Esoteric meanings of the Rising Signs

Source: https://astrologyharvest.tripod.com/

by Adele Barger Wilson

© 1998-2007 Adele Wilson

Updated June 9, 2007

The following sign meanings are based on the principles set forth by Djwhal Khul
through Alice Bailey in Chapter II of Esoteric Astrology and simplified in
 An Esoteric Journey Through the Zodiac: The Inner Meanings of the Signs

PLEASE NOTE:  By no means do the paragraphs on this page represent firm or final textbook delineations.  Please consider them as constituting an initial attempt to verbalize possible soul's-purpose implications of the ascending sign in the horoscope.  I offer them to you as a starting point, an initial frame of reference, in our collective quest to discern and recognize the various arenas of growth, types of consciousness expansion, and fields of service that can be intended by the human soul.  Of course, the esoteric significance of the rising sign must be modified by many factors, most significantly, by planets in the first house, aspects to the ascending degree, and the house position, sign, and aspects of the esoteric ruler of the ascendant.  Degree, decanate, duad, and fixed star symbolisms are among the many other possible colorations that can contribute to the synthesis that would begin to describe the soul's purpose.
 
 

ARIES - Replacing instinctual desire with will;  the increasing assertion of the Higher Self;  discerning Divine Will by birthing new ideas to aid the evolution of the planet;  embodying Divine Will by personifying and enacting these ideas

TAURUS - Being a wise steward of the Earth's resources, utilizing them for the fulfillment of the Divine Plan;  seeing, becoming, and using Light as a tool to dissipate astral glamour and to transmute material attachment into spiritual aspiration

GEMINI - Giving Love wisely and applying Wisdom lovingly; spreading Light and bridging gaps between people; being a channel of Love-Wisdom to help connect people and promote planetwide unity of all Humanity

CANCER - Realizing the Oneness of all manifested life, human, animal, vegetable, and mineral;  using innate attunement to mass consciousness to build forms that will uplift and inspire Humanity toward the universal Love of the heart chakra

LEO - Becoming centered in God-consciousness by perfecting the personality and infusing it with soul energy in order to radiate Love to others; leading a humanitarian service group and cooperating with other group leaders in a unified effort to usher in a higher planetary consciousness

VIRGO - Refining the personality so that it can receive the energies of the soul and thus birth the Christ Consciousness in the self;  helping to rearrange the physical plane in preparation for receiving the higher energies necessary for planetary initiation

LIBRA - Seeing the other as part of oneself;  incorporating insights from others in order to realize the balance between, and unity of, the personality and the Higher Self;  becoming Whole through cooperation with the Higher Self and the Divine Plan

SCORPIO - Transmuting lower desires into Higher Will through the testing and purging of the personality;  being a spiritual warrior and catalyst of healing through the embodiment and transmission of Divine Power

SAGITTARIUS - Experiencing all facets of human life in order to develop a complete acceptance, understanding, and love of others of different cultures, creeds, races, and religions;  bearing the torch of Light and Love to inspire others toward greater understanding of life and of each other

CAPRICORN - Developing patience, persistence, and perseverance by working productively within the limitations of matter, time, and space in order to progress spiritually, become increasingly involved with the Forces of Light, and assume greater responsibilities in helping to manifest the Divine Plan on Earth

AQUARIUS - Waking up to the universality of Spirit and the Divine essence and unity of all beings, interplanetary and extraplanetary;  serving uniquely and lovingly in a cooperative effort with other servers, under the direction of the Planetary Hierarchy, to help the whole of Humanity awaken and take its next step forward in consciousness

PISCES - Becoming aware of ingrained personal attitudes, cultural thoughtforms, and societal institutions which hinder planetary progress, then wielding Power to transmute these into higher forms of energy, thus clearing the way for the new thought forms which will serve the the Divine Plan of evolution for the planet and the solar system

The Soul's Purpose Formula

 THE SOUL'S PURPOSE FORMULA

copyright 1983-1999 by Adele E. Barger [Wilson]

updated August 24, 2003

About Adele Barger Wilson

Book by Adele Barger Wilson:
AN ESOTERIC JOURNEY THROUGH THE ZODIAC
THE INNER MEANINGS OF THE SIGNS

          NOTE:  This article has been slightly revised from its original 1983 version.

          The following Soul's Purpose Formula technique has been slightly modified from that first developed by Dr. Douglas Baker and taught to me by Judi Laws and Lynn Koiner of the Amethyst group in Washington, D.C., in the early 1980s.   This Formula is based on the principle set forth on page 17 of Alice Bailey's Esoteric Astrology that the ascendant of a horoscope is the key to "the spiritual goal and purpose of the immediate incarnation and of the immediate succeeding incarnations."   The second two elements of the Formula are based on the astrological principle of house cusp rulership. In constructing the Soul's Purpose Formula, only the esoteric rulerships, as given in Esoteric Astrology, are used:
 

Sign	Ruler		Sign	Ruler
Aries	Mercury		Libra	Uranus
Taurus	Vulcan		Scorpio	Mars
Gemini	Venus		Sagittarius	Earth
Cancer	Neptune		Capricorn	Saturn
Leo	Sun		Aquarius	Jupiter
Virgo	Moon		Pisces	Pluto

The Formula is to be used only on charts calculated for exact birth times.   Solar or noon charts are meaningless when working with soul-level astrology.
          Among the modifications that I have introduced to the Soul's Purpose Formula are the following: (1) Planets in the first house are considered as part of the Formula; and (2) a planet up to eight degrees behind a house cusp is considered conjunct that cusp and affecting its house rather than the house in which it is technically found.   Modification number (2) can be applied with flexibility due to the inaccuracy of most birth times and the use of different house systems, and may thus be overridden by intuitive judgement.
         Planets conjunct any of the "soul's purpose rulers" are included in the Formula and considered as important as the rulers themselves.  The suggested orb for these conjunctions is about four degrees, but this orb may be decreased or increased depending upon intuitive judgement and possible complications due to the involvement of a planetary stellium.
         There are three elements to the Soul's Purpose Formula, each being separated by a large dot, which can be translated as "ruled by."  Instructions for determining each of these three elements are as follows:
 

First Element

          Rising sign and "asc," followed by any planet in the first house, along with the sign of this planet and "1" in parentheses.   Example:
 

Capricorn ascendant with Mars in Capricorn in the first house

 

Second Element

         Esoteric ruler of the rising sign, the sign of this esoteric ruler, and the house of this esoteric ruler, followed by any planet(s) within orb of conjunction of this esoteric ruler, preceded by the symbol for "conjunct", enclosed in parentheses.   If the sign on the cusp of this house is different from that of this second element esoteric ruler, place the cuspal sign within a large "C".  Example:
 

Saturn conjunct Mercury in Virgo in the seventh house with Cancer on its cusp

 

Third Element

          Esoteric ruler of the sign on the cusp of the house containing the rising sign ruler.  This will be either the esoteric ruler of the sign within the "C" or, in absence of the "C", the esoteric ruler of the sign in which the ascendant ruler is found.   As with the second element, any planets conjunct this third element ruler should then be placed in parentheses, preceded by the symbol for "conjunct," as explained previously.  Also as with the second element, if the sign on the cusp of this house differs from that of the third element ruler, place it within a "C".   Example:
 

Neptune in Pisces in the second house

 

          For further clarity, these first-, second-, and third-element examples are repeated in the following illustration:
 

*Time adjusted for Time Zone 5 from original LMT of 3:58 p.m.
   (birth data from Profiles of Women by Lois M. Rodden)
 

Grandma Moses' Soul's Purpose Formula:
 

Capricorn ascendant with Mars in Capricorn in the first house, ruled by
Saturn conjunct Mercury in Virgo in the seventh house with Cancer on its cusp,
ruled by Neptune in Pisces in the second house

 

          The Soul's Purpose Formula is intended only as a guideline, or skeleton, for attempting to discern the soul-level purpose in a given incarnation.   Its symbols should be interpreted in the context of the totality of the birth chart and within the realm of the intuitive perception of the astrologer.   In the future, when the psychology of the Seven Rays becomes blended with the art/science of astrology, the interpretation of the Soul's Purpose Formula will also be qualified by the soul (and Monadic?) Rays of the native of the horoscope.
         The Soul's Purpose Formula, consisting of astrological glyphs, represents an abstraction of energies characteristic of the planes/dimensions which transcend normal human consciousness.   Because words tend to limit, or even distort, the abstract ideas which they attempt to convey, one verbal expression of a Formula is at best only a partial picture of the soul's purpose of the native.  For a more wholistic perspective, it is recommended that at least two, and preferably three, verbalizations of the astrological formula be rendered.   The combination of these two, three, or more interpretations will hopefully give a type of gestalt of the astrologer's viewpoint of the native's soul purpose.
         This astrological formula for describing a soul's purpose is (as is all of astrology) a fusion of language and art.   Differing from a mathematical formula in which there is a concrete, one-to-one correspondence between the symbols and what they signify, the Soul's Purpose Formula consists of symbols deriving from the plane of Buddhi, or intuition, where verbal concepts are left behind in favor of more refined, pervasive energies.   The interpretation of the Soul's Purpose Formula, then, perhaps represents astrology at its finest:  a bold attempt to bridge Buddhi with intellect by stepping down archetypal energies into verbal form.

         For an example of the use and interpretation of the Soul's Purpose Formula, please see How the Soul of William Blake Spoke through his Art.