Following is a transcript from the Full Moon Meditation held at Meditation Mount on June 30, 2015.
Cancer is the birth sign of humanity. It rules the Mother, the womb and the physical plane birth of humanity. Humanity was manifest on this planet when the completion of the evolutionary cycle within a subset of the animal kingdom was reached. It was at that critical moment that human beings began to appear on earth. It was during the age of Cancer in that long distant time that the gate opened to begin the evolution of the human experience. This new species was created by a down flow of light from spirit that joined with the life within the animal form and in turn began the development of human consciousness. The purpose of this new specie was to build a conscious bridge between the higher spiritual kingdoms and the lower three kingdoms in nature– mineral, plant and animal kingdoms.
Alice Bailey states in the Labours of Hercules, “…Cancer is one of the two great gates of the zodiac. It is the gate into the world of forms, into physical incarnation and the sign wherein the duality of form and of soul is unified in the physical body.”
The second gate to which Bailey refers is the gate of Capricorn. Capricorn is the polar opposite of Cancer and represents the gate out of the human experience and into the world of spirit. The journey from Cancer to Capricorn awakens the evolution of consciousness that enables the slow return of humanity to its true source and nature. It is a journey from mass consciousness and functioning by instinct to individual consciousness and functioning primarily through intellect and then finally realizing oneself to be part of a greater whole or group life and functioning via the intuition.
The true spiritual path to the gate in Capricorn begins with our search for deeper meaning. We begin to realize that intellect alone is not sufficient for discovering the object of our search. As we assume the observer position inside ourselves and listen to the small voice of the intuition, we begin to understand that our purpose here has been to evolve the human form so that it may truly reflect the intention of soul and spirit.
Cancer rules the personal development which enables the form nature to become more responsive to the movement of spiritual light through the mental, emotional and physical bodies. Cancer is focused particularly, during this cycle of time, on the emotional body and its systems, patterns and illusions.
On the outer physical/objective plane, Cancer is ruled by the moon. As we know, there is an association between water and emotions. The moon causes the tides in the oceans and also has an effect on the liquids in our bodies. Symbolically, Mother Earth has a symbiotic relationship with the moon which has an effect on everything that is in physical incarnation. That effect for humanity is to promote the identification with the form nature. This is referred to as the “great illusion” in the teaching of the ageless wisdom.
But, as we evolve, our focus on the emotions begins to shift up into the heart. We then see through the illusions and realize that the moon even though it is shining in the night sky, only presents the reflected light of the sun. Then we encounter the true ruler of Cancer which is Neptune and the spiritual water of the intuition.
The astrological symbol for Cancer is the crab. The reason that the crab was chosen to symbolize Cancer is related to the safety and security of the home. The crab, of course, carries her home on her back. Because she cannot step outside her home, she identifies with her shell as her outer self. This is the source of the human dilemma — that we feel we are our imprisoned by our bodies. However, the truth is that we are not imprisoned by our bodies. We can step outside. We need only to surrender the limiting belief that identifies who we are as the body.
By listening to our inner intuitive knowledge, we realize that we are, in fact, inhabitants of the mental, emotional and physical structures that make up our holistic outer manifestation. So in truth, we are tenants in these homes. In order to be good tenants, we must honor our temporary homes by filling them with light, love and joy. The truth is that we are the souls that created these bodies, as well as the life-force that inhabits them. Whatever our age, condition or circumstance our body is our temple.
The Keyword for Cancer is: “I Build a Lighted House and Therein Dwell”