Cultivating the Sense of Divinity
When meditation at the time of the full moon draws upon the science of esoteric astrology, it focuses primarily on the energies which stream into our planet and stimulate the awakening of consciousness. From the perspective of esoteric astrology, the energies expressed through the first three signs—Aries, Taurus and Gemini—are subjective;. They lie behind manifestation, behind the form-taking experience which begins in earnest in Cancer, one of two gates of the zodiac (the other being Capricorn, the polar opposite of Cancer). A gate signifies a point of entry; in the case of Cancer the gate leads from the purely subjective realm of Aries, Taurus and Gemini, into the objective worlds of manifestation—of form taking. Why this is necessary for the life of the soul is suggested in a definition of esotericism given by Alice Bailey: Esotericism is the science of redemption.
Fundamentally, the redemptive process occurs through the evolution of consciousness, from the atomic level to the cosmic, for all manifestation expresses a degree of consciousness. Not just human beings but planets and entire solar systems evolve through manifestation, the taking of a form. Regardless of the degree or level of consciousness inhabiting a particular form, inevitably the purpose is to awaken to the greater life in which the form lives. This experience initially generates the expansion of consciousness until, at some stage, it begins to foster a sense of limitation. Thus we can see that a cyclic process is generated which leads from the birth of a life in form to its release through death—its relinquishment in search of liberation.
Another definition of esotericism is that its goal is to bring the inner and outer, the subjective and objective realms, into a unity. The keynote of Cancer shines light in a particularly beautiful way on the purpose for which the human soul incarnates in form: I build a lighted house and therein dwell. Alice Bailey’s writings illumine the significance of this key thought by pointing out that so much of the life of a spiritual seeker remains esoteric, hidden and subjective, resembling the tip of an iceberg with its vast mass hidden from view. The goal is to bring all that the seeker is on the inner planes—on the level of the soul or higher Self—into visibility, into a living demonstration, not for acclaim or recognition of status, but to provide a vessel, a lighted house, through which the light of spirit can radiate in the outer world.
On a more expansive level, the destiny of our planet’s evolution is also to become a lighted house, radiating its light throughout the darkness of space. Perhaps an insight on how humanity can begin to contribute to this goal lies in a definition of religion given in the writings of Alice Bailey: “Religion is the culture of the sense of divinity.” The human quest for God, for the Divine, is fulfilled not by escaping this world for another more rarified realm, but by witnessing the presence of the divine in the world, in the natural environment and in the nobility of the human experience. Greatness and majesty lie all around us right here on Earth when we open our eyes. This may be why we’re told that the gate of Cancer leads to an appreciation of form.
“The goal of evolution is found to be a gradual series of light demonstrations”, Alice Bailey wrote. “Veiled and hidden by every form lies light. As evolution proceeds, matter becomes increasingly a better conductor of the light, thus demonstrating the accuracy of the statement of the Christ, ‘I am the Light of the World’”. To become a conductor of light is the purpose of the Christ principle nascent in every human being, and it begins this evolutionary journey in Cancer by declaring I build a lighted house and therein dwell.
