Spiritual Astrology ~ Martin Schulman ~ ..... And it was morning as God stood before his twelve children and into each of them planted the seed of human life. One by one each child stepped forward to receive his appointed gift.             "To you Aries I give the seed first that you might have the honour of planting it. That for every seed you plant one million more will multiply in your hand. You will not have time to see the seed grow, for everything you plant creates more that must be planted. You will be the first to penetrate the soil of men's minds with My Idea. But it is not your job to nourish the Idea nor to question it. Your life is action and the only action I ascribe to you is to begin making men aware of My Creation. For your good work I give you the virtue of Self Esteem." ..... Quietly Aries stepped back to his place.             "To you Taurus I give the power to build the seed into substance. Your job is a great one requiring patience for you must finish all that has been started or the seeds will be wasted to the wind. You are not to question nor change your mind in the middle nor to depend on others for what I ask you to do. For this I give you the gift of Strength. Use it wisely." ..... And Taurus stepped back into place.             "To you Gemini I give the questions without answers, so that you may bring to all an understanding of what man sees around him. You will never know why men speak or listen, but in your quest for the answer you will find my gift of Knowledge." ..... And Gemini stepped back into place.             "To you Cancer I ascribe the task of teaching men about emotion. My Idea is for you to cause them laughter and tears so that all they see and think develops fullness from inside. For this I give you the gift of Family, that your fullness may multiply." ..... And Cancer stepped back into place.             "To you Leo I give the job of displaying My Creation in all its brilliance to the world. But you must be careful of pride and always remember that it is My Creation, not yours. For if you forget this, men will scorn you. There is much joy in the job I give you if you but do it well. For this you are to have the gift of Honour." ..... And Leo stepped back into place.             "To you Virgo I ask for an examination of all man has done with My Creation. You are to scrutinize his ways sharply and remind him of his errors so that through him My Creation may be perfected. For doing this I give you the gift of Purity of Thought." ..... And Virgo stepped back into place.             "To you Libra I give the mission of service, that man may be mindful of his duties to others. That he may learn cooperation as well as the ability to reflect the other side of his actions. I will put you everywhere there is discord, and for your efforts I will give you the gift of Love." ..... And Libra stepped back into place.             "To you Scorpio I give a very difficult task. You will have the ability to know the minds of men, but I do not permit you to speak about what you learn. Many times you will be pained by what you see, and in your pain you will turn away from Me and forget that it is not I but the perversion of My Idea that is causing your pain. You will see so much of man that you will come to know him as an animal and wrestle so much with his animal instincts in yourself that you will lose your way; but when you finally come back to Me, Scorpio, I have for you the supreme gift of Purpose." ..... And Scorpio stepped back into place.             "Sagittarius, I ask that you make men laugh, for amidst their misunderstanding of My Idea they become bitter. Through laughter you are to give man hope, and through hope turn his eyes back to Me. You will touch many lives if but for a moment, and you will know the restlessness in every life you touch. To you Sagittarius I give the gift of Infinite Abundance, that you may spread wide enough to reach every corner of darkness and bring it Light." ..... And Sagittarius stepped back into place.             "Of you Capricorn I ask the toil of your brow, that you might teach men to work. Your task is not an easy one for you will feel all of man's labours on your shoulders; but the yoke of your burdens contains the Responsibility of man, which I put into your hands." ..... And Capricorn stepped back into place.             "To you Aquarius I give the concept of future that man might see other possibilities. You will have the pain of loneliness, for I do not allow you to personalize My Love. But for turning man's eyes to new possibilities I give the gift of Freedom, that in your liberty you may continue to serve mankind wherever he needs you." ..... And Aquarius stepped back into place.             "To you Pisces I give the most difficult task of all. I ask you to collect all of man's sorrows and return them to Me. Your tears are to be ultimately My Tears. The sorrow you will absorb is the effect of man's misunderstanding of My Idea, but you are to give him compassion that he may try again. For this, the most difficult task of all, I give you the greatest gift of all. You will be the only one of my twelve children to understand Me. But this gift of understanding is for you, Pisces, for when you try to spread it to man he will not listen." ..... And Pisces stepped back into place. ..... Then God said "You each have part of My Idea. You must not mistake that part for all of My Idea, nor may you trade parts with each other. For each one of you is perfect, but you will not know that until all twelve of you are One. For then the whole of My Idea will be revealed to each of you." And the children left, each determined to do his job best that he might receive his gift. But none fully understood his task or his gift, and when they returned, puzzled, God said "You each believe that the other gifts are better. Therefore I will allow you to trade." And for the moment each child was elated as he considered the possibilities of his new mission. ..... But God smiled as he said "You will return to Me many times asking to be relieved of your mission, and each time I will grant you your wish. You will go through countless incarnations before you complete the original mission I have prescribed to you. I give you countless time in which to do it, but only when it is done can you be with Me." Reference: from Karmic Astrology, Vol.1, by Martin Schulman, published by Samuel Weiser, Inc., New York, 1980 Copyright ©1980, Martin Schulman - All Rights Reserved