Great Britain - esoteric astrology

In considering Great Britain, we note first that the ruling sign is Gemini from the standpoint of the soul of the people, and that Taurus governs the material outer form of the nation; it is this factor that has led her people to appear before the world under the symbol of John Bull, expressive of the British personality. It has been thought by certain astrologers that Great Britain is ruled by Aries, and this is true of it, as far as that small part which is called England is concerned; but I am dealing with the empire as a whole and not with a fraction of it. It is the Gemini influence that has led to the constant movement and restlessness of the British people; which has led them to cross and recross the ocean and to stage a constant going out to the very ends of the earth, to return ever again to the center from which they came. This is characteristic of the race. It is the Gemini influence which has produced - viewing the [81] work of the nation from the personality or lower angle - the secret and oft devious diplomacy and subtlety which has in the past distinguished Great Britain's political activity. Gemini people are often distrusted, and the Gemini effect along this line makes of Great Britain no exception. Such distrust has been warranted in the past but is not as justifiable now, for the nation is old and experienced and is fast learning the lessons which she has had to master. As yet, from the higher angle, Gemini does not entirely control, for the soul of Britain is only now struggling for expression. For long ages Taurus has led the way with his material aims, his acquisitive desires, his arrogant will and his blind moving forward towards the possession of that which has been desired. Pervasiveness and movement are two qualities with which Gemini and Taurus have dowered the race. London, the heart center of the empire is ruled spiritually by Leo and materially by Libra and it is, therefore, the soul factor which links Great Britain to France and which should assist spiritually the Leo nature of the French personality. It is not, however, the spiritual quality of this sign which dominates British policy, but primarily the Libra aspect. Great Britain regards herself as the preserver of the balance of power among the nations and as the one to mete out justice and indicate the right methods of law and order; yet her Gemini nature at times offsets this, whilst Taurus frequently blinds her to the real issues. It is the Leo aspect also which links London to Berlin, but it is Leo in its more self-assertive aspect and hence some of the difficulty and hence also the close and not to be evaded relationship between London-Paris-Berlin, a triangle of force which conditions Europe most potently. It is between these three that the destiny of the race, of men in the immediate future lies, and again the question arises: Will the coming [82] decisions be based upon the good of the whole or upon the good of a part of the whole?
It was the Leo force in Great Britain which attracted originally the Leo force in France and led to the Norman conquest in the 11th century. I mention this because it indicates relationship and the demonstrated results of such relations, but not because that past event has any true repercussions at this time.

There is a much closer relation between the United States of America and Great Britain than between any continental power, for Gemini is the ruling sign of both countries, and they have, in many ways, a synchronous vibration. There is however little of the Taurian influence in the States and consequently you have the attitude of frequent misunderstanding which exists between the two powers. They are very close to each other and the welfare of each means much to each of them, so much so that the tendency to misinterpretation of each other's actions and motives is not aided by the fluidity of Gemini. Nevertheless, the arrogance and self-will of the Bull must give way to the fluid understanding of the inclusive Gemini consciousness, and this is a hard thing for the British temperament at this time to grasp. They are so sure of their rectitude and so convinced of their wisdom that they are apt to forget that good intentions are oft offset by bad methods. The British are just and wise, but their self-sufficient technique and their blindness to other peoples' point of view has not aided world peace and is indicative of the control of Taurus. I would add here that the belief of the German race that they constitute the super-race, the intense nationalism of the French which leads them to feel that they have a superior culture to any other race, the sure pride of the British which leads them to regard themselves as eternally in the right, and the [83] noisy self-assertion of the United States which leads them to regard their country as the hope of the world have in reality little to choose between them and are all equally indicative of personality control. This is, as you know, a thing to be overcome in all nations and individuals.

Governing Great Britain, therefore, are the following energies, working through the zodiacal signs and the ruling planets:

1. Gemini - with its rulers, Mercury, Venus and the Earth (the Nation).
2. Taurus - with its rulers, Venus and Vulcan (the Nation).
3. Leo - with its ruler, the Sun (the Capital).
4. Libra - with its rulers, Venus, Uranus and Saturn (the Capital).
5. The soul ray - Love-wisdom - 2nd.
6. The personality ray - Will or Power - 1st.
7. Ray influences of an indirect nature, coming via the planetary rulers:
   1. Ray 4. - Harmony through conflict, via Mercury, leading to a definite link with Germany (as a study of the earlier tabulation will show). It accounts for the warlike history of Great Britain, but works out at the present time in the harmony of the empire.
   2. Ray 5. - Concrete Knowledge or Science, via Venus. It is interesting to note that it is this ray which links Great Britain so closely with France and appears nowhere among the influences which affect the German nation. Venus rules Taurus [84] and Libra as well as Gemini and hence the well developed lower concrete mind of the British nation. The intuitive mind however needs development.
   3. Ray 3. - Active Intelligence or Adaptability, via the Earth and also via the planet Saturn as it appears among the rulers of Libra. Here you have the clue as to why the British Empire covers the Earth, for there is a close connection between the Earth, as a whole, and Great Britain. It links Great Britain also with the third ray personality of France.
   4. Ray 1. - Will or Power, via the planet Vulcan. There is in the first ray - as it expresses itself through Vulcan - very little of the Destroyer aspect as there is in the planetary influence of Pluto, another agent of the first ray. Again you find in this ruler of Great Britain's Taurian personality, a link with the first ray German personality. It accounts also for the forging of the chains which tie the Empire together, making it a unity through the will of the people.
   5. Ray 2. - Love-wisdom, via the Sun, the ruler of Leo which governs the soul of London, and which is also a channel for the soul force of the British empire which is essentially that of love-wisdom when given real expression and not controlled and dominated by the Libra influence.
   6. Ray 7. - Ceremonial Order or Organized Ritual, reaching our planet via Uranus and giving to the empire its grounded physical plane control over place and circumstance, its legal fundamentals, in cooperation with Libra, and its love of order and [85] of rule, thus providing full expression for the first ray energies of the British Empire.

A study of the interplay of these energies and forces will account adequately for Great Britain and her activities; they indicate also certain definite lines of affinity and also point the way to imminent possibilities of adjustment, if the love which is the basic motivating power of the British soul is permitted expression. Hitherto it has been primarily Taurus and Leo as well as Libra which have colored British attitudes, decisions and activities. Can Britain change and - preserving the will-to-order and the balanced judgment which Libra confers upon her - eliminate the Taurian aspects which have led her blindly to seek that which she desires and because of her powerful personality to gain those ends? There is an ironic fate which determines that this great nation, having in past centuries been one of the major aggressors of the world, should now bring to an end, with the aid of France (which has a very similar aggressive tendency), the period of aggression, and so be used to inaugurate an age of cooperation, of understanding and of mutually shared responsibility. The future of the world lies at present largely in the hands of France and Great Britain, and the happiness of the world is assured if the soul energy of both these countries controls, and personality aims and ambitions are negated.

The force which is centered in London is that of the first Ray of Will or Power in its building aspect and not in its destroying aspect. It is the service of the whole which is being attempted and at great cost, and the effort is to express the Law of Synthesis which is the new emphasis pouring through from Shamballa. Hence the fact that the governments of many nations found asylum in Great Britain during the war. Also, if the Forces of Light triumph because of the cooperation of mankind, the energy expressing itself through this powerful empire will be potent in establishing a world order of intelligent justice and a fair economic distribution. The keynote of this force is "I serve."

The Destiny of the Nations, Alice Bailey