[PAGE 30]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
                                 CHAPTER II
                   THE MEASURE OF AMENABILITY TO PLANETARY
                                 VIBRATIONS
   When judging a horoscope it is of prime importance that we take into con-
sideration the social and racial standing of the individual,  for configura-
tions which are of great significance in the horoscope of an educated Cauca-
sian,  may mean little or nothing in the figure of a Chinese coolie and vice
versa.   Neglect of this factor would inevitably lead to false  conclusions,
as we shall now explain.
   It is a mystic maxim that the lower in the scale of evolution a being  is
placed the more certainly it responds to the planetary rays,  and conversely
the  higher we ascend in the scale of attainment the more the  man  conquers
and rules his stars,  freeing himself from the leading strings of the Divine
Hierarchies  through the planetary aspects in such a manner that we  do  not
hurt ourselves beyond recovery in the experiences of life.
[PAGE 31]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
   But  coupled  with this guidance there is of course the measure  of  Free
Will,  which  grows as we evolve.   The child in our midst has  really  very
little free will,  being the subject not only to its parents but to the ser-
vants,  if such there be in the household,  and to everybody with whom it is
associated,  all exercising control over it for its own good.   As the child
grows, this measure of restraint is by degrees relaxed, and in the course of
years the child will learn to exercise its free will.   This method has been
followed by the Divine Hierarchies in the case of man.   Infant humanity was
absolutely  guided  by Divine rules without having any Will  at  all;  "Thus
shalt thou do, or not do," were injunctions laid upon them which must be im-
plicitly obeyed,  otherwise the Divine displeasure was at once shown by such
strenuous  manifestations  as appealed to infant  humanity's  mind,  namely,
lightning, thunder, earth-quakes and great visitations of plagues.  This was
for  their collective guidance,  for individual restraint there were  strict
laws,  commandments and ordinances.  Tribute must be paid continually to the
Divine Leader and offered up on the altar as sacrifices,  and for every  of-
fense  against the law a certain sacrifice of material goods must  be  made.
Fear  was the dominant keynote of that dispensation:   for "The fear of  the
Lord  is the beginning of righteousness."  This regime was carried on  under
the planetary conditions of Mars and the Moon.  Mars,  being the home of the
dominant  Lucifer  Spirits,  gave  to  mankind  the  energy  necessary  that
[PAGE 32]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
evolution may be accomplished;  this martial energy was of the very greatest
importance,  particularly of course in the earlier stages.  The Moon,  which
is the home of the Angels, under their Divine Leader Jehovah, gave to infant
humanity  that  child-like brain-mind which is amenable  to  rulership,  and
bends itself readily before authority.
   These with Saturn were the only planetary rays which affected mankind  as
a whole during the Lemurian Epoch,  and if a horoscope were erected for  any
of the people who lived then, it would be unnecessary to enter the places of
the other planets, because they could not respond to their rays.  Even today
a great part of mankind has not evolved very far beyond that point,  a large
class, particularly among those we speak of as the lower races, and even the
lower  classes  of our western world being dominated  principally  by  these
planetary rays.  Under their impulses they act with automatic certainty in a
specific manner, and it is possible to predict exactly what they will do un-
der a certain aspect of these planets,  because they live entirely in  their
emotions and are scarcely,  if at all, responsive to the intellectual vibra-
tions of Mercury.  Neither can they appreciate such emotions as signified by
Venus or its octave,  Uranus,; they respond solely to the lower nature,  the
animal passions.  They move under the impulses of Mars and the Moon respect-
ing sex and sustenance.   Their pleasures are of the lowest and most sensual
nature, they live like animals altogether in the physical,  and  their creed
[PAGE 33]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
is  "eat,  drink  and be merry."   Their desires run chiefly  to  "wine  and
women,"  for they have not as yet awakened to the charm of song; Neither has
beauty had a chance to enchant the savage heart at this stage of development
for that comes from the Venus rays which are beyond such people.   Woman  is
to the man of that stage only a beast of burden and a convenience.
   Meanwhile  "Father  Time"  represented by the planet  Saturn,  keeps  the
score,  and wields over them the whiplash of necessity to drive them forward
on this evolutionary path, meting out to each the fruits of his labor at the
harvest time between lives.   When the man has cultivated the savage virtues
of bravery, physical endurance, etc., he dreams in the post-mortem existence
of new field to conquer,  and sees where he was lacking and why his  desires
were frustrated because of lack of implements.   Gradually the  constructive
martial  ray  and the Saturn cunning fertilize the lunar brain which  he  is
building,  so that in time he learns to make the crude implements  necessary
for the attainment of his primitive ambitions.   Even today we see the  same
cunning traits of character,  the same crude crafts displayed in and by  the
lower  races  for the purpose of irrigating land,  mining  ores  or  milling
grain.   All those earliest implements were the result of the planetary rays
of Saturn,  Moon and Mars, impinging on the primitive brain of infant human-
ity.
   A little further along the path of evolution, in the Atlantean epoch, the
[PAGE 34]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
Lords of Venus and the Lords of Mercury came to the earth for the purpose of
giving  a further impulse to the mental and emotional development.   It  was
the task of Venus to combat the lower emotions and raise the brutish  animal
passion of Mars to the softer and more beautiful Venus-love.  She was to add
beauty to strength, and to attain that ideal the Lords of Venus fostered the
plastic arts, painting and sculpture.  These were not taught men of the gen-
eral public at that time; the ideals which are to be developed in a race are
always  first taught to the most advanced ones in a mystery temple,  and  at
that time initiation included no spiritual instruction,  but consisted of an
education  in the liberal arts. Sculpture  taught  how the beautiful may  be
incorporated in physical form. It called attention  to  the body and  ideal-
ized  the softly curved lines. The result is  now  incorporated in  our  own
race body,  for it should be thoroughly understood that in an mystery school
an ideal is not taught today simply to be forgotten tomorrow or in the  next
generation, but ideals are inculcated so that in time they may become a part
of the very life,  soul and body of the race.  Compare  the race body of the
modern civilized man with that of the Indian,  the Bushman,  the  Hottentot,
etc., and you will find that there is indeed beauty added to strength.
   It  may be objected that we are degenerating compared with what is  shown
in  the  Hellenic  Arts, but that is positively not so; it is rather that we
[PAGE 35]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
have not yet attained to that highest ideal.   In ancient Greece the mystery
temples  occupied a much more prominent position than today;  the  beautiful
form was idolized to the detriment of the mind notwithstanding the fact that
Greece had a Plato and a Socrates.   The Lords of Mercury who had charge  of
the development of mind, at the time when the Lords of Venus exercised their
great  influence on the emotions,  had not then been able to make a  univer-
sally strong impression on the early humanity.  We are well aware even today
that  it  hurts to think,  but it is easy to follow the  emotions.   At  the
present time the middle class of the West is much further advanced than  the
ancient  Greeks because of the influence of these two planetary rays in  our
lives.  Woman naturally excels in the highly imaginative Venus faculty,  be-
cause  of her part in the creative function which aids in moulding the  body
of  the  race.   On that account her figure has the  graceful  curves  which
naturally express beauty,  while man has the worldly-wise intellect fostered
by the Lords of Mercury, and is the exponent of reason,  the creative agency
of physical progress in the world's work.
   We always long for, admire, and aspire to what we lack.   In days of sav-
agery when kicks and cuffs were her daily  fare  woman  longed  for a caress
from her lord.   The  Venus ray gave her beauty and made her an adept in the
feminine  arts  which  have  conquered  the masculine heart, so that now man
[PAGE 36]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
plays the role of protector on the plea that woman is not mentally competent
meanwhile he is becoming that which he admires in her; he is more gentle and
kind, Venus is conquering Mars, but the Mercury delusion of intellectual su-
periority  needs another influence to conquer it.   And this,  woman is  now
supplying  by her aspiration.   As she mastered martial brutality  by  Venus
beauty, so also, will she free herself from Mercurial bondage by Uranian in-
tuition.
   To  primitive man,  driven by the whip-lash of Saturnine necessity,  when
not  by the animal lust and passions of Mars and the Moon,  the world  looks
gloomy.   Fear is the key-note of his existence:   fear of animals;  fear of
other  men;  fear of the nature forces;  fear of everything around him.   He
must ever be watchful and on the alert,  vigilance is eternally the price of
safety.   But when evolution makes him amenable to the influences  of  Venus
and  Mercury;  they will soften his emotions and brighten the mentality;  he
begins to regard love and reason as factors in  life.   The Sun also  begins
to brighten his outlook upon life,  and sunshine in the nature of man during
this  phase of his evolution partly dispels the gloom of Saturn.   Thus,  by
degrees,  as man evolves and becomes responsive to the music of the spheres,
one string after another in the celestial harp strikes the kindred chord  in
the human soul and makes him amenable to its vibrations, so that as a tuning
fork which is struck, awakens the music  in other tuning forks of even pitch
[PAGE 37]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
within  reasonable  distance,  so the planets in our solar  system  have  in
evolutionary succession struck various chords that have found an echo in the
human heart.
   But  the strings on the celestial Lyre of Apollo are not all in  harmony,
some are in actual discord, and while man responds to some he must necessar-
ily remain, at least partially, unresponsive to others.  In fact,  before it
is  possible to respond perfectly to the rays of Venus it is  necessary  for
man to conquer Mars to a considerable degree, and bring him under control so
that  certain undesirable martial traits in his nature will be kept  in  the
background,  while others,  which may be valuable, are retained.   The Venus
love  which is willing to give all for the loved ones cannot dwell  side  by
side  in the heart with the Mars ray which demands all for self.   Therefore
the savage must learn to conquer himself in a certain measure ere he may be-
come the more civilized family man of modern times.   Under the unrestrained
passionate rays of Mars and the Moon,  parents bring children into the world
and leave them to take care of themselves almost as animals do, for they are
products of animal passion.   The females are brought and sold as a horse or
cow or else taken by force and carried away.   Even so late as the mediaeval
dark ages, the knight often carried away his bride by force of arms, practi-
cally in the same manner that the male animals battle for the possession  of
the female at mating time.
   Thus we see that the first step toward  civilization  requires that a man
[PAGE 38]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
conquer one or more of the planets to a certain degree at least.   Unbridled
passion such as generated by the primitive Mars rays is no more  permissible
under the regime of modern civilization, neither is the tenet that "might is
right" any longer admissible, save in wars when we return to barbarism.  The
Mars quality of physical prowess,  that at one time made it a virtue to  at-
tack others and take away property,  is no longer admired in the individual.
It is punished by various means,  according to law,  thought it is still ef-
fective as far as nations are concerned, who go to war under this  primitive
impulse for purposes of territorial aggrandizement.  However, as said,  Mars
has been conquered to a great degree in civil and social life in order  that
the Venus love might take the place of the Mars passion.
   As previously noted, the children of primitive man were left to their own
resources,  as soon as they had been taught to defend themselves in physical
warfare.   With  the advent of Mercury another method  is  observable.   The
battle  of life nowadays,  is no longer fought with physical weapons  alone.
Brain,  rather  than  brawn determines success.   Therefore  the  period  of
education has been lengthened as mankind advanced,  and it aims  principally
at mental accomplishments because of the Mercurial rays which accompany  the
Venus development of modern civilization.   Thus man sees nature from a more
sunny side when he has learned to respond to the Sun,  Venus, Mercury, Mars,
[PAGE 39]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
Moon and Saturn, even if only in a very slight measure.
   But although these various stages of evolution have gradually brought man
under the dominance of a number of planetary rays,  the development has been
one-sided,  for it has aimed to foster interest solely in things over  which
he  has  a proprietary right:   HIS business,  HIS house,  HIS  family,  HIS
cattle,  farm,  etc.,  are all vitally important, and must be taken care of.
HIS possessions must be increased,  if possible,  no matter what happens  to
the possessions,  family, etc., belonging to anyone else, that not being his
concern.   But before he can reach to a higher stage of evolution it is nec-
essary that this desire to appropriate the earth,  and retain it for himself
if possible,  must give way to a desire to benefit his fellowmen.   In other
words,  Egoism must give way to Altruism, and just as Saturn by yielding the
whip lash of necessity over him in his primitive days brought him up to  his
present point of civilization,  so also Jupiter, the planet of altruism,  is
destined  to raise him from the state of man to superman where he will  come
under the Uranian ray in respect to his emotional nature, where passion gen-
erated by Mars will be replaced by Compassion,  and where the childlike con-
sciousness of Lunar origin will be replaced by a Cosmic consciousness of the
Neptunian ray.  Therefore the advent into our lives of  the  Jupiterian  ray
marks a very distinct advance in the human development.   As taught  in  the
[PAGE 40]                                               MESSAGE OF THE STARS
Rosicrucian  Cosmo-Conception,  we  are  to  advance  from our present Earth
period  into  the  Jupiter  period,  and  therefore the Jupiterian ray marks
that  high  stage  of  altruism  which  will then be a prominent  factor  in
our relations, one with the other,  and  it  will be readily understood that
before  we  can really respond to the rays of Jupiter we must in  a  measure
cultivate altruism,  and conquer the egoism that comes through the Mercurial
reasoning power.   We have learned to conquer some of the phases of Mars and
the  Moon,  we may have also learned to conquer some of the lower phases  of
Mercury  and Venus;  the more we have overcome these the better we shall  be
able  to respond to the highest vibratory forces emanating from these  plan-
ets;  yes, if we strive earnestly we shall some day be able to overcome even
the  highest stage of the Venus love, that always attaches itself to an  ob-
ject which is owned by us.   We love our children because they are ours;  we
love  our  husbands  and wives because they belong to  us;  we  take  pride,
Venusian pride,  in their moral characteristics or Mercurial pride in  their
accomplishments;  but Christ set a higher standard:  "Unless a man leave his
father and mother he can not be my disciple."   The idea that we should  ne-
glect  our fathers and mothers or that we must hate them in order to  follow
Him was far from His mind, of course, but father and mother are only bodies;
the  soul that inhabits this body of the father and mother is to  be  loved,
not  the  mere  physical  garment.  Our  love should be the same whether the
[PAGE 41]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
person is old or young, ugly or beautiful.  We should look for the beauty of
the soul,  for the universal relationship of all souls and not mind so  much
the relationship of the bodies.   "Who are my mother and my brothers,"  said
the Christ,  and pointed to his disciples, those who were at one with Him in
His  great work.   They were closer to Him than any brother could be on  ac-
count  of mere physical relationship.  This attitude constitutes  an  upward
step from the Venus love which places the emphasis on the physical  garments
of  the love ones and leaves out of consideration the soul that  is  within.
The Jupiterian love on the other hand takes cognizance only of the soul, re-
gardless of the body it wears.   The Mercurial or reasoning phase of mental-
ity is also changed by response to the altruistic Jupiter.  Cold calculation
is out of the question.   One who feels the expansive ray of Jupiter is  big
hearted  where his emotions are concerned, his love;  big hearted where  all
things of the world are concerned.  "A jovial fellow," is an apt expression.
He  is  welcomed and love by everyone he meets because he radiates  not  the
common selfishness, but a desire to benefit others that breeds in us a feel-
ing  of trust,  diametrically opposed to the sense of distrust  we  instinc-
tively feel when we come in contact with a Saturn-Mercury man.
   It is a matter of actual experience to astrologers endowed with spiritual
sight that every man's planetary rays produce certain colors in his aura, in
[PAGE 42]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
his aura,  in addition to the basic color which is the stamp of the race  to
which the man belongs.   The man with the thin, sickly blues of a commingled
Saturn and Mercury, is to be pitied rather than censured for the avarice and
gloom  which are his constant attitude of mind;  he sees everything  in  the
world through the auric mirror which he has created around himself; he feels
that the world is cold, hard and selfish, that therefore it is necessary for
him  to be more selfish and more cold in order that he may protect  himself.
On  the other hand,  when we see the divine blue ray of Jupiter tinted  with
perhaps the fine gold of the Uranian nature we realize how differently  such
an  exalted  individual must view the world from the other's sordid  way  of
seeing things.   Even those who have the faintest Jupiterian tinge are in  a
world filled with sunshine,  flowers blooming,  everything in nature gay and
glad.   Any  by looking at the world through such an  atmosphere  they  call
forth from other sources a similar response,  as the tuning fork  previously
mentioned generates a vibration in another of an even pitch.
   After what has been said it will not be difficult to understand that  the
Uranian characteristics,  where love becomes compassion, give wisdom that is
not  dependent  upon reasoning,  a love that is not fixed  upon  one  object
alone,  but  includes  all that lives and moves and  has  its  being'  being
similar to the characteristics that are to be evolved by humanity during the
[PAGE 43]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
Venus period when perfect love shall have cast out all fear,  when man shall
have conquered all the lower phases of his nature and love shall be as  pure
as it is universally inclusive.
   When  these  Uranian vibrations are felt by advance in  the  higher  life
through aspiration, there is great danger that we may throw away the fetters
of law and convention before we are really ready to govern ourselves by  the
law  of Love divine,  that we may disregard the laws that are in the  world,
that we may not render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, whether in obedi-
ence or coin, that we may not be careful of avoiding the appearance of evil,
that we may think that we have so far transcended the ordinary stage of  hu-
manity that we can live as super-humans, that the passion of Mars has in our
cases been changed to Uranian compassion, which is sexless.  Under such mis-
apprehensions, many people who endeavor to tread the path disregard the laws
of marriage and enter into relationships as soulmates and affinities.   They
feel the Uranian ray, but cannot quite respond to its sublime purity, there-
fore they experience a counterfeit Venusian sensation which usually ends  in
adultery and sex-perversion,  so that instead of the natural animal  passion
of Mars having been transmuted to the compassion of Uranus it has as a  mat-
ter of fact,  degenerated into something that is far worse than the  fullest
sex  expression of the martial rays committed in a frank and proper  manner.
This is a danger that cannot be too strictly guarded against and it behooves
[PAGE 44]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
every one who endeavors to live the higher life not to try to aspire to  the
Uranian rays until he at first becomes thoroughly imbued with the altruistic
vibrations  of Jupiter,  for more misery is brought into the world by  those
who have aspired too high and fallen low,  then by those who are not  suffi-
ciently aspiring.   "Pride goeth before a fall," is an ancient and very true
proverb,  which  it behooves every one of us to take to heart.   The  Christ
took part in the marriage at Cana.  Marriage is a regular Christian institu-
tion,  and must exist until abolished in the kingdom to come; there the bod-
ies  we have will not wear out and therefore there will be no need  of  mar-
riage to generate new ones.
   Let it also be understood that the minister who marries cannot truly mate
people, therefore the presence of the basic harmony for true marriage should
be determined before the marriage ceremony.
   As  we  have seen in the foregoing,  Mars,  Venus and Uranus  mark  three
stages  in the emotional development of man.   During the stage where he  is
only  amenable  to Mars,  animal passion reigns supreme and he  seeks  unre-
stricted gratification of all his lower desires in the intercourse with  his
fellowman but particularly with the opposite sex;  during the stage where he
becomes amenable to the rays of Venus, love softens the brutality of his de-
sires and the animal passions are somewhat held in leash, he is even,  under
the higher phases of this planet, ready to sacrifice himself and his desires
[PAGE 45]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
for the benefit and comfort of the loved ones.   When he has evolved to  the
point  where we can feel the rays of Uranus,  the passion of Mars  gradually
turns  to  compassion;  there the love of Venus which is only for  one  par-
ticular person,  becomes all inclusive so that it embraces all humankind re-
gardless of sex or any other distinction,  for it is the divine love of soul
for soul which is above all material considerations of whatever nature.
   The  mentality also evolves through three stages according to the  amena-
bility  of the person to the vibrations of the Moon,  Mercury  and  Neptune.
While man is only amenable to the lunar influence,  he is childlike and eas-
ily  guided  by the higher powers,  which have led him through  the  various
stages mentioned in our pervious chapters.  Under the stellar ray of Mercury
he gradually develops his intellectual powers and becomes a reasoning being.
As such,  he is placed under the law of cause and effect,  made  responsible
for his own actions,  so that he may reap what he has sown and learn thereby
the lessons that human life has to teach him under the present regime.   Be-
ing inexperienced,  he makes mistakes in whatever direction indicated by the
afflictions  to Mercury in his horoscope and consequently he suffers a  cor-
responding  penalty of sorrow and trouble.   It he has not the mentality  to
reason on the connection between this mistakes and the sad experiences grow-
ing from them, during his life times, the panorama of life, which unfolds in
[PAGE 46]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
the  post-mortem state,  makes this clear,and leaves with him an essence  of
"right feeling" which we know as "conscience."
   This conscience keeps him from repeating past mistakes,  when the feeling
generated  has  become sufficiently strong to overbalance  the  tendency  to
yield  to  the particular temptation which caused him  suffering.   Thus  he
gradually develops a spiritual consciousness which is above and beyond human
reason,  but which nevertheless is also connected with reason in such a man-
ner that when the result has been reached,  the man who has this Cosmic Con-
sciousness knows the reason why such and such a thing is and must be, or why
he ought to take a certain action.   This Cosmic Consciousness is  developed
under the ray of Neptune and differs from that intuitional right feeling de-
veloped  under the ray of Uranus in the very important fact that  while  the
person  who  has developed the Uranian quality of intuition arrives  at  the
truth  instantaneously without the necessity of thinking over the matter  or
reasoning,  he is unable to give anything but the result;  he cannot connect
the various steps of logical sequence whereby the final result was  reached.
The man or woman, however, who develops the Neptunian faculty,  also has the
answer  of any question immediately and is able to tell the reason why  that
answer is the proper and right one.
   The  faculty  of  intuition built up from the Martial  base  of  passion,
through  the  Venusian  stage  of  love, and the Uranian rays of compassion,
[PAGE 47]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
depends upon the ability of the person involved TO FEEL VERY INTENSELY.   By
love and devotion, the heart is attuned to every other heart in the universe
and  in  this way it knows and feels all that may be known and felt  by  any
other heart in the universe,  thus sharing the divine omniscience that binds
Our  Father in Heaven to His children and through the direct heart to  heart
touch with that omniscience the person obtains the answers to whatever prob-
lem is placed before him.
   The  noblest men of all ages, Christian saints of the  most  transcendent
spirituality,   have  attained  their  wonderful  development  through   the
spiritual rays of this planet because of the intense feeling of Oneness with
the divine and with all that lives and breathes in the universe.
   But  there are others who are not thus constituted and they are not  able
to walk that path.  These, through the Moon, Mercury and Neptune have devel-
oped their intellect and attained the same results plus the Neptunian  power
of idealization.
   This  is very important point and it is only brought out in  the  Western
Wisdom Teachings tell us that there is in addition a third factor in univer-
sal  advancement,  namely,  EPIGENESIS;  the faculty whereby the spirit  may
choose  a  course  that  is  altogether new and independent of what has gone
[PAGE 48]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
before.  We see the expression of this in all kingdoms relative to form, but
in the human kingdom, epigenesis expresses itself as genius,  a creative in-
stinct,  which makes man more akin to the divine than any other of  his  ac-
complishments.   This is developed under the Neptune ray when that planet is
well  placed in the horoscope.   There is of course also such a thing as  an
evil genius, a destructive faculty developed under an afflicted Neptune.
   Only  the most sensitive people in the world feel the rays of Uranus  and
Neptune  at the present time.   To feel these vibrations the connection  be-
tween  the dense physical body and the vital body,  which is made  of  ether
must be rather loose for where these two vehicles are firmly interlocked the
person is always of a materialistic turn,  and cannot respond to the  higher
and more subtle vibrations from the spiritual world.   But when the  stellar
rays  from  these  two planets impinge upon a person  whose  vital  body  is
loosely  connected with the physical,  we have what is called  a  sensitive.
The direction and quality of this faculty depends upon the placement and the
aspects of the two planets mentioned,  however.   Those who are particularly
under  the domination of an adverse aspect of the Uranian ray,  usually  de-
velop the more undesirable phases of clairvoyance and mediumship.  They eas-
ily become the prey of entities  from the invisible world who have no regard
[PAGE 49]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
for their victims'  desire,  even if in a weak manner these should  protest.
Such mediums are generally used in simple trance communications and in a few
cases known to the writer have lived very beautiful and happy lives  because
of implicit belief in the spirits that dominated them.   In these cases  the
spirit-controls were of a better class than usually met with.   But as  this
Uranian faculty is built up through Mars and Venus,  passion is prominent in
such  natures  and under the influence of obsessing spirits  many  of  these
people  are  driven  into gross  immorality.   Vampirism  and  kindred  dis-
reputable  practices are also engendered by the perverse use of the  Uranian
ray in mediums.
   Neptune  may be said to represent the invisible worlds in  more  positive
aspects and those who come under the evil rays of this planet are  therefore
brought  in  touch  with the most undesirable  occupants  of  the  invisible
worlds.  Actual obsession whereby the owner of a body is deprived of his ve-
hicle takes place under the ray of Neptune and no materializing seance could
ever  be held if it were not for this stellar vibration.   Magic,  white  or
black  can  never  be put to practical use save under and  because  of  this
Neptunian vibration.  Apart from this ray it will remain theory, speculation
and  book  learning.   Therefore  the Initiates  of  every  Mystery  School,
Spiritual; Seers who have full control of their faculty, and Astrologers are
amenable in varying degrees to  the  ray of Neptune.  The Black Magician and
[PAGE 50]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
the  Hypnotist,  who is a twin brother to him,  are also dependent upon  the
power of this stellar ray for use in their nefarious practices.
   The  highest  human  development at the present time,  namely,  the  soul
unfoldment which is undertaken in the mystery temples through initiation, is
directly the result of the Neptune ray,  for just as evil configurations lay
men liable to assault by invisible entities,  so the good configurations  of
Neptune  are particularly required to enable a man to unfold  by  initiation
his whole soul powers and become a conscience agent in the invisible worlds.
Let us remember,  however,  that good or evil configurations are not the re-
sult of chance or luck, but are the product of our own past acts;  the horo-
scope shows what we have earned by our past living and therefore what we are
entitled to in the present life.
   Moreover it should always be kept in mind that THE STARS IMPEL BUT DO NOT
COMPEL;  because  a  man or woman has an evil configuration  of  Neptune  or
Uranus it is not unavoidable that they should go into active evil Mediumship
and Black Magic and thereby makes life harder for themselves in the  future.
Their  opportunity  to do so and the temptation will come at  certain  times
when the heavenly time markers point to the right hour on the clock of  des-
tiny.   Then it is time to stand form for the good and for the right;  being
forewarned  through a knowledge of Astrology one is also forearmed  and  may
the easier overcome when such an aspect culminates.
[PAGE 51]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
   Thus  we have seen that man is amenable to the planetary rays in  an  in-
creasing  measure as he advances through evolution,  but the more highly  he
becomes developed spiritually the less he will allow the planets to dominate
him,  while the younger soul is driven unresistingly along the tide of  life
in whatever direction of the planetary vibrations impel him.  It is the mark
of  the advanced soul that he keeps the true course regardless of the  plan-
etary  vibrations.   Between  these two extremes  there  are  naturally  all
graduations, some amenable to the rays of one planet, some to another.   The
bark  of life of men and women is often driven upon the rocks of sorrow  and
suffering,  that they may learn to evolve within themselves the  will  power
that finally frees them from all domination by the ruling stars.  As Goethe,
the great mystic, said,
         "From every power that holds the world in chains,
         Man frees himself when self-control he gains."
   And  it may be asked,  have we run the gamut of vibrations when  we  have
learned to respond to all the seven planets which are mythically represented
as the seven strings on Apollo's Lyre?  In other words is Neptune the  high-
est vibration to which we shall yet respond?   The Western Wisdom  Teachings
tell us that there are two more planets in the universe which will be  known
in future ages and that these will have an influence in developing qualities
of  so  transcendent  a  nature  that  we  cannot  now understand them.  The
[PAGE 52]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
number of Adam,  man or humanity,  is  nine,  and  there are nine rungs upon
the stellar ladder by which he is ascending to God;  up to the present  time
he has climbed only five of these rungs; Mercury, Venus,  Mars,  Jupiter and
Saturn,  and  not even the vibration of these has he by any  means  learned;
Uranus  and Neptune are slowly coming into our lives;  they will not  become
active in the same manner and to the same degree that for instance, the Moon
and Mars are at the present time until many ages have passed.  But even when
we  have learned to respond to them there are two more which we  shall  know
something later on; it is the opinion of the writers that these are probably
not  felt  by any except those who have graduated from the  Greater  Mystery
School and by the Hierophants of that sublime institution.
   In conclusion to this article on the Amenability of Man to Planetary  Vi-
brations we quote from the Rosicrucian Mysteries the article on Light, Color
and Consciousness.
   "Truly,  GOD IS ONE AND UNDIVIDED.   He enfolds within His Being all that
is,  as the white light embraces all colors.   But He appears three-fold  in
manifestation,  as  the white light is refracted in  three  primary  colors,
Blue, Yellow and Red.  Wherever we see these colors they are emblematical of
the Father,  Son and Holy Spirit.   These three primary rays of Divine  Life
are diffused or radiated through the Sun and produce LIFE, CONSCIOUSNESS AND
[PAGE 53]                                               PLANETARY VIBRATIONS
FORM upon each of the seven light bearers, the planets, which are called the
'Seven Spirits before the Throne.'  Their names are, Mercury, Venus,  Earth,
Mars,  Jupiter,  Saturn and Uranus.  Bode's law proves that Neptune does not
yet  belong to our solar system and the reader is referred  to  'Simplified,
Scientific Astrology'  by the present writer, for mathematical demonstration
of this condition.
   "Each  of the seven planets receives the light of the Sun in a  different
measure,  according to its proximity to the central orb and the constitution
of its atmosphere,  and the beings on each,  according to their stage of de-
velopment have affinity for some of the solar rays.   The planets absorb the
color or colors congruous to them, and reflect the rest upon the other plan-
ets.   This reflected ray bears with it an impulse of the nature of the  be-
ings with which it has been in contact.
   "Thus  the  divine Light and Life comes to each planet,  either  directly
from the Sun,  or reflected from its six sister planets.  and as the  summer
breeze  which has been wafted over blooming fields carries upon its  silent,
invisible wings the blended fragrance of a multitude of flowers, so also the
subtle influences from THE GARDEN OF GOD bring to us the commingled impulses
of all the Planetary Spirits and in that vari-colored light we live and move
and have our being.
   "The  rays which come directly from the Sun are productive  of  spiritual
illumination;  the  reflected  rays  from  other planets make for added con-
[PAGE 54]                                           THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS
sciousness  and moral development and the rays reflected by way of the  Moon
give physical growth.
   "But  as  each planet can only absorb a certain quantity of one  or  more
colors according to the general stage of evolution there, so each being upon
earth, mineral, plant, animal and man can only absorb and thrive upon a cer-
tain quantity of the various rays projected upon the earth.   The  remainder
do not affect it or produce sensation any more than the blind are conscience
of the light and color which exist everywhere around them.   Therefore  each
being  is differently affected by the stellar rays,  and the science of  As-
trology, a fundamental truth in nature is of enormous benefit in the attain-
ment of spiritual growth."