As the Sun enters Libra in its annual circuit of the heavens, gods and men are attuned to high perceptions and cosmic impulses.
We have seen that to the man in the lower phase of consciousness the Autumn Equinox denotes a testing time of the soul, represented by the earth passing from the light of summer into the darkness of winter. To the illumined, however, this is a time of spiritual fruition in an awakening of the higher soul consciousness.
Just as the Autumn Equinox marks the harvest celebration when the earth is fragrant with the heavy perfume, of fruit and late-bloom ing flowers, of new-mown hay and drifting dusty leaves, of stored grain and trees touched with fire, so it marks a special kind of spiritual harvest in the life of the Disciple. Nature is ever an analogue of man. In her wondrous workings he may discover the infinite within himself.
At this time the Disciple, like the Neophyte, has his soul's harvest weighed in Libra's evolutionary scales under the watchful eye of Saturn exalted in Libra. Men, nations and planets reap as they have sown.
The Neophyte learned that the Autumn Equinox is a time of preparation and judgement. When he has gone farther on the Path he learns that, in harmony with the sacrificial pattern manifest in nature, wherein the Cosmic Christ renounces His heavenly home to take up the burden of earth's unfulfilled karma, so he as a Disciple must also make the great renunciation. Whatever may be his heart's nearest and dearest treasure must be yielded up. Whether that trea sure be a beloved personality, fame, fortune, worldly prestige, or even the aspiration to great spiritual attainment and leadership, he must willingly lay it upon the altar of sacrifice. In the life of the Disciple the keynote of the Autumn Equinox is "not my will by Thine be done."
Biblically, this sacrifice is figured in Abraham's offering up of his son Isaac. Now we know that Isaac was restored to Abraham and became the channel through which God's promises to Abraham were fulfilled; and so also the Disciple's sacrifice returns to him a thousandfold at some future day and in some higher form. When the test has been passed there comes great spiritual recompense. Nevertheless, the renunciation is not without its heartbreak.
But the Disciple never takes this dread step alone. When he aspires to climb higher on the Path which leads to Initiation he is given special assistance by cosmic powers. In the Autumn it is Michael who comes to direct the work of transmutation which follows the testing of renunciation. To receive in full waking consciousness the benefits of Michael's aid the aspirant is counseled to visualize the Archangel in his aura of golden glory, for he is arrayed in a splendor brighter than many suns. As the aspirant learns to visual ize this wondrous light, he finds himself rising in consciousness until he feels himself to be one with it, as if embraced in the archangelic consciousness.
Michael's glory shimmers throughout the inner planes of earth in a spiritual likeness of the inflowing Christ Ray. In the bliss of at-one-ment with this glory the Disciple proclaims triumphantly: "I am walking in the Light! I am one with the descending C.lirist Rav! And I know Michael, the Messenger of God!"
Having already ascended through the Rites of Purification, the Disciple now receives the blessing of Michael at the Temple door and passes into the halls of light where he beholds the splendor of the inner worlds. In these realms he finds himself in the radiant presence of Raphael, who stands before him holding aloft the gleam ing chalice called the Grail.
(The order is reversed at the time of the Spring Equinox. Then the Disciple passes through the Temple doors guarded by Raphael. and it is Michael, holding aloft his shining Sword of Truth, who awaits within.)
When all earthly karma has been liquidated and all earth work finished, the Gates of Libra swing wide to permit a Freed One to pass into cosmic fields of service. It was at this point that Lao Tse, the exalted messenger of China's golden age, concluded his work and passed beyond the limitations of physical life. Even so the Autumn Equinox, place of Preparation for the Neophyte, of Purifica tion, Renunciation and Transmutation for the Disciple, becomes the place of freedom, or Liberation, for the Initiate.
Thus the cosmic balance, symbolized in the sign of Libra, operates harmoniously on both the visible and invisible planes. Mighty Beings weave the web of life wherein our globe is caught. Their work for mankind will continue until such time as the entire planet has become spiritualized and all mankind has been Christed in ac cordance with the Divine Plan.
— Corinne Heline
