Virgo These notes are based upon the teachings of Djwhal Khul presented in Alice Bailey’s Esoteric Astrology (Lucis Trust, 1951). It is the work of the zodiacal influences to evoke the emergence of the will aspect of the Heavenly Man and of all monads, souls and personalities who constitute the planetary body of expression. … The goal of evolution for humanity is to become consciously and livingly aware of the nature of these energies and begin to know them and to use them. VIRGO NEW MOON 6 DEGREES VIRGO 29TH AUGUST 2000 Virgo is one of the most significant signs of the zodiac because its symbology (relating to the archetype of the Virgin Mother, which features in all world religions) concerns the whole goal of the evolutionary process: the shielding, nurturing and revelation of hidden spiritual reality. Gemini and Virgo are closely related (both belonging to the Mutable Cross and being ruled by Mercury), but while Gemini, with its emphasis on dualism, presents soul and body as a pair of opposites, in Virgo they are blended and supremely - we might say symbiotically - important to each other. In Virgo we become aware of matter guarding and nurturing the hidden jewel of the soul, just as the maternal womb holds and protects the gestating embryo. The keynote of Virgo is Christ in you, the hope of glory: ° divinity within humanity ° spirit within form ° the spark of Christ-life within the human mother The great feminine archetypes of Eve, Isis and Mary are all symbolic of personality and (as we shall see) are strongly related to Virgoan energy. EVE is a symbol of mentality. She represents the lure of knowledge which prompts us towards incarnation. She took the apple of knowledge from the serpent of matter, resulting in the historical human undertaking of experiment, experience and expression. ISIS represents a similar principle on the astral plane. In ancient astrology Isis stands for fertility, motherhood and as the guardian of children. MARY carries the process through to the plane of matter (incarnation) by giving physical birth to the Christchild. Virgo is the synthesis of these three aspects of the feminine: the mental, emotional and physical expression of hidden, ever-present divinity. The three are brought to perfection in Leo, sign of developed self-consciousness and personality unfoldment. Virgo belongs to the Mutable Cross: the cross of changing lives, of constant mutation. On all arms of this cross runs the theme of service. In Gemini, the body serves the soul. In Virgo, matter and spirit serve each other. In Sagittarius, emerges the idea of serving the One Life (planetary service, serving the Hierarchy). Finally in Pisces, as a result of the entire evolutionary process, appears the dedicated world server. ‘The four energies which constitute this Cross […] are expressive of the whole goal of man in four definite stages. […] It pictorially represents the four critical points or movements in the span of existence of the soul in manifestation’: 1 Stage of Humanity Essential unrelated duality. Recognition of duality (through mass fusion in , and individual consciousness in ). | | | | 3 -------------------------------------------------------- 4 Stage of Discipleship Sense of duality ended. Fusion. One-pointedness. | | | | Stage of Initiation Duality linked with synthesis. Emergence of the world saviour. Period of hidden germ of spiritual life: gestation. Period of active germ of spiritual life: quickening. Stage of Awakening (Probation) 2 Virgo is part of the earthy triplicity with Taurus and Capricorn. Taurus represents the incentive behind evolution: the desire or impulse for experience and satisfaction. The Light of Knowledge. Virgo represents the incentive behind discipleship: spiritual desire. The Hidden Light of God. Capricorn represents the incentive behind initiation: the desire for liberation and to serve. The Light of Life. Virgo symbolises darkness, quiet and warmth: ‘the valley of deep experience wherein secrets are discovered and eventually “brought to light”; it is the place of slow, gentle and yet powerful crises and periodic developments which take place in the dark and yet which lead to light’. In this way Virgo corresponds to the ‘blinded’ stage of rituals, where the initiate is taken deep inside a cave, for example, in order to turn inwards and silently await the appearance of spirit. Mercury is the orthodox ruler of Virgo; it brings the versatile energy of the ‘Son of Mind’ to Virgoans; it is the mediator between spirit and matter. Mercury is exalted in Virgo; it brings the message of the gods from one ray to another. Mercury represents the mental principle: the expression of the concrete and abstract mind of God. The lower mind was developed in the first solar system, in this, the second, Mercury presides over the unfolding of the higher, intuitional mind of pure reason. Mercury is manas-buddhi: the fusion of mind-wisdom as expressed through the human soul. Mercury rules the bridge between mind and wisdom (and soul and form), the antahkarana: ‘In Virgo Mercury reaches its full power for Virgo is intelligence and the hidden Christ is wisdom or pure reason.’ The esoteric ruler of Virgo is the Moon, acting as a veil for Vulcan: ‘The Moon (or fourth ray energy) is here seen as an expression of first ray energy, manifesting through Vulcan. The Moon rules the form and it is the will of God to manifest through the medium of form.’ The Moon ruling Virgo is also a veil for Neptune. So in these rulerships, the emphasis is again upon the interchange of mind and form, the infusion of personality with soul. The energy of Mercury has brought humanity to its present point of evolution; now the potency of Vulcan is intensifying, ‘hence the struggles going on upon the planet between the men of will - selfish and ambitious - and the men of goodwill who are desirous of the good of the whole’. When the human hierarchy has awakened to spiritual possibilities (and the forces of materialism are seen for what they are), Jupiter, the hierarchical ruler of Virgo, will use its beneficent power to lead the human family towards peace and progress. Through the influence of Vulcan Virgo is related to Taurus (ruled by Vulcan esoterically): which brings in what might be called the endurance aspect of the will-to-be which carries the incarnated Son of God through the experiences of the dark time wherein the personality becomes the Mother in the stage of gestation, through the period of infancy upon the physical plane and through the stage of adolescence until the initiate attains full maturity. This necessitates persistence, endurance and continuity of effort and is one of the characteristics imparted or stimulated by energies pouring from Vulcan. DK reminds us towards the end of the teachings on Virgo that, in the case of the disciple, the Sun and Mercury are interchangeable terms (this interchangeability or fusion is typical of all that we have learnt about Virgo): ‘When the disciple becomes aware that he is himself Mercury, the Son of Mind, and therefore one with the universal Christ, the Sun and yet the Son of God” (as it is esoterically called), he is then an initiate.’ When the disciple comes to know Saturn as the God of Opportunity and ceases to think of him only as the bringer of disaster, then he is, in truth, on the Path. The voice of Virgo on the reversed wheel (the wheel of the disciple) says, ‘I am the mother and the child. I, God, I, matter am’: Ponder upon the beauty of this synthesis and teaching and know that you yourself have said the first word as the soul, descending into the womb of time and space in a far and distant past. The time has now come when you can, if you so choose, proclaim your identity with both divine aspects - matter and spirit, the mother and the Christ. ©2000- The D.K. Foundation. This article, including this copyright statement, may be freely distributed but not altered, expanded or abridged in any way. We thank you for respecting this request.