Humanity and the Zodiac

by: Alfred F. Seward

“If, as we know, the planets have an influence upon the earth’s magnetic and physical currents, then the conclusion is irresistible that they must have an influence upon mankind, for man is but an atom or particle of a harmonious whole. He partakes of every element of the universe, and is, therefore, subject to the grand laws of eternal and immutable harmony.” –Erickson

Every human being on this earth is by right of birth endowed with some genius or talent. This genius or talent depends upon the rhythmic harmonies of the majestic universal orchestra of nature, playing upon the physical human organism.

Not to realize one’s genius or talent is to be buffeted and tossed aimlessly about by the storms and billows of existence; while to be in a condition at all times to recognize and receive opportunities is to live in the native sphere from whence all harmonies proceed.

To the intelligent mind there is no such thing as fatality or luck. Such puerile beliefs are the refuge of weak and ignorant souls.

The spiritual man is absolute master over every physical condition, because mind inevitably and eternally triumphs over matter.

The recondite law affects only the physical body, and is ever amenable to the intelligent action of the mind and will.

The body is what the mind makes it, and, of itself, is of no more account than a lump of clay or a clod of earth,--which, indeed, what the human body is.

Man’s corporeal nature, or animal soul, is formed in the life of the physical body; hence man derives his natural, animal soul from the life of the objective natural man and of the human body, generated by man himself, just as the natural instincts of the beats of the field are generated by the physical bodies of their parents.

They spiritual soul, or the Divine Human, is the immortal individuality which is formed by the Divine breath—spirit, or Holy Ghost. The essential soul-action is from God, the life principle of the universe, manifested locally and physically in animated humanity.

Every human being has, somewhere along life’s journey, a spiritual mission, and it is for the accomplishment of this mission that God has created each individual and endowed each one with the genius or talent necessary for the work.

Those who recognize their higher calling and develop these capabilities, so as to fulfill their purposes,--to them alone is given the most supreme power and strength and glory.

From the growth all illumination of the spiritual or immortal soul springs individuality and true blessedness.

From the reason, mind and will of the physical and corporeal man, and from the desires, appetites, passions and fantasies of natural, animal man, arise all the strife and discord of human existence.

Ignorance willfully shuts its eyes and proclaims itself to be right, while it is in fact the principal source of human misery.

To the thoughtful and intelligent person who aspires to go onward and upward, the way is clearly and plainly indicated by the truths of Astrology.

This modest work on this mighty theme has been prepared for the benefit of the masses, and its sole aim is to carry hope and confidence into the hearts of all who read it, and to inspire them to do more and better things.

The true philosopher of living is here set forth. Those who will read this book and follow its teachings carefully and persistently can succeed in all proper ambitions and become happy, peaceful, prosperous and helpful.

The truths printed here are the result of deep study, careful research and profound thought on the science of Astrology.

This science is pure mathematics, and there is no random guess-work about it. From the positions of the planets, as determined by the observatories, it calculates the difference of time and place to ascertain the correct latitude and longitude of the birth-place of any given person, and from this data, “casts the horoscope.”

Given the hour and place of birth of any individual anywhere, a capable astrologer will, without hesitation or uncertainty, accurately delineate the nature and characteristics of the subject, and indicate the important events of his or her life. And if the same data be presented to astrologers as widely separated as the confines of earth will permit, the results will be exactly alike from earth, differing only in language or form of speech.

So, too, any astrologer will take a horoscope already cast, and knowing nothing but the sex of the subject, guided by the relative positions of the symbols employed, will read there from, as from an open book in his mother tongue, the nature, abilities, tendencies, intellectual qualifications and principal events of the life of the individual whose horoscope he beholds.

The art and practice of Astrology is purely judicial, and this element of its usefulness has descended from a period so remote as to antedate not only history but even tradition.

The twelve signs of Zodiac represent the physical framework of the human being; or, in other words, the human being is but a vessel of heat, motion and vibration, swept by and responding to magnetic and planetary currents, solar fluids, active thought currents, and waves of light and sound, the influence and sway of which vary in power and effect in accordance with the position of the sun and other planets at the time of birth.

Astrology points out and explains the effect of certain planetary conditions, and in no uncertain manner, teaches us what we should do to control and direct our natural tendencies in order that we may advance toward complete health, happiness and contentment.

Immortal souls inhabit the bodies of all human beings, no matter what their station in life—no matter how high or how low they may be spiritually, mentally, or morally. This soul comes from the Great Universal Soul, or God, and is part of it,--a part of the Great One.

This soul is eternal. It cannot be lost or destroyed, and when mankind realizes this truth, their doubts and fears vanish forever and give place to joy and hope and eternal peace.

God intended us to be physically strong and vigorous, and, to fulfill His will, we must let our hearts be filled with love and not fear. We must live aright, purifying our minds and our bodies.

These are the plain teachings of science and of religion. Astrology comes to our aid by showing us unmistakably our weaknesses and evil tendencies, and instructs us how to attain a state in which we can command and control opposing forces and become giants of strength and power. These hidden forces of the universe are more numerous and powerful than those we recognize by our physical senses.

Astrology also teaches us to know and utilize these forces. As a science and an art it is true. It does what it promises. It submits to any conceivable test. It is not contrary to freedom of will, nor to religious belief, nor to exact science. As a study it is most absorbing and fascinating, and as an art it is one of the most valuable and beneficial to humanity.

It is a historical truth that the strength and beauty of the children of the Greeks and Ancient Egyptians were due to the great repute enjoyed by Astrology among these people, who were governed in their marriages and in the rearing of their children by the advice of the eminent practitioners of the Art in that period.

In all ages the wise have given due weight to the teachings of this science, while the ignorant and foolish have regarded it as a sort of “fortune telling” scheme.

Of recent years, however, the advance of Astrology has been extraordinary. It is becoming more and more popular among the educated and intelligent classes, who are fast coming to realize its vast potentiality for the good of mankind.

Astrology is learned from books dating back to translations from the Chaldean and Arabic into Greek and Latin and from these tongues into modern languages. There are, in the world today, more than thirty-five thousand complete volumes in many languages on this most fascinating and instructive study of super-human influences on human life.

Most of these works are too voluminous and too deeply erudite to be readily comprehended and applied by the vast majority of people, and this fact is the reason for the present work, with its simplicity of language and its easily mastered lessons.

The scope of this work forbids the giving of details, but we have arranged herein delineations of character which will apply to persons born under each of the signs of the Zodiac, and the work contains an epitome of all that the most eminent and distinguished Astrologer can convey.

Astrology is based upon the study and comparison of hundreds of thousands of individual horoscopes, and with the march of time and more complete understanding of the subject many new confirmations of its basic truths are developed, as well as broader and truer light on points that may have been somewhat obscured in the past.

The experience of the world with electricity affords a parallel to this science. Today we readily accept and utilize various manifestations of electrical energy, that a generation ago would have seemed impossible, supernatural and contrary to every teaching of our minds. Yet to those who studied the elusive force, these things had been dimly foreshadowed for years, and only awaited the fuller development of human understanding to become actual, useful realities, familiar to all.

So with Astrology. Its mighty truths, based on the unchanging harmony of the inconceivable majesty of the universe, were not fully revealed to its ancient devotees, but have been worked out and demonstrated and made plain by the countless ages of study and contemplation and practice.

As a matter of fact, people in all ages, although ignorant of the existence of the science of Astrology, have been influenced and guided in many of the homely affairs of life by the position of the planets, and our own great-grand parents placed the utmost confidence in the wisdom of such a course.

“The Grand Man” in the familiar almanac illustration of the signs of the Zodiac, was, by astronomers and astrologers, placed in the center of the circle.

The time is near at hand when the truths of Astrology shall be revealed to the many instead of the few. It is almost criminal for man, the highest type of all creation, to grow up in ignorance of the influence exerted by the planets, while living in the midst of such a wonderful universe. We look for Divine guidance in the words of Christ, of Buddha, of Confucius, of Mohamet: why then, not look for light, wisdom and help in a divine science which flourished thousands of years before these leaders of men were born? Wise is he who can and will discern the true from the false, and who, after discovering it, has the courage to stand to the four winds in the defense of that which eh knows to be right, no matter how bitter the opposition may become.

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age of investigation and progress, none is of more importance than the divine wisdom gleaned from the planets in the heavens.

The very stars of the firmament are the guides upon our way, affording us, amid the constant mutations of all things earthly, sublime examples of steadfast and unchangeable permanency.

Yet, as the eternal stars differ one from the other in size and brilliancy, so do we mortals, created by the same power that fixed the stars, differ each from the other.

Why should one member of a family be original, another imitative; one prudent and thrifty, the other prodigally wasteful; one truthful, the other deceitful, one home-loving, the other prone to wander afar; one bold, another timid; one gay and happy, the other morose and taciturn? The answer is in the starts that guide their destiny.

Each individual will inevitably be either successful or a failure. He may live virtuously or viciously, he may rise of fall; he may, as he chooses, make of his life much or little.

Only so long as he believes himself the creature of outside conditions will man be buffeted about by circumstances. When he realizes that he himself is potentially a creator, and that he may command the hidden soil and seed of his being, out of which circumstances grow, then, and only then, he becomes the true master of himself and of his own destiny.

It is not the tyranny of fate or circumstance that brings a man to degradation and sin; he comes by the pathway of degrading thoughts and base desires. Nor does a man of higher principles fall suddenly into crime because of any external force; deep in the heart the criminal thought had long been concealed, to burst into action when opportunity beckoned. Circumstances of not make the man, but often they reveal him to himself. There can be no descent into vice and its attendant misery, in the absence of vicious inclinations; nor there ascensions into virtue and its pure enjoyment, without the continued cultivation of aspirations to virtue. Therefore, man is the master of his own destiny, the shaper and author of his environment. Even at birth, the soul comes to its own; and throughout its journey on earth it attracts to itself those combinations of conditions which illumine its individuality, which are but the mirrors of its own strength or weakness.

The harmonious adjustment of the inner self with the outer, of a man with his surroundings, must result in health, happiness and prosperity, without which no man is rightly conditioned. He attains the full measure of his manhood only when he ceases to complain and begins to seek the hidden justice which ordains his life.

To be in poverty or to be pampered are the two extremes of wretchedness. They are equally unnatural conditions, and result from mental misdirection.

Failure is a word approved only by the ignorant and the lazy. Such persons are not likely to be interested in our publications. But those who have ambition, those who believe in themselves and need only to be guided aright, will read, and re-read what is contained in this book and to the end of their lives will be grateful for the valuable help which we have brought to them.

With these prefatory remarks we now introduce our readers to the work, which has been inspired by a sincere desire to spread the knowledge of this highly beneficial science as widely as may be in our power.

About the Author

Alfred F. Seward

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