Capricorn 26°: A nature spirit dancing in the iridescent mist of a waterfall.

16:01, 01.17.2015, Capricorn 26°

p. 245     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

THIRD LEVEL: INDIVIDUAL—MENTAL

PHASE 296 (CAPRICORN 26°): A NATURE SPIRIT DANCING IN THE IRIDESCENT MIST OF A WATERFALL.

KEYNOTE: The ability to perceive the hidden and creative spirit of natural phenomenon.

The Sabian symbols make several references to nature spirits. Here we are dealing with the revelation of the spiritual or psychic forces related to the element of water. Water binds all living cells in a wholesome interplay. It symbolizes the constant flow of energies, the fluidity of a consciousness which finds itself stimulated by change. The great cycle of water within the earth's biosphere (oceans, clouds, rain, river) symbolizes the constant flow of vital energies and of love. We can personify these phases and speak of "the soul of nature," and at a cosmic level of "the World-Soul," anima mundi. Water is the substance of the telluric manifestations of this soul. It is a magical substance, and modern chemists are rediscovering in their study of its unusual behavior in certain situations what old Alchemists in their own way no doubt understood.

This is the first stage of the sixtieth subcycle, and it presents us with a deep intuition of superphysical energies which at the end of this five-fold sequence we will see fully mastered (Phase 300). The consciousness here becomes sensitized to the downward flow of OCCULT ENERGY in its bountiful natural aspect.

Girlcapsule's Response:

In image form:

and:

The drawn images in the book shown above are from a book of Oliver Sacks An Anthropologist on Mars. These drawings were created by a person with a kind of brain anomaly that catalyzes a compulsion to recreate by drawing the buildings he discovers about him. Sacks writes that although this guy had an incredible memory for details and was content to create the same drawing again and again. Fascinating brain-glitch.

The first image shows a close-up of an image on a paperback copy of Dante's The Divine Comedy: Vol. I: Inferno. On this page of my notebook, my notes read: "The asymmetry of loving fiercely".

This image of the colorful demon pulls the energy of the dragon in a human/demonic direction. A cosmology like this shows a way of orienting to righteousness that lacks the nuance of integrating the shadow material and places it instead to a dualistic outside position in the form of a demon to represent a pole of human psychology.

Capricorn 25°: A store filled with precious Oriental rugs.

17:37, 01.16.2015, Capricorn 25°

pp. 244-245     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)
PHASE 295 (CAPRICORN 25°): A STORE FILLED WITH PRECIOUS ORIENTAL RUGS.

KEYNOTE: The use of cultural and artistic processes as a means to enhance personal comfort and appreciation.

Coming after the preceding symbol this one brings us back to the material, yet esthetic, aspect of the benefits a society can bring its members. A "rug" always implied to some extent that something on which a person stands or sits. It is a foundation for cultural "under-standing," and as such it can have a magical or sacred meaning, as in the case of prayer rugs. The "woman in a convent" probably knows only the bare floor, because her goal is one of transcendence, of surrendering comfort as well as cultural patterns. But to the social elite, or even to the oriental devotee praying to his god, society offers the relative comfort of beautiful rugs so he may meet the universe, not merely in terms of the support the natural soil gives, but protected by and securely established on the mental-spiritual as well as manual achievements of those who keep the cultural symbols alive.

This is the last symbol in the fifty-ninth five-fold sequence. It shows the beautiful products of dedicated and inspired group performance at the level of tradition. It emphasizes the value of RELIANCE ON TRADITION.

Girlcapsule's Response:

I have decided to contain my response, as an experiment, to include an additional dimension of a song. Meaning, I will give a sound-track to today's meditation. Why am I taking this strategy? I want the reader to be able to engage more deeply with me as I seek to find response within myself to a symbol such as today's.

If the reader can also have the experience of meditating on a symbol while listening to the identical song, then we might start discovering the ways in which our experiences overlap on deeper psychological levels.

Here's the song: #10_Hills—Master_Sleeps

Response in Image:

Explanation:
I allowed a very intuitive process to unfold as I went through the song twice and worked with my library and immediate resources. I thought of responding by choosing a color scheme by opening the Earthsong book on the left. The reds, oranges, and golds pop out. Also I had noticed a switch in the music that catalyzed a thought (~ 444 on the digital count-down.) I chose next to look up page #444 in my Taschen book Alchemy & Mysticism. Here's a clip:

The "Mysterium Magnum" is the fundamental duality in one God, the "ground' and the "unground", "from which time and the visible world have flown"

Also:

In his title engraving, Georg Gichtel interpreted the one duality of microcosm/macrocosm and Moses/Messiah: just as Moses was the representative of the authoritarian aspect of God for the small world of the children of Isreal, Christ is the incarnation of divine love for humanity as a whole
The trumpet-blowing angel of the end of time unveils the transfigured face of Moses, and Christ reveals himself in the perfect clock of the zodiac as ruler of the spiritual age of the lily.

Jakob Böhme's Theosophische Wercke of 1682 is mentioned as a resource for this information. Here's the image closer up; notice the golden and earth tones of the image:

Again the image of a dragon appears in our series:

And the echo of this dragon's white facial hair in the rhythms of the Earthsong landscape (p. 176):

Noam Chomsky's Rebel Without a Pause and The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying also got drawn into the mix.

Capricorn 24°: A woman entering a convent.

14:17, 01.15.2015, Capricorn 24°

pp. 243-244     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 294 (CAPRICORN 24°): A WOMAN ENTERING A CONVENT.

KEYNOTE: Total commitment to a transcendent goal.

A convent is a place made available by a community which believes in the possibility of reaching a world-transcending state of consciousness. It is made available to individuals who may be variously motivated. To some it is an escape from the intolerable pressures of family and society; to others it represents the possibility of pursuing in peace a spiritual idea to which the whole being aspires and is totally dedicated. The important point, in this phase of the cyclic process, is that the existence of a convent expresses another aspect of the relationship between the society (its religion and culture) and the individual. In the preceding symbol society rewarded the individual for a noble performance in its service; here society accepts the fact that beyond its daily normal patterns of behavior and commitments, another way of life exists which, in a higher sense, also has social value. In the old Hindu society dominated by a rigid caste system, the ideal embodied in the sannyasi—the wandering holy man or yogi meditating in a forest or a cave, who had entirely given up all that caste implied—was seen to be the very culmination of the social process.

In this fourth stage symbol we see the paradoxical nature of the social process operating more strongly than ever. This derives from the fact that man's nature contains in seed the possibility of overcoming and transcending itself in acts of complete denials and of surrender to a "higher" Law or quality of being. All spiritual techniques are indeed paradoxical. Rigid discipline conditions pure inner freedom. The final goal is the attainment of TRANSCENDENT SECURITY.

Capricorn 23°: A soldier receiving two awards for bravery in combat.

12:54, 01.14.2015, Capricorn 23°

p. 243     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 293 (CAPRICORN 23°): A SOLDIER RECEIVING TWO AWARDS FOR BRAVERY IN COMBAT.

KEYNOTE: The reward offered by society for the fulfillment of individual responsibility.

The fact that "two" awards are emphasized makes us believe that this may refer subtly to the recognition by the community that, whether he succeeded or failed, an individual who discharged his duty so nobly under unusual circumstances is entitled to the respect and appreciation of the collectivity he served so well. What is implied here is a constant give-and-take between society and the individual person. Each one should be able to trust the other.

This third symbol of the fifty-ninth five-fold sequence extracts, as it were, a common element from the two preceding scenes. The Keyword here is RECOMPENSE, i.e. a compensation for a well-done performance—a balancing of accounts.

Capricorn 22°: By accepting defeat gracefully, a general reveals nobility of character.

18:23, 01.13.2015, Capricorn 22°

pp. 242-243     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 292 (CAPRICORN 22°): BY ACCEPTING DEFEAT GRACEFULLY, A GENERAL REVEALS NOBILITY OF CHARACTER.

KEYNOTE: The realization that one may grow through defeat as well as, and perhaps more than, through success.

While the preceding symbol referred to the drive toward success in culturally organized collective endeavors, this one presents us with the possibility of turning apparent external defeat into an inner spiritual achievement. We have recently seen how totally vanquished nations (Germany and Japan) have leaped forward and achieved great economic success. Much depends on the quality of the will and the inner integrity of the person.

At this second stage we find what seems to be a paradox, but the spiritual life is always paradoxical. The great sinner can become the most renowned saint, and a medieval Pope a criminal. What matters most always is INNER STRENGTH.

Girlcapsule's Response:

Graceful defeat, inner strength: a revelation of nobility the duly judged character. These words seem to turn their own meaning purposefully inside-out in order to demonstate something that goes beyond paradox, beyond polarities—on out into the infinite cosmos. Where in our primal-timeless form, we are safe as bunnies.

Capricorn 21°: A relay race.

23:45, 01.12.2015, Capricorn 21°

p. 242     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

SECOND LEVEL: EMOTIONAL_CULTURAL

PHASE 291 (CAPRICORN 21°): A RELAY RACE.

KEYNOTE: The value of competition in developing group consciousness.

Here we are no longer dealing with competition between individuals, but with competition between groups of individuals who take turns successively in order to maximize the group effort and the possibility of outstanding results. The whole of civilization is a vast kind of relay race in which groups of people and generations carry the torch of what we call "progress." Major achievements result from the sum total of human strivings.

This first symbol of the fifty-ninth sequence stresses one especially dynamic aspect of "group performance." Wherever this symbol appears, it emphasizes the value of group cooperation and of necessary give-and-take. One must seek to relate and adjust one's strength to the challenge presented by competitors in DYNAMIC INTERCHANGE.

Girlcapsule's Response:

Capricorn 20°: A hidden choir is singing during a religious service.

17:51, 01.11.2015, Capricorn 20°

p. 241     AN ASTROLOGICAL MANDALA, by Dane Rudhyar (1973)

PHASE 290 (CAPRICORN 20°): A HIDDEN CHOIR IS SINGING DURING A RELIGIOUS SERVICE.

KEYNOTE: The fulfillment of the individual's creative function through his participation in a group performance consecrated to a transcendent realization of unity.

In great cathedrals and other religious edifices the choir is normally hidden behind the altar or above the nave. It symbolizes thus more perfectly the supernal harmony of "heaven"—or the music of the spheres. The ideal of social participation is exalted to its highest manifestation, for the choir also represents the multifaceted and polyphonic unity of the community in its transcendent state of perfect harmony. Within this harmony the individual who has overcome his egocentric separativeness and developed his higher consciousness finds fulfillment in superpersonal togetherness.

This is the fifth and last symbol of this fifty-eighth sequence. It presents us with the purest form of group-harmony, the most basic yet most difficult fulfillment of the social state. At the level of the individual person this "hidden choir" would refer to the polyphonic integration of all faculties in their most spiritual manifestations: the ideal of PLENITUDE of being.