The occult significance of Aquarius is knowledge. Aquarius, the sign of the water bearer, is an eminently revolutionary sign.
There are four types of knowledge or secret science. We need to know what these four types of knowledge are.
- Yajna-Vidya, knowledge that is acquired by means of certain occult powers awakened within our own inner nature, through certain magical rituals.
- Kabbalistic Maha-Vidya, the science of the Kabbalah with all its invocations, mathematical symbols, and liturgy, which can be angelic or diabolic depending on the type of person using it.
- Gupta-Vidya, the science of mantras, the magic of the word; it is based on the mystical powers of sounds, on the science of harmony.
- Atma-Vidya or real wisdom of the Being, Atman, the Superior Monad.
These forms of knowledge (except for the fourth type) are the root of all occult sciences. From all these forms of knowledge (except the fourth) come Kabbalah, chiromancy, astrology, occult physiology, scientific cartomancy, etc.
From all those forms of knowledge, from all those occult branches, science has already discovered a few secrets, but the developed spatial sense is not hypnotism, and neither can it be acquired through those arts.
This book of esoteric hermetic astrology has nothing to do with the carnival-like astrology mentioned in newspapers. In this book we teach the science of Atma-Vidya.
Atma-Vidya is fundamental; it includes all of the former sciences in their essential aspect and can even use them occasionally, but it only utilizes their quintessential extracts purified of all dross.
The golden door of wisdom can transform itself into the wide door and broad path that leads to destruction, the door of magical arts practiced with egotistical ends.
We are in the Age of Kali Yuga, the Iron Age, the Black Age, and all the students of occultism are predisposed to becoming lost in the black path. It is astonishing to see the mistaken concept held by the “younger brothers” regarding occultism and the ease with which they believe they can reach the door and cross the threshold of mystery without a great sacrifice.
To attain Atma-Vidya without the three factors of the revolution of consciousness is impossible.
To attain Atma-Vidya is impossible without first having attained the Second Birth. To attain Atma-Vidya is impossible without the death of the pluralized “I.” To attain Atma-Vidya is impossible without sacrifice for humanity.
It is not the law of evolution that confers Atma-Vidya upon us. It is not the law of devolution that confers Atma-Vidya upon us. It is only on the basis of tremendous and frightening inner revolutions that we arrive at Atma-Vidya.
The path of the revolution of consciousness is the path of the razor’s edge. This path is terribly difficult. This path is full of dangers within and without.
In this chapter we are now going to study each of the three factors in an orderly and separate manner, so that Gnostic students can correctly guide themselves.
Therefore, let our readers pay close attention to the study of each of the three factors of the revolution of consciousness, because success in this work depends on the full comprehension of each of the three factors.
Birth
The Second Birth is entirely a sexual problem. Among the ancient Egyptians, the sacred bull Apis had to be young, healthy, and strong in order to symbolize the Philosophical Stone (sex).
The Greeks, instructed by the Egyptian Hierophants, also represented the Philosophical Stone in this manner, with one or several bulls (as in the myth of the Cretan Minotaur).
The bulls that Hercules stole from Geryon had the same alchemical meaning. We find the same symbolism in the legend of the sacred oxen that tranquilly grazed on the island of Sicily and which were stolen by Mercury.
Not all the sacred bulls were black or white; some were red like those of Geryon and like those that were sacrificed by the Israeli priest, because the Philosophical Stone is red at a certain moment (this is known by every alchemist).
The famous bull Apis, so adored in the Egyptian mysteries, was the creator and prosecutor of souls. The symbolic bull Apis was consecrated to Isis, because it is in fact related to the sacred cow, the Divine Mother Isis, whose veil no mortal has ever lifted.
In order for a bull to have the high honor of being promoted to such a level, it was necessary for it to be black and to have on its forehead (or on one of its shoulder blades) a white spot in the shape of a crescent moon.
It is also true that said sacred bull had to have been conceived under the influence of the ray and have the mark of the sacred scarab under its tongue.
Apis was the symbol of the Moon, both because of its horns in the shape of a crescent moon, as well as because (except during the full moon) this celestial body always has a tenebrous side (indicated by the blackness of the bull’s skin) and another, resplendent side (symbolized by the white spot).
Apis is the Philosophical Matter, the Ens Seminis (semen), that semi-solid, semi-liquid substance, that Vitriol of the Alchemists.
The entire Ens Virtutis of the fire is found within the Ens Seminis. It is necessary to transform the Moon into the Sun, in other words, to build the Solar Bodies.
These are the mysteries of Isis, the mysteries of the bull Apis. When the rune IS was studied in the old Egypt of the Pharaohs, its masculine-feminine aspects were studied because the sacred word ISIS is broken up into two syllables; the first syllable is masculine and the second is feminine.
The bull Apis is the bull of Isis, the Philosophical Stone. The man and woman must work in their laboratorium oratorium with that philosophical matter; they must transform the Moon into the Sun.
It is urgent to acquire the magical power called Kriya-Shakti or the power of will and yoga, the magical power of Solar Men, the supreme power of creation without generation; this is only possible with the Maithuna (see chapter eight).
It is necessary to learn how to intelligently combine the waters of life within the two amphorae of Aquarius, the zodiacal sign of the Water Bearer.
It is indispensable to combine the Red Elixir with the White Elixir, if what we want is to attain the Second Birth.
The Moon symbolizes Isis, the Divine Mother, the ineffable Prakriti, and the bull Apis represents the Philosophical Matter, the sacred stone of the Alchemist.
In the bull Apis, the Moon, Isis, the primordial Substance, the Philosophical Stone, the Maithuna, is represented.
Aquarius is governed by Uranus and this planet controls the sexual glands. It is impossible to attain the Second Birth, Adepthood, Realization of the Innermost Self, if we do not study the mysteries of Isis, if we scorn the worship of the bull Apis, if we do not combine the Red Elixir with the White Elixir within the two amphorae of Aquarius.
In Christian terminology, the four human bodies are mentioned. The first is the Body of Flesh; the second is the Natural Body; the third is the Spiritual Body; the fourth (according to esoteric Christian terminology) is the Divine Body.
Speaking Theosophically, we will state that the first is the Physical Body, the second is the Astral Body, the third is the Mental Body, and the fourth is the Causal Body or the Body of Conscious Will.
Our critics will become upset because we do not mention the Lingam Sarira or Vital Body, also known as the Ethereal Double. We certainly do not count such a body due to the concrete fact that the latter is merely the superior part of the physical body, the fundamental basic center of all physical, chemical, caloric, reproductive, perceptual activities, etc.
The ordinary intellectual animal is not born with the Astral Body, nor with the Mental Body, much less with the Causal Body, because these bodies can only be alchemically cultivated in the flaming forge of Vulcan (sex).
The Astral Body is not an indispensable tool for the intellectual animal; it is a luxury, a great luxury that very few can afford. Nonetheless, the intellectual animal has a Molecular Body, a Body of Desires, which is similar to the Astral Body, but is of a lunar type, cold, ghost-like, spectral.
The intellectual animal does not have a Mental Body, but he possesses a subtle, lunar, intellectual animal vehicle, which is very similar to the Mental Body, but of a cold and ghost-like nature.
The intellectual animal does not possess the Causal Body or the Body of Conscious Will, but he has the Essence, the Buddhata, the Embryo of the Soul, which is easily confused with the Causal Body.
The subtle bodies that Leadbeater, Annie Besant, Steiner, and many other clairvoyants studied in the wretched ordinary intellectual animal are the lunar vehicles.
Whosoever wants to attain the Second Birth must build the Solar Bodies for themselves: the authentic Astral Body, the legitimate Mental Body, the true Causal Body (or Body of Conscious Will).
There is something that can surprise Gnostic students: the Astral, Mental, and Causal Bodies are of flesh and blood, and after having been born from within the immaculate womb of the Divine Mother, they need to be nourished for their growth and development.
There are two types of flesh: the first is flesh which comes from Adam; the second is flesh that does not come from Adam. The Solar Bodies are of flesh that does not come from Adam.
It is interesting to know that the Sexual Hydrogen (Si-12) always crystallizes into flesh and blood. The physical body is of flesh and bones, and the Solar Bodies are also of flesh and blood.
The basic food of the Physical Body is Hydrogen 48.
The fundamental food of the Astral Body is Hydrogen 24.
The indispensable food of the Mental Body is Hydrogen 12.
The vital food of the Causal Body is Hydrogen 6.
All the Masters of the White Lodge, the angels, Archangels, Thrones, Seraphim, Virtues, etc. are garbed with the Solar Bodies.
Only those who have Solar Bodies have the Being incarnated. Only someone who possesses the Being is an authentic Human Being.
The Physical Body is controlled by forty-eight laws. The Astral Body is governed by twenty-four laws. The Mental Body is dominated by twelve laws. The Causal Body is dependant upon six laws.
It is urgent to descend into the flaming forge of Vulcan (sex), in order to work with the fire and water, the origin of worlds, beasts, humans and Gods. It is urgent to descend into the Ninth Sphere to build the Solar Bodies and attain the Second Birth.
It causes pain to know that many who boast about being Masters and Saints are still garbed with the lunar bodies.
Death
Count de Gabalis is totally mistaken when he states that the salamanders, gnomes, sylphs, and nymphs need to become married with men in order to become immortal. Count de Gabalis’ affirmation is stupid when he states that we need total renunciation of women in order to dedicate ourselves to the immortalization of sylphs and nymphs. The elementals of the elements (of plants, minerals, animals) will be the human beings of the future without the need of the filthy coitus recommended by Count de Gabalis.
It is a pity that many mediums of spiritualism are married to elementals and that many people cohabit (during dreams) with incubi, succubi, and elementals of all types.
The internal worlds are full of all kinds of creatures, some good, others bad, and others indifferent.
The devas or angels are never inferior to humans. The devas, or angels, are true Solar Human Beings and that is all. The devas or angels are Twice-born.
For the Chinese, the two most elevated types of invisible inhabitants are the thien, of a totally celestial nature, and the thi, thu, or intermediaries.
An entire strange and mysterious world governed by Gods is located in the narrow passes of Kuen-Lun (the central region of the Earth or Lunar Mountains).
Those divine beings are the ko-han or lohans, the governing Gods of millions of creatures.
The thi dress in yellow clothes and dwell in crypts or subterranean caverns; they feed on sesame, coriander, and other flowers and fruits of the Tree of Life. They are Twice-born. They study alchemy, occult botany, the Philosophical Stone in the fashion of Master Zanoni and his wise companion, the great Mejnour.
A third type of invisible inhabitants are the famous shen or sham, born down here, in this sublunar world, whether it be to work for good, or to pay their old ancestral Karma.
The fourth type of inhabitants of the internal worlds mentioned by the Chinese are the tenebrous maha-shan, giant sorcerers of black magic.
The most rare and most incomprehensible are the terrible Marut or Turam, beings mentioned by the Rig Veda, legions of hasnamussen (this word is plural; singular is pronounced hasnamuss). These legions are constituted by 343 families, although certain calculations raise the number to 823 or 543 families.
It is lamentable that these hasnamussen are adored by certain Muslims and Brahmins.
hasnamussen have (as we have already stated in chapter nine of this book) two personalities: one angelic, and the other diabolic.
It is clear that the solar, angelic personality of a hasnamuss never comes to instruct any candidate to initiation without first telling him the following with total frankness:
Be careful, within us lies temptation, which can convert you into an unfaithful one.
The solar personality of every Marut or Turam hasnamuss knows very well that it possesses another lunar, diabolic, tenebrous personality, which is capable of leading the candidate for initiation astray.
Two paths open up before every Twice-born, that of the right and that of the left.
The path of the right is the path of those who resolve to die from moment to moment, of those who dissolve the “I.” That of the left is the black path, the path of those who instead of dying from moment to moment, instead of dissolving the “I,” fortify it within the lunar bodies. Those who tread the path of the left, become Marut or Turam, in other words, hasnamussen.
Those who want to attain the final liberation must die from moment to moment. It is only by dying in oneself that we become perfect angels.
Three types of Tantra exist: white, black, and gray. Maithuna with the ejaculation of the Ens Seminis is black. Maithuna with sporadic ejaculation of the Ens Seminis is gray (sometimes spilling, sometimes not). It is with the Maithuna without ejaculation that Devi Kundalini ascends through the spinal canal to develop divine powers and transform us into angels.
In Maithuna with ejaculation, the igneous serpent of our magical powers, instead of ascending, descends, precipitates itself from the coccygeal bone towards the atomic infernos of man, becoming the tail of Satan.
Maithuna with occasional ejaculation is something incoherent, morbid, bestial, which is only useful to fortify the lunar ego.
Black Tantrics develop the abominable Kundabuffer organ. It is necessary to know that said fatal organ is the same tail of Satan.
In times that have been lost in the profound night of all ages, the poor intellectual animal comprehended his sad situation of being a little machine necessary for the economy of Nature and wished to die; the intervention of certain sacred individuals, who committed the error of giving this unfortunate human swarm the abominable Kundabuffer organ, was then necessary.
After the intellectual animal forgot his sad situation of being a little machine and fell in love with the beauties of this world, the abominable Kundabuffer organ was eliminated. Unfortunately, the evil consequences of this organ were something which could not be forgotten; they remained deposited within the five cylinders of the human machine.
The first cylinder is that of the intellect and is located in the cerebrum. The second is that of the emotions and resides in the solar plexus (at the level of the navel). The third is that of movement and resides in the superior part of the spinal column. The fourth is that of instincts, and is located in the inferior part of the spinal column. The fifth is that of sex and resides within the sexual organs.
The evil consequences of the abominable Kundabuffer organ are represented by thousands, millions of small “I’s” of an animal-like and perverse nature.
In the intellectual animal, there is neither a single command center, nor an “I” or permanent ego. Each idea, each sentiment, each sensation, each desire, each “I desire this,” each “I desire that,” each “I love, I do not love,” is a different “I.”
All these small and quarrelsome “I’s” argue amongst themselves; they fight for supremacy, neither connected nor coordinated in any way. Each of these small “I’s” depends on changes in the circumstances of life and changes of impressions.
Each small “I” has its own ideas, its own criteria; true individuality does not exist in the poor intellectual animal. His concepts, actions, ideas, depend on whichever “I” dominates the situation at that moment.
When an “I” becomes enthusiastic with Gnosis, it swears eternal loyalty to our Gnostic Movement; this enthusiasm lasts until another “I” (which is against these studies) takes power. We then see with astonishment that the subject leaves and even becomes our enemy.
The “I” of a man who today swears eternal love to a woman is later displaced by another “I” who has nothing to do with the promise, and then the woman suffers deception.
That “I” automatically follows another “I,” and some appear to always be accompanied by others, but there is no order or system among all of those “I’s.”
Each one of those “I’s” believes itself to be everything at any given moment, but it is really nothing more than the worst part of our functions, even when it has the impression of being the totality, the reality, the complete man.
The interesting thing is that we give credit to the “I” of the moment, even when that “I” is displaced by another “I” moments later. The lunar ego is a sum of “I’s” that must be radically eliminated.
It is necessary to know that each of the five cylinders of the machine possesses its own characteristics that we must never confuse.
Differences in velocity exist among the five centers of the machine.
People lavishly praise thinking, but it is indeed certain that the intellectual center is the slowest of them all. Afterwards come the instinctual and motor centers (operating more or less at the same velocity) which operate more quickly than the intellectual center. The emotional center comes next in order of speed and then the sexual center, the fastest of all.
There is an enormous difference in speed between each of the five centers of the machine. By studying ourselves, by observing ourselves, we can see that movement is faster than thought, and that emotion is faster than any movement or thought.
The motor and instinctive centers are thirty thousand times faster than the intellectual center. The emotional center (when it works at its own proper velocity) is thirty thousand times faster than the motor and instinctive centers.
Each of the centers have their own completely different rhythm. The velocity of the centers explains a great number of well-known phenomena, which ordinary science cannot explain (it is enough to remember the astonishing speed of certain psychological, physiological, and mental processes).
Every center is divided into two parts: positive and negative. This division is particularly clear for the intellectual center and the instinctive center. The entire work of the intellectual center is divided into two parts: affirmation and negation, yes and no, thesis and antithesis. The same struggle between pleasant and unpleasant exists in the instinctive center: pleasant sensations, unpleasant sensations. All of those sensations are related with the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
The struggle between movement and rest exists in the movement or motor center.
Pleasant and unpleasant emotions exist in the emotional center: happiness, sympathy, affection, self-confidence, etc. are positive. Unpleasant emotions such as boredom, jealousies, envy, anger, irritability, fear, are totally negative.
In the sexual center, attraction and repulsion, chastity and lust, exist in eternal conflict.
The intellectual animal sacrifices his pleasures if necessary, but he is incapable of sacrificing his own sufferings. Whosoever wants to dissolve the pluralized “I” must sacrifice his own sufferings.
Jealousies produce suffering; if we annihilate jealousy, the suffering dies, pain is sacrificed.
Anger produces pain. If we put an end to anger, we sacrifice the pain, we destroy it.
It is necessary to observe ourselves from moment to moment. The pluralized “I” works in each of the five centers of the machine. Sometimes it is an “I” of the emotional center that is the one that reacts angrily, or is jealous, or envious. Sometimes the prejudices and calumnies of the intellectual center violently attack with all their fury. At other times, erroneous, perverse habits lead us to failure, etc.
Each center has forty-nine subconscious regions, and in each of those regions live millions of “I’s” that we need to discover through in-depth meditation.
When we self-discover ourselves, when we become cognizant of the activities of the “I” in the five centers of the machine and in the forty-nine subconscious regions, we then awaken consciousness.
To become conscious of the entire process of the “I” in the five cylinders of the machine is to make the subconscious conscious.
It is impossible to eliminate the different “I’s” if we have not previously consciously comprehended them in the forty-nine subconscious regions.
We can work with Proserpine, the Queen of the Infernos, eliminating “I’s,” with the condition of first comprehending the defect that we want to extirpate (see chapter eight).
Proserpine only eliminates the “I’s” that personify the defects that we have comprehended integrally.
It is impossible to reach Atma-Vidya without first having known ourselves.
Nosce Te Ipsum: Man, know yourself (and you shall know the universe and the Gods).
To know the activity of the five cylinders of the machine, in all the forty-nine passageways or subconscious regions of Yaldabaoth, means to Know Oneself, to make cognizant the subconsciousness, to self-discover ourselves.
Whosoever wants to ascend must first descend. Whosoever wants the Atma-Vidya must first descend into his own atomic infernos. The error of many students of occultism is to want to first ascend, without first having descended.
In our interactions with other people, our defects spontaneously appear, and if we are alert, we discover what center they proceed from. Then, by means of meditation, we will discover them in each and every one of the forty-nine subconscious regions.
It is only by means of the “I” totally dying that we attain Atma-Vidya, absolute enlightenment.
Sacrifice
Sattvic sacrifice is done in accordance with the divine commandments, concentrating on worship, only for the sake of worship, by devotees who do not desire results.
Rajasic sacrifice is done out of temptation and desiring the fruits.
Tamasic sacrifice is always done against the commandments, without faith, without the mantras, without charity towards anyone, without love for humanity, without offering the sacred offering to the priests or gurus, etc.
The third factor for the revolution of consciousness is sacrifice, but Sattvic sacrifice, without desiring the fruits of action, without desiring reward—pure, sincere, disinterested sacrifice, giving one’s life in order for others to live, and without asking for anything in return.
The reader should once again study the lesson of Virgo (chapter six), in order for him to properly comprehend the three Gunas of the Prakriti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas).
The law of the Solar Logos is sacrifice. He crucifies himself at the dawning of life in every new world that surges forth from within the chaos, in order for all beings to have life and have it in abundance.
Everyone who has attained the Second Birth should sacrifice himself for humanity, should properly raise the torch on high in order to teach others the path that leads to Light.
The one who sacrifices the self for humanity attains the Venustic Initiation. It is urgent to know that the Venustic Initiation is the incarnation of Christ within the human being.
The one who incarnates the Christ in oneself has to live the entire cosmic drama.
The Venustic Initiation has seven degrees: it begins with the event of Bethlehem and ends with the death and resurrection of the Lord.
The one who reaches the Venustic Initiation also becomes a Christ. It is only by means of the three factors for the revolution of consciousness that one attains the Venustic Initiation.
Exercise
The sign of Aquarius governs the calves. Brazilians call the calves ventre das pernas, “womb of the legs,” and they are not mistaken, for the calves are certainly a marvelous magnetic womb.
The energies that rise from the earth (after passing through the bottom of the feet) reach the calves in their ascending path and there meet the energies that descend from above, from the sky of Uranus.
The energies that ascend and those that descend, when they meet, magnetize the calves intensely; that is why the latter are really charged with eroticism.
Now we will understand why intellectual animals feel so attracted by the well-shaped calves of women.
During the sign of Aquarius, male and female disciples must perform magnetic passes with their two hands over their calves, starting from below and moving upward, with the purpose of powerfully magnetizing the calves, with the vivid yearning of charging oneself with the extraordinary forces of the constellation of Aquarius.
These magnetic passes must be combined with the following prayer:
Prayer
Energy, pass through, energy, pass through, energy, pass through, penetrate my organism, ascend to unite with your sister, the current which comes from above, from heaven, from Uranus.
Uranus and Saturn are the planets that govern the constellation of Aquarius. Uranus is totally revolutionary, and it is clear that reactionary, conservative, regressive, and retarded persons cannot understand it.
Among the minerals of Aquarius, uranium and lead especially stand out.
The sapphire is the stone of Aquarius, so is the black pearl, which is certainly difficult but not impossible to find.
We cannot advise the women of Aquarius to ever marry a Taurine man, because they will be unhappy their whole life.
The natives of Aquarius have a great disposition for natural sciences, medicine, chemistry, botany, astrology, biology, astronomy, etc.
The natives of Aquarius are revolutionary in their own way, in their life, customs, home, outside their home, etc.
The natives of Aquarius stand out as paladins, some on a large scale, others on a small scale, but they all have a marked tendency to be paladins.
Aquarius is the sign of the genius, where Saturn, the ancient of the heavens, provides the profundity that characterizes him, and Uranus, the revolutionary planet, casts its rays over the human species.
Aquarians of a superior type are altruistic, philanthropic, generous, faithful in friendship, sincere. They know how to select their friends by instinct; they know people intuitively and they always want fraternity, humaneness.
The Aquarian of an inferior type is distrustful by nature, he exaggeratingly loves retreats, and his intelligence is only dedicated to things of the physical world, to his problems, his affairs, to everything that is of the senses and material.
The Aquarian of a superior type is precise in his affairs, concentrated, profound, persevering, and marvelous.
The women of Aquarius are good wives, good mothers, but they like to be out of the house and this bothers their husbands a lot, especially if the latter are Taurine.
Samael Aun Weor
