RAY
ANALYSIS IN THE BIRTHCHART:
THE CASE OF F.C.D., OR ROBERTO ASSAGIOLI
by M. Temple Richmond © 2003
An example of how astrologically based ray analysis might be done can be drawn from the chart of Roberto Assagioli, who is FCD in Discipleship in the New Age I and II (according to information obtained from The School of Esoteric Studies in Asheville, NC, Asheville residents Marion Crusselle and Dean Going, the latter of whom was personally associated with one of the DINA I and II disciples, and Dorothy Maver, Ph.D., of Northfield, VT, also personally associated with one of the original DINA I and II group members). The initials FCD stand for a phrase given by the Tibetan to Assagioli to guide him in his spiritual evolution. The phrase was “Freedom from Ties, Chelaship, Detachment,” as given in unpublished papers furnished by the above specified sources.
The only ray analyses the accuracy and reliability of which we can count on for absolute sure and certain are those rendered by the Tibetan himself for the disciples discussed in the DINAs. And Assagioli is the only member of that sample for whom a birth time is available in the public domain. Assagioli’s birth information is recorded in Dane Rudhyar’s Astrology and the Modern Psyche, p. 80, and Marc Edmund Jones’ The Sabian Symbols and Astrology, p. 344. Armed with this information, it is possible to calculate Assagioli’s chart and compare it to the ray analysis given to him by the Tibetan. From such correlation and a consideration of the various hints about how to deduce ray constitution given in Esoteric Astrology, elements of an astrologically based science of ray analysis may be extracted.
Roberto Assagioli was born on February 27, 1888, at noon, in Venice, Italy, according to Dane Rudhyar, who was well acquainted with Assagioli. (See Rudhyar’s Astrology and the Modern Psyche, pp. 77 – 82.) Admittedly, any noon birth is conspicuously suggestive of the technique commonly used in the twentieth century for unknown birth times, in which the hour of noon is used in what is called a noonmark chart. The logic for using a noon birth time is that a point in the middle of the 24 hours in the day will produce an average position for the Moon. As a well-versed astrologer, Rudhyar would have been well aware of this technique, and therefore, if Assagioli’s birth time was unknown to Rudhyar, it is highly likely that he would have recorded that fact and indicated that a noonmark chart had been used in place of an authentic chart resulting from a specific birth time. However, this is not the case. Instead, Rudhyar wrote, “Roberto Assagioli was born at noon, February 27, 1888, in Venice, Italy.” (Rudhyar, p. 77) Thus, we are given to understand that the birth time reported by Rudhyar for Assagioli is not a noonmark chart but an actual birth time.
Rudhyar’s data for Assagioli produce the following positions.
Ascendant
2 degrees Cancer 29 minutes
Sun 8 degrees Pisces 20 minutes
Moon 7 degrees Virgo 54 minutes
Mercury 18 degrees Pisces 13 minutes retrograde
Venus 4 degrees Aquarius 06 minutes
Mars 0 degrees Scorpio 0 minutes
Jupiter 5 degrees Sagittarius 29 minutes
Saturn 0 degrees Leo 32 minutes retrograde
Uranus 16 degrees Libra 39 minutes retrograde
Neptune 27 degrees Taurus 23 minutes
Pluto 3 degrees Gemini 04 minutes
Lunar North/South Node 9 Leo/Aquarius 32 (True)
Midheaven 4 degrees Pisces 44 minutes
Turning to Assagioli’s ray constitution, we find that the Tibetan specified this information in Discipleship in the New Age I (p. 152). There D.K. stated that FCD (Assagioli) had the following ray makeup.
Soul……………………….…Ray
2
Personality…………………Ray 4
Mental Body………………Ray 1
Astral Body………………..Ray 2
Physical Body……………..Ray 7
How might these conclusions have been drawn from Assagioli’s astrological placements? To answer that question, let us look at some of the Tibetan’s statements regarding the manner in which the various rays are indicated through the astrological chart and compare these indications with actual placements in the chart of FCD.
In A Treatise on White Magic (p. 436), the Tibetan stated, “ The Ascendant indicates the nature of the soul force that the incarnated son of God is seeking to wield through the medium of a particular personality….”
In Esoteric Astrology (pp. 18 – 19), the Tibetan Master said that the Ascendant points the way to recognition of the force of the soul. Again in TWM (p. 435), he indicated that the Ascendant shows what type of force will enable the native to succeed spiritually. Though none of these passages comes right out and says that the Ascendant indicates the soul ray, it seems more than probable that the Tibetan meant ray quality when he used the words “force,” and “soul force.” Thus, we are probably on solid ground in examining the Ascendant in Assagioli’s chart for some kind of Ray 2 indicator.
Assagioli’s Ascendant is Cancer, which sign distributes Rays 3 and 7, not the Ray 2 indicated as Assagioli’s soul ray. However, the esoteric and hierarchical ruler of Cancer is Neptune, and as to what ray Neptune distributes, we get into deep water, naturally appropriate for the domain of oceanic Neptune! Most frequently the Tibetan stated that Neptune distributes Ray 6. However, he also associated Neptune with Ray 2 (Cosmic Fire, p. 370; Esoteric Psychology I, pp. 420 – 421; Esoteric Astrology, p. 341). That each of the planets may distribute more than one ray is a contingency certainly spelled out by the Tibetan, for he stated that every planet has both a soul and personality ray (Esoteric Psychology I, p. 335; Esoteric Astrology, p. 651). He even stated directly that every planet in fact is associated with three rays – the rays of its personality, soul, and monad. (See Esoteric Psychology I, p. 191; Esoteric Astrology p. 619.) Thus, to add to Neptune’s dowry the capacity to distribute Ray 2 is hardly an offense against esoteric canon.
Thus, if we use the additional ray association for Neptune, the esoteric and hierarchical ruler of Assagioli’s Cancerian Ascendant, we can in view of the Tibetan’s statements about the nature of the Ascendant rather easily arrive at a Ray 2 indication. Some might say that 2 degrees Cancer is too early in that sign for the Ascendant to be reliable. In that case, we might point to the fact that had Assagioli been born a bit earlier, then he would have had Gemini rising, a sign which itself distributes only the Second Ray, his soul ray as given by the Tibetan. However, as is evident in the Discipleship in the New Age passages which pertain to Assagioli (DINA I pp. 138 – 156; DINA II, pp. 459 – 473), the Tibetan’s counseling comments to Assagioli in the DINAs point to the fact that Assagioli had personal psychological and spiritual issues much more in keeping with the Cancerian Ascendant. Thus, from this example we can draw the conclusion that at least in some cases, the soul ray may be shown by the esoteric and possibly the hierarchical ruler of the Ascendant.
The
personality ray attributed to Assagioli by the Tibetan was Ray 4, the
Ray of Harmony through Conflict. According to the Tibetan, the personality
ray is in some way related to the Sun sign. (See Esoteric Astrology,
pp. 16 – 17.) Assagioli’s Sun sign was Pisces, which sign distributes
Rays 2 and 6, neither of which matches Assagioli’s Ray 4 personality.
However, note that Assagioli had Sun tightly opposite Moon and widely
conjunct Mercury, both of which bodies neatly answer to the required Ray
4 indication.
Clearly and plainly, in the case of Assagioli, it was hard angle aspects
to the Sun made by other bodies which contained the accurate indication.
The hard angle series (conjunction, square, and opposition – or 0 degrees
separation, 90 degrees separation, and 180 degrees separation) are well
recognized within the astrological field as the most potent of all aspects,
producing the most obvious and dramatic effects. Thus, from this example
we might draw the conclusion that hard angle aspects to the Sun (conjunction,
square, and opposition) may, according to the rays distributed by the
aspecting bodies, in some cases yield the personality ray.
According
to the Tibetan’s comments, Assagioli’s mental body was conditioned by
Ray One. Generally, the mental body is linked with both Mercury and Venus,
for Mercury represents the concrete and abstract levels of mind (Esoteric
Astrology, p. 281), while Venus symbolizes mind and intellect (EA
pp. 126, 247 – 248, 323). In Assagioli’s chart, Mercury is in Pisces
and Venus is in Aquarius. Pisces distributes rays 2 and 6, neither of
which would yield the correct indication, but the esoteric and hierarchical
ruler of Pisces is Ray One Pluto, which neatly furnishes the accurate
information. Aquarius, the sign in which Assagioli had Venus, is formally
indicated in Esoteric Astrology as a distributor of Ray 5 (p. 423),
but this sign is fleetingly mentioned as a conductor of energy from the
Great Bear (EA, pp. 349, 351), which constellation is an agent of the
First Ray.
A Ray One association for Aquarius is imminently thinkable, as Leo, its polar opposite, also distributes Rays One and Five. If Aquarius were to be accorded a Ray One distributorship, then a satisfying symmetry between Leo and Aquarius would emerge. This very type of symmetry already exists in other polar opposite sign pairs, such as Taurus and Scorpio, both of which distribute Ray 4, Cancer and Capricorn, both of which distribute Rays 3 and 7, and Virgo and Pisces, both of which distribute Rays 2 and 6. Hence, it is probable that this type of pattern will eventually emerge in subsequent installments of the esoteric astrological teaching, likely due in the first quarter of the twenty-first century. It seems reasonable, therefore, to add Ray One to the ray characteristics associated with the sign of Aquarius. This would render a consistent theme with the greater emphasis to be expected on understanding the Will Aspect predicted for the Age of Aquarius by the Tibetan.
Thus, if we were to have examined Assagioli’s chart without having known the ray of the mental body beforehand, seeing the Mercury in Pisces and the Venus in Aquarius, we might have asked ourselves, “What do these two positions hold in common?” Had we listed all the possible ray involvements, we would have noticed a definite and repeating Ray One theme, with Ray One Pluto as the esoteric and hierarchical ruler of Pisces, and Aquarius itself as a distributor of Ray One. Admittedly, such a perception rests upon an exceeding familiarity with the minor points made in Esoteric Astrology, but hey, what are we here for?
In Assagioli’s case, the astral body was said by the Tibetan to have been conditioned by Ray 2. In general, the astral body is linked with the Moon (Esoteric Astrology, pp. 297 – 298) and with Neptune (EA pp. 219 – 220, 275). It is likely also associated with Mars, for as a distributor of Ray 6, Mars has a natural affinity with the astral plane. In addition, the Tibetan characterizes Mars as the agent of the war of the opposites (EA p. 365), a characterization in keeping with the nature of the astral plane as the dimension in which the pairs of opposites have their greatest grip on consciousness.
Hence, we should examine the Moon and Neptune primarily, and Mars secondarily, in an attempt to arrive at the correct ray of the astral body for Assagioli. The Moon we find in Virgo, and Neptune in Taurus. Mars is at 0 degrees of Scorpio. Of these, the Moon furnishes the correct answer right away without any further searching, as Virgo distributes the required Second Ray. But Virgo also distributes Ray 6, so how could we have known which to choose? Further, both Mars and Neptune are in signs distributing Ray 4, and the repeating message in this configuration might easily have led us to select the Ray of Harmony through Conflict for Assagioli’s astral body.
This example suggests that a liberal emphasis should be placed on the condition of the Moon in the effort to deduce the ray of an individual’s astral body. In Assagioli’s chart, the Moon (at approximately 8 degrees of Virgo) is closely square Jupiter (at 5 degrees Sagittarius), which planet is also the hierarchical ruler of Virgo. Since Jupiter distributes Ray 2, a strong repeating message involving the Second Ray results. Even with these repeating indications regarding Ray 2, this would have been a tricky call to make had one been traversing the territory without a guide. However, we can draw from this example the general principle that hard angle aspects to the Moon (if they exist), together with the ray distributed by the sign of the Moon or one of its rulers, may in some cases clearly reveal the nature of the astral body.
Assagioli’s physical body, according to the Tibetan, was conditioned by Ray 7. Mars plays a role again here, as the Tibetan indicated that Mars symbolizes the entire lower nature (EA 211), and the physical vehicle in particular (EA 210). Mars in Assagioli’s chart was a key factor, the handle of a T-square involving Saturn at 0 degrees Leo 32 minutes, and Venus at 4 degrees Aquarius 6 minutes. As is painfully plain, neither Scorpio nor any of its rulers distribute the needed ray. The Seventh Ray in this case might find an inlet through Saturn, linked by the Tibetan with Ray 7 in the tabulation on p. 423 of Esoteric Astrology. Here again is a case in which an additional ray signature of a planet is a necessary item of knowledge to have in one’s arsenal in order to find the correct indication. This same correct indication might also be extracted from the square of Mars to Venus in Aquarius, which sign has as its exoteric ruler a distributor of the Ray 7, the planet Uranus, but correct deduction by this route seems even less certain, as one would have to appeal to the exoteric ruler of the sign holding an aspected planet, not that aspected planet itself.
As can be seen, correct astrologically based ray analysis is an exacting exercise. Many possibilities will present themselves for consideration. In order to distinguish between these numerous choices, it seems best to consider the rays of the sign holding the factor under consideration and then look for confirming evidence in the form of hard angle aspects to the factor under consideration and repeating themes in various levels of rulership. Even this is only an approximate guide, but one that could well have worked in an astrologically based ray analysis for Roberto Assagioli. In sum, it can be said with certainty that astrologically-based ray analysis is certainly difficult, but not impossible. To those who would dismiss this hypothesis as irrelevant (and there are individuals and organizations so doing), it seems necessary to respond that any discussion of the matter is not complete without consideration of the foregoing study of the chart of Roberto Assagioli.
The previous issue of Logos contained an in-depth exploration of the astrological birth chart for Roberto Assagioli and how it might have yielded a ray analysis matching that given by the Tibetan for this disciple in Discipleship in the New Age I, p. 152. That subject will be expanded in this issue to a consideration of the way in which the spiritual guidance offered by the Tibetan to F.C.D. reflects Assagioli’s astrological and ray characteristics. From this exploration will be extracted certain principles that can be safely used in esoteric astrological counseling.
The story of Assagioli’s evolving discipleship is told in Discipleship in the New Age I, pp. 138 – 156, and Discipleship in the New Age II, pp. 459 – 473. These pages contain letters dictated by the Tibetan for F.C.D. (or Assagioli) to Alice Bailey. The letters follow Assagioli’s progress for a fifteen year period, from 1933 – 1948, spanning Assagioli’s ages 44 - 60. This fifteen year period, of course, brackets World War II, a geo-political development of much significance to Assagioli, both in his personal life and in his life of discipleship service. Assagioli was an Italian Jew[1] living under the Mussolini regime. The simple fact of his religious heritage, together with his altruistic values and publicly expressed spirit of goodwill, ultimately brought him under the unwanted attention of the Nazi-Fascist Italian government. However, though Assagioli was without question in grave danger, he ultimately maintained his liberty, as the story below will show.
A rough sketch of Assagioli’s biographical data might help place his life and discipleship work in context. According to Assagioli’s personal friend, astrologer Dane Rudhyar, the following facts about Assagioli’s outer life are known.[2] Born February 27, 1888, noon, in Venice, Italy, Assagioli earned his medical degree in neurology and psychiatry at the University of Florence. Beyond his academic work, Assagioli’s interests included a broad range of philosophical, cultural, and liberal issues. In his early years he was involved in various literary activities, directing a philosophy library and editing a scientific journal named Psyche. He developed an innovative psychotherapeutic technique and established an institute for its practice in Rome before the onset of World War II.
When the Fascist –Nazi party took over Italy, Assagioli already had a reputation as a progressive humanitarian and liberal. His psychotherapeutic technique was based on the existence of a higher, superconscious, or spiritual aspect of the human being, an idea clearly subversive to the materialistic Nazi position. Not surprisingly, Assagioli was arrested during the war years by Mussolini’s troops and kept in solitary confinement for one month in 1940. He was released, but was again hounded by Fascist security forces in 1943, during which time Assagioli evaded capture by hiding in mountain hamlets. In 1944, Assagioli together with the rest of Europe was liberated by Allied forces. After the war, Assagioli focused on formulating his ideas into books for public use. He is widely known for his two works, Psychosynthesis and The Act of Will, both of which had been published before Assagioli died in 1974.
Lately another facet of Assagioli’s life has been recounted by a number of persons long associated with Meditation Mount, in Ojai, California. It seems that during the late 1950s and the 1960s, Assagioli was quite active in making plans and laying foundations for global esoteric education. According to Frances Adams Moore, associated with Meditation Mount since the 1960s, and others such as Davina Cox of Ojai, Assagioli was in contact with Bailey students throughout the world. He organized an international group charged with the responsibility of setting up seven institutions of esoteric education in various countries. One of these groups eventually settled in Ojai in the early 1960s and became Meditation Mount as it is today, now serving some 5000 correspondents with inspired literature and organized programs of meditation on themes extracted from the Tibetan’s teaching. Assagioli is considered the original point of inspiration for the founding of the Mount, though the actual original administrative work was accomplished by his associate and student, Florence Garrigue of Greenwich, CT, and Ojai, CA.
Thus, it is evident that Assagioli led a life of real relevance to world spiritual progress both exoterically and esoterically. A rare glimpse of the inner life of this most successful discipleship expression is afforded us by the Tibetan’s correspondence with F.C.D., so let us now turn to what the Tibetan’s remarks to him reveal about Assagioli’s spiritual strengths, human weaknesses, tests, and opportunities to work with Hierarchy in service to the Plan.
Recall from the previous issue of Logos that Assagioli had the Ascendant in Cancer, the sun in Pisces, and the Moon in Virgo conjunct the fourth house cusp (and thus angular). As shall be shown, the prominence of the water element via the water signs Cancer and Pisces, and the lunar themes brought forth by an angular Moon and a Full Moon birth all aptly describe in astrological symbolism the main themes upon which the Tibetan instructed Assagioli. Just as Cancer, Pisces, and the Moon (and Full Moon births) are well recognized even in exoteric astrology to produce a marked psychic and emotional sensitivity, the Tibetan drew Assagioli’s attention to the presence of just these very themes in his life to a troubling degree.
In fact, the Tibetan repeatedly warned Assagioli away from further cultivation of emotional hypersensitivity,[3] too much emphasis upon telepathic reaction to others’ states of mind,[4] allowing others to become too emotionally attached to him, [5] and about Assagioli himself being too attached to others on an emotional basis.[6] These are all problems associated with the nature of the Piscean and Cancerian influences, which as water signs, produce the blurring of boundaries between self and other in psychic and emotional ways that frequently obscure a necessary higher clarity. This was Assagioli’s problem. True to his Cancerian, Piscean, and lunar influences, he was a profoundly compassionate and empathic human being. Yet he was also quite nearly incapacitated by this facet of himself at times, overwhelmed by the content of his psychic and telepathic links with others. As a disciple on the path of occult training and wise use of energy, it was necessary for him to drastically reduce his capacity for emotional identification with others, replacing that sensitivity with the less dramatic communion soul to soul.
The fact that Assagioli’s astrological chart so accurately symbolizes the very issues brought forth in the Tibetan’s remarks to him is of interest itself, for it is not in any way likely that the Tibetan had need of an astrological chart from which to derive his guidance. As an adept of the Fifth Degree, Master D.K. (the Tibetan) had capacity for complete clairvoyance or remote telepathic viewing. He was able to directly sense and see not only the attitudes and states of mind of those whom he guided, but also their pasts and futures. Thus, it should be noted that the Tibetan probably did not derive his comments from study of an astrological chart such as is currently used. Nonetheless, the degree to which his remarks tally with astrological indications tends to suggest that astrological analysis can be employed as a sufficient tool in esoteric counseling. The story told in the letters to F.C.D. will best demonstrate this principle, so let us turn to an examination of these letters taken in chronological order.
D.K.’s first recorded letter to F.C.D., dated January 1933, immediately informs its recipient that his etheric vehicle is dangerously devitalized and overtaxed,[7] the type of weakened vitality frequently associated with Piscean influence, given as it is to dissolution and the sublimation of physical plane matter into mists. This condition was susceptible of correction, F.C.D. was advised, with solitude and outdoor exposure,[8] and his attention was drawn to an yet another situation which also drained him of vitality. Said the Tibetan, “You have the problem of…a heart attached to many and hence unduly strained and taxed by others. There are many demands on your sympathies.”[9]
Both the signs Cancer and Pisces are known for their empathic nature, emotional focus, and tendency to easily form bonds of affection with others. But these very characteristics, according to the Tibetan, were standing right in the way of Assagioli’s discipleship progress. “You suffer from attachment and from too rapid identification with other people. This can be handled if you stand steadfast as a soul and do not focus as a personality in your dealing with people – both in your home circle and in your world service. You need to bear in mind that your relation is with souls and not with temporary forms and so you must live detached from personalities, serving them but living ever in the consciousness of the soul….”[10]
Thus, D.K. in effect advised Assagioli not to be overcome by the characteristics of his water sign and lunar influences, all of which are known by astrologers to incline an individual toward sentimental attachments. In fact, the Tibetan stated very forcefully the right direction for Assagioli, saying, “The perfect fulfilment of your duty and your freedom inwardly from ties will spell for you that measure of liberation which will release you to fuller service.”[11] This last statement contains a key phrase from which the initials F.C.D. are derived. F.C.D. stands for three spiritual characteristics the Tibetan would have had Assagioli develop; Freedom from Ties, Chelaship, and Detachment, the first of which three is clearly enunciated in the Tibetan’s wording in the passage above. Why was it so necessary for Assagioli to stand free of ties? It was because his emotional links with both family and psychotherapeutic patients embroiled him with them at the personality level, which was a lesser level of functioning than that required if Assagioli was to help others be released into the strength and wisdom of their souls. Thus the Tibetan warned Assagioli away from the low road and encouraged him to take the high road in his relations with others.
In 1933 when the Tibetan directed such comments to Assagioli, transiting Neptune had been passing back and forth in conjunction to Assagioli’s Moon degree and in opposition to his Sun degree since October 1931. As god of the waters and a distributor of Ray 6, Neptune rules the astral plane and hence the astral body. Thus, it is entirely understandable that an issue concerning the over-responsiveness of the astral body would have been current for Assagioli during this phase, during which Neptune activated two placements in his chart by hard angle transit, the most powerful kind of transiting aspect.
Neptune continued to pass back and forth over Assagioli’s Moon degree and opposite his Sun degree through August 1933, and in June of that year, D.K. wrote, “Your period of difficulty and of loneliness has not lessened for you and you have found it hard to struggle along.”[12] In other words, the Neptune effect had not yet dissipated, and Assagioli was still in the midst of attempts to get a grip on his astral body, which like all astral bodies had a tendency to constantly fog his perception. At this time Assagioli obviously felt very alone, for D.K. used the word “loneliness.” Here indeed is circumstance easily understandable by any counseling astrologer, who knows from observation that transits of Neptune over any point in the chart frequently bring feelings of isolation, acute sensitivity, and in general a sense of being misunderstood. And here, while Assagioli was in the midst of a two year transit of Neptune over his Moon and opposite his Sun, the Tibetan alluded to just such a state of affairs.
But the Tibetan Master also offered hope and encouragement, adding the important words, “…you are coming closer to your Master…,”[13] healing music to the ears of any striving disciple. This was undoubtedly good news in the midst of dreary, demoralizing circumstances, the full details about which are not given in the letters. Nonetheless, the bright spot in it all was the advent of a closer spiritual approach to Assagioli’s Master, who was not D.K. but rather Koot Humi.[14] This closer approach of Assagioli to his Master was apparently taking place in the midst of and being signified by a transiting conjunction of Neptune to Assagioli’s Moon and the transiting opposition of Neptune to his Sun. Thus, in this case, not only did Neptune bring increased emotional and psychic sensitivity, feelings of being alone and misunderstood, and maybe even real social, political, and professional persecution, but also an opportunity to advance toward contact with significant spiritual sources.
In fact, it might even be inferred that the reason for the acute sensitivity and the removal from previously comforting human contacts is just so that the inner plane telepathic contact with the Master might be facilitated – an important principle to remember for those times when one is confronted with the vagaries and apparently unjust conditions which frequently accompany Neptune transits. The temptation under Neptune influence is to imagine oneself (or the counselee) as the tortured martyr to whom all sorts of unwarranted punishments are being meted out. To the contrary, it would appear that some of these “punishments” (i.e., loneliness) may well be serious blessings in disguise. This may have been true in Assagioli’s case, for concurrent with a period of loneliness there transpired a closer approach to his Master, an approach to be understood as a closer telepathic and subjective bond, which matters are of course ruled by Neptune.
The next letter came forth in June 1934, an entire year later. Transiting Neptune had just finished its interaction with Assagioli’s Sun-Moon opposition. Major new astrological influences were about to enter Assagioli’s picture. Transiting Uranus at 0 degrees Taurus was poised to begin a two year activation of Assagioli’s T-square located in early fixed degrees: Saturn at approximately 1 Leo, Mars at 0 Scorpio, and Venus at 4 Aquarius. And transiting Saturn at 28 Aquarius would reach Assagioli’s Midheaven very shortly, in April of 1935, to hover around that point through January 1936, thus activating a point in the chart well known to concern one’s greater responsibilities in life and one’s impact on society and the world. Thus, with Uranus just about to jolt Assagioli’s T-square into action, and Saturn just about to thrust Assagioli into the limelight of attention, D.K.’s comment to him was, “You stand at the verge of a real expansion of your work….”[15] In other words, all that astrological energy signified that Assagioli was positioned to leave behind the doldrums of the Neptune transit and get cracking for the implementation of the Plan.
Clearly, the travail of the heavy Neptune influence was not altogether bogged down in the self concern generated by the astral body. No, this transit had also brought about certain developments of a desirable nature from the standpoint of the Teachers, and D.K. saw that the energy correlated with the fresh and incoming astrological activation could therefore be devoted to new endeavors.
However, Assagioli was not yet entirely free of the tentacles engendered by the lunar and water sign inclinations, for in this same letter, D.K. went on to admonish Assagioli all over again on the same points, saying , “Relinquish that close attention to the lives of those around you which is the easy way of working for all who are second ray disciples. Their sense of responsibility is so great and their desire to shelter and to guard so strong that they unduly cherish those who are linked to them by karmic obligation and whose lives touch theirs in the life of every day. Go your own way with strength and silence, and do that which your soul demands. Let not the lesser voices of the loved and near deflect you from your progress upon the path of service. You belong now to the world, and not to a handful of your fellowmen.”[16]
This is as much to say, “Cease over-attachment to and meddling in the affairs of others and get your mind on the bigger picture,” a comment undoubtedly apt for any individual influenced by meddlesome, trivia-oriented Virgo. In this case, it was Assagioli’s Moon which was in that sign. Since the Moon, after all, in esoteric astrological doctrine is nothing but an impeding veil, the psychological characteristics, patterns, and drives associated with the sign where it’s located can be discarded without regret. And that’s exactly what the Tibetan urged here in the language of ray psychology, drawing to Assagioli’s attention the troublesome side of behavior associated with Ray 2, which ray characterized Assagioli’s astral body, described by his Moon sign, Virgo, a distributor of Ray 2.
The letter of June 1934 also contained specific directions for a project which would foreshadow the type of more broadly relevant world service the Tibetan hoped to see Assagioli undertake. D.K. asked Assagioli to write an article upon the power of the dedicated will, which topic would eventually flower into a significant portion of Assagioli’s psychological theory, as demonstrated in his well-known treatise, The Act of Will. D.K.’s comments directing Assagioli toward a consideration of the consecrated will were made just as transiting Uranus, which is sometimes associated with the Ray of Will and Power[17] (in addition to its more frequent association with the Ray of Magic and Ceremonial Order), was beginning to activate Assagioli’s Saturn in Leo by transiting square. Leo, of course, distributes Ray One, and Saturn is sometimes associated as well with that ray, according to the Tibetan.[18]
Thus, the Tibetan drew Assagioli’s attention to the Ray of Will and Power just as several astrological indicators associated with that ray were releasing their influences into Assagioli’s energy field. In fact, D.K stated to Assagioli in this letter, “It is the use of the will aspect that second ray disciples have to acquire and this, for you, is an immediate problem. The will of persistence you have. The dynamic will which breaks down barriers and carries all before it is your next achievement and unfoldment.”[19] The immediate problem was thus directly related to the next major transiting planetary aspects Assagioli was to experience. But this theme of developing the will aspect would last well beyond the approaching Ray One planetary transits, remaining central throughout Assagioli’s discipleship career, as the letters show. The method by which this was to be accomplished was constant meditation upon the will, consecrated to active loving service, which constant meditation the Tibetan specifically recommended to Assagioli.[20] It is interesting to note here that the Tibetan urged a movement in consciousness which would automatically pull Assagioli’s attention out of his tendency toward sentiment–based relationships and into his greater work by substituting for his Ray 2 astral body habits the preoccupations associated with the ray of his mental body.
And there was urgent good reason that this should be done. The January 1935 letter makes it clear that Assagioli’s physical health and consequent freedom to serve were still seriously hampered by his continuing etheric devitalization. Said the Tibetan, “The physical weakness has its seat in constant draining and leakage of the etheric body.”[21] In turn, that leakage of the etheric body, said the Tibetan, was a direct result of Assagioli’s outgoing care for others, a good thing in proper measure, no doubt, but devastating in large doses.
The Tibetan laid this out plainly to Assagioli, the ever-empathic Piscean, in saying, “Forget not that a weakened etheric body is easily drained by other people though they do this quite unconsciously. Therefore, for you, close contact with others is not desirable – not only from the standpoint of your health but from the angle of the status which you have reached upon the path of Discipleship.”[22] D.K. went on to say, “Close mingling with the auras of other people causes in your case a constant seepage of vitality, for you are constantly oriented to giving.”[23]
There, in a nutshell, was the problem. Assagioli was giving out all the energy he had to the (relatively small) concerns of the individuals in his personal circle of acquaintances. This is a classic problem of the water sign psychology and particularly of Pisces, persons influenced by which sign seem to know little about appropriate boundary setting and consequently are frequently exhausted, wasted, drained, and vitiated by the extent to which they pours themselves out for others. This sort of “bleeding to death” for others has certainly been condoned by the misguided theologies which arose as a distorted statement of values to be integrated during the Age of Pisces. Such a behavior pattern, however, was never productive, and in Assagioli’s case, it was well nigh destroying his health.
As a sun sign Pisces, Assagioli is a particularly good example of the whole Piscean complex and paradigm which must be repudiated if disciples are to be effective world servers and competent, wise managers of energies. The non-emotional, soul directed, and scientific use of energy is one of the main objectives of the Hierarchical teaching, and particularly of the esoteric astrological teaching given by the Tibetan.[24] This teaching promotes a conscientious use of all incoming energies. And this was exactly what D.K. wanted Assagioli to see. He wanted Assagioli to think more carefully about the uses to which he put his quota of energy, and to look beyond his comfort zone of individuals and their personal problems at the larger horizon of world service and the efforts needed in that context. Said D.K. to Assagioli, "You must take the attitude of a disciple whose work and time is needed by the world in this hour of urgency.”[25]
This is not to say that Assagioli was to completely ignore the needs of those around him (which would have gone against his kindly nature and the discipleship principle of right human relations), but instead that he was not to allow himself to exhaust all his vital resources in an attempt to deal on the personality level with the needs of those around him. This issue is of course one that all of today’s servers can readily understand, and thus appreciate Assagioli’s position as he battled those tendencies within himself that were not bad in any real sense, but which were lesser than what is needed for effective Hierarchical cooperation. D.K. led Assagioli away from a life path in which every passing sentiment called the shots, toward a deliberately constructed vehicle of soul expression and service. The critical ingredient in getting this done was the activation of the spiritual will in Assagioli. Along these lines, the Tibetan stated to Assagioli, “It is the use of the will that is of importance to a disciple, for the rightly directed will is the controller of force and the disciple works in the realm of forces.”[26]
The July 1935 letter begins with a statement indicating that Assagioli had been recently going through a period of testing and consolidation.[27] Just at that time, transiting Saturn in Pisces had been activating Assagioli’s Moon-Sun opposition at 8 Virgo/Pisces, had been doing so since April of that year, and would continue to do so through January 1936. As all well-versed astrologers know, both the words “testing” and “consolidation” are associated with the effects of Saturn, and thus here again the close conformity of the astrological indications with those given by D.K.’s clairvoyant analysis is demonstrated.
The July 1935 letter also contains comments that were certainly good preparation for an important astrological influence that Assagioli was soon to experience. Reference to Assagioli’s chart shows that he had Mercury in the 10th house at 18 degrees of Pisces and in retrograde motion. Transiting Saturn would reach that point and hover around it from April 1936 through January 1937. Again, as all well versed astrologers know, the 10th house concerns one’s impact on the world through career and social standing, and Mercury rules all communication processes. Thus, with an angular Mercury emphasized by both house position an retrogradation, Assagioli certainly had it in him to become a well-known writer or lecturer, and he was due to enter a period of time in which such facets of his potential could be actualized.
Right in keeping with astrological indications, the Tibetan’s remarks to Assagioli at this time were, “…you must acquire an increased ability to voice truth through the medium of the written word. Opportunity will come to you to reach the world with ideas that are relatively new; that which you write can be printed and circulated…. But, my brother, you must work for a year at the organising of your thought and material, so that you can reach the thinkers of the world with the new ideas in the field of that oncoming major science, the newer field of service – the field of psychology….”[28]
Thus, the Tibetan here focused upon the potential for the upcoming conjunction of transiting Saturn to Assagioli’s natal 10th house Mercury. To exoteric astrologers, Jupiter is the planet of opportunity. But according to the Tibetan’s presentation of the esoteric astrological doctrine, it is Saturn which brings real opportunity, in the sense of a definite opportunity to make a significant contribution to the manifestation of the Plan. D.K. called Saturn the planet of discipleship and opportunity,[29] the planet under whose influence one may shoulder personal responsibility,[30] the stager of situations which make choice and determination inevitable,[31] and the presenter of opportunity.[32] Undoubtedly, the Tibetan could see ahead to the circumstances that would present themselves to Assagioli, specifically the window in time in which he could begin to make his destined impact on the field of psychology.
But, true to the well-recognized character of Saturn influence, such an opportunity would mean nothing without application of self to the serious work at hand. Thus, the Tibetan said that Assagioli must work for a year at organizing his ideas, a classic expression of Saturn (which exacts effort as well as imparting structure and organization) in combination with Mercury (ideas, verbal expression, written material). D.K.’s direction to Assagioli just before transiting Saturn would activate his Mercury was, “You must know with clarity what is the new thing which you seek to give to the world. Then and only then will the many true ideas which ferment so facilely in your mind drop into place….”[33] Truer Saturnian words were never spoken, especially to a Piscean with a retrograde Mercury in a water sign – all of which influences would have inclined Assagioli toward vague, diffused and disorganized thinking if not disciplined rather severely. Here it is evident that the Tibetan Teacher was well aware of Assagioli’s weaknesses, and gave him the key to overcome them at a critical juncture in time.
That Assagioli should compose and order his mind around the predicted writing project was one of the Tibetan’s main points to Assagioli in mid 1935. D.K. stated, “The writing of this book should be your main, subjective endeavor during the next few years.”[34] Those next few years were largely to be colored by major transits to Assagioli’s Mercury. Transiting Saturn in Pisces would conjunct Assagioli’s Mercury degree in April 1936, September 1936, and January 1937. Transiting Neptune in Virgo would oppose Assagioli’s Mercury broadly from October 1936 through July 1938. Thus, Assagioli’s Mercury would be heavily accented by transit from the spring of 1936 through the summer of 1938, neatly describing the “next few years” during which the writing of a book, a decidedly Mercurial activity, was to claim Assagioli’s attention. Here is yet another case in which the Tibetan’s clairvoyant and spiritual advice matched up with what might have been deduced astrologically as well.
The literary challenge before him notwithstanding, Assagioli was still struggling with his inherently sensitive equipment. D.K. urged Assagioli once again in July 1935 to detach himself from “too close a contact with the auras of others,”[35] and in December 1935, D.K. acknowledged that Assagioli’s telepathic facility had led him to suffer much in sensing the distress of those of importance to him.[36] This, the Tibetan brought out in the December 1935 letter, was as a consequence of the fact that Assagioli chosen the path of the World Saviors, ever a hard one, due to the ability of the “Divine Sensitives” to suffer in the sensing of world pain. Pisces, Assagioli’s sun sign, is of course associated with the work of World Saviors.
D.K. sought to help Assagioli manage his sensitivity in this direction in a practical way, recommending a temporary discipline constituted of divine indifference and close concentration upon service matters at hand.[37] This advice came as transiting Saturn made a conjunction to Assagioli’s Sun, an opposition to his Moon, and a conjunction to his Midheaven from December 1935 to January 1936. Such advice is certainly in keeping with the requirements of Saturn, which frequently forces the individual to deal with pragmatic concerns. Usually this works out for the good, even though it seems drastic at the time.
The June 1936 letter continues with guidance consistent with the strong Saturnian influence acting on Assagioli’s chart at this time. D.K. told Assagioli, “…the future holds for you much successful work, if right elimination of non-essential activities (with a consequent intensification of the essential and a certain measure of physical discipline) becomes possible to you.”[38] Streamlining, cutting back, and reduction of involvements are all associated with the influence of Saturn transits. Undertaking these measures willingly would allow Assagioli to derive the most spiritual benefit from this interval in his life.
In the same letter, D.K. once more brought Assagioli’s attention to the need for him to curb the etheric leakage causing his physical debilities, which again D.K. pointed out could be done by proper attitude. “Your problem,” the Tibetan explained to Assagioli, “has far less to do with your own individual equipment than it has to do with your environing conditions. It is in these conditions that you have to serve. You are excessively sensitive to impacts from those surroundings, both from the mass and from individuals, and you know not yet how to give in fullness and yet retain, how to go out others and never leave your own poised position. To stand in spiritual being…is the clue to your problem. You need thus to stand and with greater poise. A dynamic, mental focussing will save you from much depletion. If, my brother, you dwell ever on the plane of the mind, you cannot so easily be reached by the majority who contact you and who at present drain you of your strength.”[39]
As before, the centerpiece of the Tibetan’s advice to Assagioli hinged on accenting the disciple’s mental body and its ray, while simultaneously playing down the mediumistic, instinctual telepathic tendencies of Pisces, so easily expressed through Assagioli’s 2nd ray astral body. It is easy to see in this approach a general principle that might be applied in various esoteric counseling situations.
The theme changed slightly in the January 1937 letter, in which the Tibetan announced to Assagioli, “You are about to enter upon a period of fuller service.”[40] This expanded service was to include the location of those individuals who showed discipleship promise, communication with the intelligent masses, and the inspiring of others who could value ideas, but not “…to reach the unawakened, or to write that which is popular.”[41] Here D.K. is urging on Assagioli a degree of discrimination not native to the Piscean psychology, which wants to accept everything and everybody, no questions asked. This was Assagioli’s sun sign predisposition, but the esoteric astrological doctrine teaches that the sun sign is nothing but a veil. Thus, the deliberate shedding of certain sun sign characteristics is in line with esoteric astrological principles.
D.K. also directed Assagioli to greater attention to his subjective work,[42] such as various forms of occult meditation and specifically directed attempts to make telepathic contact with persons advancing on the path. The major transits to Assagioli’s chart at this time included the opposition of transiting Neptune from the 4th house to the natal 10th house Mercury, an apt signature for a subjective focus, which is certainly symbolized by both the 4th house and the planet Neptune. D.K.’s advice to Assagioli under this transit gives us a clue to the productive use of all Neptune transits, which frequently end up being lost spiritual opportunities for a lack of understanding regarding their spiritual purposes.
It is apparent that Assagioli was familiar with his astrological chart, for in the January 1937 letter, the Tibetan referred to Assagioli’s mention of his own “lack of fire.”[43] Actually, Assagioli had two planets in fire signs, Jupiter in Sagittarius, and Saturn in Leo. All the same, Assagioli’s Midheaven, Sun, and Mercury in Pisces seemed to characterize much of his expression, and so the water element appeared to dominate. In fact, his chart had a pretty good distribution of all the elements represented, with two planets in fire signs, two in earth, three in air, and three in water. Additionally, his overall chart pattern was just about a splash, so he had diversity and universality well within his grasp. Assagioli had it in him to understand all conditions and all people and to be flexible when that was necessary, a reflection of the splash pattern way of being.
The January 1938 letter, issued in the midst of transiting Neptune’s long opposition from Assagioli’s 4th house of home and family to his 10th house Mercury, makes mention of the fact that Assagioli had been forced to move and accept a change of environment.[44] Caused on the outer level by the conditions of World War II, such an occurrence is of course also predictable under an astrological influence of this nature. A factor in Assagioli’s forced move was no doubt the fact of his Jewish ancestry, for which “sin” millions of European Jews were truly persecuted. Here is a case in which a Neptune transit did not merely generate illusionary feelings of persecution and martyrdom, but actually correlated to very real political developments.
Nonetheless, it was in the midst of such conditions that Assagioli was to again enter “a period of intensified service.”[45] The astrological indicators of this upcoming period of intensified service bear a remarkable similarity to those involved in the Tibetan’s June 1934 announcement to Assagioli that he then stood at the verge of a significant expansion of his work. Just as in 1934 when Assagioli’s fixed sign T-square composed of Mars (0 Scorpio), Saturn (1 Leo), and Venus (4 Aquarius) was activated by transiting hard angles from Uranus, so now in January 1938 with a “period of intensified service” looming ahead, transiting Pluto was in the midst of activating the same group of planets in Assagioli’s chart.
Between October 1937 and May 1943, transiting Pluto in the early degrees of Leo would square Assagioli’s Mars, conjunct his Saturn, and oppose his Venus. D.K. advised Assagioli that he could use this period to become clear and decisive in his thoughts and actions, overcoming the uncertainty and lack of positive direction which had plagued him before, and which had created a vibrational situation in which it had been impossible for Assagioli to attract to himself those clear-minded, committed co-workers with whom he could reliably build an Hierarchically ordained enterprise. Thus, the upcoming hard angle transits from Pluto correlated to an interval in time in which certain key developments in Assagioli’s discipleship career could take place.
Here indeed is an interesting and novel view of Pluto transits, which are universally viewed with trepidation by all astrologers, their attempts to cast a positive light on such matters notwithstanding. In fact, behold the first aspect Pluto would make – transiting Pluto square natal Mars! And to the Tibetan’s clairvoyant perception, this signified conditions under which Assagioli could begin to master certain personality liabilities and karmic hindrances in such a way as to break through into a much greater degree of usefulness to Hierarchy. Next, transiting Pluto would conjunct Assagioli’s Saturn. D.K. described this as “…an interlude wherein to think with clarity, to subject yourself to self imposed discipline, and to heighten your magnetic vibration.”[46] That, no doubt, comes from the Saturn involvement, with Pluto greatly intensifying its powers. Finally, transiting Pluto would oppose Assagioli’s Venus in Aquarius, the sign of friendships, group relations, and organizational affairs.
In seeking to prepare Assagioli for the period ahead in which this Pluto-Venus opposition would become exact, D.K. discussed in the January 1938 letter the problem of finding right associates and the need to avoid selecting persons who had not yet demonstrated spiritual alignment for co-working posts. Said the Tibetan bluntly, “…draw to yourself cooperators in the Plan and not consumers of your energy. Go through the lists of those you have sought to help and relinquish them to their souls. Mind not their criticism but dedicate yourself to more important work – a work which will appear when you have freed yourself from the clinging hands of well-meaning but weak-minded aspirants.”[47]
If this isn’t preparation for the social and relational clearing out inevitable with a transiting Pluto opposition to Venus, what is? Yes, looking ahead to the energy configurations down the road for Assagioli, the Tibetan could see the goring, destructive effect that inappropriate co-working relationships would have on Assagioli and his service potential if he did not do something drastic ahead of time. Hence, the recommendations to release to their souls all whose evolutionary needs at that time were more focussed on their own integration and less on Hierarchical cooperation, a fact making them inherently incompatible with the tenor of Assagioli’s life as it was to become.
Thus, the hard angle transits of Pluto to Assagioli’s fixed sign T-square occurring from 1937 through 1943 signified much. One might justifiably argue that this fixed sign T-square was the most important internal aspect structure in Assagioli’s chart, the mainspring driving the critical dynamics of his discipleship evolution. Support for such an argument could be found in the fact that the Fixed Cross, according to the Tibetan, plays such a critical role in the discipleship stage of evolution.[48] Further evidence for the importance of this T-square in Assagioli’s chart can be found in the fact that it is partly composed of a Mars- Saturn square. These two planets are singled out by the Tibetan as “exceedingly potent in connection with initiation into the life of the Hierarchy.”[49]
In just what way Mars and Saturn are to indicate potential for initiation into the life of Hierarchy the Tibetan did not specify in technical astrological terms. However, clarification may come from the fact that H.P. Blavatsky, undoubtedly an initiated Hierarchical representative, had Mars conjunct Saturn in Virgo. And here is Assagioli, one of the Tibetan’s correspondents, with Mars square Saturn. Perhaps Mars-Saturn hard angles (i.e., conjunction, square, and opposition) are one way in which such potential is signified astrologically.
Does this mean that every person with a Mars-Saturn hard angle is material for initiation into the life of Hierarchy? No, only those who make it so by dint of hard effort, which of course is what the Mars-Saturn hard angle aspect signifies in the first place! Astrological circuitousness aside, it is important to note that the esoteric view of hard angle aspects between Mars and Saturn in the natal chart varies significantly from its exoteric counterpart, which sees in such symbolism the makings of frustrated efforts, delayed accomplishments, and a very troublesome unresolved issue with the father and all authority figures in general. In contrast, counseling esoteric astrologers can be bearers of good news in regard to Mars-Saturn hard angles in the chart, for such symbolism may very well signify that the individual is in the midst of the rigorous training for or even the exacting conditions consequent upon close association with Hierarchy.
Certainly the promise of a continued co-working relationship with Hierarchy must have been encouraging to Assagioli, who in not too long would be temporarily in the clutches of armed forces acting under the Axis Powers. Likely this coming event was known to the Tibetan, who told Assagioli in the January 1939 letter, “I would ask you – as far as you possibly can – to insulate yourself from fear and from the effect of the world situation and its allied problems. The future for you is planned….”[50] Then D.K. gave Assagioli a simple visualization meditation that would protect him.[51] Undoubtedly, both the knowledge that a future work was planned and the protective meditation served to help Assagioli maintain his poise in the coming challenge, one which he handled masterfully and safely.