Aries 09º: A crystal gazer.

13:47, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º

p. 56     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 9 (ARIES 09º): A CRYSTAL GAZER.

KEYNOTE: The development of an inner realization of organic wholeness.

The crystal sphere symbolizes wholeness. Within the sphere images take form. These images may reveal future events, but more significantly they picture "the situation as a whole"—the situation which the clairvoyant is meant to interpret. The nascent mental faculties operating through still dominant emotions (or collective cultural incentives) act as a centralizing and whole-making power. What the intelligence perceives in its concentration is the function of every inner impulse and outer events in the open field of a "personality" still unclouded by egoism.

At this fourth stage of the five-fold sequence the new technique required for the development of individualized consciousness is revealed: CONCENTRATED ATTENTION.

Aries 08º: A large woman's hat with streamers blown by an east wind.

13:30, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 55     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 8 (ARIES 08º): A LARGE WOMAN'S HAT WITH STREAMERS BLOWN BY AN EAST WIND.

KEYNOTE: Protection and spiritual guidance in the development of consciousness.

This somewhat strange image can be understood if every stated feature in it is clearly analyzed without preconceptions. Here again we see a woman; but now her head is covered with a large hat—a protection against the forces of nature, i.e. cold and/or the penetrating rays of the sun. At this emotional-cultural level (Phases 6 through 10) the mental processes are still largely undeveloped; thus they need protection from the elemental forces of life. A too great openness to the Sky-energies and the "spiritual" level could lead to obsessions of one kind or another.

The symbolic image implies a rather strong wind. thus the activity of some more-than-material, and especially psychic, forces. These originated in the East, traditionally the seat of spiritualizing and creative-transforming influences. The woman's hat has streamers, which enable it not only to respond to the wind but to indicate its source. In other words, the image symbolizes a stage of development of consciousness in which the nascent powers of the mind are both protected and influenced by energies of a spiritual origin. This suggests a probationary stage in the process of individualization. Under protective guidance a still more receptive person (a woman) is being influenced by spiritual forces.

This is a third stage symbol in which we see the first and second stages of this second five-fold sequence producing results which require PROTECTIVE FORMS (which is what a culture and ethical precepts provide) and SENSITIVITY to spiritual energies.

Aries 07º: A man succeeds in expressing himself simultaneously in two realms.

13:22, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º

p. 54     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 7 (ARIES 07º): A MAN SUCCEEDS IN EXPRESSING HIMSELF SIMULTANEOUSLY IN TWO REALMS.

KEYNOTE: The first realization of the dual nature of man and of the possibilities it implies.

This symbol represents the antithesis of the thesis pictured in Phase 6, yet in such a five-fold sequence what we see is contrast rather than opposition. The primordial one-sidedness of emotional and cultural manifestation actually calls for the compensatory ability to operate at two levels. Thus the primary dualism of Sky and Earth, of the divine and the human, of spirit and matter. The vision and the emotions are focused within sharply defined boundaries, but within these boundaries they express themselves at two levels. This is the foundation of religion as well as of magic.

A situation which has become characterized by this symbol can be successfully faced if its spiritual and material implications are understood and actualized.

At this second stage of the second five-fold sequence of symbols we see at work man's capacity for LIVING TWO SEPARATE LIVES—and finding fulfillment and happiness in both. On this capacity are founded many of the complexities of human nature.

Aries 06º: A square, with one of its sides brightly illumined.

13:09, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º

pp. 53-54     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

SECOND LEVEL: EMOTIONAL-CULTURAL

PHASE 6 (ARIES 06º): A SQUARE, WITH ONE OF ITS SIDES BRIGHTLY ILLUMINED.

KEYNOTE: The emotional desire for concrete and stabilized existence as a person.

This desire for individualization operates at first as a one-pointed or one-sided drive focusing itself upon an exclusive goal.  All emotional are at first possessive, and all cultural manifestations operate on the principle of exclusion. All that does not belong to the tribal sphere (one blood, one land, one folk) is the potential enemy. This is a necessary phase, for—as in the case of "the woman emerging from the sea"—the first attempt at building an inner realization of integral being may be defeated at any time by the regressive pull toward undifferentiation and the prenatal state of non individualization within the vast womb of nature or within unformed cosmic space.

This first stage of the second five-fold sequence of symbols presents the theme which will be dialectically developed—a five-phase dialectical process: A ONE-SIDED URGE FOR INNER STABILITY.

Aries 05º: A triangle with wings.

13:03, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 53     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 5 (ARIES 05º): A TRIANGLE WITH WINGS.

KEYNOTE: The capacity for self-transcending.

This is the symbol of the desire to reach a higher level of existence, of pure aspiration or devotion, of bhakti. What has emerged in the first phase of the process of differentiation is becoming aware of the possibility of further up-reachings. The principle of "levitation" is seen as one the two essential factors in evolution. The emergent being glorifies and deifies it, but it is still only an ideal. At this stage, nevertheless, the whole being experiences a childlike longing for its eventual realization.

At this point in the last and synthesizing stage of the first five-fold unit in the cyclic process is reached. A NEW DIMENSION of being is envisioned mobilizing creative endeavors.

Aries 04º: Two lovers strolling on a secluded walk.

12:54, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

pp. 52-53     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 4 (ARIES 04º): TWO LOVERS STROLLING ON A SECLUDED WALK.

KEYNOTE: The progressive polarization of energies needed for fulfilling one's life function.

In order to respond fully to the potentialities released by a sense of identification with a greater Whole, the human being should be himself whole. An interplay of bipolar energies is needed to provide a sustained and dynamic "resonance" to any superior and encompassing form of life. This may imply a temporary withdrawal from routine activity, i.e. a "secluded" process. It is not, however, a closed process. The positive and negative polarities do not meet in a closed circuit, reconstituting a neutral state of potentiality. They operate in dynamic, open, unresolved togetherness in contact with the surrounding energies of nature.

This symbol characterizes the fourth stage of the first five-fold sequence of phases: the stage of dynamic and unresolved POLARIZATION. It introduces the basic means—one might say, the technique—to establish consciousness in the world of duality.

Aries 03º: The cameo profile of a man, suggesting the shape of his country.

12:31, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

pp. 51-52     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 3 (ARIES 03º): THE CAMEO PROFILE OF A MAN, SUGGESTING THE SHAPE OF HIS COUNTRY.

KEYNOTE: The sustaining power of the Whole, as the individual identifies himself within Its life.

Having become objectively aware of his nature and his basic humanity, the individualizing person finds power and inner security in realizing his essential identity with the section of the universe in which he operates. He and it seem to his consciousness united in a cosmic-planetary process–in a "participation mystique." Metaphysically expressed, this is the concept of the identity of Atman and Brahman. In another sense, through his ability to identify himself with the complex of life activities surrounding him, the individualized person can become truly, not only an image and representation of the Whole of his  natal environment (local, planetary, and perhaps eventually cosmic), but an agent through whom the Whole may express itself in an act of creative resonance and outpouring. This is the avatar idea—then ideal of a "transpersonal" life and consciousness totally consecrated to and directed by a divine Power. This Power can also be conceived as the archetypal Self, the Christ-prinicple as it operates in and through an individual person and destiny who have become its outward manifestation in order to meet a collective human need.

The concept of the formal-structural identity of the universal macrocosm and the human microcosm is a very important one, as it manifests itself at many levels. It provided an inner sense of security and harmonic strength to the archaic man. To the modern individual assailed by surface evidence of meaninglessness and futility it gives a feeling of participation in the vast tide of evolution. It is the answer to the tragic sense of alienation so prevalent today.

This symbol characterizes the third stage of the first five-fold sequence of phases: the stage of PARTICIPATION IN A GREATER LIFE.

Aries 02º: A comedian reveals human nature.

12:23, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 51     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 2 (ARIES 02º): A COMEDIAN REVEALS HUMAN NATURE.

KEYWORD: The capacity to look objectively at oneself and at others.

While the first phase of the process of emergence is essentially in terms of subjective impulse and the desire to act, the second phase represents the attempt to evolve an objective awareness of existence. Through a sense of contrast, consciousness is gradually being built. It is what Teilhard de Chardin calls "reflective consciousness"; the ability to see oneself reflected as in a mirror, and eventually to laugh at the inadequacy of the form one sees; thus "humor," the triumph of objective consciousness over subjective feelings or moods, or involvement in self.

This symbol characterizes the second stage in the first five-fold sequence of phases: the stage of OBJECTIVIZATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS. This second phase complements and polarizes the first, which stresses the subjective desire to become individually conscious.

Aries 01º: A woman just risen from the sea. A seal is embracing her.

12:03, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

pp. 49-51     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

ACT 1: DIFFERENTIATION

SCENE ONE: DESIRE
(Aries 01º to Aries 15º)

FIRST LEVEL: ACTIONAL

PHASE 1 (ARIES 01º): A WOMAN JUST RISEN FROM THE SEA. A SEAL IS EMBRACING HER.

KEYNOTE: Emergence of new forms and of the potentiality of consciousness.

This is the first of the 360 phases of a universal and multi-level cyclic process which aims at the actualization of a particular set of potentialities. These potentialities, in the Sabian symbols, refer to the development of man's individualized consciousness—the consciousness of being an individual person with a place and function (a "destiny") in the planetary organism of Earth, and in a particular type of human society and culture.

To be individually conscious means to emerge out of the sea of generic and collective consciousness—which to the emerged mind appears to be unconsciousness. Such an emergence is the primary event. It is the result of some basic action: a leaving behind, an emerging from a womb or matrix, here symbolized by the sea.

Such an action is not to be considered a powerful, positive statement of individual being. In the beginning is the Act; but it is often an imperceptible, insecure act. The small tender germ out of the seed does not loudly proclaim its existence. It has to pierce through the crust of the soil still covered with the remains of the past. It is all potentiality and a minimum of actual presence.

In the symbol, therefore, the emergent entity is a Woman; symbolically speaking, a form of existence still close to the unconscious depths of generic biological nature, filled with the  desire to be rather than self-assertion. The woman is seen embraced by a seal because the seal is a mammal which once had experience a biological, evolutionary but relatively unconscious emergence, yet which retraced its steps and "returned to the womb" of the sea. The seal, therefore, represents a regressive step. It embraces the Woman who has emerged, because every emergent process at first is susceptible to failure. This process is indeed surrounded by the memory, the ghosts of past failures during previous cycles. The impulse upward is held back by regressive fear or insecurity; the issue of the conflict depends on the relative strength of the future-ward and the past-ward forces.

The possibility of success and that of failure is implied throughout the entire process of actualization. Every release of potentiality contains this two-fold possibility. It inevitably opens up two paths: one leads to "perfection" in consciousness, the other to "disintegration"—the return to the undifferentiated state (the state of humus, manure, cosmic dust—i.e. to the symbolic "great Waters of space," to chaos).

This symbol characterizes the first of five stages which are repeated at three levels. This stage represents the initial statement, or theme, of the five-fold series which refers to the first level: IMPULSE TO BE.

Pisces 30º: A majestic rock formation resembling a face is idealized by a boy who takes it as his ideal of greatness, and as he grows up, begins to look like it.

11:49, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º

p. 288     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "The Great Stone Face" is used here in an allegorical sense to show the capacity for self-transformation latent in man. This power can be developed through visualization, when the emotions and the will are poured into the visualized mental image. At the highest spiritual-cosmic level this is the power used by the God-like Beings at the close of a cosmic cycle in projecting the basic Formula (the Word) which will start a new universe. In a biological sense, it is the power latent in all seeds—the power to produce and guide the growth of the future plant. A most fitting symbol for the last phase of the cyclic process. Within the end of the cycle the seed of a new beginning exists in potency—unless the entire cycle has proven to be a failure.

This is the last stage of the last scene of the great ritual play of cyclic transformations. It brings us to a realization of the power of archetypes as factors conditioning life processes. Thus we could use as a final Keyword: ARCHETYPALIZATION.

Pisces 29º: Light breaking into many colors as it passes through a prism.

11:37, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 287     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 359 (PISCES 29º): LIGHT BREAKING INTO MANY COLORS AS IT PASSES THROUGH A PRISM.

KEYNOTE: The analytical power of the mind necessary for the formulation of life processes in their many aspects.

Cycles of existence begin in unity and end in what I have called "multi-unity." At the stage of consummation the many individual differences are totaled; they constitute a sum. Within that sum—a unified total—the inevitability of the future process of differentiation is implied, because every cycle leaves a mass of waste products slowly returning to the unconscious state of chemical matter, of "humus." What the symbol tells us is that unity will always break again into multiplicity. The "prism" is always there. There is no absolute unity; if anything could be called "absolute" it is the relationship between the One and the Many.

This fourth stage symbol of the concluding five-fold sequence phases points to the fundamental type of operation in all modes of existence. The most beautiful and seemingly everlasting experience of unity will in time be superseded by the need to attend to a multiplicity of details. Existence implies DIFFERENTIATION.

Pisces 28º: A fertile garden under the full moon reveals a variety of full-grown vegetables.

11:28, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

pp. 286-287     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 358 (PISCES 28º): A FERTILE GARDEN UNDER THE FULL MOON REVEALS A VARIETY OF FULL-GROWN VEGETABLES.

KEYNOTE: The full satisfaction of the individual's basic needs.

This symbol would seem duplication of the preceding one, but if it is related to the first of the five-fold series (Phase 356) its meaning becomes clear. What is stressed now is not the full moon itself or its light, but the moon's power to call forth the instinctive urge for growth; many things respond in many different ways. The symbol refers to a typical garden, not to a field. Such a garden contains a variety of plants, herbs and vegetables grown specifically to fill an equal variety of human needs and tastes.

In this sense the third symbol of this seventy-second sequence combines the meanings of the first two. It is a symbol of ABUNDANCE, an abundance fitted to individualized requirements and wants.

Pisces 22º: A prophet carrying tablets of the new law is walking down the slopes of Mount Sinai.

11:15, 03.28.2015, Pisces 22º (late posting)

pp. 282-283     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 352 (PISCES 22º): A PROPHET CARRYING TABLIETS OF THE NEW LAW IS WALKING DOWN THE SLOPES OF MOUNT SINAI.

KEYNOTE: The need to bring down to the level of everyday existence the clear realizations made manifest in a great "peak experience"

The symbol obviously refers to Moses after he received from the God of his people the basic principles upon which a new religion, and even more a new ritual of living, should be founded. This basic "Law" has to be "brought down." It represents a descent of formative and structuring power, a divine Revelation. This type of revealed knowledge contrasts with the kind of knowing born out of the experience of touch, of feeling, of warmth of contact.

This second stage symbol pictures a process to which a religious God-given character has been attributed in the past, but which today is being investigated at the personal and psychological level. The important point here is: what do you do after you have a peak experience, an inner revelation? The Keyword MANDATE is appropriate; but the basic problem is how to fulfill it in the right spirit. 

Pisces 27º: The harvest moon illumines a clear autumnal sky.

11:20, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 286     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 357 (PISCES 27º): THE HARVEST MOON ILLUMINES A CLEAR AUTUMNAL SKY.

KEYNOTE: The light of fulfillment that blesses work well done.

For astronomical reasons the full moon of early autumn, the harvest moon, appears slightly larger than all other full moons. In our temperate Northern Hemisphere, these are the days when the green of summer fields and woods has turned gold and warm brown—days for the reaping of the good harvest, if all has gone well. This symbol brings us the message that the time has come to reap what we have not only sown, but also cultivated—or failed to cultivate.

This second stage symbol once more stands in opposition to the one for the preceding stage—new moon having now become full moon, indeed the fullest of all full moons. The Keyword is CONSUMMATION. But in this consummation—this "karmic" moment—the seed of the new cycle manifestation is already latent.

Pisces 26º: Watching the very thin moon crescent appearing at sunset, different people realize that the time has come to go ahead with their different projects.

11:19, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

pp. 285-286     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

THIRD LEVEL: INDIVIDUAL-MENTAL

PHASE 356 (PISCES 26º): WATCHING THE VERY THIN MOON CRESCENT APPEARING AT SUNSET, DIFFERENT PEOPLE REALIZE THAT THE TIME HAS COME TO GO AHEAD WITH THEIR DIFFERENT PROJECTS.

KEYNOTE: A keen appreciation of the value of individualized responses to any challenge of life.

The rather obscure original notation for this zodiacal degree, "A new moon that divides its influences," when translated into practical terms refers to the fact that, confronted with the opportunity to expand their energy along new lines, modern individuals will react according to their own personal characters. One basic cosmic-spiritual impulse will lead these varied personalities to take equally varied steps. In any society that glorifies individualism, everyone should therefore accept this fact and not try to compel other individuals to conform to a single pattern of response.

This first symbol of the seventy-second and last series of five stresses the essential nature of the cyclic process of actualization of human potential, i.e. the emergence of the individual (cf. symbol for Phase 1). This should lead to the realization of THE FALLACY OF TOTALITARIANISM; at times we can all act like despots, demanding that others react to any situation exactly as we do.

Pisces 25º: A religious organization succeeds in overcoming the corrupting influence of perverted practices and materialized ideals.

11:18, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

pp. 284-285      AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 355 (PISCES 25º): A RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION SUCCEEDS IN OVERCOMING THE CORRUPTING INFLUENCE OF PERVERTED PRACTICES AND MATERIALIZED IDEALS.

KEYNOTE: The power of the Soul to intervene in the personal life and to induce necessary catharses.

The necessary centralization of the conscious attention and will symbolized by the preceding picture most often brings negative results—exclusivism, pride, jealousy, greed for power and wealth. Every man is a Church that has the Soul as its god, but most men forget the Soul and live according to dogmatic rules and habits which not only have become empty of inner meaning, but very often have been perverted by the demands of the senses and the emotional nature, and by the ego with its rationalizing intellect. A purging or catharsis is needed to restore not only fresh and creative spontaneity, but even more the contact with the Soul and the God-ordained dharma.

This is the last stage in the seventy-first sub cycle. It leads significantly to the series of five symbols which concludes the vast cycle, because the final consummation of the process of actualization of the potency inherent in the original Creative Act requires moments of crisis and PURIFICATION.

Pisces 24º: On a small island surrounded by the vast expanse of the sea, people are seen living in close interaction.

11:17, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 284     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 354 (PISCES 24º): ON A SMALL ISLAND SURROUNDED BY THE VAST EXPANSE OF THE SEA, PEOPLE ARE SEEN LIVING IN CLOSE INTERACTION.

KEYNOTE: The need to consciously accept one's own personal limitations in order to concentrate one's energies and to live a centered and fulfilled life.

Every individualized person is a small island in the vast ocean of mankind. The ego fulfills a necessary function, as it sets boundaries and gives a specific character to the consciousness. Within these boundaries a complex interplay linking and integrating the various aspects of the personal life can operate constructively. In time. These ego-boundaries can not only expand, but can become a zone of intense interchange between the inner and the outer, between the individual and the community, between man and the universe.

This fourth stage symbol tells us that the first duty of any man or woman is to be truly what he or she is as an individual. But this individual has a particular dharma, i.e. a place and function in a vaster whole. The island's inhabitants get subsistence from the sea, and in time to learn to navigate this sea and interact with other islanders—and all eventually will come to realize their oneness within the whole Earth, which includes everything. An appropriate Keyword would be CENTRALIZATION.

Pisces 23º: A "materializing" medium giving a seance.

11:16, 03.31.2015, Aries 09º (late posting)

p. 283     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 353 (PISCES 23º): A "MATERIALIZING" MEDIUM GIVING A SEANCE.

KEYNOTE: The ability to give of one's own vital energy to substantiate one's conscious ideals or unconscious desires.

The person who believes he or she has a mission or mandate, or any special gift that can be of value to his community, must substantiate this belief. He has to produce results. Sometimes this involves difficulties and special conditions or circumstances; it always demands to some extent the gift of some power of value which is deeply one's own. The thought of sacrifice was suggested by the "white lamb" in the first symbol of this five-fold series. Something precious involved in a deeply personal experience has to be surrendered, offered to others. The medium's psychic substance provides the materials made visible in the phenomena, if the latter are genuine. After the seance, the medium is usually exhausted. The performer gives of his very life to the performance.

This refers to the third stage in the seventy-first five-fold process. The display of psychic power that the symbol depicts can be interpreted positively or negatively according to the motives that induce the "medium" to give the seance. In its most constructive aspect it suggests the Keyword: SUBSTANTIATION. The shadowy aspect of the process is "deception."

Pisces 21º: Under the watchful and kind eye of a Chinese servant, a girl fondles a little white lamb.

09:27, 03.12.2015, Pisces 21º

pp. 281-282     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

SECOND LEVEL: EMOTIONAL-CULTURAL

PHASE 351 (PISCES 21º): UNDER THE WATCHFUL AND KIND EYE OF A CHINESE SERVANT, A GIRL FONDLES A LITTLE WHITE LAMB.

KEYNOTE: Growth in consciousness in its earliest tactile awareness of the wonders of unsophisticated living.

This symbol recalls the one for Phase 174 (Virgo 24º)––"Mary and her little lamb"––but it occupies a different position in the five-fold sequence and a new factor is added: the "Chinese servant." According to the occult tradition, the original Chinese race was an extension of the humanity (or "Root Race") preceding ours––thus the stress upon the biological factors of family and ancestors, and also on the dualism of the Yang and Yin interplay. The "Chinese servant" represents the past as a servant of the new evolution. (The "white lamb" suggests the sign of all beginnings, Aries.) This new evolution is just about to begin during the late Pisces phase of the year cycle. It is as yet an ideal, a white loveliness. The girl discovers the new feeling of the touch of wool and of animal warmth. The preceding five-fold sequence began with a symbol suggestion the inspiring revelation of new truths or facts which the creative person is seeking to formulate. Now we witness another kind of discovery––a sensuously emotional discovery, perhaps a presentiment of the mother-feeling.

This is the first symbol of the seventy-first sequence. it brings together past and future, an overlapping of levels. The Chinese kindly watching the white girl; the girl fondling the white lamb. There is charm and ingenuousness in the scene––a vision of WHITE HOPE, a hope for a future that can only be felt, almost naïvely.

Girlcapsule's 2¢:

Here is an informational excerpt from Rudhyar's introduction of the Sabian Symbol system:

pp. 16-17  (Rudhyar's italics):

In the Sabian system, the cyclic structure...is founded upon a pattern derived from the relationship between the day and the year––periods which constitute the two most basic factors in the structuring of human experience. It is true that the year contains more than 360 days, which means that the earth rotates more than 360 times around its polar axis during a complete revolution around its orbit; but an intriguing feature common to all celestial periods is that they can never be measured in whole numbers and no planetary cycle is an exact multiple of another. 

This means that one has to distinguish between archetypal and existential cycles and relationships...The 360-degree zodic is a formula of archetypal relationships; but our human experience presents to our consciousness a slightly larger sequence of days and nights. The 360-degree cycle refers to the meaning of experience; the days-and-nights sequence to the facts of experience. 

We shall see how this 360-degree pattern subdivides itself geometrically through a two-fold, three-fold, four-fold, five-fold and six-fold rational segmentation. Such interior processes of subdivision of the organic series of 360 degrees define various patterns of relationship and subsidies of degrees which, considered in their entirety, constitute the structure of a cycle of meanings. No cyclic series of symbols can be considered significant which does not reveal some definite kind of internal structuring, however interesting and apt isolated symbols may be. 

This is why, in my opinion, out of the few sets of 360 degree symbols which have been recorded in Western astrology only the Sabian symbols should be considered truly valid. Other sets might reveal an equally significant internal structure if carefully studied and reformulated, but I have not seen any work done in that direction. The issue here reaches much deeper than a superficial evaluation of this or that set of 360 symbols. It deals with the difference between a holistic and an atomistic approach to human experience and to life or knowledge in general. 

When we deal with any cyclic series of factors or phases, merely to consider the character, quality and value of the symbolic representation of any one of these factors as a separate entity without an essential (or structural) relationship to all the others makes no sense to the holistic mind. Every phase no doubt has a character of its own which can be described in one way or another, but this character should be given some kind of functional or "organic" meaning in terms of the cyclic process as a whole. If one looks at the process of growth of an organism every phase of that process has a functional meaning in relation to the preceding and succeeding phases. It does not represent an isolated occurrence. In the same way, if one studies the 22 Tarot cards or the 64 symbols of the I Ching, one is dealing with a succession of phases referring to a whole process; the 12 signs of the tropical zodiac––which as a whole refer to the annual cyclic relationship of the Earth to the Sun––likewise have meaning according to their position in the complete cycle of the year. 

Pisces 20º: A table set for an evening meal.

13:50, 03.11.2015, Pisces 20º

p. 281     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 350 (PISCES 20º): A TABLE SET FOR AN EVENING MEAL.

KEYNOTE: An indication that in the end and at the appointed time the individual's needs will be met among those to whom he is linked by a spiritual (or biological) web of energies.

The significant element in this scene is not only the meal, but the fact that it is an "evening" meal. To use traditional symbolism, after a long chain of personal existences the Soul returns to its spiritual home at the close of the day-of-manifestation. There it finds that which renews and amply sustains; the happiness of the "beyond of existence" is experienced––if all has gone well.

This last symbol of the seventieth five-fold sequence promises a satisfying or fulfilling end to whatever one has been undertaking. As the life closes, the Soul-consciousness finds NOURISHMENT in the harvest of whatever, during the whole life, has been relevant to the archetypal purpose and destiny of the Soul––one of the myriad of aspects of the divine creative word which began the cycle.

Girlcapsule's 2¢:

Here's a visual trail into my version of how this symbol made itself apparent to my perception. This image series creates the one way of demonstrating the difficulty of distinguishing the process of reading signs vs. the completely different experience of a powerful synchronicity that is immediately noticeable in the body and clearly related to one's personal experience inner and outer, and in the service of psycho-spiritual growth, it is widely believed.

all else is "pin the tail on the dragon"

Note to self: prepare a bit more for tomorrow's response, and don't respond to the word "fondle" (dead cat karma)

Pisces 19º: A master instructing his disciple.

12:57, 03.10.2015, Pisces 19º

pp. 280-281     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 349 (PISCES 19º): A MASTER INSTRUCTING HIS DISCIPLE.

KEYNOTE: The transfer of power and knowledge which keeps the original spiritual and creative Impulse of the cycle active and undeviated.

The Hindu ideal of the sacred relationship between guru and chela (disciple) has of late become familiar to a vast number of young and not-so-young people. The doctrine of "the Apostolic succession" in the Roman Catholic Church has a similar significance. The Power and archetypal knowledge released "in the beginning" of any cycle (or at "Creation") must be perpetuated until the very Last Day–the Omega state of which Teilhard de Chardin glowingly speaks. This Power is the "self" of the cyclic manifestation, the unchanging Tone (AUM) of all existences within this cycle. It can be transmitted from master to disciple at the latter's "Initiation." It must be so transmitted for when the line of transmission (in Sanskrit, guruampara) is discontinued, the cyclic process begins to collapse in futility and spiritual darkness.

This fourth stage symbol give us a clue to the supreme technique necessary for the continuation of all manifestations of power and spiritual understanding. The transmission is from person to person; it follows a general, unchanging pattern, yet it operates in terms of particular and individual circumstances. Keyword: INVESTITURE.

Girlcapsule's 2¢:

I don't know what is most important to express in this moment. I am in a state of astonishment at the power this meditation has for taking tangible shape in my life. To make life like a living dream or nightmare. First: wow. Wow, Dane Rudhyar, this stuff is powerful! What is this? Some kind of adhoc secret society's initiation process? It is really brilliantly orchestrated. Truly resonant with the rhythm of the spheres. This is magic for me.

There is being forged through this process a beautiful weaving of dream images that have come up in lucid moments, such as one here that I recreated visually:

I dreamed a lucid moment of discovering my red-handled scissors stuck into my bookshelf as shown above. I stood a little ways across from it. My energy seemed mostly held by my personal Animus who is Owusu, a dark-skinned and muscle-taut warrior of the age of shamans and when the human spirit was more attuned to the natural rhythms of place. I am also Owusu, I am the joint mind of the Yin and Yang of myself, and so I strode forward into lucidity. 

Here is an account of what happened when I became lucid: I experienced the sensation of emotional guilt run through my body as soon as I made a decision to attempt to move the red scissors by magical means derived from my archetypal read of the situation. I felt guilt because I was aware of a voice that brought to mind the archetypes of Father and Wise Old Man. My awareness placed this masculine authority above and to one side of me. This voice was recalling Stan Grof's reservation in these matters. Stan once resisted the temptation of performing a telekinetic experiment during a peak transcendent moment when he experienced himself as magically projected through a kind of wormhole into his parents' apartment a continent away from his physical form, as he tells the story. We cannot know the implications of our actions in such a moment and what they might catalyze. This is a wise opinion that I truly respect. But I chose to act anyway.

I could hardly help myself once I noticed a pair of green-handled scissors down and to the side of me. They were also lodged in among a row of books on a shelf. Looking from one pair to the other it seemed obvious that the colors and positioning indicated a harmonious linking energy between them–something that could be acted upon, which is what I attempted to do.

I was the she-figure of the Green Man archetype in that moment, it was not Owusu, it was me–whole and complete in spirit. I tested the force of my will against the habituated force of the flux. I choose curiosity over caution. I grabbed hold of the green handles and pulled without thinking any further.

In my lucid dream state I was attempting to release the red-handled scissors from the bookshelf by taking an opposing and symbolic action of activating the process by pulling on the green-handled scissors just near me with my dream body's agency. 

It occurred to me only belatedly that the amount of force with which I yanked on the green scissors might be dangerously echoed in the release of the red scissors, according laws of physics and assuming the telekinetic potential of the dream's experimental set-up behaved in some variation of accordance with the natural way of things. This realization caused my dream body to react with a spasm of fear as I whipped my attention back around to the red-handled pair just six feet away and perfectly aimed to come flying straight for me.

The red scissors did not come flying out of the bookshelf, they did not move at all before the jarring effect of having to manage the fear of my dream body from being wounded drew me out of the dream altogether. I hope to be ready next time. I will prepare by revisiting this dream as a pair of blue-handled scissors watching the scene from behind a hidden screen and see what comes up. Active imagination homework!   

Pisces 18º: In a gigantic tent, villagers witness a spectacular performance.

12:42, 03.10.2015, Pisces 19º (late posting)

pp. 279-280     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 348 (PISCES 18º): IN A GIGANTIC TENT, VILLAGERS WITNESS A SPECTACULAR PERFORMANCE.

KEYNOTE: The collective appeal of a well-staged and exciting display of skill and/or oratory.

At first, Marc Jones interpreted the "gigantic tent" as the locale for a revivalist's meeting; later he suggested a circus ten instead. In a sense, the basic meaning is the same. Whether it is the traditional performance of skilled clowns, acrobats or animal trainers, or that of a religious fundamentalist dramatizing an old religious imagery, what takes place is the use of personal achievement and conviction to bring a crowd to a state of enthusiasm sufficient to make it forget its boredom with everyday routine or its familiar sins of commission or omission.

At this third stage of the seventieth five-fold sequence, the individual person and the collectivity are brought together in a significant performance which subtly strengthens the communal spirit directly or indirectly. The implication of the symbol, whenever it is found operating, is that the time has come for the individual to dare to present himself and his works to his community for applause, or for the purpose of attracting a following. What is suggested is PUBLIC SELF-DRAMATIZATION.

Pisces 17º: An Easter parade.

12:32, 03.10.2015, Pisces 19º (late posting)

p. 279     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 347 (PISCES 17º): AN EASTER PARADE.

KEYNOTE:  The capacity inherent in all great sociocultural Images to unite the members of a community in a display of excellence.

Here we see, by contrast, the unifying power of great myths and symbols in truly organic and self-perpetuating culture. The Image of the Resurrection spurs all men within the pale of Christendom to appear at their very best and to dynamite themselves in some kind of self-renewal in response to the Christ mythos, and to the call of nature's springtime as well. Wherever found, this symbol emphasizes the value of attuning one's life and activities and moods to the ritualistic patterns of society or Earth-nature, rather than acting in complete independence from the group.

At this second stage of the five-fold subcycle the Collective dominates the Individual, Yin overpowers Yang. It is a time for conformity to what constitutes the highest ideals of one's culture and for PARTICIPATION IN COLLECTIVE PEAK EXPERIENCES.

Insertion: Cumulative Retrospective...Girlcapsule's 2¢

endlessly finding enchanted 'findings'. . . so fun.

12:01, 03.10.2015, 19º Pisces

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