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Esoteric Psychology I - Section Two - II. The Rays and the Kingdoms in Nature
c. The Planets and the Kingdoms In the vegetable kingdom the influence of Venus is predominant, amazing as this may seem to some occult students. Venus and Jupiter together powerfully influence this world of forms. It might be of interest to note that all the planets have a close relation to all the kingdoms, but that this relation should not be confounded with the planetary rays or with the fact that some of the planets are considered as "sacred planets" and some are not. I am here using the words "planetary influence" in the same sense as the astrologer uses them, for he is not dealing, either, with the basic planetary rays. It might be stated therefore that the planetary relations in this cycle are as follows: The mineral kingdom - Pluto and Vulcan. The vegetable kingdom - Venus and Jupiter. The animal kingdom - The Moon and Mars. The human kingdom - Mercury and Saturn. The kingdom of souls - Neptune and Uranus. Synthesizing these five - The Sun. There are other planetary influences to be felt, and hidden forces likewise play upon our planetary life, but these are the [246] major influences bringing about the desired results in the kingdoms of nature under the Plan. It must be remembered that these are the cyclic influences dominant at this time, and that they change from cycle to cycle. For instance, a disciple who is upon the path is strongly influenced by Mercury and by Saturn, but when he begins his training for the first initiation he has to contend with the influences of Pluto and Vulcan; the training for the second initiation brings him under Neptunian influences, with Venus and Jupiter contending for control. The link with the vegetable kingdom is then strong, and hence the frequent recognition of "astral perfumes" which the disciple can note. Before the first initiation, the static mineral world within him has been broken up. At the third initiation, the Moon and Mars struggle to assume ascendancy, and there is his battleground. Hence at the great Transfiguration, the body is "transfigured" as the indication of triumph. At the fourth initiation, Mercury and Saturn act as the great translators, and bring the disciple to the door of realization. When the final initiation is taken, it is the activity of Uranus and the inpouring force of Jupiter that bring about the reorganization which results in the final emancipation. The vastness and complexity of the subject thus become apparent. In the emergence of color in the vegetable kingdom another vast influence is seen, and the problem of the ray influences becomes still more complicated. In the basic color, green, we have the indication of the potency of Saturn. Esoterically speaking, the vegetable kingdom is upon an advanced stage of the path of discipleship, and hence Saturn and Mars are active. The influence of the latter planet is to be seen in the prevalence of the colors red, rose, yellow and orange in the flowers at this time. Again, readers would find it interesting to note mentally the relation of growth to the idealism of the sixth ray. They [247] could learn therefrom the part that the Ray of Devotion plays in bringing about the urge to evolve. It is growth towards an ideal, or towards a divine prototype or archetype. Here is where the secret of this kingdom appears. The secret is hidden in the word "transformation," for the rays 2.4.6 are the great transformers. The clue to the secret is to be found in the processes of assimilation and in the building forces that transmute the assimilated minerals, the absorbed moisture, the food in the air, and the proffered offering of the insect kingdoms into the manifested bodies, the radiant colors, the magnetic auras, and the distilled perfumes of this kingdom. Much along this line has been the subject of investigation by the modern scientist, but until he recognizes the fact of ray influences, and the part they play in the producing of these factors, he will fail to discover the true secret of the transformations which he notes. It will appear, therefore, to the careful reader, that in the relation of the rays to the kingdoms in nature, and in the similarity of the rays found functioning in widely differing kingdoms, will be found their point of contact or door of entry, whereby they can contact each other. For instance, the human and the vegetable kingdoms find their point of influential entry (using the words in the esoteric sense) through ray four, which influences the forms in both kingdoms. The relation between the vegetable kingdom and the kingdom of souls is found along the second ray. Ray two is beginning to make its presence felt in the mineral kingdom, and hence man's work with, and facility in using materially, the forms in this kingdom. Perhaps I should say, misusing them. Ray five will before long, as we have noted, make its power felt in the animal kingdom, and an ever closer relation will then be set up between men and animals. Again, the rays in incarnation at any time will establish [248] relations between the kingdoms, increasing the interplay of forces and the interchange of energies, and thus producing new effects, new forms of life, and new wonders in the world of phenomena. Man is also apt to think that his ray influences (the ray predominant in his own kingdom) must be of paramount importance and the most potent. This is not so at this time.
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