The Creative Word and Cycles

(An extract from the N.S. Study Guide)

At this point in the course, the relationship between the creative activity or “magic” of the Spiritual Soul, the “ceremonial magic” of the persona, and our daily activities is finally made clear.

In Lessons 31 and 32 we discussed how the second sounding of the “word” set the Soular Deva vibrating, setting it moving in a circle. I mentioned that this circular motion projected the Soular Deva downward (into a position of causality to the three lower worlds) and upwards (into a position of receptivity to the Spiritual Soul). We will now discuss how this cyclic motion is used in the lower creative process or ceremonial magic.

Moving In Harmony With the Cycles

Imagine a child sitting in a swing. The swing is rather unusual in that it has two rigid metal bars instead of chains, and the child is firmly strapped into the seat. The child (whom we will imagine is mature enough to attempt this feat) desires to reach a point as far above the top of the swing as he is below it. The child begins by pumping his legs back and forth while he tilts his body forward and back. By coordinating this cyclic transfer of his weight, the child sets the swing moving back and forth. At first he moves only a few inches, but after a bit the child is whizzing through the air.

The child continues pumping, constantly leaning into the motion to reinforce it, until he reaches the highest point of his swing, and is upside down. At that point, instead of reversing his lean as before, he again leans into the motion, and continues on in a full circle. [At this point the analogy breaks down, since the child would not in fact be able to reinforce the motion as described. However, to continue...]

Having reached the high point once, the child finds it much easier to do so again. However, he is not yet experienced enough with that position to remain there (balanced precariously) and must continue pumping to keep the cycle going.

Surfing The Word

The cycles of the persona are similar, in many ways, to the child on a swing. The cycles exist as a natural consequence of the wave-lengths of the notes of the sounding word,^[1] and if we coordinate our movement within those cycles (or surf the Word) we can use them to swing our incarnate consciousness into alignment with (and receptivity to) the Spiritual Soul.

We accomplish this by initiating a cyclic meditation activity that places the incarnate consciousness in a position of receptivity to the overshadowing Soul (at the very moment when the Spiritual Soul is at the downward portion of its cycle and is causative to the persona). Thus, in order to be effective, the length and period of our meditations must be coordinated with the cycles of the Soul. We must begin our meditations at the moment in the cycle of the Spiritual Soul when it is at the height of its cycle and mirror its movement. When the Spiritual Soul is at its high point, we are at our lowest, and when the Spiritual Soul is at its lowest, we are at out highest. At that point, when the Spiritual Soul is at its lowest and the incarnate consciousness is at its highest, the two can “meet” in the communion of the Persona with The Soul.^[2]

Why Lunar Cycles

A common question at this point is “why lunar cycles?”

It has been said that the moon is merely a convenient, planet-wide, clock. While this is correct, it tends to obscure the astrological influences of the moon.^[3] If we ignore those influences for the moment, and focus our attention on why the moon might be used as a “heavenly clock”, we may find the answer to our question.

In this case, the answer is suggested by another question:

How can the incarnate consciousness, isolated from the Spiritual Soul by the higher creative process, coordinate its activities with those of the Spiritual Soul?

So long as the incarnate consciousness cannot perceive the activity of the Spiritual Soul, the Spiritual Soul must match its creative cycle to an activity that the incarnate consciousness can perceive.

We may compare this to a young child telling her mother “I’m hungry”? and being told in reply “Dinner will be ready when Space Rangers is over.” Since the child is to young to have developed a firm sense of time, the mother could not say “...in 15 minutes.”, for that would have meant little to the child. Instead, she wisely associated the completion of her activities (dinner being ready) with the completion of the child’s favorite television show (an event the child is familiar with).

The Spiritual Soul works in much the same way. It coordinates its creative cycles with an activity (the cycles of the moon) that we can recognize.

Lunar Cycles of Meditation

1. Ascent (New Moon to Full Moon): 13 day cycle from dark of moon to full moon (and period of Occult Silence). The emphasis is on receptivity to illumination.

2. Descent (Full Moon to New Moon): 14 day cycle from full moon to dark of moon (and period of manifestation). The emphasis is on embodiment.

The Lunar Cycles as A Single Globe

In the Illustration below, the cycles of the Overshadowing Spiritual Soul are represented by the shadowed space between the circle and the dot. The Indwelling Soul is represented by the outer circle.

	A. Uncoordinated Cycles and Rhythms: When the meditation cycles are not coordinated, neither are the cycles of the Soular and Persona Devas. This conflicting motion is represented by the clock-wise motion of the persona circle and the counter clockwise motion of the Soular Deva (shadowed space). [Viewed from below – upwards]
	B. Aspiration (new moon to full moon): The Overshadowing Spiritual Soul moves downward (or outward in this illus tration) while the indwelling consciousness moves upward (or inward in this illustration). When these cyclic movements are properly coordinated, the overshadowing and indwelling consciousness meet during the highpoint of the meditation cycle. The resulting Illumination is then precipitated downward or outward during the Descent phase of the meditation cycle.
	C. Descent (full moon to new moon): The Overshadowing Spiritual Soul moves upward (or inward in this illustration) while the indwelling consciousness moves downward (or outward in this illustration).

When these cyclic movement are properly coordinated, the illumination received during the period of occult silence is precipitated into a lower frequencies of substance.

The Motion of The Soul

It has been said that the cyclic motion of the persona deva moves in a clockwise direction, while the motion of the soular deva is counter-clockwise. This statement is a veil. The apparent direction of the motion of the Soular Deva depends on the point of identification of the observer.

Imagine that the illustration at left is a globe that is spinning on its axis from right to left. When viewed from below, the globe will appear to be spinning counter-clockwise. When viewed from above, it will be seen to be turning clockwise.

The motion of the soular deva is viewed “from below” when the indwelling consciousness is identified with the form. When the form-identified consciousness “looks up” at the soular deva (via meditation) it sees a counter-clockwise motion.

The motion of the soular deva is viewed “from above” when the indwelling consciousness is united with the overshadowing Spiritual Soul. When the spiritual soul “looks down” at the soular deva, it sees a clockwise motion.

Since the clockwise motion is the viewpoint of the Spiritual Soul, it is more correct.

^[1]Basic science: The period of motion of a pendulum is determined by its length. That is why moving the weight on a metronome (the tic-toc device used to set the pace when learning to play the piano) up will slow it down, while moving the weight down will speed it up. The same principle is at work in vibration waves, in this case those produced by the sounded “word”. The lower “notes” within the word (which, being a “word”, has more than one “note”) produce longer, slower waves or cycles, while the higher “notes” produce shorter, faster waves or cycles.

The longest cycle would be that of the “Wheel of Rebirth” with turns once per each “incarnation” of the persona (recognizing that from the point of view of the Spiritual Soul, the entire process is a single incarnation, during which it is in “meditation deep”). The shorter cycles would include the seven year cycles of the recapitulation process (and the nine year cycles of maturity), the yearly cycles, 28 day lunar cycles, weekly cycles, daily cycles, and hourly cycles. These may be visualized as waves upon waves or spirals around spirals. At this point in the text we are focusing our attention on the lunar cycles. [Again, much of the above is the product of my own intuition and must be treated as conjecture.]

^[2]This coordination of the Persona cycles with the Soul cycles continues until the disciple becomes a “Spiritual Soul Incarnate”, at which point the persona cycles merge with those of the Soul.

^[3]The position of the Moon in one’s chart indicates past influences, with the Moon “veiling” another planet.