How the heavens influence our lives
In noting the time of birth of children it is advisable to have the clock set as accurately as possible. Mark that the time of birth in the astrological sense is not the moment of delivery but the instant when the infant gives its first cry, for that cry is the completion of its initial breath. After entering the lungs, the air, charged with the subtle stellar influences peculiar to that moment, is carried by the blood through every part of the sensitive little infant body and stamps every atom and memory center with its vibrations. This primal impression will prevail during life, though the atoms change again and again just as a scar perpetuates itself upon the flesh, because the memory center, also called the "seed-atom", located in the heart (see Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception pages 97-98), retains the first stellar impulse which acts as a blue-print on the Etheric Matrix that controls the various components of the atom rebuilt during this lifetime. Therefore, the stellar rays at the moment of birth exert a powerful influence all through life. They are impelling forces which sway us hither and thither as driftwood is propelled by currents of the sea.
How the heavens influence our lives through the twelve houses?
Suppose we are out driving, and our road follows the seacoast, but a mile or so inland. A breeze is blowing from the ocean and as it passes over the country separating us from the sea, it brings upon invisible wings, messages from that land which evoke pleasure or aversion according to their nature. In one place an aroma of new mown hay fills us with delight; perhaps we are nauseated by the oversweet smell of jasmine on the next stretch of our journey and later become really ill from the stench of stagnant marsh water. But then we enter a forest, and soon its grateful pine balm restores the normal health and spirits.
