OUR SPIRITUAL HERITAGE: ARIES

Stellar Wisdom was present at the very beginning of the seven ancient centers of civilization---Egypt, India, Crete, Peru, Mexico, China and Chaldea.  When a culture contains complex yet identical interrelating factors that are present in different areas of the world it proves that its origin was in a single region of dispersal.

The purpose for which the ancients studied astronomy was to be able to chart astrological influences as they affect human life, and to correlate spiritual truths with these observed influences.  As far back as ancient astrologers can be traced, they all recognized the earth to be round.  The flat earth theory was forced upon people under pain of punishment by religious dogma controllers who deliberately misinterpreted certain biblical passages.  Enter mind control.

In our search for Truth it is helpful to know the origin of the constellations.  The ancients observed that people born from March 21st to April 21st were aggressive, used their heads when taking the offensive, and were given to leadership and to "butting in" on the affairs of others.  No symbolical pictograph is more suitable in representing these qualities as the Ram.  In addition to setting forth influences of a section of the zodiac over human life, more importantly the ancients sought to relay the particular spiritual teaching related to the same zodiacal section, which would reveal how the individual could overcome any threatened danger, or how the individual could take fullest advantage of the spiritual opportunity offered.

ARIES - I AM

The Vernal Equinox or zero degrees Aries is used by astronomers (both ancient and modern) as the best starting point for both time and for measuring the east/west position of a star or planet in the sky.  It is known as the summer half of the year, passing over from the dreary months of winter darkness.  In the language of universal symbols, the winter half of the celestial circle is representative of our physical world, its misconceptions and where darkness exceeds the light.  The summer half of the celestial circle represents the spiritual world and spiritual life.

When the Sun had circled the zodiac and passed over the Vernal Equinox into Aries it symbolized the transition from the physical world to the spiritual plane of life.  As the section of the zodiac pictured by the Ram is at its commencement it cannot be considered a full grown sheep.  Among ancient peoples, the first entrance of the Sun into the sign was considered to signify a Lamb.

Aries is a militant sign and thus the Bible relates at Exodus 12:29:  "And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on the throne, unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle." 

At the passover ceremony the Lamb to be used must be without blemish, its blood to be daubed on the lintel and two side posts of the door to the house.  In universal symbolism the daubing of the lintels with the blood of a Lamb portrays the belief that we enter physical life through a doorway of pain and suffering, and that we take our departure to the next life through another doorway no less difficult.  It also expresses the conviction that the new life will be an improvement over the old one.

And so ended the captivity of the Jews and within that Great Cycle of 25,868 years began the Age of Aries, the religious theme  reflecting the militancy of the sign, and a God who demanded "an eye for an eye."

The Equinox moves backward through the circle of zodiacal constellations and upon entering a new Age in the Great Cycle, begins its 2,156 year journey at the last (30th) degree of the sign.  Therefore, when reaching the first degree of Aries we once again have the Lamb whose blood was taken as sacrifice.  In the New Testament we read in John 1:29 upon the entrance of Jesus into the room:  "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." 

And so began the Age of Pisces, and the exalted teaching of the  Golden Rule: "Do Unto Others As You Would Have Others Do Unto You."  Clearly the main teaching of Christ is that there is life after death, for he returned from the grave to leave no doubt.  But the controllers of the world had their own agenda and so instead of life everlasting, focus was placed on death.  Thus, to this day upon entering a church one does not see the Ascended Christ above the alter (except on rare occasions)...only a dead body, hanging on a cross. 

Aries has been given the key-phrase, I Am, because those born under this influence, more than other people, view things from the standpoint of individual expression and survival.  Because of this they are pioneers who venture into new lands where transition symbolically takes place...thus it is fitting that the ancients associated the Ram with teachings of survival; that all thought and action are the product of the union of positive and negative potencies (Aries, 1st decanate); that the fountain of immortal life springs from humanity's emotional nature (Aries, 2nd decanate); and that each soul is a responsible being, working out its own deliverance from the thralldom inherited from ancestry and forced upon it by environment. ( Aries, 3rd decanate).

TABLETS OF AETH...TABLET THE FIRST - ARIES

Symbol:  A deep blue Sky, a blaze, as if something were about to rise.

The blush of dawn of a new life, all nature quivering with the sense of coming, conscious life...In this we trace the great lesson of preparation, of sending the light before the form, of the prophecy before the fulfillment.  Dawn must precede sunrise and represents the expectant maternity of Nature--God.  What you expect will be your destiny. 

A Joyous Spring Equinox to all!