Derek’s Newsletter – May 2021

Hello and a very warm welcome to my MAY Newsletter, the fifth month of 2021!

I always enjoy the Merry Month of May for a variety of reasons, the energies of Spring are more obvious and many of my best friends celebrate their Taurian birthdays (Åke, Jacob & Hanne in Denmark, Katie in Norway, Monika in Sweden, Nikos in UK etc.)  Plus this year my Norwegian wife Berit & I have celebrated our 21st. Wedding Anniversary as it was back in the year 2000 that we created a 3-Day Celtic Wedding extravanganza, which culminated on the 1st. May. And that, dear friends, was 3 Days of Magick that is well remembered by all participants! 

The 1st. May in the Celtic tradition represents the MAY QUEEN DAY and the sacred marriage to the CHAMPION OF THE LAND, assisted by men in green, the colour of Nature.  It is this date that starts the Light Half of the Year for the Celtic culture and six months later on the eve of 1st. November, Halloween Festival, the Dark Half of the Year. It was during the light half that marriages could take place. 

So the 1st. May is called the Festival of Beltane and fires are lit to welcome the month of May. In Celtic tradition fires are lit on May Eve as the sun sets and are tended through the night to sunrise. We enter into the cleansing fire, jump through the flames, remove or banish what we have carried for too long.

This is the time to cast the past on the glowing embers and let it fuel your potential as the Wheel turns onward. 

It was during the early hours of the 1st. May twenty-one years ago that my wife & I, together with a small group of friends, gathered in the deer park of Klampenborg to conduct our sunrise Beltane Fire ritual – what wonderful images now burst into my awareness when I recall that event! And the process culminated with what is called THE EYE OF THE DRAGON Ritual.

Now since we have entered the zodiacal sign of Taurus with its esoteric Keynote: “ I SEE AND WHEN THE EYE IS OPENED, ALL IS LIGHT”, it seems appropriate to explore this theme in our Newsletter. So get ready now for an acceleration…..

The Celtic culture stretched all over Europe, France (Gaul), Germany and yet it came to full maturity in Britain. The Druids or priestly caste of the Celts, were well aware of the unique energy atmosphere of leylines of powerful magnetic currents that passed underneath the surface and where they meet made the land itself an easy access point into the Otherworld. They viewed the whole Earth as the Body of the Dragon – and this Dragon is just as alive today as in the time of Legends. What we term Leylines they called Dragon lines and at certain sacred points this energy coiled & twisted to the surface, such as Glastonbury Tor or Snowdonia in Wales, and great occult power was to be found there. Those of you who have visited Cornwall will have marvelled at the great concentration of Megalithic standing stones in this area of southern England.

And then there is the link to the Commander of the Celestial armies, the Archangel Michael. The image of Saint Michael that comes to the modern world is of great antiquity. The Christian Archangel, often shown thrusting his sword down the throat of a fearsome Dragon, supplanted older gods such as Apollo or the Celtic Sun-god Bel and took over their sanctuaries, the sacred hills and high places which appear to guard the landscape. The graphic image of St. Michael’s sword piercing the dragon is an adaptation of the Hermetic Wand or Mercury’s Caduceus - where a central staff has serpents entwined around it in a double spiral, a timeless symbol of natural energies operating in harmony, and as modern science has discovered, a striking glyph of life itself as represented by the DNA molecule. In the Middle Ages, the cult of St. Michael reached its peak and pilgrims from all over Europe would make journeys to the major shrines, such as St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall or directly opposite in Normandy France, Mont St. Michael. 

So the chapels to Saint Michael crowned sites of ancient worship. One of the main routes for those visiting these sanctuaries of St. Michael in Britain was along a way than ran south west/north east across country.

This led the traveller to a number of churches dedicated to the Saint and his more earthy counterpart, the patron Saint of England, Saint George, also famous for subduing dragons. Along the way were dramatically situated hilltop shrines and those that followed the old path were led past the remains of stone temples and great earthworks, imposing monuments to another Age when the same spiritual presence was honoured under a different name.

And so there is a great Dragon Line which starts at St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall and crosses the whole country via Glastonbury & the famous stone circles at Avebury to pass over Bury St. Edmunds and into the North Sea, reaches Denmark, passes through Scandinavia and Russia, then does down and up through South America and back to southern England again. It is called The SAINT MICHAEL LEYLINE, also known as “The Father Line”.

The precise reason for the existence of this line of Dragon sites across southern England is currently beyond our comprehension – yet clearly the view is a universe as a single system, a living entity which includes the Earth as an integral part. 

The fact that it appears to be constructed on an axis that aligns with the centre of our Solar System at crucial times in the ancient calendar is worthy of much more investigation.

But back to the EYE OF THE DRAGON Ritual. On 1st. May, Beltane, beacon fires were lit on the high spots of the ancient world to celebrate the return of Bel, the Sun God, with his power to fertilize the land with the energizing vitality of Spring, and later thanked him and his female partner, the Earth Goddess or May Queen, for their bountiful harvest. It was on these occasions that wild festivities took place at these old sacred sites, as an act of sympathetic magic to draw the fructifying cosmic energies into the Earth.

The dancing around the Maypole celebrations that we still enjoy in Scandinavia echoes this theme. Ribbons cascade down from the very top and are traditionally symbolic of the virgin Goddess (white) and the God or Mother (red). As the ribbons are woven around the phallic symbol of the pole, the place of creation is made, with the “virgin” becoming “mother” as the ribbons are entwined around the phallus.

Did you light a fire or get up to see the sun rise on May Day? Did you sing & dance and make merry? What filled your cup on this special Day?

In the last Book of the New Testament, “Revelations” that was dictated 2000 years ago by John the Beloved, who was also known as the Master Hilarion, reference is made to the “city which stands four-square”.

Esoteric teachings refer to the etheric body of our planet at this time are a network of squares. As evolution proceeds and the creative process is nearing completion, these squares will become a network of triangles. There is a huge difference in energy flow through a triangular formation compared to a network of squares. The square relates to material appearance and the triangles are related to spirit and to synthesis.

Two Avatars: Buddha & Christ

     Last month of April at the time of the Full Moon, we celebrated the high point of the Christian calendar, Easter, and this current month of May, we celebrate the high point of the East, the Taurus Full Moon, the Wesak Festival or the Festival of Lord Buddha. The spiritual Guides of our planet bring to the public attention this fact of two Avatars, the Buddha & the Christ, who were the first of our human race to come forth as human-Divine Avatars, to embody in Themselves certain Cosmic Principles and give them form.

The Buddha embodies the Principle of Light and with Light there comes Illumination. And the Christ embodies the Principle of Love, the underlying energy of Consciousness. These two together present one perfect Whole. 

And every step towards the Self is a step towards freedom. In that state your True Self is not conditioned by any formula, dogma, or local viewpoint. The more you respond to the Purpose of the Greater Life, the more freedom you will obtain. It is this energy of freedom that is the propelling power behind all creation. Freedom is obedience to Cosmic principles. Obedience has an esoteric meaning. On the path to freedom obedience becomes a ladder – upon each step the traveller rejects the lower and accepts the higher. This is the whole message of the Buddha and the Christ – they are Messengers of Freedom.

According to tradition, the birth, enlightenment and death of Lord Buddha occurred during the month of May, at the time of the Full Moon and in the sign of Taurus. 

Year after year, ever since the Buddha achieved His goal of Illumination, an effort has been made to increase the flow of enlightenment into the world and to throw the light of wisdom, experience and understanding into the minds of men & women. Wisdom is the enlightened application of knowledge, through love, to our everyday world. It is understanding, pouring out everywhere as the result of experience. 

And at each Full Moon in Taurus, year after year, since He left the Earth, the Buddha, the Lord of Wisdom, has come back to humanity, bringing light & blessing, revealing to us what is the divine purpose.

This is why there is an increasing emphasis being given in the West by esotericists to the Full Moon in May – which is the time Buddha makes his yearly contact with humanity.

In the illustration below we see the ceremony of the Wesak Festival that culminates with an incredibly powerful release of sound & mantra followed by Buddha’s blessing.

Each year it is said that the sound of the work, or divine purpose for the coming 12 months can be heard when the Lord Buddha gives his blessing to those assembled on the inner planes for the Wesak ceremony. And every year, I seek to make the attunement, so that I am receptive to this sound vibration. In the pages which now follow, I wish to share these insights.

Once again, let us remember the Taurus Keynote: “I SEE & WHEN THE EYE IS OPENED, ALL IS LIGHT.” 

Taurus is the sign of the BUILDER. It is also the sign of ENDURANCE or Persistence, the ability to keep on carrying-on. Spiritual evolution is our birthright and we are drawn to the point of self-realisation by slow degrees. Thought, habit & will are the Three instruments used by us to slowly detach ourself from the bondage of the lower planes. An experienced Teacher or Guru will play upon the habit-forming nature of the lower part of our nature, and tries to shift the centre of interest to a more effective and inclusive plane. Gradually there is a rearrangement of matter as we become exposed to a new set of habits. When the consciousness is located in the Love principle, we then lead an unconditioned or liberated life.

It was Buddha who clarified for us the nature of desire and its results, with the unhappy effects which desire produces when persistent and unenlightened. Taurus is one of the signs of the Zodiac associated with pain – and specifically attachment and the pain of letting-go or detachment. This was of course, Lord Buddha’s core teaching. 

The capacity to suffer, which is distinctive of our human race, is the outstanding conscious reaction to environment of the fourth Kingdom in nature, the human. It is related to the power to think and consciously to relate cause and effect. This same ability to respond through pain is not to be found in the 3 Kingdoms below (animal, plant & mineral) or the 3 superhuman kingdoms above the human.

No other kingdom in nature creates forms, produces colour and sounds in harmonious relation, except the human. And all of this type of creative art is the result of aeons of conflict, pain and suffering.

The esoteric teachings make it clear that we, humanity have the habit of crises – for conflict develops our sense of discrimination based upon the ability to perceive and choose between right & wrong, between spiritual or material values. It is clear that conflict produces points of crises and there is a very definite relationship between crises and what is called the 4th. Ray of Harmony thru Conflict.

1st. Ray of Will-Power

2nd. Ray of Love-Wisdom

3rd. Ray of Active Intelligence

4th. Ray of Harmony Through Conflict

5th. Ray of Concrete Knowledge & Science

6th. Ray of Devotion & Idealism

7th. Ray of Ceremonial Order & Magic

The 4th. Ray of Harmony Thru Conflict

Alice A. Bailey wrote 24 books and several thousand pages on the subject of The 7 Rays and the esoteric constitution of man, and because this is a Newsletter and not a book, I only wish to direct your attention to the Wesak message that I received. 

We need to see ourselves as energy rather than form. According to AAB and the teachings of the Tibetan Master DK, the Rays are 7 great streams of energy and that every form in nature is to be found upon one Ray or another. These are called the 7 Spirits before the Throne of God in the Christian Bible.  The interplay of these Rays produces the myriad of forms we see in the world and indeed the universe itself. 

The 2nd. Ray of Love-Wisdom is channeled through the Christ & the Buddha. And at the head of each of these great Universal Rays is an illuminated Master or perfectly developed spiritual Being. There is Ray for your Soul and a Ray for your Personality. The Soul Ray determines which Ashram of which Master you are working with and therefore pointing towards your essential soul’s task, your vocation or life’s calling in this incarnation.

The 4th. Ray is a dominant energy and always exerting pressure on humanity, the Fourth Kingdom of Nature. The Occident or Western world is governed by a 4th. Ray Personality while the Orient or East, is governed by a 4th. Ray Soul.

Nations as well as individuals come under Ray influences and the 4th. Ray of Harmony thru Conflict, often abbreviated to the Ray of Art, is dominant as the Soul Ray for Germany and the Personality Ray for Italy. It is quite mind-expanding to recognize the history and future trends of any country when exploring these energy dynamics. The biggest democratic country in the world, India has the 4th. Ray as it’s Personality Ray, while it is the Soul Ray for Brazil – and the current Covid-19 crises at this time of writing has reached staggering proportions in both these two countries, resulting in enormous pain and suffering for its peoples.

In the book “Esoteric Psychology” by AAB, there are 14 Names listed for the Lord of the 4th. Ray - one of them is: “The Corrector of the Form”,

which clearly applies to our current global Covid -19 crises.

Another title is: “The Perceiver of the Way” and “The One Who marks the parting of the Way”. 

There are choices to be made during our current crises that will determine the future for many years to come.

Characteristics of the 4th. Ray Personality

4th. Ray people both love and create beauty. It is often called the Ray of the Artist. They are no strangers to conflict and are often at war with themselves and are often unable to control the turmoil. There is often an oscillation between polarities, of moods, of life’s ups & downs. They can be temporarily overcome by pessimism and then contrasted by optimism & renewed idealism.

They throw themselves, emotionally, into the drama of life and often their only desire is to express themselves fully. The work of this ray is to bring polarities together, of mediation between the higher and the lower, and of adjustment between the inner and outer. The 4th. Ray type is a fighter, fighting for peace and harmony. 

4th. Ray people love contrast, colour, the thrill of dramatic variation.  4th. Ray types enjoy all the contrasts of life’s palatte of colours. 

Those on the 4th. Ray are known for their humour. Humor requires that one be able to step out of one’s fixed attitude, stand back and see objectively. The dramatic 4th. Ray “actors” however, are anything but limited to being themselves. They identify with and impersonate many – their own self is only one of a large cast of characters they feel free to be. And they are always entertaining, enlivening and engaging. The 4th. Ray type is forever creating bridges, creating links, for they experience themselves and all things in relationship. 

4th. Ray people have no problem with surrendering themselves to the joy of the moment, and understanding the wisdom of “playing the fool”.  They want to live experientially, with all aspects the energy system alive and active.

Ray Cycles

These Rays operate in cycles of time and come in and out of manifestation with the result of their influences recorded in the rise & fall of civilisations and all the major historical trends of the past, present and future. One obvious example is the outgoing 6th. Ray of Devotion & Sacrifice, which has dominated the Piscean Era of Religion and the incoming 7th. Ray of Ceremonial Order which characterises the Aquarian Age as the Era of Science and the Magician. The 6th. Ray fostered the vision and the 7th. Ray will materialize that which was visioned. The 6th. Ray, as part of the evolutionary Plan, led to separations, to nationalism and to sectarianism, due to the selective nature of the mind and its tendency to divide and separate. The 7th. Ray will lead to fusion and synthesis, for its energy is of the type which blends spirit and matter. 

Historically, the 6th. Ray began to pass out of manifestation, its influence gradually being withdrawn from the year 1625 and at the end of the 17th. Century the 7th. Ray started its cycle of manifestation. 

Every great religion arises under the influence of one or other of these 7 Rays. Christianity, Buddhism and Mohammedanism or Islam, were the result of 6th. Ray influences. In India, Brahmanism arose under 1st. Ray influence. The ancient cultures of Chaldea, the Egyptian and the Zoroastrian religions will be seen as representing the 3rd., the 4th. and the 5th. Rays respectively. And as many of my readers know, I have been intimately involved with Eternal Egypt for most of my life, totally inspired by their 4th. Ray artistic beauty, the marriage between spirit & matter, As Above, So Below that this civilization achieved.

You may be thinking as you read this, how does this information help me deal with my everyday life? To begin with, it places our small world of concerns into a much greater perspective. Ray knowledge enables us to understand our various mental, emotional and physical tendencies. With insight into our ray make-up, we can more clearly guage our abilities, opportunities, limitations and capacities. And with these insights it becomes possible to determine our real vocation more accurately. As the old saying goes: “Man Know Thyself” and then we shall know the Universe and God. These Universal patterns exist regardless of our awareness of them. Yet with awareness of them and their true underlying significance, this promotes our cooperation with spiritual purpose – and that is the Taurian theme for this month of May.

Taurus, as you may know, is governed by the planet Venus, which is the archetype of Love, of Sharing, the planet that governs the Arts. 

And much of this Newsletter is devoted to our appreciation of the 4th. Ray of Art and our recognition of its increased influence in the immediate years to come. So yes, during our lifetime, we shall experience the appearance or manifestation of one of these great 7 Rays upon our world stage. The 4th. Ray of Harmony through Conflict is waiting in the theatrical wings, waiting to come out onto the central stage and the year 2025 will demonstrate its dramatic entrance! Read on, dear Reader to find out more!

Historically speaking, this 4th. Ray pressure first began to exert itself many thousands of years ago towards the end of the Atlantean era.

The leaders of humanity at that time, under the influence of the 4th. Ray, made a decision which laid the emphasis upon the matter aspect rather than upon the spiritual aspect. This inaugurated an Age of Materialism that expressed itself through greed, hate, separativeness & aggression.

It led to a great war in which the Forces of Darkness and the Forces of Light were involved and culminated in the Great Flood which many of the world’s scriptures bear evidence. This conflict was focussed primarily upon the astral plane, though fought out historically upon the physical plane. The destruction of the then known world was a symbolic expression of the activity on astral levels.

More recently, and on a higher turn of the spiral, there was a repetition of that ancient conflict. We know it as the Great World War 1914-1945. On this occasion its focus was on the mental plane, for the war was in reality a clash of ideologies and was far more the result of man’s thinking than of his emotional desires. Although the conflict was impulsed from the mental plane, it automatically involved all 3 levels of human activity and was fought out upon the physical plane. 

This time, the symbol of fire was involved instead of water, and led to the destruction of men & women by “fire from heaven” in the form of bombs which culminated in the atomic bomb.

Yet the struggles between the Forces of Light and the Forces of Darkness did not end in 1945. It simply meant that the forces of Darkness, beaten on the physical plane, were now taking the war to different and more abstract levels – to the astral and mental planes. On astral levels they would give battle to world goodwill on the plane of emotional decision and on the mental plane the battle would be against those ideologies which were of benefit to the whole of humanity.

These forces of evil have for a very long time, used psychology to achieve their desired ends. and they have used it with amazing success, presenting half-truths, false motives, raking up past grievances, foretelling imminent difficulties & disasters, fostering ancient prejudices & hatreds, with emphasis upon religious and national differences. 

And all of this can be summed up in one word – FEAR. 

And the antidote to fear? That is another four-letter word – LOVE.

You may wonder why this Newsletter places attention to the “forces of evil”? The answer lies in your deeper understanding of the energies playing through the constellation of Taurus.

For the vast majority it will be the myth of the Greek Medusa, located in the constellation of Taurus, with her hair of snakes who could transform the onlooker into stone – the spell of materialism and material values only which literally transfixes us to rigidity & resistance to change. 

And for others, it will be the example of the Buddha, a title which means the Awakened One, as the energies and higher frequencies culminate with his raised head, the awakened Crown Chakra with access to a thousand realities, as depicted through snake-like curls in his hair, symbolizing mastery over this world and freedom of movement within the higher worlds. Technically speaking, the increased activity of the 4th. Ray not only intensifies our intuition but gives us access to the Buddhistic level or dimension of consciousness.

Taurus can also therefore represent our blind spot and if we are to See, then our true Inner Eye needs to be opened.  Remember the Taurus Keynote:  “I See and when the Eye is Opened. All is Light.”

So when we talk about the “forces of evil”, we are not talking about some army arranged in battle against the Most High. The forces of evil are, in the last analysis, only the entrenched ancient ideals and habits of thought which must now disappear if the New Age of Aquarius is to be ushered in. There cannot be any going back to pre-Covid times, but only a movement into the future.

The basic problem facing the Spiritual Guides of Planet Earth is how to further desirable ends without infringing on humanity’s freedom of thoughts and action. There is one outstanding technique employed by our Planetary Hierarchy – and it is none other than the 4th. Ray technique of Harmony Through Conflict. There are 3 stages. 

The first is reaching a “point of crises”, second, the moving forward to a “point of tension”, and the third, the achievement of a “point of emergence”.

One of the key functions of this 4th. Ray is to enable the individual to learn a lot – and quickly! Unlike any of the other rays, the 4th. is constantly struggling for balance and is therefore in a sensitised state, open, agile, responsive and mutable. It is a commonly acknowledged fact that an animal in a state of stress will learn more quickly than one that is contented.

As the Tibetan Master DK wrote in “The Rays & Initiations”, “I would ask you to keep these 3 phases – descriptive of the working of the Ray of Harmony Through Conflict – constantly in mind in relation to developments in your own life, in the life of your nation, and in the life of humanity as a whole. They embody the technique whereby the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet brings good out of evil without originating the evil or infringing the free will of mankind.”

Now each Ray works through 3 constellations to distribute its influences and the 4th. Ray is represented in the zodiac by the signs of Taurus, Scorpio and Sagittarius.

In this month’s Newsletter we naturally are only going to concentrate upon the sign of Taurus.

It is useful to reflect upon the significance of Taurus, the Bull and the expression – “Hitting the Bull’s Eye”, as we aim for the inner center.

The star system known as the Pleiades is the central group in the constellation of Taurus. They are also regarded as the central group of the Milky Way and one of the stars, Alcyone, is regarded in esoteric teachings, as the star around which our universe revolves.

Renaissance on the Horizon

My personal revelation for Wesak revolved around the sign Taurus and 4 years hence i.e. the year 2025. The following day I received an email from a Swedish sound-healer asking me about the significance of this year 2025 for Art, Music & Sound – and then the pieces fell into place as I remembered that according to the teachings of the Tibetan Master DK, writing through Alice Bailey in the 1940s, it would be the year 2025 when the 4th. Ray would begin a new cycle of manifestation that would produce a renaissance in the arts of colour & sound that would reflect the new Aquarian civilisation.

As we enter the new age of Aquarius, the harmonising aspect of the 4th. Ray of Harmony thru Conflict will gradually strengthen. The Lord of the 4th. Ray will offset the disruptive effect of Saturn in the first decanate or 10-degree of Aquarius.

In what ways will this manifest? The work of the 4th. Ray knits together the many diverse into one homogenous whole. Diversity within the unity of one mankind will replace divisiveness and separatism and the conflict that arises from these attitudes. Alice Bailey writes in “Esoteric Astrology” that Ray 4 is “the will to destroy limitation”, as we struggle to sort out the Real from the unreal. 

It is the “Ray of struggle” for on this ray there are equal amounts of activity contrasted with inertia. Yet the outcome, when successful, is the “birth of Horus” to the ancient Egyptian, and the “birth of Christ” to the Christian, born from the experience of constant pain & suffering.

Unity but not uniformity will emerge when the relation of the individual and unique part to the whole is consciously understood. The unification of the soul and personality of mankind, will result in the ultimate fusion of the 4th. & 5th. Kingdoms. 

The 4th. Ray occupies the intermediate point among the 7 Rays, as it seeks to balance them. Harmonizing new ideas with the old is a Ray 4 activity. The right cerebral hemisphere of the brain becomes more highly active, though not necessarily to the exclusion of the left hemisphere. The subjective half of the brain controls and directs rhythm and music, complex motor coordination, artistic abilities, recognition of form-space relationships, symbolic structures, non-verbal ideation and so forth. Basically there is a major increase in humanity’s intuitional sensitivities.

Beauty will find concrete expression in the ways of life of men and women, and in the arts of architecture, in music and the arts.

Seen from the esoteric perspective, our global Covid-19 crises is purifying us and preparing the way for our planet to experience a Renaissance which will dwarf the magnificence seen in the city states of Florence, Pisa and Venice during the 15th. Century. We shall soon witness, to quote the Tibetan Mater DK’s prophecy concerning 2025, the “….recurrence of the arts on a turn of the spiral far more exalted than any lately seen”.

To verify this transmutation process in human beings, one need only consider the life and work of a Shakespeare or Leonardo da Vinci who had Ray 4 in their mental bodies, as well as at the soul & personality levels. 

Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, is a classic example of the crises of a 4th. Ray Personality, who, like modern humanity, is weary of perpetual conflict and is slowly learning to recognise the nature of true greatness. It is only as Hamlet learns detachment from the problems that occupy his mind, that the separating wall of incessant thought crumbles, action becomes possible, and the warrior in him takes command. The genius of Shakespeare is that all of his plays are representative of the Rays. He was, after all, one of the Masters of the spiritual Hierarchy and was intent upon the transformation of civilization. During his lifetime he introduced more than 300 new words to the English language – just think what type of consciousness can create such an expanded space to work within – truly amazing!  

My personal favourite Shakespeare play has always been “The Tempest” and the Magician Prospero, which is a classic 7th. Ray presentation.

We could continue to explore the written & spoken word of great creative genius from our past as well as the inspirational world of classical music. High drama whose essence is conflict is typically 4th. Ray. Who will be the new Beethoven or Dvorak creating a New World Symphony for our 21st. Century? And what form will this music and art become? That is the beauty of this coming Renaissance. 

 Our encounter with true beauty has the power to evoke deep emotions, awe, humility & adoration. Such emotions enrich the human being because beauty has the power to stir the soul. yet such emotions are not very frequent in our life. A lack of beauty deadens the sensitivities and emotional expression. Those who have been blessed with the Eye of Vision discover that such experiences have the power to nourish the psyche.

 It would seem that the purpose of life, on any level, is the expression of BEAUTY, and this is especially true of the human kingdom, because it is only man who can be a conscious expression of Beauty - or a distorter of beauty. 

Man is created to manifest beauty. Man is created to enjoy the beauty of the kingdoms below us, the beauty of animals, the beauty of the plant kingdom and the beauty of the mineral kingdom. And to be inspired by the beauty of the higher kingdoms. The one immediately above us is the 5th. Kingdom of Souls. To be inspired by the beauty of the higher worlds and to synthesize these realities, is to become a path of Beauty between all these worlds. Beauty is materialized Love and Love is the essence of Life.

No-one expressed it better than the great Russian mystic & Painter, Nicholas Roerich, when he wrote:  

“In Beauty we are united. Through Beauty we pray. 

With Beauty we Conquer.”

During the Covid Lockdown for more than 1 year, we should reflect and consider society’s attitude towards culture & the arts in the country we live. Venus traditionally governs both the Arts and Money and it is quite obvious that our governments still almost exclusively emphasize the economical aspect of the current crises and not its counterpart, the Arts. Are we not to be fed by both? People are hungry indeed to be fed by culture, fed by the arts, exposed to sound, colour and light to nourish themselves on deeper levels. This will be much better represented when the 4th. Ray of Art begins to make its appearance from the year 2025 onwards. 

As Oscar Wilde so perfectly expresses: 

“It is through Art and through Art only that we can realize 

our perfection; through Art and Art only that we can shield 

ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence.”

According to the calculations of the British esotericist Dr. Douglas Baker, 25% of humanity is manifesting Ray 4 in the personality at this time, giving us a glimpse of what is to come in our 21st. Century. 

Modern research also concludes that apart from a few exceptions, there are no 4th. Ray Souls in incarnation at the start of this Century – however, with the coming into manifestation of the 4th. Ray cycle in 2025, we can anticipate a great flood of 4th. Ray Souls seeking incarnation at this most opportune time. Remember, the soul is group conscious and we incarnate as a group. Everything is under the Law of Cycles.

The Astrology of 2025

The Law of Cycles also brings us to the final section of this Newsletter – the Astrological signatures for this remarkable year 2025, just four years away from today. 

It is very rare indeed that all three Transpersonal Planets, Uranus, Neptune & Pluto, will leave their current zodiac sign and enter into a new sign, and all within a few months of each other. This is what takes place in 2025. On the next page I have illustrated their movements with the dates of entry.

Astrologers know from past cycles that when any outer planet enters a new sign, the events on planet Earth reflect the symbolism of that zodiac sign. As one simple example, when transit Pluto enters the sign of Cancer in 1914, we have the start of the First World War. When it leaves Cancer and enters Leo in 1939 we have the start of the Second World War. As Pluto moves into Virgo, labour & health crises, in Libra, the War of the Sexes, in Scorpio the emergence of the AIDS epidemic with all the taboos of sex & death. In Sagittarius, the sign connected with Law & Religion, we experience international Law confronted with the Boat people and mass movement of people from their homes. It was also the time of burning down the wooden churches of Norway and the confrontation between Islam & the West. And more recently, when transit Pluto entered the earth sign of Capricorn in 2008, there was a collapse of the international money markets and the house market bubble burst. Capricorn deals with all forms of systems and Pluto is the archetype of death & transformation, so all control systems, and that includes the banking industry, religion, monarchy etc. are subjected to deconstruction and reconstruction. You get the picture ‘eh?

So what can we expect when transit Pluto enters the New Age sign of Aquarius at the end of 2024 and remains in this sign until start of 2044, a period of 19 years! What kind of Aquarian society will we be creating? What old ideologies will be transformed and what new ideologies will be birthed? 

PLANETARY MOVEMENTS FOR THE YEAR 2025

Nothing like this has ever been seen before, because it takes 248 years for Pluto to make one circuit of the Zodiac and we have to research the previous historical times when transit Pluto has been travelling through the sign Aquarius. And we can do that, thanks to our computer technology, but that is not the goal of this Newsletter. What I do want to emphasize is that we, humanity, are in a different space and a different consciousness than previous times – and it is that which will determine the outcome of our response to these powerful universal energies. It is our collective response that will evoke and determine the descent of this spiritual presence. 

It would be accurate to state that what is deeply buried within our psyche, that is the quality of Pluto, Lord of the Underworld. And whatever that might mean for each person, there are indeed jewels of great beauty buried within the Earth, and they will be lifted up into the Aquarian skies. I could be speaking symbolically or literally now, but for me there is no question that this combination of planet and sign will be a manifestation of immense power. Aquarius is a group conscious sign and not the focus upon a charismatic leader which characterized the previous Piscean Age. The power of the group to transform the world is inherent in this alignment of Pluto travelling through the sign of Aquarius. Try to imagine many soul-conscious groups of people active in the world, engineering increased sharing of the abundant Waters of Life, freely given to All. That is the Aquarian Keynote.

Transit Uranus leaves Taurus and enters the sign of Gemini in July 2025 and remains in this sign of Communications for 7 years. Uranus, the Awakener, will no doubt revolutionize our communications to ourself, to each other and to the world we live in – and beyond. Our contact with Space Brothers & Sisters will become a reality.

Transit Neptune takes 14 years to move through one sign of the Zodiac and just after the Spring Equinox of 2025, it will have entered the fire sign of Aries, the sign of all Beginnings. And what shall begin now? Neptune is Lord of the Ocean and it is Water which is used in Baptism. Neptune on the horoscope is our umbilical cord to the Higher Worlds and during such transits to personal planets in our chart, we normally experience some kind of “spiritual awakening” that has the potency to alter our entire life. Neptune’s visions are far-reaching and exciting, tempting us beyond what we know is safe. Then there is the transit of Saturn, planet of Fate & Destiny, forming repeated conjunctions to Neptune all through the summer of 2025, as we work (Saturn) towards a manifestation of those high ideals (Neptune) upon the physical plane. What an amazing planetary line-up in 2025 – and now my Newsletter has made you aware of the golden opportunities immediately ahead.

o complete this month’s Newsletter, here is a wonderful exercise that can be practised on a daily basis, a symbolic re-awakening.

I have a body and sensations – but I am not my body 

and sensations.

I have feelings and emotions – but I am not my feelings and emotions.

I have a mind and thoughts – but I am not my mind 

and thoughts.

I AM I,

A center of pure Self-Consciousness and of Will.

“I See and when the Eye is opened, All is Light!”