The Hundred-Year Cycle And
The Dawning of the Aquarius
Age
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
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The following article was
first published by
the Canadian magazine FOHAT in
its Winter
2008 edition, starting at p.
82. Original title: “The
Theosophical
Movement, 1875-2075: The Hundred-
Year
Cycle And The Twilight of the Pisces Age.”
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“If
the light of theosophy is kept burning clear,
it
will
be the saving light of the whole world .... But
the question
is, who will
be the light-bearers?”
[Robert Crosbie, in “A Book of
Quotations”,
Theosophy Company, Mumbai , India
The
adept-teacher and buddhist reformer in Tibet,
Tsong-kha-pa (1357-1419),
established a centennial rhythm in the work of the Brotherhood of Initiates which guides
human evolution. H.P. Blavatsky wrote that among the commandments of
Tsong-kha-pa “there is one that enjoins the Arhats to make an attempt to
enlighten the world, including the ‘white barbarians’, every century, at a
certain specified period of the cycle.” [1]
Tsong-kha-pa gave the impulse for the first special effort by the end
of 14th century. Since then human progress has had a hundred-year
pace of systoles and diastoles, and everyone who observes
world history will be able to distinguish them. But time is more than simply
cyclic. It has cycles upon cycles,
bigger and smaller, and there is a close,
continuous interaction among them
all.
From Tsong-kha-pa’s time to the year 2000 we have had seven
end-of-century efforts. Every number seven indicates danger and
opportunity, and it typically means a
change in consciousness. It is not by mere chance, then, that the 1975-2000 effort
- the seventh of its kind - led us into the closing years of the transitional twilight / dawn between the whole Pisces age and
Aquarius age.
It was H.P.B. herself who sowed the first seeds of anticipation with
regard to the 1975-2000 period. And she
did the same as to the 21st century. Her
last sentence in “The Key to Theosophy”, suggesting that the Earth will be like a heaven in our present century, can’t be easily forgotten. Elsewhere, she stated that the victory of true Occultism
will certainly be achieved before the end of 21st century. [2] And many a student around the world remembers these words in “The
Secret Doctrine”:
“In Century the Twentieth some disciple more informed, and far better
fitted, may be sent by the Masters of Wisdom to give final and irrefutable
proofs that there exists a Science called Gupta-Vidya
; and that, like the once-mysterious sources of the Nile, the source of all
religions and philosophies now known to the world has been for many ages
forgotten and lost to men, but is at last found.” (SD, I, p. XXXVIII)
Some three years after H.P.B.’s death, William Q. Judge wrote (in a
private document dated november 1894)
that the 19th century effort was into a large extent a preparation for
the future moment when H.P.B. herself would come again to the world. Yet
Judge was emphatic in foreseeing that great efforts would be made by
anti-evolutionary forces, to try to
prevent that. [3] In January 1895 an article by Judge was
published in the “Irish Theosophist”, in
which he said:
“H.P. Blavatsky has clearly pointed out in the Key, in her
conclusion, that the plan is to keep the T.S. alive as an active, free,
unsectarian body during all the time of waiting for the next great messenger,
who will be herself beyond question.” [4]
At this point, one must examine an apparently uncomfortable question.
Why did H.P.B. and W.Q.J. make such public revelations as to the next
Messenger?
After all, as the New Testament saying goes, “one must not let the left
hand [path] know what the right hand [path] does” (Matthew, 6:
2-4).
One possible answer to this has at least
two aspects.
1) There is no reason to believe
that -
in making or authorizing those
statements - the Masters and H.P.B gave
out to the public all of their action plan from 1875 through 2075. H.P.B. did not give details of the victory of
truth over falsehoods which she predicted
for the 21st century. The
prophecy about the next messenger must
be seen as a hint and at the same time a blind. One should see it as a partial indication given about future events. It was
probably designed and destined to be interpreted with the help of higher intuition by those
concerned, and implying various shades of meaning, along different moments and
situations of the cycle.
During her 19th century mission, H.P.B.
set the tone for the whole
transition into the new cycle. In addition to that, she also spread all over her vast written
work thousands of hints which have been and will be useful to generations of readers and theosophical workers, past and future.
The Jesus of the New Testament
taught by using parables which could be easily understood by everyone,
but which were esoterically interpreted only by those entitled to it (see
Matthew, 13: 13-16). Modern theosophy
does not often teach through parables, but it has its own way to give a
teaching to the public which has quite different levels of reading. Besides
using abstract thought, it spreads fragmentary elements of information which
will emerge as a context at the
right occasions and places. Aspirants to discipleship are literally seekers after truth, as explained
in the Mahatma Letters. Lifelong
students have the opportunity to make a
patient inquiry after truth which stimulates the development of their
Buddhi-Manas. Alfred Sinnett seems to
have been at one moment able to grasp this fundamental pedagogical principle.
He wrote in “The Occult World”:
“These scattered revelations (....) have been broken up and thrown about
in fragments designedly, in order that as yet it should only be possible to
arrive at a full conviction (....) after a certain amount of trouble spent in
piecing together the disjointed proofs. But when this process is accomplished
we are provided with a certain block of knowledge.....” [5]
2) Let’s see now the second aspect of the answer to the
question on “why such an early publicity about the next Messenger”. The matter
of the fact is that, in the short term -
id est, up to 1975 - such
a statement had another important, if not decisive role to play. “Theosophy”
magazine clearly suggests something about that in a 1942 article. After
mentioning H.P.B., the text says:
“... And for her to write definitely that another messenger would appear
in the last quarter of the twentieth century was insurance against faithful
Theosophists being deceived as to the occult status of any who might pose
as ‘new revealers’ before the cycle for
further inquiry and deeper learning had arrived.” [6]
This is an important point indeed: it was, among other things, an
insurance against the dangerous
fireworks of pseudo-theosophy.
This aspect of the publicity
question can be further clarified as we resume our examination of how the idea of the “next messenger” evolved across the
years.
Shadow can only run after light,
and error is doomed to imitate truth. Annie Besant probably thought the “next
messenger” issue was important, for she soon tried to take advantage of the
opportunity and do something about H.P.B.’s return. In 1900,
having already abandoned the original teachings, persecuted William Judge and provoked the division of
the movement, Besant was actively trying to organize and to announce a false
rebirth of H.P.B., through the little daughter of Mr. G. N.
Chakravarti. The controversial 1900
letter made Besant stop the operation.
In 1904 it was the president-founder Henry S. Olcott who -
in spite of his lack of loyalty to H.P.B. - had something to say about her expected
“quick return” in a new body. After describing Damodar Mavalankar’s last retreat to the Masters’ ashrams in
the Himalayas , Olcott speculated:
“I do not know when, if ever, he will come back to us. That he will, I
believe; and I should not be surprised if he came when H.P.B., reincarnated
and, like himself, changed beyond all recognition, shall resume the world-work
she had to drop (....).” [7]
Meanwhile, Annie Besant had not forgotten the idea of a “second coming”. If it didn’t work with
H.P.B., it could be tried with someone else. Soon after Olcott died in 1907,
Besant got busy organizing the spectacular “reappearance” of Lord Christ.
The project was a long, treacherous “christian comedy of the new
messenger”. It had a “preemptive dimension”,
and it thus fully confirmed Judge’s warning made in 1894. The
messianic fireworks only stopped, at
least outwardly, when the would-be “Christ”
abandoned Besant and her Society in
1929. [8]
Fortunately, the delusive versions of the theosophical movement are but
the husk (though too thick at times) which surrounds the real and living
organism.
Throughout the difficult part
of the century, independent students preserved a small, active nucleus of universal vision and brotherhood, and this silently inspired other individuals
from around the world to follow the original lines of work. Knowledge of the
cyclic law and its predictable tidal waves of karma offered a beacon light to
theosophists, as they looked into the future.
Year after year, the anticipation about 1975 was kept alive and seemed
to grow. A new torch-bearer would possibly appear in the last quarter of the
century, and he might lead the movement into a new level of progress
and understanding.
When 1975 finally arrived, vast
sectors of the movement seemed to be taken by a feeling of enthusiasm.
Pamphlets, magazines and new
editions of H.P.B.’s works multiplied. A
number of significant initiatives and accomplishments happened, not only within the movement, but also in the world at large, in various fields
of science, in philosophy, and in the areas of human rights and social justice.
Inter-religious dialogue got stronger. Throughout the planet, ecological
consciousness spread and stimulated a perception of the inner unity which embraces all beings.
There was an expectation in the air. In May 1991 the Adyar magazine included in
a special edition these meaningful words by Manly P. Hall:
“Suppose this very day H.P.Blavatsky, the lioness of the Theosophical
Society should return from the Amenti of the wise and should demand an
accounting from the members of the Society she had founded. Who could stand
before her and say honestly, ‘Beloved teacher, we have done our best, we have
remained true to you and the Masters for whom you spoke’ ?” [9]
That would be an embarrassing question for some. But the years were
already passing by and the spectacular
comeback had not happened. The new
wave of theosophical vitality remained visible up to the first half of the
1990s. After that, the life of the movement started to ebb away, and sometime
near 2000 individual theosophists began
to feel an undeclared void. From that point on, negative aspects of collective
karma quickly emerged, inside and outside
the theosophical movement.
In 2001, the terrorist attacks of September 11 in the United States
served to symbolize the change of
direction in human karma. As we
approached a change of planetary dimensions, the karmic cloud over some quarters of the movement - which radiated despondency to
the honest students and love for power to the cunning - was getting
thicker.
Difficulties are obvious in any
beginning of century. Yet one may still have a couple of surprises, long before the year
2075. All is not said about karmic cycles. Other and larger circles of time overlap
and overshadow the short term, hundred
year cycle.
It is well-known that H.P.B’s mission prepared the close, in 1897-1898,
of the first 5,000 years since the death
of Krishna
in 3102 B.C.E., which was the starting point
of Kali Yuga.
In August 1931, an article in “Theosophy” magazine called attention to
the fact that, right in the middle of
these two points in history - that is, 2500 years after Krishna’s death
and some 2500 years before H.P.B.’s
death - Lord Buddha was born in India by 621 B.C.E. One must add
that Pythagoras and Lao-tzu were broadly contemporary to Buddha, and
they gave extra strength to that middle point in history, both in the East and
in the West.
Thus the completion of HPB’s mission for the 19th century closed two
cycles, one of 2500 years and the other
of 5000 years; and it had a strong impact in both East and West.
Due to the principle of
overlapping of different cycles
during transitional times, figures and numbers do not always have to be mechanically
precise. H.P.B. was supposed to live until 1897, for instance; but there was no
actual need for that, and she didn’t.
Among other considerations, the 1931 article in “Theosophy” said that,
because of the larger cycles overlapping
H.P.B.’s mission, “it is little short of absurd for Theosophists to
consider that the end of the 19th Century marked the end of an ordinary centennial mission.”
The article went on:
“But it is strongly hinted that in 1975 a greater mission will be
undertaken; that the new Messenger will be empowered to demonstrate as well as teach - provided the intervening
Theosophists are loyal to their trust. But - tradition says that Buddha
incarnated fifty years after his death in order to complete his mission. Mr.
Judge has seen fit to make a strong statement regarding the Messenger of 1975 being the same Initiate as in 1875.” [10]
This statement could only make sense if there were other large cycles
related to 1975-2000, which could add to its significance. And they exist.
Using a rather obscure and indirect language, in a modest footnote to an
article, H. P. B. gave the precise dates and duration of recent astrological
ages, and revealed that the year 1900 was to be the starting point for the new
Aquarian Age. She wrote that one of the “several remarkable
cycles” coming to a close in the end of 19th century was “the Messianic
cycle (....) of the man connected with Pisces”.
And she added:
“It is a cycle, historic and not very long, but very occult, lasting
about 2,155 solar years (....). It
occurred [in] 2410 and 255 B.C., or when
the equinox entered into the sign of the Ram,
and again into that of Pisces. When
it enters, in a few years, the sign of Aquarius,
psychologists will have extra work to do ( ....).” [11]
Geoffrey Barborka clarified this statement:
“Since 2155 years is the time-period for the duration of each of the
cycles of the Age of Aries and Pisces, and as the Piscean Age began in 255
B.C., the date of the beginning of the Aquarian Age is 1900 A.D.” [12]
H.P.B. gave further evidence in 1888:
“... Time has taken one
mighty stride more: a step of twelve months’ duration toward the last day of
our present age; (.....) - the ultimate frontier of our senile century. In
twelve years more the curtain will have dropped, shutting out the foot-lights
from the actors and all the latter from the public view . . . . . It is only then that many a scene enacted in
the sad drama of life, and many an hitherto misunderstood attitude of some of
the chief actors in that Mystery of the Age called Theosophy and its Societies,
will appear in its true light.” [13]
By writing in 1888 and
referring to “twelve years”, she was
clearly pointing to 1900 as the limit between the two ages. The chronological limit is rather an abstract point, though.
Overlapping is a law, as to
succeeding cycles. Different ages live together side by side for quite some
time. The transition of astrological
ages is a complex process, and its
effects take a few hundred years to become clearly visible. It is said in “The
Secret Doctrine” that each yuga is
preceded by a period of “dawn” called Sandhya, which has one tenth of the
age’s duration. And the cycle is also concluded
by a period of twilight, called Sandhyamsa, whose duration is the same
as the period of dawn. [14]
If we follow the law of analogy, this yuga information
can give us the measure for the main overlapping period between two smaller
ages of 2155 years each.
We thus have a closing
twilight or Sandhyamsa for the Pisces
age of 215 years, and an opening dawn or Sandhya
for the Aquarius age also of 215 years.
As there are no pralayas or obscurations in such short
periods of time as 2155 years, the same period which is twilight for Pisces may
also be seen as the period of dawn for the Aquarius era.
If 1900 it was the year when
the new age started, as stated by H.P.B.,
it must be the middle point, the mathematical turning point in the
twilight / dawn process. In this case, we must divide the 215 years in two periods
of approximately 107 years and a half , and put one of them before the
year 1900. The other half must be projected for the period after the
year 1900.
Going back 107.5 years from
September 1900, one finds the year 1793. It is the time of the French
Revolution (1789-1793) , which had been prepared by the North American
Revolution started in 1776. All over the world, colonialism began to fall. It was the time of the emerging human rights,
liberty of thought, universal brotherhood ;
and these values are as much Theosophical as they are Aquarian. This was
the starting point for the 215 year transition period.
On the other hand, when we
add 107.5 years to September 1900, we find
2008, a moment around which various,
probably seven levels of unprecedented changes may have begun.
In addition to the twin
concepts of sandhyamsa (or twilight) and sandhya
or dawn, we must remember that one of
the occult cycles mentioned in the “Mahatma Letters” is precisely 107 years [15]. This is precisely half the
twilight in the case of the 2155 year cycle. Such a piece of information
confirms that “something important” must have ended for good in 2007-2008, even
if not everyone is able to see it by now. It probably is the close of the whole
transitional period of 215 years between one age and the other.
To add more strength to the
idea that from 2008 the twilight / dawn
is basically complete, we had in
the sky, around the same time, the co-regent of Pisces, Neptune, slowly
transiting the sign of Aquarius, while
the co-regent of Aquarius, Uranus, visited Pisces.
This symmetrical event is the perfect symbol for a change in command : the scepter of power changed hands in the sky.
From 2012, Neptune having
completed its 2155 year mission, gets “back home” in Pisces, its own sign,
closing its “minor cycle” around the Earth. At the same time, his brother
Uranus, the Aquarian co-regent, transits the pioneer and renewing sign of
Aries, thus vigorously opening its first
round or cycle through the terrastrial Zodiac after the change in command opened the
Aquarius age.
Neptune and Uranus are
considered “ambassadors” of the galaxy,
and H.P.B. wrote that Neptune does not really belong to our solar
system. (SD, I, 102 fn.). She also said
that Neptune and Uranus are considered warriors and architects. It is possible
that by adhering to the solar system with their “weight” and magnetism they gave a final touch to its finely
tuned balance and equilibrium (see SD,
I, 101-102). Mathematically and
astronomically, their orbits are not only closely linked to each other. They
are intimately connected to that of Pluto, another “ambassador” - and one who brings us major structural
changes also started in 2008 (Pluto in Capricorn, the sign of structures).
There is also the question of the 70 years period.
H.P.B. said that every cycle must be a multiple of seven (SD, I,
p.36). Tsong-kha-pa started the
end-of-century efforts in the 14th century, and we are now at the 21st century
, both being multiples of seven.
H.P.B. adds that the number
seven is the great number of the Divine
Mysteries, while “number 10 is that of
all human knowledge (Pythagorean decade)”.
Hence the number seventy, which is a combination of seven and ten and a multiple of seven, must
be a significant figure.
In 1875 the public effort for universal brotherhood was started, and if
one adds 70 years to that, one finds 1945, the year when,
precisely in May 8th (the very anniversary of H.P.B.’s death)
democracies declared that the war had been won in Europe, and started preparing the United Nations,
whose headquarters were established in New York, the same city where the
movement was founded.
And if one adds other 70 years to
1945, one gets to the year 2015, when
the “change of command” between Neptune and Uranus (with Pluto’s
assistance) is not only complete since
2012, but producing effects.
There is a cautious note, though,
to add to the prophecy made by H.P.B. that true occultism will have a
final victory before the end of 21st
century.
She also commented that the 20th century might be perhaps “the last” to
be called by that name. [16]
This warning implies that, depending on how things would evolve, we
might experience such a radical change
as a civilization that a new way of counting time would be adopted in the 21st
century. Yet this is a hint and a
possibility. The principle of overlapping
allows different karmic possibilities to remain open and side by side, for some time during the gradual meeting
of two Ages.
What to think, then, of the fact that a great messenger did not visibly
appear at the expected time?
Perhaps there is a lesson on anthropomorphism in that. All of H.P.B.’s
philosophy was built on the principle of impersonality and on the need to
transcend the instinctive psychology of the flocks, the state of
mind which invites us to blindly look for a pastor, a shepherd, so that we can automatically follow him.
Theosophy is about finding inspiration in one’s own higher self, and this fundamental idea - the true basis
for conscious brotherhood - remains our test as a movement.
H.P.B.’s philosophy is the teaching of the Masters for the new Age. As a
guiding principle to our spiritual souls, it is not only a generous gift: it is
also more than enough. The correct way
to be one in spirit with H.P.B. is to learn from her example and from the
sacrifice of countless generations of
pioneers, as one strives to work for the good of all beings.
NOTES:
[1] “Collected Writings
of H.P. Blavatsky”, TPH, USA, volume XIV,
p. 431. It should be noted that the first centennial effort included the first
part of the following century, since Tsong-kha-pa was active until 1419. This
could have an “expanding or delaying effect” over the seventh centennial
effort, the one made in 1975-2000. In other words, the seventh attempt could extend itself into the following century, just as happened
in the case of the first one. This would close the cycle of seven efforts or
700 years. (For biographical data on Tsong-kha-pa, see “Collected Writings of
H.P. Blavatsky”, volume XIV, pp. 573-575.)
[2] These are the
precise words written by H.P.B.:
“Error is powerful only on the surface, prevented as she is by Occult
Nature from going any deeper (...) . And, whether by phenomenon or miracle, by
spirit-hook or bishop’s crook, Occultism must win the day, before the present
era reaches ‘Sani’s (Saturn’s) triple septenary’ of the Western cycle in
Europe, in other words - before the end
of the twenty-first century ‘A.D.’.” (“Collected Writings of H.P.B.”, USA, volume XIV, p. 27.)
[3] “The Judge Case”,
by Ernest Pelletier, Edmonton Theosophical Society, Canada, 2004, Part II, p.
135.
[4] “The Closing
Cycle”, an article by W.Q. Judge. See “Theosophical Articles”, W.Q. Judge,
Theosophy Company, 1980, volume II, p. 153.
[5] “The Occult World”.
A.P. Sinnett, first edition 1884,
Appendix to the Fourth Edition, Kessinger Publishing Co., Montana USA
[6] “The Centenary
Cycle”, an article in “Theosophy” magazine, April 1942, p. 267.
[7] “Old Diary Leaves”,
Henry S. Olcott. T.P.H., Adyar ,
India
[8] See “The Making
of an Avatar”, an article by Carlos
Cardoso Aveline, FOHAT, Fall 2007, pp. 64-68.
The text is available online and can the found in the List of Texts
By Alphabetical Order in www.TheosophyOnline.com
, www.FilosofiaEsoterica.com and www.Esoteric-Philosophy.com
.
[9] “The Theosophist”, Adyar , India
[10] “The Hundred Year
Cycle”, an article in “Theosophy” magazine, August 1931, p. 451.
[11] “Collected Writings
of H.P.B.”, TPH, USA, Volume VIII, p. 174, footnote.
[12] “Secret Doctrine
Questions & Answers”, by Geoffrey Barborka, Wizards Bookshelf, San Diego , USA
[13] “From the Note Book
of an Unpopular Philosopher”, by H.P.B.,
in “Lucifer” magazine, September 1888, page 84 in the edition of Kessinger Publishing
Company.
[14] “The Secret
Doctrine”, H.P.B., Theosophy Co., Los
Angeles
[15] “The Mahatma
Letters to A. P. Sinnett”, T.U.P. edition, Letter XLVII, p. 272.
[16] See the last
sentence of part II in H.P.B.’s text “The Esoteric Character of the Gospels”.
The sentence can be found at Vol. VIII, p. 205, in “The Collected Writings of
HPB” (TPH), or at page 193, volume III,
of “Theosophical Articles”, H.P.B., Theosophy Co., Los Angeles.
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The
above text was revised by the author in April 2013.
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