James Allen As a Man Thinketh: The Powerful Faith of the Gemini-Sagittarius Polarity
James Allen (28 November 1864 – 24 January 1912) was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry.
He is regarded as one of the pioneers writing and teaching about the transformative power of positive thinking. His books illustrate the use of the power of thought to increase personal capabilities. Although he never achieved great fame or wealth, his works continue to influence people around the world, including the New Thought movement and now the interest in manifestation.
In the years since its publication in 1902, As a Man Thinketh is a classic tome for many worldwide on the pathway to personal and financial growth.
James Allen, author of As a Man Thinketh, a classic tome for many worldwide on the pathway to personal and financial growth.
Gemini-Sagittarius: The Sprite and Sage
I don’t have a birth time for James Allen, so we will just be looking at the planetary placements without house positions. His personal planets are all in Sagittarius or Gemini, save for the Moon in Scorpio and Venus in Capricorn. However, the latter Moon is conjunct with Sagittarian Sun, so it is taken in by those energies too.
Gemini and Sagittarius are the local sprite and wandering sage of the Zodiac, respectively. They are a polarity which is a unique current of opposites. Both signs are adventurous and dream of traveling the world, even if not physically, it would be mentally. Gemini is alert to the near happenings, taking mental notes at all times. Sagittarius scans for the big picture.
Both signs have a reputation for the gift of the gab. Gemini can talk to anyone about anything, taking a moment to consider what the other perspective could mean, while Sagittarius is the sign of KNOWING and has a sense of what lies beyond the horizon.
On the flipside, some (may we guess who?) may fault Gemini for being too gabby, and Sagittarius for being too tiresome for how it can go on and on and on.
To get on the ride with a Sag, though, you have to clear your agendas and be ready to go a little further and wilder than you may be dressed for.
Allen embodied this energy in his writing and career, making a living out of teaching faith in the mind and in positive thought through the medium of publishing. Air carries sound, and a simple spark of fire can spread quickly. Allen showed his prowess at translating his thoughts into entire lectures and books, publishing at a prolific rate of a book every other year at least between 1901 to his death in 1912. (Following his death in 1912, his wife continued publishing the magazine under the name The Epoch until 1919.)
In 1898 Allen found an occupation in which he could showcase his spiritual and social interests as a writer for the magazine, The Herald of the Golden Age. At this time, Allen entered a creative period where he then published his first of many books, From Poverty to Power (1901). In 1902 Allen began to publish his own spiritual magazine, The Light of Reason, later retitled The Epoch.
Conscious vs. Subconscious Mind
Another perception this polarity teaches us is how work with duality. Gemini understands paradox and multiple truths, which highlights the polarity between Gemini and Sagittarius - as Sagittarius brings it together onto one path of seeking.
Allen’s Sun is conjunct Jupiter in Sagittarius. He probably was a larger-than-life personality, who could be outgoing, optimistic, and generous. The Sun’s vital energy is given a great boost by the expander Jupiter in the underdog sign of Sagittarius. He wanted to teach what learnt, and he wanted the masses to learn and grow.
I have tried to make the book simple, so that all can easily grasp and follow its teaching, and put into practice the methods which it advises. It shows how, in his own thought-world, each man holds the key to every condition, good or bad, that enters into his life, and that, by working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts, he may remake his life, and transform his circumstances. The price of the book is only one shilling, and it can be carried in the pocket.
In 1903, Allen published his third and most famous book As a Man Thinketh. Loosely based on the biblical passage of Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," the small work eventually became read around the world and brought Allen posthumous fame as one of the pioneering figures of modern inspirational thought.
The book's minor audience allowed Allen to quit his secretarial work and pursue his writing and editing career.
Moon in Scorpio: Transform or die
There is a dark shadow and beginning to James’ life. James was born into a working class family in Leicester, England in the depths of industrial England. Born in Leicester, England, Allen was the elder of two brothers.
His mother could neither read nor write. His father, William, was a factory knitter. Allen was 15 when his father, a businessman, was robbed and murdered. He left school to work full-time in several British manufacturing firms to help support the family.
Writing this article, I opted to lead with his overt Sun and personal dominance in the Gemini-Sagittarius polarity, as it became writ large in his writing and reputation. He grew into the full light, so to speak, of his larger-than-life Sun sign and dominance of the seeker Sagittarius.
However, his Moon placement shows it was probably an emotional battery in his lifelong pursuit of knowledge.
If life is an adventure to be tackled for the Gemini-Sagittarius polarity, life is a battleground for emotional transformation for a Moon in the zodiac sign of Scorpio.
The very beginning of his book opens with a sad-scape of life:
i look and it was scorched by the fierce fires of suffering
At the time of his birth, the Moon’s North Node was in Scorpio, and his Moon, although I do not have an hour of birth, must be at least loosely conjunct to the North Node. With the Nodes in Scorpio and Taurus, his lifetime (and peers born in the same year or so) spent time learning the power of amassing and releasing emotional control. What an incredible journey it must have been for him to learn the lessons of transformation through letting go of ego and emotional control in Scorpio.
Earlier, we noted that his Venus is Capricorn — the only Earth sign amongst his personal placements, and just one of two with the far-out Pluto in Taurus. Interestingly, his wife Lily L. Allen is a Capricorn Sun (30 December 1867).
Privately, he may have appreciate solitude and privacy. In 1903, the Allen family retired to the small seaside village of Ilfracombe where Allen would spend the rest of his life. Continuing to publish The Epoch, Allen produced more than one book per year until his death in 1912. At age 38, inspired by the writings of Leo Tolstoy, he retired from employment. Allen — along with his wife and their daughter, Nohra — moved to a small cottage in Ilfracombe, Devon, England to pursue a simple life of contemplation. There he wrote for nine years, producing 19 works. He also edited and published a magazine, "The Light of Reason".
Chiron, the wounded healer in Pisces
Some astrologers regard Chiron as always painful regardless of where it sits, and when Chiron is aspected, there is no exception. Whether its touch evokes lashing pain is probably down to the native, but no doubt there is a sore point or chip on the shoulder kind of quality to Chiron.
In his natal chart Chiron is in Pisces, the sign of the universal compassionate healer and the last sign in the zodiac before it dissolves into the Universal.
We cannot ignore that the very title of his book borrows from the Bible.
As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. — Proverbs 23:7 [r]
James himself is neither Christian nor religious. In fact, in the first chapter of his book Path to Prosperity, he writes how religious institutions and intellectual silos may be gatekeepers of men.
When Chiron is aspected, it is an opportunity to HEAL. Allen has FOUR SQUARES to his Chiron in Pisces! Squares are a challenging aspect and it is much harder to ignore a square, than say, an opposition (that we may conveniently project onto another person). Venus and Pluto in Earth signs sextile Chiron, giving it support and grounding to carry on healing.
You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
His long-standing classic, As a Man Thinketh is known as a must read for anyone interested in bettering themselves. The spiritual slants come through in how Allen orders the chapters: Chapters include Thought and Character, Effect of Thought on Circumstances, Effect of Thought on Health and the Body, Thought and Purpose, The Thought-Factor in Achievement, Visions and Ideals, and — last of all — Serenity.
The three main lessons about how your thoughts shape your life:
1. Your actions are outgrowths of your thoughts.
2. You shape the world just as much as it shapes you.
3. Thoughts can keep you young or make you age faster.
I couldn’t help but get the impression that it is the Virgo-Pisces polarity that is expressed, too, in this book. He advocates daily practices (Virgo) to purify the mind (Pisces), and how character is best judged by how it can be helpful, productive, successful for not only the self ,but others (Virgo). He explains how thought creates the body (Virgo).
This book truly embodied his Chiron healing throug how he lived and worked in his life.
One of his most timeless quotes:
The old adage “Birds of a feather flock together” has a deeper significance than is generally attached to it, for in the thought-world as in the world of matter, each clings to its kind.
Do you wish for kindness? Be kind.
Do you ask for truth? Be true.
What you give of yourself you find;
Your world is a reflex of you.
If you are one of those who are praying for, and looking forward to, a happier world beyond the grave, here is a message of gladness for you, you may enter into and realize that happy world now; it fills the whole universe, and it is within you, waiting for you to find, acknowledge, and possess. Said one who knew the inner laws of Being, “When men shall say lo here, or lo there, go not after them; the kingdom of God is within you.”
What you have to do is to believe this, simply believe it with a mind unshadowed by doubt, and then contemplate upon it till you understand it.
You will then begin to purify and to build your inner world, and as you proceed, passing from revelation to revelation, from realization to realization, you will discover the utter powerlessness of outward things beside the magic potency of a self-governed soul.
—Path of Prosperity, James Allen
References:
As a Man Thinketh announcement in the July 1903 edition of The Light of Reason.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2023&version=KJV