Anthony J. Fisichella...
A New Dawn
An Excerpt from “Echoes From Eternity”
As the sun swiftly glides its way through the heavens inconspicuously carrying all within its solar life, it transits first one constellation and then another. Age gives way to age as the energies emanating from far-off systems seek to make impress upon and condition all living organisms within our solar being. Under the changing influences brought to bear upon our planetary life, evolution proceeds and all within the scheme are qualified and stimulated into activity, producing the kaleidoscopic panorama of the ages.
Much has been said and written about the dawning of a new age, the Age of Aquarius, but little has been done to establish within the minds of the general public the relevance of this new dawning, or its relationship to past ages. Most people, I find, have no idea as to what constitutes an age and incorrectly attribute the idea of the Age of Aquarius to the Broadway musical Hair. Let us now address ourselves to this apparent oversight and see if we can bring some clarity to the subject.
I am sure most of us are familiar with the cyclic passage of zodiacal influences that occur each month, producing the complete cycle of the zodiac each year. But are you aware that a greater cycle encompassing 25,000 years is also manifesting and that the periods involved, approximately 2,160 years each, are spoken of as ages? Moreover, are you aware that each age creates certain demands upon human consciousness, the response to which determines our evolutionary growth, individually and collectively?
Incidentally, owing to the fact that there is an overlapping or cusp at the beginning and end of each age, we speak of an age in terms of a 2,000 year period or bi-millennium. Also, we need to recognize that the major zodiacal clock runs directly opposite to that of the yearly cycle which accounts for the fact that we are entering the Age of Aquarius after the Age of Pisces. In the yearly system, Pisces follows Aquarius.
Astrologers and astronomers sometimes speak of zodiacal constellations and planetary systems as if they were nothing more than dead hulks suspended in space, forgetting or rejecting the fact that we are observing the actions of celestial forces, each bearing some aspect of the Universal Nature, impelled into activity by inherent Cosmic Intelligence. If you wish to experience real insight into the science of astrology, not the interpretive art, permit yourself to reflect upon planets, constellations, and the like not as dead un-responding matter but, rather, as energy systems imbued with conscious intelligence capable of manifesting and communicating the diverse qualities of the Divine Nature. These aspects are merely symbolized by the zodiacal signs. In this manner you may come to appreciate the nature and value of esoteric astrology which concerns itself with the study of the cyclic energy flow of conscious Life interacting with conscious Life unfolding the great scenario of evolutionary existence.
Remember, all is energy and all is Life. Life is energy— energy in motion, energy impacting upon energy, energy interacting with energy, conditioning and qualifying all that is caught up in this drama of awakening Life.
Join me now on a brief excursion back through the past few ages and let us observe this evolving process in human consciousness. Permitting our imaginations to flow backward in time some 6,000 years, we witness humanity’s response to the ebb and flow of these solar influences as the evolutionary drama unfolds. History bears testimony to the effect of the energies of Taurus, which conditioned existence for 2,000 years and gave birth to the Hindu tradition. “God has never left Himself without witness,” and so a great spiritual Light burst upon the scene in the person of Krishna, the Savior. Under his enlightened guidance, the Hindu cosmology was established, a tradition that has seen many changes due to mankind’s response to the shifting influence of the procession of the ages. The bull or cow, a symbol of Taurus, very appropriately became the sacred animal of India. In Egypt, the figure of the golden calf became a symbol for religious veneration. The history of the earliest Hebrew traditions makes reference to this symbol and we read of the Children of Israel worshipping the golden calf. This is ever the symbol of material orientation, for the phrase that characterized the sign of Taurus is “I Have.” “I Have” implies a sense of possession, a material orientation toward Life, an identification with form and objects—in short, idols and “false gods.” But each sign, as all else in life, should be seen as a two-sided coin. Therefore, in the underdeveloped man, Taurus stimulates desire for personality satisfaction; in the spiritually developing man, desire is transmuted into high aspiration, expressing spiritual will and purpose.
Responding to the demands of the age, pagan religions flourished, and idol worship was the rule of the day. Turning once again to the early Hebrew tradition, we note that Abraham’s father was an idol maker, very appropriate for the age as humanity’s development at that time decreed it should be so.
With the advent of the Age of Aries, a new dispensation began with Abraham, later to be revolutionized by Moses. Great was the rage of this messenger of God as he witnessed the retrogression of the Israelites as they succumbed to fear and reverted to “Golden Calf” worship. The ram or sheep now carried the symbolic identity of the age, and the traditions of the Hebrews are replete with stories involving sheep and shepherds (most notably the shepherd boy David who was later to become king of the Israelites), the early sacrifice of sheep, the use of the ram’s horn, and, of course, the use of sheep’s blood for Passover. The new orientation of consciousness was now characterized by the phrase “I Am,” and a new sense of spiritual identity began to unfold. The cry of the divine echoed by every human soul, “I am that I am,” reverberated throughout the land.
Responding to the energies of Aries, mankind began to develop a new spiritual identity. No longer were idols to hold spiritual value in the eyes of awakening man. It is true that even in this day and age there are those who are still caught in the grips of ancient thought forms and therefore worship idols and bow before “objects of veneration”; but, awakening man, as characterized by the evolving Hebrew tradition, was coming to grips with his own spiritual identity and his relationship to the one God concept. For 2,000 years, the forces of Aries worked their magic upon those capable of responding to this magnificent impulse. It was in the later stages of Aries that Buddha revolutionized the Hindu tradition in preparation for the Age of Pisces.
The new age was heralded by the gentle carpenter walking the plains of Galilee, and the “Lamb of God” coming out of Aries brought forth the injunction to become “fishers of men.” Thus, was the Piscean Age begun, establishing the fish as the Christian symbol. Man began to respond to a new impulse—”I Believe.” Emotional, religious fervor became the modus operandi of humanity; and, fanaticism ran rampant—fanaticism which for 2,000 years has produced the early Christian martyrs, the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and all forms of emotional, devotional, and blind action—the resultant effect of the Piscean quality taken to its extreme. Religion ruled the minds of men and emotional belief was used both as a weapon and a crutch. ‘You must believe,” “yours is not to reason why,” “be a God fearing Christian.” These and other like statutes were imposed upon humanity in response to this super-charged emotional age called Pisces.
On the positive side, we witness the Piscean influence awakening the Christ principle in man, eventuating in the final release of the Soul from captivity to matter. It is in Pisces that the Christ within each of us is born. We owe to Pisces the beautiful “sacred heart” qualities of love, devotion, and reverence for God, life, and our fellow man. These qualities may not as yet flourish in the hearts of men; still the seeds have been sown deep and will bear fruit in due course. Two thousand years of Piscean influence is rapidly coming to a close and we now stand at the threshold of a new age—Aquarius.
In 1898 it began to make itself felt. Five years later the Wright brothers took to the air and a new age was officially on its way. Under the influence of Pisces, a water sign, man had conquered the seas. Now, with the advent of Aquarius, an air sign, man would conquer the air and space.
Look about you, humanity. You are witnessing the dawning of a new age, the Age of Aquarius. Do you see chaos and conflict about you? Be aware, you are perceiving the labor pains of a new birth. The “old order changeth,” but not without a commensurate amount of pain, for man identifies with his traditions and possessions thereby inflicting suffering upon himself in the face of change. The Hindus tell us well that God shines forth as God the Creator, God the Preserver, and God the Destroyer. All within nature follows this Universal Process of birth, preservation, and death. We are currently involved in the death of the Piscean Age and the birth of Aquarius, accompanied by the symptomatic effects of such a happening—effects based upon humanity’s response to this transformation and the energies now making impact upon the human consciousness.
For you astrology buffs, it is interesting to note that Uranus is one of the rulers of the sign of Aquarius. Uranus is often shattering in its effect and is known as the awakener and liberator. Drastic Uranus effects have already been experienced in the form of two world wars, the splitting of the atom, and the shattering of old thought forms and habits, thus clearing the decks for the building of a new outlook and the constructive use of released energies. This is, in truth, a time for rejoicing as the opportunities for growth are unprecedented in human history.
Yet, the period is certainly not without its share of difficulties; more than its share,’ some say. The reason should be self-evident. We are in the midst of a cusp period, an overlapping of the Piscean and Aquarian influences. This factor has served to polarize humanity into two diametrically opposed camps.
Looked at in the extreme, we perceive on the one hand those who still cling tenaciously to their past Piscean-oriented, or even earlier, traditions, refusing to let go no matter how strong the pull of the new age. Conservative, traditional, fundamentalist, or reactionary—these individuals live by the theme, “it was good enough for my father, it’s good enough for me.” “Give me that old time religion.” It is this form of consciousness that fought changes during Moses’ period of revolution and rejected Jesus’ Piscean reform; and, it is this same attitude that will resist the advent of Aquarius.
On the other end of the spectrum we find the ultra-liberal radical—the revolutionary individual who has a vision and intends to see that vision manifest, right or wrong and no matter what the price. His intention is to jam it down the public’s throat for their own good, and, more often than not, winds up doing more harm than good. Needless to say, the majority of us find ourselves standing uncomfortably somewhere between these two extreme polarities and uncertain as to which of these camps we owe our allegiance.
The battle lines have been drawn as mankind has reacted to the waxing of Aquarius and the waning of Pisces. And so we have witnessed, and for a while shall continue to witness, ideological confrontation based upon this ebb and flow. Confrontation between conservative and liberal, left versus right, establishment versus students, doves versus hawks, labor versus management, and so it goes—all in response to the shift of solar energies which tend to amplify man’s personality struggles and its tendency toward separateness and paranoia.
The two factors in consciousness that most bar the way to the emergence of a magnificent period in human history and development are the qualities of inertia and competition. We’ll take that up next month.
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