Aquarius is in some ways an elusive sign to understand, which the writings of Alice Bailey confirm in saying that the Aquarian Age eventually will bring in a civilization which will be utterly different than anything we have experienced up till now. We are entering a new age in which all things will become new. The symbol for Aquarius ♒︎ somewhat conveys the illimitable impact of its energies, which shouldn’t be surprising because Aquarius is an air sign, and like air, difficult to contain or to limit.
The energy which pours through ♒︎ is outgoing; there is no center or circle of circumscribed influence but only two outgoing lines of energy. An analogy Alice Bailey gives is that Aquarius governs the blood system and its circulation to all parts of the body, symbolic of the task of the liberated Aquarian who dispenses spiritual vitality throughout all the forms of planetary life. What makes this possible? One thought was proposed by what the German philosopher Martin Heidegger called “Being”, a fundamental energy that supports and pervades everything that exists and permeates the whole of reality. It is essentially indefinable because it is impossible to get outside it and view it objectively. On the human level, the objective before spiritual seekers is to apply this all-pervasive energy to the way we experience the world—to perceive this pervasive energy running, as a hidden stream, throughout the diversity of life in form. The objective before spiritual seekers, Alice Bailey wrote, “is the development of a sense of planetary relationships upwards into kingdoms hitherto unseen and unknown; downward into subhuman kingdoms, outwards into the environment, and inwards towards divinity itself: towards synthesis, wholeness, a sense of the entire.”
Relationship is a familiar word that contains worlds of meaning. Previously considered a static condition confined to family, community and nation—to identification with “my people” as distinguished from “all others”—relationship was often sharply defined by inclusion and exclusion. However, esoteric teaching tells us that “the theme of relationship is a basic pattern in the evolutionary process of unfoldment in which Love is being perfected.” The sense of planetary relationships, from the subjective angle, awakens a realization of a world of Intelligences reaching from the highest pinnacle of our planet and beyond, downwards through the chain of Hierarchy and finally reaching the individual with the realization that he or she, too, is but a link and that there are those who must be reached and awakened to their responsibilities to the larger whole.
As the energies of Aquarius gradually strengthen in the coming era, this will surely have a major impact upon humanity’s sense of relationships. For our hope in these challenging times, the writings of Alice Bailey point out that “Humanity is today further advanced spiritually and mentally than might appear from external happenings. The first result of such development is eventually the destruction of the outer form because it is proving inadequate to the pulsing, inner, spiritual life”, she wrote and we can see this working out in the destruction of old relationships and in threats to dismantle structures which have previously maintained regional and global integrity. The New Age will not be ushered in and find true expression of its latent energies through the medium of old, patched up forms or by old techniques and attitudes, Alice Bailey wrote. It will come through entirely new forms and letting go of old forms of religion, government, economic and social idealisms. This means there’s a great need for sensitive intermediaries who can sense the new emerging realities and help to create the appropriate forms which these new subjective ideas must utilize. “It is necessary for working disciples at this time to appreciate the immediate emergency”, Alice Bailey wrote. “There is a crisis in human affairs which must be seen as opportunity, not catastrophe”.
A great thirst for a more spiritual approach to life is clearly visible. Perhaps no urge is more powerful than the body’s thirst for water, but subjectively, thirst also applies to the fulfillment of spiritual craving, a need which the keynote of Aquarius promises to fulfill: Water of life am I, poured forth for thirsty men [and women]. In our group meditation, let us ponder on the most effective ways to respond to the spiritual demand now resounding throughout the world.