Introduction
Esoteric is the study of the transpersonal. It is perceiving life in the context of an evolving consciousness. Life then becomes a Spiritual journey. The founding principle of esotericism is that we are essentially Divinity incarnating in form. We are not our stories. We are the Reader of our stories.
There comes a point in all our lives where a Spiritual path is consciously chosen. Our focus then becomes split, on the ‘dual’ life of our Personality and our Soul. With our goal to blend these aspects ‘parts of ourselves’ into a unified self expression, becoming and integrated human being; conscious, subconscious and super-conscious all blended and fused.
Just as we each individually unfold higher understanding through life experiences, so does Humanity, as a Whole, become more enlightened. This development can be traced through the Precessional Ages, in two and a half thousand year cycles. For example we are moving out of the Piscean era into Aquarius and we can see world thought changing.
There are as many paths as there are branches of a tree but each have experiences in common and recognizable stages along the way.
I’ll begin with an introduction to the Zodiac by Alice Bailey:
“The Presiding One looked forth upon the sons of men, who are the Sons of God. He saw their light and where they stood upon the Way, which leads back to the Heart of God. The Way sweeps in a circle through twelve great Gates, and, cycle after cycle, the Gates are opened and the Gates are shut. The Sons of God, who are the sons of men, march on. Dim is the light at first. Selfish the trend of human aspiration, and dark the deeds resultant. Slowly humankind learns and, in learning, passes between the pillar of the Gates time and time again …
From out the mass of men, one stood forth in ancient days and caught the Guardian’s eye…Who is that soul upon the Way, whose light can now be dimly seen? Watch over his steps and, when he has an understanding heart, an eager mind and skillful hands, bring him to me.
Centuries passed. The great wheel of life kept turning and, in turning, carried Humanity upon their way. The watching Guardian saw a man emerge… demanding deeds to do, service to render unto Spirit and man, and willingness to travel the Path. Instructions were given, “Obey the Teacher on the Way. Prepare for the tests. Pass through each Gate and in the realm, which they reveal and guard, perform the labor of that realm. Learn the lesson and begin to serve Humanity.”
The twelve great gates are the twelve signs of the Zodiac. There a three crosses. Each cross is made up of four signs and represents a different stage in the unfolding of our awareness. The three crosses represent Body, Soul and Spirit, Conscious, Subconscious and Super Conscious, or Appearance, Consciousness and Life.
“Matter is the vehicle for the manifestation of the Soul on this plane of existence, and the Soul is the vehicle on a higher plane for the manifestaton of the Spirit, and these three are a trinity synthesized by life which pervades them all” – The Secret Doctrine.
What this means is that all physical forms are expressions of Soul, which is in turn, an expression of the One Spirit, which pervades all existence.
The Mutable cross is a cross of flux and change, of adapting to environment and circumstances. It is the cross of our Personality development and where Humanity, as a Whole, has been focused.
The Fixed cross comes into play when we first become sensitive to larger issues and deeper concerns then just our Personality’s issues. This is in response to the receptivity of spiritual impulses. ‘Mounting the cross’ means when we have made the conscious choice to redirect our attention along the lines of our Soul life. It represents a reorientation; a taking on of a spiritual discipline. Because of this discipline, one who mounts the cross is called a Disciple. This is a time of determination. Sometimes called a time of testing. Sometimes called a time of labors.
The Cardinal cross is the cross of Spirit. It represents an even more expanded stage of awareness, one called an ‘Initiate’, who has undergone the self directed ‘initiations’ of the Fixed Cross.
It’s the Fixed cross of Initiation that Humanity, as a Whole, is now mounting, now transitioning to. Because of this, I’m not going to call this a time of testing or a time of labors. I’m going to call it a time for puzzles. Puzzles are more fun then labors or tests. Like all puzzles, it’s so much easier to put the puzzle pieces together when you’ve got a picture to consult for reference. It’s always easier to find our destination if we have a map.
There have been many stories in history of creatures born half god, half man, Divine AND human. Even Pegasus, the winged horse, could travel both heaven and earth. The most recent popular story was about a man called Jesus. But there is a story of a half god half man that is even better known then his. Of a Hero who lived in an age before…
This man’s name was Hercules. He was among the most celebrated heroes of Greek mythology. The Greeks knew him as Herakles. He is generally known to have had Zeus as his immortal Father and Alcemene as his earthly Mother. Half Divine and half Man.
He was instructed by Zeus to submit himself for twelve years to the will of Eurystheus, the King of Argos. If he fulfilled this requirement, he would become like the Gods, immortal. At the bidding of the King of Argos, he performed the tasks known as the Twelve Labors.
His is a journey of a Son of God dancing around the twelve signs of the zodiac and in so doing, becoming one with his own divinity. In Christian literature, it would be said he returned home to God. In Judaic teachings, it would called the fulfillment of the Kabbalah; in Hermetic teachings, it would be called the fulfillment of the Qabalah.
As Hercules dances round the wheel, he expresses the characteristics of each sign, achieves some fresh insight into himself, and the knowledge that enables the demonstration of the gift the sign confers. In each, he surmounts his natural tendencies, and becomes a Master of his own reality.
COMMENTS
Comment: “I am so interested in this! I find the more I read, the more I realize how very much there is to learn.”
Response: “Most of what is ‘out there’ currently is an understanding corresponding to our most superficial and shallow levels. They ’scratch’ the surface, catering to our Personalities. The ones that don’t just scratch the surface are real headaches to read.
That’s why I’m writing ‘this’. I will be continuing, through every “labor”, through every “house” around the wheel. What I’ve written and quoted so far…is in a manner of an Introduction…This is where I’m going with this and why.
I’m coming from viewing the wheel as a Whole, for it symbolizes a Whole Person.
“Everything lies within you.”
Reconciling all the conflicting parts within us is “The Path”, “The Way”. It’s solving the puzzle of how they all work together in cooperation with each other, when fully functioning.
EACH and EVERY single ONE of us is both a Child of God AND a Child of Man.
Every single time throughout history there’s been a rendition of “I am the Light;I am the Way”, it’s been talking about the PATH walked, not especially the person doing it. It’s a path of merging or reconciling, our various parts. Most importantly, our Spirit part with our human part. For the relationship between these two parts of ourselves, will be mirrored in all the other relationships in all other areas of our life.
Draw a circle. Then put a dot in the middle of it.
When we know ourselves to be the dot, then we can express being the dot, full circle, for the dot IS the full circle.
It might take some getting used to but this story is an inner one…esoteric. We each have to look inside of ourselves to find the threads of the story. Once we do, ‘the Path’, ‘the Way’ becomes obvious.
Literally, we blind can see the moment we quit looking all the wrong places.
The Wheel of Life is not static, just as Life Itself is not static. What we miss most often is the very Concept that ours is a LIVING Universe.
Comment: “Feeling this way about the religions has always felt right to me. That they should not be separate, that they should be one, where what feels right to each of us, in these teachings, is taken in by each of us as well.
But I still need to keep reminding myself sometimes to see all things this way 
like the way you describe our signs, that all is really one, viewing all things as a Whole as you never seem to cease to do ”
Response: “I describe ‘religion’ as a DEEPLY personal and intimate experience with the Spirit which Unifies all Life, as revealed by a man named ‘Jesus’.
‘Jesus’ was not called ‘Master’ because he went around Lording himself over anyone. He was called ‘Master’ because he was an Initiate upon the Way and the way leads to Mastery of Self. It’s what Self Mastery is all about.
And he never, not once, claimed a monopoly on ‘being the light’ or ‘being the Way’ or in being the ONLY son of god and a son of man. As a matter if fact, his message was the exact opposite of him having a monopoly. That’s what the recognition of a Spiritual Brotherhood is all about.
Master Plumber, Master Electrician, Master Carpenter…, these are all terms describing levels of skill. The same is true for Self Mastery. It doesn’t bring superiority, it brings equality.
What most of us have been taught is ‘religion’ is a social organization composed of those of us who have never had a genuine religious experience, basically. And I don’t mean that to sound offensive; it’s simply the way it’s been for all of us. We haven’t be told or taught or nurtured to genuinely look within, for when and if we do, all those who have been claiming to be ‘authorities’ are revealed as authorities on being clueless. It’s like a bunch of virgins saying they are authorities on the nuances of sex.
As for my way of seeing things as a whole, this is the legacy of my strokes. I manifested a BIG expansion and grounding of that expansion, Contemplate the way it is with any path. The first who walks it has to carve it out. The next who follows carves it out a little more. As more follow it becomes a footpath, then a road, then a highway. The more that walk the Path, the easier the Path becomes for more of us to follow.
It has been called various names but one of them in particular resonates with a great many of us and that name is, “The Path of Liberation.”
In following the Path to our own Joy, we serve by opening up the Way for the World to follow, seeking its own Joy.”
