Cosmic symbolism

by Sepharial

Now we have got to our point where the elements of our system assume coherence only by their relativity. This fact is so well established that scientific prediction is a thing assured. Every year there is issued a volume of astronomical facts which antedate our calendar by some three or four years. I refer to the Nautical Almanac. In this volume we shall eventually find not only that the tides have been correctly predicted, but that every phase of the Moon is accurately stated, its orbit among the stars clearly defined; the times of its occulting or hiding the various stars that happen to lie in its course; the time, place and magnitudes of the various eclipses, and a host of other phenomena, are seen to have been foretold. This knowledge could not be otherwise derived than from an intelligent study of an intelligible cosmos, and a clear definition of the laws governing cosmical relations. Keep that in mind. We live in a world of relativity. What we call cosmic laws have only a relative value. The Ptolemaic system of epicycles was relatively true to the view of the universe which regarded the Earth as the centre of the system. It answered to all the phenomena. It had an integrity of its own. When the view-point was shifted so that the Sun came to be regarded as the centre of the system, then the epicycle no longer held good. But the elliptical theory of Kepler was only a relative truth. The planets do not really move in elliptical orbits. They only appear to do so from the point of view of a fixed central Sun. The theory, like that of Ptolemy, answers to the phenomena. The same can be shown in regard to the cycloidal system. In the astronomical text books it will be found that the Precession of the Equinoxes is ascribed to the change in the inclination of the earth’s axis caused by the attraction of the Moon and Sun, but principally of the Moon, on the equatorial bulge of the earth. The same text books will tell you that the Precession is found to be increasing, that the Moon is receding from the earth, and that the attraction of gravitation decreases as the square of the distance! All of which is a contradiction in terms.

But since we have arrived at the fact of relativity in regard to what we are used to calling astronomical “facts,” we may as well face the situation and accept the universe as symbol. Then all facts concerning it come to be regarded as merely symbolical, and it is our business to relate this universal symbology to the things of our consciousness and the facts of daily life.

Such a system was evolved ages ago by the philosophers of the East, in China, in India and in Chaldea. They called this system by the name of Astrology, that is, what we reason or discourse concerning the stars. They regarded the stars, not as bodies having a fixed quantitative relationship to the cosmos, but as symbols having a significance in our consciousness and a value in terms of experience. These values were doubtless assigned from observation. Human nature remaining very much the same throughout long ages, the symbolism thus instituted would have a more or less constant value. That is how we find it. What Saturn signified two thousand years ago it signifies to-day. It is an open question whether the planets have a causative relationship in regard to the affairs of human life. Before we can decide this point we have to prove our theory of gravitation, making of it an absolute instead of merely a relative fact. Then, if the planets interact one upon another, as what is called the “solidarity” of the system seems to require, we cannot very well escape from the logical consequences of our reasoning, and planetary action in human life must be a fact beyond controversy. But the planets may very well have a symbolical value as being part of the universal inscription, a feature in the great physiognomy. We may argue from this point of view with perfect safety. It is our business to study this physiognomy of Nature, to read the symbolism of the heavens in the same intelligent manner as we read the symbolism of the Earth. It may be said that the whole art of living consists in what the ancients called the “end-viewing perception,” seeing the end from the beginning, which is our modern “intelligent anticipation.” The Genesis account gives a symbolical value to the Sun, Moon and planets, when it says: Let them be for signs (Othoth), and this othic value was early discovered by the ancients and has held to this day.

There are various means of foreknowledge, but all cannot be called scientific, although they may be the subject of scientific scrutiny. Inspiration or revelation escape our apprehension. What we know as the gift of the Spirit does not lend itself to scientific empiricism. Direct perception, as in clairvoyance or seership, is allied to certain temperamental peculiarities which can be noted but barely accounted for. Mediumism and obsession may sometimes be the source of foreknowledge of events, and these are the legitimate subjects of study by psychologists. To these we may add the various forms of Automatism when applied to divination, and Numerology or Kabalism. The latter, while depending on an universal symbolism and the geometrical relations of thought, is somewhat distinct in that it lends itself to empirical test. Indeed, it may be said that all the foregoing methods of foreknowledge, except direct revelation, may be rendered scientific. That they are not yet so is due to our defect of knowledge concerning the nature and constitution of man.

In effect we make final reference to Astrology as the only means of scientific foreknowledge known to man, and in this we must include the physical phenomena which have direct relation to astronomical facts as well as anything we may argue concerning the action of the planets upon the minds of men and the disposition of human affairs. Astrology lends itself readily to experimental test. It does not necessarily assume a causative relationship between man and the various bodies of the solar system, but it is open to show that there is an actual relationship between the state of the heavens at the moment of a person’s birth into the world and the character and experience of that person through life. There is no need in this place to elaborate the argument. The facts are sufficiently well attested in the experience of all who have taken the trouble to apply the ordinary tests. As to character, Ptolemy affirms that Mercury is the indicator of the rational powers, the Moon of the natural powers. By the rational he means those that are peculiar to man, by the natural, those that are common to man and the lower animals. The distribution of the faculties and powers are thus symbolically located—

Figure 5.

There is an obvious consent here to the principles of modern Phrenology as enunciated by Dr. Bernard Hollander. It is seen that all the intellectual faculties, the perceptives, memories, the comparative and rational faculty, are under the sway of the planet Mercury. Jupiter governs the sympathetic faculties, intuitive perception, mirthfulness, wit, benevolence; Saturn the devotional faculties, wonder, sublimity, veneration; the Sun has rule over the governing group of faculties—firmness, conscientiousness, love of approbation, stability; Venus over the social group—friendship, inhabitiveness, constancy, etc.; the Moon over the natural faculties—vitativeness, amativeness, love of offspring, etc.; Mars over the faculties of defence and destruction; Uranus over the psychic faculties, and Neptune over the spiritual.

In Astrology the Sun is considered as the radiating centre of vital energy, and has relations with the heart and the solar plexus. The Moon is the distributor of this energy, and represents the element of variability, being allied to the sympathetic ganglion, and having relations with the fluidic body; it also is related to the spleen. The Sun and Moon acting together, as in the production of the tides, may be regarded as the generator and distributor of all astral influences. According to the positions of the planets at the moment of birth in regard to the luminaries, astrologers draw their conclusions regarding the constitution and functional powers of the individual. But there is also another most important local factor which plays a very significant part in the determination of personal powers.

If we take the vertical circle in the centre of which a birth takes place, we shall find that this prime vertical is divided into two parts by the meridian which cuts it at right angles, and again by the horizon at right angles to the meridian circle. These two great circles represent sensitive planes which are capable of responding to the astral vibrations in force at any time, the intensity of such vibrations being in direct proportion to the nearness of the planets to such planes. Hence it is found that planets which are exactly rising or setting, culminating or passing the lower meridian, have a very marked effect upon the character and destiny of the person so born. These are empirical observations. They can be tested, but, if tested, they must be so in strict accord with the canons of Astrology, which ascribe certain influences to each of the planets.