Chapter 5

CHAPTER III.

✦

WERE You BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR?

HAVE you ever looked through a kaleidoscope
at the patterns formed there by the many
little pieces of varicolored glass, and noticed how
the slightest disturbance of the position changes the
pattern? Also, do you realize that it will be im-
possible, or almost so, to duplicate any pattern, no
matter how much you were to turn; there is such a
variety of effect. Similarly when you look into the
heavens night after night you will notice changes
among the planets, in fact such is the variety of
changes that occur among them that it would be im-
possible to duplicate the position which they hold
relatively to one another while you are reading, for
almost twenty-six thousand years. Thus in the
planetary kaleidoscope there is, we might say, an in-
finity of patterns. When we realize that human be-
ings are entering the world constantly and that each
being is stamped at the first complete breath with
the planetary pattern then in the sky, everyone must
necessarily be different from everybody else. Nor
should this statement of the stellar influence create
doubt when we consider that wireless waves of dif-
ferent lengths and different pitch sent out from a
55

C6 THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

tiny man-made contrivance can make themselves felt
and register by mechanical operations involving ex-
penditure of energy many thousands of miles from
their source. The planetary vibrations from those
great orbs in the heavens make themselves felt mil-
lions of miles as surely, as easily, and with equal
certainty. We know that the angle of the solar ray
determines whether it is winter or summer. We also
know the effect of the Moon upon the waters, and it
is within the experience of all that we feel more
buoyant when the atmosphere is clear and dry than
when it is moist and murky. And what determines
these atmospheric conditions but the planets, the
circling stars?

When we look up at this planetary kaleidoscope
from time to time we see in the heavens various con-
figurations which are pronounced lucky or unlucky
according to whether they are formed between so-
called benefics alone, such as Venus, Jupiter and the
Sun, or planets said to be malefic such as Saturn,
Mars or Uranus. When Jupiter and Venus are
in close conjunction near the midheaven, it is a
foregone conclusion that those who come into the
world under this configuration will enjoy a measure
of good fortune far above the average, and such per-
sons would therefore be considered "lucky" in the
extreme. On the other hand there are times when
Saturn and Mars occupy the zenith position for
souls that are born to suffer.

But why should one suffer and another be born

WERE YOU BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR? 57

under a lucky star? Why do the stars give good
fortune to one and misfortune to others, and if we
are born to "luck," whether good or bad, what is
the use or where is the incentive to individual effort?
If there is a law of nature which is established be-
yond doubt it is surely the law of Cause and Effect.
Every cause must produce an adequate effect and
nothing which we see as an effect can be without
a pre-existent cause. Moreover, if this is a universal
law it must apply to the conditions of birth as well
as to subsequent life. Following up this idea the
next question is: If our birth under a lucky or un-
lucky star is the effect of some prior cause, what may
that be, or where and how was that cause generated?
To that there can be only one answer; that we must
have made the causes in some previous existence
which now result in our birth under a lucky or an
unlucky star. Thus by induction a belief hi As-
trology requires also a belief in a previous existence
as well as in future lives, for while we are now reap-
ing in our horoscopes the effects of our past lives
we are also by our acts laying the foundations for a
new horoscope which can only be worked out in a
future life..

"How closely luck is linked to merit
Does never to the fool occur;
Had he the wise man's stone, I swear it,
The stone had no philosopher,"

said Mephisto sarcastically in "Faust" and it is

58 THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

true. If we are born under a lucky star it shows that
we have earned the good fortune thereby Indicated,
by forethought, kindness, and our other virtues ex-
pressed in previous lives, for we cannot have friends
unless we are friendly ourselves. If we happen to
have Saturn and Mars instead of Yenus and Jupi-
ter near the zenith, it shows that in the past we
ourselves have not been kindly and friendly or we
could not now express the opposite traits. But this
is just the point where the study of Astrology should
help us. It shows our limitations for the present and
it points out the obvious remedies and how to 'build
for the future. Can the leopard change its skin1?
No. Can the lion cease to prey? Absolutely impos-
sible. Can the flower cease to bloom or the mineral
to crystallize ? Certainly not ; because they are under
laws which are unchangeable as the laws of the
Medes and Persians. They have neither choice nor
prerogative but must obey the dictates of the group
spirit which guides them along their path of evolu-
tion. But in this respect we differ radically from
those lower kingdoms, we have both choice and pre-
rogative. We may do whatsoever we ivill and that
is a factor which is never shown in the horoscope, a
factor that may be made to play an all important
role in every life. It is not enough to be born under
a lucky star to have a lucky life, for the horoscope
shows only the tendencies and the person who is so
well endowed will without question have an abund-
ance of opportunities to make his life fortunate in

WEEE YOU BORN UNDER A LUCKY STAR? 59

the very highest degree. But only insofar as he ex-
erts himself to grasp opportunity on the wing, will
that which is foreshadowed in his horoscope come to
pass. And similarily with the person who is af-
flicted by the conjunction of two malefics in the mid-
heaven or anywhere else in the horoscope. By his
will, and the exercise of choice, which are his divine
birthrights, he may rule his stars and make of the
unlucky horoscope a fruitful life from a far higher
standpoint than the other. The bark that has been
tossed by the tempest harbors a joy when the haven
of safety is reached that is not equaled on the ship
that has always sailed on smiling seas.

"Who never ate his bread in sorrow,
Who never passed the midnight hours
Weeping, waiting for the morrow,
He knows not yet ye heavenly powers."

From the higher standpoint those who are liv-
ing in the lap of luxury are to be pitied when their
lucky stars give them all the good things of this
world and cause them to forget that they are stew-
ards and that the day is coming when their souls
shall be required of them with an account of their
stewardship. They shall then be forced to confess
that they have failed to use the substance entrusted
to them in the proper manner; while others un-
der the strain and stress of life, expressed by the
horoscopical squares and oppositions, have wrung
from their unlucky stars a measure of victory.

60 THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

What wonder then if the king's messengers, the cir-
cling stars, take from the unfaithful steward that
which he had and give to the other, changing their
adversity to prosperity in later lives. Thus the
pendulum of luck and loss, success and failure
changes through many lives till we learn to make our
own "luck" by ruling our stars.

"A god can love without cessation,
But under laws of alteration
We mortals need, in changing measure,
Our share of pain as well as pleasure."

And it is this necessity for change that is ministered
unto us by the circling stars which form configura-
tions that we call good or evil, though they are
neither from a higher standpoint, for no matter how
good the horoscope ; by progression of the stars evil
configurations are sure to come and no matter how
evil, there are always new opportunities for good
given by aspects of the Sun, Venus and Jupiter to
our planets at birth. All that we have to do is to
grasp the opportunity, help our stars, that our stars
may help us.

AMULETS, BIRTH-STONES AND PLANETARY COLORS

In the windows of jewelers, and in the cheap,
ready made horoscopes one may often read that it
is 'lucky' for people born in a certain month to
wear a particular stone or color. It means business

AMULETS, BIRTHSTONES, ETC. 6i

to the jeweler and the astrological prestidigitator
who produces "your horoscope" by a turn of the
wrist from a box when you tell him in what month
you were born. Both buy their instructive (?) liter-
ature at a nominal price per thousand, the principal
cost being paper and printers' ink; there are no fur-
rows in their foreheads from deep and earnest study
of the problem.

But as the counterfeit coin argues the existence
of the genuine, so also the fallacious information
flippantly dispensed by people who cater to the
sense of mystery and wonder which is deeply im-
bedded in human nature argues the existence of a
genuine science of mineralogical correspondences
with the stellar rays impinging upon all who inhab-
it our sub-lunar sphere, and when this is rightly un-
derstood and used, that which is loosely termed luck
results ; but then it is not really luck in the sense
understood by the majority of people, for then it is
the result of accurate knowledge scientifically used,
and therefore the outcome is as inevitable as that wa-
ter runs down hill.

The philosophy of planetary colors and miner-
alogy is that each of the Creative Hierarchies which
is active in evolution works with the various classes
of beings from mineral to man, and is responsible for
the progress made by all. In the course of this
work each Hierarchy naturally imparts to the be-
ings with whom it labors some of its own nature and
vibration. Thus each group of minerals, each spe-

62 THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

cies of plant and animal, vibrates to a certain key-
note which blends the vibration of the Group Spirit,
and the particular sign and planet with which he is
most nearly attuned.

It has been taught by the Elder Brothers in
the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception, that:

The Archangels, who were human in the Sun
Period when the present animals started their evo-
lution with a mineral-like existence, are now the
Group Spirits of the animals.

The Angels, who were human in the Moon Per-
iod when the present plants commenced their evo-
lution with a similar mineral constitution are now
the Group Spirits of the plants. Man, who reached
the human stage in the Earth Period, is now work-
ing with the new life-wave which started its evo-
lution on the Earth as minerals. He is not
far enough advanced to assume the role of
Group Spirit, that is reserved for the future. In
the Jupiter Period he will give them life as plants
have, in the Venus Period he will bring out their
desires and emotions as animals, and in the Vulcan
Period he will give them a mind and make them
human. That, however, is all in the future. At pres-
ent he is working with them to the best of his abil-
ity, smelting them into iron bridges, ships and skel-
eton skyscrapers; he is pulling them into wires which
wind around the world ; he is grinding from them
gems that glitter and grace the great in our social
structure, and thus he is gradually establishing an

AMULETS, BIRTHSTONES, ETC. 63

intimate relationship with them and preparing to
take charge of their evolution as a Group Spirit at
some future time.

It is well known to students of Astrology that
an astrological reading based upon the month in
which an individual is born is worthless, for all the
people born in the same month do not have the same
experiences by any means, but if we consider the
day, the year and the place we get a horoscope that
is absolutely individual and totally different from
the horoscope of anyone else in detail — and this
is the point which concerns us for the present argu-
ment— the ruler is not the lord of the sign the Sun
is in, except for children born at Sunrise, when the
Sun is on the Ascendant. It is ike ruler of the
rising sign, THAT is the determinator with regard
to our mineralogical affinity, because at the moment
of conception when the seed-atom of our present
physical mineral body was deposited the Moon was
in that particular sign and degree, (or its opposite),
and acted then as a focus of forces which have since
crystallized into the vehicle we now wear.

The following table shows the affinity of each
of the twelve signs with certain gems, metals and
colors, and in that chart there are the elements for
making an effective talisman by any individual who
has the knowledge of how to cast a horoscope, and
blend the ingredients according to the requirements
of the case. We have no scruples about telling how
this is done, for it may help some to help themselves

THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

and others. The only harm it can do is if some un-
scrupulous person starts to make them for coin, and
even then, if he is conscientious about the work, who-
ever obtains it will not be cheated, the re-action will
be upon the one who prostitutes the spiritual science
for material gain.

BIRTH-STONES AND COLORS.

Gems ruled by
the signs.

Sign
Rulers

Metals

Colors.

Amethyst, Diamond

Iron

Red

Moss Agate, Emerald

Copper

Yellow

Crystal, Aqua Marine

Mercury

Violet

Emerald, Black Onyx

Silver

Green

Ruby, Diamond

Gold

Orange

rn?

Pink Jasper, Hyacinth

Mercury

Violet

-n-

Diamond, Opal.

Copper

Yellow

Topaz, Malachite.

Iron

Red

Carbuncle, Torquoise

Tin

Blue

White Onyx, Moonstone

Lead

Indigo

w/v

Saphire, Opal.

Lead

Indigo

Chrysolite, Moonstone

Tin

Blue

To forestall a question we may say that ancient
astrologers who had studied this aspect of the science
have tabulated several hundred minerals of which

AMULETS, BIRTHSTONES, ETC. 65

the planetary affinities had been noted, but these
works have been mutilated in the course of time, and
are now not available. Paracelsus also and Agrippa,
made considerable study of this subject, and with
very important results, but the wider view is outside
the scope of this work, so the authors confine their
remarks to the essentials, and indicating the way
which others may follow farther if they feel so
inclined.

To illustrate how the mineral elements may be
used to advantage let us take the following example.
Suppose that in a certain horoscope we find Sagit-
tarius rising with its lord Jupiter on the Ascendant.
Jupiter is then the ruling planet and so, according
to our chart turquoise is his birthstone, tin is the
metal with which he has affinity, and blue is his
color. That means that it will help him express him-
self if he wears a turquoise, an amulet of tin, and
dresses in blue whenever consistent with custom.
That is true to a certain extent, but it is only a small
part of the truth, and it is by no means the best use
that may be made of this knowledge.

To indicate the better way, let us suppose that
this person's figure shows severe afflictions by Mars
and Saturn.

Mars afflicts three planets; his metal is iron.
Venus is the opposite of Mars; her metal is copper,
and consequently copper is an antidote for the mar-
tial vibrations.

Saturn afflicts one planet ; his metal is lead.

66 THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

Jupiter is his opposite and therefore the Jupiter
metal, tin, is an antidote for the saturnian vibrations.

With this in mind an amulet may be compound-
ed of tin and copper; not exactly in the ratio of
three to one, but with a mind on the bulk of the
various planets, their density and the strength of
the aspects it is desired to overcome, a matter which
involves further study. The work itself should be
done under auspicious planetary conditions. A
Mars' amulet, designed to give energy to one with a
weak figure would be most successful if made in a
Mars-hour on a Tuesday when both the Sun and
Moon are in martial signs as happens in April and
November. The same with amulets made for other
planets. (See the Tables of Planetary Hours, in our
Simplified Scientific Astrology.)

A gem or an amulet made on these principles
is a focus for the stellar rays of the planets they
represent, and infuses vibrations of their nature into
our auras all the while we are wearing it, just as
surely as the wireless receiver attuned to a cer-
tain pitch catches the waves within its range, and
we may blend the colors in the same manner to ob-
tain help from them. As a matter of fact, it is
the complimentary color which is seen in the desire
world that produces the effect of the physical colors.
If it is desired to restrain one whose Mars is too
prominent, the gems, colors and metals of Saturn
will help, and such a person should have as little to
do with iron (tools, machinery, etc.,) as possible,

BEST TIME TO BE BORN 67

but if we want to help someone who is moody and
taciturn, we may use the gems, colors and metals of
Mars to advantage. In the final analysis the mat-
ter resolves itself into a question of judgment and
common sense. With these and the knowledge 'con-
cerning the essentials here given anyone may use it
to advantage.

WHEN is THE BEST TIME TO BE BORN?

In the light of occult investigation of some of
the modern methods it appears that Birth is an ad-
vent we are powerless to control, when we seem to
do so in a slight degree we are really the agents of
Destiny to accelerate or delay till the proper mo-
ment has arrived. This view is also justified by the
author's experience in Horary Astrology. The
philosophy of Horary Astrology is that at the time
one is impelled to ask a question concerning an im-
portant matter the heavens contain also the answer
and a figure set for that time will contain the so-
lution to the problem. But it should be particularly
noted that the time to set the figure is when the in-
quirer asks the question of the astrologer, when
this is done in person; when it is done by mail the
astrologer sets the figure for the time he reads the
question in the letter.

On a number of occasions we have received let-
ters containing questions which bore marks of hav-
ing been delayed by flood or fire, but the figure cast

68 THE MESSAGE OF THE STARS

for the moment of reading gave the answer, showing
that the delay had a part in the plan, nor should it
surprise us that the great Intelligences which are the
ministers of Destiny foresee and make allowance for
contingencies beyond the grasp of the human mind,
and when the infinite mind bestowrs equal care when
designing the anatomy of a fly, mouse and lion, may
we not conclude that a similar attention to the min-
utiae prevails in all departments of life and that
when we seem to delay or accelerate birth we are
really aiding nature to take its predetermined course
as said in the opening sentence of this article.

Nevertheless people often ask the astrologer
when is the best time to be born ; young astrologers
also frequently want to know, not that they have any
idea of controlling birth but so that on seeing a
horoscope or being told a person's time of birth they
may make quick mental calculation to determine a
good or bad horoscope. Such a judgment would, of
course, be founded only on the position of the sun
.by sign and approximate house, hence general in
the extreme. It may be said however that other
planetary positions being equal, it is better to be
born when the Moon is increasing in light from the
new to the full than when she is decreasing from
the full to the new for the growing Moon always in-
creases vitality and furthers our affairs.

It is best to be born in April or August when
the life-giving Sun is in its exaltation sign Aries or
Leo, its home, for then we enter the sea of life on

BEST TIME TO BE BORN 69

the crest-wave and are backed in the battle of ex-
istence by an abundant fund of vim and energy.

It is also good to be born in May and July when
the life-light of the Sun is focused through the ex-
altation sign and home of the Moon, Taurus and
Cancer, especially, as said, when the lesfser light is
increasing for those configurations, also furnish an
abundance of vitality which is such a great asset
in physical life.

With respect to the time of day most favorable
for birth it may be said that children born about
sunrise, or during the forenoon from 8 to 12
while the Sun is traversing the hou.ses of friends
and social prestige are the 'luckiest' for they are
helped on every hand. Children born between noon
and midnight are less 'lucky' the nearer the Sun
comes to Nadir, and then the 'luck' turns again for
the children born in the early morning while the
Daystar is ascending towards the eastern horizon.
They will have to carve their own way in the world,
but opportunities will be given them In abundance.

We may therefore sum up our conclusions by
saying that it is best to be born at Sunrise or in the
forenoon, preferably in April or August when the
Moon is increasing in light.

Finally it should always be borne in mind that
there is no 'luck,' in the commonly accepted sense,
but that what we have or lack in any respect is due
to our own actions in the past and that in the future
we may have what we now lack by proper application.