Extracted text
How the Planet Measures Seven-Year Cycles; Important Epochs in the Koreshan Movement.
TODAY AT SIX O'CLOCK in the morning ( December 20), the planet Uranus makes his final adieux to the constellation Sagittarius, and enters on his new career in Capricorn. The year or cycle of this planet is equivalent to eighty-four solar years; and his journey through a constellation therefore occupies approximately seven years. Today he reaches in the constellations that which in the biological horoscope, corresponds to the zenith. He thus takes final departure from the third quarter of the heavens, defined by the western and southern points of the compass—which includes Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, commonly known as the reproductive trinity; and enters the fourth and last quarter laying between the southern eastern limits, and which is covered by Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, known as the serving trinity; and commences his downward journey in the direction of the horoscope, or the first degree in Aries.
Inquiry will probably arise as to the reason why the transit of this planet from one constellation to another should be considered of sufficient importance to be made the mark of special attention. In reply, we may say that with the exception of Neptune, his motion in the Zodiac is the slowest of all the planets, and that on this account the changes and effects in the world of humanity which are indicated by his presence, are marked and call for the regard of all who are students of the celestial science; and, moreover, the Science of Universology, to the exposition of which the columns of The Flaming Sword are exclusively devoted, is signified specially by this planet, which is thus the principal significator of the Koreshan movement and of its Founder.
Some twelve months ago a sudden and unexpected change in the fortunes of this work took place; an epoch in its history closed with the cessation of the publication of The Flaming Sword in Chicago; and a few months later a new one commenced, marked by its reproduction or rebirth at Estero, Florida. The epoch of seven years which culminated at Chicago, was inaugurated near Estero by the successful accomplishment at Naples, Florida, of the Geodetic Survey, which took place in the spring of the year 1897, at which time Uranus held the cusp. Or, to put the matter in more conventional terms, was knocking for admission at the door of Sagittarius; and last spring when the new period commenced, the same planet awaited entrance at the portal of Capricorn. Today, he enters, and commences another seven years term of labor; and by the time he arrives at the door of Aquarius, his true home and the scene of his final and most dramatic conflicts, another seven-year period in the life of the Koreshan movement will culminate, and yet another be incepted, punctuated on this occasion also by an occurrence quite as marked as that which has characterized the closing and opening of the previous periods.
The passage of Uranus through the Zodiac is always marked by a concatenation of catastrophes, calamities, and disruptions, which may be attributed more or less directly to his charge, and which constitute a veritable cometary tail which testifies to the potency of the star from which it emanates. His office is to break up, to scatter, to disintegrate and destroy ; or to incorporate, amalgamate, and synthetize; and he well merits the two diverse appellations which have been conferred on him—of Destroyer and Awakener. The influence of a planetary sphere is always modified by the quality of the constellation through which it is operating. Sagittarius and its coördinate are related respectively to religion and science; and it is specially in these two spheres of activity that Uranus has, during the past seven years, been applying his forces.
It will be generally admitted that during this term, he has succeeded in stirring to the depths the emotions and feelings of the religious world; that he has kindled the fires of religious, fanatical enthusiasm in a manner that has had no parallel since the middle ages; and that in the exercise of his power of disintegration, he has succeeded in adding to an extent hardly realized, to the number of sects that severally claim either religious infallibility, or the gift of true inspiration. Prophets he has brought forth in countless numbers—some comparatively obscure, others claiming a numerous following; the majority quickly relapsing into the obscurity from which they temporarily emerged; a small minority retaining even for years, the notoriety essential to their existence.
Mantology in all its numerous phases and departments, has come prominently to the fore; and today claims innumerable exponents, while the numerical strength of its patrons may be gauged by the flourishing trade that is carried on by its professors. On the other hand, speculative science has progressed in a corresponding degree, and already its exponents are seriously considering the possibility of opening up communication with the far distant “heavenly bodies”—a development so thoroughly characteristic of Gemini-Sagittary. Every advance of modern science has tended to further sever the slender bonds that unite it with the devotional doctrines of the clerics; and today, so well has Uranus accomplished his work, that there has finally appeared a clear line of demarkation between the doctrines of origin and destiny as taught by materialistic science, and the equally materialistic speculations of the religious sects. To further aggravate the chaotic and disintegrated condition into which the Uranian forces have brought religion and science, systems professing to unite secular with religious thought have multiplied and claim numerous adherents, as well as active and enterprising exponents. In a word, a retrospective view of the last seven years calls to the mind an endless array of facts and striking developments that fully demonstrate the thoroughness of the work accomplished in Sagittarius by Uranus which, by disruptive fallacious doctrines and by breeding disagreement in the ranks of their devotees, has been slowly though surely clearing the way for the advent of the true Science of Religion.
It is to be marked, however, that no wars of the first magnitude have been waged during the past septennial period; nor have there occurred any of those natural upheavals that at times shake the foundations of empires, cause thrones to totter, and effect the transference of the balance of world-power. The disturbances have not been seismic in character, for they have but stirred up the minds of the people in relation to abstract thought that does not immediately effect the concrete political status of nations, nor the economic welfare of the people. They have been only as the murmuring of a vast multitude that course hither and thither seeking it knows not what ; as the muttering of the distant thunder, the harbinger of the coming storm; as the moaning of the wind that precedes the tempest; or as the subterrestrial groanings that announce the coming earthquake.
The Spanish-American war will perhaps be cited as an exception; but there was nothing in the conflict between these two nations that lent it the dignity of first-class warfare. It is true that the national enthusiasm of the American people may have called forth outbursts that were entirely out of proportion to the importance of the struggle which, to the unprejudiced observer, was little more than a duel between a young and vigorous man and an old and decrepit dotard. The war, however, was the direct outcome of the presence of Uranus in Sagittary, the ruling constellation of Spain, whose opposite, Gemini, holds the same relationship to America—which, aided by all the contrivances which modern science had placed in her hand, with the quick despatch that so characterizes the nation, and by a few deft blows, quenched for all time the last flicker of imperial power that graced the Spanish crown, which in itself is but the degenerate precipitate of an old-time religion that once dominated Europe.
But now, with the transit of Uranus through the zenithal portal of Capricorn, his activities will begin to seek other fields for the exercise of their powers; and his expressions will begin to take on characteristics that have hitherto been latent. Henceforward, he enters the political arena and the sphere of economics, of industrial enterprise, of great human undertakings, and of stupendous projects which will dwarf the achievements of the past. Love of power in all its most insidious and attractive garb will stir the hearts of men and urge them to deeds that will dispel the lethargy of the stumbling masses, and rouse into activity their latent forces. The homes of the people will be threatened by the greed of the money lord, and contentions between master and man will rend the social fabric that has so long tottered on the unstable foundations of a false economic system. And not alone will internal dissensions and social upheavals destroy the peace and seeming security of nations, for the fires of ambition and of the love of national aggrandizement that have for so long smouldered in the basements of the governmental houses of assembly, fanned by the breath of popular acclamations, and stirred into activity by the insistence of the thoughtless mob, will rise to the vaults and consume both fabric and occupants.
The proximate septennial term will prove to be the inception of a great history-making epoch, in which the contending forces that have hitherto found but a narrow channel for their outlet, will disrupt the volcanic cone that has hitherto held them captive, and wash nigh to its base the flowing lava of blood, from the frowning mount of mortal ambitions. Yet, on the other hand, those constructive Uranian forces, which only the supreme genius of the Man can bring into operation and apply in an orderly and consequential manner, will not be idle, neither will their effect be lacking in external and physical manifestations; and in all the departments of his work, we may confidently await encouraging evidences of progress, and a gradual widening of the sphere of operations.
As the electric planet passes the cusp that marks the zenith, he is closely attended by the major luminary who, two days later conjoins with him at the moment of the hibernal ingress; and at the same time, the twain transit the light in the horoscope of the only integral representative of Uranus—that personal Sun who stands at the present time poised at the constellary zenith—this pair thus pointing with the tip of the Sagittal (first) finger to the only Man capable of adequately expressing its higher attributes and of carrying into effect those laws of social, religious, and political life, the establishment of which will inaugurate the era of Universal Brotherhood, of which Uranus is the prime significator.
Editorial transcription checked against the cited scans; the historical claims remain those of The Flaming Sword.
The Flaming Sword · Vol. 18, No. 28 · Dec 20, 1904 · PDF pp. 7-8