Taurus – Trust In Self

Let us continue a series of 12 articles devoted to the 12 “essential qualities” related to the 12 Signs of Zodiac, the living symbol, key and reality for the development of consciousness. The main purpose here is to marry the established understanding of Taurus in the Astrology of esoteric Teachings with Laurency‘s work on the corresponding 12 Essential Qualities.

2^nd – Festival of Taurus – “I see, and when the eye is opened, all is light.”

Taurus is the second sign in the procession of the zodiac that has bearing on the development of the self as per the geocentric tropical perspective. The landing vibrations of Taurus magnified through the Sun correspond to the 2nd of the 12 Essential Qualities. It is an opportunity to align our service and learning in harmony with those energies so that acquisition of Taurus’s earthy qualities can be facilitated for humankind.

Laurency’s take on the matter is expressed as “Trust In Self”. May the following of his work be of use in our approach to the full moon of Taurus, the most propitious time to realise the 2nd essential quality:

2 Trust in Self

self-determination, self-criticism
frankness, determination to win
self-control, balance
ability to decide for oneself what is good and right
freedom from various complexes: sin, guilt, shame, inferiority,
despair, slavery to authority, bad conscience, shyness
(KL1-8: The Conception of Right, 8.16)

Below is a basic consideration of concepts listed above as a starting point for deeper personal and collective consideration for world-activity:

• Self-determination – All of us, whether we are raised and cared for or not, at some stage earn some ability to determine our own path through life. Mastery is to achieve full self-determination as much as the conditions allow in powerful harmony with the unfoldment of life around us. We must test the rightness of established authorities and make the best compromise possible to honour our own sacred mission. No external power has the right to proclaim that our true-self is invalid, and it is up to us to find what the calling of that true-self is. We are responsible for our own progression.

• Self-criticism – Without some way of keeping a discerning check on ourselves we would be the slave of all manner of opinion from others. The only true expert on ourselves is ourselves cultivated to the point of seeing oneself with crystalline clarity. This is no easy feat, but nevertheless one to be striven for. Self-criticism is not an all-out war upon the self, but the attempt to reflect upon what can be considered of ourselves in the given conditions with the intension of continually improving ourselves. Effort to positively encourage ourselves to achieve refinement through accurate self-criticism can never be replaced by any institution’s or other person’s meddling, no matter how sweetly or powerfully that meddling may be presented.

• Frankness – We must be honest with ourselves and those around us. It is easy to be led into fictions, illusions and fantasies because they promise some sort of external intervention and easy alleviation from life’s hardship or confusion. Frankness with self allows for freedom from getting side-tracked in life, and opens space for clarity to best decide what the next step may be. It is always liberating to admit to yourself and others that ‘I do not know’ and then seek to know. Once we honestly accept ourselves and things as they truly are then strong progression begins.

• Determination To Win – An unexpected bounty in life awaits us if we ‘have a go’. Forward momentum toward evolving the self and helping those around us can then awaken a thirst for achievement. Just one summit reached is not enough! Determination to win is not a bully who cuts corners and cheats just so the prize is nabbed – it is the journey of the self that deeply engages with the full process in life. Material reward is a side-effect. The challenge and the lesson are the light that the eye sees. We apply ourselves to winning our eventual transforming evolution.

• Self-Control – The unmastered self is like a raging angry bull with a red eye that only sees blood. We must mount upon our lower nature and bring the bull to control. The bull is full of power and possibility. We can put it to use in service. The red eye becomes the true-gaze of self-knowledge and higher realisation – point the gaze of the bull to what must be achieved. We must overcome first the fear of the beast and then the fear of our true potential. Practice makes perfect.

• Balance – As we come to achieve any degree of self-control we will soon find that excess on certain continuums causes problems. We must strike the golden-mean – that balancing point of purest efficiency and harmony. Life is a constant process of re-balancing in each new moment so that we can then direct the self onto the best possible path for evolution. It is the healthy middle-way chosen out of many other ways that lead to stagnation or destruction. We grow to become more sensitive and precisely delicate. The more we can master re-balancing ourselves in the face of the calamities of existence or over-indulgence in things, then the more we can make the next step forward the right one.

• Ability To Decide For Oneself What Is Good And Right – In the process of realising our true trust in ourselves we gain the wisdom and ability to decide for ourselves what is good and right for us. This is a rightness for both our own path and a respect for other’s paths. When we misjudge this for ourselves we pay the price by learning in a lesson in life. Through refining our ability we become decisive and powerful authorities of ourselves. This is a solid earthy foundation for the self to bloom, and thus we are better constituted for playing a helpful part in the progression of the world.