The awakening of the Self
Cancer, the “birthplace of life in form”, is followed by Leo, the “birthplace of the individual” and the taking of form as a self-conscious individual, the writings of Alice Bailey tell us. Out of the consciousness of the mass or herd, the self-conscious individual emerges, developing initially the pronounced egocentric consciousness of the selfish, intelligent individual driven by self-serving ambition. In time, though, this acute self-awareness begins to foster a sense of isolation as a separated self, inaugurating a search for a clearer understanding of the individual’s place in the larger whole.
One could say that this quest is the central theme of Leo, a path of inquiry that has underscored spiritual teaching for eons of time. Aldous Huxley wrote in The Perennial Philosophy that “the concept of the eternal Self in the depths of particular, individualized selves, and identical to, the divine Ground is expressed most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula tat tvam asi (‘that art thou’). The atman, or immanent eternal Self, is one with Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all existence”, he wrote, “and the last end of every human being is to discover the fact for himself, to find out who he really is.” This is the path that the energies of Leo illumine.
Huxley’s thoughts shed light on the keynote of Leo, I am That and That am I. Intense self-awareness is a major characteristic of the Leo person, we’re told, because the expansion of consciousness, for the human being, is necessarily anchored in the experience of individuality throughout the duration of incarnation in manifested form. For many, this sense of self-awareness extends only as far as the borders of the personal self, and perhaps that helps to explain the tendency to emphasize human differences and distinctions, the unique qualities and aptitudes which distinguish individuals and also groups from each other. But as long as the emphasis is placed on differentiating oneself or one’s group from the larger whole, the spiritual gifts of Leo remain unexplored.
Alice Bailey wrote that Leo is the most human sign of all. When the Roman playwright Terence said “I am human and I consider nothing that is human alien to me”, perhaps he was expressing the expansive nature of the Self in the heart’s capacity to enfold the whole scope of the human experience. Extending this realization to the higher levels of being, Karen Armstrong wrote that as early as 600 B.C., the Indian Aryans achieved the ground-breaking realization that Brahman, being itself, was also the ground of the human psyche. This insight, “that the transcendent was neither external nor alien to humanity, but the two were inextricably linked”, became central to the religious quest in all the major religions, she wrote.
This realization, that Brahman must be anchored in the experience of the self, is central to the divine Plan. Alice Bailey wrote that religion is the culture of the sense of divinity, which might shed light on the place of the human being in the great chain of being. Again, this is affirmed in ancient spiritual teachings such as the Chandogya Upanishad (c 600 B.C.) which declared that “Out of himself, the One projected this universe…and entered into every being. All that is has its self in Him alone. Of all things He is the subtle essence. He is the truth and He is the Self. And that, That art thou.” Therefore, we must not regard the self as the gross physical body or, more subtly, the personality, but as a living exponent of the One. When this insight gains even a toe-hold in consciousness, it becomes a force for transformation in all our relationships—with all who serve the divine Plan, with our fellow human beings, with the lower kingdoms, and with the Earth itself.
Tat tvam asi, ancient India realized, means “Thou art to be aware of the identity of thine inmost essence with the invisible substance of all and everything.” In modern esoteric language, I am That and That am I.
