The Gift of the Present Moment
The entire theme of the zodiac can be understood esoterically from the angle of light and its increasing radiance. The light shining through Leo awakens recognition of individual identity, of personal integrity in the fullest sense of that term. In Virgo identity is revealed as duel, including both divine aspects: spirit and matter, the mother and the Christ child. God immanent, the Christ principle, evokes reaction from the form side, revealing in Virgo the purpose for which form life exists. In Alice Bailey’s words, “The inner spiritual reality must manifest upon ‘the radiant surface of the earth’, the plane of form.” The gaze of the spiritual seeker must shift from pursuit of a distant, visionary goal to a focus on the foreground of life, on service in ways sometimes great but more often small. Yet, this attention to even the smallest and humblest aspects of life can be full of spiritual significance, as Christ reminded us when he said “In as much as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.”
In Virgo the vast arc of the force of evolution becomes focused on the “service of the immediately present”, Alice Bailey wrote. No act of service is too small to escape the notice of the Christ, for the whole thrust of evolution is to shield, nurture and finally reveal the hidden spiritual reality veiled by every form. Through the long cycle of gestation, Virgo, the mother aspect, protects the germ of the Christ life, just as matter guards and cherishes the hidden soul, the Christ child. This is why esoteric teaching refers to Virgo as “the womb of time”. Time is an elusive concept in the esoteric sense; in fact, it might come as a surprise that esotericism views time as one of the higher psychic powers. “A true comprehension of the time element, with its cyclic ebb and flow…is a most difficult psychic power to master”, Alice Bailey wrote, “but one which can be mastered through the use of patient waiting and the elimination of hurry.” This is a reminder that patience is an act of the will and a creative use of the energies that flow through Virgo.
While we live on earth our perception of time is linear: past→present→future. This can foster a sense of cleavage or rupture, and therefore of illusion. In fact, time has no reality for the soul; it is only an effect of the brain and therefore known only in incarnation. “All that is, is ever present”, we’re told. But while in incarnation, we must work through the brain and this renders life a series of events and sequences, one after another. Perhaps there is a good reason for this—perhaps it slows down the process of evolution in order to plant the seeds of spirit deep within matter, and thus put down deep roots which will anchor and stabilize future growth.
A right understanding of time is the essence of the mother aspect and the beauty of Virgo. The long process of gestation is one of sustaining that which is not yet visible or tangible, and it requires both faith and persistence. A useful question might be to ask oneself what it is that one is sustaining, perhaps for a certain period, perhaps over the whole trajectory of one’s life? Pondering on this question can evoke recognition of what is of greatest value to us and, if necessary, reveal the need for a redirection of our course.
I am the mother and the child. I, God, I, matter am. This is the keynote of Virgo. As we affirm this declaration in group meditation, we pave the way for what might be surprising revelations of the infinite opportunities for service which lie right before our eyes, in the present, awaiting our recognition. Let us work with joyous expectancy.
