Introduction to: ESOTERIC ASTROLOGY - VOL. 6 Colloquialisms and Clichés By Dr. Douglas M. Baker This volume is a unique dictionary of permutations in the form of colloquial sayings and clichés, translated into their astrological equivalents. A very valuable reference work for those interpreting astrological charts. The modes of expressing a language may indicate powerful subjective forces at play deep in the unconscious structure of the Race using that language. This is particularly true of English which has become the international language, for reasons not entirely connected with political developments. The virility of the Anglo-Saxon sub-race is based largely on esoteric foundations as anyone will soon find if he studies a simple handbook of Theosophy. Idiomatic language reflects the character of the people expressing it and releases numinous energies from their unconscious. Anyone who understands the significance of the mantram, of invocations and words of power will quickly apprehend the energies that lie packaged with proverbs, which themselves are surfacings of racial wisdom. Energy and meaning underlie words as much as they do images and thoughts. Equally so, the incessant use of certain phrases exhausts their associate energies and degrades them to the level of shallow inanities which we call clichés. The cliché is resorted to by those who are in a hurry to express something or who are mentally lazy or ill-equipped in the language itself. Their frequent usage “shows him up” (cliché), and anyone watching television in which an interview is suddenly thrust upon a trade union leader knows what this does for the latter’s image (I choose my words with care). Phrases like “at this moment in time” and other banalities such as “the point is” render the interview a farce, and its impact becomes negligible. Nevertheless, the cliché does indicate that the Race is trying to express again and again certain elements of its unconscious. By allocating appropriate astrological glyphs to the cliché being expressed, we can soon come to recognise the qualities of those underlying archetypes. This is as true for the individual as it is for the Race. Collective unconscious ──────► Archetypes Deep (racial) unconscious ────► Myth, legend and fable Individual’s Soul’s purpose ───► Precepts Superficial (racial) unconscious ─► Proverbs Individual’s personal ───────► cliché, unconscious conversationism & colloquialism By correlating any of the above with the appropriate astrological aspect for it, related meanings and energies lying deeply or superficially in the native’s unconscious or openly in his personality are quickly revealed. The deeper structures, when they are related through their astrological aspect directly to the Rising Sign and its esoteric ruler, etc., are indicative of the native’s Soul’s purpose. Permutations of any aspect reveal meanings covering the whole range of a person’s nature, from the level of his Soul right through to the components of his personality, from psyche and Self to ego. Douglas M. Baker England, April 1980