sword guarding the four quarters of the Earth to the way of life
are the four great realms of the astral world; the way to
physical life in concrete forms; and the way to life eternal
through the realms of the Sylphs, Gnomes, Undines and
Salamanders. They are the basis of all matter, known as Air,
Earth, Water and Fire. Here we see that, through the evolution of
sex and its accompanying desire for procreation, these blind
forces of Nature find their avenue of expression. Spiritual
consciousness almost lost, and without reason, the soul becomes
the prey, so to say, of these forces of the astral world, which
is the realm of design. The soul's creations must be met and
vanquished upon the upward arc of the Cycle of Progress. They
guard or oppose the way to eternal life. Here the soul, having
gained the victory, stripped forever of its earthy raiment and
the lusts of the flesh, arrayed once more in its spiritual
raiment, purified and sanctified, it will stand once more at the
gates of Paradise, where, reunited with its missing half, it will
partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life and become as Gods.
Astrologically the correspondence is perfect, and so thinly
disguised as to need no explanation.


IX. Sagittarius

"Him Centaur follows with an aiming eye,
His bow full-drawn, and ready to let fly."

Deeper and deeper sinks the soul into material forms. The
evolution of sex has produced the necessary avenues for the
entrance of countless forces, and the soul is now rapidly losing