INITIATION & THE STARS
DION FORTUNE
Issued
as a FINAL reminder of the Dion Fortune seminar at Glastonbury on 24th
September 2016.
For
programme and booking details see Company of Avalon website.
The
following text is taken from letters to students by Dion Fortune in
1942/3. Also published as part of ‘Principles of Hermetic Philosophy’ by Dion
Fortune & Gareth Knight (Thoth Publications 1999).
Astrology was originally an occult
or secret science, and so it will always remain in its profounder aspects until
the dawning light of human progress reveals to all men what in the past was
only understood by initiates; such understanding depending not only upon the
communication of secrets but upon the power to see their significance when
communicated. I have long stood out against secrecy concerning the data and
philosophy of occultism, but have never advocated the broadcasting of the
methods of its practical application of hygiene for a working knowledge of
first aid and homely remedies are one thing, but operative surgery is another.
The same analogy applies to occult science in its theory and practice.
It is exceedingly difficult in these
days, when so much has been revealed, to know where to draw the line between
what is advisable and what is not in indicating the practical application of
the esoteric teaching. I have been very frank in the past, especially in my Mystical
Qabalah, wherein I gave the real esoteric teaching in its fullness,
believing that only those who were fit to do so would be able to avail
themselves of it. This is perfectly true so far as unaided students are
concerned; but this book has been made extensive use of in other schools, both
in England and in America, not only without acknowledgement, but with the students
sworn to secrecy. It has been reproduced verbatim on a duplicator and issued as
a secret correspondence course in America at a hundred dollars, and in this
country it has been used as the basis for an esoteric school with which I
should not care to have my name associated. In consequence of these experiences
I do not feel able to do more than indicate the practical possibilities of
esoteric astrology, reserving the actual methods for more guarded communication
to suitable persons who can be relied
upon not to abuse them. Those who have occult knowledge or spiritual intuition
will no doubt be able to glean much from these pages, and to their gleanings
that are more than welcome; but I would point out that psychic work requires a
trained mind and ritual work requires as trained team.
The natural, or uninitiated man is
represented by the symbol of the five-pointed star, point upwards, upon which
he is conceived as extended. The five-pointed star is also the symbol of the
elements. This indicates that the natural man is a creature of the elements. As
the planets and the zodiacal signs are classified under the elements, we have
in this glyph a complete symbol of esoteric
astrology provided the student knows the attribution of the rays, which
he will do if he is an initiate, and which it is improbable he will do if he is
not an initiate.
The symbol of the adept is the
six-pointed star on which he is crucified, not extended. This is an important
practical point in the handling of magnetic force. The six-pointed star is
composed of two interlaced triangles, and the grade of the initiate is
symbolised by the degree to which these triangles are superimposed, the upper
triangle representing the individuality, and the lower one the personality. In
the unillumined man, the triangles are represented as point to point, and the
process of initiation in the Mysteries consists in preparing the personality to
be a vehicle for the manifestation of the individuality. This is done by
bringing the aim of the personal life into alignment with the aim of the higher
self, and making the personality a miniature replica of the higher self. The
personality is a projection into the planes of form of a small portion of the
higher self for the purpose of evolutionary development through experience. The
Divine Sparks, which are the nuclei of the spirits of men, do not issue
simultaneously into manifestation from the Great Unmanifest, but are breathed
forth in successive impulses of manifestation, so that some are older and some
are younger; the elder, other things being equal, are the more evolved.
But things are not always equal, and
during the long aeons of evolution some souls press ahead and some fall to the
rear in the evolutionary process, and by the time the marching column of evolution
has rounded the nadir, what might be termed the geological age of a soul does
not always afford us much guidance as to its stage of development. The fact
remains, however, that the Divine Sparks come into manifestation during
different Ray Phases (see The Cosmic Doctrine) and are indelibly stamped
with the type of that Ray, which will always remain the basic type of the
individuality, though in the course of evolution they must learn the lessons
and acquire the experience of all the Rays in turn in order to become fully
evolved in their many-sided
development. The fact that there are twelve Rays indicates that they will
correlate with the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, but it is not possible to
discern the fundamental Ray type of the higher self until a high grade of
initiation is reached, and the revelation is not made in any temple built with
hands. It is possible, however, to discern the Ray type of the personality in a
given incarnation, and this is indicated by the Sign through which the Sun is passing
at his birth.
Initiation into the Lesser Mysteries
is of the nature of mass production, in which souls go through the curriculum
in the same way that a car goes through the works on the assembly belt.
Personal attention is neither necessary nor desirable at this stage because
Temple working is team working and initiates at this stage of their training
have to master a system and acquire the habit of team-working, get their
spiritual and psychological corners rubbed
off, and acquire an all round development; with this end in view, the square
pegs have to take their turn in the round holes for a season. A specialised
development is not to be undertaken too early because it will inevitably be a
one-sided development. Consequently the mystic has to gain experience by
working as an occultist, and the occultist, as a mystic; the pagan has to learn
the significance of Esoteric Christianity, and the Christian gain experience of
the Nature contacts.
When it comes to the Greater
Mysteries, however, the position changes, and account has to be taken of the
personal horoscope when initiating. The position of the Sun in the horoscope
will indicate the line along which the spiritual development should take place,
the natural line, and this must be taken in to account in planning the work of
the Greater Mysteries. There is no such thing as mass production here; the
Greater Mysteries are concerned with the cosmic forces, and every individual
must approach them from his own standpoint. According to his astrological make-up,
so will he react to the cosmic forces, and so will they react to him. It must
not be thought by this that the workings of an adept are limited to his
well-aspected factors; he must learn to work with all the cosmic factors in
order to complete his training, but he will find it desirable to take into
account the way in which the different factors are aspected in his horoscope if
he is to work to the best advantage or avoid a rough passage through the badly
aspected ones.
The Moon may be taken as representing
the evolutionary past of the soul, and its relationship to one or another of
the planets may give an indication of the nature of past initiations if the
person concerned has been upon the Path in past lives. Each planet represents a
psychological factor in the soul of man, and each factor was personalised by
the ancients as a deity. “Once an initiate, always an initiate” – if a soul has
once entered the Mysteries, it will come back to its Tradition in each
successive life. The different Mystery Traditions represent different cults,
and the cults represent different avatars of the same factor at different
epochs. If the Moon in a horoscope is particularly well aspected to one of the
planets, it may be assumed that the subject was an initiate of the particular
cult personalised by the deity associated with that planet; we have thus a good
starting-off place for the recovery of the memories of past incarnations, and
the recovery of these memories is an important part of the work of the Greater
Mysteries.
The Rising Sign indicates the
destiny of the subject in a particular incarnation, but destiny should be given
the Eastern significance of Dharma and not the Western significance of
Fate. That is to say, it represents the lessons to be learnt in that incarnation.
They can be learnt quickly and well by the application of intelligence, or they
can be learnt slowly and with many mistakes, even as can arithmetic. In any
case, they have to be finished before adepthood can be attained. It is for this
reason that initiation nearly always precipitates all outstanding karma and is
followed by a series of crises in the life of the neophyte.
The whole superficial reading of a
horoscope, the reading that is commonly given by the uninitiated astrologer,
concerns the karma that has to be worked off, and the dharma, or
experience that has been gained, before the subject is ready for adepthood.
Consequently, such a reading only applies to the once-born, the passive objects
of evolutionary processes; as soon as a soul comes on to the Path it is no
longer so much driftwood in the stream of life, but is developing powers of
self-propulsion and self-direction, and the interpretation of the horoscope,
therefore, must undergo profound modification. The influences therein indicated
are no longer determining factors but the instruments of the operation. It is
well known that there is no braver or more dangerous adversary than the timid
person who for once has brought his courage to the sticking-point; so the
ill-aspected factor in the map of the once born may be the point of energy in
the horoscope of the twice born. But as the process of initiation is one that
goes on through a series of grades, it is not possible to lay down any definite
rule for adjusting our calculations, and experience is the only indicator.
Cumulative experience, however, can be a pretty accurate indicator.
It is the common practice of those
who seek guidance from the stars to tell the astrologer nothing save their
birth date and sex, and to be greatly impressed when they are told correctly
things they already knew only too well. The quarrelsome person, who learns that
his Mars is aspected in such a manner as to account for his quarrelsomeness is
greatly gratified and goes on his contentious way rejoicing. His quarrelsomeness
is adequately accounted for, there is nothing to be done about it, and he is
comforted in the endurance of the painful consequences by the knowledge that
the stars are responsible. “The woman tempted me, and I did eat,” said Adam, as
if the Temptation and the Fall were synonymous terms.
This fatalistic attitude towards
astrology should be discouraged by every device of publicity and admonition. We
are not drifting logs on the sea of life, at the mercy of wind and tide, but
ships with rudder and sails, and the only condition that could preclude all
progress on our part is a dead calm; an adverse wind serves a well-designed
ship almost as well as a favourable one, for by the skilful interaction of
rudder and sails, use can be made of it in a series of tacks. The power to make
use of an unfavourable wind is the criterion of design in boat-building; the
better the lines of a boat, the closer she can lie to the wind.
So it is with the souls of men.
Anyone above the status of the village idiot has some power of spiritual
locomotion even under the most adverse aspects. If astrology is used as
anything save an instrument of diagnosis, it is the most pernicious of human
inventions. Having learned the conditions under which we must needs operate,
our immediate task is to deal with them, not to lie down under them.
An initiated astrologer works on a
map in the same manner as a psychoanalyst works on a dream – he uses it as an
indicator of conditions beyond the immediate range of consciousness. For the
full value to be obtained from a delineation, astrologer and subject should
study it together, and the astrologer, if he is also something of a
psychologist, as he has need to be if he is to fulfil the function he both
could and should fulfil, will show the querist how his life history illustrates
his reactions to his natal horoscope and the passing configurations of the
heavens. The querist brings to the study his knowledge of his own history, the
astrologer casts maps for the outstanding dates, and together they study the
reactions of the soul to the influences of the stars until the pattern of the
life begins to appear.
A diagnosis can then be made in
psychological terms, the apparently
random effects of chance and change being correlated with the underlying
causes of subconscious motives and those in their turn explained in terms of
astrological influences. Such an analysis, and subsequent correlation in terms
of another science, are not a mere tying on of labels, but serve the same
purpose as the Rosetta Stone on which the same record was engraved in Egyptian
hieroglyphs, the hieratic writing, and Greek, thus enabling the riddle of
Egyptian civilisation to be read; for Greek was a known language, and from the
clues it supplied the hieroglyphs could be deciphered. Astrology and the
psychology of the unconscious mind are equally interpretive if the same problem
is stated in terms of each and then compared. Psychology shows what its
significance may be in terms of the individual’s aims and tendencies, and
astrology shows its significance in relation to the cosmic background of
evolving life and God’s purpose for man. It is notorious that the power to
heal, in fact, depending more than anything else on the personality of
the psychotherapist and comparatively little on his system, save in so far as
he is a thorough-going Freudian, in which case his power to minister to a mind
diseased is small and his power to damage it still further considerable. So also
is his power to earn money. A thorough-going Freudian is, fortunately, rare in
this country.
It is not often that a sick soul
possesses within itself the necessary energy for its own healing. In the days
when I worked at a clinic for nervous disorders, it was very noticeable that
the students benefitted enormously from a knowledge of psychology applied to
their own problems, but the patients benefitted little. The students, being
more or less normal and in good psychological health, were able to help themselves
by making practical application of their knowledge; but the patients, being
abnormal and sick souls, were at the mercy of the conditions that had wrecked
them.
We need a technique which shall
enable us to apply a counterbalance to the unbalanced elements in a horoscope
and so bring them into equilibrium. To Saturn as gaoler must be opposed the
energy of Mars as breaker of bonds or Jupiter as giver of good gifts. Having
determined the nature of the problem wherein adjustments need to be made, the initiated
astrologer “places it on the Tree”; observes to which Sephirah or Path it
refers, and then determines what influences should be invoked in order to
supply what is lacking or check what is over-active. This being correctly
discerned, his knowledge as an initiate should then enable him to prescribe the
appropriate rite, talisman and meditation to bring through the compensating
force and redress the balance.
DION
FORTUNE
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