Scorpio Full Moon 2010

(Artist: Johfra)

Warrior I am, and from the battle I emerge triumphant.

Scorpio and the Path of Discipleship

Scorpio is one arm of the fixed cross, where we learn to truly love through the transformation and purification of the astral or emotional nature. In many ways Scorpio generically represents the fixed cross that the soul voluntarily mounts - to tread the fiery path of discipleship and initiation. It is upon the fixed cross that the first three initiations are taken and Scorpio represents the second degree initiation where the complete control of the emotional nature is demonstrated – unequivocally, undeniably and incontrovertibly!

This initiation represents a high water mark in the voyage of the soul and its achievement is usually marked by a life of great striving and turmoil. It is not an easy stage of achievement nor of ascertaining whether one has reached that point. The balancing of the pairs of opposites occurs through the pairs of signs, hence the Taurus polarity is most important. The ‘world disciple’ is ruled by Scorpio, just as the ‘world aspirant’ is ruled by Taurus. Desire in Taurus leads to the depths of Scorpionic experience:

“The secret of Taurus is revealed at the second initiation by the sudden removal or disappearance of world glamour in the blinding energy of light. This constitutes the final radiant activity which consummates the play of the Taurian force upon humanity during the long and cyclic journey to which man is committed. The individual enacts on a tiny scale what humanity—as a whole—will enact when it takes initiation in Taurus.”[1]

The Mutable, Fixed and Cardinal Crosses

Hence the challenges of Scorpio, a sign of initiation and triumph – through the sacrifice of the lower nature, by overcoming the warring pairs of opposites. Mars as God of War is both the personality and soul ruler of Scorpio, whilst Pluto the Lord of Death and Destruction, is its co-ruler.

As a ‘non-sacred planet’ Mars indicates that which is unredeemed, in conflict and inharmonious; it spurs us to action and drives us forward. Mars can be blind desire but also brings about the recognition of that blindness through sharply accentuating the pairs of opposites, whether they be love and hate, fear and courage, sex and celibacy or pride and humility. The month of October 2010 saw Mars in its own sign of Scorpio, along with his opposite number Venus, hence the battle may have been on for many. The ‘burning ground’ of sex and relationships could have been particularly emphasised – as individual internal battles or in the ‘battle of the sexes’. Was harmony wrought from any conflict?

Sacred and Non-Sacred Planets

Scorpio co-ruler Pluto is also a ‘non-sacred planet’ but has a very ‘esoteric’ influence. Both planets rule the solar plexus and base chakras respectively. Mars also has an obvious relation to the sacral or sexual centre. Pluto is also associated with the solar plexus in its role of transforming all the energies from the lower centres and raising them to the heart centre. It is for this reason that Pluto’s new symbol is the vertical upward pointing arrow.

Flow of Energy Between Lower and Higher Centres: Planetary Rulers

Yet Pluto’s influence is also said to be ‘first felt in the mental body’, hence its rulership for humanity over the crown chakra as well as the base or root chakra:

“It [Pluto] governs however the death or cessation of old ideas and emotions, and its influence is therefore largely cerebral and in that you have the clue to its late discovery.  Mankind is only on the verge of becoming mental.  Its effects are felt first in the mental body.”[2]

This head/mental influence relates to the developing mental faculty that, through its increasing strength, achieves a greater ‘grip’ over the astral body and eventually controls it. This is partially why Uranus, another ‘mental’ planet, is exalted in Scorpio, representing the deeply occult nature of both operating together, whilst the astral nature is subordinated.

Mars’ rulership over the solar plexus chakra is particularly important as this centre is the major area of expression for the desire or astral body; likewise, Scorpio is a water sign, symbol of the emotional nature. These two factors together create a formidable combination of forces for any human being to control. Hence the reason why the undeveloped or not-quite-integrated Scorpio has had such a bad reputation for misusing their zodiacal energy by selfish appropriation of power, money, sex etc.

Saint Paul may be a good example to study here - as one who, on the road to Damascus, was transformed from the belligerent and bellicose Saul to Paul, the zealous proselytiser of Christ. Paul confesses to having (as Saul) “violently persecuted” the “church of God” prior to his conversion – he was very much in the mode of inquisitor. It has been speculated by some esoteric scholars that Paul (now the Master Hilarion), took the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th initiations in that one incarnation. Even if he did, the distortions that still worked through his imperfect personality left their mark:

Saul Blinded on the Road to Damascus
(Michelangelo Merisi da Carravagio 1593)

“Christianity exemplifies the death of the personality, with individual and not universal implications; love has been conspicuously lacking and the controlling colour of Christianity has indeed been red. It is not Christ's expression but the Scorpio-Mars presentation of St. Paul. Mars has ruled Christianity because St. Paul misinterpreted the esoteric significances of the New Testament message and he misinterpreted because the truth—like all truths as they reach humanity—had to pass through the filter of his personality mind and brain; it was then unavoidably given a personal slant and twist and this is responsible for the sorry historical story of Christianity and the dire plight of the nations today—ostensibly Christian nations yet swept by hate, ruled by fear and at the same time by idealism, governed by a fanatical adherence to their national destiny as they interpret it and "out for blood" as the piling up of armaments discloses. All these are sixth ray characteristics, emphasised by Scorpio and conditioned by Mars which ever rules the path of the individual disciple, and today the world disciple, humanity as a whole, stands at the very portal of the Path.”[3]

Hmmm, quite an damning indictment Master DK makes about one of the lives of his fellow Masters! Nevertheless, the great spiritual heights that Paul reached cannot be denied; his writings are deeply esoteric and prophetic. Being blinded upon the road to Damascus for three days is a symbol of the third initiation, whilst his eventual be-heading is an esoteric symbol of the fourth degree.

Ananias restores the sight of Saint Paul.
(A 1631 painting by Pietro Cortona)

The Beheading of St Paul
(Michelangelo Merisi da Carravagio 1593)

Most human emotional bodies are conditioned by the sixth ray. Nations like the USA have this energy conditioning its personality expression. Mars therefore stimulates attachment, whether in the realm of ideas, religion, people, food, substances etc. In other words the unconscious forces of Mars are behind the fundamentalism of Christianity and Islam for instance; it is the force behind the host of addictions, the craving for repeated experience along one track. (The lower vibrations of Neptune as co-ruler of the solar plexus are of course also related to addiction.)

Indeed, Mars and the sixth ray have the tendency to be stuck on a narrow track strewn with thorns! This is why the red rose that surmounts its thorny stem, is such a beautiful symbol of the prickly path trod to the fiery red heart. The giving of red roses as an expression of romantic love has a much more profound significance. The rose is central to Rosicrucianism and the Rosy Cross. The perfume that emanates from the rose is the sum of the sattvas (extracted essences) of many lives. Indeed, DK tells us, “The mystery of the second ray [of Love-Wisdom] is found to be hidden in the significance of the perfume of flowers.”[4]

This thorny path that leads from the solar plexus to the heart, can also be termed the ‘lesser burning ground’, ruled over by Pluto:

“Two of the other non-sacred planets—Mars and Pluto—function in connection with the sacral centre (Mars) and the solar plexus (Pluto). This latter planet becomes active in the life of the man who is "becoming alive in the higher sense, his lower nature passes into the smoke and darkness of Pluto, who governs the lesser burning ground, in order that the man may live in truth in the higher land of light."[5]

This is why Scorpio is the sign of discipleship, one who can discipline the warring lower nature, by transforming earthly, temporal desires into aspiration toward higher soul experience. This is where fear shifts to love and courage, sexual procreativity into higher mental creativity. There is a healthy circulation of forces that sees all centres activated but none of them unduly.

Hence Pluto’s destructive power is utilised to destroy impediments upon the Path, not to appropriate earthly power and control. In this latter respect Scorpio can be the ultimate Nazi,[6] black magician and all the negative PR that has been ascribed to this sign down the ages. Indeed, breaking this ancient thoughtform is the role of the modern disciple and esoteric student who can demonstrate Scorpio’s more redeeming features. Scorpio – ‘Sinner’ or Saint.

“Pluto, transmitting first ray energy, rules Scorpio, the sign of discipleship, of the man ready for the fusion brought about through the influence of the sacred planets, and governs the house of major separations and of death. "The arrow of God pierces the heart and death takes place." But in this connection it must be remembered that death is definitely brought about by the soul. It is the soul which shoots the arrow of death. (The upward pointing arrow is the astrological symbol of Pluto.)”[7]

Lord Pluto with Cerberus, the Three-Headed Dog
(Agostino Carracci 1592)

Pluto is the Lord of Hell, a realm that has been created by Humanity since Atlantean times. Likewise Heaven is an artificial creation upon the astral plane and both places are from a higher viewpoint, illusory. Yet until we reach that higher perception, they are both very ‘real’ places that dominate most religious ideologies and superstitious thinking. From a very broad perspective, all of Humanity is in ‘hell’ until the Final Liberation, yet there are many smaller liberations prior - where the ultimate ‘heaven’ or nirvana is glimpsed or experienced.

Pluto’s ‘underworld’ is therefore the province of all that is unredeemed, hidden and unconscious for each individual. Pluto’s transformative power resides in his ability to resurrect and raise from the depths that which is buried in the subconscious – into broad daylight; just as Hercules triumphs in the Scorpio labour, by lifting the hissing nine-headed dragon above his head.

Note Johfra’s painting for Scorpio, where St George is vanquishing the dragon. See also the meditator in the background, representing the extreme ascetic discipline that Scorpio is able to summon – the starving or killing out of all desire. The opposite sign of Scorpio is Taurus, the sign of the Buddha, who taught much upon these themes. There are many other themes in the painting, such as the cup of the holy grail and the serpent, Scorpionic symbol of transformation and wisdom.

“In Scorpio—In this sign, the disciple undergoes those tests which will enable him to take the second initiation and demonstrate that the desire nature is subdued and conquered and that the lower nature is (by being lifted up in the air, i.e. into heaven) capable of reaching the goal for this world period, and that from the earthy foundations of Scorpio the personality can be so tested that it shows fitness for the world service demanded in Aquarius. This is beautifully expressed for us in the legend of Hercules, the Sun-God who overcomes the nine-headed Hydra or serpent of desire by being forced to his knees and from that position of humility lifts up the serpent into the air, and then deliverance comes.”[8]

 
Hercules and the Nine-Headed Hydra

The Nine Heads of the Hydra

Physical Plane:    Sex           Comfort     Money
Astral Plane:       Ambition    Hatred       Fear
Mental Plane:      Pride         Cruelty      Separativeness

These have been discussed at length in other newsletters and articles at http://www.esotericastrologer.org.

However it is always timely, especially while the Sun is on its annual pilgrimage through Scorpio, to invoke the forces of Pluto and be totally ruthless, to look at what ‘hydra heads’ remain unconquered within oneself. But how do we really know anyway if they are partly unconscious factors? Always easier to see the mote in our brother’s eye, right? All of our fellow humanity are usually the best mirrors, but invoking the unwavering gaze of Pluto’s X ray vision goes a long way toward right perception.

Are you overly pre-occupied with sex? Are you burdened by inertia and laziness, a comfortable couch potato? Is yours a life that is oriented to serve or occupied with selfish satisfaction? Of satisfying your every desire at the slightest whim? Do you express or explore spirituality as if it were a fashion to appropriate like a new pair of shoes? Are you unnecessarily hung-up about money? Do you find yourself seething with hatred and jealousy, even toward your closest co-workers? Are you ambitious, materially and/or spiritually? Do you feel that you do not get the recognition you deserve? Are you still a slave to fear, the hydra head that still devours most of humanity? Do you suffer from a crippling pride and condescension? How mentally cruel are you – do you take others as your mental or emotional ‘hostage’? Do you find yourself continually critical of others, creating a separating and dividing barrier between yourself and the world? Heavens to Murgatroyd, there’s alot of stuff to look at here![9]

What are the opposites or complementary ways of working with the energies of these nine heads? Some of them are not ‘bad’, they are just utilised more narrowly or selfishly.

The number 9 is the number of initiation. Its glyph signifies the ascent of matter into spirit, just as its opposite numeral 6 defines the descent of spirit anchoring itself in matter. Hence the number 9 represents the first initiation, whilst 9 x 2 = 18, represents the second degree initiation, Scorpio’s realm. (9 x 3 =27 the third degree etc)

“You will see from this how important are the functions of Scorpio and Mars upon our planet at this time, and you will note also how brief a time remains in which humanity can (rightly or wrongly) handle its tests. You will realise also the pressure under which the Hierarchy at this time struggles now that Martian energy is expressing itself upon the astral plane. Will the world Hercules lift this problem up into heaven and "elevate the Hydra" of passion and hate, of greed and aggression, and of selfishness and ambition up into the region of the soul? Or will it carry the whole matter down on to the physical plane with the inevitable corollary of world disaster, world war and death? Such are the problems with which the guiding Hierarchy is faced.”[10]

Hercules and the Hydra
(Antonio Pollaiuolo 1429)

This latter passage was written over sixty years ago and is no less poignant today. The celestial hierarchy of angelic beings that is called Scorpio, governs Humanity. Humanity is esoterically known as ‘the initiates’ and ‘lords of sacrifice’. The word sacr-ifice implies a lifting up from the sacr-al centre. It is mysteriously related to the sacrifice made by all souls who have undertaken the path of Earth incarnation; it will eventually result in the entire redemption of Earth and its transformation into a sacred planet, along side its other celestial brothers and sisters.

The only ray given as passing through Scorpio is the fourth ray of art and beauty or harmony through conflict. The Moon is the co-ruler of the fourth ray and allied with the Martial influence of Scorpio, stirs up the lower nature with all its unconscious conditionings. The achievement of true art in all its many expressions – painting, literature, dance, poetry, music etc, is the ‘lifting up’, the successful outcome of Scorpionic transformation and discipline.

Phillip Lindsay © 2010.