Chapter IV. READING THE HOROSCOPE（续 3）

We stated in our opening paragraph that there are Three Great Factors which convey to us the Mystic Message of the stars in general, namely, the

"houses," the "signs" and the "planets." There are also three factors which play a specially important part in the individual horoscope, namely the Sun, the Moon and the Ascendant, which may be said to represent the spirit, the soul and the body.

Properly viewed the Sun, Moon and Ascendant are not really three separate horoscopical principles but represent two composite parts which when united constitute the human being. The "rising sign" and the "first house" together form an avenue for the fecundating influences of the Moon which there crystallize and form the etheric matrix that moulds the physical particles from the maternal body into a new vehicle, hence the astrological maxim that the ascendant at birth (or its opposite) is the Moon's place at conception. This composite body is the part of the human being which is born and dies after a relatively evanescent period of existence.

The other and immortal part of composite man which consists of the Ego and its finer vehicles is represented in the horoscope by the Sun and the Moon. The specific influence of these planets will be described when we have considered the rising sign.

As taught in "Simplified Scientific Astrology" it is the angle of the stellar ray which determines in what department of life it will be most prominently active, and it has been found by observation that the sign rising or ascending on the eastern horizon when

a child is born is the principal factor in determining the basic constitution and form of the physical body. Further investigations have shown that the reason of this fact is that at the time of conception when the seed-atom was planted in the ovum the Moon, which is the Cosmic agent of fecundation, projected its fertilizing ray through the sign and degree which later rises at the moment of birth, (or its opposite). For that reason the rising sign and degree continue to be the avenue of ingress of the life-forces which build the body of the babe until the severance of the umbilical cord, and the nature of the rising sign is thus indelibly stamped upon the new vehicle and retained all through life.

In this connection it should be noted that conception is not necessarily coincident with tho physical union of the parents, sometimes two weeks or even more elapse ere the auspicious moment awaited by the Kecording Angels or their agents strikes. At that time cosmic conditions are such that they will form a body which will facilitate the expression of the Ego seeking re-embodiment and aid it to work out its self-generated destiny. It should also be remembered by students that the moment of delivery is not the time of birth from the astrological point of view. The inhalation of the first complete breath usually accompanied by a cry, is the moment when the incoming Ego receives its stellar baptism. This renders it ever after susceptible to the influence of the particular configurations of the stars at that

moment, and therefore the stars affect each individual differently from all others, not even the horoscopes of twins are alike. It is also strongly emphasized that according to this explanation we do not have a certain "fate" because we were born at a certain time, but we are born at a particular time because we have a certain self -generated destiny to work out. That is a very important distinction for it substitutes divine law for divine caprice, it eliminates the element of "luck" and inspires man to mastery of "fate" by working with the Law. If we have made our present horoscope by our past actions in a past life logically we are now preparing for future embodiment and may make it what we choose. If we strive to strengthen our body now; to overcome our faults; to cultivate new virtues; the Sun of our next life will rise under much more auspicious conditions than those under which we now live and thus we may truly rule our stars and master our fate.

When the last three degrees of a sign are rising, or when the first three degrees ascend at the time of birth the person is said to be born ' ' on the cusp ' ' between two signs and then the basic nature of the signs involved are blended in his or her body. Thus a person born when the three last degrees of Aries or the first degrees of Taurus were ascending would be neither purely Aries nor Taurus but a mixture of the qualities of the two signs.

The nature of the rising sign is also modified by

the presence of planets. The Sun and Mars increase vitality if well aspected but if afflicted they incline to fever and inflammatory disorders but they also favor rapid recuperation, they make the nature alert and energetic. A well-aspected Jupiter rising also increases vitality but inclines to corpulence ; if the planet is afflicted that makes the circulation sluggish and thus gives a tendency to disorders of the blood. The foregoing remarks about Jupiter apply to Venus in a lesser degree. Saturn rising lowers the vitality and favors chronic ill-health in later life, but at the same time he gives such a tenacious hold on life that though the person may pray to be released he cannot die. Mercury, Moon, Uranus and Neptune make the body more high-strung and nervous than the average, usable specially to pioneers in music, literature, higher thought, science and the electrical arts. Planets placed in the twelfth house are considered as being on the ascendant if within six degrees thereof, so are all planets in the first house no matter how far from the rising degree, but if a sign is intercepted in the first house planets placed therein will not have as strong an influence in the life as where the sign occupies the cusp.