Theos-Talk Archives (December 1995 Message tl00371)

AS ABOVE SO BELOW

Some have been talking about the dark night of the soul as a spiritual process.
The writings of St. John of the Cross and others testify to the fact that
spiritual knowledge and even experience does not exempt one from the need to
face the cycles of suffering built into the systems of change. All sentient
life is suffering to paraphrase the Buddha.The solstice represents the dark
night of the year. At this time the year has reached its darkest deadest
point. It is the time of dark materiality. Yet it also marks the point at
which the days begin to become longer. Its the point at which things can't get
any worse. They must get better if the cyle of consciousnesss and life is to
continue at all.

My computer generated chart revealed that there is a stellium in Capricorn with
sun moon Mercury Venus Mars Neptune and Uranus in Capricorn at this moment.
Jupiter is conjuncting the sun and moonbut is dragging luckily behind in
Sagitarius. The chart also points out that the solstice occurs this yeart after
midnight 02 hours near the bottom of the chart-the IC. This may represent the
influence as being more in the individual unconscious rather than a social and
conscious influence if it had occurred say at midday in the 10th house of
Capricorn. Of course the winter solstice ALWAYS has sun in Capricorn hence
the name Tropic of Capicorn to mark the sun's journey south.

This year maybe a little special in that the dark night of the year happens at
the darkest most material time of the day. I perhaps unconciously forgot that
Capricorn is represented by the card "The Devil" in the Tarot. The goat-footed
god with curling horns is not a pleasent image. Yet surefooted the goat climbs
to the top. He uses the material world to survive and allows for the easier
playfullness of the other signs. Actually the goat represents an archetype
that is part sea creature with depths with abilities to plunge into the depths
of the unconsious as well as climb the heights of the material world.

I tried to find the path Capricorn represents in the kabala but couldn't.
Perhaps this too is as well. Saturn in some systems is Binah the dark
archetypal watery mother-womb--cryptically referred to as UNDERSTANDING.

But to avoid a hopeless confusion of symbols perhaps the simple idea of the
solstice is an ending that is also a beginning.

Some might find the idea of a mediation focused on the solstice as a little
naive a little childish a little primitive and frankly a little low class
--kind of like using an idol for prayer or something. Zen and other types of
"pure" meditation would tend to merge the object of contemplation and the ego
in a kind of grand unity. Yet depth ecology and other movements bewail our
seperation from the natural cyles. Some people experience depression in the
cold winter light. Our bodies still long for a sign a symbol a synchronicity
to echo our inner processes of despair release and renewal..

Namaste
Keith Price