The Sun’s transit from mass consciousness in Cancer gives place to individual self-consciousness in Leo. Individualization is the emergence of the soul upon the path of outgoing, of life in the manifested worlds through the medium of a form. Out of the mass or herd the self-sufficient unit emerges and, in time, the writings of Alice Bailey tell us, the development of the individual consummates in an integrated personality. Slowly, however, the self-sufficient individual becomes increasingly aware of its singularity, aloneness and isolation as the center of its small universe. In time the need to peel away the layers enclosing the separated self generates a crisis in Leo, preparing for the awakening of the Christ principle at the center of being, which is love and identification. “The outstanding theme of Leo is the activity of the self-conscious unit in relation to its environment or the development of sensitive response to surrounding impacts by the one who stands—as the Sun—at the center of its little universe. The whole story of Leo can be summed up in the word ‘sensitivity’”, the writings of Alice Bailey say. This expanding recognition is expressed in the keynote of Leo, I am That and That am I.

Perhaps this is the crisis of the present time, for the sense of self, of my rights, my needs, my goals, seems all-powerful; yet for many it’s proving to be not enough and this is a hopeful sign. For as long as human beings have been self-conscious they have pondered on the nature of identity, a search for which the Ancients charted a pathway, going back to Moses’s questioning of God, in Exodus 3:14, and explored in depth in Hindu teaching. The answer, we’re told, lies in the recognition that “I am” is not sufficient; “I am That” is the doorway to a more expansive sense of being, progressing into the recognition that “I am That and That am I” and culminating, at an advanced stage of initiation, in the realization that “I am That I am”.

The potential for advancement through these stages might lie, concealed, in the present world crisis: the polarization and isolation of modern society. The interplay of the astrological polarities is always provocative in effect, and as the synthesizing, amalgamating forces of Aquarius pour in, heralding a new age, they are evoking a response from Leo, the polar opposite of Aquarius, and presenting a challenge to the human concept of identity, of self. The urge to stand apart, to preserve the ramparts of the isolated, independent and “free” self, is being powerfully stimulated not only in individuals but in groups and whole nations, increasing separativeness and nationalism, tightening borders both physical and psychological. There is an antidote to this pull, however; it lies in the understanding of the Self.

To know this adamantine Self, the scholar of Indian philosophy and art Heinrich Zimmer wrote, is the quest of Indian thought. Interestingly, the entrance into true “Selfhood” is not that of progress, growth, or evolution into greater external spheres, but of awakening to that which has always been present. According to Zimmer, “Self-recollection brings into consciousness what already reposes in a hidden state, dormant and quiescent, as the timeless reality of his being.” Something that was stained, obscured, becomes restored to its native glory, cleansed, awake and pristine, as in the polishing of a mirror.

In the Bhagavad-Gita we’re told, “He who sees the Lord Supreme abiding equally in all transitory beings, the Imperishable in the things that perish—he truly sees.” When the thick crust of desire, disappointment, selfishness, and grief, built up over countless lifetimes, is chipped away, the true Self—imperishable being—is revealed. The realization that this Self within (Atman) is present in all things (Brahman) underlies the true meaning of sharing. The principle of sharing, which is central to Aquarius, provides a path out of the discord, aggression and desire to dominate which are so visible in the present times. Beyond the need to share material benefits, there is a still higher aspect to sharing which is a powerful spiritual service expressed by Plotinus: the capacity to “see all things, not in process of becoming, but in Being, and see themselves in the other. Each being contains in itself the whole intelligible world. Therefore all is everywhere. Each is there All, and All is each…when he ceases to be an individual, he raises himself again and penetrates the whole world.” Leo’s keynote, I am That and That am I, points the way to this revelation.