Building Your House of Light
“All souls come into incarnation in the sign Cancer. By this I mean that the very first human incarnation was always taken in this sign which has been recognised down the ages as "the doorway into life of those who must know death," just as the constellation Capricorn is ever regarded as another door and is called esoterically the "doorway into life of those who know not death."
As the ages slip away, the man passes into and out of all the signs, the particular sign being determined by the nature of the personality ray which itself changes, as you know, from life to life. In those signs he learns the needed lessons, broadens his horizon, integrates his personality, begins to sense the conditioning soul, and thus discovers his essential duality.”
In Esoteric Astrology the Tibetan Master tells us that, more than any other sign, Cancer is associated with incarnation into form. Perhaps this is why, in conventional Western astrology Cancer is associated with birth. In Esoteric Astrology Cancer is known as one of the two great gateways (the other being it's opposite sign Capricorn).
Last month we spoke about Gemini's capacity to experience multiple realms. It is attention and habituation that propels us from one realm to another. In other words (according to buddhist philosophy) it is our habitual actions, or conditioning, that propels us from one incarnation to another. We also mentioned Rigdzin Shikpo's book (Never Turn Away) and introduced the concept of Mandala Principle.
According to Rigdzin Shikpo (and his teacher, Buddhist Master Chogyam Trungpa) the whole of creation exists by way of mandala principle. So what is mandala principle? Well first of all we need to look at what we mean by mandala in this case. At its simplest level we can think of a mandala as a circle with a center and a circumference. In other words, a mandala is simply a magnetic field: individual beings, groups, communities and solid objects are all types of mandalas in this sense.
Taking this idea a step further we could say that everything from us as individuals to entire Universes, are created and held in place by magnetic fields. This magnetic field principle (in other words 'mandala principle') is the deeper symbolism of the crab’s shell in Cancer.
The crab's shell symbolises the outer circumference of the mandala, while the inner body of the crab represents the body, realm of existence, or experience, that is held in place by the mandala.
The magnetic field, symbolised by Cancer's shell, acts as a container for forms to exist. Without mandala principle we would be unable to experience ourselves in physical form. Yet this does not limit our capacity as a spiritual being. Part of the challenge for all of us, and especially those with Sun, Moon or Rising Sign in Cancer, is to become aware of our inner light. Mandalas themselves originate from light and so, because it is our nature, we all have the potential to become aware of our light.
Cancer is a water sign and all the water signs are dealing with the experience of sensitivity to a greater or lesser degree. By sensitivity in this sense we mean a greater capacity for sensing energy. Whenever I speak of this energy-sensing capacity of Cancer I always liken it to a radar - sending a signal out into the field to detect what's there! An example of this is a QiGong master who can sense when a student or adversary is coming up behind them. Their senses are so highly developed they can respond without needing to visually see who is there.
This fascinating video is an example of highly developed sensing capacity:
Cancer is also the sign of emotional intelligence. It is part of the journey in Cancer to be aware of multiple energies as intelligences and different sensing capacities, to be able to understand how beings incarnate into form. In other words, part of Cancer's job is understanding mandala principle through personal direct experience.
One of the highest realizations that happens through Cancer is the truth of our connectedness. Through direct experience, Cancer realizes that although we have individual experiences (like a leaf on a tree) we are never separate from the whole. The truth of our underlying unity is one of the highest realizations in Cancer. Even though we may be having individual experiences, we are never separate from each other and are indeed, one human family.
The highest realization in Cancer is that of compassion, but not compassion as most people think of it. On a day to day basis we think compassion is an attitude or something we exprtess through kindness towards others. In fact, true compassion is effortless and is the actions that arise as a natural emanation from a fully awakened heart.
The path of the Cancer Soul may be summed up as:
finding one's inner light (and keeping it lit);
developing awareness of magnetic fields (mandalas),
which leads to deeper understanding of how beings exist in form,
and the ultimate connectedness of our human family;
eventually emanating compassion from a fully awakened heart.
Once we have realized these truths for ourselves,
we will know what the Tibetan meant by the keynote for Cancer,
as each mandala is literally a 'house of light':
"I build a lighted house and therein dwell"
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