The Sun, being the center of the solar system, is recognized by all as the physical life-giver even when they do not believe in anything superphysical; it is patent to everyone from personal observation that the horizontal ray of the morning sun affects us differently from the perpendicular noon ray, and that in summer the rays carry a life-force which not only brings forth the verdure upon the fields, but also affects the human temperament, and endows us with vital energy, courage and a hopeful spirit foreign to the dark and gloomy winter months. This gloom is permanently noticeable in the temperament of people living in the far north, where the absence of sunlight makes life a struggle that saps the spirit of frolic, while in countries where abundance of sunlight lessens the cares of existence, the temperament is correspondingly vivacious and hopeful and sunny.

From the Bible we learn that Jehovah made man in His image. We are also told that ANGELS visited Sarah and proclaimed the birth of Isaac. They also foretold the birth of Samson and Samuel and the ANGEL (not archangel) Gabriel came to Mary of Bethlehem to announce the coming birth of Jesus. According to occult science Jehovah and His angels are the guardians of the seed atoms, the basic factors in fertilization. The activities of the angels are directed to the maintenance of plant, animal and human life upon earth. To this end their forces are focused by the wandering Moon through the twelve signs of the zodiac; they impinge upon the foetus in a creative manner during the period of gestation from the time of conception to birth.

Mythologically Mercury is represented as a "Messenger of the Gods" and this is the line with the occult facts, for when infant humanity had been led astray by the marital Lucifer spirits and had fallen into GENERATION it became necessary for the other divine hierarchies to take steps looking to a future REGENERATION and to further that object the Lords of Venus were brought to the earth to educate humanity in such a manner that love might be substituted for lust and men might thus be induced to aspire to something higher. While the Lords of Venus dealt with mankind in general the most precocious among them were taken in hand by the Lords of Mercury; whose wisdom-teaching is symbolically represented by the caduceus or "STAFF OF MERCURY," consisting of two serpents twining around a rod and indication the solution of the riddle of life, or "Whence have we come, why are we here, and whither are we bound?" showing the pupil the spiral path of INVOLUTION by which the divine spark has buried itself in matter, also the spiral path of EVOLUTION by which humanity will eventually again reach the Father's bosom, and the short road of INITIATION represented by the central rod around which the serpents twine. But to understand these Mysteries requires mind and reason. Mercury then is the mental educator of men and its place and position in the horoscope shows the status of the person's mind for whom it is cast.

Being the Messenger of the Gods to the other planets Mercury has no voice of its own and is even more dependent for expression upon the aspects of other planets than the Moon which rules the instinctual mind. So Mercury is really a focus through which the faculty of reason finds expression in the human being to act as a brake upon the lower nature and assist in lifting us from the human to the divine. Many may and do feel deeply, they may also have valuable knowledge, but they will be unable to express their feelings or shore their knowledge with others if Mercury is lacking in aspects. Even a so-called evil aspect of Mercury helps to bring out what is within and is therefore better than none.

When Mercury is so placed in relation to the Sun it goes BEFORE the luminary it has the effect of materially brightening the mind, for the Sun represents the Ego and it may therefore be said that then its path is illuminated by the lamp of reason. On the other hand if Mercury is so placed that it rises later than the Sun and thus follows AFTER the luminary The Ego learns more by afterthought than by forethought for it walks comparatively speaking in the dark and must learn a great many of its lessons by experience.

As we have found that it is difficult for a number of young students to determine when Mercury goes before or after the Sun we may say in farther elucidation of that subject:

When Mercury is in a lower degree of the same sign as the Sun or in any degree of the previous sign then as a matter of course he rises BEFORE the Sun. To illustrate: If the Sun is in twenty degrees of Cancer and Mercury is in five, ten or fifteen degrees of that sign or if he is in any degree of Gemini, then he rises BEFORE the Sun.

But if he is in twenty-five degrees of Cancer which is a higher degree of the same sign, or if he is in any degree in Leo which is the sign succeeding Cancer, then he rises AFTER the Sun and loses part of his good influence.

A retrograde Mercury is also a detriment to the faculty of reason. But in the year of life when Mercury by progression again turns direct, the reasoning faculties will improve correspondingly. Mercury is strong in the airy signs, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, but he is exalted and therefore most powerful in Virgo. Mercury has special rule over agents and messengers, salesmen, postmen and other common carriers, people engaged in advertising or printing, literary men, writers, reporters, secretaries, clerks, stenographers and typewriters, commission men and other middle men, demagogues, confidence-men and thieves.

In the 13th Chapter of Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians we find a eulogy of "love." The word used in the authorized version is "charity," but it ought to be read as "love." Love suffereth long and is kind, love vaunteth not herself, is not puffed up, believeth all things, endureth all things. . .Whether there be prophecies they shall fail, whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away." He concludes that in time FAITH and HOPE will pass away because we shall know the things in which we now have faith and our hopes will have been realized, but love, he contends, remains forever. The keynote of Venus is "love," "harmony," and "rhythm," and if we want to know her nature we may profitably read that chapter and substitute "Venus' for "Love." Venus vaunteth not herself, is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, rejoices not in iniquity but in truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things. These sayings are all true when applied to Venus for she furnishes the unifying bond between all members of the human family in whatever relationship they may be placed. It is the love-ray of Venus piercing deeply the heart of the mother which breeds in her the tender care wherewith she nourishes her offspring through helpless infancy. Venus sounds the love call of the youth and the maiden, gives and takes, smoothing out all the difficulties in the conjugal career. She is ever burning incense upon the altar of affection and from her garden of love comes the flowers which scent even the most sordid souls with celestial perfume and raise them for the time being to the stature of gods.

But when Venus is afflicted, all these sublime qualities become tainted and take a hideous aspect according to the nature of their affliction. Squares and oppositions turn love to lust which makes the person revel in sensual gratification; the perception of beauty which expresses itself as art becomes slovenliness, the tendency to self-sacrifice, the giving of oneself for others is turned to selfishness and the person will then seem to use others to escape any task or effort not to his or her liking, laziness being one of the most prominent characteristics of an afflicted Venus.

Being feminine, Venus never reaches out toward others, but exerts a magnetic energy which draws them to her. Therefore she represents in a man's horoscope those of the opposite sex to whom the person is drawn, but in a woman's horoscope Venus describes the person's own attraction for the opposite sex and Mars the masculine planet shows who will be attracted by her charms.

Venus is essentially dignified in Taurus and Libra, and exalted in Pisces, and therefore her influence is most powerfully felt when she is placed in those signs. She is weak and afflicted when placed in either of the martial signs, Aries or Scorpio, where she is in her fall, or when she is i the mercurial sign, Virgo. The best House position for her is the Seventh where her influence will make the marriage serene and blissful.

From the Bible we learn that Jehovah was the Creator of mankind for we find His angels announcing the birth of various notable personages. Thus the conclusion is inevitable that He and they preside over the generative function and impart the quality of fertility which at that time was looked upon as a token of the favor of God while barrenness was indicated as a sign of His displeasure. This is in accordance with the Western Wisdom Teaching which tells us that tin the earliest days when mankind was still in the making Jehovah and His angels guided them to great temples at the times of year when planetary conditions were propitious to generation, and men born under those harmonious conditions lived for hundreds of years without sickness of disease. It is noticeable that wild animals which are still entirely under the guidance of their group-spirits and mate only at certain seasons are also immune from sickness. Jehovah still retains control over the fertilization of the animals which are attuned to His lunar vibrations through their twenty-eight pairs of spinal nerves that correspond to the twenty-eight days of the lunar revolution and His vehicle the Moon still measures the period of gestation for men and beasts.

But the Bible also tells us of LUCIFER and his FALLEN ANGELS who taught humanity to take the prerogative of creation into their own hands and instilled into them the passion that has caused sorrow, sin and death, because the holy function of generation which was intended only for temporary purposes of propagation and which works so well under propitious planetary conditions has been desecrated and made subservient to the lusts of humanity at all times regardless of the stellar rays. Yet it is a mistake to think of the Lucifer spirits as evil, for under the sway of the angels humanity neither good nor evil and having no choice or prerogative, but since though the martial Lucifer spirits we have learned to know good and evil we are also able to exercise of will power to shun the evil and choose the good, to flee from vice and cultivate virtue, thereby placing ourselves in harmonious co-worker-ship with God and nature and unfolding our divine possibilities so that we may become like our Father in Heaven.

While Jehovah and His angels are thus working upon humanity from the Moon the Lucifer spirits who rebelled against His regime are located on the planet Mars and from them also we have received and are receiving many valuable gifts, chief among them FIRE and IRON. It is well known that every LIVING body is warm, for the Ego cannot manifest in the physical world save through heat, or perhaps it should be said that heat is generated in the manifestation of the Ego. But without iron, which exists in the blood in the form of haemoglobin, there could be no oxidation and consequently no heat. That was the condition previous to the fall, so-called, when man-in-the-making was mindless. But then the Lucifer spirits came and infused iron into the blood, which made it possible for the Ego to draw into its vehicles and from that time the Ego became an INDWELLING spirit capable of evolving individuality. Thus had it not been for the Lucifer spirits man could not have become man. It is their fire and their iron that has made the world what it is today, good and bad according to the use man has made of it. The solar force focused through the Moon imparts vitality and the faculty of growth but the rays of the Sun focused upon us by the martial Lucifer spirits give us dynamic power and are the source of all activity in the world.

Power may be latent for millenniums, as exemplified in coalbeds, which are reservoirs of solar force; a furnace and engine are required to transmute and make it available as dynamic energy, but, once the sleeping giant has been roused from latency to potency it knows no rest or peace till it has expended the last ounce of its prodigious strength. Under strict control, and carefully guided into channel of useful activity, this Martian force is the most valuable servant of mankind; the most powerful agent in the world's work, an incomparable boon to humanity. But if it escapes control the servant quickly takes mastery, its inimical power of destruction and devastation is then as terrible as scourge as its beneficent use under guidance is an inestimable blessing. It is as precious as it is dangerous, eternal vigilance is the price of safety from its ravages, but without it the world would be wilderness.

Mars, as a focus for the latent solar life, transmutes it into desire, passion and what we may call animal spirits. It is a consuming fire, more dangerous than all the nitroglycerine every manufactured, but also more precious than any other blessing we can have or enjoy.

The Hindoo preacher, nurtured in a land governed by Saturn, the planet of obstruction, says: "Kill out desire." He dreams away his days in destitution, but as "temper" conserves the edge of the steel that carves its way through all obstruction, so the well-directed energetic desires of the martial Anglo-Saxson have wrought a marvelous transformation in the earth; they have reared a civilization beyond all which preceded it, and through perhaps brutal in many respects, there is promise in that also, according to the proverb: "The greater the sinner, the greater the saint." Parents should take a lesson from a book of nationals and refrain from applying the Saturnine wet blanket to the fiery Mars spirit of children. Saturn always says "don't, don't;" his aim is to repress and obstruct. A clear fire under proper control is useful, but death lurks in the smoke and noxious gases of a smothered fire; too many "don'ts" smother legitimate ambition and frustrate accomplishment; they may drive hapless victims into ways of evil, for the dynamic energy of Mars must and will have an outlet, so beware. The worst faults of Mars are impulsiveness and lack of persistence, but he breeds no hypocrites as does an afflicted Saturn.

From Mars we receive a number of our highly-prized virtues as well as some of our worst faults. When well-aspected he gives a strong constitution and physical endurance, a positive, independent and self-reliant nature, determined and proud, generous and energetic, resourceful and quick to learn, especially when in Aries, Leo, Scorpio or Capricorn, but when he is weak by sign as in Taurus, Cancer, Libra or aspected by squares or oppositions he makes the person quick-tempered, obstinate and spiteful, inclined to drunkenness and criminal acts, cruel and hard, a bully and braggart.

People who have Mars prominent in their horoscopes are eminently practical and play an important part in the world's work. They are especially proficient in occupations where iron and fire are used for constructive purposes or where sharp instruments are handled. Soldiers, surgeons and butchers, machine workers and iron founders, engineers and man in kindred occupations are of the martial nature. They also excel in other positions where courage and intrepidity are necessary qualities.

From each of the divine Hierarchies which have ministered at birth and evolution of humanity we have received certain qualities and faculties upon which we are being nursed from nescience to omniscience and from impotence to omnipotence in life's great school. From the Lords of Venus we received the priceless gift of love which links humanity in the tenderest affection of varying degrees and makes life beautiful. From the Lords of Mercury we received the no less valuable gift of mind which enables us to conquer the material world and provide ourselves with the comforts of life, but something more is needed. The divine spark within us is every seeking an outlet and the greater the two qualities of love and intellect grow, the stronger the upward urge, but this cannot be fully satisfied either if the Spirit seeks to raise itself to its divine source only through the love nature expressed by Venus and culminating in its higher octave Uranus. The religious fervor then expresses itself as devotion of the most sublime nature but there is still a lack. Feeling without knowledge is incomplete. Nor can the inner urge be satisfied if through the mercurial channel of intellect it attempts to raise itself to the spiritual perception of Neptune, the higher octave of Mercury, for though the intellect be sharp as a razor it is of no account when it is devoid of love. It therefore follows that ONLY BY THE WEDDING OF LOVE AND INTELLECT CAN WISDOM BE BORN. The mercurial knowledge in itself, through neither good nor evil, may be used for one purpose or the other. Even genius shows only the bent of this knowledge. We speak of a military genius, one who has a wonderful knowledge of the tactics of war, but a man of war, whether he be a Napoleon or a common soldier, is not be be classed as wise because he deliberately crushes the finer feelings of which we take the heart as symbol. Only when the mercurial faculty of mind is tempered, blended and balanced by the heart-born faculty of love generated by the Venus ray, is wisdom born of the union. And this is the quality which the planetary spirit of Jupiter is seeking to infuse into mankind to aid them in their spiritual evolution that they may rise above the material plane and soar to higher spheres. Therefore the Jupiterian ray makes people human, honorable, courteous, refined and generous, law-abiding and religious, cheerful and optimistic. The true Jupiterian is aptly described as a jovial fellow, and he is usually large but his heart is almost too big to find room even within his capacious chest. The corners of his mouth are always turned upward with a broad smile that can only be described as radiant and in his hearty good-feeling he is so demonstrative that when he shakes your hand the ligaments of your arm are almost sprained. He is "hail fellow well met" with everybody, always ready to give anything or anybody a boost. He seems actually grateful to you when you ask him to do you a favor and is never so happy as when working hard to help others. He would not harm a child and never gets angry on his own account but when moved to righteous indignation on account of the wrongs of others then he may be terrible in his wrath, yet he will never be cruel to the aggressor or the oppressor, but show mercy and kindness even to them as soon as they have been vanquished. Such is the pure Jupiterian, but of course he is very seldom found at the present time. Nevertheless, an increasing number of people are beginning to walk the way of wisdom and show the Jupiterian traits.

It is said that "Opportunity knocks at every man's door," yet we often hear people bewail their fate because they "never had a chance." Saturn is blamed for our misfortunes when we have learned to study Astrology; we are so intently on the lookout for evil that we usually forget to look for the good, and thus miss our opportunity. It takes Saturn thirty years to go around the horoscope, by transit, and form aspects to all planets, but Jupiter, the most beneficent influence in the solar system, goes around once in eleven years and thus the good fortunes which he may brings are at least three times as numerous as the misfortunes brought by Saturn's evil aspects.

As a matter of fact, we get from others just what we give, each is surrounded by a subtle auric atmosphere which colors our views of others, and the thoughts, ideas and actions of others towards us. If we harbor meanness in our hearts, that colors this atmosphere so that we see meanness in others and in their actions towards us, we awaken this trait in them, as vibrations from a tuning-fork start another of the same pitch to sing. On the other had, if we cultivate the Jupiterian qualities of benevolence, his expansive smile, his cordial attitude of mind, etc., we shall soon feel the response in our circle of acquaintances and the beneficent aspect of Jupiter will them have greater effect in making our life and work pleasant.

Jupiter is essentially dignified when found in Pisces, or in Sagittarius, the sign of aspiration. He is exalted in Cancer, the house of the Moon, for the seed-atom which furnishes the body of the incoming Ego is protected by the Moon into the sphere of Cancer but in Jupiter represents the spiritual part and therefore he presides at the ingress of the Ego itself into the body. He also rules the blood in which the indwelling spirit finds expression, though his activities are confined principally to the arterial circulation. He furthers assimilation and growth, and therefore he also rules the liver. (Saturn rules the gall bladder.) Jupiterians are very fond of show and display. In their religious observances they love ceremonial and they are rather partial to the established church but often dislike any "ism" not sanctioned by society or correct form.

When Jupiter is afflicted his influence makes the person lawless, sensuous, self-indulgent, gluttonous, extravagant and careless in the payment of his obligations, hence liable to loss of health, trouble with the law and consequent social disgrace. An afflicted Jupiter makes people sporty, fond of horse-racing and gambling.

A fruitful method of acquiring knowledge is by comparison of similars and contrasts of opposites; thus lights and sidelights are brought out, which otherwise may escape attention.

Applying this method to the Sun and Saturn, we remember that the keyword of the Sun is "Life," and at the vernal equinox when the Sun is in Aries, the sign of its exaltation, we may readily note the powerful effect of the crestwave of vital fluid then poured over the earth. Nature is vibrant with life, which races through the forms of all kingdoms and endues them with such abundance of vitality that they are compelled to generate in order to take care of the overflow. Life manifests as motion; but the keynote of Saturn is Obstruction, therefore that is the planet of decrepitude and decay, and consequently when the Sun is in Libra, the sign of Saturn's exaltation, at the fall equinox, Nature is tired and ready for its wintry sleep. The human frame also is energized by the solar life contained in our food, which enters our system through the head and throat, governed by the exaltation signs of the Builders, the Sun and Moon, and is eliminated by the Sun and Moon, and is eliminated by the activity of the liver and kidneys ruled by Saturn and his exaltation sign, Libra.

In youth, when the Sun forces surge through the frame, assimilation and excretion balance, but as time goes on, "Chronos" or Saturn accumulates obstructions in the organs of excretion, and elimination is gradually restricted, the avenues of life are dammed up, and decrepitude and decay turn the scales of life (Libra) towards the realm of death.

Similarly in other departments of life; where the Sun makes the social favorite, by imbuing him with optimism and a bright sunny smile, Saturn makes recluses and sours existence with frowns and pessimism; where the Sun furthers our worldly affairs and makes things run smoothly, Saturn causes provoking delays of the most inexplicable nature; all the world seems to conspire to frustrate our plans.

In the Kingdom of God all things are balanced to produce the highest ultimate good to all, and so the influence of Saturn is used to offset the exuberant life of Mars. The intrinsic nature of Saturn is OBSTRUCTION; he is slow and persistent as Mars is impulsive and quick to change; he takes no chances, but looks before he leaps, and his cold, calculating reason misses no flaws in any scheme.

In the horoscope of a young soul Mars is dominant and the man grows along physical lines much as animals do under the law of the survival of the fittest, but gradually the thumbscrews of Saturn are put on, squares and oppositions bring sorrow and suffering; Saturn is placed above Mars in the horoscope, to frustrate and check him, till it seems as if every effort were futile because of the Saturnian obstruction.

Elijah could not hear the voice of guidance in the fire, the storm nor the earthquake, but when the tumult was over he heard "the still small voice" to cheer him; and likewise with us, while we yield to the unchecked Mars impulses our lives are too turbulent to admit of communion with the Higher Self, but when the sorrows of Saturn have chastened the unruly Mars spirit, when the night seems darkest, as in Elijah's cave, then we also hear the voice that shall speak peace after the storm.

The leash of Saturn is not pleasant; we sometimes chafe, fret and fume while being thus held in leash, but meanwhile we ripen and are more fitted, when the obstruction is removed, to have or use that which Saturn delayed, for as we develop physical muscle by overcoming physical obstacles, so we cultivate soul power by the resistance spiritually engendered by Saturn. The teaching which he gives may be summed up in the motto: "Patient persistence in well doing."

Most of us when considering Saturn in the horoscope are inclined to look upon him as evil on account of the affliction be brings, but that is only a one-sided view, for there is nothing evil in God's Kingdom. What appears so is merely good in the making. When we remember that the destiny shown by our horoscope is of our own making in past existences then we shall understand that Saturn only marks the weak spots in our horoscope, where we are vulnerable and liable to go wrong. When the weak points have been brought out through temptation, AND WE HAVE YIELDED, the punishment follows automatically as a natural and logical sequence, for every wrong acts carries in itself the seed of punishment which brings home to our consciousness the mistakes we have made. We must hold clearly before our mind's eye that through the planets incline to a certain life of action we, as evolving Egos, are supposed to discriminate between good and evil and choose only that which is good. If we fail in this respect and YIELD to the temptation the transgression merits a just recompense under the laws of nature and these are the things signified by Saturn. WE ARE NOT PUNISHED BECAUSE WE ARE TEMPTED BUT WE ARE PUNISHED BECAUSE WE YIELDED. Supposing for instance that Saturn is in Cancer, then it is plain that in the past we have yielded to an inordinate desire for food, that in consequence our digestive organs have become impaired and that if we do not learn frugality and discrimination in the choice of our good we shall be punished by digestive disorders. We will then be tempted to indulge in dainties and perhaps we will have an aversion for the simple foods which are best for us. The temptation, however, will cause no trouble to the stomach unless we yield and satisfy our appetite. Then the food, and not an avenging Deity, automatically punishes us until we learn to curb our appetite. Similarly in other departments of life, if Saturn is on the Ascendant or in the Third of Ninth Houses and adversely aspected to Mercury or the Moon it causes us to brood over our troubles and fills our lives with gloom. It gives an obstruction there to warn us that we should be more sociable and not turn our faces away from the sunshine of life. God is at the helm of the universe, His ministers are continually working with us for good, there is really no reason for blues and if we cannot see it today Saturn is going to tighten his grip tomorrow and crush harder and harder until with the sheer courage of desperation we burst his bonds and jump out into the joy and sunshine of life.

If it were not for the chastening, subduing influence of Saturn we should be liable to run amuck and burn out the lamp of life quickly in the exuberance of spirits. Saturn is well symbolized as Father Time with his hour-glass and scythe. He does not permit us to leave the school of life until the time has been run and the course is finished. Furthermore he gives to humanity many of its noblest qualities. When he lays a restraining hand upon the flighty Moon or Mercury, the swift "messenger of the gods," he deepens the mind and makes it more serious and better able to concentrate upon the problems of life. He makes the mind resourceful and better able to cope with the difficulties of our existence. Tact and diplomacy, method and system, patience and perseverance, honor and chastity, industry and mechanical ability, justice and fair-mindedness all come from Saturn when he is well-aspected and it is only when we transgress the principles for which he stands that under the influences generated by his adverse aspects he punishes us until he has brought us to our knees to pray to our Father in Heaven for forgiveness and strength to overcome our lower nature.

The love ray of Venus goes out to the mate and blood relations but by a good aspect of Uranus it is raised beyond the realm of sex love to cosmic proportions, to love such as that which Christ must have felt when he wept over Jerusalem and said that, as a hen fathers it brood under its wing, so would he have loved to father them to his bosom. The people who have this Uranian love therefore become builders of society; associated with every good and uplifting movement. An adverse aspect of Uranus to Venus on the other hand, has the most degrading effect on the Venus function, for it leads to disregard of the laws and conventions of society and to perversion of the sacred creative function.

Love is a much abused word, and the emotion thus miscalled is usually so tainted with desire that it is Martian passion rather than Venusian love. Coalition, the keyword of Venus, suggests a most intimate union, a blending of the very souls of two or more people who compose a family. But ALTRUISM, the keyword of Uranus, hints at such an all-embracing love as our Saviour felt. Thus Uranus is the octave of Venus and anyone ready to enter the path of preparation which leads to initiation must gradually learn to outgrow the Venus love which makes the immediate family all in all and begin to cultivate the all-embracing Uranian altruism.

This goal is high and those who aim so high often fall very low. When we essay to transcend the Venus love and cultivate the Uranian altruism we are thus in great danger, and the most promising live are sometimes wrecked by the pernicious theory of soul-mates, which leads to clandestine love affairs and perversion of the creative function. But remember this--altruism does not require return of the love bestowed upon others, it has absolutely no concern with sex; it will not lessen the love for our family, but they being nearest to us will feel the increase of our love to a greater degree than those further away, and unless our love brings forth such fruit it is not Uranian and will not further us upon the path of attainment.

Seeing this is so, we may readily understand that the great majority of humanity cannot yet respond to the higher side of Uranus, and its effect upon the morals is therefore principally perversion of sex, clandestine love affairs, free love, and disregard of conventionality; that is, of course, when aspected by squares and oppositions. Under such conditions it makes people unconventional and erratic, rebellious at the least restraint, very independent and brusque in manner, fond of pioneer work, and investigation of unusual things. They take to the higher mechanics, electricity, aviation, and the like, as a duck to water, and are rather proud of their attainments. They find prominence in literature, science, philosophy, and especially in the occult arts. Uranus also gives a high grade of musical genius when configurated with Venus, and if Uranus is well fortified in by position and aspects it qualifies the person for leadership in an unusual way. It may also be said that the effects of the Uranian ray are very sudden and unexpected, whether for good or ill, it comes like a bolt out of the blue, and as we respond most easily to its evil side, these effects are generally disastrous in nature. When Uranus is on the Ascendant it adds length to the body, so that the true Uranian are usually very tall.

As URANUS is the octave of Venus and acts principally upon the love nature, aiming to elevate mankind in matters personal and social, so Neptune is the octave of Mercury, and altogether spiritual in its aims. As Mercury is Lightbearer of the physical Sun, so Neptune is Lightbearer for the spiritual Sun, (called Vulcan by the Western Mystics). Intellectuality, ruled by Mercury lifted us above the animal and made man, man; the Spirituality ruled by Neptune will in time raise us beyond the state of the human and make us divine.

Neptune really signifies what we may call "the gods" commencing with the supernormal beings we know as Elder Brothers, and compassing the innumerable hosts of spiritual entities, good, bad, and indifferent, which influence our evolution. Its position and aspects denote our relation to them; malefic aspects attract agencies of a nature inimical to our welfare, benefic configurations draw upon the good forces. Thus, if Neptune is placed in the Tenth House, trine to the ascendant, the person involved will have the opportunity to become a leader or prominent in a movement along mystical lines as denoted by the exalted position of Neptune. His body will be capable of receiving the finer vibrations, and of coming in touch with the spiritual world, as denoted by the trine of the ascendant. On the other hand, when Neptune is placed in the Twelfth House, whose nature is passive and productive of suffering, that position indicates that at some time, perhaps under a square form the midheaven, the evil forces, among whom are spirit-controls, will be drawn to that person and endeavor to obtain possession of the body. The conjunction of Neptune with the ascendant will make the body sensitive and usable for spiritual purposes, as well as the trine. Given the opportunity afforded by the first aspect mentioned, the man may become a pupil of a mystery school and a factor for great good in the uplift of mankind; placed under the affliction of the second aspect, he may become a helpless tool of spirit-controls: an irresponsible medium.

But there is one factor which is never shown in the horoscope, and that is the will of man. He is bound at some time in life to meet with the experiences denoted by his horoscope, and the opportunities there indicated will be placed before him one by one in orderly succession, as the clock of destiny marks the appropriate time; but how he, the free and independent spirit, meets that fated experience, no one can determine beforehand, and the man in whose horoscope the first mentioned benefic configuration occurs may not be sufficiently awake to the great opportunity before him to catch it on the wing, it may have flown before he realizes it was there. Yes, he may never become aware of the fact. On the other hand, the person in whose life the square indicates the assault by spiritual forces mentioned, may develop his spiritual muscle by resisting the onslaught and become a victor instead of being vanquished. Forewarned is forearmed.

Neptune was not discovered until 1846, but we should err greatly if we supposed the influence ascribed to it fictitious on that account, for as the person born blind lacks the organs to see the sunlight and colors, so most of humanity is still lacking the sensibility which makes them amenable to the vibrations of Neptune. (See Chapter on that subject, also on Planetary Octaves). But we are gradually developing finer feelings and becoming more able to respond to his influence. At first this influence is mostly felt by sensitives who become occultists when of a positive nature and mediums when negative, others gain from it the cunning common alike to the criminal and the detective, or it impels the weakling to take drugs which in another manner produce dreams and visions similar to those obtained by the mediumistic process.

Neptune strong in the figure gives a very vivid imagination and an artistic nature, poetic, musical or literary, a fondness of ease, comfort and beautiful surroundings. The person is easily swayed by the emotions, and when Neptune is afflicted may become subject to trances, fainting, hysteria, or psychic storms. There is a love of travel, preferably by water.

When Neptune is weak by sign or afflicted it also inclines to drink or drugs, it robs the person of ambition and makes him an indolent loafer or cheat, thoroughly dishonest, or if the horoscope is otherwise good he may become the prey of other people who will rob or defraud him. People with an afflicted Neptune should particularly avoid dealings with large corporations or they may be subjected to swindles of the most fantastic nature.