The Spirit in the Zodiac

The Ram

(March 21 - April 20)

(This volume is written in the first person as "the soul").

No matter where in the universal zodiac the person may be born, the subjective zodiac of the soul is always in the sign of the Ram, because it is the impelling radiations of Aries that initiate the cycle of incarnation. Aries provides the door of opportunity for the soul to incarnate in the material world, by the joining together of Spirit and matter. It is the spiritual forces and impulses emanating from the constellation of the Ram that awakens the will of the soul to enter the "great cycle of struggle" towards Self expression.

The Ram symbolically conveys the injunction to the soul to enter material life. To express the will to be and to do; to unfold its creative potential and through effort to develop and grow in awareness and realization of its true nature. It is the fiery constellation of the Ram with its horns turned downwards that signifies the coming into incarnation and which will force the Self* onto the 'burning ground' of physical life through the 'jungle of experience'.

_{* The words 'Self' and 'soul' are used interchangeably to mean the same thing: they refer to the spiritual entity that incarnates in the body.}

Down the ages, the twelve signs of the zodiac have become symbolised by the animal or symbol that materialises or most closely depicts the combination of forces and energies emitted by each constellation. It is Aries the Ram that most typifies the energies of springtime; the heedlessness and recklessness of spring in which everything gets born. It depicts the fiery qualities of youth – the erratic and at times rebellious behaviour that shakes its head and objects to the world it is born into. It signifies the recklessness and stubbornness of youth that does not want to conform to conventions or to parental advice; youth that is in revolt against prevailing attitudes and the established ways of doing things, and that wants to rebel against the restrictions that life and society impose. Youth wants to resist, to be contrary, to butt and argue with the older generation, to go its own way and do its own thing, all of which is so typified by the behaviour of the Ram.

In response to the influence of this energy the Arian personality tends to be action oriented; to be impulsive and competitive. Arians can be bold, enthusiastic and dynamic, but also argumentative and assertive at times. They tend to respond well to challenges, to be goal-orientated and strive to come first in what they do. They are usually confident and independent; however when this energy is turned into negative expression Arians can become impatient with others and better at starting projects than finishing them. The main challenge for the Arian personality is one of self-discipline.

The constellation of Aries signifies the beginning of everything and in which the soul always incarnates in the springtime of its zodiacal program. The response evoked in the soul by the stimulating energies of the Ram is the will to bring its plans and purposes into expression in the physical world of time and space, and for which its blueprint has been prepared and the pattern of the life mapped out.

In addition to the learning program the soul hopes to achieve, together with the faculties and creativity it is seeking to develop, its blueprint also includes those consequences from previous life cycles that have been allocated to be worked out and balanced up in the coming life. It therefore seeks the right time and place to enter; it seeks the parents and country and environment in which it can make progress on its learning curve, while fulfilling its cause and effect obligations. It needs to incarnate in its affinity-group, and to try to work through relationship problems that have not been resolved in the past. It seeks fresh opportunities to expand its awareness, to pursue its spiritual aspirations and to climb the heights of Spirit-consciousness.

It is the radiation of the Ram that stimulates the fire of youth and of springtime that awakens new life. It is the fiery constellation of Aries that awakens the will of the timeless soul to incarnate and

...to reach the lowest and there control,
to know the uttermost and thus to
face all experience".