"Simple though it appears, the circle with its
division into quadrants by two straight lines is a mandala of enormous
complexity. If we consider that the circle itself is activated in being
bisected by the horizontal line, the two hemispheres which result from this
bisection are themselves undifferentiated and unactivated; their activation is
made possible by the vertical line."
A mandala is an abstract design which is used
as a focus for concentration and meditation by a creative artist. The mandala
depicts the essence of an artistic concept; by meditation on it the artist
concentrates his inspirational faculties which are subsequently released into
form through painting, sculpture, or whatever medium the artist uses for his
expression.
The astrologer is an interpretive artist whose
essential mandala is the design commonly known as the natural chart. On
a wheel, place the symbols of the zodiacal signs on the cusps in regular
sequence, starting with Aries on the cusp of the Ascendant, Taurus on the
second, etc. Then the symbols of the Sun, Moon, and planets are placed in the
signs and houses of their dignity: Mars in Aries, first house; Venus in Taurus
and Libra second and seventh houses; Mercury in Gemini and Virgo, third and
sixth houses; Moon in Cancer, fourth house; Sun in Leo, fifth house; Pluto in
Scorpio, eighth house; Jupiter in Sagittarius, ninth house; Saturn in
Capricorn, tenth house; Uranus in Aquarius, eleventh house; Neptune in Pisces,
twelfth house.
The design resulting from placing these symbols
around, and in, a circle containing twelve equal sections is considered by the
writer to be the greatest mandala created by the mind of man. It is the
composite symbol of the vibratory nature of the entity we call humanity. The
horoscope calculated for the incarnation of any human being is a variation of
this mandala; the same essential elements are found in all horoscopes of human
beings, qualified in calculations only by the specializations of date, time,
and place of birth.
This "Great Mandala," as we shall call it, is a
composite symbol of such magnitude and complexity that the imagination reels
in contemplation of it. It might be well to create the mandala, step by step,
from its beginning:
Use a sheet of blank paper, calculate the exact center
and place there a dot. This dot is the symbol of the Consciousness which makes
possible the manifestation of a galaxy, a solar system, or the incarnation of
a human being. It is the essential symbol of "being-ness" on all planes.
Through the dot, lightly draw a vertical line the
entire length of the paper; this line represents the dynamic, energizing
principle of Nature — the symbol of cosmic generation, "being-ness" in the
process of taking form, the essential symbol of male sex. Now draw, lightly, a
horizontal line through the dot across the entire width of the paper; this
line is the subjective aspect of "being-ness," the essential symbol of Form
itself, the female principle of Nature — that which is energized or acted upon.
The picture thus far represents a radiation from a central point —
Consciousness, a composite of the dynamic and subjective principles, the
essential lines of force by which manifestation is made, the cross-pattern
which stands as the eternal symbol of "beingness objectified." This much of
the design — a geometric abstract — can be called the basic mandala and can be
utilized for meditation by all astrologers. It is the skeleton of all
horoscopical structure, the picturing of the Fatherhood-Motherhood of God and
the essential symbol of cosmic sex which results in physical manifestation.
There is an indefiniteness about the appearance of the
basic mandala described above; the lines from the central dot can extend off
the paper indefinitely — thus an impression of chaos or formlessness is
conveyed. Since manifestation (incarnation) serves the purpose of evolution,
and evolutionary forces always require specific forms as their instruments, we
now take the next step to create, in our basic mandala, a field for
evolutionary purposes.
With the point of a compass on the dot describe a
circle, the circumference of which will, of course, twice intersect the
dynamic-vertical and horizontal-subjective lines. Since all points on the
circumference of a circle are equally distant from the center we now have
created, symbolically, a perfect field designating an instrument for
evolutionary forces; each of the four sectors of the circle are equal to each
other in area, as are the lower and upper hemispheres to each other and the
two lateral — or vertical — hemispheres to each other.
Now erase the light lines outside the circle,
intensify the circumference of the circle and the vertical and horizontal
lines within. The result may be called the "Mandala of Incarnation." Its form
is definite — an enclosed thing in which certain specializations of
evolutionary forces can work. This Mandala of Incarnation may be used as a
focal-point for meditation from two standpoints: (1) from within-out; and (2)
from without-in. The astrologer must so elasticize his interpretative ability
that he never loses sight of the spiritual significance of any chart he
studies.
(1) From within-out: The creative Will of God
expressing through a specific manifestation for evolutionary purposes; the
essential spirituality of all manifestation; the God-spark inherent in the
consciousness of each and every human being radiating into every factor of the
individual's experience.
(2) From without-in: Divine Love and Wisdom
overshadowing and interpenetrating every point of manifestation; manifestation
being "enclosed within the Divine Arms and always in sight of the Divine
Eyes;" the human being looks into his consciousness to find the source of his
conditions and the channels for his best expressions; he turns in to become
aware of his powers and potentials; his consciousness is reflected by his
outer condition — the radiations from the Center — but the Center remains
eternally the source of all that he experiences. The "Life" of a horoscope is
within the circumference, not outside of it; so we do not find our essential
solutions outside of ourselves but in our particular expression of the Eternal
Consciousness and our ever-growing awareness of it.
Simple though it appears, the circle with its
division into quadrants by two straight lines is a mandala of enormous
complexity. If we consider that the circle itself is activated in being
bisected by the horizontal line, the two hemispheres which result from this
bisection are themselves undifferentiated and unactivated; their activation is
made possible by the vertical line.
Each bisection symbolizes the Cosmic Principle of Duality — two-in-one-ness. "Dynamic" and "Subjective" are found to be inherent
attributes of any part of any manifestation. As such these two words, in
composite, are expressed by the word "sex" when made in reference to Life
incarnated. Sex, activated, is generation and regeneration — the
"on-goingness" of Life. Either of the two pairs of hemispheres, in juxtaposition, result in
the composite One; neither of whom can represent Life functioning creatively
without the frictional ignition of the other pair. For meditation, sketch
circles in which are represented these bisections individually; each pair of
hemispheres can be taken to represent an expression of cosmic generation.
The flat, two-dimensional representation of the
quadrated circle is now to be given, abstractly, additional dimension.
The Mandala of Incarnation is an essential matrix;
but incarnation implies expression of that matrix in physical form. The terms
length, height, and depth are usually thought of as three
different expressions of physical dimension. When we consider that all
physical manifestation is three dimensional we realize that length, height,
and depth are three attributes of one essential dimension — the dimension of
physical manifestation. Each of the four quadrants of the Mandala of
Incarnation is a specialized level of Consciousness and, correspondingly, of
experiences. Since experience is reflected in the dimension of physical
manifestation and interpreted by consciousness, we will apply the principle of
three dimensions in one to the Mandala of Incarnation.
From the center of the circle, or by four more
polarity diameters, subdivide each quadrant into three equal sections. This
action is the twelve-fold division of the wheel which we use as the
environmental houses of the horoscope. The three dimensions of each sector are
not length, height, and depth, but are in terms of signs, dimensions of
consciousness reflected by the houses as dimensions of experience.
The dimension of the first house of each quadrant (first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses) is the statement of Being — the "I
am": first house, I am an individual; fourth house, I am an individual aspect
of an entity called family group or family consciousness; seventh house, I am
one of the two factors of an intensely focused emotional relationship pattern;
tenth house, I am an individual aspect of the entity called humanity.
The dimension of the second house of each quadrant
(second, fifth, eighth, and eleventh houses) is possession of emotional
resource by which the life of the previous, cardinal, house is sustained.
Second house: My physical life is materially sustained by the exercise of my
consciousness of possession or stewardship and by exchange with other people;
fifth house: my family consciousness is sustained by releasements from my
resource of creative love; eighth house: my relationship consciousness is
sustained by transmutation of my desire forces through the exercise of my love
consciousness in emotional exchange with my complements; eleventh house: my
identity as an aspect of the universal entity, humanity, is sustained through
the exercise of my spiritualized, impersonal love consciousness.
The dimension of the third house of each quadrant (the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth houses) is the impersonal distillation
of the previous two houses. Third house: intellectual faculties by which I
identify the world of forms; sixth house: my creativity expressed as service
to life through my best as a worker; ninth house: wisdom — spiritual
understanding — distilled from the regeneration of desire through love
relationship; twelfth house: my consciousness of serving universally, my
needed redemptions from the past incarnation which have impelled the present
one, degree of cosmic consciousness distilled from the perfect fulfillment of
all responsibilities through spiritualized love.
The triune dimension is expressed in reference to the wheel as a whole by the "grand trines" — the equilateral triangles formed by
connecting the cusps of (1) the first, fifth, and ninth houses; (2) the
second, sixth and tenth houses; (3) the third, seventh and eleventh houses and
(4) the fourth, eighth and twelfth houses. These trines pertain, respectively,
to the four elements: (1) Fire: Spirit; (2) Earth: Consciousness of evaluation
of forms; (3) Air: Identification and relationship consciousness; (4) Water:
emotional responsiveness — the principle of sympathetic vibration.
Here are suggested a few basic mandala patterns:
(1) Twelve wheels, each of which has the signs on the cusps in sequence, each with a different ascendant; each of these mandalas may
be utilized for meditation on the cardinal, fixed, and mutable crosses, the
fire, earth, air, and water trines, the fire-air and the earth-water
sextiles.>
(2) Planetary environmental mandala — a planetary principle expressing through a particular house — can be found in ten groups of
twelve wheels each: each group pertains to the placement of each of the ten
planets (Sun, Moon, and eight planets) in each of the twelve houses, leaving
out the placement of the signs.
(3) Planetary vibrational mandalas can be created by wheels with the signs on the cusps — placing the planet under consideration in
each of the twelve signs and studied regardless of house position.
(4) Synthesis of groups 2 and 3: mandalas for
meditation on Ascendant rulership: twelve wheels, with signs in sequence, for
each of the ten planets as ruler of the ascendant — the ruler to be placed in
each of the twelve houses.
(5) Elaboration of number 4 in terms of meditation on
the Ascendant ruler by its placement by sector: (1) houses 1, 2, and 3; (2)
houses 4, 5 and 6; (3) houses 7, 8 and 9; (4) houses 10, 11 and 12.
Simple and complex mandalas can be abstracted from any natal horoscope. Here are a few suggestions by which the student may concentrate his synthesizing ability:
(1) From a given chart, abstract all dignified
planets into a wheel with the natal sign positions on the cusps; meditate on
the placement of these concentrated vibratory essences in terms of their house
rulership, house placement, and sector or quadrant placement.
(2) From a given natal chart, abstract any specific square or opposition and any one of its regenerative agencies (a planet making
a trine or sextile to either one of the afflicted planets); meditate on this
mandala from every possible standpoint that will open your consciousness to
the clues of alleviation for the afflicted pattern.
(3) Suggest abstracting the Saturn mandala from every
natal chart that is studied by placing Saturn and all the planets which aspect
it in a wheel with the natal signs on the cusps. Interpret Saturn as the
principle of responsibility fulfillment, and meditate on its significance in
the chart from all approaches.
(4) The most important of all mandalas abstracted
from a natal horoscope are those which pertain to the twelfth house. In
composite, these give the clues to the whys and wherefores of the present
incarnation. Suggest a mandala to be applied to a natal sign cusp wheel for
every single factor pertaining to the twelfth house of the natal horoscope:
sign, house, and sector placement of the ruler; vibrational and environmental
placement of each planet aspecting the ruler; each condition pertaining to any
planet in the twelfth house, and, last of all, a mandala composed of the signs
on the twelfth cusp and the ascendant and the placement of their planetary
rulers.
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