Triumph through testing and trial
Scorpio is the great constellation which influences the turning point, both in the life of humanity and of the individual human being, according to the writings of Alice Bailey. When the balance point is achieved in Libra, a kind of pivot is reached in the life of the soul, bringing tests and crises that can be slow, quiet, unseen but persistent, or dramatic purgations which cut to the very root of being. The spiritual path might seem, to the beginner, a search for peace, but esoteric teaching abounds with references to battle and appeals to the warrior within. “Rise up and fight”, Krishna commanded Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. The Buddha himself was born into the warrior caste of ancient India. An astonishing insight from esoteric teaching is that the very thrust of the energy manifesting in the evolution of Earth is conditioned by an “attitude and an orientation of a ‘Divine Rebel’”. The mysterious but inherently spiritual purpose of battle underlies the keyword of Scorpio: Warrior I am and from the battle I emerge triumphant.
A turning point marks an opportunity for reorientation, but it’s only an opportunity, not a guarantee. The sincerity, selflessness, courage and persistence of the seeker must be tested again and again before the outcome is assured. Scorpio applies the tests on all levels of the personality: the physical appetites for sex, comfort and money; the emotions of fear, hate and ambition; and the mental susceptibility to pride, separativeness and cruelty. All of these provide ample testing grounds for the seeker’s dedication to the life of the soul. Tests challenge one’s orientation to the spiritual path, particularly in the early stages when a new world, a wider awareness, is opening up, accompanied by a sense of loss and of groping in the dark. In the process of undergoing these tests, an undeniable lesson is learned: that the personality is itself one’s own worst enemy. For our hope, though, we can recall some words attributed to Socrates—that the unexamined life is not worth living. Recognizing where have we “laid up our treasure” is critical to successful reorientation. Both vices and virtues are expressions of the ways we handle force; lines of least resistance can indicate the gains of past achievements or point to inclinations in need of redirection.
Perhaps the greatest test of the spiritual path is the fear of failure. We’re told that this deep-seated fear is based on past experience (for all have failed). Yet such tests can be “major releasing factors”, and the writings of Alice Bailey offer a decisive insight from esoteric teaching in this passage:
“At the foot of the wall lies a well, added the sage. Love lies at the bottom of the well.
It cannot be drowned, but men love not deep water. Be willing, therefore, to descend into the deep water. The higher the wall from which you fall, the deeper into the water you will go, and that, paradoxically, will be your salvation. Look for this development and welcome it.”
The uses of failure are experienced by every sincere seeker. The plane of desire presents the Waterloo, and Scorpio carries the battle right down into the physical plane life where it can be addressed by the reasoning mind. When we look at the world today, it’s clear that humanity is in the midst of a battle so crucial that it will have repercussions not only for humans but for all the kingdoms that share the earth. As the writings of Alice Bailey put it, humanity, the world Arjuna, is being weighed in the balance: “The outcome of good is inevitable. It is however a question of a slow or a rapid realization and liberation from the great world illusion.”
Holding in mind that the keynotes of Scorpio are test, trial, and triumph, let us work in meditation.
