An Ocean of Intelligence
Aries is the sign of beginnings—the beginning of the creative process, the first step of the soul towards incarnation, the beginning of recurring and constant cycles of experience, and the initiator of the period in which the soul changes its direction, its purpose and its method, which finally leads to spiritual regeneration and initiation. To grasp the implications of this requires that we step back from concentration on the immediate foreground of the present life experience and attempt to understand the long, long path of the human soul through repeated incarnations and testing, leading to experiences of both triumph and failure (both of which can be richly educational). If we could see the long sweep of the soul’s experience, would it give us hope or would it merely generate fatigue? Let’s assume that such a long-range view would instill new vitality and a deepening sense of purpose.
The writings of Alice Bailey tell us that four words express the changes brought about by cycles of progress upon the path from individualization to initiation: Recreation—Regeneration—Reorientation—Renunciation. From this we can conclude that every human being finds him- or herself at one of these stages, and that all of them involve the capacity to change, willingness to release the known and familiar, and the courage to forge ahead in spite of obstacles and delays. “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often”, as John Henry Cardinal Newman realized.
This helps us to understand why the spiritual asset of adaptability is so vital to the dedicated seeker, and why it’s such a significant aspect of the energies expressing through Aries. Most people might regard life as something that happens to them. In this view, events, tests, crises and joys come unbidden and the individual can only adapt to them. But true adaptability requires keen awareness of the underlying currents of the forces and energies which are generating the need for change. As one draws increasingly upon the full resources of the mind, an ever-clarifying sense of direction develops. This is quite different from being the passive victim of life’s random, unpredictable and ultimately inscrutable twists and turns.
Adaptability, according to Alice Bailey’s writings, is the prime attribute of the Brahma aspect—mind or intelligence. It is the attribute of intelligence which adapts the matter aspect to the Spirit aspect, and it’s a characteristic inherent in matter itself. Everything in manifestation, even the tiniest atom, is governed by intelligence. As Juliet Hollister, the founder of the Temple of Understanding, once wrote, “I’ve always believed that we live in an ocean of Intelligence.” Brahma has been defined as “the manifested God”, “God-in-substance”. The goal of Brahma is the perfect blending of Spirit and matter, the manipulation of matter so as to make it fit, or equal to, the demands and needs of the Spirit, we’re told in the writings of Alice Bailey.
When we can recognize that intelligence, or the factor of mind, is working out as ordered purpose in all that we see around us, this will reveal that the world is not going blindly on its way, but has back of it some plan, some organized concept which is working itself out by means of the material form, Alice Bailey wrote. This suggests that a human being comes into incarnation after incarnation for the purpose of working out a divine idea. Through repeated experience working with matter, the human soul creates, nourishes, and discards form after form, for the purpose of adapting and conforming more closely to the plan held in the Mind of God.
This clarifying approach to life is the great gift of Aries, as expressed in its keynote: I come forth and from the plane of mind, I rule.
