic Angel. The voice of the Christ is the word of truth. Today, most people on our planet cannot take the Christ-truth, nor do they seek it. Hence no peace can obtain in the world, for this peace must first be made manifest and realized in individual men and women as a leaven, to leaven the lump.
The leaders of men have too often followed animalistic instincts rather than human principles, and have failed to pioneer new paths of truth. Progress toward understanding and peace – the peace that Christ ‘gives’, but ‘not as the world gives’ – can only be achieved as man ceases to live by ‘bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’. Man must be moved out of the darkness and aroused out of his apathy if our civilization is not to perish. When men spurn the spirit of truth, they deny the Christ of the cosmos and the beings of the Spiritual Hierarchies who made man in their image. Aries forces, either in a nativity or operative by transit or progression, should remind us to open our souls to the Christ-truth and to pioneer work in its behalf with fiery ardor.
Mars is the counterfeit of the Spirit when personal desires are served. The Mars cycle that began in 1909 and ended in 1944 produced two world catastrophies – World War 1 and twenty-one years later, the global war. Contrast can be resolved only by the formation of a new mind in mankind, the mind of Christ, whereby the intellect, the unlighted brain in man, will receive solar illumination. The new order of life will no longer sanction the exploitation of the weak by the strong nor the submergence of the individual in the state.
There are various levels of meaning in each sign of the Zodiac. A brute nature is one of the lower expressions of Aries; it is evident when one is of the opinion that might is right. The great wars should have revealed man to himself and made him manifest his manhood; his Ego should have become openly revealed in these ordeals. He should see himself as an Ego and decide on which side he will stand – whether on the side of the rulers of darkness, symbolized by the butting ram, the ignorant personality, the lower nature blinded by matter, or on the side of human self-consciousness, the illuminated intellect, which is Christ-conscious and dedicated to truth.
The perversion of the virtues of Aries has led mankind into a world of lies and lust. The evil of error produces illusions and a distorted perspective, a view that is out of focus and untrue in the light of the Christ. Through this distortion men have become indifferent to truth, and in World War 1 the majority were not only confused in their minds as to the actual purpose of the war, but they were also left completely ignorant as to the causes that had led to it. In the second conflict the purpose was more evident, but the awful ignorance as to the nature of man remains, for man does not consciously recognize himself as a being of soul and spirit.
The counterfeit of the Spirit, Mars, has led and bled mankind through these two world cataclysms, and only the true spirit of Christ with ‘healing in his wings’ can bring real peace.
Overloaded with exuberant life-force, the Aries individuals are so overwhelmed by ambitious activity and animation that it becomes imperative for them to realize the ‘one thing needful’ in their lives, which is to work to gain a fully controlled direction of their fine, rich forces through a knowledge of life and true awareness of themselves as beings of soul and spirit, temporarily animating a body. Life on earth is a continuing process of unfolding consciousness. Human beings started out in a state undifferentiated in God. Gradually they become Ego- or ‘I’ – conscious; many are still in the process of growing out of their mere racial or national consciousness. The next stage for each individual is to become Christ-conscious and to grow into a consciousness embracing the world and the cosmos.
Aries individuals evolve best if they wisely coordinate their thoughts and actions through intensively profound and willed thinking. They can give a new direction to their lives if they have a right attitude toward life and gain a true knowledge of themselves, recognizing the real nature of Aries as fiery. As Scorpio purifies the desires through regeneration, which brings rebirth, Aries purifies thinking and raises thought power, compelling correction and advancing toward truth. Until truth is manifest as a living fact in life, Aries individuals cannot become the real pioneers they could be, for it cannot be stressed too often that Aries has for its inner, esoteric essence the educative action of truth through the power of the living Word of Logos. The road of approach to the spirit of truth is rocky and steep, hence a strong will is required if one would be a pilgrim on this Path. Only after one has received the Pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit will he have a love for truth and work for the truth in love. Only as one serves this fine purpose can one bring to expression the pioneer spirit inherent in Aries, as it was expressed and manifested by the Aries-Sun man, Thomas Jefferson.
The intense idealism animating Aries makes its natives promise far more than they can perform, and they overload themselves with projects beyond their strength. Because of this unfortunate trait, they unintentionally often make themselves appear untruthful. Their excessive good intentions engender the reverse of veracity; and they may enlarge on circumstances to such an extent as to appear to be deliberately lying.
In the sequence of disciples in his Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci assigned Peter to Sagittarius; however, this does not prelude the possibility of Peter manifesting traits of Aries, for every nativity comprises various zodiacal influences besides the Sun sign. Peter is an excellent example of promise outweighing performance – the result of the sheer riot of overwhelming mental force springing out of intense idealism, along with rash impulsiveness and the will to be a leader and never a laggard. ‘Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I. And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. But he spake the more vehemently. If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise (St. Mark 14:29-31)
In Peter’s denial of Christ we see the weakness that is too often manifest in Aries, for the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Even though the physical courage may be there, the intellectual strength great, and the spiritual impulse present, the spiritual stamina may not be sufficient; and, without this inner spiritual strength, there is a state of unbalance; no proper link exists between the lower earthly Ego, the ‘servant’, and his Lord. As a result, where true courage should have been present – the courage that comes of the Christ – there was satanic fear, and Peter denied all knowledge of the One who alone could have furnished the strength, the spiritual light to stand with God against all the world without fear. We see this tendency today in a fear-ridden world, where people fear the death of the body but not that of the soul; many do not even believe in the soul. Peter’s hasty drawing of his sword and cutting off the servant’s ear in the hour of betrayal is yet another example of his Aries rashness and of his failure to trust the Spirit for protection.
We see the same Aries impulsiveness and rash independence in Peter’s refusal to have his feet washed by the Christ. But when the Lord told Peter that he could not be his disciple unless he agreed to having his feet washed, Peter avidly asked that the Lord wash his hands and head as well; he wanted to be every whit clean, clean all over.
Persons with Aries dominant have fine intellect strength; the will-to-be-manifest is very intense because of the idea of self, and this gives them the great power to pioneer and to lead. Yet this leadership and pioneering invariably fall short of perfection, sometimes because the spiritual will is so much less developed in the individual, and because there is no coordination between the spiritual man, the Lord from heaven, and the earthly personality, the servant. And where there is no conscious link between the lower earthly man and the higher spiritual being, there is no proper power to pioneer, to lead a movement, to spread a teaching, or to become the spokesman for masses of humanity.
Once a bridge has been built between the lower and the higher man, once the baptism of the Holy Spirit has filled one with life, the Christ guiding and strengthening the soul, then truly has that man become a ‘new creature’. This ‘new creature’ is evident in Peter in the first half of the Acts of the Apostles, following the pentecostal baptism with spiritual fire. Peter, the pioneer for Christ, was the main spokesman on the day of Pentecost and on numerous other occasions, and he repeatedly arrested, imprisoned, and enjoined to silence by the rulers, but no earthly power could stay him or frighten him, for as he said, ‘We must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29). The multitudes, as well as the magistrates, marveled at his boldness: ‘Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus’ (Acts 4:13).
It is the purpose of life and the need of all men to become Christ-conscious, which means that a bridge must be built from the lower, earthly brain-bound man to his higher being, the heavenly man. In proportion to one’s power to correlate with and do the bidding of the Christ within, are love and wisdom operative and our knowledge of truth enhanced. No college or school, only the lighted human Ego in the Earth-school, can give the tuition that gains the only degrees honored by the one great schoolmaster, the Father in heaven.
Aries gives a strong sense of personality and selfhood. In it is the deeply buried seed of the original, archetypal essence, the living core of the Ego, which has to blossom and bear fruit for the Christ. But, when the personality, which after all is only a part and not the whole, projects itself, a balanced is required. A foil must be found to set against Aries as a complementing force, and this will be found in its complementary, opposite sign, Libra, the sign of supra-personality, which contains the whole and its parts.
If Aries evokes the idealism of truth, that truth becomes consummate in a love of justice, which is the justice of love engendered in the light of Libra, the right hand of Aries’ left hand. Until one balances Aries through Libra, he will say with Pontius Pilate, ‘What is truth?’ but will not stay, nor work, for an answer. For only as the physical, earthly personality becomes moulded consciously by the supra-personal, spiritual, heavenly man, will Christ-consciousness come to birth. Aries comes forth from the plane of intellect and rules through egotism, until the complementary sign, Libra, impels one to make a choice, for it is Libra that must choose the way, the road of return to God by way of the spiritualised intellect. In Aries, the intellect must become lighted by the Spirit if separation and darkness are to occur. This is the marriage of the Lamb, for which Aries people must work. It means the end of egotism and the beginning of an active altruism. Unless the Spirit is awakened Aries people are active only in their own interests.
The martial energy of Aries fires its natives with so intense a cerebral activity, setting up so much diffusion, as to make proper thinking well-nigh impossible; as a result, they are unable to marshal ideas with sufficient definition and clarity to create harmony and balance. The living fire of rash moods often produces most peculiar prejudices, so that the first impressions of the Aries souls are not always true; on second thought, their views are often altered. Second thoughts, deeply meditative, are essential for Aries. In fact, their best road to balance is by way of second thoughts wisely applied. Yet Aries souls turn time and again to people, places, or things that had proved detrimental or disappointing.
The evolved Aries individual is fertile with constructive ideas and is prompt to act. He will fight for the rights of man, and sometimes the Ram, or the Lamb, will sacrifice itself and take pride in such martyrdom. Most Aries souls make their lives a school of very hard experience, for they are the souls that back up and leave, instantly taking offence at measures or laws they consider odious or unfair.
Aries is the sign of a new cycle and of the pioneer. It marks the vernal equinox and the new life of spring. In the spring season, we see in the physical world the newness of life, and it rejoices our hearts. But we should be reminded at the same time of that other, higher newness of life, which St. Paul had in mind when he said ‘old things are passed away’. Any period when Aries forces prevail is propitious for pioneering some new purpose and for propagating a spiritual activity which, with consistent practice, will bring the eventual triumph over death, for Aries is the sign of resurrection and the Resurrection.
The essence of Aries is the urge that impels persons to new ideas, plans, thoughts, or proposals. New schemes throng their brains in quick succession, and they are ever embarking upon new enterprises, large or small, commensurate with the consciousness of the Ego. Once they see the aim or end of a plan and their will is aroused, they are rarely swerved from their purpose to bring it to accomplishment, being ever spurred on by the mental picture of the plan which they envision. But patience is scarcely a virtue of the Ram, and the impetuous approach of the Aries natives, ramming ahead and forcefully pushing their way forward, brings them too often to grief or undoing. Unless the nativity indicates an aptitude in dealing with detail, they are better fitted to lead, organize, and create, rather than personally to carry out their plan in practice.
The aim of Aries is action, but action must have wise direction and must be governed by forces founded on truth. This is the sign whose ideal and destiny is the spirit of truth, and Aries souls must make themselves ready to receive and realize the truth. This can only be done by consistently working to approach the truth, which is the Great Work. As much as we have taken into ourselves of the Christ-truth, so shall we be free from bondage to the lower earthly Ego.
Fine spiritual qualities inhere in Aries, for there is an excellent sense of righteousness with the courage and enthusiasm to work and serve to make righteousness prevail on earth. Today there is a desire, an urge, to dissolve the deceptive, backward systems everywhere, as the kingdom of man fails and is bound to fail without the light of the kingdom of God. Once the Aries individual gains stability, he gains definition, and with definition he finds his direction and the power to move forward, making fine progress and going fast and far. When he reaches devotion, he may rise to the power of sacrifice.
The Dawn
Would he who made all worlds and man
Omit to give the good his plan?
Does order rule our lives or hate?
Will love abide and compensate?
Could all this loathsomeness remain
With Christ arrived to make man sane?
Here in this day disintegrates
The leprous sin of ancient hates;
The foulness of a day now done
Doth bring the dawn and love begun.
The pioneer doth pave the way
For love to come and have full sway.
The spirit speech make man so clean
And search his soul so much to glean
That grain of magic potency
Which brings to man Christ-majesty!