From Bitter Strife to Joyful Striving

We are being bathed by the energies emanating from the Constellation of Scorpio for the next three weeks in November. Their inherent nature is to stir up opportunities for testing and for overcoming the unhelpful conditioning of our lower nature.

However, whenever we fully say YES to life and wish to be of service, the whole of our life comes immediately under the influence of this solar sign. Scorpio rules the Path of Discipleship and generously offers the needed challenges to cleanse and shape us for a life of spiritual service and greater usefulness. Thus, its influence is not simply one month each year but a continuous year-by-year and a lifetime-by lifetime over-lighting presence as we intentionally tread the Path.

If this is the case, then it behooves us to explore more deeply the qualities, characteristics and energetic components of this zodiacal sign so that we may navigate our way through the challenges in front of us more wisely. Scorpio is a water sign described as containing the ‘purificatory waters of testing and trial’. It is ruled by the planet Mars, both esoterically and exoterically, providing us with the needed energy and fighting spirit by which the trials of Scorpio are successfully faced. Scorpio is said to be that potent constellation which influences the turning point, both in the life of humanity and the individual.

Its function in our collective evolutionary development is to provide those ‘points of crisis’ and those ‘moments of reorientation’ that lead us ever closer to the vision of spiritual liberation. At the moment, humanity is living through the fires of the testing ground, and the challenges of this stage upon the Path are heightened by the Constellation of Scorpio as it channels and conveys the 4th Ray energy of “Harmony through Conflict”.

Collectively, we are crossing the burning ground and facing the tests of Scorpio because humanity is preparing to take the First Initiation, which marks the overcoming of our insatiable addiction to materialism. This victory is achieved through a process of detachment and dis-identification with the outer forms of life and by an opening of the heart that enables us to hold our sisters and brothers in a compassionate and loving embrace. This will signal a move from self-centeredness to an expanded group awareness with a natural soul-centered urge to care for the good of the whole.

The deep unrest and upheaval in the world at the moment is the result of us approaching the Initiatory Portal, with its promise and potential of an expansion of consciousness. We will have to face the Dweller on the Threshold, who stands guard together with the Angel of the Presence. The Dweller represents the sum-total of our unredeemed aspects, while the Angel holds the wisdom contained in those petals of the lotus of our Soul that we have so far managed to open. Although the testing is tough and relentless, it is reassuring to know that we have the necessary inner resources to draw upon, so that together we may meet and pass the tests.

As we look around the world and witness what is occurring, it is clearly evident that this is a period of unprecedented testing and opportunity. So, what exactly are we facing in this sign?

Scorpio is sometimes called the Agent of Deception as reflected in its personality affirmation: “Let maya flourish and let deception rule.” While in its higher aspect, Scorpio shows up as the ‘Light of Liberation’ which is reflected in its soul motto: “Warrior I am and from the battle I emerge triumphant.”

The struggle in Scorpio helps us realize and eventually overcome our past conditioning and personality limitations in which we have been immersed for many cycles. This then leads to the establishing of right relations with the indwelling spiritual life (the soul) and with our environment – the sacred eco-system of Gaia.

Further insight into the energies of this sign is provided by the following quote from ‘Esoteric Astrology’ by Alice Bailey:

“Scorpio is under the influence or inflowing energy of Sirius. .... These are the major controlling influences whereby the cosmic Christ works upon the Christ principle in the solar system, in the planet, in the human and in the lower forms of life expression. It is esoterically called the "brilliant star of sensitivity.”  EA, p.197

By way of clarification, the Cosmic Christ is not a historical ‘personage’ but represents a vast scalar consciousness – a brilliant embodiment of Limitless Love and Truth that suffuses the whole universe and saturates our solar system with the Will-to-Love. This all-pervading Christic Presence is the Lighted Child of Consciousness birthed from a consummation of the sacred union and alchemical marriage between the Divine Feminine and the Divine Masculine aspects of the One Life. The revelation of this Inner Light of Love inside the heart of every atom is said to be the goal of Creation.

During our series of lifetimes, the soul is required to face specific trials in each sign of the Zodiac as part of its schooling. These lessons are reflected in the Twelve Labors of Hercules as Hercules represents the Soul of Humanity who must encounter manifold challenges on the path to ‘perfection’ and self-realization. As Scorpio perfectly illustrates the major test that we as a human family are facing right now, let us examine the challenge that confronts Hercules in this sign.

In this segment of the Zodiac, Hercules has to defeat the nine-headed Hydra who is also known as the Serpent of Desire. We are taking the time to emphasize the important attributes, challenges and opportunities of this sign because, as we said earlier, Scorpio rules the Path of Discipleship and so it affects all of us throughout the entirety of our earthly lives as we tread the path of service. Scorpio unfailingly provides the tests that allow us to achieve freedom from the prison of physical attachment, emotional control and mental conditioning.

The important thing to remember is that this is not a written test! It is an in-the-flesh examination of our ability and capacity to respond to the Light of the Soul and liberate ourselves from the gravitational pull of our lower desires. Therefore, it requires real in-the-flesh answers that demonstrate we have actually achieved the requirements for crossing the Threshold. In the same way that we are tested in order to acquire a driving license, we are required by Life to prove that we can skillfully drive our earthly ‘service delivery vehicle’ without being a danger to self and others.

Before exploring how Hercules sets about his task of defeating the Hydra, let’s understand more specifically what these nine heads of the Hydra represent.

The three heads representing the tests of the physical plane are:

Sex, physical comfort and money.

The three heads representing the tests of the astral (emotional) plane are:

Fear, hate and ambition.

The three heads representing the tests of the mental plane are:

Pride, separateness and cruelty.

Observing the world situation, we perceive that these are precisely the critical challenges facing us now and Hercules, as the Soul of Humanity, must overcome them and emerge triumphant from the battle.

How does Hercules approach this task? He cannot wrestle the Hydra in the mud and ooze of its watery domain because he would most certainly be pulled under and drowned. He cannot cut off a head because legend tells us that two more would sprout in its place. Hercules has to kneel on one knee as a gesture of humility through which he claims the impersonal power of Spirit. He then plunges his hands into the muddy waters to firmly grasp the Hydra and raise it up high into the Light of Day where this mythological creature loses its power.

The slippery Serpent of Desire cannot exist in the rarified air of the intuitive plane where lower desires no longer hold sway. Please note there is a huge distinction between overcoming the Hydra in this manner through a bold act of redemption and transmutation than through attempting to kill it by destroying its outer form.

To overcome means to dissolve the stubborn patterns of the personality through a release of the higher Light of the Soul. Killing the physical form (such as cutting off a head of the Hydra) does not remove the imprisoning patterns and addictions – it simply retards and prolongs the process of liberating the psyche.

We are told there are three stages of spiritual growth made possible to us through the powerful influence of Scorpio that trace the upward evolutionary passage of transformation of the disciple and would-be world server.

The first level is symbolized by the Scorpion, representing the strident personality at war with itself and others. It seeks to harm in order to protect and assert itself while remaining submerged in the waters of the emotions and captured inside the lower mind by its imprinted and limiting dogmatic beliefs. Once this pernicious Hydra personality is overcome, the Scorpion becomes the Eagle – a denizen of the skies.

The Eagle represents the over-lighting Soul, whose incarnated agent on Earth, the personality, has finally been liberated from the clutches of materialism and selfishness.

It lives in the pure and rarified air of the intuitive realm and is now free to soar and infuse the personality with a clear and keen vision which supports ‘right discernment’ and ‘right action’ that ultimately serves the good of the whole.

The third and final stage of transformation is from the Eagle to the Dove which represents the highest expression of Spirit. This Monadic presence descends and fills our whole being with the Fire of Synthesis and thus completes the divine circuitry by connecting the hitherto separated aspects of our essential nature.

The symbols of the Dove, Eagle and Scorpion express our Trinity of Self and describe the three spheres of Spirit, Soul and personality. This can also be stated as Life, Consciousness and Form and in the Agni Yoga teaching, they are known as the Fiery World, the Subtle World and the Manifested World.

The lower expression of Scorpio as the Agent of Deception, tempts us to, “Let maya flourish and let deception rule” . The current state of the world is a clear manifestation of this immature and chaotic aspect of Scorpio. There is so much for us to address and remedy as a human family if we are to pass the tests and allow the Soul to govern our lives. It requires the transformation of the Scorpion into the Eagle and eventually into the Dove of Peace, that scripture refers to as “the Peace which passeth all understanding.”

I know that many of us have felt an intensification of testing under Scorpio recently. Things we thought we had overcome have reared their head again to catch our attention and elicit a response. These challenges represent the last vestiges of those patterns that are the most stubborn and difficult to liberate. I am calling these ‘hold-outs’ – the ‘recalcitrant residue of our deeply imprinted patterns of behavior and beliefs’.

Thankfully, Scorpio holds the Light of Liberation that guarantees we will eventually overcome the terrestrial trials. In the Ageless Wisdom teaching there is the spiritual equivalent of a ‘government health warning label’ attached to Scorpio.

Under this sign, a focus on desire and emotional responses only further deters from the light, imbedding one further in the darkness of uninspired matter.  Thus, the questions arise, "Will the world Hercules [humanity]… ‘elevate the Hydra’ of passion and hate, of greed and aggression, and of selfishness and ambition up into the region of the Soul? Or will it carry the whole matter down on to the physical plane with the inevitable corollary of world disaster, world war and death?"

We are in the middle of a global psycho-drama being played out on the world stage by a cast of billions that is following a script written by many generations over countless centuries. The main theme of the story is the continuous search for ‘Heaven on Earth’ – portrayed in history as the Golden World of Eldorado and Shangri-La or, more recently, as MLK’s Beloved Community. These lofty aspirations fill our dreams and cause us to strive onwards with our “eyes on the prize”.

Unfortunately, what stands in the way of us achieving this dream are our own short-comings and unredeemed aspects. We are presently locked in a bitter struggle with our collective demons who are temporarily blocking the path that our better Angels have chosen to tread in order to find a more harmonious way of living together. It is as though Central Casting has found the absolutely best actors to play the various parts of the nine-headed Hydra and yet the role of Hercules is open for each of us to step into as soon as we dare to assume responsibility as co-directors, co-writers and ensemble members who understand what is at stake and know unequivocally how the story needs to end.

By consciously and conscientiously working to redeem the Dweller of the Threshold, and by cooperating with the bountiful resources of the Angel of the Presence, both individually and collectively, we will realize that the power to make a positive difference and bring about the desired changes in society is in our power. The responsibility for making it happen rests squarely on our shoulders. With this re-affirmed knowing and trust in life, we will be able to overcome the conditioning patterns and personality imperfections in which we are presently enmeshed and imprisoned. This naturally allows the establishing of right relations with the Soul and with our environment – the multidimensional ecosystem of Gaia – in which we all live and move and have our being.

This is the global struggle in which we currently find ourselves. We have reached a critical point on the path with humanity wrestling with its own demons and seeking to overcome the Serpent of Desire. Will we rise or will we fall? It is up to us. So, let us commit to making a real and positive difference by utilizing the focused energies of our shared intent and aspirations for a more just and joyful world.

As the ‘group Hercules’ it is our assigned soul task as compassionate warriors to receive, internalize and potently release the Light of Liberation into our world through all that we think, say and do.

Michael Lindfield

Board President

Meditation Mount