The archetypal three signs, and first three initiations
This triangle has two inter-related meanings, both expressing the three fundamental principles that underpin the whole of esoteric astrology. Being the first three signs, they set the scene by introducing that which pervades the entire zodiac.
The archetypal three signs
These three signs precede the nine signs from Cancer to Pisces, which are strictly expressive of human unfoldment
and carry us from the stage of imprisonment in form to the freedom of full soul expression:
from the state of embryonic consciousness to the full flower of divine knowledge, from the condition of human awareness to the conscious wisdom of the initiated disciple. (EA 320)
Before the start of this process in Cancer, these three provide the subtle or subjective realities of the following primary three qualities:
these constitute the triple incentive to the manifestation of humanity and of the human kingdom. They correspond cosmically to the logoic, the monadic and spiritual planes to which the higher initiate has access or … on a lower turn of the spiral and in connection with ordinary humanity they correspond to the mental, the astral and the etheric vehicles… They are, therefore, related to the highest and the lowest expression of human life. (EA 320)
The first three initiations
The hidden secret of Aries, Taurus and Gemini is revealed at three successive initiations:
The secret of Aries is the secret of beginnings, of cycles and of emerging opportunity. At the third initiation, [we begin] to understand the life of the spirit… until that time, [we] express first the life of the form and then the life of the soul within that form…
The secret of Taurus is revealed at the second initiation by the sudden removal or disappearance of world glamour in the blinding energy of light. This constitutes the final radiant activity which consummates the play of the Taurian force upon humanity during the long and cyclic journey to which [we] are committed. The individual enacts on a tiny scale what humanity—as a whole—will enact when it takes initiation in Taurus.
The secret of Gemini has to be grasped at the first initiation because it is the mystery of the relation of Father, Mother and Child. The birth of the Christ-child upon the physical plane is the consummating glory of the Gemini force. (EA 387-88)
The essential energies of these first three signs are subjective, and only express themselves through the personality or form aspect.
These are forces pouring from the soul (on soul levels) into the form nature upon its own level of awareness.
For instance—using Taurus as an example—
desire is not (from the angle of reality) a subjective quality except in so far as it is a distortion or a glamorous use of the energy of will. Desire is the force of the form nature; will is the energy of the soul expressing itself as direction, progress, and conformity to the [inner purpose]. (EA 388. Also see Taurus-Scorpio-Mars)
Gradually we learn to distinguish between the forces of the form nature and their archetypes in the triple energies of the soul. These three signs symbolise that process.
- Aries
- The entire personality life and the soul as the repository of those life experiences—everything which was once identified as the self—is recognised as objective to the life energy of the spirit at the third initiation.
- Taurus
- The emotions of the astral level are recognised as objective to the inner love of the soul nature, and desire is recognised as an objective form of inner will at the second initiation.
- Gemini
- Through the first glimmer of soul awareness, the fluid changeability of material life and personal interaction is recognised as an objective expression of the inner world and self, and that awareness causes the first of a number of of dualities which the developing individual learns to balance.
Interrelated six-pointed stars are formed by Cancer-Leo-Virgo and Capricorn-Aquarius-Pisces, which triangle is a higher correspondence to the first.
Esoteric Astrology: 319-320, 387-90