Dear Seawhisperer and Companions All

Too right it isn't an easy task!

Many moons ago when I was starting out on the path I found a lot of wisdom in the books written by Ruth White who channelled a guide known as Gildas. One of Gildas's favourite phrases concerned bringing the spiritual life 'right down through,' and the words still stick in my mind as the essence of what the Work is all about.

As you say, we have our private meditations, and we participate in the extra boost of power created by ritual, but it's the times in between these two activities that the work really takes place.

What's especially interesting about DF's comments that you've highlighted is that she is referring to our work as heralds of the Aquarian Age, and of how we are - or should be - directing our esoteric work towards Aquarian ideals. In the 1960's (which not all of us can remember!!) we spoke with such enthusiasm about the New Age, but nowadays the term is used more in mockery than as an ideal. Have we lost our focus, I wonder?

Best regards, Wendy

Dear Wendy,

Thank you for your reply.

Would you care to expound on how you personally understand the Aquarian Age and its ideals?

Hi Seawhisperer

There are a lot of astrologically-based interpretations of the difference between the Piscean and Aquarian Ages but I must confess that I personally find them a bit difficult to get my head around in any practical sense of 'what do I do about this today?'

Something I do find useful is a phrase which I believe was made by the Tibetan (channelled by Alice Bailey)which goes something like: 'Ask yourself not what can the group do for me, but what can I do for the group.'

I like this because it suggests looking ahead, looking at the bigger picture, thinking in terms of unity and synthesis rather than individual gain. It helps me think more broadly about what is meant by 'group' and what 'my group' actually is.

I'm not sure if these are specifically Aquarian ideals but it seems like a good way forward!

Dear Seawhisperer, Wendy, Companions all
I thought I would chip in with my thoughts from an astrological point of view on this one and with apologies for the late response - lost password, new computer, too much to do etc etc.....!

The Aquarian Age values to me are (among other things) very much to do with taking personal responsibility for one’s own spiritual direction. In the Piscean Age the masses followed the church and spiritual leaders without question, often in fear of excommunication or even persecution if they did not heed the religious and moral laws of the times, laid down in ‘received’ or written religious doctrine which was interpreted by the leaders and elders for the masses. Most people could not even read until well into the nineteenth century and certainly in regard to Christianity for a long time were prohibited from reading the Bible which was kept in Latin. People were martyred for introducing the Bible in English. This was the age of the masses, of collective consciousness. Pisces rulers are Jupiter and Neptune which at their best are loving, magnaminous, deeply spiritual, seeking higher paths, and operate from a place of goodwill, compassion and love, but at their worst sink into religious bigotry, zealotry and confusion. Pisces is a mutable dual water sign representing the sea of the collective and operates from a devotional and emotional viewpoint.
Aquarius is an air sign ruled by Saturn and on a higher octave Uranus. Ordinary people begin to think for themselves, begin to question and strive for freedom and independence from the restraints of the organised religions and indeed from the restraints of the rigid class system which kept the people in their place and the churchmen pretty near the top. Uranus is the called the Awakener among other names, and the Aquarian Age is indeed one of awakening to new ways. There is also the emphasis on the Aquarian pull to work together for something better. Taking personal responsibility does not mean going it alone, but joining together and forming groups and organisations that can make a difference. The Saturn rulership aids the bringing of these ideas and new values into form enabling their manifestation on earth. Uranus is the Lightning Flash. Light into Matter. The sword in the stone. Uranus is the planet of the rebel and of revolution, discovered around the time of both the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the French revolution and some postulate that the Aquarian Age began around this time. I think we are in transition from Pisces to Aquarius, a period probably lasting a few hundred years. Transitions are not easy, there is always a backlash from the Old resisting the New and it can get pretty nasty. But we are moving forward.
So I agree with what Wendy says in that this new age is an impulse for us to both individuate, become personally responsible and in that personal responsibility to synthesise, to unify and to work together in groups small or large to raise consciousness and awareness and bring about a better world. When we do that with intention (and magical practitioners will know that intention is pretty much everything) then we can indeed “inoculate the group mind of the race at a subconscious level.”
The Tor meditation is a fine example of one way we can work together to bring that about. We are not only aiming to raise the consciousness of the race, but of the earth herself.

Well that went on rather longer than I expected!