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We now address the first of our philosophical and psychological adjustments to the encounter with the Other indicated by the seventh house or Libran function. The sign of Scorpio is the eighth sign of the zodiac and rules the eighth house of the natural chart. It is the first sign to manifest in three levels and have three symbols to represent those levels. The scorpion, the serpent and the eagle. The most exoteric level is represented by the constellation and the sign of the Scorpion. This level contains all of the base or primal instincts represented by the scorpion. It’s poisonous sting, hunters cunning, and ferocious nature are all attributes of the human Scorpio at the exoteric level. Self destructive tendencies are amazing in the sign whose key phrase is ” I WILL”. When the will is thwarted in it’s outward manifestation it turns it inward in punishing or destructive ways. In the extreme it eliminates itself. When I was first studying the sign I was told to try the experiment of pouring lighter fluid in a circle around a scorpion and striking a match. Sure enough, rather than dare the flames the creature stung itself to death. A very interesting symbolic act concerning the transformational process of fire. Scorpio is considered the forceful water sign. Ruled by Mars,  before the discovery of Pluto ( its’ natural ruler  in my opinion), Scorpionic waters are represented by powerful rushing mountain streams which carve their paths and beds in solid rock. The force of water is a key symbol in  understanding the development of life on this planet. Delivered to the earth in comet and asteroid collisions over millions of years, water was one of the first transformational elements shaping a hostile environment into one humanity ( an all other life as we know it ) could develop within. I can think of no other more powerful primal image than that of a water filled meterior smashing into the semi-molten earth at thousands of miles an hour. Dramatic, violent, deadly and thorough are all scorponic key words at the primal level. Willful manipulators, subtle, cunning agressors, powerful charismatic transformers and motivators. These are the willful scorpionic types you may meet at the primal levels. Their solution to many problems is to eliminate the cause, totally. To obliterate, obfuscate and render non-existant is the scorpio way to deal with an opponent. Extreme anything is appealing to the primal nature of the scorpion. Look! I know this sounds dramatic and you may well say,” Well, David, I know Scorpio individuals who aren’t like that!”. My reply is that you don’t know the total extent of the subtle scorpionic personality your are dealing with at the subtle level. No scorpio ( sun sign is the most blatant) will evel reveal the inner workings of their mind to any outsider at anytime no matter how close you are to them. These are individuals who keep their secrets to themselves, always. Of all of the people I read charts for these are the people who really don’t want me to reveal anything about their inner nature. They really don’t want me to know, much less anyone else! The next level of the sign is dramatically different, however, and by their reaction you can tell just what level of a scorpionic person you are dealing with at any given moment. I will discuss more of this in the next post.

The second earth sign is ruled by Mercury and a host of space junk some of which orbit between Mars and Jupiter called the Asteroid Belt. It figures doesn’t it. Every piece of flotsam and jetsam you can imagine get linked with the Great Compartmentalizer of the Zodiac, Virgo! Mercury isn’t really at home in this sign, as I believe the ancients were stuck when it came to divvying up the signs between only 7 planets. Oh, I also believe some of the ancients knew about the other 5 bodies in the solar system but that is another story for another time. I can see the major asteroids ( Pallas Athena, Ceres, Vesta, Juno and Chiron, etc. ) taking on parts of the responsibility of concretising the Virgoian message for humanity. It fits the forest and the trees saying about people born under the sign. Mercury really isn’t into minute details. This or that is good enough for the natural ruler of Gemini. If you check the take on all of the asteroids, however, you are gonna find that detailed thinking or it’s direct polar opposite figures heavily in all of their stories, including the ” Wounded Healer Chiron ” which has been over done don’t you think…or don’t you. Chiron gave Jason ( of the golden fleece fame ) enough info concerning the Mysteries to keep him going for years to come and then some. Pretty Virgo-esque! The Greeks supposedly put him in the sky as the symbol of Sagittarius but then the Greeks always got it backwards including their sexual practices now didn’t they. Intricacy, minute detail, translation of foreign languages, interpretation of symbols and so much more describes the Virgoan mentality not the Geminian nor the Sagittarian nor any other sign of the Zodiac! To the point=Sagittarius, wading through the details=Virgo. Quick scan of the facts on the surface=Gemini. The Virgoan loves the work, the challenge of it, the wading through. Not so the Gemini! Not so the Sagittarius! Messy details of healing, cleaning up the bodies, sewing up the wounds give it to the Virgo. The Virgo can see the Forrest and the Trees until stress sets in then it is the trees, the endless trees one at a time tree after tree. You have to pull them out by the ankles and demand they take R n R to get their mind right again. They have the elbow grease and the self effacing personalities to take on the most excruciatingly accurate minute tasks modern technology can set for them. Micro, nano you know I know doesn’t phase them a bit. This latter phase of the Piscean Age is their time. Compassionate, kindly, gentle and sharp as a tack. They are neat, except for that one closet or drawer or car which is just jammed and sloppy as hell. Don’t worry it is only a way to let you know they are in fact human. If of course you can find where they hide all of that stuff that doesn’t fit at the moment. Immaculate lovers! Punctual! Give you just what you have earned and no more or less. Got your spot under control and know how to use it against you of for you, depending! You get what I mean. The sign, is after all about the ego’s adjustment to the not self, the other. In Virgo and under Virgoian command the adjustment is perfect. The self and the not self fit like an expensive glove should. O.K. O.K. so I am being idealistic! But this is the best you can count on from the sign of the Great Harvest! Don’t you think it was a Virgo who dreamed up the Armageddon wherein only the ” chosen ” would be taken and the rest would be left out like so much chaff separated from the wheat. The end of the Piscean age is about the grounding and anchoring of the Great Visions of the last 2150 or so years. The outcome will be perfect because the forces which abound in the reflex of the Pisces Picture are Virgoian. The mills of the Gods grind slowly and they grind exceedingly fine. Virgo!

Individuation is the key to understanding the next step in the unfolding of the human drama. The Fifth sign of the Zodiac is the sign of the Lion, Leo. Under the sign of Leo ruled by the Sun we discover the real heart of the matter, especially when it comes to us our self, the ego and identity. This is the point where we express our individual need. This is the place where we project outward the image we have of our self and hope to impress others who will recognize us and gravitate to us for whatever reason, usually to fulfill a need. Here is where vitality is transformed into personality and where soul is focused through the lens of ego. The strength of the ego is forcefully radiated in the sign of Leo like the roar of the lion. That is usually enough to inform the creatures of the environment, the King/Queen is here.

When I said above,” The heart of the matter “, I was letting slip the esoteric secret of the sign of Leo. The heart of  the solar system is the sun. IT is the animating force and the source of all that is seen to be the human “body” in relationship to the cosmos as a whole. The solar system, as we are discovering it ( step by painful step ) is the super man, the cosmic man, the form of our being in as broad a context as we can ever objectify.  In a way it is the One God of the Piscean Age or Gods if you will.  It is our environment, our identity and our source. I once remarked in a discussion on World religions, ” Humanity worships itself in the form of the Sun of our solar system and has never had the intelligence to break through that illusion into the realm of the true Creator.” The heart of the solar system and the heart of our own body are one and the same. They even function in a similar manner as pumps, however this is only the surface of the Mystery of Life in this part of the Galaxy. It is the radiant power of the Sun which engenders Life as we know it in its many forms on the earth and through out the system. Leo is the heart of the Zodiac as the Greeks learned it from the earlier civilizations and the esoteric systems encoded in all of the ancient Zodiacs made the fixed cross ( Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius ) the foundation of the human being as Cosmic Man.

When you are following your heart you are being driven by the radiance of the Sun, your Ego is being illuminated by the radiance of the Sun and you will be recognized by others as greater than yourself. Humility is the stance of one whose identity is being recognized as beyond ego and representative of the power of the deity. You are seen as selfless and the selflessness in others is being reinforced by the selflessness you are projecting and thus not seen as ego. Leo’s at their greatest are heart people and they draw other people like the Sun draws water from the Earth to form clouds. The Leo represents the perfect form. The Ideal Form. It is because of the mere presence of an open mind and an open heart. Warmth, generosity,congeniality and compassion for all is the pure Leonine stance. It is the most positive of the positive signs of the entire Zodiacal matrix. I will look at the down side or Leo and more ESOTERIC qualities in part II of Leo, the Heart of the Matter, Astrologically!

The Astrological ideas I am sharing with you come from 45 years of experience and yet there is much to learn. When I picked up Llewellyn George’s A to Z Horoscope Maker and Delineator I didn’t realize that this would be a lifetime of work on top of everything else I was doing. I have given my 1962 edition away and still have a 1973 edition which I reference from time to time, still. It is still foundational for me even though I have my own take on some things and outright disagree with others.

I have wanted to write a degree interpretation book for years but am still hooked on Mark Jone’s Sabian Symbols and Rudhyar’s Astrological Mandella. Especially Dane Rudhyar! I have used his system to make some incredible discoveries. Symbolism is fascinating to me! I have come to understand that human beings communicated in symbols long before spoken words. Colors, shapes, textures, and just plain ol marks on a stick still communicate faster than verbalization. And I am a Talker! Astrological symbolism is rich and deep! Is ancient and predates most of our so called civilizations. The language of genius and intuition. When reduced to words almost trivialized. Take Aries for instance the symbol can resemble the curling horns of the ram, the first plant shoots of spring or the breaching of a whale in the ocean. It can imply from the source outward. The connection of the organism with the outer world. The breath of life. On and On! It is the first sign of the zodiac ( which is depicted as a circle with no beginning or end ) only because presence is necessary to define. Beginning and ending are one and the same, in truth.  You’ve got to start somewhere and in the Northern Hemisphere the spring is the first visible manifestation of life on the surface. The sprout breaking through the earth. The deeper meaning of Aries lies within the mystery of the force of the Earth herself. More later!